bebx:
“undoing this character’s death would take away his sacrifice and character arc” girl I don’t give a shit. I’m bringing him back through the power of ao3 fix-it fics and there’s nothing you can do to stop me x
See, and here’s my thing: Undoing a character’s death in fan fiction? All day long. Create AUs, write your fix-its, your deus-ex-machinas, do it all. Go wild; it’s lovely to see.
An author choosing to undo a character’s death and erase their arc for whatever reason? 99% of the time, it’s absolute cowardice. Stick with your guns, don’t get cold feet. Under no circumstances are you allowed to take the easy way out. Make your point, and by God, make your readers FEEL. Don’t undermind your whole story, coward.
There have been too many times I’ve seen characters come back to life by some contrived, bs means, and it almost always cheapens the story. Never be afraid to kill your darlings and keep them in the grave. It makes for good storytelling. There are too many authors out there that will shoot for major plot points and then shy away from the consequences. Do. Not. Do. It. One of the best examples of go for gold and don’t back down when it comes to this kind of stuff is the original ElfQuest. The Pinis don’t shy away from doing monumental things in their story and then forcing us readers to deal with it. Sit in it. All the things. And it’s fabulous.
Anyways, rant over.
TLDR: Revive all you want in fan fiction, darling; it’s your Lego set to do with as you please. But original content authors? If your revival isn’t fitting into that scant 1% of acceptable circumstances? I will haunt you for eternity.