Choice and Consequence: Behind the Flesh

Introduction

The Choice and Consequence series is the first series I’ve written and will probably be my longest. It is my version of the Silent Hill video game franchise, which is its biggest source of inspiration. The start of the series was a response to the cancelation of the latest entry PT. I thought to myself, “If there aren’t going to be any more Silent Hills, I’ll just make them myself”. Because of that thinking, I’ve made this series with ten main entries, two side stories, and one spinoff.

The Monsters

Just like the monsters in Silent Hill, each monster in Choice and Consequence represents a part of a character’s personality. In certain books like C&C of Romance, they are themed around love and perversion. Other monsters like the ones in C&C of Following Orders are themed after puppets. Most monsters interact with the characters in unique ways such as; Elephanty (shown above), who is a nightmare version of the main character’s plush toy (inspired by Robbie the Rabbit from SH3), helps the main character and acts as a support, Skin Suit/Synchronization (shown above) bonds itself with the main character and gives him the powers it has, The Follower (Another Choice, Another Consequence) is the justice oriented part of the main character who wants to do what’s right and judge and execute evil. The lesser monsters will only try to kill or scare.

Other You

The other you is a reoccurring monster who represents what the main character is really thinking. They will act as comedic relief every now and then as well as test the main character to get them through their troubles. This entity has the sex of the main character on their chest and the symbol for human (above) on their back. Even though they speak what the main characters think, they cannot force them to take actions unless that person also strongly wants to do act. This monster usually has more power and impact than the rest of them.

The Human Mirror/ Speculum Humanae

The Human Mirror is the condition in the series that causes people to see the above-mentioned monsters and the paranormal occurrences. This is a stand in for the paranormal town of Silent Hill. Every human being in the series experiences the condition in some way or fashion. The balancing factor here is that it is established that most people will experience it in dreams. Not all of these dreams will have monsters or reality changing occurrences, which are only saved for the main characters as their unique circumstances require extraordinary events. Even children can experience this condition as shown in Another Choice, Another Consequence and C&C of Caring for Another.

There is a small paper/report on my blog that goes more into detail about the Human Mirror for free if you’re interested in the more intricate details about this mysterious condition.

The Main Characters

Each one of the main characters are defined by one of my own (the author) personality traits. For example, Nick (C&C of Redemption) has my wrath, Harley (C&C of Romance) has my dedicated love and overly dedicated love, and Carl (C&C of Being a Dumbass) has my self-hatred. If you identify with any of the characters, then you know how I feel. Every character will go through events that will primarily test that one part of my personality and various other parts of their own lives. Most characters are at the mercy of the Human Mirror while people like Harley and Nick can control parts of it. They are very strong, forceful, and unique character compared to the others, which is why they have some power over it, but not complete control over it.

The Alicia – Rose Comparison

If you’ve read both stories (Society’s Monsters Reborn & C&C of Normality), then you’ll notice that both characters look identical. You could chalk this up to my (mediocre) drawing style or you could say that Alicia has had a strong effect on me. If you don’t know, Alicia is my girlfriend/wife in the vivid (memory) dreams. It is very possible that her personality rubbed off on me which lead to the appearance of Rose in my book. I didn’t even plan on this comparison being made and I didn’t notice it until I took a second look at Rose.

Hillside City

The town of Hillside City is inspired by the town of Silent Hill though it is completely different. It is a city inspired by parts of the US like Southern California and Philadelphia (for the city part [this is the city I’m from]). It has an island not too far from it and a suburban section called Hillfall Town. The city is notorious for having crazy people and the stories will show the various events that make some of the people look crazy. In the C&C: The Paranormal Stories, there is an origin story for the city called Choice and Consequence of Avoiding Punishment. The story is free, so check it out if you’re interested in the city and its founder.

The Stories

Below, I talk about the main thoughts behind each of the entry in the series. I won’t give away too much since this book is just supposed to give you a small taste of the stories.

Choice and Consequence of “Normality”

The first five Choice and Consequence stories were written as video games. Once I realized that programming wasn’t my strong suit, I switched these stories to more book oriented stories. Of course, they still have a video game feel to it, but I hear that’s one of my appeals as a book writer. On the story side of this first book, it was made with talking about being normal in mind. I tried to talk about how being normal changes in society and how everyone should be their best despite the difficulties of life. Rose is an almost abnormal person who thinks she’s normal just like everyone else and tries to stay this way while fending off her nightmares. Even though she might be a bit shallow as a character, Rose was supposed to be a stand-in for the person playing the video game. She’s has a bit more personality in the books, but parts of her are still left open for the reader to decide what she’s like. This story holds a special place in my heart since it was one of my firsts, so you should start here when reading this series.

Another Choice, Another Consequence

For every sequel of this series, I tried to separate them, so you don’t need to read the previous ones to catch up to them. This one follows a different character, whose name is Juliet, as she searches for the reason why she’s homeless and looking for someone. For the book, I focus on more of the forgiveness and revenge part of the story that comes up later. I try to show how revenge can destroy the lives of many people besides the person you are taking it on. The Human Mirror in this book is more active and not restrained to nightmares. The main character is like Rose in how she is a person that tries to be normal but isn’t. Hillside City is expanded upon by showing the people and groups that live in it. People and groups that Juliet encounters, which gets her involved in a plot that goes beyond her revenge and into something that can change the city itself. This story is a bit more interesting than the first, but isn’t as relatable since it follows a woman who was forced to be homeless.

Choice and Consequence of Romance

This is a story more focused on the choice and consequence of romance rather than the actual romance between the two main characters. The monsters that represent Harley’s personality are more perverted than the previous and are the situations she gets in are more puzzle based rather than action like the previous two. Both characters from the previous two show up from their respective endings and have a chapter dedicated to both. They make themselves useful while also expanding on what about after the stories they’re from. This is for readers who read the previous stories and wonder what these characters are doing now. The ending of this book has one of my favorite twists. This story also shows a side of love that not many others do, so read it if you’re interested in a mystery/romance/thriller story.

Choice and Consequence of Following Orders

A more political story, this one involves a small off the books military squad that is going after a terrorist group that is using psychological warfare. I won’t spoil much but this psychological warfare involves the Human Mirror being manipulated by this terrorist group. Questions of the terrorists the squad are facing, the country they’re defending, and the country they are from come up during the story and morality is grayed as more details come out once more information is obtained about the war they are fighting. This story is more action oriented and the biggest horror moment comes around the end of the book when there’s a huge plot changing twist. One of the big themes of puppet soldiers is to talk about how soldiers are just instruments for the country. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I’m just saying that we should make sure that our military commanders and the governments they take orders from are the ones you want to fight for. It’s a short story that’s on my blog for free, but there’s a paid version that’s a bit more edited and has extras along with the next story for a good price. (My edits are a bit mediocre since I’m a self-published author though my readers don’t complain about my editing too much)

A Single Choice, Deadly Consequences

A prequel/sequel that happens before the first story. It is influenced by the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, but not a rip-off or fan fiction-esque story. The title is from the video game version I had in mind, but I still carried it over from it since the ending is decided by a single decision. I took parts of that story that I liked and made this story out of it. The story has themes of forgiveness and revenge just like the second story with a pinch of the paranormal. Most of the story is cloaked in mystery so I won’t say much. It’s for free on my blog like the previous story and included in it as I previously said. If you like Five Nights at Freddy’s, this series, or a cool short mystery/horror story, then you’ll like this one as well.

The Choice and Consequence of Saving Lives

Around the time I wrote this story, I stopped writing video game stories and started writing stories for books. This story along with the next story were part of my first self-published book simply called Choice and Consequence. Just as the title says, this story deals with the choice and consequence of saving lives or being a doctor. She deals with the patients she’s lost, the stress of the job, and not letting her feelings be known to her friend. This story is also a good starting point for those who haven’t read the other stories. It’s separate, but it also includes the older characters with a brief summary of their backgrounds.

Choice and Consequence of Redemption

C&C of Redemption is the only main series story that follows a killer, which makes it my favorite. Nick deals with his anger, his wife, and his consequences that come back to him. As stated previously, Nick is one of the characters that has control of the Human Mirror. He is morally evil in the first part of the story until he has to achieve his redemption to be a good person. Both this story and the previous are tied together and the two characters come together in a special way, which is another reason why they are included together in the same book.

Choice and Consequence of Being a Dumbass

In this story, I try to both make fun of parts of my stories, talk about depression, suicide, self-hate, and a person’s worth. It mostly consists of the comedian Carl on stage talking about things related to the previously mentioned along with his own past. It’s like that for most of the story, which is why there is a free mostly unedited version on my blog for free. I like it for the things I try to do in it, but I was told the self-hate themes really hit some of the people I know, so keep that in mind.

The Choice and Consequence of Losing Yourself

One of the only Choice and Consequence stories that wasn’t published before being put into a collection. This wasn’t because I didn’t like the story, it was because I didn’t like the story as much as a different story that could also be included with another. It’s free on my blog for viewing. If you want a physical copy, then it’s in C&C Final Breaths as one of the stories. The story follows a prostitute named Sabrina and a gang leader named Tyler. Sabrina was forced to be a prostitute for reasons she doesn’t know while Tyler is trying to atone for what he and his gang have done. Both have arrived in Hillside City as Tyler establishes his gang’s presence there to get rid of corrupt cops. The main overall goal, however, is to find Sabrina’s past. Themes of self-discovery and moving forward from that are what I wanted to talk about in this story. I tried to make this story a bit more out there with its twist and characters, but I also tried to not go overboard. This story is more experimental than the others so keep that in mind while reading it.

Choice and Consequence of Caring for Another

The last and final main C&C entry is not only about family, but also about caring for another person. Just like C&C of Romance it’s more about the choice and consequence of the subject more than the characters. The cover above has foreshadowing for the plot, but if that’s not enough for you then you can check on my blog for a three-chapter sample of the story just like the rest of the stories here. This story is special to me since it’s the last choice and consequence story and the family relationship. Skin Suit/Synchronization is one of my favorite monsters since the main character will wear the monster to help fight against their enemies. The thoughts behind this monster is that it’s a creature that the author made and lives in it when they write the character. It’s very cool in my opinion. I definitely think I ended the series strongly with this one.

Choice and Consequence: The Side Stories

This book collects three short stories that were supposed to be longer, but I thought I didn’t have enough to do that, so I just did this. The artist story was inspired by my time in college taking art classes. Actor was inspired by the thought of the actor roles taking them over. Last, but not least, The Most Frightening Monster is a rough version of C&C of Caring for Another. I wanted to write that story at the time, but I decided to hold it off for last. These stories are free on my blog and book sites like Smashwords that have it. It’s a good collection to get a taste of the series if this hasn’t sparked any interest in the series.

Choice and Consequence: The Paranormal Stories

A free book that goes into the more paranormal aspects of the series. Each of the stories goes over things like; the origin of Hillside City, the extent of the paranormal occurrences, one of the oldest tales concerning the Human Mirror, and even things like demons, angels, and God in this series. Just like the previous story, this one is free on the previously mentioned. These stories have more paranormal activity than the rest, so if that’s interests you more than the previous story then check this one out first.

Murder and other Things You Shouldn’t do in Public

This spinoff secretly takes place after C&C of Saving Lives and Redemption if you see the hints in some of the chapters. The story follows a man named Kane who is trying to fix his life starting by killing a hitman. Things go on from there as he tries to get a girlfriend/wife and his personality and past are showed. It’s a short and somewhat personal story as this character has a lot of my personality traits. The story can be a bit dark and like C&C of Being a Dumbass with its themes of self-hate, so know that when going into the story. The monsters in this story are just representations of the persons problems and don’t directly affect the main character (The designs of them are some of my best in my opinion). Pick up this one if you want a slightly depressing story and a look into a desperate man’s mind.

Ending

For my first series, I think I did pretty good. The few people that talked to me and left reviews also have this opinion. I tried to make my own version of Silent Hill and succeeded as well as I thought I could. I didn’t want to beat out Silent Hill nor did I think I could be on its level. All I wanted to do was make a series with elements inspired by it for people that liked it like me to show that the series didn’t die in vain. I wanted to carry the lessons it taught and used them to entertain and teach others. Hopefully, you check out my stories or the Silent Hill series at the very least and spread it to people you know. Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it!

Collections of the series

(Going to be released soon)