Happy end? Or just lazy writing?

[MasterY001]

So, since I'm currently suffering from a severe case of writer's block, I decided to post a question for y'all: Happy endings, yay or nay?

I was watching the finale of Miraculous Ladybug (a pretty good cartoon by some French guy) when I realized that a story loses its spark if it ends "happily ever after." Once the bad guy is defeated, it seems unrealistic that all the world's problems are suddenly solved. Shouldn't there be loose ends or unanswered questions that were never acknowledged or a new threat that appears from this "utopian" Earth? I'm not saying stories that end this way are bad (in fact, Miraculous Ladybug didn't actually end this way), I just don't find this sort of conclusion believable and/or creative.

Like Agent Smith said, "As a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery." Any thoughts?

 

[Golden_Hyde]

You can just make an open ending for that

 

[AmbreaTaddy]

some French guy

I've been summoned by a french mention

I think it depends on the execution. 'Happily ever after' can work if the author correctly resolved the conflict and makes the happy ending a believable one. But if it's full of plotholes and unresolved issues, of course it's bad.

Same for bad endings. If you make a bad ending for the hell of it but it doesn't match the situation, it's bad. I remember reading a novel where all the issues were resolved, there were no threats left, but the author randomly killed the MC's wife for the sake of a bad endng, and it made me so mad !

 

[Corty]

Fifteen years ago, I was an edgy Boi. I loved dramatic endings with sad, tear-jerking tone and/or with the self-sacrifice of the hero.

Nowadays, I’ll take a happy ending over anything else.

As for open endings? They are just as bad as no endings. Hate them with a passion.

 

[tobascoasako]

You can just make an open ending for that

Yes, I agree with this.

 

[John_Owl]

People like closure. Real life's closure is only death. If you've read my 4-chapter short about the witch (it's in my one-shots novel), this is why I ended it with both of them dying. Because that's realistic. There was no "happily ever after." Just a "we both peacefully die together as a pair of old people".

 

[Tsuru]

People like closure. Real life's closure is only death. If you've read my 4-chapter short about the witch (it's in my one-shots novel), this is why I ended it with both of them dying. Because that's realistic. There was no "happily ever after." Just a "we both peacefully die together as a pair of old people".

Mushoku Tensei ending.

 

[John_Owl]

Mushoku Tensei ending.

I'm like 2-3 seasons behind on the anime, and haven't read anything else yet lol.

 

[Tsuru]

I'm like 2-3 seasons behind on the anime, and haven't read anything else yet lol.

Its so goddamn realistic
that its heartbreaking.

 

[John_Owl]

Its so goddamn realistic
that its heartbreaking.

Well, I"m definitely looking forward to it then.

 

[MasterY001]

You can just make an open ending for that

Yes! Thank you for mentioning the best kind of ending: no ending!!

The best stories are those that can go on forever. That's why there are spin-offs, remakes, prequels and/or sequels, side-stories, reboots, etc. Why do you think everyone still loves The Young and the Restless?

Call me unnecessarily sentimental, but as a reader, (and even more so as a writer!) I don't like the idea of closure. After being immersed with the characters and their world, it seems frustrating your time with them will eventually be over. So, instead of "the end," I prefer "until next time."

Fifteen years ago

Son of a boomer, I always forget that not everyone on the internet is a teen (no offense)...

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

So, since I'm currently suffering from a severe case of writer's block, I decided to post a question for y'all: Happy endings, yay or nay?

I was watching the finale of Miraculous Ladybug (a pretty good cartoon by some French guy) when I realized that a story loses its spark if it ends "happily ever after." Once the bad guy is defeated, it seems unrealistic that all the world's problems are suddenly solved. Shouldn't there be loose ends or unanswered questions that were never acknowledged or a new threat that appears from this "utopian" Earth? I'm not saying stories that end this way are bad (in fact, Miraculous Ladybug didn't actually end this way), I just don't find this sort of conclusion believable and/or creative.

Like Agent Smith said, "As a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery." Any thoughts?

Tis like Peter Jackson's reason for not including the Battle of The Shire in the third LOTR movie; tis felt anti-climactic.

I faced the same dillema before as well. Having finished the part of my novel where the first main villain was defeated, it seems every problem in the story was already resolved.

But I still have plans to follow, since I never fully tied loose ends with the defeat of the first main villain. So I proceeded with my characters planning and maneuvering to defeat the second villain. At the end of my novel though, Vol 21, the story had grown so large it would be anti-climactic for me to have the villain pack up more punches, or write an open end.

And since I'm writing fiction, I just decided to wrap all loose ends, and go with the 'characters solving all problems'.

 

[BigBadBoi]

Take the best of both worlds happy open endings. Tie up loose ends but still reveal enough room for sequel bait. A good example is mushoku tensei with a great ending and a glimpse of a maybe sequel.

 

[ArlindoFrancisco]

You can create happy endings; most people experience a happy ending, which is why they like it. That said, you need to sell that happy ending in a not-forced way.
Open endings are for some types of stories, majority hates open endings because it just shows that you don't know how to end your story, why is that? Because the majority of open endings suck, it is really hard to do a satisfying open ending, but the majority of happy endings are good because it is easier.

It just depends on your story. A zombie story with a happy ending is a hard sell, but it can be done. But can you do that in just one volume? You must do so much to sell that happy ending that the majority can't.
A happy ending in a romance is easier to sell; for you to deliver a sad ending and not destroy your story is hard; that is why most romance stories have a happy ending.

I like happy endings, sad endings,, and open endings,, but what is important is the development of these endings for them to work.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

Good endings don't necessarily mean that all problems are solved though.

 

[ArchlordZero]

Bittersweet ending.
Make the journey worthwhile but there must be sacrifices along the way.

 

[l8rose]

Yes to Happy Endings but only if it works in the context and level of the story.

The VN Amnesia: Memories has a fantastic happy ending to the final route where the main character overcomes fate, does not die and becomes a happy couple with the LI . However, to get that, you need the happy ending in all the other routes. Which means you have to get the very not-fantastic Toma Happy Ending. His route has him kidnap the PC, keep them in a cage and basically is the wtf storyline of the game. Any attempt to escape during this route gives you a bad end. The two endings are basically the polar opposites of what I think well written "Happy" endings are.

That being said, I prefer happy endings that aren't fully happy. Either something was lost to get there or there are still bad things in the background. The LOTR treatment. Honestly, I've written more "negative" Happy Endings than bad endings.

"Dead Gods Still Dream" ends with the main character entering a magical sleep after her significant other was fatally stabbed. The last chapter is the two of them inside a dream world. "Lyrium Blue" ends with the main character recovering their mind after they've been tranquil for years (it's basically Dragon Age's version of a lobotomy). Even "Black Veil" has a slightly downer happy ending where the main character's town gets saved but they end up losing on a personal front.

 

[Deleted member 172779]

Go with depressing ending. Happy go lucky ending is overrated.

 

[Jerynboe]

You can have all of the immediate problems be resolved and call it a happy ending. A tacit acknowledgement that there were still issues but things never got *that bad* again is still a happy ending. It’s also not implausible that the loose ends just can’t get their shit together enough to be a major problem for the next 10-20 years, depending on the type of threat we are discussing. A significant segment of their life where all noteworthy plots are slice of life because the things needed to manage the loose ends are repetitive and generic is also a happy ending.

If a zombie story ends and the serial killer in the survivor group has been dealt with, all the people we are supposed to like are in a well fortified self sufficient homestead, and we have established that zombies get progressively slower and weaker over time so eventually the fortifications will become functionally impregnable, you have to be fairly cynical to not call that a happy ending *for the main characters.* Sure, they might all be murdered by raiders or overrun by zombies in 2 months, but it’s plausible that doesn’t happen or the situation is dealt with without heavy losses, so why bring it up?

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

Depends on if they feel earned. A happy ending that doesn't feel like it happened organically, like the author is manipulating reality to give the heroes exactly what they want, is just as bad as an edgy "AND THEN EVERYONE DIED AND THE WORLD BUUUURRRRNED! BWAHAHAHAAA!" ending.