It’s time to have a chat about tagging, my lovely Dreamling fandom, especially as we sit waist deep in waiting-for-season-two mode.
Specifically Tumblr tagging.
Here’s a few examples of what I’ve seen NOT BEING TAGGED when reblogged by the fandom at large more and more frequently over the past few months:
Interesting concepts blowing up and getting a lot of activity/interest (Cow Hob and Centaur Dream)
Continued exploration into “gender what gender” for Dream, and often Hob, in the context of Omegaverse, with varying anatomy
Pregnancy AUs, both human and otherwise
Dub Con/Non-Con exploration in AUs
The vast majority of the time - tagging issues do not apply to the original creator. They are often tagging their content, and that allows people to avoid it if it is triggering for them. No one is perfect, and I’m not asking anyone to be - but when multiple someones tell me they feel pushed out of the fandom on Tumblr because they cannot escape triggering content due to lack of tags on reblogged posts?
Means we’ve got to do better as consumers of content to treat each other with respect and care.
Be as kinky as you want. Be as down and dirty and nasty as you want, and I will cheer you on every moment. But playing in a group community means you gotta tag those posts, loves.
Here’s a list of stuff that can be triggering based on what I’ve heard from these folks that should have tags indicating as much:
Pregnancy Kink/Detailed Pregnancy descriptions
Breeding kink
Anatomy changes for characters (Dream/Hob with a vulva, especially - this is extremely inconsistently tagged in the fandom lately)
Non-human characters
Non-Consensual Relations
Dub-Con Relations
MCD
I am a very firm believer in Don’t Like, Don’t Read - but in order for that to work - someone has to know what they’re reading. Getting surprised by a trigger is not an experience I’d wish on anyone. And I do not want someone to feel like they have to leave the fandom, because so many people are reblogging works untagged and they feel like they have to unfollow everyone or get triggered.
A great way to do this is to add the creator’s tags to your original post. If you’re like me and use Tumblr mobile the vast majority of the time - that’s a very easy way to help alleviate the issue! I’m definitely not asking anyone to create their own massive tag system (I certainly don’t have one!), but when writing and reblogging some of these topics - please make sure you’re tagging them.
Let’s do our best to make sure this fandom can be enjoyed by everyone who wants to enjoy it!
dunmeshi is proof that if u ever have a lot of worldbuilding u want to share but dont want to make it forced literally just make one of your characters autistic. neurotypicals cant exposition dump. laios though….he can.
Here’s a sneak peek, featuring Peter Goodfellow, Una Woodruff, John Berkey, and an uncredited one that’s probably Dean Ellis. (For those of you who read my art book, my first draft would have used these four images for a two-page spread about sea life in my plants and animals chapter - but I couldn’t get the print rights, so I’m turning it into this newsletter instead)
not to be controversial bc I know this is like…not in line with shifting opinions on fanfic comment culture but if there’s a glaring typo in my work I will NOT be offended by pointing it out. if ao3 fucks up the formatting…I will also not be offended by having this pointed out…
‘looking forward to the next update’ and ‘I hope you update soon!’ are different vibes than a demand, and should be read in good faith because a reader is finding their way to tell you how much they love it. I will not be mad at this.
‘I don’t usually like this ship but this fic made me feel something’ is also incredibly high praise. I’m not going to get mad at this.
even ‘I love this fic but I’m curious about why you made [x] choice’ is just another way a reader is engaging in and putting thought into your work.
I just feel like a lot of authors take any comment that’s not perfectly articulated glowing praise in the exact manner they’re hoping to receive it in bad faith.
fic engagement has been dropping across the board over the last several years, and yes it’s frustrating but it isn’t as though I can’t see how it happens. comment anxiety can be a real thing. the last thing anyone wants to do is offend an author they love, and that means sometimes people default to silence.
idk where I’m going with this I guess aside from saying unless a comment is outright attacking me I’m never going to get mad at it, and I think a lot of authors should feel the same way. ESPECIALLY TYPOS PLZ GOD POINT OUT MY TYPOS.
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