#PennedPossibilities⁩ 969 — Do your stories have happy endings?

Happy endings are usually less important than closure—the sense that the story has ended satisfyingly, answering whatever question it set out to ask. (Exception: romance. It's not romance if it doesn't have a happy ending, it's something else wearing romance's flayed skin as a suit.)

Closure reassures the reader that they understand the world, and happy endings assure them that the world is good.