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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.
-> you are allowed to decide you don’t want to read anything from someone who doesn’t use tags/warnings
-> you are not allowed to harass them/be a jerk about it
-> (I mean this is the internet you are allowed but it’s not great behavior and contributes to the internet being a hostile place)
“Don’t like don’t read” absolutely applies to “I don’t like that this doesn’t come with labels, therefore I will not read”
- it sucks when there’s a story that seems otherwise interesting but has things in it that are off-limits for you to read, and
- you can complain about that, but
- not to the author, because,
- your limits are not their responsibility
Discussion ¬