#Plot twists

[squirrelstone]

I’m so sick of people being like “the trailer ruined the twist” when really it just tells you the general plot.

Like Abigail, for example, people have been whining that the trailer reveals she’s a vampire but that’s not. The fucking. Twist. You fucking wingdings. Abigail is a remake of Dracula’s Daughter, did you really think she wasn’t gonna be Dracula’s daughter?

Not to mention, it’s two very different things for the characters to not know she’s a vampire and for the audience to not know- it changes the subgrenre entirely to go into the theater not knowing this, and it would be horrible for marketing because it’s betraying the audience. “A child has been kidnapped” is a very different story from “kidnappers realize they’ve kidnapped a monster” and the fan base and expectations for those movies don’t necessarily overlap.

The only fix for that betrayal is if you know the reveal is going to be big enough to have people talking and generate interest that way. “The little girl was a monster” isn’t a surprise anyone and it’s not gonna get talked about like this big shocker.

The trailer didn’t reveal the plot twist, you just haven’t seen the movie and want to flaunt some kind of superiority for “figuring it out.”

[byoldervine]

Writing Tips - A Quick Guide To Plot Twists

There are two kinds of plot twists that we’ll be focusing on here; a trajectory plot twist and a retroactive plot twist

A trajectory plot twist is a plot twist that changes the course of the story going forward, with minimal impact on previous events in the story. An example of a trajectory plot twist is Hela destroying Thor’s hammer in Thor: Ragnarok

A retroactive plot twist is a plot twist that changes our understanding of previous events in the story. An example of a retroactive plot twist is Agatha and Sophie learning that they’re sisters in the School For Good And Evil books

A big rule in writing a good plot twist is that the result of the plot twist has to be at least as satisfying as the original plot trajectory, but ideally it should be more satisfying. If the twist isn’t as satisfying as the original plot trajectory, the audience can feel like they’ve been cheated or that they’ve missed out on something better

One more recent example of this is Hazbin Hotel’s song Hell’s Greatest Dad, in which Alastor and Lucifer’s song-argument is about to devolve into a full-on brawl. This is prevented, however, by an anticipated new character called Mimzy making her debut to the show by butting into the song, completely overhauling it into a self-absorbed showtune. While it narratively makes sense to prevent the fight, since that would have a lot of negative consequences plot-wise, and the introduction was very much in-character for Mimzy and got her across very well in minimal time, the fans were very annoyed with this and began hating on Mimzy because of it. The fans have largely agreed that Mimzy ruined the song and that it would’ve been much more satisfying to see the two fan-favourite characters fight rather than be introduced to Mimzy in that moment

Another thing about plot twists is that they go down better with foreshadowing; a certain pseudo-satirist once said “This story tries so hard to pull the rug out from under the audience it loses common sense”, and that can be a big problem with stories when their plot twists aren’t foreshadowed correctly. Surprising your audience can be fun, but they came here for a certain story, and if you just change it up on them without any warning then they’re going to be left very confused and feeling like they’re reading a different story. This is often the area of major Deus ex Machinas, where the audience gets to the twist and just has to pause and go “Wait, what? Where did that come from?”

The goal of a plot twist isn’t to make your audience go “I didn’t see that coming”, it’s to make them go “I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming”, especially since it adds reread value to anyone coming back a second time already knowing all the plot twists and now having the prior knowledge to spot things they might have missed the first time around. And if they did spot it the first time around, it makes it all the more satisfying when the foreshadowing pays off. You can only surprise them once, but you can always make them feel smart if you’re willing to give them a chance to prove it

OSP has a much more in-depth Trope Talk on plot twists if you want more insight on it, and I got some of what I said here from their video. So, yeah

[novlr]

How do I write good plot twists? I'm not sure what makes them good and whether readers will like them?

Plot twists are all about unexpected events or revelations that change the way the plot either progresses or the way that readers interpret information.

A good plot twist requires subtle clues that hint at revelations but don't signpost them. It can certainly be a bit of a tightrope walk to really do well. It's also really important not to overuse them. Plot twists are effective because they're surprising. Put too many twists in your story, and you lose that element of surprise.

We've got a whole article on what plot twists are, the most common types, and how to use them effectively at the link below!

[circusmania]

SIN CHAPTER 1

꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦

Notes: This story is first-person narration, since I couldn't decide on an x reader or x oc. This gives free imagination on who will be in the main character's shoes. The main character will be a nameless character, meaning no one will address the main as anything specific. The only detail will be that the main is perceived as a male.

STORY INTEL: A new boy, Marcus, has just transferred to Cheshire High. Everyone is warned to stay away from him, as he looks as if he just crawled out of a grave. However, our main character seems to be somewhat drawn to him. Judy displays her negative feelings towards Marcus, wanting the main character to stay away from him. Although she seems unreasonable, there has to be more to the story, right? Just what are they hiding? What secrets lie in wait for him to uncover?

CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINORS

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11

♡

꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦︶︶₊꒷꒦

I wish that

Across your back

Was a zipper

And that I

Could just crawl in

Forever a part of you.

I'm suddenly shaken awake. I look to my side to find my girlfriend, Judy Presley, giggling to herself.

“Sleeping already? Class barely started!”

I quietly laughed, raising my head to look at her.

“I've been busy with football practice, I'm worried about the upcoming tournament. I've only just found out that Oliver broke his-”

“Hey, no worries!” Judy rubbed my back. “You can come over to my house today, so you can catch up on some sleep.” She winked.

I laid my head back onto my crossed arms on the table. I wasn't in the mood for that today… Anyway, I ready myself to fall back into slumber, fully expecting to be hugged by sleep.

However, that idea was cut short when the teacher clapped his hands.

“Quiet down everyone, today we have a new student.” This piqued my interest. “Marcus, come on in.”

A tall, slender boy with long (and I mean hip-long) black hair came in. His hair covered half his face, with only the septum piercing and mouth left out in the open. I could tell he was a gothic-alt based on his clothes.

Judy cringed next to me. “What's with this guy? He's so ... depressed, looking. She chuckled, causing” the teacher to look our way.

“Alright, Marcus, go sit at the desk table next to Judy. Judy, raise your hand, please.”

Marcus sat at the nearby desk; there was something about him, I couldn't pinpoint. I realized I was staring too long when Judy elbowed me.

“Ow!” I whisper-yelled.

“SH! You two!” The teacher side-eyed us both before going back to teaching.

“What's with the staring?” She asked, suspiciously.

“Nothing just found him-”

“Weird, satanic, faggy-”

“JUDY! You can't say that!-”

“I've had it with you both! Since you both cannot stop being lovey-dovey with each other…” The teacher scanned around the room, “Judy switch with Marcus.”

“But sir, I-” Judy argued, still blushing from the lovey-dovey accusation.

“No buts Judy, if you're going to be disrespectful in my class you're going to be punished. This isn't kindergarten anymore.” He said, turning back to the blackboard.

I whispered a silent apology to her, but I'm not sure if she heard it.

She sighed before grabbing her stuff and standing up. She passed Marcus, silently glaring at him before sitting down. I'm sure she won't let me hear the end of it at lunch…

I looked back at Marcus, who was now organizing his binder and pencil case, occasionally looking up at the lesson. Now I could get a better look at him. His clothes consisted of only black and grey shades with ripped baggy jeans, platform boots, and a t-shirt with some rock band, I presume. He wore all kinds of chains, necklaces, earrings, and rings.

He was the complete polar opposite of Judy. She always put her light brown hair in a ponytail with a white bow, wore perfect matching season clothes, and had well-made makeup. I would be lying if I said she wasn't something but, Marcus, he was also something… Wait, why am I comparing them??

I rubbed my temples and groaned.

I looked back at Marcus, only to be met with him facing me!

“You have very pretty eyes.” He said, giving me an affiliative smile.

Gasp His voice?? Holy shit, it's … almost unrealistic…

“T-thank you…”

I internally slapped myself, was I seriously stuttering?? God, I'm so embarrassed.

I heard him lightly chuckle beside me.

What's going on with me? I must be coming down with something!

ﾟ+: *✧･ﾟ:﹤ 🔔🔔🔔﹥: ･ﾟ✧*:+ﾟ

“Judy this, Judy that, shut your goddamn mouth!” I shut my locker, half listening to Judy's rant. “I hate that fucking teacher! Who does he think he is, separating us like that!?” I nod, just letting her get it all out of her system.

“Hey guys, wait up!” A small voice behind us made Judy shut up.

We both turned towards a familiar girl. Vanessa Kareem, Judy's BFF (as she calls it). Vanessa and her have always been friends. She was pretty much the spitting image of Judy except for her black silky hair that was in a grunge haircut, her blue eyes, and her much paler skin.

“Hey V, how's it going?” Judy smiled, forgetting all about her rant.

“Nothing much, however, you'll never guess what happened! I've just received another A! In science too!” She waved her test around, looking at me for words of praise.

“Oh, uh, congrats Vanessa, although I'm not all that surprised… you're pretty smart. I can't remember the last time you've gotten a B.” I rub the back of my neck.

“Me neither…” Judy said, a bit sourly.

Vanessa laughed, “Oh, stop it! Both of you! He-he. Anyway, how are you guys?”

“I'm glad you asked, we're doing pretty miserable,” And there she goes again… “I got switched seats with the new vampire wannabe.”

Vanessa blinked. “You two aren't sitting together anymore?”

“No! Can you believe it!? We always sit together! Ugh! I'm so pissed off! Fuck that new kid.” Judy screamed.

“Hey, don't say that! He's not all bad.” I intervened.

“And what makes you say that?” Judy cocked an eyebrow.

“He… He said my eyes looked nice.” I pinched the palm of my hand.

“Your eyes indeed do look nice,” Vanessa said, causing Judy to side-eye her.

“Yeah, well, I say that all the time! As a matter of fact, I think your hair looks immaculate today!”

“Thank you, Judy, and erm, Vanessa.” I give them both a wary smile before continue walking to the cafeteria.

There, MY best friend, Omar Thomerson, sat devouring his lunch. Omar, he's been with me since the universe was created. We're convinced we were best friends in our past lives. I've always thought of him as the geek in our friendship. He's always been obsessed with any fantasy fiction he can grab on. Greek mythology, science-fiction, astrology, you name it. He has dark brown hair with a shag haircut, freckles, and brown eyes. His typical wear is a worn-out hoodie and cargo pants.

“Hey, Hey, there's my best friend!” Omar patted the seat next to him.

I sat down with Judy and Vanessa trailing after me. I gave him a high five before opening my lunch box.

We all chatted and ate, Omar occasionally bringing up the big party he is planning on having at his house this weekend.

“Our whole grade is going to be invited! You guys better all be coming, especially you” Omar said, smirking at me.

“The whole grade? Don't you think that's too much? I mean, I know you own a big house but…” She sighed, “Not only that, but I might have plans this weekend.” Judy said, taking another bite of her salad.

“I'm for sure coming, I would never miss your parties!” I slap his back jokingly.

“I'll be going too!” Vanessa beamed.

“Well… maybe I'll have time to swing by,” Judy said.

“Great! I'll be holding you all to that then.” Omar smiled.

We continued our conversation until something caught my eye, a familiar half-face going out the back cafeteria door. The only thing behind there are dumpsters and roaches…

“Hang on, guys, I'll be back.” I squeezed out of my seat.

“Want me to come with you?” Judy sat up.

“No, no, I won't be long anyway,” I said before running out after Marcus.

I opened the back door and closed it behind me. I looked around and as expected there were only dumpsters.

I advanced towards one of them and looked behind it, but nothing-

“What are you doing?”

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Want to read ahead? Click here!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

The hero was gasping for air.

The fight with the corrupt CEO took everything he had to win. The office on the top floor of the Allcorp building was a mess. It was finally over.

The hero moved his bruised body to the office chair that the CEO had been sitting just before their clash, it had miraculously survived the fight.

He ended up stumbling and falling on the floor, right next to the beaten a bloody pulp of the CEO.

He took a couple of gasps of air as he made his arms push upward, right as he heard the ding of an elevator.

The hero turned his head, wondering if he had another foe to face, but to his relief, it was just the janitor. The one that had pointed him towards the elevator earlier in his ascent to face the boss.

“Quite a mess.” The Janitor spoke.

The hero managed to stand.

“Sorry about that… Though I think you can probably clock out for the day.” The hero joked.

The Janitor approached while leaving his sanitation cart in the elevator.

“You really did a number on him.” He said as he looked at the body.

“He didn’t make it easy… Hope you don’t mind your boss is gone.”

“Oh him? He isn’t my boss.” He said amused.

“That’s a relief, are you contracted to clean the building by another company?”

The hero noticed the Janitor had moved to sit in the CEO’s chair.

“Not that, this is actually my building.”

The hero chuckled.

“I guess it is now, since the boss is gone and everyone else is taken down or fled.”

The Janitor turned the chair away from the hero who was struggling to stay standing.

“You are quite the hero. Fighting your way up here, risking life and limb to stop what you deem as evil. I really respect your hard work.”

The hero felt a bit confused by the Janitor’s tone, it seemed to have shifted. Though it could be the damage from earlier that’s messing with his head.

“I’m just doing what heroes do.” He said as he held his head up.

“Of course, how Idealistic. I remember thinking like that once. But that’s in the past.”

“Um… What do you mean by that?”

The janitor turned, now out of his uniform and wearing what appears to be an expensive Suit. His messy hair that obscured his eyes was styled back. His eyes red as the blood on the floor, his smile like a serpent that has eaten his meal.

“Wait… you…”

Bang

The hero looked at his stomach, a bullet hole spilling blood had appeared. The shock kicked in and he fell to his knees.

“I didn’t expect you would actually get this far. But I didn’t get to where I am today by not setting up a contingency.”

“…Who…”

“Oh him? Just a body double I injected with enough experimental steroids to bench press a building. Which makes it all the more impressive you managed to kill him.”

He got up from the chair, raising the gun to the hero’s forehead.

“Since I’m a gentleman, I’ll let you have your last words, be sure to make them memorable.”

“You… you won’t get away with this, someone will rise up and stop you!”

The true CEO sighed.

“34.”

Bang

The hero dropped dead to the floor.

The CEO went back to his chair, rolling it back to his desk. He opens a drawer and pulls out a black book. He opens it and turns to a page with the line that the hero said before he died. He puts a tally mark next to the others.

“Oh, my mistake, 32.”

[redd956]

Favorite Discovery/Character Plot Twist Tropes

When the character gets injured, they go to their friends, hands covering a spot on their face. Once they pull their hands the metallic underneath of Character's face is revealed.

Character group is surrounded by enemy force. Character A stands up to reveal their part of enemy force, and demand their colleagues to relax.

Character knows language they shouldn't.

In a tough and desperate situation, the character stands up and finally casts magic, revealing their nonhuman touch.

Character in great pain has to remove a covering or article of clothing, unveiling a hidden injury or set of old scars.

When an exorcist or religious type character accidentally hurts another character with their equipment. Then there is a slow realization that maybe Character B isn't who they thought they were.

A shapeshifter forced to unveil their true selves.

Veteran/dangerous character ending up in a situation were their strange arsenal of knowledge and unusual athleticism shows a lot more about them than they expected.

Betraying character hurting someone else, leaning in, and whispering their true intentions

Character of a particular gender identity finally coming out, or being figured out.

[eldritchtouched]

A thought about the situation with Miquella, and Daenerys, and plot twist structure.

It almost feels like a writer attempting to do the Daenerys twist with Miquella, but I'd argue it couldn't work for Miquella. Daenerys's stuff had the structure for that twist set up properly, but Miquella's didn't, even if execution is the most important part.

Ultimately, the reason the Daenerys twist is structurally sound and why I defend it despite the show botching the execution for other reasons and the books not being finished yet was because all the horrific shit she was doing up until she gets to Westeros. Though this is masked from a lot of the audience, at least if we're talking books, while still being there.

She is the lone POV for most of her story threads in the books, and she does a lot of truly awful stuff. Including burning people alive, a thing that's used as a marker in the story the rest of the time to mean "this character has hit the moral point of no return." The other POVs that later join her story are all Westerosi natives who didn't see any of her truly grim actions and either just hear rumors of her actions with a positive spin (Tyrion hearing that she's basically Aegon the Conqueror reborn, with the cultural mythologizing of Westeros that entails) or see her while she's trying to rule after a conquest instead of during the conquest itself (Sir Barisstan).

On top of that, she's among a nonwhite, cultural Other in Essos, and I think that was intentional, even if Martin fucked up the situation with the Dothraki because he's pretty sloppy with some of his worldbuilding. Most of the audience will naturally then dismiss the peoples of Essos. They don't get the same attention as Westeros and we don't get their perspectives or how their culture actually works. Instead, it's Daenerys's point of view, and she's biased.

However, this works as a twist for Daenerys because GRRM was taking a conqueror and transplanting her from a setting where the majority of the audience accepts her actions as wholly justified to one where they won't. She remains the same way- burning people alive and taking things through blood and fire. But, unlike the people of Essos who are essentially a nameless, faceless Other, we've been around a lot of the the other characters of Westeros. We're invested in Westeros. We know that they're complicated and we know their names and faces prior to her coming.

Note that I'm talking about the books and the knowledge that the show's trajectory based on Martin's comments is that she is still going in that direction in the books. Because it is foreshadowed in the books. The show's foreshadowing is a lot murkier in some places or else can't exist because of format issues (internal monologue in a book versus how a show isn't like that).

But we get the reverse for Miquella, and this thus falls apart because the structure simply isn't there. This kind of "oh no they're actually the villain!" twist works if they go from a context where their actions are considered acceptable to one where their actions are considered unacceptable by the audience.

Daenerys worked because she was essentially consistent the whole time. Miquella doesn't, because his actions feel conflicting and contradictory, and also have an investment issue.

Part of it includes how Mohg is the best protected demigod in the base game if going by the intended quest progression with Gideon and world design stuff pointing to how Miquella wasn't kidnapped. But now, because of the DLC and the nonsense ritual involving a lord and vessel, Miquella actively needs Mohg dead, despite protecting him so well, so the whole thing just kind of... trips over itself.

Or how there's no foreshadowing of Radahn in the base game. As others have quipped, there was literally nothing on AO3 until after the DLC, nor any theorycrafters coming up with it, nor any Rule 34 of Radahn/Miquella as some "I just think they're hot" pairing, meaning there was no foreshadowing anyone could possibly point to.

On top of that, this stuff doesn't work for that kind of twist. All the people in the DLC are new and the audience is thus not particularly invested in them compared to the people of the Lands Between. This also means that there's no particular investment in the Land of Shadow, which is structured very similar to Essos (culturally Other, coded nonwhite, don't get a whole lot in terms of characters, what little is highlighted of their culture is treated in an exoticizing and negative fashion, etc.). Mohg is a character most people either didn't care about or actively hated. Radahn had a concluded story already. So that twist structure can't work.

Likewise, because of how the base game's endings are what we're trying to keep intact (us as Lord), this also causes problems with fighting Miquella, as the story ending for that is deeply ambiguous given the current situation of the Lands Between. This causes a lot of issues because it isn't like Westeros, where everyone can band together to fight ice zombies. The Lands Between lack that larger unifying conflict and is purely the geopolitical machinations of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, and this means that a lot of people just go 'maybe Miquella's is the good ending?'

[crazyhickofftheirrocker]

SDL and Mafin 🧁: Who knows about Whom?

Well. This week has been... a rollercoaster

More and more people are picking up puzzle pieces faster than Damián's stamp collection and the heat is slowly being put on our girls to be discreet (Anyone for a trip to Illescas? Madrid? Venice?... No? Of course not guionistas 😔🤡 couldn't have that 😡)

So, bearing that in mind, here is a breakdown of the mess that is morphing out of the now-love square of Mafin, Jaime and Luz as of Cap.104

People suspicious of/know about:

Marta- Fina ofc😏😏🥰, Jaime, Marcos (if he ever appears again), Ester (same as Marcos), Carmen, Luz, Digna (she knows something's up with Marta at least)

Fina- Marta, Jaime, Isidro, Carmen, Ester

Jaime- Luz, Luis, Marta (on Monday)

Luz- Jaime, Luis, Begoña, Marta (maybe on Monday but maybe not 🤡)

Makes you as nauseous as pobre Claudia and her pregnancy issues, huh? Me too ¡madre mia!

It's not good news. Can't have people knowing hay homosexuales en esta colonia. Or that the husband of one such homosexual is fucking his work colleague with his wife's consent. Luis' head might finally explode.

But alas, this is a telenovela. And we're suckers for punishment 🤷‍♀️🧁

SO.... what is likely to happen with everyone else that connects the dots?

Most dangerous: Damian, Jesus, Augustín, new conservative family coming in 👀 with connections to Matteo

Most likely to spill (in spite of intentions): Tasio, Claudia, Luis

Wildcards: Luis, Digna, Isabel, Maria, Gema

Secret keepers: Andrés, Matteo (seal of confession people 🤐), Joaquin, Begoña, Isidro, Carmen

Maria and Gema seem to be in a parallel universe so I have no idea. But I'd expect them to be judgemental, Maria more so than Gema, especially with the Andrés/Begoña situation

Hope this is helpful for the people that don't always look at the main episodes and for those who find it a headwreck to keep track of it all.

Willing some good Mafin scenes for next week 🤞vamos

[goryhorroor]

favorites • plot twist horror movies

[leifandthorn]

Time-travel arcs, especially time-looping arcs, give you a lot of opportunities to save work by copy-pasting panels you’ve already drawn when that sequence of events repeats.

…and I could’ve done that with half the panels here, too! But I wanted Future Thorn’s journey to feel like it all flowed smoothly together. So all the references to his past appearances got redrawn.

[thatoneartistinthecorner]

Just got to Well Actually...

[byoldervine]

I’ve heard of explaining your plot in the worst way possible, but I’m curious how explaining your plot twist in the worst way possible would go. Obviously for WIPs you have to be super careful about spoilers but at the same time it sounds incredibly fun and it might somewhat satisfy the urge to put it out into the world

I’ve definitely already spoiled one of my plot twists on my own merits so I’ll use that one to do this as a sort of safety net

Barbie in the Diamond Castle sequel in which Alexa’s brother lives with them and thinks Liana is fit as fuck

[novlr]

how do you write an effective plot twist? a twist that doesn't make the reader feel like it came out of nowhere but surprises them all the same?

The key to a successful plot twist lies in striking a delicate balance—too predictable, and the magic is lost; too contrived, and the reader's suspension of disbelief is broken. So how can you write a great plot twist? We answer just this question in today's Reading Room post!

[starrynightsxo]

THE SILENT PATIENT BOOK REVIEW

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Very perceptive book, I felt that the author really captured the feelings and emotions of the characters in a collected and almost mysterious way. Didn't see the plot twist coming but when I think about it, it's not that far fetched. The writing was really good and had me engaged mostly as well. Definitely recommend to all as even though I'm not a thriller girl, it appealed very much so!

SPOILERS AHEAD

The flashbacks were so unexpected I have to say that's for sure. I liked how it's done as Alicia's diary and his thoughts too. It's crazy how he brings the Kathy and Gabriel stuff together.

Overall, I enjoyed.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

"Plot Twist" and "A**-Pull" are basically the same thing

Difference between two, is about it being used "properly" or not

I see what you’re saying but you’re not entirely right.

A Plot twist is a change that was planned to turn what we initially thought on its head. Good plot twists and bad plot twists are often planned.

A** pulls are literally just last minute out of nowhere events that are just there to cause drama or let the hero win/villain escape.

It’s never done right

[emeryleewho]

The difference between a good plot twist and cheap shock value is in the *depth*. It's in the *characters*. A good plot twist should be evident even from a Wikipedia article. You should be able to read it out like a monotone robot and still see how clever and brilliant it is. It is a divine fact. Shock value relies on twisting your audience's emotion to get a reaction. It tries to treat disgust or horror as inherently valuable, worthwhile story techniques. But the second you zoom out, you recount the ending to a friend, you take a moment to actually think about where it comes from, it's *empty*, and even if it scars your audience enough to stay with them for a while, it's like the Boogeyman. Once you shine some light on it, you realize how empty and pathetic it is and it fades away. If you want to be a great writer, stop relying on shock value and learn how to write a plot twist!!!