@sabhait i don't think they're "mean spirited", i think hussie and co genuinely did not expect the readers to take the epilogues as personally as they did. which is maybe an oversight, but i don't think either party is in the wrong here. based on their commentary, hussie very much views their ocs as fictional characters, not people, and as a result they dgaf how much they suffer. couldn't be me. i have historically been deeply parasocial with fictional characters, especially hussie's, lmfao. it took a concerted effort on my part to even consider hurting them. getting over that made me a better writer, but i don't think it's inherently wrong to have that mindset. It's just, when you've got a writer that loves throwing their ocs around like pebbles in a rock tumblr, and a fandom that considers those ocs their precious babies who are also extensions of themselves, it's a recipe for disaster. if i were them i would be very confused by this reaction, even if as a fan, i understand it completely.