There's a new, multi-fandom Fuh-Q-Fest in which the objective is to write stories based on the cliches that haunt each fandom (amnesia stories in Sentinel; either cave or Pon Farr stories in Star Trek, etc.) It looks like quite a bit of fun, actually; you can check it out here.
However, as part of the rules there is this list of cautions and "don't"s:
Rape, Death, Non-concensual, BDSM, D/s, Excess violence and anything else which can be considered 'out of the ordinary' needs a properly labeled warning.
No underage sex.
(For Harry Potter and Smallville that means nobody under 16)
No scat or golden showers.
No necrophilia.
No bestiality.
No arguments with the first rule; I prefer warnings for death fic myself, and certainly warning for any of the other elements isn't unreasonable.
The wording of the second is a bit funny in its ambiguity--does she really mean that a 16 or 17 year-old having sex in a non-HP or SV story would count as underage sex?--but I can sympathize with the intent. There's been at least one instance in which a man writing pornography about entirely fictional children was sent to jail when police discovered the stories in his home. If you consider hosting such stories an unacceptable risk, then by all means feel free to protect yourself as you see fit.
The last three rules, though, seem excessive. Is a Fest intended to prompt people to write new stories, or is it intended to only get them writing stories that won't trip the triggers of the person running it? It's obvious which one's at play here. So, accordingly, in this Fest watersports are out and incest apparently doesn't even require a warning. (Woe betide anyone who doesn't consider it sufficiently "out of the ordinary" to warn for it, I guess.)
Presumably one has to ask whether sex with a vampire counts as necrophilia, or whether sex with an animagus (or a cognizant werewolf) counts as bestiality. I'd answer "no" to both questions; prevailing sentiment in fandom seems to answer "no" to the former and "yes" to the latter...but it's probably best to check. After all, according to the Fest's organizer, writing a story in which someone pees on another person consensually is more reprehensible than writing a story in which someone is raped and then tortured to death. Who can tell, given that information, what else she might object to?
In practice, of course, I don't suppose it will matter very much at all. (Unless she does think vampire sex counts as necrophilia, in which case there may be quite a furor among the Buffy writers trying to participate in the Fest.) I've only seen half a dozen bestiality stories--most of them written for other Fuh-Q-Fests, ironically enough--and no necrophilia (excluding vampire sex) or scat stories in my fairly extensive foray into slash.
And it is a snazzy idea for a Fest; I hope lots of people participate in it. But I also hope anyone who wants to writes lots of bestiality and necrophilia and all the rest of it in his or her own time, when not having to cater to someone else's idea of what's appropriate.
However, as part of the rules there is this list of cautions and "don't"s:
Rape, Death, Non-concensual, BDSM, D/s, Excess violence and anything else which can be considered 'out of the ordinary' needs a properly labeled warning.
No underage sex.
(For Harry Potter and Smallville that means nobody under 16)
No scat or golden showers.
No necrophilia.
No bestiality.
No arguments with the first rule; I prefer warnings for death fic myself, and certainly warning for any of the other elements isn't unreasonable.
The wording of the second is a bit funny in its ambiguity--does she really mean that a 16 or 17 year-old having sex in a non-HP or SV story would count as underage sex?--but I can sympathize with the intent. There's been at least one instance in which a man writing pornography about entirely fictional children was sent to jail when police discovered the stories in his home. If you consider hosting such stories an unacceptable risk, then by all means feel free to protect yourself as you see fit.
The last three rules, though, seem excessive. Is a Fest intended to prompt people to write new stories, or is it intended to only get them writing stories that won't trip the triggers of the person running it? It's obvious which one's at play here. So, accordingly, in this Fest watersports are out and incest apparently doesn't even require a warning. (Woe betide anyone who doesn't consider it sufficiently "out of the ordinary" to warn for it, I guess.)
Presumably one has to ask whether sex with a vampire counts as necrophilia, or whether sex with an animagus (or a cognizant werewolf) counts as bestiality. I'd answer "no" to both questions; prevailing sentiment in fandom seems to answer "no" to the former and "yes" to the latter...but it's probably best to check. After all, according to the Fest's organizer, writing a story in which someone pees on another person consensually is more reprehensible than writing a story in which someone is raped and then tortured to death. Who can tell, given that information, what else she might object to?
In practice, of course, I don't suppose it will matter very much at all. (Unless she does think vampire sex counts as necrophilia, in which case there may be quite a furor among the Buffy writers trying to participate in the Fest.) I've only seen half a dozen bestiality stories--most of them written for other Fuh-Q-Fests, ironically enough--and no necrophilia (excluding vampire sex) or scat stories in my fairly extensive foray into slash.
And it is a snazzy idea for a Fest; I hope lots of people participate in it. But I also hope anyone who wants to writes lots of bestiality and necrophilia and all the rest of it in his or her own time, when not having to cater to someone else's idea of what's appropriate.
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