Reality Writing Book: Difference between revisions

What if you start reading a book and suddenly realize that the book ''is about you!'' This has got to be some joke, right? But then how could whoever have done this have known that you would read the section which says you are in the cafeteria reading the book under a table, at the exact time you were doing just that? And now it's talking about what you're contemplating at this very moment, and this ''[[Mind Screw|blows your mind]]''.

 

 

 

:The book already seems to be completely written and appears to have predicted your every move. This may double as a [[Tome of Fate]], depending on whether the book itself is magic (which would qualify under this trope), or someone else merely wrote such things in a more or less standard book (which would not qualify). Sometimes events written in the book turn out to be wrong, or able to be changed by the character's reaction to the information the book provides.

 

:The book writes itself as you read it, observing rather than predicting your movements. It may contain information merely about what happens around the book itself or things which are pertinent to the plot of the story. Often these books also have some form of omniscience, and have things written in them that the protagonist could never have known about (''"Little does Alice know, that Bob is sneaking up behind her at this very moment!"''). The words might literally appear on the page before your eyes, or as you turn the last page written on there might mysteriously be a next one.

 

:The book must be written in, and the things you write about start happening. There may be certain rules attached to this version, or not everything you write will happen, it might be random chance which elements your write down come to pass.

 

* The ''[[Death Note]]'' is a book that when you write someone's name in it, they die. If you write in how they are to die, provided it's feasible they will die in that manner and time, otherwise they die of a heart attack by default.

* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' features journals which contain the future entries of characters, allowing them to see what they'll experience in the future, and react to them. The journals change as they do things. Most of these journals take the form of diaries entered into cellphones, though one woman has hers on a scroll.

* '''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' has "The Universe of the Four Gods", which is type 2. While Miaka and Yui continue their adventure, people in our world can read, what is happening in this moment in Four God's dimension.

* Zetta becomes a type III book in ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''.

 

* ''[[The Sandman]]'': Destiny, the eldest of the Endless, only intervenes when the Book of Destiny tells him to.

{{quote|Destiny continues to walk... He is holding a book. Inside the book is the universe.}}

* In the [[Dragon (magazine)]] comic ''Libram X'', the eponymous tome is both [[Tomes of Prophecy and Fate|the accurate self-writing log]] and can be written (one magic quill is included in the kit). Which naturally explains why [[MacGuffin|everyone and their dogs tried to find it]] all this time.

* ''Once In a Blue Moon'' has sort of a [[Timey-Wimey Ball|timey-wimey]] twist: Aeslin goes back to Avalon because of something she sees about to happen in the magic book, but the writer of the book in Avalon doesn't write that part until ''after'' it happens.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* In ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'', the protagonist finds out that unwittingly by all involved, he's the main character of a book currently being written by an author famous for killing off her characters.

* ''[[The Neverending Story (film)|The Neverending Story]]'' features ''The Neverending Story'', a magic book that dictates what is happening in the world of Fantasia and the main character, who is initially reading the book on earth.

 

 

* ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''. The Sacred Tome [[Tomes of Prophecy and Fate|predicts the future with absolute certainty]], and whatever is written in it BECOMES the truth. 'Badass Freakin' Overlord' Zetta is pissed off because the tome claims that he will destroy his own Netherworld through foolishness and arrogance, so he burns it. This causes the entire world to collapse, and he has to quickly transform HIMSELF into the Sacred Tome to prevent a total collapse, though his own Netherworld still bites it, thus [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy|proving the prediction true]]... Most of the gameplay basically centers around using the powers of the Zetta-Tome, by having various characters write 'wishes' into it, thus making them come true.

* ''[[Wizardry]]'' Dark Savant Trilogy (''VI'', ''VII'', ''8'') has the Cosmic Forge, a pen and Tome Of Fate. Anything written in it will become true, albeit [[Jackass Genie|not as the writer expects]]. If written pages are torn out, history itself will be [[Retcon|Ret Conned]]. [[Multiple Endings|One of the endings]] in ''8'' {{spoiler|has you doing exactly that in an attempt to [[Ret-Gone]] the Dark Savant, but since the process is not instantaneous, you must fight him anyway. After you defeat him, you quickly write down every bit of history you can recall.}}

* A non-book example happens in ''[[Persona 2]]'': rumors become true if enough people hear about them (this is due to a demon dicking with humanity.) No writing needed, just word of mouth. Mostly this results in [[Urban Legends]] becoming true, but at one point the player characters themselves take advantage of it.

 

 

== Western Animation ==