(no subject)

I downloaded a couple of Saiyuki soundtrack songs, just on a whim, even though I've decided not to watch the show, and found that this one is actually pretty good... It's slow and very nice. I'm enjoying it thoroughly.

Anyway, yesterday turned out not so bad. Belly-dancing is fun, the people in the class are very friendly, and it's open for beginners. I'm really crappy at it right now, but the instructor says that's normal for just starting out, and there's another new person in the class so I'm not the only clutz.

I think I'll stick with this.

Got inspiration for a halloween fic... I seriously doubt I'll be able to write it in time, though... I mean, halloween is *tomorrow*. But the inspiration was there. Maybe next year, hmm?

I think I'll just leave it alone and work on Seeds of Love, or Off-Limits, or When in Rome, or Coming to Terms. Those are the four I've got going - two of which are one-shots, and one of which is on hold until I'm inspired to write action. I have to finish the one-shots. Off-Limits is the sequel to The Porsche and Aya Strikes Back, so yeah. And Coming to Terms is just going to be *good* if I can pull it off right.

And, Seeds. I absolutely love it. I can put all my sappy-romantic moods into that. It works out fantastic, and if I'm not in the mood for romance, I'll just write in one of my one-shots. Comedy!

Fantastic.

Busy day today. Argh... Didn't finish Stats homework. I'll ask the teacher if I can turn it in tomorrow with 10% taken off for lateness or something.

I blame work last night, because that was when I was going to do it.

Meh... anyway, I'm going to go find an interesting fic to read before class this morning.

(no subject)

I decided to post this update on a complete whim. This means two updates in one day.

I am so freaking rebellious today. Wow, it's amazing.

While I'm still in a reasonably good humor... I'll get into my rant mode. I've had something bothering me all afternoon. I had a chat with Lady Cosmos today about predictable endings. Apparently she now feels that her stories are of little value because they are "predictable" - or, they have happy endings. Ken and Omi love each other, hook up, and are happy.

What the hell is wrong with that?

Apparently, the fic is of lesser value - or, it's cheap and/or shallow, not very good, or uncomparable to a fic that has an unhappy ending.

This is *unfair*. I hate it when someone says something like that.

That's saying, if I wrote a book one day, and it was perhaps a romance, if it had a happy ending, it wouldn't be as deep and meaningful and valuable as a book with an unhappy ending? Because the ending may be predictable, the book is less enjoyable?

This wasn't her intent, and I realize she's feeling insecure about her own work, but when she voiced the concern to me, it made me feel like my own writing was being stabbed at. I *always* write happy endings, and I make that generally known. Does that make me less of an author than someone who writes stories that *don't* always have happy endings? I find this unfair. What I choose to write shouldn't dictate what kind of author I am, or how valuable my work is.

Suppose an author wrote a story that was complete fluff, and it was obvious from the beginning that the fic would have a happy ending. If the author was a very good writer, and the fic was well-composed, does it cheapen the piece to have it end happily? Would the fic have been better if the author had started with fluff and in the end, someone died in a freak accident? This could come off sounding ridiculous, couldn't it? "Ken and Omi shared a laugh and a quick kiss, and suddenly an out-of-control car came out of nowhere and hit Omi straight on, killing him instantly."

Well, it isn't predictable, that's for sure, but I don't see how this makes the story *better*.

In all honesty, isn't it the same with an overly dark and angsty fic? It's obvious it's not going to end happily. I'm going to borrow Kinslayer's 'The Mistakes We Make' for an example. I read that fic from start to finish, and I knew before I'd made it through part one that there was no way in hell that the fic would have a 'happy' ending. It didn't fit. So, the same could be said for something like that. I mean, if you're setting us up for an *unhappy* ending, then *that* becomes predictable. "Ken was being cruelly tortured, sunk into a pit of despair and broken in ways no one could fix. Then suddenly Omi came in with some flowers for him, and everything was okay."

That's not predictable either. But it doesn't fit, right?

Is there a difference between the two examples? They both seem kind of silly. Is the one with the implausible happy ending more or less ridiculous than the one with the implausible unhappy ending?

And they're both unpredictable. So does *that* make them more or less plausible?

Why is it that people think it's more predictable, or that it 'cheapens' the fic to make it end happily? Personally, I prefer the happy ending. If the characters go through suffering and sorrow, and come out on top of it all, I think it's like hope. People say to that, 'well, it doesn't always happen that way in real life.' Hello? Most of us live in the real world, too. We *know* that. We're not idiots. Does that mean we want to read or write about it? Not necessarily.

So why is an unhappy ending considered to be of more worth than a happy ending? It's supposed to be more 'real'. Are you saying that happy endings *never* happen in real life? That's the same as saying that unhappy endings never happen in real life - which most people already know is untrue. I don't understand *why* people think there's such a difference.

I think my argument may have been inspired by our philosophy discussion today, which was on discrimination. We were talking about reverse discrimination, and I think it's sort of similar. People are so anxious to avoid discrimination that they bend backwards and discriminate the other way, putting the rights of minority groups ahead of others.

Same for stories: we shouldn't say that unhappy endings are of lesser value, but it's not right to say that they're of greater value, either. A happy ending can be done just as beautifully or as meaningfully. The value of the fic is measured in the quality of the writing, isn't it?

I'm not putting a lot of time and effort into my happily ending fics to have someone tell me that they're cheap and predictable. I've put work and thought into this, and you're tearing it apart because you know that in the end, Ken and Omi will end up together?

My response: get a life. I mean that.

Whether or *not* they're predictable, my fics are just as valuable as the next person's.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the rant. I *love* to write. It's one thing I feel I'm really good at. Having someone attack my work, whether or not they mean to, makes me want to rebel in some fashion. This is my chosen fashion.

I'd like to hear the opinions of any other writers... What do you people think? Is an unhappy ending worth more than a happy ending? If so... tell me WHY! Because I really want to know where this reasoning comes from.