Some of you may have been aware of the controversy surrounding the Whispers archive, which I posted about here The good news, is that out of that debacle, we’re getting a terrific unmoderated archive for the SS/HG ship run by azraelgeffen called WIKTT Archives

However you might feel about unmoderated versus moderated archives, there’s no question the unmoderated ones are a needed part of the mix. Some good authors don’t want to jump through the hoops of moderated archives or compromise on how they tell their stories, some great stories (like a few of the ones rec’d below) have been rejected by a moderated archive for reasons having nothing to do with quality, and most crucially, moderated archives are pretty daunting for newbies—the unmoderated archives give them a place to start. Yes, there are awful stories on unmoderated archives. (There are some pretty bad ones on the moderated ones too, but granted, a lower percentage). Nevertheless, you can usually tell by the third paragraph if the story is not worth your time and just move on.

I spent some time helping out with this archive along with a couple dozen of other volunteers, helping to move the old database from Whispers and and helping to clean up glitches caused by smart quotes and the like. In the course of having to check stories over, I found myself reading and loving some stories I would have very possibly never tried. I got a smattering of other parts of the alphabet, but I did get all of the authors that start with the letter “B”—and as a sample of what’s out there waiting to be read, I thought I’d rec my favorites among them below.


( The Best of Letter B - Some Great SS/HGCollapse )

There are many other wonderful writers on this archive, some of whom, like Wendynat, I read for the first time when I got sucked into her stories in the course of formatting, and some old favorites like FriendlyQuark, LariLee, MoaningMyrtle, Quillusion, Shiv, Wartcap I’d discovered before. This archive is a great thing for the ship. So please—give it a try and read and review some of the stories there, or upload your own. It looks gorgeous, it’s user-friendly and is worthy of our support. The archive also has a section for SS/OFC.

Gak'd from bambu345 - because who can resist a book meme? Apparently, not me.

( The Long Book MemeCollapse )

And for all the Comma Nazi's out there and those who love them, I can't resist linking to this article about a new book about punctuation.

"New Book Teaches Kids About Punctuation"

Finally--yes, there has been the mother of all fandom wanks yesterday--but one I think is important to spread the word about. The new admin of Whispers, who calls hirself "Hermione," told authors in emails that if they didn't update stories at Whispers, their stories would be updated for them. Then someone noticed that Whispers had a new TOS that asserted a right to do batch uploads of stories from Whispers and other archives. "Hermione" then promoted on WIKTT a new archive, The Pensieve, for all completed multi-chaptered HG/SS stories. On that archive were stories lifted w/o permission from other archives. To top it all off, parts of stories and author's notes were lopped off. Rather than just repeat all that ensued, I'll just link to three LJ entries on the subject that were publicly posted:

( Links on the Whispers MatterCollapse )

I deleted my own WIP, Book of Shadows from the old Whispers today. (I couldn't yesterday--"Hermione" had removed that option at that time.) Whispers was the first archive I ever posted my HP fic to, and I'll never forget the welcome I got there. I look forward to being a part of the new site run by the old admin Whispers admin, azraelgeffen, which will be called WIKTT Archives.

And if after all this, you need a good laugh, there's this from wolf_moonshadow: Click here if you Dare

And then there's larilee's hilarious spoof on the matter, The Dickless Wonder.

The different archives that accept HP stories came up for discussion on Potter_Place and that caused me to create my own guide to General HP Archives listing 30 archives and go kick the tires, using my one-shot "Gambit" as a test fic, submitting it to some 21 archives on my list--basically those to which it hadn't already been posted where it fit the guidelines.

So, did I find any archives authors should consider among the non-specialized HP archives off the usual beaten path for HG/SS? (i.e. other than Fan Fiction Net, Adult Fan Fiction, Sycophant Hex, The Restricted Section, The Petulant Poetess, and OWL). Yes, three, for different reasons.

( Three Good Archives to TryCollapse )

In an earlier entry I posted a guide to general HP archives that were not ship or character specific. Below are 67 that are--unlike the general archive listing this is by no means close to comprehensive. There are a dizzying number. The emphasis is on archives an author can submit to, other than ones specific to an author or authors or invitation only. I make an exception in that case for HG/SS to point readers to where some great fics can be found (and because after this who'll need bookmarks?) So gathered here are all the ship archives mentioned in that Potter_Place thread as well as ones I'd bookmarked.

( The HP Shipping ArchivesCollapse )

The different archives that accept HP came up for discussion on a Yahoo Group I belong to, Potter_Place. In response to a question about which were out there, dozens were listed. I thought I'd list here for my own and other's reference those that are not pairing or character specific, or restricted to a certain author or authors or only by invitation of the administrator. There are many, many more geared to pairings both popular and rare. Several of the archives listed below do however have rules against teacher/student pairings or adult content. If you know of any general HP archives not listed here or you have information about or experience with any of the archives below, or any questions, or disagree with anything written here, please feel free to comment.

( The HP ArchivesCollapse )