Hopeful exists because some ponies feel there should be a tag with that name. But despite the central concept, I think this classification may be difficult to pin down exactly.

Hence, this thread.

Here we'll debate and define what the different categories within Hopeful mean. This will determine the descriptions we will place under the categories for ponies to better sort their works. Currently, we have these categories:

Bittersweet
Don't give up
Hopeful (this is a bit confusing)
I can live with that
It was worth it
Optimistic

I could start off discussion by saying what I think each of these categories might mean and why, but I think it would be better to start with you: the ponies who have contributed stories already. What do each of these categories mean to you?

I think it's also worth discussing how these categories (or Hopeful in general, which I would also like to nail down) differ from established tags. It seems clear to me that, for example, Tragedy is compatible with Hopeful; or at least, that's what the blog I wrote today about what Tragedy means would suggest.

Once enough ponies have weighed in, I'll try to tune the discussion toward a consensus. Maybe this will make works move from one category to another, or create new categories, or merge others.

At least, that's my hope.

I created the 'Hopeful' folder within the Hopeful group to mean 'whatever doesn't go elsewhere'. Originally everything else was a subfolder. That was clearer, but kind of a nuisance.

Here's what I posted on the group's front page:

"Hopeful" means that at the end of the story, the main characters have hope, which is either hope that something good will happen in the future, or some inner strength which keeps them going in the present despite not solving their problems. A happy ending is not a hopeful ending. Hope exists, by definition, only in the absence of complete happiness. Nearly all stories have parts where the main character hopes for something better. That isn't enough to qualify.

Basically, if the main problem that the characters worry about during the story is solved at the end so that it isn't a problem for them anymore, the story shouldn't go here.

The stories I created it for are stories where the closest existing tag is 'Sad', but the story doesn't leave you feeling sad.

5272696
Just so you know, I think I should probably move Unforgettable out of "I can live with that" and into "It was worth it", upon closer consideration. There's no way to do this without re-spamming the list, though.

I'm also adding another story to "It was worth it" tonight, though it's a tiny sad/slice minific so I don't know if it's appropriate or not.

6143765 Glad to see you still using the group! It sure would be nice to be able to move stories from one folder to another.

6144617
The biggest problem with the groups system is that if you accidentally add the wrong story to a group, even if you immediately delete it, it will show up in everypony's feed.

But there are plenty of other problems. If you could search through a group folder, all the stupid "genre" folders in 96% of the groups out there would be (happily) irrelevant.