fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4514 ]

[ SECRET POST #4514 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4514 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

__________________________________________________

03. [repeat]

__________________________________________________

04.

__________________________________________________

05.

__________________________________________________

06.

__________________________________________________

07.

__________________________________________________

08.

__________________________________________________

09.

["The Greek" in The Wire]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 10 secrets from Secret Submission Post #646.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So I have a friend who's just started watching Game of Thrones (like, starting with season one on DVD, not just dropping in to season eight). I am, of course, not a dick, so I'm taking care to avoid giving her any spoilers - but it reminded me of the discussions I've seen about spoilers in general, and how long one should wait before posting important info about a show, movie, game or book *without* a spoiler warning.
So what do you think? How long should it be before a person can just say, "This is as silly as the revelation that Creedence is a Dumbledore" without warning? Does it differ based on the media? Does it matter how popular the thing is?

*STATUTE*, OMG SELF

I believe it's your responsibility to avoid spoilers in the first place, so 3 months is more than enough time (barring some incredible happening like you're in a coma or got kidnapped by aliens, in which case I'm very sorry you were spoiled but even then it's still your responsibility to avoid spoilers).

I mean... I think it's always unkind to blurt out major spoilers, no matter how old.

Wait, what? Credence is a Dumbledore??

Two weeks after the release unless someone specifically tells you they don't want to hear spoilers

is that a real revelation from FB? because thanks you just spoiled me.

(I tease because I have no intention of seeing the steaming pile that is the latest movie but I did not know that information, so...)

it isn't a finite thing with a certain time limit. movies take differing quantities of time to pass from theatre to pay to see streaming to free streaming, so there's no hard and fast time by which a majority of people who would have wanted to go in spoiler-free have seen it. with tv series it's probably less time than a movie but that also depends on the airer - clearly a netflix series that is up all in one go that people can stream over a weekend and get caught up differs from an HBO or similar property that is extremely hard to get at unless you've ponied up for the subscription. video games are the hardest I think because there are those jerks who blaze through it two days after it releases and there's others who can't even get to it for a few months and then take another month or two to complete it.

but, I can't honestly think of a situation where you can just say things at random in public unless you're already fairly conscious that a bit of info has entered the public consciousness - your example has not but "Vader is Luke's father" has. Even if you've never seen Star Wars you've probably heard that. Rosebud is the sled. Snape kills Dumbledore. most of the time when people are talking about wanting to be warned about spoilers it's usually in a place where there is some kind of tacit expectation that fandom discussions might happen or someone might bring up last night's episode, in which case being polite takes very little effort.

that said, I don't have a facebook, twitter, or reddit so maybe there are places where people just spout off spoilers at random and I don't know about it.

I think maybe if you want to talk about it you can ask if they've seen or read it to start with.

If they haven't, they're probably not interested in hearing you talk about the spoilers anyway?

I have one friend who is an exception to this and wants to know how everything ends before she'll even think about watching it so if I think she'll like something I'll give her all the spoilers.

If a person has specifically stated they don't want to be spoiled, then that is the only time I won't say anything. If the person I'm talking to has not mentioned anything about fearing spoilers, it's game on and I will talk about anything relating to the media in question that I please. I don't have the time or patience to worry about spoiling, ESPECIALLY if a show or movie or whatever is older. If someone hasn't yet seen, say, The Lion King, that's on them, not me, if me yammering about Scar throwing Mufasa off the cliff is considered a spoiler. Like, damn, why haven't you seen The Lion King yet?

If you're having discussions with her directly about GOT as she watches it, I can see why it would be hard to avoid relating events she's seen to later events, but I'd advise trying to avoid all spoilers with her. Just because something isn't brand new doesn't mean it isn't rude to just blab about spoilery things with someone you know is watching it for the first time and may not want to be spoiled because "LOL it's your job to avoid spoilers." (How? By punching you in the face?)

If the thing is that you want to post about any and all GOT stuff on the internet in general (and not as part of a discussion with her specifically) then I think you should go ahead and do that, but the polite thing would be to warn her "Hey, if you don't want to be spoiled for Game of Thrones, you should just avoid my [social media] for now." Avoiding spoilers means not going where they might be posted, so it's her responsibility to stay away.

I've always gone with the six month rule. That's plenty of time for anyone who is really invested in avoiding spoilers to consume the media in question. Beyond that, I expect the person in question to be an adult and say "hey I haven't watched X yet so please don't spoil it for me."

I'm not sure about the time limit, but I think it's good to at least try to be considerate. I know a guy who I frequently talk to about different shows, and everytime he's like "oh, I just started watching X show and it's really good" and I'm like "oh, yeah, I want to watch that, I've heard lots of great things" he'll be like "oh, it's crazy, X character gets killed in this particularly gruesome way" and I'm just like...way to be a dick, dude.

While I generally consider tv that airs episode-by-episode a in a particular time slot, even if it's premium cable, to have the shortest of all statute of limitations on spoilers (you can post about it online *while* it's airing and are free to bring it up in person at 8:00 the next morning - streaming shows get longer because not everyone has time to binge a whole damn season in one day) I think in this instance, where you know your friend is not caught up, you should err on the side of caution and not spoil her without asking first. It's really rude to do otherwise. It's not like you just brought up something in conversation and oops, you didn't know she had started watching from the beginning just recently. You *know* she's behind and that shifts the no-spoiler burden to you.

Just ask her if she cares about spoilers.

If someone asks me not to spoil them, then I'll do my best. But in general, for new media, a week for a single television episode (I'm not really sure about when a whole season is released at once), 2-3 weeks for a new movie, and maybe a couple of months for a book. I also would try not to randomly bring up a twist - it should be relevant to the discussion. But I'm probably not as militant as I could be because I generally don't mind spoilers and I think is easier to be mindful of doing it to others if it is something that bothers you when it is done to you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #4514 ]

The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Re: The Spoiler Statue of Limitations

Huh.