a minimum of empathy is a beautiful thing

[harborshore]

Just--I'm not going to say much on the issue, because a number of people have said it more eloquently than me (and if you ask me, I'll link to those posts), but the warnings debate? Infuriates me. I've said different versions of this in comments, but I realized I wanted to state it over here too, just in case anyone was confused about where I stood. And for the record, this has nothing to do with the author of the fic that started the debate, nothing.

I just--it takes ten seconds to add a warning for consent issues. Ten seconds. You do that, and you've avoided potentially hurting people. That's all.

Comments

[justsomehippie.livejournal.com]

amen. i had the urge to type "represent!" :\ thankfully, i squashed it. ^^

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Ha, no worries. But yeah, it just seems really simple to me.

[extemporally.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Thank you.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I don't get how something this fucking simple is also this fucking confusing. Enough already.

[enhendi.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why people even bother to wank about it. With the energy they spend wanking, they could write detailed warnings for more fics than they will ever write. It's not as though we're asking for three-page essays. BOGGLE.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Also, you know what I was thinking about? We label fics with pairings, right? How is it more of a violation of artistic integrity to add a warning for disturbing content than to give away the most important plot point of a romance from the beginning? *blinks innocently* I just don't get it, but of course I'm a Swedish blond and a newcomer in fandom.

And yeah, no kidding. It takes ten seconds or so to add a warning. It's like, okay, here's what's in here (like Library of Congress tags!), generally.

[enhendi.livejournal.com]

That's true! And it's pretty common for people to only read fic with certain pairings, so it's not just a note about what's in the story, but also a way for the reader to decide whether she wants to read. And I have yet to hear of anyone being triggered by a pairing.

Why do people keep making excuses for being assholes? :(