If I was to create an original work on ao3 I would do it for the express purpose of creating a universe/characters that other people could write fanfiction of.
Except it wouldn't be fanfiction exactly, because that would imply a Canon that is considered as the Correct or official version, It would instead be another contribution to the canon.
I've often tried thinking of ways to do this (create a fictional universe that everyone is allowed to write/create in)
Since I was 10 years old I dreamed of writing and publishing a book, but I don't care about it anymore. I don't want to be fixed in place in the "creator" role. I don't want to be the origin of everything about the characters and stories I create. And I don't want to own my ideas and stop others' stories about those ideas from being seen as legitimate.
There is an old anthology series, collectively known as Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn, where a group of authors got together and did just that. They planned out the geography and the background politics and a few characters in the town, but other than that each author wrote their own story in that scenario. The series went on for several books and spawned more than one standalone novel, with characters from the original series, and it is one of my favorite series of books of all time. It is however old, it started in the 70s, so a lot of people have not read it, but it is awesome.
A more modern version of this, albeit with a more diversified ‘canon’, would be the SCP wiki and its sister site the wanderers library.
I also found Orions Arm which is a hard sci-fi version.
Like misanthrope said it’s prolly best to work with a small group to get a ‘seed’ setting to base other fics on.
YES!!!! SCP is one of the coolest things in online fiction and in speculative fiction and in fiction, period.
Ough every few months I get Back On my Bullshit with SCP and it's glorious. please read SCP-9997 "Shattered Land National Park" it's one of my favorites of all time
