I'm sorry I had to read through all this for this sort of ending.

Author's Response: I'm sorry you feel that way, Shippy. The whole point of the ending is that it wasn't really an ending. You were meant to imagine it as a Season 6 episode we never saw -- one leading into the musical -- and that means there couldn't be the type of ending you were probably hoping for. It's certainly your right not to like something and to choose to read only a certain type of story. But unless someone tells you up front that it's going to be happily ever after (which I hate because it completely destroys the suspense), then that's the risk you take every time you read a story or watch a TV show or movie. I have to admit I'm surprised you kept reading if you weren't enjoying the story. And if you were, then I'm not sure why the ending would have ruined the whole thing for you. But I guess we just have a different attitude about that. I love a happy ending, and I tend to write them more often than not, but I also write the story the way I feel it needs to go, and I think no author should ever have to apologize for that or reassure readers that everything will turn out okay or warn them that it won't. It's the principle of the thing, and it's all tied up in authorial integrity. That said, I thank everyone who's willing to go along for the ride -- no matter what the final destination. After all, that's what BtVS was all about.