Trivia and In-Jokes
About the Story:
In 2003 I became friends with V, whom can be either known as
Flaming Trails
or Doc’s Girl. Her alternate Back to the Future universe featuring a
vampire version of Doc Brown intrigued me, so much that the idea of a crossover
popped into my head. That story, originally titled Out of Verse, had had
chapters written by both her and me. It got up to twelve chapters before time
constraints stuck it on hiatus. Flash forward to November of 2005 and me reading
her story Eight Arms to Hold You, which featured Doc Brown inventing and
becoming fused to the Dr. Octopus arms from Spider-Man. I was constantly
thinking, Wow, I wish AL could dimension-hop, ’cause OckDoc (as he was
affectionately nicknamed) could sure use her help to prove he can actually
hear the tentacles talking. A month later, I started having the urge to
renew the collaboration, and Out of Verse became Here’s Hopping,
albeit written solely by me (with her permission). The first seven chapters were
taken almost directly from Out of Verse (chapter five is where the larger
re-writes took place), and mostly everything beyond that is new. This, I
suppose, could be considered the sequel to
Dreaming of You.
Title:
Here’s Hopping: A line from Doctor Who.
Chapter Two:
It Starts: A line of Timon’s from The Lion King. I use it a
lot.
August 23: I believe this was the actual date Out of Verse started being written.
10:04: Any Back to the Future fan knows about this. It’s the time lightning struck the Clock Tower and froze it.
Being taken out of time: A reference to a 1986 Doctor Who serial entitled “The Trial of a Time Lord”, in which the Doctor was taken out of time against his will along with two people from his past. This is how AL was reunited with him during “The Ultimate Foe” segment of the “Trial”.
Chapter Three:
Temporal Displacement Locator: This is V’s name for the device that
allows Doc’s DeLorean to travel to different places as well as times.
Suitable replacement parts won’t be invented until 1947: Line lifted from Back to the Future Part III.
Chapter Four:
A family becoming trapped due to an anomaly created by an earthquake:
A reference to the show Land of the Lost (1990s version).
Chapter Five:
Lisa’s expression with her lips: This is something I do, though it’s
hard to describe. Basically, I twist my lips so they’re gathered onto the left
side.
Chapter Six:
Difference in Jennifer’s appearance: V sees Jennifer as Claudia
Wells. I see her as Elizabeth Shue.
Chapter Seven:
Family in San Francisco disappearing during an earthquake/prehistoric
Earth: Elaborating on the Land of the Lost reference.
“And, for all we know, being in a foreign dimension can be hazardous to one’s health”: This is a reference to Kristen Sheley and Mary Jean Holmes’ Back to the Future stories involving dimensional travel, in which those from a foreign dimension experienced dimensional incompatibility seizures during their stay, fixed temporarily by time jumps. Go read their fiction. They’re the best.
Chapter Eight:
“Very few humans that have actually gained some abilities”: A
reference to the 1990s version of The Tomorrow People.
Chapter Nine:
The Truth Is Out There: That’s usually what one says when discussing
the existence of aliens. I figured it could also refer to vampires.
Everything having to do with Vampire-Doc and Mysteria: You’ll have to read V’s Vampire Doc Chronicles for background on them.
Chapter Ten:
Animals seeing Lisa for what she is: This is a subtle reference to
Quantum Leap, in which animals could see Al as a hologram.
Chapter Twelve:
There’s No Place Like…: From Wizard of Oz, of course.
“I’m a human from New Jersey or something who just fantasizes about being an alien.”: Me, of course.
Burger Death: My nickname for Burger King.
Miss Lloyd: After Christopher Lloyd, the actor who played Doc Brown.
Chapter Thirteen:
Everything on “OckDoc”: For this, you’ll need to read V’s
OckDocumentary.
“Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows her?”: Lifted from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Chapter Fourteen:
Zemeckis Road: Robert Zemeckis directed Back to the Future.
Chapter Fifteen:
Verne asking if the wings are real and OckDoc’s reaction: Taken from
my story,
Eccentric Assistants, and the
blog entry it was based upon.
Chapter Sixteen:
Tentacles poking Marty: V’s muse version of OckDoc has his tentacles poke
her to draw. In Eight Arms to Hold You, a tentacle got poked by J.J., one
of the Pinheads, and poked him back. I liked the concept.
Alternate Chapter by Flaming Trails
This was my birthday gift from V. The characters are from the Girl Genius
comics she reads and the setting is from her
Boy Genius story.
Chapter Seventeen:
Night and Day: This is the name for V’s second
Vampire-Doc Universe.
Chapter Eighteen:
Ed: Ed is my real-life fiancé. He’s currently in the US Marine
Corps., and stuck on Parris Island in South Carolina, only able to communicate
to me via cell phone at certain times of day. He asked me to put him in a story,
so I created the AL-Meets-Ed-Sooner reality to do so.
Richter: The scale that measures earthquakes, of course.
Slider: Named after the TV show Sliders.
Chapter Nineteen:
Hermes: Named after the Greek messenger.
“And now we wait.”: A line from the Doctor Who episode “The Five Doctors”.
6:11AM: The time (albeit PM) I wrote it.
Chapter Twenty:
7:01AM: That’s the time in Back to the Future Part III when
Doc’55 awoke and began his dictation of the previous night’s events.
Back *~*~* Chapter Twenty