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%)

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Comments

[eruthros]

I was thinking about how much I dislike that twist overall, and then I realized that it also describes The Matrix. That is, I dislike the trope when the twist is "it's VR and the characters knew it all along" - who cares, why didn't any of them mention it, what are the stakes - but I enjoy it as a trope when the characters are also surprised by it, have to escape, have to bend the genre or hack the system, etc.

[swan_tower]

Right, with The Matrix the fact that it's VR is the plot. As opposed to being the thing which suddenly undermines the plot.

[sholio]

Actually, I think that really nails the difference for me between the version that works and the version that doesn't! Most of the "it was all VR!" stories I can think of that I liked involve the protagonists figuring out that it's VR about halfway through due to inconsistencies in the world or other factors, which is basically the second-act twist (sometimes the end-of-first-act twist) that kicks off figuring out how to get out, find who's doing it to them, and deal with that. I definitely get that some people hate this because they were invested in the VR world, but for me the "your reality is a lie, now how do you deal with it?" aspect is really interesting and pleasantly mindbending. Laid out like that, I can totally see why this appeals to me when "It was all a dream!" stories don't, since nothing changes in the character's external universe.

[sovay]

Laid out like that, I can totally see why this appeals to me when "It was all a dream!" stories don't, since nothing changes in the character's external universe.

Yes! It's weightless otherwise.