Tales of the Parodyverse >> View Post
Post By
HH
In Reply To
Rhiannon

Subj: I prefer to think of them as plot possibilities
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 03:49:57 pm EDT
Reply Subj: And this just makes even more complications.
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 12:19:13 pm EDT


> The one change between this and the previous story is that Cal had the idea of leaving himself a reminder about Liu Xi, but that broke the timeline and then the hedgehogs got involved. They involved Kink who then destroyed his own origin, this should have erased him from history but because he was the hedgehogs intervention he became a paradox instead.

You correctly identify my intended divergence point. At the moment Cal managed to overcome the amnesia his timeline diverged from any version which may not be named for copyright reasons, and the whole house of cards collapsed. The story then transformed from feelgood romantic comedy to the first act of grand guinol cosmic tragedy.

> This also explains why his later identity the Void scholar was able to send Liu Xi to make a change in the past without being hedgehoged himself, he was already outside of the system. But then if FA doesn't agree to marry him and Liu Xi therefore doesn't exist then Cal would never have been able to discover the answer to time travelling or leave himself the reminder about Liu Xi, and that makes the Void Scholar a double paradox and more powerful yet. So either way he wins.

"Explains" may be a bit strong, but it does offer some rationale for the Void Scholar's repeated use of paradox in his plans. Each paradox is making him stronger and more aligned with the void he desires to master.

And yes, there's a trap in there. If FA doesn't birth him the first in his line of Liu Xi ancestors then a whole lot of hedgehogs are going to get involved, to the detriment of a good many of our regular cast and the planet they live on. At this stage even Liu Xi's defiance would be playing into the Scholar's hands. He's studied this; he's a Scholar.

> The only people with any real chance to stop the Void Scholar are those who can time travel or do other time involved stuff, and most of them have been taken out of the picture (I noticed that you managed to tie up Justin Thyme without actually mentioning him). That leaves only the 'Meng' Cal mentioned and I'm guessing he hasn't invented time travel yet (and since the Void Scholar has Wyrmfood working for him Salieri may not live that long), and whoever's in control of the Portal of Pretentiousness.

There are a number of people who might be able to detect and thwart the Void Scholar - the Keeper of the Chronometer of Infinity, the next Keeper of the Chronometer of Infinity, the Manga Shoggoth, Al B. Harper, Yo... Oops, they've gone!

> So everything that's happened in Saving the Future has also worked towards the goal of Danny remaking the Portal of Pretentiousness since he is the one the Void Scholar intends for Liu Xi to end up with.

That was one acceptable outcome. The other would have been to drag Danny to the Land That Common Sense Forgot with the Lair Mansion - but that attempt failed.

> And all this is on top of the stuff I noted in my other reply thread.

You've been giving this a lot of thought.

> But aside from the Void Scholar's plots there's also another point. This whole round robin focuses on the Hooded Hood's son, the Hooded Hood's portal, and a villain who is taking the Hooded Hood's usual role of villain who manipulates everyone with amazingly complicated plots. So either the Void Scholar is about to meet a Hooded Hood who is annoyed about another villain trying to step into his archvillain territory, or this is also a trap by the Carnifex who prompted the Void Scholar to get involved to lure the Hooded Hood out into the open by having the Void Scholar annoy him in which case I doubt the Hood will rise to the bait, I don't think the Hooded Hood likes people trying the manipulate him.

This would be the Hooded Hood who has previously taken such an interest in FA and Liu Xi and Danny and Kerry, would it? Noted.

And now my next question to you: Why did the hedgehog appear and prick Cal in this new version of the story?