The National Guard in DC

Aug. 13th, 2025 12:10 pm
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[personal profile] fabrisse posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew
I no longer live in the District of Columbia. But, in more ways than I can say, the District is home. The District in my opinion (and per my vote in 2016) deserves statehood. I hope in my lifetime to read about the election for the first governor of Douglass Commonwealth.

The President's imposition of martial law -- which is what using military for police functions is -- in the District is made possible by racism. DC is majority-minority. Although the black population is below 50% of the total these days, the white population is still under 40% of the total population of the District.

As a former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (an unpaid, non-partisan, local elected position), I can tell you that the crime rate went up during the 2008-10 recession, but was still nowhere near the rates found from 1975-1995. Violent crimes have continued to decrease. Robbery and theft go up when unemployment goes up, but the overall rates are still low. Rarely are tourists affected by any crime, though there was a spate of purse snatchings in the early 2010s.

What Trump and his supporters detest is the fact that most DC police are black. It's a disconnect for them. For too many, black=criminal and white=police. By calling in the National Guard and the other police forces associated with the District (Capitol Police, Metro Police, the US Marshalls, FBI Police...), Trump is attempting to make the optics match his expectations. There are indications that New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Oakland (all of which have minority mayors, all of which are in states whose electoral votes went to his opponents) will probably be next if he gets away with it in DC.

The President also resents that DC's electoral votes have gone to his opponents in all three elections. Even people who loathed Hillary Clinton voted for her in DC because we recognized that she was a fundamentally serious person and our current president is not.

I am asking everyone to call or email their Senators (or Congress people) and object to this blatant misuse of the military. If you can object as a veteran who recognizes that this isn't the military's purview, that's great. If you want to object on Constitutional lines, before DC had home rule, Congress -- mostly the Senate -- had the right of rule over the District of Columbia. Even Republican Senators should be willing to guard their own rights to shape and control the District. That power has never really belonged to the Executive.

For anyone who's interested, DC voted in favor of statehood in a 2016 referendum. Among other items, it gave us the potential future name of Douglass Commonwealth so that we could retain DC for postal services. If you think we're too small, by area to be a state, we're larger than the three smallest countries in the world. If you think we lack population, we have more people than Vermont or Wyoming, and we're within spitting distance of Alaska.

Overall, DC paid income tax of $45,243,625 (in thousands of dollars) in Fiscal 2024. North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont, and Puerto Rico combined paid income tax of $44,810,347 (in thousands of dollars). The District of Columbia deserves a say in how U.S. tax dollars are spent.

Please call your Senators and/or Representative to object to the deployment of the National Guard in DC.

now four times dumber!

Aug. 13th, 2025 01:25 am
bodyetal: A very cartoony drawing of Crow&, a pale Latine with droopy brown eyes, a dark brown mohawk with pink shaved sides, a mischievous expression, and a spiked collar. The background is hot pink. (crow&)
[personal profile] bodyetal
unrelated to our last post, we got our wisdom teeth out yesterday! given that we now have four adults present (and four long-haulers) we're thinking of just splitting the teeth up (because obviously we kept them). suggestions for what to do with the teeth are welcome! we're probably each going to do our own thing—our dear riley is trying to decide how to make their tooth into a horrible pony bead bracelet, g-d help me.

Maybe We Want a Sociology Degree

Aug. 13th, 2025 01:12 am
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[personal profile] bodyetal
For a while now, we’ve been interested in pursuing a degree in psychology—a PhD, if we’re lucky. That’s mostly driven by our collective deep interest in plurality (obviously), but we have a fairly broad range of psychology interests. Since virtually all graduate degree-holding experts in the field regarding plurality are psychologists (or occasionally bioethicists), it seemed like the obvious choice.

Anyway, cut to us about a week ago, grabbing a spoon out of the cutlery drawer and then realizing we didn’t have any reason to grab a spoon and then putting it back, after which Crow& realized that fey was weirdly unbothered by how much more attention feyr joke art got to her serious work on Tumblr, because fey was just so interested in the social factors in that happening. So we walked out to our parents in the living room (two arts management professors who teach at a uni we might transfer to) and asked if their university had any sociology and art classes—which, of course, it did.

And then we realized that we've always liked sociology, and got to thinking about why we even wanted to study psychology in the first place.

Our motivation for pursuing a psych degree for the past couple of years has been an interest in neurodiversity and plurality, and a general sense of interest in how people think, but we're primarily interested in how those function socially and within identity, as well as being staunchly antipsychiatry. One of the most important aspects of antipsychiatry to us is refusing to let psychology define plurality. So why exactly were we so ready to throw ourself into seven years of study toward the end of defining plurality through psychology? (To be clear, we know there are antipsych psychologists, we planned to be one of those.)

The obvious thing is what we said earlier—that all our examples of academics focusing on plurality are psychologists. But we aren't that interested in the psychology of plurality anymore, and haven't been in years. We're pretty well-informed about it, but we're so much more interested in what makes personhood than we are in what makes a brain develop a person. And anyway, psychology can only carry us as far as the medical model and individual care. It doesn't cover culture and history and philosophy, which is our true love here.

We're not entirely sure why it's taken so long for this to occur to us, but we're glad it did before transferring out! (And the psychology special interest remains, but the desire for the PhD might not. We're taking developmental psychology this semester and waffling on whether we want to enter social psychology. Luckily, there's a good amount of time to decide when all your options overlap so heavily!)

Nominations Clarification 3

Aug. 12th, 2025 12:11 pm
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Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Nominations Guidelines | Medium Nominations | Tagset | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post

Nominations Clarification 3

Here is a little FAQ about Nominations Clarification posts for those of you who haven't run into them before:

What/why is a Nominations Clarification post?

Nomination clarifications are queries about tags we find confusing and updates about tags or the tagset in general. The goal of nominations is to create a tagset of unambiguous, easy to understand tags that will be useful to participants and solidly within the scope of the exchange. The goal of a clarifications post is to keep all of our participants up-to-date regarding our nominations work and solicit feedback where necessary to create the most useful tagset we can.

Do I need to read the whole post?

No. You can just skim each clarification post to see if a fandom you're interested in requesting or offering has been mentioned. We recommend doing this even if you don't care very much how the tagset is organized in case we make some kind of huge blunder with your favorite fandom or OTP.

How do I reply to a Nominations Clarification post? Do I need a Dreamwidth account?

You don't need a Dreamwidth account because we have anonymous commenting turned on. If you comment anonymously, remember to check back for our reply! You can also email us at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com if you'd prefer.

There's a query about a fandom I'm familiar with, but I'm not the nominator. Can I tell you what I think?

Yes! If you are not the nominator but have relevant fandom knowledge about something, please speak up. Nominators don't always reply to our queries, so answers from other people in the fandom are often very helpful.

Why haven't you processed my nomination(s) yet?

Nominations can't be processed in a strictly first-in, first-out manner because of various backend reasons, so most likely we just haven't yet had a chance because of the large volume of submitted nominations. Double check our nominations clarification posts for your tag. If sign ups open and one or more of your tags is mysteriously still missing, please reach out.

My AO3 tagset nomination(s) were rejected but aren't discussed below, why did you reject them?

Most likely you failed to disambiguate your nominations, or made some other error — we reject incorrect tags rather than fixing them. You're welcome to post a link to your nominations slate if you'd like us to tell you why the tag(s) were rejected. You can attempt to re-nominated tags either on AO3 or via the form if you'd like.

However, there is a delay between us rejecting and us posting nominations clarifications! Literally as I post this post, other people on the tagmod team are approving/rejecting new tags. So your rejected tag might show up in a future clarification post

I have a nominations question not answered here or on the Nomination Guidelines. Can I ask on this post?

Yes! You can ask nominations questions on whichever nominations clarification post has been most recently posted, or you can ask on the Nomination Guidelines, or you can use the mod contact post, or you can email us. We're happy to help no matter how you get in contact!


Nominations closing soon

Nominations close today! We will then enter tagset clean up. There will probably be at least one more nomination clarification after this, possibly two more, as we work on clearing out the AO3 tagset nominations and the sheet nominations. A big benefit of the longer tagset clean up phase this year is that it should give us ample time for clarification of late submitted tags. Once we enter sign ups, we will stop work on tagset clarification so that we can focus on the next phase of the event.

While you're thinking about sign ups, we'd encourage you to stop by the Fandom Promo post (link) to browse promos or post your own!

Recursive fandoms in need of additional interested participants

Per our rules for nominating new recursive fandoms, we need either either proof of an established fandom for the nominated work or 3 participants who are interested in the fandom. In addition to the one we mentioned last time, we have several more nominations for recursive fandoms that are in need of 1-2 more interested parties. If you would be interested in requesting, offering, or pinch hitting for any of the following fandoms, please follow the associated link and leave a comment.

Batstallion - c_art (DFE)

  • Fandom: DCU (Comics)
  • Very brief summary: wild west au fancomic with Jason, Bruce, and Dick
  • Link to work: Here on AO3
  • Where to comment: This can now be nominated!

The Agreement - Tavina (DFE)

  • Fandom: Original Work
  • Very brief summary: M/M pseudohistorical Original Work set in republic era-ish China, where two men who used to be friends where one is rich and one is poor and both want custody of their nephew!
  • Link to work: Here on AO3
  • Where to comment: This can now be nominated!

under the olive grove - embraidery (DFE)

  • Fandom: Original Work
  • Very brief summary: estranged childhood friends to lovers + class differences set in classical greek inspired setting
  • Link to work: Here on AO3
  • Where to comment: This can now be nominated!

Eernal Lies - westwind & sphinx & Tol Ailin & nextworldover & apprenticebard & Kelardry & hearts (DFE)

  • Fandom: Call of Cthulhu
  • Very brief summary: Ten years ago, a team of occult investigators banded together to prevent the summoning of an ancient and monstrous evil. They failed. The world looks the same as it always has... for now. It is 1934, and a team has been hired by the daughter of one of the two surviving investigators-- who has just recently died-- to find out what happened to her father and perhaps to set right what once went wrong.
  • Link to work: Here on glowfic
  • Where to comment if you'd request, offer, or pinch hit for this fandom: Here on the Nominations Guidelines! Please sign your comment if you are commenting anonymously.

A More Satisfying Vengeance - SassySnowperson (DFE)

  • Fandom: Original Work
  • Very brief summary: A More Satisfying Vengeance by SassySnowperson is an OW Cruel King's Widowed Husband/New King set in medieval times. Not quite love at first sight but they fall for each other over the course of an evening with excellent hurt/comfort.
  • Link to work: Here on AO3
  • Where to comment: This can now be nominated!

Surrender Denied - SassySnowperson (DFE)

  • Fandom: Original Work
  • Very brief summary: Surrender Denied by SassySnowperson is an OW Winning General/Respected Opposing General Who is Their Postwar Arranged Marriage Spouse, an arranged marriage IN SPACE with world building and two very competent men!
  • Link to work: Here on AO3
  • Where to comment: This can now be nominated!

Queries

Google Forms nominations

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Video Game): Expedition 33 & Expedition 33 (Clair Obscur) — Does this mean "Any Expedition 33 Member & Any Expedition 33 Member (Clair Obscur)"?
  • Crossover Fandom: Gotham City (DCU Comics) & Any Fear Entity from The Magnus Archives — Our nomination guidelines say, "We will not accept inanimate objects, inanimate locations, vague concepts, or platonic ideals as characters. Animals, canonically thinking/feeling objects, and canonically thinking/feeling locations are fine!" Is Gotham canonically thinking/feeling?
  • DCU (Comics): Gotham City & Jason Todd (DC Comics) — Our nomination guidelines say, "We will not accept inanimate objects, inanimate locations, vague concepts, or platonic ideals as characters. Animals, canonically thinking/feeling objects, and canonically thinking/feeling locations are fine!" Is Gotham canonically thinking/feeling?
  • DCU (Comics): Solo: Gotham City (DC Comics) — Our nomination guidelines say, "We will not accept inanimate objects, inanimate locations, vague concepts, or platonic ideals as characters. Animals, canonically thinking/feeling objects, and canonically thinking/feeling locations are fine!" Is Gotham canonically thinking/feeling?
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: The Bulb (D20) — We think this might be too close to a Solo: nomination, but we're not sure whether or not The Hungry counts as a character! We would appreciate more information about that. Alternatively, the nominator could let us know what specific worldbuilding they're looking for on this subject.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: The Hungry One (D20) — We think this might be too close to a Solo: nomination, but we're not sure whether or not The Hungry counts as a character! We would appreciate more information about that. Alternatively, the nominator could let us know what specific worldbuilding they're looking for on this subject.
  • Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel): WB: The Game Without The Player's Influence (DDLC) — Nominator, we're not sure what this means. Could you clarify for us?
  • Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening: Solo: Future Kids (FE:A) — Are these canonical future kids? Is there another name (or, more specific name) for this group?
  • Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon): Alastor's Shadow/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel) — We need more information about characters' shadows. Are they separate thinking/feeling characters in this canon?
  • Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon): Alastor's Shadow/Angel Dust's Shadow (Hazbin Hotel) — We need more information about characters' shadows. Are they separate thinking/feeling characters in this canon?
  • Katekyou Hitman Reborn!: WB: Box Weapon Animals (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!) — Nominator, we can't figure out what this WB: tag means! Can you explain it for us?
  • Original Work: Solo: Nonbinary Person Who Needs to Pee but Won't Use Public Bathroom (OW) — This was nominated twice in a row! Did you mean to nominate a different tag?
  • Original Work: WB: Civilian's Impressions of Superhero Group (OW) — Nominator, we're not really sure if this is a worldbuilding topic. Could you elaborate a little about what you're thinking? It seems to us like this might be covered by "Civilians & Superhero Group (OW)"
  • Original Work: WB: Human's Impressions of Alien Species (OW) — Nominator, we're not really sure if this is a worldbuilding topic. Could you elaborate a little about what you're thinking? It seems to us like this might be covered by "Humans & Aliens (OW)"
  • Smokey and the Bandit (1977): Bandit/Original Male Character(s) (Smokey and the Bandit) (Smokey and the Bandit) — We don't allow tags with "(s)". Any request for a group of characters can be filled with just one of those characters or with multiple . Do you want the singular or plural version of this tag?
  • Stargate - Live Action: Solo: Any Military Character (Bluestone 42) in Stargate Atlantis (Stargate LA) — Nominator, just letting you know in case you lost track of this—you nominated this under Stargate - Live Action, but we approved it under Crossover Fandom.
  • Superman (Movie 2025): WB: Opinion/Rumors About The Superharem (Superman 2025) — Nominator, we also have a nomination for "WB: Superman Secret Harem Conspiracy Theories (Superman 2025)" and of course we can see that this WB tags are subtly different, but we wanted to know if there was any possibility that you and the other nominator would be able to settle on a single tag, for matching purposes. If not, that's okay, and we will accept both tags as-is.

Ao3 tagset nominations

  • DCU (Comics): WB: Red Hood Inc Paperwork (DC Comics) — This is already in the tagset, but on second look we can't figure out what Red Hood Inc is. What does this tag mean? Is Red Hood Inc. canon?
  • Dinotopia - James Gurney: WB: Relationship with the modern world (Dinotopia - James Gurney) — Nominator, we can't figure out what this WB: tag means! Can you explain it for us?
  • Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel): WB: The game without the player's influence (Doki Doki Literature Club) — Nominator, we can't figure out what this WB: tag means! Can you explain it for us? Also, WB: tags need to be phrased in an in-universe way, although we're not sure how much that rule applies to this tag.
  • Haikyuu!! : WB: Inner Politics of Pro Volleyball Teams (Haikyuu!!) — We need more information about this nomination. Do volleyball teams in Haikyuu!! have significantly different social dynamics than real-life teams? What kind of "politics" does a volleyball team have? Is this a request for politics between members of one team, or the politics between different teams?
  • KPop Demon Hunters (2025): WB: Fan Interpretations of the Movie's Finale (KPDH) — WB: tags should be phrased in an in-universe way. Nominator, what part of the aftermath of the movie's finale are you looking for worldbuilding about?
  • Superman (Movie 2025): WB: Superman Secret Harem Conspiracy Theories (Superman 2025) — Nominator, we also have a nomination for "WB: Opinion/Rumors About The Superharem (Superman 2025)" and of course we can see that this WB tags are subtly different, but we wanted to know if there was any possibility that you and the other nominator would be able to settle on a single tag, for matching purposes. If not, that's okay, and we will accept both tags as-is.
  • Teen Wolf (TV): WB: Born Versus Bitten Wolves (Teen Wolf) — We're not totally sure what this nomination means. Would "WB: Differences Between Born And Bitten Wolves (Teen Wolf)" work, or does this tag mean something else?
  • 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney: Sebastian Debeste & Franziska von Karma (Ace Attorney), Sebastian Debeste & Kay Faraday (Ace Attorney), Sebastian Debeste & Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) — The official translation of Sebastian Debeste is Eugene Winner. Does it make sense to use that name instead for the tagset?

Rejected Tags

Google Forms nominations

  • Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery: WB: Any (Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery) (AOGG) — We're rejecting this tag because we will add all WB: Any tags to the tagset after nominations close.
  • D.Gray-man (Anime & Manga): WB: Fallen Ones (DGM) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • D.Gray-man (Anime & Manga): WB: Recent Bookman History (DGM) — We realize that "History of [Group]" is a fairly common WB: tag format, but we're concerned this might be a little close to "WB: Backstory of [Group]" which is a type of WB tag we don't allow. Could you elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for? (Also, in hopes that you don't feel singled out, I want you to know I have made a note for myself to review all of our "WB: History of..." nominations before the next round starts to see if this is a problem in other similarly phrased tags.)
  • DCU (Comics): Jason Todd & Any Red Hood Henchperson(s) (DC Comics) — Nominator, we can't accept this as-is because we don't allow nominations with "(s)". We can approve it as singular or plural—because of our exchange rules, the plural version does also opt requesters into the singular version.
  • DCU (Comics): WB: Interrogation Of Any Red Hood Henchperson (DC Comics) — Nominator, this is a prompt rather than a worldbuilding topic. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • DCU (Comics): WB: Justice League Mission Report (DC Comics) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • DCU (Comics): WB: Mission Report From The Batcomputer (DC Comics) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: Deus-Pa'Zuul (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: FDA | Fellowship of Destiny's Architects (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: House Rocks (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: Neverafter - The Authors (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: The Great Beasts (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: The Order of the Spinning Star (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: The Traveling Swirler Sisters (D20) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Fallout: New Vegas: WB: After the Second Battle of Hoover Dam (Fallout: New Vegas) — Nominator, this is a period of time instead of a specific worldbuilding topic. What aspect(s) of this period of time are you looking for worldbuilding about?
  • Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature (Audio Drama): Solo: Original Harbridge Student(s) Studying Anterra (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature) — We don't allow tags with "(s)". Any request for a group of characters can be filled with just one of those characters or with multiple. Also, this OC description is too detailed for an original character outside of the Original Work fandom. Do you want "Solo: Original Harbridge Student (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature)" (singular) or "Solo: Original Harbridge Students (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature)" (plural)
  • Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature (Audio Drama): Solo: Original Peking University Student(s) Studying Anterra (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature) — We don't allow tags with "(s)". Any request for a group of characters can be filled with just one of those characters or with multiple. Also, this OC description is too detailed for an original character outside of the Original Work fandom. Do you want "Solo: Original Peking Student (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature)" (singular) or "Solo: Original Peking Students (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature)" (plural)
  • Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature (Audio Drama): WB: Gods & Monsters (Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • ONE - Cheesy Hfj (Web Series): Solo: Any Female ONE Contestant(s) (ONE - Cheesy Hfj) — We don't allow tags with "(s)". Any request for a group of characters can be filled with just one of those characters or with multiple. Do you want the singular or plural version of this tag?
  • ONE - Cheesy Hfj (Web Series): Solo: Any First Episode ONE Contestant(s) (ONE - Cheesy Hfj) — We don't allow tags with "(s)". Any request for a group of characters can be filled with just one of those characters or with multiple. Do you want the singular or plural version of this tag?
  • The Avengers (Marvel Movies): WB: Any Avengers Comms Transcript (Avengers) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • The Avengers (Marvel Movies): WB: Any Avengers Mission Report (Avengers) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • The Avengers (Marvel Movies): WB: Any Shield Mission Report (Avengers) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game): WB: Any Witcher School (Witcher Games) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • 銀魂 | Gintama (Anime & Manga): WB: Shiroyasha (Gintama) — This seems like the title of a person, which would make it a little too close to a Solo: nomination. We would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.

Ao3 tagset nominations

  • 15th Century CE RPF: Solo: I. Mátyás magyar király (15th Century CE RPF) — This was rejected for incorrect capitalization, but a curious google brought us to this Wikipedia page—this seems to be the Hungarian name for "Hunyadi Matyas" who is nominated in a different 15th Century CE RPF tag. If that's the case, please re-nominate under that name. If Wikipedia has lied to us (very possible) and these are actually two different people who need to be nominated under separate names, please let us know!
  • Betrayal at House on the Hill: WB: Backstories of the Entities Inhabiting the House (Betrayal at House on the Hill) — We don't accept WB tags with "Backstory" in them. Also, we're not really sure what this tag means, but it seems to be about a group of characters, which would probably be better for a Solo: nomination. Could the nominator help us out so we can find a rephrasing that works?
  • Betrayal at House on the Hill: WB: Backstories of the Rooms (Betrayal at House on the Hill) — We don't accept WB tags with "Backstory" in them. Also, we're not really sure what this tag means. Could the nominator help us out so we can find a rephrasing that works?
  • Betrayal at House on the Hill: WB: How Betrayals Work During Haunts (Betrayal at House on the Hill) — Nominator, this is phrased like a prompt instead of a worldbuilding topic. What kind of worldbuilding are you looking for?
  • Final Fantasy XIV: WB: IVth Legion Beastmasters (FFXIV) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Haikyuu!! : WB: Articles about Volleyball Matches (Haikyuu!!) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • Haikyuu!! : WB: Kodzuken's Social Media Presence (Haikyuu!!) — This WB: tag would be better as optional details under a Solo: request. "
  • Haikyuu!! : WB: Social Media Discussions of Pro Volleyball Players (Haikyuu!!) — We would like to rephrase to ""WB: Internet Discussions of Pro Volleyball Players (Haikyuu!!)"" so that the exact medium of the discussion (social media, forum posts, etc) can be left up to creator discussion, possible influenced by selected tags. We don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. "
  • House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski: WB: How the House Works (HoL - Danielewski) — We don't accept WB: tags with phrasing like this because it's too close to a prompt/question. Nominator, could you elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: WB: Non-Player Characters (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) — Groups of characters can't be nominated as WB tags, only as Solo: tags. We're happy to accept this as a Solo: tag, but we'd also be interested in hearing what kind of worldbuilding the nominator wanted about this group. Please keep in mind that WB: tags need to be phrased in an in-universe way.
  • KinnPorsche: The Series (TV): WB: Family History (KinnPorsche) — We realize that "History of [Group]" is a fairly common WB: tag format, but we're concerned this might be a little close to "WB: Backstory of [Group]" which is a type of WB tag we don't allow. Could you elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for? (Also, in hopes that you don't feel singled out, I want you to know I have made a note for myself to review all of our "WB: History of..." nominations before the next round starts to see if this is a problem in other similarly phrased tags.)
  • Riverdale (TV 2017): WB: The Gang Returning to an Altered Present Timeline (Riverdale) — Nominator, this is phrased like a prompt instead of a worldbuilding topic. What kind of worldbuilding are you looking for?
  • The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien: Aragorn/Halbarad (Tolkien) — These were disambiguated incorrectly but we thought you might be confused about why, so here's an explanation: you selected the canonical (official) tags instead of writing a tag with a more specific disambiguation. Per the Nominations Guidelines, we need disambiguations that are clear about which specific fandom a tag is nominated under, so tags under this fandom should be disambiguated with "Aragorn/Halbarad (LotR - Tolkien)" or similar. You can re-nominate via the form if you are out of nomination slots.
  • The Magnus Archives (Podcast): WB: Lukas Family History (TMA) — We realize that "History of [Group]" is a fairly common WB: tag format, but we're concerned this might be a little close to "WB: Backstory of [Group]" which is a type of WB tag we don't allow. Could you elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for? (Also, in hopes that you don't feel singled out, I want you to know I have made a note for myself to review all of our "WB: History of..." nominations before the next round starts to see if this is a problem in other similarly phrased tags.)
  • The Magnus Archives (Podcast): WB: Original Statement (The Magnus Archives) — It's come to our attention that this is a prompt for an in-universe media type, rather than a worldbuilding topic, so it will be removed from the tagset. Nominator, what kind of worldbuilding about statements are you looking for? We'd be happy to put a replacement tag into the tagset for you.
  • 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù: WB: Ghost City Local Newspapers & Articles (TGCF) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù: WB: Manual on Ghost Types (TGCF) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021): WB: Ghost Valley Recipes (Word of Honor) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021): WB: Notes & Textbooks from Healer Valley (Word of Honor) — Nominator, we don't want anyone to seem like they're opting in to a specific medium via a WB: tag. Could you clarify what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for?
  • 黄金の太陽 | Golden Sun Series: WB: The Years Immediately After The Return of Alchemy (Golden Sun) — Nominator, this is a period of time instead of a specific worldbuilding topic. What aspect(s) of this period of time are you looking for worldbuilding about?
  • 黄金の太陽 | Golden Sun Series: WB: Vale's Refugees Moving To Kalay Or Rebuilding Nearby (Golden Sun) — Nominator, this is too close to a Solo: group nomination and we would like to rephrase. Maybe something like "WB: Logistics of Vale Refugees' Move To Kalay" although you might want worldbuilding about some different aspect of their resettlement.
ruuger: My hand with the nails painted red and black resting on the keyboard of my laptop (Default)
[personal profile] ruuger
Hello, hello, hello. Long time no see. I have been lurking on DW, reading your posts in silence like a creep and maybe sometimes commenting, but I haven't gotten round to posting in ages.

I should probably do a RL update (spoiler for those who don't follow me on Instagram: rerember how a few years ago I mentioned that one of my bucket ist items was getting into a gallery show? Well, I've had art in three group exhibitions in the last year and two more plus a small solo exhinition scheduled for next year), but I'l just start off easy with a meme ganked from [personal profile] muccamukk:

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).
(I'm skipping the watched more than once thing because I literally can't remember)

long-ass list of MCU movies and shows plus some musings )

Now, the reason why I'm even thinking about MCU again is because I actaully finished watching a thing when I went to see The Fantastic Four. The only reason I did so was because a) I really like Pedro Pascal and he hasn't let me down in anything yet, and b) I was promised it would be 100% stand-alone.

Non-spoilery review: It was 100% stand-alone (except for a brief mid-credit scene), and I can wholeheartedly recommend it even to people like me who have completely lost interest in the wider MCU, and have no interest in going back to it. And Pascal was very good in it, as was the whole cast. I really liked all four members of the team, and they felt like a real family (the humour was also more like the kind of stupid injokes that a family would have than Whedon-like quipping that a lot of other MCU movies have).

The plot was very predictable, but it was still very entertaining. In a weird way it reminded me a lot of early 00's superhero movies like the first two X-Men and Raimi's Spidermen. There was just something very charming and nostalgic about how simple it's story was. Also, visually the movie was very unique - not just the retro-futurism, but also the kaiju-imagery they used for Galactus.

On a more spoilery note, spoilery spoilers )

But in short, I really enjoyed watching Fantastic Four (even if it was a bit too heterosexual in general for my taste), and would watch a sequel if they ever make one, but as much as I liked the characters, I doubt their presence will be enough for me to want to watch The Avengers next summer.
neotoma: Neotoma albigula, the white-throated woodrat! [default icon] (Default)
[personal profile] neotoma
Peach lemonade, french baguette, olive-thyme sourdough loaf, bacon-gruyere wheel, almond croissant, value tomatoes, prune plums, donut peaches, regular peaches, cardamon pull-apart bun, swiss bar (pastry with cheese), and 1/2 lb mixed mushrooms

Lexington Walk O

Aug. 9th, 2025 01:35 pm
matildalucet: (Default)
[personal profile] matildalucet
This route essentially runs between two exits of Rt 2, on either side of it. Decent enough walking. Polite drivers when we were briefly in each other's way. Mosquitos! I had sprayed my hat to discourage them, but they kept circling my face anyway. I had bought a head net some time back and actually put it in the day pack today. This was its first deployment and it worked pretty well. I did get a strange look from a young person as I walked past their yard; suburban streets probably don't see a lot of head nets.

Dripping sweat by the end.

3.0 miles, probably an hour and five minutes, give or take. Faster than I expected, probably because the elevation changes were mild.

Nominations Clarification 2

Aug. 7th, 2025 05:20 pm
fic_in_a_box_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] fic_in_a_box_mod posting in [community profile] ficinabox

Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Nominations Guidelines | Medium Nominations | Tagset | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post

Nominations Clarification 2

Here is a little FAQ about Nominations Clarification posts for those of you who haven't run into them before:

What/why is a Nominations Clarification post?

Nomination clarifications are queries about tags we find confusing and updates about tags or the tagset in general. The goal of nominations is to create a tagset of unambiguous, easy to understand tags that will be useful to participants and solidly within the scope of the exchange. The goal of a clarifications post is to keep all of our participants up-to-date regarding our nominations work and solicit feedback where necessary to create the most useful tagset we can.

Do I need to read the whole post?

No. You can just skim each clarification post to see if a fandom you're interested in requesting or offering has been mentioned. We recommend doing this even if you don't care very much how the tagset is organized in case we make some kind of huge blunder with your favorite fandom or OTP.

How do I reply to a Nominations Clarification post? Do I need a Dreamwidth account?

You don't need a Dreamwidth account because we have anonymous commenting turned on. If you comment anonymously, remember to check back for our reply! You can also email us at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com if you'd prefer.

There's a query about a fandom I'm familiar with, but I'm not the nominator. Can I tell you what I think?

Yes! If you are not the nominator but have relevant fandom knowledge about something, please speak up. Nominators don't always reply to our queries, so answers from other people in the fandom are often very helpful.

Why haven't you processed my nomination(s) yet?

Nominations can't be processed in a strictly first-in, first-out manner because of various backend reasons, so most likely we just haven't yet had a chance because of the large volume of submitted nominations. Double check our nominations clarification posts for your tag. If sign ups open and one or more of your tags is mysteriously still missing, please reach out.

My AO3 tagset nomination(s) were rejected but aren't discussed below, why did you reject them?

Most likely you failed to disambiguate your nominations, or made some other error — we reject incorrect tags rather than fixing them. You're welcome to post a link to your nominations slate if you'd like us to tell you why the tag(s) were rejected. You can attempt to re-nominated tags either on AO3 or via the form if you'd like.

However, there is a delay between us rejecting and us posting nominations clarifications! Literally as I post this post, other people on the tagmod team are approving/rejecting new tags. So your rejected tag might show up in a future clarification post

I have a nominations question not answered here or on the Nomination Guidelines. Can I ask on this post?

Yes! You can ask nominations questions on whichever nominations clarification post has been most recently posted, or you can ask on the Nomination Guidelines, or you can use the mod contact post, or you can email us. We're happy to help no matter how you get in contact!


Recursive fandom in need of additional interested participants

Per our rules for nominating new recursive fandoms, we need either either proof of an established fandom for the nominated work or 3 participants who are interested in the fandom. We have a nominated recursive fandom that is currently seeking 2 more interested parties!

Queries

Google Forms nominations

  • Daredevil (TV): All tags — Per nominations guidelines, all Daredevil (TV) tags need to be nominated under "The Defenders (Marvel TV)" so we've accepted your tags under that fandom.
  • Final Fantasy XII: WB: The Legacy of Kind Raithwall (Final Fantasy XII) — Nominator, we can't figure out what this WB: tag means! Can you explain it for us?
  • Kino no Tabi | Kino's Journey - Iruka Shiomiya (Manga): WB: Persuaders (Kino's Journey Manga) — Nominator, we can't figure out what this WB: tag means! Can you explain it for us?
  • KPop Demon Hunters (2025): WB: K-Pop Industry And Companies (KPDH) — Worldbuilding tags require that worldbuilding tags be about something fictional where imagination/creativity is required rather than research (see this section (link)). How close is this industry in KPDH to the real-life industry? If they're very close, what fictional aspect of the industry are you looking for worldbuilding about?
  • Tommy (1975): Cousin Kevin/Tommy Walker (Tommy 1975) — This ship was nominated twice in a row along with "Nora Walker & Tommy Walker". Was one of these "Cousin Kevin/Tommy Walker" nominations supposed to be a different tag?

Ao3 tagset nominations

  • Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast): Elizabeth Mothman/Jane Rogan (DnDads - Sons and Sonsability) — Nominator, we're not sure why this tag was disambiguated separately from other Dungeon and Daddies nominations. Are these characters from a special episode or something? Would "Elizabeth Mothman/Jane Rogan (DnDads)" be in some way ambiguous?
  • Hunter x Hunter (Anime): WB: Zoldyck Family History (Hunter X Hunter) — We realize that "History of [Group]" is a fairly common WB: tag format, but we're concerned this might be a little close to "WB: Backstory of the Zoldyck Family" which is a type of WB tag we don't allow. Could you elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for? (Also, in hopes that you don't feel singled out, I want you to know I have made a note for myself to review all of our "WB: History of..." nominations before the next round starts to see if this is a problem in other similarly phrased tags.)
  • JUDGE EYES | Judgment (Video Games) : WB: History of the Matsugane Family (Judgment) — We realize that "History of [Group]" is a fairly common WB: tag format, but we're concerned this might be a little close to "WB: Backstory of the Matsugane Family" which is a type of WB tag we don't allow. Could you elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for? (Also, in hopes that you don't feel singled out, I want you to know I have made a note for myself to review all of our "WB: History of..." nominations before the next round starts to see if this is a problem in other similarly phrased tags.)
  • Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler: Sebastian Michaelis & Ciel Phantomhive & Real Ciel Phantomhive (Kuroshitsuji) — We were going to query this, but then figured out the answer all on our own! It should be in the tagest now.
  • Night Watch (Discworld - Terry Pratchett): Lord Downey/Havelock Vetinari (Night Watch (Discworld - Terry Pratchett)) — Nominator, the fandom "Discworld - Terry Pratchett" is usually used for Discworld in exchanges (and is in fact already in the tagset) because there are a lot of character overlaps between books. We do allow overlapping fandoms if nominators feel strongly about it, but we wanted to ask if you'd be alright with us accepting this tag under the broader Discworld fandom.
  • Paprika (2006): WB: Aftermath of the Dream Parade (Paprika 2006) — This tag was accepted in error, and we might be removing it. Nominator, could you elaborate a little about what kind of worldbuilding you're looking for concerning the aftermath of this Parade?
  • Persona 5: All tags with "Kurusu Akira" — It's been brought to our attention that this is a name used for the main character of this game in a manga adaptation and in the game there is no default name. Since the video game is the canon that is nominated, we will be changing all of these tags to use "Persona 5 Protagonist" instead.
  • SIGNALIS (Video Game): WB: History of the Eusan Nation (Signalis) — We pulled this tag to query, but have decided to accept it. It should be in the tagset now!
  • SIGNALIS (Video Game): WB: Replikas and Their Gestalt Memory (Signalis) — Nominator, we can't figure out what this WB: tag means! Can you explain it for us?
  • Stargate - Live Action: Ba'al's Host & Vala Mal Doran (SG LA) — Ba'al's Host could refer to multiple characters, especially with all the cloning shenanigans. Did you mean any of Ba'al's hosts or perhaps specifically the Ba'al clone host that survived extraction?
  • Wylding Hall - Elizabeth Hand: WB: Similar otherworldly occurrences elsewhere in the world (Wylding Hall) — Details on this book are a little sparse on google, so we need a little help with this nomiantion. Are there canonical mentions of "similar otherworldly occurrences"?
  • Wylding Hall - Elizabeth Hand: WB: Wrens & the wren hunt (Wylding Hall) — Details on this book are a little sparse on google, so we need a little help with this nomination. Can you explain it for us?
  • 薬屋のひとりごと - 日向夏 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto | The Apothecary Diaries - Hyuuga Natsu: WB: Verdigris House (KNH) — We pulled this to query, but decided to accept, so it should be in the tagset!
  • 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney: WB: In-Universe Lawyer Fandom (Ace Attorney) — We're a little confused by this nomination. All WB nominations are mean to be phrased as in-universe, so we think that this WB tag should be accepted as "WB: Lawyer Fandom (Ace Attorney)"—is that correct? We also would like to check if there is canonically a fandom for lawyers in AA. Based on an email we got from someone familiar with the fandom, we will accept this as "WB: Law and Law-Enforcement Fandoms (Ace Attorney)"— but, if the nominator is like "Wait! That doesn't fit the worldbuilding I want!" then please stick up and we'll work our a different tag for you.

Rejected Tags

Google Forms nominations

  • Diablo (Video Games): WB: Nephalem Born After Destruction Of Worldstone (Diablo VG) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination (Solo: Nephalem Born After Destruction Of Worldstone) and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding about this group they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • K-pop: Solo: Any K-pop Idol (K-pop) — Unfortunately, both this fandom and this relationship-field tag are too broad. The fandom is too broad because it's a huge umbrella fandom which per the nominations guidelines are "all fandom tags that cover multiple subfandoms, multiple medium types, multiple series, etc." The character is too broad because many K-Pop idols are under 18 years old, which makes them ineligible to be nominated to Fic In A Box per the "Other Notes" section of our fandom nomination rules. Additionally, requesting such a broad tag in such a broad fandom comes too close to a "Creator's Choice of Fandom" nomination—we don't allow CCoF to be nominated in FIAB.
  • K-pop: Solo: Any K-pop Music Video Character (K-pop) — Unfortunately, both this fandom and this relationship-field tag are too broad. The fandom is too broad because it's a huge umbrella fandom which per the nominations guidelines are "all fandom tags that cover multiple subfandoms, multiple medium types, multiple series, etc." The character is too broad because it's asking for creators to choose a fandom/character from any K-Pop MV, which is too close to a "Creator's Choice of Fandom" nomination, something we don't allow to be nominated in FIAB. Also, many K-Pop idols are under 18 years old, which makes them ineligible to be nominated to FIAB—K-Pop music videos often have a large amount of overlap with the idol's RPF fandom, and we're uncomfortable with potentially allowing this nomination to work around our 18+ rule.
  • Original Work: Solo: Any Original Character (OW) — Unfortunately, this relationship-field tag is too broad. Characters in the Original Work fandom need to be a specific type of original character per this part of the nominations guidelines (link).
  • Original Work: Solo: Original Characters (OW) — Unfortunately, this tag is too broad. Characters in the Original Work fandom need to be a specific type of original character per this part of the nominations guidelines (link).
  • Original Work: WB: Fannish History (OW) — Worldbuilding tags require that worldbuilding tags be about something fictional where imagination/creativity is required rather than research (see this section (link)). We're also not sure what kind of fic one could write about this WB tag. Could the nominator please clarify what kind of worldbuilding they're looking for?
  • Original Work: WB: Fannish Tropes (OW) — This tag is a copy of an exactly phrased tag, which we cannot accept. Did the nominator mean to nominate a different tag instead of the same tag twice?
  • Original Work: WB: Fannish Tropes (OW) — Worldbuilding tags require that worldbuilding tags be about something fictional where imagination/creativity is required rather than research (see this section (link)). We're also not sure what kind of fic one could write about this WB tag. Could the nominator please clarify what kind of worldbuilding they're looking for?
  • Original Work: WB: Fantasy Landscapes (OW) — Nominator, are you looking for worldbuilding about landscape paintings/artwork in fantasy settings, or are you looking for worldbuilding about natural locations in fantasy settings? If the first, we'd like to rephrase as "WB: Landscape Artwork in Fantasy Settings" and if the second we'd suggest one of these tags: "WB: Fantasy Environments" "WB: Fantasy Ecosystems" "WB: Fantasy Biomes" (or a different phrasing, if you'd prefer!)
  • Original Work: WB: Scientific Observations of Sea Life (OW) — Worldbuilding tags require that worldbuilding tags be about something fictional where imagination/creativity is required rather than research (see this section (link)). With this is in mind: what fictional aspect of sea life observation were you looking to see worldbuilding about?
  • Slow Horses: Shirley Dander/Roddy Ho — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form. Nominator, is this "Slow Horses (TV)" or the novel Slow Horses by Mich Herron?
  • The Brothers Karamazov: Ivan Fydorovich Karamazov/Pavel Smerdykov — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form. Nominator, is this "Brat'ya Karamazovy | Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky"? Or is it maybe "カラマーゾフの兄弟 | The Brothers Karamazov - Takarazuka Revue " or "브라더스 까라마조프 - 이진욱/김경주 | The Brothers Karamazov - Lee Jin Wook/Kim Kyung Ju "?
  • The Orville (TV): WB: Transgender Krill (The Orville) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination (Solo: Any Transgender Krill, Solo: Original Transgender Krill) and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding about this group they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • The Schoolgirl's Diary: WB: School Life — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form, but we can't find a canonical for this. We have found a previously nominated tag with no fanworks, though, probably nominated for some other exchange. Nominator, is this "한 녀학생의 일기 | Han Nyeohaksaengeui Ilgi | The Schoolgirl's Diary (2007)"? If that is the right fandom, then we have a follow up question: This film seems to us to be set in a world very close to the real world. Worldbuilding tags require that worldbuilding tags be about something fictional where imagination/creativity is required rather than research (see this section (link)). With this is in mind: what fictional aspect of North Korean school life were you looking to see worldbuilding about?

Ao3 tagset nominations

  • Alan Wake (Video Games) : WB: the Torchbearers (Alan Wake) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination ("Solo: The Torchbearers (Alan Wake)")and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Overwatch (Video Game): WB: Blackwatch (Overwatch) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination ("Solo: Any Member of Blackwatch (Overwatch)") and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Overwatch (Video Game): WB: Talon (Overwatch) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination ("Solo: Any Member of Talon (Overwatch)") and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Overwatch (Video Game): WB: The Ministry of Genetics (Overwatch) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination ("Solo: WB: Any Member Of The Ministry of Genetics (Overwatch)") and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Overwatch (Video Game): WB: The Shambali (Overwatch) — We think this is a little too close to a Solo: nomination ("Solo: The Shambali (Overwatch)") and would like to ask the nominator what kind of worldbuilding they would specifically be interested in. We're happy to help you phrase one or several tags to cover your worldbuilding interests or, alternately, to accept this tag as a Solo: tag.
  • Stardew Valley (Video Game): Farmer/The Land (Stardew Valley) — Per our nomination guidelines: "What counts as a character? We will not accept inanimate objects, inanimate locations, vague concepts, or platonic ideals as characters. Animals, canonically thinking/feeling objects, and canonically thinking/feeling locations are fine!" To our knowledge, The Land in SDV is not thinking/feeling, and so cannot be nominated as a character.

call RFK Jr. about vaccine access

Aug. 7th, 2025 09:27 am
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew
If anyone wants to call RFK Jr. to complain about him not funding vaccines, the phone number is 202-690-7000. I called during office hours (8:30-5 Eastern time) and got voicemail. The message asked for a phone number, and claimed someone would call me back.

If anyone wants a script, my message was:

My name is Vicki Rosenzweig. I’m calling from Boston, to demand that the secretary restore funding for MRNA vaccines. He must make the fall covid and flu boosters available to everyone. I’m immune-compromised, and my safety depends on my family being vaccinated and not giving me a virus. My phone number is [your number here]

Edit as appropriate.

Community Recs Post!

Aug. 7th, 2025 09:16 am
glitteryv: (Default)
[personal profile] glitteryv posting in [community profile] recthething
Every Thursday, we have a community post, just like this one, where you can drop a rec or five in the comments.

This works great if you only have one rec and don't want to make a whole post for it, or if you don't have a DW account, or if you're shy. ;)

(But don't forget: you can deffo make posts of your own seven days a week. ;D!)

So what cool fancrafts/fanvids/fics/podfics/fanart/other kinds of fanworks have we discovered this week? Drop it in the comments below. Anon comment is enabled.

BTW, AI fanworks are not eligible for reccing at recthething. If you aware that a fanwork is AI-generated, please do not rec it here.
hermionesviolin: (hard at work)
[personal profile] hermionesviolin posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew
For anyone registered to vote in Massachusetts -- you can sign up to get reminded when it's time to officially sign papers to put on the Massachusetts ballot a measure to repeal the Massachusetts constitutional amendment that took the right to vote away from people serving felony sentences.

From an email from Progressive Mass:
Unlock Democracy in Massachusetts

In 2000, Massachusetts passed a constitutional amendment that took away voting rights from people incarcerated for a felony conviction. This stripping of rights was in response to political organizing happening in prison. The Empowering Descendant Communities to Unlock Democracy project and allies aim to get voting rights restoration on the statewide ballot. If you are a registered voter in Massachusetts, please take a minute to fill out our pledge form now: https://tinyurl.com/uvrpledge. Once the Attorney General approves the language, organizers will reach out to those who filled out the pledge with dates/locations for nearby signature collection efforts.

The EDC to Unlock Democracy is is committed to ensuring that democracy does not stop at prisons and jails in Massachusetts. It is a collaborative project between the Democracy Behind Bars Coalition, the African American Coalition Committee at MCI-Norfolk, Healing our Land, Inc., and more. To get in touch email EDCtoUnlockDemocracyMA@gmail.com.

July check-in post

Aug. 5th, 2025 10:08 am
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] redbird posting in [community profile] thisfinecrew
July was a quieter month on the community, with four posts:

On July 17, [personal profile] gingicat posted about virtual Good Trouble Lives on rallies.

On July 22, [personal profile] executrix post about a Womens March program on feminism and fan culture.

Also on July 22, [personal profile] gingicat warned about apparent voter registration shenanigans and linked to a place to check your registration.

On July 30, I posted about a call for public comments about gender-affirming care.

Thanks to everyone who posted.

Here's a poll to tell us what you've been doing:

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17


Since the last check-in, I....

View Answers

called one of my senators
4 (23.5%)

called my other senator
4 (23.5%)

called my congressmember
4 (23.5%)

called my governor
1 (5.9%)

called my mayor, state rep, or other local official
1 (5.9%)

did get-out-the-vote work, such as postcarding or phone banking
0 (0.0%)

voted
1 (5.9%)

sent a postcard/email/letter/fax to a government official or agency
6 (35.3%)

went to a protest
4 (23.5%)

attended an in-person activist group
3 (17.6%)

went to a town hall
0 (0.0%)

participated in phone or online training
3 (17.6%)

donated money to a cause
10 (58.8%)

worked for a campaign
1 (5.9%)

did textbanking or phonebanking
0 (0.0%)

took care of myself
10 (58.8%)

not a US citizen, but worked in solidarity in my community
2 (11.8%)

did something else (tell us about it in comments)
4 (23.5%)

committed to action in the coming month
2 (11.8%)



As always, everyone is free to make posts about any issues and actions they think the comm should know about. You can also drop some information into a comment to our sticky post if you'd like the mods to do it.

If you're looking for information on anything else, you can use our tags to check for any ongoing actions or resources relevant to the issues you care about. I try to keep the tag list up-to-date. If you need a tag added, you can DM me.

Nominations Clarification 1

Aug. 4th, 2025 07:53 pm
fic_in_a_box_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] fic_in_a_box_mod posting in [community profile] ficinabox

Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Nominations Guidelines | Medium Nominations | Tagset | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post

Nominations Clarification 1

Here is a little FAQ about Nominations Clarification posts for those of you who haven't run into them before:

What/why is a Nominations Clarification post?

Nomination clarifications are queries about tags we find confusing and updates about tags or the tagset in general. The goal of nominations is to create a tagset of unambiguous, easy to understand tags that will be useful to participants and solidly within the scope of the exchange. The goal of a clarifications post is to keep all of our participants up-to-date regarding our nominations work and solicit feedback where necessary to create the most useful tagset we can.

Do I need to read the whole post?

No. You can just skim each clarification post to see if a fandom you're interested in requesting or offering has been mentioned. We recommend doing this even if you don't care very much how the tagset is organized in case we make some kind of huge blunder with your favorite fandom or OTP.

How do I reply to a Nominations Clarification post? Do I need a Dreamwidth account?

You don't need a Dreamwidth account because we have anonymous commenting turned on. If you comment anonymously, remember to check back for our reply! You can also email us at ficinaboxmod@gmail.com if you'd prefer.

There's a query about a fandom I'm familiar with, but I'm not the nominator. Can I tell you what I think?

Yes! If you are not the nominator but have relevant fandom knowledge about something, please speak up. Nominators don't always reply to our queries, so answers from other people in the fandom are often very helpful.

Why haven't you processed my nomination(s) yet?

Nominations can't be processed in a strictly first-in, first-out manner because of various backend reasons, so most likely we just haven't yet had a chance because of the large volume of submitted nominations. Double check our nominations clarification posts for your tag. If sign ups open and one or more of your tags is mysteriously still missing, please reach out.

My AO3 tagset nomination(s) were rejected but aren't discussed below, why did you reject them?

Most likely you failed to disambiguate your nominations, or made some other error — we reject incorrect tags rather than fixing them. You're welcome to post a link to your nominations slate if you'd like us to tell you why the tag(s) were rejected. You can attempt to re-nominated tags either on AO3 or via the form if you'd like.

However, there is a delay between us rejecting and us posting nominations clarifications! Literally as I post this post, other people on the tagmod team are approving/rejecting new tags. So your rejected tag might show up in a future clarification post

I have a nominations question not answered here or on the Nomination Guidelines. Can I ask on this post?

Yes! You can ask nominations questions on whichever nominations clarification post has been most recently posted, or you can ask on the Nomination Guidelines, or you can use the mod contact post, or you can email us. We're happy to help no matter how you get in contact!


Medium Update

Before we move on to queries and rejections, we have a little medium update!

We've reviewed the "Typeset of a Recipient's Fanfiction" Unique Rules medium and made a few adjustments!

  • The title of the ruleset has changed to just Typeset to allow for non-fanfiction typeset nominations (any new nominations must still contain "Recipient's"). The only nominated typeset tag has not been altered.
  • We've changed the equivalents from a flat 500/1000 base credit to a rolling 300 credit per 1k words of original fic credit that's capped at 2k equivalent.
  • We've clarified that all images counting for credit must be illustrated.
  • We've clarified that typesets must contain at minimum a simple front page
  • We've simplified the illustrated equivalents to: Remove frontispiece (this can just count as a full page image), group the smaller elements together

We've updated the wording of the template crediting in the Writing ruleset to make it clear that the template must be coded or embedded into AO3.


Queries

Google Forms nominations

  • Black Dynasty - Marilena Barbagallo: ALIX Brun/Scorpio Leclerc (Black Dynasty) — Should "ALIX Brun" be "Alix Brun"?
  • Can't Think Straight: Yoon Jaehyuk/Han Garam — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form. Nominator, we're not sure what fandom this is. Is it "I Can't Think Straight (2008)"? Approving as "선 넘는 사이 | Can't Think Straight"
  • Dragon Age (Video Games): Anders/Fenris/Hawke (Dragon Age VG), Anders/Justice/Hawke (Dragon Age VG) — Hawke is the player character and has a selectable gender. Does the nominator have a preference? If you do, it needs to be baked into the tag because you can't use your DNWs to specify a gender when requesting.
  • LOVEMe Hard - Jerry Heil (Music Video): All tags — This song seems to be titled LOVE ME HARD, not LOVEMe Hard. Can the nominator clarify?
  • Pearl Boy: All tags — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form. Nominator, we're not sure what fandom this is. Is it "조개소년 | Pearl Boy (Webcomic)"?
  • Sasaki And Miyano: Miyano Yoshikazu/Sasaki Shuumei — Nominator, do you want the manga or anime? The canonical tags (which we would like spreadsheet nominators to copy/paste into the form when nominating) are 佐々木と宮野 | Sasaki to Miyano (Manga) ‎or 佐々木と宮野 | Sasaki to Miyano (Anime)
  • Tasogare Auto Fokasu/Twilight Out Of Focus: All tags — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form. Nominator, we found two canonicals that we think might be the fandom you meant: "黄昏アウトフォーカス | Tasogare Out Focus (Anime)" or "黄昏アウトフォーカス | Tasogare Out Focus (Manga) -- is this the fandom the nominator intended? Would you like the anime or the manga?
  • The Summer Hikaru Died: All tags — We ask that nominators use canonicals when nominating via form. Nominator, we're not sure what fandom this is. Is it "光が死んだ夏 | Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu | The Summer Hikaru Died (Manga)" or "光が死んだ夏 | Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu | The Summer Hikaru Died (Anime)" or something else?

Ao3 tagset nominations

  • Caraval Series - Stephanie Garber: Solo: Julian (Caraval), Caspar & Julian Santos (Caraval) — It looks like other relationship nominations have "Julian Santos" listed as a character. Is this solo nomination for "Julian" referring to Julian Santos or a different Julian?
  • Philza Hardcore S4 Lore: All tags — This fandom tag was made synonymous with the fandom DSMP at some point in the past week-ish, so future nominations need to be made under the fandom "Philza Hardcore Season 4 Lore (DFE)"
  • Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures: Crystal/Gold (Pokemon Adventures), Gold/Yellow (Pokemon Adventures) — Just letting you know that we rejected these and then added them back into the tagset as "Crystal/Gold (Pokemon SPECIAL)" and "Gold/Yellow (Pokemon SPECIAL)" to match the other tags in this fandom.
  • 괴담에 떨어져도 출근을 해야 하는구나 - 백덕수 | Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story I Still Have to Go to Work - Baek Deoksoo: All tags — Sorry nominator, these tags were accidentally rejected! We think they were probably fine? We can't see tags after we've rejected them. Please let us know what these tags were and we will add them into the tagset for you.

Rejected Tags

Google Forms nominations

  • Crossover Fandom: Cassandra Cain & Creator's Choice of Adult Character — Sorry, nominator, but "Creator's Choice of [Character Type]" in Crossover Fandom counts as Creator's Choice of Fandom, which we don't allow in FIAB. Please pick a second fandom.
  • Crossover Fandom: Dick Grayson & Creator's Choice of Adult Character — Sorry, nominator, but "Creator's Choice of [Character Type]" in Crossover Fandom counts as Creator's Choice of Fandom, which we don't allow in FIAB. Please pick a second fandom.
  • Crossover Fandom: Jason Todd (DCU) & Creator's Choice of Adult Character — Sorry, nominator, but "Creator's Choice of [Character Type]" in Crossover Fandom counts as Creator's Choice of Fandom, which we don't allow in FIAB. Please pick a second fandom.
  • Crossover Fandom: Reigen Arataka (MP100) & Creator's Choice of Child Character — Sorry, nominator, but "Creator's Choice of [Character Type]" in Crossover Fandom counts as Creator's Choice of Fandom, which we don't allow in FIAB. Please pick a second fandom.

Ao3 tagset nominations

  • Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021): Jayce (League of Legends)/Mel Medarda/Viktor (League of Legends) (Arcane LoL) — We accepted this tag but we've since replaced it with "Jayce/Mel Medarda/Viktor (Arcane LoL)"
  • Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling: WB: Morally Ambiguous Death Eaters or Order Members (HP - JKR) — This is a group, which makes it ineligible for a WB: tag, but it's also not a tag that we would accept as a Solo: tag, either because it's too much like a prompt. Nominator, what kind of worldbuilding are you looking for concerning morally ambiguous characters? What part of the canon setting or society are you hoping to see fleshed out in a gift?
  • LOVECRAFT H. P. - Works: All tags including already accepted tags — Nominator, we accepted this fandom but on second thought we think this probably counts as an umbrella fandom, which we do not accept. Do all of Lovecraft's works take place in the same setting with the same worldbuilding/lore? Would "Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft" fit what you want better? Additionally, since we're querying anyway, we'd love an explanation of each of your WB: tags. If we don't hear from you, we will move your tag to The Outsider to the fandom "The Outsider - H. P. Lovecraft" and remove/reject all other tags.
  • Murdoch Mysteries: solo: Violet Hart, Violet Hart & Llewellyn Watts, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Spencer Reid — We accidentally accepted these, but they're not disambiguated properly (and might not even be characters for the right fandom?) so we have removed them from the tagset.
  • Thor (Movies): Amora & Loki (Marvel) and other tags disambiguated with "(Marvel)" — These were disambiguated incorrectly but we thought you might be confused about why, so here's an explanation: you selected the canonical (official) tags instead of writing a tag with a more specific disambiguation. Per the Nominations Guidelines, we need disambiguations that are clear about which specific fandom a tag is nominated under, so tags under this fandom should be disambiguated with "(Thor Movies)" or similar. We fixed your worldbuilding nominations to "(Thor Movies)" because we appreciate the attempt at disambiguating, but correcting all of your disambigs would have taken too much time so we rejected the ship tags. You can re-nominate via the form.
  • X-Men (Comicverse): All tags — Our guidelines on specific fandoms says this: "Marvel comics may be nominated by title or under the name of the appropriate Marvel universe (Marvel 616, Marvel Ultimates, etc)" and we're pretty sure this isn't the title of a specific comic run, but instead is just a fandom for all Marvel 616 X-Men comics. If this is the case, you can re-nominate under the fandom Marvel 616 via tagset or form. If we're mistaken, please explain in a comment below and provide your nominations page link so we can add your tags for you manually instead of making you renominate.
  • 백작가의 망나니가 되었다 - 유려한 | Lout of Count's Family | Trash of the Count's Family - Yulyeohan: Cale Henituse | Kim Rok Soo & Everyone (LCF) — We don't want "& Everyone" tags in the tagset because we feel it's unclear when combined with our rules about groups in tags. Would you prefer "Cale Henituse | Kim Rok Soo & Any Canon Characters (LCF)" or "Cale Henituse | Kim Rok Soo & Any Characters (LCF)"? (The first one will prevent you from getting Original Characters, the second will allow Original Characters.)
  • 龍の国 ルーンファクトリー | Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (Video Game): Cuilang/Kaguya (Rune Factory) and other tags disambiguated with "(Rune Factory)" — These were disambiguated incorrectly but we thought you might be confused about why, so here's an explanation: you selected the canonical (official) tags instead of writing a tag with a more specific disambiguation. Per the Nominations Guidelines, we need disambiguations that are clear about which specific fandom a tag is nominated under, so tags under this fandom should be disambiguated with "(Rune Factory: GoA)" or similar. You can re-nominate via the form.

Viol camp 2025

Aug. 4th, 2025 01:06 pm
matildalucet: (Default)
[personal profile] matildalucet
VdGSA held its annual conclave in Oxford OH this year, which I decided was a not-unreasonable solo drive. This is a week of up to four classes per day, plus evening activities. I’ve never done more than three classes before; I chose four this year and my brain was kind of mush by the end. It would be saner to limit myself to three and schedule exercise for that fourth time slot. Live and learn, maybe.

I took a class in bowing technique, a class in dances by two 16th century Italian composers I hadn’t heard of yet (Mainerio and Bendusi), a class titled “Medieval Hit List” (somewhat rare at viol gatherings), and a class on 16th century music theory. There is usually an evening lecture one night but it was replaced this year by English Country Dance for all, which was largely duple minor Playford dances, not my forte though I muddled through. I won two small items in the fundraising auction, bought a bit of sheet music at the store, enjoyed concerts, and sat in on sport sightreading one evening. (Ad hoc groups play most evenings but between mush-for-brains, exhaustion, and shyness I rarely join.)

The dorm room and dining hall were okay. The community feel was excellent. I found people to sit with for meals and the banquet, balanced against alone time in my dorm room to unwind.

Next year looks like it will be in VA, maybe the same distance from home, in a location I’ve never been to. Too soon to say whether going is in the cards; I haven’t ruled it out. :-)
doranwen: female nerds, rare and precious (Default)
[personal profile] doranwen posting in [community profile] recthething
A few years I created a database to organize my fanfics, stocked it with about 1800 fics from a handful of fandoms (mostly small ones), and then got swamped with things and put it on hold. Tonight I've finally caught up with the fandoms in it* and updated all of the lists, and thought it might be good to link them here in case someone hasn't seen the posts before or wants to revisit them now that I have added nearly 350 fics to the lists.

You can find them all linked at my master recs post. All lists indicate which ships are major in the fic, if any, and I mark a few additional things that may be helpful.

Fandoms currently included:
  • Alphas

  • FBI (CBS show)

  • FBI: Most Wanted

  • Fried Green Tomatoes (book & movie)

  • Push

  • Speed

  • The Matrix

as well as a smattering of recs from tinier fandoms (mainly movies). Fandoms with fewer than 30 fics in my database (such as Speed) are in a "Tiny fandoms" post, and there's a post just for crossovers as well.

In order to keep maintenance to a minimum, I don't include all the themes with the main posts above, but I generally include them with any post made on request. Themes tagged cover everything from tropes to grammar (I tag anything that isn't third person past tense) to story ending (positive, sad/unhappy, etc.) to AO3's archive warnings. If you want or need to be spoiled about everything, follow the directions on that post to request a custom recs list and I'd be happy to make one for you.

* The only fandoms not updated are the two FBI shows, because I haven't watched past S3 of the main show and S2 of the Most Wanted one. Someday, perhaps…
siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
I finally got around to pursuing a replacement of what we in the Bostoniensis Household refer to as the Lorem Ipsum card, which was itself a fiasco.

(Recap: PayPal, an organization full of people who are not as smart as they think they are and blessed with perhaps the deepest marketing reach in the US into the small business market for financial services, decided to offer to its business customers the greatest credit card deal of their lifetimes, unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, and the market responded with all the decorous restraint of a river full of pirhana given a whole cow. Apparently we collectively took PayPal for all they were worth – I heard of small tech companies running their cloud services bills to the tune of five figures a month across on the card – until sometime in Sept 2024, when the grown-ups at PayPal discovered they were hemorrhaging money, and very abruptly shut the party down and exit the business credit card market all together. The hard inquiry on my credit report lasted longer than the actual card did. At the time, it was pretty upsetting, but now it's just hilarious.)

A couple weeks ago I decided to apply for an American Express Blue Business Cash card, which has no fees and has a cash back offer. I have to say, absolutely all the customer service agents – five now – I've spoken to have been exemplary. Yeah, alas, that's foreshadowing.

Unfortunately their IT services are demented. First there was the fact they sent me a notification saying my application had been, and I quote, "DENIED", with a link to find out why, and when I followed the link, I discovered my application hadn't been denied: it said that they couldn't run a credit check on me because my credit reports were locked (true), so I need to go unlock the specified credit report and let them know so they could continue processing my application. So I called in and did it in real time with an agent on the line and was approved on the spot. Fabulous. "Okay, you will be getting your card at your home address in three to five business days." "Uh, it's a business card, could you send it to my business address?" "Oh, no, it won't let me send your initial card to any other than your home address." "*sigh* Very well."

My new Amex card arived at my home on like the 30th or 31st, while I had my nose to the grindstone writing. Friday the 1st, I opened the envelope to find my new card, and then to activate it at the website.

I couldn't get it off the paper.

Or rather: in attempting to get the card off the paper, I wound up with a layer of glue and paper stuck on the back of the card, such that I could not read any but the first five digits of the card number, and the CVV was completely covered. It was like the paper was superglued on. It was annealed.

So I called Amex, and discovered that you can't get through the phone tree to a a customer service agent about an extant account unless you can prove you're the owner of the account with, yes, the CVV. Which I can't read. Because there's a half thickness of paper glued across it.

Also, you can't set up an account on their website without the full card number, which I also couldn't read, because there was a half thickness of paper glued across it.

So I called the number for applying for a card in the first place, and threw myself on the mercy of the sales agent, explaining why I was calling them instead of regular customer service: I can't get to customer service without knowing the CVV, and the problem I need help with is that I can't read the CVV. "I know I shouldn't be laughing," he said, "But this is kind of hilarious." He kindly set up a three-way call with customer service so I didn't wind up wandering unattended in a phone tree maze, and once I was talking to the nice people who could replace my card, he ducked out.

The customer service agent and I then discovered that Amex doesn't let you replace a card, for some reason, until an account is 10 days old. My account was, as of that moment, nine days old. She gave me a direct number to business card services in the hopes I could avoid the phone tree of doom; the agent also gave me some pointers about pressing zero to get through it, which trick I had tried on the other phone tree and it hadn't worked.

Saturday I was busy sleeping. Today, I called the phone number I had been given for business card services, and despite the phone tree trying to authenticate with the CVV, I managed to confuse the robot enough it finally found me a human. I got to explain all over again about the disfigured card, and they transferred me again to card replacement, who put the order right in.

I observed to the agent that the issue with the glue and the card might have something to do with them sending it to my home, where I have a black mailbox on a south-facing side of the building, and we had been having a heatwave, and maybe they would like to send my replacement card to my business address, where the mailboxes are indoors in air conditioned comfort? She agreed that would be a much better plan.

So now I await my new Amex. It's a 2% cash back on purchases offer, but only up to the first $50k of purchases, so companies can't use their AWS bill to bleed them dry, so maybe it will stick around a little longer than PayPal's Lorem Ipsum card.

Speaking of credit card offers possibly too good to last, for any of you sad you missed out on getting your own bite of the cow:

I recently discovered that AAA – yeah, the American Automotive Association, the roadside assistance people – has a really great credit card offer. (This may be region specific – I'm in their "Northeast" region.) Their Daily Advantage Visa Signature card has 5% cash back on groceries, no annual fee. Only the first $10k of grocery purchases per year, and then 1% thereafter – which is good, actually: it has a chance of sticking around. But that does mean up to $500/year in cash back on grocery purchases. Given what's happening to the price of food and paper goods, having a permanent 5% discount on groceries is freaking fantastic. It also has a bunch of other features (3% cash back on gasoline or electric car charging stations, e.g.) and 1% cash back on everything else (no limit).

The interest rate is usurious, so under no circumstances do you ever want to carry a balance on it. But if you are the sort of person who can reliably always pay off their balance every month on time: permanent 5% off groceries!

And, no, apparently you do not need to be a AAA member to get the card. (Though we are.)

We got one and I just finished reading the fine print. Seems reasonable. We don't know that our grocery delivery service will be recognized by the card company (it's Comenity Capital Bank under the hood) as a grocery store, but the service is run by a grocery store, and the charges have appeared on the previous card under the name of the grocery store, so here's hoping. We'll know later this week – our next grocery order is for Wednesday, and the charge typically shows up a day or two after that.

Also, we've never had a card with Comenity, so we don't really know how their IT and customer service are. The web interface for account management is very nice. We'll report back as we know more.

I'm not generally in the practice of recommending credit cards, and I can't wholly recommend this one, having not really exercised it yet to discover its landmines. But what's going on here in the Bostoniensis household is that we're cashing in on our good credit scores to take advantage of financial offers that pinch our pennies for us, as a form of hardening our household financially against inflation and other future economic vicissitudes. This has generally meant getting credit with better terms (either lower rates or higher rewards), and opening High-Yield Savings Accounts for our nest egg and my estimated tax payments as a self-employed person.

Given that eating food is a pretty universal custom and groceries are getting scary-expensive, I thought I would mention for anyone who wants to do likewise, and is in a position to do so.

Edit: Oh, yes, it worked with our grocery delivery order just fine. We're delighted.
neotoma: Neotoma albigula, the white-throated woodrat! [default icon] (Default)
[personal profile] neotoma
Porterhouse steak, yellow chanterelle mushrooms, 4lbs of peaches, plums, shishito peppers, and donut peaches.

Nominations Guidelines 2025

Aug. 3rd, 2025 03:13 pm
fic_in_a_box_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] fic_in_a_box_mod posting in [community profile] ficinabox

Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post

This post is about nominations for tags that will be used in the fandom and relationship slots of your requests/tags. For opt-in medium nominations go to this post (link).

Before nominating, read the "Nominations Guidelines" section of this post, even if you also read it last year. After you nominate, keep an eye on the comm in case we need clarification from you before accepting a nomination.

How To Nominate

There are two methods of relationship nominations!

1) Google form

If you're new to nominating or nervous about getting your nomination formatting wrong, we encourage you to use the form. The form is the more forgiving way to nominate, because it's much easier for us to correct, process, and query large volumes of tags via form than it is on AO3.

To nominate via form:

  • Read the "Nominations Guidelines" section of this post–there are nominations rules there which we haven't squeezed into the instructions on the form.
  • Open the google form link and follow the instructions provided to submit your nominations for one fandom.
  • Fill the form out as many times as you want for additional fandoms.
  • Keep an eye on the comm for Nomination Clarification posts about your nominations. Most nominations via form wind up in the tagset without comment from us, but sometimes we need more information from the nominator! We usually can't accept a queried tag without an answer from the nominator, so replying to us is important.

The google doc is anonymous, just like AO3 nominations. Unlike AO3 nominations, you can't see any kind of record of what you've nominated after you submit the form. We suggest you keep notes about what you've submitted if you think you're likely to forget.

Nomination Google Form: https://forms.gle/m9cxg6P2cKemY8RV7

2) AO3 tagset nomination

If you're confident that you understand how to format your tags, you can nominate using the AO3 tagset. There are several benefits to nominating via AO3: you can nominate multiple fandoms at a time; you can see what tags you've nominated; and you can see whether they've been accepted or rejected. However, we will reject AO3 nominations that don't follow the "Nominations Guidelines" section of this post.

To nominate via AO3:

  • Read the "Nominations Guidelines" section of this post.
  • Open the tagset link below and click the "Nominate" button in the top righthand corner.
  • Fill out the fandom and relationships field and click "Submit". You can nominate 10 fandoms with 10 relationships each. Remember that crossover tags must go under Crossover Fandom! We can't remove the note saying crossovers can go under either fandom, but we will reject crossovers nominated in the wrong place without comment.
  • You can edit your nominations while your tags are unprocessed. As soon as a tag is approved or rejected, you can no longer edit it. You can add new nominations at any time during the Nominations period.
    • Accepted tags will show up under their associated fandom in the tagset. You may see them hanging out in the Unassociated Characters & Relationships section for a while, but don't worry, we'll clean that up!
    • We will reject both incorrect tags and tags in need of clarification. Tags in need of clarification will be listed in the next Nominations Clarification post on this comm. If a tag is rejected and doesn't get queried, it was an incorrect nomination in some manner covered in the Nominations Guidelines below. You can send us a link to your nominations page if you can't figure out what you did wrong; we're happy to explain!
  • Keep an eye on the comm for Nomination Clarification posts about your nominations. Once we resolve a query, we'll add the tag into the tagset manually.

Tagset: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/24036

Nomination Guidelines

Please read all guidelines below before nominating and continue to check back on the comm to read all the Nomination Clarification posts that will be posted. If there's a problem with one or more of your nominations, we will need your input to resolve it.

Reminder: Incorrectly formatted AO3 tagset nominations will be rejected. You are welcome to re-nominate via the google form.

Fandoms )

Relationships Field )

Nominations evidence/explanations

In addition to this post functioning as documentation to explain our nominations rules, it's also a place where you can preemptively ask questions about our guidelines, explain edge cases you would like to nominate, or give clarification on confusing or hard-to-google subjects.

When to post evidence about your nomination(s) )

Medium Nomination Post 2025

Aug. 3rd, 2025 03:14 pm
fic_in_a_box_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] fic_in_a_box_mod posting in [community profile] ficinabox

Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection | Fandom/Relationship Field Nomination Guidelines | Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post

Nominating Mediums

Nomination is how you add things to the tagset! Mediums aren't matchable via AO3, but participants can opt into mediums other than fanfiction. If you're someone who wishes to match on one of those mediums as a creator you'll be able to email us (ficinaboxmod@gmail.com) or contact us here on DW via the screened mod contact post

This post is where you should nominate any mediums you want added to the tagset!

If you're nominating a new length opt-in, another form of something already in the tagset, or something that fits easily into the Rulesets, anyone can nominate.

If nominating a medium where the equivalent needs to be discussed you should only nominate if you are someone who intends to create the medium within the exchange.

You may also nominate a medium with Unique Rules instead of a ruleset. In the interest of avoiding rules creep, new Unique Rules mediums should only be mediums that absolutely cannot fit into a ruleset and which have multiple people interested in creating them, or which can either be added to an existing set of Unique Rules or added as a variation to that section

View Rulesets here!

When nominating a medium, please include the following categories:

Small Fandom Fest 2025 Rec List

Aug. 1st, 2025 10:52 pm
maevedarcy: (Default)
[personal profile] maevedarcy posting in [community profile] recthething
Sadly, the [community profile] smallfandomfest is over, but the contributions are forever! I posted in my journal my favorites from this edition of the fest.

In this post:

Medium: fanfic

Fandoms:
  • Sky High
  • Sense8
  • Guardian - priest
  • The Bastard Son and The Devil Himself
See the recs in my journal.

Profile

fabrisse: (Default)
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August 2025

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