Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Deathfic Debate- love 'em, loathe 'em, and everywhere in between...

I'm not sure why people feel the need to be defensive about the fact that they don't enjoy a particular genre in fanfic. Deathfic, angst, kid fic, whatever...personal taste will always apply.

Deathfic is just like any other genre - some people will like it, some people won't.

End of story.

For myself, there are very few genres that I won't read. I have zero interest in reading slash and avoid reading that genre when I find it in other fandoms. But that's about it. Well, kid fic. Don't usually have much interest in that, either. Although, unlike slash, there have been exceptions to that over the years which I have enjoyed immensely.

Deathfic is obviously not going to be to everyone's tastes. Well written deathfic is fine with me. Too much of it is maudlin for the sake of it. But, again, there have been marvellous exceptions over the years for me.

Everyone else should feel free to have their mileage vary and think no more of it. We don't question why some people like a certain published author or published genre. We just accept with natural logic that it would be a boring world if everyone liked the same stories. By the same token, why should we give a second thought to the fact that tastes vary on genres within fanfic?

If it suits your tastes, read it. If it doesn't, read something that does. Life's way too short to be wasting time reading things you don't enjoy.

And I'd second that disagreement on age being a factor on enjoying deathfic. I too have had my share of painful loss - and I'm sure I'm not the only reader of deathfic who has - but somehow it's never connected with reading deathfic. I don't see fiction as real life and so it has less impact emotionally on me. I know that for others fiction is much more real and that's probably more of a factor in whether you read deathfic or not, I think, than age. How deeply emotionally involved you become in the story. How real (or not) you view the characters. Which again, is just down to infinite diversity in readers. Neither viewpoint is more important than the other - both are equally valid as reasons for like/dislike of the genre.

EDIT: I've been musing on it further and I've come to the conclusion that deathfic gives me hope. I know...weird. But thinking back on the examples that have moved me over the years, most of them are in the 'Somewhere In Time' bracket. Clark or Lois existing in some form after death and their love continuing after they are gone. Not all of my favourites fit into that group, but they are the vast majority.

Another thing which affects whether I read deathfic or not is my mood of the day/week/month/hour. Sometimes I'm in the mood for comedy, sometimes for angst with a happy ending and sometimes for the odd deathfic that comes my way. It's all good.


LabRat