Anna posed an interesting question a while back about the deaths of minor characters (Mayson Drake, Dan Scardino, Jack [whose last name I cannot recall]) as opposed to the deaths of major characters (Lois, Clark, Perry, Jimmy), and I haven't seen an answer to it. Is it a deathfic if Lex dies? Or do we applaud that and write filksongs about it?

Is it okay to knock off Lana Lang? How about allowing Clark's or Lois's parents to die in the far future? Or is that a no-no, too?

What about criminals who try to trade their heads for Clark's (Spenser Spenser)? Is it okay to quick-freeze them and then shatter them like a cheap mirror?

I guess what I'm ranting about are guidelines. If there are any, I don't know what they are. I respect the preferences of those who don't want to read deathfic, but those of us who consider death to be a viable plot twist need to know how to label it when we do bump off somebody. I understand not wanting to see Lois or Clark die. I did a story last year where the alternate ending (which I did not post) saw Lois die and Lana live on. I didn't use that ending for a number of reasons, one of which was that I wanted to see Lois live on. But should that story have been labeled a deathfic? I honestly don't know.

Assuming that the character in the story is someone I like, having that character die for no good reason is extremely unsatisfying to me. It smacks of cheap opportunism and an attempt to shock the reader instead of uplift him or her. If, however, Lois were to die while preventing a nuclear war which would cost millions of lives, it would be something I could read and understand and even applaud, since she would have died to save the lives of others.

Having written that, I also understand that there are those who would not want to read that story irrespective of the nobility of the sacrifice. No problem. I have written before that not everybody likes everything, and that's perfectly okay. I am less drawn to the emotional aspects of Lois and Clark than I am to the dramatic potential. Doesn't mean I won't read the angsty relationship stories, or that I think they shouldn't be written, it just means they aren't my favorite.

It's the same reason I almost never flip over to the N-fic folder. The few things I've read there appear to be cheap attempts at soft porn, and I frankly don't care for it. So I don't read it. Doesn't mean someone else can't write it or read and appreciate it. But I'm glad it's over there, clearly labeled, so I know what I would be getting into.

From now on, if anyone dies in any of my stories, I will put a warning in the WHAM folder. I would not want anyone to feel cheated or tricked into reading something they would prefer not to. And please don't take this as petulance, because it's not. I really do appreciate the viewpoint of those who detest deathfic. I don't quite share it, but I do respect it.

You know, we never saw Asabi die in the series, either. Hmm...

Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.

- Stephen King, from On Writing