Sigh, lost my post.

Sean, not knowing about things means I'm not waiting for them to happen. When I didn't notice JL's name in the credits for AtS (or maybe they weren't there) and she showed up to vamp Darla the HSQ was through the roof. If I had known she was going to appear I would have spent the entire episode waiting for it.

I wish I hadn't known about the appearance of certain characters in Buffy and Angel this year. It would have been better had I not been waiting for it. Because if the writers didn't want it to be a surprise, why do they set it up as one? They don't have Lindsey saying 'Yeah, called Dru' - they just have her show up. Because it heightens the drama of the moment.

Are there spoilers that bother you, Sean? I think that's the key

Yeah, okay. I'm exactly the opposite end of the spectrum.

Because no. There are no spoilers that would bother me.

I wouldn't care if I'd read the script a hundred times over, and had in fact been on set every day of production, it would in no way ruin my enjoyment of watching an episode.

But yeah, I guess that is just me.

The feeling of surprise doesn't add to or alter your experience of fiction? I think a good show holds up after the HSQ and is rewatchable. Doesn't mean it can't be more fun with it.

edit: How could it be just you? Why do you think there's a spoiler thread?

Sean, not knowing about things means I'm not waiting for them to happen. When I didn't notice JL's name in the credits for AtS (or maybe they weren't there) and she showed up to vamp Darla the HSQ was through the roof.

And to be sure, the HSQ is much different depending on when and how you encounter it. Working on a production, I would get the HSQ reading the script for the first time, but that thrill is much different than being surprised by it unfolding on the screen.

As a show I'm just watching, I'd prefer not to know beforehand that JL was going to show up and vamp Darla, so I totally get that. But y'all have enlightened me.

Speaking of tone ... the edit in my previous post was joking, not poking.

Speaking of tone ... the edit in my previous post was joking, not poking.

Hee! Yeah, I got that. No worries.

But Elena brings up a point (and duh, it just occurred to me - stupid, stupid, stupid), that it isn't in the wording of the proposal that this is only relevant to the NAFDA threads. And since, the only NAFDA threads that I know that are still relevant are Angel and Angel spoilers light, is it really that much of an imposition to anyone, as long as the terms of what's an acceptable non-spoiler are in the thread description?

I mean, there's a separate issue (in reverse) for Firefly, but the only way this would continue to be relevant after October are if a) Angel gets re-newed (x-fingers depending on how good the season is) or b) there ends up being a Buffy spin-off, or c) an ME-related show that generates a significant amount of discussion. I think we're just expanding the NAFDA definition here, and only during the summer hiatus.

I'm more in favor then before, but I think the proposal should be re-worded to make it clear.

Bolding mine. And here's what I (and, I think Katie) mean about notknowing=livingunderarock. Because, honestly, do you really think that it's that hard to avoid these things? Really? It's not as long as people don't assume that 'everyone' knows.

I think it's hard to avoid if you're at all promiscuous in your netsurfing, or if you have friends or family members who know you're interested in ME shows and are given to saying things like, "Did you see that article about so-and-so leaving/joining the Angel cast next year?"

I guess for me it just seems absurd to have to tiptoe around a topic that Joss himself has talked about in a major media outlet. It makes me avoid the Angel thread altogether, because I'm afraid I'll let it slip, and really it's impossible to discuss possible happenings for next season without talking about the cast changes.

When I didn't notice JL's name in the credits for AtS (or maybe they weren't there) and she showed up to vamp Darla the HSQ was through the roof. If I had known she was going to appear I would have spent the entire episode waiting for it.

Since Dru was not added to the regular cast over the summer, you'd not have been spoiled for her return under the current proposal.

To answer the question ita posed to Sean, I enjoy being spoiled because I think HSQ is waaaaaaaay overrated. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy being surprised, but I don't feel that good HSQ translates into good anything else. So I'd rather not deal with it.

It's such an incredibly subjective response to HSQ, that I think is illuminating, but let's make sure we don't translate too many personal value judgments of spoiledness to the proposal. Sure, I consider everyone both more or less spoiled than me kinda weird, but I guess y'all have some rights too.