fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #5120 ]

[ SECRET POST #5120 ]

⌈ Secret Post #5120 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 27 secrets from Secret Submission Post #732.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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01. https://i.imgur.com/JGN1bbE.jpg

What's a big deal to you, OP? Tagged? Tagged and included in the summary? Tagged, in the summary and in the authors notes?

Not OP but if the tags, summary and author's notes are all about how queer a character is, it's a red flag.

If the author's note starts ranting about how their representation is better than this or that fancontent or headcanon then I am avoiding that author forever.

Same. I can't help thinking "this is going to be bad, isn't it?"

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-01-11 23:38 (UTC) - Expand

The moment you start tagging about a character being queer, that's the moment I'm out. The pairing tags already make that part obvious.

This is my question too. I wouldn't tag "gay X" if that's already obvious from the pairing tag, but if there's a non-obvious sexuality that's important to the characterization, I'll tag it. Characters being written as some variety of asexual is one. I take it as one of those "good piece of info to have when deciding whether to read" things--which I suppose does include people like OP.

I don't think I would go into it in the summary unless it's central to the premise though--and probably not even then. It makes for a boring summary. I'd rather go for a quote from the story or some pretentious poetry or something.

Same, only because my past experience with these kinds of fics have authors anchoring their characterizations on stereotypes of said queer identities or turn characters into mouth pieces. It can get uncomfortable to read sometimes so I just avoid it. Not my cup of tea.

I actually have this reservation about any over-labeling, not just with sexuality tropes. If I see a fic heavily described as 'slowburn', I often find that the slowburn is overly dragged out and makes for a meandering mess. Fic tagged as 'heavy angst'? Cringy melodrama.

Same here. I like my tags minimal. If I see a wall of tags, I nope out of there. Sexuality/gender/ship tags seem to be particularly bad for that, but they're far from the only area in which over-tagging is a problem.

(no subject)

used_songs - 2021-01-12 11:34 (UTC) - Expand

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sabotabby - 2021-01-12 13:06 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2021-01-12 19:38 (UTC) - Expand

the top tier comedy is when you get a lengthy amount of tags on a fic with descriptions like 'angst with a happy ending', 'slow-burn', etc - and then you find out the fic is about 300 words.

Same here. Minimal tags. Just enough to get the gist of the story, and the major themes (and ONE slow burn, maybe one other rephrasing of it), and we're good.

Although sometimes, just sometimes, I like the ridiculous tags people lean into lol

Ugh, I hate over-tagging. Seriously: ship, rating, MAYBE one tag about the genre especially if it's something like an AU, and basic trigger tags. That, and a good concise summary, is all you need. People do not need to include every single plot point (and certainly not every single sex act) in the tags, or the author's life story as a rationale for why they're writing the fic.

What's your definition of a big deal? Is it just tagging Asexuality or other sexualities, or is it weird gushing over it?

I think there's a lot of things in fic like this, where it doesn't automatically mean the fic is bad but it is a high risk indicator

I think the trope can be good if done well tho so *shrug*

I kind of agree. For a while it seemed like every fic tagged/summarised with asexual, demisexual, pansexual etc had a scene where the definition of the sexuality was said by one of the characters in a hamfisted, clunky way that really threw me out of the fic. As in, I'm pretty sure people were copying it from some website somewhere. I've steered clear since.

I feel this.
There's been times where I'm going through tags like asexuality and I'll give fics that are just simply tagged that a chance - but then you get those essay-length tags that go 'headcanoning CHARACTER A as asexual is the best!! Because I say so!!' followed by more after that, then yeah I avoid it like the plague.

I'm always hesitant when I see queer/trans tags. It always feels like it's a cheap dramatic hook and meaningless representation.

Yeah, I see those type of tags or summaries as bad signs too. I get that those fics with long-winded explanations might be meaningful for certain people, but for me it feels like it's less of a story and more a way for the author to process and express their opinion. Which again, great for them, but I don't want to read it.

On the other hand, I prefer this to the surprise LGBT tag. Recently I read the latest chapter of a WIP and suddenly there was mention of a character taking their testosterone and I was like, what? Yep, about a dozen chapters in the author had added a 'trans character abc' tag. And of course, in the notes a comment about how they wanted a good trans fic about this character for once. I like the story so I'll give it a chapter or two, but I'm side-eyeing pretty hard.

holy god, the surprise!trans characters fuck me up. being trans myself, it jars me out of my escapism when I see things like that in fiction and then I end up feeling shitty for not wanting to see it while already jacked up from the shock. literally the worse for me.

Agreed.

I personally like it when not-(explicitly)-canon identities are tagged because sometimes it matters (if a male character has a canon female love interest a bi portrayal will be different then a gay one, for example). But also so I can search for or exclude the tags I want. But in the author's notes? Oh dear. And in the summary? Oh hell no.

I feel that. I think it's real important for younger people especially, like people who are just figuring out their gender/sexuality, to have those sorts of fics where it's a big deal that a character is their flavour of queer because when you're just coming out it IS a massive deal and can be your entire world. But I've been out for years now so it feels very jarring if a fic treats a character's queerness as the most important thing about them when, for me, it's just one aspect of a whole. I'm glad the fics exist for people who need them but, yeah I also tend to avoid them cos they just ain't for me :)

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-01-12 06:56 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-01-12 08:13 (UTC) - Expand

The big problem for me is when a character goes off onto an identity monologue that's straight off a Very Online 19-year-old's take from 2020 Twitter or Tumblr - when they're characters who live in different time periods (or planets) or are of a different age/generation that would have used different terms. It's jarring and throws me out. Yes, people of all identities have always existed, but the language was not always the same, and it should be tailored to fit the character, not the author.

I LOVE reading stories about LGBTQ+ characters of all time periods - but in a way those characters would have understood it, not necessarily the way we understand it now. Terms change so fast that ones that were in vogue just five years ago are considered outdated now. Characters who came of age in the 1990s don't use all the same terms - much less characters in the 1890s!

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(Anonymous) - 2021-01-12 11:40 (UTC) - Expand

I feel this way about lots of different identity-driven tags, including different sexualities and genders, but also things like mental health, the autism spectrum, etc. People want representation and that's great. I'm not going to deny them that outlet. But I'm also not going to read their fic, because it tells me that they're far more interested in writing a character like that than writing the actual characters.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-01-12 22:12 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2021-01-12 22:30 (UTC) - Expand

Somewhat related...I've noticed that it is becoming more common for authors to include tags or warnings that say things like "asexual author" or whatever.

Like...I don't care? I'm not going to "blame" you for not getting everything "right", just because you're writing about something that doesn't match your own personal experiences. Straight virgins (for example) have been successfully writing porn for decades. You can, too, and it's likely none of us will be any the wiser. I'm here to read about the characters' sex lives, not yours.

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