Comment 106570 on Release Notes for Release 0.8.1 | Archive of Our Own

Main Content

While we've done our best to make the core functionality of this site accessible without JavaScript, it will work better with it enabled. Please consider turning it on!

Comment on Release Notes for Release 0.8.1

smirnoffmule (Guest) Mon 13 Sep 2010 04:48PM UTC

Ooh, I'm sorry, I really don't like changing "Pairings" to "Relationships" at all, it sounds really sappy and shippy. I know it has other definitions, but the neutral definition really isn't the strongest and most obvious connotation, IMHO; I think it brings to mind a romantic, established coupling first and foremost. I'm with Silencio, it's an entirely inappropriate label for a story that's dark or non-con, and I don't think it's really appropriate for friendship fic either, or, say, a gen fic that happens to have a canon pairing in it; I think people are going to expect romance when they see "Relationships". "Pairings" at least has the benefit of being a neutral term.
I think you've fixed something that wasn't broken, to be honest. I don't see there was a problem with how it was before, can't friendship / other relationship tags just go in the "Characters" section? That's where I was putting them before.

Comment Actions
- Thread
1. smirnoffmule (Guest) Mon 13 Sep 2010 05:10PM UTC
  
  To add, I see now that "Pairings" isn't the best term for threesomes etc, so I do see the need for a revise - but I still don't think you've picked a good word to replace it with at all, I'm afraid. Having gone and looked at my headers with the change in situ, I really don't like it, I think it's giving entirely the wrong message about the kind of content in my stories.
  
  Comment Actions
2. sorchasilver Mon 13 Sep 2010 05:17PM UTC
  
  I completely agree. Seeing "Relationships" there makes me uncomfortable in a way that "Pairings" never did. Pairings may not have been 100% accurate, but to me this is far less so. I'm disappointed by this change.
  
  Comment Actions
3. admin-mwesterby (Guest) Mon 13 Sep 2010 06:52PM UTC
  
  Thanks you for your feedback! We do feel that 'Relationships' is a generally more inclusive term, though there are pros and cons with all terminology. This does allow authors to differentiate between friendship fic and fic focused on relationships. Our post on the Anatomy of a Change has more detail on the changes and how they came about.
  Megan, Support Chair
  
  Comment Actions