Citations:ass-pull
English citations of ass pull, ass-pull, and asspull
Noun: "(slang, vulgar) a hastily fabricated explanation or contrived plot twist" edit
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- 2005 April 22, David Brewer, “Re: OT: Veronica Mars - Who killed Lilly?”, in alt.tv.angel[1] (Usenet):
- I'd go with the consensus and say Logan for sure, with the big plot hammer beating on Duncan and Weevil lately Logan is the "surprise" twist that puts the knife in Veronica's heart, but...
...but the same three (or four, including an ass-pull) candidates for the murder also pretty much cover the field for Veronica's rapist.
- 2010 July 29, William Rendfeld, “Re: PW! - NS - Bad Wolf”, in alt.games.nintendo.pokemon[3] (Usenet):
- Yeah. She's not gonna die, of course - I try not to kill off a character unless I'm certain I won't be bringing them back - but we are definitely gonna see who she is underneath that helmeted mask of hers. I just hope it doesn't feel like too much of an Ass Pull given the odd hints I've included over the years.
- 2011 March 8, Chet Weaver, “Re: PW! - NS - The Gilded Cage: Kitsu's Seven Steps for Success!”, in alt.games.nintendo.pokemon[5] (Usenet):
- My original plan for defeating Ratcliffe was just to have Keaton ram him through a wall and out of the tower, where Death would find and take him. As cool as that would've been, I didn't really think it would work given Ratcliffe's power and experience. Granted, the stamp feels like an ass-pull, too, but I like the idea of out-smarting a seven-thousand-year-old entity rather than over powering it.
- 2011 July 6, supercalifragilisticexpialadiamaticonormalizeringelimatisticantations [username], “Re: Green Lantern 2: Supergirl of My Dreams (was GL Update...WayBetter than the Critics Say)”, in rec.arts.tv[8] (Usenet):
- If it's an ass-pull to fix a plot problem late in the story, sure, but if it's part of the basic premise, there really isn't much else they can back it up with, other than by going meta with "these premises lead to a better story/a richer universe than those would have".
- 2011 October 20, sproing [username], “Re: From changing its name to losing 'Doctor Who': Syfy's biggest mistakes”, in rec.arts.tv[9] (Usenet):
- On the other hand, when plot problems are solved with a technobabble handwave that's made up on the spot, that's not something to base the story on. In some cases it's an acceptable way to deal with a plot problem, when it's not a complete ass-pull.
- 2014 September 27, Sneaky O. Possum [username], “Re: The Origin of Absolute Morality?”, in talk.origins[10] (Usenet):
- Of course, I'm not limited to your ass-pull 'de facto' definition of reality, so I can acknowledge the fact that there is a slightly greater possibility that extraterrestrial civilizations exist than there is that gods exist.
- 2014 October 29, Dave Van Domelen, “Dave's Comic Capsules for October, 2014”, in rec.arts.anime.misc[11] (Usenet):
- Yeah, I didn't read Superiority or a lot of the stuff between the end of All Hail Megatron and the Dark Cybertron arc, but I think I've read enough that a Big Damn Reveal should elicit more than a "huh?" Either it's lazy writing that's relying too much on all readers being completists, or this was an asspull of epic proportions and the reveal is of something not previously mentioned.