Story Codes

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Ever have this happen to you? You're just browsing the AFF archive, and you find that story with that pairing you like and, oh look! It's also by an author you like! Well, they've never steered you wrong before and you've checked the summary. Good to go, right?

Oh, but watch out. Once you get a chappy or two in what happens? Your ONE squick just so happens to be in this story. Well, what a minute! You go and check the summary again. Checks out fine. Check the story codes. Alas, nothing beyond the usual. And yet, here you are stuck reading a story with an infuriating subject matter. And if you mention it, you'll get a response like "Well, then why are you reading it?"

My obvious response would be the following: "You didn't let me know that THIS was in it!"

I JUST had that happen to me and I nearly clawed my eyes out. NO WHERE on the story didn't say "MPREG" or anything else to warn me that Harry would be having Snapes love child until it got to a part that had me saying "Wait... WHAT? He's gotta do WHAT? HOLY SHIT I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS MPREG! ENTRAPMENT!"

Now, I generally can't stand MPreg, especially a fic like this where they act like it's the most common fucking thing in the world. Given, I like the fic anyway, but still. It's the principle of the thing! Story codes are there for a REASON! Yeah, this is an adult site, but almost everyone has their squick. They don't need to run into it hed on!

[Guest ChibiShiva]

Annoying, no? >_<'

Never had it happened to me personally, as I see that most people use the codes. I run away from everything MPREG; I think it's the only thing that doesn't make sense to me.

But I did notice something: the 255-character limit for the summary is not enough. I spend about an hour figuring a way to add most of my warnings within my summary, and I couldn't (M/M, M/F, incest, violence, fantasy, language, bloodshed, character death, rape, non-con, bondage, hurt/comfort, minor sex, M/M/M, beastiality… I bet I’m missing some – now try to get this all in the 255-character summary PLUS the summary). So I stated them in my author notes at the beginning of each chapter, but who reads them generally...?

Yet sometimes, you feel like warnings are useless because people aren't intelligent enough to hit the damn "BACK" button the browser after they've seen the warnings.

Example: I write slash. I KNOW not everyone likes it, so I warn. So I post one of my M/M Tekken fics on FF.net, warn once in my summary that there is gay romance, another time in the in-story summary, another time in the author's notes where I specify there IS gay sex in it, and another time saying that if you don't like gay sex, to hit the "back" button.

Some random guy left a review saying my fic sucked because there was gay sex in it (but -big news- didn't leave his email). On my third chapter out of three.

...

THEN WHY DID YOU READ THE DAMN FIC AT FIRST!! I gave *counts again* FOUR "gay romance/sex" warnings and you STILL ramble that my fic sucks 'cause there’s gay sex?

I laughed. I mean, how the hell can you NOT laugh at stupid people like this?!

[NightScribe]

Extremely annoying. Maybe I'm outside the norm, but I do read ANs, knowing there's not a hell of a lot of space in the summary. I was reading a PotO fic once and nowhere did the author mention they were doing a hybrid of film and some other Phantom novel, which I never read and have no f***ing clue what that's all about.

I've also seen stories with codes that really don't apply. Lemon, uh...no, that's a lime (but I guess they were just covering their butts). I read a fic where they had it tagged for necrophilia and there was none in the story. There was a dead person (I think) but no nobody had sex with it. And I really hate HP Mary Sues where some fan of the book is sucked into that world or an HP character is sucked out into theirs and it's not coded as AU or posted in the right sub-category. Argh!

[Guest Melody Fate]

This is why I also put a warning on the top of every chapter, so people know exactly what to expect for this one chapter, even if it's a "no sex at all" chapter. As I'm writing it, I end up throwing things in and forgetting to update the front. For quite awhile after I put in the F/F scene, I forgot to update it on the front, but if you read the chapter warning it said it was there.

My peeve is in original, when they just put "slash" and don't tell you if it's M/M or F/F. I thought slash was strictly speaking only a fandom term, because slash means you're changing someone's orientation from what canon has said it to be. In other words, if someone says they're writing a "Slash" Brokeback Mountain fanfic, then they should making the lead characters strictly heterosexual. So it strikes me as silly when people call it "Slash" when it's original characters. Are you telling me that you created the characters to be one way, then decided to change it just for one story?

[Guest lightgoddess]

I'll say something about the original topic of this thread and then on slash. lol

My biggest pet peeve about story codes are readers who don't pay attention. I write slash almost exclusively, and I also write a little MPREG. I have gotten reviews blasting me for not warning that it was MPREG when clearly, on the front, and in the authors note it says it. My only reply was something like 'WTF? If you can't read the WARNINGS this story may be a little above your reading level.' Then, in the next chapter, I made fun of their inattentiveness and reiterated that it was in fact an Mpreg fic. Strangely, though, I've thrown a bit of BDSM into a couple of fics without a warning and not gotten a single complaint. Very curious, that.

Now, being fairly new to fanfiction, I have always been under the impression that slash was m/m and femmeslash was f/f. I've never come across a fic that was femmeslash and it was only labeled as slash. Also, being an avid slash reader, I wouldn't leave a shitty review to an author for an oversight that small even though I do not read femmeslash. If the story were good, I'd still read it. If it wasn't, I probably didn't get far enough in to realize that it wasn't plain ol' slash. lol

[Iggy_lovechild]

I'm actually rather compulsive about my labels, noting anything out the ordinary if possible and making the content as clear as I can without overdoing it. I must admit, I can be rather vague with my het stuff, but that's because I suppose I can be rather vanilla with my het pairings (or perhaps it's due to the fandom. Integra engaging in any sexual act with Alucard is kinky enough... ).

With my yaoi, I'm a bit more careful. I understand that not everyone can handle the gay sex and reading about boys in love and blissfully sucking each other off. It does drive me crazy when slash writers don't note anal intercourse. Perhaps it is because it took me forever to find the appeal in the act and I realize I'm not the only one who might think that.

[EveKnight75]

I try to be very careful with my labels, and put in the ones that I think are likely to apply. If I end up incorporating something new into the fic, that I didn't expect to put in there before, then I'll edit the summary before adding the chapter.

There are also times when a label doesn't quite match what's going on in the story, or there's something graphic in the story for which you can't find a definitive label.

With one fic, I put an incest label on it because it centers around a sexual relationship between stepsiblings. I got bombarded with reviews claiming that it wasn't incest because they weren't related, and according to the fic, they met as teens. Eventually, I changed it to "stepcest" (a term I made up), and the complaints stopped coming. I mean, now that I think about it, it's not full-out incest, but the relationship itself would likely disturb some people and does merit a label or warning of some sort.

I also wrote a disturbing investigation scene in one chapter, and the chapter was pulled off AFF, because there was no label for it. Basically, the two investigators end up examining their parents who are frozen in the middle of a sexual act (supernatural victims), and they're naked. The investigators are completely uncomfortable with this, but they do their job. The scene isn't detailed or long, but it's there. Well, I had no idea which label it could possibly merit, so I put the note "extra rating warnings in disclaimer" in the summary, then tried my best to explain why the scene would merit an adult rating, without actually explaining specifically what happens in the scene.

So far, no complaints about the scene. In fact, one of the reviewers actually thought the scene was cool (review got lost), so I just read it and went "whew" because keeping that scene in the fic made me a bit nervous.

The thing is, that working with warning labels isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world. Neither is trying to write a warning without giving away the actual events (I want them to find that out by reading the fic). However, when a fic crosses the line that separates a general rating from an adult rating, there should be warnings about the content within the fic that warrant the adult rating. That way, the reader can decide whether or not s/he may be able to handle the fic itself. Honestly, the chapter I'm working on right now for one of my fics includes a gay bellhop who overtly checks out a half-naked guy when delivering dinner to his room. Nothing happens, because the guy is there with his "wife" and they're on their "honeymoon". Even if nothing happens, I'll add "hints of M/M" to the summary, because for all I know, one of the readers may be homophobic, and if I get a negative review based on that one part, I'd be just as much at fault for not giving a warning, even if the scene didn't develop into anything remotely adult.

However, if I get a flame going "eew, their stepsibs, ur sick" for that fic, I'll have every right to sit there, laugh my head off, save it to my hard drive, delete it from the review page, then keep going with that fic. I'll just read the review afterwards every time I need a good laugh.

Honestly, the summary has "Teen stepsiblings... undercover as newlyweds... stepcest... R" in it. How much more obvious can one get? Only an idiot would not have expected something sexual to occur between them at one point, whether it be a kiss on the lips or the act itself. I realize I can't prevent an idiot from reading and reviewing my fics. It's out there for everyone to view. But if I took all the necessary precautions when it came to warnings, then I've done my job, and can only hope for the best.

[Guest sailorplutogundam]

I wish people label the pairing in the story. I like off the wall pairing( Satio/Kenshin) and I hate looking for stories for a certain pair. If they just label that, they would get more readers.

[englishwitch]

i find it very annoying when an author doesn't include all the story codes for their fic. not only will it turn certain readers away for not being warned, but some readers won't look at the fic at all because they weren't told what was in it.

Personally i don't think there are enough story codes here on AFF, they've covered a lot of things, but are still lacking. In a recent fic i used AP (Age Progression) which is a code AFF doesn't have and i had to explain myself what it mean't. I don't mind really, but a lack of codes may limit my fics. does anyone know who to get in touch with the moderators so i can sugest new codes?

Ap= Age Progression

AR= Age Regression

GTS= Giant/Giantess

Shrink= Shrinking

Thse are just four i can think of off the top of my head. I know they have an Other- any warning not covered on the lists. But that could be so many things and really doesn't tell whats going on with the fic.

Can anyone think of anymore not covered by the AFF story codes?

[Guest Pink Lace]

What I don't like is when in the fic itself, people don't put in the pairings. Like writers think it's cute when they don't put in the names of the character/s so it's a huge guessing game until the very end 5000+ words later. What's worse is when it's misleading and you think its a fairly normal pairing only to realize it's Hermione screwing a random dead snake. I hate that.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

i find it very annoying when an author doesn't include all the story codes for their fic. not only will it turn certain readers away for not being warned, but some readers won't look at the fic at all because they weren't told what was in it.

Personally i don't think there are enough story codes here on AFF, they've covered a lot of things, but are still lacking. In a recent fic i used AP (Age Progression) which is a code AFF doesn't have and i had to explain myself what it mean't. I don't mind really, but a lack of codes may limit my fics. does anyone know who to get in touch with the moderators so i can sugest new codes?

Ap= Age Progression

AR= Age Regression

GTS= Giant/Giantess

Shrink= Shrinking

Thse are just four i can think of off the top of my head. I know they have an Other- any warning not covered on the lists. But that could be so many things and really doesn't tell whats going on with the fic.

Can anyone think of anymore not covered by the AFF story codes?

Um, you can suggest them in the Technical Issues board.

Uh, I honestly don't think these are really necessary. Warning codes are not necessarily set up to tell people what's in the story. They're to warn people that there are certain types of sexual acts happening in the story that not everyone will enjoy. They're also used to warn people of certain themes or plot devices that I can tell you a good half of the site HATE reading and don't want to get lured into reading. (Such as crossovers, Fluffy and Alternat Universe fics). I don't really know how havig a Giant in your story would cause people to run away in fear. Or Having a character age or de-age excessivly.

Is the Giant having sex with a Human? If so... HOW? And yeah, that would merit a warning.

[Guest Big Samurai]

I like the story codes, and I think that they are good thing to have, but my chief problem with them is that there are often stories that have so much going on that there might as well be a big 'ALL' code just because of the sheer level of craziness. I almost wish that there was a space just for story codes on the first page of a story to avoid cluttering up the summary, but, hey, what we have ain't bad.

I also agree with the additions that Pixagi has noted, especially the AP, since I use age progression all the time. Good suggestion!

[Iggy_lovechild]

I wish people label the pairing in the story. I like off the wall pairing( Satio/Kenshin) and I hate looking for stories for a certain pair. If they just label that, they would get more readers.

This a crime I commit on occasion, I'm afraid. Though usually my summaries are pretty clear as to who it involves and I'm pretty loyal to one pairing in the particular fandoms that I've written for. If it's outside my usual pairing, I do warn....

What I don't like is when in the fic itself, people don't put in the pairings. Like writers think it's cute when they don't put in the names of the character/s so it's a huge guessing game until the very end 5000+ words later.

Gods, I hate that too. It always struck me as poor erotica. As if the smut is all that matters and the reader doesn't care who's getting it on, just so long as it gets them off.

[NightScribe]

If I can't fit all the codes in the summary, I'll definitely put them in an AN. The only thing that sucks is that I've got an idea for another fic (I like to have at least two in the hopper when I'm coming to the close of whatever I'm working on) and I'll absolutely have to code it and put a big warning in the AN. Reason it sucks is the "revelation" comes at the very end, so I'll be tipping off the reader straight away. But I'd rather have to code it properly, then have it pulled for non-compliance or have people complaining. It's not our fault people don't read the damn disclaimers/warnings.

[EveKnight75]

It's happened to me, too. There are times when they forget to put in the pairing, because it's a popular pairing and they take it for granted that everyone will automatically know when they click on the link. Umm...no. That's not how it works. Even if it is a popular pairing, there might be someone out there who's not a fan of the pairing and clicked on the link in hope of finding something different.

On the other hand, it might not be a usual pairing, but because the writer forgot to put the pairing in the summary, the readers assume it's the usual pairing and get pissed off when they find out that it's not (this happens often in somewhat smaller fandoms).

I mean, it wouldn't kill the author to put the pairing in the summary. Even the initials help somewhat. I mean, if the person put in M/D, and the M stood for Marvin rather than Martin, I could pass it off as a misunderstanding despite the fact that Martin/Diana is the norm in the fandom, especially if the summary was long and there wasn't much room to type in full names. It shows that the author made an attempt to tell us about the pairing, and I can tell the author to use Mv for Marvin next time to make things easier. No problem.

However, if the author uses a lame excuse such as the summary was too long, and there was only enough room for 2 more characters so they didn't mention the pairing, I'd tell them to at least put a note within the fic before starting the actual story. You know, somewhere near the disclaimer where the warnings usually are.

This brings up another question: If you put the specific pairings in the summary, does it become necessary to put in the het/slash/femmeslash warnings? I mean, if the main pairing is a male and a female that are well-known characters, is it necessary to put in a M/F tag in the summary as well?

[Bargle5]

Even if it is a popular pairing, there might be someone out there who's not a fan of the pairing and clicked on the link in hope of finding something different.

A good point. I read and write in the Harry Potter fandom and there are some matchups that are very popular that I don't like and I don't like stumbling onto them unknowingly.

About warnings in general: Different people have different squick levels for things. An example, my story, "The Regret of Argus Filch" has a rape mentioned in the story, though it isn't described, just stated that it has happened, it still squicked the first person that reviewed it. It was posted first at another site and I had elected to leave a warning for it off. After that reviewer mentioned not enjoying having that rape pop up even though it wasn't graphic, I got a warning for it added to the story.

I also got surprised myself a couple of times by things not being mentioned in the warnings. Once by brief Slash being included in an otherwise Het story. The author thought that since it was only briefly described, it wouldn't squick anyone. Wrong!

Second instance, in the midst of a consensual het sex bit, the male slaps the female. I would really have appreciated a warning for that since I don't like violence in a consensual setting (no, I don't read BDSM fics) and it soured the story for me.

I now tend to favor being having possibly too many warnings rather than squick someone.

[Madame Manga]

I go back and forth on codes. I do not like giving away plot points just for the sake of CMA; I figure if you are reading a fic set in an adult-oriented fandom that has been posted on an adult-oriented site, you just might need to expect adult content. Listing every single sex act takes up far too much space in a summary, at least in my case--I write multi-chapter stories almost without exception.

But I'm not interested in frightening the horses or deceiving anyone. Sometimes I do pack in all the applicable codes; it really depends on the story. A short wankfic, which I don't write often any more, gets many more codes than a more literary piece. Most often I resort to a note along with the disclaimer warning about general sexuality and mentioning the most prominent common squick triggers, but leaving it at that. I think the needs of the plot can carry most people over the rougher patches--I like to give readers a little credit for being grownups.

I've been posting stories online for years now, and the only times I've had objections from a reader usually come about because of something utterly unpredictable. How on earth am I supposed to know that Mama apparently told her that a man who enjoys a finger in the ass during straight sex must actually be queer, and so cannot hold any possible interest for a het female? And this is a MANGA fan? Go figure!

MM

[Guest Evil_Labs]

Given people are reading adult fan fics, and are on an adult fiction site, I am sometimes surprised when stuff I consider to be relatively tame upsets people or makes them uncomfortable.

(For example, the ..er... shit storm from anal sex in stories, for instance. I made a funny. haha!)

[Guest Melody Fate]

I figure if you are reading a fic set in an adult-oriented fandom that has been posted on an adult-oriented site, you just might need to expect adult content.

For the most part, I agree, but the problem is that porn is like steak. Everyone has a different way for wanting their steak. Some like it spiced up, some only like it grilled, some like it butterflied, so on and so forth. Everyone wants their steak their way and think that having it another way is horrifying. "Ketchup? On steak? Ewww!" or ,"A1? Are you afraid of tasting meat?"

I expect the summary to give me the main sexual focus at least. (Who's doing who and what they do the most of) If it's a multi part story that will eventually explore a lot of different things, then I want a warning before each chapter. I can take reading about most sexual things, but a few things just turn me off completely. I remember reading one story on another site and about six chapters into it, with no warning at all, the main character suddenly starts playing snuff games, my biggest squick point of all. I got so pissed I never finished the story. I might have gone on, just skipping over that part, had I been warned, but to be reading what I think is rather tender love scene and suddenly someone's getting choked to death, kinda throws me off my stride. Yet, I've known folks who can read snuff fics and not blink, but let them read same sex relationships and they're getting squicked.

How on earth am I supposed to know that Mama apparently told her that a man who enjoys a finger in the ass during straight sex must actually be queer, and so cannot hold any possible interest for a het female?

Because it was her Mama. Hello? Don't you know anything? Her Mama is the final athority on all things! I love people who toss up someone you've never met and never heard of as an expert. I might as well say, "My cat told me that white wine enemas are the most sensual form of foreplay, so there!"

[NightScribe]

If you run across something halfway through a serious book that trips your triggers, you are more likely to let it pass, especially if the author has treated it with some degree of skill and it's not gratuitous.

This doesn't apply to traditional novels, but one of the first stories I read on AFF started off great. It was a round robin, but I thought it was really interesting. Left a great review, rated it, couldn't wait for more. Then, the next few chapters and...squick! They lost me completely; that plus the fact that the P.O.V. kept changing and things were getting repetitive. I don't think I would have minded the particular fetish if it involved a fandom character I wasn't so fond of; I would have let it pass otherwise. That's how my squicks usually work, strange I know.

And other stories introduced me to my squicks in such a way that they ceased to be squicks and became major turn-ons. I'd hate to have missed that.

That, I find, is true with me as well. There are some things that I won't necessarily say are one of my squicks, but usually the fics dealing with that particular thing (let's say, incest for this argument) are so shoddily written it's a joke. Then I read one that was so well done it makes you realize if it's approached in a mature manner, it works. I'm in the planning stages of a story dealing with something I've never written about before and I like the challenge; not to mention I'm finding it more than a bit of a turn-on.

[Guest Nympho]

I have a bad habit of ignoring AN and codes, so if i came across something in a story that squicks me out I just hit the back button. If it's well written and I want to know what happens next though I just skim over that part and continue on. No biggie. If a person ignores the warnings and codes then too damn bad. If I hadn't been igonring the codes I never would have developed a liking for BSDM or slash. A little heads up is genrally nice, though.

[Chibi Gaara]

1) i kinda like reading MPREG stories just to see how the author plans to "deliver" the baby.

2) posting characters who will be sleeping together in summary is nice because some people only like certain couples and it just makes it easier to find.

[Harboe]

Well, since I only have one story thus far and it's meant to be an interlude between Season 2 and 3 of the Dexter television series, I find it unnecessary to specify the couples involved (as the reader will have likely already seen the series) and I am half-tempted to remove the warnings of violence and abuse (as they have thus far been extremely innocent compared to the tv-series), but I am keeping them in just in case.

However, as I add more chapters I look through the various tags and add whichever I find that I've introduced in a chapter. As it moves on more and more of the summary will become tags...

I'm staying the **** away from MPreg, though. Not because I have anything against it, but because it'd require me to suspend too much of my disbelief.

[Harley Quinn hyenaholic]

More than once, I've changed my mind mid story on who's going to end up fucking whom. Sometimes it's changed a long way. Which kinda makes it difficult because people reading my story are halfway through when I tell them, "No, it's not going to be Prowl getting some ass."

Not to mention, if the persons fucking has changed, it's pretty likely that the method they fuck will change too, and that's a crapload of different Warnings.

Which may (or may not) result in my readers thinking "What? I started reading this story to fantasise about Prowl! Now who's getting it?" Or "Sure, that pairing's still fine, but the way it's written now means one of my squicks is in!"

While we're talking about it, my one and only squick is scat. People smearing crap all over each other and getting horny from it is just... urgh...

Oh, sure, there's other things that don't turn me on, like bricks, but scat is the one thing that squicks me.

[Animedevildog]

I think I need to make a suggestion about changing how the story codes are listed. I would rather see them listed under the summary, so you don't have to cut short your summary trying to list all the codes.