Frankly, I don't think there is an acceptable solution to the problem -- not while authors and TE fans insist on their "right" to surprise readers with UTEs. Pam's attempt at a solution, while well-intentioned (and I thank her for her effort), is, IMO, unreasonable because it requires active measures to avoid UTEs: authors must tell the listmoms that they're going to post a UTE, and TE-loathers have to check the list every time they want to read a new chapter of a story! Let one link in the chain fail, through accident, ignorance, resentment or just plain boredom, and the scheme falls apart.
Oh, I don't know that they'd have to check the list *every* time they read a story. It's not like we're all cranking out a TE a day or something.
And it seems to me that the people who seriously hate TEs or UTEs are going to want to take an active measure to avoid them...it has to be better than right now where there's nothing to do but be disappointed because a reader realizes that a) it's an outrageous TE that they have no interest in or b) you reach the end of the story and Lois gets eaten by a fish or something.
And the authors probably want to keep their readers happy--the people who want to be surprised can still be surprised by leaving the folder alone, and others who might still want to read it (like myself) can read it prepared. And the people who hate TEs all together have a means of avoiding them.
we must wait a few hours before reading the boards so that the author of a UTE will have time to change the thread title after the "joke" is sprung on its victims
The only solution that includes this way of reading fanfic is having no solution right now.
And again, it just seems to me that if there's someone out there who seriously despises TEs, checking a folder once in a while isn't that big of a deal. Me, for example, I love TEs...the more outrageous, the better, but I really do prefer to be warned first. I'm more than willing to check the folder.
But that's just my $0.02. And really, I don't see any other option besides a) doing nothing or b) making a sticky thread in a forum (or a new folder). Frankly, I'm leaning towards b. It's not perfect, but hey, nothing's perfect in life.
JD
