Tagging "pov-controlled/contoller" or "1st/3rd person" for stories that do both?

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Hey! So I saw that there’s a new policy to tag stories with either “pov-controlled” or “pov-controller”, and to also tag them with either “1st person”, “2nd person”, or “3rd person”. I was wondering about people’s thoughts for how to best tag stories that mix and match these categories?

I started thinking of this because my series “Linden’s Throne” has scenes following the main character in 1st-person pov, but the scenes following other characters are 3rd-person pov.

I figured I could tag the story with both. But then I thought, it might be nice to get other people’s input on this? Maybe establish a protocol, or something.

I’m also wondering how to tag stories that start out from the pov of the controller, but then flip the script, and the controller ends up controlled. Mr.Dick’s Bottom Bitch does this, for example. And so does Spencer’s Book of Wishes, where he ends up inadvertently controlled by his own poorly-worded wish. But he’s also able to control others with that same wish.

There are lots of other stories like this that I can think of…

Is it best to just tag those types of stories with both tags? Or is it preferable to use some sort of separate, third tag for stories which have power shifts, since they can be kind of their own thing/kink? (I’m trying to think what that tag would even look like… pov-control-mixed?) And: does a third tag really feel necessary? What do people think about this?

(Also it occurs to me there are some stories where it’s unclear whose pov the control is happening from. Screamingmoist’s Hidden Passages: Husband Edition has both husbands cheerfully making changes to each other… This also happens with TickledPink’s Well Wishers. And that’s not even getting into something like You Wish!'s Genie Troubles, where technically Bill has the genie, and thus the control – but he’s constantly getting screwed over by his wishes, and even ends up having to obey direct orders from others, while still having a lot of power over them. He’s technically the controller, but also gets controlled a lot himself?)

My apologies for this buzzkill of a thread – I know that hammering down a good policy / best practice for this sort of stuff is always kinda exhausting!

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As I’ve said in the other thread, you have to think like a person using those tags searching for a specific kind of story.

If you do a search for pov-controlled, you want to read stories which are all about the person being taken under control. You’re not so much interested in stories just telling the scenes without giving much insight into the controlled person. You get off on the fantasy of being taken under control, and you want to put yourself in the position of that character.

So, I’d rather not use either pov tag, if your story doesn’t have a clear focus.

There are stories where the focus is switched, and where you look directly into the mind of both the controller and the controlled. So both kind of readers get something out of it. These can be tagged with both, but that’s rare and shouldn’t be used lightly.

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Oh, got it! That makes a lot of sense. I thought the pov tags were going to be a mandatory thing, but I’m rereading the Newsflash and I see that’s not the case. If they’re not mandatory for every story, then it’s a non-issue, I agree.

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