main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Characters The OC Revolution | NEW! 2Q 2024 Challenge Is Up: Friendship

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by OCDatabaseSock, Sep 28, 2012.

  1. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    I had a Judi Dench OC too! I killed her off in that mass OC slaughter epic, but she was one of the few who died of old age. She was an arts professor. I need to write more about her though. She lived for 93 years and I introduced her when she was already past 90, so there's a lot of backstory to write.

    I've come to hate content warnings as spoilers that ruin my experience as a reader. I read here on the boards a story that spoke of someone who had committed suicide; the story wasn't about the actual act of suicide but about the emotional fallout for a parent. It was wonderfully written with a lot of finesse and subtlety and I wish I hadn't read the content warning so that I would discover through the writing what had happened.

    More generally I feel that specific content warnings for anything that happens off stage aren't necessary. I use them only when I know that the reader will actually witness death or violence in the chapter; otherwise a general comment in the story's intro blurb is enough (e.g. "PG-13 for references to drug use").
     
    Findswoman and Sith-I-5 like this.
  2. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    You can always hide a character death warning under a spoiler tag. I've put up trigger warnings for graphic violence or disturbing situations, such as domestic abuse or drug use. But I agree, it can be done without spoiling the story.

    I have an ongoing "conversation" with a work colleage who disagrees with any kind of trigger warning. (He's of the "buck up, buttercup - life is tough" variety :rolleyes: ) But I think it's no more than we are already used to with disclaimers for mature content or language advisories that we take for granted in the start of tv shows or movie ratings.

    I don't know if I would be specific as to a character death - I wouldn't post "hey look out - I kill off Luke here by having him thrown off his pet bantha" -- but I would indicate in the preface to the actual story that a character death will occur.
     
    Ewok Poet, Chyntuck and Findswoman like this.
  3. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Last year I wrote a DDC with the intention to kill the narrator from the very first day. It went quite well, and I think I handled his death in a way as honourable as I could. Personally, I think readers' feelings matter to a certain extent and that the characters' deaths must not be in vain. So, basically, I am more or less echoing what Findswoman said above. :p
     
    Findswoman likes this.
  4. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    so are we supposed to PM the sock or the controller with our stories?
     
  5. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    I think you should feel comfortable PMing either mod if you are unsure if the work exceeds the TOS but otherwise it's not a big deal.
     
  6. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    No I'm talking about to submit my OC challenge should I PM OC database sock or early bird obiwan? Or does it matter?
     
  7. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    Lol! Sorry, thought you were continuing the previous conversation.
     
  8. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014

    Best to PM her at the OCDatabaseSock account, so that she has all the challenge submission messages together in the same place. :)
     
    Ewok Poet and DARTH_MU like this.
  9. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010


    Interesting topic! I was tempted to move it over to the writer's desk, but there seems to be about 8 different conversations going on over there (which reminds me I want to try to work on some sort of writing-specific social thread).

    For emotional deaths, I usually will add something like a vague "tissue warning", because I know some people read on the go, maybe during their lunch break at work or school (I know I'm guilty of this). That way if a person is in a place where they don't want to get emotional, they can save reading it for later, but it doesn't really spoil anything.

    For other triggers (suicide, depression, self-harm, domestic/sexual abuse/violence, and drug use I think are the major ones), I try to warn people - and for some things, I will warn even if it is just mentioned - but still keep it vague. I think pretty much any warning can be given in such a way so that it doesn't spoil much.

    I'm not sure if I have an OC that I haven't written (or at least thought of) a death for. Which reminds me I need to add some OCs to the index.
     
  10. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    There's a public oc index? Or just your own?

    edit: oops found the oc index. Sorry Bri. I just woke up and having my first cup of coffee for the day.
     
    Findswoman likes this.
  11. leiamoody

    leiamoody Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2005
    About OC character deaths...of I didn't kill off some characters, I would be rather hypocritical considering what comes after death in the GFFA is one of my pet themes. Death is inevitable in my corner. But so is life.
     
  12. Gahmah Raan

    Gahmah Raan Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2015
    Generally, I leave a warning for violence, dark humor or dark subject matters in the content descriptions in regards to the fics' ratings, but that's it. I don't go into details about how any characters in my stories die before their deaths happen so as to have my viewers surprised, regardless of how unsettling or tear jerking they might be. And given that Star Wars is no stranger to violent deaths in the films, I don't make a big deal about warnings since I generally expect my readers to expect it if they have teen ratings.
     
    Gamiel and Mistress_Renata like this.
  13. OCDatabaseSock

    OCDatabaseSock Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2004
    With the above discussion a new topic: Tell us about the death of your OC
     
    Ewok Poet and Findswoman like this.
  14. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    Some of them I know how it ends, some of them I don't.

    I had several Jedi OCs; three survived Order 66, one died defending the Temple. Of the three who survived, they mostly lurked around in hiding, helping the earliest cells of the Resistance. One was dead by ANH, the other two died shortly afterwards.

    Oh, one of them managed to get most of the Jedi Order funds before they could be confiscated by Palpatine, which were later turned over to the Rebel Alliance. I based that on the old fall of the Knights Templar; Phillip the Fair took down the Temple Praeceptory in Paris, and hoped that he'd be able to get his hands on their treasury, which was known to be extensive (the Knights Templar were one of the first commercial banks in the medieval world). The treasury was empty, and there were all sorts of rumors as to where it ended up. But it was never found.

    One of my other OCs dies on Hosnian Prime. I'm not sure about the fate of the rest of them yet.
     
    Ewok Poet, Findswoman and whiskers like this.
  15. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    I think I may have killed one or two OCs (I lost all of my fics under the Darth Mu name due to truncation or simply lost) I know about a Lintai Shan, who is still alive, and not sure about Xin Skywalker. Help people! Do you remember Xin Skywalker?

    Anywho, written as Martyavidianus, I killed around 7 or more. One of them, Ellime, was a minor OC. But the other one, Honor Tur-hazy, a member of Kylo Ren's Knight of Ren came to the Legend universe from Disney EU, died on Ben Skywalker and his Jedi Master's ship while trying to takeover their ship. She was severely injured in the resulting crash on planet. old Legend EU Tahiri was performing CPR and giving her mouth and mouth. However, instinctively she may have kissed/bit Tahiri, (Her BFF in the Disney EU -- confused yet?) Long story short, Tahiri thought Honor bit her, and went full on nutso dark side and slapped Honor violently, Force wind her and fatally pushed her onto the bulkhead of the ship, Cracking Honor's skull. Brain matter splitting everywhere. I promise she didn't suffer, death was instant. She was just shoto girl, didn't get fleshed out or given a name before the drabbles came on and the first week second prompt was Honor. I had no way of giving Honor to the Knights of Ren, so Honor was given as a name instead. I blame the Drabbles!

    There was also Eline Stocker, Serrax, Jysella (Not Horn), Mort, who manned a small Coruscant shield generator/communication center. They died at a First order raid on Old EU Coruscant. That's four right there. Also the 5 FO first order stormtrooper who took over the command center, they were eventually eliminated by GFFA securities.

    Also there is SP-91(stormtrooper) and his fiancee Eli Certer (Fleet officer) serving on Daala's personal ship the Huntress, Tahiri, Ben, and my OC Lees Cazedio had use of their uniform, in order to escape from the Jedi hating Daala. Eli is/was pregnant. I am currently undecided about either, but one of them has to die. Don't worry, the baby will be fine.
     
  16. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Not a death, but why I feel that I make too much of auto-hitting players.

    Close quarters firefight behind a hotel on Alderaan, and one of my best mates on here back then, fires a blaster and decides the prose would look more exciting if he friendly fires one of my main OCs in the lekku; clearly not understanding the significance of "braintail".

    Completely derailed my use of her; her place in the game - we had to medivac her to the multi-species hospital on Alderaan - you let people get away with the small things, and they get comfortable doing that sort of thing, and boom, your OC has a blaster bolt in the head.
     
  17. whiskers

    whiskers Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2005
    I've had two long-term OCs that I've killed. The first one was Jorec Merridon, who had survived the Jedi Purge up until Vader finds him. He then promptly gets a lightsaber to the chest while buying time for his family to escape. I hinted that Mara Jade had something to do with his death or at least witnessed it in a fic regarding his son, Gavin.

    The second one was Leco Daam, who was the villain for a Dark Forces fic. Naturally, it ended with Kyle and Jan killing him after a 2 vs. 1 fight.

    Of course, several minor OCs have bitten the dust through the years, mainly to motivate the other main characters or explain why they're alone in other fics.
     
  18. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    My original character Dyeke/Lil was killed by Damaé Hoove, an artist who unexpectedly left an art colony on Aurea to join the Empire. For some reason, she always had this obsession with Dyeke and she had to get him, to the point where she followed him after Blobbo the Hutt, working for the Sacorrian Triad (namely Roula of Pelayn, Dyeke's friend and foe of the past) more or less gave up on trying to get him. Hoove chased Dyeke while he was hiding on Nubia, Vagran, Talfaglio and the FedDub, where she eventually found him and killed him. Her partner in crime was her partner - Imperial Admiral Doge Rockblaster.
     
  19. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    My OCs' deaths. Oh boy. I killed so many of them...

    In my longest story, one died of a chronic condition and two died of old age. One was murdered by Thrawn and another by Quinlan Vos. One was a slave of the Empire who was killed when she escaped and another was killed when the Empire raided the place where she was hiding. Two died of the Krytos virus (both of them with some help from other causes) and three died in the destruction when the Lusankya fled Coruscant. One was killed during the battle of Kashyyyk. One was (grossness alert!) eaten alive by insects. Two committed kamikaze suicide by Star Destroyer, and I must be forgetting a few. Bottom line, by the time the story was over the protagonist wasn't left with many friends.

    In another story, only one of my OCs was murdered by her crew, but that was a murder mystery, so it had to happen :p

    I had to check my Prolific Author's Index entry, but that's pretty much it for now, which means that I haven't killed an OC in nearly a year! But I do have plans to kill one in one of the stories I have under way, so that will be fixed soon [face_devil] (or as soon as I can make time to write again!)
     
  20. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    The first OC I ever created died in the her first appearance. I went back and added a few prequel bits, but the original story was better on its own.
     
    Findswoman likes this.
  21. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    I've killed off other OCs who were minor or secondary characters, so I don't really count them. One was a monarch who had been deposed and a Jedi team had been sent in to negotiate for his release and bring him into exile (they failed). Another was a Jedi (in the Judi Dench storyline) who died of a plague. Per his request, his body was used to determine what was causing it and bring a cure. I remember the readers were upset by that one; I'd fleshed him out a bit and they had grown fond of him.
     
    Findswoman likes this.
  22. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    My favourite death of a minor OC. The jedi knight Kibeena Lite started at the beginning of a roleplay game on Tatooine, staring down the scum of Mos Eisley, and setting out to rescue a woman in terrible danger on some remote desert farmstead.

    Unknown to my fellow players, Mr Lite was intended to serve two pre-planned purposes.

    1. I was convinced that eventually calling him Knight Lite, a play on that bedside illumination device next to your clock radio, would be incredibly funny. Didn't even get a titter.

    2. He would eventually encounter my Force Vampire, Mitch Nifesta, who would do what he normally does with Force Sensetives, eat them (eg. drain them off their life force). However, whilst in the throes of the classic Highlander type ecstacy, Mitch would feel the thoughts and emotions of Lite's planned rescue mission, and have to hurry to get to the farmstead in his place.
     
    DARTH_MU likes this.
  23. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    I have yet to kill off a Star Wars OC. I have killed three of my Star Trek OCs, but two of them were in the type of multiversal situations where even though they're dead, they're not really dead (if that makes any sense at all), and the other one is definitely dead, but good luck keeping her that way, because in spite of the fact that I created her on purpose to kill her off, I ended up liking her so much that I totally regretted it, so I'm eventually going to bring her back in an AU.

    Obviously I'm bad at killing my OCs. Angst and injury I can do, but I totally suck at killing my darlings.
     
  24. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    Does reading OC deaths make people uncomfortable? How many OC deaths per chapter is your absolute limit?

    Are killing Established characters easier or harder for you?

    Answer for me: Not really, I don't generally become uncomfortable reading OC deaths because most of the time it's a minor character who just came on.

    Killing OC is easier for me.
     
  25. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    I have no problem with reading OC deaths (though if I've gotten attached to them I might cry), but when it comes to writing them myself, I stab it with my steely knife but I just can't kill the beast.

    And yes, I did just quote from Hotel California.