“Revive my Firefly fan blog” was not on my 2026 bingo card but here we go
Here’s how it was are the facts:
A series of teaser videos featuring Nathan Fillion knocking on the doors of the core Firefly cast and saying cryptic things like “it’s time” and “we’re doing this” have been posted to the Once We Were Spacemen instagram account.
There has been a LOT of speculation about what this means. The captions on two of the videos have dropped some confirmation of what it’s NOT:
02/27 - Sean Maher: “Some of you have guessed convention, podcast, or cross-over. You are wrong.”
03/11 - Alan Tudyk: “It’s not bobbleheads…”
And several of the captions promise an official announcement this Saturday Sunday, March 15th.
Now that we have the facts, here is my personal opinion:
These videos were posted to the Once We Were Spacemen account. Not a personal account, not the official Syfy account, and not a Disney or Fox account. That makes me think it’s something tangentially related to Firefly, without crossing the line of copyright infringement.
Recently, Dropout (a streaming service/ comedy network) worked with Nathan Fillion on a collaboration with The Rookie. In an interview about the collaboration, Sam Reich emphasized how much the whole crew loved working with Nathan. Following the OWWS instagram posts, Reddit user Levangeline posted a theory in the Dropout subreddit that Dropout will launch a Firefly reboot. In that thread, one of the most upvoted comments is from user Tequeman “Plot twist. It’s a firefly sequel season of dimension 20” (For those not in the know, Dimension 20 is a Dropout series where cast members play different TTRPGs. They sometimes have special guests and mini-series with celebrities!)
To be honest, until OWWS posted the video with Adam Baldwin, I thought the “Firefly cast reunites to play the Firefly TTRPG on Dropout” theory was pretty likely! But given that Dropout’s CEO Sam Reich is an outspoken leftist, it seems unlikely to me that he would want to give someone so known for his involvement in #GamerGate (as well as other right-wing political views) a voice on his platform.
I am personally a newer fan of DS9, but I’m sure many more seasoned fans already know how badly Terry Farrell was treated on set. They do address that in the reunion special, and she was interviewed separately from the rest of the cast.
I think there’s a parallel here to what we now know about Joss Whedon’s mistreatment of women in his life. I feel like it might be too much to hope that Joss Whedon is not involved at all in whatever-this-is, but if it’s a reunion special and he is involved, I hope they take a similar approach to the DS9 special.
We have teaser videos with all the living core cast members (rest in power, Ron Glass), and I think that if we are going to get another teaser video, it will be either Joss himself or Mark Sheppard.
What are your thoughts? Anyone have a more interesting red-string theory?
We started the year with some major improvements to our bookmark search, making it possible to sort and filter bookmarks by word count, and deployed several batches of fixes to strengthen site security and improve performance. These release notes collect all changes made to AO3 in January.
Shoutout to first-time contributors Juliette Curran, KooShnoo, Mae Light, and sanchal ghosh! Thank you for your work.
Credits
Coders: Brian Austin, Cubostar, FlyingFalcon, irrationalpie, Juliette Curran, kiyazz, KooShnoo, Mae Light, sanchal ghosh, Sarken, Shakelush
Code reviewers: anmazz, Bilka, Brian Austin, james_, KooShnoo, lydia-theda, ömer faruk, Sarken
Testers: ana, Bilka, Brian Austin, choux, killiane, Lute, lydia-theda, marcus8448, ömer faruk, slavalamp, wichard, Yuca
Details
Release 0.9.453
On January 21, we deployed some major improvements to our bookmark search, including the ability to filter and sort bookmarks by word count!
[AO3-6301] - Series blurbs would list all fandom tags from the works included in that series, even if a work was still saved as an unpublished draft. Now series blurbs only display fandoms from posted works.
[AO3-6303] - Series blurbs would also always list fandoms from works that were restricted to logged-in users. We now make sure that if a fandom in a series comes from a restricted work, it's not listed when a guest is browsing series blurbs.
[AO3-6304] - Relatedly, series blurbs would always show up in bookmark listings for a certain tag even if that fandom's work in the series was restricted to logged-in users. That's also fixed now!
[AO3-6471] - We have added word count information to bookmarks! You can now search, filter, and sort bookmarks by the length of the bookmarked work or series. If a series contains restricted works and you're not logged in, a series' word count will reflect only the works that are accessible to you.
[AO3-7119] - We tweaked the way search queries work when searching bookmarks, so input is parsed more accurately and a "1k" and a "2k" tag won't be interpreted as the same tag anymore (for example).
Release 0.9.454
A small grab bag of fixes was released on January 26.
[AO3-7264] - We employ certain measures to prevent spam on AO3, such as limiting how many times an action can be performed by a user in a certain time frame. We have now added an option to restrict new accounts more severely than older accounts when it comes to leaving and editing comments.
[AO3-7238], [AO3-7262] - We added extra information to the details our spam-checking provider uses to determine if a comment is spam or not.
On January 28, we deployed some of the necessary changes to enable two-step verification for AO3 admin accounts.
[AO3-6918] - These changes prepare the login interface for 2FA enforcement to ensure the greatest possible security for admin accounts.
[AO3-7249] - Site admins, such as members of the Policy and Abuse committee, frequently need to look up a user's past usernames and email addresses. To speed up searches while we work on long-term performance improvements, we moved this information to separate tables.
Release 0.9.456
A collection of navigation and display fixes was deployed on January 30.
[AO3-7028] - In one of our public site skins, some pagination links had become unclickable. If you've been using the Low Vision Default skin, now you can page through a user's works in collections again!
[AO3-7213] - On narrow screens, the "Suggest a Language" button on the Work Languages page was slipping behind the list of languages and couldn't be clicked. That's also fixed.
TL;DR: It’s an animated series and Joss Whedon has given his blessing, but he is not directly involved in the project.
MORE DETAILS:
Today, Sunday, March 15th 2026, Nathan Fillion and the remaining core crew of Serenity announced at Awesome Con in DC that they are bringing back Firefly as an animated series called Firefly: Still Flyin’.
In the video posted on the Once We Were Spacemen (OWWS) Instagram account, Nathan detailed what they would need and who has signed on to the project thus far:
“Joss’ blessing - I have it”
The rights from 20th Century Fox/ Disney: “They got excited - they said yes”
Showrunners: a married couple who met through Firefly! Tara Butters (Dollhouse, Agent Carter, Reaper) and Marc Guggenheim (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow)
A script - “We got it.” A screenshot in the video shows the first page of a shooting script for Firefly: Still Flyin’ Episode #1: “Athenia” written by Tara Butters & Marc Guggenheim.
An animation studio: Oscar and Emmy-award-winning animation studio ShadowMachine - another screenshot in the video shows some initial concept art
In the video, Nathan goes on to say that the last thing they need is a home. He asks everyone to like, comment on, and tag your friends in this post to spread the word and get Firefly: Still Flyin’ a home.
While it was not explicitly stated in Nathan’s video, Deadline’s article on the announcement states:
“Joss Whedon, who created the original series, is not involved in the animated project.”
Are you interested in helping keep OTW news post spaces a welcoming and safe space for engagement? Are you fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Spanish, and want to help us better reply to users all around the world? Are you a skilled organizer who enjoys working in a team? The Organization for Transformative Works is recruiting!
We're excited to announce the opening of applications for:
News Post Moderator - closing 18 March 2026 at 23:59 UTC or after 60 applications
User Response Translation Translator - closing 18 March 2026 at 23:59 UTC
Translation Volunteer Manager- closing 18 March 2026 at 23:59 UTC
We have included more information on each role below. Open roles and applications will always be available at the volunteering page. If you don't see a role that fits with your skills and interests now, keep an eye on the listings. We plan to put up new applications every few weeks, and we will also publicize new roles as they become available.
All applications generate a confirmation page and an auto-reply to your e-mail address. We encourage you to read the confirmation page and to whitelist our email address in your e-mail client. If you do not receive the auto-reply within 24 hours, please check your spam filters and then contact us.
If you have questions regarding volunteering for the OTW, check out our Volunteering FAQ.
News Post Moderator
News Post Moderation is a Communications subcommittee that is responsible for moderating comments on AO3 and OTW News Posts as well as liaising with other OTW committees to respond to individual commenters as needed.
News Post Moderators freeze, hide, or disallow comments that do not comply with our News Post Moderation Policy. We approve comments that do comply, respond to user questions and concerns, and communicate with other OTW committees so that users can receive helpful, accurate answers.
You must be 18+ in order to apply for this role. We are looking for volunteers who can maintain a consistent level of work, ask for help and collaborate both inside the team and with other committees, and make fair and objective decisions about what comments to moderate.
Applications are due 18 March 2026 or after 60 applications
Are you fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Spanish, and want to help us better communicate with AO3 users all over the world?
User Response Translation (URT) volunteers help AO3 committees to correspond with users in other languages. URT translators will assist the Policy & Abuse and Support committees by translating correspondence between these committees and AO3 users into specific languages. URT does not translate AO3 or OTW site pages, news posts, or fanworks.
We are looking for volunteers who are at least 18 years old and fluent in Brazilian Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, or Spanish. Applicants will be asked to translate and beta (edit) short text samples as part of the selection process.
Are you a skilled organizer who enjoys working in a team, liaising with people, working with documentation and texts, and making sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes?
The Translation committee is currently recruiting Volunteer Managers. Volunteer Managers coordinate localization efforts across the OTW: the translation of site pages, news posts, AO3 FAQs, AO3 Support and Policy & Abuse tickets, and any inquiries that reach other committees in languages they can't translate themselves.
While translators do the actual text translation and editing, volunteer managers support them by keeping track of priorities, deadlines, and pending tasks; assigning work; talking to and working with other committees to coordinate the translation of their content; uploading translated documents; documenting volunteer training, procedures, and workflows; checking in and actioning translators' feedback; and many other tasks involved in managing a wide, diverse and very active volunteer pool.
If you'd like to find out more about the work before applying, feel free to send your questions to translation@transformativeworks.org! Please note that you must be over 18 years of age to apply for this role.
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.
A lot has been going on at the Archive of Our Own (AO3) lately! In January, we celebrated 10 million registered users on AO3. February was all about International Fanworks Day, which we celebrated with several events, culminating in our 30-hour chat and games party over on Discord. And now, we've hit another milestone: 17 million fanworks on AO3!
With this many amazing fanworks, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to remember your favorites. This is why we have bookmarks on AO3! Bookmarks are a useful tool to save fanworks for re-reading whenever the mood strikes, or to recommend a work to other users.
And did you know that not only can you bookmark works posted on AO3, but also external fanworks you want to remember? To bookmark an external work, go to your Dashboard, and then to the "Bookmarks" section. In the upper right corner, there should be a button called "Bookmark External Work". For more information on bookmarks, check out our Bookmarks FAQ!
As always, we are beyond grateful for each and every one of you who contributes their free time, love, and effort to AO3, and helps us grow and flourish! We're excited to see what other achievements we'll celebrate together this year.
The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.
On February 15, Communications coordinated many International Fanworks Day (IFD) activities, including a Feedback Fest highlighting fanwork recommendations, an editing challenge in conjunction with Fanlore, and an IFD Discord server with games and chatting. Additionally, Translation helped make IFD materials available in 22 languages. Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating!
Accessibility, Design & Technology (AD&T) focused on some important upgrades and bug fixes, including upgrading to Ruby on Rails 8 and improving the collection revealing process. They also published release notes for December's code changes.
AO3 Documentation began their biannual review of user-facing documentation.
In the past month, Open Doors signed five new agreements with moderators to import their archives to AO3! Fandoms include Highlander, The Magnificent Seven, My Chemical Romance, and others. They also completed the import of Slashknot, a Slipknot (band) fanfiction and fanart archive.
In January, Support received 3,811 tickets, while Policy & Abuse (PAC) received 7,972 tickets. User Response Translation completed 12 requests from PAC and 37 requests from Support. PAC continues to work closely with AD&T and Systems to combat spam that users have been experiencing across the site.
Fanlore ran a Femslash February monthly editing challenge! Systems also helped upgrade Fanlore to a new version of MediaWiki.
In February, Legal had one of their volunteers participate in a briefing for staffers in the U.S. Legislature to gain a deeper understanding of copyright fair use. Elsewhere, Legal answered a number of questions internally and from users.
TWC is preparing their March 2026 issue on "Gaming Fandom" for publication. They also completed an update of TWC's editorial board as part of their ongoing work to expand TWC's scope, diversify their discipline in terms of historically marginalized fans and scholars, make the journal more international in scope, and increase multimodal approaches.
IV. GOVERNANCE
Board has concluded all Board-committee check-ins and is reviewing key themes across the organization. They also voted to approve an interpretative rule of one bylaw to better accommodate any future Board members with hearing disabilities.
Board Assistants Team continued work on various projects, including revamping the OTW Board Discord and researching projects on volunteer retention, public meeting best practices, and volunteer mental health.
Organizational Culture Roadmap continued work on the OTW Code of Conduct update project by finishing a summary of internal survey results and adjusting Code of Conduct drafts based on recommendations from an external HR firm. The OTW Crisis Management Plan has been finalised and approved by the Board.
V. OUR VOLUNTEERS
In February, Volunteers & Recruiting ran recruitment for seven roles across four committees and one workgroup.
From January 23 to February 21, Volunteers & Recruiting received 182 new requests and completed 295, leaving them with 61 open requests (including induction and removal tasks listed below). As of February 21, 2026, the OTW has 985 volunteers. \o/ Recent personnel movements are listed below.
New Communications Volunteers: 3 Social Media Moderators New Translation Volunteers: 1 Volunteer Manager and 1 Translator New Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: corr and peaandsea (Chair Assistants) and 1 Volunteer
Departing Committee Chairs/Leads: Elizabeth Wiltshire (Organizational Culture Roadmap Head) and 1 Elections Chair Departing AO3 Documentation Volunteers: 1 Editor Departing Communications Volunteers: Abby (Social Media Moderator) and 2 Weibo Moderators Departing Elections Volunteers: 1 Voting Process Architect Departing Open Doors Volunteers: Mei and 2 other Import Assistants, and 1 Chair Assistant Departing Support Volunteers: Mily and RRHand (Volunteers) Departing Tag Wrangling Volunteers: Indes, lifeisyetfair, PinkBrain, plantpun, and 14 other Tag Wrangling Volunteers Departing Translation Volunteers: Idiosincrasy (Volunteer Manager and Translator), 3 Volunteer Managers, and 1 Translator Departing Volunteers & Recruiting Volunteers: corr, peaandsea, and 1 other Senior Volunteer; and 2 Volunteers
For more information about our committees and their regular activities, you can refer to the committee pages on our website.
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.
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