The yanking of proverbial dogs' chains in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Dueling Trigger Finger: Tea feels this way about Joey's loss to Chikai. After seeing them come so far in the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix, coming so close to victory... She agrees with Junko that it actually would have hurt less if they'd lost to Hajime instead, as seeing them overcome that opponent gave her hope that they'd be able to win everything.
- Eidolon Interloper:
- After talking to the Sages, Danny learns that the "mortal goddess" he needs to talk to is none other than Princess Zelda, offering a solid lead on how he can get home... and that's when Zant's barrier forms around the castle. None of his ghostly powers can help him enter; the only one that might work is the Ghostly Wail, which he doesn't want to risk for fear of the collateral damage it could inflict.
- There's also the Mirror of Twilight. Danny thinks it could help him return to the Ghost Zone, but when he finally finds it, it's broken.
- Fairies of the Shattered Moon: Salem/Sitara is a frequent victim of this. Whenever she finds some source of happiness, it tends to be swiftly taken away from her, typically by means far outside of her control.
- inFAMOUS Hero Academia: After spending years Quirkless, Izuku's powers are seemingly awakened by the Blast. It looks like his dreams of becoming a Pro Hero are finally within reach... until Sir Nighteye bluntly informs him that he inadvertently caused the Blast. Izuku promptly breaks down crying, tearfully asking Toshinori if a "murderer" can become a hero.
- Lelouch of the Wings of Rebellion: When Euphemia temporarily lifts the ban on Japanese people visiting the local shrine so they can celebrate the Tanabata festival, she admits that Cornelia will probably reinstate the ban and end the festivities as soon as she gets wind of it. Sure enough, that's exactly what she does.
- Manehattan's Lone Guardian sees Leviathan in a world where Zero captures Elpizo before he can claim the Dark Elf, Dr. Weil and Omega inexplicably never surfacing, and the events of the third and fourth Zero games never happening. Over time Neo Arcadia and the world becomes much more livable, Leviathan reconciles with and marries her first real friend, and she lives two hundred and thirty years before she finally dies of system failure, satisfied with her life. The effect is promptly spoiled by Levi's experiences being the work of Illudere's Black Mercy-esque Luminous Cruelty; once she wakes up back in Equestria, she realizes the full scope of what had just happened and is crushed to the point of experiencing a nervous breakdown.
- Foxfire: After losing all his memories of being Prince Zuko — and all the rest of his memories as well — Li scrapes together what few worldly possessions he has and starts from Rock Bottom. He gets adopted by some of his fellow refugees, finding a loving family and settling down happily in Ba Sing Se. Alas, this doesn't last long before the Woman in White and the Dai Li get involved...
- Dauntless (Allora Gale): When Kallen was arrested, her stepmother unexpectedly steps up and intervenes on her behalf, showing a rare moment of concern. Then Lelouch reassures her that he only had business with Kallen Kozuki, while Kallen Stadfeld would be listed as one of the victims of the Ashford bombing. The fact that this is enough to satisfy Mrs. Stadtfelt leaves him quietly appalled, as she promptly accepts the notion that her stepdaughter will be 'tragically deceased' despite knowing otherwise.
- Blackened Skies: After the first trial, a cruel Hope Spot appears during the execution when, against all odds, the roulette ball lands in the slot labelled 'LIFE + ESCAPE'. Monokuma then smashes his paw down in a rage, sending the ball flying back up into the air... and crashing back down upon the culprit.
- Danganronpa Reimagined: The Return to Hope's Peak Academy:
- During Chapter 2, the students hold a volleyball tournament in order to distract everyone and lift their spirits. It works for a while, until Monokuma interrupts to deliver the next motive.
- After they discover the Music Room on the Fourth Floor, Sayaka hosts a concert there, only to have the mood ruined when Monokuma reveals that there's a traitor amongst them.
- Digimon Adventure 02: The Story We Never Told: Ken suffers from this several times. Not only is his partner Killed Off for Real, with the baby Digimon ensuring he can never come back, he struggles to redeem himself in the eyes of the other Digidestined, with Cody the strongest holdout. And just when it seems as though he's made real headway, Oikawa kills him as well.
- In the Tamers Forever Series, every time it looks like Takato and Rika are becoming closer, something happens to drive them apart. The ultimate one comes when they finally do get together then Takato has to leave her behind forever. Good thing Takato's an Iron Woobie.
- Darkest Destiny: Varian forces himself to go without sleep for as long as he possibly can, as he's been constantly having nightmares about his father. When he's finally made to rest, he dreams about a much nicer world than the one he's been living in, where he's married to Cass and everything is lovely... before that, too, turns into another Nightmare Sequence.
- From Harvest to the Ark: On Alpha Halo, Alley's lover Sophie reveals that she gave birth to their daughter, and gave her up for adoption... on a planet that was later glassed. Sophie herself is later killed, followed by the eventual revelation that their daughter is still alive... and a SPARTAN-III.
- In Weasley Girl, Harry Potter (thanks to an ill-timed joke by George Weasley) spends a few chapters thinking that the "stone" that's hidden at Hogwarts and that Voldemort is after is the Resurrection Stone. Which Harry dreams of using to call his parents back to life. Needless to say, he is disappointed.
- Gaz's Horrible Halloween of Doom: After a terribly unfortunate Halloween caused by Samhain after she destroyed an offering Dib was making to him, Gaz makes it home while covered in mud and with her costume torn up, and prepares to enjoy her candy. The second she bites into one of the Mondo Deluxe Poop Candy Bars she went through so much to obtain, she feels a terrible pain in her mouth from a cavity, one of several that Samhain wills into existence. This results in her father throwing out all her candy and dragging her off for dental surgery.
- Marooned in Madagascar: During Julian and Keke's pranking spree in The Odd Family, Julien destroys the second "HELP" sign that Alex built, then convinces him that there's a ship passing by... just so that he can trick the lion into looking for it with binoculars that have boot polish around the eye sockets.
- In Lenore Raven's Mayura Marinette
, Marinette's reputation is ruined by Lila spreading Malicious Slander, both as herself and as Ladybug. After becoming the most hated girl in Paris, with even her own parents believing the lies, a ray of hope appears when Gabriel Agreste reaches out and offers her a job. Then he smugly reveals to her that he's none other than Hawkmoth himself, Blackmailing her into working with him by threatening to destroy her reputation further by falsely accusing her of theft.
- Sleeper Hit AU: Despite his Quirklessness, Izuku's exhaustive hard work pays off when he passes U.A.'s Entrance Exam and gets admitted to the top hero school in Japan. His new teacher Aizawa then promptly expels him on the very first day, fudging the results of his assessment test and falsely claiming that he performed the worst. He then casually outs him as Quirkless in front of the whole class, sneering about how he refuses to give him any 'special treatment'. To make matters worse, all of this happens in front of his childhood friend-turned bully, Bakugou — and the girl he saved from the zero-pointer? Calls him 'Deku', leaving him convinced that she knows its insulting connotations and making him much more cynical about the type of students U.A. is looking for.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Escape from the Moon:
- In the sequel The Mare From the Moon, in chapter 29, Spliced has been put on trial and effectively gotten what she wanted, with the judges having reduced her sentence to freedom once she cures all the diseases and viruses she's made, requiring her only to undergo mandatory psychological evaluation and therapy afterward. Then agents of the higher intergalactic tribunal show up and inform everyone that their bosses have already made up their own minds, re-arrest her and take her back to her old cell on the moon.
- The story ends with Spliced, having finally served out her full sentence, asking the council members to fulfill their promise and make her mortal again so she can die permanently... only to learn that they don’t know how.
- The Evening Sonata sprinkles hints about Sunset Shimmer and Sonata Dusk getting together. Sunset gives an Anguished Declaration of Love...! But is rejected, as she threatened Sonata's sister, Aria Blaze. Sunset breaks down.
- Marionettes: One of the plans the Stallions had for Trixie was to make her ascend into an alicorn... specifically and solely to pose a 'suitable challenge' to Twilight Sparkle. One that Twilight would still be able to take down. Trixie is none too pleased to learn that they would have trivialized the act of ascension into a mere Next Tier Power-Up, or that what should have been a shining moment for her would instead be just another speed bump in Twilight's story.
- In Mother of Invention, when Applejack builds a raft to escape the island - without first unraveling its mysteries - the attempt doesn't fare well.
- The Pieces Lie Where They Fell: Despite an attempt to learn the Magi of Stars' true identity while in the world of Canterlot High, the group only gets a small hint in the form of Pinkie Pie remembering seeing a girl with a dog and a similar mark once, but that's literally all she knows.
- In Advice and Trust, Kaworu eventually manages to have Rei return his affections, only for her to die in a Heroic Sacrifice less than an hour after she asks him out on a date. And then she loses all memory of him when she's brought back.
- In What Lies Beyond the Walls, the Long Patrol finally gets a chance to relax and eat delicious food for a full three chapters when they come across Tearmann. And then vermin storm the community, which leads to more death, more fighting, and Urthquake becoming even further unhinged than he was to begin with.
- Professor Arc: After dealing with all manner of rumors and speculation about how she's supposedly in a romantic relationship with Blake, Yang finally gets the chance to set the record straight. Unfortunately, Blake chooses that moment to start playing along with the rumors in order to discourage Sun from pursuing her.
- A Brief History of Histories takes place in a world where the girls' backstories are swapped around, with Usagi taking Rei's place as a politician's daughter. Suffice to say, her chain gets yanked a lot:
- When one of Tsukino-san's events is attacked, Sailor Moon manages to save her father, who looks at her in wonder... before asking who she is, with it being left unclear whether or not he actually saw through her Glamour.
- With the help of Ami's tutoring, Usagi manages to get a good grade! But then Luna explains how she's suspicious about Ami, making Usagi question whether her score was actually a lie as well.
- Usagi's father comes home early, and she makes a cake to celebrate... only for him to ignore both her and the cake completely. Then the very next morning, she learns that he was making a lot of important decisions regarding her — matters he could have easily discussed directly with his daughter — but didn't bother, preferring to pass the news through their housekeeper instead.
- Despite Ami's tutelage, Usagi's grades start slipping again due to all the stress she's under as Sailor Moon, leaving her worried that she's going to lose all the ground she's gained and disappoint everyone.
- On Trial: After finally being rescued from Corona's worst prison (which Arianna had shut down as soon as possible when she learned about the human trafficking), Cassandra is starting to get better. That's when the Queen assigns her two psychiatrists... who do nothing but bully her and treat her like a misbehaving child instead of the traumatized adult she is. If not for the nurses realizing what was happening, Cass' mental health might have deteriorated further.
- A New World: After an epic battle with the immensely powerful Yuuka Kazami (who she barely manages to kill), one of the many Lunarian warriors sent to purge Gensokyo yells how she's the most powerful warrior of her race, and sits down to catch her breath. As she does, she feels a bit lightheaded... and turns to see Medicine Melancholy, who's been filling her lungs with paralyzing toxins for a while. As she chokes on the venom, Medicine realizes she's not feeling particularly merciful, and snaps the Lunarian's neck.
- Sillyhat Productions: In "Cat Box of the Golden Witch", Battler manages to prevent the tragedy from unfolding through a tearful appeal to his father, convincing him to betray Kyrie. Just when it looks as though things will be settled without any further losses, Bernkastel enacts a Diabolus ex Machina: Gohda stumbles across the hidden chambers and unwittingly triggers the hidden bombs.
- Absolute Power Sucks Absolutely: Deus Ex manages to resurrect the victims who'd been lost to the Spirit World, most of which were children. Then William Hand kicks off the events of the Earth-16 version of Blackest Night, even thanking Deus Ex for unintentionally providing them with a massive army of Black Lanterns due to all the resurrections. Maxime does not take it well.
