i honestly dislike tear jerkers as it gets to me, so i am wondering if the "tear jerker" tag is a major part of the stories. if it is or not how is it used? do one of the girls die? also i am just wondering but is there cheating,swinging or sharing involved in the story, even if its sublimed into the background.
thanks in advance
I think that the main reason for the tag is due to one of the MC's mentors having been told he has less than a year to live.
In the first three books it's more of an undertone, although that might not be the case in the upcoming forth book.
The story starts with the MC finding out his father had cheated on his mother.
The MC is accused of cheating and there are multiple off scene rapes, and how that is dealt with is the main topics of the second and third book.
None of the girls die.
If it helps, I've never used the "tear jerker" tag in any of my stories where the protagonist or other major charactres die. "Tear-jerker" is more indicative of the direction of the story (focusing on loss) rather than the subject of the story. In other words, the loss might not be that great, but the reaction to it is often oversized (i.e. "boo-hoo-hoo, someone dumped me and now my life is over", as opposed to "I now have cancer, but I'm not about to let that stop me!").
For me, tear jerker is more like the Key Visual novels, like Air, Kanon and of course Clannad.
The Japanese call it "Nakige" Where you get to know all the characters in the first arc, gets kicked in the nuts to let you crying in the fetal phase in the middle/late arc and get a hopefully happy ending in the end.
As long as whatever I'm watching/reading makes me cry and depress at the end, it's a tear jerker. Though, it's really rare since it takes a very, very talented author/director/actor to make me get that emotionally attached to a character.
For me, Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata is hands down the top tear jerker.
As long as whatever I'm watching/reading makes me cry and depress at the end, it's a tear jerker.
Something that makes you cry is simply 'moving'. Tear jerkers are traditionally those that are unrelenting in trying to get you to cry (think shows on the Lifetime or Hallmark networks).
Hm. I've been using tear-jerker more to indicate that sometimes character background or events of the story are of the sorts that might get to people emotionally. For example, in my story The Runaway, it was because the main female character came from an abusive household and that and its effects were discussed; and in Number Five, it was because all of the girls had stories about being sold into slavery that were, well, sad.
Have I been using the tag wrong?
It doesn't sound like it to me.
The code definition for Tear Jerker is a sad story or containing sad moments.