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ficinabox2025-07-29 05:04 pmFandom Promo 2025
Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post
Fandom Promo
One of the really fun things about a multifandom exchange is seeing what everyone else is into and maybe picking up a new fandom or two or three! This post is a place to let everyone know why your fandom(s) are great, how to get into your fandom(s), and so on.
You can see last year's promo post here (link).
(PS, say hello to our mod helper account! Our minions are helping with the data entry, plus this keeps the promo alerts from clogging up the mod inbox.)
Promo Spreadsheet
For ease of browsing fandom promos, we will be putting all fandom promos in a sheet for easy browsing, including browsing by roughly the length of time needed to consume the fandom. You don't need to do anything to get your promo info on the sheet, just follow the posting instructions and it will be added for you.
What to put in your promo
Necessary for the spreadsheet:
- Fandom name: Also make this the title of your comment below. If you're promoing a certain ship or section of your fandom, include it after your fandom name.
- Tagset fandom: Please copy/paste from the tagset if your fandom is already there. This will help if you go out for pinch hit.
- Media type: What kind of thing is it?
- Length: How long does it take to consume the canon? We want this to be useful for people looking to pick up new fandoms! You can put an exact time if you know it, or you can sort into these categories:
- For fandoms under 2 hours long: Very short
- For fandoms 2-5 hours long: Short
- For fandoms 5-10 hours long: Short-ish
- For fandoms 10-20 hours long: Medium
- For fandoms longer than 20 hours: Long
- For fandoms longer than 40 hours: Very long
Suggested other info:
- Where can it be found? (Only legal links for this, please.)
- What is it/what is it about?
- What do you love about it? Also, what are you planning to request for it?
- If it's a big/complex/long/scattered fandom, where should people start? Also, are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?
- Do you have any content warnings? These are at your discretion and don't need to be comprehensive. Some content "warnings" might also help attract people who deliberately look for that kind of thing!
How to post your promo
Comment on this post by clicking "reply" in the bottom right corner. You do not need a Dreamwidth account to post.
Put your fandom's name as the comment's title.
Copy the code in the text box below and fill it out. Necessary-for-the-spreadsheet fields are marked with a * so you won't forget. Other fields can be removed if you don't need them.
Tentative belated schedule
Tentative schedule:
Nominations 16-26 August
Sign-ups 28 August - 7 September
Assignments out by 13 September
Initial swaps/letter completion 21 September
Check-in 23-30 November
Deadline 24 January
Works revealed 28 February
Creators revealed 14 March.
I will post rules updates by 8 August and will probably put a promo post up earlier in the schedule this year, before nominations start.
I recommend you also check out Fic in a Box |
ficinabox, our sibling exchange for fic and many other fanwork media, where nominations pre-gaming has already begun!
fic_in_a_box_mod) wrote in ficinabox2025-07-24 08:42 pmFandom Transfer (Nominations Pre-Gaming)
Navigation: Rules/General Info | AO3 Collection
Mod Contact: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com OR Screened Mod Contact Post
Nominations Pre-Gaming
Nominations pre-gaming is the first stage of Fic In A Box. We transfer fandom and relationship tags from last year's tagset to this year's tagset by request. This year, pre-gaming will end on August 2nd, at which point we will move into normal nominations.
FAQ: How is this different from nominations? Should new participants transfer tags from last year's tagset? Wait, what are the tags even needed for? How does this work on the mod end?
How is this different from nominations?
Nominating is a lot more involved than this! Instead of giving us a list and having us go "Okay!" and adding tags immediately to the tagset, nominating involves participants typing out each tag they want in the correct format, then the mods and their helpers have to look at each tag to make sure there are no problems with it.
There are over 15,000 relationship-field tags in last year's tagset which have already been checked and approved last year or in years before. Since the format of our relationship nominations is always the same, transferring correctly formatted tags from last year's tagset to this year's tagset saves both participants and mods a whole ton of work, especially since many returning participants will want a similar slate of nominations this year as they did last year.
Should new participants transfer tags from last year's tagset?
Yes, please do! Last year's tagset is linked below. You can browse it to find tags you're interested in and transfer them just like returning participants.
Wait, what are the tags even needed for?
Tags are used during the sign up phase to fill out requests and offers. More about that here (link).
How does this work on the mod end?
We have a huge spreadsheet with all the tags and their associated fandoms into it, and AO3's tagset backend has a "batch load" page that lets us add in a bunch of tags at once as long as they're formatted correctly. The need for correct formatting is why we ask for individual tags in such a strange way below when you're asking for specific tags from a large fandom.
Reminders, Updates, & Queries
- Tags with "(s)" in them will not be transferred; you can nominate a replacement if you want one when nominations open.
- "WB: Any" tags do not need to be transferred; we add them automatically to every fandom during nominations cleanup.
- Untransferable fandoms: One fandom can't be transferred because we've been asked to split the fandom into two different fandoms in this year's tagset:
- Empires SMP splitting into Empires Season 1 and Empires Season 2
- Untransferrable relationship-field tags: Aside from relationship-field tags with "(s)" in them, there are a handful of other relationship-field tags from last year's tagset which can't be transferred. Specific reasons for each tag are listed in the linked list below.
- Spot any mistakes in last year's tagset? Wandering tags should be on the non-transferable tags list (linked above), but if you find something we missed, we'd love to know.
- Has something about your fandom changed? If there have been changes to your fandoms that would change the fandom tag, this is a good time to let us know about those. This is especially true if a fandom nominated separately last year is in danger of synning into a larger fandom this year.
- These fandoms have had their names changed from last year, many of them due to updated canonicals on AO3. Please ask for these by the new name, as they are already changed in the batch load list: Changed Fandom List
How to transfer
There are a few limits on what you can transfer:
- Each person can only request 10 fandoms be transferred. If you need more fandoms than that for some reason, please use the regular nominations process to nominate everything else. (If posting anon, please sign a name!)
- For fandoms with 39 or fewer relationship tags, we will transfer all relationship tags. Use the instructions under "Transferring Full Fandoms" below.
- For fandoms with 40+ relationship tags, you can only ask for 20 relationships to be transferred. Use the instructions under "Transferring Specific Tags From Fandoms" below.
- More than one person can ask for relationships to be transferred from a fandom!
Note that the transferring process will only work for tags that were in last year's tagset and will only transfer those tags exactly as they appeared in that tagset!
Tagsets
2024 Tagset: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/20083
2025 Tagset: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/24036
If I say your noms have been transferred but you can't find them in the tagset, please let me know!
Transferring Full Fandoms
Please reply to this post with your list with each fandom on a new line. Fandoms must be exactly as they appear in the tagset (not including the number in brackets) or the import will fail.
Transferring Specific Tags From Fandoms
Please reply to this post with your fandom and the tags you want transferred in batch load format (Fandom,Relationship,Relationship,Relationship), with each fandom on a new line. All tags must be exactly as they appear in the 2024 tagset (not including the number in brackets) or the import will fail.
Do not include "WB: Any"! These tags will be added to every fandom at the end of nominations, so do not need to be transferred here!
Full batch load format list of all fandoms from the 2024 tagset: (link)
fic_in_a_box_mod) wrote in ficinabox2025-07-22 02:32 pmAdditional Rule & Schedule Updates
Hello friends! It’s almost time for us to begin nominations pre-gaming. We have additional updates concerning the schedule, the rules post, and the medium opt-ins.
Time is shifted forward on all deadlines
We are updating the schedule to have an earlier deadline time this year. Last year, we found ourselves pushing checks and deadlines off to the next day on behind-the-scenes things, and realized that we hadn’t left ourselves enough time to do admin-y stuff. The new deadline will hopefully allow us to keep on top of the schedule.
All deadlines are now 10:00 PM EDT except for those in November, which will happen at 10:00 PM EST
(This is two hours earlier than before.)
Rule post updates:
We've significantly revised parts of the rules so that they're clearer to new participants and easier for everyone to find info in. We didn’t add anything we weren't already enforcing). The new rules will be posted by the end of the day July 22nd, and available for your perusal at that time!
The updated sections are:
- Official Communication (under "Participant Expectations")
- Sign Ups (whole section)
- Do Not Match Requests (under "Sign Ups", but calling this out specifically because it has more instructions now!)
- Swaps (whole section)
- Assignments (whole section)
We hope these updates will lead to a smoother experience for everyone!
We have a few more medium tweaks
We thought we were done but we found a couple more lying around, oops.
Illustrated Text (Visual Medium & Text Medium)
We updated this ruleset's description to more clearly explain that when you fill an illustrated text medium, the work as a whole needs to fill a requested relationship-field tag, but the individual parts don't.
For example, if you were filling an A/B relationship tag for a recip who'd opted into Medium Opt-In: Illustrated Text (Art & Writing) - In-Universe Newspaper Front Page then you need to make a newspaper front page that has both text and fanart and which depicts A/B in a romantic and/or sexual light…but the art or text components themselves don't individually need to both be shippy.
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Game Walkthrough
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Translation Analysis
Medium Opt-In: Writing - Product Description
These three mediums will now be updated to have “In-Universe” in front of them. The new tags will be:
- Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Game Walkthrough
- Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Translation Analysis
- Medium Opt-In: Writing - In-Universe Product Description
Medium Opt-In: Writing - TTRPG Supplement
TTRPG Supplements will be moving into the Instructions Ruleset. This will allow any TTRPG Supplement to gain wordcount for included art or photos that may accompany the medium. The updated tag will be “Medium Opt-In: Instructions - TTRPG Supplement”
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - In-Universe Infographic
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Infographic
Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Meta Infographic
We are condensing the Infographics tags down to two. “In-Universe Infographics” and “Meta Infographics” cover the two types of infographics that have been made in past rounds of the event, and we decided that this is a sufficiently small number of tags that they don’t need an umbrella tag. The “Medium Opt-In: Unique Rules - Infographic” tag will be retired.
Medium Opt-In: Art - Storyboard
Medium Opt-In: Art - Storyboard of Canon Scene(s)
We are condensing the Storyboard tags down to one. The “of Canon Scene(s)” specification for the second tag feels more appropriate for the optional details of a request rather than part of a medium tag. We will be retiring the “Medium Opt-In: Art - Storyboard of Canon Scene(s)” tag, and will retain the “Medium Opt-In: Art - Storyboard” tag.
fic_in_a_box_mod) wrote in ficinabox2025-07-22 01:53 pmFic In A Box Rules & Info 2025
Schedule:
July 24-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 17-August 31: Signups (Countdown)
August 20: Swap requests open
September 6: Assignments Out By This Date
September 7: Swap requests close
October 19: Assignments Due (Countdown)
November 9: Last Day To Submit Makeup Assignments
November 15: Work Reveals
November 29: Creator Reveals
All deadlines are at 10:00 PM EDT except for those in November, which will happen at 10:00 PM EST
Information
A gift exchange is an event where participants create fanworks to gift to each other. Fic In A Box is a fanwork exchange with a large minimum gifting requirement and several unique features:
- All participants in Fic In A Box are requesting 10,000 words of fanfiction by default, but can opt in to other mediums (such as art, podfic, knitting patterns, and so on). Participants who work in non-writing mediums are very welcome and will get specially matched (as long as they give the mods a heads-up) so they'll have an assignment they can complete.
- Participants have the option to split the 10k words (or equivalent) that they owe between several separate works (say, one fic of 3k and another of 7k) to reach 10k total.
- The minimum word count per work is 1k by default, but lower wordcount works will count if your recipient has opted into receiving them.
- Initial assignments are 10k for one person, but at the start of the exchange we run swaps which will give you the chance to spread that 10k out over multiple assignments for multiple recipients!
For mediums other than the written word, pretty much any medium will be accepted, as long as we can agree on a clear and easily checked equivalent to 1k of written fic. Participants who work in non-writing mediums get specially matched with participants who have opted in to receiving works of that kind so they'll have an assignment they can complete.
If you cannot complete the full 10k (or other medium equivalent) but have posted one or more smaller, complete works, you can default on just the remaining wordcount. You will then be guaranteed (via pinch hit if necessary) a gift equivalent to the amount submitted (rounded down to the nearest 1k). There are also options to "earn back" guaranteed minimum amount by taking pinch hits or completing your original assignment.
Are you new? Or confused? 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.
Non-Dreamwidth Links:
- Email: ficinaboxmod@gmail.com
- AO3 Collection
- Tagset
- Automagic App (for browsing requests!)
- Tumblr
Dreamwidth Post Links:
- Screened Mod Contact Post
- Medium Rulesets
- Posting Guidelines
- Assignment Swaps
- Google Forms (Defaulting, Extensions, Summaries)
- Pinch Hitter Requests
- Fandom Promo
( Nominations )
( Signups )
( Swaps )
( Assignments )
( Pinch Hits )
( Defaulting )
( Earning back your minimum after defaulting )
( Extensions )
( Delays )