What does dead dove mean?
“Dead dove” is a fiction content warning meaning the story contains exactly the dark material its tags advertise, with no softening and no redemptive ending. It comes from the tag “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”, and it tells a reader the tags are a literal description, not a hint.
Published by the Girlfriendly AI editorial team ·
The phrase comes from a 2004 episode of Arrested Development in which a character opens a paper bag labelled “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat”, finds a dead dove inside, and says “I don't know what I expected.” Fanfiction communities adopted it on AO3 as shorthand for a warning that means what it says.
It functions as consent infrastructure rather than as a boast. In roleplay contexts it signals that the participants have agreed the dark elements will actually be present in the fiction, so nobody enters the scene expecting them to be walked back.
As with all fiction warnings, it describes fictional content between consenting adults. It never licenses anything prohibited by a platform's content rules.
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Related terms
- What is roleplay?
Roleplay is collaborative storytelling in which each participant speaks and acts as a character rather than as themselves.
- What is erotic roleplay?
Erotic roleplay, usually shortened to ERP, is collaborative roleplay in which the scene is explicitly sexual.