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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.
Hm. This is a bad take. Many people who find certain topics triggering can be triggered by even a very slight reference to the topic, whether or not they continue to interact with the work can’t help them because if they don’t have a warning beforehand then the damage is done as soon as they get to that part of the story. This mentality is in fact quite bad not only because it demonstrates a complete lack of empathy but also because it’s based on the assumption that the way things have been done for publications in the past will continue to be the best way to do them going forward. There is genuinely always room for improvement, and what tags allow is what previously required people to simply hear from someone recommending a book: the option to not encounter the harmful topic.
Triggers aren’t harmful because people are actively reading the thing, what makes it a trigger is that simply a topic being brought up can cause a panic attack, or something just reminding you of it can cause undue stress or a disassociative episode, etc. Simply saying “just stop reading” doesn’t undo the harm caused by getting far enough to learn the trigger.
Have a good day, but please do look into topics of stress disorders. The world trying to be more accommodating doesn’t hurt you, it just helps folks who aren’t normally given options
Hi friend.
I urge you to read this post, and the responses to it.
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