#locked fics

[breannasfluff]

AO3 Fics Locked

Wondering where my stories went? They are still there, but they are now locked!

You will have to be logged in to access them

But all 220 works remain! Enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Breanna/

[vmplvr1977]

I just opened your works and wasn't signed in to AO3 and I panicked because the only work was Fenrir's Bite and I thought you'd deleted them all. I've never been more relieved

Thank you for reading! It always makes my day to know people read my works. Sorry to cause momentary panic. I locked all my completed works to deter AI scraping and theft. I know it's not a permanent fix, but it makes me feel better. I'm glad you figured it out!

[sylphid187]

Did you delete your ao3 account?

I've been wanting to re-read your fics but i cant seem to find them :(

Hello! No i didnt, but Ive locked all my fics after the repeated issues regarding some of my works being stolen by others, claimed and reposted to another site, and the site recently being sweeped of works and fed to A/I...

Locked fics are still there, just that its only availabe to those with ao3 accounts - but they're all definitely still there 🥹

[gallavichfanficlibrary]

Hi! Dunno if this is a random question but I’ve only recently just made an ao3 account and I’ve noticed a few fics that I had never read because they were available to archive members only. Do u guys have any list of members only fics or have any archive only favs? Bc there’s no way to look for those specifically on ao3 as far as I know and I’d love to read some fics that I’ve missed out on before :) thank u!!!

Hi! :) More authors have been locking their fics recently because of the AI situation, so it's pretty hard to name all the people who have done this! And btw - there IS a way to look for such fics. You will see a blue lock next to the author's handle.

We can totally give you a list of some of our favorite writers with locked fics that we recommend checking out :)

Loftec

anythingbutgrief

delgay

matchst_ck

Ravenheart

ProstheticLoVe

calicoy

allyasavedtheday

lockmyheart

enbytim

whaticameherefor

Captain_Jowl

MeganWrites

ipretendtobesane 

thewriterofperfectdisasters

And a couple of fics that come to mind:

Held In Abeyance

Silver Dreams

life of the party

Pride

what we build could be anything

Be on a lookout for the blue locks and happy reading :)

[caixxa]

Locking 🔒 fic

How common etiquette is locking rpf fic actually? This post by @zeegras made me wonder.

So I made a mini test on Archive of Our Own.

--

Logged out:

13589 Works in Men's Hockey RPF

Logged in:

28791 Works in Men's Hockey RPF

(53% locked fics)

--

Logged out:

63059 Works in Sports RPF

Logged in:

91929 Works in Sports RPF

(31% locked fics)

--

Logged out:

449604 Works in Real Person Fiction

Logged in:

501220 Works in Real Person Fiction

(10% locked fics)

 --

How does rpf measure against media based fandoms? The first that I happened to click was

Logged out:

5073 Works in Downton Abbey

Logged in:

5141 Works in Downton Abbey

(1% locked fics)

--

Something bigger?

Logged out:

183840 Works in Star Wars - All Media Types

Logged in:

189389 Works in Star Wars - All Media Types

(3% locked fics)

--

I edited this post a bit because I was curious enough to count the percentages. Pie charts would be more informative and decorative, I know, but I'm not going there now.

But yes, in these cases it looks like locking your fic is many times more common in rpf, but even there it varies between fandoms.

Based on these percentages I wouldn't say, though, that it is common rpf etiquette to lock your fic for only logged-in users. Out of these fandoms, you can fairly say so only about hockey rpf, and even there it's just over half of the fics that are locked to the archive. If only 10 percent of all rpf, across all real person fiction fandoms, is locked, it rather indicates that some fandoms are outliers with their larger numbers.

None of this is to say that I wouldn't recommend locking your fics! But it's more of a case of personal taste and personal choice than a fandom standard.

[randomist1031]

2023 Ao3 Most Written Ships (with both Public + Locked Fiction)

Completed the list and posted it on Ao3 at the beginning of the month but finally decided to put it on Tumblr as well.

Shy poster here, mercy please.

[beguilewritesstuff]

Hi!! just wanted to wish you all the best in your next creative endeavors! your writing is sublime and you've shaped how I view both matt and frank (especially frank since I've only watched dd before starting reading it takes a village). Just wondering will you ever open up your fics again to the public?

Thank you, Nonny - and also, I'm so sorry that the fics are locked! I kept seeing posts about AI accessing AO3, and one really compelling one about how quickly people can create AO3 accounts lately, and I just decided it might be time. I'm feeling vulnerable as a writer as of late, and I hope there are things happening for those feelings to subside.

As of right now, It Takes a Village is available on FF dot net. Any fanfics of mine completed up until Village are also there. I think part of For Forever is up, but I know I fell behind on updating there.

If the fics ever unlock, I'll be sure to share the news here. So sorry, nonny.