tags are confusing.

[amalnahurriyeh]

Would you tag a story where a character has a terminal illness, has stopped treatment, and is discussing their mortality and end-of-life decisions with a friend or family member with "major character death" if they don't actually die in the course of the story? I can see arguments on both sides; on the one hand, nobody dies. Everybody alive when

Comments

[amalnahurriyeh]

Well, but how many fics have you read where terminal illness is solved via ~~magic~~? (Or do I just read shittier fics than most people, lol?)

I also realize I don't know how to write an actual summary. Mine are all artful gestures at the tone and substance of the piece without actually summarizing anything.

[wendelah1]

Tags are optional so I wouldn't worry about it.

[amalnahurriyeh]

Well, but one wants not to be an asshole. And I actually like providing useful tags on my work, especially since I'm the type of person who both uses tags to judge a story, and uses tags to find other stories containing similar elements.

Plus, it's actually interesting, as a case of semantic categorization--what does 'major character death' mean? Does it mean major in the context of the story, or of the fandom? Does the death need to occur on screen, or during the time of the story? Under which conditions do canonical character deaths count, and which ones? Etc etc etc.

[wendelah1]

Huh. Other than pairing tags and character tags, I never use them to find fic. Sometimes I put them on fic at AO3, sometimes I don't bother. I don't think of myself as an asshole. Tags are optional. There is no right way to do tags. So, just do whatever makes you happy.

I don't think there are a lot of people searching for fic featuring terminal illness so I'd leave it off if you want people to read the story. Put it in the author's note or as a screened warning if you must. If it's the story I'm thinking of, I'd put no warnings on it at all, use "author chooses not to warn." I think stories like that have more impact on a reader without the spoilers. YMMV.

Personally, I think canon deaths are freebies. You can warn for them if you want, but I don't think it's necessary. Major character death means death of a major character. Like killing off Scully or Mulder as part of your plot. Mulder's canon deaths don't count. Again, YMMV.

[amalnahurriyeh]

I agree about canon deaths being freebies, as long as you somehow indicate "spoilers through xxx."

Mulder's canon deaths don't count. Again, YMMV.

Well, since they don't appear to count in canon, either... :)

This is actually a new story! Apparently now I am on a "let's write stories about people stoically accepting the circle of life" kick now! Sigh.

[amyhit]

I think "terminal illness" should be enough, but in that case I think it would be nice if you specified in your author's notes that it's a major character who is terminally ill. Or you could make you own tag - something like "preparation for death" - if that wouldn't be giving too much away?

[amalnahurriyeh]

I am a firm non-believer in the "giving too much away" concept. Like, yes, sometimes there are essential plot twists that you don't want to expose--I'm thinking of how I explicitly marked all of my prompts for Redshirts as spoilery for Yuletide, and how I was very careful with the status of Casey for a good long time after the publication of MOF--but something like that seems more like establishing the conditions under which the story is taking place, you know?

It's funny, because the piece itself is going to be quite short--perhaps 2K or so--and exists as a stepping stone to a broader universe, in part to specifically indicate "x is dead" and "y has had the following life events." So, like, this shouldn't be a big deal. But I am, naturally, overthinking things.

woof woof

[recliners]

I like the idea of warning readers how heavy the plot may be. "Terminal illness" sounds like a good compromise for the transition between life and death, though it might scare off readers looking for fluffier material. I sometimes choose to read by tags alone, but you don't want to give everything away...whipped cream!

Re: woof woof

[amalnahurriyeh]

Ha ha ha, this bit is not fluff. It is plot advancement. With DEATH and BABIES. (Um. No dead babies. I should make that very clear.)

I started putting an "angst-o-meter" on the top of all my fics once I was writing in the Caseyverse, because people needed to know if they were getting into fluff about the magical Scully-Mulder family, or if they were getting into LET'S CRY ABOUT MULDER BEING ACTUALFAX DEAD. Because it cut both ways, yanno? I think it's a good practice. Sometimes you want angst. Sometimes you want to laugh.

[maybe_amanda]

'Canonical' AO3 tags - it is to laugh.

If you are really concerned but don't know how to tag it, you can put a note at the beginning a major character has a terminal illness, but does not die in the course of the story, and that serious end-of-life issues are dealt with (if they are?). But don't sweat it. Really.

[amalnahurriyeh]

I just like to be able to communicate effectively with my readers! It's interesting, Sherlock is the first fandom where I've read a lot on the AO3, which means that I'm getting used to how tags are used to communicate on it. It can be really fascinating. (And of course I used to use the pairing & genre tags on Gossamer the same way. I think I found a new fandom because I had already read literally ever fic on there classified as Mulder/Scully, category: angst & romance.