AO3 Tag Wranglers are continuing to test processes for wrangling 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).

Previous Tag Wrangling updates are available on the ao3org Tumblr, and we’re trialing a new system of posting some of these updates to AO3 News as well. While we plan to make No Fandom tag updates available on AO3 News going forward, this may not be true of all wrangling updates. It’s likely some updates may remain solely distributed via the ao3org Tumblr, especially those that only affect one or two fandoms. In general, how we distribute updates may be subject to change as we test this new process.

We’ve made a number of decisions to create new canonical No Fandom tags for high-demand tags and to update the format of some of our older canonical tags. None of these updates will change the tags users have added to works; this will only affect which tags appear in AO3’s auto-complete and filters, making it easier to search and filter for these concepts. You can and should continue to tag your works with any version of these tags you prefer to use.

This post will provide an overview of some of these upcoming changes.

New Canonicals

1. Degradation

We will canonize several new tags related to Degradation. These canonicals include:

• Degradation
• Degradation Kink
• Consensual Degradation
• Verbal Degradation
• Self-Degradation
• Non-Consensual Degradation

Degradation will be a metatag of the other tags—Degradation Kink, Consensual Degradation, Verbal Degradation, Self-Degradation, and Non-Consensual Degradation—so that filtering Degradation in or out will include or exclude all of the more specific concepts.

How to Use These To Filter For/Filter Out Works Tagged Relating to Degradation:

ⓧ Filtering Out:

Add Degradation to the “Other tags to exclude” field in the works filter. This will filter out all works tagged with Degradation; this will also exclude works tagged with the subtags Degradation Kink, Consensual Degradation, Verbal Degradation, Self-Degradation, and Non-Consensual Degradation. If you want to exclude any of the more specific types of degradation only, you can do so by excluding the specific subtags. For example, you could exclude only Verbal Degradation by adding it to the “Other tags to exclude” field; works tagged with other types of degradation would remain in your search.

☑ Filtering For:

Add Degradation to the “Other tags to include” field in the works filter. This will also automatically include works that have tagged any of the more specific subtags. If you wish to filter for only certain types of degradation, you can do so by including those tags only. For example, you could include only Self-Degradation by adding it to the “Other tags to include” field; works only tagged with other types of degradation would not show in your search.

2. Sensory Overload

We will create a new canonical for Sensory Overload, and all tags relating to sensory overstimulation will be made synonyms of the new canonical. This includes tags related to neurodivergent or autistic overstimulation.

To make the meaning of the current Overstimulation tag more clear, it will be decanonized and made a synonym of Sexual Overstimulation.

3. Medical Isolation and Quarantine

We will create a new canonical for Medical Isolation and Quarantine.

4. Autistic Characters

We will create a new canonical for Autistic Characters, which will be a subtag of the current canonical Autism tag.

5. Touch Aversion

We will create a new canonical tag for Touch Aversion. The existing canonical Haphephobia (i.e. fear of touch) will be made a subtag of Touch Aversion.

Renamed and Reevaluated Canonicals

When we refer to “renaming” tags in this section, this means decanonizing a previously canonical tag and making it a synonym of a new canonical tag. This means that the tags on works themselves will not change, but filters and searches for the new canonical tag will include works tagged with the former canonical. You can and should continue to tag your works with any version of these tags you prefer to use.

6. Mpreg

To improve clarity for those unfamiliar with the term, the tag Mpreg will be renamed to Mpreg | Male Pregnancy. The related tag Post Mpreg will renamed to Past Mpreg | Male Pregnancy to clarify the tag’s meaning and match the format of the new tag.

We will also create a new canonical for Trans Mpreg | Trans Male Pregnancy, which will be subtagged to Mpreg | Male Pregnancy. Similarly, to allow users to tag and filter more granularly with regards to pregnancy, we will be creating a new canonical for Intersex Pregnancy, which will be a subtag of Pregnancy.

7. Found Family

The tag Families of Choice will be renamed to Found Family. We hope this new phrasing better reflects the language fans use and makes the tag easier to find.

8. Gender Themes

The tag Gender Related will be renamed to Gender Themes to clarify the meaning of the tag. We will also create a new canonical for Trans Themes, which will be subtagged to Gender Themes.

9. Nose Nuzzling Kisses

The tag Eskimo Kisses will be renamed to Nose Nuzzling Kisses.

We apologize for originally canonizing this tag with an offensive term. We are working hard to develop a robust and sustainable collaborative discussion format for No Fandom tags to continue to correct past mistakes and avoid making similar ones in the future.

10. Mother Complex

The tag Mother Complex will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Mommy Issues. Tags that are currently synonyms of Mother Complex will be made synonyms of Mommy Issues or Mommy Kink where appropriate.

For many years, this tag has caused some confusion for users, because there was not a clear difference between Mother Complex and the more well-known Mommy Issues tag, and the tag Mommy Kink used to be a synonym of Mother Complex. We recently canonized the tag Mommy Kink, in part to address this issue.

Reorganization of Podfic-related Canonicals

We will be reorganizing several tags related to Podfics in the coming weeks. We hope these changes make it easier to tag for works and navigate AO3.

For ease of filtering, we will be making the existing Podfic tag a metatag for all canonical tags related to podfic length (such as tags like Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes and Podfic Length: 7-10 Hours). This means that filtering include or exclude on Podfic will automatically include or exclude works tagged with a podfic length tag, even if they aren’t tagged with Podfic.

We also will be creating new canonicals and renaming some existing tags:

• A new canonical will be made called Podfic and Text in the Same Work
• Podfic Collaboration will be renamed to Multivoice and Collaborative Podfic, which we hope better reflects the language fans use and makes the tag easier to find
• Read by the Author will be renamed to Podfic Read by the Author to clarify the tag’s meaning

Finally, we will merge some existing canonicals that were originally created separately but have very similar meanings. To make searching and filtering for these concepts easier, we have merged the following tags:

• Podfic Desired will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Podfic Welcome
• Podfic Linked will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Podfic Available
• Podfic & Podficced Works will be decanonized and made a synonym of the existing canonical Podfic

Reorganization and Additions to Gender Transition Canonicals

In our last Tumblr post, we announced the newly renamed canonical Changes to Gender or Sex. To make it easier for users to tag and filter works, we will also clarify related tags and create new canonical tags related to gender transition.

The current canonical Sex Change has been used for both medical gender transition and forced sex changes; this tag will be decanonized and made a synonym of Changes to Gender or Sex. To allow users to better tag and filter for these concepts separately, we will also be:

• Renaming the current canonical tag Transitioning to Gender Transition
• Creating a new canonical for Medical Gender Transition, which will be subtagged to both Gender Transition and Changes to Gender or Sex
• Creating a new canonical called Forced Gender Transition

We also plan to make the following new canonicals relating to medical transition:

• HRT | Hormone Replacement Therapy
• Gender-Affirming Surgery, which will be a subtag of both Surgery and Medical Gender Transition
• Top Surgery, which will be a subtag of Gender-Affirming Surgery
• Bottom Surgery, which will be a subtag of Gender-Affirming Surgery
• Top Surgery Scars

Finally, we will be creating the following new canonicals to help users better search and filter for whether characters have had gender-affirming surgeries:

• Character Has Had Top Surgery
• Character Has Not Had Top Surgery
• Character Has Had Bottom Surgery
• Character Has Not Had Bottom Surgery

In Conclusion

These are just some of the changes we are making to No Fandom canonical tags. Some of these changes have already been implemented, while others are currently underway. Creating and renaming tags requires a lot of work from wranglers to implement, so large changes will likely take some time to complete after this post has been published.

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 follow AO3 on Twitter @ao3_wranglers or Tumblr @ao3org for future announcements.

You can also read previous updates on tags updated and created through this process: Update on “No Fandom” tags and Another Update Regarding “No Fandom” tags.

Learn more about how the AO3 tag system works in our Tags FAQ. ​​In addition to providing technical support, Support also handles requests related to how tags are sorted and connected. If you have questions about tags not on this list, which were first used over a month ago, please contact Support instead of leaving a comment on this post.