https://www.tumblr.com/bk-poetry/818119734624190464/announcing-fanfictionlol
New ao3 fork dropped! Doesn't exactly look promising, I'm not getting the feeling very much thought went into it at all re: like policy enforcement and anti-harassment measures though. But like, there was an attempt, yay...?
I'm not loving "no velvet rope". That's a serious mischaracterization of AO3's queue. (Though I agree that a tiny, new archive having a queue would do more harm than good.) RPF as a content warning is facepalm-worthy.
"relationship tags for aro/ace spectrum, qpr, non-binary/genderqueer focus, poly/ensemble, and more" is a genuine improvement over AO3, assuming it's implemented well.
Getting rid of wrangling makes sense in this context.
"i care about the writing, not fandom politics or discourse" could be "I'm tired of you children yapping about problematic fiction" or it could be "Why is there politics in sf now?" I'm assuming the former given the rest of the post.
But "it's a small personal project but fan communities deserve independent infrastructure." is always a good sign. Yes, fan communities do deserve more options, and it's good when more people do their own projects that they can tailor in their own way.
It will succeed if it can get a small but loyal community. Enforcement is much, much easier in an actual community where it isn't all faceless hordes you've never heard of before.
Poking around, he has written articles on the enshittification of the web and trying to find a way forward. Making another fic space with a new vibe is a sensible move for someone who's worried about massive, soulless platforms.
Imperfect or not, I like to see someone putting their money where their mouth is.
This more detailed post gives me a good sense of what his deal is.
I'm seeing the technical chops needed. I'm seeing the right kind of "I needed a specific project so I could try X technical thing" that's how this shit actually gets accomplished. I see a queer identity and an interest in the history of queer art. I see a clear stance that, yes, he did mean "I don't care what you think is problematic" and not some reddit bro whining about "politics".
Even though AO3 is not subject to enshittification via investors, it is massive and centralized beyond what we ever envisioned. It simply cannot be tailored well to huge parts of fandom. And even for the people coming out of the exact culture that spawned it, it's never going to feel like a little community hub again. It's simply too large.
As a small fandoms person who is just too busy to engage much right now, that makes AO3 perfect for me, but if you're in an active medium-size fandom or a megafandom, you absolutely can do better. The narrower topic archives of the past were great in a way AO3 cannot replicate. I just had a house guest who was singing the praises of that Trek archive because it has a super invested and active community and its own culture.
I would generally have reservations about adding archive warnings like Systemic Oppression, Colonialism, Homophobia/Transphobia, etc. However, what would be a disaster in the making on AO3 is much more doable on one man's personal project, especially if that man is Métis and queer. I don't know the guy personally, but the overall vibe of his tech/culture blogging makes me think I would probably be okay with his judgments in this realm.
It is okay—in fact, it is desirable—if a small space follows the taste and judgment of its moderator. If you like the person's vibe, you go there. If you do not, you find or make a different fandom hangout. That's how we used to do things.
The important thing here is the "Ooh, I could do a fun tech thing!" energy as opposed to AO3 hate.
This is a guy who has clear political stances on returning the internet to an earlier, better version, and he's doing something practical to make that happen. He's chummy with other archive mods, not threatened by them.
This is what you want to see in a new fandom infrastructure project.
Yes, it will be subject to all of the usual issues of "What if so-and-so is hit by a bus or gets bored five years or twenty years from now?" But those issues are worth putting up with if you want a smaller space with a different feel. Just keep backups of your work.
It's small. It's personal. It's mine. And yours, too, if you'd like.
It's not for me right now, but that's a big green flag. If you like this dude's vibe, it's probably for you. If you don't, don't bother with it.
To me, his vibe is the actual person all those "I'm a secret third thing: an adult with a job" types wish they were. He sounds very oldschool despite being only 30.
Here's the part where he talks about this:
Something else important that I want to note is that multiple owners of AO3 forks have told me that this is a difficult, unforgiving role. That there are a lot of bad-faith entitled people they've had to deal with, and have gotten harassed and stalked simply for operating a fanfiction website. I am not ignorant or naïve to how the Internet and people on it can be, but I do know I can handle it.
I know how to moderate a space, and I know how to hold a line, and I do not believe that the possibility of harassment is a reason to leave the commons ungoverned or un-built. The commons must not be destroyed. Someone has to tend the infrastructure.
Talking about the commons would tell me what kind of internet activist spaces he frequents if his other tech blogging hadn't already. And I don't mean crybaby slacktivists telling you your omegaverse is setting back the cause of civil rights: I mean activists for a human-centered internet that goes back to the good parts of the oldschool web.
This has the energy of posts about why the Internet Archive matters or astolat's original post about needing an archive of one's own.
The tumblr post does not fill me with confidence, but this other writing absolutely does!
I'm intrigued to see where the project goes.
