#for the love of god don't use the deadsite

[firedragon1321]

Fanfiction Dot Net Is a Hellhole

I just got an email that someone liked/followed/something on a fic on fanfiction dot net. Which means it’s time to rant.

The fic is an old Pokemon XD story, which is also uploaded to Ao3. The title is “Pure” (on ff.net, it has the subtitle “A Pokemon XD Story” on Ao3). I received this email indicating that a user has added the story to their Story Alert Subscription, which...I don’t even know what that is, tbh.

If you want to read this fic, please go to this link and not my dead account on that trash site- https://archiveofourown.org/works/13848120 This is the same exact fic. Nothing has changed. Even the Author’s Note has migrated. Please read it here. I’m begging you not to read the fic on fanfiction dot turd.

There are several reasons why I’m being bitchy about reading my fic on A03-

Fanfiction dot net grows increasingly unstable. Every time I use it, I get a Cloudflare test, and it’s loaded to the brim with ads. These ads are often disruptive and cut into the fics themselves. This ain’t 2010 ff.net.

The good ol’ Pit of Voles has been all but abandoned by its creators, who have changed their focus to FictionPress (original fic) only, and haven’t updated their Twitter since March 20, 2023. The domain name for fanfiction dot net will expire in 2028. When it does, it will likely dissolve since the admins aren’t paying attention to it. There is a longpost around here that goes into more detail, but I can’t find it.

The desktop version of the site is currently still buried under leaves (for those who don’t know what that means, this post explains it). Given the past track record of the admins, it’s gonna stay this way for a long time.

The above points mean ALL THE FANFICS ON THAT SITE WILL GO KAPUT SOONER OR LATER. So saving/following things there is probably a bad idea. If you use fanficiton dot net, you might want to see if the author has moved their stuff to Ao3/Tumblr/another website.

BTW- this is my fanfiction dot net page. It only has Pure, the fanfic which was linked here and moved to Ao3.

So this is a good time to remind you- 

Save any fics you like on fanfiction dot net. If the fic is gone, but it wasn’t deleted before around 2014, you can probably find it here- https://archive.org/download/fanfictiondotnet_repack, provided you remember the fandom and have some patience.

If you write fic- uplift anything you care about to an Ao3/Tumblr/other account. Especially if there is no backup on your computer. Because there’s only five more years before the fanfic apocalypse. Perhaps earlier, since the site is a train wreck.

TL;DR- Don’t follow/like/save things on the deadsite. Save directly to your computer. Repost your own old work (obviously don’t steal someone else’s fic without permission). Let the leaves fall.