I've really tried very hard not to post again (honestly!), but Sheila's great rating proposal did me in. It works! I say we encourage mbs Admin to adopt it. laugh

But now, since I find myself here .... personal opinion warning.

Part of the issue is that when we read fanfic we bring with it the baggage from the show - we already know and care for both the characters of Lois Lane and Clark Kent (and if we don't why are we hanging out on mbs dedicated to Lois and Clark?) . So when a fic kills either character prematurely or even begins with one of them dead, I am, as a reader bereft, a place I don't want to be. (been there in RL - it's not a great place and it's not one you ever truly leave)

For me, such a story is definitely a deathfic - I want to know upfront and not spend time reading a story only to find out the author has eliminatd one of the characters I love.

What about the secondary characters (Perry, Jimmy, the Kents, Ellen, Lucy, Cat?) That's distressing, too, although it depends on their age - Martha, Jonathan, Perry, set say 20 years in the future ...

Bill Henderson ... absolutely not, no, never, ever. A plea to death-writers, We'll give you Clark if you let us keep Bill!

Now an admission - I've written stories in which characters (not the bad guys) have died (well, okay, I as the writer killed them frown - the smoking keyboard is in my house.) I don't know what to think about that now.

Quote
OTOH, why would so many get truly upset by Lois dying in a story? Probably because the intent is to explore Clark's grief in most cases.
Yes, the "woman demoted to plot device" use which others have mentioned. But more than that - also because Lois is a character in her *own right* for whom many of us care a great deal.

Quote
This is why I hesitated to post those first tentative parts of Atonement. My brain said it wasn't a deathfic because Lois was already dead.
I'm not sure it's as easy as that for some readers to accept though because she already exists so firmly in our minds and hearts. She's not an orginal character whom we've never met before.

Quote
My heart, however, was telling me that my honest intention was most likely to explore Clark having to face the choice of going back in time in an attempt to save her. That is very much directly related to her death and his grief over it. How can it not be? Will it ultimately be considered a deathfic by anyone else?
Yes, unless at the end he has made the decision to reverse time (as he did in the frist Reeves movie smile )

Btw, I was really excited when I first saw Beverly had posted a new fic - one of my favourite writers from the past. Sanctuary is terriffic.

Which bridges to nfic smile

Way too long a post already, though.

But, motion to adopt Sheila's warning system.

c