OK, I’ve hem-hawwed on these for long enough:
Nominee:
Thestatusquo
Title:
Shea
Fairy Opinion:
This title has been the hardest one to judge so far, as you will soon be able to tell by the two-page essay I’ve written on it. I’ve thought about it and considered it and talked with SleepyKrew about it and considered it some more and then I had a dream featuring a scorpion (I don’t think it was a sign, unfortunately) and I guess I have to post something now!
To begin, I feel like everything I say these days relates to ChicagoMeet, but I want to bring up one of my first interactions with KittyMo there. People were calling her both KittyMo and Ariel, so after a bit I asked her: “which do you prefer?” She said “Ariel, in real interaction” and we moved on. It made sense.
I feel like what were dealing with here is a similar situation. Everyone who knows him calls Thestatusquo Shea. He explicitly requests it, and it’s arguable that he is the site user most identifiable by first name. But all that considered, does that make him worthy of his name as a title? And is a first name a good title?
A precedent I recalled was crywolf20084 being approved for “Cayke” which isn’t her real name but it is a nickname. You can see
the process here, but it looks like 1) Kaleidoscope’s wonky username donked some of the quotes and 2) it was just a simpler, looser time for titles. I don’t know too much about the specifics, but I do know that almost everyone refers to her as cayke nowadays, still. But, I think had that title arisen now, I would not have accepted it.
Just like “cayke”, one of the main reasons I’m hesitant on this title, and the biggest thing I discussed with SleepyKrew, is that I don’t think it would be too problematic for Shea to just switch to that username. As of last check, the username Shea is still available. The main argument there is that there is a legacy with Thestatusquo that will be lost if he were to switch. I guess I can see that . . . but it also has to be processed through a Chevre-nee-skitzer brain, so there’s a front-and-center argument against it.
The other problem I have is that it’s not a cut-and-dry thing to me that Shea is the preeminent first-name user. Ariel, Ashley, Keely are just three that come to mind immediately. There are others who’ve incorporated it into their username: MattP comes to mind, but you have other people who use initials or mutations of their name.
It is undeniable that Shea is a valued member of the community, and we already know that there is notability enough for a title, since he’s held one in the past. However, to reinstate a title for him and to have that title be Shea, I cannot agree with that. I can’t link enough to that to make it feel special enough for me (though I do think Psyche’s point about how it suggests his personability is a good one). I also am wary of the door that this opens. How insistent do I need to be in saying “I’m Joseph, please don’t call me Chevre,” before I am worthy of a similarly structured title? Let me be clear: this is no fault against Shea, but it is important for me to hold to this policy, because I do not want to see a future where many are asking for titles of this sort and this can be used as precedent.
So, even though the support for this nom was as plentiful and as wide-ranging as Cheetory6’s I will be
the title “Shea” for Thestatusquo.
- - -
Nominee:
drmyshottyizsik
Title:
Bussed So Hard
Fairy’s Opinion:
In post 1, Chevre wrote:. . . being bussed isn’t necessarily something to celebrate.
In post 440, Errantparabola wrote:
Well, yeah.
To throw someone under the bus implies that you were their ally before you betrayed them.
In mafia, you really only do that if you're scumpartners with someone because unless you, like, bus your mason buddy or something, i guess that might happen.
, once again.
