The 18+ Idol/Actor Fanfic That Got AO3 Banned From An Entire Country

In almost every realm of media, fans have been inspired to create their own works using the already existing characters. These works are hosted on a variety of platforms, with one of the most well-known being Archive Of Our Own (AO3).

The website is free to use, making it accessible to most, with a few exceptions. One such exception was caused by a fan fiction featuring two popular actors in a queer storyline.

In 2019, The Untamed, a live-action based on a danmei novel following the adventures of two soulmate cultivators who travel to solve a series of mysteries, was released. Starring Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan, the series has gained popularity worldwide, with a strong focus on the same-sex relationship between the two characters.

This also translated to real life, resulting in fan works between Wang and Xiao, along with a strong shipping fanbase.  One fanwork, titled Fallin’ was published in 2020, and featured Wang as a high school student and Xiao as a transgender prostitute.

Some of Xiao’s fans noted that the work contained explicit pornographic content and featured the feminization of Xiao, and viewed it as insulting to the actor, along with the underage sex included.

Guides on how to report the fan work circulated, and by February 29, 2020, AO3 as a whole was officially blocked in mainland China. Protests ensued, with many placing blame on Xiao Zhan’s fans, leading to attacks against Xiao, his fans, and others in an incident known as “227.”

For six years, legal battles continued before two of the main contributors to 227 were found guilty of a targeted smear campaign and fined 11,000 yuan, and were forced to publicly apologize.

As of 2026, the website is still blocked in Mainland China.