poll! KFZ!

[aimeelicious]

So I've been giving a lot of thought to character death in fic, and the fic header warnings that often come with them, but sometimes don't. In the interest of fostering a dialogue on the topic, I've created a poll to gather some general information about reader preferences. This post/poll is UNLOCKED, in the hope that some of you will be willing to PIMP it in your journals and hopefully encourage others to fill it out, as I'd like as much input as possible. ETA: I do plan on doing a results post based on this poll, so please know that your responses will not just disappear into the ether.

Feel free to answer the poll anonymously if you wish, and take over my journal for discussion, just don't get nasty! This has been declared a kerfuffle-free zone (KFZ).

[Poll #450697]

ETA: Sorry for forgetting Smallville as a fandom...it's one of my faves and I left it off! Dang polls, can't edit them.

Comments

[starkittyn.livejournal.com]

I guess with my fics people know what to expect. I don't post outside LJ and if I write 'Dark' they know what to expect. So headers and disclaimers and even pairings have never been anything I worry that much about. I usually just say. 'This is pretty dark, folks.' or 'A bit of schmoop for you' not even saying the pairing because they know I just write Spangel (ok, there was that Spander and a little Spiles but I digress). If it's RPS or Human AU I'll tell them that too because a few of them would rather skip it and a lot of them would like to squeee. *g*

Well, I think that sounds wonderful but I think you're also assuming that you're going to have a sense of intimacy with your readers. I don't think that's going to always be the case. What if your work is recc'd on someone else's journal? In HP we have two major news outlets and several smaller rec lists that draw people to a person's work. I've been included on rec lists both on lj and on the web that I knew nothing about until a reader said that they were there from xyz list. I'm sure you have too. So, a potential reader is not going to know you or what your pairing and/or particular squick level may be.

I've contended that we as readers tend to find writers who write at our comfort level and when readers write *g* they also write at their comfort level as regards explicitness, phrasing, squick factors, headers and whatever else we might look for in reading/writing.

I think that another thing to consider though is that *everyone* may not have the same level of comfort as regards ... let's say disturbing themes. I know we can argue that if a person knows they tend to be sensitive to certain kinds of things in fic, then they ought to just not read it - say something labeled dark. And I'd agree with you. But we both know that people are going to click either out of curiousity or to challenge themselves or who knows why. I know I've seen people flamed for something in their fic that was warned for in their header which always begs the question, wtf were they doing reading something with a clear warning. We'll never know. But, if the warning is there, the reader has no one but themselves to blame. And speaking just for me, if I was reading something and it ended or contained an unexpected character death, I'm not going to go and flame the author.

What I may do is remember that the next time I see the person's name. I can think of a few people who write consistently disturbing fic, very well written too. More power to them. But I've learned not to click.

Another point is that not everyone responds the same way to something either profound or disturbing or intense, or whatever word we might use for content that puts the reader's emotions through the wringer. It may seem oversensitive, but I know even as an adult, I've been severely affected by something I've read or heard or watched, both positively and negatively. I don't think it's fair to say as some do, "it's only a story" as though that were an excuse for being inconsiderate of others.

In regards to your question of PoA, as a matter of fact, I knew about Sirius before I read it. I was slow to get into the HP fandom and the book had been out for a few months before I read it. I took into account the fact that the book is intended for children so that the death could not be that haunting before deciding to read it. So, I guess you could say, I preferred it with spoilers than without. I was happy to know about it ahead of time so I could be prepared. Plus, I sort of think Sirius is a selfish immature twit in the book.

I agree with you that I may be missing out on profound things that could impact me in a positive way, change my life as you said. But, I'm not participating in fandom or in entertainment as a whole in order to be changed. I'm participating in it for entertainment, relaxation, to spend time not thinking about my real life which is intense.

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate the chance to think about why I feel as I do.