Love in Dark Settings

I agree.

I got into fandom from the Japanese anime side of things...so there ain't much that I haven't been exposed to (tentacle porn anyone?).

When I was informed what the 'big' thing going on Metafandom was about, I scoffed it off. I understand both sides of thing but really everything needs to be taken in context. What type of fandom and writer you have kinda lets you know in which the story is going to go.

Like say in certain fandoms I'm in, gratuitous death in a horribly painful matter is actually canon. So of course you would expect certain things to happen. You would also expect a warning for something that is widely seen as 'out of context' for the characters. A murder fest suddenly turning into a carebear huggy fest? That definitely needs an ooc/au/something warning (unless there is a deeper plot at work and that is spoilery).

I don't think we need a long list of 'warnings' for each fic. It's long, dull and I usually just skip it (like I said, I have few squicks now). Generally something that addresses the issue and type of fic like hurt and comfort, trauma, murder fest, dub-con/non-con, torture, you know the BIG warnings, are needed and not all the little bits of warnings. Typically you can pick up what type of story it is as you read it and if you feel iffy about something...you can usually stop in time.

Still, I've been surprised a few times and decide to stop reading. Usually it's the grammar and spelling or it is just a horrible written story. I've come across a few squicks but that is usually personal choice of pairing (some pairings are just NOT meant to be).

But like I said, I'm from the anime side, we typically learn what to stay away from by trial and error like the rest of life. Sometimes when you see warnings and think it isn't your cup of tea and avoid it you later learn you should have read it when you had the chance because you missed out on a great story.