Ao3-Like Archive Sites
Aug. 28th, 2024 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladydragon76So I posted this to Pillowfort a couple days ago, and it was mostly in response to just one person asking about other spaces, but the post is by far the most reblogged and liked post I've ever made on PF, so... Yeah, I should probably post about it here too for anyone who might see it.
There ARE independently run (as in owned and operated by a single human person) fanfic sites using Ao3's opensource code. My personal goal, once I can afford to do it, is to build one of these for the Transformers fandom.
Ao3, right now, has some better board members than they did in the past and I've heard good things through the grape vine, but, well, it's still a mess from who some of those decent people replaced, and it's big enough to be a slow-turning wheel as well as being short-staffed enough to cause issues too. I've been told some definitely support decentralizing fandom too. I mean, think about it. I'f you're a fic writer, where can you go? Ao3. It's the ONLY place. Twitter/X/wtfever it's called, is no good anyhow, much less for posting fics. Tumblr? pff. Ffn? How many times have they fucked over the fanbase for the sake of ultra-conservative "Christians"? Here on DW? I mean, yeah, this is actually a pretty decent site, but who's even here? I'm fairly certain I'm babbling into the void right now. Pillowfort? I don't hate it at all, but they need pagination to be any kind of useful and every month they're begging for more money to keep the lights on for a few more months. I like the site and I like what they are doing, but can we trust it to be longterm?
So we, fan authors, have Ao3. The good news is, we now also have:
SquidgeWorld - This is a multifandom site. This was the pioneer, y'all. The owner of the site worked out Ao3's (from what I have heard lol) wonky code, and he was generous and amazing in assisting others in building their sites.
AdAstra is a Star Trek (and crossover with Star Trek) specific site. Lots of fun! There are events in their discord weekly, and to encourage community engagement.
CFAArchive - which stands for Comic Fanfiction Author's Archive and is specific to any fanworks based of comic books.
Superlove - Also appears to be a multifandom site. I know that Melo, the owner/operator, has been very helpful networking and assisting with the other sites' owners too, and has a strong focus on building community over simply archiving.
Honestly, a group of really amazing, kind people who love fandom and fanworks. Please do check out their sites, read their rules, read their About pages, peruse the works posted there, and see if any of these would fit as additional homes for your works and you. But please keep in mind that these sites are NOT Ao3. They were build and are being paid to maintain by ONE PERSON. Their rules are stricter to protect them legally. They have EVERY right to banhammer you for breaking the TOS or just being an asshole who causes them unnecessary stress. NONE of them would just be a dick to be a dick, like I said, these are good folks who CARE about fandom, but also, those sites are THEIR houses. They're trying to build COMMUNITY like we once had, not just be archives to dump fic.
There ARE independently run (as in owned and operated by a single human person) fanfic sites using Ao3's opensource code. My personal goal, once I can afford to do it, is to build one of these for the Transformers fandom.
Ao3, right now, has some better board members than they did in the past and I've heard good things through the grape vine, but, well, it's still a mess from who some of those decent people replaced, and it's big enough to be a slow-turning wheel as well as being short-staffed enough to cause issues too. I've been told some definitely support decentralizing fandom too. I mean, think about it. I'f you're a fic writer, where can you go? Ao3. It's the ONLY place. Twitter/X/wtfever it's called, is no good anyhow, much less for posting fics. Tumblr? pff. Ffn? How many times have they fucked over the fanbase for the sake of ultra-conservative "Christians"? Here on DW? I mean, yeah, this is actually a pretty decent site, but who's even here? I'm fairly certain I'm babbling into the void right now. Pillowfort? I don't hate it at all, but they need pagination to be any kind of useful and every month they're begging for more money to keep the lights on for a few more months. I like the site and I like what they are doing, but can we trust it to be longterm?
So we, fan authors, have Ao3. The good news is, we now also have:
SquidgeWorld - This is a multifandom site. This was the pioneer, y'all. The owner of the site worked out Ao3's (from what I have heard lol) wonky code, and he was generous and amazing in assisting others in building their sites.
AdAstra is a Star Trek (and crossover with Star Trek) specific site. Lots of fun! There are events in their discord weekly, and to encourage community engagement.
CFAArchive - which stands for Comic Fanfiction Author's Archive and is specific to any fanworks based of comic books.
Superlove - Also appears to be a multifandom site. I know that Melo, the owner/operator, has been very helpful networking and assisting with the other sites' owners too, and has a strong focus on building community over simply archiving.
Honestly, a group of really amazing, kind people who love fandom and fanworks. Please do check out their sites, read their rules, read their About pages, peruse the works posted there, and see if any of these would fit as additional homes for your works and you. But please keep in mind that these sites are NOT Ao3. They were build and are being paid to maintain by ONE PERSON. Their rules are stricter to protect them legally. They have EVERY right to banhammer you for breaking the TOS or just being an asshole who causes them unnecessary stress. NONE of them would just be a dick to be a dick, like I said, these are good folks who CARE about fandom, but also, those sites are THEIR houses. They're trying to build COMMUNITY like we once had, not just be archives to dump fic.
no subject
Date: Aug. 29th, 2024 12:55 am (UTC)Good info, thank you! I knew about Squidgeworld but not the other sites
no subject
Date: Aug. 29th, 2024 02:27 am (UTC)They're all fairly new. I know Melo mentioned spending the last year on Superlove, but I'm not sure of exactly which date she went live, and I DO know that Ad AStra is the next oldest besides Squidge cuz I've known the owner a handful of years now and I remember her asking for a few of us to make test accounts for her to test live things with. It's all cool shit. ^_^