Help?

[anolinde]

I have this story on FanFiction.Net which involves incest. Non-graphic, consensual incest, but incest nevertheless. Accordingly, it's rated M and I've warned in the summary for "mature themes." However, since the incest is part of the twist ending and supposed to be a surprise, I never explicitly warned about it.

A couple of people have mentioned that I should, in fact, put in a warning since incest is a potentially triggering topic. I figured that they were right and that I should, but I kept forgetting and, as a result, never got around to it.

However, today I got the following anonymous review:

i'm reporting this fic. put in a warning for incest. i report every day until you add a warning or it gets deleted by admin

The thing is, though, neither FanFiction.Net's Terms of Service nor the Community Guidelines say anything about trigger warnings. All they say is that the fic must be rated appropriately, which it has been. And really, I should have put the warning in, but I don't want my story to get deleted for something that wasn't breaking any rules. I also doubt that FanFiction.Net actually checks each fic to make sure that the abuse it's being reported for is actually happening, so I'm concerned that they'll just get the report and automatically delete it. On top of that, I don't want them to delete my account.

I sent an e-mail to FanFiction.Net explaining the situation, but lol at the idea that they're actually going to read it.

So... help? Any advice on dealing with this? (Beyond the obvious of putting the warning in, that is.) Like I said, the review was anonymous, so I have no way of contacting the reviewer. Has anyone ever been in this situation before?

Comments

[second-batgirl.livejournal.com]

AO3 has the choose not to warn rating, and even they don't require a warning for incest. (Their required warnings are either choose not to warn or # graphic depictions of violence # major character death # rape/non-con and # underage)

If ff.net doesn't require a warning for it, and you've already contacted ff.net, then you can always edit in a possible trigger warning/choose not to warn for specifics in it.

Otherwise, I have no real advice. The warnings debate is one that both sides have very good points (I'm generally on the pro-warning side, but I also have angsted about it in terms of spoilers) but good luck <3

[anolinde.livejournal.com]

AO3 has the choose not to warn rating, and even they don't require a warning for incest. (Their required warnings are either choose not to warn or # graphic depictions of violence # major character death # rape/non-con and # underage)

If ff.net doesn't require a warning for it, and you've already contacted ff.net, then you can always edit in a possible trigger warning/choose not to warn for specifics in it.

Hm... Sorry, what's AO3? The "choose not to warn for specifics" idea sounds good, but what does one typically say when giving out that warning? Simply "I have chosen not to warn for specifics, read at your own risk"?

I'm generally on the pro-warning side, but I also have angsted about it in terms of spoilers

This is pretty much exactly my position. I always give warnings, the sole exception being this particular story (and even then, I warned for "adult themes"). I'm pretty torn about it, because the warning essentially ruins the story. =/

[second-batgirl.livejournal.com]

oh, sorry - AO3 = archive of our own. They have a general label for it. But yeah, it's basically saying "I choose not to warn, read at your own risk."

I tend not to write things that have twists, but that was one of the reasons why they came up with the choose not to warn warning.

[tunaeverynight.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I hate when people report things that aren't even that big of a deal. Like, report an issue if you think it's SUPREMELY offensive or if it's really insensitive (like if it promotes suicide or violence), but I never understand when people report stories that are, quite frankly, something that can be expected in fanfic. I think everyone has a right to put what they want online, and if you don't want to put a trigger warning so as not to ruin the entire ending of your story, then don't. You're not breaking any rules and if they delete the story, you can point out that they were really wrong in doing so. If they e-mail you back and say they're amending the rules and want a warning on your story, then I guess maybe you could comply? I don't know, people get really uptight about certain things and I think it's bollocks.

[anolinde.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's really frustrating - especially since this person's complaint could get my story deleted, or even my account. Part of me feels bad, because I understand that people who've been forced into incest could be disturbed by the twist ending... but, as you've pointed out, it is the Internet and it is fanfiction. I'm not exactly doing anything new, nor am I breaking any rules.

*sigh* Ugh, this whole thing is unfortunate.

[prgirlsrock.livejournal.com]

Yikes, they could have asked if you could put in warning instead of attacking you. It's hard because like you said the "incest label" would give away the story twist.

[anolinde.livejournal.com]

Mmhm, it's a tricky situation. I wish there were, like second_batgirl mentioned, a way to say "I've chosen not to issue any warnings for this story, read at your own risk," but FanFiction.Net doesn't have that option. =/