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➡️ Content warnings on fiction are a courtesy.
➡️ Not every medium of fiction and storytelling has or is expected to have content warnings or extensive tagging.
➡️ Print novels do not traditionally warn for content in any way.
➡️ Until AO3 came along, fanfiction did not traditionally warn for content in any significant way.
➡️ An author is only obligated to warn for content to the degree mandated by the format they publish their fiction on.
➡️ Content warnings beyond the minimum are a courtesy, not an obligation.
➡️ ‘Creator chose not to warn’ is a valid tag that authors are allowed to use on AO3. It means there could be anything in there and you have accepted the risk. ‘May contain peanuts!’
➡️ Writers are allowed to use ‘Creator chose not to warn’ for any reason, including to maintain surprise and avoid spoilers.
➡️ ‘Creator chose not to warn’ is not the same thing as ‘no archive warnings apply’.
➡️ It is your responsibility to protect yourself and close a book, or hit the back button if you find something in fiction that you’re reading that upsets you.
➡️ You are responsible for protecting yourself from fiction that causes you discomfort.
Just because that’s how it was done doesn’t mean it’s how it should be done going forward.
Isn’t the goal of…literally anything to improve?
And isn’t providing your readers with content and potential trigger warnings just…like the moral thing to do? Would you want someone to start reading your fic, hit a trauma trigger, and have issues because of it?
No, not if you’re not an asshole.
Put warnings on your fic.
Warnings are not spoilers.
You can warn without giving away plot.
I don’t know how people expect anyone to be able to police their own content if you refuse to HELP them do that by tagging properly.
Do you have to? No.
But you also don’t have to not shit in someone’s living room. It’s just the not-asshole thing to do.
Fanfic is a community, let’s start treating it like one.
“Creator chose not to warn” IS a warning all by itself.
It is a warning that anything could be in the story and if you don’t accept that risk the author doesn’t want you to read it.
Some authors value maintaining the surprise in their work over making the work accessible to absolutely everyone who might be comfortable with its contents.
And that’s a valid choice to make on AO3.
If I write a piece of fiction where it’s important to me, the author, that the audience is surprised that the apparent “main character” dies partway through the story and is replaced by a different character–
–i want my audience to consist only of people who were willing to be surprised by that, and accepted the risk in reading my work that something like that could happen.
I don’t want people in my audience who did not sign up to be surprised.
I want an audience that consented to be surprised.
“Author chose not to warn.”
I never said “Chose not to warn” was invalid.
I simply advocated for tagging your fics correctly.
And yes, “Chose not to warn” is valid. Absolutely. I’ve used it before.
I’m talking about people who just…leave all of that out.
No warnings apply when you include subject matter that could trigger someone.
That’s an asshole move.
I’m sorry, but content warnings (including specifically stating “Chose not to warn”) are a good thing for your audience.
Just straight up refusing to tag and saying “you can just click backwards” is a dick move.
I don’t care if we didn’t tag our fics 20 years ago.
Absolutely tag appropriately as demanded of the service you’re submitting your fiction to.
Do people NOT do this?
“No archive warnings apply” specifically means none of the AO3 archive warnings apply (rape, graphic violence, major character death, or underage sex.)
on AO3 you don’t have to tag anything beyond that.
But you ABSOLUTELY have to tag if any of those applies, or tag “chose not to warn.”
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