This was a request from ookami-kawaii3

Basically the topic is how to handle character deaths and things that happen afterward, however, I will be adding extra things to it like how character should react. Enjoy.

Killing a character is usually every author's favorite part because deep down we all love writing the gory details of this. Killing someone in the fictional universe has to be done in the right way or it will come out bland and underwhelming to the point where your reader may question why they even lifted your book up in the first place.

Depending on the type of story you're doing your character death must somehow fit into it in a way or it can seem way too out of place. Say, for example, I was writing a fantasy novel about magic and all that jazz then my character has a few options of how to die ranging from normal stuff like choking on their food to being impaled by a giant magic icicle. However, if I were writing in a school AU I would have to be creative and go all Final Destination on this book. Like maybe some kids decided to mix chemicals into someone's drink or food that made them vomit uncontrollably and burned their throats, maybe someone was nonchalantly pushed down the stairs to their deaths and accidentally impaled themselves on an umbrella or you know what, maybe their could be a chain reaction that leads to the characters death like the window is open, papers fly in the wind hitting your Minty Oreo in the face causing them to stumble back into the thing that holds up the class TV and oh no, the TV crushes them. There are SOOOOO many ways to kill your character just be creative in a way where it fits into your story.

Now, if you're doing some sort of supernatural or fantasy AU, you're given more options after a character's death than you are in a normal AU. You can bring them to life or even give them immortality. These things can be the undoing of your story if not done properly. Rule #1 is that you NEVER do it with the MC because it becomes clichéd and Rule #2 is that it MUST serve a purpose.

So there was this story I've always wanted to write but never had the time for where it's plot centers on two characters other than my MC. They're both immortal. The MC is an alchemist who had been searching for the means to give their kingdom immortality since they're the most prosperous and advanced but when immortal #1 steps in he tries to keep MC from creating it and tries to get her to reverse the curse instead but the other immortal (before he become immortal) is dead so his followers use MC to resurrect him and grant him immortality for a dawn of a new age of war.

Immortality and human morals are what drive this plot because without immortality, most of it couldn't happen. You can do this type of thing but if you use it on your MC you're stepping into the cliché territory where you can either win or lose with your readers.

Now, moving onto the next thing. When a character dies, make sure the characters around them react properly to it because even the most jaded person will have SOME reaction to the death though they may get over it quickly. Just make sure it's plausible to be honest. Someone close to the deceased will definitely scream at the sight of the death and probably have a mental breakdown right there, someone who knew them may just stand there crying or with really wide eyes and gasp, strangers may be the first to lend a hand and try to get medical attention there. You just need to make sure each character reacts appropriately all in all.

Thanks for listening and if you have anything you want me to make a chapter out of then leave it in the comments :)

-Anri