AO3 Rice Purity Test: Questions, Score Meanings & Glossary

The AO3 Rice Purity Test is a community-made adaptation of the original Rice Purity Test — same yes-or-no format, same 0-100 scale — applied entirely to your experience as a fanfiction reader, writer, and community member on Archive of Our Own (AO3).

Instead of asking about life experiences, relationships, or substances, the AO3 purity test asks about things like whether you have left a pity kudo, written whump, read omegaverse, sent someone a fic that ruined them, or cried over a fanfiction in public. If those terms mean nothing to you, the glossary at the bottom of this page explains everything.

This guide covers what AO3 is, the full 100-question list organized by category, what your score means, and a glossary of every fandom term that appears in the test.

The AO3 purity test exists in multiple versions across the community — on uQuiz, Tumblr, rice-purity-test.blog, and as a TikTok trend. This guide covers the standard community format and the most commonly used question set.

What Is AO3? — For Anyone Who Is New Here

Archive of Our Own (AO3) is the largest fanfiction archive on the internet. It is a non-profit, fan-run platform that hosts over 11 million fanfiction works across more than 40,000 fandoms — television shows, movies, books, games, anime, sports, podcasts, and virtually any other cultural property that has a fan community attached to it.

AO3 was created by the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) and launched in 2009. It won a Hugo Award in 2019. Unlike commercial platforms, AO3 has no ads, no paywalls, and stores every work indefinitely unless the author removes it. Authors can tag their works with content warnings, tropes, relationship types, and ratings — which is why AO3 users develop a highly specific vocabulary for discussing what they read and write.

The AO3 Rice Purity Test emerged from this community. It borrows the Rice Purity Test format specifically because fanfiction readers and writers have a shared vocabulary of experiences — reading a 200,000-word slow burn at 3am, crying over a character death, discovering what omegaverse is for the first time — that map naturally onto a yes-or-no checklist.

How the AO3 Purity Test Works

The mechanics are identical to the original Rice Purity Test: check every box that applies to your fanfiction experience. Each checked box subtracts one point from 100. A higher score means fewer fanfiction experiences checked — you are newer to fandom or a more casual reader. A lower score means more boxes checked — you are deeply embedded in fanfiction culture and the AO3 community.

Unlike the original Rice Purity Test, the AO3 version inverts the social meaning of scores. In the original, a high score is often seen as innocent or pure. In the AO3 version, a low score is typically worn as a badge of honor — it means you have read widely, written extensively, and gone deep into fandom. Getting a score of 15 on the AO3 test means you have done things with fanfiction that cannot be undone.

TikTok format: One popular version involves using the original Rice Purity Test itself — checking every box for something you’ve READ on AO3 rather than something you’ve done in life. This produces hilariously low scores and went viral with the tag #fanficricepuritytest.

Related Article: Valorant Rice Purity Test

All 100 AO3 Purity Test Questions — Full List by Category

The following questions represent the standard community AO3 purity test format, organized into five categories. Unfamiliar terms are explained in the glossary section below.

📖 Reading Habits (Q1–20)

Q#	Question / Experience	Fandom Term / Context
1	Read fanfiction on AO3	The entry point — if you’re here, you’ve done this.
2	Read a fic over 100,000 words	Epic-length fanfiction — a significant time commitment.
3	Read a fic over 500,000 words	Novel-length or multi-part series — true dedication.
4	Read a fic in a fandom you know nothing about	Reading for the writing, not the source material.
5	Read until 3am and had to work/go to school the next day	The classic fandom sleep-deprivation experience.
6	Cried while reading a fic	Emotional investment in fictional characters.
7	Cried in public while reading a fic on your phone	Lost control of emotions in public — a true fandom milestone.
8	Read explicit content on AO3 (rated E or M)	Mature-rated fanfiction — very widely read.
9	Read omegaverse / A/B/O	The alternate biology trope — see glossary. Love it or avoid it.
10	Read whump	Character suffering/injury — see glossary. Extremely popular genre.
11	Read hurt/comfort	Injury followed by emotional recovery — one of the most popular tropes.
12	Read a slow burn over 200,000 words	Romantic tension sustained over an enormous word count.
13	Read a dead dove fic	Content with warnings that are exactly what they say — see glossary.
14	Read PWP (Plot What Plot? / Porn Without Plot)	Explicit content with minimal narrative — purely content-focused.
15	Read hanahaki disease	The flower-coughing unrequited love trope — see glossary.
16	Read a fix-it fic after a canon ending you hated	Fanfic written to correct an unsatisfying canon event.
17	Read a fic that genuinely changed how you see a character	Deep engagement with character interpretation.
18	Read an enemies-to-lovers fic	One of the most popular romance tropes in fandom.
19	Read a coffee shop AU	The quintessential alternate universe setting — beloved and mocked in equal measure.
20	Read a soulmate AU	Destiny-based romantic trope — various formats (marks, red strings, etc.).

💬 Community Engagement (Q21–40)

Q#	Question / Experience	Fandom Term / Context
21	Left a kudo on a fic	AO3’s equivalent of a like — one per fic per account.
22	Left a pity kudo on a fic you didn’t actually like	Kudosing out of compassion for a clearly low-traffic work.
23	Left a comment on a fic	Engaging with the author directly — the gold standard of AO3 appreciation.
24	Left a multi-paragraph comment on a fic	Extended engagement — typically the most meaningful thing you can do for an author.
25	Bookmarked a fic	Saving a work to your personal collection on AO3.
26	Bookmarked a fic specifically so you could find it to hate-read later	The fandom practice of keeping track of fics you disagree with.
27	Subscribed to an author	Following an author to receive updates on new works.
28	Sent a fic to a friend that you knew would ruin them	Deliberately sharing emotionally devastating content — a love language.
29	Made a friend through fanfiction or AO3	Real-world relationships formed through fandom communities.
30	Started a real-life conflict because of a ship war	Genuine disagreements about fictional pairings that affected real relationships.
31	Gotten into an argument in a fic’s comment section	Public comment section conflict — relatively rare on AO3 but it happens.
32	Had a fic recommended to you that changed your life	A work that permanently altered your worldview or interests.
33	Recommended a fic to someone and then regretted it	Realizing after the fact that the content was more intense than anticipated.
34	Participated in a fandom exchange (Secret Santas, etc.)	Organized gifting events where creators make works for each other.
35	Participated in a fic challenge or prompt event	Community-driven writing challenges with specific constraints.
36	Followed a fic’s update schedule obsessively	Tracking when a work-in-progress (WIP) would update.
37	Been devastated by an abandoned WIP	Work in progress abandoned by the author — a universal fandom trauma.
38	Checked an author’s profile hoping they weren’t dead	Concern for a long-inactive author’s wellbeing.
39	Adopted a headcanon from a fic into your personal canon	Accepting a fanfiction’s interpretation as your own truth about the source.
40	Had a ship live primarily in your head through fandom	A pairing that never went canon but you love through community content.

✍️ Writing & Creation (Q41–60)

Q#	Question / Experience	Fandom Term / Context
41	Written fanfiction	Creating rather than just consuming — the fundamental shift.
42	Posted fanfiction on AO3	Publishing your work publicly on the platform.
43	Written a fic over 10,000 words	Significant writing commitment — a real story, not just a drabble.
44	Written a fic over 50,000 words	Novel-length writing — requires sustained dedication.
45	Written whump	Deliberately putting a character through physical or emotional suffering.
46	Written explicit content	Mature-rated (E) fanfiction — a specific creative undertaking.
47	Written a fic at 2am that you thought was brilliant	Late-night creative inspiration — quality varies in the morning.
48	Written a fic and then immediately deleted it without posting	Self-editing before it reached anyone — common among newer writers.
49	Abandoned a WIP	Left a work-in-progress unfinished — a fandom rite of passage.
50	Had a reader beg you to update	Receiving pressure from readers — a sign your work matters.
51	Written for a rarepair	A niche, underrepresented romantic pairing — see glossary.
52	Written in a rare fandom with almost no existing fic	Being one of very few creators in an underserved fandom.
53	Received a comment that made you cry	An emotionally impactful reader response.
54	Received a hateful or unkind comment	Negative feedback on your creative work.
55	Checked your kudos count obsessively after posting	The AO3 equivalent of refreshing social media after a post.
56	Written a character so out-of-character your friends worried	Characterization choices that concerned people who know your work.
57	Written a self-insert or reader-insert fic	Placing yourself or a generic ‘you’ character into the story.
58	Written a fix-it fic	Correcting a canonical outcome you found unsatisfying.
59	Written a fic as therapy	Using creative writing to process real emotions.
60	Finished and posted a multi-chapter fic	Completing a serialized work — a genuine achievement.

🌊 Content Preferences & Deep Cuts (Q61–80)

Q#	Question / Experience	Fandom Term / Context
61	Read or written dubcon	Dubious consent — morally complex content, widely found on AO3.
62	Read or written noncon	Non-consensual content — tagged clearly, controversial but legal on AO3.
63	Read a ‘Choose Not to Warn’ fic and been surprised	CNTW tag — the author declined to warn for specific content.
64	Read dark fic deliberately	Seeking out content tagged with disturbing themes intentionally.
65	Developed a new interest from a fanfic	A fic introducing you to music, food, history, or another topic in depth.
66	Read bodyswap fic	Characters occupying each other’s bodies — a classic trope.
67	Read de-aging fic	Adult characters written as children — various uses across fandoms.
68	Read a crack fic and enjoyed it unironically	Intentionally absurd, non-serious fanfiction taken seriously.
69	Read kidfic or next-gen content	Stories involving characters as parents or children of canonical adults.
70	Read a fic that made you examine your actual beliefs	Content that prompted genuine self-reflection beyond entertainment.
71	Read a crossover fic between two completely different fandoms	Characters from separate source materials meeting in one story.
72	Read genderbend or genderswap content	Characters written with different genders than their canonical presentation.
73	Read RPF (real person fanfiction)	Fanfiction about real public figures — a more controversial subgenre.
74	Read a fic where your favorite character died	Engaging with major character death (MCD) content despite knowing the outcome.
75	Voluntarily read a fic tagged with MCD (Major Character Death)	Deliberately choosing to read character death content.
76	Read a ‘what if’ AU that completely altered your understanding of canon	An alternate universe that reframed the entire source material.
77	Discovered a new ship through fanfiction rather than canon	Fanfic creating attraction to a pairing that barely exists in source.
78	Read foundling / secret child / hidden identity content	The ‘character discovers they have a secret past’ trope cluster.
79	Read a fic that was better written than the source material	Creative fan work that exceeded the original in craft or depth.
80	Read something tagged ‘dead dove’ and still clicked it	Clicking through explicit content warnings deliberately — see glossary.

📱 Platform Life & Fandom Obsession (Q81–100)

Q#	Question / Experience	Fandom Term / Context
81	Used AO3’s tag system to find extremely specific content	Filtering by multiple tags to find a precise niche — AO3’s killer feature.
82	Used AO3 while in a place you definitely should not have	Reading fic at work, in class, at family events, etc.
83	Downloaded an ebook of a fic to read offline	Converting a fanfic into a portable reading format.
84	Printed a fic or had it printed to read physically	Physical fanfiction — a dedicated commitment.
85	Been on AO3 during a power outage via mobile data	Prioritizing fanfiction access even during infrastructure failures.
86	Had AO3 go down and felt genuine distress	The Great AO3 Outages — a community-wide trauma response.
87	Gotten so invested in a ship you forgot they weren’t real	Peak parasocial fiction investment — temporary but very real feeling.
88	Looked up a fic-specific niche on Wikipedia to understand it	Researching historical or technical context for fanfic accuracy.
89	Dreamed about a fanfic or fictional characters	Unconscious processing of fandom content.
90	Had your reading taste shaped by a specific fic author’s style	A single author’s work permanently influencing your preferences.
91	Recommended AO3 to someone outside fandom	Evangelizing the platform to non-fans.
92	Felt guilty reading fic instead of doing something productive	The classic fandom productivity guilt — nearly universal.
93	Stayed up all night to finish a fic	Prioritizing a story’s conclusion over sleep — fully committed.
94	Read a fic so long you forgot what the fandom was originally about	A common effect of long alternate universe works.
95	Felt the urge to write fanfiction after consuming other media	The generative response to creative work — very common.
96	Argued about fanfiction with someone who doesn’t get it	Defending fandom to non-participants — a universal experience.
97	Felt seen by a fanfic in a way you have never felt by published fiction	Fanfic’s accessibility and specificity meeting a reader’s needs.
98	Had a ship or fic haunt you for days after finishing	Post-read emotional processing — the mark of genuinely great work.
99	Considered whether you are a different person because of AO3	Genuine self-reflection on fandom’s formative influence.
100	Cannot imagine your life without fanfiction	The final question. If yes — welcome. You are fully here.

What Your AO3 Purity Score Means

Your score runs from 0 to 100. The lower your score, the more fanfiction experiences you have checked. Unlike the original Rice Purity Test where social attitudes about scores vary, in the AO3 community a lower score is almost universally treated as a badge of depth and experience.

Score	Label	What It Means for Your AO3 Journey
90-100	Fandom Newcomer	You have discovered fanfiction but have not yet gone deep. Welcome. Things are about to get interesting.
70-89	Casual Reader	You read regularly and have encountered the major tropes. You know what kudos are and you use them.
50-69	Engaged Fan	You have been through the major reading experiences: slow burns, hurt/comfort, at least one emotional breakdown over a fic.
30-49	Fandom Veteran	You have been here a while. You write, you comment, you have opinions about tagging practices. You know what a WIP is and you have suffered accordingly.
10-29	Deeply Embedded	AO3 has shaped you. You have read dead dove, you understand omegaverse, you have sent fics specifically to ruin people you love.
0-9	AO3 Made You This Way	You have checked nearly everything. There is no going back. Question 99 hit different. Question 100 is yes.

AO3 Fandom Glossary — Every Term Explained

The AO3 purity test uses specific fandom vocabulary that can be opaque to anyone outside the community. Here is a glossary of every significant term:

Term	What It Means
AO3	Archive of Our Own — the largest fanfiction archive on the internet, hosting 11M+ works across 40,000+ fandoms. Non-profit, fan-run.
Kudos	AO3’s equivalent of a ‘like’ — you can leave one per fic per account. The primary metric of appreciation for short-form engagement.
WIP	Work in Progress — a fic that has not yet been completed and is being updated in installments. Abandoning a WIP is a fandom cardinal sin.
Ship	A romantic or sexual pairing between characters — from ‘relationship’. ‘Shipping’ means supporting a particular pairing.
Rarepair	A niche, underrepresented romantic pairing with very little community content compared to more popular ships.
Slow Burn	A romance that takes a very long time to develop — often the primary appeal of a long fic. The delay is the point.
Whump	A genre focused on a character experiencing physical or emotional suffering — injury, torture, trauma — often followed by comfort.
Hurt/Comfort	A pairing of suffering (hurt) followed by recovery and emotional care (comfort). One of the most popular AO3 tropes globally.
A/B/O / Omegaverse	Alternate universe trope featuring a society with secondary biological genders (Alpha, Beta, Omega) with distinct social and physical roles.
PWP	‘Plot What Plot?’ or ‘Porn Without Plot’ — explicit content with minimal narrative framing. Purely focused on the explicit content itself.
Dead Dove	Tag indicating content is exactly as disturbing as labeled — no subversion, no redemption, no softening. Proceed fully informed.
CNTW	‘Choose Not to Warn’ — the author has declined to specify content warnings. Can contain anything. Requires reader trust.
Hanahaki	A fictional disease where a person coughs up flowers due to unrequited love, often leading to death if feelings remain unreturned. Japanese origin.
Canon	The official, source-material version of events, characters, and relationships — as opposed to fan-created interpretations.
Fix-it	A fic written to correct a canonical outcome the author found unsatisfying — common after controversial series finales.
AU	Alternate Universe — a version of the story set in different circumstances. Coffee shop AU, soulmate AU, high school AU, etc.
Dubcon	Dubious consent — sexual content where consent is ambiguous or complicated. Widely found on AO3, explicitly tagged.
MCD	Major Character Death — a canonical or non-canonical death of a significant character in the story. Usually tagged as a warning.
Crack fic	Intentionally absurd, non-serious fanfiction that plays with premise for comedic or surreal effect.
RPF	Real Person Fiction — fanfiction about real public figures (actors, musicians, athletes) rather than fictional characters.

How the AO3 Purity Test Differs from the Original Rice Purity Test

Both use the same format. But three things make the AO3 version fundamentally different in function:

1. What it measures. The original Rice Purity Test measures life experiences — real things that happened to a real person. The AO3 purity test measures reading and writing experiences — things you engaged with in fiction. A low AO3 score does not mean you have done those things in life.

2. Inverted social meaning. On the original RPT, attitudes about low scores are mixed. On the AO3 test, a very low score is almost universally celebrated — it means you have been everywhere in fandom. The community rewards depth of engagement.

3. Community-specific knowledge required. Many AO3 test questions only make sense if you are already in fandom — omegaverse, hanahaki, dead dove, kudos. For outsiders, the glossary above translates everything. For insiders, recognizing the terms is part of the experience.

The original Rice Purity Test has been measuring life experiences since 1924. The AO3 version applies the same structural logic to a completely different domain — and has found a very willing community to use it. Take the original here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the AO3 Rice Purity Test?

The AO3 Rice Purity Test is a community-made quiz that applies the Rice Purity Test format to fanfiction reading and writing experience. It has 100 yes-or-no questions about your engagement with Archive of Our Own — the world’s largest fanfiction platform — covering reading habits, writing, community participation, content preferences, and platform behavior. Lower score means more extensive fandom experience.

Where can I take the AO3 Purity Test?

The AO3 purity test exists in several versions: on rice-purity-test.blog/ao3-purity-test/, on uQuiz.com (search ‘fanfic purity test’), and through various Tumblr and TikTok versions. There is no single official canonical version — it has been created and recreated by multiple community members. The questions above represent the standard community format.

What is a good AO3 purity test score?

In the AO3 community, a lower score is generally considered more impressive — it means you have engaged more deeply with fanfiction culture. A score of 50 means you have checked half the test’s experiences. A score below 20 means you are extremely embedded in fandom. A score above 80 means you are newer to the community or a casual reader. There is no objectively good or bad score — it just reflects your fandom journey.

What is the TikTok AO3 Rice Purity Test format?

On TikTok, a popular variant uses the original Rice Purity Test and checks off every experience for something you have read on AO3 rather than something you have done in life. This produces very low scores (many people check boxes 1 through 24 just for content they have read) and creates viral comparison content. The hashtag #fanficricepuritytest and #ao3 are used to share results.

Do I need an AO3 account to take the purity test?

No. The test covers reading and fandom experiences that can happen without an account — you can read most AO3 works without logging in. However, some experiences (leaving kudos, bookmarking, commenting, participating in exchanges) require an account. If you have never had an account, some questions in the community engagement section will not apply.

Is the AO3 Purity Test the same as the Fanfic Purity Test?

They are related but not identical. The AO3 Purity Test specifically focuses on the Archive of Our Own platform and its community. The Fanfic Purity Test (also on uQuiz and Tumblr) covers fanfiction reading more broadly and may include Wattpad, fanfiction.net, and other platforms. Both use the same Rice Purity Test format. The AO3 version tends to include more platform-specific terminology (kudos, bookmarks, the AO3 tag system).

Take the Original Next

The AO3 Rice Purity Test borrows its format directly from the original Rice Purity Test — 100 questions, yes-or-no, 0-100 scale. If you have never taken the original, it is a different experience: life experiences rather than reading ones, with a century of cultural context behind it.

All tests like the Rice Purity Test — Valorant, Innocence Test, university variants, and more.

What does your original Rice Purity Test score mean?