![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quinaraA certain witch of a certain peaty place nudged me towards putting my money where my mouth is in terms of meme-whinging (sorry about that, gang; it was a bit pathetic). So here is a meme about character deaths! Because killing characters is contentious, right...
1. Do you dislike, tolerate, or enjoy fiction or art that depicts people dying?
I enjoy stories where the stakes are high enough that dying is a risk - adventure/thriller stories mainly, though, so I like as many people as possible to make it out at the other end, having solved the puzzles, jumped the traps and tricked the bad guys in time for tea. So I don't really seek dying people, I suppose, but like death to be a present concern. I also like tragedies, and then the death's often mandatory...
2. How do you feel about ratings/warnings when it comes to depictions of violence or death?
I don't really care about ratings, but in visual arts I do think that they should be as much as a guide as they are for sex - I don't want to turn up to a 12 and see blood and guts flying everywhere, because I don't like it when it's unexpected. I find 'character death' a strange warning and tend not to use it - if I'm going to have someone die and it be enough to impact the tenor of the story, I'll usually use a 'death/grief' warning, as a comment that those are the issues involved (and will use it even when it's a canon death that only has reaction talked about in the fic).
3. Does what you'll consume vary depending on the medium or author?
I don't really like slasher films, whereas I definitely appreciate a good bit of heavily described gore in written fic - not sure why, but I think it's something to do with sensory description vs. shock value. I get much more enjoyment generally from processing words than processing images. Otherwise, I don't really have a list of authors I'll read one thing or the other in, but I'm more likely to read certain types of fic from authors I know rather than picking up that sort of fic from an author I don't. I'm generally not interested in deathbed fics, but will read them if they're put in front of me by authors I know, because I like to read...
4. To what extent do you think what you produce or consume is affected by personal/cultural/religious views/beliefs you have concerning death?
I'm fairly easy-going about death; I think it's impossible to know what happens and generally think it will be OK, whether I just end or transform into something else. My spiritual beliefs don't get very far, but I simply cannot believe that a hell exists, nor a heaven really, in any way that I'll be able to consciously experience as 'me' after I go - so I think in fic that extends to caring more about life/seeing all the other stuff as a bit of a game to be played with what's given in-'verse.
5. Are there any characters/groups of characters (apart from the 'bad guys') that you are happier to read dying than others?
I can cheat here and know that I originally conceived this as a question about minor vs. major character deaths, but couldn't express it in a way that made sense - generally, though, I prefer my deaths to mean as much as possible, so I actually prefer major over minor character deaths. Take BtVS S5, for example - I prefer the story of Buffy dying than Joyce (if they can be separated as stories), but that was also because Buffy's death came from a place of failing to avoid avoidable consequences, rather than 'she got ill, then had complications and died', which, sadly, didn't say much about Joyce, so much as meaning something for Buffy.
6. In terms of fiction, is there such a thing as a 'good death'? How would you define that?
I'm not entirely sure where to go with this question. I quite like characters choosing death for positive reasons (and when it is actually necessary/when the positive consequence they want can't be found another way). Old age deaths in fic, conversely, I tend to find over-sentimentalised, so don't think they're 'good' so much as 'too easy a way of bringing on the weepies'.
7. Do you prefer deaths to be explicitly depicted or to happen 'off-screen', if at all?
Both can work, depending on what they're doing, but generally I want my character deaths to mean enough that not seeing them would mean missing out on a significant part of the story they're involved in. Death shouldn't be cheap.
8. In general, do you have a preference/anti-preference for the perspective from which a character death is written/discussed, be it the dying person, the killer or a bystander/someone else?
Going back to my 'good death' answer, I think I have to say that I prefer to be in the perspective of the dying person, though it's not a strong preference by any means. I think the act of killing someone else can be really interesting too, actually, so the perspective of the killer can be interesting as well. I love writing about Buffy slaying things, though that's slightly different to 'character death' I suppose.
9. Are there any forms of violence you're more/less comfortable with than others?
I think I was going to say 'sexual violence' for this question, in that I don't like it. But actually, that's not entirely true, because a lot of the Spuffy sex I'm interested in messes around with sexual(ised) violence. I'm most comfortable with fantasy violence, I suppose, and the slaying of monsters, but always want the emotional dynamics to be considered, even if it's just an acknowledgement that real things are dying here. Sexual violence should bring a certain dark and heavy flavour to a fic, as far as I'm concerned, and again be treated with acknowledgement of what's going on, but generally I'm happy with violence existing however if I know that's what I'm in for.
10. Are there any situations in which you think a death cannot/should not be 'bought back' either through resurrection or soap-style coma/amnesia retconning?
None that I can think of, though I tend to think that the more important something was for the story that preceded it, the less it should be bought back. Buffy's resurrection worked, though, I think because it made so much sense and was so important to Willow's story that it worked in conflict with what the death meant for Buffy's story. I'll happily read fics that randomly resurrect Anya or Wesley, though they aren't that common.
11. Will you produce/consume depictions of the afterlife/dimensions or realities beyond our own that are usually accessed through death?
Yes! All the time, as much as the mood takes me, though I tend to treat them like any other alternate dimension: there for a jolly and should be interesting.
12. Does it matter to you whether the afterlife depicted is positive/'heavenly', neutral or negative/'hellish'?
No. Although I sometimes find it harder to suspend my disbelief with heavenly dimensions than other ones. Hell is, as they say, other people, so spending an eternity with all my relatives would not be what I'd sign up for. But then nor would doing nothing. It's easier to create a 'hell' from something static, so I tend to believe them a lot more.
13. Does it make a difference whether the characters depicted in these realities have died or are 'just visiting'?
Actually, I do prefer stories about people 'just visiting' and then coming back to earth/getting rescued/retrieved after death. Fics about dead characters wandering up to the heavenly beyond tend to feel a little aimless to me, so, while I read them, I'm not very interested in writing about them.
14. Do you have any pet hates when it comes to depictions of death?
Not really. Apart from, I suppose, when 'tragic deaths' aren't what I would call a tragedy - so when deaths apparently follow on necessarily from situations and character quirks, only it turned out it was all a fake-out and not really necessary, or they aren't really about that character at all, but someone else. I like deaths to do characters justice, even if that's not very realistic.
15. What do you wish more stories containing character deaths would include?
Inexorable build up.
1. Do you dislike, tolerate, or enjoy fiction or art that depicts people dying?
I enjoy stories where the stakes are high enough that dying is a risk - adventure/thriller stories mainly, though, so I like as many people as possible to make it out at the other end, having solved the puzzles, jumped the traps and tricked the bad guys in time for tea. So I don't really seek dying people, I suppose, but like death to be a present concern. I also like tragedies, and then the death's often mandatory...
2. How do you feel about ratings/warnings when it comes to depictions of violence or death?
I don't really care about ratings, but in visual arts I do think that they should be as much as a guide as they are for sex - I don't want to turn up to a 12 and see blood and guts flying everywhere, because I don't like it when it's unexpected. I find 'character death' a strange warning and tend not to use it - if I'm going to have someone die and it be enough to impact the tenor of the story, I'll usually use a 'death/grief' warning, as a comment that those are the issues involved (and will use it even when it's a canon death that only has reaction talked about in the fic).
3. Does what you'll consume vary depending on the medium or author?
I don't really like slasher films, whereas I definitely appreciate a good bit of heavily described gore in written fic - not sure why, but I think it's something to do with sensory description vs. shock value. I get much more enjoyment generally from processing words than processing images. Otherwise, I don't really have a list of authors I'll read one thing or the other in, but I'm more likely to read certain types of fic from authors I know rather than picking up that sort of fic from an author I don't. I'm generally not interested in deathbed fics, but will read them if they're put in front of me by authors I know, because I like to read...
4. To what extent do you think what you produce or consume is affected by personal/cultural/religious views/beliefs you have concerning death?
I'm fairly easy-going about death; I think it's impossible to know what happens and generally think it will be OK, whether I just end or transform into something else. My spiritual beliefs don't get very far, but I simply cannot believe that a hell exists, nor a heaven really, in any way that I'll be able to consciously experience as 'me' after I go - so I think in fic that extends to caring more about life/seeing all the other stuff as a bit of a game to be played with what's given in-'verse.
5. Are there any characters/groups of characters (apart from the 'bad guys') that you are happier to read dying than others?
I can cheat here and know that I originally conceived this as a question about minor vs. major character deaths, but couldn't express it in a way that made sense - generally, though, I prefer my deaths to mean as much as possible, so I actually prefer major over minor character deaths. Take BtVS S5, for example - I prefer the story of Buffy dying than Joyce (if they can be separated as stories), but that was also because Buffy's death came from a place of failing to avoid avoidable consequences, rather than 'she got ill, then had complications and died', which, sadly, didn't say much about Joyce, so much as meaning something for Buffy.
6. In terms of fiction, is there such a thing as a 'good death'? How would you define that?
I'm not entirely sure where to go with this question. I quite like characters choosing death for positive reasons (and when it is actually necessary/when the positive consequence they want can't be found another way). Old age deaths in fic, conversely, I tend to find over-sentimentalised, so don't think they're 'good' so much as 'too easy a way of bringing on the weepies'.
7. Do you prefer deaths to be explicitly depicted or to happen 'off-screen', if at all?
Both can work, depending on what they're doing, but generally I want my character deaths to mean enough that not seeing them would mean missing out on a significant part of the story they're involved in. Death shouldn't be cheap.
8. In general, do you have a preference/anti-preference for the perspective from which a character death is written/discussed, be it the dying person, the killer or a bystander/someone else?
Going back to my 'good death' answer, I think I have to say that I prefer to be in the perspective of the dying person, though it's not a strong preference by any means. I think the act of killing someone else can be really interesting too, actually, so the perspective of the killer can be interesting as well. I love writing about Buffy slaying things, though that's slightly different to 'character death' I suppose.
9. Are there any forms of violence you're more/less comfortable with than others?
I think I was going to say 'sexual violence' for this question, in that I don't like it. But actually, that's not entirely true, because a lot of the Spuffy sex I'm interested in messes around with sexual(ised) violence. I'm most comfortable with fantasy violence, I suppose, and the slaying of monsters, but always want the emotional dynamics to be considered, even if it's just an acknowledgement that real things are dying here. Sexual violence should bring a certain dark and heavy flavour to a fic, as far as I'm concerned, and again be treated with acknowledgement of what's going on, but generally I'm happy with violence existing however if I know that's what I'm in for.
10. Are there any situations in which you think a death cannot/should not be 'bought back' either through resurrection or soap-style coma/amnesia retconning?
None that I can think of, though I tend to think that the more important something was for the story that preceded it, the less it should be bought back. Buffy's resurrection worked, though, I think because it made so much sense and was so important to Willow's story that it worked in conflict with what the death meant for Buffy's story. I'll happily read fics that randomly resurrect Anya or Wesley, though they aren't that common.
11. Will you produce/consume depictions of the afterlife/dimensions or realities beyond our own that are usually accessed through death?
Yes! All the time, as much as the mood takes me, though I tend to treat them like any other alternate dimension: there for a jolly and should be interesting.
12. Does it matter to you whether the afterlife depicted is positive/'heavenly', neutral or negative/'hellish'?
No. Although I sometimes find it harder to suspend my disbelief with heavenly dimensions than other ones. Hell is, as they say, other people, so spending an eternity with all my relatives would not be what I'd sign up for. But then nor would doing nothing. It's easier to create a 'hell' from something static, so I tend to believe them a lot more.
13. Does it make a difference whether the characters depicted in these realities have died or are 'just visiting'?
Actually, I do prefer stories about people 'just visiting' and then coming back to earth/getting rescued/retrieved after death. Fics about dead characters wandering up to the heavenly beyond tend to feel a little aimless to me, so, while I read them, I'm not very interested in writing about them.
14. Do you have any pet hates when it comes to depictions of death?
Not really. Apart from, I suppose, when 'tragic deaths' aren't what I would call a tragedy - so when deaths apparently follow on necessarily from situations and character quirks, only it turned out it was all a fake-out and not really necessary, or they aren't really about that character at all, but someone else. I like deaths to do characters justice, even if that's not very realistic.
15. What do you wish more stories containing character deaths would include?
Inexorable build up.