February 2026 Newsletter, Volume 208
Mar. 5th, 2026 01:43 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
otw_news_feedI. INTERNATIONAL FANWORKS DAY
On February 15, Communications coordinated many International Fanworks Day (IFD) activities, including a Feedback Fest highlighting fanwork recommendations, an editing challenge in conjunction with Fanlore, and an IFD Discord server with games and chatting. Additionally, Translation helped make IFD materials available in 22 languages. Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating!
II. ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN
In February, we celebrated AO3 reaching 10 million registered users! \o/
Accessibility, Design & Technology (AD&T) focused on some important upgrades and bug fixes, including upgrading to Ruby on Rails 8 and improving the collection revealing process. They also published release notes for December’s code changes.
AO3 Documentation began their biannual review of user-facing documentation.
In the past month, Open Doors signed five new agreements with moderators to import their archives to AO3! Fandoms include Highlander, The Magnificent Seven, My Chemical Romance, and others. They also completed the import of Slashknot, a Slipknot (band) fanfiction and fanart archive.
In January, Support received 3,811 tickets, while Policy & Abuse (PAC) received 7,972 tickets. User Response Translation completed 12 requests from PAC and 37 requests from Support. PAC continues to work closely with AD&T and Systems to combat spam that users have been experiencing across the site.
Tag Wrangling announced 28 new “No Fandom” canonical tags for February. In January, they wrangled over 648,000 tags, or around 1,400 tags per wrangling volunteer.
III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW
Fanlore ran a Femslash February monthly editing challenge! Systems also helped upgrade Fanlore to a new version of MediaWiki.
In February, Legal had one of their volunteers participate in a briefing for staffers in the U.S. Legislature to gain a deeper understanding of copyright fair use. Elsewhere, Legal answered a number of questions internally and from users.
TWC is preparing their March 2026 issue on “Gaming Fandom” for publication. They also completed an update of TWC’s editorial board as part of their ongoing work to expand TWC’s scope, diversify their discipline in terms of historically marginalized fans and scholars, make the journal more international in scope, and increase multimodal approaches.
IV. GOVERNANCE
Board has concluded all Board-committee check-ins and is reviewing key themes across the organization. They also voted to approve an interpretative rule of one bylaw to better accommodate any future Board members with hearing disabilities.
Board Assistants Team continued work on various projects, including revamping the OTW Board Discord and researching projects on volunteer retention, public meeting best practices, and volunteer mental health.
Organizational Culture Roadmap continued work on the OTW Code of Conduct update project by finishing a summary of internal survey results and adjusting Code of Conduct drafts based on recommendations from an external HR firm. The OTW Crisis Management Plan has been finalised and approved by the Board.
V. OUR VOLUNTEERS
In February, Volunteers & Recruiting ran recruitment for seven roles across four committees and one workgroup.
From January 23 to February 21, Volunteers & Recruiting received 182 new requests and completed 295, leaving them with 61 open requests (including induction and removal tasks listed below). As of February 21, 2026, the OTW has 985 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.
New Communications Volunteers: 3 Social Media Moderators
New Translation Volunteers: 1 Volunteer Manager and 1 Translator
New Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: corr and peaandsea (Chair Assistants) and 1 Volunteer
Departing Committee Chairs/Leads: Elizabeth Wiltshire (Organizational Culture Roadmap Head) and 1 Elections Chair
Departing AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor
Departing Communications Volunteers: Abby (Social Media Moderator) and 2 Weibo Moderators
Departing Elections Volunteers: 1 Voting Process Architect
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: Mei and 2 other Import Assistants, and 1 Chair Assistant
Departing Support Volunteers: Mily and RRHand (Volunteers)
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Indes, lifeisyetfair, PinkBrain, plantpun, and 14 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers
Departing Translation Volunteers: Idiosincrasy (Volunteer Manager and Translator), 3 Volunteer Managers, and 1 Translator
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: corr, peaandsea, and 1 other Senior Volunteer; and 2 Volunteers
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, OTW Legal Advocacy, and Transformative Works and Cultures. We are a fan-run, donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.
Wrote another HR fic: If We Could
Mar. 5th, 2026 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mificMany others have had a go at this, and I wanted to try my hand at it.
If We Could
At 1361 words, it's short and probably a little over-optimistic, but obviously in writing it I already know what's coming in the rest of eps 5 & 6. 😊
Endings in sight
Mar. 5th, 2026 07:56 amrmc28The university hockey season is nearly over. Huskies have played our last league game (I say 'our' but I was actually playing with Warbirds in a different city at the time), Varsity is coming up Saturday week, and then there's Nationals in April before we move into summer ice training. We had our Varsity dinner on Tuesday in Clare College and I became sharply aware during that evening that all things come to an end and some people will graduate this summer and leave. This is a university, people are always arriving and leaving, but it's nearly thirty years since I first arrived in Cambridge and I'm still not used to friends leaving.
I love everyone in this photograph (and a couple more teammates who didn't make it to the dinner).
Varsity: Saturday 14 March, tickets go on general sale at noon today, I didn't make the Huskies ("mixed 2nds") Varsity squad but I'm playing in the alumni game and helping out with (at least) Huskies and Women's Blues.
March Meta Matters
Mar. 5th, 2026 12:38 amysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fictional_fansmarchmetamatterschallenge is running this month. :D Here is my introductory post. So what is meta? Well, it can be a lot of things ...( Read more... )
I don't really want to make a regular post now
Mar. 5th, 2026 02:42 pmconulyIn order to make this a normal post, let me say that my Robert Moses counter is incrementing up again. It has now been 0 hours since the last time somebody brought up Robert Moses, but it's my fault for reading an article about walkable cities and then scrolling to the comments.
( Read more... )
Reading Wednesday
Mar. 4th, 2026 11:02 pmtroisoiseaux'What is here, all is your own, to have in your rule
and sway.'
'Gramercy!' quoth Gawain,
'May Christ you this repay!'
As men that to meet were fain
they both embraced that day.
Later, it also rhymes Gawain with retain, so I guess the pronunciation is supposed to be "Ga-wayne," which is frankly how I always assumed it was pronounced, until The Green Knight (2021)...?
In War and Peace, Dolokhov (of the "just fought a duel over sleeping with Pierre's wife" incident) has fallen in love with - and proposed to - Sonya, the poor Rostov cousin/ward who is in love with Nikolai but (spoiler!) he ends up jilting her for Princess Mary, and Sonya ends up never marrying and moves in with them to care for their children. ANYWAY. We are not there yet; Dolokhov has proposed to Sonya, Sonya refused out of love for Nikolai, and Dolokhov proceeded to take his revenge by needling Nikolai into gambling himself into financial ruin, because Nikolai has the backbone of a chocolate eclair as well as one (1) singular brain cell just bouncing around thinking about how much he loves Emperor Alexander.
Daily Happiness
Mar. 4th, 2026 07:55 pmtorachan2. Carla made miso marinated salmon for dinner tonight, which we haven't had in ages. I forgot how good it is!
3. Carla got some Brooks shoes a few months ago and has really been enjoying them and then it turns out that they occasionally release Disney collabs, and their most recent ones include Rapunzel themed ones. Rapunzel is one of her favorite Disney characters and pink and purple are some of her favorite colors. Plus they actually have them in larger sizes, which is so rare for cute shoes like these. They were released to buy in person at the runDisney event in Disney World this past weekend and just finally showed up on the website today and she was able to order some. And in this instance having larger feet actually worked in her favor, since a lot of the smaller sizes were sold out already.
4. The other day after I got the new shelf set up in the garage, Carla put a couple Star Wars legos on it, and then decided she wanted it to be a Star Wars themed shelf (I was already thinking we should organize some of the lego displays since right now they're just sort of wherever we had space at the time they were built, rather than displayed thematically, so that works out perfectly). It's still in progress, but I think it looks pretty nice. (And I really do love that shelf.)
5. Tuxie's been enjoying the long grass we have after all the rain last month.
Daily Check-In
Mar. 4th, 2026 05:56 pmstarwatcher posting in fandom_checkinThis is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday, March 04, to midnight on Thursday, March 05. (8pm Eastern Time).
How are you doing?
I am OK.
12 (54.5%)
I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
10 (45.5%)
I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)
How many other humans live with you?
I am living single.
9 (39.1%)
One other person.
11 (47.8%)
More than one other person.
3 (13.0%)
Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
What I’m doing Wednesday…
Mar. 4th, 2026 06:35 pmwriterlibrarianDoing okay on average. The hip pain comes and goes along with the humidity.
Teacher stuff
I completed the content for next week’s class. I’m diving into writing the next one tomorrow. This week is spring break for my students and all the high schools and elementary schools. I had the grand daughters of my heart with me today. We watched movies, talked, they are both teenagers. I might have one or both of them sleep over on Friday.
Reading
Two non fiction this week.
Every day I read : 53 ways to get closer to books by Hwang Bo-reum. Shorts essays on reading. All the ways to read. Fun and deep at the same time.
L’œil de la Gorgone : 22 figures mythologiques sous un regard féministe by Noémie Fachan. Non fiction graphic novel revisiting the mythological women like Medea, Hera, Medusa, etc., with the point of view of women. It’s an important, intense and engaged point of view well worth the read. Not translated.
I’m also reading Zhu Yu (Chasing Jade) the translation of the Chinese novel that the up-coming drama of the same name is based on. It’s interesting. I’m up to chapter 30.
Watching
I finished Unveil : Jadewind and Flight to you this week. I’m looking forward to Pursuit of Jade starting Friday.
Crafting
On last Friday craft night I put some time into the baby blanket and at home I cross-stitched all the blue hues of my red fox. Half of the snow part is done I’m attacking the tail part of the fox.
(no subject)
Mar. 4th, 2026 05:50 pmtwistedchickIt's the 35th anniversary of my mom's death.
It still hurts, all of it.
At least, I'm not reliving the whole thing, just dealing with emotional splashback this year.
She died in hospital, during an ice storm, and I was not informed of it until after I'd come up there, so I traveled expecting to see her when she'd passed before I'd gotten the phone call.
And that ties into even nastier family crap that I'm not even going to mention except to say it happened and was absolutely shitty.
So I am sticking to the more cheerful reruns of shows to watch, plus Colbert, and the sillier novels. They don't dig me out, but they keep me from going deeper into the Marianas Trench.
PSA
Mar. 4th, 2026 04:55 pmgossPlease consider access-locking your entries for now, to honour her wishes.
Hugs to all of you. <333
(Comments are screened, if you wish to discuss anything, or feel free to private message.)
In Memphis, on Valentine's Day
Mar. 4th, 2026 12:22 pmsovayAnother RPG Bundle - Ninja Crusade
Mar. 4th, 2026 06:04 pmffutureshttps://bundleofholding.com/presents/NinjaCrusade
The premise here looks rather a bit like last week's Mists of Akuna but without the steampunk elements, and as with that this really isn't a setting that interests me much, I'm just not knowledgeable enough about ninja and martial arts generally to be interested in running games where they're a major part of the background. Parts of it were in a 2016 bundle, and I wasn't really very interested then either. Having said that it's cheap and presentation looks OK., and they don't refer to multiple Ninja as Ninjas which is a friend's pet peeve about most games that use them...
Cats, eh?
Mar. 4th, 2026 03:07 pmlexinPoor Opal is going through misery at the moment, poor baby. She’s been biting her fur off her back for well over a year, and while it’s better than it was, it’s still not ideal as she still has bare patches where she’s been chewing. I took her to the vet last week for the vet to look her over before prescribing her Metacam again.
Trip to the vet (£16 in taxi fares) plus £210 in costs. Ouch. The doors of the poor house gape wide.
The vet took one look at the sore on her back, decided it was infected, and so prescribed a tube of steroid gel and an antibiotic. I have been trying to get her to allow me to put the gel on and eventually had to resort to a cat onesie to stop her licking it off. She also didn’t like the taste of the antibiotic in her food. She loathed the onesie I made her wear with the heat of 1000 blazing suns, and once it was on she wouldn’t move or eat. She threw off both attempts of giving her the cone of shame about 10 minutes after it was put on. I’ve been beside myself with worry. I love my cats, even Geraint who constantly misbehaves.
Second trip to the vet, £16 in taxi fares plus £50 in costs. The cost this time was for a wormer and flea treatment for Geraint.
The vet identified an ulcer on Opal’s gum, just next to her left front canine. Treatment: stop giving her Metacam for at least two days, and come back on Wednesday to get a steroid injection.
I took Opal back to the vets today (£16 in taxi fares, £39 in costs) and they gave her the steroid injection. I pleaded to be allowed to remove the onesie during the day and very reluctantly they said OK, if she has it on at night. I’m not completely impressed because she loathes having it put on and off even more than she hates wearing it.
Having said that, though, once it was off, she ate all her breakfast and licked the bowl clean. So, it achieved something. She’s now asleep on my desk. I’d say she was watching me type, but she’s spark out.
“sit down girl! i think i love you! / no get up, girl! show me what you can do!”
Mar. 4th, 2026 07:25 amlarryhammerThe best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. Much more efficacious are honest work, physical activity, and the sudden acquisition of wealth. After being acquitted of murdering her lover, and, indeed, in consequence of that acquittal, Harriet Vane found all three specifics abundantly at her disposal; and although Lord Peter Wimsey, with a touching faith in tradition, persisted day in and day out in presenting the bosom for her approval, she showed no inclination to recline upon it.That’s up there with Pride and Prejudice.
---L.
Subject quote from ABC, Jackson 5.
Wednesday Reading Meme
Mar. 4th, 2026 08:13 amosprey_archerWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
Getting my St. Patrick’s Day on with Eve Bunting’s St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning, which I actually picked up on account of the illustrator, Jan Brett. This was one of Brett’s earliest books and the publishers clearly gave her a very limited palette to work with, just black and white and yellow and green (and a yellow saturated to the point of orange for the Irish flag). She does the best with what she has, but how fortunate for us all she has more colors to work with in her later books!
But her characteristic attention to detail is still visible here: the stone walls in the green fields, the multitude of toothsome sweets in the Mrs. Simms’ Half-Way-Up Sweetshop, the sleepy boy and his sleepy dog curled up in the rocking chair once they’ve walked all the way up Acorn Mountain and all the way back in their very own St. Patrick’s Day parade.
What I’m Reading Now
I’ve begun E. Nesbit’s The Wouldbegoods, and am happy to report I find the Bastables much less stressful than the children in The Phoenix and the Carpet, possibly because the Bastables don’t have a magic carpet that might just strand them in Outer Mongolia. Capable of getting up to plenty of mischief without magical aid however! They are about to fill a lock to float a barge, under the impression that this will be a good deed, but I strongly suspect that the barge is simply going to float away downstream.
What I Plan to Read Next
My coworker lent me John Green’s Everything is Tuberculosis.
in my thug era
Mar. 4th, 2026 08:24 amrmc28This is possibly my favourite photo yet of me playing ice hockey:
- In women's hockey I am big
- We play non-checking, that doesn't mean non-contact. I am entirely legally shoving that attacking player away from the net.
- See how far the goalie is from the net? My linemate and I cleared the puck on that occasion. The visiting team scored 20 goals on us (ouch), but not that one.
WARNING
Mar. 4th, 2026 06:55 amrydra_wonghttps://www.tumblr.com/vassraptor/810048615228866560
Take the warnings seriously, if you are at all susceptible to the lure of Sorting Things.
From the tags:
#if you’ve ever thought about taking a quick break from keeping yourself alive properly #this will make you forget to drink water
It's not even a "logic puzzle" per se, just an invitation to sort a very large number of things into different groups.
A friend sent it to me in December and I lost a solid day to it. Had a great time, but wow it really was like having my brain hijacked.
You know that odd bit of vampire mythology in some countries/traditions where you can delay a vampire chasing you by throwing down sand or seeds or other tiny objects because they will be compelled to stop and count every grain?
Some of us are like that with Sorting Things. You know who you are. Protect yourself.
(On the other hand, if right now you need to be not thinking about some things, and you don't have urgent tasks that can't wait a day or two, and having your brain consumed sounds good: CAN REC.)