Because AO3 is that site. Because AO3 was that site long before you decided AO3 was better than the sites you bullied us off of before, and I can promise you if someone somehow comes up with a fanfic site you like better specifically for the 'gross stuff' you'll try to bully us off that too so you can benefit from it.

AO3's specific core purpose is to preserve fanfiction, yes, but it was also instigated as a host site for the fanfiction that kept getting yeeted off other platforms like Wattpad. Its designed to preserve all fanfiction, not just the fanfiction you, personally, think is 'allowed' to be written.

AO3 is the site for all the gross stuff the freaks make. We've been there just as long as you. We've been funding it just as long as you have. AO3 has specifically said you have a place here. The timeline was literally:

Wattpad/FF.net/LiveJournal purge fanfics > AO3 is born > The people who's fics got purged moved over to AO3 > AO3 gains popularity as the best functioning site > The people who pushed for the fics to be purged off Wattpad move to AO3 > The same people try to push for AO3 to purge fics.

It was built around "we need to own the servers" so we wouldn't have to deal with anyone else's judgment calls about what was acceptable in fanfic: Not corporate sponsors, not evangelical religious groups, not "save the children" activists... and not other fans who think that The Gross Stuff should be banned from public view, only shared via private email after you've sent in a request heavily laden with special keywords.

Some of the founders remembered when slash fanfic was kept under the table at the dealer's room, distributed with brown paper wrappers only to people who knew to ask for it specifically.

And they said: Fuck that. Our art is not a crime and we're not going to be ashamed of it. If you are ashamed to have your art next to it - there's a whole wide internet that's ready to host your G-rated genfic.

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A court on Thursday, December 19, sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in jail for committing and orchestrating the mass rapes of his now former wife Gisèle Pelicot with dozens of strangers. Her children expressed disappointment at what they saw as overly-lenient sentences for the other men convicted.

The convictions of all 51 defendants and their sentencing brought to a close a three-month trial that has horrified France, resonated across the world and turned Gisèle Pelicot into an icon of female courage.

Dominique Pelicot, who had already confessed to the crimes, was earlier found guilty by the court in the southern city of Avignon. His 50 co-defendants were also convicted by the court, with no acquittals. They received jail terms of between three and 15 years – less than what prosecutors had demanded. Two of these defendants had their prison terms suspended.

The three Pelicot children "are disappointed by these low sentences," said a family member, asking not to be identified, adding that there was "no question" of any of the children wanting to speak to their father after the conviction.

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Tension was palpable in the courtroom at the start of the hearing, where a heavy police presence was deployed. Many defendants arrived with their bags packed ready for prison. One of them was in tears as he hugged his companion before entering the courtroom.

"Mr. Pelicot, you are found guilty of the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot," said the presiding judge of the criminal court, Roger Arata. Delivering sentence, Arata said Dominique Pelicot will not be eligible for parole until he has served two-thirds of his sentence.

'Justice for Gisèle'

Dominique Pelicot, 72, has admitted to drugging Gisèle Pelicot for almost a decade so he and strangers he recruited online could rape her. His lawyer did not rule out appealing the verdict. "We're going to use the 10 days which we have to decide whether or not to appeal this decision," Béatrice Zavarro told reporters.

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, has become a feminist hero at home and abroad for refusing to be ashamed, waiving her right to a closed trial and standing up to her aggressors in court. Alongside her ex-husband, 50 other men aged 27 to 74 have been on trial, including one who did not abuse her but raped his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help.

Earlier Thursday, Gisèle Pelicot arrived at the courthouse smiling and cheered by crowds of supporters and feminist activists waiting outside. They chanted her name and slogans like "Justice for Gisèle" and "Shame has Changed Sides".

On November 25, prosecutors requested the maximum sentence against Dominique Pelicot for aggravated rape. It was widely expected that Dominique Pelicot would receive the full 20-year term, but considerably more uncertainty had surrounded the sentencing of the other defendants. The prosecution had requested 10 to 18 years in prison against the 49 defendants also charged with aggravated rape. One of these accused is on the run and being tried in absentia.

One more accused – facing the lesser charge of groping – had risked up to four years in prison. Thirty-two of the accused attended the trial as free men while the others, including Dominique Pelicot, were remanded in custody.

'World is watching'

"Rape affects women all over the world, that's why the whole world has its eyes on what's going to happen," said Ghislaine Sainte Catherine, one of the members of the Amazons of Avignon feminist collective.

Gisèle Pelicot's children, David, Caroline and Florian, arrived half an hour earlier, entering the courtroom alongside a group of men accused of raping their mother. "We came with our things for prison," said one of the defendants, pointing to the sports bags on the ground.

The case has sparked protests and drew fresh attention to male violence in France. Rights activists hope that the trial will lead to change in society. "It's time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape changes," Gisèle Pelicot said in November.