Blaugust 5 - CWs Talk

ANYWAY. Ao3 was created after the LJ purge. A huge plus of this site is its tagging system (we will not speak of the worst sin: authors misusing tags). YAY! You could now tag, or not tag as you saw fit.

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Okay okay okay. What I'm trying to say is, fandom saw what ao3/fic writers were doing, and it became a standard to tag your work. But then... the discourse evolved... These fanfic writers were going to college. They got jobs. They said hey, wouldn't it be cool if we added cws to books? Games? Courses? Could this be a thing to help others? (I remember when CW/TWs were considered a childish, babyish demand from the woke snowflakes... but keeping to fandom spaces, tags were not considered a requirement, but just as a nice thing to do for others.)

And heres where we are today.

If you're like me, and born with a curse to remember all the Bad Posters of our lifetime, you'll recall the Boyfriend Dungeon incident. Started by the greatest poster of our time (who I'm convinced was a plant) Ana Mardoll. A lot of the current bullshit comes back to him and his thinskinned nature.

Within a day of Boyfriend Dungeon’s release, a flood of Twitter users took to the site to express their outrage over one of the game’s subplots, which involved a stalker relentlessly texting the player. One user’s thread on the subject begins with the claim that after playing Boyfriend Dungeon for fifteen minutes he became so distressed by the fictional behavior of the game’s stalker character, Eric (voiced by Alexander Gross), that he was “afraid to play any more than [he had].” He goes on to claim multiple times that he “did not consent” to being exposed to this plotline, referencing hostile and suggestive texts he is unable to block in-game and unwanted gifts delivered to his “in-game address.” The user claims the game’s content warnings, which mention stalking and unwanted advances specifically, were insufficient to prepare him for encountering those elements within the fiction of the game.

...Cop on? Are you serious?

There is so much to talk about here... yourfaveisproblematic tumblr, call out posts, is reading books bad actually? type posts... I do blame tumblr for a lot of current day discourse. But then I look back and remember... the people who I followed who I thought were so cool and smart were probably hurting 20yr olds who didn't have a clue either. Nothing's changed since 2014.

To steal another quote from this article; No one's ever been beaten or raped by a book. You have complete control. You can close the book, get a refund for a game... and then forget about it. This is the beautiful power of art! This is what we can do! You can make someone feel this intense... in the safety in their own home!

I'm trying to remember when's the last time something made me feel that physical... I think Memento in Marrow. BUT I LIKE FEELING BAD! I LIKE being disgusted, or the imaginary is too much and I have to take a break. THAT'S AMAZING!! I think J.F.Kill's work is incredible! I want to see how bad she can make me feel! What things will these characters do, and can they come out the other side? I'm looking forward to her newest VN Faithless//Flagellant.

Boyfriend Dungeon updated their content warning... But they already had a content warning in place. Warning that the game would have stalking. Is it an expectation issue? People... assuming? Not reading the tags? Wanting to blame someone else so you don't have to sit with your feelings for five minutes?

I think the answer might just be... some people use media to escape in the most extreme way. They want fluff. And that's fine! I love Romcoms! My sister's hate when I pick a move and I play Girl Next Door! I've seen every 2000s romcom. And I'll see them again!

But what's with the Karen-style attacking? Again, I think it's from callout culture on socmedia... Someone has to pay for you being uncomfortable, right? It's someone's fault, isn't it? They made you feel... unsafe...! It's so strange. These people are the ones doing the harassment and harm against real people. Over fiction.

Future of NSFW artists and CWs

I started off this whole blog because I wanted to talk about how many NSFW artists I follow have been using a blanket of "author chose not to use warnings" over their sns accounts. Removing tags and cws. I fully understand why they're doing so. Companies are using cws against artists to purge their work. I've been debating it myself... I don't fully trust bsky, and seeing what's hapened across the pond in the UK... I know Ireland's not too far off. Ugh.

Bad actors will go looking for nsfw tags and use them to harass. this has been going on for quite some time. Some artists want to avoid the headwreckers for as long as they can... I'd much rather see something like noncon then have a real human being be harassed over their work. I'll forget about that art in 2 seconds. Harassment campaigns do real damage to people.

The walls are closing in on us, and I can't blame other nsfw artists who want to keep the money coming in via socmedia. I know I talk about making a website all the time, but it is hard to be away from the group. I wonder what it'll be like in a few years from now?

There's also the other side... when people overtag due to being cautious... when they really don't have to because the work is so painfully chaste LOL I'm sick of reading fics and the characters are looking to the camera to explain why bdsm is bad. I'm here for a reason!!! I'm consenting!!! I'm not mastercard!!!

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Speaking of LJ... maybe I can figure out a way to post a different avatar depending on mood... (thinking). You simply all must see more of my dolls! I'm no good with JS, but maybe... I can... figure something out...

listening to...

--xoxo becky