That would actually be an interesting place in which to set him up.

I must admit, delving into all of these old stories has had me finding all sorts of supporting cast creations that I had completely forgotten about, despite the fact that I quite enjoy them when I rediscover them.




I do at least admire that when their corporate overlords saddled them with having Princesses in the show (they sell well), the show runners decided that just because they had to use the title, it didn't stop them from really redefining what a "Princess" was by having them be godlike and flat-out making the land a Principality.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad that they might be inspiring a generation of little girls to want to grow up to be equine sun gods, but it feels like progress either way.




Every now and then I convince myself I might be clever, but those moments last less and less.




See, that all sounds quite interesting to me. Of course, I just finished watching the first episode of the relaunched "X-files", which is back for a mini-series, so the idea of picking things back up after years of inactivity seems very doable.




Apparently, although considering how Vizh's own kids came about, one can never make assumptions in the Parodyverse. She was future Griffin's temporary partner in that story:

---

"Your name is Garrick" he repeated loudly over the noise of the engines.

"Yes" she answered flatly, strapped into the jumpseat of the N-190 cargo plane. She balanced an open satchel on her lap as she pawed through a variety of folders within.

"Gina Garrick."

"Special Agent Garrick will do just fine" she answered pointedly. "The Department of the Interior was assured by your Director herself that SPUD's role in this investigation would be purely from a support standpoint..."

"The daughter of former Vice President Herbert Peter Garrick?" Griffin continued, oblivious to the bouncing of the aircraft that nearly caused his seatmate to scatter her reading material all over the cabin.

"Furthermore" she continued harshly, clutching the contents of her bag to her conservatively attired lap. "We were assured that the SPUD field agent assigned would be professional and discrete, and answer fully to the ranking Interior agent on scene." She looked over the rim of her wireframe glasses at him. "That would be me."

"Okay, sure..." the SPUD agent conceded. "That's me... Mr. Professional and all. It's just... I never even knew Garrick had a daughter..." Griffin noted absently. "When did that happen?"

"Around the time I was born" she growled, stuffing her papers back into her bag and tugging the straps closed on it. "Look, I've heard about you, and read your file to boot... are we going to have a problem?"

He blinked. "A problem? No... why?"

"I know that, politically, our fathers didn't exactly see eye to eye. As far as I'm concerned, that was their business. This matter we're investigating is my business, and I don't need some junior agent with a familial score to settle nipping at my heals throughout it." She frowned, refastening the clip holding her frizzy red hair back away from her face. "I should have known that SPUD wouldn't take this investigation seriously enough to assign a real agent."

"Yeah, no offense taken" he noted with an eye roll as he crossed his legs and opened a copy of the Parodiopolis Daily Trombone on his datapad. "I assure you, the Director personally stressed to me how seriously she takes this matter."

She looked him up and down.

"What?" he asked, turning from the sports section. "This is the only civilian shirt I had with me" he noted, nodding to the multi-colored palm-tree pattern. "My luggage went up in smoke in Badripoor, and on return there wasn't a lot to choose from in the Bolivar Airfield giftshop in Argentina. Some of us barely had time to shower before being herded off on our next assignment. What's your excuse?"

She opened her mouth to make a sharp retort, but then abandoned the attack. "I was pulled out of a budget meeting on the Hill" she admitted, tugging on the strap of her high heeled shoe and straightening her skirt, all of which looked greatly out of place inside the military cargo plane's interior. "But I've been pressing the Secretary to open an investigation for weeks now, and I'm fully prepared to carry out my duties."

"Yes, naturally... Me too. And it's always a thrill to work with... Um... You did say the Department of the Interior, right?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?" he pressed.

"Yes" she repeated tightly.

"So that makes you... What, National Park Service? Fish and Game? Indian Affairs..?"

"Bureau of Land Management" she replied. "Look, did you even read..."

"There are special agents of the Bureau of Land Management?"

"Acting special agents, yes..."

Griffin dropped his paper to his lap. "I answer to an acting special agent of the Bureau of Land Management."

"Did you even read the mission briefing?" she fumed.

"Of course" he replied. "Kind of. I'm sure I skimmed it at some point... Did I mention it was a real rush to make this flight?"

"Re-Read it now" she snarled. "We'll be on the ground in Kansas within the hour."

"Look, I don't need to... Wait. Kansas?" he asked. "I've been sent to Kansas?"

She glared at him.

"Skimming it again couldn't hurt..." he noted hastily, digging into the duffel bag under his seat.

---

The whole thing was apparently part of a "Forest Week" theme started by Al B. for reasons I cannot begin to remember at all.

As for not remembering that she exists, there might be a reason for that, as the time-traveling villain of the tale couldn't recall Garrick having a daughter and suggested the possibility of a retcon at work.

I must say, that's a real handy little excuse to have to keep from worrying about things matching up perfectly.





You're likely right in that this current revival can't last, especially without ongoing Untold Tales content to fuel it. I think with all of us, the audience here has gotten rather small for the amount of creative effort involved in catering to it. While I'd very much like to revisit these characters with my own writing and continue their adventures, it's such a struggle for me any longer that it take a great deal of incentive for me to power through with it... and with work and other things competing for my attention, it is unlikely to take priority.

I have considered writing for larger and more voracious audiences elsewhere, but even then I can't seem to muster up the momentum necessary to actually produce anything.

I was probably my most productive when this board was my key source of social interaction online. It was a very heady, creative environment back then, just a step removed from a chat room really. (In fact, I might cast some blame on the rise of chat rooms and instant messaging as a key contributing factor in the fall off of random stories on the board, as they were no longer needed to really express ourselves.)




I admit, my preference for a time skip is likely driven by at least some desire to flee from the various unfinished stories that await my attention to sort out.

I would have enjoyed doing more with the Robots Rights stories... I think where things last left off, Jason had written a story where his character Anna had gotten declared a US citizen in court, and in my follow-up Hallie, Fleabot and the others were expecting some bad backlash.




It's nice to talk like we're actually going to do all of these things though. I like to think that it helps create an alternate reality where we do finish all these epic tales.




I hope that she is living by that advice herself, and that wherever she is, she is deliriously happy.