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May. 30th, 2004 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sally_mariaI've been thinking about this topic since I read the new story ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alyburns has linked from her journal.
On Death Stories
In the various fandoms I have read in there have been different reactions to various topics, but one seems to get similar reactions in all of them; the subject of "death stories", stories which kill off one or more of the regular characters,
A lot of fans say they never read them, and it is the warning most asked for. Others say they like them or have to be in the right mood. I don't quite fall into any of these categories, so I've been trying to analyse what I like about some death stories and hate about others.
I've come to the conclusion that while I can enjoy sad stories, I hate miserable ones. The first may make me cry (and the good ones almost certainly will) but the second will just make me grumpy.
A sad story will be one in which the character's death means something - they may die achieving a goal or in old age after a good life. They will probably be shown being mourned by their friends and colleagues, though some good stories end with the death, particularly ones in which both or all the main characters die together.
In a ship/slash story both characters will probably die together, but if not the death will continue to mean something to them. They don't have to be miserable for the rest of their lives, but they must continue to remember their loved one. They may love again because they know the one they loved would want them to be happy.
In the end, a sad story can be uplifting. It will make me cry but also feel that this was a good ending for the story of the character or characters.
A miserable story on the other hand, can sometimes have the death almost as an after thought. The writer doesn't seem to care about the character, they are an obstacle rather than the point of the story. Others have the character die out of despair, the character has been let down or abandoned by his friends. (Some of these can be well written, but they still don't work for me). Some have pointless deaths, achieving nothing and their colleagues go on as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, a pointless death followed by a suicide from the surviving partner can be pretty miserable as well - especially if there is no hope of being together again.
A miserable story is not uplifting, just depressing. It probably won't make me cry but it can leave a nasty taste in the mind, only to be cleared by reading lots of happy stories.
Now I have no idea whether these categories make sense to anyone but me - or whether my explanation helps at all. But maybe I'm not the only one who feels this way, or someone else can help make the whole concept clearer
alyburns has linked from her journal.On Death Stories
In the various fandoms I have read in there have been different reactions to various topics, but one seems to get similar reactions in all of them; the subject of "death stories", stories which kill off one or more of the regular characters,
A lot of fans say they never read them, and it is the warning most asked for. Others say they like them or have to be in the right mood. I don't quite fall into any of these categories, so I've been trying to analyse what I like about some death stories and hate about others.
I've come to the conclusion that while I can enjoy sad stories, I hate miserable ones. The first may make me cry (and the good ones almost certainly will) but the second will just make me grumpy.
A sad story will be one in which the character's death means something - they may die achieving a goal or in old age after a good life. They will probably be shown being mourned by their friends and colleagues, though some good stories end with the death, particularly ones in which both or all the main characters die together.
In a ship/slash story both characters will probably die together, but if not the death will continue to mean something to them. They don't have to be miserable for the rest of their lives, but they must continue to remember their loved one. They may love again because they know the one they loved would want them to be happy.
In the end, a sad story can be uplifting. It will make me cry but also feel that this was a good ending for the story of the character or characters.
A miserable story on the other hand, can sometimes have the death almost as an after thought. The writer doesn't seem to care about the character, they are an obstacle rather than the point of the story. Others have the character die out of despair, the character has been let down or abandoned by his friends. (Some of these can be well written, but they still don't work for me). Some have pointless deaths, achieving nothing and their colleagues go on as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, a pointless death followed by a suicide from the surviving partner can be pretty miserable as well - especially if there is no hope of being together again.
A miserable story is not uplifting, just depressing. It probably won't make me cry but it can leave a nasty taste in the mind, only to be cleared by reading lots of happy stories.
Now I have no idea whether these categories make sense to anyone but me - or whether my explanation helps at all. But maybe I'm not the only one who feels this way, or someone else can help make the whole concept clearer
