How The Extended Wapsiverse Came To Be

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jwhouk
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How The Extended Wapsiverse Came To Be

Post by jwhouk »

It was all so simple in retrospect.

See, the universe came to be in an instant - a thought, and then an explosion of words, pictures, life.

And it began, ever so simply, with a question:

"Amanda, am I naive and a pushover?"

Things happened slowly at first. Two characters became three, then four and five. And, slowly, a little world developed - a bunch of friends, developed out of a single idea by an innocent man who put paper to pen.

Years passed. Characters came and went, and a larger, overarching storyline developed: an ancient machine, one that controlled the very fabric of time, was broken.

And then, one fateful day, the machine was dragged from this universe into a realm no one has seen.

It was at this point a small fracture began. It was revealed that this was the 57th and final attempt to fix the calendar machine. And one of the characters was forced to live through all 57 iterations - albeit in reverse order.

She returned to the universe, and though things were seemingly back to normal, the fracture broke off.

And, after a long incubation period, another thought occurred.

"Do you seek knowledge, or adventure?"

Cupping her left cheek with his right hand, he responded, "I seek you," and kissed her.

And, with that simple post and action, the Extended Wapsiverse came to be.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
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jwhouk
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Re: How The Extended Wapsiverse Came To Be

Post by jwhouk »

In our universe - let's call it "Universe Prime" for the sake of argument - there is no Monica, no Shelly, no Georgette, no Amanda, no anything.

If there ever was, they died when they were supposed to live: Monica and Tina in that bus crash in Monterrey; Shelly of exposure in the north woods of Minnesota; Georgette in that plane crash; Amanda because her mother never married that horrible man who is her father in the Wapsiverse.

But on that fateful day in September of 2001 - even as our universe was innocently walking toward a fateful moment of history the very next day - our patron Paul Taylor created what we know as the Wapsiverse. A world full of demons, demigods, golems, ancient technology and long lost worlds.

And the paranormal. So much paranormal. "Blow you away" paranormal. Satyrs, fauns, succubi, sirens, vampires, sphinxes, "whatsits".

We know this as the "Wapsiverse" - and it's what we all read, five days a week. (Of course, as this is Thanksgiving week here in the States, Pablo's probably only going to put out three or four strips instead of five.)

In this universe, the "Red Wedding" was exactly what happened - Phix dreamt it all. And she never gave it one second thought.

There's no Alexander Harvester, no Richer Engineering, no weird fae children causing sleepless nights for the Wisconsin juvenile justice system. No enchanted lands west of Minnetonka, where elves and drow occasionally roam.

That universe came next.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
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jwhouk
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Re: How The Extended Wapsiverse Came To Be

Post by jwhouk »

If Doc Brown was around, he'd show us a timeline on a chalkboard, where key moments diverged from others - and entire histories developed backwards from that point.

We live in "Universe Prime" - where Wapsi Square is an amusing web comic.

The comic is in the "Wapsiverse" - the one where Monica, Shelly, Jin, Atsali and company live.

The universe of our characters is the "Extended Wapsiverse" - where centaurs own large companies, and monk-like felinoids (and I'm at a real loss for words for describing Prroul appropriately, to be honest) make things "interesting" for those who come into his contact.

That's my story, at least.

---

"Interesting," Phix commented as she put the paper down. "A bit on the outlandish side, I must admit. But, it does have its merits."

"You think so?" I asked.

"Yes - though you're completely wrong about the calendar resets." Phix placed the folder in a mail slot, marked "TO BE FILED", and turned to me. "The calendar machine did alter things, yes, but the timelines had a definite beginning and a definite end."

"No sudden appearances of people in the background of characters or individuals?" I asked. "People who, say, were confirmed as single suddenly have a wife - or husband? Or even both, in some situations?"

Phix only chuckled and went back to stirring her tea. After a moment, she pulled the steeping ball out of the cup, placing it on the saucer before taking a sip.

"No, nothing of the sort." She sighed. "Sudden paramours and long, detailed backgrounds about fictitious companies and people are the realm of fantasy writers."

I shrugged.

"Well, can't say that I tried," I pointed out.

"You did, and well," Phix finally replied. "Thank you again for the tea set, by the way. The old steeping ball was starting to get hard to open."

I smiled.

"Sure thing. Be well, Phix."

She waved at me as I headed back to the portal home.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
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lake_wrangler
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Re: How The Extended Wapsiverse Came To Be

Post by lake_wrangler »

I can't tell if this is a one-off, an explanation passed off as a short in-universe scene, or the beginning of something bigger...

Puzzling, I say. Nicely written, but puzzling.
jwhouk wrote:"Well, can't say that I tried," I pointed out.
I thought the expression was "can't say I didn't try"...

Or were you trying to say something else?
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jwhouk
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Re: How The Extended Wapsiverse Came To Be

Post by jwhouk »

I'll never tell. ;)
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
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