Revised September 2000.  Spoilers for "The Perfect Storm" and "Titanic" within.

I want to tell a story.  It is my right to tell a story.  It is also my right to not want to give away the end of the story until the reader actually gets there.  And that is why I don't like warnings on death fics because the tension and the drama is destroyed if the story's climax resolves around whether or not a character survives.

How many of you have seen the movie “The Perfect Storm”?  This movie doesn't come with a death warning, yet at the end, both main characters died.  That was totally unexpected, but the filmmakers got away with it because that's what stories are about: surprising your audience.

What about “Titanic”?  The death in that was more expected but there weren't people screaming in outrage that they weren't warned.  It happened.  That's life, or art imitating life where people might die.

Recently, I posted a "Death fic" without a spelled-out warning.  However, it wasn't totally out of the blue.  I warned as best I could.  I repeatedly said it was dark.  I included warnings that said everything but that one word: “death”.  If you stop to think about it, death could be the only thing I was warning for when I said that it wasn't rape and I reminded you to look at the rating (PG-13).  In fandom those are the only two big things that really require warnings and once you eliminate one...well...

I stated repeatedly that I was in a dark mood as I wrote it.  I hinted as best I could that the ending was not nice.  The previous story even ended with suggestions of the character's suicide.  It should have been obvious.  Maybe next time I should post, “No happy endings guaranteed”.

I don't like warnings because you don't get warned about REAL LIFE.  People die in real life.  We don't get warned.  And I think we should be strong enough to handle that.  Fanfic is just that, FICTION.  I know we get emotionally attached to these characters but it's just one story out of millions, one that isn't real.

So you read something that you didn't like.  Big deal.  What was it, maybe 5-10 minutes out of your entire life?  I'm sure we've all had to endure things we didn't like before, I know I've read my share of appalling fanfic.  I'm sorry if you read something and it upsets you.  That is never my intention.  But know that my opinion on warnings won't change because I think it spoils the whole thing.  After all, who wants to know everything that's coming up?  That spoils life's great adventure.

I might have upset some people so that they never want to read another thing from me.  ::shrug::  It's your choice.  I can't apologize for what I write and I can't cater to every taste.  If the dark muse comes then it comes and sometimes you just can't control it.

It's not just death that's a problem.  I've heard people argue against incest, BDSM, and rape.  All are potentially disturbing topics.  I feel that all can be avoided via a rating rather than a warning.

Let's face it, BDSM usually doesn't occur without at least an R rating.  And it's not very hard to pick up on, either.  The moment one character ties up another, or picks up a whip, it's enough for me (personally) to hear the warning bells go off.  I'll skim a little further and if it's something I don't want to read, I don't.

IT'S NOT HARD TO SKIM READ!!!!  I can't tell you how many sex scenes I've skipped over.  The more you do it the better you get at it.

So...what about Incest and Rape?  These are real things that happen in the real world, things you don't expect.  If it's an explicit scene then it will have that R/NC-17 rating.  If it's not described in explicit detail then (IMO) it's a surprise that the story deserves to keep to itself.  I have read professional fiction which contains non-explicit character rape.  It was disturbing but only because it was such a shock, a shock I enjoyed because the novel managed to surprise me and draw me in even further, giving me another reason to care about the characters.  If I'd known about it in advance, then I don't think I would have bothered reading it.

I understand that people have lived through these things in real life and often present the argument of not wanting to relive them.  This is very appropriate for Death fic, too.

My argument against this is that we grow through what we learn, what we read.  It can be cathartic for someone to read these things.  Conversely, it can be very disturbing.  However, my feeling is still that what we read makes us a stronger person.  If you can just make it through that death scene then you know that you can survive and you can go on. It's good for you and I challenge all of those who avoid death fics like the plague to go read a few.

You cannot live in a bubble all your life!

Reading and writing fanfic is very dangerous.  I know.  I've been there.  Two years ago when a close friend died I found myself rewriting life in my head.  I honestly thought that if I wrote a story where she was alive again, everything would be okay, because words have power.  I could stick my head in the sand and avoid the things because if I didn't like it, it wasn't real.  Fanfic, the eternal fix-it, was there for me.

I was absolutely horrified when I realized what I was thinking.  We can't hide from the truth of the universe.  It's dangerous to just read the things that you like because then you forget what life can really be like.  People say they read fanfic as a form of escape, but can we really afford to escape all the time?

No.

I'm talking to you, all the obsessive Net people out there just like me for whom fandom is a major component of their lives.  You wouldn't be reading and writing if it wasn't.  And I know that, because of its nature, fandom CAN take over your life, particularly when you hate your job or you have no job.  It's the fandom-mind-set coupled with warnings on everything that becomes oh so dangerous to the human psyche.

Should we be lulled into a false sense of security, believing that we'll always be warned against everything that will happen?  That's what's happening on the Net.  Warnings are everywhere.

And that brings me to another personal irritation of mine: warnings on slash sites.  Do we need these huge, full page flashing warnings that slash is ahead?  How many people don't know what slash is?

If you ask me, any R/NC-17 rated site deserves a front page warning that it's not for children.  On the page with the stories themselves it should be indicated whether they are slash or not.  A short slash description is appropriate.

For pages with G/PG-rated slash, I fail to see why we should warn people.  Sure, the stories themselves should be marked as slash (again with that description somewhere at the top of the page or on the story) BUT there's no need for the frightening warning signs.  They make slashers look "bad and corrupt".  I don't think they are.

My fanfic site is organized the way I want it to be :  The stories from each fandom are on a fandom page.  They're not split into slash versus gen.  Some stories with slash elements don't even contain the slash warning because (a) it's a surprise in the plot, and (b) it's in no way explicit.  The only concession I have made is to keep my adult (NC-17) stories off this site.  That's  because of Geocities regulations, and because I am aware that minors do wander past my site from time to time.

There are no obvious death warnings on my site.  I did warn against implied incest in one Star Wars story.  I also warned for rape on another story in a certain fandom because I have seen how sensitive some fans are.  However, I received a much better reaction from those who read it without the warning because the entire story was spoiled by revealing the event.

I want my site to be like a library where you can browse the titles and descriptions, but not really know what you're getting into until the end.  I like to be surprised.  I challenge you to be as well.

If you agree with my beliefs, I ask you to take a stand against warnings.  So often our voices are swamped by the "outrage" of others.  Those who are most upset speak the loudest and if you touch an emotional core then OF COURSE people are going to be upset.  That's the nature of death fic.  For far too long we've been silenced by the people demanding warnings.  If we start demanding no warnings back at them, then maybe things will change.

It's time for the rest of us to stand up and be counted.
 

Summary:

* I support warnings for adult versus general fiction.
* I support ratings (G...NC-17).
* I support a discreet 'slash' indicator when slash is the point of the story.  Likewise, I support a 'romance only' warning.
* I support slash-only and gen-only archives which allow readers to find what they want.

* I do not support death etc. warnings where the events are a SURPRISE in the story.

* I believe we should challenge ourselves and be open to all types of fiction.  And if you don't like it halfway through then skip it!
 

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