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jumpingjacktrash
https://jumpingjacktrash.tumblr.com/post/640964249733283840:
sensicalabsurdities
https://sensicalabsurdities.tumblr.com/post/640319340561956864:
henshengs https://henshengs.tumblr.com/post/639992957630595072:
Tbh I think fandom generally needs to get better at sitting with the
uncomfortable fact that a story/fanwork/meme/whatever can hurt one person
and help another
This is why I think “tag warning” culture is kinder and more constructive
than cancel culture / “no problematic content” culture. One size does not
fit all, but if we learn to be more aware of the fact that the same thing
can be emotionally validating or cathartic to one person and upsetting to
another, and pick up a general mindset of thinking before we post, “what
might people need a heads up for in this content?”, we grow more
compassionate, more thoughtful, and more understanding of the differences
in people’s experiences.
this is very important.
and we also need to let go of the scrupulosity that says you must be 100%
responsible for your readers’ comfort. there are several reasons to get rid
of that.
- bullies and manipulators will use it to jerk you around
- it will either pointlessly increase your anxiety, or
- give you a false sense of security, depending on whether you think
you CAN actually tag for all triggers, and
- you really, REALLY can’t. you can’t. it’s not possible.
i have so many obscure little triggers from school-based abuse that even i
couldn’t tell you how to avoid them, and without that conversation there’s
no way in hell for you to know that if you have an authority figure knock
pencils or pens on the floor i’ll think i’m fine but then i’ll have
nightmares the next 3 nights. i didn’t know until it happened. then the
next time, it didn’t happen, but the smell of plasticine clay set me off.
my medical trauma is like… i can read the most gruesome body horror, and
then a throwaway line where a nurse is a little brusque will send me to
frown town all day.
my mental health is not for you to protect. it’s not your job and i
honestly don’t want you trying. i kinda find those “mind the warnings and
take care of yourself” author’s notes condescending and rude, though i know
they’re kindly meant.
just… tag for the basics. non-con. body horror. animal cruelty. if a
frequent reader asks politely for you to tag a particular thing, and that
thing is easy to identify and either exists or doesn’t exist in your work
(say, vomiting, or death by fire), you might want to agree, but you do not
have to. it is perfectly valid to say, “sorry, bro, but i really can’t keep
track of extra tags, so you might not wanna keep reading.” i have cognitive
disabilities, i usually can’t remember whether i’ve had lunch on any given
day, i’m not going to promise you i’ll remember to tag for like… arguments
in an elevator. i’m not mocking your triggers, mine are just as finicky,
see above, but i just can’t do it, fam.
re OP’s point, SO MUCH YES, and also let me point out that sometimes a tag
warning is helpful not because you want to avoid a thing, but because you
don’t want it to be a surprise.
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elvashayam https://tmblr.co/mK05fc7X-snRvE0G59F6zGw tumblr is not
letting me send you an ask, reply to your reply, even view that post on my
dash so i can answer you, so this is the only way i can find to say yes, it
was yours, and i wrote in such haste and then came up with much more
articulate and correct things but now i don’t actually remember what the
ask said in the first place and it is possible I have built all these
castles in the sky about an entirely other topic, so i would love to know,
if you can send it!!! also tumblr is The Fucking Worst for having any kind
of meaningful disussion oh my fucking lord!!!
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