diff --git a/internal/api/client/search/search_test.go b/internal/api/client/search/search_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..11b5b80b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/client/search/search_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021-2022 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+package search_test
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/suite"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/api/client/search"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/concurrency"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/config"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/db"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/email"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/federation"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/gtsmodel"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/media"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/messages"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/oauth"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/processing"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/storage"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/testrig"
+)
+
+type SearchStandardTestSuite struct {
+	// standard suite interfaces
+	suite.Suite
+	db           db.DB
+	storage      *storage.Driver
+	mediaManager media.Manager
+	federator    federation.Federator
+	processor    processing.Processor
+	emailSender  email.Sender
+	sentEmails   map[string]string
+
+	// standard suite models
+	testTokens       map[string]*gtsmodel.Token
+	testClients      map[string]*gtsmodel.Client
+	testApplications map[string]*gtsmodel.Application
+	testUsers        map[string]*gtsmodel.User
+	testAccounts     map[string]*gtsmodel.Account
+
+	// module being tested
+	searchModule *search.Module
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchStandardTestSuite) SetupSuite() {
+	suite.testTokens = testrig.NewTestTokens()
+	suite.testClients = testrig.NewTestClients()
+	suite.testApplications = testrig.NewTestApplications()
+	suite.testUsers = testrig.NewTestUsers()
+	suite.testAccounts = testrig.NewTestAccounts()
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchStandardTestSuite) SetupTest() {
+	testrig.InitTestConfig()
+	testrig.InitTestLog()
+
+	fedWorker := concurrency.NewWorkerPool[messages.FromFederator](-1, -1)
+	clientWorker := concurrency.NewWorkerPool[messages.FromClientAPI](-1, -1)
+
+	suite.db = testrig.NewTestDB()
+	suite.storage = testrig.NewInMemoryStorage()
+	suite.mediaManager = testrig.NewTestMediaManager(suite.db, suite.storage)
+	suite.federator = testrig.NewTestFederator(suite.db, testrig.NewTestTransportController(testrig.NewMockHTTPClient(nil, "../../../../testrig/media"), suite.db, fedWorker), suite.storage, suite.mediaManager, fedWorker)
+	suite.sentEmails = make(map[string]string)
+	suite.emailSender = testrig.NewEmailSender("../../../../web/template/", suite.sentEmails)
+	suite.processor = testrig.NewTestProcessor(suite.db, suite.storage, suite.federator, suite.emailSender, suite.mediaManager, clientWorker, fedWorker)
+	suite.searchModule = search.New(suite.processor).(*search.Module)
+	testrig.StandardDBSetup(suite.db, nil)
+	testrig.StandardStorageSetup(suite.storage, "../../../../testrig/media")
+
+	suite.NoError(suite.processor.Start())
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchStandardTestSuite) TearDownTest() {
+	testrig.StandardDBTeardown(suite.db)
+	testrig.StandardStorageTeardown(suite.storage)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchStandardTestSuite) newContext(recorder *httptest.ResponseRecorder, requestPath string) *gin.Context {
+	ctx, _ := testrig.CreateGinTestContext(recorder, nil)
+	ctx.Set(oauth.SessionAuthorizedAccount, suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"])
+	ctx.Set(oauth.SessionAuthorizedToken, oauth.DBTokenToToken(suite.testTokens["local_account_1"]))
+	ctx.Set(oauth.SessionAuthorizedApplication, suite.testApplications["application_1"])
+	ctx.Set(oauth.SessionAuthorizedUser, suite.testUsers["local_account_1"])
+
+	protocol := config.GetProtocol()
+	host := config.GetHost()
+
+	baseURI := fmt.Sprintf("%s://%s", protocol, host)
+	requestURI := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", baseURI, requestPath)
+
+	ctx.Request = httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, requestURI, nil) // the endpoint we're hitting
+	ctx.Request.Header.Set("accept", "application/json")
+	return ctx
+}
diff --git a/internal/api/client/search/searchget_test.go b/internal/api/client/search/searchget_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bcbe83baf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/client/search/searchget_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021-2022 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+package search_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/suite"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/api/client/search"
+	apimodel "github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/api/model"
+)
+
+type SearchGetTestSuite struct {
+	SearchStandardTestSuite
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) testSearch(query string, resolve bool, expectedHTTPStatus int) (*apimodel.SearchResult, error) {
+	requestPath := fmt.Sprintf("%s?q=%s&resolve=%t", search.BasePathV1, query, resolve)
+	recorder := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	ctx := suite.newContext(recorder, requestPath)
+
+	suite.searchModule.SearchGETHandler(ctx)
+
+	result := recorder.Result()
+	defer result.Body.Close()
+
+	if resultCode := recorder.Code; expectedHTTPStatus != resultCode {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected %d got %d", expectedHTTPStatus, resultCode)
+	}
+
+	b, err := ioutil.ReadAll(result.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	searchResult := &apimodel.SearchResult{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, searchResult); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return searchResult, nil
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchRemoteAccountByURI() {
+	query := "https://unknown-instance.com/users/brand_new_person"
+	resolve := true
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchRemoteAccountByNamestring() {
+	query := "@brand_new_person@unknown-instance.com"
+	resolve := true
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchRemoteAccountByNamestringNoLeadingAt() {
+	query := "brand_new_person@unknown-instance.com"
+	resolve := true
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchRemoteAccountByNamestringNoResolve() {
+	query := "@brand_new_person@unknown-instance.com"
+	resolve := false
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 0)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchLocalAccountByNamestring() {
+	query := "@the_mighty_zork"
+	resolve := false
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchLocalAccountByNamestringWithDomain() {
+	query := "@the_mighty_zork@localhost:8080"
+	resolve := false
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchNonexistingLocalAccountByNamestringResolveTrue() {
+	query := "@somone_made_up@localhost:8080"
+	resolve := true
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 0)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchLocalAccountByURI() {
+	query := "http://localhost:8080/users/the_mighty_zork"
+	resolve := false
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchLocalAccountByURL() {
+	query := "http://localhost:8080/@the_mighty_zork"
+	resolve := false
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 account in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotAccount := searchResult.Accounts[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotAccount)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchNonexistingLocalAccountByURL() {
+	query := "http://localhost:8080/@the_shmighty_shmork"
+	resolve := true
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	suite.Len(searchResult.Accounts, 0)
+}
+
+func (suite *SearchGetTestSuite) TestSearchStatusByURL() {
+	query := "https://turnip.farm/users/turniplover6969/statuses/70c53e54-3146-42d5-a630-83c8b6c7c042"
+	resolve := true
+
+	searchResult, err := suite.testSearch(query, resolve, http.StatusOK)
+	if err != nil {
+		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if !suite.Len(searchResult.Statuses, 1) {
+		suite.FailNow("expected 1 status in search results but got 0")
+	}
+
+	gotStatus := searchResult.Statuses[0]
+	suite.NotNil(gotStatus)
+}
+
+func TestSearchGetTestSuite(t *testing.T) {
+	suite.Run(t, &SearchGetTestSuite{})
+}
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereference.go b/internal/federation/dereference.go
index 6095a4d52..dcb4cc631 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereference.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereference.go
@@ -27,12 +27,12 @@ import (
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/gtsmodel"
 )
 
-func (f *federator) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams) (*gtsmodel.Account, error) {
-	return f.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, params)
+func (f *federator) GetAccount(ctx context.Context, params dereferencing.GetAccountParams) (*gtsmodel.Account, error) {
+	return f.dereferencer.GetAccount(ctx, params)
 }
 
-func (f *federator) GetRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error) {
-	return f.dereferencer.GetRemoteStatus(ctx, username, remoteStatusID, refetch, includeParent)
+func (f *federator) GetStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error) {
+	return f.dereferencer.GetStatus(ctx, username, remoteStatusID, refetch, includeParent)
 }
 
 func (f *federator) EnrichRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, status *gtsmodel.Status, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, error) {
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/account.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/account.go
index e351cd2fd..48ee9f1d7 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/account.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/account.go
@@ -50,20 +50,20 @@ func instanceAccount(account *gtsmodel.Account) bool {
 		(account.Username == "internal.fetch" && strings.Contains(account.Note, "internal service actor"))
 }
 
-// GetRemoteAccountParams wraps parameters for a remote account lookup.
-type GetRemoteAccountParams struct {
+// GetAccountParams wraps parameters for an account lookup.
+type GetAccountParams struct {
 	// The username of the user doing the lookup request (optional).
 	// If not set, then the GtS instance account will be used to do the lookup.
 	RequestingUsername string
-	// The ActivityPub URI of the remote account (optional).
-	// If not set (nil), the ActivityPub URI of the remote account will be discovered
+	// The ActivityPub URI of the account (optional).
+	// If not set (nil), the ActivityPub URI of the account will be discovered
 	// via webfinger, so you must set RemoteAccountUsername and RemoteAccountHost
 	// if this parameter is not set.
 	RemoteAccountID *url.URL
-	// The username of the remote account (optional).
+	// The username of the account (optional).
 	// If RemoteAccountID is not set, then this value must be set.
 	RemoteAccountUsername string
-	// The host of the remote account (optional).
+	// The host of the account (optional).
 	// If RemoteAccountID is not set, then this value must be set.
 	RemoteAccountHost string
 	// Whether to do a blocking call to the remote instance. If true,
@@ -82,17 +82,51 @@ type GetRemoteAccountParams struct {
 	PartialAccount *gtsmodel.Account
 }
 
-// GetRemoteAccount completely dereferences a remote account, converts it to a GtS model account,
+type lookupType int
+
+const (
+	lookupPartialLocal lookupType = iota
+	lookupPartial
+	lookupURILocal
+	lookupURI
+	lookupMentionLocal
+	lookupMention
+	lookupBad
+)
+
+func getLookupType(params GetAccountParams) lookupType {
+	switch {
+	case params.PartialAccount != nil:
+		if params.PartialAccount.Domain == "" || params.PartialAccount.Domain == config.GetHost() || params.PartialAccount.Domain == config.GetAccountDomain() {
+			return lookupPartialLocal
+		}
+		return lookupPartial
+	case params.RemoteAccountID != nil:
+		if host := params.RemoteAccountID.Host; host == config.GetHost() || host == config.GetAccountDomain() {
+			return lookupURILocal
+		}
+		return lookupURI
+	case params.RemoteAccountUsername != "":
+		if params.RemoteAccountHost == "" || params.RemoteAccountHost == config.GetHost() || params.RemoteAccountHost == config.GetAccountDomain() {
+			return lookupMentionLocal
+		}
+		return lookupMention
+	default:
+		return lookupBad
+	}
+}
+
+// GetAccount completely dereferences an account, converts it to a GtS model account,
 // puts or updates it in the database (if necessary), and returns it to a caller.
 //
-// If a local account is passed into this function for whatever reason (hey, it happens!), then it
-// will be returned from the database without making any remote calls.
+// GetAccount will guard against trying to do http calls to fetch an account that belongs to this instance.
+// Instead of making calls, it will just return the account early if it finds it, or return an error.
 //
 // Even if a fastfail context is used, and something goes wrong, an account might still be returned instead
 // of an error, if we already had the account in our database (in other words, if we just needed to try
 // fingering/refreshing the account again). The rationale for this is that it's more useful to be able
 // to provide *something* to the caller, even if that something is not necessarily 100% up to date.
-func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountParams) (foundAccount *gtsmodel.Account, err error) {
+func (d *deref) GetAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetAccountParams) (foundAccount *gtsmodel.Account, err error) {
 	/*
 		In this function we want to retrieve a gtsmodel representation of a remote account, with its proper
 		accountDomain set, while making as few calls to remote instances as possible to save time and bandwidth.
@@ -113,88 +147,93 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 					from that.
 	*/
 
-	skipResolve := params.SkipResolve
-
 	// this first step checks if we have the
 	// account in the database somewhere already,
 	// or if we've been provided it as a partial
-	switch {
-	case params.PartialAccount != nil:
+	switch getLookupType(params) {
+	case lookupPartialLocal:
+		params.SkipResolve = true
+		fallthrough
+	case lookupPartial:
 		foundAccount = params.PartialAccount
-		if foundAccount.Domain == "" || foundAccount.Domain == config.GetHost() || foundAccount.Domain == config.GetAccountDomain() {
-			// this is actually a local account,
-			// make sure we don't try to resolve
-			skipResolve = true
-		}
-	case params.RemoteAccountID != nil:
-		uri := params.RemoteAccountID
-		host := uri.Host
-		if host == config.GetHost() || host == config.GetAccountDomain() {
-			// this is actually a local account,
-			// make sure we don't try to resolve
-			skipResolve = true
+	case lookupURILocal:
+		params.SkipResolve = true
+		fallthrough
+	case lookupURI:
+		// see if we have this in the db already with this uri/url
+		uri := params.RemoteAccountID.String()
+
+		if a, dbErr := d.db.GetAccountByURI(ctx, uri); dbErr == nil {
+			// got it, break here to leave early
+			foundAccount = a
+			break
+		} else if !errors.Is(dbErr, db.ErrNoEntries) {
+			// a real error
+			err = newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: unexpected error while looking for account with uri %s: %w", uri, dbErr))
+			break
 		}
 
-		if a, dbErr := d.db.GetAccountByURI(ctx, uri.String()); dbErr == nil {
+		// dbErr was just db.ErrNoEntries so search by url instead
+		if a, dbErr := d.db.GetAccountByURL(ctx, uri); dbErr == nil {
+			// got it
 			foundAccount = a
-		} else if dbErr != db.ErrNoEntries {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: database error looking for account with uri %s: %s", uri, err)
+			break
+		} else if !errors.Is(dbErr, db.ErrNoEntries) {
+			// a real error
+			err = newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: unexpected error while looking for account with url %s: %w", uri, dbErr))
+			break
 		}
-	case params.RemoteAccountUsername != "" && (params.RemoteAccountHost == "" || params.RemoteAccountHost == config.GetHost() || params.RemoteAccountHost == config.GetAccountDomain()):
-		// either no domain is provided or this seems
-		// to be a local account, so don't resolve
-		skipResolve = true
-
-		if a, dbErr := d.db.GetAccountByUsernameDomain(ctx, params.RemoteAccountUsername, ""); dbErr == nil {
-			foundAccount = a
-		} else if dbErr != db.ErrNoEntries {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: database error looking for local account with username %s: %s", params.RemoteAccountUsername, err)
-		}
-	case params.RemoteAccountUsername != "" && params.RemoteAccountHost != "":
+	case lookupMentionLocal:
+		params.SkipResolve = true
+		params.RemoteAccountHost = ""
+		fallthrough
+	case lookupMention:
+		// see if we have this in the db already with this username/host
 		if a, dbErr := d.db.GetAccountByUsernameDomain(ctx, params.RemoteAccountUsername, params.RemoteAccountHost); dbErr == nil {
 			foundAccount = a
-		} else if dbErr != db.ErrNoEntries {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: database error looking for account with username %s and domain %s: %s", params.RemoteAccountUsername, params.RemoteAccountHost, err)
+		} else if !errors.Is(dbErr, db.ErrNoEntries) {
+			// a real error
+			err = newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: unexpected error while looking for account %s: %w", params.RemoteAccountUsername, dbErr))
 		}
 	default:
-		err = errors.New("GetRemoteAccount: no identifying parameters were set so we cannot get account")
+		err = newErrBadRequest(errors.New("GetRemoteAccount: no identifying parameters were set so we cannot get account"))
 	}
 
+	// bail if we've set a real error, and not just no entries in the db
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 
-	if skipResolve {
-		// if we can't resolve, return already
-		// since there's nothing more we can do
+	if params.SkipResolve {
+		// if we can't resolve, return already since there's nothing more we can do
 		if foundAccount == nil {
-			err = errors.New("GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and won't try to resolve it")
+			err = newErrNotRetrievable(errors.New("GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and not allowed to resolve it"))
 		}
 		return
 	}
 
-	var accountable ap.Accountable
-	if params.RemoteAccountUsername == "" || params.RemoteAccountHost == "" {
-		// try to populate the missing params
-		// the first one is easy ...
-		params.RemoteAccountHost = params.RemoteAccountID.Host
-		// ... but we still need the username so we can do a finger for the accountDomain
+	// if we reach this point, we have some remote calls to make
 
-		// check if we got the account earlier
+	var accountable ap.Accountable
+	if params.RemoteAccountUsername == "" && params.RemoteAccountHost == "" {
+		// if we're still missing some params, try to populate them now
+		params.RemoteAccountHost = params.RemoteAccountID.Host
 		if foundAccount != nil {
+			// username is easy if we found something already
 			params.RemoteAccountUsername = foundAccount.Username
 		} else {
-			// if we didn't already have it, we have dereference it from remote and just...
-			accountable, err = d.dereferenceAccountable(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountID)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error dereferencing accountable: %s", err)
+			// if we didn't already have it, we have to dereference it from remote
+			var derefErr error
+			accountable, derefErr = d.dereferenceAccountable(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountID)
+			if derefErr != nil {
+				err = wrapDerefError(derefErr, "GetRemoteAccount: error dereferencing Accountable")
 				return
 			}
 
-			// ... take the username (for now)
-			params.RemoteAccountUsername, err = ap.ExtractPreferredUsername(accountable)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error extracting accountable username: %s", err)
+			var apError error
+			params.RemoteAccountUsername, apError = ap.ExtractPreferredUsername(accountable)
+			if apError != nil {
+				err = newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error extracting Accountable username: %w", apError))
 				return
 			}
 		}
@@ -221,11 +260,24 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 	// - we were passed a partial account in params OR
 	// - we haven't webfingered the account for two days AND the account isn't an instance account
 	var fingered time.Time
-	if params.RemoteAccountID == nil || foundAccount == nil || params.PartialAccount != nil || (foundAccount.LastWebfingeredAt.Before(time.Now().Add(webfingerInterval)) && !instanceAccount(foundAccount)) {
-		accountDomain, params.RemoteAccountID, err = d.fingerRemoteAccount(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountUsername, params.RemoteAccountHost)
-		if err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error while fingering: %s", err)
-			return
+	var refreshFinger bool
+	if foundAccount != nil {
+		refreshFinger = foundAccount.LastWebfingeredAt.Before(time.Now().Add(webfingerInterval)) && !instanceAccount(foundAccount)
+	}
+
+	if params.RemoteAccountID == nil || foundAccount == nil || params.PartialAccount != nil || refreshFinger {
+		if ad, accountURI, fingerError := d.fingerRemoteAccount(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountUsername, params.RemoteAccountHost); fingerError != nil {
+			if !refreshFinger {
+				// only return with an error if this wasn't just a refresh finger;
+				// that is, if we actually *needed* to finger in order to get the account,
+				// otherwise we can just continue and we'll try again in 2 days
+				err = newErrNotRetrievable(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error while fingering: %w", fingerError))
+				return
+			}
+			log.Infof("error doing non-vital webfinger refresh call to %s: %s", params.RemoteAccountHost, err)
+		} else {
+			accountDomain = ad
+			params.RemoteAccountID = accountURI
 		}
 		fingered = time.Now()
 	}
@@ -234,24 +286,30 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 		// if we just fingered and now have a discovered account domain but still no account,
 		// we should do a final lookup in the database with the discovered username + accountDomain
 		// to make absolutely sure we don't already have this account
-		a := &gtsmodel.Account{}
-		where := []db.Where{{Key: "username", Value: params.RemoteAccountUsername}, {Key: "domain", Value: accountDomain}}
-		if dbErr := d.db.GetWhere(ctx, where, a); dbErr == nil {
+		if a, dbErr := d.db.GetAccountByUsernameDomain(ctx, params.RemoteAccountUsername, accountDomain); dbErr == nil {
 			foundAccount = a
-		} else if dbErr != db.ErrNoEntries {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: database error looking for account with username %s and host %s: %s", params.RemoteAccountUsername, params.RemoteAccountHost, err)
+		} else if !errors.Is(dbErr, db.ErrNoEntries) {
+			// a real error
+			err = newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: unexpected error while looking for account %s: %w", params.RemoteAccountUsername, dbErr))
 			return
 		}
 	}
 
-	// we may also have some extra information already, like the account we had in the db, or the
+	// we may have some extra information already, like the account we had in the db, or the
 	// accountable representation that we dereferenced from remote
 	if foundAccount == nil {
-		// we still don't have the account, so deference it if we didn't earlier
+		// if we still don't have a remoteAccountID here we're boned
+		if params.RemoteAccountID == nil {
+			err = newErrNotRetrievable(errors.New("GetRemoteAccount: could not populate find an account nor populate params.RemoteAccountID"))
+			return
+		}
+
+		// deference accountable if we didn't earlier
 		if accountable == nil {
-			accountable, err = d.dereferenceAccountable(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountID)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error dereferencing accountable: %s", err)
+			var derefErr error
+			accountable, derefErr = d.dereferenceAccountable(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountID)
+			if derefErr != nil {
+				err = wrapDerefError(derefErr, "GetRemoteAccount: error dereferencing Accountable")
 				return
 			}
 		}
@@ -259,7 +317,7 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 		// then convert
 		foundAccount, err = d.typeConverter.ASRepresentationToAccount(ctx, accountable, accountDomain, false)
 		if err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error converting accountable to account: %s", err)
+			err = newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error converting Accountable to account: %w", err))
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -267,23 +325,21 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 		var ulid string
 		ulid, err = id.NewRandomULID()
 		if err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error generating new id for account: %s", err)
+			err = newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error generating new id for account: %w", err))
 			return
 		}
 		foundAccount.ID = ulid
 
-		_, err = d.populateAccountFields(ctx, foundAccount, params.RequestingUsername, params.Blocking)
-		if err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error populating further account fields: %s", err)
-			return
+		if _, populateErr := d.populateAccountFields(ctx, foundAccount, params.RequestingUsername, params.Blocking); populateErr != nil {
+			// it's not the end of the world if we can't populate account fields, but we do want to log it
+			log.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error populating further account fields: %s", populateErr)
 		}
 
 		foundAccount.LastWebfingeredAt = fingered
 		foundAccount.UpdatedAt = time.Now()
 
-		err = d.db.PutAccount(ctx, foundAccount)
-		if err != nil {
-			err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error putting new account: %s", err)
+		if dbErr := d.db.PutAccount(ctx, foundAccount); dbErr != nil {
+			err = newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error putting new account: %w", dbErr))
 			return
 		}
 
@@ -303,9 +359,10 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 	if foundAccount.SharedInboxURI == nil {
 		// we need the accountable for this, so get it if we don't have it yet
 		if accountable == nil {
-			accountable, err = d.dereferenceAccountable(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountID)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error dereferencing accountable: %s", err)
+			var derefErr error
+			accountable, derefErr = d.dereferenceAccountable(ctx, params.RequestingUsername, params.RemoteAccountID)
+			if derefErr != nil {
+				err = wrapDerefError(derefErr, "GetRemoteAccount: error dereferencing Accountable")
 				return
 			}
 		}
@@ -330,10 +387,10 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 
 	// make sure the account fields are populated before returning:
 	// the caller might want to block until everything is loaded
-	var fieldsChanged bool
-	fieldsChanged, err = d.populateAccountFields(ctx, foundAccount, params.RequestingUsername, params.Blocking)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error populating remoteAccount fields: %s", err)
+	fieldsChanged, populateErr := d.populateAccountFields(ctx, foundAccount, params.RequestingUsername, params.Blocking)
+	if populateErr != nil {
+		// it's not the end of the world if we can't populate account fields, but we do want to log it
+		log.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error populating further account fields: %s", populateErr)
 	}
 
 	var fingeredChanged bool
@@ -343,9 +400,9 @@ func (d *deref) GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountPar
 	}
 
 	if accountDomainChanged || sharedInboxChanged || fieldsChanged || fingeredChanged {
-		err = d.db.UpdateAccount(ctx, foundAccount)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error updating remoteAccount: %s", err)
+		if dbErr := d.db.UpdateAccount(ctx, foundAccount); dbErr != nil {
+			err = newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteAccount: error updating remoteAccount: %w", err))
+			return
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -366,22 +423,22 @@ func (d *deref) dereferenceAccountable(ctx context.Context, username string, rem
 
 	transport, err := d.transportController.NewTransportForUsername(ctx, username)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: transport err: %s", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: transport err: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	b, err := transport.Dereference(ctx, remoteAccountID)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: error deferencing %s: %s", remoteAccountID.String(), err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: error deferencing %s: %w", remoteAccountID.String(), err)
 	}
 
 	m := make(map[string]interface{})
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &m); err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: error unmarshalling bytes into json: %s", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: error unmarshalling bytes into json: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	t, err := streams.ToType(ctx, m)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: error resolving json into ap vocab type: %s", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: error resolving json into ap vocab type: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	switch t.GetTypeName() {
@@ -417,11 +474,11 @@ func (d *deref) dereferenceAccountable(ctx context.Context, username string, rem
 		return p, nil
 	}
 
-	return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: type name %s not supported", t.GetTypeName())
+	return nil, newErrWrongType(fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAccountable: type name %s not supported as Accountable", t.GetTypeName()))
 }
 
-// populateAccountFields populates any fields on the given account that weren't populated by the initial
-// dereferencing. This includes things like header and avatar etc.
+// populateAccountFields makes a best effort to populate fields on an account such as emojis, avatar, header.
+// Will return true if one of these things changed on the passed-in account.
 func (d *deref) populateAccountFields(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Account, requestingUsername string, blocking bool) (bool, error) {
 	// if we're dealing with an instance account, just bail, we don't need to do anything
 	if instanceAccount(account) {
@@ -430,10 +487,15 @@ func (d *deref) populateAccountFields(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Acc
 
 	accountURI, err := url.Parse(account.URI)
 	if err != nil {
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: couldn't parse account URI %s: %s", account.URI, err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: couldn't parse account URI %s: %w", account.URI, err)
 	}
 
-	if blocked, err := d.db.IsDomainBlocked(ctx, accountURI.Host); blocked || err != nil {
+	blocked, dbErr := d.db.IsDomainBlocked(ctx, accountURI.Host)
+	if dbErr != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: eror checking for block of domain %s: %w", accountURI.Host, err)
+	}
+
+	if blocked {
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: domain %s is blocked", accountURI.Host)
 	}
 
@@ -441,14 +503,14 @@ func (d *deref) populateAccountFields(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Acc
 
 	// fetch the header and avatar
 	if mediaChanged, err := d.fetchRemoteAccountMedia(ctx, account, requestingUsername, blocking); err != nil {
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: error fetching header/avi for account: %s", err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: error fetching header/avi for account: %w", err)
 	} else if mediaChanged {
 		changed = mediaChanged
 	}
 
 	// fetch any emojis used in note, fields, display name, etc
 	if emojisChanged, err := d.fetchRemoteAccountEmojis(ctx, account, requestingUsername); err != nil {
-		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: error fetching emojis for account: %s", err)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("populateAccountFields: error fetching emojis for account: %w", err)
 	} else if emojisChanged {
 		changed = emojisChanged
 	}
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/account_test.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/account_test.go
index 38dc615d5..c5541209f 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/account_test.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/account_test.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceGroup() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
 	groupURL := testrig.URLMustParse("https://unknown-instance.com/groups/some_group")
-	group, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	group, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    groupURL,
 	})
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceService() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
 	serviceURL := testrig.URLMustParse("https://owncast.example.org/federation/user/rgh")
-	service, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	service, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    serviceURL,
 	})
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountAsRemoteURL() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 	targetAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_2"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    testrig.URLMustParse(targetAccount.URI),
 	})
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountAsRemoteURLNoSharedInb
 		suite.FailNow(err.Error())
 	}
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    testrig.URLMustParse(targetAccount.URI),
 	})
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountAsUsername() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 	targetAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_2"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountUsername: targetAccount.Username,
 	})
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountAsUsernameDomain() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 	targetAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_2"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountUsername: targetAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountHost:     config.GetHost(),
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountAsUsernameDomainAndURL
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 	targetAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_2"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:       testrig.URLMustParse(targetAccount.URI),
 		RemoteAccountUsername: targetAccount.Username,
@@ -165,34 +165,40 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountAsUsernameDomainAndURL
 func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountWithUnknownUsername() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountUsername: "thisaccountdoesnotexist",
 	})
-	suite.EqualError(err, "GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and won't try to resolve it")
+	var errNotRetrievable *dereferencing.ErrNotRetrievable
+	suite.ErrorAs(err, &errNotRetrievable)
+	suite.EqualError(err, "item could not be retrieved: GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and not allowed to resolve it")
 	suite.Nil(fetchedAccount)
 }
 
 func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountWithUnknownUsernameDomain() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountUsername: "thisaccountdoesnotexist",
 		RemoteAccountHost:     "localhost:8080",
 	})
-	suite.EqualError(err, "GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and won't try to resolve it")
+	var errNotRetrievable *dereferencing.ErrNotRetrievable
+	suite.ErrorAs(err, &errNotRetrievable)
+	suite.EqualError(err, "item could not be retrieved: GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and not allowed to resolve it")
 	suite.Nil(fetchedAccount)
 }
 
 func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceLocalAccountWithUnknownUserURI() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    testrig.URLMustParse("http://localhost:8080/users/thisaccountdoesnotexist"),
 	})
-	suite.EqualError(err, "GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and won't try to resolve it")
+	var errNotRetrievable *dereferencing.ErrNotRetrievable
+	suite.ErrorAs(err, &errNotRetrievable)
+	suite.EqualError(err, "item could not be retrieved: GetRemoteAccount: couldn't retrieve account locally and not allowed to resolve it")
 	suite.Nil(fetchedAccount)
 }
 
@@ -233,7 +239,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceRemoteAccountWithPartial() {
 		},
 	}
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:       testrig.URLMustParse(remoteAccount.URI),
 		RemoteAccountHost:     remoteAccount.Domain,
@@ -286,7 +292,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceRemoteAccountWithPartial2() {
 		},
 	}
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:       testrig.URLMustParse(remoteAccount.URI),
 		RemoteAccountHost:     remoteAccount.Domain,
@@ -339,7 +345,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceRemoteAccountWithPartial3() {
 		},
 	}
 
-	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:       testrig.URLMustParse(remoteAccount.URI),
 		RemoteAccountHost:     remoteAccount.Domain,
@@ -386,7 +392,7 @@ func (suite *AccountTestSuite) TestDereferenceRemoteAccountWithPartial3() {
 		},
 	}
 
-	fetchedAccount2, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	fetchedAccount2, err := suite.dereferencer.GetAccount(context.Background(), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    fetchingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:       testrig.URLMustParse(remoteAccount.URI),
 		RemoteAccountHost:     remoteAccount.Domain,
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/announce.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/announce.go
index 144ddcb13..82c3afda2 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/announce.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/announce.go
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func (d *deref) DereferenceAnnounce(ctx context.Context, announce *gtsmodel.Stat
 		boostedStatus = status
 	} else {
 		// This is a boost of a remote status, we need to dereference it.
-		status, statusable, err := d.GetRemoteStatus(ctx, requestingUsername, boostedURI, true, true)
+		status, statusable, err := d.GetStatus(ctx, requestingUsername, boostedURI, true, true)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("DereferenceAnnounce: error dereferencing remote status with id %s: %s", announce.BoostOf.URI, err)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/dereferencer.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/dereferencer.go
index f043e7cbd..a5503f359 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/dereferencer.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/dereferencer.go
@@ -33,19 +33,17 @@ import (
 
 // Dereferencer wraps logic and functionality for doing dereferencing of remote accounts, statuses, etc, from federated instances.
 type Dereferencer interface {
-	GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetRemoteAccountParams) (*gtsmodel.Account, error)
+	GetAccount(ctx context.Context, params GetAccountParams) (*gtsmodel.Account, error)
+	GetStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error)
 
-	GetRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error)
 	EnrichRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, status *gtsmodel.Status, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, error)
-
 	GetRemoteInstance(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteInstanceURI *url.URL) (*gtsmodel.Instance, error)
+	DereferenceAnnounce(ctx context.Context, announce *gtsmodel.Status, requestingUsername string) error
+	DereferenceThread(ctx context.Context, username string, statusIRI *url.URL, status *gtsmodel.Status, statusable ap.Statusable)
 
 	GetRemoteMedia(ctx context.Context, requestingUsername string, accountID string, remoteURL string, ai *media.AdditionalMediaInfo) (*media.ProcessingMedia, error)
 	GetRemoteEmoji(ctx context.Context, requestingUsername string, remoteURL string, shortcode string, domain string, id string, emojiURI string, ai *media.AdditionalEmojiInfo, refresh bool) (*media.ProcessingEmoji, error)
 
-	DereferenceAnnounce(ctx context.Context, announce *gtsmodel.Status, requestingUsername string) error
-	DereferenceThread(ctx context.Context, username string, statusIRI *url.URL, status *gtsmodel.Status, statusable ap.Statusable)
-
 	Handshaking(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteAccountID *url.URL) bool
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/error.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/error.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4e5d1cd22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/error.go
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+/*
+   GoToSocial
+   Copyright (C) 2021-2022 GoToSocial Authors admin@gotosocial.org
+
+   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+   it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+   (at your option) any later version.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+   GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+package dereferencing
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/transport"
+)
+
+// ErrDB denotes that a proper error has occurred when doing
+// a database call, as opposed to a simple db.ErrNoEntries.
+type ErrDB struct {
+	wrapped error
+}
+
+func (err *ErrDB) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("database error during dereferencing: %v", err.wrapped)
+}
+
+func newErrDB(err error) error {
+	return &ErrDB{wrapped: err}
+}
+
+// ErrNotRetrievable denotes that an item could not be dereferenced
+// with the given parameters.
+type ErrNotRetrievable struct {
+	wrapped error
+}
+
+func (err *ErrNotRetrievable) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("item could not be retrieved: %v", err.wrapped)
+}
+
+func newErrNotRetrievable(err error) error {
+	return &ErrNotRetrievable{wrapped: err}
+}
+
+// ErrBadRequest denotes that insufficient or improperly formed parameters
+// were passed into one of the dereference functions.
+type ErrBadRequest struct {
+	wrapped error
+}
+
+func (err *ErrBadRequest) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("bad request: %v", err.wrapped)
+}
+
+func newErrBadRequest(err error) error {
+	return &ErrBadRequest{wrapped: err}
+}
+
+// ErrTransportError indicates that something unforeseen went wrong creating
+// a transport, or while making an http call to a remote resource with a transport.
+type ErrTransportError struct {
+	wrapped error
+}
+
+func (err *ErrTransportError) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("transport error: %v", err.wrapped)
+}
+
+func newErrTransportError(err error) error {
+	return &ErrTransportError{wrapped: err}
+}
+
+// ErrWrongType indicates that an unexpected type was returned from a remote call;
+// for example, we were served a Person when we were looking for a statusable.
+type ErrWrongType struct {
+	wrapped error
+}
+
+func (err *ErrWrongType) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("wrong received type: %v", err.wrapped)
+}
+
+func newErrWrongType(err error) error {
+	return &ErrWrongType{wrapped: err}
+}
+
+// ErrOther denotes some other kind of weird error, perhaps from a malformed json
+// or some other weird crapola.
+type ErrOther struct {
+	wrapped error
+}
+
+func (err *ErrOther) Error() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("unexpected error: %v", err.wrapped)
+}
+
+func newErrOther(err error) error {
+	return &ErrOther{wrapped: err}
+}
+
+func wrapDerefError(derefErr error, fluff string) error {
+	var (
+		err          error
+		errWrongType *ErrWrongType
+	)
+
+	if fluff != "" {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("%s: %w", fluff, derefErr)
+	}
+
+	switch {
+	case errors.Is(derefErr, transport.ErrGone):
+		err = newErrNotRetrievable(err)
+	case errors.As(derefErr, &errWrongType):
+		err = newErrWrongType(err)
+	default:
+		err = newErrTransportError(err)
+	}
+
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/status.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/status.go
index 001fe53f4..a1783e838 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/status.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/status.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/activity/streams"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/activity/streams/vocab"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/ap"
+	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/config"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/db"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/gtsmodel"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/id"
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/media"
 )
 
-// EnrichRemoteStatus takes a status that's already been inserted into the database in a minimal form,
+// EnrichRemoteStatus takes a remote status that's already been inserted into the database in a minimal form,
 // and populates it with additional fields, media, etc.
 //
 // EnrichRemoteStatus is mostly useful for calling after a status has been initially created by
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ func (d *deref) EnrichRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, status
 	return status, nil
 }
 
-// GetRemoteStatus completely dereferences a remote status, converts it to a GtS model status,
+// GetStatus completely dereferences a status, converts it to a GtS model status,
 // puts it in the database, and returns it to a caller.
 //
 // If refetch is true, then regardless of whether we have the original status in the database or not,
@@ -60,58 +61,96 @@ func (d *deref) EnrichRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, status
 // If refetch is false, the ap.Statusable will only be returned if this is a new status, so callers
 // should check whether or not this is nil.
 //
-// SIDE EFFECTS: remote status will be stored in the database, and the remote status owner will also be stored.
-func (d *deref) GetRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error) {
-	maybeStatus, err := d.db.GetStatusByURI(ctx, remoteStatusID.String())
-	if err == nil && !refetch {
+// GetAccount will guard against trying to do http calls to fetch a status that belongs to this instance.
+// Instead of making calls, it will just return the status early if it finds it, or return an error.
+func (d *deref) GetStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, statusURI *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error) {
+	uriString := statusURI.String()
+
+	// try to get by URI first
+	status, dbErr := d.db.GetStatusByURI(ctx, uriString)
+	if dbErr != nil {
+		if !errors.Is(dbErr, db.ErrNoEntries) {
+			// real error
+			return nil, nil, newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error during GetStatusByURI for %s: %w", uriString, dbErr))
+		}
+		// no problem, just press on
+	} else if !refetch {
 		// we already had the status and we aren't being asked to refetch the AP representation
-		return maybeStatus, nil, nil
+		return status, nil, nil
 	}
 
-	statusable, err := d.dereferenceStatusable(ctx, username, remoteStatusID)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error dereferencing statusable: %s", err)
+	// try to get by URL if we couldn't get by URI now
+	if status == nil {
+		status, dbErr = d.db.GetStatusByURL(ctx, uriString)
+		if dbErr != nil {
+			if !errors.Is(dbErr, db.ErrNoEntries) {
+				// real error
+				return nil, nil, newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error during GetStatusByURI for %s: %w", uriString, dbErr))
+			}
+			// no problem, just press on
+		} else if !refetch {
+			// we already had the status and we aren't being asked to refetch the AP representation
+			return status, nil, nil
+		}
 	}
 
-	if maybeStatus != nil && refetch {
-		// we already had the status and we've successfully fetched the AP representation as requested
-		return maybeStatus, statusable, nil
+	// guard against having our own statuses passed in
+	if host := statusURI.Host; host == config.GetHost() || host == config.GetAccountDomain() {
+		// this is our status, definitely don't search for it
+		if status != nil {
+			return status, nil, nil
+		}
+		return nil, nil, newErrNotRetrievable(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: uri %s is apparently ours, but we have nothing in the db for it, will not proceed to dereference our own status", uriString))
+	}
+
+	// if we got here, either we didn't have the status
+	// in the db, or we had it but need to refetch it
+	statusable, derefErr := d.dereferenceStatusable(ctx, username, statusURI)
+	if derefErr != nil {
+		return nil, nil, wrapDerefError(derefErr, "GetRemoteStatus: error dereferencing statusable")
+	}
+
+	if status != nil && refetch {
+		// we already had the status in the db, and we've also
+		// now fetched the AP representation as requested
+		return status, statusable, nil
 	}
 
 	// from here on out we can consider this to be a 'new' status because we didn't have the status in the db already
 	accountURI, err := ap.ExtractAttributedTo(statusable)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error extracting attributedTo: %s", err)
+		return nil, nil, newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error extracting attributedTo: %w", err))
 	}
 
-	_, err = d.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	// we need to get the author of the status else we can't serialize it properly
+	if _, err = d.GetAccount(ctx, GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    accountURI,
-	})
+		Blocking:           true,
+	}); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: couldn't get status author: %s", err))
+	}
+
+	status, err = d.typeConverter.ASStatusToStatus(ctx, statusable)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: couldn't get status author: %s", err)
+		return nil, nil, newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error converting statusable to status: %s", err))
 	}
 
-	gtsStatus, err := d.typeConverter.ASStatusToStatus(ctx, statusable)
+	ulid, err := id.NewULIDFromTime(status.CreatedAt)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, statusable, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error converting statusable to status: %s", err)
+		return nil, nil, newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error generating new id for status: %s", err))
+	}
+	status.ID = ulid
+
+	if err := d.populateStatusFields(ctx, status, username, includeParent); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, newErrOther(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error populating status fields: %s", err))
 	}
 
-	ulid, err := id.NewULIDFromTime(gtsStatus.CreatedAt)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error generating new id for status: %s", err)
-	}
-	gtsStatus.ID = ulid
-
-	if err := d.populateStatusFields(ctx, gtsStatus, username, includeParent); err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error populating status fields: %s", err)
+	if err := d.db.PutStatus(ctx, status); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, db.ErrAlreadyExists) {
+		return nil, nil, newErrDB(fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error putting new status: %s", err))
 	}
 
-	if err := d.db.PutStatus(ctx, gtsStatus); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, db.ErrAlreadyExists) {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("GetRemoteStatus: error putting new status: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	return gtsStatus, statusable, nil
+	return status, statusable, nil
 }
 
 func (d *deref) dereferenceStatusable(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL) (ap.Statusable, error) {
@@ -197,7 +236,7 @@ func (d *deref) dereferenceStatusable(ctx context.Context, username string, remo
 		return p, nil
 	}
 
-	return nil, fmt.Errorf("DereferenceStatusable: type name %s not supported", t.GetTypeName())
+	return nil, newErrWrongType(fmt.Errorf("DereferenceStatusable: type name %s not supported as Statusable", t.GetTypeName()))
 }
 
 // populateStatusFields fetches all the information we temporarily pinned to an incoming
@@ -314,7 +353,7 @@ func (d *deref) populateStatusMentions(ctx context.Context, status *gtsmodel.Sta
 		if targetAccount == nil {
 			// we didn't find the account in our database already
 			// check if we can get the account remotely (dereference it)
-			if a, err := d.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, GetRemoteAccountParams{
+			if a, err := d.GetAccount(ctx, GetAccountParams{
 				RequestingUsername: requestingUsername,
 				RemoteAccountID:    targetAccountURI,
 			}); err != nil {
@@ -430,7 +469,7 @@ func (d *deref) populateStatusRepliedTo(ctx context.Context, status *gtsmodel.St
 			return err
 		}
 
-		replyToStatus, _, err := d.GetRemoteStatus(ctx, requestingUsername, statusURI, false, false)
+		replyToStatus, _, err := d.GetStatus(ctx, requestingUsername, statusURI, false, false)
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("populateStatusRepliedTo: couldn't get reply to status with uri %s: %s", status.InReplyToURI, err)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/status_test.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/status_test.go
index 964de23ec..da6fe3be6 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/status_test.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/status_test.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func (suite *StatusTestSuite) TestDereferenceSimpleStatus() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
 	statusURL := testrig.URLMustParse("https://unknown-instance.com/users/brand_new_person/statuses/01FE4NTHKWW7THT67EF10EB839")
-	status, _, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteStatus(context.Background(), fetchingAccount.Username, statusURL, false, false)
+	status, _, err := suite.dereferencer.GetStatus(context.Background(), fetchingAccount.Username, statusURL, false, false)
 	suite.NoError(err)
 	suite.NotNil(status)
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func (suite *StatusTestSuite) TestDereferenceStatusWithMention() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
 	statusURL := testrig.URLMustParse("https://unknown-instance.com/users/brand_new_person/statuses/01FE5Y30E3W4P7TRE0R98KAYQV")
-	status, _, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteStatus(context.Background(), fetchingAccount.Username, statusURL, false, false)
+	status, _, err := suite.dereferencer.GetStatus(context.Background(), fetchingAccount.Username, statusURL, false, false)
 	suite.NoError(err)
 	suite.NotNil(status)
 
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ func (suite *StatusTestSuite) TestDereferenceStatusWithImageAndNoContent() {
 	fetchingAccount := suite.testAccounts["local_account_1"]
 
 	statusURL := testrig.URLMustParse("https://turnip.farm/users/turniplover6969/statuses/70c53e54-3146-42d5-a630-83c8b6c7c042")
-	status, _, err := suite.dereferencer.GetRemoteStatus(context.Background(), fetchingAccount.Username, statusURL, false, false)
+	status, _, err := suite.dereferencer.GetStatus(context.Background(), fetchingAccount.Username, statusURL, false, false)
 	suite.NoError(err)
 	suite.NotNil(status)
 
diff --git a/internal/federation/dereferencing/thread.go b/internal/federation/dereferencing/thread.go
index 34955cee8..15829c45a 100644
--- a/internal/federation/dereferencing/thread.go
+++ b/internal/federation/dereferencing/thread.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (d *deref) dereferenceStatusAncestors(ctx context.Context, username string,
 			l.Tracef("following remote status ancestors: %s", status.InReplyToURI)
 
 			// Fetch the remote status found at this IRI
-			remoteStatus, _, err := d.GetRemoteStatus(ctx, username, replyIRI, false, false)
+			remoteStatus, _, err := d.GetStatus(ctx, username, replyIRI, false, false)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("error fetching remote status %q: %w", status.InReplyToURI, err)
 			}
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ stackLoop:
 				}
 
 				// Dereference the remote status and store in the database
-				_, statusable, err := d.GetRemoteStatus(ctx, username, itemIRI, true, false)
+				_, statusable, err := d.GetStatus(ctx, username, itemIRI, true, false)
 				if err != nil {
 					l.Errorf("error dereferencing remote status %q: %s", itemIRI.String(), err)
 					continue itemLoop
diff --git a/internal/federation/federatingprotocol.go b/internal/federation/federatingprotocol.go
index dbec47f3d..e7a897c83 100644
--- a/internal/federation/federatingprotocol.go
+++ b/internal/federation/federatingprotocol.go
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ func (f *federator) AuthenticatePostInbox(ctx context.Context, w http.ResponseWr
 		}
 	}
 
-	requestingAccount, err := f.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	requestingAccount, err := f.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    publicKeyOwnerURI,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/federation/federator.go b/internal/federation/federator.go
index 0b09144c2..bf847db0a 100644
--- a/internal/federation/federator.go
+++ b/internal/federation/federator.go
@@ -53,14 +53,14 @@ type Federator interface {
 	// If something goes wrong during authentication, nil, false, and an error will be returned.
 	AuthenticateFederatedRequest(ctx context.Context, username string) (*url.URL, gtserror.WithCode)
 
+	/*
+		dereferencing functions
+	*/
 	DereferenceRemoteThread(ctx context.Context, username string, statusURI *url.URL, status *gtsmodel.Status, statusable ap.Statusable)
 	DereferenceAnnounce(ctx context.Context, announce *gtsmodel.Status, requestingUsername string) error
-
-	GetRemoteAccount(ctx context.Context, params dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams) (*gtsmodel.Account, error)
-
-	GetRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error)
+	GetAccount(ctx context.Context, params dereferencing.GetAccountParams) (*gtsmodel.Account, error)
+	GetStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteStatusID *url.URL, refetch, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, ap.Statusable, error)
 	EnrichRemoteStatus(ctx context.Context, username string, status *gtsmodel.Status, includeParent bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, error)
-
 	GetRemoteInstance(ctx context.Context, username string, remoteInstanceURI *url.URL) (*gtsmodel.Instance, error)
 
 	// Handshaking returns true if the given username is currently in the process of dereferencing the remoteAccountID.
diff --git a/internal/processing/account/get.go b/internal/processing/account/get.go
index 2971dcd2b..503aa9654 100644
--- a/internal/processing/account/get.go
+++ b/internal/processing/account/get.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (p *processor) getAccountFor(ctx context.Context, requestingAccount *gtsmod
 			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(fmt.Errorf("error parsing url %s: %s", targetAccount.URI, err))
 		}
 
-		a, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+		a, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 			RequestingUsername:    requestingAccount.Username,
 			RemoteAccountID:       targetAccountURI,
 			RemoteAccountHost:     targetAccount.Domain,
diff --git a/internal/processing/federation/getfollowers.go b/internal/processing/federation/getfollowers.go
index 22cffdc73..75636c5a0 100644
--- a/internal/processing/federation/getfollowers.go
+++ b/internal/processing/federation/getfollowers.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (p *processor) GetFollowers(ctx context.Context, requestedUsername string,
 		return nil, errWithCode
 	}
 
-	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: requestedUsername,
 		RemoteAccountID:    requestingAccountURI,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/processing/federation/getfollowing.go b/internal/processing/federation/getfollowing.go
index c1c7d208e..673f47562 100644
--- a/internal/processing/federation/getfollowing.go
+++ b/internal/processing/federation/getfollowing.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (p *processor) GetFollowing(ctx context.Context, requestedUsername string,
 		return nil, errWithCode
 	}
 
-	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: requestedUsername,
 		RemoteAccountID:    requestingAccountURI,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/processing/federation/getoutbox.go b/internal/processing/federation/getoutbox.go
index 67e7f65d7..55a6a6339 100644
--- a/internal/processing/federation/getoutbox.go
+++ b/internal/processing/federation/getoutbox.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func (p *processor) GetOutbox(ctx context.Context, requestedUsername string, pag
 		return nil, errWithCode
 	}
 
-	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: requestedUsername,
 		RemoteAccountID:    requestingAccountURI,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/processing/federation/getstatus.go b/internal/processing/federation/getstatus.go
index bbd86b74c..286cce3e0 100644
--- a/internal/processing/federation/getstatus.go
+++ b/internal/processing/federation/getstatus.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (p *processor) GetStatus(ctx context.Context, requestedUsername string, req
 		return nil, errWithCode
 	}
 
-	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: requestedUsername,
 		RemoteAccountID:    requestingAccountURI,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/processing/federation/getstatusreplies.go b/internal/processing/federation/getstatusreplies.go
index 9575a7b36..134be54e7 100644
--- a/internal/processing/federation/getstatusreplies.go
+++ b/internal/processing/federation/getstatusreplies.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func (p *processor) GetStatusReplies(ctx context.Context, requestedUsername stri
 		return nil, errWithCode
 	}
 
-	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: requestedUsername,
 		RemoteAccountID:    requestingAccountURI,
 	})
diff --git a/internal/processing/federation/getuser.go b/internal/processing/federation/getuser.go
index f203d40c8..c1439cdff 100644
--- a/internal/processing/federation/getuser.go
+++ b/internal/processing/federation/getuser.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func (p *processor) GetUser(ctx context.Context, requestedUsername string, reque
 
 		// if we're not already handshaking/dereferencing a remote account, dereference it now
 		if !p.federator.Handshaking(ctx, requestedUsername, requestingAccountURI) {
-			requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+			requestingAccount, err := p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 				RequestingUsername: requestedUsername,
 				RemoteAccountID:    requestingAccountURI,
 			})
diff --git a/internal/processing/fromfederator.go b/internal/processing/fromfederator.go
index 29d996502..e44031eeb 100644
--- a/internal/processing/fromfederator.go
+++ b/internal/processing/fromfederator.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func (p *processor) processCreateStatusFromFederator(ctx context.Context, federa
 			return errors.New("ProcessFromFederator: status was not pinned to federatorMsg, and neither was an IRI for us to dereference")
 		}
 		var err error
-		status, _, err = p.federator.GetRemoteStatus(ctx, federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username, federatorMsg.APIri, false, false)
+		status, _, err = p.federator.GetStatus(ctx, federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username, federatorMsg.APIri, false, false)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ func (p *processor) processCreateStatusFromFederator(ctx context.Context, federa
 			return err
 		}
 
-		a, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+		a, err := p.federator.GetAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 			RequestingUsername: federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username,
 			RemoteAccountID:    remoteAccountID,
 			Blocking:           true,
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ func (p *processor) processCreateFaveFromFederator(ctx context.Context, federato
 			return err
 		}
 
-		a, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+		a, err := p.federator.GetAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 			RequestingUsername: federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username,
 			RemoteAccountID:    remoteAccountID,
 			Blocking:           true,
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ func (p *processor) processCreateFollowRequestFromFederator(ctx context.Context,
 			return err
 		}
 
-		a, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+		a, err := p.federator.GetAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 			RequestingUsername: federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username,
 			RemoteAccountID:    remoteAccountID,
 			Blocking:           true,
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ func (p *processor) processCreateAnnounceFromFederator(ctx context.Context, fede
 			return err
 		}
 
-		a, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+		a, err := p.federator.GetAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 			RequestingUsername: federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username,
 			RemoteAccountID:    remoteAccountID,
 			Blocking:           true,
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ func (p *processor) processUpdateAccountFromFederator(ctx context.Context, feder
 	}
 
 	// further database updates occur inside getremoteaccount
-	if _, err := p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	if _, err := p.federator.GetAccount(ctx, dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    federatorMsg.ReceivingAccount.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:       incomingAccountURL,
 		RemoteAccountHost:     incomingAccount.Domain,
diff --git a/internal/processing/search.go b/internal/processing/search.go
index bc2bc93d4..ca6cc42ce 100644
--- a/internal/processing/search.go
+++ b/internal/processing/search.go
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ import (
 
 	"codeberg.org/gruf/go-kv"
 	apimodel "github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/api/model"
-	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/config"
-	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/db"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/federation/dereferencing"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/gtserror"
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/gtsmodel"
@@ -38,11 +36,18 @@ import (
 	"github.com/superseriousbusiness/gotosocial/internal/util"
 )
 
+// Implementation note: in this function, we tend to log errors
+// at debug level rather than return them. This is because the
+// search has a sort of fallthrough logic: if we can't get a result
+// with x search, we should try with y search rather than returning.
+//
+// If we get to the end and still haven't found anything, even then
+// we shouldn't return an error, just return an empty search result.
+//
+// The only exception to this is when we get a malformed query, in
+// which case we return a bad request error so the user knows they
+// did something funky.
 func (p *processor) SearchGet(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, search *apimodel.SearchQuery) (*apimodel.SearchResult, gtserror.WithCode) {
-	l := log.WithFields(kv.Fields{
-		{"query", search.Query},
-	}...)
-
 	// tidy up the query and make sure it wasn't just spaces
 	query := strings.TrimSpace(search.Query)
 	if query == "" {
@@ -50,6 +55,8 @@ func (p *processor) SearchGet(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, search *a
 		return nil, gtserror.NewErrorBadRequest(err, err.Error())
 	}
 
+	l := log.WithFields(kv.Fields{{"query", query}}...)
+
 	searchResult := &apimodel.SearchResult{
 		Accounts: []apimodel.Account{},
 		Statuses: []apimodel.Status{},
@@ -77,14 +84,20 @@ func (p *processor) SearchGet(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, search *a
 	}
 
 	if username, domain, err := util.ExtractNamestringParts(maybeNamestring); err == nil {
-		l.Debugf("search term %s is a mention, looking it up...", maybeNamestring)
-		if foundAccount, err := p.searchAccountByMention(ctx, authed, username, domain, search.Resolve); err == nil && foundAccount != nil {
-			foundAccounts = append(foundAccounts, foundAccount)
-			foundOne = true
-			l.Debug("got an account by searching by mention")
-		} else if err != nil {
-			l.Debugf("error looking up account %s: %s", maybeNamestring, err)
+		l.Trace("search term is a mention, looking it up...")
+		foundAccount, err := p.searchAccountByMention(ctx, authed, username, domain, search.Resolve)
+		if err != nil {
+			var errNotRetrievable *dereferencing.ErrNotRetrievable
+			if !errors.As(err, &errNotRetrievable) {
+				// return a proper error only if it wasn't just not retrievable
+				return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(fmt.Errorf("error looking up account: %w", err))
+			}
+			return searchResult, nil
 		}
+
+		foundAccounts = append(foundAccounts, foundAccount)
+		foundOne = true
+		l.Trace("got an account by searching by mention")
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -92,46 +105,95 @@ func (p *processor) SearchGet(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, search *a
 		check if the query is a URI with a recognizable scheme and dereference it
 	*/
 	if !foundOne {
-		if uri, err := url.Parse(query); err == nil && (uri.Scheme == "https" || uri.Scheme == "http") {
-			// don't attempt to resolve (ie., dereference) local accounts/statuses
-			resolve := search.Resolve
-			if uri.Host == config.GetHost() || uri.Host == config.GetAccountDomain() {
-				resolve = false
-			}
+		if uri, err := url.Parse(query); err == nil {
+			if uri.Scheme == "https" || uri.Scheme == "http" {
+				l.Trace("search term is a uri, looking it up...")
+				// check if it's a status...
+				foundStatus, err := p.searchStatusByURI(ctx, authed, uri)
+				if err != nil {
+					var (
+						errNotRetrievable *dereferencing.ErrNotRetrievable
+						errWrongType      *dereferencing.ErrWrongType
+					)
+					if !errors.As(err, &errNotRetrievable) && !errors.As(err, &errWrongType) {
+						return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(fmt.Errorf("error looking up status: %w", err))
+					}
+				} else {
+					foundStatuses = append(foundStatuses, foundStatus)
+					foundOne = true
+					l.Trace("got a status by searching by URI")
+				}
 
-			// check if it's a status or an account
-			if foundStatus, err := p.searchStatusByURI(ctx, authed, uri, resolve); err == nil && foundStatus != nil {
-				foundStatuses = append(foundStatuses, foundStatus)
-				l.Debug("got a status by searching by URI")
-			} else if foundAccount, err := p.searchAccountByURI(ctx, authed, uri, resolve); err == nil && foundAccount != nil {
-				foundAccounts = append(foundAccounts, foundAccount)
-				l.Debug("got an account by searching by URI")
+				// ... or an account
+				if !foundOne {
+					foundAccount, err := p.searchAccountByURI(ctx, authed, uri, search.Resolve)
+					if err != nil {
+						var (
+							errNotRetrievable *dereferencing.ErrNotRetrievable
+							errWrongType      *dereferencing.ErrWrongType
+						)
+						if !errors.As(err, &errNotRetrievable) && !errors.As(err, &errWrongType) {
+							return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(fmt.Errorf("error looking up account: %w", err))
+						}
+					} else {
+						foundAccounts = append(foundAccounts, foundAccount)
+						foundOne = true
+						l.Trace("got an account by searching by URI")
+					}
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
+	if !foundOne {
+		// we got nothing, we can return early
+		l.Trace("found nothing, returning")
+		return searchResult, nil
+	}
+
 	/*
 		FROM HERE ON we have our search results, it's just a matter of filtering them according to what this user is allowed to see,
 		and then converting them into our frontend format.
 	*/
 	for _, foundAccount := range foundAccounts {
 		// make sure there's no block in either direction between the account and the requester
-		if blocked, err := p.db.IsBlocked(ctx, authed.Account.ID, foundAccount.ID, true); err == nil && !blocked {
-			// all good, convert it and add it to the results
-			if apiAcct, err := p.tc.AccountToAPIAccountPublic(ctx, foundAccount); err == nil && apiAcct != nil {
-				searchResult.Accounts = append(searchResult.Accounts, *apiAcct)
-			}
+		blocked, err := p.db.IsBlocked(ctx, authed.Account.ID, foundAccount.ID, true)
+		if err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("SearchGet: error checking block between %s and %s: %s", authed.Account.ID, foundAccount.ID, err)
+			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(err)
 		}
+
+		if blocked {
+			l.Tracef("block exists between %s and %s, skipping this result", authed.Account.ID, foundAccount.ID)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		apiAcct, err := p.tc.AccountToAPIAccountPublic(ctx, foundAccount)
+		if err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("SearchGet: error converting account %s to api account: %s", foundAccount.ID, err)
+			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(err)
+		}
+
+		searchResult.Accounts = append(searchResult.Accounts, *apiAcct)
 	}
 
 	for _, foundStatus := range foundStatuses {
-		if visible, err := p.filter.StatusVisible(ctx, foundStatus, authed.Account); !visible || err != nil {
+		// make sure each found status is visible to the requester
+		visible, err := p.filter.StatusVisible(ctx, foundStatus, authed.Account)
+		if err != nil {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("SearchGet: error checking visibility of status %s for account %s: %s", foundStatus.ID, authed.Account.ID, err)
+			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(err)
+		}
+
+		if !visible {
+			l.Tracef("status %s is not visible to account %s, skipping this result", foundStatus.ID, authed.Account.ID)
 			continue
 		}
 
 		apiStatus, err := p.tc.StatusToAPIStatus(ctx, foundStatus, authed.Account)
 		if err != nil {
-			continue
+			err = fmt.Errorf("SearchGet: error converting status %s to api status: %s", foundStatus.ID, err)
+			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorInternalError(err)
 		}
 
 		searchResult.Statuses = append(searchResult.Statuses, *apiStatus)
@@ -140,58 +202,22 @@ func (p *processor) SearchGet(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, search *a
 	return searchResult, nil
 }
 
-func (p *processor) searchStatusByURI(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, uri *url.URL, resolve bool) (*gtsmodel.Status, error) {
-	// Calculate URI string once
-	uriStr := uri.String()
-
-	// Look for status locally (by URI), we only accept "not found" errors.
-	status, err := p.db.GetStatusByURI(ctx, uriStr)
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, db.ErrNoEntries) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("searchStatusByURI: error fetching status %q: %v", uriStr, err)
-	} else if err == nil {
-		return status, nil
+func (p *processor) searchStatusByURI(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, uri *url.URL) (*gtsmodel.Status, error) {
+	status, statusable, err := p.federator.GetStatus(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), authed.Account.Username, uri, true, true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	// Again, look for status locally (by URL), we only accept "not found" errors.
-	status, err = p.db.GetStatusByURL(ctx, uriStr)
-	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, db.ErrNoEntries) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("searchStatusByURI: error fetching status %q: %v", uriStr, err)
-	} else if err == nil {
-		return status, nil
-	}
-
-	if resolve {
-		// This is a non-local status and we're allowed to resolve, so dereference it
-		status, statusable, err := p.federator.GetRemoteStatus(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), authed.Account.Username, uri, true, true)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("searchStatusByURI: error fetching remote status %q: %v", uriStr, err)
-		}
-
+	if !*status.Local && statusable != nil {
 		// Attempt to dereference the status thread while we are here
 		p.federator.DereferenceRemoteThread(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), authed.Account.Username, uri, status, statusable)
 	}
 
-	return nil, nil
+	return status, nil
 }
 
 func (p *processor) searchAccountByURI(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, uri *url.URL, resolve bool) (*gtsmodel.Account, error) {
-	// it might be a web url like http://example.org/@user instead
-	// of an AP uri like http://example.org/users/user, check first
-	if maybeAccount, err := p.db.GetAccountByURL(ctx, uri.String()); err == nil {
-		return maybeAccount, nil
-	}
-
-	if uri.Host == config.GetHost() || uri.Host == config.GetAccountDomain() {
-		// this is a local account; if we don't have it now then
-		// we should just bail instead of trying to get it remote
-		if maybeAccount, err := p.db.GetAccountByURI(ctx, uri.String()); err == nil {
-			return maybeAccount, nil
-		}
-		return nil, nil
-	}
-
-	// we don't have it yet, try to find it remotely
-	return p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	return p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername: authed.Account.Username,
 		RemoteAccountID:    uri,
 		Blocking:           true,
@@ -200,17 +226,7 @@ func (p *processor) searchAccountByURI(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth,
 }
 
 func (p *processor) searchAccountByMention(ctx context.Context, authed *oauth.Auth, username string, domain string, resolve bool) (*gtsmodel.Account, error) {
-	// if it's a local account we can skip a whole bunch of stuff
-	if domain == config.GetHost() || domain == config.GetAccountDomain() || domain == "" {
-		maybeAcct, err := p.db.GetAccountByUsernameDomain(ctx, username, "")
-		if err == nil || err == db.ErrNoEntries {
-			return maybeAcct, nil
-		}
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("searchAccountByMention: error getting local account by username: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	// we don't have it yet, try to find it remotely
-	return p.federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+	return p.federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 		RequestingUsername:    authed.Account.Username,
 		RemoteAccountUsername: username,
 		RemoteAccountHost:     domain,
diff --git a/internal/processing/util.go b/internal/processing/util.go
index 8b1399d3c..b3d9416c4 100644
--- a/internal/processing/util.go
+++ b/internal/processing/util.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func GetParseMentionFunc(dbConn db.DB, federator federation.Federator) gtsmodel.
 			if originAccount.Domain == "" {
 				requestingUsername = originAccount.Username
 			}
-			remoteAccount, err := federator.GetRemoteAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetRemoteAccountParams{
+			remoteAccount, err := federator.GetAccount(transport.WithFastfail(ctx), dereferencing.GetAccountParams{
 				RequestingUsername:    requestingUsername,
 				RemoteAccountUsername: username,
 				RemoteAccountHost:     domain,