Hello!! First of all, thank you so much 💗 it makes me very happy to read that my stories and characters are so engaging for you 🥺💗 and thank you for pointing out the hopeful/open endings, too. I know a lot of readers prefer strictly happy endings, so this is a great opportunity for me to talk about my thoughts on this topic.
Your comment made me think of that tweet asking for your toxic reader traits or something along those lines that went around a couple of days ago. My toxic reader trait is, that I don’t read epilogues bc, most of the time, I don’t find them interesting enough. Also, I’m not a big fan of the final, big, romantic gesture that leads to a happy ending (I know that’s not ideal since I’m writing romance, or at least something romance adjacent; but the great thing about fanfic is that there aren’t rules, right?). and I guess I don’t enjoy lingering on the happy ever after as a writer, either...
but there’s another aspect: time. I often write for fests and I have horrible time management when it comes to my fics. so I’m kind of forced to take shortcuts towards the end (I still think that my stories and the notes I’m ending them on work, though).
And last but not least: I simply love open endings (for me personally, they don’t have to be hopeful, either). As a writer, I don’t like spelling everything out. I love leaving space for the readers (not only when it comes to the ending but within the whole text). A story only works if there’s someone on the other side receipting it through their individual lens - that’s the part abt writing and storytelling in general that I find the most fascinating.
Sorry, that was a lot of babbling. I’m sending lots of love your way and I hope you have the best day 💓