stop drawing the same damn thing

Sharing this because I just found out about this and it blew my mind.

The short version of it is: The Wayback Machine is not the only backup/archive of AO3 content out there. It’s just the most user-friendly and immediately browsable.

THIS database on Archive.org contains most AO3 fics as text files, including plenty that are not Waybacked: https://archive.org/details/AO3_final_location

What you’ll need: A browser for .sqlite3 files such as DB Browser for SQLite, an archive manager (e.g. WinRar or 7zip), good internet download speeds, and potentially a LOT of free GBs in storage space.

Not needed but heavily recommended: A download manager such as HTTP Downloader (so you don’t lose the entire download the second your internet stutters).

1. Click here to get to the archive’s files. It’s going to look something like this:

ao3_current.sqlite3 and ao3_old_files.sqlite3 are metadata files. The .zip files contain fic, most of them in simple .txt format. The metadata files tell you which fic is in which zip.

The “current” metadata file is recent backups. The “old” metadata file seems to be fics archived until 2020ish.

2. First, download either ao3_current.sqlite3 or ao3_old_files.sqlite3. Now launch DB Browser for SQlite, then File > Open Database Read-Only > open the sqlite3 file. Now click on the Browse Data tab.

3. It’s going to look like this.

4. The “Filter in any column” field can be used for keyword searches in, well, any column of this table. Be warned, it takes a while to update, give it time, it’s indexing.

5. Here I searched for all fic which gets a hit for the “Avengers” keyword (usually fandom). You can also search for a specific title, author, description, etc.

Let’s try to locate the first fic on the list. Click on the field on the left - row 1, column 1.

On the right you’ll see the full content of that cell. The most important thing here is the start - ao3_01. This means that the fic is located in ao3_old_files_part01.zip.

6. Download ao3_old_files_part01.zip and open it with your archive manager. It’s 5.5 GB. This will take some time.

7. There are multiple ways to find the fic within the zip file. Probably the easiest way is to use your archive manager’s search/find function to locate the fic by keyword - author is a good bet here, or title if it’s unique enough - and extract that. This way you don’t have to extract the entire archive. Be sure to add a wildcard operator (*) on either side of the keyword.

8. Extract the file and you’re done. Note: It will probably be in .txt format, and might be in one giant block of text. Just select-all and paste it to a proper word processor to restore the paragraph formatting.

+ I suppose if you’ve got like a free TB of space you could just skip the metadata step and download all the zip files and unzip them and use a command line search tool for keywords, too. This will work with keywords like title, author and fandom that are part of the file title. The metadata file just contains additional info, like character fields, description, etc.

I have asked this myself in the past and never gotten an answer.

It became pretty standard jargon, as I understand, to disambiguate when writing to other humans. First phys!Steve vs the Steve right next to you, just like you were taking to the machine, then getting looser (as jargon does) to reference, say, bearded!Steve vs bald!Steve.

[ID: Photos of a needle felted Lascaux style horse, with a hand print stencil design on the rump. End ID.]

Private SecUnit Time (no humans allowed!)

Fourth Amendment (protection from unreasonable searches and seizures)

Fifth Amendment (right not to be compelled to incriminate oneself)

Due Process Clause (government must have lawful justification)

The Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency pilot is flawless

I have now run anime cons for 20 years. I got into anime in the period where the internet was rising, and legal access to this stuff was sparse, and generally limited to the biggest titles. I bought Fruits Basket on four. Separate. DVDs. I got each ON SALE for around 20.00. I paid EIGHTY PLUS DOLLARS for 4 DVDs of Fruits Basket.

But most of my early access was on blank DVDs with names and episode numbers written clumsily in sharpie. Handed over by friends, traded at con meetings, mailed to me by a friend via media mail. Fansubs and bootlegs, torrented and copied endlessly.

But there used those be a rule. A covenant. Unbreakable. Once a property was licensed, all illegal distribution stopped. Instantly.

The last episode of Fullmetal Alchemist I saw involved Hughes in a phone booth. The series was licensed right after that, and all access stopped. Fansubbers closed their listings, torrents dried up.

Because the end goal was licensing. We wanted nice, physical copies. We wanted professional, properly coded subtitles. We wanted an English Dub cast. We wanted to make anime a viable industry in the West.

So we bought Fruits Basket for eighty goddamn dollars.

So as I reach bitterly for my DVD burner yet again, it's time to remember. We upheld our part of the bargain. We bought it legally from them. We paid to see this industry grow and thrive.