How do you feel about animal death within a work?

[VanVeleca]

Katie has a borzoi dog named "Horse". Michael has a black cat named "Neighbor", in reference to H.P. Lovecraft. Lastly Aesop, he has a pet sheep. (they will appear around chapter 30ish)

One of these animals will die in my current novel...

A lot of people tend to feel strongly when an animal dies within a work, some don't even read a novel at all if it features the death of an animal. It's deemed "unnecessary" and even crueler than when a human character dies...not by everyone but by a lot of people, even those who like horror and/or tragedy.

How do you feel about it?

 

[Our_Lady_in_Twilight]

Don't watch the Neverending Story, whatever you do.

 

[Gray_Mann]

Is it edible?

 

[DireBadger]

Is it edible?

Read my mind. Animals generally taste good or bad. No reason to get all emotional about them. Especially if it's just fiction

 

[Gray_Mann]

Read my mind. Animals generally taste good or bad. No reason to get all emotional about them. Especially if it's just fiction

I mentioned in another thread that I've eaten Snake-and-eggs before. Seeing someone's pet snake die on a television show, is what gave me the idea to try snake-and-eggs.

Word of advice though if you ever get the idea to make it on your own, normally cheese goes with eggs nearly always yes? Not so if said eggs are mixed with strips of snake meat. Something about the taste of snake clashes badly with cheddar and Monterey jack.

 

[VanVeleca]

Don't watch the Neverending Story, whatever you do.

bro I love the Neverending Story, don't even play with me

Is it edible?

Dogs, cats and sheep are generally edible but regarded as not very tasty (unless they're fed a specific diet)

 

[DireBadger]

I mentioned in another thread that I've eaten Snake-and-eggs before. Seeing someone's pet snake die on a television show, is what gave me the idea to try snake-and-eggs.

Word of advice though if you ever get the idea to make it on your own, normally cheese goes with eggs nearly always yes? Not so if said eggs are mixed with strips of snake meat. Something about the taste of snake clashes badly with cheddar and Monterey jack.

Meh, snake is gamey. You never want to pair it with a light flavor like most cheeses. If you want to use cheese, it's better to do it with feta in a gyro, or pretty much any Mexican-style flavor works well. Eggs are literally the definition of light flavor, unless you spice them to hell, at which point, the eggs are mostly just there to hold stuff together.

Horse is okay, but gamey, almost like deer, mostly because, unlike cattle and certain breeds of goat, they have been bred for speed, endurance, and longevity... that shows in their meat.

Dogs and cats? Again, predators, unless they are slow predators like reptiles and fish, almost universally taste like crap, are gamey, and too chewy by far. IMO, animals that live off mostly vegetation are the way to go... Rabbits are delicious. And the look on people's faces when they realize that they are chowing down on those cute, friendly, fluffy little creatures you had in a wire pen in the back yard? Priceless.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Depends on the animal and the circumstance.

Was it part of the story, almost like a side character for 50+ chapters? Or is it just some random animal.

Did it die due to an accident (roadkill), was it hunted for food? Was it tortured by a villain?

I dont really give a crap about animal deaths, but if it was part of the story for awhile, killing it off would need a valid reason.

And if you are trying to paint an antagonist as cruel by abusing animals, well you succeeded.

In the end context matter about animal deaths...im not going to cry over Betsy the cow becoming my next hamburger, but if you decide to make Betsy an amputee instead and become lean beef, I would have an more adverse reaction.

 

[Gray_Mann]

almost like deer

Love deer. Don't get it much since I don't hunt anymore, but I have buds that occasionally bring me some good thick cuts.

feta

Damn it, why didn't I think of feta. In hindsight, I think that would have worked wonders.

 

[Our_Lady_in_Twilight]

Since the last time I checked this thread, it seems we've gone from 'How do you feel if a beloved animal dies in fiction' to 'if hypothetically a beloved animal did die, which would you find the tastiest?'

 

[DireBadger]

Depends on the animal and the circumstance.

Was it part of the story, almost like a side character for 50+ chapters? Or is it just some random animal.

Did it die due to an accident (roadkill), was it hunted for food? Was it tortured by a villain?

I dont really give a crap about animal deaths, but if it was part of the story for awhile, killing it off would need a valid reason.

And if you are trying to paint an antagonist as cruel by abusing animals, well you succeeded.

In the end context matter about animal deaths...im not going to cry over Betsy the cow becoming my next hamburger, but if you decide to make Betsy an amputee instead and become lean beef, I would have an more adverse reaction.

Pretty much this. Animal companions, especially those who have been trained extensively or have extended personality from some other reason, are characters. Characters that die are a tragedy. Betsy, who was raised from a calf by the protagonist, but in the end is just a cow, who gets sold for magic beans and then is a hamburger by the end of the chapter, is just an animal... no matter how much the protagonist dwelled on it or was tragedy-struck by it's loss... it's just a prop.

Since the last time I checked this thread, it seems we've gone from 'How do you feel if a beloved animal dies in fiction' to 'if hypothetically a beloved animal did die, which would you find the tastiest?'

It was making a subtle point that most writers would understand... Unless you got to the trouble of making the animal a 'character', it's just meat, or a nameless red shirt, only it evokes less of a reaction than a red-shirt does, because there is no reason to empathise with it unless you are mentally ill. You can feel the tragedy, but not empathy.

 

[JayDirex]

Don't watch the Neverending Story, whatever you do.

In one story I wrote, the isekai'd MC was given a brown horse named Artax, and he commented, "That's an excellent name"
One of those if you know you know references for any reader. ;)

 

[BigBadBoi]

Michael has a black cat named "Neighbor", in reference to H.P. Lovecraft.

s-sure...

 

[3emergence]

The cat on the cover -Calypso- experiences a very (and I cannot stress this enough) Graphic, visceral end during chapter 2 of my book.
I debated the scene for about 2 days before I wrote it, but ultimately decided it needed to be there. And it had to be extremely vivid and almost traumatic to read, as it not only advanced plot, but also contributes not only to Aiden’s (MC) trauma building, but also directly contributes to the supernatural abilities he develops.
All that being said, it hurt to write, as I lost my own cat in the exact manner I wrote, and was quite traumatized for a while, and it contributed to my own growth.
I’ll digress to say as long as the death has a meaningful contribution to plot or character advancement, and isn’t just sprinkled in for flavor (Since all of you are talking about the way said animals taste ? lol) then I’m alright with it. For most other reasons, it’s a hard no.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

View attachment 41980The cat on the cover -Calypso- experiences a very (and I cannot stress this enough) Graphic, visceral end during chapter 2 of my book.
I debated the scene for about 2 days before I wrote it, but ultimately decided it needed to be there. And it had to be extremely vivid and almost traumatic to read, as it not only advanced plot, but also contributes not only to Aiden’s (MC) trauma building, but also directly contributes to the supernatural abilities he develops.
All that being said, it hurt to write, as I lost my own cat in the exact manner I wrote, and was quite traumatized for a while, and it contributed to my own growth.
I’ll digress to say as long as the death has a meaningful contribution to plot or character advancement, and isn’t just sprinkled in for flavor (Since all of you are talking about the way said animals taste ? lol) then I’m alright with it. For most other reasons, it’s a hard no.

Well seems like a you had a reason...now you need to bring it back, 9 lives and all :p

 

[3emergence]

Well seems like a you had a reason...now you need to bring it back, 9 lives and all :p

So funny you say that, the title of the book was almost The Ninth Life lmao. Calypso plays a different kind of role, but her influence will sing throughout every book ?

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

So funny you say that, the title of the book was almost The Ninth Life lmao. Calypso plays a different kind of role, but her influence will sing throughout every book ?

Ahh so its the Simpsons cat Snowball then

 

[DireBadger]

I actually had a trilogy about post-apocalyptic sentient cat familiars written. almost 60 chapters (at 5k words per chapter), and then I saw 'cats' and it wrecked it for me. Fortunately, it wasn't a very good series.

 

[VanVeleca]

I actually had a trilogy about post-apocalyptic sentient cat familiars written. almost 60 chapters (at 5k words per chapter), and then I saw 'cats' and it wrecked it for me. Fortunately, it wasn't a very good series.

Without the post-apocalyptic part, this sounds more like the plot of Warrior Cats

 

[DireBadger]

Without the post-apocalyptic part, this sounds more like the plot of Warrior Cats

Actually, I was trying to base it more on a post-magapocalypse 'tailchaser's song.

The chicklit sci-fi writers of the eighties, Tanith Lee, Andre Norton, C.J. Cherryh, Mercedes Lackey, and Patricia Briggs, were kind of my inspiration, because they wrote REAL supernatural and sci-fi lit without getting bogged down in trivia like Martin, Eric Flint, and Anthony.

So, yes, my closest literary influences are Tad Williams, John Ringo, Andre Norton, and Joel Rosenberg (The Guardians of the Flame books basically invented Litrpg back in the eighties)

But Tad Williams with 'Tailchaser Song' as well as the original Watership Down, and Mis Bisbee and the Rats of NIMH, were truly the inspiration for my work... and arguably, those are definitely the kind of animals Vanveleca is talking about.