jeanslove

[jeanslove]

hiii do you have a masterlist?

hi im sure i do somewhere, if you search it up in the little blog search thing! but i don’t write on this account anymore and haven’t in awhile, so i don’t have it or any of the works pinned :(

[jeanslove]

AO3 tags 101

So to classify its content Archive Of Our Own uses a system called “tagging”, and I’ve seen quite a lot of people puzzled as to how exactly it is used. This is going to be a long post trying to clear that up, and hopefully providing some help and orientation.

(i am going to use a lot of fanfiction terminology in this post – you can look a lot of it up in this post)

What is tagging?

To cite the AO3 FAQ: “A tag is a keyword or phrase that you add to your works to make them easier to find.“ Tags also have the, at least as important purpose, of helping readers avoid content they don’t want to read.

Some of the AO3 tags are more or less mandatory: you have to chose a fandom, a rating, an archive warning from the available options (and be it “chose not to use those options”). 

Those mandatory tags have pretty detailed explanation boxes, which is why i’m focusing on the more puzzling domain of “Additional tags”, or “Freeform tags”:

(As said in its name, those tags are “freeform”, which means the author is entirely free to chose whatever keywords and catchphrase they want, be it some common tags, misspelled common tags, or new tags they’re introducing. If it’s a new tag, the AO3 tag wrangling staff then checks if it fits into a more common category, or if it stands on its own. 

I’ve seen people asking the following questions:

Why do i have to use freeform tags?

Well first off you absolutely don’t have to. But it gives readers additional info on whether your fic fits their taste, and can therefore get more people to read it. 

I know sometimes i look at the summary, think “meh”, but then i see in the tags that the fic uses some of my favorite tropes and end up giving it a shot. 

Also, it helps people find your fic again! A former reader is wondering “Oh, dang, i don’t remember the name nor the author but it had unicorns and mutual pining”? If your fic uses those tags they can find it without any problem through the search engine.

And, and i can’t stress this enough: it helps people that absolutely loathe the kind of content you create (because sensibilities are different, so sometimes it’s bound to happen) to stay waaay clear of it. Which is good for everybody involved.

But what if it spoilers my story?

Fear not! AO3 offers the neat option to hide the freeform tags as a default (for logged-in users); so whether your readers decide to look at the tags or not is completely up to them. 

Me? I very rarely look at tags. I dislike being spoilered, and i accept that i’ll probably end up reading things that don’t really float my boat as a consequence. And on the contrary i have friends who’d much rather put up with spoilers if it means they know what they’re getting into. Matter of personal taste, really! 

As an author you can merely provide that option for readers who enjoy additional info beforehand. It’s a bit of a friendly courtesy.

How many tags should I use?

Again, it’s completely up to personal taste. I’m not a big fan of huge walls of tags, because i don’t think they’re read in details by most readers, so i’d recommend between 3-7 tags for shorter stories (<5k words). For longer stories, readers often want to know in more details in what journey they’re getting into, so up to twenty tags is game in my books. More than that tends to look cluttered and distracting (again, my biased opinion).

What kind of tags should I use?

*rubs hands* This is where I suggest my neat lil’ classification of freeform tags (with some minor overlaps here and there). It’s based on observations and my own fandom experiences, so obviously it has no objective value, but i think it’s still a good summary of the different types of freeform tags used for most fics. Some kind of fics (i’m thinking PWP) have slightly different tagging conventions, but the following typology applies to most stories. 

You can use it as a checklist, or simply as inspiration on what kind of tags might apply to your fic.

Here’s my typology!

1. Format

These tags specify if your fic follows a particular fixed format in regard to length and style. Here’s some of the most common “format tags”:

(Double/Triple) Drabble 

Epistolary 

Ficlet (Collection)

Imagine 

Novel/Novella 

(Short) One Shot 

Poetry

POV First Person

Self-Insert

Screenplay/Script Format

Songfic

Stand Alone

Vignette …

2. Genre

This one’s already a bit more tricky because so often there’s no over-arching “genre” in which your fic might fit (which is why there’s all the other tags to help you put some kind of label on your content!). Still, genre is a pretty important descriptor for your content; hence here are some of the common “fanfic genres”:  

Action/Adventure

Angst

Badfic

Character Study

Crack

Dark(-fic)

Fluff

Friendship

Humor

Horror

Kidfic

Romance

RPF/RPS

Porn Without Plot/Plot What Plot …

3. Relationship to Canon

That’s one super cool in my books, because it’s sooo unique to fanfic. It specifies in what kind of relationship to the original content your story operates. Most common tags:

Alternate Timeline

Alternate Universe

Alternate Universe: X (e.g. werewolves)

Backstory

Canon-compliant

Canon-divergent

Crossover

Fix-It

Fusion

Missing Scene

Post-Canon

Pre-Canon/Pre-Series

Reboot …

4. Fandom-specific tags

These tags are particularly relevant for book or movie series where the overarching fandom tag covers a really broad amount of content. Those tags give orientation in regards to which part of the canon content we’re talking about. For example, Harry Potter fandom may use terms like “Marauders’ Era” or “The Golden Trio Era” to specify what part of the original timeline the fic takes place in. 

But they also apply to fandom-specific events like Big Bangs/Reverse Big Bang, or fandom-specific tropes, genres and fanfic conventions. These are different for every fandom!

5. Common Fanfic Tropes

There’s a slight overlapping with “genre”, but all in all those tropes are a bit more specific, though widespread enough to be recognizable to avid fanfic readers.

Domestic

Everyone is alive

Fuck or Die

Getting together

Hurt/Comfort

Pining

Sex Pollen

Slow Burn

Soulmates

Time Travel

UST   

Whump …    

And last but not least:

6. Content Warnings

Reminder that there’s mandatory archive warnings for AO3’s big four (underage sexual content, non-con/rape, graphic depictions of violence, character death) that you have to use, or at least indicate to readers you chose not to use them. 

You are not required to use further content warnings and no one can blame you for it, as long as you used the mandatory warnings properly. But there are some benefits to additional content warnings:

1. It frames the “problematic behavior XY” (e.g emotional blackmail) you depicted as a problematic behavior, which makes readers both aware that it’s Bad™ (important especially for younger audiences) and that the author knows it’s Bad™.

2. It helps people that wouldn’t enjoy that content avoid it, which, good for them, good for you

3. It helps people that are actively searching for specific dark and difficult topics, for whichever reason, to find them.

All in all i’d say it has established itself as a widespread fandom etiquette to tag content commonly viewed as squicky/triggery. Here are some of the most common ones:

(Past/Implied) (Child/Emotional) Abuse

Age Difference

Alcohol/Drugs

Body Horror

Coercion/Jealousy/Manipulation

(Very) Dubious Consent

Gore

Kinks

Mental Health Issues (Eating Disorders, PTSD, Depression etc.)

Pregnancy/Abortion/Miscarriage

(Internalized) Racism/Homophobia/Misogyny

Explicit Sexual Content

Terminal Illness

Torture

Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts …

(and here’s a far more complete list of content warnings, but you get the gist)

Voilà! 

[jeanslove]

and when I move blogs to focus more on dc comics again because that’s where my brainrot leads me back to every time, then what 😞

[jeanslove]

Love and Deepspace (2024), Infold Games

#oh I have been going INSANE over rafayel

[jeanslove]

it's 2024 i'm done arguing. if ur still using character ai i'm straight up killing u

[jeanslove]

"This fic was ai generated—" Cool, so lemme block you real quick

[jeanslove]

Let's not... Feed people's work to A.I without their permission please. I don't care how much you liked someone's work, some of you will run to that stupid ai. Chatbot thing and feed it a fanwriters work before you ever go into their comments or reblogs to tell them you even liked the fucking FIC, who do you think you are? I have zero respect for people who do this, you're fucked up, uncreative pieces of shit. If you want more of something from a creator, you use your little noggin and you come up with something nice to say. "Hi I really loved this fic, would you ever write more?" And if the writer says no, that's their fucking prerogative because they fucking wrote it. I don't give a shit how badly you want street racer Anakin to fuck you don't feed people's shit A.I.

[jeanslove]

* ✧˖*°࿐ ALI — twenty, she/her, writer. not spoiler free!

“whether i condemn this world or not: i choose you.”

welcome to my small corner of the baldur’s gate 3 fandom, where i will likely also gush about various dnd related media’s. i’m simply here to write about the characters and my oc’s, while also discussing the game with anyone willing to listen to my rambling!

this blog is a safe space for all baldur’s gate 3 fans, and both my ask-box and private messages are always open to those who want to talk about the game in any capacity— seriously, you can even message me about something really little you saw in game.

✧ LINKS: interacts from main blog, minors dni | more tba

✧ © 2023 all content is written, edited and posted by ladyofsilvers. any copying of the work found on this blog is not tolerated under any circumstances. border created by @cafekitsune.

#just a friendly little reminder #this is my sideblog for bg3!!

[jeanslove]

we are in a media literacy crisis

[jeanslove]

constantly making new characters and campaigns in baldur’s gate because i NEED to romance everyone

#baldur’s gate 3 #ღ ⋮ ali rambles #i also just love making characters #the customisation is SO good

[jeanslove]

i hate how modern culture has kind of…pushed its narrative on fanfic. like, authors aren’t writing fic to be a product. they’re not writing it to please the public or make a profit off of it. they’re writing it for themselves and because they enjoy making people happy and sharing their stories with others. they’re not obligated to listen to any sort of suggestion/criticism/complaint/etc. because their fic isn’t a product. it’s not something you can rate. give kudos and leave a comment if you like it. scroll if you don’t.

[jeanslove]

#astarion <3

[jeanslove]

Astarion is so hot

#I’m borrowing my friend’s baldurs gate 3 on steam #god I want astarion #i actually have high approval with him #and romanced him before the tiefling party #i love that man #ღ ⋮ ali rambles #i also love gale #love me a pathetic man

[jeanslove]

genshin brainrot so bad

#i am tartaglia’s number 1 fan #ღ ⋮ ali rambles

[jeanslove]

yep love everything is settled now(ish) jot really complaining lol

i’m glad! missed seeing you around so much, i hope you know my dms are still always open for you!

#ღ ⋮ love letters

[jeanslove]

things got messy back then im vack mostly for reading dont think ill be back to writing soon anw how do you do? i still see the themes pretty as ever

aw no :( I hope everything is okay!

honestly I’m not really writing here anymore either, i do plan to come back one day but it’s not really in the plans rn. other than that, i’ve been okay!

#ღ ⋮ love letters

[jeanslove]

hey ali hope you remember me its quinn from jeansmainhoe hehe i miss u (go by another alias now its mickey)

omg hi babe <3 I was so concerned when I saw your account had been deactivated, I missed you so much! Welcome back!

#ღ ⋮ love letters