God dang it, why did I have to be so inactive!?! >.< I apologise for replying like a month after you asked! >.<
"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" is an exploration game with elements of mystery and a few elements of the horror (such as "the cult", people getting unusual deaths etc). Pablo Prospero, the ordinary detective you see in cheap shows, gets a fan mail from a boy named "Ethan Carter". Interested in the boy, Pablo visits Red Creek Valley to "find" him.
Each section of the Red Creek Valley is a short story written by Ethan. Pablo has to connect each fragment of memory to form the whole story. In each story, Ethan emphasis on emotions such as hate, melancholy, sorrow, indifference, and associates them with each family member.
In the end, we find out that Ethan is dying from the toxic smoke and everything was just his imagination. The whole adventure of Pablo Prospero in finding a simple kid and dealing with the cult of "sleeping" (death) was just Ethan's thoughts during the last four minutes of his life. The game already throws a lot of hints of his death, with the clocks showing the time of the death or when the fire started, Pablo continuing to say that "it was too late" and of course, the whole "sleeper awake" thing.
The ending is bittersweet. While the boy dies from inhaling the fume, the family is desperately trying to put out the fire to save him. Pablo, the character created by him to cope with the death, does comfort him about that in the dialogue:
"I can't go yet. I have to finish my story about you. I wrote stories about everyone."
"I know you did. But my story's done. And it's a fine story."
"I can... let go?"
"You can let go."
"What happens then?"
"Another story, kid. What else?"
Ethan might be gone, but the stories will go on. When one story reaches the end, another one is created.
God dang it, why did I have to be so inactive!?! >.< I apologise for replying like a month after you asked! >.<
"The Vanishin… moreg of Ethan Carter" is an exploration game with elements of mystery and a few elements of the horror (such as "the cult", people getting unusual deaths etc). Pablo Prospero, the ordinary detective you see in cheap shows, gets a fan mail from a boy named "Ethan Carter". Interested in the boy, Pablo visits Red Creek Valley to "find" him.
What are the things that cause an ending to make you break down and cry?
The best tragic endings are the ones that are inevitable and you can kind of see coming but still can't or don't want to believe it will happen. The best examples that come to mind are the ending to the Walking Dead game season 1, series finale of Breaking Bad and the episode "That's Too Much Man" from Bojack Horseman. In all of these the character's personalities have clearly been leading to this throughout the entire series, and so when it happens it's completely understandable and fitting so the viewer/reader/whatever won't feel cheated or angry, only sad.
Ok so I've been having a problem with the story I'm currently writing... it's a Life Is Strange fanfic. I know, I know, but I'm actually putting a lot of effort here and I'm think I'm doing a good job... except that I can't figure out the ending I want. So, uh, I will write the rest of this down there in case anybody is interested and doesn't want spoiler so, uh, spoiler alert.
I’m going to try very hard to sum everything up: the whole story is just part of an endless cycle that has been going on for God knows how long and has the universe trapped in a constant loop. This is, at some point Max went back in time to 1903 (it makes sense in the story context) and Rachel Amber kind of takes over her (I’ll explain this later) and starts fucking everything up. Since neither Max nor Rachel were born yet in 1903, they’re kind of like a spirit with no body and they trigger the whole thing that happens later in the story (takes over decades. The story itself it’s only a year long but there is a lot of fanmade lore here). Eventually, Rachel Amber is born (she has time powers like Max), she gets in trouble and now there are powerful motherfuckers that want her dead. On June 5th. 2014 shit hits the fan and her best idea to hide is to go back in time to before she was born, but while her mother was pregnant (so she’s still linked to this world, still spirit-like but can go back to her body), alter some shit so her mother and father get divorced, make her mother meet this other guy, and live happily ever after. So instead of Rachel, Max was born (yes I’m going into the “Max is Rachel Amber” dark place and no one will stop me). Max turned out to be very different from Rachel but not entirely (I’m dropping some Nature vs. Nurture philosophy here). Max has a happy/crappy life and shit until her powers get triggered again and then a very bad year until June 5th 2014 in this timeline. It’s supposed that this is the day Rachel Amber will come back and take over her body. God!Rachel that is around there, fucking things up since 1903, is going to throw the Ultimum Tantrum in Arcadia Bay by making a motherfucking tornado (cough waterspout cough), as revenge and shit I’m not going to reveal here. Max finds a photo taken in 1903 and she has two options: Going back to 1903 and trying to stop Rachel by taking over her (which is the choice she made infinite times before and failed all of them), or letting the Tornado destroy Arcadia Bay and NotEvil!Rachel (who is not entirely not evil but she’s not as bad as God!Rachel or the actual antagonist of the story) take over her body and be happy with Chloe somewhere else.
HOWEVER Max figures out (for reasons I’m not going to explain here for the sake of no spoilers) another way, go to the first timeline Rachel ever existed in, take over her body and kill her, erasing all she shit she’s been doing since 1903.
While I like this choice, since it’s similar to the ending of Bioshock Infinite, one of the biggest influences in the story, and is the only one that actually makes sense and gives importance to other elements that wouldn’t have as much weight without it. And it wouldn’t be a “happy ending”, since neither Max nor Rachel ever existed and everything we went through with them never happened, but I think this is exactly the problem with this: What was the point? Yeah, Max fixed almost everything, but no one will remember it, not even the other protagonists. Why tell all this story if the only impact it left was not impact at all? I was thinking about letting Chloe remember all and some other shit like now it’s her the one that has powers because of some Bioshock/His Dark Materials quantum bullshit so it wouldn’t feel so bad but it still feels anticlimactic and everything just feels so pointless.
Agh, someone help me please.
EDIT: I forgot something.
I have these very important characters that I don't want to include in the ending, I want the ending to revolve around Max and Chloe. These other two characters would be a massive third wheel here, they would be there just to be there, but have them around all the story and not in the ending feels kinda... bad. I don't know how to describe this. My first idea was to kill them, but I would be killing them just to get rid of them, and that's the worst thing I can do when writing. They would have a rushed and bad writen death and I don't want to kill them like that, I love them too much to give them such a bad death. So, maybe they went to fight their own battles, with their families and their emotional issues and shit, but again, it feels like I'm getting rid of them. They have zero impact in the ending, there is no possible way for them to have any impact in the ending, but two of the most important characters have no impact in the ending? I don't know what to do someone help
Ok so I've been having a problem with the story I'm currently writing... it's a Life Is Strange fanfic. I know, I know, but I'm actually put… moreting a lot of effort here and I'm think I'm doing a good job... except that I can't figure out the ending I want. So, uh, I will write the rest of this down there in case anybody is interested and doesn't want spoiler so, uh, spoiler alert.
Honestly, everything depends on a story. Sometimes it's necessary to kill off main characters in the end, sometimes it look like cheap drama. Irritating happy ends can quickly turn to satisfying if it fits in. The most important thing is realism and logic together with emotions. The ending must cover all the plot holes, wrap up all the lines and at the same time give away a powerful message. That's why it's better to first think of what you want to say with your story. What's the main point? Ending must express it.
I'm a sucker for tragic endings, so a perfect example would be American History X. You see the hero go through so much, then he redeems himself and everything is building up to a happy end.... But the story just gives you this last painful punch right in the heart. Yes, Danny's death wasn't necessary, but without it the movie wouldn't be so meaningful. The ending tells us that all actions have concequences and in some cases, even if you did all you could to fix the mistakes, there are things which you can't prevent. Now you just have to learn how to live with it.
Comments
God dang it, why did I have to be so inactive!?! >.< I apologise for replying like a month after you asked! >.<
"The Vanishing of Ethan Carter" is an exploration game with elements of mystery and a few elements of the horror (such as "the cult", people getting unusual deaths etc). Pablo Prospero, the ordinary detective you see in cheap shows, gets a fan mail from a boy named "Ethan Carter". Interested in the boy, Pablo visits Red Creek Valley to "find" him.
Each section of the Red Creek Valley is a short story written by Ethan. Pablo has to connect each fragment of memory to form the whole story. In each story, Ethan emphasis on emotions such as hate, melancholy, sorrow, indifference, and associates them with each family member.
In the end, we find out that Ethan is dying from the toxic smoke and everything was just his imagination. The whole adventure of Pablo Prospero in finding a simple kid and dealing with the cult of "sleeping" (death) was just Ethan's thoughts during the last four minutes of his life. The game already throws a lot of hints of his death, with the clocks showing the time of the death or when the fire started, Pablo continuing to say that "it was too late" and of course, the whole "sleeper awake" thing.
The ending is bittersweet. While the boy dies from inhaling the fume, the family is desperately trying to put out the fire to save him. Pablo, the character created by him to cope with the death, does comfort him about that in the dialogue:
"I can't go yet. I have to finish my story about you. I wrote stories about everyone."
"I know you did. But my story's done. And it's a fine story."
"I can... let go?"
"You can let go."
"What happens then?"
"Another story, kid. What else?"
Ethan might be gone, but the stories will go on. When one story reaches the end, another one is created.
Seems interesting! I may check it out later. I'm not reading the spoilers...
The best tragic endings are the ones that are inevitable and you can kind of see coming but still can't or don't want to believe it will happen. The best examples that come to mind are the ending to the Walking Dead game season 1, series finale of Breaking Bad and the episode "That's Too Much Man" from Bojack Horseman. In all of these the character's personalities have clearly been leading to this throughout the entire series, and so when it happens it's completely understandable and fitting so the viewer/reader/whatever won't feel cheated or angry, only sad.
Ok so I've been having a problem with the story I'm currently writing... it's a Life Is Strange fanfic. I know, I know, but I'm actually putting a lot of effort here and I'm think I'm doing a good job... except that I can't figure out the ending I want. So, uh, I will write the rest of this down there in case anybody is interested and doesn't want spoiler so, uh, spoiler alert.
I’m going to try very hard to sum everything up: the whole story is just part of an endless cycle that has been going on for God knows how long and has the universe trapped in a constant loop. This is, at some point Max went back in time to 1903 (it makes sense in the story context) and Rachel Amber kind of takes over her (I’ll explain this later) and starts fucking everything up. Since neither Max nor Rachel were born yet in 1903, they’re kind of like a spirit with no body and they trigger the whole thing that happens later in the story (takes over decades. The story itself it’s only a year long but there is a lot of fanmade lore here). Eventually, Rachel Amber is born (she has time powers like Max), she gets in trouble and now there are powerful motherfuckers that want her dead. On June 5th. 2014 shit hits the fan and her best idea to hide is to go back in time to before she was born, but while her mother was pregnant (so she’s still linked to this world, still spirit-like but can go back to her body), alter some shit so her mother and father get divorced, make her mother meet this other guy, and live happily ever after. So instead of Rachel, Max was born (yes I’m going into the “Max is Rachel Amber” dark place and no one will stop me). Max turned out to be very different from Rachel but not entirely (I’m dropping some Nature vs. Nurture philosophy here). Max has a happy/crappy life and shit until her powers get triggered again and then a very bad year until June 5th 2014 in this timeline. It’s supposed that this is the day Rachel Amber will come back and take over her body. God!Rachel that is around there, fucking things up since 1903, is going to throw the Ultimum Tantrum in Arcadia Bay by making a motherfucking tornado (cough waterspout cough), as revenge and shit I’m not going to reveal here. Max finds a photo taken in 1903 and she has two options: Going back to 1903 and trying to stop Rachel by taking over her (which is the choice she made infinite times before and failed all of them), or letting the Tornado destroy Arcadia Bay and NotEvil!Rachel (who is not entirely not evil but she’s not as bad as God!Rachel or the actual antagonist of the story) take over her body and be happy with Chloe somewhere else.
HOWEVER Max figures out (for reasons I’m not going to explain here for the sake of no spoilers) another way, go to the first timeline Rachel ever existed in, take over her body and kill her, erasing all she shit she’s been doing since 1903.
While I like this choice, since it’s similar to the ending of Bioshock Infinite, one of the biggest influences in the story, and is the only one that actually makes sense and gives importance to other elements that wouldn’t have as much weight without it. And it wouldn’t be a “happy ending”, since neither Max nor Rachel ever existed and everything we went through with them never happened, but I think this is exactly the problem with this: What was the point? Yeah, Max fixed almost everything, but no one will remember it, not even the other protagonists. Why tell all this story if the only impact it left was not impact at all? I was thinking about letting Chloe remember all and some other shit like now it’s her the one that has powers because of some Bioshock/His Dark Materials quantum bullshit so it wouldn’t feel so bad but it still feels anticlimactic and everything just feels so pointless.
Agh, someone help me please.
EDIT: I forgot something.
I have these very important characters that I don't want to include in the ending, I want the ending to revolve around Max and Chloe. These other two characters would be a massive third wheel here, they would be there just to be there, but have them around all the story and not in the ending feels kinda... bad. I don't know how to describe this. My first idea was to kill them, but I would be killing them just to get rid of them, and that's the worst thing I can do when writing. They would have a rushed and bad writen death and I don't want to kill them like that, I love them too much to give them such a bad death. So, maybe they went to fight their own battles, with their families and their emotional issues and shit, but again, it feels like I'm getting rid of them. They have zero impact in the ending, there is no possible way for them to have any impact in the ending, but two of the most important characters have no impact in the ending? I don't know what to do someone help
Honestly, everything depends on a story. Sometimes it's necessary to kill off main characters in the end, sometimes it look like cheap drama. Irritating happy ends can quickly turn to satisfying if it fits in. The most important thing is realism and logic together with emotions. The ending must cover all the plot holes, wrap up all the lines and at the same time give away a powerful message. That's why it's better to first think of what you want to say with your story. What's the main point? Ending must express it.
I'm a sucker for tragic endings, so a perfect example would be American History X. You see the hero go through so much, then he redeems himself and everything is building up to a happy end.... But the story just gives you this last painful punch right in the heart. Yes, Danny's death wasn't necessary, but without it the movie wouldn't be so meaningful. The ending tells us that all actions have concequences and in some cases, even if you did all you could to fix the mistakes, there are things which you can't prevent. Now you just have to learn how to live with it.
Collecting all the Chaos Emeralds!