Twelfth Niffle posted, and Fic Warning Musings

[kennahijja]

Just Niffled:
Out of the Bag by Bernice Russell [Minerva, Snape; gen; G]

Read Niffle, here.
Read story, here.

And a few comments about recent fics made me ponder a question I'd like to put up for discussion:
do you expect/want/dislike Warnings for character death at the beginning of a fic?

Personally, I've been writing my share of character deaths, and *really* don't like the idea of giving the conclusion to a story away at the very beginning. Especially not when there is supposed to be suspense or tension. I've just finished reading Cinnamon's Beautiful World (yes, that's a most definite FIC REC), whose ending practically tore my heart out, but it would have had less impact (and I'd have been extremely put out) if I had known the outcome beforehand.

On the other hand, I understand that there are people who don't like character deaths, and would prefer to have a warning to be able to avoid them.

Would warning for 'dark fic' in general be enough to hint that there might be character death? And if not, do you prefer an explicit warning that takes away some of the story's effect, or prefer no warning and walking into the open knife? ;)

Comments

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

I'm a spoiler-whore. Well, I honest one since I'm a co-mod of accio_spoilers. It's difficult to answer your question. I like spoilers because they don't *spoil* reading for me, I enjoy it whether I know what is going to happen or not. In some fics I certainly prefer to have character death warning, in some I don't care. But mostly I prefer to see the warning. I'm easily impressed and affected with such things, if I know that my favourite character is going to die beforehand, I'll still read but it'll be easier for me.

I wonder how you managed to read BW not knowing that he would die. It seems impossible because everybody and his brother spills it.

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

*a* honest one...

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

Definitely looks like an interesting group, but one I'd definitely steer clear of :). I *like* surprises :).

I wonder how you managed to read BW not knowing that he would die. It seems impossible because everybody and his brother spills it.

I only checked the first chapter to see if I liked it, and then downloaded the whole and read it at home without once looking at the reviews. I mean I suspected he'd die during reading, with my inner realist hoping he'd die and my inner sap hoping he'd not. I'd seen the story recced several times, but thankfully never with details...