Underage/RPF Clarification
Nov. 2nd, 2025 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
squidgestatusWe've had a huge influx of people to SquidgeWorld in the last week or so, and it seems to come down to an incident at AO3 with underage fics. This email is to respond to the half a dozen emails/trouble tickets that we've gotten asking us to clarify our stance on the issue. Even though it's explicitly stated in the SqWA Posting Help section, we're pointing it out here, word-for-word.
Point 1 - Use of the Underage tag: The SquidgeWorld Archive does allow Underage fanworks to be added to the archive.
Point 2 - Use of the Underage tag with respect to fic ratings: Any fic that features the Underage tag and where the rating is Mature or Explicit, that fic must be locked to Archive users only. No exceptions.
Point 3 - Use of RPF tag: The SquidgeWorld Archives does allow Real People Fiction - RPF - to be added to the archive.
Point 4 - Underage/RPF tags on the same fic: If a user adds an Underage fic that is about RPF - Real Person Fiction - that fic must be locked to Archive users only. No exceptions. NOTE: This rule is new, added in response to this very situation.
While some people may not agree, this is our stance. We refuse to become gatekeepers of those who use the site; we will never tell you what you can and cannot post to the archive. However, we want to make sure that people who use the archive and do not want to see those works are not inadvertently exposed to them. This is why we have our locking policy in place. If it's in the archive and meets the above points, locking must be completed appropriately. And if it is not—and a recent quick check showed that people are not always respecting this rule—the locking will be done for you by the admins.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them. But if you just want to sit back behind an anonymous keyboard and call us names, that's fine. We just don't need to know about it; don't send us a note to let us know you're calling us an asshole somewhere on the Interwebs. People already do this, and it's tiring.
Point 1 - Use of the Underage tag: The SquidgeWorld Archive does allow Underage fanworks to be added to the archive.
Point 2 - Use of the Underage tag with respect to fic ratings: Any fic that features the Underage tag and where the rating is Mature or Explicit, that fic must be locked to Archive users only. No exceptions.
Point 3 - Use of RPF tag: The SquidgeWorld Archives does allow Real People Fiction - RPF - to be added to the archive.
Point 4 - Underage/RPF tags on the same fic: If a user adds an Underage fic that is about RPF - Real Person Fiction - that fic must be locked to Archive users only. No exceptions. NOTE: This rule is new, added in response to this very situation.
While some people may not agree, this is our stance. We refuse to become gatekeepers of those who use the site; we will never tell you what you can and cannot post to the archive. However, we want to make sure that people who use the archive and do not want to see those works are not inadvertently exposed to them. This is why we have our locking policy in place. If it's in the archive and meets the above points, locking must be completed appropriately. And if it is not—and a recent quick check showed that people are not always respecting this rule—the locking will be done for you by the admins.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them. But if you just want to sit back behind an anonymous keyboard and call us names, that's fine. We just don't need to know about it; don't send us a note to let us know you're calling us an asshole somewhere on the Interwebs. People already do this, and it's tiring.
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Date: 2025-11-02 09:13 pm (UTC)And this is what people want to spend their time doing. Sorry to hear this is what is taking up admin time.
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Date: 2025-11-02 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-02 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-03 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-05 05:06 am (UTC)