Spoiler: You are not watching enough television

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caycowa
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    I don't spoiler warn, you know because I hate everything and want people to suffer.

    But I'm curious about how people who do spoiler warn go about it.

    :bulletblue: How do they decide something is a spoiler?

    :bulletblue: How do they decide on a time limit? Is there a time limit?

    :bulletblue: Do they retroactive spoiler warn and if so how do they decide to do it?

    :bulletblue: Do you have a general spoiler warning or a more specific one?

    What is a spoiler? At first I though it was a major plot point or a surprising development. But I've seen people spoiler warn for things that are neither major plot points nor a surprising development which leads me to believe spoilers are simply things people don't already know.

    Well fuck, that's everything. There needs to be a spoiler warning on every single piece of fanart.

    So this would need a spoiler warning...

    If it doesn't have one someone might come up to me and complain that they haven't watched up to that point that this Castiel character has been introduced and they definitely haven't watched up to the point where he dies. How dare I not spoiler warn for that? 
    Which is logical really, they don't know wings on a character here doesn't mean that character is dead. And basically any attempt to clarify that is only going to dig myself a deeper hole. :lmao:
    A general SPOILER WARNING doesn't solve this problem.
    A specific SPOILER WARNING: SEASON FOUR PLUS actually creates new spoilers. The viewer now knows both when Castiel shows up and when he doesn't while still having the wings equals death problem.
    A more specific SPOILER WARNING: SEASON FOUR ONWARDS THERE ARE ANGELS solves the death problem but spoils season 2 episode 13 doesn't it? 
    Oh and also season 4 onwards. :iconfacepalmplz:
    Of course that's crazy right. Nobodies going to spoil warn like that right? It's too specific, the spoiler warning has now become a spoiler itself. 
    So just a general non-specific spoiler warning for anything with spoilers. 
    Like this one would have a general SPOILER WARNING 
           Supernatural - Bunny!Castiel by caycowa
    Now I know it's because of the existence of Castiel, that's what gets the spoiler warning. 
    Anyone who as watched all the episodes will know that too but there might be someone who hasn't watch them all yet and is going to starting wondering about the episode where Cas gets turned into a bunny and there's like Killer Carrots or something.  
    Hey, totally possible with that show. 
    See the big problem with spoiler warning on DeviantArt is the warning shows up after you've seen the image even if you put it in the title. :shrug:
    The only way around that is to either use a preview image or put the spoiler warning in the image.
    Sounds like fun. 
    Of course, who's really asking for or warning for the existence of Castiel? 
    This brings us to time. How long after an episode has aired should people spoil warn for? 
    One day, a week, a month, a decade? Should the artist be checking on when it airs in other countries? 
    Does something stop being a spoiler to you just because the episode you haven't seen yet aired three years ago? No of course not, there's no time limit on something being spoilery. 
    There's just a time limit on people giving a fuck. 
    Everyone's time limit is different too. Mine is somewhere around the point in time that the spoiler information exists. Not when the episode airs but when a person can take a guess and be right. The point in time when the creators decide, "yup that's going in this episode". So like - 3 months, etc.
    Which brings us to the retroactive spoilers issue. Should a person go back and retroactively add a spoiler warning to an old picture, should something in that picture now be a spoiler? 
    Or is that the kind of thing that just going to screw over the people trying to avoid spoilers for the most recent episode by browsing their favourites? 
    Also if one should retroactively spoiler warn should one be specific about what part of the picture is now a spoiler? 
    SPOILER WARNING versus SPOILER WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH versus SPOILER WARNING: YEAH HE DIES BUT NOT LIKE THAT AND DEFINITELY NOT IN HIS PYJAMAS. 
    Seems like it causes more problems then it solves really. So we'll just grandfather all the old pictures and if someone complains without looking at the date stamp, we can just blow them off. 
          It's not your problem, you don't know the future. 
          But but but what if you did know the future, or more accurately you took an educated guess about             future spoilers and got one right. Should you have to retroactively spoiler warn for that?
          Should you have to potential spoiler warn for it. Hey, you were intentionally putting something in                 there you think could become a spoiler.  Or does it again cause more harm then good to put in that           potential spoiler warning? 
          
          Do you spoiler warn? How do you decide to do it? When do you do it? 
          How do you decide "now this group, this group needs protection, I spoiler warn for them. The                     rest of you are on your own. Good luck"
          I haven't a clue. I don't know what people would consider a spoiler, when they'd considered it to be a           spoiler and what words they'd like me to use to best protect them for me. 

         Thoughts?
          
          Personally I'm not to concerned about someone getting spoiled by one or more of my pictures and             calling me a big meanie. This morning I've been listening to youtube videos, writing this journal and             trying to think up a clever way to stick a reference to the novel 'John dies at the End' into a Sherlock           Holmes comic. 
     
         I know what some of you are thinking, you're thinking "Haha that's not a spoiler." 
         O_O
         "Or is it?"

       

          



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saintixe56's avatar
saintixe56
How many cups of pure brew i.e. pure caffeine did you drink prior to this symphony on spoilers? Is there a subliminal message about the danger of carrot addiction?

One thing is sure : you need to cut out on SuperNatural

And now, you put the remote of the floor slowly. Calmly. Gentle, on the floor. The remote and with your foot you push it away to me.... slowly. Clearly, television is a dangerous thing for you.