Underage

Synonyms:
See also:	chan, shota, Lolicon, aged up, age statement, Underage Marriage
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A filk by a fan (age about 14) printed in Grip #3 (1978). Note that the fanworks cited range from very sexually explicit to very mild sexual or intimate descriptions or portrayals. Until fairly recently, same sex fanworks, regardless of their content (including passing references to, and, implied), ALWAYS required an age statement and were off-limits to minors.

Underage is a common warning on fanworks indicating that characters under 18 or under the age of consent for sex are depicted in sexual situations. Different age ranges of underage characters in sexual situations can have specialized terminology, for example shota or chan.

AO3's official posting tutorial describes the archive's "Underage" warning as follows:

This is for descriptions or depictions of sexual activity by characters under the age of eighteen (this doesn't include dating activity like kissing or vague references with no actual description/depiction). This generally applies to humans; if you are writing porn about space aliens who only live for a month or thousand year-old vampires with sixteen year-old bodies, please just use your best judgment. You are always free to specify characters' ages or to use "Choose Not to Use Archive Warnings".

In 2024, AO3 changed the label "Underage" into "Underage Sex" to signify the intended usage more clearly:

The "Underage" warning has always meant, and been intended to mean, that the work may contain descriptions or depictions of underage sexual activities. However, PAC and Support have found that many users find the label "Underage" confusingly ambiguous. Some users interpret it as having a much broader meaning, and believe that it pertains to underage drinking, underage dating activities such as kissing, or other content featuring characters who are not adults. Other users interpret it as indicating that the work is suitable for underage persons to access. To make the meaning of this warning clearer, we will be renaming the "Underage" warning to "Underage Sex".

Underage may also be used to describe fans who are under 18 or not legally adult and Minors in Fandom. Many fan communities where sexually explicit fanworks are common have rules banning underage fans from joining. These rules usually rely on age statements or ages provided in user profiles on social networking sites.

Meta: Underage Characters

• On Underage Kink memes, dated June 7, 2011; WebCite (The reason I cannot support this kink meme is that "..even in the very midst of the language of kink positivity these memes are based on, it stops to police and shame one specific kink.)
• AO3 Content Discussion (2016), in which AO3 was accused of hosting "kiddie porn".

Meta: Underage Readers

• Underaged readers - Sin Boldly!, ^{Archived version} by jedi penguin (2005)