Avery has been writing fan fiction for about six years, now mainly focused on the gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry. Until last month, it all lived in one place—Archive of Our Own. Then, on October 29 the fan fiction behemoth went dark due to a “security incident.” Within days, Avery was alarmed to find her works on mirror sites she hadn’t posted them to.
“To me it’s a security risk,” Avery, who did not want her real name used due to fears of backlash on social media, tells WIRED via DM. “One bad actor could put malware in that drive.”
