CatalenaMara

LOL

I'm sorry but that is just funny. Stupid? Yes. But funny. I have found over the years of reading stories and comments for them, that the people who rant and rave the worst about not being warned about something are usually people who don't actually read the warning given. Or they are the people who want warnings for 'everything'.

I understand wanting to know about major character death, but there are people who want to everything in a story tagged for. I've seen tags that are longer then the actual fic. And really if you are going to tag a story that much what would be the point of actually reading the story?

It seems like you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. There is just no winning sometimes. If nothing else you can laugh a little at someone's lack of reading skills. Following instructions is really not their thing.

Edited at 2017-02-20 02:58 am (UTC)

LOL, yes, I did laugh. I had to read the comment twice, thinking WTF, before I realized the person was serious. :-D
And oh yes, people who want warnings for everything are so OTT. Yes, I've seen those stories where they tags tell everything and are longer than the story. Sometimes I wonder if that's actually meant as parody - and then I remember, no, there really are people like that.
But if a person's that fragile - why not read the archive warnings? And pay attention to the listed pairings? That's after all, a person's first line of defense. Like you said, following instructions/lack of reading skills.

Yikes, the literacy levels of modern humankind! It's like someone going into a building that clearly has signs posted "No pets allowed" and bring in their dog, and when told they're breaking a rule say, "Oh, well, I never read signs."

On the people who want warnings for everything? I'm not sure how they function in society, which definitely does not give warnings. You pick up a book and you're not warned, except maybe in the reviews. TV shows may give you warnings for violence or language, but nothing much beyond that.

Literacy level is right! I like your analogy. And I'm 100% sure that must have happened at some time somewhere.
Good point about warnings; I'm not sure how some people function in society either. Maybe they never read?
It's never possible to warn for everything anyway. I had a kerfuffle on kirkspock some time back. This woman pitched a fit because someone who had posted a story rec hadn't warned for something in the story. She was just b*tsh*t crazy about it (as if people posting story recs have any obligation at all to post warnings). She then went on about how the author hadn't properly warned for her story. She didn't say what she found that was so disturbing. I read the story in question and got to one point and said "A Ha! That's it". It turned out, no it wasn't, and the part that freaked her out so much was another section that I didn't pay any attention to. When I realized *that* was what she was talking about I thought it was far less disturbing than the other part that I'd focused on.
It's just not possible to warn for everything.

Yeah, that's the thing. What one person considers disturbing doesn't even affect another person.

I don't mind warning for obvious triggers like rape and incest, etc., but you can't warn for every possible thing. Zines rarely warned at all, and you were paying for them!

I'm not sure if it's an outgrowth of our culture that tries to protect people from everything now. Years ago you didn't wear helmets while bike-riding, for instance. It's a good protective measure, but somehow kids did survive their childhoods without them. I guess it's like college-age students today needing 'safe spaces' on campus.

Exactly. Zines, if they warned for anything, warned for the basics - major character death and rape. Books and movies certainly don't warn for anything.
Re the bike helmets, kids did get killed in the bad old days so sensible safety measures make sense to me. But there's a lot OTT there as well.
A related issue: parental responsibility. Back when I was about 3 years old (I have lots of memories going back that far), my mother didn't know I knew how to open the back door AND how to open the back yard gate latch. So when she took a nap one afternoon I let myself out of the house and the yard and went across the busy street, which was right next to a train crossing, and to a Dairy Queen. The Dairy Queen had something I dearly wanted and my parents wouldn't let me have: a whistle in the shape of an ice cream cone. (Cannot imagine why any parent would not want to give their toddler a whistle.) The last part I remember is when they wouldn't give me the whistle. (Can't imagine why. :-) The first thing my mother knew is when a strange man knocked on her door and asked, "is this your child?"
These days she would have been arrested for child neglect.
Yes, the safe spaces. Another complicated subject. Necessary in some instances, yes; in another, abusive of one marginalized group by another in at least one circumstance I'm aware of.
Re college campuses, the world is not going to protect anyone once they leave that bubble. But a safe refuge is a good thing, a place where you can be yourself. The trick is understanding how much of the outside world just doesn't care, and be prepared to face that with strength. Complicated issues.

There's also the reverse - the people who don't want any warnings because they're spoilers. I remember a friend saying, years ago, that her husband claimed a film had been ruined for him before he saw it because someone mentioned the name of an actor, and the part he was playing, in it. Also years ago, I got my wrist slapped on one of the lists for saying that I thought the actor playing a new regular in a show wasn't very good, because that was a major spoiler. Duh?

I've been told that by embracing spoilers I totally miss 'the first joy of discovery'. I've also been told that people who like spoilers (at least for major things in it) have a different kind of appreciation for a story than the people who don't - that they're not reading for the plot but for how the story is being developed, and I can see that, because if I'm wondering what's going to happen I can't enjoy the story - I enjoy it more on a re-read when I know what to expect. One reason I very seldom watch a movie.