Holy Warning Labels Batman!
I can totally see what jackvelvet has been getting at about the warnings on fics. I have seen several recently that basically give at least the basic outline of the entire story! I mean Jesus! That thing should be a spoiler alert instead of a warning!
I understand certain things. Rape is a very triggery sort of thing. And character death is debatable... There are certain characters I don't want to read about dying and I will avoid a fic if it says: character death, and one of my favorite characters is in it, but at the same time one of my most favorite and most enjoyable Red Eye fics didn't warn for character death and SPOILER: Jackson died at the end. I was devastated but I was supposed to be! That is what the author wanted and it was one of the best endings I ever read in a fic. On the other hand in the actual Harry Potter books some of my favorite characters died... I don't want to relive that in fics. Its just... to painful.
I think I'm a fan of putting a rating (G, PG, R, NC-17, XXX) and the genre, and this includes fic genres. Because really there is a difference between fluff and romance.
So then if a rating is an R rating and the genre is horror, drama, or angst and the reader is looking for a light happy fic then they know to avoid that fic. Again I agree with jackvelvet in real life books don't come with warnings. They are stacked in their respect genre sections and they have a summary on the back to let you know a few things. I think fic authors are being generous giving me a rating, let alone the whole story outline in the warnings section.
I understand certain things. Rape is a very triggery sort of thing. And character death is debatable... There are certain characters I don't want to read about dying and I will avoid a fic if it says: character death, and one of my favorite characters is in it, but at the same time one of my most favorite and most enjoyable Red Eye fics didn't warn for character death and SPOILER: Jackson died at the end. I was devastated but I was supposed to be! That is what the author wanted and it was one of the best endings I ever read in a fic. On the other hand in the actual Harry Potter books some of my favorite characters died... I don't want to relive that in fics. Its just... to painful.
I think I'm a fan of putting a rating (G, PG, R, NC-17, XXX) and the genre, and this includes fic genres. Because really there is a difference between fluff and romance.
So then if a rating is an R rating and the genre is horror, drama, or angst and the reader is looking for a light happy fic then they know to avoid that fic. Again I agree with jackvelvet in real life books don't come with warnings. They are stacked in their respect genre sections and they have a summary on the back to let you know a few things. I think fic authors are being generous giving me a rating, let alone the whole story outline in the warnings section.