They’re together and happy, but there’s still ten chapters left.
I have discovered that you do not need to build any tension into a fic in order to maintain suspense. Readers’ own anticipation of impending doom will maintain the suspense for you.
FANFICTION IS THE GREATEST FOR THIS THOUGH. IN ORIGINAL FICTION YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE READER CARE ABOUT THE PROTAGONIST, YOU HAVE TO WORK AT IT. IN FANFIC THEY COME IN CARING SO HARD THEY’RE PRACTICALLY ON THE VERGE OF ANEURYSM. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS HAVE FUN AND TRY TO PACE IT TO MAXIMISE THEIR EMOTIONAL RESPONSE.
i mean, you often don’t even have to introduce what the character is going to be traumatized by because everyone already knows because of a) canon or b) fanon, so as soon as they hear key words like “ice” or “cave”, they start going OH SHIT SHIT IS GONNA GO DOOOOOOOWN. it is honestly the greatest.
fanfic is also great, because you 100% don’t have to include any tension, and because people are already so invested in the characters, they are THRILLED to read that. THAT IS MAGICAL. YOU COULD NEVER GET AWAY WITH THAT IN PUBLISHED FICTION.