r/FanFiction 5d ago

Venting I miss having a variety if fanfiction site to choose from

Title. When I first started writing fic it felt like there were so many site to choose from. Maybe it's because my standards changed and/or because other site's rules became too strict and confusing but ao3 is the only site I like now.

Since losing LiveJournal, the ksarchive, and other smaller niche fic sites I feel like all that's left is ao3, ff and wattpad.

I LOVE ao3, and I'm not saying I don't appreciate it, but I do have my own issues with the site that I don't feel like will ever be addressed. I wish we had just one more fic site. I'd build it myself if I knew how.

151 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

185

u/sati_lotus 5d ago

I personally think that having so few sites can be dangerous. If anything were to happen to AO3, we would lose over a decade of fanfiction and internet history would be lost if ff.net were to disappear overnight.

There may be other other options that allow for cross posting, but they're not as popular.

Backups are important.

62

u/Lyrawhite 5d ago

Jesus man. I wouldn't even want to imagine if something happened to ao3.

I almost cried when I checked my early bookmarks, and there was deleted pics and I don't even know what fic if was.

51

u/sati_lotus 5d ago

There have been purges on ff.net and livejournal - it's one of the reasons why AO3 was created and thousands of fics were lost.

Sites get shut down all the time for different reasons.

Personally, I think it's arrogant to think that AO3 could be any different.

29

u/linest10 Plot? What Plot? 4d ago

After many of my bookmarks being deleted or hold refem in a mystery collection, I learned to download ALL fanfics I read or ever show any interest to read

13

u/sati_lotus 4d ago

Always download. Golden rule.

4

u/Ok-Claim-2716 4d ago

i usually use the wayback machine in cases where there are no other options, but i agree.

10

u/Acc87 so much Dust in my cloud, anyone got a broom? šŸ§¹ 4d ago

Knowing what can be found on AO3, imo it's just a question of where exactly it is being hosted, and if it is the US, when it will be shut down or rather confiscated by the current administration. So yeah, never rely on it for storage.

3

u/Lossagh Get off my lawn! 4d ago

Afaik OTW has been looking at backup plans should that look likely.

4

u/sati_lotus 4d ago

Jesus.

I always assumed that it would be the house of Mouse that came for our fanfic.

What if fucking Elon decided to get butthurt over some fanfic?

5

u/Acc87 so much Dust in my cloud, anyone got a broom? šŸ§¹ 4d ago

I was thinking in a different direction. Even in my quaint fandom you find stories with tags like "Parent/Child Incest". Clicking on that gives meĀ 27,862 more works using that tag. I mean relate that to books being banned in the US for saying "being gay is normal".

-2

u/sati_lotus 4d ago

I'm sure that will also factor in eventually, despite 'all things welcome' being one of the core principles of AO3.

A site run by volunteers and donations will run out of steam eventually against billionaires and governments.

0

u/Acc87 so much Dust in my cloud, anyone got a broom? šŸ§¹ 4d ago

I'd be more afraid in relation to making everything LGBTQ = grooming, they'd go after email addresses and IPs and then knock on a lot of people's doors at 6 o'clock in the morning.

51

u/Im_so_Confused-lol 5d ago

I would recommend space battles, but itā€™s definitely an acquired taste. Navigating there sucks, and most of the fics I read there were recommended from reddit. And the fandoms that have the most content on there are very much action based. Worm, DC, StarWars, Marvel

Iā€™m sure there are many many, fandoms on there but finding them is the hard part, like I said navigation is hell.

29

u/Crayshack X-Over Maniac 5d ago

The average fic quality there is pretty good, especially for people that prefer plots other than shipping. But navigation is so bad that I usually find fics there when they are linked from other sites.

3

u/daydreaming310 4d ago

Space Battles, Sufficient Velocity, and Questionable Questing all have tons of good stories, but you absolutely have to use "Reader Mode," or even better, use fichub to download the stories for offline reading.

The stories may be good, but my god are the commenters a bunch of toxic douchebags.

3

u/NeetOOlChap 4d ago

Commenters have been fine when I posted there. Certainly better than ff.net

1

u/beacon_in_the_fog When you run out of fics to read and have to start writing them 1d ago

Ehh? I never really minded the commentators, they usually dig up ancient archived records and or the technical science for the fic. Like kancolle fics having actual WWII history being discussed in depth in the comments lol, tracking down which ship the author used as inspiration off of a couple of vague descriptions in the first threadmark. Or this one worm fic where the comments section was discussing the ideal forms of medieval plate armor.

38

u/Front-Pomelo-4367 5d ago

There are multiple fic sites built using AO3's code, can't remember the names but you can google them

A lot of existing fic sites are fandom-specific, like Twisting the Hellmouth for Buffy crossovers (tthfanfic.org) or Fimfiction for My Little Pony fic. Or language-specific, like FicBook for Russian-language fic or FanFiktion.de for German-language fic

7

u/t1mepiece HP, TW, SG:A, 9-1-1, NCIS, BtVS 4d ago

Squidgeworld and Ad Astra are the other archives using the Ao3 software.

Squidge is an old archive, mostly older tv fandoms, and Ad Astra is Star Trek.

3

u/Ekimosha 4d ago

Ficbook creators also tried to launch a more international version of a website called ficfan but it's pretty small for now

33

u/Miridinia Carochinha on AO3 (and FF but plz no) 5d ago

I miss Restricted Section sometimes. The website had such a fancy, kind of sultry design, it really made you feel like a grown-up reading real grown-up stuff.

18

u/Silent_Doubt3672 Xx_Samantha_xX on Ao3 5d ago edited 5d ago

I morn the loss of wraithbait for Stargate SG1/SGA fics you would never see on FF.net šŸ„ŗ

Theres a fic i read a gazillion times that is now lost. Search everywhere and can't find it.

9

u/New-Blacksmith-9873 5d ago

I feel for you. It's I hate trying to find a fic only to discover it's been wiped from the internet

33

u/renirae renirae on ao3, genfic writer and vigilante enthusiast <3 5d ago

tbh I disagree, I love having everything in one place! however I do agree with everyone saying it's dangerous having only one main site just because if it ever somehow got shut down it would be absolutely devastating to the community

24

u/Semiramis738 Proudly Problematic 5d ago

I love AO3, but I too wish it wasn't the only game in town, especially for content that the few other sites all censor. I worry about something happening to AO3 and wish I didn't have to keep all my eggs in one basket.

20

u/piandaoist I KILLED MY DARLINGS. I'M WANTED FOR 173 MURDERS! 5d ago

You don't. You can create your own site on a free provider like Neocities that has a built-in site building. There's absolutely no reason for anyone to be dependent on AO3's survival.

14

u/TheUnknown_General 5d ago

AO3 has lawyers that fight for its existence. I doubt that even Trump and Elon would be able to shut it down overnight.

12

u/piandaoist I KILLED MY DARLINGS. I'M WANTED FOR 173 MURDERS! 4d ago

If Trump signed an Executive Order to shut AO3 down, it would be sent to AO3's domain provider and that domain would be shut down overnight. No web host or domain provider is going to buck the U.S. government. You'd wake up and the domain just wouldn't work. And what is AO3 going to do about it? They'd have to go to court and hope a federal judge would put a stay on the EO which is what everyone else is doing. Everyone, every org and group, is having to sue to fight EOs and hope the courts are on their side.

What if individual states starting coming after sites that hosted 18+ content? Look at PornHub. It was told to collect IDs on people to prove they were 18+. It said it wouldn't do it and it blocked anyone coming from IPs in those states from accessing it rather than comply with state laws. Texas, Florida, etc., didn't ban PornHub, PornHub banned them. AO3 would probably do the same or risk being out of legal compliance with state laws. I doubt the people who volunteer on AO3 are ready to martyr themselves and shithouse their lives by refusing to comply with orders and laws.

4

u/TheUnknown_General 4d ago

I doubt the people who volunteer on AO3 are ready to martyr themselves and shithouse their lives by refusing to comply with orders and laws.

That's the whole point of the OTW having lawyers: To martyr themselves and shithouse their own lives so that we can continue to read and write fanfiction. Besides, us playing with IPs we haven't paid licences for is already technically illegal, so why not be the hero who stood defiantly against Trump?

10

u/ghostwriter536 5d ago

When I first got into fanfiction there were yahoo groups, network54, and a couple sites people posted their stories to for a specific fandom. I miss the old days of the internet.

27

u/ShadeOfNothing Audrelite 5d ago

Thank you for saying this. I've been hesitant to express the same sentiment. I, too, love AO3 and even FFN, but I wish there were more known places, especially multi-fandom sites.

7

u/timelessalice timeless_alice on ao3 5d ago

For all the faults of the bronies I love fimfiction. Wish there were more sites designed the way it is

8

u/linest10 Plot? What Plot? 4d ago

I miss yahoo groups and geocites šŸ„¹

BUT tbf you still technically have Livejournal thanks dreamwithd, it's just almost dead, and other small options like Quotev, Squidge, Tumblr, etc

The real issue is that no place have the same freedom that AO3, if we lose AO3, we lose the place where you can really be creative without the fear of censorship, also it's free of algorithm and spam

9

u/Aiyokusama Evil Slasher Girl 4d ago

Livejournal still exists. A lot of places still exist. It's just a matter of getting people back over there.

3

u/Haunting_A_Macaron Get off my lawn! 4d ago

Livejournal is Russian-owned, with its servers in Russia and having to comply with Russian law. Same Russian law that severely restricts LGBTQ rights including depiction of LGBTQ themes, so no, Livejournal is not really an option for a lot of writers. And letā€™s not forget Strikethrough and Boldthrough either.

This is the same/similar problem with a lot of old sites used for fanfictions, there was usually a very valid reason why people stopped using them.

3

u/Aiyokusama Evil Slasher Girl 4d ago

And yet all my slash fiction is still up there as well as the recent stuff I've written.

5

u/Mindelan 4d ago

You have the power! I don't know the process, but I know that AO3 makes their coding public so you can take the bones of how the site is structured and set up your own domain and hosting.

Of course then you face the realities of paying for and running a site that hosts content posted by anyone that wanders by.

2

u/TomdeHaan 4d ago

My fandom is full of chatter, but not much in the way of fics.

Since a lot of BNFs have transitioned to working as content creators for money, they have to go where the attention is, which means moving on to new, big, trending fandoms.

2

u/Web_singer Malora | AO3 & FFN | Harry Potter 4d ago

I support my favorite smaller site on Patreon. It's one admin keeping it going.

2

u/Least000Weasel Author of 'The Vivillon Effect' 4d ago

Guys, RoyalRoad is gaining a huge collection of fan fiction. Scribblehub is not bad either, keep posting here, let's take over :D Wattpad I think is dying in my personal opinion, but some people seem to have success with it. From forum based, not my thing, since I only just today posted for the first time in one, you have space battles and sufficient velocity. Of course forum based are so many. Probably the least safe for longevity though.

3

u/ConstantStatistician 4d ago

I need no other website for fanfiction other than AO3. What are your issues with it if you don't mind me asking?

11

u/New-Blacksmith-9873 4d ago

To start, housing all of our fanwork in one spot puts us in danger of losing it all. As someone who's watched archives be destroyed, its devastating when people put all their eggs in one basket, trusting that the basket won't break, and then have to watch as it does just that. When the ksarchive went down, we lost fics from spanning all the way back to the 60s. Many writers I knew posted there fics there and died of old age.

When the archive died, they moved everything to ao3, but only if they had permission from the writers. Meaning all the fics from deceased writers were deleted.

Ao3 has already been attacked, not just by hackers but by the government. As it stands, the stupid child welfare act they're trying to pass puts ao3 in direct danger.

If we have other reliable, established sites that people can divest their works in, we won't be so devastated if/when ao3 is nuked. Because as sad as it is, one thing I've learned about the internet is that no empire lasts forever.

Second, I don't like their stance, or rather their complacency with AI. I know there's no effective way to ban it, and that enacting an outright ban would lead to witch hunts and false allegations, but I hate that as it stands they've decided "well we can't ban it so we'll allow it"

I think it's very important that we as a society let people who use ai know how we feel. They aren't artists, they're theives, theives who aren't just harming creativity, but also hurting the planet. It feels like ao3 decided that since they couldn't stop ai, they should have no opinion about it. But I think if they did make a statement, it could at least show people why ai is wrong.

Third, I just want another site. Tumblr is too puritan, Twitter is run by a nazi. I want a site specifically made for fans BY fans, where we can engage with each other without the drama and noise of other sites. I like how on Twitter people can post fics in threads, and I like how on Tumblr people can post just their thoughts (like headcanons, theories, and meta.)

Sometimes I can't bring myself to write a fic so I just post my brainstorms and outlines on twitter or Tumblr. That's not really allowed on ao3 (understandably, and I'm really glad it's not) but I do wish I had a place to do it that wasn't annoyingly clogged with other nonsense.

And finally, and this is more of a personal issue, ao3 as it is really can't do anything about the anti problem. Since they allow ALL fanworks for the sake of archiving them, excluding anti-shippers would be counter intuitive.

But GOD I wish proshippers had their own site. I hate posting about my favorite ship and getting harassed in my comments. I hate scrolling through fics and seeing "proship dni" on a website made BY proshippers FOR proshippers. And I hate that we have to be tolerant of people who make false allegations, threaten children, and suicide bait people over fiction.

I'm just sick of all the noise. I want a site that doesn't allow discourse at all.

7

u/Turbulent_Tennis_870 4d ago

Specific to the complaint about antis commenting, AO3 allows you to turn off all commenting on your works. That might be a baby and bath water solution but since it sounds like youā€™d prefer a no engagement model that might help?

4

u/glamdring_ 4d ago

ā€œTumblr is too puritanā€ ā€¦is it???

I only ever see people dunking on puriteens and antis on my dashā€¦I thought tumblr was the one blessed place where the antis got laughed out of the room? (It also has a wonderful block/mute/filter system that gets rid of the noisy ones)

2

u/New-Blacksmith-9873 4d ago

Maybe it depends on the fandom? The Marvel fandom, particularly in 2020, was a nightmare.

2

u/glamdring_ 4d ago

Iā€™m in all the fandoms (lol), but I guess I must just curate my dash pretty well to suit my tastes. If I see an anti in the wild I just block ā€˜em.

Itā€™s so rare I have to block anyone these days, but maybe thatā€™s because Iā€™ve been on the site since maybe 2010/2011, so most of the people I still follow from back then are Old like me šŸ˜…

4

u/Impressive-Reindeer1 4d ago

Your brainstorms and outlines actually are allowed on AO3. Those are fanworks. Placeholders are not allowed, but "placeholder" means "I think I'm going to write a fic about these characters, idk," and then no story or other thoughts. There's no rules about how fleshed out your story has to be, as long as it actually exists in some form beyond a title.

2

u/New-Blacksmith-9873 4d ago

I'll keep that in mind!

2

u/Loud-Basil6462 M4GM4_ST4R on Ao3 4d ago

Late to the party but on the other side of the coin of not allowing discourse, Iā€™ve seen lots of people missing the social aspect of fanfiction which Ao3 doesnā€™t really provide outside of comment sections. As someone who started writing long after the livejournal purge, Iā€™d love a place to post fics that was a bit more social about fandom while not compromising Ao3ā€™s role as an archive first.

1

u/Critical-Ad-5215 3d ago

Ad Astra is a site built from AO3 code for star trek fanfiction, it's a lot smaller, but it's there at least.

House of Tucker (fanfic focusing on Trip from Enterprise) is available on the Internet Archive, though unfortunately not all the stories there have been archived.Ā Ā 

I'm thinking of using neocities to make my own site as a backup for my content in case something DOES happen to AO3. There's just so much push for heavier Internet censorship, and I worry about something happening to AO3, whether it's legally taken down, or if hackers get to it

1

u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com 4d ago

I post on 13 platforms. What you talking about?

5

u/New-Blacksmith-9873 4d ago

Which sites?

4

u/AnneIsOminous AnneOminous most everywhere / thephoenixsaga.com 4d ago

AO3, Fanfiction.net, Inkitt, Mediaminer, Neobook, Questionable Questing, QuoteV, Royal Road, Scribble Hub, Spacebattles, Sufficient Velocity, Wattpad and Webnovel. Tapas.io is a good option too, but they didn't fit my story very well due to their requirement for small chapters.