Hi,

In response to suggestions and questions from some of our members, we are adding three new warnings to the archive, for Voyeurism, Sexual Violence, and Torture (Implied). These warnings, like our other warnings, will be mandatory on new content published on the site. We encourage authors and artists to edit their existing works as needed to accommodate these new warnings, especially for works that are in progress. Please email us at elysianfieldsarchive@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding these warnings or any others; we are happy to answer questions, clarify language, and review content to see if a warning is appropriate.

Readers are also encouraged to email us if they are reading a story that is missing warnings it should have. We will confirm and work with authors to get the warnings added to fanworks so that we can all use the system to curate our experiences appropriately.

The new warnings have been added to the stories page and you will see them when you go to add a new story or edit an existing one. The definitions, which are also included below, have also been added to the Fic Tag Definitions page.

• Voyeurism: contains depictions of character(s) being observed without their knowledge or consent, by another character(s), often but not always in sexual situations or situations that can be considered titillating, such as states of undress
• Sexual Violence: a sexual act committed or attempted by another person using a variety of tactics, where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse. Sexual violence can occur in person, online, or through technology, such as posting or sharing sexual pictures of someone without their consent, or non-consensual sexting, and can include unwanted sexual contact or unwanted sexual experiences that do not include contact. This warning should be used when forms of sexual violence not covered by another warning is present in a work.
• Torture (Implied): alludes or infers torture of a character. Torture can be emotional/psychological or physical, and is defined as assault on a character’s mind/mental well-being or body. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.

In addition, we have edited several of our existing warnings to further clarify when to use specific warnings. These new definitions have been added to the Fic Tag Definitions page, and are included below for your reference.

• Abuse: contains the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a character. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
• Attempted Rape: includes the attempted sexual assault of a character(s). Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
• Rape (Actual): includes graphic depictions of rape. Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
• Rape (Implied): alludes or infers to a rape of a character. Rape is defined as sex between two characters where the victim does not or cannot freely give consent or does not or cannot freely refuse.
• Sexual Situations: includes or alludes to consensual sexual activity
• Torture (Emotional/Psychological): includes assault on a character’s mind/mental well-being. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.
• Torture (Physical): includes assault on a character’s body, including physical violence and sexual violence. While torture and abuse can overlap, for the purposes of tagging your work, they are differentiated in that abuse is sustained over time while torture occurs over a shorter timespan.

As a reminder, warning tags must be included for each fanwork when they apply, and all works rated R and above must have warnings (since it’s the kind of content we add warnings for that raises the rating). All warnings must be added as soon as the creator is aware that they will be needed. When adding a new warning to a work in progress, please add an author note explaining that you have added the warning and give a brief explanation why (you don’t have to include spoilers!) to help readers understand the changes.

Thanks all and again, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have via email or in the comments.