BSV Forum - General - The Bloodshedpub
Secondary character death warnings - necessary spoilers?
Let's say, hypothetically speaking of course, an author -- not me; a uh, friend...
-- kills off a key character who isn't Spike or Buffy, and feels that putting up a warning could possibly spoil the ending. Do readers need this warning? Or is it okay to leave it as a surprise?(And mods, if authors must put in character death warnings no matter who it is, then that answers my question, too.)
Devilish billionaire Spike Pratt is accustomed to getting what he wants -- and what he wants is his beguiling, headstrong new daughter-in-law, Buffy. This won't be an easy chase... Crave, by NautiBitz. Join NautiFic to read (open membership, all are welcome!).
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Nope, character death is not something you have to warn about - rules wise. Esp if it isn't Buffy or Spike.
-- That was me being a mod, as for personal opinion, I prefer to be warned about a character death if it is going to have a strong emotional impact on me. Especially if it happens toward the end of the story and whatever grief one may experience won't be resolved by the end of the fic. (Yes, I know, grieving for a fictional character, makes me sound a bit daft, can't think of a better word though.) If it happens early on, or with enough stuff coming afterward that the impact is dampened by the time the story is finished, I don't mind so much. It's up to the author whether they want to warn about CD though, I know quite a few people consider it a spoiler and prefer not to use it.
Ugh, sorry if this is slightly incoherent. Am talking to my mom on YM while writing this, and switching languages like this is not something I'm good at.
ETA: Seeing Always_jbj's comment, I should probably add that I'm a huge spoiler whore; I frequently read the endings of books or fics before the rest. As far as I can tell, that's a rather unusual mindset, so you should probably mostly ignore my opinion.
I'll think of something, I'm sure. ?
;D
(Personally, as a reader, I only need to know if Spike or Buffy is going to die. Permanently, that is -- if they're eventually resurrected, there's no need for warning. Like you, Dia, I like to be warned in advance that I'll be experiencing a total emotional meltdown. But other characters, I can usually handle.)
Devilish billionaire Spike Pratt is accustomed to getting what he wants -- and what he wants is his beguiling, headstrong new daughter-in-law, Buffy. This won't be an easy chase... Crave, by NautiBitz. Join NautiFic to read (open membership, all are welcome!).
