Updates to "No Fandom" Additional Tags, May 2026

Post Header

Published:

2026-05-30 10:11:04 UTC

Tags:

Spotlight on Tag Wrangling

AO3 Tag Wranglers continue to test processes for wrangling canonical additional tags (tags that appear in the auto-complete) which don't belong to any particular fandom (also known as "No Fandom" tags). This post overviews some of these upcoming changes.

In this round of updates, we continued to adjust existing canonical "No Fandom" tags to add or remove new subtag and metatag relationships. We also continued to streamline creating new canonical tags, prioritizing more straightforward updates which would have less discussion compared to renaming current canonical tags or creating new canonical tags which touch on more complex topics. This method also reviews new tags on a regular basis, so check back on AO3 News for periodic "No Fandom" tag announcements.

None of these updates change the tags users have added to works. If a user-created tag is considered to have the same meaning as a new canonical, it will be made a synonym of one of these newly created canonical tags, and works with that user-created tag will appear when the canonical tag is selected.

In short, these changes only affect which tags appear in AO3's auto-complete and filters. You can and should continue to tag your works however you prefer.

New Canonicals

The following concepts have been made new canonical tags:

All Characters Are Adults
Anal Hooks
Anal Prolapse
Prolapse
Vaginal Prolapse
Baby Trapping
Burping
Cooking Together
Coprophagia | Eating Feces
Feces | Poop
Cryptic Pregnancy | Character Didn't Know They Were Pregnant
Developing Feelings
Drug-Induced Heat
Forced Heat
Induced Heat
Heat Suppressants
Scent Blockers
Implied/Referenced Suicide Attempts
Inferiority Complex
Sexual Trauma
Sports Injuries
Stubbornness
TBI | Traumatic Brain Injury

Subtag/Metatag Revisions

Additionally, we continued to adjust existing canonical tags to add or remove new subtag and metatag relationships, which help users find related content and filter in/out content as they browse works on AO3.

Alternate Universe - Radio is now a subtag of Radio
Power Bottom is now a subtag of Bottoming
Service Top is now a subtag of Topping
Corsetry has been removed as a subtag from Clothing Kink
Latino Character has been removed as a subtag from Hispanic Character

In Conclusion

While we won't be announcing every change we make to No Fandom canonical tags, you can expect similar updates in the future about tags we believe will most affect users. If you're interested in the changes we'll be making, you can continue to check AO3 News or follow us on Bluesky @wranglers.archiveofourown.org or Tumblr @ao3org for future announcements.

You can also read previous updates on "No Fandom" tags as well as other wrangling updates, linked below:

For more information about AO3's tag system, check out our Tags FAQ.

In addition to providing technical help, AO3 Support also handles requests related to how tags are sorted and connected. If you have questions about specific tags, which were first used over a month ago and are unrelated to any of the new canonical tags listed above, please contact Support instead of leaving a comment on this post.

Please keep in mind that discussions about what tags to canonize and what format they should take are ongoing. As a result, not all related concepts will be canonized at the same time. This does not mean that related or similar concepts will not be canonized in the future or that we have chosen to canonize one specific concept in lieu of another, simply that we likely either haven’t gotten to that related concept yet or that it needs further discussion and will take a bit longer for us to canonize it as a result. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Lastly, we're still working on implementing changes and connecting relevant user-created tags to these new canonicals, so it’ll be some time before these updates are complete. If you have questions about specific tags which should be connected to these new canonicals, please refrain from contacting Support about them until at least three months from now to give us adequate time to do so.

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.

Actions

Comments

Sorry, this news post doesn't allow non-Archive users to comment. You can however contact Support with any feedback or questions.

Pages Navigation

MysteriousMihai Sat 30 May 2026 10:41AM UTC

There's some potential for a fic set on the public toilet of any major European city's central railroad station, including all new canonicals of this month.

(People from Berlin, Paris, or London now be like: "What? No! I didn't come to AO3 for reading a documentary!")

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. Thisisstillfun Sat 30 May 2026 04:53PM UTC
  
  Is that a reference to AO3 having listed a whole batch of heat-based tags during a heatwave? Because if so, it is not restricted to cities. But yes, I can see the potential for double-entendre humour.
  
  Comment Actions
2. 1. MysteriousMihai Sat 30 May 2026 09:07PM UTC
    
    Nah, it was more the feces-related tags that made me think of that ... But yes, the heat-based ones neatly coincide with the heatwave, too.
    
    Comment Actions
3. grommile Sat 30 May 2026 09:15PM UTC
  
  Particularly pedantic Londoners and Parisians be like "What's a central railway station?" :D
  
  (London has fourteen terminal stations, and Paris has seven.)
  
  Comment Actions
4. 1. MysteriousMihai Sat 30 May 2026 10:47PM UTC
    
    Berlinians will certainly beg to differ as well, for while they do have a central station, they also, mainly for historical reasons, have four other stations within the city limits which serve as hubs for interstate train connections.
    
    At the end of the day, it doesn't even matter all that much for the context of the joke I wanted to drop. I've had to use toilets in stations of several small towns in my area, and while there's absolutely nothing fun about that in itself, they could be a source of inspiration for a story about various types of business as listed in the post above just as easily, lemme tell ya'. :D
    
    Comment Actions
WirelessW Sat 30 May 2026 10:43AM UTC

Oh neat, I have a WiP that actually can benefit from the Induced Heat tag, that's convenient.

Comment Actions
- Thread
knight7272 Sat 30 May 2026 10:59AM UTC

Honestly the tag 'All Characters Are Adults' is more helpful as I have a rule of no lolis in my AL fics as all the ships would be Adults given how ship hull age counting works since I absolutelty am not a fan of lolis and I apply the same rules to my other fics if they need it.

Last Edited Sat 30 May 2026 11:50AM UTC

Comment Actions
- Thread
Icy_Leapz444 Sat 30 May 2026 11:05AM UTC

Implied/referenced Suicide Attempt is a tag now ayyyyy

Comment Actions
- Thread
Distressed_Authoress Sat 30 May 2026 12:38PM UTC

Baby Trapping's a canonical tag now‽ FUCK YEAH! This is soooooo good for my fic that mainly has human Thane for indulging in my kink to where he plans to impregnate FemShep to make sure she stays with him by basically trying to attempt the inverse of what he did before, by basically getting a shotgun wedding very ready and no one else looks at her to be with her.

Fuck yes.

Comment Actions
- Thread
Zumberge Sat 30 May 2026 01:37PM UTC

Heard of lobster traps, but not baby traps. Do they cook well? Johnathan Swift never made much mention of the taste when he gave out recipes for them.

Comment Actions
- Thread
Sandboxthinking Sat 30 May 2026 01:49PM UTC

Thank you all for your hard work!

Comment Actions
- Thread
tortuguita84 Sat 30 May 2026 01:59PM UTC

latino character being removed as a subtag of hispanic character made me so happy, there is a difference! im so glad that ao3 is so WOKE bc even tho its smth small it also means a lot for representation and understanding of our communities. ty tag wranglers!!

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. Inarticulation0_0 Sun 31 May 2026 03:53AM UTC
  
  Hi! I don't mean to come off as intrusive, but could you tell me the difference between Hispanic and Latino? I was unware that there was one and am interested in learning, but i currently don't trust search engines.
  Sorry if this bothers you in anyway /gen
  
  Comment Actions
2. 1. Kaanbaltla Sun 31 May 2026 04:06PM UTC
    
    Latino refers to every person that's (or has heritage) from Latin America. That includes Brazil, which native language is not Spanish.
    Hispanic refers to the regions that speak Spanish as a native language. That includes Spain, that is not from LATAM.
    
    Last Edited Sun 31 May 2026 04:08PM UTC
    
    Comment Actions
  2. 1. Inarticulation0_0 Sun 31 May 2026 10:20PM UTC
      
      Thank you
      
      Comment Actions
  3. SODACRACKPOP Sun 31 May 2026 04:49PM UTC
    
    Hispanic = spanish speaking person, while latino refers to people of latin decent (latin america).. ex. hispanic can include Spain because while spaniards are not latino they can speak spanish. Another example of this are brazilians, they are latino, but NOT hispanic since they usually speak portuguese (of course too some do but the official language of Brazil is portuguese.) I'm sure someone can explain a bit better than me, but the basics is "hispanic = they speak spanish" "latino = of latin american decent".
    
    Comment Actions
  4. 1. Inarticulation0_0 Sun 31 May 2026 10:20PM UTC
      
      Thanks :)
      
      Comment Actions
  5. tortuguita84 Sun 31 May 2026 05:49PM UTC
    
    hiihi! you’ve already had 2 pretty good responses but i’ll also explain. also, not intrusive at all! very good question and it warms my heart that people are so interested in learning abt different cultures <3
    
    hispanic comes from the anglicised version of the spanish term for spanish speakers which is “hispanohablantes”. hispano being spanish and hablantes being speakers. this is the same as other language’s ways of referring to speakers of that language, for example french. in french “francophone” is french speaker, and the english version of that is…francophone.
    therefore hispanic is the english way of saying spanish speakers. this means a lot of latino people consider themselves hispanic.
    
    however, latin america is a region where of course spanish is spoken, but not all countries speak spanish. for example brasil, whose main language is brasilian portuguese. ‘latino/latina/latinx’ is the shortened way of saying ‘latinomamericano/a/x’ which is “person from latin america” in spanish. in this, latino people can be those who do not speak spanish.
    
    a lot of people who consider themselves latino are usually people descended from latinoamericanos and now live in a different country. almost every person who is born in these countries and has lived all their life in latin american countries wouldn’t say they’re latino at all, instead go with their actual country. a lot of actual native latinos see it as more of an immigrant thing/american thing bc america is kinda obsessed with categorisation over there lol.
    but i still see it as valid, to me it’s a way of referring and grouping all these different countries together into a region like how we say europeans and asians.
    
    for many people being latino is also about the culture you hold from your country and community and many people find the latino identity being lumped together with the hispanic identity redundant because they are completely different despite easily being confused.
    thank you for asking so politely! i hope this made sense and cleared up stuff, and if u have anything else to ask feel free to :-)
    
    Comment Actions
  6. 1. Inarticulation0_0 Sun 31 May 2026 10:19PM UTC
      
      Thank you for clearing that up! I wish they actually taught stuff like that in highschool spanish classes, would probably stop a lot of confusion that way.
      
      Comment Actions
VeryCrunchyPretzels Sat 30 May 2026 02:10PM UTC

will definitely be using Implied/Referenced Suicide Attempts and Inferiority Complex in my fics, I LOOOVE tag wrangling updates!!!

Comment Actions
- Thread
faaabiii Sat 30 May 2026 02:20PM UTC

Thank you wranglers for all the hard work! Although... my dreamed alpha/alpha tag is out again 😭 BUT DO NOT FRET GUYS!!! ONE DAY OUR VICTORY WILL ARRIVE!!!

(Dw comment mods, I've already sent a request about canonizing this tag to the wrangle team)

Comment Actions
- Thread
Inarticulation0_0 Sat 30 May 2026 02:40PM UTC

'when I was 16, I was jumped for 5 dollars. When I woke up from my unconscious, I still had my 5 dollars, my dignity, and now, a Traumatic Brain Injury.' /ref

Comment Actions
- Thread
Heavenly666 Sat 30 May 2026 02:47PM UTC

The tag I requested got added! Hell yes!!

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. CosmicMarauder Sat 30 May 2026 10:18PM UTC
  
  which one was that?!
  
  Comment Actions
2. 1. Heavenly666 Sat 30 May 2026 10:51PM UTC
    
    …I have no shame, I'm on Ao3.
    "Anal Hook"
    
    Comment Actions
PhoeNyxNoah Sat 30 May 2026 03:48PM UTC

Implied/Referenced Suicide Attempts and Inferiority Complex looking real tasty rn 😋😋😋

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. VeryCrunchyPretzels Sun 31 May 2026 06:22AM UTC
  
  for REALLL!!!
  
  Comment Actions
PinkGrimwalker (silverwolfbunny) Sat 30 May 2026 04:57PM UTC

We are so back

Comment Actions
- Thread
napdragon Sat 30 May 2026 05:04PM UTC

Lastly, we're still working on implementing changes and connecting relevant user-created tags to these new canonicals
does that include reviewing the tags that were previously synned to different canonical tags? e.g. the "adults" tag currently has a lot of synonyms communicating specifically that all the characters involved are adults, which would make more sense to be moved to "all characters are adults"

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. AO3_Tag_Wranglers (Official) Sun 31 May 2026 09:25PM UTC
  
  Yes, that is included as part of the process! When checking for synonyms for these new canonicals, wrangling volunteers check both non-synonymous tags and tags which are currently synned to other canonical tags. Since we have a large number of tags to work through, as mentioned above, this process takes some time for us, so please wait at least three months after today before contacting Support about specific tags.
  
  Comment Actions
2. 1. napdragon Sun 31 May 2026 10:11PM UTC
    
    awesome, thanks for replying and for updating the old tags :)
    
    Comment Actions
magicbeings Sat 30 May 2026 06:25PM UTC

"Latino Character has been removed as a subtag from Hispanic Character" As a Brazilian, I love that you recognised this mistake and corrected it. Thank you.

Comment Actions
- Thread
CommaSama Sat 30 May 2026 07:18PM UTC

Implied/Referenced Suicide Attempts, Inferiority Complex, and even Stubbornness… big W for us angst writers with this update 😮‍💨 gotten good use out of the recent addition of Feather Preening as well~

Comment Actions
- Thread
i_dwell_in_darkness Sat 30 May 2026 09:20PM UTC

As a scat enthusiast, I just keep lovingly admiring that Feces | Poop tree! Thank you so much for the new canonizations and meta/sub structure! MythBusters was right—you can polish a turd!
✨💩✨

Comment Actions
- Thread
Leedie Sat 30 May 2026 11:55PM UTC

Some very bold tags wrangled in this bunch! :D

Comment Actions
- Thread
Nabsurdo Sun 31 May 2026 12:06AM UTC

Well, you have top service, but what about bottom service? Would that be a very good bottom at what they do, or a terrible bottom?(⊙ _ ⊙ )

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. MalcontentCatboy Sun 31 May 2026 08:59PM UTC
  
  I think power bottom is the equivalent, but there is a service bottom out there that they mapped to Service Submission.
  
  Comment Actions
2. 1. Nabsurdo Sun 31 May 2026 09:25PM UTC
    
    Thanks for the information₍₍⚞(˶ˆᗜˆ˵)⚟⁾⁾
    
    Comment Actions

AO3 News