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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.
OP, I’m sorry but this is the most brain dead and selfish take I’ve seen in a very long time.
There are federal laws that state film and tv media that contains certain content must be tagged. There a laws that state music and audio media that contains certain content must be tagged. That’s what ratings and classifications are. CONTENT WARNINGS. And yes, novels DO print warnings. The last four books I purchased contained content and trigger warnings. I have dozens of books from my childhood that have basic warnings. There’s even a push for publishers to include it as standard.
Why?? Because it IS a creators responsibility to let people who are consuming their content that it may contain major triggers like SA, death, violence, abuse, child loss…
Most people aren’t asking for their hands to be held while reading your fics, they’re asking for basic human consideration when it comes to said major triggers.
Telling someone to just click out if they’re triggered is cruel, heartless and shows your complete lack of education beyond your own self absorbed bubble. People can’t click out of something if it’s triggered a flashback or panic attack. One that never would have happened if they’d been warned.
Yes, it is our own responsibility to curate our a safe space online, but it’s also OUR responsibility as creators to tag major triggers in our work so people can decide whether our content has a place in their safe space.
It’s not hard.
When you drive your car, it’s not just your responsibility to ensure your own safety and fuck everyone else. It’s your responsibility to ensure your safety AND the safety of everyone around you.
Why isn’t so hard for us as writers to extend that same thinking to the content we’re sharing online.
How do you expect people to safely manage said triggers if they’re not told your work contains them?!
My rule is, if it would be a content warning on mainstream media, it’s a content warning in my work.
You don’t get to post something that contains major triggers with no warnings then complain when you’re pulled up on it and tell people it’s their job to manage their own triggers.
If you refuse to content tags major triggers in your work, you’re not a safe person online and have no place on this or any other fan fiction platform. It’s really that simple.
“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.”
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