cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50855395

I (and a lot of other people, I'd guess) read and write fanfiction.

But as far as I know, there's never really been a federated fanfic platform — nothing that plugs into the fediverse the way Mastodon does for microblogging or PeerTube/Loops does for video.

---

Then I stumbled upon SquidgeWorld Archive (SQWA), an AO3 alternative that actually runs on the same codebase as AO3 otwarchive.

It's got way fewer users than AO3, which honestly gives it a cozier, more small-town vibe.

The devs/maintainers behind it, squidge.org, even run both Mastodon and Bluesky accounts.

The catch: people have posted that fics pulling thousands of views on AO3 get little to none on SQWA. Makes sense — it's just a much smaller pond.

---

So, two half-formed ideas that I wanted to possibly toss out:

Suggestion #1 — "colonize" SQWA.

What if fediverse-native fanfic folks just started actually posting there? Cross-link your fediverse socials, bring your existing following over, treat it like planting a flag. It already exists, the maintainers are clearly fediverse-friendly, it just needs bodies.

---

Suggestion #2 — fork it (and ao3) and actually federate it.

AO3's otwarchive code is open source, which is exactly what SQWA is running on. What if someone forked it and built out real federation — ActivityPub support, the whole deal — instead of just being a second standalone AO3 clone? That feels like the "real" long-term fix, but it's a genuine software undertaking, not a weekend project.

---

I'd love to take a crack at #2 myself but I don't have the time or the technical bandwidth for something that size right now, so I'm just putting it out there in case it resonates with anyone here.

Curious what this community thinks — is #1 realistic, or does fanfiction just need a ground-up federated archive to actually work?

---

Edit: Sorry for any mistakes, I'm currently at work.

---

Edit Edit:*** There are also these Ao3 mirror sites and alternatives:

Mirror sites:

https://archiveofourown.gay/

https://archive.transformativeworks.org/

https://insecure.archiveofourown.org/

Redirects:

https://archiveofourown.com/

https://archiveofourown.net/

https://archiveofourown.site/

https://ao3.gay/

https://ao3.org/

Other Alternatives:

https://sunset.femslash.club/

https://www.cfaarchive.org/

Home | Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive

Ad Astra Star Trek Fanfiction Archive

(www.adastrafanfic.com)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50855395

I (and a lot of other people, I'd guess) read and write fanfiction.

But as far as I know, there's never really been a federated fanfic platform — nothing that plugs into the fediverse the way Mastodon does for microblogging or PeerTube/Loops does for video.

---

Then I stumbled upon SquidgeWorld Archive (SQWA), an AO3 alternative that actually runs on the same codebase as AO3 otwarchive.

It's got way fewer users than AO3, which honestly gives it a cozier, more small-town vibe.

The devs/maintainers behind it, squidge.org, even run both Mastodon and Bluesky accounts.

The catch: people have posted that fics pulling thousands of views on AO3 get little to none on SQWA. Makes sense — it's just a much smaller pond.

---

So, two half-formed ideas that I wanted to possibly toss out:

Suggestion #1 — "colonize" SQWA.

What if fediverse-native fanfic folks just started actually posting there? Cross-link your fediverse socials, bring your existing following over, treat it like planting a flag. It already exists, the maintainers are clearly fediverse-friendly, it just needs bodies.

---

Suggestion #2 — fork it (and ao3) and actually federate it.

AO3's otwarchive code is open source, which is exactly what SQWA is running on. What if someone forked it and built out real federation — ActivityPub support, the whole deal — instead of just being a second standalone AO3 clone? That feels like the "real" long-term fix, but it's a genuine software undertaking, not a weekend project.

---

I'd love to take a crack at #2 myself but I don't have the time or the technical bandwidth for something that size right now, so I'm just putting it out there in case it resonates with anyone here.

Curious what this community thinks — is #1 realistic, or does fanfiction just need a ground-up federated archive to actually work?

---

Edit: Sorry for any mistakes, I'm currently at work.

---

Edit Edit:*** There are also these Ao3 mirror sites and alternatives:

Mirror sites:

https://archiveofourown.gay/

https://archive.transformativeworks.org/

https://insecure.archiveofourown.org/

Redirects:

https://archiveofourown.com/

https://archiveofourown.net/

https://archiveofourown.site/

https://ao3.gay/

https://ao3.org/

Other Alternatives:

https://sunset.femslash.club/

https://www.cfaarchive.org/

Home | Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive

Ad Astra Star Trek Fanfiction Archive

(www.adastrafanfic.com)

Possibly infeasible Suggestion #3. Work with AO3 and its parent organization to see if there’s a way to give it ActivityPub support and assist in implementation?

Could of course make a piefed instance for fanfiction. It won't work as well as these archive sites, but it would be federated at least.

You can, if you want.

I've already tried contacting them, via their contact form, about it, but I've never gotten a response back.

Plus, Squidge might make more sense / be easier, given that they have both Mastodon, and Bluesky, accounts, that you would be able to contact them via.

Yes I don't see how fanfiction is so different from other content that it requires a whole new platform be developed.