[ SECRET POST #6183 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6183 ⌋

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


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[Caligula, 1979]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 41 secrets from Secret Submission Post #884.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - 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.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I do tag tangential couples and characters who appear in the fic and speak even if they're background characters. They are in the story!

I think it's obvious from the summary who the main pairing is.

[(Anonymous)]

It's just that some people tag these background couples and characters when they are waaaay back in the background. If they don't speak, if their being together barely has any presence in the story... It's better not to tag them OR to at the very least say it's tangential/minor/mentioned or anything of the sort.

My current main fandom tags other ships all the time but the spotlight is only ever for the big main one. I click through and what do I find? The characters *I* want to read don't even say a word. They are said to exchange a look. Sometimes they're not even mentioned by name at all. It's tiresome and I wish they'd get a grip.

[(Anonymous)]

If you are tagging every background character who shows up to say a line or two before disappearing, or walks by in a crowd scene, then you are overtagging. IMO I don't want to see characters tagged unless they're the main focus of the story, or have a major supporting presence.

[(Anonymous)]

This x10000. This is the way.

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. Unless the ship is at least getting their own side story/very relevant to the plot, then it shouldn't be there.
(although I definitely blame this habit on people who complained of seeing a pairing they don't like briefly and demanded the author tag to ridiculous lengths).

[(Anonymous)]

well yeah, but if I'm using the filter to look for a particular pairing that isn't the popular pairing - only to get the popular pairing, then what is the point of filtering?

[(Anonymous)]

And, lbr, if we're looking for a side pairing it's almost guaranteed that we don't want the big one to steal its thunder anyway. Sometimes it's alright to have it there, but sometimes we just want to indulge in that scrumptious rarepair goodness... Only to be frustrated by authors' inability to tag properly. It's like the big pairing can be respected but those of us who want the little ones aren't worth anything, lol, and we should "suck it up".

[ariakas]

Echoing those above me, but as a frequent rarepair enjoyer, respectfully, please reconsider doing this. The tag for the rarepair ends up flooded with fics that are actually about the popular pairing(s) where the rarepair gets a sentence or two at best and becomes impossible to filter unless I exclude all the other pairings, which I might not want to do!

[(Anonymous)]

I'll tag those characters and couples, but with a qualification in the tag: "implied," "mention of," "brief appearance of," etc. That way, I'm setting the appropriate expectation for focus/"screen time."

[(Anonymous)]

Serious question: UNLESS these implications, mentions, and-or brief appearances have a significant impact on the story, why tag them at all? If writers feel it's important information readers need to know, they can put it in the summary or author's notes.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, because the filtering also goes in the opposite direction: there are people who don't want to see certain characters or pairings at all.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, this.

Or people who are antishippers and can't stand to see a side pairing of some kind. Like they're listed far down on my tags, but sorry.

[(Anonymous)]

But why would it even matter if it literally is just a case of "brief appearance" or "mention of"? Like, if they don't like the character that much that they can't even stomach a mere mention of them then how did they stand consuming the canon in the first place?

[(Anonymous)]

I think people are able to accept some things in canon that they won't in fic, simply because fic is sort of fan-tailored wish fulfillment.

Regardless of the reason, however, since there are people who want to filter out certain characters and pairings, I'd rather make it so that it's easier for them to do so. I may not agree with how they're curating their experience, but many people probably don't agree with how I'm curating mine, either.

[(Anonymous)]

The problem is that tagging characters for brief appearances or mentions ruins things for people like me, who is a fan of a lot of minor characters and so I look for fic that actually features those minor characters in some sort of significant roles. I can't tell you how many times I've clicked on a fic that has been tagged with my favorite character's name and it's just a case of "they appear for two lines."

I feel like you shouldn't tag for a character at all, period, unless they have some sort of actual presence in the fic, because that just makes it much harder for people to find what they're looking for.

[meadowphoenix]

as someone who reads some really good authors but is annoyed when they have a specific secondary pairing they love and i hate which they never fucking mention in their tags, a lot of this is about fandom expectation so you're never going to please everyone, but it's definitely more polite imo when you put "background xyz" instead of just "xyz"

[(Anonymous)]

it's definitely more polite imo when you put "background xyz" instead of just "xyz"

This is the way.

[(Anonymous)]

It's funny how the classification of the secondary pairings' presence has fallen to the side in recent years. I recall people being a lot more mindful of tagging these other ships as background or implied or what have you, but nowadays it's like that detail doesn't even cross their minds. And it's such a simple thing to do, too! It benefits everyone. Weird how people lost that custom...