Relative Dimensions is in the same document as Space and, and continues the discussion. What exactly are the 'shields' that caused so much trouble when they went down in the Blackout? How do they work? And how, if HQ is scattered across the multiverse, do people keep doing things like knocking down walls into the RC 'next door'?

'Space and' was written to make sense; it's a working model of the PPC Mulit-Multiverse. As implicitly requested a few times, 'Relative Dimensions' doesn't. It's a convoluted tangle of logic designed to keep your head spinning long enough that you don't notice it's complete gibberish. It's true - but only if you don't think about it too hard.

(As ever, I'm quite willing to make changes based on other ideas people throw around. Oh, and the reason for the HITeG manifold in the first place - the idea of the shields simply being scifi energy/particle shields seemed so boring. So I figured we could have something a bit more mind-expanding)

hS

At the same link

Rather than editing the text itself (much), I've added four 'technical notes' at various points in the document. They cover such facts as the lack of difference between Word Worlds and World One, the nature of Creativity Shields (that was a fun section), the structure of the complex of multiverses, and the mechanics of Bridge formation. And all of them feature a healthy helping of 'dunno'.

hS

I'll try explaining it, hoping it makes sense 'cause I would need some sort of 3D modelling to show it.

Basically, the "nexus" in every multiverse is the World One, and the sub-universes (the Word Worlds) all depend from it somehow.
The PPC doesn't exactly have a place in the "web" of multiverses, because as we know PPC HQ has "pieces" in every universe, but so far the model isn't much different from Huinesoron's.

The difference comes on how the multiverses are placed, as I don't exactly like the "random places in the void" idea either.

So let's try to envision the multi-multiverse as something like this:



Where every triangle is the base of a pyramid with the vertex at the centre of the icosahedron. Every multiverse is housed inside one of the pyramids, with the World One near the vertex and the other worlds coming down from it towards the base. The PPC-like organization, so, actually permeates most of the pyramid.

It also means that every multiverse has some "big" points of contact with some other multiverses corrisponding with the sides of the pyramid (the Prime Multiverse has apparently at least those with the Steampunk and Mirror, and a much smaller one with every other multiverse at the vertex (Shipverse?)

This results in easier contact between multiverses sharing sides, explaining why we had several encounters with the EPC but only Lux falling in from the Shipverse.

What is keeping the multiverse together at the vertex, though? I'd say either the Real World or some other kind of dimensional nexus.

I hope this makes sense?

I'll try explaining it, hoping it makes sense 'cause I would need some sort of 3D modelling to show it.

Basically, the "nexus" in every multiverse is the World One, and the sub-universes (the Word Worlds) all depend from it somehow.
The PPC doesn't exactly have a place in the "web" of multiverses, because as we know PPC HQ has "pieces" in every universe, but so far the model isn't much different from Huinesoron's.

The difference comes on how the multiverses are placed, as I don't exactly like the "random places in the void" idea either.

So let's try to envision the multi-multiverse as something like this:



Where every triangle is the base of a pyramid with the vertex at the centre of the icosahedron. Every multiverse is housed inside one of the pyramids, with the World One near the vertex and the other worlds coming down from it towards the base. The PPC-like organization, so, actually permeates most of the pyramid.

It also means that every multiverse has some "big" points of contact with some other multiverses corrisponding with the sides of the pyramid (the Prime Multiverse has apparently at least those with the Steampunk and Mirror, and a much smaller one with every other multiverse at the vertex (Shipverse?)

This results in easier contact between multiverses sharing sides, explaining why we had several encounters with the EPC but only Lux falling in from the Shipverse.

What is keeping the multiverse together at the vertex, though? I'd say either the Real World or some other kind of dimensional nexus.

I hope this makes sense?

NOTE: I am not a physicist but I play one on the internet and so can't really comment on the accuracy of theories and whatnot. Everything I'm about to talk about is from my perspective as a writer and a consumer of many kinds of speculative fiction.

First off, I'm quite glad to see something like this being written for the PPC. There's always a part of me that is curious about the nitty-gritty regarding how a universe functions. Yes, I know, "just repeat to yourself it's just a show/book/game/whatever," but sometimes it's really hard. I like facts, dammit!

Multiverses and how the PPC fits into them is something I've been thinking about for a while now -- going all the way back to before my departure from the Board, actually. I even had a draft of a mission where several of my agents encountered versions of themselves from an alternate PPC. While the story ultimately foundered and was abandoned, I knew I still wanted to touch on the concept of multiverses. That little bit with the Department of Improbable AUs in my first post-return story was meant to sort of set the groundwork for future stories running along those lines.

I like how the theory you've presented here seems to use both the idea of the conventional comic-esque multiverse (big different worlds) as well as the Trousers of Time ("for want of a nail" types of changes). It explains a great deal but still leaves room for possible expansion. It's definitely not the neatest implementation of alternate universes, but let's face it: as soon as the concept of alternate universes comes up, things are going to get messy regardless.

I'd always seen the PPC as an entity existing in its own Word World/pocket dimension, but I think this is the first time I've seen it really (sort of) confirmed. Does that mean that the in-universe concept of the PPC being threaded through other Word Worlds has been, like the theory of a geocentric earth, debunked? Or is there some other explanation? Or am I possibly misinterpreting that (which I suppose would be another explanation)?

I can't say I'm too keen on the Void between Verses. I can't quite put my finger on what about it bothers me. I guess it seems oversimplified, like you (or the IC writer of this document) are trying to force our rather limited perception of matter and space onto a concept that is already doing some pretty crazy things with accepted science. But again, I'not a physicist.

I have a few more points I'd like to touch on, but as they pertain to some of the things that doctorlit brought up in his comments, I'm going to redirect them to that portion of the thread.

I love stuff like this. My question is, how do we know that the PPC is/belongs to the Prime Multiverse?

Speaking of Multiverse theory, I have a question regarding the PPC and my upcoming series, Imaginations Collide.

The PPC as it is today is basically fanfiction stuff, right? Imaginations Collide is also basically fanfiction stuff. So, since both are capable of interdemensional travel between different fandoms, each would theoretically be able to ravel into the universe of the other, right?

I've been imagining the physical aspect of things very similarly to some of your graphs, particularly the fanfic "worlds" being bubbles attached to the main worlds. I don't see them as separate worlds, but rather as a more direct attachment to the original world, directly affecting the real contents. (I know the argument has been made in the past that the fics happen separately from the main fic, mostly to explain why three thousand Sues and five hundred agents aren't all crowding around the Council of Elrond at once; personally, I think this is avoided by a fail-safe on the Sues' end. The last thing the average most-special person wants is another most-special person getting all up in their glitter.) When agents do the typical mission thing, what they're doing in the end is popping that added bubble and making it take all the bad stuff away from the actual world as it disappears.

I also agree with the final Multiple Multiverse Theory, in the sense that there are simply lots and lots of different versions of the same stuff floating around out there. I'll get into that a bit more later.

The one place where my personal views contradict what you're presented here (which I know doesn't really count for anything) is the idea that the "Word Worlds" are created from World One. I believe that all worlds exist, and have always existed since they were Created, independent of one another. The reason that some worlds have stories about the events of other worlds is because, despite the separation between our homes, everyone everywhere is still basically a "person" at heart; most of us are far more similar than we are different, regardless of whether we're human or Vulcan or centaur, or whatever. This allows "authors" (including writers, producers, actors, game designers, whatever) to catch tidbits of information through little connections with the people of other worlds. You can see similarities between authors and parts of their stories everywhere: J.K. Rowling said Hermione is similar to herself as a young girl; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was personally acquainted with Dr. Joseph Bell, who is very similar to Sherlock Holmes; many PPC authors in our world write about an agent who is extremely similar to them.

And yes, that's another part of my belief in the system: the version of Earth that we live on is not deserving of the title "real world," not because it isn't real, but because every world is equally real. We've already seen missions involving the real world written in the real world (and my Sherlock Holmes mission, where the "Sue" turned out to be a fan author from the modern period of Holmes's world). Even though we, as a community, no longer write real person missions, I'm sure the actual PPC still does them, as they have no reason from their perspective to treat it any differently than any other world. Additionally, this means that other worlds have stories written about ours, which seem as fictional to them as theirs do to us.

Anyway . . . this probably doesn't help you at all. Sorry. I just wanted to share my feelings on the topic.

Yes, this is what doctorlit actually believes about reality. Please don't judge him too harshly for it, as he gets bored VERY easily.

P.S. What was that Protectors of the Plot Discontinuum? I don't remember hearing about that anywhere else.

I really don't have much to say, otherwise, except that your description of the Void between Verses brought the 'backstage' from American Gods to mind, for some reason.

Nice!

-Aila