Warnings in fanfic

[wiseheart]

You know, I've been thinking about the eight billion different warnings we all seem feel we have to add to every oh-so-short story. Why are we doing that? Are we so afraid of the reaction of certain readers whose tender sensibilities cannot cope with stories written for an audience older than than eight years? Or is it because those immature people tend to be so very loud about their crushed little psyche and we want them in safe distance of our stories?

I know I dio - but isn't that ridiculous? If they buy a book in a bookshop, there aren't a thousand warnings in avance, etiher. They just have to read the story and figure it out for themselves. That is what adult people do, after all. I mean grown-ups, not those who like to read or write smut, just to get things straight. Unfortunately, having spent decades, even half a century or more on this planet doesn't automatically mean that someone would be an adult, as the fandom wars clearly show.

The most annoying thing is, these fanpoodles never actually read the warnings we so carefully place before our stories. The most ridiculous example is "Atlantis Café". There are shifting tenses in that story. I use them as an artistic tool: namely, the time Ianto spends in the Pegasus Galaxy is his new life, his future, therefore those chapters are in present tense. The scenes taking place back in Cardiff belong to his past, so those chapters are written in past tense.

I am meanful of the idiots who roam FF.Net in general and the Torchwood fandom in particular, so I carefully warned any potential smegheads who stumble across the story that yes, there will be shifting tenses. And yes, they are used deliberately, because the tense shifts have got a meaning. Nonetheless, I got reviews in which people "helpfully" pointed out that there are evil, evil shifting tenses in the story. *headdesk*

I know that certain archives require from the authors to post all possible warnings. But I'm considering leaving them out completely in the future when I post a story to one of my own comms. I'm thoroughy fed up with fanpoodle idiocy.

Comments

[skyfiery.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean; these idiots don't just exist in fandom either.

*hugs tight*

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm not personally hurt by this sort of stupidity, I'm just annoyed. As one of my colleagues so aptly put: It shows that I'm getting old. A few decades ago, idiots didn't bother me at all. Now I can barely tolerate them. *g*

[elmey.livejournal.com]

AO3 has a very useful policy I think; of course you can warn for anything you feel needs to be warned for, but you can also check "Author chooses not to use archive warnings" which lets readers know they're on their own.

ETA: I should add that it would never occur to me to warn for tenses. I always assume there will be people who don't get it ;) I know it's easier to say than do, but you should just ignore them.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

As I said above, I'm merely annoyed. I don't see why we should mollycoddle drama queens.

[artemis10002000]

I can't really say anything about warning for shifts in tenses or such since my fandoms (or at least the corners of it I'm in) aren't obsessive in that way. The warnings I deal with are for things which seriously gross some people out or are touchy topics which people might want to avoid for good reasons, so I don't really see a problem with pointing it out. Even though I, in general, believe in taking responsibility for your own well-being and using your brain. For example, if you read an NC-17 story with the pairing being siblings, it doesn't take rocket science to make the "incest" leap.

I've had some interesting discussions about warnings with ultharkitty and one thing I've adopted from her is to use "Content Advice" instead of "Warning." For me, it has less of a "stay away from the cooties" vibe and more of a "well, this is how it is, deal with it or not" vibe.

It's perfectly within your rights not to use warnings in your own comm. If that's what you feel more comfortable with, do it! As far as I know, there is nothing in the TOS of ff.net about warning, either, the only thing you NEED to do is rate properly. The rest is just fandom custom and these habits differ greatly between fandoms anyway.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I actually means warnongs like "Character Death" and such. I not only find it unnecessary, I also find it stupid, as it gives away plot elements in adviance. And yet some people start complaining if they're not warned before they would start reading. Really, WTF?

My other pet peeve is the warning that you won't be friendly with Character A or Character B. Yes, I use that warning out of self-preservation, as I don't want the fanpoodles to coma and attack me in large numbers, but if you think about it, it's truly ridiculous. I was once chewed out by someone because I havent put up a warning that my SGA stories aren't Sheppard-friendly. Seriously, I sometimes feel like in kindergarten. And the sad fact is, most of these fanpoodles aren't even teenyboppers. Teenager stupidity would be more forgivable, as it has something to do with age and the lack of a firm grip on one's emotions.

Surely, I hate it when a character is written blatantly OOC, without the slightest hint in canon to support that portrayal. Hideous stories of Thranduil as child abuser come to my mind. But I think we ought to any author the courtesy of letting them share their own vision, as long as it has its roots in canon, without putting up a billion of stupid warnings.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

You are not alone in finding the warning culture childish. I never use warnings, just have a generic warning that my stories are for adults. I think the only time warnings can be justified is when one takes a children's book and writes smut for it, but then the rating alone should take care of that.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

Warnings for tenses? Seriously? I mean, I know some people dislike certain POVs etc but you can quickly determine in a story if it'll have any style disliked. I'd never warn for tenses unless I was doing something very (currently unimaginable to me) weird. I think style wise the most I'd warned for lately was lack of capitalisation, but then it was more poetry than straight prose and I only did that so no one would complain to 'correct' it.

The only stuff I tend to warn for is rating wise and adult/triggery themes, maybe character deaths, in case of younger readers or people who don't want to read any violence/sex/abuse/darker stuff. I'm rather glad I've missed these people demanding stylistic warnings...odd.