merit_brush_recs | Entries tagged with !admin

Welcome to Merit Brush Recs! We are a recommendations posting community for fanworks of all kinds (fic, vids, art, etc.) for 镇魂 | Guardian (both the novel and drama), related RPF, and other projects starring the lead actors, Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong. This includes commercials in which they play characters clearly separate from their own public personas.

Guidelines

( Please read the guidelines before posting )

You don't have to rec anything. You are welcome to hang out and enjoy checking out other people's recommendations. But why not tell us about your favorite works in these beautiful fandoms, and spread the love?

Also, if you have any questions for the mods, please don't hesitate to reach out. Comments to this post are screened.

Thank you to everyone for voting and commenting on the most recent polls! Based on the feedback we received,

ranalore and I are revising the community guidelines. This is still underway but we hope to be finished very soon.

The guidelines, FAQ, and profile displaying now are the old ones until we finalize the new ones, but! Since one of the main changes we're making is allowing use of the AO3 "share" template, if you'd like to go ahead and rec some of the goodies from

sundial_exchange and Chocolate Box, please feel free. Simply add Why I like this where you can say something -- as brief or as detailed as you want -- about why you like the fanwork and want to rec it to others.

Another change is that the tagset has been greatly reduced! The only tags required now are for canon, type (e.g., fanart, fanvid, etc.), and ship (or character if the fanwork has no ship). All of the other tags have been removed, and I've done a little maintenance on the tags of existing posts by removing redundant character tags when there is a ship tag.

Reminder to vote in the follow-up polls about templates and tags here. Thank you to everyone who's voted and commented already! The polls close on 10 February (Pacific timezone).

This is follow-up to the earlier polls about modifying

merit_brush_recs. Thank you to everyone who voted in the polls and left comments!

ranalore and I have reviewed all the feedback.

Time for more voting!

Templates:

We'll allow people to use AO3's "share" template. And if other sites generate a similar template that includes basic info (creator, title, link, etc.), that's also fine to use.

Poll #25224 templates

This poll is closed.
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 17

If a site (for example, Twitter) doesn't offer something like a "share" template, should there be a community template?

yes
14 (82.4%)

no
1 (5.9%)

undecided
2 (11.8%)

If there's a community template (to use for sites that don't offer a template), which fields should be included?

title
14 (82.4%)

creator link(s)
10 (58.8%)

canon (drama, novel, RPF, etc.)
16 (94.1%)

type (fanart, fanfic, fanvid, etc.)
14 (82.4%)

category (F/F, gen, M/M)
3 (17.6%)

length/size
8 (47.1%)

characters/ships (Bai Yu, Shen Wei, Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng, etc.)
15 (88.2%)

rating (explicit, mature, not rated, NSFW, etc.)
12 (70.6%)

warnings (graphic violence, rape/non-con, no warnings apply, etc.)
11 (64.7%)

themes (angst, AU: canon divergence, D/s, hope, smut, post canon, etc.)
2 (11.8%)

collection (520, Yuletide, Sundial Exchange, etc.)
1 (5.9%)

summary
9 (52.9%)

why I like this (in current template called "why I'm reccing this")
14 (82.4%)

fanwork link(s)
16 (94.1%)

something else which I will explain in comments
0 (0.0%)

If there's a community template (to use for sites that don't offer a template), should using the template be optional?

yes
10 (58.8%)

no
1 (5.9%)

undecided
6 (35.3%)

If the community template is optional, what information do you feel is essential for a poster to include in a recommendation post?

title
13 (81.2%)

creator link(s)
6 (37.5%)

canon (drama, novel, RPF, etc.)
12 (75.0%)

type (fanart, fanfic, fanvid, etc.)
12 (75.0%)

category (F/F, gen, M/M)
2 (12.5%)

length/size
1 (6.2%)

characters/ships (Bai Yu, Shen Wei, Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng, etc.)
10 (62.5%)

rating (explicit, mature, not rated, NSFW, etc.)
8 (50.0%)

warnings (graphic violence, rape/non-con, no warnings apply, etc.)
9 (56.2%)

themes (angst, AU: canon divergence, D/s, hope, smut, post canon, etc.)
0 (0.0%)

collection (520, Yuletide, Sundial Exchange, etc.)
0 (0.0%)

summary
4 (25.0%)

why I like this (in current template called "why I'm reccing this")
6 (37.5%)

fanwork link(s)
16 (100.0%)

something else which I will explain in comments
0 (0.0%)

Tags:

Some people indicated they never use the tags, others find some of the tags useful.

ranalore and I agree that we don't need all of the existing tag categories, but we want to retain the ones people use.

In order for a recommendation post to have tags, the required information has to be somewhere in the post. For example, if there is a tag for canon (drama, novel, RPF, etc.), the canon the fanwork was created for needs to be in the post. The AO3 "share" template includes canon, but for fanworks on other sites, the poster may need to indicate the canon. This is true even if a mod tags the post: the tag can't be added if the information isn't in the recommendation post.

You can see the existing tag categories and tags here.

Poll #25225 tags

This poll is closed.
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

Which tag categories should definitely be kept?

canon (drama, novel, rpf, etc.)
17 (94.4%)

category (f/f, gen, m/m)
4 (22.2%)

character (bai yu, shen wei, etc.)
6 (33.3%)

creator
3 (16.7%)

length (100+k words, 1k-5k words, etc.)
3 (16.7%)

rating (explicit, mature, not rated, nsfw, etc.)
6 (33.3%)

runtime (10:00-30:00 minutes, 3:01-5:00 minutes, etc.)
1 (5.6%)

ship (chu shuzhi/guo changcheng, shen wei/ye zun, etc.)
14 (77.8%)

theme (angst, au:canon divergence, d/s, hope, smut, post canon, etc.)
4 (22.2%)

type (fanart, fanfic, fanvid, etc.)
17 (94.4%)

warning (graphic violence, rape/non-con, no warnings apply, etc.)
2 (11.1%)

Which tag categories should be deleted?

canon (drama, novel, rpf, etc.)
1 (10.0%)

category (f/f, gen, m/m)
6 (60.0%)

character (bai yu, shen wei, etc.)
2 (20.0%)

creator
7 (70.0%)

length (100+k words, 1k-5k words, etc.)
5 (50.0%)

rating (explicit, mature, not rated, nsfw, etc.)
4 (40.0%)

runtime (10:00-30:00 minutes, 3:01-5:00 minutes, etc.)
7 (70.0%)

ship (chu shuzhi/guo changcheng, shen wei/ye zun, etc.)
1 (10.0%)

theme (angst, au:canon divergence, d/s, hope, smut, post canon, etc.)
5 (50.0%)

type (fanart, fanfic, fanvid, etc.)
0 (0.0%)

warning (graphic violence, rape/non-con, no warnings apply, etc.)
8 (80.0%)

We are considering renaming the "theme:" tag. Which name do you prefer?

genre
6 (40.0%)

trope
2 (13.3%)

something else which I will list in the comments
0 (0.0%)

don't rename it (keep it as "theme:")
7 (46.7%)

Please indicate your preference for who tags the posts:

I want to tag my own posts, including asking the mods to create new tags, and I will make my own corrections to the tags when needed
0 (0.0%)

I want to tag my own posts, ask the mods to create new tags, and let the mods handle corrections to the tags when needed
11 (68.8%)

I want the mods to tag my posts
5 (31.2%)

The polls will be open for voting through 10 February 2021. What time is that for me?

Next steps: The mods will revise and edit the community's guidelines based on the feedback we get from these polls (which I think will be the last ones we need for now), and we'll announce the results and changes.

There was excellent feedback with the first set of polls - thank you to everyone who commented! Some things raised in those comments aren't addressed here, but that doesn't mean they've been ignored. We agreed with most of the suggestions for making the community less confusing, and we'll be revising the guidelines accordingly. The template and the tags emerged as the two areas where we need your input - what do you need to make posting and finding recs easier than it is now.

If you have additional comments about the community in general -- not just about the templates and tags -- feel free to comment on this post! Or you can comment on the existing guidelines post (which hasn't been revised yet) where comments are screened.

The poll to determine the future of the community closes in 2 days. Thank you to everyone who's already voted and commented!

Next steps:
It will take me a few days to go through the results and all the valuable feedback that's been given, confer with co-mod

ranalore, and draw up some proposed solutions.

There may be areas where there isn't one clear, implementable option that will make everyone happy. If that's the case, I will likely present the choices in a follow-up poll. (I will try to avoid poll fatigue, though!)

This is a reminder post to fill out the polls to determine the future of the

merit_brush_recs Dreamwidth community. Polls are here. So as not to lose momentum, I'm bringing forward the closure date to 12/13 January. Vote now!

There's great critical feedback, discussion, and ideas in the polls post! Join in & add your voice!

merit_brush_recs is over a year old, and while Guardian and its adjacent fandoms are still going strong, this community isn't being used much. With

ranalore's blessing, I've put together a poll to see how the comm might adapt.

This poll will remain open until 12/13 January 2021.

Poll #25094

This poll is closed.
This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19

From your own experience or your impressions from other fans or the fandom(s), why isn't @merit_brush_recs being used (check as many as apply):

Community is no longer needed
0 (0.0%)

Community's rules are too confusing
3 (16.7%)

Community's rules are too strict
8 (44.4%)

Everyone has already seen the same fanworks; no need to rec them
0 (0.0%)

Fandom(s) more active on other sites (Twitter, Discord, etc.)
8 (44.4%)

Fandom(s) too big/too overwhelming; no time to rec while trying to keep up with new fanworks
2 (11.1%)

Rec template is too confusing
5 (27.8%)

Rec template is too long
16 (88.9%)

Other reasons which I will put in the comments (note: comments are not screened)
2 (11.1%)

Which, if any, of the following possible changes would inspire you to post to @merit_brush_recs (check as many as apply):

Allow people to tweet their recs to meritbrushrecs and moderators can mirror them on the Dreamwidth community
8 (42.1%)

Allow reccers to create their own tags
6 (31.6%)

Allow self-recs (reccing your own fanworks)
1 (5.3%)

Allow semi-self-recs (reccing fanworks made by others based on or inspired by fanworks you created)
6 (31.6%)

Allow use of Archive of Our Own (AO3)'s "share" template (when available) instead of the community's rec template
14 (73.7%)

Make all fields in the rec template (other than title, creator, and link) optional
12 (63.2%)

Make "why I'm reccing this" in the rec template optional
7 (36.8%)

Keep "why I'm reccing this" in the rec template mandatory but allow simpler comments (such as "This hit all my buttons and I loved it.")
13 (68.4%)

Moderators should handle all the tags on recs
7 (36.8%)

Moderators should send reminders to the community
5 (26.3%)

Other ideas which I will put in the comments (note: comments are not screened)
1 (5.3%)

Nothing would inspire me to post to @merit_brush_recs
0 (0.0%)

Please feel free to comment more generally about the community. To encourage input and discussion and +1s, comments aren't screened. If you want to reach the mods privately, you may send DMs to

sakana17 or

ranalore.

ETA: It's great to see criticisms and feedback in comments! Keep it coming! I won't be replying to the comments while the poll is open, to encourage open, free discussion and exchange of ideas. I'm keeping the poll open for ~~3 weeks~~ another week so occasional users can have a chance to vote.

ETA 2:I've been holding back on replying to comments mostly because it's been useful and interesting to see the various points people have made, and (selfishly) I'm hoping for more. There seem to be some trends emerging, but before I start engaging on what & how to change things, I'd like to allow more space for other voices.

I'm not at all invested in keeping the status quo. I had some theories about what the barriers to posting were, but didn't want to make assumptions. I think it's a great sign that people have put so much thought into the feedback and critiques! It's exactly what I hoped would happen.

The theme for the final theme week (3-9 October) is Showcase! Rec non-text-centric fanworks such as fanart, fanvids, etc.!

The theme for this week (26 September-2 October) is Rarities! Rec fanworks about rare pairs, rare characters, uncommon adjacent canons, etc.!

I completely dropped the ball and forgot to post a reminder about the Week 3 theme. So I'm moving the themes by a week and starting Week 4 now:

WEEK 4 (19-25 September): Derivatives! (Rec remixes, podfics, translations, etc. of fanworks! Use the self-rec tag if it applies. For example, if you rec a podfic someone made of your story, or a remix someone made of your fanwork.)

This week's theme is Throwback! Rec fanworks posted in 2018 or 2019!

(Sorry the reminder is late! Yesterday was a holiday and I forgot what day it was...)

The theme for fanworks recs this week (31 August-6 September) is Brand New! Rec fanworks posted since 1 June 2020!

Trying something new for the month of September/October: every week will have a recs theme.

WEEK 1 (31 August-6 September): Brand new! (Rec fanworks posted since 1 June 2020)

WEEK 2 (7-13 September): Throwback! (Rec fanworks posted in 2018 or 2019)

(Week 3: I dropped the ball and forgot to announce a reminder, so we'll roll right into Week 4.)

WEEK 4 (19-25 September): Derivatives! (Remixes, podfics, translations, etc. of fanworks --including your own or derivatives you've created from another fan's work -- use the self-rec tag if it applies)

WEEK 5 (26 September-2 October): Rarities! (Rec fanworks about rare pairs, rare characters, uncommon adjacent canons, etc.)

WEEK 6 (3-9 October): Showcase! (Rec non-text-centric fanworks such as fanart and fanvids, etc.)

* Non-text-centric fanworks also welcomed for the weeks 31 August-27 September.
* Dates are determined by your timezone, that is, when it is 31 August in your timezone, Week 1 begins.
* Which canons can be recced? 镇魂 | Guardian (novel, drama, and blended canons), related RPF, and other projects starring the lead actors, Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong.

Recs template:

1. Just a quick reminder about the guidelines for formatting recs: https://merit-brush-recs.dreamwidth.org/641.html

Note that the subject line should be: Fanwork Type: Title of Work by Creator Name

For recs of derivative works such as podfics, it's acceptable to give all creators' names (podfic creator(s) and fanfic author(s)). I'm going to leave this up to reccer's preference. At minimum, the creator of the derivative work should be named in the subject line.

2. Our first podfic recs (yay!) brought to light that the runtime: tags weren't robust enough. I've done some tag housekeeping, so there are new runtime: tags, and the tag formerly known as "runtime: 5:01+ minutes" is now "runtime: 5:01-10:00 minutes". The new tags cover 10:01-30:00 minutes, 30:01-60:00 minutes, and 60:01+ minutes. For now, let's see if these are useful enough. If they become problematic later, I can break them into smaller increments.

3. Having the word count of the story in the rec for its podfic version seemed useful in addition to runtime, so I added the appropriate length: tags to the podfic recs. Also added a new tag for type: podfic.

4. If you follow our Twitter feed

meritbrushrecs, you'll have noticed a lot of delays recently. The IFTTT applet we're using started misfiring a few weeks ago, and I'm not sure why. (I'm using the RSS to Twitter applet by wesferrell -- if anyone is using a different RSS to Twitter applet that's working better, let me know!) I've been manually posting the links to Twitter, and I sincerely apologize for the delays.

5. Reminder: Showcase Sunday! When it's Sunday in your timezone, break out your recs for non-textual works!

REMINDER: April 10 is an amnesty self-rec day!

When it's April 10 in your timezone, you may rec your own fanworks!

You may also rec derivatives by other creators of your own fanworks (including, but not limited to: podfic, remixes, fanart illustrations, translations into English, etc.).

You may rec up to four fanworks.

The same general guidelines (other than #3) apply.

Use the additional tag: type: self-rec

Save the date: April 10 for an amnesty self-rec day!

When it's April 10 in your timezone, you may rec your own fanworks!

You may also rec derivatives by other creators of your own fanworks (including, but not limited to: podfic, remixes, fanart illustrations, translations into English, etc.).

You may rec up to four fanworks.

The same general guidelines (other than #3) apply.

Use the additional tag: type: self-rec

When it's Sunday in your time zone, break out those recs for fanart, fanvids, & any non-textual fanworks for Showcase Sunday!

Wayback Wednesday is a day focused on reccing fanworks six months old or older. It happens on the last Wednesday of each month (in your time zone).

But we haven't held a Wayback Wednesday since November, because of the Yuletide reveal (December) and

sundial_exchange reveal (January) occurring on the last weeks of those months.

To encourage some older fanworks love this month, we'll have a special edition of Wayback Wednesday this week (February 5 in your timezone) and hold our regularly scheduled Wayback Wednesday on the last Wednesday of the month (February 26 in your timezone). Mark your calendars! Bring your recs! Revisit the first fanworks you found in this fandom & share the love!

(Reminder: you can rec older fanworks at any time. Wayback Wednesday is a day to encourage older fanworks appreciation.)

When it's Sunday in your time zone, break out those recs for fanart, fanvids, & any non-textual fanworks for Showcase Sunday!

When it's Sunday in your time zone, break out those recs for fanart, fanvids, & any non-textual fanworks for Showcase Sunday!

Profile

Merit Brush Recs

November 2023

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5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Links

Tags

!admin [34]
canon
- blended [13]
- drama [94]
- guardian-adjacent [3]
- not stated by creator [1]
- novel [7]
- rpf [18]
character
- chu shuzhi [5]
- da qing [10]
- fu hongxue [1]
- guo changcheng [5]
- han chen [1]
- jiajia [1]
- kunlun [1]
- li qian [2]
- lian chengbi [1]
- lin jing [5]
- lu roumei [1]
- pei wende [1]
- sangzan [2]
- shen wei [5]
- shen xi [3]
- sid team [7]
- the regent [1]
- wang zheng [4]
- ye zun [8]
- zhao xinci [3]
- zhao yunlan [8]
- zhu hong [4]
- zhu jiu [3]
- zhu yilong [3]
ship
- bai yu/zhu yilong [15]
- chu shuzhi/guo changcheng [4]
- li qian/zhu hong [3]
- shen wei/ye zun [1]
- shen wei/ye zun/zhao yunlan [1]
- shen wei/zhao yunlan [89]
type
- fanart [59]
- fanfic [45]
- fanvid [16]
- podfic [5]
- self-rec [9]

Page Summary

sakana17 - Guidelines & Optional Posting Template
sakana17 - Admin: Quick update
sakana17 - Reminder: Follow-up polls on templates & tags
sakana17 - Admin: Follow-up polls to (re)shape the community!
sakana17 - Community poll closes in 2 days
sakana17 - Admin: Fill out the polls & join the discussion!
sakana17 - Admin: Polls to determine the future of @merit_brush_recs
sakana17 - Final theme week: Showcase!
sakana17 - Theme week: Rarities!
sakana17 - New theme week: Derivatives!
sakana17 - September theme weeks: Week 2
sakana17 - September theme weeks: Week 1
sakana17 - September: weekly themes!
sakana17 - [admin] Formatting recs & other adminny things
sakana17 - Reminder: Amnesty Self-Rec Day THIS WEEK!!!!
sakana17 - Announcing: Amnesty Self-Rec Day!
sakana17 - Reminder: Showcase Sunday!
sakana17 - Wondering what happened to Wayback Wednesday?
sakana17 - Reminder: Showcase Sunday!
sakana17 - Reminder: Showcase Sunday!

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