Let's Do The Twist!

[rachelmanija]

I know it all depends on execution, but in general...

Poll #26831 Do the Twist

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 114

View Respondents

What is your favorite twist?

View Answers

Two or more characters are actually the same person.
20 (18.7%)

One or more characters are actually imaginary or hallucinations.
9 (8.4%)

One or more characters were dead all along.
12 (11.2%)

Someone is secretly God.
5 (4.7%)

It's all taking place in virtual reality.
2 (1.9%)

It's all a dream.
1 (0.9%)

What you think is the future is actually the past or vice versa.
38 (35.5%)

The narrator misunderstands something.
48 (44.9%)

The narrator is lying about or deliberately omitting something.
42 (39.3%)

Someone is secretly related to someone else.
22 (20.6%)

A character is a woman.
21 (19.6%)

A character is queer.
19 (17.8%)

A character is trans.
14 (13.1%)

A character is [some other surprise marginalized identity].
12 (11.2%)

A character is a cis man. (Has anyone ever seen this one? I can't think of an example.)
3 (2.8%)

Someone the protagonist trusts has been secretly manipulating them all along.
27 (25.2%)

The entire story was all deliberately planned by a character.
40 (37.4%)

Someone is a mole.
22 (20.6%)

The narrator is in a mental hospital or otherwise delusional all along.
3 (2.8%)

The apparent victim is actually the perpetrator
22 (20.6%)

Everyone in the story is actually pigeons/aliens/dolls/etc.
14 (13.1%)

Something else I've forgotten to mention, so please explain in a comment..
6 (5.6%)

What twist do you HATE?

View Answers

Two or more characters are actually the same person.
8 (7.5%)

One or more characters are actually imaginary or hallucinations.
25 (23.6%)

One or more characters were dead all along.
23 (21.7%)

Someone is secretly God.
26 (24.5%)

It's all taking place in virtual reality.
48 (45.3%)

It's all a dream.
73 (68.9%)

What you think is the future is actually the past or vice versa.
4 (3.8%)

The narrator misunderstands something.
4 (3.8%)

The narrator is lying about or deliberately omitting something.
17 (16.0%)

Someone is secretly related to someone else.
4 (3.8%)

A character is a woman.
6 (5.7%)

A character is queer.
9 (8.5%)

A character is trans.
13 (12.3%)

A character is [some other surprise marginalized identity].
10 (9.4%)

A character is a cis man. (Has anyone ever seen this one? I can't think of an example.)
0 (0.0%)

Someone the protagonist trusts has been secretly manipulating them all along.
20 (18.9%)

The entire story was all deliberately planned by a character.
10 (9.4%)

Someone is a mole.
4 (3.8%)

The narrator is in a mental hospital or otherwise delusional all along.
66 (62.3%)

The apparent victim is actually the perpetrator
11 (10.4%)

Everyone in the story is actually pigeons/aliens/dolls/etc.
14 (13.2%)

Something else I've forgotten to mention, so please explain in a comment..
2 (1.9%)

Please mark spoilers for recent canons in your comment headers, or encode with rot13.com.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

There are some things I like as elements -- e.g. presence of queer and trans characters -- that I generally dislike when they're presented as SHOCK TWIST REVEALS, because it tends to invoke the idea that being queer or trans is inherently shocking (and in the case of trans-ness, can involve the idea that the character was "deceiving" people and is "really a man/woman", etc. etc.).

Black Sails is one of the few works that immediately spring to mind that has queerness as a reveal in a way that works, and I think that's because it carries so much emotional heft (and is also so well-foreshadowed); it doesn't feel like it's being used for shock value.

(I think this is general enough to not be rot-13ed; "Black Sails has queer characters" is not a spoiler, it's advertising.)

[rachelmanija]

I've often liked it in canons where there's a lot of social prejudice, so the characters can't be open about their identity immediately. It was very well done in Black Sails, but also in the Ben January series, where we learn that someone isn't a cis man when they trust Ben enough to tell him more of their backstory.

[sholio]

Oh yes, I think the Ben January one is a really good example! (Being the one from a canon I'm familiar with.) I think the thing with pulling off a twist like that is making it feel like the character has been keeping it secret for plausible reasons - lives in a homophobic society and didn't trust the protagonist, say - as opposed to keeping it secret for deceptive reasons and/or the author pulling it out for shock value.

[genarti]

Yes, very much agreed!

Basically, if I feel like the character has been keeping a secret (including from whoever they're telling the story to, if they're telling the story) or doesn't know something, it's very different than if I feel like the author has been keeping a secret.

[rydra_wong]

Yes, you need obvious reasons why it would be a secret, and emotional heft and meaning to the reveal, in terms of what it tells us about the characters and their relationships (e.g. Black Sails, where the particular nature of that relationship is the missing piece in how we understand [REDACTED]'s character and backstory).

So it doesn't feel like SHOCK REVEAL: NON-CISHET PEOPLE EXIST! FREAKY! BET YOU NEVER EXPECTED THAT OUTRAGEOUS TWIST!!!

[rydra_wong]

(Is anyone not spoiled for that Black Sails reveal? Redacting just in case.)

[sholio]

Yeah, I was just commenting above that I feel like the difference between a good twist and a SHOCKING!! TWIST!!! is that the former recontextualizes previous events in a way that makes more sense rather than less - it's the missing piece to make things fit together, not a sudden shock for shock's sake. (And with a need for extra care when dealing with people's identities that way.)

[mrissa]

Yes exactly: I answered the poll for things I hate AS TWISTS, not things I hate as elements. "OMG KAY IS TRANS WHAT A SHOCKER" is a very different book than "so then Kay comes out as trans."