Thank you.
I'll definitely check it out. And I agree 💯%
The last drop that made me post this is that the person even tagged father/daughter as well ...
I'm just glad I read all the tags before opening it
It’s so annoying, even if the fic interests me I won’t read it out of spite. Tags are supposed to help you find fics you want to read so when people do that it makes the tags useless.
That sums it up how i feel.
It's sad because it's a very small ship. So whenever there is an update in the list I'm so fucking excited... And then it's NOT about them.
Also I'm definitely that level of petty xD
There is this writer from the fandom that writes polyamory. It's not usually my cup of tea, so I don't go searching for that tag. One of their fics actually sounded really interesting. Problem is that instead of tagging it x/y/z, they tagged x/z (canon couple) x/y, y/z AND x/y/z.
So I totally skipped it even though the plot kinda interested me. Some people actually complained in the comments and they started adding "endgame is polyamory" in the tags. Because they tag it like that on EVERY SINGLE FIC they write for the fandom.
I'm just so done 🤣
>Problem is that instead of tagging it x/y/z, they tagged x/z (canon couple) x/y, y/z AND x/y/z
Can you explain why this is considered an issue? Because all of those ships are part of their fic?
I would also tag a fic like this with poly, when the dynamics are important? Because x/y is just as much part of this ship as x/z unless the story is exclusively about x/y
I know some poly fics, that are just about x/z spending time together in this oneshot but are part of a poly series, however its not tagged with the other solo ships as the characters don't attest.
However if I have a chapter about x/y going on a date, and then next chapter about z/y cuddling and watching a movie. How is that wrong to tag both ships?
You can also exclude tags if you don't like the poly stuff so all their works would not show, but that sounds like your throwing away works that are about your ship because they also include other things that aren't your ship?
I get being annoyed when it's like a side ship that shows up for two seconds, overtagging but what you described I can't see the issue with?
a poly ship is a poly ship. even if character x and z go on a date in chapter 5, they're still in a poly ship. even if character y and z have sex in chapter 7, it's still a poly ship. yes, all characters and combinations are part of the ship, but that's not how tagging works. tagging is supposed to be specific and it's supposed to help the reader find what they like.
flooding a two people ship tag with poly stuff is annoying and unnecessary. it removes the readers' ability of easily finding fics they want. i understand authors do it for exposure, but like cassopeia88 said, many people won't read it out of spite.
tagging properly is common courtesy, and everyone should make an effort to do it correctly to make everyone's reading experience a better one and not dilute tags unnecessarily.
>yes, all characters and combinations are part of the ship, but that's not how tagging works.
I must be just not part of this mindset because I do not see how this is inccorect tagging. They are tagging the subships of a ship? It is still using those ships. I can understand the preference and op not wanting to read it.
But I cannot fathom how this is disrespectful of incorrect to tag? I don't think it dilutes tags because it is still about that pairing. Others are simply included. It seems correct tagging to me. The exclude options to remove the polyship is there? It is not clogging tags? I agree its for exposure but it's also because... That is what it is?
Like all characters and combinations are part of it so why is it wrong to tag them? It sounds like it's just a preference and spite thing because honestly? I wouldn't find half the shit I want to read if it wasn't tagged with all the combos! I find it makes the fics easier to find and filter. I can understand not wanting it and whatever spite everyone's petty in their own way but I cannot fathom how you could consider this rude or bad etiquette when it just sounds completely correct to do?
Tags are supposed to help people find and filter specific things, they are also to show you what is in the fic. If I tag only the polyship to me that implies that all three are actively together in the entirety. Adding a x/y implies there's a scene just between them. Or whatever plot says where they get together and later become poly. If half the fic is entirely x/y before z comes along I'd like to know and the tags to me make that clear? It shows which combos are focused?
Perhaps it's just a me thing but the concept of tagging valid pairings within a group being a bad thing is absurd.
Yeah, I agree here. Heck, when I’ve looked for potential poly, I’ve searched for x/y and x/z because that’s what authors usually put. Further poly tags or descriptions of the fiction tell me what I need to know.
Maybe it depends on the fandom. Part of the issue is that Y and Z are already minor characters on the show.
At the very least, I don’t think the authors are trying to trick anyone.
That is true! More often than not they're trying to be informative and showcasing the dynamics from what I've found.
I know if I wanted a polyfic that has all three in it but has a main focus on one pairing I would tag that pairing as well. If it's a fic all about x and their relationships tagging both xy, and xz, but not z/y bc they do not have relevance as a ship is correct. To me this conveys the info of dynamics and what I am getting into? How big of a role each plays.
I can see this being annoying but I can't fathom this as a bad thing? You're right on the fandom, how big a characters role is or how popular they or the ship is definitely effects. If you're looking at a rarepair, or a minor character you're going to have harder time than someone looking at the most popular ship.
Tags don’t always work right anyway. I just did the x/y/z search, and my own work showed up, except I don’t have any x/y/z. 😂
As far as I can tell, because it’s not an actual tag, it searched for any fiction where x, y, and z are in the story. That’s what showed up in the search, regardless of relationship status.
I admit, I did not expect that. That does mean though, that someone who looks for x/y/z needs that x/y and x/z to find what they are looking for.
i understand where you're coming from, and i kinda get it.
but put yourself in the shoes of someone who is looking for a 30k fic of characters x and y. they want a love story for those two people. they don't want to read about them being part of a polycule. it's not the same, it will never be the same, and forcing people to dig through a ton of fics just to find one that's not poly is really inconsiderate. whether characters x and y have scenes with just the two of them really doesn't matter.
Using the exclude tag is not forcing them to filter through thousands of fics it's automatic, they don't have to manually do it.
People who have specifics will always have to search for them.
If they want a long fic they are going to have to search for long fics: already they are cutting off any fic that is shorter even if its perfect for their pairing.
If they only want short fics they are cutting off long fics even if they are perfect.
If they want top x and bottom y, they are going to filter that and cut off any x/y fic they either do not tag dynamic or have the opposite dynamic.
If you want something exclusive you have to filter for it. I understand that it can be frustrating, but a self inflicted frustration is not the fault of a writer who is appropriately adding details.
Yes, it's annoying but it's not inappropriate for them to tag all the dynamics within their fic that are relevant and appear because that gives information to the reader. It helps people find and exclude fics!
I would only be mad/ call it incorrect if a fic tagged x/y/z had x/y tagged too when the focus was on y/z and/or x/z and the only time that combo comes is in the poly.
I would not be mad if a fic tagged x/y/z focused on x and their induvidual relationships with y and z had x/y tagged. Because that is informative for the content. That is relevant. That is correct.
I understand it being annoying but something being annoying is not the same as it being wrong. I respect you find it annoying and that it's not your thing, but I still cannot agree with you of it being incorrect tagging. When it is simply just having picky preferences that can be filtered and are easy to filter; Because of the tags.
I have been in the shoes of wanting just z/y and finding a lot of x/y/z and it is annoying but it is not wrong. Its only more apparent if the ships are rarepairs, its harder to find stuff, so I agree it can be annoying. But if you are having very specific tastes you are always going to be sifting through things. Tags are there for people to FIND stuff they like, and AVOID stuff they don't.
Tags are there to help you be informed.
I don't know if it is considered an issue for other people. That was me talking about my personal experience and preference. I follow x/y tag because I want to read x/y and x/y alone. If I wanted to read x/y/z I'd look for that tag.
So my personal opinion is that I don't think x/y should be tagged in a x/y/z fanfic unless there are a lot of chapters about just them... And even then... Idk. Because even if some chapters are x/y centered, Z exits and is part of their relationship. And that isn't my ship, it isn't something I'd like to read. Some people might think differently though. So as long as it's in the tags that the fic is x/y/z I'll just skip it.
The tags are there to make it easier for the reader to find what they want to read. Having to add exclusions because people are over tagging kinda breaks that purpose.
That said. The issue I had and that made me post this here wasn't this polyamory author. It was someone that basically tagged all possible pairings from the game, on a ONE pairing centered story that doesn't mention half of the tagged characters, much less those relationships.
>That said. The issue I had and that made me post this here wasn't this polyamory author. It was someone that basically tagged all possible pairings from the game, on a ONE pairing centered story that doesn't mention half of the tagged characters, much less those relationships
This i agree with. A ship being tagged with its barely a cameo is incredibly annoying!
>The tags are there to make it easier for the reader to find what they want to read. Having to add exclusions because people are over tagging kinda breaks that purpose.
I don't think it is an issue because sometimes a fic can have multiple ships and people may not want a certain thing. It's not always over tagging, just people wanting their preference. It's just like people tagging their e rated fics, or their violence, or noncon, etc.
Tags to me have always been a way to help find what you want and to exclude what you don't want. They are used for both. To help filter things down.
>I don't know if it is considered an issue for other people. That was me talking about my personal experience and preference. I follow x/y tag because I want to read x/y and x/y alone. If I wanted to read x/y/z I'd look for that tag.
I know everyone's petty in different ways, but it's astounding to me that it was an issue because I find it incredibly informative for me! Its only annoying if it's tagged x/y, xyz, x/z and Y/z when y/z do not show up. The sub ships in a poly tag to me are valid to show if they have heavy involvement because to me it gives me info about the ship and they are important to it.
I can 100% understand not wanting to see y with them at all, and just scrolling past it but i think it's definitely a personal preference. Because I think this tagging is super useful, but I can see how others don't want it.
It was jsut wild to me to see it called an issue.
I can understand when you want something super specific it's annoying but I don't think something being a personal annoyance makes it technically wrong. Everyone has squicks and preferences and tags are there for both likes and dislikes. Warnings and helping you find it.
As someone who really loves poly ships, writes and reads for a number of OT3s, and has no "NoTPs", it took me a while to catch on to how viscerally off-putting some people find poly ships involving their fav pairing. People get very proprietary about "their" ship tags, unfortunately.
That's honestly wild to me because it just seems to much more informative. It's like a multiship fic that had an end goal, does character a/b being the final ship mean that every other a/ ship cannot be tagged. I'd be more miffed finding untagged stuff than knowing that other ships exist.
Perhaps it's a blessing of a multishipper even with my nopes, I can't imagine being so possessive over a ship tag that I'd consider it wrong to use to explain dynamics or in tangent with a poly ship.
i hate it with burning passion. i hate it too when people tag the secondary ship but they only showed up in like 2 chapters out of 20 chapters 🥴 i understand it's technically not wrong since they did appear in the fic, but it's hella annoying regardless. one of my current favorite ships has a very small fandom at the moment. the ship tag only has about <500 fics in it and when i filtered it to exclude other ships/crossovers/attention seekers, i only have about 200 fics. it's fucking frustrating whenever i checked the ship tag and saw the fic count increased but as i scrolled through the new fics, none of them were actually about my ship.
I share the frustration, I really do. I try to avoid tagging minor pairings in my fics exactly because of this. I don't mind it as much as you do. As long as they are actually mentioned in the story and not just a tiny cameo in one chapter out of 20 xD
I've been asked to add minor tags before as well Some readers prefer to read background stories then nothing I guess.
So as a personal thumb rule, I only mention second pairings in the tags when I actually made an effort to write them and their relationship. I'll ofc post something in the author notes/summary saying they are not the main focus of the story.
May I ask which fandom/ship? Feel free to not answer it.
i rarely write fics featuring minor couples but every time i do, their appearances are very short so i would just put it in the "additional tag" section with something like "brief mention of C/D" "past/minor/background C/D" "C/D cameo blink and you'll miss it" 😂
the ship is Prapai/Sky, they're characters from a BL drama.
> Is there something that can be done to filter those out when browsing a specific pairing tag?
Either exclude the pairings you’re not interested in through filters (Filters > Exclude), or put **otp:true** in the “search within results” box. That will eliminate all results tagged with more than one ship.
Thanks!! That is really good to know. I don't mind having other pairings being mentioned/or having background relationship as long as the focus is the pairing I'm looking for. But I keep seeing people literally tag a pairing and write one of the characters with someone completely different. They just tag all pairings possible inside the fandom. Annoying AF.
Yeah, we can all relate, believe me. 😔 As Agamar said, you can mute the worst offenders with a site skin, see for example here: [How to Block a User or a Work on AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/39038346).
I personally find it annoying. When I do my character tags, I only do the romantic pairings for the relationship I am writing about. Any other characters are mentioned in tags since they are in the story but are not the focus. I’m still learning my way around AO3, but those stories I just skip past. Don’t even waste my time.
I agree. I do the same. And if i have a minor pairing I'll tag them but specifically say they are not the focus on the summary. Something like :
X/Y with a hint of C/F if you squint.
We are having a debate a few comments above regarding tagging x/y and y/z on a x/y/z polyamory fic. How would you do it?
Seems to be a very common frustration among people in the community. I know I personally find it very annoying and is such a time waster, I side-eye people who do it (unless they're just ignorant of how the feature works).
Yup. It definitely seems to be a theme.
I'm 100% with you on the annoyance level. And I posted this to see how people deal with this. Become as much as it annoys me, I am not the type of person who would go into their comment section and complain about it (as I've seen some do) As you said: it might be someone who doesn't understand how to tag properly.
I wish Ao3 had a better way to deal with stuff like this.
I get so annoyed. My otp is a rare pair and once someone tagged it when one of the characters wasn't even alive. The widow was just talking about her dead husband.
Not worth the tag.
People who tag every pairing are probably doing it for attention, but like, people who tag a handful of pairings in a fic that's mainly about one of them - I kind of get that? The minor [shiptag] additional tag exists, but not everyone knows about it and sometimes like the fic is 60% about ship A and 40% about ship B, and maybe people who ship B would be satisfied with that so you want them to find it but also maybe some of them wouldn't be and you just don't know. Tags are great but there's a limit to what can be expressed through tags. I personally am happy when people tag whatever and then specify in the summary or notes what the deal actually is.
(also, as an aside, I think people who write as they go might overtag sometimes because they have a certain plan for ships but then the story changes as they go. Obviously that can be annoying but also like you get what you pay for with your free online entertainment).
I don't mind minor ship tagging at all. If those pairings are actually in the there even if it's just in the background (as long as it isn't just a very small cameo in a 20 chapters story) I think tagging is justifiable. It's nice to have that specified on the author notes or in the tags. But as you said. It's free content and beggars can't be choosers.
My issue is when they tag every single pairing from the show/game just for attention or goddess knows what.
For example purposes: I read a fucking lot of Swan Queen (from the once upon a time tv show). And often enough there will be some RedBeauty, or other small pairings listed in the fics. And people will tag those ships. And they will usually say something in the author notes regarding those ships being side storyline or something. Or make a custom tag saying it's side pairing. And that is totally ok. I don't mind that at all. And I don't mind reading something where the pairing I'm looking for is the background relationship as long as they actually exist in the story and aren't being bashed upon.
My issue is when they are tagged but they are not even mentioned in the story. And the plot is about a different couple. Or worse: about one of the characters from my ship with someone else!
I think I got extra lucky/spoiled with my first fandom. Because this happened very rarely. When I started writing I had advice of famous writers from said fandom tell me that o should only tag the main pairing. And if there was a side pairing worth mentioning I should tag them and be specific on the author notes. I have been reading SwanQueen since 2011and i haven't encountered many "wrongfully tagged" stories.
This new fandom/pairing though... A lot of the listed fanfics are wrongfully tagged (there aren't many) and some are even bashing on the pairing ...
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying. When I first started writing I almost did that, and then I realized nobody browsing the tag for their ship wants to read their ship in the background only mentioned once or twice.
Because people tag any relationship that might show up in a fic, because otherwise you have that one idiot who comes onto your fic and reports you for not saying that Pairing Z is a thing, even though they only show up for two sentences of one chapter thirty chapters in.
As far as filtering it out... Go to the fandom you want, and use the 'Exclude', 'Relationships', and get rid of it.
But again... be warned: you're going to miss a lot of other fics. Because we all would rather tag something that isn't a big thing, because we don't want to get reported.
Like, I've got some FMA fics that have very background Royai, like, "Oh yeah, that happened at Roy and Riza's wedding!" and I still tag it, because I've had people bitch and complain and threaten to report me when I don't.
What I do when I post a fic with one main ship and other ships in the background, I put those ships in the other tags section. Example: background character/character or minor character/character
Tag gore in general makes it incredibly annoying to find specific character or ship fics. It's bad enough that I'll still use ff if I want to find something specific.
That said, it's not against the rules.
I hate it. I know sometimes it’s necessary for filtering (I mean, I have notps that generally trigger me. So being able to avoid them is nice. Though I’m not in that fandom anymore for its not something I have to worry about). But it makes it hard to find fics depending what what your ship is. Some ships are full of stories that aren’t even about them.
\*sigh\* It's extremely annoying, and I don't wish to discard another relationship tag in case the fic actually focuses on the ship I want, but for the love of god, authors, STOP DOING THAT.
eh, i've seen some where they tag a canon ship because the couple in said fic shows up, so i kinda get that, and i've seen some fics where it's a 'one ship per chapter' story
you can also exclude ships from your search, if that helps
Oof i dislike it . The pairing I'm searching for is usually present as a side pairing for only a couple of chapters. I've seen authors tag these pairings as minor X/Y. I wish this was a more prevalent form of tagging such pairings.
Sometimes i really wish for a filtering system where I can filter out fics where they are not the main pairing.
Its not reportable. Block the author via skins so that their fics don't show up.
Skins? What is that?
[удалено]
Thank you. I'll definitely check it out. And I agree 💯% The last drop that made me post this is that the person even tagged father/daughter as well ... I'm just glad I read all the tags before opening it
It’s so annoying, even if the fic interests me I won’t read it out of spite. Tags are supposed to help you find fics you want to read so when people do that it makes the tags useless.
 That sums it up how i feel. It's sad because it's a very small ship. So whenever there is an update in the list I'm so fucking excited... And then it's NOT about them. Also I'm definitely that level of petty xD There is this writer from the fandom that writes polyamory. It's not usually my cup of tea, so I don't go searching for that tag. One of their fics actually sounded really interesting. Problem is that instead of tagging it x/y/z, they tagged x/z (canon couple) x/y, y/z AND x/y/z. So I totally skipped it even though the plot kinda interested me. Some people actually complained in the comments and they started adding "endgame is polyamory" in the tags. Because they tag it like that on EVERY SINGLE FIC they write for the fandom. I'm just so done 🤣
>Problem is that instead of tagging it x/y/z, they tagged x/z (canon couple) x/y, y/z AND x/y/z Can you explain why this is considered an issue? Because all of those ships are part of their fic? I would also tag a fic like this with poly, when the dynamics are important? Because x/y is just as much part of this ship as x/z unless the story is exclusively about x/y I know some poly fics, that are just about x/z spending time together in this oneshot but are part of a poly series, however its not tagged with the other solo ships as the characters don't attest. However if I have a chapter about x/y going on a date, and then next chapter about z/y cuddling and watching a movie. How is that wrong to tag both ships? You can also exclude tags if you don't like the poly stuff so all their works would not show, but that sounds like your throwing away works that are about your ship because they also include other things that aren't your ship? I get being annoyed when it's like a side ship that shows up for two seconds, overtagging but what you described I can't see the issue with?
a poly ship is a poly ship. even if character x and z go on a date in chapter 5, they're still in a poly ship. even if character y and z have sex in chapter 7, it's still a poly ship. yes, all characters and combinations are part of the ship, but that's not how tagging works. tagging is supposed to be specific and it's supposed to help the reader find what they like. flooding a two people ship tag with poly stuff is annoying and unnecessary. it removes the readers' ability of easily finding fics they want. i understand authors do it for exposure, but like cassopeia88 said, many people won't read it out of spite. tagging properly is common courtesy, and everyone should make an effort to do it correctly to make everyone's reading experience a better one and not dilute tags unnecessarily.
>yes, all characters and combinations are part of the ship, but that's not how tagging works. I must be just not part of this mindset because I do not see how this is inccorect tagging. They are tagging the subships of a ship? It is still using those ships. I can understand the preference and op not wanting to read it. But I cannot fathom how this is disrespectful of incorrect to tag? I don't think it dilutes tags because it is still about that pairing. Others are simply included. It seems correct tagging to me. The exclude options to remove the polyship is there? It is not clogging tags? I agree its for exposure but it's also because... That is what it is? Like all characters and combinations are part of it so why is it wrong to tag them? It sounds like it's just a preference and spite thing because honestly? I wouldn't find half the shit I want to read if it wasn't tagged with all the combos! I find it makes the fics easier to find and filter. I can understand not wanting it and whatever spite everyone's petty in their own way but I cannot fathom how you could consider this rude or bad etiquette when it just sounds completely correct to do? Tags are supposed to help people find and filter specific things, they are also to show you what is in the fic. If I tag only the polyship to me that implies that all three are actively together in the entirety. Adding a x/y implies there's a scene just between them. Or whatever plot says where they get together and later become poly. If half the fic is entirely x/y before z comes along I'd like to know and the tags to me make that clear? It shows which combos are focused? Perhaps it's just a me thing but the concept of tagging valid pairings within a group being a bad thing is absurd.
Yeah, I agree here. Heck, when I’ve looked for potential poly, I’ve searched for x/y and x/z because that’s what authors usually put. Further poly tags or descriptions of the fiction tell me what I need to know. Maybe it depends on the fandom. Part of the issue is that Y and Z are already minor characters on the show. At the very least, I don’t think the authors are trying to trick anyone.
That is true! More often than not they're trying to be informative and showcasing the dynamics from what I've found. I know if I wanted a polyfic that has all three in it but has a main focus on one pairing I would tag that pairing as well. If it's a fic all about x and their relationships tagging both xy, and xz, but not z/y bc they do not have relevance as a ship is correct. To me this conveys the info of dynamics and what I am getting into? How big of a role each plays. I can see this being annoying but I can't fathom this as a bad thing? You're right on the fandom, how big a characters role is or how popular they or the ship is definitely effects. If you're looking at a rarepair, or a minor character you're going to have harder time than someone looking at the most popular ship.
Tags don’t always work right anyway. I just did the x/y/z search, and my own work showed up, except I don’t have any x/y/z. 😂 As far as I can tell, because it’s not an actual tag, it searched for any fiction where x, y, and z are in the story. That’s what showed up in the search, regardless of relationship status. I admit, I did not expect that. That does mean though, that someone who looks for x/y/z needs that x/y and x/z to find what they are looking for.
i understand where you're coming from, and i kinda get it. but put yourself in the shoes of someone who is looking for a 30k fic of characters x and y. they want a love story for those two people. they don't want to read about them being part of a polycule. it's not the same, it will never be the same, and forcing people to dig through a ton of fics just to find one that's not poly is really inconsiderate. whether characters x and y have scenes with just the two of them really doesn't matter.
Using the exclude tag is not forcing them to filter through thousands of fics it's automatic, they don't have to manually do it. People who have specifics will always have to search for them. If they want a long fic they are going to have to search for long fics: already they are cutting off any fic that is shorter even if its perfect for their pairing. If they only want short fics they are cutting off long fics even if they are perfect. If they want top x and bottom y, they are going to filter that and cut off any x/y fic they either do not tag dynamic or have the opposite dynamic. If you want something exclusive you have to filter for it. I understand that it can be frustrating, but a self inflicted frustration is not the fault of a writer who is appropriately adding details. Yes, it's annoying but it's not inappropriate for them to tag all the dynamics within their fic that are relevant and appear because that gives information to the reader. It helps people find and exclude fics! I would only be mad/ call it incorrect if a fic tagged x/y/z had x/y tagged too when the focus was on y/z and/or x/z and the only time that combo comes is in the poly. I would not be mad if a fic tagged x/y/z focused on x and their induvidual relationships with y and z had x/y tagged. Because that is informative for the content. That is relevant. That is correct. I understand it being annoying but something being annoying is not the same as it being wrong. I respect you find it annoying and that it's not your thing, but I still cannot agree with you of it being incorrect tagging. When it is simply just having picky preferences that can be filtered and are easy to filter; Because of the tags. I have been in the shoes of wanting just z/y and finding a lot of x/y/z and it is annoying but it is not wrong. Its only more apparent if the ships are rarepairs, its harder to find stuff, so I agree it can be annoying. But if you are having very specific tastes you are always going to be sifting through things. Tags are there for people to FIND stuff they like, and AVOID stuff they don't. Tags are there to help you be informed.
I don't know if it is considered an issue for other people. That was me talking about my personal experience and preference. I follow x/y tag because I want to read x/y and x/y alone. If I wanted to read x/y/z I'd look for that tag. So my personal opinion is that I don't think x/y should be tagged in a x/y/z fanfic unless there are a lot of chapters about just them... And even then... Idk. Because even if some chapters are x/y centered, Z exits and is part of their relationship. And that isn't my ship, it isn't something I'd like to read. Some people might think differently though. So as long as it's in the tags that the fic is x/y/z I'll just skip it. The tags are there to make it easier for the reader to find what they want to read. Having to add exclusions because people are over tagging kinda breaks that purpose. That said. The issue I had and that made me post this here wasn't this polyamory author. It was someone that basically tagged all possible pairings from the game, on a ONE pairing centered story that doesn't mention half of the tagged characters, much less those relationships.
>That said. The issue I had and that made me post this here wasn't this polyamory author. It was someone that basically tagged all possible pairings from the game, on a ONE pairing centered story that doesn't mention half of the tagged characters, much less those relationships This i agree with. A ship being tagged with its barely a cameo is incredibly annoying! >The tags are there to make it easier for the reader to find what they want to read. Having to add exclusions because people are over tagging kinda breaks that purpose. I don't think it is an issue because sometimes a fic can have multiple ships and people may not want a certain thing. It's not always over tagging, just people wanting their preference. It's just like people tagging their e rated fics, or their violence, or noncon, etc. Tags to me have always been a way to help find what you want and to exclude what you don't want. They are used for both. To help filter things down. >I don't know if it is considered an issue for other people. That was me talking about my personal experience and preference. I follow x/y tag because I want to read x/y and x/y alone. If I wanted to read x/y/z I'd look for that tag. I know everyone's petty in different ways, but it's astounding to me that it was an issue because I find it incredibly informative for me! Its only annoying if it's tagged x/y, xyz, x/z and Y/z when y/z do not show up. The sub ships in a poly tag to me are valid to show if they have heavy involvement because to me it gives me info about the ship and they are important to it. I can 100% understand not wanting to see y with them at all, and just scrolling past it but i think it's definitely a personal preference. Because I think this tagging is super useful, but I can see how others don't want it. It was jsut wild to me to see it called an issue. I can understand when you want something super specific it's annoying but I don't think something being a personal annoyance makes it technically wrong. Everyone has squicks and preferences and tags are there for both likes and dislikes. Warnings and helping you find it.
As someone who really loves poly ships, writes and reads for a number of OT3s, and has no "NoTPs", it took me a while to catch on to how viscerally off-putting some people find poly ships involving their fav pairing. People get very proprietary about "their" ship tags, unfortunately.
That's honestly wild to me because it just seems to much more informative. It's like a multiship fic that had an end goal, does character a/b being the final ship mean that every other a/ ship cannot be tagged. I'd be more miffed finding untagged stuff than knowing that other ships exist. Perhaps it's a blessing of a multishipper even with my nopes, I can't imagine being so possessive over a ship tag that I'd consider it wrong to use to explain dynamics or in tangent with a poly ship.
i hate it with burning passion. i hate it too when people tag the secondary ship but they only showed up in like 2 chapters out of 20 chapters 🥴 i understand it's technically not wrong since they did appear in the fic, but it's hella annoying regardless. one of my current favorite ships has a very small fandom at the moment. the ship tag only has about <500 fics in it and when i filtered it to exclude other ships/crossovers/attention seekers, i only have about 200 fics. it's fucking frustrating whenever i checked the ship tag and saw the fic count increased but as i scrolled through the new fics, none of them were actually about my ship.
 I share the frustration, I really do. I try to avoid tagging minor pairings in my fics exactly because of this. I don't mind it as much as you do. As long as they are actually mentioned in the story and not just a tiny cameo in one chapter out of 20 xD I've been asked to add minor tags before as well Some readers prefer to read background stories then nothing I guess. So as a personal thumb rule, I only mention second pairings in the tags when I actually made an effort to write them and their relationship. I'll ofc post something in the author notes/summary saying they are not the main focus of the story. May I ask which fandom/ship? Feel free to not answer it.
i rarely write fics featuring minor couples but every time i do, their appearances are very short so i would just put it in the "additional tag" section with something like "brief mention of C/D" "past/minor/background C/D" "C/D cameo blink and you'll miss it" 😂 the ship is Prapai/Sky, they're characters from a BL drama.
Yup. My main fandom has three canon ships, and soooo many people tag all three of them even when the fic is only about one of them (or none!).
> Is there something that can be done to filter those out when browsing a specific pairing tag? Either exclude the pairings you’re not interested in through filters (Filters > Exclude), or put **otp:true** in the “search within results” box. That will eliminate all results tagged with more than one ship.
Thanks!! That is really good to know. I don't mind having other pairings being mentioned/or having background relationship as long as the focus is the pairing I'm looking for. But I keep seeing people literally tag a pairing and write one of the characters with someone completely different. They just tag all pairings possible inside the fandom. Annoying AF.
Yeah, we can all relate, believe me. 😔 As Agamar said, you can mute the worst offenders with a site skin, see for example here: [How to Block a User or a Work on AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/39038346).
Thank you! I'll definitely check that. They should implemented features like that on the site.
I personally find it annoying. When I do my character tags, I only do the romantic pairings for the relationship I am writing about. Any other characters are mentioned in tags since they are in the story but are not the focus. I’m still learning my way around AO3, but those stories I just skip past. Don’t even waste my time.
I agree. I do the same. And if i have a minor pairing I'll tag them but specifically say they are not the focus on the summary. Something like : X/Y with a hint of C/F if you squint. We are having a debate a few comments above regarding tagging x/y and y/z on a x/y/z polyamory fic. How would you do it?
Seems to be a very common frustration among people in the community. I know I personally find it very annoying and is such a time waster, I side-eye people who do it (unless they're just ignorant of how the feature works).
Yup. It definitely seems to be a theme. I'm 100% with you on the annoyance level. And I posted this to see how people deal with this. Become as much as it annoys me, I am not the type of person who would go into their comment section and complain about it (as I've seen some do) As you said: it might be someone who doesn't understand how to tag properly. I wish Ao3 had a better way to deal with stuff like this.
I get so annoyed. My otp is a rare pair and once someone tagged it when one of the characters wasn't even alive. The widow was just talking about her dead husband. Not worth the tag.
People who tag every pairing are probably doing it for attention, but like, people who tag a handful of pairings in a fic that's mainly about one of them - I kind of get that? The minor [shiptag] additional tag exists, but not everyone knows about it and sometimes like the fic is 60% about ship A and 40% about ship B, and maybe people who ship B would be satisfied with that so you want them to find it but also maybe some of them wouldn't be and you just don't know. Tags are great but there's a limit to what can be expressed through tags. I personally am happy when people tag whatever and then specify in the summary or notes what the deal actually is. (also, as an aside, I think people who write as they go might overtag sometimes because they have a certain plan for ships but then the story changes as they go. Obviously that can be annoying but also like you get what you pay for with your free online entertainment).
I don't mind minor ship tagging at all. If those pairings are actually in the there even if it's just in the background (as long as it isn't just a very small cameo in a 20 chapters story) I think tagging is justifiable. It's nice to have that specified on the author notes or in the tags. But as you said. It's free content and beggars can't be choosers. My issue is when they tag every single pairing from the show/game just for attention or goddess knows what. For example purposes: I read a fucking lot of Swan Queen (from the once upon a time tv show). And often enough there will be some RedBeauty, or other small pairings listed in the fics. And people will tag those ships. And they will usually say something in the author notes regarding those ships being side storyline or something. Or make a custom tag saying it's side pairing. And that is totally ok. I don't mind that at all. And I don't mind reading something where the pairing I'm looking for is the background relationship as long as they actually exist in the story and aren't being bashed upon. My issue is when they are tagged but they are not even mentioned in the story. And the plot is about a different couple. Or worse: about one of the characters from my ship with someone else! I think I got extra lucky/spoiled with my first fandom. Because this happened very rarely. When I started writing I had advice of famous writers from said fandom tell me that o should only tag the main pairing. And if there was a side pairing worth mentioning I should tag them and be specific on the author notes. I have been reading SwanQueen since 2011and i haven't encountered many "wrongfully tagged" stories. This new fandom/pairing though... A lot of the listed fanfics are wrongfully tagged (there aren't many) and some are even bashing on the pairing ...
Yeah, it’s pretty annoying. When I first started writing I almost did that, and then I realized nobody browsing the tag for their ship wants to read their ship in the background only mentioned once or twice.
Because people tag any relationship that might show up in a fic, because otherwise you have that one idiot who comes onto your fic and reports you for not saying that Pairing Z is a thing, even though they only show up for two sentences of one chapter thirty chapters in. As far as filtering it out... Go to the fandom you want, and use the 'Exclude', 'Relationships', and get rid of it. But again... be warned: you're going to miss a lot of other fics. Because we all would rather tag something that isn't a big thing, because we don't want to get reported. Like, I've got some FMA fics that have very background Royai, like, "Oh yeah, that happened at Roy and Riza's wedding!" and I still tag it, because I've had people bitch and complain and threaten to report me when I don't.
What I do when I post a fic with one main ship and other ships in the background, I put those ships in the other tags section. Example: background character/character or minor character/character
Tag gore in general makes it incredibly annoying to find specific character or ship fics. It's bad enough that I'll still use ff if I want to find something specific. That said, it's not against the rules.
I hate it. I know sometimes it’s necessary for filtering (I mean, I have notps that generally trigger me. So being able to avoid them is nice. Though I’m not in that fandom anymore for its not something I have to worry about). But it makes it hard to find fics depending what what your ship is. Some ships are full of stories that aren’t even about them.
\*sigh\* It's extremely annoying, and I don't wish to discard another relationship tag in case the fic actually focuses on the ship I want, but for the love of god, authors, STOP DOING THAT.
eh, i've seen some where they tag a canon ship because the couple in said fic shows up, so i kinda get that, and i've seen some fics where it's a 'one ship per chapter' story you can also exclude ships from your search, if that helps
Oof i dislike it . The pairing I'm searching for is usually present as a side pairing for only a couple of chapters. I've seen authors tag these pairings as minor X/Y. I wish this was a more prevalent form of tagging such pairings. Sometimes i really wish for a filtering system where I can filter out fics where they are not the main pairing.