Post may or may not contain sexual or non-sexual content that does or doesn't trigger people or cats

[seriousfic]

There's this person in Batman fandom who so irritates me. This person has warnings on their fics, but the thing is, they're not good warnings, they're just these weird ass-covering warnings that go "sexual content some readers may find disturbing." Literally every fic she writes has that "warning."

Okay. What does that mean? Incest? Rape? Child abuse? Again, I'm not the one to ask about how this works, but isn't it possible that something that doesn't trigger someone may trigger someone else, therefore you should be pretty specific? Maybe someone loves them some consensual incestfic, but would really be freaked out to open a story and find someone getting raped in it. Isn't the whole point of the warning system that the writer can't know what will and won't trigger the reader, therefore she lets the reader know ahead of time so they can make the decision themselves?

And the latest warning goes like this. "Sexual content which does and doesn't dovetail with the content some readers may find to be disturbing." I feel like I need to raid a Nazi submarine and steal their Enigma machine to find out what that means.

Comments

[geonncannon.livejournal.com]

She might as well just steal "Warning: Contains Language" from Neil Gaiman and call it a day.

[rap541.livejournal.com]

I have to be honest, I am hot and cold on the issue of warnings on fics. As a writer, I don't like the process of spoiling major events of the story because there is potentially a reader who will blame me if they are "triggered". I buy books on amazon all the time that have rape and incest and incest rape and zombie incest rape etc etc all the time... and there are no warnings on these books and if someone pulled a "I was *triggered* by the rape scene in that book and nearly killed myself and my roommate and was hospitalized for three days, how dare you not warn me!!!" on the author.... no one would point fingers at the author for not warning.

Warnings are a courtesy on fanfiction, but its entirely possible your author in question is simply checking the box, so to speak, because it gets her off the hook and she doesn't have to reveal a major plot point. If some person reads the story and has a traumatizing triggering event - well, she put a warning so buyers beware.

*I'm not trying to make light of people who have "triggers" but it is not my role as an author to protect the reader and if someone has such a severe issue with say, reading about a rape, that it really does cause a two day hospitalization upon reading it - then that person needs to self advocate and ask authors whats in their fic. I can't know everyone's triggers.

[azarias.livejournal.com]

Given that author's favorite sort of fic, I don't actually want a list of what's in there.

Seriously, though, I think that's a perfectly fair warning. It's better than the writers who won't warn because it ~*~compromises their art.~*~ Bitches, you're writing Batman doing Superman up the butt. Nobody's going to name a Ninja Turtle after you. This warning gives the reader warning that there's stuff in there worth questioning, and if they have particular issues or things they try to avoid, they know to ask. That covers basic politeness, so there you go.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

I would ask what's the point of doing a warning that places the burden of questioning on the reader? And what the point of such a warning is if every fic she writes is like that?

[rap541.livejournal.com]

She's covering her ass because fandom will shred someone who doesn't warn because "fandom should be a safe place".

[mcity.livejournal.com]

It means we have always been at war with Eastasia.

[(Anonymous)]

Not trying to be rude, but...why make an entry about it?

You should have left her a comment instead.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Because I don't want a BNF's entire f-list jumping down my throat?

[(Anonymous)]

Fair enough.

Some people are bad at taking constructive criticism.

Or sometimes they're okay with it and it's their friends that are not. It can be...pretty awkward...

[arks.livejournal.com]

IME it nearly always means Batman's banging a minor.