I think spoilers, even for old stories, are a courtesy, especially if the parts being spoilered aren’t part of common knowledge. I read King Lear as a teenager without knowing how it was going to end, and I think it was better that way.
You do not need to rot13 anything about HP:MoR or the original Harry Potter series unless you are posting insider information from Eliezer Yudkowsky which is not supposed to be publicly available (which includes public statements by Eliezer that have been retracted).
Maybe I’m an outlier about spoilers. As far as I can tell, there are some stories which I very much prefer having been surprised by, and I regret having read internet discussions which explained Focus rather than having read A Deepness in the Sky cold.
Now I’m curious: explain Focus to me? I haven’t read anything Vinge wrote, so all I know about it is the one sentence from the Wikipedia page. (You can rot13 or PM me if you’re worried about spoiling it for anyone else.)
The wikipedia page is pretty much what I was going to say—vg’f orvat noyr gb pbageby gur bowrpg bs nhgvfz-fglyr ulcresbphf, jvgu gur pbzcyrkvgl bs gur jbex orvat yvzvgrq ol gur vagryyvtrapr bs gur Sbphfrq crefba. Vg’f n irel anfgl fbeg bs fynirel, jbexrq bhg va pbafvqrenoyr qrgnvy ol Ivatr. V qba’g erzrzore gur zrpunavfz.
I did notice the target of the wikipedia link, and I haven’t read the book, but is it literally orvat noyr gb pbageby gur bowrpg bs nhgvfz-fglyr ulcresbphf? It sounds a lot stronger and weirder and deeper than that, with only a superficial similarity.
Please don’t rot13 parts of books that came out in the previous century. It gets on my nerves, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.
I think spoilers, even for old stories, are a courtesy, especially if the parts being spoilered aren’t part of common knowledge. I read King Lear as a teenager without knowing how it was going to end, and I think it was better that way.
Possibly relevant
Also
Maybe I’m an outlier about spoilers. As far as I can tell, there are some stories which I very much prefer having been surprised by, and I regret having read internet discussions which explained Focus rather than having read A Deepness in the Sky cold.
Now I’m curious: explain Focus to me? I haven’t read anything Vinge wrote, so all I know about it is the one sentence from the Wikipedia page. (You can rot13 or PM me if you’re worried about spoiling it for anyone else.)
The wikipedia page is pretty much what I was going to say—vg’f orvat noyr gb pbageby gur bowrpg bs nhgvfz-fglyr ulcresbphf, jvgu gur pbzcyrkvgl bs gur jbex orvat yvzvgrq ol gur vagryyvtrapr bs gur Sbphfrq crefba. Vg’f n irel anfgl fbeg bs fynirel, jbexrq bhg va pbafvqrenoyr qrgnvy ol Ivatr. V qba’g erzrzore gur zrpunavfz.
I did notice the target of the wikipedia link, and I haven’t read the book, but is it literally orvat noyr gb pbageby gur bowrpg bs nhgvfz-fglyr ulcresbphf? It sounds a lot stronger and weirder and deeper than that, with only a superficial similarity.
It’s been a while since I’ve read the book, ohg vg tbrf snegure guna nhgvfz orpnhfr Sbphfrq crbcyr trarenyyl pna’g gnxr pner bs gurzfryirf. Nyfb, lbh znl abg or vzntvavat ubj n fynir-bjavat qvpgngbefuvc jbhyq znxr hfr bs gur grpu—be vg’f cbffvoyr V’z abg qbvat gur fhowrpg whfgvpr.