Before you read a Prosfic...
Aug. 22nd, 2007 10:52 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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ci5hqSomewhere 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!
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!
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Date: 2007-08-22 01:05 pm (UTC)Deathfic just doesn't get me like that - it can make me bleed for them, and make me feel deeply about a story etc, but when I'm bored with feeling sad I just pick up a different story to change my mood. And because I know there's always going to be a different story, then I know they haven't really died! And I don't like my Prosfic to be too un-real life either - too airy fairy happy endings all the time, because I stop believing in it after al while... better to be reminded of how glad I am that they're alive now and then! So if you're certifiable, I have my own twisty little brain working away! *g*
Yeah, age ratings strike me as odd - plus an excellent signpost to the under-age-rs of what to go and read that they theoretically shouldn't be! But then if I only want to read slash then it's all supposed to be over-18 anyway... Although none of it really makes sense anyway - presumably before m/m sex was legalised at 18, not all that long ago, we should presumably have been making sure that readers were over 21 or summat daft... I mean, please!
so any set-up that allows readers to choose whether or not to see warnings or any labels is up there with sliced bread.
Yes, I think so too... But my dilemma comes when I want to see whether a story is slash or not, but I don't want to be warned about what happens in it, such as whether it's a deathfic! I'm not sure there seems to be a way to simply work around that - except perhaps by reading exclusively at Hatstand! *hugs slash-oriented Hatstand* *puts Hatstand down and dusts off carefully*
And yes - general hurrah! for Proslib and Hatstand and Circuit archivists, all three!