#i know this post isn't likely to go anywhere but ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[the-yearning-astronaut]

Almost three years ago now I wrote a post about ship tagging and needing to update our tagging conventions to include a third symbol. And I really really think this is a change that should be made. That needs to be made.

We use / to indicate romantic and/or sexual relationships.

We use & to indicate platonic and familial relationships.

But we don't have any shorthand to tag a ship as queerplatonic or any other relationship type that doesn't fit neatly into the original / and & categories.

Anyone that's been following me since 2020 has likely seen me use ship tags that include a +. That + is there to indicate that I ship these characters in a way that is different than what's traditionally expected when a tag uses / or &. The ship is neither of those, it is both of those, it is something else entirely.

Having a third tag type would make it so much easier and more inclusive for those writing non traditional relationships. No more having to tag with both A/B and A&B (which can lead to confusion and accusations of misleading tagging etc). No more feeling confusion and guilt and trepidation when trying to tag something, knowing someone looking for / wouldn't necessarily consider it as /, while also knowing someone looking for & would potentially be appalled. No more having to include extra qualifiers and explanations in the tags and author's notes to avoid misunderstandings. We need something that breaks the relationship categorical binary of romantic/sexual vs not romantic/sexual.

Idk I just feel like there are so many types of relationships that just can't be defined as one category or the other. The addition of ship tags using + could do a lot to remedy that.

#queer #queerplatonic #queer platonic relationship #qpr #polyamourous #asexuality #aromantic #asexual #aromanticism #demi romantic #demi ace #demisexual #aspec #non traditional relationships #fandom #tagging #lgbtq #ao3 #fandom etiquette #i know this post isn't likely to go anywhere but ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ #but a girl can dream #my most used ship tags that include the plus sign are #mb+a #rex+ahsoka #i know i have a few others but i can't recall them rn #i think they're listed on my blog menu on desktop tho. i feel like they're probably star trek ships #Murderbot+Mensah might become one (Mb+M) and if i was more active in The Expanse fandom i might have #james holden/nyomi nagata+amos burton because utilizing the + would open the doors for tagging more ot3 dynamics too #fox thoughts #☉