On warnings, and other matters

[winter]

The post at metafandom seems to have sparked quite a debate on what warnings are warranted in fanfiction (my favourites: haircutting, feet, non-fluff) and what should be done to writers who don't precede their stories with at least a paragraph-ful of caveats. The latter doesn't go quite into graphic detail, possibly because that would warrant warnings, but tarring and feathering seem to be a good guess for starters. See kyuuketsukirui's post for more information.

Which is as good a place as any to state my own warning policy. Now, I understand warning for squick - I've put down many a book because it just turned my guts and I didn't see the point of forcing down nausea just to read it through in hope of finding some gem buried in the dung. Consequently I do warn for all things sex-related, which are also good indicators that should anyone want a story with torture, bondage, dubious consent and bloodplay to brighten their day, Als es Sommer war is a good choice. (And I still can't believe I wrote that one. fyrie is a bad influence on me.) The same goes for squicky graphic violence, though apparently the same story misses a warning for rib-breaking - something I never thought would warrant one.

On the other hand, I don't understand warning for general mood of the story - angst or fluff belong in the summary, not the warning section, though I may put them there jokingly. And no, I will not warn for character death. I never kill people gratuituously. If I do kill someone, I want that death to grab the reader by the throat and force a gasp from their mouth. I might or might not accomplish that, but I won't warn and spoil it for everyone. If you haven't gotten the message yet that I've a twisted brain and a liking to be cruel to my muses, you're in the wrong territory.

I've yet to get a flame for killing people off in my fics. I think that means my strategy is working.

Now, off to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Yo ho ho and a bottle of amaretto, because I can't stand rum :P

Comments

[alice_montrose]

Warnings. oh yes. Well, I don't really see the point of having a field that says "Warnings: None", in any case. I'll usually warn for angst when there's a lot of it (in order not to squeak the US readers too much), and for elements such as bondage, non-con, etc. But to warn for lemon, yaoi, etc.? It's more likely I'll warn for het, if that's the case.

And no, I wouldn't warn for character death either. In orignal fic it has no point, and in fanfic... well. Why take away the element of surprise. Unless it's a deathfic, which is thus categorized and obvuiously has character death in it.

But hey. We're European. We have a different mentality than US-based writers. We also have lower ratings.

[winter]

Yeah, there's the feature of "it's MY fic, what did you expect??" to it ;) Though I'll always warn fully on communities, since I acquire new readers that way.

Good point with the European thing. Americans are far too used to being warned that coffee may be hot.