Squidge.org

Squidge.org is a fan and slash friendly website founded by Walter Hopgood that offers both website hosting as well as mailing lists to fandom. Squidge.org takes its name from the fannish term squidge, which was popular at the time.
Sites hosted at Squidge.org include:
*Éomer Slash Archive
*FellowShip
*House Fan Fiction Archive
*Paris/Kim Slash Party
*SWA-L Star Wars Slash Archive
*The Place of Our Legacy
*The Wonderful World of Makebelieve (The WWOMB)
*due South Archive
*TER/MA
*Mulder/Krycek Multimedia Archive
*The Theban Band
*WWOMBTube
*The Giant McShep AU List
*Squidge Image Hosting
*Greenwoman's Halfaft
See the List of Squidge.org Mailing Lists.
For more see :Category:Squidge.org
==The SquidgeWorld Archive==
In November 2020, webmaster Walter Hopgood created The SquidgeWorld Archive using AO3's open source archive software - making it the first archive (besides AO3) to do so. He was assisted in setting up the archive by a number of AO3's team members, particularly james_, one of AO3's sysadmins. He published extensive documentation on the process in order to help others who might decide to go down the same path.
The site states: "Please remember neither SquidgeWorld nor Squidge.org are affiliated with AO3 or the OTW."
The site is here.
* Implementing OTW's Code To Build SquidgeWorld by squidgie, This is the documentation that I put together, along with the help of others (OTW's James was particularly helpful getting over the last production hurdle!) to implement OTW's code at SquidgeWorld. 27 November 2020.
* An extensive overview of SquidgeWorld Archive, an instructional video essay by Walter H, December 4 2020.
* SquidgeWorld (and AO3) Tutorials, December 4 2020.
The archive The Wonderful World of Makebelieve, or WWOMB, founded by PEJA and hosted on Squidge.org since its creation, was imported to SquidgeWorld shortly before the archive went public, making it a foundational part of the site.
In July 2023, SquigeWorld Archive added a third type of relationship for queerplatonic relationships that are neither romantic nor friendships/strictly platonic. This new type of relationship will use "~" instead of "/" or "&".https://squidgeworld.org/admin_posts/70 New "Relationship" Type
Published: 2023-07-14 17:31:59 -0400
In Jan 2024, Squidgeworld updated the way relationships are tagged, changed the "Gen" fic icon for a green icon with a black "&" in the middle, and added Queerplatonic relationships (QPR) as an icon with a "~" symbol over a rainbow background.https://squidgeworld.org/admin_posts/90
===About SquidgeWorld Archive===
===A Home For At-Risk Archives===
In April 2021, Hopgood posted to the squidgestatus Dreamwidth about abandoned fannish archives, offering up SquidgeWorld as a new home for any "at-risk" archives or archives that their owners no longer wanted to manage.
===An Alternative to AO3===
The launch of SquidgeWorld has prompted some to recommend it as an alternative to AO3 for those who object to AO3's content policies, or recommend that objectors follow in Hopgood's footsteps by establishing their own archive. 
However, antishippers and others who want an archive without RPF, noncon, underage, or incest stories may ultimately be disappointed by Squidge.org's terms of service, which is similarly lenient to AO3's and only bans snuff films and "kiddie porn" (meaning images and video). (Accessed 14 August 2021.) The SquidgeWorld Archive TOS is even shorter and doesn't have anything to say about the content of fanworks beyond adopting a no-commerce policy similar to AO3's noncommercial restrictions"Users will not add any link, in their profiles or in their profiles or in any posted work or comment that points to a fundraiser of any kind including, but not limited to, Patreon, Ko-Fi, or the like. The only exception to this is in the case of a piece of work that is of original work, meaning the fandom used is Original Work, and no other fandom is listed." (Accessed 14 August 2021.). The same Archive Warnings are present and in use on SquidgeWorld. 
As of May 2023, SquidgeWorld does differ from AO3 in its stance on AI Generated Content, in that it has expressly prohibited it,A Note About AI and Squidge, Squidge.org WebBlog, published May 12, 2023 (updated May 13, 2023). Accessed May 20, 2023. Archived May 19, 2023. whereas AO3 has taken the stance that AI-generated fanworks are within its remit to preserve.
===Fan Comments===
==== Migrations from AO3 to SquidgeWorld ====
There have been instances where a significant number of users have expressed dissatisfaction with Archive of Our Own and migrated to SquidgeWorld, either by removing their fanfiction from AO3 or choosing to cross-post their works. One notable example of such a migration occurred in 2022 when a large number of AO3 users, moved to SquidgeWorld after a BNF did, resulting in the SquidgeWorld administrator making a news post to welcome the influx of new users.https://squidgeworld.org/admin_posts/47 Welcome!
In 2023, there have been four separate instances where AO3 users migrated to SquidgeWorld. The first occurrence happened when AO3 announced that AI-generated fanfiction would still be allowed on the platform as part of the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) mission to preserve fanworks. This decision sparked significant uproar within the AO3 community, leading many users to migrate to SquidgeWorld. Some users opted to delete their fics from AO3, while others moved them into unrevealed collections or simply cross-posted them on SquidgeWorld.
Another wave of migration to SquidgeWorld took place during the "End OTW Racism" movement and the controversy surrounding OTW volunteers. The SquidgeWorld administrator addressed the influx of users and requested patience regarding tag wrangling, which had become a more challenging task due to the increasing number of posts and the introduction of new fandoms.https://squidgeworld.org/admin_posts/65 Notes on Tagging
Not long after, a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on AO3 prompted even more users to migrate to SquidgeWorld, this time not as an act of protest, but as a precautionary measure to ensure their works were backed up in an alternative archive.
In November 2023, Just got a second official warning (post by le-bjorn) prompted a Twitter user to recommend SquidgeWorld as a viable alternative to AO3. This led to a significant influx of new fanfics on the website within a day. Unfortunately, misinformation circulating on Twitter created confusion regarding the Terms of Service (TOS). The TOS of the image hosting archive on squidge.org were mistakenly shared as if they were the SquidgeWorld TOS, causing some individuals to believe that SquidgeWorld was "anti-aligned"https://twitter.com/antynomia/status/1729941837790544133 due to the image hosting service's restrictions on explicit content. As a result, this misinformation deterred some potential users, and a few antis explored the archive only to discover that "proship fics"https://twitter.com/SnowyKaai/status/1730454316497228050 were indeed allowed.
==Further Reading==
*Update: Back Online!: A reflection by Hopgood on the importance of maintaining Squidge.org and SquidgeWorld.org for free to anyone who needs them (even if it means occasional downtime)
*ABOUT SQUIDGE.ORG: A summary of the history of Squidge.org by the maintainers, including the statement "As of April 2023, Squidge.org has received IRS 501c3 non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service. This means that Squidge.org is officially a non-profit, and will soon be able to take donations."
==References==
 
Category:OTW-ArchiveCategory:1994 WebsitesCategory:1990s WebsitesCategory:2000s WebsitesCategory:2010s WebsitesCategory:2020s Websites