yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
([personal profile] yhlee Sep. 6th, 2025 05:10 am)
At this point, because life is too short, I block on sight people I see recommending anything by/to do with the serial racist TERF harasser Benjanun Sriduangkaew (Zen Cho's summary), who now writes as "Maria Ying" (with someone else)? (WinterFox, Requires Hate, whatever the hell other pseudonyms and/or monikers). There's a chance current readers/recommenders/etc. have no idea and just haven't heard, but like I said, life is too short, so why give any more time of day than "nope, blocking" to someone running around reccing a harasser?

(I was in her targeting crosshairs but fortunately only in a glancing fashion, unlike people I know whom she harassed in pretty awful ways, in an ongoing pattern of behavior.)
ruric: (Default)
([personal profile] ruric Sep. 6th, 2025 10:09 am)
I really need to get back into the habit of posting rather than just reading along!

Update Chez Ruric:

I had 2 weeks off at the end of August where I had plans to achieve things but did nothing because I was mentally and physically exhausted. Then I looked back at the end of 2024 and saw a similar kind of entry and things must change in late 2025/26. So I am making adjustments.

#project65days is plodding along - things are very slowly being sorted. I've started tackling my main Gmail account which at the beginning of the year had some 26,000 archived emails. I've had the account for 15 plus years and there's important stuff to keep in there along with everything else. I'm down to 16,500 stored emails and feeling quite proud of my progress! I mentally lighter with every 100 deletions.

Flat - between #project65days and the current round of #orjenise100 which has just started things are improving. I've started chipping away at the chaos in my bedroom, have bought a load of new houseplants as Lidl had large and medium sized pants at good prices which will make things feel greener. The ex is away mid September which means I can commandeer his washing machine and catch up on a backlog of washing.

Front garden - I got my act together last week and tidied the tiny front garden and pruned the roses. And I resolved not to try and do all my autumn window box and basket planting in one hit - which stresses me out and takes all the fun out of it - but rather space it out and do a few things at a time. So far I've planted a pot of pinks, a hanging basket, a window box of pinks for outside the kitchen window, bought and potted a new hebe.

Still to plant - 2 window boxes and 2 pots and sort out the raised bed in the front garden, 3 window boxes for in front of the living room windows, 2 window boxes and 4 large pots for the porch roof.

Winter prep still to do - sand and varnishing the exterior of the stable door into the garden, sand and paint the front gate and front door, touch up the White paint in the porch exterior and interior.

Back garden - so much pruning and sorting to do. Not worrying about that until October!

Allotment - harvesting and winter prep. I'll be down there for what's left of today, all day tomorrow and Tuesday.

Right - off to make coffee and then down to the lottie.
Tags:
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

What will the economy of wealthy countries look like in 50 to 100 years?

Like this.




ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Sep. 5th, 2025 11:49 pm)
Scientists made plastic that eats carbon

From waste to valuable resource: Chemists at the University of Copenhagen have developed a method to convert plastic waste into a climate solution for efficient and sustainable CO2 capture, thereby addressing not one, but two major global challenges.

Read more... )
Title: When Little Bird Came to Prison
Fandom: OZ (HBO)/Game of Thrones
Characters: Sean Murphy & Sansa Stark
Prompt: Day five - Sean Murphy & Sansa Stark - first things first

When Little Bird Came to Prison )
torachan: an avatar of me done scott pilgrim style (scott pilgrim style me)
([personal profile] torachan Sep. 5th, 2025 09:03 pm)
1. I saw both Gemma and Molly using the new cat box tonight! I think someone other than Ollie might have used it once or twice but I never saw confirmation until now. Now if Chloe and Jasper would just come around, I'd feel confident about replacing the other two boxes and no longer having to worry about people peeing outside the box.

2. I have had bad neck issues from sleeping for years and things got somewhat better after I bought a pillow that was specifically for stomach sleepers, but it's several years old now and I've been thinking about replacing it anyway, plus it's also never been perfect and I still do have a lot of neck pain, though thankfully not constantly. I saw a list of best pillows on Wired a week or so ago and have been thinking about the one they recommended for back and stomach sleepers and finally bit the bullet and ordered it the other day. It arrived today and while I haven't slept a full night on it yet, it feels amazing to lie on, both back and stomach, so I have high hopes. It was pricey, but if it helps my neck, it's worth it.

3. Having a three day work week was so nice! It's the weekend again already!

4. If only I could sleep this comfortably!

hannah: (Stargate Atlantis - zaneetas)
([personal profile] hannah Sep. 5th, 2025 10:54 pm)
My phone's inability to hold a decent charge is starting to grate on me. I don't use it for a whole lot of things or for many minutes throughout a given day, and based on the stats provided by said phone, the things that I use it for the most - the phone function itself for calls, the CitiBike app, and the home and lock screen - are fairly baffling that they're taking up the most energy. I can't claim to understand the details of the technology involved, but I can claim to be confused that using this phone as a phone is a major drain.

I'm not replacing it, though, not unless I can get the exact same model in the exact same color. I'm holding out until I've got no choice in the matter. Hopefully by then, technology's going to have advanced to the point I can replace the battery myself.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Sep. 5th, 2025 09:37 pm)
I'm copying this from [personal profile] dialecticdreamer:

Our online friend [personal profile] chanter1944  needs help re-linking works from their old user name to the current one. (This affects the Schroedinger’s Heroes stories that they have written, specifically.) I have no idea how to do this, but there are plenty of people here who probably have a better clue about how to proceed. So I’m asking.

They have many stories which should not be lost in the black box of their former DW handle. Please contact [personal profile] chanter1944 , who uses a screen reader which can slow down response time.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Wishing success to [personal profile] chanter1944 , and the helpers who tackle this project!


I will add that this affects the Schrodinger's Heroes links for the Orange!verse on my website; I know I've got some folks here who can edit that, so hopefully someone will have time to help.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Sep. 5th, 2025 08:10 pm)
Today we went to the Broomcorn Festival in Arcola. This is a big harvest festival, well worth catching, and it runs the whole weekend if you want to check it out. The weather was beautiful, cloudy and mild, couldn't ask for better weather.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Sep. 5th, 2025 07:59 pm)
1. What was recently interrupted?

Gardening, because today we went to the Broomcorn Festival.


2. What could you use a break from?

The drought. Seriously, the weeds are dying. My sunchokes continue to give zero fucks though.


3. What would get you to continue that long-unfinished project?

Time. And since I have time currently, I am working on an unfinished poem.


4. When did you last attend something that had an intermission?

Gosh, it's been years, we used to attend theatre events.


5. What’s your favorite way to spend a lunch break?

Eating lunch.
pegkerr: (Default)
([personal profile] pegkerr Sep. 5th, 2025 07:31 pm)
Eric and took a one-day road trip to New Ulm this past weekend, a little Year of Adventure event. We ate lunch at a friendly bistro, Lola's and then spent an absorbing hour touring the childhood home of Wanda Gág, the owner of Millions of Cats. The two docents seemed absolutely delighted to have visitors and almost talked our ears off about the Gág family.

There were a couple of other stops, to poke around an antique store or two, and to take pictures at the statue of Hermann the Cheruscan ("Hermann the German"), the statue of Wanda Gág in front of the public library, and the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. A very pleasant getaway.

Image Description: A Victorian Queen Anne home, overlaid with a black and white picture of a young woman holding an easel and paintbrush. Left: A guitar in the shape of the Prince Love symbol, made of musical instruments (the instrument's neck is a keyboard). Right: an iron lamppost. Center: the statue of Herman the German, sword raised, overlaid with a statue of Wanda Gág reading to a cat. Right corner: a black cat with an arched back. Upper right: logo for Lola Bistro.

New Ulm

35 New Ulm

Click on the links to see the 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.
Title: Enticing
Fandom: Transformers [Bay Movies]
Pairing/Characters: Starscream & Optimus Prime
Content Notes: Starscream?
Prompt: September Five - 1 & 2 - first thing's first

Survival Instincts is the background.

Let's get this straight )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith Sep. 5th, 2025 06:25 pm)
Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, new picnic table, telephone pole garden, and a few of the savanna seedlings.

I picked 2 yellow pear tomatoes.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
schneefink: Quirrel from Hollow Knight sitting on a bench (HK Quirrel on bench)
([personal profile] schneefink Sep. 5th, 2025 11:53 pm)
Silksong is finally out! "Fortunately" I didn't make it home by 4pm on Thursday meaning I only had to wait a little over an hour of frequent refreshing until I could finally buy the game xD

It's so much fun! Very reminiscent of Hollow Knight in a good way: atmosphere, gameplay, level design... And very hard. But (most of) the fights are fun to figure out, and the successes feel great. Tbh the main reason why I wish it didn't take me so long is because I'm already really looking forward to watching others play, but I also don't want any spoilers.

Minor gameplay spoilers )

My actual playthrough, the first almost ten hours, with plenty of spoilers:
(Benchmark, I have three achievements for defeating bosses so far and explored a bit further into the ~next region; and I strongly suspect the first three bosses will probably be the same for most people.)
My actual playthrough, with spoilers )

Yesterday I played until 2am, today hopefully not quite as long. Tomorrow I'm at a friend's birthday party, and I might think the timing more unfortunate if I didn't suspect my wrists will be glad for the break... But I have no other plans for Sunday except play, looking forward to it. (Well, that and watch a few of the MCSR Playoffs finale matches when I need a break, we'll see.)
trobadora: (mightier)
([personal profile] trobadora Sep. 5th, 2025 11:36 pm)
After not writing anything more than alibi sentences for ages - my last fic was in May (The Consultant, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan), and the one before that in March (Beyond the Gates, the Mountain, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan) - I'm signing up for a lot of stuff now! Deadlines are usually very effective at making me write, so now that I'm not so busy any more and it's actually possible, that should get me back to where I want to be, writing-wise. I hope. *g*

In order of reveals:
  • There's [community profile] rarepairexchange, which has its deadline a little over two weeks from now, though reveals aren't until October. I've been poking at my assignment, and I have a bunch of things I know I want to be in it, but so far I haven't managed to pull it all together into a coherent narrative. Hopefully once I've conquered this one, things will be flowing again!

  • Then there's [community profile] guardian_wishlist, for which I just finished my sign-up last night - and we've only just posted the first batch of wishlists. (Mine is here; I'm requesting Guardian drama and RPF, as well as Guardian/Grimm and Guardian/Stargate crossovers.) And there are so many tempting prompts already! Reveals are on 6 October, and I hope to make a bunch of stuff before then.

  • Next comes [community profile] ficinabox, with a deadline in October and reveals in November - assignments aren't out yet, but should come soon. I won't seriously tackle that one until after Rarepair Exchange, though. Plenty of time if I brainstorm and have a plan by then!

  • There's also the Guardian Bonus Bingo grace period in November, for which I hope to finish at least some of the things I started and didn't finish so far. *g*

  • Yuletide is of course gearing up again as well, so that's what I'll be working on in December. Can't wait to find out which rare fandom I get to write this time!

  • Then, hopefully [community profile] fandomtrees will also run again this year, and I'll get to make a bunch of stuff for that too! Reveals are genearally early to mid-January.

  • And finally, there's [community profile] fffx which doesn't have its deadline until the second half of January. I still need to finish my sign-up for that (planning on doing that this weekend), but that deadline is so far away, there'd still be plenty of time even if I didn't start thinking about it until after Yuletide ends. (Though I hope to have a plan before then!) Of course, an idea might grab me right away and I might be working on this in parallel to everything else, you never know! *g*

Yeah, I know that's a lot. *g* I hope to make up a bit for all those months of not writing! But everything's nicely spaced out, except for Rarepair Exchange revealing one day before Guardian Wishlist, and the Bingo grace period overlapping with FIAB reveals. So it should be very doable without being too exhausting. *g*

What fests or exchanges is everyone else doing?
Hi! 12 wishlists are now live and ready for gifts on [community profile] guardian_wishlist! :D :D :D Come and check them out!

Wishlists are tagged for fandoms and media. Previous years' tags are labelled with their respective years, so check the plain fandom and media tags at the bottom for this year's wishlists.

We've also put together a spreadsheet for your convenience, and we'll be updating it as more wishlists go live.

All gifts must be posted in or linked in comments. Gift comments can be anonymous or signed in. Comments are screened until reveals. The AO3 collection is also open for posting.

And remember, sign-ups are open until 15 September. The sooner you sign up, the more time people have to make fills for your prompts!

Come and join in! The more, the merrier!

Rules/FAQ/schedule | Sign-up post | AO3 collection | Fandom and media tags | Spreadsheet | Promo text and graphics
flemmings: (Default)
([personal profile] flemmings Sep. 5th, 2025 04:53 pm)
There was a weather advisory for strong gusty winds today but, nothing daunted, I braved the chronic wind tunnel down by Formerly Honest Ed's and found them nothing to speak of. Had sushi and sussed out calendars at Midoco: nothing to speak of either but still early days for them. Will probably, eventually, go the AGO and see what they have but not today thanks. The mugginess of September is death on elbows and I would rather not go out more than I have to. The linden is shedding, again, and I half-thought about sweeping it up, but it can wait too.

Still, I did need to shop at Fiesta before the late Friday and weekend crowds get in, so off I trotted again, observing the piles of cloud that herald err whatever it is the gusty winds were supposed to blow in.  I thought it was a cold front but south westerly winds do not herald cold fronts around here. Rather splendid in their summer! Hasui fashion nonetheless. Got enough salad to get me through the weekend (Ontario organic because the other organic is American) and pricey walnuts for my cholesterol ('packed for this Canadian company' but hailing from who knows where), paid, headed for door, and realized why the cashier had been exclaiming It just came from nowhere!! 'It' being a wall of water cloudbursting from, well, nowhere. So much for your 5% PoP, weather channel. And stopped as suddenly as it started and the sun came out to set everything steaming. But shall not be shovelling up seedlings today.

I can't Britpick because not Brit, but things still bother me. Alright, so Charles Lennox likes coffee in the morning. Coffee has been in England since the 17th century and I just came across Elizabeth Bennett pouring it out while another young lady pours the tea. But when a Victorian couple are going out to friends for an evening,  not even to dinner as far as I can tell, would their hosts ask them to bring wine? Somehow it just strikes me as unlikely.

Posted by Kevin

pond standoff

In no particular order:

  • Wilmington, NC (Aug. 25): A man fleeing from police stopped his car on a bridge over the Cape Fear River, got out, and jumped in. How much time did this buy him? Well, the chase started at 2 a.m., and the article reporting his arrest was posted at 3:53 a.m., so you be the judge. Pro: Gave a bored reporter on the night shift something to do. Con: The chase started on a different bridge over the same river, so he could have just jumped in there and saved everybody the hassle. In fact, the bridge he jumped from is less than a mile upriver, so it’s possible he was arrested after floating back to where the chase started in the first place.
  • San Rafael, CA (Aug. 6): A suspected burglar seen on a homeowner’s security camera was located in a nearby creek by a sheriff’s drone team, according to the report. Pro: Creeks aren’t deep, no gators in Marin County. Con: The guys in lockup might find out you surrendered to a drone.
  • Madison, WI (July 12): A man “made a splash” (get it?) after stealing a bike but then jumping into a nearby lake when officers tried to speak to him. Pro: Chose July to jump into a lake in Wisconsin. Con: Locale posed some risk of being attacked by a northern pike (the fish, not a member of the Canadian band). Bonus points: mugshot comparison suggests he has gotten no smarter since this 2016 arrest.
  • Prince Edward Island, Canada (July 23): Police arrested a man after citizens reported someone matching his description had stolen a kayak and paddled out into the bay. Pro: None. Con: Locale posed some risk of being attacked by a Northern Pike. Special Judge’s Prize: was apprehended by two officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who “borrowed two other kayaks” (emphasis added). Of course I excitedly looked for evidence that a dramatic kayak chase ensued, but was again disappointed. See also Sadly, I Must Report That There Was in Fact No ‘Canoe Chase’” (Feb. 4, 2019) (also involving Mounties).
  • Pierce County, WA (June 14): A 32-year-old man jumped into a pond after police responded to reports that he was chasing his parents around the yard with a chainsaw. Negotiations failed to convince him to come out, but deputies had more luck with a beanbag shotgun and a lasso. Pro: Ponds aren’t deep, no travel required if it’s your own pond. Con: Chainsaw could get ruined if it gets wet, cop who successfully lassoed you will brag about it on social media.

Posted by Caitlynne

I. 2025 BOARD ELECTION

Elections successfully closed the 2025 OTW Board Director election. Congratulations to the OTW’s new Directors: Elizabeth Wiltshire and Harlan Lieberman-Berg! Elizabeth and Harlan will be replacing the seats of outgoing Board members Jennifer Haynes and Zixin Zhang.

Many committees collaborated on Board Election work, with Communications helping distribute announcements, Development & Membership coordinating with OTW members, and Translation making Elections material available in multiple languages.

Elections would like to thank all the candidates who ran, the volunteers from across the OTW who assisted Elections in their work, and everyone who engaged with the election by asking questions or turning out to vote.

Statistics from this year’s election were made available on September 1: out of 15,138 eligible voters, 2,197 cast a ballot, representing 14.5% of potential voters.

II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

In August, AO3 celebrated both one million Mandarin Chinese works and nine million users. Thank you to everyone who’s helped us reach these milestones!

Also in August, Accessibility, Design & Technology (AD&T) deployed a couple releases that included bug fixes and security improvements, and Systems continued their routine tasks, such as improving performance and auditing Archive traffic for malicious bots. User Response Translation began completing ticket translation requests, and Open Doors announced the import of Faerie, a Tolkien fanfiction archive.

In July, Policy & Abuse received 3,570 tickets, while Support received 3,999 tickets. Tag Wrangling wrangled just over 636,000 tags, or over 1,400 per wrangling volunteer!

Elsewhere, Tag Wrangling coordinated with AD&T and announced changes to fandom tag policies for fangames and fanmade web series in a series of three posts on the @ao3org Tumblr. The first post outlined the general policy, while the second post focused on Undertale and the third post focused on Fangans from Dangan Ronpa. Lastly, Tag Wrangling also coordinated with Communications to announce 20 new “No Fandom” canonical tags on AO3 News.

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Legal is continuing to answer user queries and monitor legal developments. Although there are many concerning legal developments around freedom of speech and expression online, they are not directly affecting AO3. Legal also dealt with some unauthorized app who’ve used OTW and AO3 trademarks in confusing ways.

Transformative Works and Cultures has two active calls for papers, both due by January 1, 2026. The first is a special issue on Latin American Fandoms, and the next is a special issue on Music Fandom.

Communications‘ Con Outreach division wrapped up Worldcon 2025 in Seattle, Washington, USA – thank you to everyone who tabled and who said hi to us! You can check out con goers’ recommendations in the con’s AO3 collection.

Fanlore’s themed month for July, Fandom in Color, was a big success! Their next editing challenge, Stub September will run from September 14-28, and graphics will have an animals with swords theme. Check their Bluesky, Twitter/X and Tumblr for announcements.

IV. GOVERNANCE

In August, Board, Board Assistants Team (BAT), Organizational Culture Roadmap, and Volunteers & Recruiting began a cross-committee review of the OTW’s Code of Conduct. This review aims to ensure the Code of Conduct still serves both the OTW as an organization as well as its many volunteers.

Elsewhere, Board collaborated with other committees on Crisis Communication Guidelines, began their biennial review of the Board Confidentiality Policy, had their quarterly check-in with Legal, and approved the 2024 Annual Report. Minutes from July’s public Board meeting are now available on the OTW website. Board also started preparations for the upcoming Board turnover after receiving the 2025 OTW Board election results.

BAT continued work on several projects, including collaborations with the Organizational Culture Roadmap and a report on nonprofit training. Lastly, Strategic Planning continued work on their two-year progress report on the implementation of the current strategic plan.

V. OUR VOLUNTEERS

In addition to the aforementioned Code of Conduct Review, Volunteers & Recruiting also began a project focused on workgroups, aiming to increase the OTW’s ability to support projects that might not fit within the purview of a single committee.

This month, Volunteers & Recruiting conducted recruitment for two committees: BAT and Development & Membership.

From July 23 to August 20, Volunteers & Recruiting received 203 new requests, and completed 252, leaving them with 51 open requests. As of August 20, 2025, the OTW has 982 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.

New Communications Volunteers: GrayIsNotEmo, KW Ukuku, Magda19, and 1 other TikTok Moderator
New Fanlore Volunteers: Becca Bun, Jules Moon, Tiff, Zoe Bird, and 2 other Social Media & Outreach Volunteers
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: Ain, embobem, Gail, Rissi, and 2 other Policy & Abuse Volunteers
New Support Volunteers: ChangYan, Clarice Strand, Jennifer Elliott, llianne, John Pork, Louie, Maycix, melon8, Mily, nayogn, Stevie, TinaOe, viewofsilence, Wtchmn23, Ziting, and 8 other Support Volunteers
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: amphob, Bec, Berix, Bettelort, bingus, Bismuth, bluejello, Clarissa, Daisya, dila, Draconic, Drakoshig, firstestly, genitus6, grexigone, Hazelwyrm, heliolatry, Jas, KD, Lace, Lau, Leo M, Leuconoen, Maris, Mary, Nerva, nekojoo, null_ice, Nyxia, Pandasaurio, pickledragon, radiance, Ravenna, rikka, RJ, Sabrina_Tangerina, sarkastic, Sayornis, SCEnt Hope, shrikes, Soyash, Talixa, Tea Huimyni, Thunder, twistingsands, Zee, and 1 other Tag Wrangling Volunteer
New Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: Ana Niccals, Bekyro, PerpetuallyPurple, and 2 other Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers

Departing Committee Chairs/Leads: 1 Communications Chair
Departing BAT Volunteers: 2 Board Assistant Team Volunteers
Departing Communications Volunteers: 1 Event Coordinator, 1 Media Outreach Volunteer, 1 Report Writer, and 2 TikTok Moderators
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: 1 Social Media & Outreach Volunteer
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Esin and 9 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: Janka (Translator)

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


The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.

Banner of a paper airplane emerging from an envelope with the words 'OTW Newsletter: Organization for Transformative Works'

I. 2025 BOARD ELECTION

Elections successfully closed the 2025 OTW Board Director election. Congratulations to the OTW's new Directors: Elizabeth Wiltshire and Harlan Lieberman-Berg! Elizabeth and Harlan will be replacing the seats of outgoing Board members Jennifer Haynes and Zixin Zhang.

Many committees collaborated on Board Election work, with Communications helping distribute announcements, Development & Membership coordinating with OTW members, and Translation making Elections material available in multiple languages.

Elections would like to thank all the candidates who ran, the volunteers from across the OTW who assisted Elections in their work, and everyone who engaged with the election by asking questions or turning out to vote.

Statistics from this year’s election were made available on September 1: out of 15,138 eligible voters, 2,197 cast a ballot, representing 14.5% of potential voters.

II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN

In August, AO3 celebrated both one million Mandarin Chinese works and nine million users. Thank you to everyone who's helped us reach these milestones!

Also in August, Accessibility, Design & Technology (AD&T) deployed a couple releases that included bug fixes and security improvements, and Systems continued their routine tasks, such as improving performance and auditing Archive traffic for malicious bots. User Response Translation began completing ticket translation requests, and Open Doors announced the import of Faerie, a Tolkien fanfiction archive.

In July, Policy & Abuse received 3,570 tickets, while Support received 3,999 tickets. Tag Wrangling wrangled just over 636,000 tags, or over 1,400 per wrangling volunteer!

Elsewhere, Tag Wrangling coordinated with AD&T and announced changes to fandom tag policies for fangames and fanmade web series in a series of three posts on the @ao3org Tumblr. The first post outlined the general policy, while the second post focused on Undertale and the third post focused on Fangans from Dangan Ronpa. Lastly, Tag Wrangling also coordinated with Communications to announce 20 new "No Fandom" canonical tags on AO3 News.

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Legal is continuing to answer user queries and monitor legal developments. Although there are many concerning legal developments around freedom of speech and expression online, they are not directly affecting AO3. Legal also dealt with some unauthorized app who’ve used OTW and AO3 trademarks in confusing ways.

Transformative Works and Cultures has two active calls for papers, both due by January 1, 2026. The first is a special issue on Latin American Fandoms, and the next is a special issue on Music Fandom.

Communications' Con Outreach division wrapped up Worldcon 2025 in Seattle, Washington, USA - thank you to everyone who tabled and who said hi to us! You can check out con goers' recommendations in the con's AO3 collection.

Fanlore's themed month for July, Fandom in Color, was a big success! Their next editing challenge, Stub September will run from September 14-28, and graphics will have an animals with swords theme. Check their Bluesky, Twitter/X and Tumblr for announcements.

IV. GOVERNANCE

In August, Board, Board Assistants Team (BAT), Organizational Culture Roadmap, and Volunteers & Recruiting began a cross-committee review of the OTW's Code of Conduct. This review aims to ensure the Code of Conduct still serves both the OTW as an organization as well as its many volunteers.

Elsewhere, Board collaborated with other committees on Crisis Communication Guidelines, began their biennial review of the Board Confidentiality Policy, had their quarterly check-in with Legal, and approved the 2024 Annual Report. Minutes from July's public Board meeting are now available on the OTW website. Board also started preparations for the upcoming Board turnover after receiving the 2025 OTW Board election results.

BAT continued work on several projects, including collaborations with the Organizational Culture Roadmap and a report on nonprofit training. Lastly, Strategic Planning continued work on their two-year progress report on the implementation of the current strategic plan.

V. OUR VOLUNTEERS

In addition to the aforementioned Code of Conduct Review, Volunteers & Recruiting also began a project focused on workgroups, aiming to increase the OTW’s ability to support projects that might not fit within the purview of a single committee.

This month, Volunteers & Recruiting conducted recruitment for two committees: BAT and Development & Membership.

From July 23 to August 20, Volunteers & Recruiting received 203 new requests, and completed 252, leaving them with 51 open requests. As of August 20, 2025, the OTW has 982 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.

New Communications Volunteers: GrayIsNotEmo, KW Ukuku, Magda19, and 1 other TikTok Moderator
New Fanlore Volunteers: Becca Bun, Jules Moon, Tiff, Zoe Bird, and 2 other Social Media & Outreach Volunteers
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: Ain, embobem, Gail, Rissi, and 2 other Policy & Abuse Volunteers
New Support Volunteers: ChangYan, Clarice Strand, Jennifer Elliott, llianne, John Pork, Louie, Maycix, melon8, Mily, nayogn, Stevie, TinaOe, viewofsilence, Wtchmn23, Ziting, and 8 other Support Volunteers
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sanguinity: Woodcut of a heron landing (flight of the heron - landing)
([personal profile] sanguinity Sep. 5th, 2025 01:23 pm)
Manoeuvres Under Fire (2013 words) by sanguinity
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Jacobite Trilogy | The Flight of the Heron Series - D. K. Broster
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ewen Cameron/Alison Grant/Keith Windham, Alison Grant/Keith Windham, Ewen Cameron/Keith Windham, Ewen Cameron/Alison Grant
Characters: Alison Grant, Keith Windham, Ewen Cameron
Additional Tags: Emotional Repression, Angst, Affection, Midnight Confessions, Polyamory
Summary:

Alison's husband's new lover is all irony, deflection, and formality. She likes him well enough, but she also finds his reserve frustrating — and apparently so does he.



Because I've been on a Keith and Alison kick lately. (At least judging by my wip folder.)

For [personal profile] tgarnsl, because we both have an obsession with Keith being feral cat who never properly learned affection as a kitten.
muccamukk: Billie tips his face towards the bi-flag sky, eyes closed, as Tré and Mike kiss his cheeks. (Music: Bisexual Green Day)
([personal profile] muccamukk Sep. 5th, 2025 12:37 pm)

This live show is great, also. Low-key looking at tickets for when they're on the coast next month.
.