i love how people are saying “that’s homophobic” to every small inconvenience now. we had to hear The Straights say “that’s gay” to everything they hated for so long, it’s our turn now babes. a new, gayer age. 20gayteen, coming through
If you’re adopted internationally into the United States, BY adoption LAWS you’re legally a citizen, but you still have to apply for documentation and if it’s not done by the age of 18 you have to pay over $500 and get a judge to reopen your adoption case.
Even More Fun Fact: No one actually tells adoptive families, this so many find out after they’re 18 when their kid needs to get a passport, wants to apply for financial aid, get certain jobs, vote or some other shit that requires proof of citizenship and now it’s too late because they’re 18 or over.
AND EVEN MORE FUN FACT! You can sometimes even be deported because you can be considered foreign-born, non-citizens!
Oh and they won’t accept adoption papers or a birth certificate as proof.
Do it now! Seriously. Even if you think you are safe. Do it.
Many people are finding that even a birth certificate is not valid proof anymore. Texas birth certificates are notorious. So notorious that I have 3 friends who can’t use them to get passports! Don’t think everything is hunky dory. You must nail down your citizenship.
Plus the cost for your citizenship certificate is almost doubling this fall.
SIGNAL BOOST.
Some Naturalization/Citizenship Certificate tips from me, the person who front-end processes these forms for half the country: the passport people are absolute garbage at sending your Naturalization Certificate back to you. Unfortunately, they also require it for you to get a passport. If you don’t get it back, whine at them about it and they will probably cover the cost of the replacement.
Also! It takes up to 12 months to get a replacement certificate. If you urgently need your Natz Cert to visit your dying relative in another country, the word you want to use is ‘Expedite’. Not ‘ASAP’. Not ‘rush’. Expedite. Write a letter explaining why you need it expedited, if you do. Otherwise the USCIS data-entry grunts (me!) aren’t allowed to throw it into the expedite line and it gets relegated to the Backlog Crypts.
Also! You need to get a new Naturalization Certificate if your name and/or gender legally changes, because a lot of places want your proof of citizenship for things like Social Security and student loans and Medicaid/EBT/welfare benefits and drivers’ licenses.
ALSO ALSO both the N600 ($600) that you use to apply for your Naturalization Certificate in the first place and N565 ($345) that you use to apply for a replacement certificate are eligible for FEE WAIVERS. It’s called an I912. Learn it, love it, use it.
Please for your sake make sure you are using the current version of the form. The most common reason I have to reject an N565 is because someone sent me something that expired in 2013. The current one is seven pages long. Please send the government all seven of them.
How not to comment on someone’s fic … (an occasional series)
I see some excellent posts on tumblr and twitter which give guidance over how to write crit, or comment on people’s stories. Personally, I like the old keysmash as much as well thought out comments, and I’m not entirely averse to constructive criticism, although, tbh, fic is an outlet and my hobby so I don’t actively seek it out.
(Context: this happened two days ago. The reader/commenter is someone that’s left a lot of (usually) positive (ish) comments, although there have been some ‘please please please write person x person fic’ about a pairing I don’t think anyone would associate with me as I dont actually write either person very much.)
Lesson one: this is not constructive. I’m not entirely sure how you crit sex scenes, because unless something is anatomically incorrect, or impossible, then sex scenes are up to personal interpretation.
Lesson two: adding a ‘lol’ at the end of a comment like that DOES. NOT. HELP. In face it makes the whole thing worse. You’re now laughing because you think my scene sucks! If it’s supposed to take the sting out of the comment, then … don’t make the fricking comment in the first place.
Lesson three: if other authors have got ‘mad’ at your opinions, then look at the common denominator here … IT’S YOU!
Lesson four: telling me my fic is awesome compounds the insult (okay, I’m joking at that, but friends from mnff days will get it)
Here’s my reply
It took me a while to compose, but actually not as long as I thought it would. At the time I had the idea that the commenter was young and still at school, I’m not sure that’s the case, so I kept the reply as cool as I could, with a little bit of guidance as to why their comments might upset people.
And then they replied …
Lesson five: Saying ‘that’s the kind of person I am’ does not excuse the basic fact that you were fucking rude! I’m sick of this idea that a blunt person who doesn’t sugarcoat anything is somehow more valid than a nice person. No no, stop with this awfulness!
Lesson six: In the words of Kita-san (paraphrased) only apologise if you actually mean it. The person has in this reply put the onus right back on me for being silly at getting annoyed. This is not a good thing to do. It’s not a good thing to do in life, either.
They’ve since commented on other fics of mine (I think they’re going through my catalogue – lucky me!) and although I always respond to people who take the time to comment because I’m grateful and I also like engaging with people, I’m side-eyeing everything they write now and looking for the digs.
Lesson seven: it is very difficult/impossible to take back a shitty comment and make amends because no matter that someone might have left a shed load of other comments, the negative one is the one that will stick.
Lesson eight: you don’t like something, then click out of the story. I read a bunch of fics recently, left kudos on most and commented on a lot too. The two I didn’t like, I clicked out of because they weren’t my thing, but other people loved them.
Lesson nine: for the authors out there, including myself. It’s one person’s opinion and on an incredibly personal and subjective topic. Breathe deep, and don’t feel self-conscious when you next write.
