Comment on Changes to Fandom Metatag Wrangling Guidelines

  1. AO3_Tag_Wranglers (Official) Thu 29 Jan 2026 07:03PM UTC

    Both the guidelines and the post itself outline the circumstances in which individual adaptations are created, when overarching metatag fandoms are created, and when these fandoms are merged.

    No fandom's circumstances are exactly the same as another's and we will continue to evaluate each fandom's situation and circumstances based on user and wrangler input going forward.

    If there is a specific fandom you'd like to be considered, you can send in a request via Support. When sending in a request to Support, please only include requests specific to one fandom in each individual request you submit. Please also keep in mind that many fandoms have already been requested and are currently under consideration by wranglers, and don't forget that this process takes time.

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    1. TheRaichu Sat 31 Jan 2026 01:15AM UTC

      The fandoms I am discussing had already had the fandoms circumstances evaluated - they already once had their overarching 'All Media Types' metatags created. The AMT were then later removed due to the ao3's unofficial policy to remove AMT tags without so much as consulting the fandom for input or even announcing it. All of a sudden fics that had been tagged with only the AMT tag were thrown into disarray and assigned to a specific adaptation of the franchise that they were not intended to be written for and were not tagged with. Upon this announcement being made I went and checked - those fics are still incorrectly assigned to specific adaptions. It's not fair to the people who wrote those fics - some of whom have not even watched/read/etc. the adaption that their fics were synched into. And it's not fair for the readers of fics for that adaption, who now how to scroll past sometimes whole pages of AMT fics that aren't for the adaption they're trying to read fics for because of the AMT synching.

      When you removed the Sherlock - All Media Types tag, and there was a big blow up - you recognised that that was a mistake and immediately reversed the change. This same upset occurred every time you removed the other fandoms AMT tags - only these were smaller fandoms and didn't have the outreach that Sherlock did. I personally sent support a message prior to the Sherlock incident when I noticed one of my fandom's AMT tag was removed - expressing how upset I was and how much it was hurting the fandom. I know many others did for other AMT tags prior to the Sherlock incident too. Just because these fandoms are smaller and don't have the power to be as vocal, does not mean the same correction to restore their AMT tag as Sherlock shouldn't be applied. I definitely understand applying new guidelines to the creation of new fandom overarching tags, but for the AMT tags that existed prior to these guidelines and were removed, they should be grandfathered in and restored. Please at least consider this.

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      1. KaishaKat Sun 01 Feb 2026 01:41AM UTC

        I agree.

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      2. NeaPoulain Sun 01 Feb 2026 10:33AM UTC

        I second you, I suffered through that in Fruits Basket, filtering became terrible one day 🥲
        Would suggest you send again the request with examples if you haven't sent it so you for sure know they considered it.

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      3. AO3_Tag_Wranglers (Official) Mon 02 Feb 2026 03:44PM UTC

        If you have a specific fandom in mind, you are welcome to submit a request even if the request was previously declined since guidelines have changed.

        Please note, however, that the fact that a request is reevaluated is no guarantee that there will ultimately be a change in the decision.

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