Wtf: Peeve of the Week

[black_sluggard]

Just a random thought before I head off to dream land...

I don't usually have a problem with het (as long as Ryan and Esposito are not involved in it), and who doesn't like a little gen now and then? But what I can't stand, like, at all is when writers of het or gen feel the need to proclaim in their summary (often in OBNOXIOUS CAPITAL LETTERS):

NO SLASH
NOT SLASH
NO SLASHES
JUST BROMANCE
FRIENDSHIP NO GAY STUFF!!

Etc, and etc. God, we get it. I usually assume it's not slash if it's not labled as such. I get that we're the fringe of the fringe in fandom (though within our fringe are fringes still, but I digress).

Please, for the love of God don't do this. I've run across too many stories I'd wanted to read, but just couldn't after I saw that. Do you know why, hypothetical het and gen writers who are about as likely to ever see my journal as I am to dance the polka (once in middle school, never again)?

I get its not your thing. I don't expect everyone to like the shit that I like, but think of it this way: Say you were a fan of both science fiction and fantasy. Would you want to read a sci-fi novel that read "Omg u gais, NO DRAGONS!"? I know if I saw that I would feel like my tastes and the validity of the entire genre were being insulted.

And it just...doesn't lend itself to an attractive or helpful summary anyway.

(brought to you by a Sluggard cheezed off because of a Psych fic that probably had something to do with werewolves, but now we'll never know)

Does anyone else have this issue? Because it kills my appetite for a fic me like finding half a cockroach in the third bite of cereal.

God, I hate FF.net anyway...

Comments

[black_sluggard]

Yeah, AO3's format is ♥

My headers tend to get super inflated. I use "Details" for author comments and extra information (when something takes place in relation to the show, possible spoilers, stuff like that), "Disclaimer" for...sometimes really stupid stuff picking my story apart before anyone else can. Black Edelweiss is probably the worst offender. I finally had to snip the header for chapter postings, because the main header got so bloated I really couldn't stand seeing it anywhere but the main "table of contents" post for the fic.

Is it sad that my first mental reaction to the suggestion of "contains" was that it wasn't aesthetically pleasing as "warning"? (idek) Might change it to "Notes" though...

[coffeebuddha.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. Not sad really since writers tend to put a lot of value on the aesthetics of a words. Notes sounds fine to me if you don't like contains.