Beating that dead story warnings horse...
This is something that comes up every now and then for me personally, and now it's come up for fandom in general since it's summer and these issues always crop up when there's nothing to watch on the TeeVee.
I get why people want warnings. Fan fiction isn't like picking up a book off the shelf at the Barnes and Noble. I've really come to understand that. We all have pre-existing attachments to the characters, and that gives us sensitivities we don't have with original fiction, and I do truly believe that fan writers should do their best to put warnings on stories for things that are truly beyond the pale, like character death, rape, incest, bestiality, etc. Fandom is a community, and we should extend this courtesy. Or at least, I should say that *I'm* willing to extend that courtesy.
Still, I'm dismayed when I read "why can't writers put warnings on their stories" rants (I come across one pretty much every week, and want to make it clear that this is a general response, not specific to any one person) and there always seems to be an assumption that writers are being careless or purposefully trying to get people to read things they're not interested in. And never, EVER any recognition that people have different perspectives on things, that they have different values and cultures and life experiences, and therefore read things differently. That what to one person needs a stern warning is...not even a blip on the old radar to someone else. Stories don't always fit neatly into categories. If you feed John Sheppard to the Wraith, that's clearly character death. But what about a story where Rodney's body dies, but he continues to exist as a completely responsive and tangible holographic being? If Kolya rapes Rodney to get his command codes from him, that's plainly non-con. But what if John wants to have sex with Rodney but can't allow himself to do it because of DADT or his own internalized homophobia or...whatever, and he manipulates Rodney into "forcing" him? It's not always black and white.
I've gotten more than one outraged email from someone who was upset that I hadn't put a non-con warning on a story, and in each case, it honestly never, once occurred to me that there was non-con to be warned for. Didn't even OCCUR to me. That was simply not how I saw it, and I still don't, and I never will. Different people, different perspectives. No cure for that.
As much as I believe in extending courtesy, that will never change my conviction that a reader's comfort is ALWAYS her own responsibility. I know from my own personal experience that there are almost always hints and warnings of something that is going to happen in a story that's going to make me uncomfortable. If I continue reading anyway, that's on me. If I'm reading a story by someone who is such a bad writer that a gang rape is suddenly just going to fall out of the sky, then that's also on me. I should really know better.
Nobody promised anybody a rose garden around here. You seriously expect me to warn you for angst? For fluff? For an unhappy ending? Are you kidding me? As displeasing as it can be to read things you don't enjoy, you know what? You're gonna live.
I get why people want warnings. Fan fiction isn't like picking up a book off the shelf at the Barnes and Noble. I've really come to understand that. We all have pre-existing attachments to the characters, and that gives us sensitivities we don't have with original fiction, and I do truly believe that fan writers should do their best to put warnings on stories for things that are truly beyond the pale, like character death, rape, incest, bestiality, etc. Fandom is a community, and we should extend this courtesy. Or at least, I should say that *I'm* willing to extend that courtesy.
Still, I'm dismayed when I read "why can't writers put warnings on their stories" rants (I come across one pretty much every week, and want to make it clear that this is a general response, not specific to any one person) and there always seems to be an assumption that writers are being careless or purposefully trying to get people to read things they're not interested in. And never, EVER any recognition that people have different perspectives on things, that they have different values and cultures and life experiences, and therefore read things differently. That what to one person needs a stern warning is...not even a blip on the old radar to someone else. Stories don't always fit neatly into categories. If you feed John Sheppard to the Wraith, that's clearly character death. But what about a story where Rodney's body dies, but he continues to exist as a completely responsive and tangible holographic being? If Kolya rapes Rodney to get his command codes from him, that's plainly non-con. But what if John wants to have sex with Rodney but can't allow himself to do it because of DADT or his own internalized homophobia or...whatever, and he manipulates Rodney into "forcing" him? It's not always black and white.
I've gotten more than one outraged email from someone who was upset that I hadn't put a non-con warning on a story, and in each case, it honestly never, once occurred to me that there was non-con to be warned for. Didn't even OCCUR to me. That was simply not how I saw it, and I still don't, and I never will. Different people, different perspectives. No cure for that.
As much as I believe in extending courtesy, that will never change my conviction that a reader's comfort is ALWAYS her own responsibility. I know from my own personal experience that there are almost always hints and warnings of something that is going to happen in a story that's going to make me uncomfortable. If I continue reading anyway, that's on me. If I'm reading a story by someone who is such a bad writer that a gang rape is suddenly just going to fall out of the sky, then that's also on me. I should really know better.
Nobody promised anybody a rose garden around here. You seriously expect me to warn you for angst? For fluff? For an unhappy ending? Are you kidding me? As displeasing as it can be to read things you don't enjoy, you know what? You're gonna live.