History MortonsFork / FanWorks

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': During Chapter 6 of the remastered version, Kyril and Olga briefly [[DiscussedTrope discuss this trope]] after he makes it clear that the mission to bring her south is of utmost priority. Olga, in resignation, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] how he would bother letting her choose to stay or leave, given that she's damned either way no matter the choice. To be frank, she does have a point: if she stays, she would be under the mercy of the Black Dogs; if she leaves, she would be under the mercy of Kyril instead, who has proven to be ten times as dangerous. Kyril replies that even if the choices are bad and worse, it's still her decision to make. It just happens that it is one that some find liberating, while some don't. Cue ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive remark.

* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSevenKingdoms'': After the [[spoiler:Oblivion Gate summoned by Mythic Dawn]] [[SpannerInTheWorks derails]] his assault on King's Landing enough that he loses the chance to win an outright victory, William settles for setting up a plan to cause enough strife among the Lannister-Tyrell alliance that they're virtually crippled -- he pulls part of his forces back to Harrenhal while the rest march on the Reach, all while Robb's forces are still marching on Casterly Rock. As such, the Lannisters and Tyrells are left with too many equally important fronts to focus on.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse''
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe was pressured to fight Ash -- Alola League Champion -- by her classmates. If she refused, they'd keep pressuring her more. If she accepted, she'd be crushed. She ultiamtely said "Yes" to get them off her backs and not only was she crushed, but this set up the events of her entering the Infinity Train that made ''everyone else's lives worse''.

-->'''Gladion:''' They beat us, we’re good as dead. We beat them, they just think it’s more validation for their worldview. The strongest should be in charge...and the second we try to tell them they’re wrong, they’ll think it's a weakness or hypocrisy and try to replace us. So we fight and fight and fight and get nowhere. We need a better solution, something that makes them face the truth.
** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus'': Just as she's about to be thrown out a window, Chloe presents this to Dr. Yung. He built the Mirage System in order to impress Professor Oak and the others, but the problem is that anything from the Train ''cannot'' be brought back to the real world. Then there's the fact that the only way for Professor Oak to see it is if he ever gets at a low point that the Train picks him up and many other factors like if he ''ever'' gets to the car where the Mirage System is or Oak manages to drop his number to 0 before he even meets Yung again. If Yung decides to ever get his number to 0? He's either arrested on the spot or forced into hiding. No matter what path Yung chooses, it's game over.

* ''FanFic/SonOfTheSevenKingdoms'': After the [[spoiler:Oblivion Gate summoned by Mythic Dawn]] [[SpannerInTheWorks derails]] his assault on King's Landing enough that he loses the chance to win an outright victory, William settles for setting up a plan to cause enough strife among the Lannister-Tyrell alliance that they're virtually crippled -- he pulls part of his forces back to Harrenhal while the rest march on the Reach, all while Robb's forces are still marching on Casterly Rock. As such, the Lannisters and Tyrells are left with too many equally important fronts to focus on.

* ''FanFic/TheWeaverOption'':

* In "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/36162718/ The Devil and His Urchin]]", Chloe and Dan initially feel like they're faced with this when Trixie manifests wings inherited from her biological father Lucifer (Lucifer and Chloe had a one-night-stand while Chloe and Dan's relationship was in a rough place). Obviously both initially panic when faced with evidence that Trixie is the daughter of the devil and what that might mean regarding his interest in her, but they also recognise that trying to sneak away isn't practical when their child has wings, and they are concerned that trying to ask for help will either lead to people dismissing them as insane or they will be faced with scientists trying to examine/dissect Trixie or priests trying to exorcise her. [[spoiler:Chloe ultimately chooses to ask Lucifer for his help, reasoning that he's clearly willing to tolerate them at least considering that Chloe can think of other people who would have punched Dan by now considering how he and Lucifer have interacted so far]].

* Alya finds herself in this position twice over in ''FanFic/TheOneToMakeItStay'' thanks to her [[FatalFlaw unfortunate tendency]] to assume her first impressions are always right and that her instincts are always sound.

* In ''FanFic/ThreeGuysGoToABarAndThenTheyBeatYouWithIt'', Bakugou, Tokoyami and Shinsou are faced with one when Aizawa explains their assignment to them. The three of them have been chosen to play the villains in that semester's final exams, and have two months to brainstorm six different scenarios -- one for each team of classmates they'll be facing off against. If they don't accept this massive responsibility, or the fact that they have been [[{{Typecasting}} typecast]] as antagonists due to their Quirks, then they'll immediately be expelled for the high crime of making Aizawa's job harder.

* ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'': Asuka "politely" explains Matarael that it has two options: letting Shinji go and dying quickly, or holding him hostage and dying slowly and painfully.
-->'''Asuka''': ''"Alright you arachnid asshole, this can end in one of two ways, and in both of them, you die. So you wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way?"''

* Later in ''FanFic/SonicXDarkChaos'', Maledict eventually realizes that the entire conflict has become this. Either he ends the stalemate by destroying the Milky Way Galaxy himself with the ''Galaxy Crusher'', or the Shroud are going to eat the entire galaxy and destroy it instead. He decides on the former, rationalizing it as a MercyKill compared to letting the Shroud get more powerful.

* Briefly discussed in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5821831/1/The-Finer-Shades-of-Why The Finer Shades of Why]]'' when Anakin defeats Dooku in a duel and is then mockingly informed by Dooku that only he knows where the captive Obi-Wan Kenobi is, suggesting to Anakin that Obi-Wan will die if Dooku isn't released to find him. However, thanks to his own recent talks with his former master about his responsibilities and his brushes with the Dark Side, Anakin is able to weigh the options better; faced with the choice of hating himself for letting Dooku go to save Obi-Wan or hating himself for letting his master die, Anakin chooses the option where Obi-Wan won't hate him and takes Dooku captive, albeit with the goal of finding the lost Jedi by himself.

* In ''FanFic/AllGuardsmenParty'', Aimy gains a skunk stripe after a grazing shot from an enemy weapon. She is absolutely pissed and during "Tyranid Acquisition Experts" she wanders around asking random people if her hair looks funny and then does "mean things" if they answer wrong. As the narrator notes there was no ''right'' answer.
* In ''FanFic/ToyHammer'', [[spoiler:Emma]], a past incarnation of the God Emperor, reveals that this is ultimately why the Literature/HorusHeresy was allowed to happen: all of the other possible futures would have been much worse for mankind, some much sooner than later.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12616544/1/The-Worst-Witch-2017-Trauma Trauma]]'', Mildred faces this kind of dilemma for most of the fic after learning that she has become pregnant as a result of being raped over the summer holidays before her third year; she's obviously too young to raise a child herself even with help from her mother, but at the same time she's uncomfortable at the thought of giving her child up for adoption, as in either case she worries that the child will grow up with various issues from either being outright abandoned or poorly raised. [[spoiler:The matter is 'settled' when Agatha Cackle’s latest attack causes Mildred to suffer a miscarriage.]]

* ''Fanfic/AftermathOfTheGames'': In ''Integration'', Twilight discovers that [[spoiler:Sunburst died many years ago]], placing her in the precarious position of deciding whether or not to tell young Starlight the truth. Either she lets her continue thinking that [[spoiler:Sunburst abandoned her]], or she explains what really happened... which ''also'' entails admitting how she [[RetGone Ret-Goned]] her adult self and explaining what Starlight did in the original timeline far sooner than she wants to.

* ''[[Fanfic/ChiaroscuroNaruto Chiaroscuro]]'': The idea of the 'Friendship Rule' is [[DeconstructionFic Deconstructed]] this way. If you prioritize a mission over your teammates, then you're abandoning your friends and allies, potentially leaving them to die. But if you prioritize your teammates first, then ''other'' friends of yours who were depending on you taking that mission are likely to suffer instead.

** In [[https://princess-of-the-corner.tumblr.com/post/648584727905943552/hero-chat-truth-yeah-i-figured-i-should-make-a the Hero Chat's version of "Truth"]] Anarka describes the situation that lead to her not telling Jagged about Luka as this. While it wasn't the best move, the result of telling Jagged would have either lead Jagged to give up his music career for his new family or try to make a balance that would have forced Luka into the spotlight for his entire life.

* ''Fanfic/FallenKingdom'': Koops is stuck in one of these when Larry sends him after Mario's other partners. Either he fights his old friends, possibly killing them, or he ''doesn't'' fight -- and his slave seal activates, killing him and his family. Thankfully, a third option arises when [[spoiler:Vivian burns off his slave seal, letting him join the resistance]].

* In ''Fanfic/AnExtraordinaryJourney'', after the Colonials learn about Baltar's role in the sabotage of the Colonial defence network, they are forced to let him live in exile because they don’t have any legitimate evidence to formally charge him.
* In ''Fanfic/ImaginarySeas'', Percy realizes that dismantling the Lostbelt as he is summoned to do will inevitably kill the countless people who lived in in it, while not acting will inevitably kill the countless people who died when the Lostbelts were created. As someone who doesn't like killing people in general, this weighs heavily on him.

* At the climax of ''Fanfic/APeacefulAfterlife,'' Kira gets under [[BigBad HOLY DIVER's]] skin by pointing out his FreudianExcuse is tied to one. [[spoiler: One of HOLY DIVER's last tasks for Kira was to find the whereabouts of his mother. They're both in Hell, so only one of two conclusions can be correct: Either HOLY DIVER's mother is in Heaven, and he can never see her again, or she's in Hell, and she's not as pure and good as he thought. Kira implies it's the former though, since he never found her. But he did find out his [[AbusiveParents father]] was there and bragged about his role in rearing HOLY DIVER, which Kira rubs in his face]].

* In ''Fanfic/ByTheHorns'', the Head of ROM faces one: either take a course that will [[spoiler:kill tens of millions, making him responsible for the greatest atrocity since the Kentares Massacre]], or refuse to do so and [[spoiler:be replaced by somebody who would happily do the same]]. The outcome would be the same either way.

* In ''Fanfic/SwingingPendulum'', when Ichigo is running away from Kukaku who is trying to drag him to the Shiba compound for dinner, he runs into Kaien who hides him. When she leaves, Kaien tells Ichigo he can pay him back by...coming home to the compound for dinner.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12616544/1/The-Worst-Witch-2017-Trauma Trauma]]'', Mildred faces this kind of dilemma for most of the fic after learning that she’s become pregnant as a result of being raped over the summer holidays before her third year; she’s obviously too young to raise a child herself even with help from her mother, but at the same time she’s uncomfortable at the thought of giving her child up for adoption, as in either case she worries that the child will grow up with various issues from either being outright abandoned or poorly raised. [[spoiler:The matter is ‘settled’ when Agatha Cackle’s latest attack causes Mildred to suffer a miscarriage]].

* In ''Fanfic/ContactAtKobol'', Admiral Helena Cain basically sets the stage for the war between the Twelve Colonies and the Tau'ri, by putting President Adar in this position. According to Cain's argument, under the Colonial legal system, Earth is the thirteenth colony, so its military forces are thus subject to Colonial authority, meaning that (Cain argues) the Tau’ri should have stood down when confronted by the Battlestars, and were therefore in open rebellion when they fired on Cain. Adar can’t rule that Earth isn’t a colony without basically declaring the Colonial government invalid, but treating Earth as a colony naturally meets with dissatisfaction from the Tau’ri.

* ''Fanfic/LostInCamelot'';

* Near the end of the first chapter of ''Fanfic/WhatTheCatDraggedIn'', Chloe bumps into a waiter, causing him to spill a tray full of red wine all over Blanche Bissete's white dress. Blanche storms off, and Adrien clearly realizes that if he doesn't go after her and calm her down, she will almost certainly be akumatized. Unfortunately, if he does so, the waiter's humiliation will almost certainly lead ''him'' to be akumatized.

* In ''FanFic/AllGuardsmenParty'', Aimy gains a SkunkStripe after a grazing shot from an enemy weapon. She is absolutely pissed and during "Tyranid Acquisition Experts" she wanders around asking random people if her hair looks funny and then does "mean things" if they answer wrong. As the narrator notes there was no ''right'' answer.

* In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', [[SelfInsertFic Self-Inserted]] character Jeremiah Cross faces this in regards to his knowledge that the crew's navigator Nami is meant to fall prey to the prehistoric Kestia tick. He has two choices: either suffer Nami to come within an inch of death with the payoff of getting to meet and recruit their crew's doctor Chopper, which is much harder to face now that she's his friend, or save her from the Kestia at the cost of, in all likelihood, never meeting Chopper and, worse still, dooming Chopper's home of Drum Kingdom to [[FatBastard Wapol]]'s tyranny. In the end, [[spoiler:he chooses the second option…only for a ''different'' prehistoric bacterium to infect ''him'' instead, [[InSpiteOfANail setting the crew en route to Drum anyway]]]].

*** It rears its head once more as they near their destination of Sabaody Archipelago. In spite of all the new crew additions, skills and weapons they've gained, Cross knows that the New World is sharply more difficult, and that even if they manage to fluke past Fishman Island, they'd most likely perish once they got to Punk Hazard. Knowing that Kuma is going to arrive to scatter the crew around the world to put them in the places fit for making them strong enough, he's left with the choice of holding his tongue until the last minute and facing Luffy's fury for hiding something this important, or trying to brave the New World as they are and risk dying. [[spoiler: Then when Cross learns Ace had still been captured and set to be executed, he's faced with a similar fork: attempt a rescue mission in a desperate last-ditch attempt to prevent Ace's death, which would most likely result in at least one fatality of their crew, or let Kuma separate them, leaving Luffy to tackle Impel Down and Marineford alone and risk fate being unchanged. In this case, Kuma forces the latter on them, explicitly telling Cross he doesn't have a choice in the matter.]]

* ''Fanfic/SomeoneToWatchOverMe'': [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Marinette]] begins to date Adrien both as herself and as her heroic persona, encouraging him to choose whoever he loves the most - which, of course, means that she'll end up with him no matter what he chooses. [[spoiler:Though, the extra contact and a few comments by Marinette-as-Ladybug makes him realize they are one and the same.]]

[[AC:Crossovers]]

* In "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12616544/1/The-Worst-Witch-2017-Trauma Trauma]]", Mildred faces this kind of dilemma for most of the fic after learning that she’s become pregnant as a result of being raped over the summer holidays before her third year; she’s obviously too young to raise a child herself even with help from her mother, but at the same time she’s uncomfortable at the thought of giving her child up for adoption, as in either case she worries that the child will grow up with various issues from either being outright abandoned or poorly raised. [[spoiler:The matter is ‘settled’ when Agatha Cackle’s latest attack causes Mildred to suffer a miscarriage]].

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'']]

* From ''WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeriesKpts4tv'', there's Kira's survey: "Do you think my hair is cute? "Yes" or "Hell yes! <3""

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', Kyril and Olga briefly [[DiscussedTrope discuss this trope]] after he makes it clear that the mission to bring her south is of utmost priority. Olga, in resignation, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] how he would bother letting her choose to stay or leave, given that she's damned either way no matter the choice. To be frank, she does have a point: if she stays, she would be under the mercy of the Black Dogs; if she leaves, she would be under the mercy of Kyril instead, who has proven to be ten times as dangerous. Kyril replies that even if the choices are bad and worse, it's still her decision to make. It just happens that it is one that some find liberating, while some don't. Cue ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive remark.

[[AC:''Manga/{{Naruto}}]]

* In ''Fanfic/KitsuneNoKenFistOfTheFox'', Danzo employs this at the very end of a question-and-answer session he subjects Naruto to, ostensibly to determine Naruto's worthiness to take Konoha High School's end-of-term exams. Naruto is asked if he was one of the [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kyuushingai]] during the 365 days of regional terror; if Naruto says yes, that will give Danzo, the school's principal, enough grounds to expel the boy since Naruto will have effectively confessed to being a criminal; but if Naruto says no, Danzo will be able to catch him in a lie by utilizing witness testimony previously gleaned from Tenten, who knows the truth about Naruto. Furthermore, according to the rules of the question-and-answer session, Naruto cannot opt to [[TakeAThirdOption simply keep silent]], or else he'll automatically lose 15 points from the session's point-scoring arrangement, and at that moment he needs to get that amount to achieve the total number of points he needs so as to be eligible to take his official school exams. [[spoiler:Naruto answers in the affirmative, but manages to stay at the school anyway after he points out that, if he's expelled for being a former Kyuushingai despite not having broken any laws since his arrival in Konoha Town, Danzo will open himself to questions about why he's never expelled other students whose criminal actions were much more open and blatant, such as [[FiveFingerDiscount Suigetsu]], [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Arashi]] and [[AttemptedRape Aoi]].]]

[[AC:''Franchise/MyHeroAcademia'']]

[[AC:''Franchise/OnePiece'']]