[crosspost from my Dreamwidth] Warnings policy
In the past, I haven't always followed everything I lay out here. In particular, I linked to some incredibly disturbing news stories (Haidl rape trial, anyone?) with simply a "WTF?!" attached to the link. That's not fair warning, and I will make sure to be more conscious of this sort of thing in the future. Even if I'm "speechless with rage" I'm going to at least attempt to describe why before linking.
NSFW: I define NSFW as anything that could not be broadcast on the air or any "R-rated" content, regardless of reason. I will try to be good about keeping NSFW language and content behind cuts and warning for it.
In general, regardless of whether the post is fic, a review of a fic/movie/show/etc., an essay, or a link, I will warn for the following content, in such a way that you-the-reader can make an informed decision as to whether or not to read:
A) Explicitly described sex or violence. This will ALWAYS be warned for in addition to anything else that requires a warning.
B) The following sexual scenarios or relationships, even if not explicitly described:
- Sexual assault/non-consensual sexual content.
- Any sexual situation in which consent is not possible will also be labeled as non-con. A situation in which consent is not meaningful but is technically given (or in which Some Outside Force is compelling two characters into a sexual interaction and neither of them can effectively refuse) will, if it doesn't fall into any other category, be labelled "impaired consent" or "sexual consent issues".
- Incest (in fanfic, this may take the form of "Warnings: see pairing"). "Incest" is defined as sibling pairings, a parent/stepparent/guardian and child/stepchild/ward, direct ancestor/descendent, or aunt-or-uncle/niece-or-nephew. In fic, I will warn for a relationship between first cousins as "cousin couple". (A slight exception to the usual protocol: There is a Certain Canon Pairing in the Amberverse that is technically an aunt and nephew, but they refer to each other as cousins. That falls under "Warnings: see pairing" for me, and I'd warn that as "cousin couple" rather than incest because of the context.)
- Sex that would legally constitute statutory rape in the state of New York, even if legal in its original setting: any sexual activity at all involving someone under the age of 11, any sexual activity involving one partner who is at least 18 and one who is younger than 15, or any sexual activity involving one partner who is at least 21 and one who is younger than 17.
- Sexual situations in which consent is potentially impaired due to power differential (again, in some fanfic this may take the form of "Warnings: see pairing" if the power differential is obvious from canon). This includes large age differences between partners when both are clearly over the age of consent.
- BDSM/sexual roleplay that mimics any of the above will be warned for as "BDSM: age-play" or whatever. I don't generally write this, but who knows? I might link to it. :P
C) The following other forms of violence or mature content, even if not explicitly described:
- Homicide or attempted homicide.
- Suicide, attempted suicide, or self-harm.
- Torture.
- Domestic violence.
- Child abuse.
- Miscarriage or stillbirth (too many friends have gone through this recently and I don't think they'd appreciate running across it with no warning).
- Drug or alcohol abuse. I'm not going to warn for someone drinking wine at dinner or smoking a joint, but if substance issues are a serious part of the plot of a story, I do feel that I should warn for that.
D) Graphic descriptions of medical procedures of any kind, including childbirth, or of terminal illnesses.
E) Death, in the following circumstances:
- In conjunction with any other needed warning (homicide, suicide, graphic medical procedure).
- If a major character dies, or is believed by the other major characters to be dead. I won't say who, but if a character who has been a significant part of a story I am writing is going to die, I think that warning for it is a reasonable thing to do. If it's Great-Aunt Millie who had all of two speaking lines in a 10-chapter story, and the MCs are mentioning going to her funeral, I'm probably not going to warn for that.
F) Spoilers for any "recent" media (movies not yet on DVD or books released less than six months ago) will always be cut and warned as such. Spoilers for any fandom I write in (or about) may appear in any post I have tagged with my tag for that fandom. If you do not want to be spoiled, you might want to avoid the post until you're "caught up with" that particular canon.
A few other notes:
- I do not continue to monitor comments in an off-site for warn-able content. I consider the base text only when warning.
- I will NEVER warn for non-sexual and otherwise non-warnable content related to polyamory or LGBT issues. So don't even ask.
- Likewise, I will not warn for "mentions children" simply because some readers may be childfree. Don't ask.
- This list states what I do as of today (June 28, 2009). Some of my older content may not be compliant with this policy, especially on my livejournal.
- I am open to feedback and suggestions on these policies.
The short version: As of today, I warn for graphic sex, violence, or medical procedures; for sexual situations in which consent is or could appear to be lacking for any one of several reasons; for deadly or potentially deadly violence inflicted on self or others; for graphic descriptions of medical procedures; for the presence of miscarriage/stillbirth or major character death; and for spoilers of any recently-released media. This policy applies to any fanfiction or original creative work, to reviews of any type of media, to essays/rants, and to links to other posts or news stories.