This is my warnings policy. It is not fixed or final, and I welcome critique and suggestions, particularly for anything I may have omitted.

I really struggled with this. I want to warn responsibly for those who truly need those warnings. I have more than one friend with PTSD. I understand the issues, though I'm lucky enough not to suffer from PTSD myself. But at the same time, I feel strongly that being too specific with warnings can spoil enjoyment of the story for many readers. It often does for me.

Caveat: I am not interested in "squicks". This policy is about warnings for potentially triggering content which can cause genuine harm to survivors. If you're squicked by something I write you know where the 'back' button is. Please use it.

This post will be linked from my sidebar and user info, and (as long as I remember) from the headers of any fic I post from now on.

( Warnings policy - in brief )

( Warnings policy - longer explanations )

( Definitions )

( Ratings Policy )


I'll end this post by repeating what I said at the beginning; I welcome critique and discussion of this policy and I am happy to consider suggestions for things I may have omitted from my list.

I will at some point go back through my stories and ensure that, on LJ (and its clones) at least, my headers all comply with this. For now, this should be taken to apply to anything I post from July 2009 onward.

As fandom is in the midst of the annual warnings debate...

I strongly dislike warning on fic. I think much of the time warnings act as spoilers. But you know what? I still put warnings on my fic. Because that's just what you do when you write stuff as dark as I do. You take account of the fact that some of what you're putting out there can hurt people.

This latest iteration of the debate led to trigger_fence being created. I started to think about drafting a warnings-policy of my own that I can link to from my fic headers or wherever. But I found doing so a lot more challenging than I expected.

trigger_fence lists the following as things that are triggering and should be warned for:

( Cut for length; discussion of triggering issues under the cut )

lamardeuse has a post about concrit here in which she likens fic to a co-worker showing off his photographs. Before I actually get to the point, I've gotta say, her analogy doesn't work for me because if some twerp in my office tried to shove his holiday snaps in my face I'd tell him to bog off, whether or not that's considered polite.

That where such analogies to fandom fail. No one posting fanfic is forcing anyone else to read it. Fen tend to be pretty careful about labelling stories so no one has to read stuff they don't like. Now if someone did put a metaphorical gun to my head and force me to read crappy fanfic, and was then dumb enough to expect me to respond with thanks and praise...I'd be likely to give my honest and scathing opinion. 'Cause holding a gun to someone's head (even if it is only a metaphorical gun) = not polite.

But inappropriate analogies aside, I want to talk about constructive criticism.

Let's start with now I feel about concrit on my own fic. I can sum that up in three words: bring it on! It baffles me that this is even a question. Of course I want concrit! I welcome it, I devour it with a spoon!!! ...but I don't demand it because I recognise the effort involved in offering it.

( More about concrit...oh boy, this got long! )

( Reviews and recs are not concrit...and shouldn't be. )

This is a response to thefrogg's post about consent issues in fanfic and to theladyscribe's response in which she describes one of her own fics as possibly "dub-con" (Dubious consent).

This is a touchy subject. Here's where I have to insert my standard feminist disclaimer: I am not discussing real life. I'm discussing fanfic, and specifically sexual-fantasy fanfic. In real life, there's no such thing as "dubious consent". In real life, either informed consent exists, or it's rape. Please don't think I can't make that distinction between fiction, fantasy and reality.

( Thoughts on dub-con as a fanfic kink )

I saw Surfs Up on Saturday in a cinema full of amazingly quiet children. It's a nice film. Nice is the right word. It's not particularly innovative, nor particularly witty but it does tell a complete story and it's a diverting tale. I generally avoid kids films but the mock-documentary style of this one intrigued me enough to go see it. Blair-Witch-style camera work in a CG-animated movie? It's not overdone and actually, I really enjoyed the "interviews" with various characters.

Plus - surfing penguins! How can you lose? LOL!

Last week's movie was Waitress and that was...well, a tad disappointing. Good script, good story, fantastic lead actress (Keri Russell), and I did love the ending. I can't tell you why, 'cause that would be a spoiler, but it's the same reason I adore Halle Berry's Catwoman...not that the two films have much in common.

But the male romantic lead was Nathan Fillion and, hell, I know he can do better than this. There was very little chemistry between him and Keri and he darn-near sleepwalked through some scenes.

Like most films marketed as "romantic comedy" I was left wondering which parts were supposed to be funny, but that's probably just me. I recommend it for the story, but maybe not if you're a Nathan fan.

(BTW, I go to the movies just about every weekend - would you guys want to read my reviews on a regular basis? I can make more of an effort if it's something my friends would like to read.)

As for the rest of my weekend...

( Cut for ramblings about my fic )

Despite recent events, I still love LJ. I like the community here and I like having friends. I'm not planning to go anyplace or change the way I post here.

That said, I've had an account at JournalFen for ages that I never used, and the whole strikethrough thing did prompt me to think about backing up my LJ someplace else. Of the LJ-alternatives I've found, my favourite is Insane Journal. Greatest Journal keeps dying on me when I try to edit posts. And it has ads all over the place. DeadJournal looks...well, dead. I didn't even register there. JournalFen has a great TOS (unsurprising; I know who owns it) but their LJ software is a very old build: no tags, no S2 styles even. And I know they're currently closed to new members. Insane Journal seems to have the best features, the site seems reliable, the LJ software is up to date and it seems kind of appropriate that what LJ calls communities are known as asylums over there. (And a permanent account is just $30. With the dollar as weak as it is right now, that's the price of a movie on DVD. Peanuts.) So if for any reason the LJ powers that be decide I'm not welcome here, that's likely where I'll end up for my day-to-day blogging.

As far as fic is concerned, I've finished backing up my fic in my alternate journals. Doing this made me appreciate why some folks like to have a separate LJ for their fic. I took advantage of not having reams of other posts to go through and tidied stuff up, got all my tags and links organised and listed everything in my memories. There, not here. Here I'm sticking with my tried and tested Fanfic Master List.

I'll now try to stay organised and continue to post my fic in those other places. So if y'all want to friend me in my other homes...details below.

Me @ Insane Journal
http://morgan32.insanejournal.com/
http://morgan32.insanejournal.com/profile
http://www.insanejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=morgan32

Me @ Greatest Journal
http://morgan32.greatestjournal.com/
http://www.greatestjournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=morgan32
http://www.greatestjournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=morgan32

Me @ Journal Fen
http://www.journalfen.net/users/morgan32/
http://www.journalfen.net/userinfo.bml?user=morgan32
http://www.journalfen.net/tools/memories.bml?user=morgan32

It never fails.

I start writing a sex scene; my muse goes bye-bye.

Smeg.

A little late, I know, but...

( 2006: My year in fanfic )