Topic: Guilty Pleasures?

Stories where a character is in an unwinnable scenario and suffers permanent consequences for losing, but only if the character suffering could not possibly have deserved anything that happened. They help remind me that the Just World Hypothesis is a lie, which sounds terrible until you realize that means it's also not my fault.

Stories like the following:

Psycho-Pass

Judgment and sociopathy are synonymous and you can be executed for creativity, empathy, and/or ptsd, which means I'm as good as dead. Going back to status quo is not to be episodic, but to emphasize that it can't be fought, and trying will guarantee a Crime-Coefficient above 300. Humanity's lifespan has decreased significantly due to lack of Eustress. Bystander Syndrome is not only a universal trait, but thought of as a positive trait, if not mandatory.

Hellgirl

It's already clear that vengeance is not a form of justice, with one request even being denied because it was in the nae of justice, with Ai stating "I am no champion of justice." The system it uses guarantees that at least one undeserving person will always be damned to Hell with each use without exception. People have successfully uses it knowing the target was undeserving just for the power of deciding who goes to Hell. One person who clearly deserved it successfully escaped. More than once. Victims have included: a twin because she wasn't being abused like the other one, an infant because they weren't wanted, a quadriplegic because taking care of them was exhausting (said quadriplegic was only paralyzed because she failed a suicide attempt made due to the guilt of being too much of a burden), a nurse whose big secret about her "do no wrong" act was that it was not an act, a socially anxious man who accidentally spilled his coffee on someone, and countless people who just happened to be in the way of a multimillionaire corporation who knew of Hell Correspondence's existence. The one time an undeserving victim is spared, Ai is sent to Hell in his place. It is possible to have the contract made in your name against your will, meaning you paid your soul to damn someone without having ever agreed to do so. The assistants include a pacifist who used to be a katana (left on a battlefield and given sentience after 100 years), an old man who used to be an escape chariot (caught fire when evacuating a family of nobles, remained as a Mononoke, and was granted humanity by being forgiven by Ai), a woman who was sold into sex slavery and killed when she refused (revived from her charred bones), and a 14-year-old girl who was buried alive because the villagers were uncomfortable with her existence and "randomly" chose her as the sacrifice when she was 7. Very rarely is nobody innocent punished. The only confirmation that Hell is not the only afterlife is a man who died of old age seconds before the string could be pulled, rescinding the contract because it cannot damn someone who is already dead. The only other limit to its use is the price of damning someone being your soul. That means it can only be used once, as you only have one soul.

Ghost in the Shell

Humans who want to lose their humanity and succeed, AIs who want to be human but never can, the realistic character ages (The character in his 20s is seen the same way we see teenagers, not old enough to have augmentations unless it's an immediate life-or-death situation, which it isn't. Most other characters are middle aged or would be elderly from our perspective)...but I refuse to acknowledge the movie. The Major wouldn't do the whole "I never asked for this. They can't control me." because she was so in favor of her prosthetic body that she persuaded someone else to get one under the same circumstances, and uses an outdated model because she has grown attached to it. That and she's already the most respected character in Section 9, not being controlling her is something that nobody has ever questioned because there is no point in doing so. Even the mayor defers to her.)

Deadman Wonderland:

Fucking duh.

Also, any stories that follow this format where the characters do not give in. I might not believe in the existence of justice, but I do believe in perseverance, and to quote Amber Williams, "Sometimes, hope is all one has. And sometimes, hope is all one needs."

Updated by anonymous