a fairly weird poll about fic and warnings

[kindkit]

So I seem to be writing another fic that is (in part) about queer adolescence. Which means I once again confront the Warnings/Content Notes/Tagging Dilemma.

When the fic is done, I'll post it to AO3, which asks that its "Underage" tag be used "for descriptions or depictions of sexual activity by characters under the age of eighteen." Alternatively, you can "Choose Not to Warn."

In the fic in question, an adolescent boy aged about 12 or 13 experiences sexual pleasure and orgasm in the context of a mystical/supernatural experience. No other human (or any embodied creature) is involved. The sexual content is about six sentences long and fairly euphemistic.

Back in the day I would never have warned for something like that. But fannish norms have changed, often for good reason, and we're in a cultural moment of hyper-alert (not to mention anti-LGBTQIA+ moral panic) about kids and sex.

So take my poll and give me your opinion! Does a scene like this really meet the threshold of "sexual activity?"

NB in practice I will almost certainly go the route of tagging (either "Underage" or "Choose Not to Warn") with content notes, because I think content notes are a much more useful tool than a tag like "Underage" which can cover everything from skeevy (imo) porn to pretty bare acknowledgement that adolescents experience desire and sometimes have sex. But I'm curious about where opinions lie nowadays in these corners of fandom.

Feel free to take the poll whether I know you or not. Please bear in mind that it's about the specific fictional scenario outlined above. It's not a referendum on warnings/notes in general.

ETA: I forgot to add an option for "Tag 'No Archive Warnings Apply' and add content notes." Sorry!

Poll #27420

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 21

How to tag/content note this fic?

Tag "underage" and add specific content notes.
3 (14.3%)

Tag "choose not to warn" and add specific content notes.
11 (52.4%)

Tag "underage"; no notes needed.
0 (0.0%)

Tag "choose not to warn"; no notes needed.
5 (23.8%)

No tag, no notes.
0 (0.0%)

Something else.
2 (9.5%)

Comments

[ellen_fremedon]

I would probably tag No Archive Warnings Apply but add notes or additional tags. The TOS FAQ says "we rely on authors to use their judgment about the line between reference and description or depiction"; something like that feels like it functionally falls on the 'reference' side of the line.

(I am facing a similar dilemma down the road in my current WIP, with a character who is canonically married at 17.)

[silveradept]

I have usually used "Choose Not To Warn" with content notes in the tags when I'm not sure that something neatly fits into a specific warning category.

For this specific instance, though, I feel where the warnings might be or not be is in how aware the kid is that what happened was sexual pleasure or whether they think of it in some other way. Because if it's "pleasure centers overloaded" there may not be a need for a warning, because it's not sexual, not really. If there's a cognizance that there's sexual pleasure and the entity causing the experience intentionally decides to set it off, or the kid does, then it might need to have the underage tag.

[kateoftheangels]

My own view is this: many folks read the Underage tag on ao3 as being there to warn for underaged sexual activity across the spectrum of, as you say, self-pleasure and sexual awakening by mysterious psychic force all the way to full-on PWP with an adult. Your content warning in the notes will clarify where along the spectrum this is, but I feel that if it’s clear that what your adolescent character experiences is sexual in nature, many would err on the side of caution and use the tag plus notes.

My one caveat would be that if this is seven lines in, say, a 70,000 or even a 7,000 word fic, the proportionate lack of underaged sexual contact as compared to the rest of the fic (hey, sometimes it’s advertising, and people go looking for fic tagged Underage?)would steer me instead toward tagging CNTW and then a note about the seven lines that appear in chapter 7, as compared to if this was a 1,000 word fic.

[lilacsigil]

I think that "choose not to warn" plus tags is probably the best way to go about it and one I commonly see where the fic is not about the character being underage.

I would not like "no archive warning apply" on a fic with underage sexual content of any kind.

[torachan]

I would do choose not to warn with no content notes, but that is because I use choose not to warn for all my fics.

[likeadeuce]

I use 'choose not to warn' with anything that even mentions teen sexual activity because, frankly, I'm paranoid about people specifically using that tag to find fics and citizens the authors for writing underage. I don't know how much this actually happens but it definitely seems like something that could.

Anyway, that's why I suggested CNTW and add details