Tag Archives: fanfiction

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

Text: “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”

Context: This is a term that is prolific among fanfiction circles, particularly on Archive of Our Own, which uses a content tagging system. EK is a college student in Southern California who has been active in fandom spaces and fanfiction culture for a number of years.

“Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” is a tag used on Archive of Our Own. EK notes the tag’s negative reputation, however, its “correct” usage simply means to pay attention to the other tags on the work, because what is tagged is what will be present in the fic. This often is usd in fanfiction with potentially triggering or upsetting content, because the author wants to emphasize that the content is tagged, and it should not come as a surprise to any reader who chooses to read the piece.

This tag’s origin comes from an Arrested Development scene, where a character opens the fridge to see a paper bag labelled “dead dove: do not eat.” He opens the bag and, when he finds a dead dove inside, says “I don’t know what I expected.” It’s in this way that the tag is meant to say that the fic is going to contain what the tags denote, and the reader should not be surprised by the content.

Analysis: EK discusses the misinterpretation of this tag as having a “scary” reputation–that often, “dead dove” is a red flag for many readers in and of itself, without even looking at the rest of the tags. Because it is often used on works with potentially triggering or taboo content, the tag itself has taken on a taboo reputation. It’s interesting to me, however, that this has become the case for a practice that is essentially a public service–“dead dove” itself doesn’t mean anything scary or taboo, all it does is tell a reader to know what they’re getting themselves into. I also believe that “dead dove” as a tag is kind of a sweet custom, on a fandom’s part; it’s community care, in a way, looking out for others to make sure they won’t be upset by anything they read. It’s also a measure of protection, as online anonymity makes people quite comfortable yelling at fic authors in the comments for things that were clearly advertised in the tags or description of a fic.

No Beta, We Die Like [Blank]

Text: “No Beta We Die Like [Blank]”

Context: This is a term that is prolific among fanfiction circles, particularly on Archive of Our Own, which uses a content tagging system. EK is a college student in Southern California who has been active in fandom spaces and fanfiction culture for a number of years. She explains the meaning of the phrase is that the fic has not been “beta read” by someone else–it has not been read or edited by another person aside from the author before being posted online. While the original form of the phrase is “No beta we die like men,” often the phrase is customized toward the fandom, with “men” being replaced by the name of a character who dies in the show. EK notes that it’s usually a particularly painful death, often a particularly beloved character who died, whose name is substituted in. She also notes that it’s not always solely a character name–in some instances, it’s “my sanity” or other references to the author’s real life, or other times a reference to a commentary about the show’s writing [ie. “we die like [character’s] characterization] or other aspects of the property.

The origin of this phrase comes from a picture of a bumper sticker that read “no airbags we die like men.”

Analysis: EK views this as a public service announcement on a fanfiction, sort of a disclaimer meant to explain any errors or “bad writing” found within the piece. I also view this as a kind of signifier of in-group status, recognizing that someone is a member of a fandom and was emotionally impacted by a character’s death–enough to bestow their name within the tag, almost as a badge of honor. This is a way to make light of any emotional turmoil brought on by a character’s death and find community in the emotional response to a piece of media, as most fandom is fixated on.

Song lyrics as Fanfiction titles

Text: Song lyrics are often used as fanfiction titles on Archive Of Our Own.

Context: Archive of Our Own (Ao3) is a fanfiction site popular in the modern day. EK is a college student in Southern California who has been active in fandom spaces and fanfiction culture for a number of years. She describes the common practice of using song lyrics to title fanfictions because, as she says, “titles are hard, and songs are cool.” She notes that it is common to see this on “one-shots,” or single-chapter fanfics, but if this is found in a multi-chapter fic, she also describes the practice of using different lines from a song for each chapter title, as it applies to the content and characters. EK also mentions the genre of YouTube videos that compile these lyric titles, editing them together to create a kind of “lyric video” made entirely out of Ao3 screenshots.

Analysis: I view this as another form of texual poaching, as Henry Jenkins identifies in his studies on fan practice in Textual Poachers. This is the nature of “transformative work,” as fanfiction has often been called–here, different forms of copyrighted IP are brought together in a fanwork, used for new, explorative creative purposes. This, combined with the age-old tradition of fan playlists, as well as fanfiction often being populated by young writers who struggle with finding titles for their work, gives way to this fan practice. This also acts a kind of signalling to others within the same in-groups as the author–people who recognize the title are able to recognize that the author likes the same music and stories as they do, therefore creating a trust and connection between audience and author.