Before you read a Prosfic...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Somewhere along the way I've picked up the impression that Pros fans tend to be divided most strongly into either slash, gen or het (or various combinations thereof) readers, and that it is on this basis first that we decide whether or not to read a particular Prosfic story. Following an interesting discussion a few weeks ago about labels/categories/warnings etc on Prosfic, Circuit Archive is experimenting with including other information in their lj (and presumably other) updates, and this has got me thinking about it all again - in a rather needs-first-coffee-of-the-morning kind of way!

Basically, I know that I hate all warnings etc on a Prosfic story that I'm about to read, except that I'd like to know whether it's slash, gen or het, because I adore slash, I'll read gen if there's some reason to (or a chance of adding my own subtext!) and I don't want to touch het with a bargepole... a very long bargepole! During the discussion, I came across the idea that most people would view a label of slash, het or gen (or the story's pairings, which actually is a much smarter way of telling us whether it's slash, het or gen!) as the same kind of "spoiler" as, say a deathfic warning, which completely surprised me, took me aback, and got me thinking even more... *g*

And then I remembered that lj lets you do those poll-thingies, and wondered if I might try one of those... though I'd like to hear what people think as well as just seeing numbers, so please do comment as well! So - what kind of, if any, information do you look for before you read a Pros story? (And I'm not really going for the to-warn-about-deathfic/rape/non-consensual debate here, although I've included it in my question and I'm curious about numbers there too, it's more the broader sense of the question - and do we care about age ratings? Are there other things people consider that I've never even thought of?!) So, without further ado:

[Poll #1043269]
I've never tried doing a poll before, so here's hoping it works - do let me know if you have problems... Oh, it looks like you have to vote first, and hit submit, and then comment afterwards - you can't comment and vote at the same time (I just tried it...)! And non-lj members can't vote (says lj, not us), but you can still comment!

Comments

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I come from a heavily warned fandom (The Sentinel), where everything is warned. If a writer doesn't put "proper" warnings on an archived story, they will hear it many times over. So... I warn in Sentinel about everything. In Pros, I do what I do with a zine, where there are almost no warnings: I read the last page. I know many people find that horrible, but for me, unless it's a 'B/D alive and happy ending', I don't want to read it. And it needs to be slash for me. So I don't "need" warnings, but I appreciate them. I'm a darned good skimmer.

What writers have taken to doing in Sentinel, since the warning "I can't warn or it will give away the plot" didn't go over very well, is to put any relevant warnings, including major death, torture, etc, after The End. Then a reader has the choice to go to the end and read the warnings, or to start from "It was a dark and stormy night..." and enjoy the story with being spoiled.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Oh, and let me add a B/D indication is definitely a plus. I was reading a zine last night and it started out Cowley/Bodie. I ran away and cried. LOL! Not really, just grimaced and bailed on the story very quickly.

[mab-browne.livejournal.com]

I read my way through old The Circuit Archive before I discovered TS, and yes indeed, the insistence on warnings in TS was a major culture shock. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, I like the idea of warnings etc being at the end of a story rather than the beginning - that's what we do in discoveredinalj and here at ci5hq, of course... Then those who want/need them can scroll down to look, and don't mind if they catch the ending on the way, and those that don't want them don't have to see them until they've finished the story first! Another good compromise - like the Pros zine Roses and Lavender, which puts its warnings upside down and at the back of the zine for the people who want them!

I'm curious about why some fandoms are more desperate for warnings than others - is it the newer fandoms, and if so has there been a change in fandom psychology in general over the years (or in people in general?) that accounts for it? Is it general, or is it just in fandom... damn, I knew I was doing the wrong PhD! (And clearly not expecting an answer from you!)