i don't listen to yo yo ma

Posted by therealmorticia

https://www.transformativeworks.org/october-2025-newsletter-volume-205/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272968

I. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

October’s Membership Drive ran smoothly, with Communications drafting posts in coordination with Development & Membership, and Translation making drive materials available in 26 languages. Finance also published a mid-year budget update prior to the Drive. This year’s October Drive spotlighted Systems, who handle the OTW’s server infrastructure, respond to outages, and perform routine upgrades and maintenance to ensure the OTW’s projects remain available.

In total, we raised around $290,000 USD during the Drive, with around 2,500 gifts requested and around 7,000 people either starting or renewing their OTW membership. Thank you so much for your support!

II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

In October, AO3 celebrated reaching 16 million works. Thank you to everyone who helped us achieve this milestone!

Accessibility, Design & Technology upgraded their servers to Ruby 3.4. They had a record 6 releases in 3 weeks which included bug fixes, usability improvements to a variety of AO3’s site features, and further preparatory work for making AO3’s interface and emails translatable in the future.

AO3 Documentation updated the Orphaning FAQ.

Open Doors announced two new import projects: The Pinky and the Brain Page, a Pinky and the Brain fanfiction archive, and Dreaming the Answers, an X-Files fanzine.

In September, Policy & Abuse received 4,300 tickets, while Support received 3,372 tickets. Tag Wrangling wrangled over 520,000 of tags—around 1,150 tags per wrangling volunteer.

Tag Wrangling also continued the process of creating new “No Fandom” canonical tags and released a new batch of tags in October.

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Communications’ Con Outreach division coordinated the OTW’s attendance at COMICUP ShangHai Plus 2025 in Shanghai, China, and MCM Comic Con London 2025 in London, England. Thank you to the volunteers who tabled these conventions, and everyone who said hi to us there!

Fanlore celebrated a Books themed month in October! Their next editing challenge will give editors a chance to earn missed badges from previous challenges. Keep an eye on their Bluesky, Twitter/X, and Tumblr for announcements about the challenge, which will run from November 16 to 30.

In October, Legal and an ally, the Wikimedia Foundation, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Mississippi’s online age verification statute overburdens mission-driven platforms and threatens the free speech rights of those platforms and their users. For more details, head over to our latest Spotlight on Legal Issues. Legal also answered a number of queries from fans.

TWC is finishing reviewing articles for the two upcoming 2026 special issues: “Disability and Fandom” and “Gaming Fandom”.

IV. GOVERNANCE

Board held their third quarter public Board meeting on October 5 in the Board Discord. There were 35 attendees, and they answered 8 questions. Meeting minutes are available on the OTW website. Board also approved signing on to two US Supreme Court amicus briefs, one on opposing an age verification law and one on public domain of a folklore character.

The Board Assistants Team assisted with Board turnover, continued work on the OTW website, and collaborated with Organizational Culture Roadmap towards their goals. Organizational Culture Roadmap is currently in the process of evaluating responses to a survey of volunteers about the OTW Code of Conduct.

Strategic Planning continues to prepare for the 2026-2029 Strategic Plan. They are currently exploring different tools to support them in running the next phase: prioritization.

V. OUR VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers & Recruiting conducted recruitment for five committees this month: Fanlore, Open Doors, Policy & Abuse, Translation, and User Response Translation. Volunteers & Recruiting also finalized an update to the OTW Name Policy, which contains information on what OTW names are now permitted, under what name volunteer work may be credited publicly, how to request a reference letter if someone’s OTW name is not their legal name, and more.

From September 25 to October 24, Volunteers & Recruiting received 145 new requests, and completed 140, leaving them with 54 open requests. As of October 24, 2025, the OTW has 983 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.

New Directors: Elizabeth Wiltshire and Harlan Lieberman-Berg (Board Directors), and Rachel Linton (Vice President)
New Committee Chairs/Leads: Kyrie (Support)
New AD&T Volunteers: marcus8448 and ömer faruk (Software Developers)
New Development & Membership Volunteers: 2 Development & Membership Volunteers
New Open Doors Volunteers: eviltothecore13 and 1 other Technical Volunteer
New Support Volunteers: V Snow (Chair Assistant)
New User Response Translation Volunteers: meat (Volunteer Coordinator)

Departing Directors: Jennifer Haynes (Director) and Kathryn Soderholm (Vice President role only)
Departing Committee Chairs/Leads: 1 Accessibility, Design, & Technology Chair
Departing AD&T Volunteers: 1 Software Developer and 1 Senior Volunteer
Departing AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
Departing BAT Volunteers: spacegandalf (Volunteer)
Departing Communications News Post Moderation Volunteers: Vihi (News Post Moderator)
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: 1 Technical Volunteer
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Executie, Hazelwyrm, Jas, SCEnt Hope, Zoë Two Dots, and 4 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: heine and 1 other Translator
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: Amy2 (Projects Volunteer) and Ehryn (Volunteer)

For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/october-2025-newsletter-volume-205/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272968

Posted by callmeri

https://www.transformativeworks.org/spotlight-on-recent-legislation-november-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272944

We’ve heard from users concerned about many recent laws and their potential to impact AO3. We want to reassure you that while this continues to be a challenging time with a number of troubling laws under consideration around the world, AO3 is not currently affected. AO3 is run by a noncommercial, nonprofit organization, and it does not implement infinite scroll, offer recommendations to users, or use other techniques with which many regulators are concerned.

While these bills should not directly impact AO3, they are a reminder to stay alert for potential legal issues affecting fans in your area. Where applicable, the OTW encourages people to contact their local representatives and voice their concerns. You can read more about the OTW’s Legal Advocacy work on our website.

Chinese Obscenity Laws and Danmei Authors

We have received a number of inquiries from concerned users regarding the arrests of dozens of danmei writers in China. As an organization, the OTW wholeheartedly shares these concerns. We stand firmly in support of free expression and we are closely monitoring the situation.

Age Verification Laws

Age verification laws have been proposed in multiple states and countries around the world. These laws create barriers that prevent open access to information, hamper the right to freedom of speech, and threaten users’ privacy. The OTW continues to strongly oppose these laws and we want to assure you that we do not intend to introduce age verification on our projects. We continue to monitor for opportunities to make our voice heard and encourage fans to do so as well. Local voices are often the most important for policymakers to hear from.

We’ve filed two amicus briefs on age verification laws already this year. One, filed with Wikimedia (who runs Wikipedia) and other organizations, in Netchoice v. Brown, urged the appellate court to uphold a block on the Utah Minor Protection in Social Media Act which requires online platforms to verify users’ ages before allowing access, restrict certain content for minors through strict controls, and actively monitor and edit content in order to remain compliant with these restrictions.

In a second amicus brief filed with Wikimedia in Netchoice v. Fitch, we expressed concerns with Mississippi House Bill 1126, which threatens platforms’ ability to distribute free knowledge by imposing broad, sweeping restrictions that encroach on free speech rights.

Copyright

We also filed another amicus brief with other organizations in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, where we discussed the importance of internet access as a practical necessity of daily life, and argued that holding service providers liable for users’ copyright infringement based only on accusations of infringement, rather than actual proof of infringement, would threaten innovation and creativity by creating an incentive for service providers to deny service to creators without requiring evidence or providing due process.

UK’s Online Safety Act

We are monitoring how the Online Safety Act is being interpreted and enforced by the authorities.

Russia’s LGBT Ban

Russia’s restrictions on LGBT-themed content have escalated from a 2013 law aimed at protecting minors to a sweeping ban on all positive depictions of LGBT relationships. In 2023, the Russian Supreme Court labeled the “international LGBT movement” as extremist, effectively criminalizing LGBT advocacy. We strongly condemn this and continue to monitor the situation.

Game Storefronts Delisting NSFW Content

Recently, gaming storefronts Itch.io, Steam, and Valve have begun removing or restricting adult content, citing pressure from payment processors like Visa and Mastercard. These moves are obviously concerning for freedom of expression. The OTW remains committed to both fans’ privacy and freedom of imagination. We will not change our policies on explicit or queer media.

KOSA

We continue to monitor the progression of KOSA, which has been reintroduced in the United States Congress. Although AO3 is not a covered platform under this bill, the legislation, if passed, is likely to have serious freedom of speech and privacy implications for all internet users. OTW Legal has already communicated its opposition to this bill to Congress and continues to encourage U.S. users to voice their opposition to it.

Australian Online Safety Act

While we do not believe that this law as-is applies to AO3 or any of our other projects, this is a developing situation that we will continue to monitor. Read more about this in our earlier post: Social Media Bans and AO3.

With regard to all the above legislation as well as any in the future, AO3 and the OTW will do whatever we can to preserve access to AO3 and inform users if anything changes. We remain committed to freedom of expression and will defend it as necessary to ensure that AO3 remains a safe, open space for creative expression.

Is there a new law that might affect fans or fannish activities in your country or region? Send us a message about legislation you think we should know about. (Submitting a concern doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in a future Spotlight on Legal Issues post.)

https://www.transformativeworks.org/spotlight-on-recent-legislation-november-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272944

Posted by Aditi Paul

https://www.transformativeworks.org/five-things-julie-bozza-said-2/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272911

Every month or so the OTW will be doing a Q&A with one of its volunteers about their experiences in the organization. The posts express each volunteer’s personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. Today’s post is with Julie Bozza, who volunteers as a Senior FSHP Volunteer and project manager for the Open Doors AO3 Fanzine Scan Hosting Project (FSHP) for Open Doors.

How does what you do as a volunteer fit into what the OTW does?

I first did a Five Things in March 2022, for my role as an Open Doors Administrative Volunteer. Back then, Open Doors’ main focus was on preserving fanworks from digital archives that were at risk of being lost. We had also established the Fan Culture Preservation Project (FCPP) which helps fans looking for a new home for their physical fannish artifacts to get in touch with interested collecting institutions, such as the University of Iowa Libraries.

Since then, I’m delighted to say that Open Doors partnered up with the fan-run preservation project Zinedom to create the AO3 Fanzine Scan Hosting Project (FSHP), which runs as part of FCPP.

The OTW is keenly interested in preserving and engaging with our shared fannish history, and making fanworks available to our community. I love the thought that someone might be browsing through Fanlore, or reading an issue of Transformative Works and Cultures, and get curious about a particular fanwork – maybe dating back to a zine published 50 years ago —and then be able to find the text and related artwork preserved on AO3.

What is a typical week like for you as a volunteer?

We have a number of fanzine publishers and individual creators who are already working with FSHP to import their fanworks to AO3. The import process can be quite lengthy, and has numerous steps, so a typical week might involve anything from exchanging emails with publishers or creators, to setting up a formal agreement with them, scanning fanzines and using OCR to convert the PDFs into editable text, proofreading the text, creating AO3 archivist accounts and collections, and so on… At some point we start the actual importing of works as well!

The Open Doors team has a few informal working meetings during the week, so I do my work then and keep an eye out for any FSHP-related questions. We have a large team of volunteers who help with the various tasks, along with their other OTW work, so all sorts of queries can arise.

What made you decide to volunteer?
I used to publish fanzines myself, starting in the late 1980s, and I wrote for and read other zines. As the decades-old badge on Fanlore’s Zine page announces, “FANZINES ARE FANDOM”. That was certainly the case for me, especially here in Australia, which can seem a long way from anywhere! There were wonderful events and conventions, and a group of Australian Buckaroo Banzai fans who would meet up for film screenings and Mongolian meals, but for me the heart of fandom was not only in the people but also in the creativity to be found in zines.

When the task came up of developing the idea of FSHP, writing up the necessary policies and processes, and getting the project underway, it made perfect sense to me that I would volunteer to help drive that.

What has been your biggest challenge doing work for the OTW?
We love spreadsheets in Open Doors, and couldn’t organise our imports of digital archives so well without them. But we knew that FSHP was going to be more complicated still, and we needed a database in order to manage a creator’s fanworks across a range of fanzines – and a publisher’s fanzine content across a range of creators – while dealing with different processes for word-based works and visual-based works.

It was a challenge—but an enjoyable one—to design and map a useful database, with helpful hints and tips from other OTW volunteers. And then to build it. And then to transfer across a whole lot of data from a number of spreadsheets that varied in content and organisation.

What can I say? I loved it! We’ve started using the FSHP Database for real now, and so far (luckily) the complaints have been minimal.

What fannish things do you like to do?
What I love most is writing, but alas I don’t do so much of that anymore. I love The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, and the related tv show, so re-reading and re-watching those is entertaining. Otherwise, Fandom is my fandom – and, now that I’m retired from the day job, I’m devoting many of my hours to supporting OTW’s work in the world. The only thing that could possibly be nicer than that would be for me to be writing again as well!

Meanwhile, if you are a reader, creator, or publisher of fanzines – and there is zine fic or art that you’d like to see preserved on AO3 – please do get in touch with Open Doors. We’d love to help!

Now that our volunteer’s said five things about what they do, it’s your turn to ask one more thing! Feel free to ask about their work in the comments. Or if you’d like, you can check out previous Five Things posts.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/five-things-julie-bozza-said-2/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272911

Posted by Lute

https://www.transformativeworks.org/updates-to-no-fandom-additional-tags-october-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272896

AO3 Tag Wranglers continue to test processes for wrangling canonical additional tags (tags that appear in the auto-complete) which don’t belong to any particular fandom (also known as “No Fandom” tags). This post will provide an overview of some of these upcoming changes.

In this round of updates, we continued a method which streamlines creation of new canonical tags, prioritizing more straightforward updates which would have less discussion compared to renaming current canonical tags or creating new canonical tags which touch on more complex topics. This method also reviews new tags on a regular basis, so check back on AO3 News for periodic “No Fandom” tag announcements.

None of these updates change the tags users have added to works. If a user-created tag is considered to have the same meaning as a new canonical, it will be made a synonym of one of these newly created canonical tags, and works with that user-created tag will appear when the canonical tag is selected.

In short, these changes only affect which tags appear in AO3’s auto-complete and filters. You can and should continue to tag your works however you prefer.

New Canonicals

The following concepts have been made new canonical tags:

• Accidental Child Acquisition
• Alternate Universe – YouTubers
• Aunt/Niece Incest
• Grandfather/Grandson Incest
• Mother/Daughter Incest
• Bathing Together
• Showering Together
• Ball Gags
• Cervix Penetration
• Penetrative Sex
• Coming Inside Someone
• Consensual Blood Drinking
• Dark Romance
• Discussions of Death
• Erectile Dysfunction
• Good Parenting
• Implied/Referenced Cannibalism
• Instagram
• Oh. OH. | Italicized Oh Moment
• Lovers to Enemies to Lovers
• Rivals to Friends to Lovers
• The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known
• Non-Sexual Nudity
• No Pregnancy
• Nuzzling
• Parasocial Relationships
• Partially Canon Compliant
• Past Suicide Attempts
• Pet Play
• Pillow Princesses
• Piss Drinking
• Pissing Inside Someone
• Reverse Harem
• Shock Collars
• Situationships
• Trauma Recovery
• Texting Fic
• Wound Fucking
• Y/N Used for Reader-Insert

In Conclusion

While some of these tags may be tags and concepts with which you’re intimately familiar, others may be concepts you’ve never heard of before. Fortunately, our fellow OTW volunteers over at Fanlore may be able to help! As you may have seen in the comments sections of previous posts, Fanlore is a fantastic resource for learning more about these common fandom concepts, and about the history and lore of fandom in general. For the curious, here’s a quick look at a few articles about concepts related to this month’s new canonical tags:

• Accidental Baby Acquistion
• Y/N
• Dark Romance
• Incest
• “Oh”
• Parasocial Relationship
• Reverse Harem
• Texting Fic
• Watersports

While we won’t be announcing every change we make to No Fandom canonical tags, you can expect similar updates in the future on the tags we believe will most affect users. If you’re interested in the changes we’ll be making, you can continue to check AO3 News or follow us on Bluesky @wranglers.archiveofourown.org or Tumblr @ao3org for future announcements.

You can also read previous updates on “No Fandom” tags as well as other wrangling updates, linked below:

• Past “No Fandom” Additional Tags Updates & 5 Things Said by Wrangling Volunteers
• Past Fandom-Specific and “No Fandom” Tag Wrangling Change Posts & Announcements

Got Questions?

For more information about AO3’s tag system, check out our Tags FAQ.

In addition to providing technical help, AO3 Support also handles requests related to how tags are sorted and connected.​ If you have questions about specific tags, which were first used over a month ago and are unrelated to any of the new canonical tags listed above, please contact Support instead of leaving a comment on this post.

We do ask, however, that requesters keep in mind that discussions about what tags to canonize and what format they should take are ongoing. As a result, not all related concepts will be canonized at the same time. This does not mean that related or similar concepts will not be canonized in the future or that we have chosen to canonize one specific concept in lieu of another, simply that we likely either haven’t gotten to that related concept yet or that it needs further discussion and will take a bit longer for us to canonize it as a result. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Lastly, we’re still working on implementing changes and connecting relevant user-created tags to these new canonicals, so it’ll be some time before these updates are complete. If you have questions about specific tags which should be connected to these new canonicals, please refrain from contacting Support about them until at least two months from now to give us adequate time to do so.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/updates-to-no-fandom-additional-tags-october-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272896

Posted by an

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-signal-october-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272882

Every month in OTW Signal, we take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including issues related to legal matters, technology, academia, fannish history and preservation issues of fandom, fan culture, and transformative works.

In the News

A new short documentary from filmmaker Andrew Coons shines a light on Marquette University’s Tolkien Fandom Oral History Collection.

The collection is curated by archivist Dr. William Fliss, who set himself the goal of preserving the voices of 6,000 Tolkien fans—one for each of the Riders of Rohan that Théoden mustered and led to the aid of Gondor.

Fans are given three minutes to speak about Tolkien and what his stories and the world of The Lord of the Rings have meant to them. Fliss hopes that these preserved voices will one day serve as a living archive for future generations.

“It’s important that these voices be preserved,” he says. “Even generations within families will be able to hear what their grandparents thought about Tolkien and connect with them at that point in their lives.”

The collection is still open to contributions. If you are a Tolkien fan, you can schedule an interview to take part. You do not need to use your real name—or include a name at all—to participate.

At the University of Utah, students are turning their attention to representation in fan spaces. In “How Conventions Reproduce Misogyny and Orientalism,” writers for The Daily Utah Chronicle argue that conventions like FanX are “simultaneously inclusive and celebratory, while also reproducing misogyny, fetishization and cultural commodification.”

The authors highlight how fan conventions often feature depictions of characters with exaggerated features or overtly sexualized clothing, which can reinforce narrow and harmful ideas about gender and appearance.

Within fan culture, there must be both the ability for women to dress in ways that help them feel empowered and accountability for decisions furthering larger issues for Asian stereotypes and minors.

They also point to what they call a broader “Western fascination” with Japanese culture—a deeper issue within fandom where Japanese media and imagery are frequently commodified or stripped of context and turned into an aesthetic rather than recognized as part of a living culture with real people and traditions behind it.

Some fans disagree, stating they are being respectful to the culture they’re representing.

“I personally don’t agree with that. As you can see, a lot of us here are pretty diverse. We’re just appreciating that Asian culture and bringing it somewhere where people don’t have access to the cafes in Japan … We make sure to respect the culture we’re representing.”

The authors call for more accountability and awareness among fans, creators and convention organizers so that fandom events can continue to be a safe and inclusive space for engaging with media and other fans.

OTW Tips

Had your eye on a donation gift but missed out on the October Membership Drive? Don’t worry, you can donate and get a donation gift at any time! Membership and donation gifts are available year round.

Please note that some gifts change with each Drive so if there’s a specific gift you really want—don’t delay! Pins are typically available for a year from when they are released, and stickers normally change with each membership Drive (each April and October). Other gifts change every few Drives, depending on demand.

You can see all currently available donation gifts on the donation form.

We want your suggestions for the next OTW Signal post! If you know of an essay, video, article, podcast, or news story you think we should know about, send us a link. We are looking for content in all languages! Submitting a link doesn’t guarantee that it will be included in an OTW post, and inclusion of a link doesn’t mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

https://www.transformativeworks.org/otw-signal-october-2025/

https://www.transformativeworks.org/?p=272882