Last Line

A story, usually a short story or ficlet, in which the entire tale pivots around the last words. The final words are meant to cause the reader to completely revise any ideas about what was actually happening in the story. Last-line fanfics usually identify one or more characters in the tale who until then were not explicitly named, though the reader has been misled as to who they are. The reality of the tale itself might be in question, all action up to the end being a story-within-a-story, a dream, etc.