I like warnings on things like nonconsensual sex and torture and things like that, because I run across too many stories that lovingly describe extreme degredation and mutilation and such, and I don't want that stuff in my head, sorry. Don't tell me somebody dies, because I can generally guess which way a story's going anyway. I like knowing about extremes, but the rating will--or should--generally give someone an idea of what kind of stuff they're likely to run into. If something's rated R, odds are they're not out on a lovely sunny afternoon having a picnic where the most angsty thing going on is a hotly contested Frisbee game.

Connie N. has a point, in re warnings for specific things that are non-mainstream elements. Generally, I'm keyword-free -- I've become more radical in this regard as I've gone along -- but boy, it sucks to open a story during down time at work and then realize it involves rape and torture. I might read the story at home, but not at work.

My solution historically to solve problems like this is to use HBO detailed ratings. (You know, that you see before the movie starts.) R -- for violence, scariness, bad language, and sexuality. NC-17 -- for gore (I have done this only once). It establishes reasonable boundaries of expectation, without giving anything away; and I would expect to see rape/noncon in that list (in fact, HBO does warn for that!) but nothing as specific as character death. And I wish other people would do the HBO thing! Not many do.

I mostly filter what I read, now, by reading only what others have recommended. When I was reading "raw feed" though -- off usenet --, I certainly filtered by judging whether, as shown in the headers, the author trusted me to read as an intelligent adult. Part of that trusting involved me not feeling like I'd already read the story, before I'd started reading the story.

(I suspect my stance got radicalized when people started "warning" for non-OTP. Like, I have read stories where the pairing was irrelevant due to plot choices, where authors have warned that there was no salient pairing. This drives me bananas, because I never warn people that I do not drive a tank. I just show up, not driving a tank, and assume people will clue in and live with it.)

(Is it true or apocryphal that there were required haircut warnings in Sentinel? I've never quite believed it, but I know I've seen that claimed.)

It's not true. On the SENAD list, which was the major list at the time for Sentinel discussion (might still be, hell if I know), someone requested that people warn about haircutting. She was pretty well immediately mocked, but she was apparently serious. It was never a required warning, though.

Oh, good. That makes me feel better.

Too funny. It's, umm. Hurt/Comfort. No. Really.

I mean, sure it says it wants to mirror my rapes scenes with some healing sex for a pleasingly symmetrical emotional plot arc, but all it really wants is a roll in the hay.

t dies laughing

My solution historically to solve problems like this is to use HBO detailed ratings. (You know, that you see before the movie starts.) R -- for violence, scariness, bad language, and sexuality. NC-17 -- for gore (I have done this only once). It establishes reasonable boundaries of expectation, without giving anything away; and I would expect to see rape/noncon in that list (in fact, HBO does warn for that!) but nothing as specific as character death. And I wish other people would do the HBO thing! Not many do.

That's a really good idea.

In general, I'm where everyone else is -- don't want to know if anyone dies, do want to get a general sense of what I'm getting into in terms of violence/sex/etc. And I want to know the pairing, because it gives me an idea how to interpret things.

OK, I've got some fics in mind but I need some info. first. One is like added scene to Joyce's funeral, where Hank comes, cause I always thought it unbelievable that he wouldn't, and for that one, I need to know what sort of little gift a man might send his daughters from Spain? Any special candy? Castanets for Dawnie? Secondly, for a Giles fic:If you're a Giles and an attorney, what sort of lawyer are you?What would be considered the most respectable?

Erika, I'll take a stab at that last question. Different types of lawyers do have different images, but I'm not sure which would be the most respectable.

I could see Giles as a partner in a very old, established small firm. The firms' clients are largely the local social elite, who have turned to Mason, Rivington, and Giles since their grandparents were children.

Giles himself probably does a lot of estate planning. This involves quite a bit of writing wills. He can discourse ad nauseum on obscure points of (real) property law that still exist mainly because the medieval English went to great lengths to ensure that land stayed in the family. (Unfortunately, all I remember about the Rule in Shelley's Case is that such a thing exists.)

He probably acts as trustee on a number of trusts. Occasionally, he'll appear in court to probate a client's estate.

IOW, very respectable. Not very exciting. Very in keeping with Giles' personality in the early seasons.

Yeah, I kind of thought it would be that sort of thing, as opposed to say, representing smutty comedians or something.(Although they need representation, too, sometimes.)