Ink Stained Fingers, a haven for Harry Potter slash and femslash fan fiction and fan art, is moving to the Archive of Our Own (AO3).
In this post:
- A bit of background explanation
- What this means for creators who have work on Ink Stained Fingers
- And what to do if you still have questions
Background explanation
The Ink Stained Fingers archive was created at a difficult time in fandom. FF.net had just outlawed explicit slash, and several Harry Potter fandom archives had to impose strict limitations on stories allowed to their sites because of their host’s regulations. Open archives were also receiving Cease & Desist letters from publishers and closing. At the same time, writers in the HP fandom were expanding their horizons with stories featuring mpreg, non-con sex, BDSM, kink, bestiality, and explicit slash and femslash. A decision was made on the Snape-slash mailing list to locate a host platform that would accept a no-holds-barred slash archive, and to create that archive for everyone to use. Over the next 10 years, over 3,300 stories would be uploaded to this archive.
Fast-forward to 2014, when the web-world is much different. Small and medium single-fandom sites with less accessible search capabilities are giving way to large multi-fandom sites where every kind of story and pairing is allowed and searching is easy. Fandom itself is more accepting of stories that push the edge. During the last year, only 2 stories have been uploaded to ISF, primarily due to the age of the posting interface and the lack of new readership. It was either time for a face-lift, or time to move our stories elsewhere. After polling the readership, it was agreed that moving the collection to AO3 was the way to best serve the Harry Potter fandom, to preserve these stories for the future, and even lure in new readers.
Open Doors will be working with Diana Williams to import the Ink Stained Fingers archive’ into a separate, searchable collection with its own identity. We will begin manually importing works from Ink Stained Fingers to the AO3 collection in January 2015.
What does this mean for creators who have work on Ink Stained Fingers?
This is the part where we ask for your help!
1. If you already have an AO3 account and have posted your ISF works there, please contact Open Doors with your ISF pseud(s) and e-mail address(es), so that we won’t import your stories. (For instructions on mass-adding stories to the new collection on the AO3, InkStainedFingers, please see the Open Doors website.)
2. If you don’t already have an AO3 account but would like one to import your stories yourself, please contact Open Doors with your ISF pseud(s), and the preferred e-mail address to send the AO3 invite to. (For instructions on importing works and adding them to the InkStainedFingers collection, please see the Open Doors website.)
3. If you don’t already have an AO3 account but would like one, as well as assistance importing your works, please contact Open Doors with your ISF pseud(s), and the preferred e-mail address to send the AO3 invite to. (Once your account is set up, let us know your AO3 name, and we can transfer your works to you.)
4. If you would NOT like your works moved, please contact Open Doors with your ISF pseud(s) and e-mail address(es) so that we will not add them. (If you would not mind them being preserved but do not want your name attached to them any longer, please let us know that too—we can orphan your works instead of leaving them behind to be deleted.)
All works archived on a creator’s behalf will be attributed with the creator’s name in the byline of the work. As we import works, we will e-mail notifications to the address associated with 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 3 months, all unclaimed imported works will be made visible to all visitors.
If you no longer have access to the email account associated with your Ink Stained Fingers account, please contact Open Doors and we’ll help you out. (If you’ve posted the stories elsewhere, or have an easy way to verify that they’re yours, that’s great; if not, we will work with Diana to confirm your claims.)
If you still have questions…
If you have further questions, visit the Open Doors FAQ page, contact the Open Doors committee, or leave a comment on this post and we’ll respond as soon as we can.
We’d also love it if fans could help us preserve the story of Ink Stained Fingers on Fanlore. If you’re new to wiki editing, no worries! Check out the new visitor portal, or ask the Fanlore Gardeners for tips.
Ink Stained Fingers has been delighted to serve the Harry Potter slash community and looks forward to a future as part of the AO3–and we’re equally delighted to welcome this archive aboard!
– The Open Doors team