(Partially) fixing the tag system

[LurkingInTheDeceit]

So, complaints about the tag system are a recurring topic on QQ. This is sometimes just an issue of different site cultures, but other times it's non-controversially fixable.

Tags on QQ have a few uses, including setting expectations for the thread, aiding search, and making jokes. We don't want to sacrifice either of the other two (or any other unlisted uses) in service of optimising search results, nor do we want to implement any kind of enforced tagging (for reasons stated in detail over the years, in many threads). But the low-hanging fruit here are misspellings, grammatical mistakes, and duplicates.

There's only benefits to merging those into one Canonised tag, for authors and readers. The former have limited tag space, the latter likely doesn't want to have to put in a dozen variations of the same things, and finding all those variations through the normal user view is difficult or impossible anyway.

I'm not sure whether this would ever get done if I don't take the initiative, so that's what I'm doing. The basic guidelines for how this is going to work is as follows:

• Canonised tag suggestions, alongside potential Synonyms to be merged, will be posted in this thread first, pinned in the Suggestions & Bugs subforum, so the userbase has an opportunity (say, 48 hours) to give feedback and object to particular mergers.
• Only search relevant terms will be merged, not every tag that has duplicate meanings.
• Tags that could be interpreted to have distinct meanings will not be merged.
• Series tags will be the full name.
• Descriptor tags will be fully spelled out.
• Finalised Canonised tags will be added into the locked Suggested Tags threads (1, 2), which will be pinned in the Creative Writing and NSFW Creative Writing subforums.

I've already gathered 195 tags, that I think can be condensed into 35:

Spoiler

{worm - worm fic} worm

{heroic mc - heroic protagonist - hero - hero mc} heroic protagonist

{anti-hero - anti-hero protagonist - antihero} anti-hero protagonist

{my hero academia - my_hero_academia - boku no hero academia - my boku academia} my hero academia

{rise of the sheild hero - rising of the shield hero - shield hero} the rising of the shield hero

{superhero - super hero} superhero

{superheroes - superheros - super heroes} superheroes

{eventual harem - harem eventually - harem eventual - eventual obligatory harem - harem… eventually} harem eventually

{harem likely - harem (most likely) - harem probably - probable harem - probably a harem? - probably harem} harem likely

{harem possible - possible harem - potential harem - harem maybe - maybe harem? - harem? - will a harem be created?} harem possible

{harem - harem obviously - harem (obviously for anyone who knows my works) - harem (obviously its danmachi) - harem galore - harem mode activate! - harem get!} harem

{harem hero - harem protagonist} harem protagonist

{no harem - not a harem - #no harem - this is a no harem zone} no harem

{reversed harem - reverse harem} reverse harem

{small harem - slight harem - not that big of a harem - minor harem - eventual small harem} small harem

{large harem - big harem} large harem

{yuri harem - lesbian harem} lesbian harem

{mc is in a harem - mc is a harem member - in a harem} mc is a harem member

{asoiaf - a song of ice and fire - a song of ice & fire - song of ice and fire} a song of ice and fire

{futa - futanari} futanari

{futa protagonist - futa mc - futanari mc} futanari protagonist

{multi crossover - multi-crossover - multicross - lots of crossovers - many crossovers - massive multicross - mutlicross - massive multicross etc - multi-cross - multi-crossover (crossover) - multicross - multicrossover - multiple crossovers} multicross

{noncon - non-con} non-con

{cross-over - cross over - crossover} crossover

{mild crossover - minor crossover} minor crossover

{alternate au - au - au content warning - au for various reasons - au obviously - au(obviously) - #alternateworld - alt universe - alt verse - alternate - alternate universe - alternateuniverse- alternative universe} alternate universe

{extreme au - drastically au - heavy au - major au - massive au - au as fuck - au a lot of au - all the au - really quite a lot of au - super au - very au - very very au - wildly au} major au

{mild au - minor au - kinda au - kind of au - contains au elements - au-elements - au elements - au kinda - au in only very minor ways - slight au - slight au elements - slightly au - some au - somewhat au - somewhatau} minor au

{bi protagonist - bi-protagonist - bisexual protagonist - bi mc - bisexual main character - bisexual mc} bisexual protagonist

{kind of a self insert - kind of a self inser - kind off self insert - self insert (I guess?) - self-insert-kinda - sorta self insert - self(?) insert - semi si - semi-si - si is kinda oc - si sorta - si? - sort of si - sorta si thing - non self insert - insert not self - non-self insert - self insert oc - oc/si - oc-si - si oc - si-oc - si/oc - si is an oc - si is basically an oc - si is not an si} si/oc

{self inserts - self-inserts (plural) - multi-self-insert - lots of self inserts - mass self insert} multiple self-inserts

{Self-insert mc - selfinsert - si - si mc - si protagonist - self insert} self-insert

{dxd - highschool dxd - high-school dxd - high school dxd} high school dxd

{genderbend - genderbender - gender bender - genderbent - gender-bender - gender-bending - genderbending - genderbending galore} genderbending

{gender bender mc - gender bending protagonist - gender flipped protagonist - gender swapped protag - genderbent mc - genderbent protagonist - genderbent!mc} genderbending protagonist

People will have 48 hours to provide feedback or object to anything being merged in the above list, or what the Canonised tag will be, and then I'll go ahead and do the merge. I'm interested in being somewhat overly-cautious here, so if there's any pushback on a tag being merged (or I have second thoughts), I'll probably just not.

In addition to the feedback on listed mergers, it's easier for me to find duplicate tags through the moderation view, so if you can suggest tags you're interested in, I can use that as a starting point to find potential mergers, or to fill up the Suggested Tags threads (which are currently empty).

 

[KaneLives]

Another group to look into would be Jujitsu Kisen. It has at least 4 tags I have seen. And Harry Potter as well. A lot of tags for it are scattered in a nonsensical maner.

 

[WhiteWizardIan]

Dont forget the MHA tag for my hero academia.

 

[Kaya]

ASOIAF - A song of ice and fire - A song of ice & fire - game of thrones - got - agot.

Game of thrones has WAAAAY too many tags

Edit: The walking dead also has a lot of tags

The walking dead - the walking dead game - fear the walking dead - walking dead

 

[ViperhawkZ]

I definitely recommend merging all the different variations of "[gender] protagonist"--i.e. "male protag", "male protagonist", "male mc", "male main character", etc.

 

[Candyturtle]

The various Fate tags maybe?

 

[LuckyRobert]

{my hero academia - my_hero_academia - boku no hero academia - my boku academia} my hero academia
I think there's also a "mha" and a "bnha" tag that could be folded into the "my hero academia" tag.
Also maybe the "essence" type tags should be folded together cuz you have a lot of variations.

 

[Ashali]

Thanks for taking up the cause of merging tags! It has started to become a bit of a difficulty when using the search.

As for comments...

I would like to gently-to-moderately push against merging the general "self insert" with "si/oc" stuff. It's a pet peeve of mine, but the "original character insert" that is the latter, is very often not the author's "self." They are often very distinct kinds of stories from actual self insert stories, and wanting to read one of those genres doesn't necessarily include the other.

Basically, they're adjacent genres, but not the same, and so I would advocate for the idea that they probably should be separate.

 

[Mentos]

"Youjo Senki" and "Saga of Tanya the Evil" should be synonym'd.
I beg you, please have the canon tag be "Youjo Senki" and not the localizer's crime against the author.

"AI Images" and "AI Art" should probably be synonym'd as well.

 

[dotted_line]

{futa - futanari} futanari

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{asoiaf - a song of ice and fire - a song of ice & fire - song of ice and fire} a song of ice and fire

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I'd suggest that, when possible, you consider going with the shorter versions of tags when merging them. Shorter tags are slightly but noticeably less annoying to put in when messing with the search bar on a phone.

Obviously sometimes clarity will be important and going with the longer tag will be necessary for said clarity though.

 

[Kaya]

The multiple chaos gacha and waifu catalog tags also should be merged

 

[Darthwin]

The various Fate tags maybe?

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To be fair, not every version of Fate is the same.

A Grand Order scenario isn't the same as one set in Fate Stay

 

[riotous living]

{gender bender mc - gender bending protagonist - gender flipped protagonist - gender swapped protag - genderbent mc - genderbent protagonist - genderbent!mc} genderbending protagonist

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Quibbling, but I think 'genderbent protagonist' makes it more clear that the protag is, was, or will have their gender changed. Genderbending protagonist feels like genderbending is their superpower.

 

[Sam I Am]

The anti-ntr tags. There's like ntr is trash, ntr is shit, ntr is a trash fetish, ntr begone, ntr is beaten violently.

I think blanketing them all under Anti-NTR would help, as there isn't really a need to have five tags all for the same thing.

 

[crionnowl]

I think battletech has several different tags at the moment? I know battletech and mechwarrior have different focuses as games, but for the purposes of fiction they're set in the same universe and should probably be consolidated.

 

[BluexXHorizon]

I think all the gendered lead/main characters can be grouped into their own tag groups. For example: female mc, female protagonist, female lead, female oc, femmc, femoc, female si, etc. → female main character. Same thing for male gender, and same thing for futa.

I really only like reading stories with female or feminine leads, and there are so many ways to tag a main character so... Yeah.

 

[LurkingInTheDeceit]

By the by, I'm probably gonna wait till the rush settles before replying to anything (or adding new synonyms to the initial list), but there are a lot of good suggestions already.

 

[Deathknight134]

{dxd - highschool dxd - high-school dxd - high school dxd} high school dxd

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I think this should be "highschool dxd" for convenience, rather than having two spaces. It can get tedious otherwise.

{gender bender mc - gender bending protagonist - gender flipped protagonist - gender swapped protag - genderbent mc - genderbent protagonist - genderbent!mc} genderbending protagonist

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You could also just shorten this to "genderbent protagonist"
But good on you man! We have way too many tags, and having them become connected to each other would be quite helpful.

 

[Ayashi]

People will have 48 hours to provide feedback

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Any particular reason why superhero and superheroes are considered different enough to warrant separate tags?

Also, can we have a different look for "standardized" and "unique" tags?

Iirc there's a lot of "no beta reader" duplicates.

I would like to gently-to-moderately push against merging the general "self insert" with "si/oc" stuff.

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Looking at the list given, those don't seem to be merged?

 

[Archmage Zoltan]

{noncon - non-con} non-con

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there's also "non con" "non-consensual" "non-consent" "rape/non-con elements" "rape" "rape and worse" and probably a bunch more I missed.

 

[ExquisiteTopHat]

Well, unless there's a distinct reason to keep them, it seems wise to merge anything about "femboy" or "trap" (both slurs in this day and age) into transfem protagonist.
Probably for the best to keep futa seperate, a lot of people like to write about that as a distinct thing, even with the obvious origins.
Genderbending protagonist may as well be merged into trans protagonist. No point splitting hairs, there.
Unless the main character is actively swapping back and forth between multiple bodies, ranma 1/2 style.

Edit: my cunning plan of getting vocal transphobes to spew dogwhistles at me so I can block them worked! Yippie!

And now for actual content- anything to do with alternate universe, IE AU, Alternate universe, divergent timeline, etc
Those tags should get merged.
Some specific aus should probably remain as their own tags, but mostly they can get squished together.

 

[Cerevox]

The si/oc section seems off. SI and OC dont always include each other depending how it is done, and you have the 'not an si' lumped into the merge.

 

[mightykk]

[reverse gender roles, reverse moral sexuality, reverse sexual morality, reverse sexual morality universe, reverse sexual morality slow build up, rsm] reverse sexual morality

 

[Borland30]

{futa - futanari} futanari

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Add futa on female and futa on females in this category, please. Those tags give five pages of search results. And futa on male with girl penis - both two pages. And lastly on this topic, with one page of results - futa on futa (dunno how that works, lol).

 

[Mentos]

Well, unless there's a distinct reason to keep them, it seems wise to merge anything about "femboy" or "trap" (both slurs in this day and age) into transfem protagonist.
[...]
Genderbending protagonist may as well be merged into trans protagonist. No point splitting hairs, there.

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These really aren't the same, so I'll disagree with you here.

Add futa on female and futa on females in this category, please. Those tags give five pages of search results. And futa on male with girl penis - both two pages. And lastly on this topic, with one page of results - futa on futa (dunno how that works, lol).

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I don't think these should be folded into the base futa tag. Well, maybe 'girl penis', but the others are describing the genders involved in sex (and who's doing the penetrating, when it comes to 'futa on male'), rather than futanari's less specific 'there's a futa in this'.

 

[kelpsie]

Well, unless there's a distinct reason to keep them, it seems wise to merge anything about "femboy" or "trap" (both slurs in this day and age) into transfem protagonist.
Probably for the best to keep futa seperate, a lot of people like to write about that as a distinct thing, even with the obvious origins.
Genderbending protagonist may as well be merged into trans protagonist. No point splitting hairs, there.
Unless the main character is actively swapping back and forth between multiple bodies, ranma 1/2 style.

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That veers much too close to enforcing political opinions and risks turning many threads into derails waiting to happen. Not to mention I doubt that's even the majority opinion about "femboy" and "trap" around here.

 

[Slickji]

you gotta merge
fate grand order & fate/grand order

yes both tags exist and it annoyed me literally yesterday.since like 30% use one and 70% use the other over in quests.

edit id also glance over the other fates and check if such things have occurred

 

[RaGNORAK]

Game of thrones, Got could be merged under A song of ice and fire. Hotd and house of the dragon might be possible as well. In the end, it's one universe but different timelines, and/or continuities.

Though a tag categorization/hierarchy Would help. Most of the time I think the authors just don't know what to use and just use random stuff. But a structure could focus them a bit.
> Fandom
>> Timeline
> Characters
>> Relationships (probably not required)
> Story type (si, oc, AU, dark, humor, crack, etc)
>> Story themes (heroic MC, villain Mc etc) (could be folded in with above )
> Author notes (No beta, Ai generated, Ai beta'd, Ai supported)
> Freeform (aka authors trying to be witty)

 

[EllaWolf]

not sure why superhero and superheroes are different enough to have 2 tags, is it because of the implication that superhero is one guy only that is a superhero and superheroes implies a society? but I mean these mostly go hand in hand no?


I would suggest merging all the variants of OP MC (op mc, op protag, op protagonist, busted MC etc.) since they are all the same thing basically

and its different from "OP MC Eventually" tags, like the harem tags tbh

thanks for your effort as well in merging the tags

 

[Iridesce]

Well, unless there's a distinct reason to keep them, it seems wise to merge anything about "femboy" or "trap" (both slurs in this day and age) into transfem protagonist.

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A lot of the time those are actually just uses for cross dressing characters. Lots of characters who are dudes who would be furious if you called them women. Very different from being trans. So changing them to that would be a terrible idea because most of those aren't that.

Anyway. There's a bunch of different variations of things like fem Naruto, Naruko, female Naruto, ect. Same with Harry Potter, and a couple other major fanfiction characters who get genderbent have this problem.