Member-only story
How I Accidentally Got Fanfiction Banned at my Christian University
Or, how an overachieving student happened to alert faculty to the moral depravity of AO3
I never really pictured myself as a rebellious student, raging against the antiquated, arbitrary regulations of a religious institution. No, I was always the teacher’s pet, the one who read the handbook carefully and stayed out of every kind of trouble.
So, imagine my surprise when I go to visit a familiar website, only to find the formulaic signpost of censorship. “This website has been blocked by your administration.” The website? archiveofourown.org.
AO3, as it is more commonly known, is a website for hosting fanfiction; i.e., creative writing that uses characters and/or stories from existing media. If you’d like a more detailed explanation, Paul Combs wrote a great article about fanfiction.
Normally, people go to the site to read fanfiction, or perhaps even to write it if they’re feeling particularly bold. And if that’s all I had done, I likely…
