#fanfictions

For context, I have been a fanfiction creator for over ten years now; my first fanfic was posted in 2015, and yes, along with a Tumblr that year, I also made a Wattpad. Granted, this was back in 2015, and the culture on both sites and the internet in general was very different... also, I was a dumb kid yet to find community anywhere else.

These new rules on Wattpad are, in my opinion, perhaps the biggest error they could have made from a business standpoint. This isn't just alienating your audience and creators; this is setting the only bridge to your island on F*ing fire. And I can't see a world where this would make sense to do.

In my mind, Wattpad has always been where people start off. It's where we all, as baby fanfic writers and readers, go to read about being sold off to our fave celebs and characters. Was it always amazing content? No, but it was free to post and to view, and if you were willing to dig, you could find realistically anything you ever wanted. And yes, if you wanted something mature, you found it there. But it's not like there wasn't something there if you didn't want something mature; there are many Wattpad stories that have never introduced even the slightest adult content, and everything, regardless of its content, is tagged and marked accordingly. If a story is mature, the rating will reflect that, so... what? Why is it an issue now? Has Don't like don't read simply fallen from our understanding?

I have heard some talk of this being a response to AI, as AI often fails with ratings and tagging systems but... then why is half of Wattpad's homepage covered in AI covers and content? If they want AI off their platform, why is all this Wattpad 'Originals' okay?

Now don't get me wrong, I am not in any way, shape or form defending AI, infact the AI covers on the homepage have long made me wary of Wattpad since they began appearing, and I would be all for tighter restrictions and guidelines around its use, and it's visibly showing when a cover is using AI art or if something includes AI writing. But I also understand that checking such things would also likely be given... to an AI, and that would only lead to real work and real creators being labelled or even falsely removed.

I truly do fear these new guidelines and have infact spent all day ensuring anything I have on wattpad is backed up, cause yeah I have been on wattpad for many years, I have had my account frozen, I have had work deleted and never given reasons why, I have delt with this company at it's best and it's worst from a creator standpoint, and I am terrified I am going to wake up tomorrow and it'll all be gone again, and I know I am not alone in this utter terror.

I know, speaking for myself. My writing has always inculded Sexual themes, Sexual material, references to abuse and to death and various other tags that would 100% get it removed under these new rules, and I will never censor what I want to write. If you don't want to read it I completely understand. I know my stories can be too much for some people, can have themes and dark elements some may find triggering or upsetting, and I would never want to force those people to read my work, of course not! But I also don't have to take that work away from people who do want to read it.

I remember for me when I first started out, fanfic, both reading and writing, was cathartic for me; it was therapy, it was a way to work things out without being judged for them. And yes, Wattpad may be the 'Baby app' for fanfic, but we all were fanfic babies once, and I wouldn't want that taken from anyone.

Some may question why I care? Why do I still use Wattpad?

Simple, Habit. I am a creature of habit, and I find it simple to use. For me, Wattpad is basically a publicly viewable storage. I have been writing for over ten years and have ten years' worth of content, so much so I have two Wattpads, and even then I am missing the era prior to this account; it's where I store everything, so those wanting older work can still find it with ease.

Also, I love the visual element; I love making covers and doing banner images for fics. One of my fave things about starting a new story is making its cover! It also makes things so much easier for me when editing and updating to see a line of character faces rather than a list of names, and I can imagine that makes it easier for readers to find too.

But I suppose the question becomes... where do we go? Because Wattpad have made it clear that those of us who want to write or read more mature things aren't welcome anymore.

I know I have referred to Wattpad as the baby fanfic site, but I do truly mean that with love; it's where most of us start. And... the other options all have their own issues.

Fanfiction.Net, frankly in my opinion, is non-functional; little content exists there, and what does is censored heavily, and the user experience is frankly a joke.

I have tried sites like Tapas and Deviantart's writing section, but those are both art and comic platforms, yes they take written work, but they aren't made for it; it's not really their target, which is fair enough.

Perhaps a hot take but... AO3 is complicated for new users. I have had an AO3 account for over a year, and I am still not sure I understand everything, am I dumb? Maybe, but that's another point. I find the tagging there needing to be so detailed that I feel terrified of missing things and being screamed at in comments for not including something. There is also a huge issue of Bots and spammers commenting daily, which becomes endlessly frustrating. I also find... just from experience, users on AO3 have been very rude to me; there is almost an elitist attitude that comes from some creators (Not all; some of you have been delightful) the second they know you ever had a wattpad your suddenly a useless child writing about 1D with no grammar. They declare they were here first and that if you can't learn to use it instantly, you shouldn't be there. There also aren't messages or ways to communicate with readers like there are in other places, which always felt so cold and isolating to me.

As much as I adore Tumblr, we can all admit it has its charms and it's downsides. Tracking down fics is hard, tagging is always a bit of a chaotic problem, and the censors are getting tighter by the day, especially around anything with images. But it may be the best option.

In conclusion, sorry for the long rambles, I am terrified of what this means for creators and readers alike within the fanfiction space. I don't know if there is a new place to go, nor do I know if there ever will be. I am sorry for any who enjoy the fun covers and easily kept stories of Wattpad who will not have to go without due to these new updates, and I am so, so sorry to any fellow creators, big, small, new or old, who lose anything to this update.

My only advice? Back up what you can to other sites or personal drives, and... hope that there'll be a new place for it soon.

If there are any recommendations for other sites, please leave them below to help other creators.

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"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, " the professor booms, the words flashing against the projection screen in a cursive font, "Who was this quote attributed to?"

A blonde haired girl with blue acrylic nails raises her hand in the middle row, "Freud."

The professor nods, glasses gleaming in the fluorescent lecture hall lights, "Though it was never proven to be his words, he is commonly credited for this phrase. Who can tell me what it means?"

A girl in the front corner raises her hand. She hid behind black framed glasses, computer open to an empty notes screen as the lecture began. The professor turns her head to the girl, "Yes, Ms.... Seton."

"It means that not everything has a deeper meaning to be psychoanalyzed. Sometimes a behavior's face value is just what it is, it doesn't need to be overthought."

"Excellently put Ms. Seton," the teacher praises, flipping to the next slide, "This raises a question for psychologists around the globe. Can every behavior be explained by products of one's past? How much of one's personality can be contributed to genetic underpinnings versus the environment they were raised in. Developmental psychology serves as a means to understand this phenomenon."

The slide flips again, thick  cursive writing scrawled across the projector. 

"While I know we are only on our third week of the semester, I'd like to introduce you all to the capstone project for this course."

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"It's a case study," the girl explains to the pink haired boy in front of her, who was currently shoveling french fries into his mouth.

Yuji looks up with a quizzical glance, sauce dripping from one side of his mouth, "Huh?"

The girl purses her lips, pointing to the papers she had laid out on the table, " For developmental psych, we have to choose someone to interview, then explain their current behaviors based on what we learned from their childhood. Including all these theories that are borderline outdated."

The pink haired boy takes a glance down at the papers, narrowly missing the edge of the page with a glob of ketchup. He points one salt covered finger to the second name on the list, "Wasn't he the one who said we wanted to fuck our moms?"

The girl glances down before letting out a deep sigh, "Freud, yeah. His theories aren't supported much anymore, but everyone knows about them so they decide to keep teaching them. Besides, I have no clue who I'd want to interview, and we have to decide by next class."

"You could do me," Yuji suggests, flashing a bright smile to the opposing party.

The girl shakes her head, hair falling into her eyes, "No, it has to be someone older, someone who has actually lived through most of the stages we have to talk about. I was going to ask my mom, but she's so busy with work recently it seemed mean to bother her."

Yuji hums in consideration, sliding another french fry through the ketchup on his plate, " You could always do my uncle."

The girl raises an eyebrow, "Sukuna?"

He nods, "I'm sure he'd agree, its not like he has anything else to do with his time."

"Yuji, your uncle manages like thirty different restaurants. I've been over to your house, he's always on the phone, or doing something that looks important. Plus he scares the shit out of me." The girl counters, pulling the papers off the table and tucking them into her binder.

"He's not scary, he just has some issues," Yuji defends, hitting his friend lightly on the shoulder, "Which is exactly why he'd be a perfect test subject."

"I've definitely heard him threaten someone's life over the phone, multiple times, " she counters.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure all those people are still living," Yuji quips, " Come on, do you have a better option?"

The girl signs, burying her hands in her hair, "No."