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

[bungee.livejournal.com]

So, my main response to all of those questions is this: if the author handles the death in a sensitive manner, there is no need for a warning. That is to say, fictional death should be viewed as a plot device (having characters die without warning for no purpose is ludicrous), but should also be handled with care, keeping the emotions of both the reader and the other characters in mind.

I'm not sure if I'm really expressing myself clearly, but I guess my point is that I've read some really well written death!fic that left me bawling, but that I would have objected to have a warning for. On the other hand, I've read un-warned fics where a character dies BAM! out of nowhere, in which case I would have stopped reading in the first paragraph or two if I'd been warned about the death.