Nekosmuse is my new god.

[icarus]

amethyst_lupin pointed me in the direction of a great meta by nekosmuse The Ten Commandments of Fanfiction.

Thou shalt never use epithets. Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou. If I never see Draco referred to 'the blond' or Ron called 'the redhead' again, it will be too soon.

Thou shalt use warnings. Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou. I cracked open a fic the other day and halfway through it - Surprise! - was the rape scene. Ack. I still have that unpleasant image in my mind, and I'm glaring at author and never want to read them again.

I shalt not spoil the rest. Enjoy!

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

O.o

Ha. A wank of epic proportions. Last I looked it was up to 238 comments in one journal entry alone.

mature, responsible people who watch where they tread and are able to make choices and learn from mistakes?

Yes, that would be the case if we didn't have the convention of warning for certain types of content. Since we do, readers expect this.

I'll tell you though that I did have an incest fic where the opening would have been spoiled if I'd warned for it. I took a risk and wrote in the summary (on a site that has lots of sexual content at an R-rating) Adult subject matter. You have been warned.

It worked. That was enough for people. It helped that the incest was clear within the first page, so those who didn't like it hadn't made a commitment to the story yet. I don't think I would have done it if the incest appeared later.

Aliens? Lava? J/D? Ring any bells?

Oh yes. wildernessguru and I are going to watch a couple Stargate episodes to get me in the mood. But I've gone to bed every night thinking about the next scene, and I'm itching to write it.

I'm going to be good and do my homework first.

Icarus