Bad Endings

hanhan said:
I absolutely love bad endings in Cuckolding or cheating stories. Bad Endings could be something like a wife getting knocked up by your rival, catching feelings, etc.

I wish there was a way to filter for bad endings on chyoa because I’d love to find a few good stories with bad endings.
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Search for "Bad end" or "Bad ending" by chapter, that should help.
 
I mean... As someone who tends to love bad endings, especially of the violent, non-con, or violently Non-con (Sadly none of that allowed on CHYOA though) variety. I often write them... Dustbin is the only story I've written so far with any sort of proper character choice and at least some possible endings (No good endings yet, those are far off).

In terms of writing bad ends... Bad ends that end with the character in a situation they couldn't logically get out of, dead or otherwise unable to continue are always viable bad endings and I do write Dustbin with those old CYOA stories in mind, the fighting fantasy game books specifically. There are plenty of ends for the various Dustbin protagonists that has them end up dead or trapped in a hopeless situation. I do however have no qualms about continuing certain paths if people want, I know someone once wanted me to add more to a branch where Ruby becomes addicted to drugs that make her think she's a fox girl and she ends up working at a brothel full of other men and women who were addicted to said drug. The story technically ended there with Ruby essentially now stuck in a life as a prostitute fox girl with no desire even to get out, but I do see why people might want to continue following such a branch.

Lots of bad endings just result in the character dead in my writing, partially because I personally quite like fictional snuff stuff, but also because death of the character is the ultimate in terms of closure for a character... unless of course it's a fantasy or sci-fi series where reviving the dead is possible. I doubt there's any further writing to be added to say... The ending where Emily was drowned and her body left at the bottom of a lake for instance. Not without really going somewhere strange with the story at least. Dustbin being a fairly realistic story in at least some ways...
 
TheLowKing said:
There's a scene in The Hours where (a fictionalized version of) Virginia Woolf says one of the characters in her book has to die. Her husband asks why, and she explains: "Someone has to die so that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast."

I think a similar case can be made for bad ends. In stories that are supposed to have real risks (mortal or otherwise), having bad endings emphasizes the danger, raising the tension. It also improves immersion, by making the player/reader's choices matter. It means that when the protagonist encounters 3 armed bandits, it's no foregone conclusion that he'll dispatch them all and walk away without a scratch.
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This is exactly it. In a standard novel, usually a handful of characters die, possibly with one or more main characters too. A CHYOA novel is stronger in this regard, as we can explore multiple pathways and alternate universes where different characters live and die within a story.

I like bad endings. They give weight to the good endings and force players/readers to carefully weight their decisions, lest they imperil themselves. JK jk jk. I was that scumbag kid who never took his finger off the choice page, until I figured out which one was the better option. Trying to be better as an adult though.

The only problem is that, while it creates and EXTREMELY rich and fulfilling branching narrative to had bad endings that go nowhere, just like a maze, having dead ends, actually creates a lot more work on the part of the creator. Think about it, you have to keep writing, possibly for multiple chapters, while the situation gets worse and worse. Its extra work for less reward.
 
salam123 said:
Wait, wait, wait a minute! There are books with different paths? Like, in print? On paper?
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Can't tell if you're serious or not.

Didn't you ever read 'choose your own adventure' as a kid?

Where did you think the title for this website comes from?

Further, if you want to try it live action, check out Bandersnatch Black Mirror.
 
I keep thinking about this concept of "bad endings," and ... I just don't think it's for me. In my shorter form writing, I've simply used options to branch the story -- but each branch is intended to go well for the characters, and eventually, each branch will conclude with a (hopefully!) satisfying "the end." In my longer form writing, I've used options to split the paths in the interest of variety, but the idea that they all still converge again between sections so that the main plot of the story continues in the same direction.

I have been recently making notes and conceiving of a game to write that would include bad endings ... though I probably have to read more stories like that first to understand how to make them work in a satisfying way.
 
zankoo said:
I keep thinking about this concept of "bad endings," and ... I just don't think it's for me. In my shorter form writing, I've simply used options to branch the story -- but each branch is intended to go well for the characters, and eventually, each branch will conclude with a (hopefully!) satisfying "the end." In my longer form writing, I've used options to split the paths in the interest of variety, but the idea that they all still converge again between sections so that the main plot of the story continues in the same direction.

I have been recently making notes and conceiving of a game to write that would include bad endings ... though I probably have to read more stories like that first to understand how to make them work in a satisfying way.
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That's mostly what I've done, though I do plan to have some bad endings.
 
I don't think bad endings have to bad (just written that way). A story that ends badly for its protagonists can still be satisfying. 1984 comes to mind. The fascists win!
 
I feel that with your own story, you can do what you want. Make every single ending a negative one if you like.

But, when contributing an ending of any kind to someone else's story, it's only polite to create another thread which leads to a more positive outcome. Of course, it's up to the author to decide if they even want to accept the submission, but if I were the author I would be much more inclined to add it to the story if there were another thread which didn't end it. I have submitted "bad endings" on two occasions; one in which the protagonist ended up in prison, and the other in which he was made impotent for the rest of his life. In both cases, I made about a dozen other contributions which continued the story if the "right" choice was made. I've also submitted a few GOOD endings, and once again did this after I felt I had earned it by contributing many other chapters. It also doesn't hurt to reach out to the author and ask permission to write an ending.
 
zankoo said:
Gotta be honest, I don't typically get off to Orwell.
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not even his Spanish Civil War Stuff?

@Xenolan - probably depends on the story you're contributing to. For some of the great big balls of spaghetti on the site, anything goes. Others where the author is providing a definite structure and is still the captain of the ship, then yes, absolutely, manners must prevail.
 
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