January 2025 Newsletter, Volume 196

I. SPOTLIGHT ON OPEN DOORS

In December, Open Doors completed imports for Elysejský klíč, a Czech-language Harry Potter archive; VinXperience, a message board with fanfiction featuring characters played by actor Vin Diesel; Between the Lines, an archive of JAG fanfiction including a great deal of Mac/Harm fic; Smoochies, a site dedicated to bishounen, shounen-ai, and yaoi fanworks; and All About Spike, a Buffy and Angel archive focussing on the character Spike.

Their annual announcement celebrated the completion of nine archive import projects in 2024, with over 13,000 works!

They also announced the upcoming imports of Slash Advent Calendar, a multifandom slash challenge that ran every December from 2002 to 2005; MuggleNet Fan Fiction, a Harry Potter fanfiction archive; and Remembering Tiger Lily Roar, a memorial archive for a well-loved fanfiction writer.

II. AT THE AO3

In January, Accessibility, Design & Technology published release notes detailing recent AO3 code updates. They also migrated their library to store collection, skin, and pseud icons.

Support received 2,207 tickets in December; ticket levels remain high due to ongoing server issues and site disruptions.

Tag Wrangling finalized another round of updates to some Additional Tags not specific to any fandom, otherwise known as No Fandom tags. They have also continued work behind the scenes on a streamlined process for dealing with small synonym changes to No Fandom tags, an alteration on their existing fast-track procedures.

In December, volunteers wrangled more than 560,000 tags across more than 69,000 fandoms - more than 1,300 tags per wrangling volunteer!

Also in December, Policy & Abuse received 2,559 tickets, totalling to just over 28,000 tickets in 2024! Check out the pie chart for more details.

Policy & Abuse received approximately 28,000 tickets in 2024. These categories reflect the subject of the complaint, and (with the exception of Offensive Content), do not indicate whether the report was upheld or rejected.

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW

Communications has been working hard this month preparing for International Fanworks Day (IFD) in February! They’ve been collaborating with Translation to make IFD news posts available in many languages. Communications also celebrated the OTW TikTok passing 10,000 followers! Last but not least, they’ve been busy scoring the trivia game held to celebrate AO3’s fifteenth anniversary.

To close out 2024, Fanlore ran an editing chat, and it was a lot of fun! They are also preparing for the annual IFD Fanlore Challenge, as well as Femslash February this month! Keep an eye on their Twitter/X and Tumblr for more details.

In January, TWC began preparations to publish two special issues: Gaming Fandom and Disability and Fandom. They also counted down their top 20 #TWCHits over on Bluesky!

Also in January, Development & Membership's convention outreach coordinated OTW's attendance at Arisia in Boston, Massachusetts, US! Keep an eye on the OTW's social media, such as our Tumblr and Bluesky, for future convention attendance updates.

IV. GOVERNANCE

Board, in conjunction with the Board Assistants Team held their first quarterly meeting of 2025 in the Board Discord server. During the meeting, they shared decisions made since the last meeting, a wrap-up on the AO3 Terms of Service update, updates on the 2024 Culture Roadmap, and the new 2025 Board Roadmap. They also received a number of questions, both those submitted asynchronously in advance and those asked during the meeting, and all were answered live. Meeting minutes will be made available on the OTW website soon.

Legal spent December and January closely monitoring new laws, lawmaking proposals, and legal developments around the world that could affect fans. They answered a number of queries from fans about legal developments, and also answered concerns about unauthorized apps or sites that may purport to be related to the AO3.

V. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEEPS

On December 5, Volunteers & Recruiting celebrated International Volunteer Day 2024 and ran their organization-wide email and graphics campaign recognizing OTW volunteers' work.

From November 22 to January 21, Volunteers & Recruiting received 215 new requests and completed 321, leaving them with 37 open requests. As of January 21, 2025, the OTW has 889 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.

New Committee Chairs: Indes and The Professor (Fanlore), xeno (News Post Moderation Lead)
New Communications Volunteers: Tal and 2 other TikTok Moderators
New Development & Membership Volunteers: 1 Shipping Assistant
New Elections Volunteers: Kasia Sophia Vahtera and Elle Thompson (Communication Specialists); Caira, Harold Liu, Kriti, RIMI, and 1 other Voting Process Architect; and 1 Team Coordinator
New Fanlore Volunteers: Patchlamb (Gardener), Silarona and 1 other Team Coordinator, and 1 Policy & Admin Volunteer
New Open Doors Volunteers: 1 Technical Volunteer and 1 Import Assistant
New Policy & Abuse Volunteers: 2 Chair Assistants, Irina and 3 other Supervisors
New Support Volunteers: 1 Volunteer
New Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Lute, Sobriquett, Soppon, and 1 other Tag Wrangling Supervisor
New Translation Volunteers: 1 Translator
New User Response Translation Volunteers: Jennifer D2 and 3 other Liaisons

Departing Committee Chairs: 1 Fanlore Chair
Departing Development & Membership Volunteers: 1 Graphic Designer
Departing Fanlore Volunteers: hheyhalley (Chair Track Volunteer), 1 Policy & Admin Volunteer, 1 Social Media & Outreach Volunteer, 1 Social Media Moderator, and 1 Outreach Analyst
Departing Finance Volunteers: 1 Financial Analyst
Departing Open Doors Volunteers: Amanda Hartley and 1 other Administrative Volunteer, 3 Import Assistants, and 1 Technical Volunteer
Departing Policy & Abuse Volunteers: 3 Volunteers
Departing Support Volunteers: Luthor
Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Echo H and 10 other Tag Wranglers
Departing Translation Volunteers: angrytomato, Maya Habee, Sina, yohanna, and 2 other Translators
Departing TWC Volunteers: 1 Proofreader
Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: aliceslantern
Departing Webs Volunteers: 1 Webs Volunteer

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

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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.