My Thoughts on Sad/Tragedy

Ladies and Gentlecolts, I am not ashamed to say that I am a sensitive and emotional man. I have shed tears because of books, movies, video games, and TV shows and the characters portrayed in them. There have been stories on this website that have left me weeping both tears of joy and tears of sorrow, which is why the sad/tragedy genre is one of my favorites. The reason I enjoy it so much is that these stories really show how well the author writes and tells the story, and my teary reaction shows as much. It makes sense that sad stories featuring the Mane Six or the other characters from the show would cause that reaction for me, because I've already established a connection with those characters, but that doesn't in any way take away from the author's skill. Despite using established characters, it still takes a masterful story-teller to bring out an emotional response in the reader. I do, however, believe that sad stories featuring one or more OCs have a much harder task in their writing. They have to create new characters that haven't been seen before and have to make them to where the readers will establish an emotional connection with the new character. All that being said, the tragedy/sad genre also terrifies me. Whenever I see a cover art with a tombstone with the name of one of the Mane Six on it or something akin to it, I am immediately filled with dread. That's not to say I won't read it or that it's not good, it just means that I know I will most likely be an emotional wreck by the end of it. I think the best example of my feelings would be when I first read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I got to the scene where Dumbledore dies; I closed the book and began to weep like I had lost a good friend. This is my reaction to some of the stories on this site, and although it brings me misery, I enjoy it immensely. The fact that my emotional responses are such shows how amazing the author is and what a good job both the authors, and the creators of the show, did in creating their characters and writing their stories. Even though I know my poor keyboard will be soaked with salty tears, I continue to read sad and tragic stories. I read them because they are beautiful and bring out the emotions in me that are the most human.