Out of the Loop? Or Just Backwards?

[cat_77]

So there's this post over on fanficrants about whether or not a fic should warn for character death. Apparently, many people don't want to be warned about a character dying as it "spoils the surprise".

This seems... odd to me. We have warnings for non-con, slash, mpreg, crack, etc, but we're not supposed to warn for character death?

Personally, I prefer not to read death fic unless it's either related to a canon death, the death of an original character, or something in the far future where it is mentioned in passing (and that one is iffy). It's a fine source of angst, but I prefer to see how the main characters work through it, and not for the main characters to actually go through it, if that makes sense.

Some have suggested a general warning of "Dark Themes" instead. I could kind of see that, if you really don't want to say anything, but that could technically mean anything from non-con to death and a whole lot in between. At the very least, it is something warning people that this might not be something they want to read at a particular time.

Other arguments are that it turns people off of the fic as they might not want to give it a try. This is countered with people claiming they search based on the disclaimers for the fics they want, death fic included. And some people even say they want the disclaimer so they can try to guess what's going to happen throughout the fic.

Am I backwards/behind for wanting some sort of disclaimer? Too old for modern fandom for requesting it?

Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Comments

[johnnym77.livejournal.com]

I think I agree with the "dark themes" warning on some level. It depends on how much of a heads-up you want to give the part of the audience that hates reading death fic. If you read a story not knowing it's death fic and then (BAM!) a dead body shows up, it can be kind of pissy. On the other hand, it's like saying "Warning: This story may contain stuff you might have to deal with in real life at some point." So I can totally see not having it, too.

Hmmm...if I wrote fanfic, my argument might mean something.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

Talking with Coworker Writer Girl, she said something similar. She also pointed out that, in her fandom, people die all the time... they just don't stay dead (Buffy).

"Dark Themes" or simply "Dark" might at least give a heads up, but it might not always be enough for some people. You might be willing to put up with your characters in mortal peril, beat to a pulp, watching others die and go through horrible things, but you might not be willing to read about they themselves dying. Maybe it's just a wishful thinking/happy ending sort of thing?

[stacy-l.livejournal.com]

I don't like character death in a story either and find myself getting extremely angry when an author omits it in the warnings or author's notes or dislaimers, especially if I loved the story and it ended like that...that just ruins it all for me. Now they don't need to include it in all three of those areas just one would suffice, but I don't like stumbling across it and would prefer to have a warning about it somewhere.

I can understand both points/reasons people don't want to include the warning but I've always been told if you write a character death in a story you NEED to add it in the warnings or in an author's note. If you don't want to mention it outright then leave an author's note behind an LJ cut or similar.

Personally when I label my stories as "Dark Themes" the last thing that comes to my mind is character death. I don't consider that a dark theme at all. For me dark themes are ones where there may be slavery combined with much non-con or the story contains excessive graphic violence or you push the envelope just a bit over the edge (in a manner of speaking), you walk a fine line, the themes are disturbing, they deal with "taboo" issues, etc. I have a lot of stories that I label as "Dark Themes" but none contain character death. I don't see how character death can fall into the dark theme category unless it's a really cruel and unusual death. To me character death is character death no matter how you play it out and I'm not one who cares for it.

I don't consider you being backwards for wanting it. If you don't want to read it you shouldn't have to. And I think most authors should respect that...but that's just opinion of course.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

One person had a suggestion that I think I could go for: put it in text you can only see when highlighted. Give the reader the choice of knowing what's coming. Maybe something like, "Warning: Dark Themes - highlight for specifics" or something like that?

I agree that character death is something more than just "Dark" to me. Rape, slavery, disturbing images, mutilation equate "Dark" for me. Character Death = Character Death, Dark + More.

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Nothing ruins a story faster than having one of my beloved characters offed. I can count the number of death!fics I've read on one hand. In each case they were recced to me by someone who knew I didn't like death fics and in each case those *specific* stories worked for me in some way. But there's only about two that I'll ever reread.

I just don't get the whining about 'warnings ruin fic'. It's just not that hard to ignore it after you've decided you want to read it.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

I rather do not like main characters being killed off in ways other than canon. Original characters? Fine. They are yours to do with as you will (though I'd still prefer some warning - sometimes you just don't want to read about death). Future fic with the deaths occuring some time in the vague past and being remembered by someone? Okay. Again, rather like some comment like "Future Fic" to give me a heads up.

Maybe I just like to know what I'm getting myself in for when I start to read? Either that or, by the characters returning to their pre-set status of alive and well, I can insert the story into my personal canon.

[cleothemuse.livejournal.com]

I'm not fond of death fics, personally, and want to be notified if there's an impending character death. In the archive I run, there are actually two levels of warning for death fics: character death and temporary character death. Some folks will not read stories exclusively labeled "character death", so a number of authors are willing to "spoil" the story by assuring readers that all's well by the end.

[cat-77.livejournal.com]

I was explaining that to my coworker who also writes and she said she's seen similar things in her fandom as well. Character Death, Temporary Character Death, and Character Death (OC) don't seem like that difficult of warnings for me but, then again, that's just my personal preference.