Parallel Universes and Crossover Fiction
Created | Updated Oct 23, 2006
There are three things that I dislike about some fiction, especially fanfics: Inconsistencies [But they've already...!], suddenness [He was never like that before!] and something I can only describe as "I would have noticed". With some stories, such as those set in the outer reaches of the universe, this does not come up, but otherwise it is the most frequent offence.
But fiction is fiction! Why does it matter that it never happened?
It matters when it did happen. Crossover fiction, where characters from more than one story are written about together, can also have cases of "I would have noticed". If in one story the Earth is destroyed in the 1980s, when in another the Earth is hanging around minding its own business as it always has, this troubles me. It'll probably trouble the characters too.
So how can we still have crossover fics? Parallel universes. Yes in one universe, the Earth did get destroyed. And in another, it's still here. Both are as true as the other.
The next problem is getting characters from one universe to another. The heart of Gold, TARDIS or that place mentioned in The Magician's Nephew are possible methods.
More questions arise from this. If all stories are parallel universes, what story is this universe? We can never know. But it may be mentioned in other story universes. After all, these universes may not be significantly different from our own, and may well have some of our fiction.
This concept seems to be pretty accepted, by U1549493 anyway. He adds that the Universe is an Infinitely large place. Therefore there are an infinite amount of planets. Therefore there are and infinite amount of inhabited planets. Therefore it is logically impossible to deny theexistence of something. Person number 1 says: Vogons don't exist. They're just a bit of fiction. Person 2: Prove it. Person 1 goes out in a space ship and searches the galaxy to prove they don't exist. Because of the infinite size he will never prove they don't exist because no matter how many planets he searches, there will still be an infinite amount he hasn't searched. Therefore logically, everything we can imagine or learn about in fiction does exist somewhere. So all these characters in books could live on another planet called Earth where everything is the same apart from it is inhabited by these ficticious characters. As no one can prove it wrong they logically exist.
This handy little theory also proves that God doesn't exist. Logically the Babel Fish exists in an Infinite universe, so then all you have to do is refer to the Non-Existence of God Theory in the Guide.
However, in an infinite universe everything exists, including some form of God... *head implodes*
I suppose that there are two views of an infinite universe, both of which can be compared to bedcovers. U1549493 's view could be considered the "Infinite Duvet" hypothesis. In this, compare the universe to a duvet of infinite size. It is possible to reach any point inside the duvet from any other point, though it may take some time, without passing through the duvet cover.
However, my view is that of the "Stack of Blankets". If a point is specified inside one blanket, it cannot be reached from another blanket without passing through... the blanket cover? Is there such a thing? Well, just pretend there is.
Can anyone else tell I was thinking of this in bed?
New! A16578255, Chronology for Time-travellers!
