In a significant blow to each the terminally online and the criminally horny, the fan fiction web site Archive of Our Own (AO3) has quickly shut down as a result of a “safety incident,” based on an replace posted on the positioning.
On October 29, an admin for AO3 posted that the web site was “down for upkeep.” The assertion stated that it might take as much as 4 weeks for service to be absolutely restored, although it was doable the positioning could be again up in a “degraded state” sooner, with a few of its options disabled.
Although the unique assertion didn’t specify the explanations for the closure, subsequent updates stated {that a} “safety incident” had taken place, although “we’re nonetheless within the early levels of response [and] figuring out its scope.” Whereas the assertion stated that AO3 didn’t imagine that its consumer database had been stolen, it urged customers to train warning and alter their passwords for the positioning.
Run by the Group for Transformative Works, a nonprofit devoted to preserving fandom communities on the web, AO3 was based in 2007 partially as a result of considerations about censorship and company pursuits overtaking fandom areas. The web site has 11 million users, based on a 2026 press launch, and hosts greater than 18 million authentic works. The explosive recognition of the homosexual hockey romance Heated Rivalry TV collection generated a surge of latest curiosity final yr, ensuing within the publication of tens of hundreds of tales that includes the present’s most important characters, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, on the platform.
These reliant on AO3 for his or her each day dose of Destiel– or Dramione-inspired smut will not be taking the information properly. “No ao3 for presumably 4 weeks SOMEONE DO SOMETHING,” one Heated Rivalry fan account posted on X, tagging not simply AO3 itself but additionally the official X accounts for the FBI, the CIA, and, for some cause, Uber Assist. Different followers are compiling Google Docs of hyperlinks to downloaded tales, touting them as “survival guides” for the “AO3 apocalypse” and organizing them by fictional character pairings, or ships. (Be warned, nonetheless: One such doc is tough to load as a result of “heavy site visitors” on the file.)
Others commented on the timing of the outage, mentioning that it coincides with “No Nut November,” the internet-based problem that encourages folks to abstain from masturbation all through the month. “AO3 taking no nut november somewhat too critically,” one individual wrote.
A consultant for the Group for Transformative Works didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. However the chaos impressed by the positioning’s shutdown underscores the prominence of fan fiction in on a regular basis lives, driving mainstream publishing tendencies and producing lots of of thousands and thousands of views. It additionally serves because the engine for the burgeoning vertical video industry, with streaming platforms consistently scouring fan fiction web sites for works to adapt.
“All life kinds depending on AO3 are actually withering proper now,” one fan wrote. “That is our 9/11.”
