"Character Death" warnings and why I don't like them

[emmagrant01]

maeglinyedi recently posted one of her pet peeves about what people warn for in fic, and it got me thinking about what mine are.

And hands down, no questions, the biggest one is people warning for character death.  There are several reasons I don't like this warning, listed in order of importance.

1. It is a SPOILER for the story!  If you tell me someone is going to die, then you've already given away the ending.  It descreases my enjoyment of the story significantly, because I spend the whole time reading wondering who it's going to be.  (This was true for me when I read OOTP too.)  In other cases, it ruins the story to the extent that there's no point in reading it.

To highlight the spoiler issue, let me use a film as an analogy: at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan, we see an old man visiting a cemetary, which fades into a shot of Tom Hanks about to storm the beaches of Normandy.  So we're set up to believe that the old man we saw before was Tom Hanks, and we spend the movie wondering if he's going to find Private Ryan or not.  So when the Hanks character dies, it's a surprise, and it's one of the most powerful moments in the film.  It makes the ending, where Ryan is kneeling at a grave and praying that this sacrifice was worth it, work.  If you went into that film knowing that the Hanks character was going to die, it would be a different, less emotionally powerful experience.  Or worse, if you just knew that someone was going to die, it would be distracting; you wouldn't get the same enjoyment out of the film.

Authors put death in fics, films, and books because it's part of life.  Moreover, it generally sneaks up on people: they're happily going along, and then someone dies and their world is shaken.  There is often not a warning.  I don't want a warning.  I want to be just as surprised as the characters were.

2. I think that authors warn for such things because they have been or are afraid of being flamed if they don't.  Now think for a moment about what that means -- a small group of readers are demanding that a writer tell them in advance what they might not potentially like about her fic.  Does that make any sense at all?  First of all, why would anyone want to tell people they might not like their fic, in advance?  But second, doesn't that sound a bit too much like conservative groups demanding that networks and film studios more carefully censor material that may be considered offensive?

Readers need to take some personal responsibility.  If you read a well-written fic that contained some content that disturbed you, that's your problem, not the author's!  It's not the author's job to hold your hand and reassure you that the fic will turn out exactly the way you want it to.  If you want a different ending, write your own fic.

3.  There is no other form of media that is required to warn for character death in advance.  If I go to Book People and pick up a few novels, I'm not going to see a warning on the jacket for character death.  In fact, there would probably be a public uproar if there were such warnings, from authors and readers alike.  Film trailers don't contain warnings for character death, either, for exactly the same reason.  Why should they spoil the story for their viewers? 

I understand that some people don't like to read stories with unhappy endings, but it isn't my responsibility as a writer to list off every possible thing you might not like about my story.  I write the story I want to write, and I post it.  People  will read it or not, for a variety of reasons, and I have no control over that.  But in particular, I can't predict how a reader will react to my story.

So what do you think? 

ETA: Oh, and if you haven't seen Saving Private Ryan in the six years since it came out, I have indeed spoiled it for you. Just for future reference, how many years have to pass before it's okay to talk about how a movie ended?

PS: Oh, and Darth Vader is Luke's father! Damn, I did it again. Silly me. :-P

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

In short: there is a multitude of fics which are (badly) written around a character death. It seems more of a "kink" or "summary" than what you outlined, comparable to warnings for "dark fic" or "non-con".

[helvirago]

This is the thing for me -- it's not so much that I can't deal with being surprised by a death, in a decently-written story, but rather that there's a whole set of stories in which character death is something of a fetish. And those are often the ones in which you get not just no warning but a whole story of upbeat romantic niceness and then -- boom -- death because the author thinks it somehow makes the story sophisticated or arty.

I'm not explaining that well, I know. In essence, if you don't put a character death warning on something that deserves it, I won't mind. I trust you, as a writer, not to give me "And as they stared deeply, longingly into each other's eyes, finally binding their love for eternity, at last having overcome all the horrid obstacles that kept them apart for so long, Rudolphus Lestrange stuck a dagger through the back of Draco's head so it came out through his eye. Harry killed Lestrange and committed suicide. The end. Please review!"

Mind you, if I haven't already stopped reading such a story by that point, I guess I deserve whatever I get. But anyway.

[capra-maritimus.livejournal.com]

Personally I'd rather not put any warnings on my fic, but as you say, some people get stupid when a fic doesn't go their way. I'd rather drive those people away with the warnings. *shrug*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

LOL! Now that's an interesting idea. You might enjoy mrshammill's example of a generic warning below. :-)

[sorion.livejournal.com]

Ah.. Death warnings... I've seen several discussions about that.
At the moment it is seen as fanfic etiquette to warn the readers of major character deaths. That doesn't mean the writer actually has to warn about it... (But chances that he/she gets flamed are high.)

As for me, I prefer the warnings, since I don't want to read Death fics.
If there isn't one and I have my suspicions about the ending, I have a peek. *shrugs* That's just me... I don't want to read a story that'll depress me in the end.
There are exeptions... But very, very few.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I just dislike the fact that a writer is expected to post a warning that's a spoiler for her story. I know people have different expectations for fanfic, but why should the responsibility be on the writer?

[charlotteschaos.livejournal.com]

... Book People? You are in Austin? *blinks* Whoa. Small world.

Anyways, I'm not sure I gave it much thought whether to warn for character death in my fic or not. I suppose I just put it in as a courtesy. Although you're right, that is sort of silly. If I've labeled the story as Angst/Drama then you should be ready for some... you know... angst and drama, which might include some death and bad words.

I do agree that knowing someone was going to die in OotP kind of left me second guessing who I was going to lose.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think labelling fics by genre is plenty of information for a propsective reader. Saying something is fluff, or angst, or kink gives me plenty of information. Along with a decent summary, it's just as much information as I'd have walking into a movie or buying a book.

I've warned for drug use in the past, and I wonder why I did that now. I must have thought people would want to know, but it seems silly!

[zhonnika.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the warnings though, because I don't like -- at all -- reading most character death fics. Yeah, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, I know :P But, really, I don't like angst on a whole very much so *shrug*

[starkittyn.livejournal.com]

That's exactly my feeling as well. I don't like character death of any kind in a fanfic. (I wasn't so crazy about it in Order of the Phoenix either) Even by an excellent author, I tend to shy away. I suppose if it was killing off Voldemort that'd be okay but...yeah, so not my barrel of monkeys so I prefer the warnings.

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

Having recently finished a fic in which pretty near everybody dies, quite gruesomely, I can assure you that I'm conflicted over the issue. I don't like warnings, generally, and don't read them myself. If a story takes me to a place where I don't want to go, I stop reading it. That's pretty much true of every genre, and is part of the reason why I couldn't finish Gangs of New York -- it wasn't the fact that Liam Neeson died at the beginning, it was the sheer buckets of blood and gore. Couldn't take it.

I don't really like warnings, though I understand many people do and I do try to cater to the masses as much as I can. If I feel that a warning would spoil the fic, then I try hard to 'warn for the warning', in a sense. Tell people, some of you might not like this, so there's warnings at the bottom, or whatever. But you're right about number two, you can surely get screamed at for no warnings.

As an aside, I once got what amounts to a standing ovation after posting the following warning on a Sentinel fic: "I truly hate warnings, I never read them, and it was only on 'advice of counsel' that I added the 'partner betrayal' up there, I don't believe there is. However, in this fandom, it appears I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, so. WARNING: This fic contains many words. Some of them may be arranged in ways you do not like. If so, I apologize, and remind you that life sucks sometimes." Lori has done similar on some of her fics, as well.

Eh. I think possibly the best compromise is to just post the warnings... those who don't like them won't read them, and those who 'require' them will be happy (and silent).

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

WARNING: This fic contains many words. Some of them may be arranged in ways you do not like. If so, I apologize, and remind you that life sucks sometimes.

That is one of the best warnings EVER! *grins*

But spoiler warnings are sometimes hard to miss. The whole post was inspired by such a fic -- a WIP that was being posted on LJ. When it got to the chapter where the death occurred, the author not only warned for the death, but even told us in the headers who was going to die. In big capital letters. It completely ruined the story for me. :-P

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

What do I think? I think that if this is your subtle way to prepare us for the killing off of LMH!Harry OR LMH!Draco in the sequel, I am going to be one incredibly displeased and heartbroken fangirl. :((

OK, seriously. I think that writers can establish a lot of common ground with a reader with tone and foreshadowing, and that a lot of the time character death warnings are unnecesesary - if the tone of a fic is dark and angsty, there's no reasonable expectation of cuddlykitten endings. It's when a fic is generally upbeat, or hopeful, or whatever, that it gets me - because I DO emotionally invest in characters, and I don't want fic to mirror real life too heavily. I mean, if I wanted stark realism, I don't think I'd be reading Harry Potter fanfic. :)) Fic is my happy place, and I don't seek out angst or darkfic for just that reason. I want happily ever afters, because we don't get them in real life - we get happily enoughs for a little while.

That said, I don't think there's any need for a warning because the writer has to do her thing and more power to her, but as a reader I also feel justified in bitching/whining/complaining - it's part of the reader/writer pact to me. If I put in the time reading and commenting and supporting, and I'm not happy with what I see as a betrayal of that agreement, I feel like I get to tell you about it. (You better believe I'd be sharing my thoughts with Louisa May Alcott on the Laurie/Amy wedding if she were available to take comments.) I don't expect you to change the story, but that doesn't mean I can't be a big baby about it. :))

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I don't have a problem with all labels of course, just the ones that reveal the najor plot points of the story. Labelling a fic as a fluffy romance or an angsty drama gives me an idea of what to expect without giving anything away. But "Warning: Harry dies in this fic!" is just ridiculous.

And yes, readers have the right to complain, but it's interesting that fanfic writers feel so much pressure to conform to what a particular group of readers wants, even when it could potentially ruin their stories.

[norah.livejournal.com]

I like that. Because I love warnings. LOVE them. Then again, I don't mind spoilers and frequently seek them out, actually, when deciding whether or not to watch or read something. i've seen people put spoilers into white text that you can highlight to read; that's nice, too.

[sciencegeek.livejournal.com]

One of the things that most annoyed me about Book 5 was the little game Rowling was playing with the readers of I told you someone's going to die, and... oh my god! it's going to be a Weasley kid in Grimmauld Place! Ha! Gotcha! Nope, not one of them. It's going to be Arthur Weasley with the snake in the MoM! Ha! Nope! Gotcha again! It's going to be McGonagall, hit by too many stunners! Ha! Nope! By the time I finally got to Sirius' death, I just didn't care anymore. So many people had almost but not quite died, I couldn't work up any energy to care about yet another near thing. I think if Rowling hadn't done that, hadn't said before the book was published that someone would die, then she probably wouldn't bothered trying to mess about her readers like that. And I'd have been a slightly happier reader without all of that.

Word. Actually, when Sirius died I was like "What...he's really dead?" I half thought she was going to bring him back, and kill someone else.

[belleweather.livejournal.com]

Ironically, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, Not so much in general terms but because I have a praticular story that I have to decide whether to put a warning on. And it was making me nuts. I think that you've just given me the testicular fortitute not to issue a warning about it, because after thinking about it, it seems stupid.

I mean, in HP there's a lot of stories that revolve around war. And in war, people get killed. It seems like shoddy writing if the only people who die in a war are the minor or original characters. And there's the catch-22 of the warning it's self; if I put 'Character Death' in the heading, people believe that it's a main character who is dying and become less interested. If I let them know it isn't, then big peices of the plot are spoiled. If I leave it out, people get a false sense of security and hoot and holler at the end. There's just no winning from the author's POV.

What bugs me most is the way Character death warnings limit the themes you can take up in your story -- and themes about loss and uncertianty and death are there in canon. The Harry Potter books themselves don't come with stickers and assurances that Harry is going to make it out alive and I don't see why our work should either.

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

Actually the only one that is assured to make it per JRK (at least to the end) is Harry, and while she has made a few noises about Harry being killed she hints this is not to be.

[batagur.livejournal.com]

This is a hard issue to deal with. I for one prefer certain warnings. (I don't care for chan, for example). However, I see your point of when a warning is a spoiler. I try to respect the potential readers as they would or should respect me. If I need to be told not to read a fic because it contains chan, then certainly they should expect me to honor their wish of being told that the fic does not end happily. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Personally, I don't need such a warning because death fic does not bother me, but I recently read a journal entry by a person who was coming out of a major depression and was really trying hard to avoid death!fic as she recovered. She understood why the warning was an annoyance to some and was conflicted on how to proceed. I have to say, I felt for this person's predicament.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I actually think chan is a separate case. After all, it is illegal for adults to have sex with children, and the issue is extremely sensitive for most people. Fics that depict that sort of sexual activity are walking a very fine line, IMO, and warning for it is appropriate. But it's just not in the same class as one of the characters being killed in a battle scene.

In the case of the person you described above, it seems that genre labels should be enough information. It's highly unlikely that a fic labelled as "fluff" would contain an unexpected character death. On the same token, one would expect a fic labelled "drama" to have some depressing shit in it. And neither of those two labels gives away the plot!

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

Well I am for it for one reason, unlike a book or movie I can't peek at the end of a WIP to find out if it has a char death or sad ending or happy ending. That is my PREFERENCE, and while you don't want to know I do. Thus we have the WIP problem where I can't check and you don't. It is not required of an author though, so it is up to the writer if they should post that or not. I am sorry that it reduces your enjoyment of some stories though.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

But why should an author be pressured to post spoilery warnings for you that would ruin the fic for me? Why are your needs more important than mine? All I want is a chance to read a fic without having the plot given away in the headers. You can peek at the end of a fic, but I can't "unread" the spoiler.

My point is that the author should not be obligated to spoil her own fic.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Exactly! What she says!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Who?

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

I have one deathfic and I did warn for it, because being the n00b I was, I was told to.

however, on my site? not there.

I think what folks need to do is start writing book jacket blurbs instead of warnings. Isn't that what we base our decision to take a book home on? It's what I do mine, and word of mouth.

"Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon must face an inevitable truth. Youth does not always keep its promise."

There, I've not said anyone is dying, but it's obviously angsty. And frankly, from the first page? you know someone's dying.

[wisdomeagle]

... I don't read book jackets or back-of-book blurbs for the same reason I skim over headers on fics -- I don't want to be spoiled.

[tealin.livejournal.com]

There is no other form of media that is required to warn for character death in advance.

True, but fan fiction is unique in that it's essentially a community endeavor, with much more give and take between readers, writers, and editors (betas) than is found elsewhere. Thus, 'cultural' rules and established etiquette become more important.

Warnings, especially for character death, became customary years ago. Not everyone likes it, but it's an expected courtesy. As a compromise, many mailing lists used to ask that stories be posted with a 'part 0' which included all warnings. That way, people could read or ignore them at will. More recently, I've seen authors put the warnings on a linked page or in a footer section when posting to the web.

As an author, you don't have to do any of this. Many of your readers don't really want the info anyway -- they consider it spoilers. However, there's a sizable contingency that does want it. And if you can satisfy both groups with something as easy as putting a note at the bottom of the story, why not?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I agree that fan fiction is situated very differently than more mainstream forms of media, and that makes a difference. As someone commented above, the instant feedback capability provided by the internet has changed the relationship between writers and readers from the 'zine days.

I just think that authors should not be obligated to spoil their own stories. If your fic is labelled as a drama, someone looking for fluff will pass on by. Good summaries and ratings help as well.

I'm coming at this mostly from the perspective of a reader, since I haven't written any fic featuring a character death. I've seen so many stories posted with warnings that absolutely gave away the plot, and it made reading the fic pointless for me. If an author wants to find some sort of happy medium, fine.

[sciencegeek.livejournal.com]

I...dunno. I've read 'death' fics before, knowing someone will die, and I've read fics without being warned someone will die. It doesn't really bother me one way or the other. Mostly because I skim warnings, and generally miss it, so I'm surprised anyway, or I forget because I get caught up in the story. The only times I really pay attention to that warning is if I'm in a 'happy fic' mood and am trying to avoid that type of fic, or if I'm in the mood to read darker/death type fics.

After reading some of these comments, now I'm all worried about what happens in the LMH sequel.

[sciencegeek.livejournal.com]

I think tealin raised a good point/idea/whatever. If authors has a list of warnings, or what have you like angst, romance, post-Hogwarts, etc, then a link to all warning that would include character death would satisfy both crowds, I think. That way the information is there, if you want it, and if not, then you don't have to read it.

[maeglinyedi.livejournal.com]

I'm conflicted about this whole issue. I definitely agree that a character death warning can spoil a story for people. However, I don't always want to read character death stories. I have to be in a certain mood to be able to handle them. So personally, I'm quite fond of that warning, because I'd rather be spoiled than have to invest myself emotionally into a story and then have it crush me in the end with an unexpected death. If that makes sense.

I've seen authors who've found a pretty good solution to this whole issue. They put their warnings at the end of the fic as an A/N, and then say in the header: if you want to see any warnings, scroll down to the end. That way the people who like warnings can see them, and those who prefer not to get spoiled can read the fic happily as well. I think that's a nice middle-road solution for this whole issue. Though not a lot of authors seem to use it at this point, alas.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think there are definitely ways that authors can provide enough information for readers to make choices about what they want to read without having to give away the plot of their fic.

I don't like to be spoiled for a major plot twist by the author of the fic. I don't want to know "who done it", let alone that someone is going to die. I trust that a good author will do it in a way that brings meaning to her fic, and that it's an important part of her story. I'd rather have the experience of reading the fic and figuring that out for myself. People who insist writers warn up front are ruining the story for me, you know? :-P Why should their needs supercede mine? I can't un-read a spoiler in the headings, after all.

[awaywithpixie.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm just thick skinned, but I'm all for the wholesale removal of warnings at the front of fics. They serve very little purpose, other than to tell me exactly what cliches the writer is using. I rarely, if ever, read them. Very little can squick me, but I've been reading confronting material for a couple of decades now. A character death warning does stifle the flow of the story and cheapen the emotional impact.

The only warnings I've put in front of fics are disclaimers and warnings about inappropriate material. I like the idea of the sort of warning you might get on a tv show - 'This story contains violence and sex scenes'.

I was once forced to put a warning at the front of one of my fics, but only because it was 'ineligible' for the fest if I didn't put it there...

People need to learn the fine art of writing a summary instead - or a book jacket blurb. It is how published authors get their books read. Of course, stupid word limits on archives don't help the creation of a decent summary. I am usually guided by a well written summary rather than a list of obscure warnings. I am honestly beginning to wonder if we even need the slash warning, but then again, I'm not one of these conservative Christian types that gets offended at the drop of a hat!

Oh, and thanks for letting me know what happens in Private Ryan ;) Now I don't have to see the film. People have been telling me for years that I must see it, and now I don't have to bother. Another thing that doesn't bother me - spoilers. I live for them (says she who has to live by them if she expects any form of online existence - Australia is so far behind in every tv show) But lets leave the spoilers rant for another post ;)

And I agree with a few others - are you just softening us all up for what's about to come in LMH2?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I agree that we would all benefit from better summaries! Abotu the only thing I feel strongly about putting on my own fic is a rating and a summary. Oh, and a pairing.

I've warned for drug use in the past, and I'm wondering now why I did that? It was such a small part of the fic that it really wasn't that big a deal.

And this really has nothing to do with the LMH sequel! :-P

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you. It bugs me and it's been a big pet peeve of mine for awhile. I think warning for major squicks is fine: breathplay, chan, BDSM, noncon, mpreg;P, etc. But, I don't know, I just hate being spoiled.

I think good writing, using foreshadowing or darker atmosphere can alleviate the shock of a character death so that the reader doesn't feel cheated or used. And labeling a fic type as Angst or Dark can be enough of a warning, I think. SPOILER ALERT Someone mentioned Beautiful World upthread as an excellent example of a fic that doesn't have character death warnings, at least not when I read it, and ending would have been totally compromised imo if it had been alluded to in the heading.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I agree that major squicks are good to warn for -- especially chan, because it's just such a sensitive subject. And I'm not a big fan of BDSM, so I appreciate warnings for that too -- though I have to say that I've read stories where it was so well done that I really appreciated NOT having a warning in advance, because I would've skipped it. In most cases, you see heavy kink in PWPs, which I don't really read as a rule anyway.

Non-con and m-preg are two borderline ones for me as well. If a rape scene is an important part of a story, and if knowing about it spoils the story, then I'm not sure I want to know in advance. Same goes for m-preg. The best m-preg fics I've ever read were the ones where I didn't know it was coming!

In short, I guess I would just like the opportunity to read a fic in the way the author would present it in a world where she didn't have to fear being flamed for making someone unhappy. If she wrote something to be a twist or a surprise, then I'd like to experience it that way.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of authors putting warnings at the end, but I guess what bugs me about the whole issue is that writers feel an obligation to give away their plot in order for people to feel comfortable reading their story. None of us are doing this for profit, after all. As a writer, all I really want to do is write and post my fics. If people read them, fantastic! Readers aren't obligated to give an author feedback, or to rec a fic. She worked an untold number of hours in her spare time (while also dealing with kids and work, probably) to write a story, and she is then expected to assure people in advance that they'll like it, or face their flaming wrath? I'm sorry, but that seems a bit too demanding.

As a reader, I take my chances. Sometimes I get halfway through a long fic and realize I'm getting bored with it and that I've just wasted a few hours of my time. I'm not going to write the author and complain, and whine that she should have put a "this story sucks" warning on it so that I could have made a better choice. We're all here for different reasons, but we're all here in our spare time, too.

[sophia-helix.livejournal.com]

Oh, I despise most specific warnings, because I figure I'm not too fragile a reader to handle death, or shut a fic if I don't like it, and I desperately hate being spoiled for things. Which is why it's kind of ironic that you've just spoiled Saving Private Ryan for me and anyone else who hasn't seen it.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Which is why it's kind of ironic that you've just spoiled Saving Private Ryan for me and anyone else who hasn't seen it.

You know, it would have been pretty odd for me to put a warning on my essay about why I dislike warnings. Besides, that movie came out in 1998. I figured a 6 year buffer was safe enough.

Of course, I'm sure there are people who still don't know what happens to Anakin Skywalker in Episode 3. ;-)

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

Like a lot of people, I'm torn over this one. Yes, it's spoilerish, and yes, it takes away from some of the reader's responsibility - problem is, I HATE having a character I've come to love die.

I was caught out on this one recently, and yes, it was my fault for reading the end of a story that had a reasonable chance of character death at the end at work - but there wasn't a warning, and I kept hoping for a happy ending, which would have cheered me up no end that day. Instead I sat there trying not to cry in the office. My fault - YES totally.

I wish there was some compromise, some way of letting people who "need" to know, know (those of us with weak emotional constitutions), so that we can avoid and not be blubbering wrecks for the rest of our lives. This isn't an exaggeration - really angsty, sad, character death stories do have a profound impact on me, and upset me for a very long time (and those who read my recent ficlet can scoff to their hearts content - that was sick, not sad).

Therefore, as a perennial fence sitter, I'm going to agree with both side of this argument - but BEG you, PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE - dont kill off LMH Harry or Draco in the sequel, cause then I'll have to kill myself. : )

[florahart]

Drawing the line of warnings is hard--for instance, I *do* want to know genre and general tone. I may have no objection to reading rapefic, say, but may be having a particularly fragile sort of day and be not willing/able to read it today. Related to that: one thing I absolutely HATE in movies is when the advertising/marketing is apparently going after a particular demographic and they totally misrepresent the film, you know? And I see it two years later, reluctantly, and it's gorgoeous, but the advertising led me to believe something else entirely. Same for books.

The thing is, as has been repeatedly illustrated, warnings are kind of a way to protect the author from flames. Because they can say, DUDE, right there in the warnings, so if it's not your cuppa, don't read.

One obvious solution is a named anchor tag in the warnings that connects to essentially a footnote warning at the end of the fic. That works even not-on-LJ, so yay. On LJ, obviously it'd be nice if there were a convention to cut twice:

lj cut text=warnings
warnings
/lj-cut

lj cut text=story
story
/lj-cut.

You know? This wouldn't work for a drabble, but otherwise it would.

[iamrosalita.livejournal.com]

Hi. Got here through metafandom. I dislike warnings, especially death warnings because, like you, I spend the entire story wondering who's going to die and when. It totally ruins the story for me. I'll put the damned warnings on my stories when it's required by the list or archive, but on my site? No warnings. I have found that character death is better tolerated in some fandoms than others. I'm in Stargate fandom and you should have heard the wailing at the very suggestion that a death story carry a "warnings withheld" warning. The person who suggested it was accused of trying to trick people into reading her story so she could ruin their lives or something. As fabu suggested above, I've used the "disturbing content" on a death story and never got a complaint. But that was in XF fandom, which was fairly death story tolerant at the time.