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Nominations Clarification 3

Important update to the nominations process! We will be rejecting a lot more AO3-nominated tags this year because we have a lot more people helping us with nominations. The good part of more helpers is that we're getting through tags a lot faster. The bad part of more helpers is that it's a lot harder to coordinate information. To prevent us from accidentally accepting queried tags, we will be rejecting all queried tags.
AO3 nominators will not lose nomination slots to tags rejected for queries — once we've settled the query, we'll put in whatever tag(s) we've agreed on via batch load for you. Generally, we will enter replacement tags for anything rejected or queried for complicated reasons (examples: WB tags we don't understand; characters we thought might be inanimate objects but aren't) but won't enter replacement tags for simple rule breaking (examples: tags with more than 6 characters; tags nominated in lapslock; WB: [Character] Backstory) which is how it's basically always been anyway.

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!

Updates

In-Universe Medium Tags

To make it clearer exactly what falls under the various In-Universe Umbrella tags, we've adjusted the wording of them to specify nominated tags:

Medium Opt-In: Writing - Any Nominated In-Universe Medium
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Any Nominated In-Universe Medium That Fit the Canon Setting
Medium Opt-In: Any - Any Nominated In-Universe Medium
Medium Opt-In: Any - Any Nominated In-Universe Medium That Fit the Canon Setting
Medium Opt-In: Any - Creator's Choice of 3+ Different Nominated In-Universe Mediums Per Work
Medium Opt-In: Any - Creator's Choice: 3+ Diff Nominated Canon-Possible In-Universe Mediums Per Work

There are still the general tags "Medium Opt-In: Writing - Any In-Universe Documents" and "Medium Opt-In: Writing - Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting" which rather than referring to any In-Universe mediums should be taken as specifically meaning written documents. Tags with "In-Universe" in them are the tags that are considered opted into by picking one of the "Nominated In-Universe Medium" umbrella tags. Any tags that were clearly meant to be created from an in-universe perspective have now had "In-Universe" added to their tag if it was not there already.

Here are the tags that have been updated since nominations started:

Medium Opt-In: Art - In-Universe Excerpts from a Character's Sketchbook
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Journal/Notebook/Sketchbook Page(s)
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Diary Entry
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Excerpts from a Character's Journal/Notebook
Medium Opt-In: Art - In-Universe Propaganda Poster
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Page From An Herbal
Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Bestiary
Medium Opt-In: Instructions - In-Universe Spell or Ritual Instructions
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Reddit: In-Universe Highly Upvoted Reddit Comment And Comment's Context
Medium Opt-In: Typographic Design - In-Universe Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)

Note that this does not mean you cannot create or prompt for in-universe works for medium tags without "In-Universe" in the tag, anything that wasn't already being interpreted as solely an in-universe tag was not changed. If you would like a specifically In-Universe version of any tags that could be interpreted multiple ways, you may nominate that variation on the medium nomination post.

Queries

Google Forms nominations

DCU (Comics): Cassandra Cain & Barda Free (DC Comics) — Usually Barda is referred to as "Big Barda". When she uses the name "Barda Free", it is usually in specific versions of the DCU. If the nominator is looking for a specific version of Barda, it would be helpful for them to reference which comics run they want, or if they just want Barda in any form, changing Barda's name to Big Barda might be better.
DCU (Comics): Scott Free/Barda Free (DC Comics) — Usually Barda is referred to as "Big Barda". When she uses the name "Barda Free", it is usually in specific versions of the DCU. If the nominator is looking for a specific version of Barda, it would be helpful for them to reference which comics run they want, or if they just want Barda in any form, changing Barda's name to Big Barda might be better.
Dimension 20 (Web Series): WB: Shadow Falcon Conspiracy (Never Stop Blowing Up) (D20) — We've found the Shadow Falcons as a group, and Shadow Falcon Protocol, but we couldn't find anything about a conspiricy about them. Could someone let us know what this tag means?
Elden Ring (Video Game): Solo: Miquella's Followers in Shadow of the Erdtree (Elden Ring) — Miquella's Followers seems to be a set group, while Shadow of the Erdtree is the title of an Elden Ring expansion. Nominator, why do you need "In Shadow of the Erdtree" added to this nomination?
Magic Kaito: WB: Pandora (Magic Kaito) — We can't figure out what this is, could the nominator let us know?
QSMP | Quackity SMP: WB: Quesadilla Island's Operations and Logistics (QSMP) — On Quesadilla island there is the broad groups of the Federation (organization controlling the island), the islanders (brought there to live, in conflict with and working with the Federation) and the Rebellion/Resistance (antagonistic force sometimes working against and sometimes with the islanders/federation). Does this nominator intend this tag to be open enough to allow a focus on any of these groups, or would they prefer to rephrase to focus on one of those groups in particular or a more geography focus on the island itself and mysterious aspects of its history? (It's fine if you do want it to be very open—we're just checking!)
Shadow and Bone (TV): Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov & The Crows (Shadow and Bone) — This tag has already been accepted and will be added to the tagset with the next batchload. However, we're wondering if someone familiar with this fandom can confirm that Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, and Jesper Fahey are the characters that count as "The Crows" in the show, or whether there are other group members.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types: Cody/Ordo Skirata (SW: TCW) — Ordo Skirata appears to be from the Republic Commando books (which would be nominated under "Star Wars: Legends Books") and doesn't appear in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. We think Cody is at least mentioned in the Republic Commando books, and definitely appears in other Legends books. Would the nominator like us to accept this tag into Star Wars: Legends Books as "Cody/Ordo Skirata (SWL Books)" or under Star Wars - All Media Types as "Cody (SW: TCW)/Ordo Skirata (SWL Books)"?
Westworld (TV): WB: Narrative Department (Westworld TV) — In canon, this seems to be called the Narrative and Design Division — is that correct, or is the Narrative Department a separate/more specialized part of that division? Also, we think either way this needs more worldbuilding detail to not be a group nom. What kind of worldbuilding are you hoping for about this department/division?

Ao3 tagset nominations

+Anima (Manga): WB: Anima (+Anima) — We think this is asking for worldbuilding about the titular +Anima of this manga, but we're not sure. If that is the case, we're unable to accept this tag as-is, as it would be better suited as a Solo: tag. Alternatively, the nominator could elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding they're looking for about the +Anima (Sidenote: Wikipedia seems certain that they're called "+Anima" not "Anima" — is that correct?)
Crossover Fandom: Solo: Any YGO DM Cast Member (YGO DM) in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon — We accepted this as "Any YGO DM Character" because we're pretty sure that that's what you meant. If "Cast Member" actually means something specific and different for this fandom, please let us know and we will correct this.
Crossover Fandom: Tom Riddle (HP-JKR) & Edmund Pevensie (Narnia-CS Lewis) — We accepted this tag as "Tom Riddle Jr. (HP - JKR) & Edmund Pevensie (Narnia - CS Lewis)" because we're pretty sure you meant Voldemort, rather than his father, Tom Riddle Sr. However, if you did secretly mean Voldemort's dad, please let us know and we'll happily swap the tag out.
DCU (Comics): Jason Todd & Any Prostitute Under His Protection (DC Comics) — Is Jason Todd having sex workers under his protection (presumably during his time as Red Hood?) canon to any comic runs, or is it fanon?
DCU (Comics): Jason Todd & Member(s) Of His Gang (DC Comics) — Is it canon that Jason Todd has a gang working for him (presumably during his time as Red Hood?) in any comic runs, or is it fanon?
Dredge (Video Game): WB: Eldritch Cults (Dredge) — We can't find anything about canonical cults in this video game, possibly because it's considered a "cult classic". Are there canonical cults in this game?
Dungeons and Dragons (Cartoon): WB: Portals that don't lead back to the Amusement Park (Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon) — Are there canonically other portals that don't lead back to the amusement park?
Fairy Tail: WB: Doomed Future Timeline Seen in Grand Magic Games Arc (Fairy Tail) — This was pulled for query, but we sorted it out without having to ask anything, so it's in the tagset already!
Gary and His Demons (Cartoon): Gary & Lil Fleshler (Gary and his Demons) — We can only find references to a demon named "Fleshler" is "Lil Fleshler" a different character?
Gundam 00: WB: Gender and Innovades (Gundam 00) — This was pulled for query, but you already answered our question about it via a nominations evidence post, so it will be in the tagset soon.
Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie: WB: Post Canon Politics (Imperial Radch) — We prefer in-universe phrasing when possible. What kind of post-canon politics does the nominator want worldbuilding about? (Or, perhaps better phrased: what is it that happens at the end of canon that makes the nominator think politics would change afterwards?)
Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling: WB: Alliance with Babylon falls apart (Nantucket Trilogy) — I could confirm that the aliance with Babylon is canon, but is it canon that it falls apart? If so, could the nominator be more specific about what kind of worldbuilding they're hoping for about the end of the alliance? This is currently phrased as a prompt, which we won't allow.
Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling: WB: Exploring the 1250 BCE World (Nantucket Trilogy) — Nominator, do you mean that you want worldbuilding about how the Nantucket islanders managed to explore the world (eg, logistics & technology required to do so) or did you mean something else?
Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling: WB: Nantucketers are the Sea Peoples (Nantucket Trilogy) — We're not sure what this one means, but it seems more like a prompt. Could the nominator elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding they were hoping to get from this tag?
Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling: WB: Revenge of William Walker's Side (Nantucket Trilogy) — We're not sure what this one means, but it seems more like a prompt. Could the nominator elaborate on what kind of worldbuilding they were hoping to get from this tag?
Nantucket Trilogy - S.M. Stirling: WB: Tensions between uptimers and downtimers (Nantucket Trilogy) — We think this tag is about cultural differences and conflicts between the Nantucket islanders and the people of the past. Is that the case? Is "Uptimer" and "Downtimer" the in-universe terminology for those two groups?
Original Work: Lonely Young Man/His AI Friend Who's Steadily Gaining Control Of His Life (OW) — Is the AI Friend steadily gaining control of the man's life or his own? We could rephrase to "Lonely Young Man/His AI Friend Who's Steadily Gaining Control Of The Young Man's Life (M/Any) (OW)" or something else.
Original Work: Recessive Alpha Hiding Identity/Dominant Alpha Who Believes Childhood Friend Is A Beta (M/M) — We're a little confused by the combination of "recessive" and "dominant" here. Do you mean in terms of genes? (Is this just an omegaverse trope we've never seen before, but it's clear to others?)
Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series): WB: Day-to-Day Life of a Team Galactic Grunt (Pokemon) — Is "Grunt" a canonical position on Team Galactic, or can we rephrase this tag to "WB: Life as part of Team Galactic"?
QSMP | Quackity SMP: FitMC & Pactw & Tubbo & Creator's Choice of Morning Crew Member(s) (QSMP), FitMC/Pactw/Tubbo & Creator's Choice of Morning Crew Member(s) (QSMP) — These were pulled for query but we solved it ourselves, so they should be in the tagset shortly.
Red Dwarf (UK TV): Dave Lister/Ace Rimmer/Arnold Rimmer (Red Dwarf TV) — We pulled this for query but figured it out ourselves, so it should be in the tagset shortly!
Ride Kamens (Video Game): Q & Lance Tendo & Libal | Mask of Liberty (Ride Kamens) — This was pulled for query, but you already answered our question about it via a nominations evidence post, so it will be in the tagset soon.
Transformers Generation One: All tags — We whoops'd a little on our updating our fandom guidelines! This is too broad of a fandom and based on Nominations Clarification 0 comments, we're moving all these tags to "The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)" — if you want a different generation 1 tag (for example, "The Transformers (IDW Generation One)") for some of these tags, please let us know. Longer explanation here. (link)
Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game): All tags — In previous years, the Xenoblade games have been split into Xenoblades 1, 2, and 3. But this year both "Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game)" and "Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game)" have both snuck into the tagset. Should these fandoms be split or kept under "Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game)"? Keeping them all together is easiest for us, so if Xenoblade nominators cannot come to an agreement to split (or don't respond to this query) we will merge.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game): All tags — In previous years, the Xenoblade games have been split into Xenoblades 1, 2, and 3. But this year both "Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game)" and "Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Video Game)" have both snuck into the tagset. Should these fandoms be split or kept under "Xenoblade Chronicles (Video Game)"? Keeping them all together is easiest for us, so if Xenoblade nominators cannot come to an agreement to split (or don't respond to this query) we will merge.
少年白马醉春风 | Dashing Youth (Live Action TV): Baifa Xian | Mo Qixuan/Ziyi Hou | Zi Yuji (Dashing Youth) — We are unable to confirm the existence of "Bafa Xian | Mo Qixuan" can the nominator help us out here?
少年白马醉春风 | Dashing Youth (Live Action TV): Mo Xiaohui/Liu Yue (Dashing Youth) — We are unable to confirm the existence of "Mo Xiaohui" does the nominator mean the character "Mo Xiaohei" ?

Rejected Tags

Google Forms nominations

방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS: Jeon Jungkook/Jung Hoseok/Kim Namjoon/Kim Seokjin/Kim Taehyung/Min Yoongi/Park Jimin (BTS) — We only allow 6 characters max per relationship nomination.

Ao3 tagset nominations

A Date With Death (Visual Novel): Grim Reaper | Casper/Male or Nonbinary Main Character (A Date With Death) — Instead of accepting this tag, we will put two different tags into the tagset for you: "Grim Reaper | Casper/Male Main Character (A Date With Death)" and "Grim Reaper | Casper/Nonbinary Main Character (A Date With Death)" — come sign ups, you may request/offer both to cover your bases.
Crossover Fandom: Creator’s Choice of my Other Requests in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon — This was rejected both for improper format (it needed "Solo:" in front) and because we won't accept tags that reference a requester's other requests in this or other exchanges.
Disco Elysium (Video Game): WB: Kim's Skills (Disco Elysium) — This tag was accepted in error and has been/will be removed from the tagset (depending on whether we do that or post CN3 first) as this WB tag would be better requested as a prompt under "Solo: Kim Kitsuragi"
Dungeons and Dragons (Cartoon): WB: How Long are The Kids in the Realm? (Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon) — We don't accept WB tags in the form of questions. Could the nominator rephrase this?
Dungeons and Dragons (Cartoon): WB: Other Parties in the Realm (Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon) — This seems like a group of characters, which would be better suited as a Solo: tag or rephrased to requset specific worldubilding. Also, are there canonically other parties in the realm?
Earth Girls are Easy (1988): Solo: Valerie Gail in The Wizard of Oz (EGAE) — This was nominated under Earth Girls are Easy (1988), but seems like it should be in Crossover Fandom. If it should be under Crossover Fandom, please re-nominate there as "Solo: Valerie Gail (EGAE) in The Wizard of Oz" — and if it was nominated under the correct fandom, please let us know what "In The Wizard of Oz" means in this context.
Exordia - Seth Dickinson: WB: The Khai (ESD) — This seems to be a species and would be better as a Solo: tag. Alternatively, the nominator could let us know what kind of worldbuilding they want about this species.
Gothic (1986): Lord Byron & Mary Godwin Shelley/Percy Shelley & Claire Clairmont & John Polidori (Gothic) — We want all / ships to be at the front of ships, in the format A/B & C (& D, etc), because we find / ships in the middle of ships to be ambiguous. Nominator, do you want "Lord Byron/Mary Godwin Shelley/Percy Shelley & Claire Clairmont & John Polidori (Gothic)" or "Mary Godwin Shelley/Percy Shelley & Lord Byron & Claire Clairmont & John Polidori (Gothic)" added to the tagset?
Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon): Alastor/Charlie Magne | Morningstar & Sir Pentious/Cherri Bomb & Angel Dust/Husk (Hazbin Hotel) — Sorry, nominator, we don't allow more than one / ship in a relationship tag.
Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon): Alastor/Charlie Magne | Morningstar/Vaggie & Sir Pentious/Zestial & Husk/Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel) — Sorry, nominator, we don't allow more than one / ship in a relationship tag.
Persona 4: Solo: Hanamura Yosuke — This was accepted in error and has been/will be removed from the tagset because it has no disambiguation. Please re-nominate with disambiguation.
Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series): WB: Team Plasma (Pokemon) — This is a group and would be better as a Solo: tag. Alternatively, the nominator could let us know what kind of worldbuilding they want about this group.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: WB: Rescue Teams (PMD) — This is a group and would be better as a Solo: tag. Alternatively, the nominator could let us know what kind of worldbuilding they want about this group.
Warframe: WB: Warframe 1999 (Warframe) — Warframe 1999 seems to be an expansion pack releasing sometime this winter, which makes this ineligible both for not being about worldbuilding and for being about media that isn't released yet. If this means something different, please let us know what kind of worldbuilding you were looking for.
人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù: Liu Qingge & Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS) — We're happy to have pipes removed from characters where it won't cause ambiguity, but "Shen Qingqiu" is unfortunately ambiguous. Did you mean Shen Yuan or Shen Jiu? We will want to flip this tag into the A/B & C format ("Luo Binghe/Shen Yuan & Liu Qingge" or "Luo Bingge/Shen Jiu & Liu Qingge" depending on which character you meant) when we accept.
人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu & Liu Mingyan & Ning Yingying & Sha Hualing (SVSSS) — We're happy to have pipes removed from characters where it won't cause ambiguity, but "Shen Qingqiu" is unfortunately ambiguous. Did you mean Shen Yuan or Shen Jiu?
人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu & Liu Mingyan & Sha Hualing (SVSSS) — We're happy to have pipes removed from characters where it won't cause ambiguity, but "Shen Qingqiu" is unfortunately ambiguous. Did you mean Shen Yuan or Shen Jiu?
人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù: Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu & Ning Yingying (SVSSS) — We're happy to have pipes removed from characters where it won't cause ambiguity, but "Shen Qingqiu" is unfortunately ambiguous. Did you mean Shen Yuan or Shen Jiu?
少年白马醉春风 | Dashing Youth (Live Action TV): WB: The Eight Young Masters of Beili (Dashing Youth) — This is a group and would be better as a Solo: tag. Alternatively, the nominator could let us know what kind of worldbuilding they want about this group.

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