Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls WHAM warnings - would you be happy with this?

I'm glad. Many stories have lost their punch for me when I read a warning at the begining. I'm live on the wild side...no warnings for me.

Thank you!!!!

I think it is great for those who do want the warning too. A one stop warning shop.

If we have this WHAM warning thread, then does the WHAM warning get included in the full story when it's uploaded to the archive? I can see a reason to include it because some readers don't access these boards and won't see the WHAM warning thread. But then all readers who read off the archive instead of the boards will be forced to see the WHAM warning/spoiler. Personally, I don't care either way. I like stories with WHAMs in them and I used to hate the WHAM warnings/spoilers, but I've grown used to them and try to skip reading details about the warnings in the story intros.

Simba

The Archive and the mbs, although working nicely in conjunction with each other, are two entirely different and separate forums, Simba, so rules which apply on one don't necessarily follow on the other, and vice versa.

I'm not aware that there's any specific rule for warnings on the Archive - although I'd probably have to check over the FAQ to be positive.

Regardless, in my tenure as EIC of the Archive, I've generally adopted a 'leave it to the author' policy.

Generally, the only time I'd contact an author to request they think about putting a warning on their story would be if I'd had a complaint about the content. That happens very, very rarely though and it would still be approached on a case by case basis, rather than as a general fast and firm rule.

I can only specifically recall asking an author to include a warning prior to their story being uploaded, once, and that was with a story that was about the aftermath of 9/11, which was uploaded very shortly after the event, when emotions were still raw.

So, basically, since I'm all for letting the author make up their own minds on this one, that's generally the current policy on warnings as far as the Archive is concerned. If an author feels that they want to include a warning, that's fine. Equally it's fine if they prefer not to spoil their story in advance with one.

The only exception would be if the GE editing the story felt that it required a warning because there was, say, excessive violence in it or it dealt with a sensitive subject. In that case, the GE's opinion would over-rule the author's. If they couldn't agree, it would be referred back to me, and my decision either way on whether a warning should be included would be final. Again, I can't say we've had many incidences of that over the years, either.

So, mostly, for the Archive, it's a non-issue.

LabRat

Just catching up here ...

I like to know beforehand if the toys have been broken so I can avoid a story which will only be upsetting. (i'm one of the last fans of "Lois and Clark" on these boards I think ) and so I appeciate a warning, whether it's at the beginning of a fic or in a separate folder. I also like to see them in archive descriptors and i do appreciate an author who is up front with her readers.

I'm also one of those readers who appreciates deathfic warnings - RL is about death and I read L & C fic to escape. But that said, I'm ok with Clark's death in some circumstances - for example in Wendy's FTGG, it would have seemd very logical for it to have ended with Clark's death. But I would have wanted to know it's coming, not be surprised by it (as a reader, I'm not into suspense <g>) Still I can see that writers don't like to give away their endings.

However, I'm not at all comfortable with fics which kill Lois - who knows why. Perhaps because she's the physically weaker of the two and so more vulnerable -- it somehow seems like a cheap shot to beat up on her when Clark's physically almost invincible. But who knows?

So think the new warning folder is a good idea
c.

As a writer, I prefer not to put anything at the top of my story that gives any of it away, especially some story element that I've worked hard to make a surprise or have dramatic impact. However, out of respect for those who do like to avoid stories with WHAMs, I've accepted the need to include a "Story contains WHAMs" disclaimer.

Be that as it may, when it goes to offering up anything more than that - a "The toys will be fixed" or details on the specifics of the WHAM - then I truly do balk. If the reader knows that the ending will be happy, none of the intense emotions I wish to create will be met, IMO.

Therefore, I fully support Wendy's idea. For those who tend to shy away from emotionally intense stories, they can make a quick stop in the WHAMS Warning thread to see if the writer has issued a disclaimer, then determine if the story should be avoided. Perhaps incorporating Yvonne's idea would be an added service - a book-type blurb giving a brief story summary (without giving anything away) might offer readers a better idea about what to expect. Those of us who like to jump in blindly can just avoid that WHAM Warning thread altogether.

On the flip side, writers have to make a concerted effort to leave such a warning, and then I think we can feel guilt-free in WHAMming our little hearts out.

Lynn

As one one appreciates well written "emotionally intense" stories, I'd like to add that it's not that element that I'm personally looking to see identified in a WHAM warning thread but rather a more specific warning that the toys have been broken.

A WHAM fic may or may not be emotionally intense. One of the most emotionally intense fics I've read is Chris's wonderful A Gift from Shetland but I wouldn't describe it as a WHAM fic at all. It occurs to me now that we seem to have different understandings of what constitutes a WHAM

c

Oh, I don't think so, Carol. I think there are currently 1143 of us. Either that or there are one heck of a lot of people hanging out here for nothing and wasting their time.

Some of us may enjoy different genres of fanfic to others, but that doesn't make us any the less fans of the show or of the romance or of the characters than anyone else.

LabRat

It might make an interesting poll, Labrat, It's been almost 8 years since the show ended. As well, there are many people who have joined the boards since that time who are also fans of Smallville. Given the blurring of time and also SV's radically different characterization of Clark Kent, I think there has been a morphing of the two characterizations for many people.

c

Speaking as one who has never even seen an episode of Smallville, Carol, and who knows she's not alone, that really does seem like something of an exaggeration.

Seriously, there have always been stories which seem 'in character' and others which seem 'out of character' to individual readers; a far smaller number will seem out of character to more than one reader. I don't think the arrival of Smallville has changed much in that respect - I've been reading fanfic since around about the end of Season 2 (1995?) and, actually, it's my impression that the quality of fanfic, including characterisation, plot development, structure, style and use of language, has overall improved since then - of course, the arrival of authors such as LabRat, Yvonne, you yourself, Nan, CC, Lynn, ML, Tank and many more have helped there.


Wendy

I agree with most of what you've written, Wendy.

But who knows why people do join the mbs? I don't think you can completely dismiss the Smallville influence, however. I would guess, too, that some members have joined because they're Superman fans, as distinct from L & C fans, and belong to various Superman boards as well (am assuming those boards are out here . Also, it may be that some join simply because they're Clark Kent fans (as distinct from Lois Lane and Clark Kent fans:) )

All this is inevitable, of course, especially as we move away in time from the the show for which these boards are named.

I didn't mention fanfic, which you've raised, let alone its quality, but that too could be a reason for joining. Now, I can't speak to that becuase I'm not a member (let alone read ) other fanfom fics and so I can't speak to the calibre of what is posted here. But I have noticed a few posters comment on the care which is taken here with our fics. So the quality of the fanfic (as opposed to its specific L & C: TNAoS charcteristics) may be a motivator too.

I'll add too that some may have joined because they're fan-video fans. There are some very good ones here.

c

This is undoubtedly true. Equally true, however, is that some will obviously be pure LNC fans. You can't dismiss all 1143 of them by the above criteria, Carol.

Actually, I'd imagine that the majority will be pure LNC fans, if the evidence of the mbs is anything to go by. We're primarily a forum about LNC fanfic - that takes up the biggest chunk of posts. Given the amount of comments posted to such fanfic, I doubt pure LNC fans are in the minority among members, since the fanfic deals primarily with the characterisations of TNAOS:LAC. Not Smallville. Not Superman the comics. Not Superman the movies. And so on.

But, yes, a poll might be interesting. Although I don't think it would provide evidence of your conclusion that you are the only LNC fan hanging out on these mbs. But it might be interesting, nevertheless, to see what primary Superman source or interest members have. Sounds like fun.


LabRat

In fact, I didn't do so, Labrat.

c

Okay... I'm a bit puzzled. I've been part of the Lois and Clark fandom for 8 years now. I've been a fan of Lois and Clark for a good 10 years.

My main interests are Lois and Clark fanfic, Lois and Clark fanfic trailers and Lois and Clark music videos. Fanfic, trailers and music videos are activities that all derive from the TV show Lois and Clark.

If it wasn't about Lois and Clark, I wouldn't be interested. I don't read (let alone write) Smallville fanfic, make trailers for Ally McBeal stories, or watch Star Trek music videos, but if I did (after all, none of us signed an exclusivity contract with Lois and Clark ), I'd post them where they belong, in their own fandom.

Anyway, the only reason why I care about the activities described above is because they are about Lois and Clark. I thought that made me without a shadow of a doubt a fan of Lois and Clark.

Seriously, why would anyone join these boards, write fanfic, make videos, if they don't care about *this* TV show and its characters? Makes no sense to me. The internet is a fairly big place, and there are fandoms for pretty much every single TV show out there. There's no way somebody who doesn't care about Lois and Clark (the Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher incarnation) would stick to this place when they could find a fandom that would suit *their* primary interest. We're not the centre of the universe.

Kaethel

Oh. So that was just me, then?