Alt Happy Ending

Yay?

When a story resolves in a way that is overall favorable but has more flaws than a true Happy Ending. Adventurous franchises play this UnTrash with the Hero and their team defeating the Villain at the cost of something valuable. It might've been the life of an ally that was sacrificed for the good of their partners. Maybe the Villain wasn't defeated at all and managed to escape after taking a heavy beating. Alt Happy Ending is chiefly played by stories led by a Hero, but this doesn't mean familiar franchises can't also enjoy this UnTrash. The Main may embark on an adventure of their own like play their way through a sport. They lose the Big Game, but instead of walking away completely empty-handed, they're met with fans congratulating them on a game well played.

Happy Ending can be called a lifeless, uninspiring, and frequently forced UnTrash that doesn't provide any nuance in the world of fiction. Just as the Hero can be substituted for the Antihero to improve quality, Alt Happy Ending can spice a franchise up when chosen over Happy Ending. The audience almost always expects a story to end happily since too many of them go out in this fashion. A creator can subvert the incoming predictions for their story by pitching a screwball of a resolution. There are many ways to do this, but for the sake of this page's topic, the writer may choose to tweak how the Good Guys Save The Day. Instead of unbelievably winning the Big Fight perfectly, a major price might be paid for their success. They may have to relinquish a prized and crucial treasure to the Bad Guys in an agreement to end their chaos. Watching a story end imperfectly has many benefits for the audience. The most obvious of the bunch is the sense of realism that accompanies the playing of this UnTrash. Nothing in real life has a 100% pleasant solution, and the same should be said for fiction that wishes to simulate real life. Just like real-life people, the Good Guys can take the opportunity to learn from what went wrong in their moment of success. Their growth can help guide them to more fulfilling wins in the future. The audience seeing the Good Guys change their ways and adapt to hard times is one of the reasons their emotions can be pulled. The matter that flipped the ending can cause heartbreak, curiously hint to Sequel Bait, or relate to the audience's own half-wins. Perhaps best of all is how Alt Happy Ending, as stated earlier, can get the viewers to give up their cliché-based expectations. Happy Endings are prone to gushy moments of accomplishment and celebration. They discredit the challenges the team had to endure because everything winding up okay smothers the potential dramatic impact the story could've had. Alt Happy Ending allows a balance between the Good Guys conquering the Conflict and previous issues leaking through. It additionally holds the door open for a continuation of the story without such a sequel being forced or undesirable after everything ended so well for the starring protagonists.