But that is what the WHAM warning thread is for - as an alternative for authors who don't want to put a warning at the top of their story.
Oh, I know that, Wendy. But, taking a peek at that WHAM thread, it appears that most authors are placing their warnings at the beginning of their stories instead. Perhaps that's personal preference, perhaps it's forgetting about the existence of the warning thread. For people who need warnings, the fact that they are included at all is appreciated, I'm sure.
But for those who have an intensely negative, visceral response to deathfic, it may not be enough if the wham warning does not mention that there is a death of one of the major characters. But since we all understand that many authors don't want to give too much away at the beginning, a few brief words at the end of the post - or in the warning thread - might help keep everybody happy. I was simply reiterating the suggestion since it seems that it's the best possible compromise.
has there really been a spate, or even so much as a trickle, of deathfics without warnings?
Well, I haven't seen any posted without ANY warnings. But although the wham warnings for two of the vignettes strongly implied character death to me, they never actually "said" it. This would be an example of where the word "deathfic", posted somewhere where people could find it BEFORE reading, would be helpful for those who require the warning.
Kathy
