2025 Schedule & Rule Updates

Jul. 10th, 2025 10:54 pm
fic_in_a_box_mod: (Default)
[personal profile] fic_in_a_box_mod posting in [community profile] ficinabox

Hello friends! Below is the schedule for FIAB 2025, which will run Late July-November instead of August-November.

Schedule changes, in brief:

  • We've added in extra time for mod admin tasks such as tagset clean up and request checking.
  • We've given you a full 2 week sign up period
  • We've added a couple days of extra time to the creation period.

This extra time will help us utilize our helpers better because we won't have such tight scheduling! It will also allow for the possibility that the swaps puzzle will take longer than in previous years – we don't want to punish swappers with less creation time if it takes us longer than usual to get swaps out, so just building a little extra time into the creation period seemed best.

The rest of this post will cover:

  • Updates to several specific medium tags and medium rules.
  • A slight change to the way OCs can be nominated.

Discord server reminder! Fic In A Box is a complex exchange even for exchange veterans, so we thought that if we were going to invite a bunch of new people to the exchange we should provide a space where they can ask lots of questions throughout the process. This server is open to everyone (we won't kick you out if you've been doing FIAB for years already) but its purpose is to help people participate in the exchange, so it will probably be most useful/enjoyable if you're kinda confused about the exchange. Like FIAB itself, the server is an 18+ Choose Not To Warn space.

Join the FIAB Newbie Discord! (link)

2025 Schedule:

July 24th-August 2: Nominations Pre-Gaming (participants can load tags from last year’s tagset into this tagset)
August 3-12: Nominations
August 13-16: Nominations Cleanup
August 17th-August 31th: Signups
August 20th: Swap requests open
September 6: Assignments Out By This Date
September 7: Swap requests close
October 19: Assignments Due
November 9: Last Day To Submit Makeup Assignments
November 15: Work Reveals
November 29: Creator Reveals

All deadlines are at 11:59 PM EDT except for those in November, which will happen at 11:59 PM EST

New In 2025

Mediums Rules Updates

Art Ruleset

We'll be adjusting the language for the ruleset to make it clear that if multiple characters are requested they must all be visibly within the artwork.

We will also be adding "Papercraft" (creating an image using layered paper cut into the necessary shapes) as a style to the ruleset. This will be a possible style for any art tag that doesn't specify another style (such as "Drawn") and can be requested specifically by nominating the desired art tags with at "Papercraft - " prefix.

Multimedia Works

We'll be adding more guidance for the requirements if combining two different requested medium tags into a multimedia work in the Posting Guidelines.

Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Printable Sticker Page Layout

We are changing the rules for stickers to clarify a medium-checking issue we had last year. New rules will set a minimum number of stickers per sheet (five unique stickers per sheet), for an equivalent of 2k per sticker sheet.

Medium Opt-In: Audio - Fanmix
Medium Opt-In: Audio - FST (Fan Soundtrack)

These tags will be merged into the tag "Medium Opt-In: Audio - Fanmix/FST (Fan Soundtrack)"

Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Cross Stitch Pattern

We will be updating the rules for this medium to clarify that you can't auto-generate a cross stitch pattern from pre-existing art.

Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Web-based choice-based IF not hosted on AO3
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Twine
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Ink
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Interactive Fiction - AO3 style Choose Your Own Adventure
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Visual Novel

We will be restructuring all of these tags into the following four tags:

  • Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - AO3-style Choose Your Own Adventure
  • Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Choice-Based IF Not Hosted On AO3
  • Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Illustrated AO3-style Choose Your Own Adventure
  • Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Interactive Fiction - Illustrated Choice-Based IF Not Hosted On AO3

Length Opt-In: Drabble
Length Opt-In: Double Drabble
Length Opt-In: Triple Drabble

These are being changed to the following:

  • Length Opt-In: Drabble (100 Words Exactly)
  • Length Opt-In: Double Drabble (200 Words Exactly)
  • Length Opt-In: Triple Drabble (300 Words Exactly)

Length Opt-In: Drabble Series

We are removing this tag because it caused some confusion last year. If you'd like to request drabble series please mention it in your optional details. Drabble series of over 1000 words are opt out (similar to other fic formats such as 5+1 things), and for drabble series of under 1000 words you may opt-in within your optional details while requesting a drabble tag.

Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Craftwork

These tags will be adjusted to have an equivalent of 2k.

Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Recipe book
Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Cocktail Recipes

For clarity these will be singularized into:

  • Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Recipe
  • Medium Opt-In: Instructions - Cocktail Recipe

In addition it will be clarified in the rules that recipes are required to be the original creations of the poster.

Nominations Rules Updates

Original Character(s) nominations will not be accepted. This is because "Original Character(s)" is meant to mean either Original Character (singular) or Original Characters (plural) but we've seen some evidence that people who want just one or the other are selecting this phrasing simply because it's common in canonicals.

Tentatively, we will try out simply editing these nominations to be singular if they come up on the AO3 interface, but if that's too burdensome we will reject like all other incorrect tags.

Click here to view tag examples!

Elmo & Original Character(s) (Sesame Street)
Big Bird/Original Character(s) (Sesame Street)
Solo: Original Character(s) (Sesame Street)

Not allowed per this new rule.

Elmo & Original Character (Sesame Street)
Big Bird/Original Character (Sesame Street)
Solo: Original Character (Sesame Street)

Allowed! These tags will get you a work with one OC, plus other listed characters if there are any.

Elmo & Original Characters (Sesame Street)
Big Bird/Original Characters (Sesame Street)
Solo: Original Characters (Sesame Street)

Allowed! These tags are phrased as plural, but per our other nominations rules "Original Characters" counts as an ambiguous group so requests with this phrasing could be filled with 1 OC or 2+ OCs.

Note that you can't limit the number of OCs if you pick a tag like "Big Bird/Original Characters (Sesame Street)" so if you're really only interested in a threesome but not a foursome, you should instead nominate like…

Elmo & Original Character & Original Character (Sesame Street)
Big Bird/Original Character/Original Character (Sesame Street)

Allowed! These tags need to be filled with as many OCs as are listed in the tag. Per other nominations rules, you can list up to 6 characters in a relationship tag.

If Big Bird and five other characters isn't a big enough orgy/polycule for you, you can A) list the last character as the plural "Original Characters" to leave yourself open to more than 5 OCs, or B) use your optional details to opt into more OCs at your creator's discretion. (We suggest you do this in the AO3 optional details box so it's easy for us to find, rather than buried in a letter.)

casemod: (pic#16512717)
[personal profile] casemod posting in [community profile] caseficexchange
Hello citizen detectives,

Our assignments are due very, very soon! [ In your timezone + Countdown ]

Please be aware that I will not be granting extensions requested after Friday 11 July 11:59pm EDT, so if you need one, please get in touch as soon as possible to secure one.

I will be AFK for several hours before assignments are due, which means you will not receive a confirmation of your extension request (if you send one) until after the deadline has passed! Please consider all extensions that are requested granted as you will not receive a confirmation email before the deadline. I will confirm deadlines when I am back online, but I don't want anyone to worry if they don't hear from me for a few hours!

I am currently granting extensions for Friday 18 July and Friday 25 July at 11:59pm EDT as deadlines. You are welcome to request one of those specific dates, but please be aware that if you request the latter, I will not be granting further extensions as this is our first (and hopefully only!) post-deadline pinch hits deadline.

If you want an extension, please email gumshoeagency@gmail.com with your AO3, your recipient's AO3, and your preferred deadline (Friday 18 July or Friday 25 July). Please get in touch if you have extenuating circumstances. My goal is to open the collection in August (with the help of you and our pinch hitters), and I want everyone to have a fun time and not be too stressed about creating.

I will be posting the post-deadline pinch hits a short time after the assignment deadline has passed. (In the meantime, Commissioner Clawseau will be enjoying attending an event!)

I am updating our deadlines in our schedule, including post-deadline pinch hits. I'd appreciate any help in getting these pinch hits filled once I post them, especially if you are a part of any servers that are about the requested fandoms. Please keep an eye out for the post-deadline pinch hits post!

Thank you all for such fun emails and fantastic creations. I've enjoyed seeing what everyone's come up with and can't wait to see even more creative investigations and criminal activity sweep into the agency. Happy editing and creating!
longficmod: Photo of a woman tying a running shoe (Default)
[personal profile] longficmod posting in [community profile] fandom5k
Thank you to all our pinch hitters. <3 Remember that anyone who isn't signed up but is only pinch hitting can leave prompts at our treats for pinch hitters post! This is a great place to look if you're interested in creating treats.

Ideally, these would be due 18 July at 23:59 US Eastern time, one day before our planned reveals date. However, it's possible I'll have to delay the collection opening to make sure all participants are covered, so if you know you can take one of these pinch hits but will need longer than the 18th, please let me know, and we can discuss.

A delay looks likely at this time, and I'll make an announcement about that tomorrow.

If you can claim one of these, please comment with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you want. All comments are screened.

PDPH 10 - The West Wing, Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns, Severance (TV) )


CLAIMED - PDPH 13 - Naruto (Anime & Manga), Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005), Original Work, Gundam Wing, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, House of the Dragon (TV) )

wednesday update

Jul. 9th, 2025 07:00 pm
isis: (coffee label)
[personal profile] isis
I don't have much to say about books or TV, because I am still in the middle of my current read and current show. But! For those of you who casually enjoyed the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris, the third (and final) season is coming out now. There are a couple of "mini-sodes" which will help you catch up to what's going on, and two regular episodes, and the third will be out soon (it's out to high-dollar Patreons but I am a low-dollar contributor). I listened to the mini-sodes when they came out, and today on my run I listened to the first two regular episodes. Again, I kind of feel like I'm using dystopian fiction about authoritarian regimes as escapism from actual authoritarian regimes...

But the real reason I wanted to post was to say that I'm a bit more than 55% through Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, and there's a 30% discount for it in the Steam sale which ends tomorrow, so - if my post last week intrigued you, I encourage you to buy it, it's inexpensive, it's captivating, it's sophisticated and spooky and atmospheric with occasional touches of humor, fourth-wall smashing, and weird supernatural stuff, and the puzzles are clever and thinky and (mostly) fun. As I mentioned, I told my brother about it and he bought it - and he finished it last night! He admits he got so into it that he put in way too many hours too quickly, but he really loved it.

If you do buy it, the hints page at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3249636035 is really great as it is nudge-y rather than sledge-y; it points you in the right direction (or tells you what a wrong direction is) which for me is mostly all I have needed.

Also, there are in-game espresso machines.

Another GURPS Bundle - Pyramid 2

Jul. 9th, 2025 06:38 pm
ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
This is the second bundle of Pyramid Magazine issues I mentioned on Monday, covering the second half of Volume 3 of Pyramid (62 issues, Nov 2013 - Dec 2018)

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Pyramid2

 

There's not really much to add to what I said previously - you get a lot of material for a huge range of genres, and a lot of it is easily adapted to other RPGs. On Monday I think I underestimated how much these bundles are saving - if you buy the lot the cost is about 10% of what you pay for the issues individually. If you don't already own most of them it's probably worth a look.

summerofhorrorexchange: silhouette of killer (Default)
[personal profile] summerofhorrorexchange posting in [community profile] yuletide
Summer of Horror could use your help! We have one pinch hit left, due July 11 at 11:59 PM EDT or negotiable. Minimums are 500 words or a piece of original art (no manips), either digital or on unlined paper. For claiming and more details, go here.

PH 3 - FIC, ART - Psychonauts (Video Games), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko no Naku Koro ni | When the Seagulls Cry, Mortal Kombat (Video Games 1992-2020)

Thank you!

Two Down, Three to Go

Jul. 8th, 2025 08:09 pm
sleepymod: (Default)
[personal profile] sleepymod posting in [community profile] earlybirdgetstheword
Unfortunately, we still have one unclaimed pinch hit as well as the return of two more pinch hits. As such, we will delay the Collection opening by one further week.

The new (tentative) opening date will be July 16th 20:00 EDT.

The new Pinch Hit deadline will also be one week from today at July 14th 22:00 EDT.

These are the current pinch hits. To claim, please comment on this post with the name/number of the pinch hit you would like and your AO3 username! Comments are screened.

You may also email us at sleepymod@mailfence.com

Edit: All Pinch Hits have been claimed!! Thank you Pinch Hitters!

CLAIMED - PH 1 - Animal Control (TV 2023), Degrassi the Next Generation, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV), The Good Place (TV), North of North (TV 2025), Only Murders in the Building (TV) )

 


CLAIMED - PH 4 - ケイヤク | KeixYaku (TV), 御赐小仵作 | The Imperial Coroner (TV), 作りたい女と食べたい女 | Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna | She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat (TV) )

 


CLAIMED - PH 11 - Blue Period (Manga), Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn, Advance Wars (Video Games 2001-2005; 2023), Tales of Berseria, K (Anime), Sengoku Basara, Tales of Legendia, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You (Video Games) )

 


wychwood: John and Rodney making identical hand gestures (have fun!) (SGA - McShep clicky fingers)
[personal profile] wychwood
I have indeed played lots of ME:A (up to 34% completion, apparently). Also done many other things but all while lacking any desire to put any effort into documenting them! However, I have visited the Stourbridge Glass Museum with Miss H last Thursday, which felt more art-gallery-ish than really museum-y to me, but did have some lovely glass things. There's a big historic gallery, which has lots of... glasses and vases and things, mostly in categories by technique and with plaques that talk about the local connections and the like, and a big 20th century and contemporary gallery with lots of cool and fun modern art glass, with some glasses and vases and the like as well. They also have a "hot shop" with actual glassmakers working, which was my favourite part. I bought a ladybird suncatcher which is hanging on my window and looking very cheerful even behind the slatted blind.

Then on the Saturday we went to Thinktank, the science museum, to see the Space Vault exhibition and also TWO shows in the planetarium because we are suckers for a planetarium. Unlike the Leicester Space Centre we did not get to vote on any trivia questions, but we did learn about summer stars and also the Artemis project. The exhibition itself was full of space-and-astronaut objects that mostly weren't actually very exciting (a piece of broken insulation! a manual! some gloves!) but they did a good job of contextualising the artefacts and adding audio and visual components (although the audio was frankly not loud enough to actually listen to, given the volume in the rest of the floor) and I enjoyed myself. Although, as with last time I went to Thinktank, it was obscenely hot and humid, so I started dragging fairly quickly; possibly I am cursed.

Otherwise I have mostly been preparing for GRADUATIONS, mostly the part where I have to be on campus every day. I made what eventually turned out to be twelve portions of pasta bake, now largely filling my freezer, to be eaten for lunches etc, and attempted to mentally adjust to the prospect. Today was the first day, and so far I have done one ceremony (the first of the season!); I'm signed up for a second already, so we'll see how it goes...

Tag nominations are open!

Jul. 8th, 2025 06:24 pm
sasheneskywalker: (Default)
[personal profile] sasheneskywalker posting in [community profile] enemiestoloversex
Tag nominations are now open for the Enemies to Lovers Exchange! Here's the link to the tag set.
 
Please remember:
- Please disambiguate all relationships with the full or abbreviated canon name.
- You can nominate up to 10 fandoms with up to 10 relationships each and 20 freeform tags.
- All relationships must be romantic and/or sexual. Please only nominate relationships with the "/" symbol.
- Every romantic and/or sexual relationship is eligible, no matter what the characters are to each other in canon. The relationship is just going to be portrayed as enemies to lovers in the fanwork.
- Solo characters are not allowed.
- Nominate crossover relationships under Crossover Fandom, with a fandom disambiguation after each character's name. Example: Bob (Fandom 1)/Alice (Fandom 2)
- Nominate original relationships and characters under Original Work. You can specify genders of the characters in the tag. Example: Non-binary Prince/Female Knight (OW)
- You can nominate "Any" character in the relationship tag. You can specify the category and gender of the character if you want. Example: Any Male Villain/Bob (Fandom)
- RPF nominations must be for famous people 18 years old or older. Non-famous relatives or associates of famous people are not allowed. The mods also reserve the right to reject RPF nominations in bad taste (Nazis, contemporary political and religious leaders, etc.).

R.F. Kuang: Yellowface (Book Review)

Jul. 8th, 2025 04:08 pm
selenak: (Damages by Agsmith01)
[personal profile] selenak
Very entertaining satiric novel set in and about the publishing industry. Our first person narrator, June (white), is a writer with a debut novel which didn't make a splash and won't even, so her agent tells her, get a paperback edition, in stark contrast to her college friend Athena Liu's (American Chinese) work: Athena has three novels already published, just secured a Netflix deal and celebrates that and finishing the first draft of her newest work with June when she dies an accidental death by pancake. June doesn't just dial 911. She also makes off with Athena's manuscript, about which only she knows, edits, rewrites and publishes it. Presto, success, at last! ! But wait! There's no lack of sharp-eyed foes waiting, social media is truly a jungle, and June might be her own worst enemy....
Very vague spoilers ensue )

The novel has the right kind of length for this story - which is to say, less than 400 pages - so the various buildings up of suspense - will June get away with it being the big, but not the only one - are not drawn out too long, and there's not a gigantic cast of characters. Said characters reminded me of comedy of manners types - very stylized, often types for certain ways of behaviour - fittng the satire format. The only other thing of R. F. Kuang's I'd read before was Poppy War, a fantasy novel of a very different type, so I'm impressed by her range. Otoh, if Poppy War was so grim that I emerged emotionally exhausted and sure I would go through the experience again (while being glad I had done so in the first place), Yellowface felt like a slick writty automaton which you observe once and marvel at its cleverness but don't feel the need to do it again. But I will certainly continue to keep out an eye for this author.
ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
Two offers for Steve Jackson Games' GURPS RPG system - The first is a new bundle of the first sixty issues of Volume 3 of Pyramid Magazine (2008-2013), the other is a repeat bundle of GURPS 4E Essentials - the rules and the most useful supplements etc.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Pyramid1



https://bundleofholding.com/presents/July2025GURPS



 


Pyramid magazine has always been a useful resource for GURPS, and a lot of it is readily adapted to other systems. This offer feels a little on the expensive side, but you're paying less than a dollar an issue, compared to $6 and up if you buy them individually, which is a very good deal if you don't already own a lot of them. A follow-on bundle which launches on Wednesday has a lot more issues, the remainder of Volume 3.

When the GURPS 4E bundle was last on offer I said "GURPS is probably the most popular generic RPG rules set, designed to be readily adapted to any setting. It's reasonably easy to pick up, though there are other games out there that easier to learn, and has a vast range of support material available. This Essentials offer is aimed at people who don't already own the game at all - I own most of it already in dead tree format, the exceptions are things that simply don't interest me much such as the Mass Combat supplement. If you don't already own it, and want a very adaptable rules set, it's well worth a look." I don't see any reason to change any of that

New pinch hit

Jul. 7th, 2025 06:35 am
krzeslicko: (pic#17804165)
[personal profile] krzeslicko posting in [community profile] allbutromance
Below, you'll find all Pinch Hits you can claim at the moment. Click for details. Deadline the same as usual assignments (3rd of August).
 

PH 6 A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Merlin (TV), The Lord of the Rings (Jackson Movies)

If you'd like to claim, comment here with your pick and your ao3 name. Comments are screened. If you reply without an account, include an email so that we can contact you. You can also email us at allbutromance@gmail.com
bluerosekatie: 3D render of a Bionicle character wearing a purple mask. (Default)
[personal profile] bluerosekatie posting in [community profile] smallfandomfest
Title: No Admittance
Author: bluerosekatie
Fandom: Pluto (Manga)
Pairing/Characters: Atom | Astro Boy & Uran | Zoran | Astro Girl
Rating/Category: Gen
Prompt: Pluto (Manga), Atom & Uran, sibling shenanigans
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Atom won't stand for Uran getting left out of things.
Notes/Warnings: Discusses canon-typical robot racism. Fic is archive-locked to avoid AI scraping.

Read it on AO3 here!

help with Venetian dialect

Jul. 6th, 2025 06:05 pm
dinogrrl: nebula!A (Default)
[personal profile] dinogrrl posting in [community profile] little_details
Hello wonderful people!

I've got a fantasy story that's set in early 18th-century Venice. I don't speak Italian, and definitely don't know the difference between the various regional dialects, so I'm looking for some help with a nickname in Venetian.

I have a priest who can use magic, who is not exactly a nice guy. Nobody likes to be around him, he's the kind of person you can just tell will erupt like a magic-spewing volcano the moment something doesn't go his way. My main character is ten when she first meets him and has a very visceral Do Not Like reaction to him, comparing him to a pack of rabid dogs. She is not told his name at the time, so in her mind she dubs him Father Mad Dog (creative, I know).

Several years ago I tried to parse "Father Mad Dog" into Italian/Venetian, and I don't know where I came to the conclusion that it'd be "Don Can' Pazzo" but that's what I've been using. I guess somewhere along the line I was under the impression that cane would get shortened to can when used like this. Is any of this correct? Or do I need another phrase entirely?

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