IYKYK [cur ev]
Jan. 12th, 2026 05:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
siderea"What I 'erd, this nobby, 'iz bird got fingered over a tin o'beans, only shot the poor cow, didn't they? So, like, everybody's tooled up, an'..."
– V for Vendetta, Alan Moore & David Lloyd, 1988
siderea
About Hey!Cafe?
Jan. 11th, 2026 12:31 pmdewlineIt's like Twitter-as-was, Bluesky-as-is, and the Mastodon-Fediverse network. Canadian-based - Penticton, BC, specifically - and Canadian-owned, though. If you're in Canada and want one more fallback option for short-form social media stuff, this might be useful to you at times.
https://hey.cafe/
Just putting it out here.
https://hey.cafe/
Just putting it out here.
Fic: One Two THREE Force Born?!
Jan. 10th, 2026 09:58 pmsenmutAO3 Link | One Two THREE Force Born?! (1609 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, Sheev Palpatine | Emperor Palpatine | Darth Sidious
Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Kriffing Sith Plans
Summary:
Padmé Amidala was a woman on a mission. Anakin might be completely in a panic over the pregnancy but she was going to head this off. It was just too convenient that she was now being plagued with dreams of her own death, the very night after an unavoidable dinner with the man she had a growing distaste for.
And, deep where she would never tell her husband, she had a nasty suspicion he was trying to shove Anakin off a cliff of irredeemable violence. The Chancellor might not have commented on her state, but his eyes were not as easily fooled by their shared heritage of concealing fashion.
Today, she was going to go enlist the aid of the Jedi, while Anakin was tied up being the poster boy of the GAR. She had all of her diplomatic shields in place, and had the perfect cover story to do this with.
After all, with Jedi having lost so many, surely the Force would be interested in adding a few more children to the future.
Vokara Che was every bit as imposing in her domain as Anakin had said. However, her status as a long time ally had convinced Master Fisto to bring her down to the Healer's Wing. She had pleaded with him, and the healer, that there could not be a father, not when she was a mature woman who knew how to guard against such!
"You were correct that the pregnancy is heavily Force-influenced," Vokara said after several minutes of making Padmé wonder if the healer was going to break her constructed version of events. "You are carrying two very healthy, very Force-active fetuses."
Two. TWO?!
She was not going to faint like the damsel of a holo-drama. "Thank you, Master Che. Given my precarious positioning within the advocates for peace, and past attempts, I could not, in all honesty, acquire medical aid in the typical fashion. Given how my dreams are affected, and having such strange hunches of late, I turned to your Temple in hope."
"A wise choice." For a long moment, Vokara held her eyes, and Padmé knew that the healer was not actually buying the spontaneous pregnancy. A twitch of the lekku, however, indicated the secret was safe. "These hunches, I believe that Master Windu should possibly help sort them out with you."
Oh. Well, that might be the right way to go as well.
Kit, even before the appointment in medical had ended, had gone to find his age-mate. He did so in one of the botanical rooms. "Master Windu," he began. "And Master Yoda," he added to be polite, despite the ancient peering at one of the plants intently.
"Hmm," came over top of Mace's cautious "Master Fisto", and Kit grinned a little that his creche-mate had already detected the mild mischief Kit was feeling.
They all needed a little bit of amusement.
"Senator Amidala has come, and is being tended to by Master Che," Kit began, and both men looked sharply at him. "I do wonder about that old prophecy that was discussed when Master Jinn found a boy on a desert world with no father… as she is here to see about a Force-induced pregnancy as well."
Yoda's ears went flat, Mace's eyes narrowed, and Kit merely smiled.
Mace looked at the woman who had been a solid ally, and the subject of not a small part of gossip. He did not, for a moment, believe the story of no father, but in her political setting, it was for the best to go along with it.
"Master Che said you have been plagued by hunches of late, ones that play out true."
He set a mild tisane in front of her, and took a second one for himself.
"I think the Force has concerns about the path we are on, despite recent developments. After all, if the Count has been neutralized, and Master Kenobi is on the trail of their general… who will keep the momentum up to line pockets with war money, and build such sizable powers through war-time legislation?" Amidala asked, meeting the man's eyes squarely. "I am all but certain you and your peers have had the same intuitions."
Was she — had she —
Maybe Skywalker had been more circumspect than Mace had believed. For all that Amidala was firmly an adherent of a peaceful resolution, her physical and vocal cues were running in tandem with the Council's own suspicions.
"Perhaps we are looking in that same direction," he said.
"If the other Sith, the one Dooku spoke of on our side, is out there, I am certain he would try to harm those touched so firmly by the Light Side as ones fathered by the Force," Amidala told him. "I shudder to think of what such a being might have done had they had access to your Knight Skywalker for all the years of this phantom menace over us."
That, Mace decided, was both accusation and… an invitation to look more closely at how the cards were laid out.
And he had to admit she had a point.
"Anakin!"
"Chancellor."
"I do hope the scandal hasn't harmed your friendship with the Senator."
"What scandal?"
The exchange, handled in the hearing of several itinerant reporters, brought their elder statesman up short, until someone added the right question.
"That she's pregnant with no father in sight," the reporter with blood money in his pockets called out.
"You really think Senator Amidala would stoop to such petty, low-brow nonsense?" Anakin asked them, in his best 'are you kidding me' voice, and he caught the frown on his old 'friend'. He was so glad Saesse Tiin had been able and willing to explore the past several years in his head. "She's having children as the will of the Force, and we Jedi take that kind of thing very seriously."
He then kept walking, leaving the Chancellor stewing, the reporters trying to digest how to spin this, and a feeling that he could not have handled it that way without the Council all suddenly intent on supporting him. He didn't know what had changed there, but he couldn't wait to tell Obi-Wan all about it.
And the Force Twins, because he had to admit, he really hadn't had a lot of time, and they both used precautions.
Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was in a fury. He had primed the well perfectly, and somehow… somehow every insinuation and control he'd put in place had been cut off in the Chosen One. All because of some insane story concocted by the woman that had long since outlived her usefulness.
Any day now, that wretched Kenobi would be returning, and Sheev would have to find a different way to acquire everything he wanted… unless he acted now? He went to his desk to find the comm unit. He needed to provoke the right circumstance, to make it clear he was saving them from the Jedi, but what would it take?
The comm lit up in his hand.
What?
With the Force, he flipped the hood of his cape up, securing it to conceal his features, and turned it on.
"What do you know, that frequency is picked up, Commander," came the very annoying, should-be-dead voice of the Togruta menace. He hastily turned it off, throwing it into the back of the locked drawers.
The knocking at the door that came next, including a call of 'Coruscant Security' sent chills down his back.
He wondered idly if his own Master had felt this the night Sheev had gleefully murdered him.
Mace pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked over at the newest Master of the Council who was pretending he didn't want to hurry out and see a certain Senator. He then looked at Kenobi, who was waiting to be briefed on how and why the Chancellor had been killed in the midst of being served with detention papers.
"A tip from an ally told us to double check Skywalker for undue influence," Kit said, looking entirely too merry in the telling.
"Padmé," Anakin offered cheerfully. "She's having Force twins."
Mace did not groan. It really did sound like Skywalker believed that.
"Removing that," Saesee said, "let us more clearly see the shape of a possible end game, orchestrated to cast us all as traitors."
"Meanwhile, Skywalker's commander had been working on another angle of the endgame," Agen said.
"Leading him and Tano to turning up a plan to make the man expose himself, using the very tools meant to kill us all," Kit said, "by triggering a comm device he should not have had while we were keeping him very securely under comm surveillance with Naboo's and CorSec's cooperation."
"How did you get CorSec to agree to such?" Kenobi asked.
"Amidala implied that she had noticed a malevolent presence while dining with the man, and could they please keep it under wraps that there could be such a threat near the center of government?" Shaak Ti said, eyes dancing with mirth.
"A very tidy end, I suppose." Kenobi then looked at Mace with a deadpan face. "So, how are those prophecies handling the idea of three Force-fathered children?"
Mace did not, as he wanted to, flip the man's hood over his head with the Force.
Padmé smiled, despite fatigue, as she held her daughter, and Anakin held her son. Eventually, they might admit the farce.
Then again, listening to Anakin telling Luke all about the wonders of what the Force could do…
… maybe it was better to leave it at this. What really mattered was that they were all saved from the Sith.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, Sheev Palpatine | Emperor Palpatine | Darth Sidious
Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Kriffing Sith Plans
Summary:
It's Padmé with the nightmares, and a plan to head it all off.
One Two THREE Force Born?!
Padmé Amidala was a woman on a mission. Anakin might be completely in a panic over the pregnancy but she was going to head this off. It was just too convenient that she was now being plagued with dreams of her own death, the very night after an unavoidable dinner with the man she had a growing distaste for.
And, deep where she would never tell her husband, she had a nasty suspicion he was trying to shove Anakin off a cliff of irredeemable violence. The Chancellor might not have commented on her state, but his eyes were not as easily fooled by their shared heritage of concealing fashion.
Today, she was going to go enlist the aid of the Jedi, while Anakin was tied up being the poster boy of the GAR. She had all of her diplomatic shields in place, and had the perfect cover story to do this with.
After all, with Jedi having lost so many, surely the Force would be interested in adding a few more children to the future.
Vokara Che was every bit as imposing in her domain as Anakin had said. However, her status as a long time ally had convinced Master Fisto to bring her down to the Healer's Wing. She had pleaded with him, and the healer, that there could not be a father, not when she was a mature woman who knew how to guard against such!
"You were correct that the pregnancy is heavily Force-influenced," Vokara said after several minutes of making Padmé wonder if the healer was going to break her constructed version of events. "You are carrying two very healthy, very Force-active fetuses."
Two. TWO?!
She was not going to faint like the damsel of a holo-drama. "Thank you, Master Che. Given my precarious positioning within the advocates for peace, and past attempts, I could not, in all honesty, acquire medical aid in the typical fashion. Given how my dreams are affected, and having such strange hunches of late, I turned to your Temple in hope."
"A wise choice." For a long moment, Vokara held her eyes, and Padmé knew that the healer was not actually buying the spontaneous pregnancy. A twitch of the lekku, however, indicated the secret was safe. "These hunches, I believe that Master Windu should possibly help sort them out with you."
Oh. Well, that might be the right way to go as well.
Kit, even before the appointment in medical had ended, had gone to find his age-mate. He did so in one of the botanical rooms. "Master Windu," he began. "And Master Yoda," he added to be polite, despite the ancient peering at one of the plants intently.
"Hmm," came over top of Mace's cautious "Master Fisto", and Kit grinned a little that his creche-mate had already detected the mild mischief Kit was feeling.
They all needed a little bit of amusement.
"Senator Amidala has come, and is being tended to by Master Che," Kit began, and both men looked sharply at him. "I do wonder about that old prophecy that was discussed when Master Jinn found a boy on a desert world with no father… as she is here to see about a Force-induced pregnancy as well."
Yoda's ears went flat, Mace's eyes narrowed, and Kit merely smiled.
Mace looked at the woman who had been a solid ally, and the subject of not a small part of gossip. He did not, for a moment, believe the story of no father, but in her political setting, it was for the best to go along with it.
"Master Che said you have been plagued by hunches of late, ones that play out true."
He set a mild tisane in front of her, and took a second one for himself.
"I think the Force has concerns about the path we are on, despite recent developments. After all, if the Count has been neutralized, and Master Kenobi is on the trail of their general… who will keep the momentum up to line pockets with war money, and build such sizable powers through war-time legislation?" Amidala asked, meeting the man's eyes squarely. "I am all but certain you and your peers have had the same intuitions."
Was she — had she —
Maybe Skywalker had been more circumspect than Mace had believed. For all that Amidala was firmly an adherent of a peaceful resolution, her physical and vocal cues were running in tandem with the Council's own suspicions.
"Perhaps we are looking in that same direction," he said.
"If the other Sith, the one Dooku spoke of on our side, is out there, I am certain he would try to harm those touched so firmly by the Light Side as ones fathered by the Force," Amidala told him. "I shudder to think of what such a being might have done had they had access to your Knight Skywalker for all the years of this phantom menace over us."
That, Mace decided, was both accusation and… an invitation to look more closely at how the cards were laid out.
And he had to admit she had a point.
"Anakin!"
"Chancellor."
"I do hope the scandal hasn't harmed your friendship with the Senator."
"What scandal?"
The exchange, handled in the hearing of several itinerant reporters, brought their elder statesman up short, until someone added the right question.
"That she's pregnant with no father in sight," the reporter with blood money in his pockets called out.
"You really think Senator Amidala would stoop to such petty, low-brow nonsense?" Anakin asked them, in his best 'are you kidding me' voice, and he caught the frown on his old 'friend'. He was so glad Saesse Tiin had been able and willing to explore the past several years in his head. "She's having children as the will of the Force, and we Jedi take that kind of thing very seriously."
He then kept walking, leaving the Chancellor stewing, the reporters trying to digest how to spin this, and a feeling that he could not have handled it that way without the Council all suddenly intent on supporting him. He didn't know what had changed there, but he couldn't wait to tell Obi-Wan all about it.
And the Force Twins, because he had to admit, he really hadn't had a lot of time, and they both used precautions.
Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was in a fury. He had primed the well perfectly, and somehow… somehow every insinuation and control he'd put in place had been cut off in the Chosen One. All because of some insane story concocted by the woman that had long since outlived her usefulness.
Any day now, that wretched Kenobi would be returning, and Sheev would have to find a different way to acquire everything he wanted… unless he acted now? He went to his desk to find the comm unit. He needed to provoke the right circumstance, to make it clear he was saving them from the Jedi, but what would it take?
The comm lit up in his hand.
What?
With the Force, he flipped the hood of his cape up, securing it to conceal his features, and turned it on.
"What do you know, that frequency is picked up, Commander," came the very annoying, should-be-dead voice of the Togruta menace. He hastily turned it off, throwing it into the back of the locked drawers.
The knocking at the door that came next, including a call of 'Coruscant Security' sent chills down his back.
He wondered idly if his own Master had felt this the night Sheev had gleefully murdered him.
Mace pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked over at the newest Master of the Council who was pretending he didn't want to hurry out and see a certain Senator. He then looked at Kenobi, who was waiting to be briefed on how and why the Chancellor had been killed in the midst of being served with detention papers.
"A tip from an ally told us to double check Skywalker for undue influence," Kit said, looking entirely too merry in the telling.
"Padmé," Anakin offered cheerfully. "She's having Force twins."
Mace did not groan. It really did sound like Skywalker believed that.
"Removing that," Saesee said, "let us more clearly see the shape of a possible end game, orchestrated to cast us all as traitors."
"Meanwhile, Skywalker's commander had been working on another angle of the endgame," Agen said.
"Leading him and Tano to turning up a plan to make the man expose himself, using the very tools meant to kill us all," Kit said, "by triggering a comm device he should not have had while we were keeping him very securely under comm surveillance with Naboo's and CorSec's cooperation."
"How did you get CorSec to agree to such?" Kenobi asked.
"Amidala implied that she had noticed a malevolent presence while dining with the man, and could they please keep it under wraps that there could be such a threat near the center of government?" Shaak Ti said, eyes dancing with mirth.
"A very tidy end, I suppose." Kenobi then looked at Mace with a deadpan face. "So, how are those prophecies handling the idea of three Force-fathered children?"
Mace did not, as he wanted to, flip the man's hood over his head with the Force.
Padmé smiled, despite fatigue, as she held her daughter, and Anakin held her son. Eventually, they might admit the farce.
Then again, listening to Anakin telling Luke all about the wonders of what the Force could do…
… maybe it was better to leave it at this. What really mattered was that they were all saved from the Sith.
About that Appointment Yesterday:
Jan. 10th, 2026 05:02 pmdewlineIt was with a job-search-support service specializing in helping neurodivergent job-seekers. I plan to keep in touch with them through my upcoming contract, because said contract is going to end when March does. So, planning has to be for at least the medium term.
Beefy grandad
Jan. 10th, 2026 07:48 pmcosmolinguistangelofthenorth's new flat is really nice! I can see why she's so excited about it.
Moving is happening gently: she and Mr. Smith are still here for a couple more days, which is good; it'd be weird to lose them all at once!
After sleeping like shit, making it to the first transgym lift club in a month, then helping her move in and eating a whole pizza that I usually get two or three meals out of, I have been ready for bed ever since I ate dinner; it's still not even eight o'clock.
IVD 2025 Volunteer Q&A—Translation Spotlight
Jan. 10th, 2026 01:47 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
ao3_news_feed
Last November we asked the community to submit questions to our OTW volunteers in celebration of International Volunteer Day. In this series of posts we will spotlight some of our committees' responses.
The Translation committee's main responsibility is making content from the OTW and its various projects accessible to fans who don't speak English. This includes content for the organization's main site, FAQs on AO3, Open Doors import announcements, and AO3 news posts, among other things. They also collaborate with other OTW committees, for example to help them communicate with non-English speaking fans and users.
We asked the Translation committee for replies to your questions, and received a lot of feedback! Below you can find a selection of their answers:
Translation Committee Specific Question
Question: Is there a software required if one wanted to volunteer? Also, are there any specific devices required?
Committee answer:
While we have no specific software requirements for volunteering, we definitely recommend using a device with a bigger screen in general, like a desktop or a laptop, or at least a tablet, as that makes it easier to keep everything you need for your work on your screen. One of our requirements for any software we use is that it can run in a common internet browser on a computer, without any local installs, though they may require an app on mobile devices.
General Questions
How many hours a week do you spend on your OTW volunteer work?
- It varies a lot week to week! Some weeks are very quiet and there's not a lot to work on, but when I do get an assignment, I tend to spend about a couple of hours on it, and that will usually be it for the week unless we're working on time sensitive tasks or projects, when things can get more hectic! Translation in particular sets generous deadlines to complete our assignments (5 or 7 days depending on what we're working on), which gives us plenty of time to work on it even after RL work hours and factoring in other real life things. I also sometimes help the Tag Wrangling team with their Spanish tags, but that accounts for a couple of minutes of quick work overall, I'd say. So... tl;dr, about 2-3 hours, give or take, depending on what we have to do for the week! (Saku)
- It depends on the task, but an average of 2-3 hours per week suffices. (Nameless_ghoul_7)
How do you manage your volunteer time, and do you do the same thing every day like with a day job?
- I usually find time for this during the weekend, considering my day job, so it's more of a weekend activity for me. And I prefer to do my translation in one go, and then go through it again afterwards in my free time post weekday work.
It's definitely taught me to be good at time management, because you can't predict how your week is going to go at any point. (Ana) - I use a time tracker to help me track the time I spend on OTW volunteer tasks, though that usually ends up working more in retrospective, where towards the end of each week I look at the hours I did to evaluate whether my current workload is adequate or whether I should delegate some of my work to other people (or if that's not an option, what I can deprioritise and put off until a bit later). I usually try to pick up some volunteer manager or chair trainee work every other day or so (unless I'm working on something that requires daily attention), just to avoid driving myself insane, because at the end of the day there's always more work I could be picking up still. (Rhine)
What's your favorite part about volunteering at the OTW?
- My favourite part of volunteering at the OTW has been meeting several new people from around the world and seeing how our different POVs and experiences help with different understandings of life in different spaces and how independently of our differences, cultures and upbringing we're united by pure passion for what we do in and for fandom. Passion and compassion is often hidden or missing in "work spaces" and the OTW has been a positive space filled with positive learning experiences for me since the moment I started volunteering. It's an ever evolving space that takes every instance to be better. (CottonDuck)
- I was going to say "the people!" and that is mostly true (I've met some wonderful folks as part of Translation, and it's been a great time overall!), but if I sit down to really think about it, I think my favorite part is that it feels very gratifying to be giving back to a community that has done so much for fandom and fan spaces. I don't read a lot of fanfiction myself anymore, much as I do occasionally write it, but fandom is still very important to me and I've made a lot of good friends thanks to it, so it feels good to be able to contribute my time and skills and do something for a space that has done so much for me in turn. It's good work and good people all around, and it feels good to be part of it through my work for the OTW and AO3. (Saku)
What's the aspect of volunteer work with the OTW that you most wish more people knew about?
- How chill the Translation volunteer managers are! If we need something, be it a hiatus, more time on a task, or clarification on some part of the text, we’re pretty much always granted them! And having a full week to do the task is very nice too, I originally thought it was going to be much more hectic. (kati)
- The sheer scope of work that is involved! There are so many volunteers, like, seriously, *so many*, and each of us have our own little roles to perform, thus helping everything run like clockwork. Having said all that, it's all strictly on a volunteer basis, which makes it probably the only “work place” I've seen where we all actually enjoy doing what we do. (Ana)
What does a typical day as an OTW volunteer looks like for you?
- Mostly the same as any normal day. Only that I set apart one or two hours most days to translate what's been assigned to me. (ttom)
- It varies a lot! As Translation volunteer managers, we handle several different tasks, depending on the time of year, and what projects are currently going on. For example, if I'm on duty for managing our email inbox and handing out tasks for the week—we alternate regularly—I'll set aside around 2-3 hours a day after work for that. When we are recruiting for new translators, I'll spend a chunk of time in a week holding interviews. There are also routine tasks that each of us rotates through, like preparing meetings or coordinating the upload of translated content to the OTW and AO3 websites. Independent of the task, I usually work through shorter items on my to-do list on weekday nights, and leave bigger tasks for the weekend. (Elin)
What is your favorite animal? Alternatively, do you have a favorite breed of cat/dog?
- Cats... I love cats and I have one. (Nameless_ghoul_7)
- Cats, giraffes, turtles, butterflies, and I can go on. As for cats, I love the Egyptian Maus that I currently have. (AnneHelena)
- My favourite animal is the betta! I loved aquaculture a lot!! My favourite breed of dog is the Indian Pariah Dog. (Aditi Mandavgane)
Do you enjoy reading fanfic? If so, what's your favorite work on AO3?
- I love reading fanfics and it's difficult to choose a favourite one. But among the recent fics I am reading, Bifurcation Sandbox by Gardenersnake8822 is a favourite. (Gloriosa)
- I love reading fanfic! It's definitely become a hobby, and has been the brunt of my reading as of late (because books are expensive < / 3). It's really difficult to pick a favorite work, since I've read so many amazing fics, but if I had to pick one, I'd pick "The Lowlander" by user foxymoxy! It's a BTS-Dragon Age crossover fic that takes the captor/prisoner trope and really dissects and does something interesting with it. It's one of my all-time favorites, and I re-read it all the time. (Somber)
Do you write any fanfic yourself? What do you enjoy about it?
- Yes! I have a writing account on some platforms like AO3 (ofc, duh), Twitter, Wattpad, and Medium. There are so many things I love about writing. But, I’m going to list 3 of them here:
- I can finally read my ship in tropes that I really wanted to read.
- The research process. I gained knowledge while doing my hobby. I learn how to write better, to portray the emotion better, to explore and experiment with my characters’ personality, discover interesting information, and so on.
- It helps me clear my mind. (Keane)
- I used to write original stories that never went anywhere and only started writing and publishing fanfiction in order to learn about AO3's user interface so that I could translate the tutorials more accurately. I like how freeing it feels not to have to worry too much about writing well enough for the general audience – it's just me and the five people (at most) who will ever see my silly little stories! (Slovenian Translation volunteer)
What fandoms are you (currently) in?
- I’m currently obsessed with F1: The Movie and Ocean's Eleven Trilogy. (Cassie)
- I've been in the Star Wars fandom for more than 20 years at this point, mostly on the Rogue One / Andor side nowadays. (Auré)
Do you feel glad or proud to see fanfiction in your mother tongue?
- My answer is yes, absolutely! Especially on AO3 in particular, because Mandarin Chinese authors have been facing immense opposition in the form of censorship and takedowns of both digital and physical publications of our works. The 227 incident that resulted in AO3 being banned in Mainland China was a major turning point in the involvement of AO3 within Chinese fandom communities, so every time I see a new Mandarin Chinese work on AO3 I'm always grateful that one more author has found a safe avenue to share their creations with the rest of fandom. (Chinese Translation volunteer)
- Absolutely! My first language is Portuguese and I always find it surprising when I see works on some fandoms that are definitely not popular in my country. It’s like an invisible thread suddenly connects me to someone I don’t know but share two things in common: a language and a love for a fandom that makes us want to spend time and effort creating something to share with that community. Funny enough, I usually like to read fanfics in the language my brain associates them with. For example, I don’t speak Korean, and I usually watch K-dramas with English subtitles to continue learning English, so that’s the language my brain associates that series with. When I see a work in Portuguese for that fandom, it’s like my horizons have suddenly been broadened. And if I get a chance to make an online friend because of it? Even better! (Amanda)
- I translate English to Marathi, and I don't see a lot of Marathi fanfic on the site, but when I stumble upon one, my heart soars and I feel on top of the world! (Aditi Mandavgane)
Thanks so much to every volunteer who took the time to answer!
(For more answers from Translation volunteers, check out this work on AO3, where we'll collect additional replies to each question!)
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.
IVD 2025 Volunteer Q&A—Translation Spotlight
Jan. 10th, 2026 01:39 pmotw_news_feedLast November we asked the community to submit questions to our OTW volunteers in celebration of International Volunteer Day. In this series of posts we will spotlight some of our committees’ responses.
The Translation committee‘s main responsibility is making content from the OTW and its various projects accessible to fans who don’t speak English. This includes content for the organization’s main site, FAQs on AO3, Open Doors import announcements, and AO3 news posts, among other things. They also collaborate with other OTW committees, for example to help them communicate with non-English speaking fans and users.
We asked the Translation committee for replies to your questions, and received a lot of feedback! Below you can find a selection of their answers:
Translation Committee Specific Question
Question: Is there a software required if one wanted to volunteer? Also, are there any specific devices required?
Committee answer:
While we have no specific software requirements for volunteering, we definitely recommend using a device with a bigger screen in general, like a desktop or a laptop, or at least a tablet, as that makes it easier to keep everything you need for your work on your screen. One of our requirements for any software we use is that it can run in a common internet browser on a computer, without any local installs, though they may require an app on mobile devices.
General Questions
How many hours a week do you spend on your OTW volunteer work?
- It varies a lot week to week! Some weeks are very quiet and there’s not a lot to work on, but when I do get an assignment, I tend to spend about a couple of hours on it, and that will usually be it for the week unless we’re working on time sensitive tasks or projects, when things can get more hectic! Translation in particular sets generous deadlines to complete our assignments (5 or 7 days depending on what we’re working on), which gives us plenty of time to work on it even after RL work hours and factoring in other real life things. I also sometimes help the Tag Wrangling team with their Spanish tags, but that accounts for a couple of minutes of quick work overall, I’d say. So… tl;dr, about 2-3 hours, give or take, depending on what we have to do for the week! (Saku)
- It depends on the task, but an average of 2-3 hours per week suffices. (Nameless_ghoul_7)
How do you manage your volunteer time, and do you do the same thing every day like with a day job?
- I usually find time for this during the weekend, considering my day job, so it’s more of a weekend activity for me. And I prefer to do my translation in one go, and then go through it again afterwards in my free time post weekday work.
It’s definitely taught me to be good at time management, because you can’t predict how your week is going to go at any point. (Ana) - I use a time tracker to help me track the time I spend on OTW volunteer tasks, though that usually ends up working more in retrospective, where towards the end of each week I look at the hours I did to evaluate whether my current workload is adequate or whether I should delegate some of my work to other people (or if that’s not an option, what I can deprioritise and put off until a bit later). I usually try to pick up some volunteer manager or chair trainee work every other day or so (unless I’m working on something that requires daily attention), just to avoid driving myself insane, because at the end of the day there’s always more work I could be picking up still. (Rhine)
What’s your favorite part about volunteering at the OTW?
- My favourite part of volunteering at the OTW has been meeting several new people from around the world and seeing how our different POVs and experiences help with different understandings of life in different spaces and how independently of our differences, cultures and upbringing we’re united by pure passion for what we do in and for fandom. Passion and compassion is often hidden or missing in “work spaces” and the OTW has been a positive space filled with positive learning experiences for me since the moment I started volunteering. It’s an ever evolving space that takes every instance to be better. (CottonDuck)
- I was going to say “the people!” and that is mostly true (I’ve met some wonderful folks as part of Translation, and it’s been a great time overall!), but if I sit down to really think about it, I think my favorite part is that it feels very gratifying to be giving back to a community that has done so much for fandom and fan spaces. I don’t read a lot of fanfiction myself anymore, much as I do occasionally write it, but fandom is still very important to me and I’ve made a lot of good friends thanks to it, so it feels good to be able to contribute my time and skills and do something for a space that has done so much for me in turn. It’s good work and good people all around, and it feels good to be part of it through my work for the OTW and AO3. (Saku)
What’s the aspect of volunteer work with the OTW that you most wish more people knew about?
- How chill the Translation volunteer managers are! If we need something, be it a hiatus, more time on a task, or clarification on some part of the text, we’re pretty much always granted them! And having a full week to do the task is very nice too, I originally thought it was going to be much more hectic. (kati)
- The sheer scope of work that is involved! There are so many volunteers, like, seriously, *so many*, and each of us have our own little roles to perform, thus helping everything run like clockwork. Having said all that, it’s all strictly on a volunteer basis, which makes it probably the only “work place” I’ve seen where we all actually enjoy doing what we do. (Ana)
What does a typical day as an OTW volunteer looks like for you?
- Mostly the same as any normal day. Only that I set apart one or two hours most days to translate what’s been assigned to me. (ttom)
- It varies a lot! As Translation volunteer managers, we handle several different tasks, depending on the time of year, and what projects are currently going on. For example, if I’m on duty for managing our email inbox and handing out tasks for the week—we alternate regularly—I’ll set aside around 2-3 hours a day after work for that. When we are recruiting for new translators, I’ll spend a chunk of time in a week holding interviews. There are also routine tasks that each of us rotates through, like preparing meetings or coordinating the upload of translated content to the OTW and AO3 websites. Independent of the task, I usually work through shorter items on my to-do list on weekday nights, and leave bigger tasks for the weekend. (Elin)
What is your favorite animal? Alternatively, do you have a favorite breed of cat/dog?
- Cats… I love cats and I have one. (Nameless_ghoul_7)
- Cats, giraffes, turtles, butterflies, and I can go on. As for cats, I love the Egyptian Maus that I currently have. (AnneHelena)
- My favourite animal is the betta! I loved aquaculture a lot!! My favourite breed of dog is the Indian Pariah Dog. (Aditi Mandavgane)
Do you enjoy reading fanfic? If so, what’s your favorite work on AO3?
- I love reading fanfics and it’s difficult to choose a favourite one. But among the recent fics I am reading, Bifurcation Sandbox by Gardenersnake8822 is a favourite. (Gloriosa)
- I love reading fanfic! It’s definitely become a hobby, and has been the brunt of my reading as of late (because books are expensive </3). It's really difficult to pick a favorite work, since I've read so many amazing fics, but if I had to pick one, I'd pick "The Lowlander" by user foxymoxy! It's a BTS-Dragon Age crossover fic that takes the captor/prisoner trope and really dissects and does something interesting with it. It's one of my all-time favorites, and I re-read it all the time. (Somber)
Do you write any fanfic yourself? What do you enjoy about it?
- Yes! I have a writing account on some platforms like AO3 (ofc, duh), Twitter, Wattpad, and Medium. There are so many things I love about writing. But, I’m going to list 3 of them here:
- I can finally read my ship in tropes that I really wanted to read.
- The research process. I gained knowledge while doing my hobby. I learn how to write better, to portray the emotion better, to explore and experiment with my characters’ personality, discover interesting information, and so on.
- It helps me clear my mind. (Keane)
- I used to write original stories that never went anywhere and only started writing and publishing fanfiction in order to learn about AO3’s user interface so that I could translate the tutorials more accurately. I like how freeing it feels not to have to worry too much about writing well enough for the general audience – it’s just me and the five people (at most) who will ever see my silly little stories! (Slovenian Translation volunteer)
What fandoms are you (currently) in?
- I’m currently obsessed with F1: The Movie and Ocean’s Eleven Trilogy. (Cassie)
- I’ve been in the Star Wars fandom for more than 20 years at this point, mostly on the Rogue One / Andor side nowadays. (Auré)
Do you feel glad or proud to see fanfiction in your mother tongue?
- My answer is yes, absolutely! Especially on AO3 in particular, because Mandarin Chinese authors have been facing immense opposition in the form of censorship and takedowns of both digital and physical publications of our works. The 227 incident that resulted in AO3 being banned in Mainland China was a major turning point in the involvement of AO3 within Chinese fandom communities, so every time I see a new Mandarin Chinese work on AO3 I’m always grateful that one more author has found a safe avenue to share their creations with the rest of fandom. (Chinese Translation volunteer)
- Absolutely! My first language is Portuguese and I always find it surprising when I see works on some fandoms that are definitely not popular in my country. It’s like an invisible thread suddenly connects me to someone I don’t know but share two things in common: a language and a love for a fandom that makes us want to spend time and effort creating something to share with that community. Funny enough, I usually like to read fanfics in the language my brain associates them with. For example, I don’t speak Korean, and I usually watch K-dramas with English subtitles to continue learning English, so that’s the language my brain associates that series with. When I see a work in Portuguese for that fandom, it’s like my horizons have suddenly been broadened. And if I get a chance to make an online friend because of it? Even better! (Amanda)
- I translate English to Marathi, and I don’t see a lot of Marathi fanfic on the site, but when I stumble upon one, my heart soars and I feel on top of the world! (Aditi Mandavgane)
Thanks so much to every volunteer who took the time to answer!
(For more answers from Translation volunteers, check out this work on AO3, where we’ll collect additional replies to each question!)
SW:TCW Abandoned Work
Jan. 9th, 2026 10:56 pmsenmutAO3 Link | Unfinished Citadel AU (510 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Additional Tags: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued
Summary:
"Promise me to get them out," she had said. "Something smells like a three day old rancor corpse."
What had his Commander seen? Rex nor his men had been able to recall anything that tripped their training, but General Kenobi had been caught unaware too.
Would he have pushed them to keep moving if General Skywalker hadn't been injured and unconscious from trying to save Ahsoka? It still felt wrong, no matter what the mission had been to not confirm the death. Echo still refused to talk about it, given he had nearly fallen with her.
"Should have been me, not the Jedi," Echo had said, once, on retrieval.
They all felt it. They were one of millions of clones and she had been who they were meant to protect.
Skywalker still wasn't talking to Kenobi. Rex didn't know how the Naboo Senator had headed off an outright mutiny. Fives thought she had promised to use her resources.
Rex still saw the flickers of destruction in his general's eyes, after, when he'd told the man.
"She commanded me to get you, all of us, out, minutes before we lost her and Tarkin."
If there was one fact of Rex's new life he hated, it was knowing that his general was barely holding onto sanity.
"What difference did the mission make? Dead brothers, both objectives dead, our Commander dead," Fives asked or maybe just rattled off to get it out of his head.
"Seppies didn't get the intel from either objective," Echo answered, weakly and by rote, as he'd been telling himself since they were retrieved.
Fives scowled. "Wish I knew what made her fall back."
Echo did too -- when he wasn't wondering why it had been her, not him, that fell.
"You need to worry about the General. Captain can't do it all, and he seems to like you."
Fives didn't answer that, because he was watching for Anakin Skywalker to lose his control, and hoping he was wrong.
Rex looked at Fives, then to Echo. "You both see it."
"Yes, we do," Echo answered for them.
"What do we do about it?" Fives asked.
"You stick to his six. He's taken to you well. Echo, I want you training with the slicers, give your brain a chance to do real intel."
"Seems odd, Captain, when we're talking about our General, sir," Echo told him.
Rex met his eyes. "Our unit keeps winding up in the deepest messes. That's half of why he's so volatile. You need to figure out the pattern, if there is one, so maybe we jump ahead of it."
"What's the other half?" Fives asked.
"If I knew, I might be the one who could actually head off the explosion," Rex admitted. "He came to us like that."
"Then maybe that's what I need to learn," Fives said softly.
"I think… I'm going to try and find what the Commander saw, that made her take Tarkin over the edge when she killed the Warden," Echo told them, and Rex nodded, thinking that was a good start.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Additional Tags: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued
Summary:
I had intended to write something for Rex/Fives/Echo. I got sideswiped by a set-up beginning at the Citadel. There is a character death mentioned, though it was going to prove not to have been one. However, the muses turned virulently against the entire concept. As always, feel free to run with it if you want.
Unfinished Citadel AU
"Promise me to get them out," she had said. "Something smells like a three day old rancor corpse."
What had his Commander seen? Rex nor his men had been able to recall anything that tripped their training, but General Kenobi had been caught unaware too.
Would he have pushed them to keep moving if General Skywalker hadn't been injured and unconscious from trying to save Ahsoka? It still felt wrong, no matter what the mission had been to not confirm the death. Echo still refused to talk about it, given he had nearly fallen with her.
"Should have been me, not the Jedi," Echo had said, once, on retrieval.
They all felt it. They were one of millions of clones and she had been who they were meant to protect.
Skywalker still wasn't talking to Kenobi. Rex didn't know how the Naboo Senator had headed off an outright mutiny. Fives thought she had promised to use her resources.
Rex still saw the flickers of destruction in his general's eyes, after, when he'd told the man.
"She commanded me to get you, all of us, out, minutes before we lost her and Tarkin."
If there was one fact of Rex's new life he hated, it was knowing that his general was barely holding onto sanity.
"What difference did the mission make? Dead brothers, both objectives dead, our Commander dead," Fives asked or maybe just rattled off to get it out of his head.
"Seppies didn't get the intel from either objective," Echo answered, weakly and by rote, as he'd been telling himself since they were retrieved.
Fives scowled. "Wish I knew what made her fall back."
Echo did too -- when he wasn't wondering why it had been her, not him, that fell.
"You need to worry about the General. Captain can't do it all, and he seems to like you."
Fives didn't answer that, because he was watching for Anakin Skywalker to lose his control, and hoping he was wrong.
Rex looked at Fives, then to Echo. "You both see it."
"Yes, we do," Echo answered for them.
"What do we do about it?" Fives asked.
"You stick to his six. He's taken to you well. Echo, I want you training with the slicers, give your brain a chance to do real intel."
"Seems odd, Captain, when we're talking about our General, sir," Echo told him.
Rex met his eyes. "Our unit keeps winding up in the deepest messes. That's half of why he's so volatile. You need to figure out the pattern, if there is one, so maybe we jump ahead of it."
"What's the other half?" Fives asked.
"If I knew, I might be the one who could actually head off the explosion," Rex admitted. "He came to us like that."
"Then maybe that's what I need to learn," Fives said softly.
"I think… I'm going to try and find what the Commander saw, that made her take Tarkin over the edge when she killed the Warden," Echo told them, and Rex nodded, thinking that was a good start.
Weekend protests – SHOW UP
Jan. 9th, 2026 08:45 pmsolarbirdPROTESTS. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. LOTS OF THEM. SHOW UP.
Here’s a bunch on the Washington State wet side. All over the place, and I do mean all over. Like Tulalip, and Sequim. Don’t get me wrong, I like Sequim, but it is not a big place. Here’s the list. All kinds of times, all kinds of places.
Sundays are further down but this list isn’t in good date order, idk why. So keep scrolling.
I’m sure wherever you are has some too. Pick one and get out there.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
Fandom Fifty: Knocking this out
Jan. 9th, 2026 08:01 pmsenmutHi all. Today I wound up in the Pit of Despair, and since I know years 2020-2024 will be light, I am doing numbers 46-50 in one go to get A Thing Off My Plate.
( #46 - 2020: 2 )
( #47 - 2021: 3 )
( #48 - 2022: 0 )
( #49 - 2023: 1 )
( #50 - 2024: 2 )
( #46 - 2020: 2 )
( #47 - 2021: 3 )
( #48 - 2022: 0 )
( #49 - 2023: 1 )
( #50 - 2024: 2 )
Minneapolis
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:05 pmcosmolinguistSo I'm 4000 miles away, working for a British organization full of British people.
It was really nice that at my team meeting this morning when me and someone else were first to arrive he brought up very gently how I must be feeling devastated and horrified. I thanked him, said I was trying to be supportive to my Minneapolis friends. As the team joined the meeting, everyone joined in with fierce kindness. There is support and kindness and black humor and solidarity, in so many places.
It made me feel really good.
I feel so powerless of course but I'm doing what I can, here's a couple links whwre people can donate to help communities affected by and resisting ICE:
Also... While the GoFundMe to support Renée Good's family raised $1.5 million, a GoFundMe for the family of Keith Porter, Jr., a Black man shot by an ICE agent a week earlier, didn't meet its $35,000 goal until yesterday. A still-modest goal has been set; it's really important to support Black men as well as we do white women.
And I have an appointment downtown this morning...
Jan. 9th, 2026 08:21 amdewlineSpecial weather statement for Ottawa-Gatineau today. 70-90 kph winds expected this afternoon. Rain all day, which has already arrived.
After Action Report #11
Jan. 9th, 2026 12:00 pmsavagelove_feedChristine and her husband went to a kinky viking party (as one does,) and had a very HOT time. “How attached are you to these nipple hairs?” If you have an amazing or appalling story to share, DO NOT KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. Write it up and send it in to Q@Savage.Love with the subject … Read More »
The post After Action Report #11 appeared first on Dan Savage.
podcast friday
Jan. 9th, 2026 06:51 amsabotabbyI've been steeped in work hell (which is just not letting up) so I haven't really caught up with DW or formulated anything more than a wish for [REDACTED] to happen to every single ICE agent and [REDACTED, replaced with screaming into the void] in general, but in the meantime, podcasts gonna podcast I guess? Honestly that's where I get my news because the mainstream media has either fallen for the lie of objectivity or just reports on things so shallowly that it's unclear as to whether things like gunning down a mother in her car as she tries to get away or kidnapping the leader of a foreign country are actual crimes or just "controversial."
Anyway.
Today I have a new podcast for you, AI Skeptics, with Cathy O'Neil and Jake Appel. Cathy O'?Neil wrote the fantastic (and still very relevant) Weapons of Math Destruction, so I was very interested in what she had to say about AI. Neither of them really come off as Professional Podcasters but the content of this is excellent and both they and their guests are insightful. "AI Versus Artists and Educators ft. Becky Jaffe" is the most recent one and most relevant to my interests.
It should be noted that folks on the podcast are skeptics rather than professional haters like me, so there's occasionally a use case, 90% of which I still disagree with. But it's an important and intelligent discussion, and the episodes are quite short and accessible.
Anyway.
Today I have a new podcast for you, AI Skeptics, with Cathy O'Neil and Jake Appel. Cathy O'?Neil wrote the fantastic (and still very relevant) Weapons of Math Destruction, so I was very interested in what she had to say about AI. Neither of them really come off as Professional Podcasters but the content of this is excellent and both they and their guests are insightful. "AI Versus Artists and Educators ft. Becky Jaffe" is the most recent one and most relevant to my interests.
It should be noted that folks on the podcast are skeptics rather than professional haters like me, so there's occasionally a use case, 90% of which I still disagree with. But it's an important and intelligent discussion, and the episodes are quite short and accessible.
An interesting article
Jan. 9th, 2026 09:52 ammekare posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
smallwebI stumbled across this essay on community organisation and core web vs. peripheral web structures today. A fascinating read! It's been written by former organisers of a webring called yesterweb which seemed to have exploded in popularity before being shut down. The reflection on this experience (and general web trends) is really interesting.
Some excerpts:
Some excerpts:
The peripheral web can be described as the outskirts of the core web, with platforms such as Mastodon, SpaceHey, Neocities, Discord and IRC chatrooms, Matrix rooms, various imageboards, and others, including various functional clones of core web applications. It is the digital countryside of the corporate megalopolis. Advertising, sales, and data collection are substantially reduced if not entirely eliminated, providing better conditions for people to socialize in and a healthier experience overall. It is composed of web platforms that are hosted on separate infrastructure from the core web by individuals or organizations with various sources of funding. The peripheral web is discovered largely through word-of-mouth and personal research. In other words, bridging the peripheral web to the core web takes a significant amount of effort: the vast majority of internet users remain unaware of its existence.
The rapid increase in popularity of platforms like Neocities and Spacehey were a strong indicator that nostalgia was a significant force driving migration to the peripheral web in recent years. The community was first created when pandemic restrictions were just starting to loosen up. Nostalgia was often the first thing that stood out and appealed to new members: there is comfort in nostalgia, especially during particularly rough times.
However, Nostalgia would often lead to a regressive attitude within the space that made it difficult to achieve any sort of change. Users focused highly on nostalgia would value aesthetics as their primary focus which would lead to a distrust of new tools that did not meet their nostalgic criteria.
The organization began as a handful of individuals working to discover and address the needs of the community. As the community grew larger, it transformed into a loose organization composed of staff members. Finally, a well-defined organization formed at the core of the staff that created a distinction between organizers.
In its loosely organized phase, attempts were made to draw the whole community into organizing efforts. Results were poor because of low participation, and because the participants were mostly composed of the newest members who had the least knowledge about the community. We could not ensure an accurate representation from this setup, so we moved the decision-making as a responsibility for staff members. This would not work out either as moderators had varying levels of commitment and we could not reasonably expect them to take a greater responsibility.
Struggle Session: Calling In Sick (But Click Through for a Great Reader Question!)
Jan. 9th, 2026 12:50 amsavagelove_feedNo Struggle Session today again — just got home from a trip with the outlaws (my husband’s boyfriend’s extended family) — and somehow managed to pick up an awful cold on our way home. Everyone else is fine, but I’m green and quarantined for the time being. While I’m glad no one else is sick, … Read More »
The post Struggle Session: Calling In Sick (But Click Through for a Great Reader Question!) appeared first on Dan Savage.
Introductions
Jan. 8th, 2026 09:50 pmcosmolinguistangelofthenorth hadn't seen Glass Onion, so we're watching it tonight.
Turns out she hadn't thought of roasting cabbage until I served it -- along with roasted mushrooms and carrots and Christmasy things I'd stashed in the freezer: salmon wellington for those two and veggie pastry parcels for me -- tonight.
I am delighted to have been able to share such wonderful things.
Vance: ICE agents have “absolute immunity” from state laws – including murder
Jan. 8th, 2026 11:21 amsolarbirdJD Vance said – in response to a reporter asking why the FBI and Federal agencies were blocking Minnesota’s investigation into the ICE agent murder of Renee Nicole Good – that ICE agents have “absolute immunity” from state laws.
This is not law. This is fascism.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.