questions about tagging
Hey all! I am coming to you with the following questions because I've reached the kind of impasse where there's a manic squirrel running around in my head and there doesn't seem to be an answer that can keep me out of trouble! Please, please, please, even if you never like to comment, even if I intimidate you, please let me know if you have any opinions about the following questions. I might have follow up questions for you if anything is unclear.
Many, many, MANY THANKS in advance!
First, AO3. I've been slowing tagging all my fics on AO3 (there are about 180) with optional tags like "alternate universe - historical" and "kink bingo" and the like. Not long ago I came across a thread on failfandomanon (don't ask) where a debate was raging about tagging fics with minor characters. Those who use AO3 tags to find characters said that if a character plays a minor role in your fic, you shouldn't tag them. Those who use AO3 tags to avoid characters said that if a character is in your fic for even a line, you should tag them. (Then there was a conversation about how the character-avoiders just grit their teeth and bear it when the character appears in canon.) Now, my assumption was that people use tags to find things, not avoid them. So the question is:
Should I tag a fic on AO3 with minor characters?
Also, I tend to write fics with ensemble casts. Sometimes, like with the Trek fics, they have a couple of clear central characters and then some secondary characters. But sometimes, like with the Potter fics, they really are a group of eight to ten characters who are all fairly evenly seen through the story, and who all get their own POV scenes and character arcs. I have tagged my stories with the appropriate character of color/gay or lesbian character tags, but I'm a little paranoid about people being displeased at the relative weight of the characters. So the second question is:
Is there such a thing as an ensemble fic, or do you believe that all stories really have one or maybe two central characters, and the others are minor? If the latter, how do you determine which ones are the more important ones? If a story contains a white male slash ship, is that always the central pairing by default, regardless of their weight in the story?
Okay, moving on to tumblr. I made a post on tumblr that you can look through for the details, which probably don't make a whole lot of sense if you're not on tumblr, but mostly my question is:
Do you think that there is an assumed norm for tagging posts on tumblr, and if so, what is that norm? Also, what percentage of a tumblr should be fannish for it to be considered a fannish tumblr? Finally, what sort of things do you assume people are using Tumblr Savior to avoid?
And if you want to reply to that tumblr post and tell me how I should revamp my tumblr tags, please do so! Clearly I need the help before I get tumblr-stoned!
Finally, DW icons. So there's this box under the icon where you put in a description of the icon for people using screenreaders, and I'm never sure what to put there. For example, the icon on this post is Bennett Cerf, and that's how it's labelled, and maybe in the description I'd put "Bennett Cerf in B&W smoking a pipe."
But should I explain who Bennett Cerf-or Clint Barton, or Seamus Finnigan, or Diana Berrigan-are? Should I say "Diana Berrigan, an FBI agent in the White Collar division on the USA show White Collar, which is about a former con man and an FBI agent who fight crime and have a bromance, where Diana works for the FBI agent, and also she's black"? Is it just a description or an explanation? I find myself frequently at sea. I'm like, um, it's a picture of Tori Amos in a beret? So the final question is:
How do you describe icons for screenreaders? If you use one, how would you like them to be described?
I do have systems that I'm using now, but with all the incoherent and unspecific grouchiness around they are apparently inadequate! I like to avoid getting into fannish trouble because then you just end up on fandom wank for having bad tags and all the old bullshit gets dragged out and trust me, I've been called a sockpuppet enough in this lifetime.
crossposted from Dreamwidth |
comments | comment at Dreamwidth
Many, many, MANY THANKS in advance!
First, AO3. I've been slowing tagging all my fics on AO3 (there are about 180) with optional tags like "alternate universe - historical" and "kink bingo" and the like. Not long ago I came across a thread on failfandomanon (don't ask) where a debate was raging about tagging fics with minor characters. Those who use AO3 tags to find characters said that if a character plays a minor role in your fic, you shouldn't tag them. Those who use AO3 tags to avoid characters said that if a character is in your fic for even a line, you should tag them. (Then there was a conversation about how the character-avoiders just grit their teeth and bear it when the character appears in canon.) Now, my assumption was that people use tags to find things, not avoid them. So the question is:
Should I tag a fic on AO3 with minor characters?
Also, I tend to write fics with ensemble casts. Sometimes, like with the Trek fics, they have a couple of clear central characters and then some secondary characters. But sometimes, like with the Potter fics, they really are a group of eight to ten characters who are all fairly evenly seen through the story, and who all get their own POV scenes and character arcs. I have tagged my stories with the appropriate character of color/gay or lesbian character tags, but I'm a little paranoid about people being displeased at the relative weight of the characters. So the second question is:
Is there such a thing as an ensemble fic, or do you believe that all stories really have one or maybe two central characters, and the others are minor? If the latter, how do you determine which ones are the more important ones? If a story contains a white male slash ship, is that always the central pairing by default, regardless of their weight in the story?
Okay, moving on to tumblr. I made a post on tumblr that you can look through for the details, which probably don't make a whole lot of sense if you're not on tumblr, but mostly my question is:
Do you think that there is an assumed norm for tagging posts on tumblr, and if so, what is that norm? Also, what percentage of a tumblr should be fannish for it to be considered a fannish tumblr? Finally, what sort of things do you assume people are using Tumblr Savior to avoid?
And if you want to reply to that tumblr post and tell me how I should revamp my tumblr tags, please do so! Clearly I need the help before I get tumblr-stoned!
Finally, DW icons. So there's this box under the icon where you put in a description of the icon for people using screenreaders, and I'm never sure what to put there. For example, the icon on this post is Bennett Cerf, and that's how it's labelled, and maybe in the description I'd put "Bennett Cerf in B&W smoking a pipe."
But should I explain who Bennett Cerf-or Clint Barton, or Seamus Finnigan, or Diana Berrigan-are? Should I say "Diana Berrigan, an FBI agent in the White Collar division on the USA show White Collar, which is about a former con man and an FBI agent who fight crime and have a bromance, where Diana works for the FBI agent, and also she's black"? Is it just a description or an explanation? I find myself frequently at sea. I'm like, um, it's a picture of Tori Amos in a beret? So the final question is:
How do you describe icons for screenreaders? If you use one, how would you like them to be described?
I do have systems that I'm using now, but with all the incoherent and unspecific grouchiness around they are apparently inadequate! I like to avoid getting into fannish trouble because then you just end up on fandom wank for having bad tags and all the old bullshit gets dragged out and trust me, I've been called a sockpuppet enough in this lifetime.
crossposted from Dreamwidth |
comments | comment at Dreamwidth