I'm wondering if this dialog hasn't become somewhat of a 'tempest in a teapot'.
When I made mention of the board 'conventions' in the other thread it was mostly just to point out that there was more to consider in writing a story about altClark killing himself than just the character aspect of whether he could or not. There was also the consideration as to how such a story would be received. I never intended for it to become an issue in and of itself.
Like Labby I'm not a fan of warnings or labels because I see them as a form of censorship which is something I'm not generally for... but, as I also said, I can understand the desire for such and have become comfortable with wishes of the majority. And I do think that it is the wish of the majority.
I guess my real question is... is this really a big problem now?
Tank Endings were originally conceived as a joke. They were never intended to stand as the 'real' ending of a story (unless is was a short vignette designed to be 'evil fun'). They were merely a wink and a nod pause in a story put there to give the gentle reader a little tweak of the nose. Still, they engendered a great deal of negative responses from those who felt they spoiled their enjoyment of the story. So, the Tank Ending warnings were born.
But, nobody writes Tank Endings anymore. The concept has run it's course and don't seem to hold any interest for writers anymore, and that's fine. So, is this 'concern' over wham warnings a signal that there are suddenly some writers out there who want to explore darker themes? Is this just the beginning of another story fad?
Over the last year or so there have only been a handful of stories that have included wham warnings, and some of them probably didn't really need them. Are we looking at a sudden increase in stories that need warnings? As Wendy mentions, warnings aren't some hard and fast rule, but are merely an act of consideration for the general readership. I guess I have to wonder if the writers who have, or might wish to write stories to the left of 'happily ever after' really feel too constricted by the board conventions?
As a writer I don't necessarily like it idea of a pre-post warning on one of my stories, but one also has to 'know your audience'.
Truthfully I don't really care one way or the other whether or not a 'wham warning header' is brought into being or not. But is complicating the reading and writing process of fanfics by adding another step to the process needed? Maybe it is? I don't know how much work would be involved in such a move but I wouldn't want to burden some member of the board administration with creating something that would get very little use (ie: Tank Endings)
Tank (who probably should have spent this much time on a story rather than a response thread to a poll
)
