What An Idiot / Choices: Stories You Play

• Rules of Engagement: The cliffhanger of Book 1 has Katie signing a contract in Greek that she didn't even read, handed out by her douche ex-fiancé Trent, with the excuse that it's an issue with her passport. What could possibly go wrong?
  You'd Expect: That Katie took her time to ask what she's about to sign and check it first, since Dinesh and Alex, both lawyers, are on board.
  Instead: She takes Trent's word and signs it without reading because she's in a hurry to go on her date.
  Result: What Katie signed turns out to be a marriage certificate in Greek, 100% legal. She has to get a lot of help from Dinesh finding a loophole in the inheritance, Leo calling a favor from his Royal parents, William getting her a divorce lawyer, and Dean getting information from Trent, to clear up her own fuck up.
• High School Story:
  • In Book 2 Chapter 13, Head Detective Stephen Flores prepares to arrest Principal Isa and her brother for embezzling funds from Berry High.
    You'd Expect: That he would block all the exits and then call for backup before announcing their arrests, in case they try to escape.
    Instead: He only calls for backup after they run away following his announcement while letting the students, including his own daughter, chase after them.
    Result: You narrowly avoid being hit in the face by Isa's discarded high heel, and she then threatens to run the hall monitors over when they block her escape in the parking lot.
  • In Book 3 Chapter 8, you and your club leader (Julian, Mia, or Ezra) are waiting for Cameron, Jade, or Kieran to show up for tryouts. They seem to be running late.
    You'd Expect: That one of you would call your rival to make sure they are coming.
    Instead: You both wait twenty minutes and start without them. This leads them to accuse you of sabotaging their tryouts.
  • On the other side, Cameron, Jade, or Kieran receive fake e-mails telling them that tryouts have been cancelled.
    You'd Expect: That they contact their respective club leaders (and in Jade's case, Coach Shaw as well) to confirm the information.
    Instead: They angrily accuse you of sabotaging tryouts, with Max and Kara accompanying them. While this hurts your reputation, it does not fix the fact that they were cheated out of a fair tryout.
  • In Class Act Book 2 Chapter 10, Bailey and Skye overhear Amber and Lorenzo admitting that the video of Lorenzo rescuing a kitten (which caused him to shoot ahead of Rory and Casey in the polls for class president) was actually staged. They inform the others of this news while admitting they have no actual proof.
    You'd Expect: That they attempt to find some sort of evidence to back up their claim; otherwise, it's just their word against Lorenzo and Amber's.
    Instead: Ajay and Rory directly accuse them to the rest of the school. Nobody else believes them, however, and Lorenzo's popularity doesn't fade a bit.
• A Courtesan of Rome: Arin plans to kill Tribune Gnaeus Rufus at night, by posing as one of his escorts.
  You'd Expect: She would come up with a plan that would look like Rufus died in an accident, without her being spotted in the crime scene.
  Instead: She either poisons him or stabs him, and doesn't even think about where to go after the deed is done.
  Result: Security finds her next to Rufus' corpse (if she chooses to stab him, he has visible stab wounds in his chest) and Syphax is forced to take the blame to save her.
• Passport to Romance:
  • Many players hate the premium option in Chapter 3, when Elliot suggests trespassing into the restoration room in the Louvre just to see the Mona Lisa.
    You'd Expect: You would ask the employees when the Mona Lisa will be available to view again.
    Instead: You, along with Marisa and Sumire, go with Elliot's suggestion and break into the restoration room while recording the whole event.
  • In Chapter 6, Yvette, rightfully, scolds you for not knowing the full names of their travel companions except Elliot, whose last name is already revealed in Chapter 1 for free.
    You'd Expect: You would tell them the truth: Wanderlust needs their full names for the website.
    Instead: The player has to purchase a premium option to have a game of Truth or Dare (a very recurrent trope for Choices novels) and learn their last names sans Elliot's without telling them.
  • In Chapter 10, you and the gang decide to go clubbing knowing very well that Ahmed is on thin ice with his coach for opting to travel without the team, on top of having an involuntary delay during the train ride.
    You'd Expect: The gang would skip the club and let Ahmed rest before his game, since many professional football players must take a focus time of at least 12 hours prior a game.
    You'd Further Expect: That even if the rest of you decided to go out anyway, Ahmed, who is familiar with the demands of professional sports, would stay in to make sure he's rested, even though it means missing a fun night with his friends. In fact, he might just start off by suggesting they go out without him (rather than ask them to stay in with him) so that they won't have to miss out, and meanwhile he can take advantage of the alone time to start getting into the right mindset for the next day's game. (For that matter, Ahmed should really have split off and gone to whatever accommodations had been arranged for the team in the first place, rather than staying the night with his friends.)
    Instead: You, Ahmed included, go clubbing and end up not getting back until after midnight. The next morning, you sleep through all their alarms, making Ahmed arrive late and miss warm ups.
  • In Chapter 12, the gang gets in trouble by pissing off Yvette's biggest sponsors, Carlisle Montgomery and Bronwyn Alby. The most glaring example is Elliot losing a bet against Carlisle to "defend Ahmed".
    You'd Expect: Elliot would take in account that his brother already gave him an ultimatum about his travel budget, and ignore Carlisle's taunts.
    Instead: Elliot bets on the regatta and ends up losing 1,000 euros, making you and Marisa gamble in Carlisle's casino.
    As a Result: Once you win Elliot's money back, Carlisle gets upset and takes it out on Yvette, who is forced to make you continue the vlog without the rest of the gang, instead of firing you at Carlisle's request.
  • In Chapter 15, you start a new travel vlog after quitting their job at Voyage in response to Yvette firing the rest of the gang.
    You'd Expect: You would carefully read the terms of usage and avoid any mishaps that could put them in legal trouble with Yvette.
    Instead: You use the Wanderlust account to poach viewers from Voyage to their own vlog series, which is basically stealing subscribers from their former employer, let alone very unethical behavior even for an ex-employee. It's a wonder why the story never established a legal contract between you and Voyage, because Yvette could have easily sued you.
• Sunkissed:
  • Many players hate the buildup to Nate's premium option in Chapter 11, when he invites Aria to the lifeguard tower during her search for Eliana's turtle.
    You'd Expect: For players romancing Nate, Aria would tell Nate she'll meet up with him after the search is over or even bring him along for the search.
    Instead: Aria joins Nate without any thought for the missing turtle.
    Even Worse: The turtle's life could've been in danger from predators, pollution, or poachers. Even though the turtle is found safe and sound, it still reflects poorly on Aria's priorities.
  • Later in the same chapter, Nate holds a lifeguard tryout, with Aria as his assistant.
    You'd Expect: Nate wouldn't send Aria out into the sea, in case there's a riptide.
    Instead: He does that, and a riptide happens.
    Result: Aria could've drowned if it wasn't for Nate.
• Witness: A Bodyguard Romance:
  • In Part 2, after their ordeal with The Irish Mob, Niamh and Cassian deserve a vacation.
    You'd Expect: They go somewhere safe, such as Egypt or China or Indonesia.
    Instead: They go to Ireland of all places, where the O'Connell family will definitely have connections.
    Result: Not long after they set foot there, they get attacked by Finn McDonough, an associate of the O'Connells.
  • In the penultimate chapter, Niamh and Cassian have defeated Finn and deserve some peace.
    You'd Expect: They get the hell out of Ireland immediately.
    Instead: They return to the very same inn where they got attacked.
    Result: Aisling O'Connell shows up and tries to kill them again. If it wasn't for Cassian's bomb defusing skills, they would have been blown up by her compass bomb.
• The Cursed Heart:
  • In Book 1, you've been told that the Fae are tricksters, and that while they Cannot Tell a Lie, they can deceive.
    You'd Expect: That you won't trust the Fae that easily, aside from Kieran.
    Instead: You were quick to trust Radiance's Sickeningly Sweet words and give up the protection Kieran placed on you, allowing the Sun Court to force you to participate in the downfall of the Moon Court, and in the end, Montgomery and Longclaw believe you to be an accomplice and abandon you, and you have to beg for forgiveness while explaining the situation to them. If you hadn't been so stupid, you wouldn't be left crying in the aftermath.
  • Book 2 establishes that each court has a power source hidden in their respective palaces.
    You'd Expect: The Sun Court to hide their source in a secret chamber protected by magic like the Moon Court did.
    Instead: They leave it on display in a room like some sort of exhibit, allowing Jack to easily take it, which results in the Sun Palace being destroyed.
• Immortal Desires: In Book 1, Chapter 9, after you let slip that you were with Gabe, who's a vampire, at a murder scene, the clan leaders bring you to trial before the council and plan to execute you.
  You'd Expect: The clan leaders to consider the fact that your mom Terri, who is a medical examiner investigating the murders, doesn't know vampires exist yet, so after executing you, they will dispose of the body, as well as those of other victims, and make it look like an unsolvable missing persons case.
  Instead: Lewyn and Astoria insist on bringing Terri to the council with you and executing you both. Not only will this raise even more suspicion from the human authorities, Terri wouldn't have known about the existence of vampires had they not done that. Thankfully, you and Terri are saved when Lewyn and Astoria are alerted to the murder of some vampires, leading to a fight between their clans, allowing you two to escape with Gabe's help.
• Murder at Homecoming: In Chapters 7 and 8, you find out that Mr Lewis is seemingly in a relationship with Gabbie, given that he bought a locket for her, and also because you find a letter from her in Lewis' desk seemingly meant for him.
  You'd Expect: Any good detective to realize the evidence is circumstantial at best and question Mr Lewis about it to get more information.
  Instead: You straight up accuse Mr Lewis of having an affair with Gabbie, which not only led to Lewis being hauled to court, but also culminated in Joanna, the one Gabbie is really in a relationship with, getting kicked out of home by her parents after she was forced to reveal their secret relationship. Guess what, you just ruined not one, but two lives with your false accusation.
• The Phantom Agent: In Chapters 7 and 8, you and your partner Gray receive some intel that The Architect's next target is a CEO at the Obsidian Bionics IPO.
  You'd Expect: Any good secret agent to know that "CEO at Obsidian Bionics IPO" doesn't necessarily mean "CEO of Obsidian Bionics". Besides, would Obsidian, a company that makes prosthetics, be of any threat to anyone, particularly The Architect?
  What's More: Also at Obsidian's gala is another CEO, that of a pharmaceutical company, which is more likely to have enemies than one which makes prosthetics.
  Instead: These points never cross your minds.
  As a Result: You and Gray are caught off guard when The Architect attacks the stock exchange and abducts the real target, the pharmaceutical company CEO. Even though he turns out to be an Asshole Victim, given what we learn about him later, that still doesn't excuse this screw up.