On 24 Dec 97 at 18:53, fanfic@fanfic.com wrote:

Just because *you* think that tags are unneccessary doesn't mean that 
others share the same belief. Myself, I much prefer to know 
beforehand if the fanfic I'm reading is going to take a darker turn 
or not, or if it's a lemon, or anything like that. How about that 
"Kagato's Revenge" fanfic, eh? Doesn't that one just scream for the 
[Pre-teen RAPE] tag? How about Aikan Muyo! (hope I spelled that 
right), a very good fic that deserves a [LEMON] tag, and shouldn't be 
ashamed of it - it's a well-written lemon. Or the one that started 
this, which deserves a [DARK] tag, and again should not be ashamed of 
it - it's well written, and good.

And just how do you define just what is "Dark", much less the various shades of darkness? 
These kinds of tags sound good on paper, but they don't really tell you anything in reality. 
I'm willing to bet my defination of dark isn't quite the same as yours. I'm also willing to bet 
that the folks who don't write and read Ranma fanfics don't exactly have the same viewpoint 
of what consitutes darkness that the folks that do read and write Ranma fanfics.

Different strokes for different folks....

True, but some kind of warning would still be nice. If the author 
thinks the fic may be a bit (or more) on the dark side, then he 
should say so (beware the Dark Side, young Skywalker....). Similarly 
with lemons (which are, admittedly, a bit easier to define). Or YAOI 
fics.

When in doubt, tag it. If people don't think it deserves the tag, 
they'll let you know. It's better to err on the side of caution than 
to lose a reader because you *didn't* tag.


Derek