There's some minor Tumblr drama happening about the warnings on a fic I wrote (not even about the fic! About the warnings!!) And it made me want to yell into the void about my warnings philosophy so. Here. (1/?)

My philosophy is basically that I'd rather overwarn and have someone not read a fic rather than miss a warning and have someone be surprised and upset. So when someone sees the tags and says 'oh gross not for me' that's not a bad thing imo! That's the desired outcome!

I'm easily squicked by incest and step-incest and sometimes mainstream media is a weirdly difficult minefield bc my limits don't match society's limits. I had to stop watching Clueless halfway thru bc I didn't know about the romance and no one had thought to say anything (3/?)

That's why I like fandom warning culture - it's nice to be told that this media isn't for me or that I need to read with care. I don't want to see is ppl thinking 'oh this isn't REALLY assault or a MAJOR character death, I don't want to warn and get labeled Bad' (4/?)

(character death is another big one for me haha, I need a lot of handholding to read a fic with that in it even if I love the rest of the fic. Warnings mean that I can enjoy some fics with it and avoid some others!) (5/?)

I think it's fair to say some media is bad (badly written, hateful, etc) and media criticism is a complex and interesting topic. But if your problem is with the warnings, think about the effect on fandom culture if those warnings go away! (6/?)

That's it I guess. My goal is just to make stuff I enjoy and other ppl enjoy, and also to avoid feeling bad bc I read untagged character death haha. If you're tagging your fic responsibly I appreciate you, even if (especially if) I decide not to read it. (7/7)