Regret — Tag Meaning
Stories anchored in the weight of choices that can't be unmade — words said in anger, chances not taken, people failed. Authors use it for redemption setups, deathbed reckonings, and time-travel fics motivated by the desperate need to fix the unfixable.
What to Expect From "Regret" Fics
Expect characters haunted by their pasts, apology arcs, and emotional payoff measured in forgiveness earned or denied.
How to find Regret fics on AO3
On AO3, click any tag to see every work that uses it, then refine with the "Filters" sidebar — combine it with your fandom or ship, set a rating, or exclude tags you don't want. See our AO3 filtering guide for the full walkthrough.
Browse "Regret" works on AO3Popular Fics Tagged "Regret"
Real examples from AO3's most-kudosed works:
Related Tags
Guilt
A canonical tag for stories where a character's guilt, earned or imagined, is a driving emotional force. It covers everything from atonement arcs to characters quietly corroding under a secret.
Tag guide →
Redemption
The tag for villains and screw-ups earning their way back — atonement, changed behavior, and the slow rebuilding of trust. Redemption arcs are among fandom's favorite projects, especially for antagonists the source material discarded or condemned without nuance.
Tag guide →
Apologies
Fics built around the hard work of saying sorry and meaning it — after betrayals, canon wrongs fandom never forgave, or small hurts that festered. The tag often marks stories written specifically to give readers the apology canon withheld.
Tag guide →
Angst
One of the foundational tags of fanfiction, covering stories centered on emotional pain — grief, longing, guilt, heartbreak, despair. Unlike a content warning, Angst describes mood: the fic dwells in difficult feelings and wants you to feel them too. It says nothing on its own about whether things improve.
Tag guide →
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