Frame Control

Spycraft and Storytelling

Salutations from the shadows,

Every good story starts with a frame.

A detective story frames the world as a puzzle. Someone is lying, details matter, and the truth is hidden in plain sight. A romance frames the world as tension and timing. A single look means something. A small decision changes everything. A horror story frames the world as unsafe. Normal rules don’t apply. Every creak in the hallway is a warning.

The frame tells you what kind of world you’re in before the plot even starts. It tells you how to interpret what you’re seeing. It tells you who the hero is, who the threat is, what’s urgent, what’s suspicious, and what “makes sense.”

And that’s why framing works so well in real life.

Because your daily life is full of stories too, even when nobody calls them that.

At work, a conversation can be framed as a collaboration, or as a cross-examination. At home, a disagreement can be framed as a problem to solve together, or as a trial where someone has to be wrong. In a relationship, silence can be framed as peace, or punishment. The same facts feel completely different depending on the frame you’re standing inside.

Most people don’t notice frames. They just react to them.

That’s how you get controlled.