Thirty Days of Fanfiction: Day Fifteen

[selenak]

15 - Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?

Ah yes, warnings. Last year

Comments

[likeadeuce]

I've never understood warning for character death! It seems to involve a basic misunderstanding of how fiction works. Though I can't really imagine something where I would kill a canon character who doesn't die in canon, anyway, I think I would reserve the right to kill off my own OC's?

One thing I have felt guilty about is writing prequel fic involving a character who dies traumatically in canon, and not actually alluding to that fact. I have a paranoia that someone who doesn't know the fandom will read the fic, get attached to the character, ask me about the canon, and then want to club me to death. Hasn't happened YET, but. . .

[selenak]

I've never understood warning for character death! It seems to involve a basic misunderstanding of how fiction works.

Same here. I suppose you could claim Shakespeare does it in the prologue chorus for Romeo & Juliet, but other than that. :) No, seriously, I don't get it.

One thing I have felt guilty about is writing prequel fic involving a character who dies traumatically in canon, and not actually alluding to that fact.

What, and you don't feel guilty for all your Hotspur stuff which might lead some innocent person to believe the guy actually shows up in more than one Shakespeare play? (Well, okay, fine, he's got a cameo in Richard II as well, but other than that...)

[likeadeuce]

Ha ha ha, the "my fics make people think the character is more CENTRAL than he/she actually is" would be a slightly different problem from the 'death' one (though I think my characterization of Harry is generally not of the sort that would deceive one into thinking he has a long, successful, and non fail-tastic political/military career ahead of him.)

And I was going to say something about not having any sympathy people who can be spoiled for history and/or classic works of literature, but that's not fair to everybody who hasn't gotten around to everything. It also reminds me of a story (re: your Romeo & Juliet reference) involving a production of West Side Story. I have an American-born friend whose husband grew up/was educated in India. They went to see WSS, and either he hadn't studied Romeo & Juliet in school or just didn't make the connection to the storyline. Because, having been raised on Indian movies, he saw a story of star-crossed lovers in musical form and assumed it was the American equivalent of a Bollywood movie and

[selenak]

Muhahawwaah, she said heartlessly. Mind you, the thing about R & J - and to a lesser degree also about WS - is that up to a point it could very well be one of the romantic comedies, so your friend's husband wasn't entirely to blame for his assumption...