I made this video about a puppet that I also made
Nov. 8th, 2025 01:22 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
wondermark_feedHere is a video of me making a puppet! And then performing a little with that puppet!
Some of you may recognize this technique as a callback to another series of puppet videos I made, some years ago. (As demonstrated here)
It’s been a fun idea to revisit, and I plan to do it some more.
This is, of course, related to my Wondermark-themed card game, Bolted!
Which now has final box art:
If you were part of the game’s launch campaign back in the spring, you may have noticed I just posted a detailed backer update about the final printing and shipping schedule.
You can read it if you want LOTS OF DETAILS about the current status & progress of the game! But in summary:
- I’m sending off the final artwork to the printer VERY SHORTLY
- The games will be printed in December/January
- I expect to receive my copies in February/March!
The time it will take to approve the artwork proofs & samples also allows for a perfect li’l window for me to REOPEN PREORDERS.
So if you missed it the first time around, you will now have a BONUS CHANCE to reserve yourself a copy:
Bolted! is coming to Kickstarter!My (silly but ambitious) goal in this prelaunch period is to gather the same number of “followers” on the prelaunch page, as we had total backers in the original campaign (436). That seems doable, right??
The plan is to launch mid-next week! That’s pretty soon!!
I’m assuming at least some of you reading this are OG Boltheads who jumped on the train early and have been patiently waiting for me to wrap it all up. I’m super grateful for your initial support!
And now that the manufacturing part of it all is in motion, I’m super pleased that the timing will allow for another chance to get it in front of folks for pre-orders.
Since I’m only likely to print this game once, I want to make sure anyone who’s interested will have a chance to grab a copy. So I’ll be talking much more about this in the days to come!!
Leaky Ceiling
Nov. 7th, 2025 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ailelieThey came out. I hired the guy.
They did a fantastic job. Everyone who saw or heard about what they did told me it was complete overkill, but I liked being *sure* that my ceiling wasn't moldy or weakening. I've had a ceiling fall, just inches from crashing over my body. I did not want to risk that.
What I did not know: mitigation would require cutting 4 large holes in my ceiling. They would not fix those.
Oh, they had a division that fixed the holes, but that was a separate service and fee.
Fixing my ceiling (they bundled in re-painting my ceiling in my living room, hall, and kitchen) would cost over $4,000. I said 'no.' I'd live with the holes first.
Today, I got the bill for the water mitigation. $2,700. Paying with a credit card is going to cost an additional $82.
I feel so incredibly foolish.
Squirting Kira
Nov. 7th, 2025 12:00 pmsavagelove_feedThis week, meet a woman who finally, after YEARS of persistence, has learned how to squirt. Practice makes perfect, and now she has mastered the messy art. Hear all about how she got there, what she plans for her squirting future, and “Is female ejaculate actually pee?” Kira ends the controversy definitively. Have you gotten … Read More »
The post Squirting Kira appeared first on Dan Savage.
Saving this link
Nov. 5th, 2025 11:27 pmailelieWednesday Reading
Nov. 5th, 2025 08:11 pmcofax7Currently reading: Number 5 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl (slowly), and I'm partway through the audiobook of Jamaica Inn by Daphne duMaurier, which is hella gothic and really well-written. I'm mildly entertained by DCC but I cannot keep all the fancy spells in my brain and the body count is pretty excessive (especially once you know that all the NPCs are real people!)
Up Next: The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott, sequel to The Witch Roads. Happily it's available on Bookshop.org DRM-free, so I could download it and sideload it onto my Kindle.
*+*+*
In other news, work is insane and and and. But at least Prop 50 passed, and at least some of the Dems are figuring out that we need them to FIGHT BACK. But this shutdown sucks. I can't be more specific than that.
Bah.
Spotlight on Recent Legislation, November 2025
Nov. 5th, 2025 10:57 pmotw_news_feedWe’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.)
Lovely Lesbian Fingernails
Nov. 4th, 2025 12:00 pmsavagelove_feedA woman’s bisexual husband has been getting “gayer and gayer” to the point where he is only interested in her if she acts like a dude. Her friend is worried about her. How can this marriage work? Are there any straight leather daddies out there who aren’t misogynistic creeps? This caller is NOT HAPPY. On … Read More »
The post Lovely Lesbian Fingernails appeared first on Dan Savage.
Quickies!
Nov. 4th, 2025 12:00 pmsavagelove_feed1. I’m a 34-year-old woman who has been with a man I really enjoy for three years. There are a few reasons I don’t think we’re going to last forever. Most importantly: I’m not planning to have kids. He knows that but he wants them. Do I cut it off or let it run its … Read More »
The post Quickies! appeared first on Dan Savage.
Life lived in dot points
Nov. 4th, 2025 08:13 pmfred_mouse- I submitted my preliminary candidacy proposal today. I still have to present it, get reviewer's feedback, and resubmit, but it is one hoop closer to done.
- I received confirmation that my application to work with a larger project has been accepted. I have until Monday to tell them what my milestones, deliverables, and KPIs are, and while the first two are okay, the last one is supposed to have at least one from a list I can't find
- I caved and bought an ebook bundle from StoryBundle: this trilogies bundle - I bought it for the Natania Barron (which I acquired book one while travelling, and then lost when I was 1/3 in) and the Jane Yolen (I believe I know where book 1 is, but I didn't know it was a trilogy). I have no expectations for the rest, but it was cheaper than trying to buy either of the trilogies (definitely in hard copy, but possibly still cheaper than them in softcopy, with the cost of ebooks)
- I was running ahead on the quilting, I then did none in the weekend just gone, so I think I'm a block behind, but I've also done some of the assembling, so I've worked ahead as well. progress is progress
- the little chamber orchestra has a performance on Sunday, and Youngest (who has not been able to attend a rehearsal all semester due to uni scheduling conflicts) came along and can play at least some of it, which helps bolster the currently light on cello section (we have a new cello player. This was their fourth session with us; I'm not sure they had met any of the other cello players before last night).
- I have managed to lose the blanket that lives on the red couch. I have zero memory of it ever being anywhere else, so I'm a bit :( about it. But I used it as the reference object for a course I'm doing (I'm doing two tiny courses, on the future of data and the future of communication, each ~10 hours, while attempting to do a stack of other things. As is the way, I'm too slow moving for it to be only 10 hours, given that I spent nearly two this afternoon doing 1/6 of the work)
Five Things Julie Bozza Said
Nov. 3rd, 2025 12:23 pmotw_news_feedEvery 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.
Dark Shadows: Blood Levy by Susan Rains/Carey Kasdot
Nov. 2nd, 2025 09:02 ampronker posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fancakePairings/Characters: Barnabas Collins, Roger Collins, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Angelique Bouchard Collins, Elliot Stokes, Julia Hoffman, David Collins, Hallie Stokes, Maggie Evans, Willie Loomis
Summary: Four strangers converge on Collinsport. But maybe one of them is coming home.
Blood Levy (Dark Shadows 1971) Book 3 - Chapter 1 - Carey Kasdot (SusanRains) - Dark Shadows (1966) [Archive of Our Own]
Sherlock Holmes: Bad Dog by Unpainted Canvas
Nov. 1st, 2025 08:47 pmkingstoken posting in fancakePairings/Characters: Holmes/Watson
Rating: T
Length: 11,539 words
Creator Links: Unpainted Canvas (RatTale)
Theme: mystery & suspense, casefic
Summary: During a hard case Holmes and Watson part ways after an argument, and now Holmes suddenly has more to worry about than missing children.
Reccer's Notes: After they have a terrible row, Watson is kidnapped by bad guys to prevent Holmes from pursuing a case. The entire story is from Holmes POV, and there is a lot of worry and tension as Holmes tries to solve the disappearance of his friend. It's a good casefic, as well as the circumstances leading to realization of feelings by Holmes.
Fanwork Links: AO3
Round 180: Mystery & Suspense
Nov. 1st, 2025 09:49 amrunpunkrun posting in fancake
Spooky season's not over yet because our theme for November is mystery & suspense!
The tag for this round is: theme: mystery & suspense
If you're just joining us, be sure to check out our policy on content notes. Content notes aren't required, but they're nice to include in your recs, especially if a fanwork has untagged content that readers may wish to know about in advance.
( Rules! )
( Posting Template! )
( Promote this round! )
Dark Shadows: The Lunatic Yarn by Susan Rains/Carey Kasdot
Oct. 31st, 2025 10:51 pmpronker posting in fancakePairings/Characters: Barnabas Collins, Julia Hoffman, Elliot Stokes, David Collins, Elizabeth Collins, Roger Collins, Angelique Bouchard Collins, Harry Johnson, Willie Loomis, Maggie Evans
Rating: T
Length: 37,304
Creator Links: archiveofourown.org/users/SusanRains/pseuds/Carey%20Kasdot
Theme: Uncommon settings
Summary: A dumbwaiter system found in the house unleashes a baffling illness which turns pleasant friends into infatuated screwballs. Meanwhile, games with the dumbwaiter bring Hallie and David nights of terror. With the addition of an afghan that roams the house at will and a houseguest no one wants, Collinwood hits the height of mayhem.
Reccer's Notes: You'd be pretty hard put to discover a stranger, more unsettling setting than a dumbwaiter in which an intrepid soul or two ventures to travel. Add to this Halloween rec the inimitable spookiness of the great estate of Collinwood and you've discovered a delightful read with stellar characterizations and the usual undercurrent of Things Unseen in the fandom.
Fanwork Links: The Lunatic Yarn (Dark Shadows 1971) Book 2 - Carey Kasdot (SusanRains) - Dark Shadows (1966) [Archive of Our Own]
AO3 Releases 0.9.433 – 0.9.439: Change Log
Nov. 1st, 2025 01:39 amotw_news_feedIn October, we continued our internationalization efforts to make AO3’s interface and emails translatable. We also worked on usability improvements to a variety of site features, including clarified buttons for posting and editing works, improved password reset messages and forms, and more consistent redirects when logging in or out. Alongside these updates, we overhauled exchange participants’ Assignments pages and smoothed out other smaller issues across the site.
Special thanks and welcome to first-time contributors Cole Kelling, Cubostar, John Pork, and Tani!
Credits
- Coders: Abhinav Gupta, anna, Bilka, Brian Austin, CJ Record, Cole Kelling, Connie Feng, Cubostar, dismayonnaise, Emily Wiegand, Ivedonestranger, Jake Faulkner, james_, John Pork, katieyang, marcus8448, nil-cipher (Wanda), Samridhi, Sarken, Scott, slavalamp, Tani, weeklies, Yanpei Wang
- Code reviewers: anna, Bilka, Brian Austin, Hamham6, james_, lydia-theda, redsummernight, Sarken, Scott, slavalamp, weeklies
- Testers: Allonautilus, Anh P, AuroraT, Bilka, Brian Austin, choux, Deniz, hvalrann, Keladry, killiane, Lute, lydia-theda, Meep Linger, megidola, ömer faruk, Pent, pk2317, Sarken, Scott, Teyris, therealmorticia
Details
0.9.433
On October 1, we deployed improvements around password changes and resets. We also made some other small security fixes all around the site.
- [AO3-2520] – We made it possible to delete comments with JavaScript disabled.
- [AO3-5640] – When a Policy & Abuse admin tries to leave notes on an account without selecting an action to connect those notes to (e.g., banning the user or just making notes), they will now get a sensible error message.
- [AO3-7023] – We fixed the invisible error you’d get if you tried to create a bookmark for an invalid external URL.
- [AO3-7125] – The site we linked on our “Session Expired” error page to explain how to clear your browser cache removed their tutorial, so we are now linking to a different site.
- [AO3-7127] – We bumped rexml from 3.4.1 to 3.4.2.
- [AO3-7136] – Since the 8tracks website no longer exists, we removed it from the list of allowed sources for embedded media and the Terms of Service FAQ.
- [AO3-7137] – We bumped the rack gem from 2.2.17 to 2.2.18 to deal with a security issue.
- [AO3-6139] – The series we created in our automated tests didn’t always contain a work, which was confusing. We’ve updated them to always contain at least one work.
- [AO3-6968] – AO3’s tag wranglers often need to access or post comments on tags, so we added links in the wrangling bins to make that easier to do.
- [AO3-7038] – We restricted the ability to grant all current users invitations to admins with certain roles.
- [AO3-7086] – We updated the wording and layout of the change password page (as well as some related error messages) to improve clarity and ease of use.
- [AO3-7112] – To assist users resetting their password, we updated the instructions in the password reset email.
- [AO3-7114] – We improved the error message you received when you tried to reset your password using an invalid or incorrect link so that it actually explains what went wrong.
- [AO3-7126] – We improved the wording of the most recent login information in the user history accessible to admins.
0.9.435
On October 3, we upgraded to Ruby 3.4 and it all went smoothly! Except that our release script skipped a version number again, but that’s a very minor problem for a major upgrade.
- [AO3-7145] – We upgraded Ruby from version 3.2 to 3.4 in multiple slow steps.
- [AO3-7148] – To reduce deprecation errors with the Ruby 3.4 upgrade, we replaced the unmaintained unicode_utils gem with Ruby’s built-in Unicode case folding.
0.9.436
On October 9, we overhauled the page where a user’s challenge assignments are listed to make it easier to find incomplete assignments. We also fixed some style issues and did a lot of work for our ongoing project to internationalize the entire site!
- [AO3-7029] – The Low Vision Default skin was missing the links to skip to and from the filters; the links are now present.
- [AO3-7077] – We fixed some old, broken links tag wranglers saw when looking at the tag wrangling tools page.
- [AO3-5349] – When someone fills your prompt from a prompt meme, you get an email. We’ve prepared this email for translation.
- [AO3-6415] – To help gift exchange participants find assignments they need to fulfill, we’ve split Assignments pages into two pages: Unposted Assignments and Completed Assignments. Additionally, completed assignments are no longer counted in the sidebar, and all assignments are now listed in order of assignment date to ensure that your most pressing assignments are displayed first.
- [AO3-7005] – Some buttons in iOS Safari had bold text, so we unbolded them to match all the other buttons.
- [AO3-7020] – We’ve set up our work byline cache to be translatable without any risk of showing a cached translation to someone who isn’t using that locale. This is an important first step in preparing more cached content for interface translation.
- [AO3-7043] – We migrated the filter taggings table, which helps keep track of which canonical tags apply to a work, so it can hold more rows and won’t run out of room in the future.
- [AO3-7055] – We made the emails you get when someone leaves you a comment or edits it translatable.
- [AO3-7075] – We added some extra padding around the “Last visited” text on works in your history.
- [AO3-7103] – We updated the email you receive when Open Doors uploads a work of yours as part of importing an archive to AO3.
- [AO3-7105] – Similarly, we updated the email you get if you don’t already have an AO3 account when Open Doors imports one of your works.
0.9.437
On October 13, we changed the buttons for posting, previewing, and editing a work to have clearer names and behave more consistently. We also fixed a number of small bugs.
- [AO3-4181] – We made it so that pressing “Cancel” while editing a work redirects you to the specific work you were editing, instead of the page with all your works.
- [AO3-6217] – We fixed the 500 error that occurred when an admin pressed “Cancel” on the page to edit a work’s tags or language.
- [AO3-7018] – You will no longer receive a 500 error if you enter an invalid URL in a collection’s custom header URL field. Instead you will get an error message telling you what the problem is.
- [AO3-7108] – We fixed a problem where the default skin could have the wrong attributes in development installs.
- [AO3-7124] – For chapters with custom titles, the chapter title in the work download wouldn’t include the chapter number. We’ve added it now, so the chapter title always matches what you see on the website.
- [AO3-7154] – We fixed a bug that was preventing Policy & Abuse admins from adding a custom note when banning a spambot.
- [AO3-5996] – We’re renaming a database column on comments to more accurately reflect its purpose. As part of that, we’ve now started recording data in the column with the new name.
- [AO3-7153] – We updated the rack gem from version 2.2.18 to 2.2.20 to address a security issue.
- [AO3-6644] – Collection header images used to allow .jpg files but not .jpeg files. Now we accept both formats, since they’re the same type of image.
- [AO3-7085] – We added a “Save Draft” button to the form for posting a new work and updated all of the buttons at the bottom of the forms for posting, previewing, or editing a work to be more clear and consistent.
- [AO3-7096] – To make it easier to debug issues with collections’ unrevealed and anonymous settings, we’re now tracking when they were last updated. (Please note that this information is only intended for admins with database access and is not included on the site interface.)
- [AO3-7106] – We moved the code for editing your profile from the users controller to the more fitting profile controller.
0.9.438
On October 17, we deployed a large refactoring of how we handle redirects back to pages that you came from, which made redirects after logging in and out much more reliable and also fixed some redirect-related 500 errors when accessing AO3 through alternative URLs.
- [AO3-3011] – You will no longer get an error 404 if you hide a site banner and then log out.
- [AO3-3719] – If you open a restricted work while logged out and then log in from the page you are redirected to, you will now be redirected back to the work instead of to your user dashboard.
- [AO3-5842] – If you change your skin using the footer, you will stay on the page you were viewing with the correct skin applied, instead of being redirected to the page about the skin.
- [AO3-5913] – When you log in for the first time, you will now only get a message saying you’ve successfully logged in instead of a confusing message that says, “Your account has already been activated.”
- [AO3-6402] – When you delete an account and log in to a different one, you will no longer be directed to the “Account deleted!” page, which would make you wrongly think you deleted the account you just logged into.
- [AO3-5949] – Across a variety of corners of AO3, we’ve changed where you get redirected to when you log in, log out, or cancel actions, so that it’s generally more logical to what you’re trying to do.
0.9.439
On October 20, we made several internationalization-related email updates and released a variety of smaller fixes.
- [AO3-4309] – We prepared the subscription email for translation, which involved some complicated localization and caching problems all at once!
- [AO3-5804] – Together with preparing the subscription email for translation, we also changed it to only show a chapter’s byline if it is different from the already listed work byline.
- [AO3-5805] – And while we were at it, we also made sure the chapter byline in the subscription email really is the chapter byline, and not the work byline.
- [AO3-7128] – We prevented collection maintainers with differing roles on a parent and subcollection from being listed twice in subcollection blurbs and profiles.
- [AO3-7163] – We fixed a bug that prevented the live validation error messages for the fields on the edit profile page from showing up.
- [AO3-7173] – We fixed an error 500 when you updated your filtered inbox (such as marking a comment as read) while accessing AO3 via an alternative URL.
- [AO3-7162] – We upgraded the version of github/codeql-action from 3 to 4.
- [AO3-7172] – We upgraded the redis gem from version 3.3 to 4.8.
- [AO3-6733] – If a work or user has been reported to Policy & Abuse, AO3 won’t let you report them again for a period to prevent duplicate reports. We’ve made this period configurable so that it can be adjusted as needed.
- [AO3-7063] – We prevented Safari on iOS from assuming that random numbers were phone numbers and turning them into links to call those numbers.
- [AO3-7069] – To assist with testing, we made it possible to display specific works in our email previews.
- [AO3-7113] – We updated the form for changing your password as part of a password reset to more closely match the form you see if you’re changing your password while logged in.
- [AO3-7155] – We added a missing space between the text and the arrow on the “Previous Chapter” link at the bottom of multichapter works.
Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chen Qing Ling: medium blues, by darkterrible; art by Mojoflower.
Oct. 31st, 2025 06:22 pmfull_metal_ox posting in fancakePairings/Characters: M/M; Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian; Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Sizhui, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, Wen Qing, and others.
Rating: Explicit
Length: 193,252
Content Notes: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, animal death, body horror, bullying, conspiracy, domestic violence, Scenery Porn, Scenery Gorn, Smut
Creator Tags: Horror, Spooky, Opposites Attract, Fluff and Angst, Gore, Ghosts, Necromancy
Creator Links: (AO3)
Theme: Uncommon Settings, Casefic, Canon LGBTQ+ Characters, Cops & Crime, Fandom Classics, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery & Suspense, Novel-Length Fic, Psychic Powers, Uncommon Settings, Urban Fantasy, Worldbuilding
Summary: Wei Wuxian can see the dead. Weird happenings ensue.
Author’s Notes: I really struggled with putting this back up again (sorry I know I'm a flake) I have a love/hate relationship with it. But here it is.
This is a repost (it's all over the internet in various formats and languages) but it is mine.
I wrote this a looong time ago, before I really had a GREAT understanding of the naming conventions used in the untamed. Some of it might be incorrect.
Reccer's Notes:: Although November’s Mystery & Suspense theme would apply, I’m using Uncommon Settings to shoehorn in this beloved modern-with-magic paranoir fic in time for Halloween; the intrigue-haunted waterfront city of Lotus, patterned after Venice, is very much a character in its own right. (Note that, despite the geographical inspiration, nobody seems to have been whitewashed.)
medium blues has a history as cryptic and elusive as its subject matter: for various reasons (including having been targeted in the fandom’s 2020 cyberbullying scandal) the author—along with this fic—has periodically vanished and resurfaced under a succession of pseudonyms.
Here are the author’s original summary and tags:
( Continue. )
Fanwork Links: medium blues, by
(Wayback Machine): https://web.archive.org/web/20220625040644/https://archiveofourown.org/works/39589791?view_adult=true&view_full_work=true
(Archive.today): https://archive.ph/cJARF
Frontispiece by
- fandom: chen qing ling (the untamed),
- fandom: mo dao zu shi,
- length: 80.000 & more words,
- theme: canon lgbtq+ characters,
- theme: casefic,
- theme: cops & crime,
- theme: fandom classics,
- theme: hurt/comfort,
- theme: mystery & suspense,
- theme: novel-length fic,
- theme: psychic powers,
- theme: uncommon settings,
- theme: urban fantasy,
- theme: worldbuilding
Snippet from today's writing (so far)
Oct. 31st, 2025 12:47 pmailelieNormally, the only way for him to regain any warmth would be the long way, but your knives offer an alternative.
The cocoon of shadows throbbing around Feylon's form seem to ignore your approach. Through the thick veil of fog, Feylon's face appears gray and his lips blue. You hope it is cold and not a lack of air that has leeched his color.
Your knives slide down to your hands with practiced ease. The alchemical blue veins glint in the dim light of the street. Patience stills your blades as you step closer to the knot of white surrounding Feylon.
Feylon has to bleed on the blades and hold them in the Shadow. The alchemy will draw his warmth back out and into him. You will be the one keeping his hands on the blades. Once it starts, you can't let go.
With an explosive lunge, you sink your knives into the Shadow. It hardens the fog into ice around your blades. Swinging your feet up, you push against the ice. Your blades tear free, and, with a backflip, you land in a low crouch.
Ice needles shoot toward you. You throw up an arm and twist your body to protect your face. Needles sting as they lodge in your shoulder and bicep. As soon as the onslaught end, you leap forward again and tear at the Shadow with your knives.
It fights back, but it is feeding, so every slash of your blades hurts it. It is feeding, a voice in the back of your mind says. Feylon lives.
The Shadow shrinks away from your knives, freeing Feylon's torso and, more importantly, his hands covering his chest in what had proven to be very inadequate protection.
So, I don't like the first lines on this bit, but I'm also tired of staring at them. Maybe my crit group will have thoughts when they reach this part.
STRUGGLE SESSION: A Day Late, a Dollar (or Two) Short
Oct. 31st, 2025 12:00 pmsavagelove_feedHey, Everybody: Still sick here, so… an abbreviated struggle this week (just a couple of links) plus a bonus question for the group. Says Jodie… Have you seen the new Rosetta Stone commercial featuring the old farmer guy learning German (presumably) for the Berlin leather bars?! I hadn’t seen it — but Jodie was kind … Read More »
The post STRUGGLE SESSION: A Day Late, a Dollar (or Two) Short appeared first on Dan Savage.
due South: Academic Punk by thehoyden
Nov. 1st, 2025 01:29 ammific posting in fancakeCharacters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker, Victoria Metcalfe, original characters
Rating: Explicit
Length: 19,093
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings
Creator Links: thehoyden on AO3, luzula on the Audiofic Archive
Themes: Uncommon settings, Friends to lovers, First time, Working together, Complete AU: academia
Summary: "What the hell is this, an Austen novel?"
Reccer's Notes: Complete AUs are unusual in due South, and this is that rarity, a dS AU set in academia. Fraser is a new professor, looked down on by his colleagues as he's from the University of Guelph, and only Ray Kowalski, a punky, nonconformist professor, befriends him. They both have offices on the unpopular top floor (Fraser as he's bottom of the pecking order, and Ray as he likes to get away from the rest of the department), which helps kickstart their friendship. The story is about the highs and lows of academic life and there are some great sections showing Ray's unconventional teaching style which the students love, and Fraser's more traditional, but solid, approach. There's academic politics and also drama with the return of Victoria, Fraser's ex and his academic rival. It's about character development, and about Fraser and Ray's friendship which blossoms gradually into much, much more. The fic's beautifully written, and an extremely good read - highly recommended.
Fanwork Links: Academic Punk on AO3, and the excellent podfic by luzula is here
Furry Party!
Oct. 31st, 2025 11:00 amsavagelove_feedAfter Action Report #2 On this week’s After Action Report, a trans man made his way to his first furry party. He doesn’t have a full suit yet, just paws, ears and a tail. For those in full fur suits, you might be wondering: How do they, you know…do it? You’ll have to listen for … Read More »
The post Furry Party! appeared first on Dan Savage.
5691
Oct. 30th, 2025 09:40 pmquestionable_content_feed
personally I'd never ask someone about their pronouns like that, but Clinton is nosy
Updates to “No Fandom” Additional Tags, October 2025
Oct. 30th, 2025 05:25 pmotw_news_feedAO3 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
- 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.
(no subject)
Oct. 29th, 2025 09:15 pmskygiantsButter focuses Rika Machida, a magazine journalist, on the cusp of becoming the first woman in her company to break the glass ceiling and join Big Editorial, who decides that her next big feature is going to be an insider interview with the infamous prisoner Manako Kajii. Kajii is accused of murdering several men that she met on dating sites after seducing them with a fatal combination of sex, personal attention, and French cooking; in the eyes of the public, however, her greatest crime is that she somehow managed all this femme fatale-ing while being Kind Of Fat.
After a tip from her best friend Reiko -- a housewife who quit her own promising career in hopes of starting a family -- Rika, despite having no previous interest in cooking or domesticity, writes to Kajii about getting her recipe for beef stew. This opens the door for a connection that gets very psychologically weird very fast; Kajii, behind bars, tests Rika with various little living-by-proxy challenges -- eat some good butter! go to the best French restaurant in town! eat late night ramen! after having sex! and tell me all about it -- and Rika, fascinated despite herself, allows herself to be manipulated. For the interview, of course. And also because it turns out good butter is really good, and that eating and making rich food for herself instead of working to keep herself boyishly thin (the prince of her all-girl's school! One of the Boys at work!) is changing her relationship to her body, and her gender, and to the way that people perceive her in the world and she perceives them.
This is more or less what I'd understood to be the plot of the book -- a sort of Silence of the Lambs situation, if the crime that Clarice was trying to solve by talking with Hannibal was societal misogyny -- but in fact it's only about half of the story, and societal misogyny is only one of the big crimes under consideration. The other one is loneliness, and so the rest of the book has to do with Rika's other relationships, and the domino-effect changes that Rika's Kajiimania has on the other people in her life. The most significant is with Reiko, which is extremely fraught with lesbian tension ( spoilers I suppose ) But there's also Rika's mother, and her boyfriend, and the older mentor that she has secret intermittent just-lads-together meet-ups with in bars to get hot journalistic tips; all of these relationships are important, and usually ended up in places I didn't expect and that were more interesting than I would have guessed.
Not everything landed for me about this book, but this was one thing it did pretty consistently that I appreciated -- Rika would think about something, and I would go, 'well, that was didactic, you just said your theme out loud,' and then the book and Rika as protagonist would revisit it and have a more complicated and potentially contradictory thought about it, and then we'd go back to it again, and it usually ended up being more interesting than I would have thought the first time around. It's a long book, possibly too long, but it's equally possible I think that it does need that space to hold contradictions in.
It was however quite funny to read this shortly after Taiwan Travelogue -- another book I have not written up and should probably do so soon -- and also shortly after What Did You Eat Yesterday and also seeing a lot of gifsets for She Loves To Cook and She Loves To Eat ... fellas, is it gay to be really into food? signs point to yes!
Laundry Day
Oct. 28th, 2025 10:05 pmquestionable_content_feed
Everything immediately coated in dog hair, as it should be
Cage Match
Oct. 28th, 2025 11:00 amsavagelove_feedThe fact that I’m in an LTR with a partner who knows I’m bi, is fine with me exploring with other guys, allows to me seeing professional dominants, and has experimented with me over the course of our relationship is probably all down to what I have learned reading your column and listening to your … Read More »
The post Cage Match appeared first on Dan Savage.
Dating Divorcees
Oct. 28th, 2025 11:00 amsavagelove_feedA woman’s lefty friend berated her for enjoying drag, saying it’s like blackface for trans women. The caller loves drag and had never thought about this before. Is it true? A straight man loves the idea of seeing a naked woman walking around her house. He wonders if others would love to see him naked, … Read More »
The post Dating Divorcees appeared first on Dan Savage.
OTW Signal, October 2025
Oct. 28th, 2025 10:07 amotw_news_feedEvery 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.
(no subject)
Oct. 27th, 2025 11:14 pmskygiantsThe unnamed narrator is a Japanese PhD student studying medieval saints in Göttingen, Germany, in the summer of 2020. The first quarantine regulations are just beginning to relax, and, as the world opens up a little bit again, she's visited by her old grad school friend Nomiya, who unfortunately died in the 2011 tsunami, and whose body was never recovered. The meeting is, inevitably, a bit awkward, mostly small talk -- it's hard to make a connection after nine years, especially when one person has been changing and moving through the world and the other has not -- but Nomiya seems to be enjoying Göttingen. He decides to stay for some time. The narrator feels that it would be rude to ask him whether he's going to return home to Japan for the Ghost Festival.
As the summer unfurls, in a series of encounters and re-encounters with friends new and old, the city of Göttingen gets stranger. The planet Pluto, which was removed from Göttingen's scale-model planet-themed walking trail some time ago, keeps intermittently re-appearing. The narrator's roommate keeps taking her dog out to look for truffles and instead the dog finds strange lost objects, all of which seem to have profound significance to somebody. Nomiya comes to dinner with the narrator's old grad school advisor and brings a friend, a nice man who appears to be experiencing the city from approximately a century previous. In fact, time is slipping all over Göttingen: and what is time, or memory, except something that lives in a landmark or an object? The narrator studies medieval saints. She understands things in terms of iconography.
I picked this up largely because it was translated by Polly Barton, who also translated Where The Wild Ladies Are and Butter (post on which forthcoming) and at this point I've decided I should probably just read everything she translates because it's clearly going to take me interesting places. This book, absolutely another data point of reinforcement.
Flashback OVER
Oct. 27th, 2025 09:56 pmquestionable_content_feed
Yay and Steve now have something in common
Hamlet: Rosemary for Remembrance by Gehayi
Oct. 27th, 2025 05:05 pmsusieboo posting in fancakePairings/Characters: Ophelia, Hamlet, Laertes, Polonious, Claudius (genderflipped to Claudia), Gertrude, Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (genderflipped to Rosie and Goldie), Claudia/Gertrude
Rating: Teen
Length: 11,174
Creator Links: AO3 profile.
Themes: Uncommon Settings, IN SPACE, Murder Mystery, Alternate Ending
Summary: Hamlet in space, starring sensible and heroic Ophelia, genderswapped Claudius, clones Rosencrantz and Guilderstern and alien Fortinbras. (Alas, there are no sharks in space riding motorcycles, nor is there a time machine.) (Taken from AO3)
Reccer's notes: This is just an extremely well-done sci-fi take on the classic play, with Ophelia as the protagonist. I really enjoy the species changes to certain characters, and the way the author plays with the well-known story beats to create something unique. The author's notes at the end also have some interesting insights into the writing choices they made.
Fanwork links: Rosemary for Remembrance
Being an adult
Oct. 27th, 2025 12:46 pmailelieTo me, it boils down to this: decide who you are and be them.
For me, that has meant exploring my core values and what those values mean for my daily life. It also means owning my strengths and struggles. Etc.
Thoughts?