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If, however, Lois were to die while preventing a nuclear war which would cost millions of lives, it would be something I could read and understand and even applaud, since she would have died to save the lives of others.
I totally agree, Terry. This would have been a noble, selfless death, the kind of death that would have celebrated the life of the dead person.

This kind of deathfic may still depress me, but I'll never get infuriated by it. I'll never feel it was cheap. I'll never feel it sacrificed a character to cheap effect. I'll never feel that such a deathfic treats the dead person as if he or she was irrelevant in himself or in herself, as if that person only matters because others react to his or her death.

As for minor characters, I never like to see anyone die for no good reason. I don't want to see Lana or Mayson or even Dan Scardino die. I'd really feel upset about watching Jonathan or Martha die, or Perry. I could accept it, since they are old people, and as for Perry, we know he has "died" already. Or the actor who played him so memorably in the ABC show has died. It must be okay to write a fanfic story about Perry dying too, but I'll never like it much. (What about Jimmy dying? Frankly, I can't even imagine anyone writing such a story - well, except Tank! And, okay, I admit it - I do think Tank's death-of-Jimmy-fics are slightly funny. But I can't imagine anyone killing Jimmy for a, well, non-Tank reason. And I most decidedly wouldn't like it.)

I'll never be upset by the death of Luthor, on the other hand. Luthor is the sort of person who has done so many bad things, and who must really have so many enemies, that it can neither be surprising nor upsetting to see him die. And as for bad guys and villains in general, I'll never be upset by seeing someone die while they're trying to bring about somebody else's death.

But then, I'll never read a story just to wallow in a villain's death, either. And I'll never be sorry to see Luthor or any other villain survive. I'm never, and I mean never, here to read about anybody's death, just because I get some sort of a kick or a thrill out of it.

Ann