Archive of Our Own (AO3), a popular fan fiction website, is down. And people(opens in a new tab) are(opens in a new tab) distressed(opens in a new tab).
The site has been the victim of a DDoS, or denial-of-service, attack by hacktivist Anonymous Sudan, who claim that they are against “all forms of degeneracy” and that AO3 is “full of disgusting smuts and other LGBTQ+ and NSFW things.” AO3, however, believes that these motivations are more layered than what the group suggests. The website wrote on its Twitter account(opens in a new tab) that the group’s statements regarding the attack should be viewed with “skepticism.”
Regardless of what prompted the attack, the website cannot be accessed. AO3 has said they are “working to mitigate”(opens in a new tab) the attacks. But for the fandoms wanting to access the latest fanfic, it’s going to be a bit of a wait. So in the meantime, here are some options to try and tide you over.
Tumblr(opens in a new tab)
While it may not be dedicated to fanfiction, Tumblr is home to several devoted, niche fandoms. There are large communities revolving around said groups, and it’s fairly easy to find the kind of stories that you’re looking for. The library offered isn’t as wide as others, but Tumblr’s vast community and accompanying features, like its tags and images, make up for that.
You won’t find a multi-chaptered, 220k-slow burn on here, but you will find plenty of one-shots and prompts for nearly every fandom. Plus, a lot of your favorite AO3 authors might have already posted PDFs of their stories on their Tumblr accounts.
FanFiction.net(opens in a new tab)
This site is home to stories across categories like Books, Anime/Manga, Movies, Comics, TV, and more. FanFiction.net(opens in a new tab) has a large library of content, with the top three fandoms on the site being Harry Potter, Naruto, and Twilight — and it’s been around for a few decades, so you’ll be able to read some timeless relics on here.
Commaful(opens in a new tab)
Apparently the world’s “largest multimedia site,” with an active community(opens in a new tab), too, Commaful has free stories, fanfiction, and poetry. A quick browse on its fanfiction page(opens in a new tab) shows stories ranging from Percy Jackson to BTS to Riverdale to The Walking Dead. You can also find stories about classic ships, like Dramione and Hidekane.
Quotev(opens in a new tab)
With various stories in categories like TV shows, comics, and cartoons, Quotev has enough works in popular fandoms to keep you going. There’s also an “unofficial” Quotev subreddit(opens in a new tab), where stand-out stories are discussed, promoted, and unpacked, so you can browse over there first to see if anything catches your eye.
Wattpad(opens in a new tab)
It might not be anyone’s first pick for literary works, but Wattpad is a destination for fics across many fandoms, ranging from One Direction to K-pop to Haikyuu!! The storytelling platform also boasts thousands of webnovels and stories with diverse LGBTQIA+ voices.
