Regarding Fandom Trees & AMTs

Tag wrangling is, on the whole, a fluid process. It's meant to be, because the way language is used and the way tags are used change over time. We're the first to admit that we don’t always get it right, and that we do sometimes make mistakes despite our best intentions. This is why wrangling decisions are not set in stone and are reevaluated periodically as circumstances change or as new information becomes available. 

In light of the impact that removing the Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms metatag has had, we have put that metatag back in place. 

When it comes to fandom metatags and fandom trees, there is no 'one size fits all' approach that works for all fandoms. Consequently, we have placed a hold on all structural changes to fandom metatags, All Media Types fandoms (commonly called AMTs), and fandom trees while wranglers discuss the need for additional guidelines and adjustments to our approach regarding these tags going forward. 

This hold will remain in place until tag wranglers have had ample time to fully reevaluate our fandom wrangling guidelines with the aim of making it easier for Archive users to find the content they’re looking for and filter out the content they aren’t. This guideline reevaluation process is something we are actively working on, but it will likely take some time to complete. We will update again once these fandom guideline discussions have come to a close.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

(From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.)

Tag Changes are Coming to The High Republic

Hello! In the very near future, the Star Wars wrangling team is going to be doing what people have been asking for: we’re making The High Republic novels into series instead of individual book fandoms.

These fandoms are going to be:

Read on for more details about this decision and all the related tag changes we’ll be making to help ease this transition.

Another Update Regarding "No Fandom" tags

AO3 Tag Wranglers recently began testing processes for updating canonical tags (tags that appear in the autocomplete and the filters) that don’t belong to any particular fandom (commonly known as No Fandom tags). We have already begun implementing some of the decisions made during the earliest discussions. By the time this post is published, you may have already noticed some changes we have made.  Several canonical tags are slated to be created or renamed, and we will also be adjusting the subtag and metatag relationships between some tags to better aid Archive users in filtering.  Please keep in mind that many of these changes are large and require a lot of work to identify and attach relevant tags, so it will likely take some time to complete. We ask that you please be patient with us while we work! While we will not be detailing every change we make under the new process, we will be making periodic posts with updates on those changes we believe are most likely to prove helpful for users looking to tag or filter works with the new or revised tags and to avoid confusion as to why changes are being made. 

Update on "No Fandom" tags

AO3 Tag Wranglers recently began testing processes for updating canonical tags (tags that appear in the auto-complete and the filters) that don’t belong to any particular fandom (commonly known as No Fandom tags). We have already begun implementing some of the decisions made during the earliest discussions. By the time this post is published, you may have already noticed some changes we have made.  Several canonical tags are slated to be created or renamed, and we will also be adjusting the subtag and metatag relationships between some tags to better aid Archive users in filtering.  Please keep in mind that many of these changes are large and require a lot of work to identify and attach relevant tags, so it will likely take some time to complete. We ask that you please be patient with us while we work! While we will not be detailing every change we make under the new process, we will be making periodic posts with updates on those changes we believe are most likely to prove helpful for users looking to tag or filter works with the new or revised tags and to avoid confusion as to why changes are being made. 

Updates to AO3 "Mythology" Fandoms

Hi AO3 users! You may have noticed that recently, fandoms previously canonized as "Mythology" are being updated to "Religion & Lore". This renaming project is part of a wider ongoing process on AO3 about respectful treatment and naming of various religions, spiritual beliefs, faiths, and collections of folklores belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition. This includes both major and minor religions, as well as reconstructionist, ancient, and modern religions.

In the coming months, the term "Mythology" is being phased out of canonical fandom names. This is because of its potential for use as a disparaging term, and the way in which it is used primarily for religions which are already under-represented. Since "mythology" has connotations of being fictional or inferior to the religious beliefs of the speaker or writer, and is unfortunately used in this way by some, the decision has been made to replace this term with something that the Wrangling Committee believes is more inclusive and less derogatory.

After extensive discussion between individuals from varying religious backgrounds and beliefs, including wranglers representing the various fandoms which were being covered, it was felt that "Religion & Lore" was an appropriate and neutral way to describe the bodies of faith, belief, knowledge, and tradition associated with many of these religions which were ancestrally imparted and regional in nature. It is also hoped that this will decrease ambiguous or confused use, allowing people to more accurately describe their works and find works in which they are interested moving forward.

The use of "Ancient" in many of these fandoms' names reflects that these countries still exist but now have different predominant religions or spiritual beliefs. For example, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore (as Greece is now a predominantly Christian country) or Ancient Egyptian Religion (as Egypt is now a predominantly Muslim country). Because "Norse" does not refer to an extant country, region, or culture, it is not necessary to specify that it is historical or ancient in nature.

The names of these fandoms will also have the native language piped, if the English-language demonym is significantly different from the native-language demonym or if there is a culturally specific term based on consultation with individuals who speak these languages as a first language. We hope to give representation to the language of the source culture by doing so.

Each of these changes has been and will continue to be carefully researched and discussed with traditional knowledge keepers and researchers from the cultures represented in the fandoms under discussion.

Many religions face the issue of texts being written long after their events occurred. Unfortunately this is something which is shared across many religious fandoms; AO3 seeks to treat these religious fandoms equally. Care has been taken in researching characters relating to these fandoms, and character tags will be canonized or made a synonym on a case-by-case basis. Fandom tags that are currently synned to the Ancient religious fandoms have been checked as thoroughly as possible to ensure that they are not referring to modern folk tales, and where possible such relatively modern folk tales are canonized as their own fandoms.

(From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.)

Changes to the Bandom Tag on AO3

For years, as early as 2006, there have been discussions about what the term "Bandom" means, and debate among different parts of fandom as to which bands the term includes. You can read about the history of this terminology on Fanlore's Bandom Terminology Debate page.

On the Archive, this lack of consensus has caused inconsistencies in which bands are subtagged to the Bandom fandom tag and which are not. There has also been confusion among users over the terminology, leading to conflicting requests to remove or add particular fandoms as subtags.

To address this issue, wranglers will be changing the structure of the Bandom tag.  All fandoms currently subtagged to Bandom will become stand-alone fandoms, unassociated with the Bandom metatag. The Bandom tag itself will remain a canonical fandom, but wranglers will no longer subtag any Band or Musician fandom to this tag. 

Moving forward, "Bandom" will be strictly a self-defined term -- creators who feel that their works should be classified as "bandom" are welcome to use that fandom tag, in addition to any other band or musician fandom tags that they feel are appropriate. This should allow users to browse only works that the work creator has directly defined as "bandom", as well as reduce confusion in the future about what is or isn't included.

So for example, a work tagged with the fandom "Duran Duran" will no longer automatically appear in the Bandom tag. The work's creator can choose to tag Bandom if they would like their work to appear in that tag.

Thank you for your understanding as we continue to work to create an experience that better meets the needs of our community as a whole.

It's Finally Happening - Changes to Dream SMP, 3rd Life/Last Life, and other SMP fandoms!

Hello!

Some exciting changes are coming to Video Blogging RPF over the next few weeks! We are happy to announce that Dream SMP, 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Empires SMP, and a number of other Survival Multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft roleplay fandoms will be getting their very own fandom tags. These changes will be starting 10 May 2022, beginning with Dream SMP.

We want to thank you for your patience both in getting to this point, and in the coming weeks as these changes take place! Our volunteers have worked hard towards this change since 2021, and we will do our best to make this transition go as smoothly as possible.

My Little Pony: New Generation, Updated Fandom Tags

Hello Everypony,

In order to prepare for the exciting New Generation, we're renaming the existing fandoms on the Archive so that all our new friends (and all our old ones) can find the works that make their hearts sing.

For the most part, we're giving the My Little Pony fandom tags a makeover to add their generation numbers and adjusting a few dates.

Dancing with Dabi: Incoming Tag Changes for My Hero Academia

Plus Ultra! My Hero Academia is going to be undergoing some changes over the next few months. As many manga followers are already aware, in November 2020, there was a major character reveal in Chapter 290. Consequently, we've made the decision to gradually update associated Character, Relationship, and Additional Tags to incorporate this information. We hope this will make it easier for the fandom as a whole to find the content they're looking for.

More detailed information about the changes we'll be making (as well as extensive spoilers) will be found under the cut, so if you're an anime-only fan or not up to date with reading the manga, please proceed with caution.

THE SMASHING OF 2 AVENGERS FANDOM TAGS

Hi there, Marvel fans!

Your friendly neighborhood Marvel wranglers are here to bring you some news and a little bit of tag wrangling history. As the title of this post hints, there are going to be some changes regarding two Avengers fandom tags: The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom and The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types.

WHAT'S HAPPENING?

The Marvel team will be dismantling the The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom (AF) and The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types (AMT) tags and flattening them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) tag to help make it easier for users to filter for Avengers works \o/

The MCU tag, in the Archive, is the top level tag for all movies and series independently produced by Marvel Studios.

WHY?

About 20 Marvel movies ago, before the first Avengers movie even happened and when metatags had just become a thing in the Archive, wranglers were faced with a Situation: two users had tagged their work with a plain "Avengers" tag to mean the 1960s British spy show while everyone else using the tag meant Marvel.

Since metatags were still pretty exciting, wranglers thought they had the perfect solution for this ambiguity issue! They just needed to create the AF tag to let users know wranglers weren't sure if those works were about the British spy show or Marvel. The AMT tag was also created due to a bit of ambiguous tagging between Marvel fandoms. With both tags, the majority of uses have always been for MCU works--the AMT tag has also been thought of as interchangeable with the MCU tag, even though it is its own separate thing.

As we can see now, creating these two tags did not solve any ambiguity issues. They just made it harder for users to filter for and find works. Keeping in mind that both tags are mostly used for MCU works, and in consultation with the British spy show wrangler, we are going to gently Hulk smash the AF and AMT tags and make them synonymous with (i.e. fold them into) the MCU tag!

This means that works tagged with AF and/or AMT will not show up as crossover works when filtering anymore and will instead show up in the tag that the vast majority of users actually mean: MCU. \o/

WILL MY WORKS ALSO BE SMASHED?

They won't! You do not have to worry about your works getting lost. They will still show up when filtering for MCU tagged works, since AF and AMT will be made synonymous with the MCU tag. Even so, here are some steps you can take if you want to be sure your work is tagged with the specific fandom it belongs to:

By following these steps, it will make things easier for users who are searching for a specific Marvel/Avengers related canon to find your works \o/

Thank you for coming on this 10-year journey with us and keep avenging!

The Marvel Wranglers

From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.

The Existential Crises of Nobodies and Somebodies Post-Kingdom Hearts III

Hello Keyblade Wielders! With the release of Kingdom Hearts III, we've had some requests to merge Nobody and Somebody character tags. This is something the Kingdom Hearts wranglers have discussed at length, and we'd like to share why we have decided to leave the characters separate for now.

WARNING! Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts Union χ [Cross]! Continue reading at your own risk!

Life is Strange Fandom Tag Updates

Greetings from Arcadia Bay!

We have some upcoming adjustments to how the Life is Strange fandom is structured on AO3! Please be aware that there are some minor spoilers for all games and the demo mentioned in this post, but we've tried to keep those spoilers to an absolute minimum so as to keep you all informed without potentially ruining your enjoyment of these excellent games.

When the “Life is Strange (Video Game)” fandom was created on AO3, we had no idea that the game would become a series. Once it did, it originally seemed like it would simply continue to expand on the story of these now familiar characters and settings, so it was only natural to keep them together in one fandom.

However, with the release of “The Amazing Adventures of Captain Awesome” and “Life is Strange 2”, it’s become clear to us that the Life is Strange canon is growing well beyond our previous expectations! And while we’re delighted, this expansion has raised some concerns as, while both “Life is Strange” and “Life is Strange 2” share similar locales, they tell two unrelated stories with two entirely different casts of characters.

Since the release of the first episode of “Life is Strange 2”, we’ve received a number of requests to reassess our structure of this fandom and, after careful consideration, we’ve decided the best solution going forward is to give each of the primary games a fandom of its own to call home. That way, those who wish to tag for and find works that focus on Max, Chloe and the rest of the gang from the original “Life is Strange” canon can do so, along with those who wish to do the same for Daniel and Sean and the growing cast of the “Life is Strange 2” canon. Going forward, we hope fans of the whole series will be able to more easily and more effectively find the content they’re looking for.

And, of course, if anyone should wish to find or create works that focus on both canons, they can always make use of both fandom tags to signify that they’ve done so!

Fandom Tags:

Life is Strange (Video Game)

Life is Strange 2 (Video Game)

All that said, we do realize that there may be a desire to tag, search for, or exclude works from individual parts of canon. To that end we’ve canonized several Additional Tags, one for each part of the existing canon.

New Additional Tags:

Game: Life is Strange (2015)

Game: Life is Strange: Before the Storm (2017)

Game: Life is Strange 2 (2018)

Game: The Amazing Adventures of Captain Spirit (2018)

We’re really excited about these new changes! Like most changes, they’re going to take time to implement fully. Life is Strange is a large and well-established fandom, and we’d really appreciate it if users could aid in our efforts by tagging their work with the relevant Life is Strange Fandom Tag(s) as they become available. We thank the Life is Strange community for their patience and understanding during this transition!

From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.

Changes to Star Trek Mirror Universe Tags

Star Trek Wranglers are making some changes to the Mirror Universe tags and we wanted to let you know about them!

Please be advised there will be a major spoiler for the the second half of season one of Star Trek: Discovery in the third and last item we discuss in this post. (We will warn you when we get there.)

First, all Mirror Universe characters will no longer be subtagged to their main universe counterparts. In order to allow users to take full advantage of our new exclusion filters, Mirror Universe and Original Universe characters will be treated as completely separate characters. Previously, because Mirror Universe characters were subtagged to their Original Universe counterparts, excluding the Original Universe character would automatically exclude the Mirror Universe version too. With the characters separated, you can weed out the Original Universe characters to enjoy the Mirror Universe characters on their own!

For example, under the old system, if you wanted to specifically exclude Hikaru Sulu from your search for Mirror Hikaru Sulu content, it couldn't be done. The Hikaru Sulu tag was connected to all uses of Mirror Hikaru Sulu, and excluding it would automatically remove all works tagged with Mirror Hikaru Sulu, too. Now you can search for Mirror Hikaru Sulu while excluding Hikaru Sulu altogether! While this means that the Mirror Universe characters will no longer show up automatically when you search for the Original Universe counterpart, you can now easily search for works that feature both a character and their mirror counterpart using our inclusion filters.

Of course, Mirror Sulu is not the only character you can filter for -- there's also

Second, Star Trek: Mirror Universe will no longer be considered a separate fandom. All works in the Mirror Universe will still appear in the generic Star Trek fandom as well as any individual franchises which are tagged on the work. This change makes things simpler and less confusing for users who are new to Star Trek. If you previously posted works using the Star Trek: Mirror Universe fandom, you can now use the freeform Mirror Universe (Star Trek) to help others find your work.

Third Item: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE SECOND-HALF OF SEASON ONE OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Please stop reading now if you do not wish to be spoiled.

Thirdly, Gabriel Lorca has been a confusing character to tag for ever since it was revealed that he is actually from the Mirror Universe. Standard practice for Mirror Universe characters has always been to add the "Mirror" prefix. But by the time the reveal happened, Lorca was firmly entrenched with the plain "Gabriel Lorca" tag since many creators were not (or are not) aware of the spoiler.

In order to reduce ambiguity and make it clearer for users which Lorca is being referenced, we are going to change the canonicals for both Lorcas to the following:

These formats were chosen after extensive discussion of our options as being the least ambiguous and most closely following how other fandoms have treated identity reveals in character tags.

In keeping with the changes mentioned above, neither of these tags will be connected to the other. This will make it easier for users who want to find works about either Mirror Gabriel Lorca or Original Universe Gabriel Lorca. Both options will appear in the drop-down menu if a user types in "Gabriel Lorca" for a character tag.

(You may remember that we tried to sort out Lorca previously, but since there was still some confusion we have determined to go with the above solution.)

Please let us know if you have any questions, and have patience with us as we make the changes!

From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.

Upcoming Changes to Spider-Man Fandom Tags

Hi Spider-Man fans! Your friendly neighborhood web-slinging wranglers are here to help you with your MCU Spidey needs.

There's a new movie coming out, so if you're searching for works on AO3 for Spider-Man: Far From Home or Spider-Man: Homecoming, the fandom tag you're looking for will soon be "Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)".

Since the Spider-Man movies in which Tom Holland portrays Peter Parker are direct sequels of each other, they will remain part of a single fandom tag. This makes browsing for works about Peter, Michelle, Ned, and the rest of the gang easier. When you go to the "Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)" tag, works for both movies will show up. If you want to post works for a particular movie, there are freeform/additional tags for each: "Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)" and "Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)".

You are also free to tag for the specific movies in the fandom field when you post works; those tags will be connected to "Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)".

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Support.

Happy Spidering!

From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.

Updates to the Star Wars Legends fandom tags

Hi Star Wars fans!

You may have noticed that the Star Wars fandom tags on AO3 can be a bit difficult to navigate. We don't want to make you feel like you're doing a Kessel Run every time you post a Star Wars fanfic, so we've decided to clear a path for you by moving a few black holes around -- namely, the Legends Era tags. If you have been tagging a specific series or using the "Star Wars Legends - All Media Types" tag, you probably won't notice any changes.

Era tags were our (failed) attempt to use the established canon eras to divide 26,000 years of Star Wars history into chunks. The Eras are, in practice, hard to define and were based on major in universe events. Several of the books and games fall into multiple eras, straddle the division between eras, or span all eras. To add to the confusion, several of the Legends eras have the exact same names as the Disney canon Eras. To be frank, the situation has become untenable.

What are we doing with them? Most of the Legends Era tags are going to be merged into "Star Wars Legends - All Media Types". New Jedi Order is going to be kept separate and renamed to a Series tag, as it's essentialy been used as a series already. We're also moving "Star Wars Legends (Dark Horse Comics)" and "Star Wars Legends (Marvel Comics)" into the "Star Wars Legends - All Media Types" tag and subtagging a couple of fandoms that were accidentally connected to another series.

If you think a work will get lost in the AMT tag, you can always change the fandom tag to a specific book, game, or comic series. For example, if a work stars X-wing pilots in the New Republic Era, consider changing the fandom to "Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole".

Hopefully, when we're done the Star Wars tree on the Archive will make more sense and be easier to navigate for all involved.

May the Force be with you, The Star Wars Legends Wranglers

Elementary, My Dear Joan: Changes to the Joan Watson tag tree

My Dear Sherlock Holmes Fans,

There's going to be a change in the Sherlock Holmes fandom, specifically in regards to two character tags from one of its many adaptations, CBS's Elementary (TV).

Joan Watson, from Elementary (TV), is subtagged to "Joan Watson", which was, in turn, previously subtagged under "John Watson" and "John".

* John ** John Watson *** Joan Watson **** Joan Watson (Elementary)

This old structure was not quite accurate, as not all usages of Joan Watsons are for the genderbent version of canon John Watson. It is also not very useful; no one is looking for "Joan Watson (Elementary)" under "John".

Hence, we have made adjustments and will be separating this structure into two smaller trees:

* John ** John Watson

* Joan Watson ** Joan Watson (Elementary)

The "Joan Watson" tree will no longer be subtagged under "John Watson". "John Watson" will still be subtagged to "John".

Another character that fans will be familiar with is "Jamie Moriarty | Irene Adler", who will be subtagged to "Moriarty" instead of the previous metatag, "James Moriarty", for the same reason.

If you have additional questions or concerns about the character tag changes, please contact Support!

Yours, The Elementary Wrangling Crew

From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.