The Harry Potter FanFic Archive is Moving to the AO3

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2021-11-12 18:01:05 UTC

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Spotlight on Open Doors

The Harry Potter FanFic Archive, a Harry Potter fanfiction archive run by Chad (CazBandit), is being imported to the Archive of Our Own (AO3).

In this post:

A bit of background explanation
What this means for creators who have works on The Harry Potter FanFic Archive
And what to do if you still have questions

Background explanation

The creator and owner of HPFanFicArchive.com, Chad (CazBandit), died suddenly in March of 2020, but with the help of its new custodian HPFanFicArchive.com will continue through the Archive of Our Own (AO3).

The purpose of the Open Doors Committee’s Online Archive Rescue Project is to assist moderators of archives to incorporate the fanworks from those archives into the Archive of Our Own. Open Doors works with moderators to import their archives when the moderators lack the funds, time, or other resources to continue to maintain their archives independently. It is extremely important to Open Doors that we work in collaboration with moderators who want to import their archives and that we fully credit creators, giving them as much control as possible over their fanworks. Open Doors will be working with the custodian of the Harry Potter FanFic Archive to import it into a separate, searchable collection on the Archive of Our Own. As part of preserving the archive in its entirety, all fanfiction currently in The Harry Potter FanFic Archive will be hosted on the OTW's servers and embedded in their own AO3 work pages. Eventually links to the old site will redirect to the collection on AO3, which can be searched and filtered in order to locate individual imported works.

Please note that The Harry Potter FanFic Archive will be closed to new and updated works from 12 December 2021, at which time we will take a full backup. The site will be permanently closed down on 31 December 2021.

We will begin importing works from The Harry Potter FanFic Archive to the AO3 after December 2021.

What does this mean for creators who have works on The Harry Potter FanFic Archive?

We will send an import notification to the email address we have for each creator. We'll do our best to check for an existing copy of any works before importing. If we find a copy already on the AO3, we will invite it to the collection instead of importing it. All works archived on behalf of a creator will include their name in the byline or the summary of the work.

All imported works will be set to be viewable only by logged-in AO3 users. Once you claim your works, you can make them publicly-viewable if you choose. After 30 days, all unclaimed imported works will be made visible to all visitors.

Please contact Open Doors with your Harry Potter FanFic Archive pseud(s) and email address(es), if:

You'd like us to import your works, but you need the notification sent to a different email address than you used on the original archive
You already have an AO3 account and have imported your works already yourself.
You’d like to import your works yourself (including if you don’t have an AO3 account yet).
You would NOT like your works moved to the AO3.
You are happy for us to preserve your works on the AO3, but would like us to remove your name.
You have any other questions we can help you with.

Please include the name of the archive in the subject heading of your email. If you no longer have access to the email account associated with your Harry Potter FanFic Archive account, please contact Open Doors and we'll help you out. (If you've posted the works elsewhere, or have an easy way to verify that they're yours, that's great; if not, we will work with the Harry Potter FanFic Archive custodian to confirm your claims.)

Please see the Open Doors Website for instructions on:

importing your works to the AO3
adding your works to the new collection Harry Potter FanFic Archive

If you still have questions...

If you have further questions, visit the Open Doors FAQ, or contact the Open Doors committee.

We'd also love it if fans could help us preserve the story of The Harry Potter FanFic Archive on Fanlore. If you're new to wiki editing, no worries! Check out the new visitor portal, or ask the Fanlore Gardeners for tips.

We're honored to be able to help preserve the works on the Harry Potter FanFic Archive, and while we mourn the loss of CazBandit, we also realize that we are fortunate that CazBandit had a friend who was given permission to preserve the archive on the AO3 so that it will not be lost. Thinking about the death of a fandom friend may be difficult, but it can also be an opportunity to consider what will happen to your fanworks and accounts and those of your friends after your deaths. The Archive of Our Own has an option to name a Fannish Next of Kin, someone who would be able to gain access to your accounts in the case of your death or incapacitation. By naming someone who can act on your behalf, you can decide ahead of time how you want your AO3 accounts handled going into the future.

We're excited to be able to help preserve the Harry Potter FanFic Archive!

- The Open Doors team and the HPFFA custodian

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EnigmaticSoul Fri 12 Nov 2021 11:43PM UTC

Oh! Harry Potter fans unite!

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sat 13 Nov 2021 01:30AM UTC
  
  Accio fanworks! Hurrah!
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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imgoingcrazy Sat 13 Nov 2021 12:38AM UTC

Looking at the rules of this archive yikes.

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SlyAdam Sat 13 Nov 2021 01:27AM UTC

LMFAO this archive didn’t allow m/m slash
In the goddamn Harry Potter fandom ahahaha

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1. M1dn1ght_Star Sat 13 Nov 2021 04:36PM UTC
  
  my thoughts exactly lmao
  
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2. Aouregan Sun 14 Nov 2021 12:32AM UTC
  
  I noticed that straight away in their rules and thought it was weird, but maybe this fanfic site is super old. I heard that early Harry Potter fanfiction sites had a lot of these issues, including sites that banned specific ships.
  
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3. 1. Iola Sun 14 Nov 2021 02:56PM UTC
    
    Fandom archives used to be a lot more specific in the days of yore. No slash, no het, no either, fandom specific, relationship specific, character specific. Personally I felt like people were a lot more invested in ships than they are these which wasn't fantastic. But it also meant if you had a specific ship you could find an isolated archive and you didn't have to put up with arguments about it. Same with types of relationships, characters and everything else.
    So less accepting but it was also a lot less fractious. I've seen fic on ao3 with multiple relationship tags that have absolutely vicious comments left because people only like one of the relationships and are upset it's not the main focus. In the old days you'd find an archive that liked your ship and you wouldn't be expected to cater to anyone else. A slash free archive or any other rule did the same. You wouldn't get hate comments because you were including slash, or threats to not include slash, because everyone was on the same page.
    Not a defence but I do kinda miss the days when fic was published into niche supportive communities.
    
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  2. 1. punkchikorita Sun 14 Nov 2021 10:52PM UTC
      
      thank you for the explanation ! fanwork history is always interesting
      
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    2. Elelda_Rani_Storm Tue 16 Nov 2021 12:14AM UTC
      
      Huh, I didn't know about all that. Cool!
      
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    3. NYKevin Wed 17 Nov 2021 06:31AM UTC
      
      > I've seen fic on ao3 with multiple relationship tags that have absolutely vicious comments left because people only like one of the relationships and are upset it's not the main focus.
      I've been fortunate enough to avoid this sort of nonsense on my fics (probably because they are less shipping-oriented and so do not cause undue drama), but if it did happen, I'd give the complainant a full refund of the $0 they paid to read the fic.
      > Not a defence but I do kinda miss the days when fic was published into niche supportive communities.
      There are plenty of people on AO3 who only read/write one or two fandoms, and so in practice those people will mostly only interact with each other. That's a de facto community, although whether it's supportive is another matter.
      I think the secret is to write for smaller fandoms, or older fandoms. If there's no releases in a given fandom for a long enough time, the casual fans dry up, moderated spaces become a lot easier to moderate due to the lower volume, and the jerks all get banned from those spaces. Of course, moderation (largely) does not apply to AO3, but it's hard to remain a fan of X when you're banned from basically every moderated forum/subreddit/etc. that directly relates to X. For example (citing my own experience), the Undertale fandom was a complete dumpster fire when the game came out in 2015, but six years later, it's pretty chill, and still producing a decent amount of new content (some of which is shockingly high-quality, like TS!UnderSwap).
      
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  3. pfeil Wed 17 Nov 2021 01:51PM UTC
    
    Filtering basically used to not exist on the common sites. You couldn't even tag ships on FFn until relatively recently, for example.
    So it was extremely common for there to be sites for slash, sites for not-slash, sites for specific pairings, etc. Because otherwise you had to wade through a ton of cruft no matter which thing you liked -- and as a result sites grew identities because people posted stories like the other ones on the site, or left if there was too much of what they didn't.
    
    Last Edited Wed 17 Nov 2021 01:51PM UTC
    
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4. Account Deleted Mon 15 Nov 2021 03:18AM UTC
  
  I was thankful for that rule, otherwise the site would've been overridden by it like AO3 is. Pain to find a fic with no m/m or f/f as it is even with AO3 filters(looking at you fools who don't use tags correctly)
  
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5. 1. Foxy_Sama the Logg-ed Inneth (Foxy_sama) Mon 15 Nov 2021 03:52AM UTC
    
    Preach it
    
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  2. 1. unbekannt2020 Mon 15 Nov 2021 12:39PM UTC
      
      https://archiveofourown.org/comments/484442938
      
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  3. unbekannt2020 Mon 15 Nov 2021 12:38PM UTC
    
    Wow. Just wow.
    The unmitigated, homophobic gall, complaining about slash and femslash "taking over" an archive that was created specifically to host slash, because it was driven off pretty much all other archives by bigots like you.
    I'd suggest sticking to Wattpad, Fanfiction.net, and Spacebattles. You can find all the het you want and you won't be troubled by any of those nasty gay fics.
    
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  4. 1. Foxy_Sama the Logg-ed Inneth (Foxy_sama) Mon 15 Nov 2021 01:36PM UTC
      
      Duly noted and studiously ignored. Ao3 is the superior site for content searches and, imo, quality-written fanfic. Go ahead: clutch your pearls and gasp disdainfully at me agreeing with the OP commentor about untagged relationship fics. You are entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to mine.
      
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    2. 1. 419Jhat Mon 22 Nov 2021 12:26PM UTC
        
        I mean then the problem is people not tagging correctly, no the existence of slash. Maybe you just need to chill a little and stop caring about what other people like lol. Your "opinion" is bigoted.
        
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      2. Foxy_Sama the Logg-ed Inneth (Foxy_sama) Tue 23 Nov 2021 07:30AM UTC
        
        My opinion is mine and it is allowed to be. When mainstream politics decide what is right and what is wrong, the free thinker may well open himself or herself to scorn and the label of "bigotry". Those who need to 'chill', I think, are those who sneer and fuss and maintain a stream of a comment thread with complaints and shushes at those who say things that they do not like or agree with. Surely you people would think me a monster for championing that all the gay/les/cis/trans/non-b etc. fics should be eliminated entirely from this website? But am I doing that? No. Nevertheless, I occupy this site as - obviously - an un-Politically-Correct Monster. Those more accepting of certain standards must, of course, put me in my place by telling me I am wrong, my opinions are wRoNg, and that my tastes are wrong. My decision to steer clear of m/m & f/f ship-fics is my prerogative. My reasons for doing so is my prerogative. My irritation toward ambiguous or non-existent relevant tagging is shared by many, not exclusive to a single genre.
        Y'all have said your piece. You chill out.
        
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    3. grommile Mon 15 Nov 2021 04:35PM UTC
      
      You can find all the het you want and you won't be troubled by any of those nasty gay fics.
      If people tag Relationship Categories correctly, the same is true of AO3 thanks to the tag and filter system.
      The ideological strength of AO3 is that your content can only be rejected for a very narrow set of reasons, mostly relating to legal concerns.
      The practical strength of AO3 is the tagging and filtering system that – when authors tag sensibly – allows people to tell the system "give me Teen-rated Daphne/Luna/Hermione with no m/f", "give me Mature-ratef Snape/Draco with no m/f or f/f" or "give me Explicit-rated Harry/Hermione with no m/m or f/f" and have it come back with all of what they're after and (almost) none of what they aren't.
      "People don't do a very good job of tagging for relationship categories" is, if accurate, a legitimate subject for complaint even if the underlying motive in a particular case is noxious.
      Of course, if people are too lazy to use the filter system, that's their problem.
      
      Last Edited Mon 15 Nov 2021 04:36PM UTC
      
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    4. 1. NYKevin Wed 17 Nov 2021 06:44AM UTC
        
        Re tagging: If my fic is not focused on romance, then I'm tagging it Gen and with the appropriate X/Y character tags (if any). If you don't like X/Y, for whatever reason (gender/sexuality, you want to pair X with Z, you "just don't like shipping," you think X and Y should be friends, etc.), then you'll have to exclude the X/Y tag specifically. This isn't me being stubborn, either, as the Tags FAQ is very clear that this is the correct way to tag a fic where relationships "aren't the main focus of the work." So if you're one of those people who will burst into flames at the mere passing mention of M/M, F/F, or even F/M, you can't just exclude those whole categories and expect it to work. You have to filter individual relationships one by one.
        (Even then, for canon ships, it's about 50/50 whether I'll bother to tag it explicitly or just put "Canon Relationships." But people who are bothered by a canon ship are probably going to encounter it quite a lot no matter what they do, so they're kinda sorta out of luck there.)
        
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      2. pfeil Wed 17 Nov 2021 02:07PM UTC
        
        The weakness of the AO3 is *also* that it's so specific. It's not slash or het that I want to hide, but the tween/DeathEater "relationships" -- which takes hiding hundreds of different things, including multiple different versions of Hermione/Voldemort and such.
        Different sites can be really nice for having community expectations of the kind of story you're going to get.
        (Well, and also that there's no way to add tags to something that should have it in order to have the exclusions actually hide something or the inclusions actually pick it up. Not to mention the stories that tag everything under the sun so are always get tagged by whatever filter you use, positive or negative.)
        
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    5. Account Deleted Mon 15 Nov 2021 09:46PM UTC
      
      So saying I don't want to go through hundreds or thousands of slash or femslash to find m/f or no pairing in bad? If people here used tags correctly I wouldn't have even said anything. Yes, slash/femslash is taking over in the way that it is the most common fic type. So sorry you can't seem to understand that people don't like certain types of fics.
      
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    6. 1. Artemis_2nd Tue 16 Nov 2021 04:02AM UTC
        
        Which sucks. Used to read all the time and now it's so hard to find anything anything I do read is 4 to 6 years old. The amount of stuff I have to ban in a filter is literally unbelievable these days.
        
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      2. tillwehavefaces Wed 17 Nov 2021 07:15AM UTC
        
        Not being facetious but why don't you just exclude M/M and F/F in the category filters? Genuine question, I don't see why that wouldn't work. It works fine for me. And if people haven't tagged/warned/categorised a fic correctly, you can report them for that and AO3 will (should) ask them to change it.
        
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        tillwehavefaces Wed 17 Nov 2021 07:18AM UTC
        
        I do agree about the amount of stuff one has to exclude tho. It's ridiculous and annoying, but sadly unavoidable, given people have a right to post whatever they want here, within the ToS. That's why I really hope AO3 implements a universal/persistent filter someday soon.
        
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  5. guxiang Mon 15 Nov 2021 02:14PM UTC
    
    lmao the homophobia is loud
    
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  6. 1. Account Deleted Mon 15 Nov 2021 09:46PM UTC
      
      I mean if you think homophobia is someone not liking slash/femslash that's on you.
      
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    2. 1. ohmaggies Mon 15 Nov 2021 10:34PM UTC
        
        You're allowed to have preferences, but once you openly complain about the surplus of f/f and m/m taking over spaces you obviously wanted to be f/m, somewhere plenty of LGBT people safely come to make content free of hate, you're being homophobic. Every fandom I've been in, there's more than enough f/m content. I read it myself and have absolutely no problem finding it.
        
        Last Edited Mon 15 Nov 2021 10:35PM UTC
        
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      2. AzureDragon363 Thu 18 Nov 2021 09:54PM UTC
        
        I only avoid m/m (the largest category on this site) because I tend to project myself onto the main character whether they be male or female, that's why I liked the hp fanfic archive because I knew every story was something I could get into without being surprised by sudden m/m because someone improperly tagged or thought a ship with the MC was to minor to mention.
        
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  7. Account Deleted Mon 15 Nov 2021 10:33PM UTC
    
    You guys know the exclude option exists? That way, you guys will see only het works and not slash works. But one way and another, slash will always be prevalent in this archive, especially when this archive was meant to be created because fanfiction.net banned slash works and the community back then was rightfully pissed about it.
    
    Last Edited Mon 15 Nov 2021 10:34PM UTC
    
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  8. Account Deleted Wed 17 Nov 2021 12:36AM UTC
    
    You know you can exclude m/m or f/f from your search entirely right? Also, there are so many f/m fanfics you can find without even trying. LGBTQ+ writers finally have a place where they can post without facing many issues. You are allowed to have your preferences but come on don't complain about stuff like this when the filter tag system exists for a reason.
    
    Last Edited Wed 17 Nov 2021 12:39AM UTC
    
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  9. 1. Ill_be_a_knight Fri 19 Nov 2021 04:28PM UTC
      
      You do know that it's not just LGBT that writes slash? Unlike LGBT people, who probably wouldn't dream of writing f/m, non-LGBT people do write m/m f/f. I am not LGBT and I write m/m slash, I know loads of authors who write slash and are not LGBT. It's rather presumptive of you to think every slash story is written solely by LGBT people. Slash was not created for them. It is created for authors.
      
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    2. 1. tillwehavefaces Sat 20 Nov 2021 12:41AM UTC
        
        Slash was literally invented by heterosexual women for heterosexual women lmao. M/m (or f/f) erotica written by homosexual men and women is a different genre and not slash (or femslash). Someone is very new to this.
        
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      2. milktoastnbeans Sat 20 Nov 2021 06:35AM UTC
        
        I feel like regardless of the origin, most people now use the word slash to refer 'is gay' regardless of who made it and for who. At least, that has been my experience in my circles.
        
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        Ill_be_a_knight Sat 20 Nov 2021 09:53AM UTC
        
        Slash (these days) is to mean m/m gay. But ok then, to humour you, I write m/m (and m/f). I know many, many heteros authors who write homosexual smutty stories. m/m f/f is not just for homosexual people - it is not made for them or owned by them. Or do readers just assume that any gay slash story is written by a gay person? I know a fair few homosexual authors, not one has ever written m/f and one said, and I quote, 'A man and a woman? That's just gross! Just the thought makes me feel sick. No thanks!' (imagine if a hetero said that about two men?) Find me a homosexual person who has written heterosexual smutty story.
        
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        tillwehavefaces Sat 20 Nov 2021 09:57AM UTC
        
        I...I wasn't disagreeing with you. I don't think you understood my comment.
        
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        Ill_be_a_knight Sat 20 Nov 2021 10:08AM UTC
        
        As the person above said, the origins of that word matter not. These days, if you say slash 99% of people (you excluded) know it means m/m. People don't think slash = m/f - look at the comments, they all say slash and all mean m/m, not m/f. Everyone, including you, knew what I meant. You're just being picky.
        Why don't you open your mind a bit and write a heterosexual slash story?
        
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        (4 more comments in this thread)
      3. grommile Sun 21 Nov 2021 03:51PM UTC
        
        Unlike LGBT people, who probably wouldn't dream of writing f/m
        Bi (and pan...) people exist (the 'B') and a significant fraction of trans people (the 'T') are attracted to people of their originally assigned sex.
        
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  10. Hizoku Fri 26 Nov 2021 07:44AM UTC
    
    The Harry Potter section of adult-fanfiction.org is a perfect example, it used to be pretty mixed but now it’s mostly slash.
    
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6. paramycologist Mon 15 Nov 2021 06:28PM UTC
  
  not allowing m/m slash in the harry potter fandom?? wth lmao
  
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zamia53 Sat 13 Nov 2021 03:17AM UTC

Well done and many thanks for what you are doing. Cheers. Z

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sat 13 Nov 2021 05:00AM UTC
  
  Thank you very much, Z! We all get a lot of satisfaction out of this work.
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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letterando Sat 13 Nov 2021 03:35AM UTC

No m/m slash allowed? All right then. I'll finish my comment here in respect of the manager's passing.

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1. (Previous comment deleted.)
2. 1. letterando Fri 26 Nov 2021 05:46AM UTC
    
    Was I too critical? Should I delete the comment?
    
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this_abandoned_account Sat 13 Nov 2021 03:55AM UTC

No male slash allowed, but fem slash is totally fine? Yeah, alright, whatever you say bud.
I'll just end this by saying I hope the people who were close to the site's creator are doing ok.

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trouble97018 Sat 13 Nov 2021 04:26AM UTC

If I could have one wish granted about anything brought into AO3 via Open Doors it would be to add a tag marking the Vic’s as such so we can at the very least FIND it! Nice to know 852 Prospect has been saved but I couldn’t find fics from that archive if my life depended on it.
If you need tag wranglers, I’d be happy to volunteer.

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1. Astro (Bluebird_Rose) Sat 13 Nov 2021 04:48AM UTC
  
  aren't they usually added to a collection? Like the one for 852 Prospect is here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/852_prospect_archive
  sorry if this is not what you were talking about, I only sometimes read Sentinel stuff
  
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2. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sat 13 Nov 2021 05:10AM UTC
  
  Hello, and thank you for commenting! As the previous commenter mentions, we always import an archive into its own collection. The list of works imported to the 852 Prospect collection is here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/852_prospect_archive/works You can search, sort and filter on that page, just as with any list of works in the AO3. I hope that meets your needs.
  Meanwhile, if you would like to volunteer as a Tag Wrangler, keep an eye on the OTW's Twitter account (@OTW_News) and other news sources for open volunteering positions. They'll also appear as a list on the volunteering homepage (http://transformativeworks.org/volunteer), so you can check back in future.
  Thanks again!
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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Eider_Down Sat 13 Nov 2021 06:25AM UTC

I completely support Open Door's preservation of all these fanworks written for a site whose philosophy I found repellent as a young, gay reader. While many of this site's contributors treated certain groups in the LGBTQ community with disdain and mockery back in the day, fanworks deserve to be preserved.

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sat 13 Nov 2021 08:09AM UTC
  
  Thank you for your generous support, Eider_Down, which is much appreciated.
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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Nightcandle Sat 13 Nov 2021 07:28AM UTC

While it's always sad when someone passes away I'm very glad that thanks to his forethought it's still possible to import the works hosted on Chad's site to AO3 and therefore preserve them against getting lost when the site inevitably closes down.
Thank you to everyone who made and makes this possible
and a heartfelt "Welcome" to th works of the Harry Potter FanFic Archive!

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sat 13 Nov 2021 08:10AM UTC
  
  Thank you very much, Nightcandle. Your ongoing support, and your welcome of each archive, is greatly appreciated.
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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Ginada Sat 13 Nov 2021 10:48AM UTC

While it is sad that the reason is the passing of the owner, I'm very much looking forward to see the works here on AO3. I've never heard of that archive and probably would have never found it and it looks the works will bring a bit of a different flavour and add to the variety here.

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sat 13 Nov 2021 12:04PM UTC
  
  Thank you for the support and the welcome, Ginada. Much appreciated!
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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Grim_T_Reaper Sat 13 Nov 2021 10:52PM UTC

Nice to know the archive is getting preserved, as there are some good stories on there that haven't been updated in a long while, that i'm hoping the authors get prodded to continue.

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sun 14 Nov 2021 05:45AM UTC
  
  Thank you for commenting. We, too, hope that importing archives helps prompt a new lease of life for old and new fanworks!
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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Aouregan Sun 14 Nov 2021 12:35AM UTC

It's sad to hear that another fanfiction site is being shut down and even sadder to hear that the person who ran it is no longer with us. However, I am happy that the archive is being brought here. I do see that the site is still very active, so I am curious to know if the message was passed along to the members of that site?

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sun 14 Nov 2021 05:53AM UTC
  
  Thank you for acknowledging and sharing in the sadness - and also for sharing in the happiness for this archive having a new custodian and a new home. Like you, I was pleased to see how active the site has remained after all these years! We will certainly be in touch with the individual creators as the import proceeds.
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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TheFluffyOne Sun 14 Nov 2021 03:45AM UTC

I likely have never read these fics because I would not stay on a site that says no M/M.... But the joy of having such a set of works uploaded to this site is just so heartwarming. Sad about the page owner though. Would he have wanted them here? Probably not.

Last Edited Sun 14 Nov 2021 03:45AM UTC

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Sun 14 Nov 2021 06:01AM UTC
  
  Thank you for welcoming the HPFFA fanworks to the AO3! Chad chose the archive's custodian with care, and Open Doors respects Chad's wishes and the custodian's decisions. I am sure Chad would be glad to know your heart is warmed by all the new works being imported!
  cheers, Julie
  Open Doors
  
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BRDman Mon 15 Nov 2021 01:11PM UTC

Cheers for preserving the archive! RIP Chad, condolences to his friends and family.
As a reader, I wish it was possible to copy the story tracking as easily, maybe linking accounts between sites? No idea how to do that though - not a tech head, just a reader.

Last Edited Mon 15 Nov 2021 01:13PM UTC

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Tue 16 Nov 2021 02:35AM UTC
  
  Thank you for your kind words about Chad and his archive. We are very proud to be preserving this part of his legacy.
  I'm not a tech head either, but I'm afraid your suggestion about the story tracking won't be possible. It's a nice idea, though!
  Thanks again for commenting.
  cheers, Julie
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WarriorEowyn Mon 15 Nov 2021 10:55PM UTC

On the topic of the HP fandom, is there any way to get Fictionalley up and running long enough to port its stuff over here? That’s a huge amount of fic that’s been lost.

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1. NeverDonePretending Tue 16 Nov 2021 01:20AM UTC
  
  They started importing a good while ago, but only a small number of works are currently in the collection. As far as I know, this was the last we heard about it:
  https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/10782
  https://archiveofourown.org/collections/fictionalley
  I’m actually really curious if this is going to be it as well. I absolutely loved FictionAlley.
  
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2. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Tue 16 Nov 2021 02:39AM UTC
  
  Thank you for your query. FictionAlley is in our queue of archives to import, and we hold a backup of the fanworks.
  While an archive import can technically begin 30 days after the announcement, and creators are always welcome to add their own works to the collection, in practice, most archives take several months or years for an import to be completed. The size of the archive is a very significant factor, as anything too large to be imported manually has to wait for our coding volunteers to write the custom code required for an automated import. FictionAlley is both by far the largest archive we have ever taken on, and uses a custom coded database system (as opposed to eFiction or Automated Archive), which means that the import code will have to be written entirely from scratch.
  We know that many people are eagerly awaiting this import, but at this point we really can't predict when it will be completed.
  cheers, Julie
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3. 1. WarriorEowyn Tue 16 Nov 2021 03:27AM UTC
    
    Thank you! It is very good to know that you do have backups of the fics, and so are capable of importing them once workload permits - I was afraid they were all lost! I know, Fictionalley’s ginormous.
    
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4. dulcies Tue 16 Nov 2021 02:28PM UTC
  
  There’s an unofficial mirror site that has most of the fictionalley works. I’m not sure if it’s allowed to link here so I won’t, but searching “fictionalley archive” should pull it up
  
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Artemis_2nd Tue 16 Nov 2021 03:58AM UTC

What not alot of people here seem to realize is that no one tags stories anymore making it literally impossible for the filters on this site to work. So people whining about there being no m/m while having no idea the site existed is on them.
The same problem with the tags exists today and the same with being you having no idea it was around. At least there you are warned of it. Here the authors straight up don't care about tags or anything. The tags on that site at least worked. Here they're basically a flimsy guardrail. You can literally have a tab drinking a coke and it's considered legit.

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1. Pavook Tue 16 Nov 2021 06:57PM UTC
  
  I get you, I'm sad to notice how many authors do not care to properly tag their stories. Sure ao3 has probably the most extensive and comprehensible tags, but it's all moot when half of the authors don't use even the important ones correctly or at all. If I ignore missing M/M and F/F tags that seem to be a discussion here, there is also Multi which itself could mean practically anything. It could be that there is a focus on more pairings than one - like multiple people having their own relationships that are somewhat important to the story, having more than one MC focus in the story. It could mean one relationship triangle of sorts. It could mean harem/polycule. It could mean sleeping around without much thought. It's just so vague that checking it up spits out various results and most of it is probably not what the reader had in mind.
  
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2. 1. eelia_faustus Wed 17 Nov 2021 06:30PM UTC
    
    I think the Multi and the Other thags should always be paired with appropriate Relationship and Additional tags. If you have a Multi fic that also has threesome/poly tags and you have another one with many different relationship tags then you know which is which. Same thing with the "Other" category. Those are umbrella tags that can't really be filtered in or out by themselves and expecting them to give appropriate results. You need to adjust your search with other tags to exclude or include. The point is that AO3 gives maximum freedom of tagging within certain sensible limits, and that's something that has both positive and negative sides because it relies a lot on the author's judgment. I honestly prefer having to deal with improper tagging, which still can have workarounds if one is willing to be flexible enough, than having a coercitive tagging system, tbh.
    
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  2. Raberba girl (Raberba_girl) Fri 19 Nov 2021 12:42AM UTC
    
    I've always thought that "Multi" meant a combination of relationship types (F/M and/or M/M and/or F/F and/or Gen), not simply more than one major pairing.
    For the longest time, I used to use the "Other" category for fics of mine that contained non-romantic sexual relationships (such as non-con, since I didn't want my fic with a non-con pairing to end up in search results for people looking for a romantic version of that pairing). But then one day it finally occurred to me that "Other" was actually probably intended for relationships involving non-cis characters. X'''D Oops.
    
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DribsAndDrabbles Tue 16 Nov 2021 06:54PM UTC

Whilst I am thrilled the Harry Potter FanFic Archive is moving to AO3, why is the original archive being shut down in the first place?

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1. zessa Tue 16 Nov 2021 09:40PM UTC
  
  The creator, maintaner, and moderator passed away.
  
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2. 1. DribsAndDrabbles Tue 16 Nov 2021 09:58PM UTC
    
    I'm sorry to hear that. At least it's not a question of other sites no longer hosting fanworks!
    
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3. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Tue 16 Nov 2021 10:51PM UTC
  
  Thank you for your support for the archive's move to the AO3. As the previous commenter mentioned, the move is due to the death of the original archivist - and for many reasons, the custodian is not in a position to maintain the archive in its current form. I hope you find plenty of fanwork treasure here once it's imported!
  cheers, Julie
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Account Deleted Wed 17 Nov 2021 12:46AM UTC

While it is sad that the creator has unfortunately passed away, I am glad to know that the works on that archive will be preserved.
HARRY POTTER FANS UNITE

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Wed 17 Nov 2021 05:17AM UTC
  
  Thank you for your support of this import. I hope you'll find some magical works here!
  cheers, Julie
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Sweet_Kagamine_Kiss Wed 17 Nov 2021 05:35PM UTC

Hey. I love this idea. I feel bad that the owner passed and that is how life is for everyone (unpredictable), but it's a good thing to see that fan stories from the past wont be lost forever.

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Wed 17 Nov 2021 11:36PM UTC
  
  Thank you for your kind thoughts and your support! We care very much about preserving what we can.
  cheers, Julie
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byroncurse Thu 18 Nov 2021 01:03AM UTC

Would love to see Ashwinder and the other SycophantHex archives similarly protected and preserved. Thanks!

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1. OTW_Open_Doors (Official) Thu 18 Nov 2021 10:28PM UTC
  
  We welcome all archives that are in need of a new home. If you'd like to contact us directly about a specific archive you're concerned about, please use our contact form (link below). If the archive seems to fall into our remit, we'll try to contact the mods with an offer to help.
  Contact form: https://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/en/contact-open-doors/
  cheers, Julie
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2. daimahou Fri 19 Nov 2021 06:21PM UTC
  
  Contact SycophantHex archives, and let them know this thing is possible.
  
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