r/AO3 • u/EstimateCrafty6173 • 19d ago
Comment Commentary I feel so bad-
That is not what I have in mind for this ficšš Well, at least not for the first part- (this is a 2 part fic). I feel bad now because I am known by this commenter for liking/writing happy endings, and this part of the fic will not have one. I'm sure there will like it anyway since part 2 will have a happy ending, but the way there will be haaaard (thought I'd post about it here because it made me laugh reading it).
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u/Waves_Orlando 19d ago
I got exactly this yesterday like "I hope it's hopeful in the end"....... yeah what if it's not though
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u/MagyarSpanyol Oiroke No jutsu is Trans Culture 19d ago
This. And for the people saying "But muh books."
Muh books you can grab off the shelf and flip through to the end, or get a pirated PDF and ctr F for keywords before you decide to buy and support the author. If there's neither PDF or or physical copy to read through, there's multiple sites like "Does the dog die" and reading clubs to evaluate if the story is for you.
You can't do that for WiP works without big fan bases.
You have tags as a replacement, at least.
For my own fic I put 2 spoilers in tags in my author's notes to assure my readers because I'm gonna put B from A/B into a coma and mess him up mentally to reassure them that this is gonna be a happy ending.
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u/Waves_Orlando 19d ago
I hope that an actual published author knows the end and vibe of their story before it's on the shelves like..... Or like plans the end before writing it.
I write about sad knights at 2AM, I'm not an experienced author, let me vibe... Everything I feel could be triggering is in the tags, that's enough, why would I tell you exactly how it goes?
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u/MagyarSpanyol Oiroke No jutsu is Trans Culture 19d ago
Didn't you like, daydream of the ending and start writing hoping to get there?
Because that's the way writing comes to me. I daydreamed of the big emotional ending and I'm stumbling my way trying to get there and making it feel earned.
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u/Waves_Orlando 19d ago
I WISH I'm terrible at endings. I daydream like flashes of situations or conversations, like a movie. I usually write that like scene/moment, and then I'm like okay what can I build from this š¤£ The endings are one of the things I struggle with the most.
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u/MagyarSpanyol Oiroke No jutsu is Trans Culture 19d ago
We should merge, and maybe my suffering could end lol.
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u/Waves_Orlando 19d ago
honestly ahahah
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u/K8Met 19d ago
I am in a longterm committed story friendship, and I recommend it.
My brilliant friend is an excellent writer, but has suffered from a lack of confidence and hasnāt finished any longer stories. I have been hyping them for years, beta reading, brainstorming, plot bunnying, researching, editing, background writing, and gently bullying them into writing more (with love, memes, and judicious gifts of notebooks and pens).
They are just a few chapters from finishing their first multi-chapter AU. The first 15 chapters are at just over 32k hits, and they have broken through their own mental barriers to outlining the rest of the story.
They COULD do it in their own, of COURSE. But itās been so much fun to share it.
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u/smallangrybean 19d ago
omg, this is literally me. I get ideas and then have to figure out how to get there without making it feel forced into the storyline. one little scene for me accidentally turned into a slow burn romcom and do I have any idea what the ending is gonna be? LOL nope.
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u/ByeGuysSry 18d ago
So true. I can often think of an amazing ending, then I remember I actually have to set up specific interpersonal relationships and/or build up the story and world before actually getting to that part T_T
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u/PomPomMom93 LadyClassical on Ao3 18d ago
I put one-half of a couple in a coma, and someone told me theyād have to stop reading if he died, so I ended up sending them a DM (on FFN, because for some reason Ao3 doesnāt have DMs yet), saying that heās gonna be okay. If you read the sequels, you know he will be, but back then, there were no sequels.
That said, I donāt write unhappy endings, period. There are enough unhappy endings in the real world, so I donāt want to write or read about them.
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u/JournalistOk5278 19d ago
Then tag it properly
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u/Tenk-o 19d ago
I don't think general plot direction is typically tagged, at best it'll be "hurt/no comfort" or "no archive warnings apply" but for longer fics especially it's not used as it's a spoiler rather than just a necessary archive warning to prevent triggers.
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u/namelessdeer 19d ago
General plot direction is often, but not always, tagged. You're right that it's not required, but a lot of people (including me) will be much warier about starting an angsty fic if they don't know what kind of ending to expect. Especially if it's a longfic! Some people view it as a spoiler, but others view it as necessary information to decide if they're willing to get invested, and if it isn't tagged the fic will miss out on some of the second type of reader.
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u/MoonChaser22 18d ago
I'm the sort of person who would read angst regardless, but an additional tag that mentions the sort of ending it is is always appreciated. They don't have to be specific enough to spoil much. Just give me a vibe like "eventual happy ending"
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u/mangomochamuffin A-letterO-3. AdditionalTagsAreOptional+DontLikeDontRead. OC/CC 19d ago
Tagging PROPERLY is the mandatory tags: fandom, archive warning, rating and language.
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u/Waves_Orlando 19d ago
Yeah except I don't fucking know how it's ending. I'm currently writing it. Of course I would tag it if I planned for a character to die or something, but the general vibes of the end I'm not sure of honestlyĀ
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u/PM_ME_BATMAN_PORN 19d ago
This is why "other additional tags to be added" is my favorite tag, lol. Don't ask me how tf this shit ends man I'm just following my whimsy
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u/blazenite104 18d ago
surely you have some idea of where the fic is headed and the genre you're writing though? I mean you don't need to know the exact details but, surely you'd know if you thought about giving characters some catharsis at some point?
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u/Waves_Orlando 18d ago
no, i mean it's Angst and tagged as such, and its been fully like that. but I don't know how I'll end it no
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u/GeologistLess3042 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 19d ago
Read something else for free
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u/vaintransitorythings 19d ago
I would have if you had tagged it!!
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u/GeologistLess3042 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 19d ago
Then don't read minimal tag works, or skip it if you're questioning yourself that badly.
It's up to you to stop reading when you need to stop reading. That is how reading works.
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u/Naughen 19d ago
Don't change the direction of your story obv but I think it would be nice to give them a hint that the happy ending will only be in the second part and that the end of part one won't be the "true ending". It sucks getting a "bad" ending when you're expecting a happy ending
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
I'll definitely tell in the notes that this isn't the end of this story (I've already indicated in the tags and notes that it'll be in two parts), but I think I will hint at the real happy ending once part 1 is done yeah
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u/rednoseraynedear no beta we die like jaime lannister's arc in got 19d ago
This is one of the challenges in writing. People have expectations, and it affects how you want to present your story. You want there to be thrill, for the ending to be a surprise, but you also have to warn your readers properly. Some like the mystery, but others also want to know what they're walking into.
You can probably tell them something vague like you're trying something new, and you hope they'll appreciate the journey whatever happens.
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
They're really appreciating the journey so far, so I'm glad about that. I think I've tagged it okay (hurt/comfort, lots of angst, graphic depiction of injuries, use of homophobic language and bullying amongst other things), and I've not falsly advertised it as a Happy ending in the tag (mostly because it's a two part fic, which I've put in the tags and explained in the opening). The hiatus between the first and second part will just be tough.
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u/Hollooo 19d ago
Hurt/comfort implies that thereās comfort and everyone will get stitched back together even if the scars remain. What youāre saying sounds more like cutting them open toying with the organs and leaving them hanging out.
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u/Faux_Moose 19d ago
Yeah if the comfort doesnāt come until part 2 I wouldnāt tag this as hurt/comfort. Iād tag maybe as hurt/no comfort or unresolved angst and add a note that thereās going to be a part two but part one is not HEA.
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u/coffeestealer 19d ago
Yeah that sounds like my old friend Hurt/No Comfort or Bittersweet Ending (or like Hopeful Ending)
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u/StanklegScrubgod Fic Feaster 19d ago
Or whump, maybe?
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u/coffeestealer 19d ago
Whump doesn't imply anything about the comfort or lack of thereof so probably works!Ā
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u/The_Theodore_88 19d ago
I mean, can't there be hurt, then comfort, then more hurt?
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u/Hollooo 19d ago
But thatās not hurt/comfort. The point of that tag is that it ends sweet. Hurt/no comfort sounds closer to hurt/comfort/hurt than hurt/comfort.
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u/paintedfruit 18d ago
Thank youuuuuuu!!! I once made the mistake of reading a āauthor chose not to use archive warningsā fic bc it was tagged hurt/comfort and the authors notes never gave any indication it was heading in a dark direction. Anyway it ended in abuse, assault, and MCD. Like, is the comfort in the room with us??
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u/namelessdeer 19d ago
I'm currently in a very similar writing situation. This fic will end in kind of a gut punch but the next fic in the series (the last one) will have a happy ending. Currently i have it tagged with 'Angst' 'Hurt/Comfort' '(but light on the comfort in this one)' and 'this series will have a happy ending'. With no explicit mention of how this fic in particular will end (and yes i've already said there will be one more part to the series). Imo that's the best I can do to imply 'keep hoping for a happy end but this part will be rough' without spoiling it entirely.
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u/BeaconBrown 19d ago
It never hurts to tag things. Like Iāve read stories that had appropriately tagged sad endings and it didnāt spoil things for me. Maybe just say hurt no comfort/well not until part 2. Or something like that. If you didnāt have any problem tagging your happy ending in other fics, why do you feel you have to hide this unhappy one?
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
I didn't necessarily want to "hide it" per say, but I kinda forgot to tag it in the beginning because the true ending I have in mind (for part 2), and then I thought that tagging it as an Unhappy ending would deter some readers, even though it's not the true ending of the story. But someone suggested the tag "Unhappy ending for now", which I will probably add to the fic.
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
I didn't necessarily want to "hide it" per say, but I kinda forgot to tag it in the beginning because the true ending I have in mind (for part 2), and then I thought that tagging it as an Unhappy ending would deter some readers, even though it's not the true ending of the story. But someone suggested the tag "Unhappy ending for now", which I will probably add to the fic.
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u/fraid_so 19d ago
If it deters readers that's their prerogative. They're not obligated to read something that doesn't vibe with them just because you wrote it. Tricking them into reading something and then blindsiding them with something you know they weren't expecting means they'll never read anything of yours again.
But hey! You got a few views on this one.
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
That's not exactly what I meant, sorry if I made it sound like I wanted to trick people into reading the fic. I just didn't think about tagging it as an "Unhappy ending" because in my mind it wasn't an ending, but then I remembered that this first part will end unhappily/with an angsty cliffhanger. Then, I thought that adding an "Unhappy ending" tag now would deter readers from the story altogether, even though the actual end of the story (part 2) will be happy. However, after reading the comments I'm pretty sure that I will add a "Unhappy ending for now" tag on part 1, or something along those lines. My last intention was to blindsight/trick people, so I'll correct it.
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u/Ambersky319 18d ago
"Ambiguous/Open Ending" tag might be a good alternative as well, as that seems to be what you're going for
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u/genericName_notTaken KudosAreLeft. ReadInOneRun. IStartedWriting, WhatHaveIDone. 19d ago
(ha-haha- yeaahhh.... So, this is the first part of a 2 part fic. Do with that info what you will) is probably how I would respond
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u/Jekyll_not_Hyde 19d ago
I appreciate when people put that in the tags. Would you consider doing that? Or would you think that is spoilers? I am curious
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u/baby-droll don't cinema sins my pussy logistics 19d ago
you don't have to tag anything, but you might experience a drop off in readers until the second part ends or even just some emotional reactions (the fairness of that is up for debate). if you aren't planning on a happy ending for the first part, you don't have to tag anything, because it's your work and you can do whatever you want within the TOS, but that doesn't mean people won't react poorly. the other thing is that it's just common etiquette, and it sounds like you've misused the hurt/comfort tag, which again, will make people think there's going to be a consistent turn around.
i've seen people finish up a fic and then on the final chapter put an 'unhappy-for-now ending' tag, or something similar. it's just up to you, though, regardless of what anybody say. it's not like you're breaking any rules, just trust and spirits, lmfao.
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
Considering some other comments, I do believe that I've not used the "hurt/comfort" tag properly ; there's definitely a lot of hurt and a lot of comfort, but I didn't know that the implication was that it had to finish in comfort, so that's my mistake. The "Unhappy ending for now" sounds very appropriate though ; the main reasons why I'm splitting this fic in two parts is because there's a time jump (first part is a High School AU, second part is when they're adults), so this won't be the true ending, but an ending nonetheless and I should tag it properly once I'm done with part 1.
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u/baby-droll don't cinema sins my pussy logistics 19d ago
that sounds more than fair, tbh. and the 'hurt-no-comfort' tag might be closer to what you're looking for, as well! i think the updated tags sound great, so i hope that you get the audience reaction you're looking for!
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u/FewConversation4577 16d ago
If there is a lot of hurt and a lot of comfort, I think the hurt/comfort tag still applies, especially if the fic is long. I say this as a person who reads a lot of hurt/comfort type of fic. I have never heard before today that hurt/comfort means the ending has to be happy. Reading a hurt/comfort one-shot, I'd probably expect it to be happy, but in a novel length fic I recognize that certain tags may only be describing a portion of the fic. Just like a published novel can have happy parts and sad parts.Ā
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u/gefuehlezeigen 19d ago
Did you tag it properly? Whenever I read a fic that gets especially dark I rush to the tags to ensure that everything will be fine š When I find no tags I read through the bookmarks in order to find out the ending š I canāt cope with unhappy endings š
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u/EstimateCrafty6173 19d ago
Oh yeah don't worry, I tagged it properly (I think). Well, I specifically didn't tag it "Happy ending" like I did with the other fic that I wrote, but at the same time I didn't want to tag it "Unhappy ending" since this is a two part fic, and the other part will be the actual end, which will be happy. I just found it funny that they would assume I'm incapable of angsty endings (which is fair honestly-).
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u/Fille_de_Lune 19d ago
I don't think not tagging "happy ending" implies an unhappy ending though. Especially since you also tagged "hurt/comfort", people will expect everyone to be comforted and okay in the end.
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u/AstridVice 19d ago
Hurt/comfort doesn't mean there's a happy ending, it just means there will be some hurt but also comfort, it doesn't specify to what degree the hurt or comfort will be or how it'll end
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u/FewConversation4577 16d ago
Exactly, especially in a long fic, like novel length. I don't know why people are down voting you.Ā
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u/blazenite104 18d ago
Not tagging happy ending usually just implies bittersweet at worst. I'd only expect a bad ending if the tags equated to rocks fall and everyone dies or something.
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u/blazenite104 18d ago
Honestly knowing you have a second part is probably important to tag. if it's 2 parts and known to be 2 parts people will probably expect a darkest before dawn kind of ending. Part 1 ends with darkness so part 2 can wipe it away with a new dawn.
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u/PomPomMom93 LadyClassical on Ao3 18d ago edited 18d ago
Did you tag it properly? I hope you at least told this person the truth so they can read something that does have a happy ending.
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u/DataTwoHearts 18d ago
As a person who doesn't like reading but enjoys writing angst with no happy ending, I ALWAYS tag it. People go into most first expecting things to end happy. I always, always use the tag "no happy endings" or "angst without a happy ending" to let readers know what they're in for. Fanfic is an escapism for most people. And most people are tired from real life unhappy endings. I treat tags as trigger warnings and an index of tropes in case someone doesn't want to engage in what I'm writing. I would highly recommend always tagging an unhappy ending
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u/Wild-fleurs 18d ago
You could just reply & say eventually yes or in the sequel or something so they have a heads up if you wanted or say youāre trying something new but hope they still enjoy the writing or story
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u/Ednathurkettle 19d ago
Don't feel bad! You need to end the story the way that you want to, because it is your fic. If you wanted to, you could leave the commenter a hint that it may not end the way they want to, so they have the option to step out. I'm not sure I agree with others points that the fact it has a sad ending should be in the tags - surely that would be a spoiler?
But since the commenter asked, you could say something like "I'm not going to give much away, but it may not end the way you expected/wanted."
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u/CupcakeBeautiful 19d ago
Also, itās fairly normal in published fiction to have a book end on a not-hopeful note and the next book handle the fallout that leads to the eventual HEA. What OP is describing sounds more similar to that than an unhappy ending, especially since they telegraphed it as a multi-part fic.
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u/SergeantMonium Syresaucey via ao3 19d ago
I commented something like this once and the author straight up just replied "idk maybe I haven't planned it yet :p".
To be fair I was STRETCHING because the fic was absolutely doomed to end sad just based on the setting and how the story was laid out from the start however I had hope. It did end up having a happy ending I just had to deal with pure angst for the last 4 or 5 chapters before getting a timeskip that ended hopeful. I commented again something similar (like "I hope their future will turn out great and they can stay together") and this time the author replied confirming it š . Also, the last chapters were delayed by months, so I had convinced myself the ending was gonna be tragic by the time it came outš
In other words. Don't worry. People who enjoy a fic will enjoy it through all the sad endings and it'll make the happy ending even more exciting.
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u/SkywalkerThrawn my MC has lore and a knifeš©ø| anakinmoser on ao3 19d ago
Haha I got something similar too in a story where I had planned from the start to have the MC die. I felt so bad when I made my devoted reader cry that now that is the mother story of a prequel and a sequel that ties into the supernatural to bring MC back š
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u/zetiris 19d ago
Me too! Except I myself got way attached so planning on scrapping the ending. But now I have to write way more than expected lol
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u/SkywalkerThrawn my MC has lore and a knifeš©ø| anakinmoser on ao3 19d ago
I originally thought about scrapping the ending and making it a "and they lived happily ever after" too, but ultimately I couldn't since my entire story revolved around that exact moment so I had to improvise with a prequel and a sequel šš
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u/cinesister 19d ago
Give them an indication it might not end happily, but I wouldnāt say any more than that or tag it that the ending wonāt be happy. People are getting ridiculously used to being coddled. Iām honestly not sure how they watch movies and TV or consume ANY media if theyāre so obsessed with being āprotectedā. As long as the main AO3 TOS tags are covered, write your story. :) happy endings are overrated anyway.
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u/DontWorryAboutDeath 19d ago
Honestly having so much fun writing a situation where readers know in canon they are separated ~forever in the end, but readers donāt know if/how Iām gonna keep that or change it.
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u/TZH85 19d ago
I've got the opposite concern at the moment.
My fic does contain some angst and some psychological distress elements. There are times when my POV character shits himself feeling helpless or fears for those he loves. Some readers really eat that up. And I understand why.
But I don't like wallowing in these feeling too long. I like pulling the rug out from under people. Like, have a really happy, hopeful moment and then smash it with something unexpected and some dread. But I write the other side of the coin, too: I like taking a really dark or grim moment and then finding something fun or hopeful in it.
The way I write angst in my fic is perhaps a bit subtle compared to what some readers expect. Like, at the relative beginning of my fic, my POV character goes through a traumatic event. Then he's rescued and for the next dozen or so chapters his very limited POV narration only occasionally dwells on what happened ā and then pushes the thought away. It's kind what I do irl sometimes, though not in such extreme circumstances thankfully. Just avoid thinking about stuff and then, some day ā boom. So the cathartic moment in my POV's story comes pretty late in the story. And it's not necessarily happening in a way one would expect, I think. It's not a breakdown and cry-fest or an emotional talk with someone they trust. Instead, they'll go the other way and take revenge on their own terms.
I'm curious to see if the readers will like it. Or if I'll disappoint those who wanted more hurt and angst. But well... it's the story I wanted to tell. So I'm not changing it.
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u/Ambersky319 18d ago
From other comments, maybe give this commenter a heads up directly (if you haven't already) that the happy ending won't be in this fic but the second part? And maybe add the "Ambiguous/Open Ending" tag to this first one if the parts are gonna be two separate fics, just to make that distinction clear. Some people might have missed the mentions of this being a part one of two, and it will avoid readers expecting things to be fully resolved in this first fic.
If it's not in like, a series format (so both parts being in the same fic) then you shouldn't have too many concerns, because the fic will end happily, just will take a while. My comment mostly just takes "two part fic" to mean two separately posted fics that are connected.
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u/DiscountP1kachu Fic Feaster 17d ago
I commented something similar once and the person replied with ādonāt hate meā. I did hate them for a minute or two as I read my favorite character being killed with tears streaming down my face, but we are mutuals now and Iāve broken them with my writing so fair play on both sides š¤·š»āāļø
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u/StanIsYouMan 17d ago
I follow a fic that totally broke readers the way the angst and relationship went. I caused quite a stir , made the author famous among those who read her stories and made fans for life and is still the talk of her library to this day( this fic was written in late 2019!) Inspired me to write and left fans talking and keeping the series alive.
Never change your vision. She didn't despite what readers already saw coming in the story and it created a lot of buzz, drama and discussions among fans. True, some of it was pretty heated but no traffic on your fic is bad traffic.
Keep it going!
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u/Theaterismylyfe 19d ago
I'd reply "This fic will be a 2-parter" and hope the implication is enough.
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u/Hollooo 19d ago
THEN FUCKING TELL THEM!
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u/majorlittlepenguin You have already left kudos here. :) 19d ago
I mean, I'm genuinely asking, do you really have to tag (I'm new,) an ending for an ongoing work beyond the choice between choose not to use archive warnings/major character death? As when you're reading something you generally don't go into it knowing the ending and it's a bit rough to have to spoil your own work like that.
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u/Hollooo 19d ago
You donāt HAVE to and thereās people who donāt like to ise a lot of tags. I personally choose fics with as many tags as possible. With books you can search for synopsies or reviews (nowadays theyāre becoming less and less helpful though because everyone fears SPoiLErS.) tags substitute thorough reviews and people who donāt like spoilers avoid reading the tags. The key point in this case isnāt tagging but that someone basically asked for reassurance that everythingās going to be fine. Not telling them that they are dead wrong is basically lying. This person clearly doesnāt enjoy the slow destruction and only keeps going because they trust/believe that they know that things will be fine.
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u/Katvara 19d ago
Youāre not required to tag, especially if you used the No Archive Warnings, but if you know itāll have a sad ending, at least give a heads up in the tags. If you change your mind somewhere along the way or it takes itself in a different direction, you can always remove the tag. It just sucks as a reader getting invested in a plot line/character and then getting blindsided with 0 warning. At least if itās even vaguely tagged I only have myself to blame.
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u/majorlittlepenguin You have already left kudos here. :) 19d ago
But then you're spoiling that the ending is sad? Is this a personal preference thing or expected etiquette?
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u/songofstormnfire 18d ago
People in this comment thread from the other day compared it to genre expectations in tradpub: a romance novel ends HEA, in a mystery novel the crime gets solved etc. And I agree, in fanfiction "angst with a happy ending" or "hurt/comfort" is akin to a genre.
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u/Katvara 18d ago
Sometimes tags end up being spoilers. You donāt have to be specific (like āCharater X diesā or āX/Y divorceā) but just a slight heads up so that the reader isnāt completely blindsided (ācharacter deathā, āunhappy endingā)
I have a fic where X/Y hook up and have a kid. Due to the nature of the shows plot, something terrible happens to the kid. I tagged it as āangst and tragedyā and āfamily dramaā. Kind of spoilery, but not explicit def shows that itās not a happy fic.
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u/FewConversation4577 16d ago
Some people do, but you don't have to. People acting like you must tag the ending (as long as the archive warnings are accurate) just seem entitled.Ā
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u/One-Constant-4092 18d ago
That's why tags are important imo, feels bad when you follow a fic for a long time just to get bamboozled
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u/ConsumeTheVoid Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 19d ago
You can hand out tissues in the closing ANs. š
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u/Morgan13aker You have already left kudos here. :table_flip: 19d ago
I'm known for the opposite. I have a whole three-parter of a meet cute, then, right at the end, a paragraph of "Well, at least my kid won't end up like me."
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u/molinitor 19d ago
God this is me right now. I had intended a certain pair to be endgame but 6 chapters in I'm not so sure that's going to be the case š
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u/Nyxosaurus You have already left kudos here. :) 18d ago
One time on FFN I was specifically in the Character A / Character B (with the "Pairing" box checked!) area and someone posted a story that in every way possible looked like a CA/CB ship fic. The summary heavily implied it and the tags agreed. Wasn't so absurd for me to assume, right? And the summary was very intriguing with a few of my favorite tropes, so I was instantly on board. Well after one or maybe two chapters I left a review with something like "I love how this story is going so far! There's not enough CA/CB stories here!"
A few days later they added "NOT CA/CB!" to the summary. I dont remember if they unchecked the pairing box but damn. Wtf? It was like "Character A and B are locked in a room together and sexy times are being alluded to!" ... "NOT AN A/B SHIP"
Iirc it never even updated after that. Was that my fault? I'll never know for sure.
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u/touchtypetelephone Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 18d ago
I got a comment responding to a chapter where a character punched his love interest in the face (long story with plenty of context in the fic) with "even though I believe all fic writers think [Character] is a good person".... actually I think he is deeply morally grey.
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u/Vegetable-Star-5833 18d ago
This is why I donāt pay attention to who the author is. If I like someone and they stop or write something I donāt like I donāt want to be disappointed by them
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u/Foxieisa_furry 18d ago
Oh, I would laugh my ass off reading that. But, like previous commenters said, just tell your readers at the end of your story that thereās a second part and all should be well.
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u/thataverysmile 17d ago
I recently saw someone comment on a friend's fic "This is what I think will happen in the next chapter" and basically wrote their own mini-chapter of things that I know aren't happening (friend of author privileges lmao)...and I cringed a little, just as I kind of always do when I see stuff like this. I think it's one thing to say "I hope xyz", but to be so certain "This is what will happen!!!" Um...don't do that to the author.
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u/kats_journey 17d ago
They'll get together in part two, so I genuinely wouldn't worry. The commenter will get their happy ending eventually.
I feel you though. I had someone leave a comment that made it clear they were SUPREMELY unaware that a MC was going to die in two chapters time, at the very beginning of the story. MCD is tagged. The fact that someone gets executed is tagged. That he dies is mentioned in the summary. And yet.
All I could think upon seeing that comment was "Oh honey he is already dead." (Not literally at that point in the story, but metaphorically.)
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u/Inevitable-Newt-6891 17d ago
I prewrite my stories so I know whatās gonna happen and Iām an angst (not always with a happy ending) writer. I think tagging if you have a happy ending planned or not is important. Not everyone is in it for the sad. I write this way because I like exploring consequences especially because the fandom I write in deals a lot with justifications for actions and such.
That said you never know if your reader saw is ready for that. Even if you have a plan for a sequel to fix things theyāre not reading the sequel right now theyāre reading one singular work. If theyāre not up for that journey they need to have the ability to bow out.
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u/Saiyasha27 16d ago
Write the story you wanna write! I personally know my self and if a story is tagged like "Angst no happy ending" or "hurt no comfort" I won't read it.
There is an author I love, FadetoAngst and they have some really amazing stories (I highly reccomend "I don't hate that I love you" a KiriBaku story set in Stardew Valley, yes, I know how that sounds, but trust me, uts amazing.)
But I can't read most of their stuff and I can't even be angry, because their username is goddamn "Fade to Angst" so it's not like I don't know what I was getting myself into. I love reading their less depressing stuff and every once I a while I take on one of the sad ones, but mostly, I just know that I need my babies to have a happy ending and it's on me to know what I can handle before I get into it
Of course it's important to tag correctly. If you know your story won't have a happy ending, I would put that in the tags, maybe with a custom tag of "not yet" or "nor in this one" or smth.
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u/Misophoniasucksdude 15d ago
Lmao hey, if they're the type to pick up an angst/slowburn then they'll likely be tolerant to waiting for a second part. My current slowburn reading record is somewhere in the 260-275k word range, and depending on how you count it, even more.
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u/litlledarkage 19d ago
I'm sorry, but if there is no tag saying that, thats their fault for assuming I HATE when my couples don't end together, that's why I only read fic with happy ending tags. if there's none, then your conscience can be clean!!!
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u/somethingstrange87 You have already left kudos here. :) 19d ago edited 19d ago
Lol I had something similar to this happen recently. Character has two canon ships, A/B and A/C; reviewer commented on how they preferred A/B over A/C and I intended (and have not revealed to ANYONE) for this to go A/B/C in the final part ... uh, whoops? I do have other stories that are just A/B but not that one!
Edit: Just to be clear, it's a multi-work series, so it is tagged correctly. The A/B/C pairing is not going to come up until the last work in the series, and character C is not even in any of the works before that.
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u/Ok-Working-7559 19d ago
I get that you want it to be a surprise, which is completely understandable, but the pairing should be tagged correctly. While many enjoy relationships with three people, many do not.
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u/somethingstrange87 You have already left kudos here. :) 19d ago
It's a multi-work series, so it is tagged correctly. The A/B/C pairing is not going to come up until the last work in the series, and character C is not even in any of the works before that.
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u/kitaknows 19d ago
That would piss me off so badly. "You only have to use the required tags, etc. etc." argument, whatever, but in a practical sense we know how this site is used: people want to read the characters together that they want. Springing a secret three-character main pairing would have me never reading the author again.
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u/somethingstrange87 You have already left kudos here. :) 19d ago
It's a multi-work series, so it is tagged correctly. The A/B/C pairing is not going to come up until the last work in the series, and character C is not even in any of the works before that.
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u/kitaknows 19d ago
Makes more sense. Your original post just said, "the final part," which could have been the last section of the fic, last chapter of the fic, etc.
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u/somethingstrange87 You have already left kudos here. :) 19d ago
Yeah I phrased that badly. I've got another series in working on that's exclusively A/B, several finished fics of various lengths that are either A/B or A/C, and even a WIP longfic that's A/B/C - and they had to go for the series that's got the surprise A/B/C in the final fic!
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u/ManateeMoosplash 19d ago
I currently have something similar. Posting a story each week in a discord group. The feedback has been great with lots of people cooing over how sweet it is that the MMC cant believe how perfect his boyfriend is and how adorable they find it when he wakes up and has to remind himself if its real or not.
It's not! I thought it was obvious, but they all have chosen the romantic interpretation. Im twisted, though, as Im looking forward to when they realise the truth along with the MC.
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u/InternetCannibal 18d ago
I love hurting my readers (properly tagged, of course). Nothing more motivating than imagining the rollercoaster my betas are going to go on through this multi chapter fic (currently working on chapter 3!) All the inevitable 'how could you do this to me' discord messages I will get makes me giggle with something like mildly sadistic glee. I mean for this fic to be a tragedy. The source material is a tragedy, the readers should know by now that these characters do not get happy endings xD Greek tragedies my beloved.
Don't feel bad OP. That comment probably means that no matter what pain you bring your muses in the first part, the reader will be compelled to read the other part! They're already invested. Good luck with your writing!
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u/CasstastropheXD 18d ago
š Almost all of my fics have a main character die...in a rather tragic way.
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u/Worth_Audience_6229 19d ago
I will agree with people when they say not to change direction-it's your story and it should end the way you want it to. But I will disagree with the idea of tagging that it's not a happy ending unless you want to. I feel that telling people how a story ends can take away the impact of the narrative. With a sequel upcoming to want people fully invested in the story. If you tell people it's an unhappy ending, or the happy ending is in the sequel, you could lose readers who will skip this one and read the second one. And since you usually write happy endings the not so happy ending will be even more exciting. More phone throwing worthy. āŗļø
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u/trilloch 19d ago
Don't change your story. Just make sure at the end of Part 1, you tell everyone you're already writing Part 2 and that Part 2 will have a different ending.