Books and Spoilers Policy

[Athena]

Welcome to the Outlander forum! Based on the fact that some watchers of this show have read all, some, or none of the books, we have developed some guidelines for spoilers and book talk. This has been updated and clarified July 2016.

We have two episode topics for each episode. It will be similar to “Game of Thrones”.

If tagged “Book Talk”: There is open air book talk here. If you are just watching the TV show and you don't want to stumble into a potential spoiler, you should just avoid these. Book Talk assumes you have read all the books or assumes you will be spoiled to book events. Any information from unaired shows or unpublished books, such as preview chapters should be in spoiler tags.

If tagged "No Book Talk": This is for discussion of the TV show only, no book talk allowed - including saying "in the book". Bookwalkers, to protect the non-book watchers, posting and liking in these threads is discouraged. Please be considerate of your non-bookwalker posters and move your discussions to one of the book topics. Mods will move posts from known Bookwalkers or Spoilered Non-Bookwalkers without warning. Standard PTV spoilers policy for the show applies here.

If Tagged "Spoilers": Explicit TV spoiler talk, open air TV spoilers inside. Always put book stuff in spoiler tags in these topics.

If Tagged "No Spoilers": Explicitly a no spoiler topic, don't post spoilers here. Related backstory is fine here, but not future plot points. If in doubt use spoiler tags.

If No Tag: Not explicitly Spoiler or No Spoiler so use inline spoiler tags as necessary. Always put book stuff or spoilers in spoiler tags in these topics.

These rules are now the same for Episode threads as they are for any other thread. There will be 2 episode threads, tagged "Book Talk" and "No Book Talk."

Book Topics: Each book topic assumes you have read all the books up to that point. Future book references must be in spoiler tagged. e.g. If you are in "Book 1: Outlander", you must spoiler tag any references to "Book 2: Dragonfly in Amber" or beyond. Since this a TV Show forum, you are allowed to talk about the show in the book topics. If you want a TV free discussion of the books, there’s a Diana Gabaldon topic in the Books forum as well.

"Ask the Outlanders" Thread: For both Bookwalkers and Non-Bookwalkers to ask about the show and books in a spoiler tag happy environment. Recommended for measured spoilers from the books and remembering details from the show and the books.

PTV History Spoiler Policy:

Philosophically we hate marking history as a spoiler but for history that's not well known and the subject of a TV show, we think historical fact that will/might/probably be on the show should be spoiler tagged.

Here's why: some people like the show and are avoiding the known history the show is working with so they can enjoy it on face value. So please spoiler tag your historical facts for stuff taking place in the 'future' in the show's universe. Thanks!

 

Posting in all Episode Threads: Per the following PTV policy on Netflix and Rewatch shows, please do not put information about future episodes without spoiler tags. This helps new viewers.

 

If you have any further questions or comments, please PM me. Thank you!

[Athena]

Frequently Asked Questions

Read the above first post. If you’re still confused, try the questions below.

How do I know which episode threads to post in?

If you have not read any of the books, read only the first book, or are lightly or are moderately spoiled about the books (certain details here and there), you should post in the No Book Talk threads.

If you have read more than one of the books and/or are thoroughly spoiled (big future plot details), you should post in the Book Talk threads.

Help! I have not read the books. Do I have to read them? I have questions about the show and characters.

No, you do not have to read the books and if you have questions about the show or books or want to be specifically spoiled on certain things, you can head over to the Ask the Outlanders thread.

I have not read the books in a long time and I have forgotten many details. Where should I post?

To jog your memory, you can post in the Ask the Outlanders thread. If you really can’t remember much about the books and want it to stay that way, you can probably post in the No Book Talk threads.

I use to be No Book Talk poster, but now I’ve read one book and plan to continue. Does this mean I have to post in the Book Talk threads?

Yes, if you are planning on reading more books or spoiling yourself thoroughly.

Is history considered spoilers?

On these forums, we consider history spoilers if they are the focus of the show and if it is not widely known by the audience.  To be safe in the No Book Talk threads, you can spoiler tag history that has not been mentioned yet on the show.

Can book readers post or like in the No Book Talk episode threads?

At the present time, we discourage it. While we will not warn or ban posters for slipping a little, we will move or hide posts without warning and penalize those are who hinting about the books. It ruins it for posters who want to remain unspoiled.

As a book poster, what happens if I like or post in the Non-Book threads?

If the post is innocuous, we may leave it. If in doubt about it, we may move it to a Book Talk thread or remove it without warning. The onus is on each poster to know which thread they are in.

How do you know if a poster has read the books or not?

We don’t. This is an honour system. While we have an idea on who posts in the book threads, we’re not going to militantly classify posters.

The number one rule on these boards is to be civil to your fellow posters and that includes being considerate that they do not get spoiled unnecessarily.

Therefore, we respectfully ask those who have read the books or are thoroughly spoiled to post in the Book Talk threads.

We hope this answers any questions. If you have additional questions or comments, please PM me. Thank you.

Enjoy and happy posting!

[Athena]

When a thread is tagged Book talk, you do not need Spoiler Tags for any of the books. Thank you. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

In this vein, I wanted to ask if it would be okay to create an Unpopular Opinion thread where buik talk was allowed?

[Athena]

4 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

In this vein, I wanted to ask if it would be okay to create an Unpopular Opinion thread where buik talk was allowed?

Go ahead as long as you apply the Book Talk tag.

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 minutes ago, Athena said:

Go ahead as long as you apply the Book Talk tag.

Thanks Athena! And will do!

[Athena]

Hello all,

As you may have noticed, book posters and non-book posters are now posting in both types of threads. While we no longer automatically hide posts, we evaluate each post on a case by case basis.

Book talk is still forbidden in the non-book talk threads. No hinting, no baiting, and no "keep watching" kind of comments are allowed either. This is rude and against forum rules.

Please be considerate of unspoiled posters and watch how you post if you choose to post in both threads.

Thank you. Happy New Year!

[Noneofyourbusiness]

The FAQ doesn't cover whether you can put book information within spoiler tags in No Book Talk threads.

[gingerella]

12 hours ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

The FAQ doesn't cover whether you can put book information within spoiler tags in No Book Talk threads.

Hi. I am not a mod but I wanted to say that definitely NO, we do NOT want book info, even in spoiler tags, in the NON BOOK threads.

Edited September 5, 2021 by gingerella

[Athena]

On 9/5/2021 at 3:13 AM, Noneofyourbusiness said:

The FAQ doesn't cover whether you can put book information within spoiler tags in No Book Talk threads.

As mentioned above, book talk is not allowed in the No Book Talk threads this includes spoiler tags. Thank you.