Archive Of Our Own (A03) VS Fan Fiction.net (unpopular opinion) What's your views?

[Heatblizzard]

Both are fanfiction sites but serve very different crowds.
One is highly praised to the point it has a snooty fanbase where they look down upon anyone that thinks otherwise whom try other sites. The other tends to be a lot more casual and not care as long as it works for them.


FF.net while it has it's glitches and bad moments I find it FAR easier to find stories despite it dying. I don't know about Watt Pad as you are forced to register to even read so I cannot comment on how that site functions.

Live Journal looks like a cringy teenage blog.

AO3 on the other hand. Oh God it's a holy mess and needs pretty much an overhaul.

To find any full length fic you have to do a lot of hair tearing to quote Spike Jones Beetlebaum song
"Now they are tearing hair. There's hair all over the place There's hair all over the ring! I don't know who's hair it is oh it's mine! They are so close it's either a photo finish or an oil painting.
And the winner issssssssssssssssssssss...................Beeeeeeeeeeetlebaaaaaaaaum" 🙃

Fanfiction.net the race horse you thought was going to lose because people said it would but still has some umph left in it if you give it a try.



Most fan fic on A03 are written by people you really wouldn't want to meet in a dark ally and at least 1/3rd I wonder if they drive mysterious white vans with no logo doing only God knows what and you bettter hope to not come across them. If you do make sure you have 911 on speed dial and mace for personal protection! I wonder how many drive mysterious ice cream trucks with no company logo.



Now there ARE adventure length stories on A03 but the way the tagging system works good luck finding it as I tried their excluding system to exclude fics I don't want but many times they still show up anyways whether or not I apply the tags or remove them.

Fan Fiction.net I can find a full adventure length story in less then 1 minute flat with only a few clicks mainly navigating to the fandom itself.
Once I reach said fandom it's pretty much self explanatory and the community is far more open to comments where as A03 (Archive) acts like a snowflake safe space constantly having to double check what you say and even then there is no 100 percent guarantee the author won't explode at you in a fit.


On Reddit's own fanfiction sub authors are whining about 'mean readers' causing readers to have to constantly justify comments that otherwise are not harmful such as 'Will this story gets updated soon' is now a national crime.

Most of my life it was generally a curtesy and a good comment to let authors know they place value in their story and they think their story is worthy enough to be updated. Most authors would've leaped for joy at a simple comment saying the story deserves a lot. Now you are constantly waking on egg shells because authors having a bad day justifys them blowing up at the reader

It's not healthy if you have to constantly fear an attack by an author and/or their fanbase because of something taken the wrong way which the goal posts is constantly changing.

This toxic behavior NEEDS to stop on both sides. I know hate comments do exist but so far I see mostly authors overexaggerating and then making everyone else look evil.

Fan Fiction.net however most authors are open to suggestions and even asks readers how they want the story to go if there is a possibility of multiple endings. It was a lot more fun back then with interaction between reader and author. Many times the author would grow to write novels.


Fanfiction.net ALSO has a sister site Fiction Press for original stories ONLY.

Also I forgot to mention that A03 sometimes I see fanfics that look like they escaped fanfiction dot net.

[Electric Cupcake]

Fimfiction is king.

And pastebin

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Heatblizzard:

...This toxic behavior NEEDS to stop on both sides. I know hate comments do exist but so far I see mostly authors overexaggerating and then making everyone else look evil...

Absolutely nobody comes away clean from a "fan-fiction" website. Nobody.

If you enjoy it, that's up to you. But, do not engage... Do not post, reply, give reviews, or interact WITH ANYONE. Lurk. Get whatever you think you get out of it. Then, quickly leave.

Do not seek out those that lie sleeplessly in the shadows.

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

Originally posted by Heatblizzard:

...This toxic behavior NEEDS to stop on both sides. I know hate comments do exist but so far I see mostly authors overexaggerating and then making everyone else look evil...

Absolutely nobody comes away clean from a "fan-fiction" website. Nobody.

If you enjoy it, that's up to you. But, do not engage... Do not post, reply, give reviews, or interact WITH ANYONE. Lurk. Get whatever you think you get out of it. Then, quickly leave.

Do not seek out those that lie sleeplessly in the shadows.

I agree though on FF.net it's easier to find cute fanfics that are heartwarming then Archive. Sadly most of these are usually one shot efforts always leaving me hungry for more.

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by Electric Cupcake:

Fimfiction is king.

And pastebin

Did you know fan fiction dot net has a sister site just for original stories only? You can't post any fandom related fics there.

[wesnef]

<whynotboth.gif>

Personally, I've read fics on both, for years and years. And don't have trouble finding things. And have never run into "toxicity" (or 'praise' for one not the other, or any of that), but then I don't post comments on either. /shrug

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by wesnef:

<whynotboth.gif>

Personally, I've read fics on both, for years and years. And don't have trouble finding things. And have never run into "toxicity" (or 'praise' for one not the other, or any of that), but then I don't post comments on either. /shrug

If you do only say please and thank you (unless that too suddenly becomes offensive for whatever reason) as you cannot point anything out or asks questions especially if the fic even remotely starts pushing woke.

[MeowDread]

Originally posted by Heatblizzard:

Originally posted by wesnef:

<whynotboth.gif>

Personally, I've read fics on both, for years and years. And don't have trouble finding things. And have never run into "toxicity" (or 'praise' for one not the other, or any of that), but then I don't post comments on either. /shrug

If you do only say please and thank you (unless that too suddenly becomes offensive for whatever reason) as you cannot point anything out or asks questions especially if the fic even remotely starts pushing woke.

Stop looking at gay or t4t fanfics if you don't like "woke" then

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by dominikrni:

Originally posted by Heatblizzard:

If you do only say please and thank you (unless that too suddenly becomes offensive for whatever reason) as you cannot point anything out or asks questions especially if the fic even remotely starts pushing woke.

Stop looking at gay or t4t fanfics if you don't like "woke" then

Often times it's hidden until your halfway thru chapter 2 or 3 which I dunno if the author was too stupid to warn in the summary or if the author was doing it for shock value.

Now smart authors give warnings and sadly the filter system is broken if you try to filter that crap out many will still show up anyways.

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by wesnef:

<whynotboth.gif>

Personally, I've read fics on both, for years and years. And don't have trouble finding things. And have never run into "toxicity" (or 'praise' for one not the other, or any of that), but then I don't post comments on either. /shrug

I guess you've never been to R/Fanfiction which is mostly praise for AO3 and authors whining about lack of reviews but then complains about all these 'mean readers' and then readers asking if it was 'right or wrong' to make this comment. So everyone is always walking around each other's toes doing this weird little slide dance.

[Temnovit]

There is a new modern website: https://fic.fan
Not many stories yet, but the interface and search is much better than ffnet or ao3

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by Temnovit:

There is a new modern website: https://fic.fan
Not many stories yet, but the interface and search is much better than ffnet or ao3

A03 somehow has become a dumpster fire for people who want to be grossed out and get others to agree. I've notice if you make a family friendly story there it WILL be ignored no matter how well rounded it is where an over the top sex fic gets all the attention. I'm sure the A03 owners are pedophiles to a degree so of course they'll 'protect' the ass of others.

As a result authors on A03 are always uptight and sensitive where one day you could say something polite and they'll accept it but a week later it's a 'naughty' comment all depending on their mood. Then they whine about 'Nobody comments on my story! Waaaaaaaa!'

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by Temnovit:

There is a new modern website: https://fic.fan
Not many stories yet, but the interface and search is much better than ffnet or ao3

Do you think the gross people will take it over like A03 trying to crowd out those who don't want that life style?

[76561198800621663]

Originally posted by Heatblizzard:

Originally posted by wesnef:

<whynotboth.gif>

Personally, I've read fics on both, for years and years. And don't have trouble finding things. And have never run into "toxicity" (or 'praise' for one not the other, or any of that), but then I don't post comments on either. /shrug

If you do only say please and thank you (unless that too suddenly becomes offensive for whatever reason) as you cannot point anything out or asks questions especially if the fic even remotely starts pushing woke.

God. Honestly your rant was already off putting but it really made it worse when you mention "woke stuff".

You're problems aren't with the site it self but the users. So I don't know why you bother interacting with them if they bother you so much.

Also why are you ranting about fanfiction on steam?

[Heatblizzard]

Originally posted by chaotichild:

Originally posted by Heatblizzard:

If you do only say please and thank you (unless that too suddenly becomes offensive for whatever reason) as you cannot point anything out or asks questions especially if the fic even remotely starts pushing woke.

God. Honestly your rant was already off putting but it really made it worse when you mention "woke stuff".

You're problems aren't with the site it self but the users. So I don't know why you bother interacting with them if they bother you so much.

Also why are you ranting about fanfiction on steam?

The point I'm trying to make is the 'comment' box wasn't always the 'praise' box which it now is. In the early days of fanfiction you were only a troll if you literally attacked the author and/or threatened the author.etc which was never okay even in the 'good ole days' but today's attitude makes it a whole lot worse now we all have to walk on egg shells and you help prove it.

Previously people could share their views without getting easily offended at each other and on the other side fanfic authors were more open to readers as a result.

[Heatblizzard]

Edit: Now making praise comments is 'offensive' according to unofficial rules it's now behaving like a 'chat bot' unless you literally spell out your entire sex life and write a 3 page essay to 'prove' your a legitimate reviewer. Good Lord! 😂🤮🔒