Transformation Story Archive
Encyclopedia
The Transformation Story Archive (TSA) was a website archiving
amateur
fiction
featuring a personal physical transformation
or its aftermath. The archive was created by Austria
n web designer Thomas Hassan, who intended it to be a premier showcase for transformation-themed fiction and a showcase for amateur authors. The TSA was operating at least as early as May 1995, leading to claims of being the earliest Internet archive for fiction of this genre.
and furry
wish-fulfillment stories predominated. The archive's community also created or fostered a large number of shared universe
fiction settings, in part due to a prohibition against traditional fanfiction. One of the biggest of these, Tales from the Blind Pig, was represented by hundreds of stories contributed by dozens of authors over the life of the archive. Some stories on the archive contained controversial themes, such as age regression
or overtly sexual content.
for works first published in ezines, invited nominations from the TSA, and considered 17 such stories, the most from any single source. Fiction written in the TSA's shared universes have at times also been accepted in unrelated online anthologies. Its content has been cited as inspiration or influence by others in the genres the archive included, from the USENET
community that pioneered modern therianthropy to creators of webcomic
s such as Zebra Girl.
. A shift to the right in Austrian politics worked against the site and its host, however. Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Jörg Haider
selected "degenerate art
" as one target for his party's political capital. By July 1998, this included accusations of the acceptance and facilitation of child pornography
against public netbase/t0. Initially, the FPÖ explicitly alleged links between public netbase/t0 and a separate hosting service from the British Virgin Islands
, but the sexual content of the TSA and its age-alteration themes was implicitly included when allegations continued after that connection was refuted. When the results of these attacks stripped its host of public funding and free access, the TSA hastily relocated to an American
server, assisted by several mirror servers
.
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
featuring a personal physical transformation
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
or its aftermath. The archive was created by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n web designer Thomas Hassan, who intended it to be a premier showcase for transformation-themed fiction and a showcase for amateur authors. The TSA was operating at least as early as May 1995, leading to claims of being the earliest Internet archive for fiction of this genre.
Included content
Although a wide variety of transformations were considered suitable content for inclusion, transgenderTransgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
and furry
Furry fandom
Furry fandom is a fandom for fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, the ability to speak, walk on two legs, and wear clothes...
wish-fulfillment stories predominated. The archive's community also created or fostered a large number of shared universe
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
fiction settings, in part due to a prohibition against traditional fanfiction. One of the biggest of these, Tales from the Blind Pig, was represented by hundreds of stories contributed by dozens of authors over the life of the archive. Some stories on the archive contained controversial themes, such as age regression
Age regression
-Age Regression in Myths and Mainstream Fiction :Age regression is a popular theme in transformation fiction involving the physical and/or mental reduction in age. This age regression often occurs via magic, including potions or the legendary fountain of youth, or from a science fiction plot device...
or overtly sexual content.
History
During its heyday, the TSA inspired the creation of countless similar sites, often with narrower focuses. Its high volume of amateur fiction also led to its inclusion in lists of ezines, although it was never actually structured in that manner. In 1997, eSCENE, an annual award anthologyAnthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
for works first published in ezines, invited nominations from the TSA, and considered 17 such stories, the most from any single source. Fiction written in the TSA's shared universes have at times also been accepted in unrelated online anthologies. Its content has been cited as inspiration or influence by others in the genres the archive included, from the USENET
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
community that pioneered modern therianthropy to creators of webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
s such as Zebra Girl.
Accusations
The success of the TSA accounted for a significant portion of the Internet traffic of its non-profit server in Vienna, run by hosting service public netbase/t0Public Netbase
Public Netbase was a cultural media initiative, open access internet platform, and advocate for the development of electronic art. Long a support of avant-garde, sometimes controversial, art and digital culture, the project increasingly came into conflict with the Austrian political establishment...
. A shift to the right in Austrian politics worked against the site and its host, however. Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider
Jörg Haider was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Austrian Freedom Party and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Austria , a breakaway party from the FPÖ.Haider was controversial within Austria and abroad for comments...
selected "degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
" as one target for his party's political capital. By July 1998, this included accusations of the acceptance and facilitation of child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
against public netbase/t0. Initially, the FPÖ explicitly alleged links between public netbase/t0 and a separate hosting service from the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, but the sexual content of the TSA and its age-alteration themes was implicitly included when allegations continued after that connection was refuted. When the results of these attacks stripped its host of public funding and free access, the TSA hastily relocated to an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
server, assisted by several mirror servers
Mirror (computing)
In computing, a mirror is an exact copy of a data set. On the Internet, a mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site.Mirror sites are most commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information, and are of particular value as a way of providing reliable access to large downloads...
.
Server relocation
However, the TSA would never recover as a community from the server relocation. The shift from Austrian to North American hosting led to the departure of Hassan from the project; he went on to join Austrian software developer Public Voice Lab, eventually earning a seat on their board. Posting of new content to the archive finally stopped in July 2003 and the archive's users have largely moved to other websites or dropped from public view, although the site remains available as of 2011. Much of the content has been redistributed, both during and after the TSA's active existence, however. Its sister-project mailing list continued under separate administration long after the stagnation of the actual web archive, and an ezine continued for some years, hosted on the current TSA server (and still there for archival purposes). And, despite its long inactivity, the TSA remains on most lists of sources for furry, transgender, or transformation-themed fiction, and still receives occasional mention in wider indexes of online fiction sites.Archive
Although the original archive has been inactive for more than four years, the TSA Mailing list still sees new stories added regularly by old members of the TSA community and newcomers as well. A project by members of the mailing list to produce a successor to the original transformation story archive is currently under way at http://www.shifti.org/Main_Page.External links
- Transformation Story Archive
- Transformation Stories, Art, Talk - Online magazine