How ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Reminds Us We Need Ordinary Heroes More Than Ever
Friday, 16 January 2026 13:00![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
gizmodo2_feedBertie Carvel, who plays the sympathetic Baelor Targaryen in the new HBO series, breaks it down.
gizmodo2_feed
a memory assist in my lap
Friday, 16 January 2026 07:59![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauradi7dwI woke up thinking about ICE and vigilantism. Then I wanted to hear the song "The Vigilante" from some time a long time ago. A quick search of youtube with just the title gave me a gazillion wrong hits. I dredged up a line of the lyrics, typed it into duckduckgo with the word lyrics, was given the whole song and the singer's name, went back to youtube, and here is is
It's from 1973. Someone in the last 20 years or so thought it was worth making the lyrics readable. Someone else thought youtube users would like to hear it. Was it actually Topic records, when they did the reissue? I knew some people who worked at Topic in London in the early 1980s. If I think very hard, will I remember Tony's last name or the street address? Or maybe if I think of other things it will just pop into my head.
Julian Barnes said some interesting stuff about memory in a Fresh Air interview yesterday. He's 80. I remember going to hear him read (something) decades ago at a bookstore in Boston (I don't remember which one, or what book he was promoting).
It's from 1973. Someone in the last 20 years or so thought it was worth making the lyrics readable. Someone else thought youtube users would like to hear it. Was it actually Topic records, when they did the reissue? I knew some people who worked at Topic in London in the early 1980s. If I think very hard, will I remember Tony's last name or the street address? Or maybe if I think of other things it will just pop into my head.
Julian Barnes said some interesting stuff about memory in a Fresh Air interview yesterday. He's 80. I remember going to hear him read (something) decades ago at a bookstore in Boston (I don't remember which one, or what book he was promoting).
Weed Companies Are Cashing In on Dry January
Friday, 16 January 2026 07:00theatlantic_health_feedMany Americans enthusiastically partake in Dry January, but it is rarely pitched as fun. After the holiday stretch of office parties and family gatherings, Americans have come to use the start of every year to abstain from alcohol in the name of health and auspicious beginnings. It’s a time of discipline, of cleansing, of embodying your mood board, even if it makes you a drag at parties. And it is also, as weed companies have learned, a marketing opportunity.
In recent years, weed companies have started to lean into the argument that taking the edge off sobriety with a low-dose gummy or THC drink still counts as dry. My social-media feeds are flooded with posts from cannabis companies pitching their products as fun and approachable tools to get through an alcohol-free month. Mary and Jane, an edibles company, makes a tantalizing proposition: “Dry January made easy.” Artet, which specializes in beverages, sells a “High & Dry January” bundle that includes a bottle of its THC-laced aperitif. Some products are conspicuously health-coded: North Canna describes its cannabis drinks as “functional,” and Feals highlights its edibles’ low calorie count. Above all, the ads emphasize how little booze you drink when you get high instead.
This push for a weed-filled January is, of course, a blatant (and somewhat silly) attempt by cannabis companies to get more customers. But as restrictions on marijuana loosen, and more Americans find themselves able and willing to fit the drug into their lives, Dry January does appear to be offering an opportunity for experimentation. In fact, cannabis sales surged in January 2024, and 21 percent of Dry January participants who responded to a 2023 survey swapped booze for weed that month.
None of the four cannabis-company founders I spoke with framed their products as replacements for alcohol per se. Still, many products marketed as Dry January aids aim to approximate the effect of having a single drink, leaving users buzzed but in control. These products tend to contain a low dose of THC, usually five milligrams or less. (One milligram of THC could give a weed newbie a pleasant buzz, and a heavy user might not feel five milligrams at all.) Wims, which sells THC-laced drink mix-ins, is designed to take effect and wear off in roughly the same amount of time as a serving of alcohol, Lauren Miller, one of the company’s co-founders, told me.
[Read: Pour one out for weed seltzer]
Even if THC can induce a similarly loose state as alcohol at those doses, weed companies still have some distance to overcome. In general, using cannabis as a substitute for social drinking is a harder sell than using it to avoid alcohol at home—not only because most bars don’t serve THC but also because the drug has a better chance of spurring you to melt into the couch than to mingle. Cannabis companies are trying to position their products to be used in the same context as alcohol. In states with looser cannabis laws, such as Minnesota and Tennessee, THC beverages from Nowadays are served at bars and hotels, Justin Tidwell, the company’s CEO and co-founder, told me. Wims can be dissolved into a drink, so “you don’t have to change your rituals or the way that you’re socializing,” Miller said.
The shaky logic of replacing one drug with another during a month dedicated to sobriety is hard to ignore. If the point of Dry January is to improve health, replacing alcohol with cannabis—which is not a benign substance—seems counterproductive. Far less is known about the long-term use of cannabis compared with alcohol, but both can be abused, cause dependence, and interfere with daily function and productivity, Ryan Vandrey, who helps run Johns Hopkins’s Cannabis Science Laboratory, told me. Some people are predisposed to react negatively to cannabis, experiencing anxiety, paranoia, or even cyclical vomiting. Over time, long-term heavy cannabis use can exacerbate mental-health conditions such as schizophrenia and depression. Plus, Vandrey said, weed hangovers are very real (if different from alcohol hangovers).
Still, for people with a more benign response to the drug, cannabis can be a genuinely useful tool for cutting back on booze, Vandrey said. If cannabis helps people drink less, it might indeed lower the health risks associated with excessive alcohol use, such as liver disease, cardiovascular problems, and cancer. Whatever the relative health benefits may be, Rachel Dillon, a co-founder of Mary and Jane, argues that cannabis is a realistic way to satisfy the all-too-familiar desire to decompress.
This month, I decided to put Dillon’s theory to the test. So far, High January, as I’ve come to call it, has mostly replaced my nightly glass of wine. Taking an evening 1.5-milligram gummy has subdued the urgency of the post-work rush—and, importantly, quieted any cravings for alcohol in that context. My mind is clearer, I’m sleeping better, and my mornings are less sluggish.
Yet cannabis has proved to be an imperfect tool for cutting down on my own alcohol consumption. The drug can’t quite re-create the intimacy of sharing a drink; during a recent late-night chat with a friend, I gave myself a free pass to enjoy a glass of Bordeaux. I’ve even experienced the all-too-real weed hangover. And I’ve felt conflicted about the need to soften my reality with any drug. Certainly, there are healthier ways to relax. Maybe I’ll discover them next January.
friday
Friday, 16 January 2026 07:13summersgateYesterday late in the afternoon we took Andy for a walk down back. Rainy did not want to go and just stared at me when I asked her. It's funny to me because she seems like such a dumb little dog compared to Andy. I mistakenly think she isn't able to think and plan and make decisions that are right for her. But the wheels are turning in that little brain. She knew she wouldn't enjoy a walk. I didn't enjoy it myself at the end. My hands, especially the right one holding my walking stick, got uncomfortably, stingingly cold. A few pics of snow, the lake, and other views of things down back:( Read more... )
A couple days ago. The 3 are spending more time together on the couch.
Yesterday Rainy was there with Skye.
No real plans for my day except for sewing on the crib blanket. Another cold day. 14F.
A couple days ago. The 3 are spending more time together on the couch.
Yesterday Rainy was there with Skye.
No real plans for my day except for sewing on the crib blanket. Another cold day. 14F.
US politics
Friday, 16 January 2026 06:51yhleeBy way of sovay: Stand with Minnesota, appears to be locally vetted. I've made a modest donation to one of the listed organizations.
(Still buried under health + family + work + school stuff as well, sorry - if I'm not responding or late to respond, that's why.)
sovay: Stand with Minnesota, appears to be locally vetted. I've made a modest donation to one of the listed organizations.(Still buried under health + family + work + school stuff as well, sorry - if I'm not responding or late to respond, that's why.)
Print out nostalgic VHS inserts with the Blockbuster Sleeve Generator
Friday, 16 January 2026 12:22boingboing_feed
Video rental chain Blockbuster had more than 9,000 stores in 2004, but two decades later only the one in Bend, Oregon remains to champion the lost charm of physical media. Among those charms were the utilitarian branded inserts used for the tapes. — Read the rest
The post Print out nostalgic VHS inserts with the Blockbuster Sleeve Generator appeared first on Boing Boing.
Animevox: retro Anime sound effect generator
Friday, 16 January 2026 11:50boingboing_feed
Animevox is a gorgeous sound effect generator that produces downloadable samples in a retro anime style. There are sliders to control pitch, reverb, wobble and tone, and big beautiful buttons for each sound motif: impact, sparkle, beam, power up, pon, boom, slash and woosh. — Read the rest
The post Animevox: retro Anime sound effect generator appeared first on Boing Boing.
Maybe a Han Solo Movie Wasn’t a Great Idea, Admits Kathleen Kennedy
Friday, 16 January 2026 12:00gizmodo2_feedThe exiting Lucasfilm president expressed some regrets over recasting Harrison Ford.
Goodbye Horses, done
Friday, 16 January 2026 07:31moonhareI finished the documentary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye_Horses:_The_Many_Lives_of_Q_Lazzarus Tuesday night; I found it darker and more melancholy than expected. To clear my thoughts I watched Zootopia Wednesday. Much better!
My paper chasing has been productive: I have three boxes going now. This has also led me to visit the websites of the companies who hold, or had held, my investments. I’ve printed off various statements to add to my files so that I have information handy without searching for logins and passwords.
A next step will be to contact my money advisor whom I haven’t spoken with since before retirement and get some insight into an annuity that was set up by one of the library’s other ‘revolving-door’ plan custodians. This thing looks like it was a poor investment.
During my idle time I’ve been lurking on Reddit. I never gave the site much thought until I kept seeing it in many online search results. I’ve found some great hints for canning, and for snowblower and generator maintenance. I also like their plushie forum with so many folks talking about their rescues. This isn’t to be confused with their NSFW plushophile section. *brrrrrrr* not for me.
More of the same:
My paper chasing has been productive: I have three boxes going now. This has also led me to visit the websites of the companies who hold, or had held, my investments. I’ve printed off various statements to add to my files so that I have information handy without searching for logins and passwords.
A next step will be to contact my money advisor whom I haven’t spoken with since before retirement and get some insight into an annuity that was set up by one of the library’s other ‘revolving-door’ plan custodians. This thing looks like it was a poor investment.
During my idle time I’ve been lurking on Reddit. I never gave the site much thought until I kept seeing it in many online search results. I’ve found some great hints for canning, and for snowblower and generator maintenance. I also like their plushie forum with so many folks talking about their rescues. This isn’t to be confused with their NSFW plushophile section. *brrrrrrr* not for me.
More of the same:
The Day in Spikedluv (Thursday, Jan 15)
Friday, 16 January 2026 07:28spikedluvI hit Walmart while I was downtown. After McD’s, which was freezing again. (If the thermostat is set and no one can touch it to change it, the temperature should be the same inside every single day. Clearly there’s something wrong with the heating system and they’re too cheap to fix it properly. Or replace it. I called the main number and reported it, so we’ll see how long it takes for someone to fix it.)
I visited mom and filled my gas tank on the way home, did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. We had spaghetti for supper.
I watched a lot of tv today and did zero reading! I watched the first two eps of Best Medicine, last week’s ep of 9-1-1 to get caught up, and a couple eps of Zoo Tampa.
Temps started out at 37.0(F). It was still sprinkling in the morning and had probably been doing so all night. Almost at the exact moment I pulled into the driveway at ~9:30am, the rain started to turn to snow. It’s weird how you can see it thicken as it hits the windshield until it’s white. I don’t think the temp went up much while I was out, because it had to be going down for the rain to turn to snow. When I left the house a little after 11am it had dropped to 29.7 and kept dropping the rest of the day.
I made the mistake of looking at the forecast for the next two weeks and, day-um!, it is going to get cold again. High’s in the teens and 20s, lows in the single digits. DNW!
Mom Update:
Mom was not feeling well when I visited her. ( more back here )
I visited mom and filled my gas tank on the way home, did a load of laundry, hand-washed dishes, ran a load in the dishwasher, went for several walks with Pip and the dogs, cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, scooped kitty litter, and showered. We had spaghetti for supper.
I watched a lot of tv today and did zero reading! I watched the first two eps of Best Medicine, last week’s ep of 9-1-1 to get caught up, and a couple eps of Zoo Tampa.
Temps started out at 37.0(F). It was still sprinkling in the morning and had probably been doing so all night. Almost at the exact moment I pulled into the driveway at ~9:30am, the rain started to turn to snow. It’s weird how you can see it thicken as it hits the windshield until it’s white. I don’t think the temp went up much while I was out, because it had to be going down for the rain to turn to snow. When I left the house a little after 11am it had dropped to 29.7 and kept dropping the rest of the day.
I made the mistake of looking at the forecast for the next two weeks and, day-um!, it is going to get cold again. High’s in the teens and 20s, lows in the single digits. DNW!
Mom Update:
Mom was not feeling well when I visited her. ( more back here )
2026/010: Dionysus in Wisconsin — E H Lupton
Friday, 16 January 2026 10:58tamaranth2026/010: Dionysus in Wisconsin — E H Lupton
Kitty narrowed her eyes at him. “A bit pompous, aren’t you? To think you can find a solution to a problem that people have been working on for over a millennium?”
“That’s academia, baby.” Ulysses folded his arms across his chest. “Anything else I can help you with?” [p. 205]
Madison, Wisconsin: 1969. Ulysses Lenkov is a 'human lightning rod', a magician who can attract and talk to spirits, but can't decide a subject for his dissertation). Sam Sterling is a mild-mannered archivist who's moved back to Madison to be near his family, who he doesn't especially like. Warned by a fellow-magic user that something big is coming -- something connected with the god Dionysus -- Ulysses seeks out Sam and discovers that his first name happens to be ( ... )
Character names from Freeman Wills Crofts
Friday, 16 January 2026 11:44cimoreneJ. Mortimer Fotherby-Wentworth, M.D.
Messrs Bumpus (a business consisting of multiple Bumpuses)
Wilfred Leatherhead
Rupert Brangstrode
Abel Garstone
Mr. Blott
Mr. Clotworthy
Dr. Runciman Jellicoe
Markham Crewe
Messrs Bumpus (a business consisting of multiple Bumpuses)
Wilfred Leatherhead
Rupert Brangstrode
Abel Garstone
Mr. Blott
Mr. Clotworthy
Dr. Runciman Jellicoe
Markham Crewe
New Worlds: Phantom Islands and Drowned Lands
Friday, 16 January 2026 09:07swan_towerIn these days of climate change, the notion of coastal areas going underwater is a familiar fear. But it's not a new one; we have stories of drowned lands going back for thousands of years.
The famous example, of course, is Atlantis. Which Plato wrote about for allegorical purposes, not literal ones: he was making a point about society, building up Atlantis as a negative foil to the perfections of Athens. That hasn't stopped later writers from taking the idea and running with it, though, with interest particularly surging after Europeans learned of the New World. That's one of many locations since identified with Atlantis, with considerable effort expended on identifying a real-world inspiration for Plato's story (Thera leads the pack) . . . alongside wild theories that build up the sunken land as a place of advanced technology and magic. The supposed "lost continents" of Lemuria and Mu -- which may be the same thing, or may be synonymous with Atlantis -- are later inventions, discredited by the development of geological science.
We don't have to lose whole continents to the ocean, though. The shorelines of northern Europe are dotted with legends of regions sunk below the waves: the city of Ys on the coast of Brittany, Lyonesse in Cornwall, Cantre'r Gwaelod in Wales' Cardigan Bay. Natural features can contribute to these legends; the beaches of Cardigan Bay have ridges, termed sarnau, which run out into the ocean and have been taken for causeways, and environmental conditions at Ynyslas have preserved the stumps of submerged trees, which emerge at times of low tide. The so-called Yonaguni Monument in Japan and Bimini Road in the Bahamas are eerily regular-looking stone formations that theorists have mistaken for human construction, again raising the specter of a forgotten society drowned by the sea.
Many of the examples I'm most familiar with come from Europe, but this isn't solely a European phenomenon. I suspect you can get stories of this kind anywhere there's a coastline, especially if the offshore terrain is shallow enough for land to have genuinely been submerged by rising sea levels. Tamil and Sanskrit literature going back two thousand years has stories about places lost to the ocean, which is part of why some modern Tamil writers seized on the idea of Lemuria (supposedly positioned to the south of India). It doesn't even have to be salt water! A late eighteenth-century Russian text has the city of Kitezh sinking into Lake Svetloyar: a rather pyrrhic miracle delivered by God when the inhabitants prayed to be saved from a Mongol invasion.
Some drowned lands are entirely factual. Doggerland is the name given to the region of the North Sea that used to connect the British Isles to mainland Europe, before rising sea levels at the end of the last glaciation inundated the area. Archaeological investigation of the terrain is difficult, but artifacts and human bones have been dredged up from the depths. If we go into another Ice Age, Doggerland could re-emerge from the sea -- and if it had been flooded in a later era, what's down there could include monumental temples and other such dramatic features. We're robbed of such exciting discoveries by the fact that it was inhabited only by nomadic hunter-gatherers . . . which, of course, need not limit a fictional example!
Doggerland was submerged over the course of thousands of years, but most stories of this kind involve a sudden inundation. That may not be unrealistic: after an extended period in which the Mediterranean basin was mostly or entirely cut off from the Atlantic Ocean, the Zanclean flood broke through what is now the Strait of Gibraltar and refilled the basin over the course of anything from two years to as little as a few months. Water levels may have risen as fast as ten meters a day! Of course, the region before then would have been hellishly hot and arid rather than the pleasant home of a happy civilization, but it's still dramatic to imagine.
Then there are the phantom islands. I have these on the brain right now because the upcoming duology I'm writing with Alyc Helms as M.A. Carrick, the Sea Beyond, makes extensive use of these, but they've fascinated me for far longer than we've been working on the series.
"Phantom island" is the general term used for islands that turn out not to be real. Some of these, like Atlantis, are entirely mythical, existing only in stories whose tellers may not ever have meant them to be more than metaphor. Others, however, are a consequence of the intense difficulties of maritime travel. Mirages and fog banks can make sailors believe they've spotted land where there is none . . . or they see an actual, factual place, but they don't realize where they are.
To understand how that can happen, you have to think about navigation in the past. We've had methods of calculating latitude for a long time, but they were often imprecise, and a error of even one degree can mean your position is off by nearly seventy miles/a hundred kilometers. Meanwhile, as I've mentioned before, longitude was a profoundly intractable problem until about two hundred and fifty years ago, with seafarers unable to make more than educated guesses as to their east-west position -- guesses that could be off by hundreds and hundreds of miles.
The result is that even if you saw a real piece of land, did you know where it was? You would chart it to the best of your ability, but somebody else later sailing through (what they thought was) the same patch of sea might spot nothing at all. Or they'd find land they thought looked like what you'd described, except it was in another location. Well-identified masses could be mistaken for new ones if ships wrongly calculated their current position, especially since accurate coastal charts were also difficult to make when your movements were at the mercy of wind and current.
Phantom islands therefore moved all over the map, vanishing and reappearing, or having their names reattached to new places as we became sure of those latter. Some of them persisted into the twentieth century, when we finally amassed enough technology (like satellites) to know for certain what is and is not out there in the ocean. There are still a few cases where people wonder if an island appeared and then sank again, though we know now that the conditions which can make that happen are fairly rare -- and usually involve volcanic eruptions.
The sea still feels like a place of mystery, though, where all kinds of wonders might lie just over the horizon. And depending on how much we succeed or fail at controlling global temperatures and the encroachments of the sea, we may genuinely wind up with sunken cities to form a new generation of cautionary tales . . .
(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/kKc80k)
The famous example, of course, is Atlantis. Which Plato wrote about for allegorical purposes, not literal ones: he was making a point about society, building up Atlantis as a negative foil to the perfections of Athens. That hasn't stopped later writers from taking the idea and running with it, though, with interest particularly surging after Europeans learned of the New World. That's one of many locations since identified with Atlantis, with considerable effort expended on identifying a real-world inspiration for Plato's story (Thera leads the pack) . . . alongside wild theories that build up the sunken land as a place of advanced technology and magic. The supposed "lost continents" of Lemuria and Mu -- which may be the same thing, or may be synonymous with Atlantis -- are later inventions, discredited by the development of geological science.
We don't have to lose whole continents to the ocean, though. The shorelines of northern Europe are dotted with legends of regions sunk below the waves: the city of Ys on the coast of Brittany, Lyonesse in Cornwall, Cantre'r Gwaelod in Wales' Cardigan Bay. Natural features can contribute to these legends; the beaches of Cardigan Bay have ridges, termed sarnau, which run out into the ocean and have been taken for causeways, and environmental conditions at Ynyslas have preserved the stumps of submerged trees, which emerge at times of low tide. The so-called Yonaguni Monument in Japan and Bimini Road in the Bahamas are eerily regular-looking stone formations that theorists have mistaken for human construction, again raising the specter of a forgotten society drowned by the sea.
Many of the examples I'm most familiar with come from Europe, but this isn't solely a European phenomenon. I suspect you can get stories of this kind anywhere there's a coastline, especially if the offshore terrain is shallow enough for land to have genuinely been submerged by rising sea levels. Tamil and Sanskrit literature going back two thousand years has stories about places lost to the ocean, which is part of why some modern Tamil writers seized on the idea of Lemuria (supposedly positioned to the south of India). It doesn't even have to be salt water! A late eighteenth-century Russian text has the city of Kitezh sinking into Lake Svetloyar: a rather pyrrhic miracle delivered by God when the inhabitants prayed to be saved from a Mongol invasion.
Some drowned lands are entirely factual. Doggerland is the name given to the region of the North Sea that used to connect the British Isles to mainland Europe, before rising sea levels at the end of the last glaciation inundated the area. Archaeological investigation of the terrain is difficult, but artifacts and human bones have been dredged up from the depths. If we go into another Ice Age, Doggerland could re-emerge from the sea -- and if it had been flooded in a later era, what's down there could include monumental temples and other such dramatic features. We're robbed of such exciting discoveries by the fact that it was inhabited only by nomadic hunter-gatherers . . . which, of course, need not limit a fictional example!
Doggerland was submerged over the course of thousands of years, but most stories of this kind involve a sudden inundation. That may not be unrealistic: after an extended period in which the Mediterranean basin was mostly or entirely cut off from the Atlantic Ocean, the Zanclean flood broke through what is now the Strait of Gibraltar and refilled the basin over the course of anything from two years to as little as a few months. Water levels may have risen as fast as ten meters a day! Of course, the region before then would have been hellishly hot and arid rather than the pleasant home of a happy civilization, but it's still dramatic to imagine.
Then there are the phantom islands. I have these on the brain right now because the upcoming duology I'm writing with Alyc Helms as M.A. Carrick, the Sea Beyond, makes extensive use of these, but they've fascinated me for far longer than we've been working on the series.
"Phantom island" is the general term used for islands that turn out not to be real. Some of these, like Atlantis, are entirely mythical, existing only in stories whose tellers may not ever have meant them to be more than metaphor. Others, however, are a consequence of the intense difficulties of maritime travel. Mirages and fog banks can make sailors believe they've spotted land where there is none . . . or they see an actual, factual place, but they don't realize where they are.
To understand how that can happen, you have to think about navigation in the past. We've had methods of calculating latitude for a long time, but they were often imprecise, and a error of even one degree can mean your position is off by nearly seventy miles/a hundred kilometers. Meanwhile, as I've mentioned before, longitude was a profoundly intractable problem until about two hundred and fifty years ago, with seafarers unable to make more than educated guesses as to their east-west position -- guesses that could be off by hundreds and hundreds of miles.
The result is that even if you saw a real piece of land, did you know where it was? You would chart it to the best of your ability, but somebody else later sailing through (what they thought was) the same patch of sea might spot nothing at all. Or they'd find land they thought looked like what you'd described, except it was in another location. Well-identified masses could be mistaken for new ones if ships wrongly calculated their current position, especially since accurate coastal charts were also difficult to make when your movements were at the mercy of wind and current.
Phantom islands therefore moved all over the map, vanishing and reappearing, or having their names reattached to new places as we became sure of those latter. Some of them persisted into the twentieth century, when we finally amassed enough technology (like satellites) to know for certain what is and is not out there in the ocean. There are still a few cases where people wonder if an island appeared and then sank again, though we know now that the conditions which can make that happen are fairly rare -- and usually involve volcanic eruptions.
The sea still feels like a place of mystery, though, where all kinds of wonders might lie just over the horizon. And depending on how much we succeed or fail at controlling global temperatures and the encroachments of the sea, we may genuinely wind up with sunken cities to form a new generation of cautionary tales . . .
(originally posted at Swan Tower: https://is.gd/kKc80k)
Side note re: Souls and summons
Friday, 16 January 2026 08:53rydra_wongElden Ring also has the summons mechanic.
Which is how the fandom ended up with a sort of folk hero who appears as a naked man with a jar on his head holding two katanas and soloes the game's hardest boss for you:
IGN: We Spoke to 'Let Me Solo Her,' the Elden Ring Community Hero We Need and Deserve
YouTube: Let me solo her. 3rd summon solo Malenia (you don't have to know the game to appreciate that this is someone doing something perfectly)
Which is how the fandom ended up with a sort of folk hero who appears as a naked man with a jar on his head holding two katanas and soloes the game's hardest boss for you:
IGN: We Spoke to 'Let Me Solo Her,' the Elden Ring Community Hero We Need and Deserve
YouTube: Let me solo her. 3rd summon solo Malenia (you don't have to know the game to appreciate that this is someone doing something perfectly)
Choices (12)
Friday, 16 January 2026 08:36the_comfortable_courtesanWhat they deemed an odd specimen
Cecil, Baron Rondegate, occasional took pleasure in strumming on the keys: but would not do this on Zipsie’s fine Broadwood, no, that was far beyond his touch. Had obtained a far more modest instrument that he kept in the smoking-room, where he could attempt to sound out, perchance, the melodies of Clo Marshall’s songs – lord, 'twas some while since he had made an excursion to the Beaufoyle Arms Song and Supper Rooms!
Cecil, Baron Rondegate, occasional took pleasure in strumming on the keys: but would not do this on Zipsie’s fine Broadwood, no, that was far beyond his touch. Had obtained a far more modest instrument that he kept in the smoking-room, where he could attempt to sound out, perchance, the melodies of Clo Marshall’s songs – lord, 'twas some while since he had made an excursion to the Beaufoyle Arms Song and Supper Rooms!
Coming in one afternoon, at an hour when he hoped he might avoid tea-table company, he met Mrs Knowles on the stairs on her way out, made civil – for she was not only an excellent musical friend for Zipsie, her husband was a chap that one would very much wish to know better and be on good terms with. Known for quite the soundest advice in financial matters – had saved a deal of his acquaintance from bad investments – very well-connected –
Mrs Knowles smiled at him and said, Lady Rondegate was looking exceeding well, but hoped she was not over-doing – those boisterous sisters of hers were very good-hearted creatures but –
Cecil grinned. Their exuberance can be a little wearing! And this performance for Lady Abertyldd’s birthday makes demands –
Mrs Knowles gave a genteel snort. I apprehend that young Oliver still lingers in Heggleton – was he in Town he might take some of the burden of rehearsals from her –
Why, his grandfather writes that he comes around to showing very responsible over learning about their business, and matters to do with the election.
Her mouth quirked. That is something! – for although Ollie was no longer embroiled with that dangerous fast set had still been something of an idle wastrel about Town – but I must be upon my ways.
Cecil bowed over her hand as they made their farewells. He proceeded to the music-room, that was where he supposed Zipsie would have been entertaining Mrs Knowles.
There was, indeed, evidence of tea and the crumbs of cake!
Zipsie was sat at the pianoforte, picking out a tune – good lord, it was Clo Marshall’s 'Oo does 'e think 'e is?
She turned and smiled. Do you ring for tea, should you care for some – or something stronger, mayhap?
A very small brandy and soda would come very agreeable, he conceded, and went to ring.
When this had come, along with a bowl of smoked nuts, and he had refreshed himself, she swung around on the piano-stool and said that he had found her out in trying to work out one of those very pleasing tunes she had heard him playing when she passed the smoking-room t’other day.
Why, he responded, raising his eyebrows somewhat, 'tis one of Clo Marshall’s songs –
Oh, I have heard so much about those, from Ollie and Folly, but they say very unsuited to ladies’ ears – she snorted in a most unladylike fashion – mayhap the words are vulgar? but the tunes are very clever, I am not at all give to wonder that they are whistled everywhere.
She grinned. La, one is told that the errand-boys in Vienna went about whistling the tunes from Mozart’s operas! There is a deal of nonsense about low taste –
He looked at his wife. There was really something most out of the common about Zipsie. That had ever found conventionality somewhat constraining – one saw that being married and freed from the edicts on the conduct proper to a young lady that had not yet attained that state was most congenial to her –
Why, the words may be somewhat vulgar – in the cant of the lower orders, Cockney – but not in the least coarse – very amuzing – Miss Marshall has a great talent for presenting 'em – fine voice –
Zipsie sighed. I daresay 'twould not be proper to go attend one of her performances?
He considered upon this. My dear, I can see ways that it might be contrived, but as things are at present, fancy 'twould be a little imprudent.
O, entirely, she sighed. That was one of the reasons for Mrs Knowles’ call – to give me the sound advice on the management of my condition that she had had from her mother – has not everybody cried up the late Lady Ferraby to me as the entire paragon in such matters?
The clock chimed.
Fie, I should go dress for dinner! – do you dine at home the e’en?
Indeed I do.
He rang for another small brandy and soda before going to change himself, musing upon whether they should give a dinner-party afore Town was completely deserted – might one invite the Grigsons? Lady Lucretia was in mourning for her brother, that was, it was give out, no great loss, but a quiet dinner party would surely be permissible? The Knowles – unless they were going out of Town to one or other of their family connexion – had he not heard that the Demingtons still lingered? – mayhap the Samuels –
It was a very reassuring sight to observe with what great appetite Zipsie ate her vittles at dinner! He remarked upon this, at which she grinned. Law, do I not feel sick, I am quite ravenous, 'tis one or t’other all day. Either nibbling a little dry toast, or devouring a beefsteak. Mrs Knowles tells me that matters are wont to regularize in due course, that I am glad to hear.
That minded him that she had said that there was another reason for Mrs Knowles’ call – I hope, my dear, that is she soliciting you to perform at her musical soirées, you will not be overdoing –
O, she did mention that, mayhap, when Society finally returns to Town, and I will be feeling more the thing, that would be on the cards, but what she was concerned about was Thea –
Thea?
This matter of Miss Billston’s songs of Sappho, that are indeed quite exquisite, and that are entirely suited to Thea’s voice, but Mrs Knowles came about to apologize for being pressing on the matter, and hopes has not embarrassed Thea, knowing how very strict Lord Pockinford’s views are, and Sappho not only being a pagan poetess, but noted for her passionate devotion to women.
Cecil blinked.
Alas, she says, here we were, brought up in the Raxdell House Phalanstery, acquired rather broader notions concerning who might rightly love who – observed fine examples of female devotion –
What?
Zipsie looked at him. Why, there are Miss McKeown and Miss Lewis, have been the dearest of friends this entire age – Lady Jane Knighton’s fine affection to Miss Addington – the Ladies of Attervale and of Yeomans – and she told me, there was quite the deepest devotion 'twixt the late Lady Ferraby and Dowager Lady Bexbury.
Is it not give out they were related?
O, beyond any mere feeling for kindred! But, alas, there is Lord Pockinford, that speaks out against sisterhoods, that seem a very sensible solution for ladies that do not marry, and would one fears feel the same about ladies that find mutual society, help, and comfort with one another rather than a husband.
Cecil stared at his wife. This was quite the revelation, both about these happy female couples, and Zipsie’s entirely commonsensical feelings about 'em.
He gulped. I have observed, he said at length, that there may be similar devotions between men….
'Tis indeed rumoured, said Zipsie, but does one mention it one is cautioned not to speak thus, because of the injustices of the law.
She fell silent, frowning. After some minutes, she said, I have observed that you and Mr Davison sort exceeding well together – come about on excellent terms – fine manly friendship?
Cecil looked across the table at her and then down at his hands. He swallowed. Indeed I come into a more than usual, one may only call it fondness for him, and he to me. But – he also greatly likes you – and we would not for the world do anything you liked not, Zipsie –
She paused again, arranging the orange peel on her plate into patterns. After a considerable while she cleared her throat and began, sure I have found marriage a great deal more agreeable than I anticipated, and you far exceed my expectations in a husband! Very much was, o, this is a thing I am obliged to do. But –
She blushed. I was talking once to Aunty Dodo, when I was somewhat younger, and said it must be a fine thing to marry a musician – I had something of a girlish admiration then for Uncle Casimir – and she sighed, and said, music can be a demanding mistress and then put her hand to her mouth and begged me not to disclose what she had said to Mama. But while I may not be a composer to compare with Uncle Casimir, nonetheless, I am, I find, a musician.
And there was a conversation I had lately with Mrs Lucas, that happened to remark that she kept a space in her life for poetry – there she is, the fondest of wives and mothers, doatingest of grandmothers, &C – said that as she went about her day kept by her ivory tablets to jot down lines or thoughts she had, for such time as she might give her mind to composition.
So while I do not think I will ever become one of those ladies that goes dally with gentlemen that are not my lawful wedded husband, there is something that is a passion – that I fancy might at times preoccupy me in ways that some husbands might resent, for whom one is supposed to forsake all others, and I daresay that would include the muses.
Also, she said with a grin, there is Mr Davison has that very snug fellowship at Oxford, 'tis not the like of setting up some Miss in a villa in St John’s Wood like Lord Iffling and decking her with jewellery. She giggled at his expression. La, Lady Lucretia disclosed to me certain family matters over the teacups one day.
Zipsie, said Cecil, you are quite magnificent and a paragon amongst womankind. And, he thought with an inward grin, as well as a fine musician, the grand-daughter of Sir Oliver Brumpage, he had noted that when she was about the household books!
Zipsie wrinkled her nose and said, she fancied she was what they deemed an odd specimen.
He opened to her the project of going to Wepperell Larches – bachelor party including Sallington and Julius Roberts – giving it out that I have some notion to making a Persian garden –
She raised her eyebrows. Then said that 'twould certainly look somewhat less particular. And minded that they, too, were bred in the Raxdell House Phalanstery.
(no subject)
Friday, 16 January 2026 07:32scifirenegadeThe first newsletter I recieve from the Danish Film Institute is about Olaf Fønss and about how self-absorbed he was. Great.
Except it's more than that. It's about fan culture.
Here's the article if you want to take a look-see.
( Some observations )
EDIT: Silent Film festival in Copenhagen! Lots of good stuff!
Managed to track down another book from the Veidt shelves (speaking of that nice pic of him posing by his bookshelf as if he's deciding on what he should read).
It's Gábor Vaszary's Monpti. Which is the age-old tale of boy meets girl, girl says she's rich while she's actually poor, boy dumps girl, girl gets hit by a car and dies, boy is sad.
This man has this and Silone's Bread and Wine on his shelves. The duality.
And speaking of Connie, you can now watch Die Große Sehnsucht (1930) on the Digitaler Lesesaal. Thank you, Bundesarchiv! Since Herr Veidt plays himself in this, it's a great showing of his persona at the time (read that I wrote persona and not person).
The ever-elusive Uncle Walt short by Robert Swarthe has been found. It's not good, as many elusive and mystical pieces of ~ lost media ~ are.
Except it's more than that. It's about fan culture.
Here's the article if you want to take a look-see.
( Some observations )
EDIT: Silent Film festival in Copenhagen! Lots of good stuff!
Managed to track down another book from the Veidt shelves (speaking of that nice pic of him posing by his bookshelf as if he's deciding on what he should read).
It's Gábor Vaszary's Monpti. Which is the age-old tale of boy meets girl, girl says she's rich while she's actually poor, boy dumps girl, girl gets hit by a car and dies, boy is sad.
This man has this and Silone's Bread and Wine on his shelves. The duality.
And speaking of Connie, you can now watch Die Große Sehnsucht (1930) on the Digitaler Lesesaal. Thank you, Bundesarchiv! Since Herr Veidt plays himself in this, it's a great showing of his persona at the time (read that I wrote persona and not person).
The ever-elusive Uncle Walt short by Robert Swarthe has been found. It's not good, as many elusive and mystical pieces of ~ lost media ~ are.
Nominations are open! Guidelines below.
Friday, 16 January 2026 18:54casemod posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
caseficexchangeWE'RE BACK, BUSYBODIES!
I hope you're all ready to start recruiting your sidekicks because nominations are open! But, before I link to where you can nominate, there is one big difference from last year… I'm allowing detectives to transfer accepted nominations from last year's tagset. Please read the guidelines in that section before requesting a transfer.
Nominations are open! They will close on Friday 23 January. [ In your timezone + Countdown ]
Please submit your nominations here.
Please read the guidelines before nominating, and keep an eye on the comm in case clarification is needed from you before a nomination is accepted.
Disambiguations help us identify which canon a character, relationship, or group belongs to, and are mandatory as part of your nominations. These assist us greatly in the backend, and also allow requesters and creators to know which version of a character is nominated, especially for large fandoms with various mediums or character versions.
You are welcome to abbreviate the fandom name when nominating your characters/relationships/groups to save space, although please make the abbreviation distinct for someone who is canon blind, i.e. for The Hunger Games, you could use "THG - Collins" and "THG Movies". If your tag goes wandering, we want to be able to put it back in its rightful place.
Examples of disambiguation are below (the disambiguation is bolded):
We have no restrictions on rarity or media on fandoms. You are more than welcome to nominate a very popular fandom or very rare fandom.
For more specific canon types:
We accept:
Tag examples:
One of our fellow detectives asked about this as an option for 2026's round, which I thought was a great idea! I apologise to anyone this may blindside, as I hadn't considered it and didn't build it into the schedule.
I'm allowing transfers from last year's tagset into 2026's tagset. This means these nominations will not count toward a nomination slot. I will batch load these into the 2026 tagset, provided the request follows the guidelines below.
Please be patient with me as this is my first time offering this.
You're welcome to drop any questions below or email gumshoeagency@gmail.com.
If you see any errors in the tagset, please point them out, preferably on nomination-related posts, so they can be amended before sign-ups open.
*
Thanks very much to theficinabox mods for letting me steal some of their nomination guidelines. 🩷
I hope you're all ready to start recruiting your sidekicks because nominations are open! But, before I link to where you can nominate, there is one big difference from last year… I'm allowing detectives to transfer accepted nominations from last year's tagset. Please read the guidelines in that section before requesting a transfer.
Nominations are open! They will close on Friday 23 January. [ In your timezone + Countdown ]
Please submit your nominations here.
Please read the guidelines before nominating, and keep an eye on the comm in case clarification is needed from you before a nomination is accepted.
Nomination guidelines
- You can nominate up to 10 fandoms with 10 relationships (this includes characters, relationships, and groups) each.
- All nominations must be disambiguated with the name of the canon after the ship/group/character, e.g., "Veronica Mars/Logan Echolls (VMars)", "Solo: Joe Goldberg (You TV)", "Solo: The Crows (Six of Crows Series)", "Fred Jones & Daphne Blake & Velma Dinkley & Shaggy Rogers & Scooby-Doo (Scooby-Doo Cartoon)".
- Please avoid nominating "All Media Types" and "& Related Fandoms".
- Crossovers belong under "Crossover Fandom".
- Please ensure you properly capitalise your tags, otherwise we will either fix them or reject them.
- Please remember that you do not have to nominate canons that are investigative in nature. We will accept any canon! The work created for the request needs to involve an investigation, so please nominate what you're eager to receive and/or offer.
- Please remove diacritics (or accent letters) from nominations to help us avoid having accidental duplications. We won't be querying or changing these, but it's a preference to make it easier to search for tags if we need to move or edit them.
Disambiguations
Disambiguations help us identify which canon a character, relationship, or group belongs to, and are mandatory as part of your nominations. These assist us greatly in the backend, and also allow requesters and creators to know which version of a character is nominated, especially for large fandoms with various mediums or character versions.
You are welcome to abbreviate the fandom name when nominating your characters/relationships/groups to save space, although please make the abbreviation distinct for someone who is canon blind, i.e. for The Hunger Games, you could use "THG - Collins" and "THG Movies". If your tag goes wandering, we want to be able to put it back in its rightful place.
Examples of disambiguation are below (the disambiguation is bolded):
- Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars (VMars)
- Solo: Finnick Odair (THG - Collins)
- The Crows (SoC Series) in Ocean's 11 (Ocean's 11)
- Misty Quigley (Yellowjackets) & Elmo (Sesame Street)
- Detective investigating murder or disappearance & Fake medium & Crime suspects (OW)
Fandoms
We have no restrictions on rarity or media on fandoms. You are more than welcome to nominate a very popular fandom or very rare fandom.
For more specific canon types:
- RPF: RPF is permitted. Non-famous family members and under 18s are not eligible. We will not be allowing nominations for world leaders and reserve the right to reject any RPF nomination that we feel will cause distress to our participants.
- Original characters in non-original canons: You may nominate Canon Character/Original Character(s) and Canon Character & Original Character(s). You are welcome to be as specific or as broad as you wish, e.g. "Veronica Mars/Original Female Character (VMars)" or "Abed Nadir & Original Male Character (Community)".
We highly encourage you to ensure your nomination specifies the gender of the OC unless you're interested in receiving a fanwork with any gender, i.e., "Misty Quigley & Original Character (Yellowjackets)" is broad and unspecific, and means your creator will be allowed to define the gender of the OC. If you are interested in a specific gender for the OC, please nominate this specifically, i.e. "Misty Quigley & Original Female Character (Yellowjackets)".
We will not accept participants who try to box their creator into a specific type of relationship using their optional details in their sign-up. Please keep that in mind while nominating. - Original Works: These must be nominated under "Original Work" in the format "Character Type/Character Type", "Character Type & Character Type" and "Solo: Character Type", e.g. "Female Detective/Male Criminal Mastermind (OW)", "Female Pirate Captain & Male Privateer (OW)", "Solo: Female Archeologist (OW)", etc.
We encourage you to be specific regarding gender and what you're after. Please try not to be overly specific—our tags have character limitations, and we also will not allow boxing in creators. - Recursive: These fandoms will be allowed as long as the nominators provide evidence that the creator has given permission for recursive works. This should be submitted either via email at gumshoeagency@gmail.com or on this post. Recursive nominations that fail to provide this proof will be rejected. Please ensure you include "DFE" ("Disambiguated for Exchanges") in the disambiguation.
- Crossovers: Crossovers are permitted. These should be nominated under "Crossover Fandom" with the fandom name for each character in brackets, e.g. "Taissa Turner (Yellowjackets) & Michelle Jones (MCU)" or "Solo: Elmo (Sesame Street) in Home Alone (Movies)".
- Threesomes/moresomes: These types of relationships are permitted, whether they are romantic or platonic. (Romantic is to be signified with an "/" and platonic with "&".) If you are nominating characters that do not exist in the same canon, please ensure you do so under "Crossover Fandom".
- Canon/Reader: We do not allow Reader/Canon Character to be nominated in any form.
- Creator's Choice of Fandom: We do not accept any CCOF for this exchange.
Nominating specific fandoms
- Assassin's Creed: Please nominate Assassin's Creed under "Assassin's Creed - All Media Types".
- Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series: Please nominate these under "Buffyverse (TV)".
- DC's Arrowverse: Please nominate characters from Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Superman & Lois, and Black Lightning under "DC's Arrowverse".
- DC Comics: Please nominate all DC comics under "DCU (Comics)", but please disambiguate which version of the character you want in parentheses if that information is important to you.
- DC Extended Universe: Please nominate all DCEU movies under "DC Extended Universe".
- Dimension 20: Please nominate all campaigns under "Dimension 20 (Web Series)".
- Dragon Age:
- Nominate all video games under "Dragon Age (Video Games)".
- Nominate all comics under "Dragon Age (Comics)".
- Nominate all books under "Dragon Age - Various Authors".
- Nominate all tabletop RPG under "Dragon Age (Tabletop RPG)".
- Final Fantasy VII Remake: Please nominate this under "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII".
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Please nominate all MCU movies under "Marvel Cinematic Universe".
- Please nominate all Netflix Marvel TV shows under "The Defenders (Marvel TV)". This includes Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron First, Daredevil, and The Defenders.
- Please nominate the MCU television shows separately from the MCU. These should appear as separate entities within the tagset, i.e., "WandaVision", "Ms Marvel", "Loki", "Falcon and the Winter Soldier", "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", etc.
- Marvel Comics: Please nominate these under their appropriate Marvel universe, i.e. "Marvel 616", "Marvel Ultimate", etc. We won't accept "Marvel Comics" as a fandom.
- Naruto (Anime & Manga), Boruto (Anime & Manga), and Dreaming of Sunshine: Please nominate these separately. Dreaming of Sunshine should be nominated as "Dreaming of Sunshine - SilverQueen (DFE)". If your nomination involves one or more Dreaming of Sunshine characters and one or more Naruto/Boruto characters, nominate this under "Crossover Fandom" with the proper disambiguations.
- Star Trek: Please nominate these via their separate shows and the Alternate Original Series, such as "Star Trek: Alternate Original Series ", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", "Star Trek: Discovery", "Star Trek: Enterprise", "Star Trek: Picard", "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", etc. Crossovers between these shows must be nominated under "Crossover Fandom" and correctly disambiguated,
- Star Wars:
- Star Wars movies: Please nominate under the appropriate movie, i.e. "Star Wars: Original Trilogy", "Star Wars: Sequel Trilogy", "Star Wars: Prequel Trilogy".
- Star Wars TV shows: Please nominate under the appropriate television shoe, i.e. "Star Wars: Rogue One". We will allow "Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types" to be nominated.
- Star Wars books: Please nominate under either "Star Wars: Legends Books" (Old EU) or "Star Wars: Extended Universe Books" (new/current books).
- Star Wars comics, video games, etc.,: Nominate what's normal in the fandom or by individual title. If you're unsure, comment below and we can figure out how to proceed.
- Star Wars in-universe crossovers: Please ensure any Star Wars crossovers are nominated under "Star Wars - All Media Types", i.e. "Leia Organa (Star Wars: Original Trilogy) & Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)". Please ensure you disambiguate which version of the character you want.
- The Witcher: Please nominate via media, i.e. "The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski", "The Witcher (TV)", and "The Witcher (Video Games)".
- X-Men Movies: Please nominate either "X-Men (Movieverse) (OTM)" for Original Timeline Movies and "X-Men (Movieverse) (ATM)" for Alternate Timeline Movies.
Tag formats
We accept:
- "/" nominations signifying romantic and/or sexual relationships, i.e. "Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars (VMars)".
- "&" nominations signifying platonic and gen relationships, i.e. "Logan Echolls & Veronica Mars (VMars)".
- "Solo:" nominations will work in two ways: (1) signifying a single character to be the main focus of the fanwork, i.e. "Solo: Veronica Mars (VMars)" and (2) signifying a group, such as "Solo: The Muppets (Sesame Street)", where one or more Muppets will be the central focus of the work as chosen by the creator.
- "Solo: Character (Fandom A) in Fandom B" and "Solo: Relationship (Fandom A) in Fandom B" — This signifies a crossover where the nominated character (or relationship) from Fandom A is visiting or already exists in the world of Fandom B. Please disambiguate Fandom B if there are multiple versions of this fandom available.
- You may nominate tags in the format of "Character A/Character B & Character C" to request two characters in a romantic/sexual relationship having a platonic interaction with a third character. Please ensure you disambiguate correctly.
Tag examples:
- Daphne Blake/Fred Jones (Scooby Doo Cartoon) — The fanwork you will receive will be primarily about this romantic/sexual relationship interacting with the exchange's theme.
- Daphne Blake & Fred Jones (Scooby Doo Cartoon) — The fanwork you will receive will be primarily about characters interacting as friends, neighbours, family, acquaintances, enemies, etc. in a platonic/non-sexual way with the exchange's theme.
- Solo: Velma Dinkley (Scooby Doo Cartoon) — The fanwork you will receive will be about/centred around Velma Dinkley, but other characters can appear while interacting with the exchange's theme.. She will be the primary character interacting with the exchange's theme within the work.
- Solo: Mystery Inc. (Scooby Doo Cartoon) — The fanwork you will receive will be about/centred around one of any member of Mystery Inc. but, can potentially be more than one. They will interact with the exchange's theme.
- Fred Jones & Daphne Blake & Velma Dinkley & Shaggy Rogers & Scooby-Doo (Scooby-Doo) — The fanwork you will receive will be about/centred around the nominated Mystery Inc. members, who interact platonically with one another with the exchange's theme.
- Solo: Scooby Doo (Scooby Doo Cartoon) in Sesame Street — The fanwork will be a crossover about/centred around Scooby Doo visiting or already existing within the world of Sesame Street and interact with the exchange's theme. This will be nominated under "Crossover Fandom".
- Elmo (Sesame Street) & Mystery Inc. (Scooby Doo Cartoon) — The fanwork you will receive will be a crossover work in which Elmo and one or more of the members of Mystery Inc. meet or have some kind of pre-existing platonic relationship and interact with the exchange's theme. This will be nominated under "Crossover Fandom".
- Daphne Blake/Fred Jones (Scooby Doo cartoon) & Elmo (Sesame Street) — The fanwork you will receive will be a crossover work in which Fred and Daphne have a romantic/sexual relationship and platonically interact with Elmo with the exchange's theme. This will be nominated under "Crossover Fandom".
Group nominations
- "Solo: Group" tags mean "one or more of this group" whether or not they have "any" in front of them.
- If you request an ambiguous group, i.e. "Solo: The Avengers", we will assume any possible member(s) of that group fulfil the request. If you want specific members, please nominate them in the "Character A & Character B & Character C" format. (Please select the characters you absolutely want.)
- You may request "Any" of a character type, e.g., "Mikhaila Ilyushin/Any Female Talos I Employee". Please make sure any important information is within the Any character tag.
- Where there is ambiguity created by a nomination, we will likely side with the creator. If you want to ensure you get specific characters, then nominate them by name. If you request "Veronica Mars (VMars) & The Avengers (MCU)" and include in your DNWs that you do not want Bruce Banner, this may not be enforced.
Transfer 2025 nominations over
One of our fellow detectives asked about this as an option for 2026's round, which I thought was a great idea! I apologise to anyone this may blindside, as I hadn't considered it and didn't build it into the schedule.
I'm allowing transfers from last year's tagset into 2026's tagset. This means these nominations will not count toward a nomination slot. I will batch load these into the 2026 tagset, provided the request follows the guidelines below.
- Each person can only request a maximum of 10 fandoms to be transferred.
- Anonymous comments must sign their comments with their AO3 usernames.
- If you do not provide the information in the format specified, I will not be transferring your selected tags over.
- Please reply to this post with your fandom and the tags you want transferred. Please format it as follows: Fandom,Relationship,Relationship,Relationship, with each fandom on a new line. Please do not change these tags and do not add spaces. The tags must be exactly as they appear in the 2025 tagset.
- If you can title your comment's subject with "Transfer", that will be very helpful for me! This isn't mandatory, and I will process these transfers even without a subject line. (Please don't stress if you forget!)
- Transfers must be requested on this post only. If they are asked on any other post, I will ignore them.
Please be patient with me as this is my first time offering this.
Questions
You're welcome to drop any questions below or email gumshoeagency@gmail.com.
If you see any errors in the tagset, please point them out, preferably on nomination-related posts, so they can be amended before sign-ups open.
*
Thanks very much to the
ficinabox mods for letting me steal some of their nomination guidelines. 🩷