RPF Fic Tagging Question

[fangirlishness]

I often write Guardian RPF with realistic elements like closeted relationships or references to a homophobic environment.

I am aware that a lot of people prefer their RPF without these things, but I belatedly realized that I never really plainly tagged my fic to make this aspect clear.

But now I want to remedy this and tag my fic appropriately, both the ones that are set in "realistic China" and those that aren't.

Do clear tags for this exist, or should I (we) make up new ones for our fandom?

I don't want to use generic tags like "Homophobia" or "Fluff", because I'm not sure they're making it much clearer. I'm thinking of something like "set in real China" for the angsty case - in addition to the other warning tags I already use.

The fluffy case is more difficult, because negative tags ("not set in realistic China") are bad, but how do I make it clear that something is *not* in a fic without mentioning it?

"Happy RPF"?

Any ideas?

If we come up with something clear and precise, then I can go and add those tags to my fic.

Comments

[fangirlishness]

Yeah, I think I need to shift my understanding of what Fluff means. I guess adding a Fluff tag to other more detailed/descriptive tags makes sense.

Thank you!

[extrapenguin]

FWIW, fandoms use tags with slightly different nuances of meaning, so it might be worth it to see what sorts of Guardian RPF fics have been tagged with "Fluff". – In some fandoms, it's "this is not an unrelenting angstfest"; in others, it's "there's no conflict and the narrative is made of cotton candy". If you mean the former but I think "Fluff" means the latter, then I'm either not going to click the fic because I'm not in the mood for cotton candy, or click it because I want some cotton candy and be sorely disappointed. AO3's tags are all user-curated, so different fandoms can have different interpretations of tags. (For an extreme example, "Grooming" is used for both the personal hygiene sense and the abuse sense.)

[fangirlishness]

Yeah, my understanding of Fluff is definitely cotton candy, verging on shallow, but naye's (and Fanlore's) is overall happy and non-angsty. Tagging is difficult, yo. :D

But in this specific case, probably not very harmful. I can always mitigate the Fluff-ness with other tags.

"Grooming" is used for both the personal hygiene sense and the abuse sense.

O_O I wouldn't have thought of that - but it makes sense, of course.