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Hurting Hero is a disambiguation
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* HurtingHero: Charles has pretty much lost all will to live a meaningful life due to the crushing disappointment of his childhood.
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* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Charles does manage to find his father. They reconcile and he finds purpose to himself and understands their relationship a bit more, and Ed becomes ontologically valid...but his dad has aged in the years he's been trapped in time, he eventually replaces TAMMY with a TIM unit, and the fate of his mother is unknown]]. And there's the whole 'getting shot' thing.
to:
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Charles [[spoiler:Charles does manage to find his father. They reconcile and he finds purpose to himself and understands their relationship a bit more, and Ed becomes ontologically valid... but his dad has aged in the years he's been trapped in time, he eventually replaces TAMMY with a TIM unit, and the fate of his mother is unknown]]. And there's the whole 'getting shot' thing.
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* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles, sort of. It's less that he is looking, and more that he's already given up. He no longer expects his Life to contain anything more glamorous than his mundane, boring job as a repairman. Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine. He always expected to be more than that.
to:
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles, sort of. It's less that he is looking, and more that he's already given up. He no longer expects his Life to contain anything more glamorous than his mundane, boring job as a repairman. Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine. He always expected to be more than that.
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%%* FutureBadass: Charles sees one version of himself as this...
%%* FutureLoser: ...and another as this.
%%* FutureLoser: ...and another as this.
to:
Changed line(s) 32,33 (click to see context) from:
* HurtingHero: Charles is not so much DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife as having already given up. Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine, counting down the seconds until oblivion. He always expected to be more than that.
* ICouldaBeenAContender: [[spoiler: Charles's father couldn't get the time machine working right on the day he was to present it to the government, and someone else with the same idea got all the credit]].
* ICouldaBeenAContender: [[spoiler: Charles's father couldn't get the time machine working right on the day he was to present it to the government, and someone else with the same idea got all the credit]].
to:
* HurtingHero: Charles is not so has pretty much DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife as having already given up. Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through lost all will to live a meaningful life on day-to-day routine, counting down due to the seconds until oblivion. He always expected to be more than that.
crushing disappointment of his childhood.
* ICouldaBeenAContender:[[spoiler: Charles's [[spoiler:Charles's father couldn't get the time machine working right on the day he was to present it to the government, and someone else with the same idea got all the credit]].
* ICouldaBeenAContender:
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* NoFairCheating: Charles tries to skip to the last page of the book to see how the story will end, and ends up unstuck in time and space. [[spoiler: The last page was intentionally left blank]].
to:
* NoFairCheating: Charles tries to skip to the last page of the book to see how the story will end, and ends up unstuck in time and space. [[spoiler: The [[spoiler:The last page was intentionally left blank]].
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* RetroactivePreparation: [[spoiler: At the end of the book, Charles engages in this]].
* ScrewYourself: In a way, [[spoiler: Charles's relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and pay money for it!).
* ScrewYourself: In a way, [[spoiler: Charles's relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and pay money for it!).
to:
* RetroactivePreparation: [[spoiler: At [[spoiler:At the end of the book, Charles engages in this]].
* ScrewYourself: In a way,[[spoiler: Charles's [[spoiler:Charles's relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and have to pay money for it!).
* ScrewYourself: In a way,
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and have to pay money for it!).
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* TimeTravel: One of the central themes of the book. Notably time travel itself takes time to perform, and "past", "present" and "future" are not the only options. Various definitions of time travel are presented throughout the book, some of which are [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane surprisingly mundane]].
* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Charles's father is this, since his time machine broke down when he was visiting the past]].
* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Charles's father is this, since his time machine broke down when he was visiting the past]].
to:
* TimeTravel: One of the central themes of the book. Notably time travel itself takes time to perform, and "past", "present" "present", and "future" are not the only options. Various definitions of time travel are presented throughout the book, some of which are [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane surprisingly mundane]].
* TrappedInThePast:[[spoiler: Charles's [[spoiler:Charles's father is this, since his time machine broke down when he was visiting the past]].
* TrappedInThePast:
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* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed. In the second half of the book [[spoiler: Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]], and it all takes place over only a few seconds from his point of view.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot. [[spoiler: Turns out you can survive getting shot.]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot. [[spoiler: Turns out you can survive getting shot.]]
to:
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, decade, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed. In the second half of the book [[spoiler: Charles [[spoiler:Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]], and it all takes place over only a few seconds from his point of view.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.[[spoiler: Turns [[spoiler:Turns out you can survive getting shot.]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.
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* AuthorAvatar: Both in and out of the text - the book is written by Charles Yu. Both books. The real world book and the book inside the real world book.
to:
* AuthorAvatar: Both in and out of the text - -- the book is written by Charles Yu. Both books. The real world book and the book inside the real world book.
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%%* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles, sort of. It's less that he is looking, and more that he's already given up.
%%Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine. He always expected to be more than that.
%%Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine. He always expected to be more than that.
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%%Theoretically,
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* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and pay for them!).
* SpearCounterpart: TAMMY has a male counterpart unit, TIM.
* SpearCounterpart: TAMMY has a male counterpart unit, TIM.
to:
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and pay money for them!).
it!).
*SpearCounterpart: TAMMY SpearCounterpart:
**TAMMY has a male counterpart unit, TIM.
*
**TAMMY has a male counterpart unit, TIM.
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* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Charles's father is this due to his time machine breaking down when visiting the past]].
to:
* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Charles's father is this due to this, since his time machine breaking broke down when he was visiting the past]].
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* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
** The second half of the book [[spoiler: where Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]] takes place over only a few seconds
** The second half of the book [[spoiler: where Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]] takes place over only a few seconds
to:
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
** Thepassed. In the second half of the book [[spoiler: where Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]] father]], and it all takes place over only a few seconds from his point of view.
** The
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Not examples of the trope.
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* ABoyAndHisX: A time-machine repairman, his neurotic operating system and his time-erased dog.
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%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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%% ZeroContextExample Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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* MundaneFantastic: Charles may have a laser gun, but he's ultimately essentially a traffic cop. The universe itself may be an artificial narrative construct, but it still took zoning permits and investors and developers to build it. And so on. Even the doomsday clock ticking down to the end of the universe gets more than a passing mention.
to:
* MundaneFantastic: Charles may have a laser gun, but he's ultimately essentially a traffic cop. The universe itself may be an artificial narrative construct, but it still took zoning permits and investors and developers to build it. And so on. Even the doomsday clock ticking down to the end of the universe gets nary more than a passing mention.
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* MundaneFantastic: Charles may have a laser gun, but he's ultimately essentially a traffic cop. The universe itself may be an artificial narrative construct, but it still took zoning permits and investors and developers to build it. And so on. Even the doomsday clock ticking down to the end of the universe gets more than a passing mention.
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* StarfishAlien: Charles reminisces on one of his ex-girlfriends. While details are sketchy, she definitely was ''not'' humnan.
to:
* StarfishAlien: Charles reminisces on one of his ex-girlfriends. While details are sketchy, she definitely was ''not'' humnan.human.
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* StarfishAlien: Charles reminisces on one of his ex-girlfriends. While details are sketchy, she definitely was ''not'' humnan.
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* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: Played a bit differently than usual, as not only are tropes and story-beats part of the physics of the universe (Eg: there are scientific theories on what exactly it takes to be a hero), but also grammatical rules (eg: grammatical tenses appear to be actual physical states or modes of being, that can be shifted between, and serve as the basis of time travel).
to:
* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: Played a bit differently than usual, as not only are tropes and story-beats part of the physics of the universe (Eg: (eg: there are scientific theories on what exactly it takes to be a hero), but also grammatical rules (eg: grammatical tenses appear to be actual physical states or modes of being, that can be shifted between, and serve as the basis of time travel).
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None
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* ABoyAndHisX: A time-machine repairman, his neurotic robot and his time-erased dog.
to:
* ABoyAndHisX: A time-machine repairman, his neurotic robot operating system and his time-erased dog.
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* WeAreAsMayflies: Charles notes to himself that, due to his abuse of time travel, his entire existence's effect on real-space is probably going to amount to about a month's pay to his landlord.
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Changed line(s) 33 (click to see context) from:
* HomemadeInventions: The prototype time machine Charles and his father makes.
to:
* HomemadeInventions: The prototype time machine Charles and his father makes.make.
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* IntangibleTimeTravel: Time travel in the book [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not be]] just a metaphor for remembering memories. It definitely doesn't allow changing the past.
* LiteralMetaphor: The book practically runs on these. Charles' is "cruising through life on autopilot", his father is "trapped in the past", his mother is "reliving the good old days", etc. etc., all in both very fantastic and very mundane ways.
* LiteralMetaphor: The book practically runs on these. Charles' is "cruising through life on autopilot", his father is "trapped in the past", his mother is "reliving the good old days", etc. etc., all in both very fantastic and very mundane ways.
to:
* IntangibleTimeTravel: Time travel in the book [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not be]] just a metaphor for remembering memories.memories and imagining WhatCouldHaveBeen. It definitely doesn't allow changing the past.
* LiteralMetaphor: The book practically runs on these.Charles' Charles is "cruising through life on autopilot", his father is [[spoiler: "trapped in the past", past"]], his mother is "reliving the good old days", etc. etc., all in both very fantastic and very mundane ways.
* LiteralMetaphor: The book practically runs on these.
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Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
* MindScrew: Let's just say that the book is very metaphorical, and [[PaintingTheMedium very]], [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall very]] [[MetaFiction meta]], and leave it at that.
to:
* LiteralMetaphor: The book practically runs on these. Charles' is "cruising through life on autopilot", his father is "trapped in the past", his mother is "reliving the good old days", etc. etc., all in both very fantastic and very mundane ways.
* MindScrew: Let's just say that the book is very metaphorical, and [[PaintingTheMedium very]], [[LeaningOnTheFourthWallvery]] very]], ''[[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality very]]'' [[MetaFiction meta]], and leave it at that.
* MindScrew: Let's just say that the book is very metaphorical, and [[PaintingTheMedium very]], [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall
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%%* ParentsAsPeople: Neither
%%* RecursiveReality
%%* RecursiveReality
to:
%%* RecursiveReality
* RecursiveReality: The book the reader is holding is the same one that Charles' is holding is the one that Charles' is writing (both InUniverse and [[TheDanza out]]) via the act of reading it.
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%%* StableTimeLoop: Most of the book consists of one.
to:
* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: Played a bit differently than usual, as not only are tropes and story-beats part of the physics of the universe (Eg: there are scientific theories on what exactly it takes to be a hero), but also grammatical rules (eg: grammatical tenses appear to be actual physical states or modes of being, that can be shifted between, and serve as the basis of time travel).
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%%* TimeTravel
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* UnstuckInTime: Charles, after trying to get to the end of the book.
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* UnstuckInTime: Charles, after trying to get skip to the end of the book.
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%%* AlternateSelf: Charles meets a few.
to:
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%%* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles.
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%%* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles.Charles, sort of. It's less that he is looking, and more that he's already given up.
%%Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine. He always expected to be more than that.
%%Theoretically, he's looking for his father. But mostly he just wedges the time machine's gear shift into the present indefinite and cruises through life on day-to-day routine. He always expected to be more than that.
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%%* HurtingHero
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%%* IntangibleTimeTravel
%%* MindScrew
%%* MindScrew
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%%* MindScrew
* MindScrew: Let's just say that the book is very metaphorical, and [[PaintingTheMedium very]], [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall very]] [[MetaFiction meta]], and leave it at that.
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%%* NewNeoCity: New Angeles/Lost Tokyo 2.
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%%* ParentsAsPeople
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%%* ParentsAsPeopleParentsAsPeople: Neither
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Commented out Zero Context Examples.
%%
%%
%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
%%
%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
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* AlternateSelf: Charles meets a few.
to:
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* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles.
to:
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* FutureBadass: Charles sees one version of himself as this...
** FutureLoser: ...and another as this.
** FutureLoser: ...and another as this.
to:
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* HurtingHero
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* IntangibleTimeTravel
* '''MindScrew'''
* '''MindScrew'''
to:
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* NewNeoCity: New Angeles/Lost Tokyo 2.
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Changed line(s) 36,37 (click to see context) from:
* ParentsAsPeople
* RecursiveReality
* RecursiveReality
to:
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* StableTimeLoop: Most of the book consists of one.
to:
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* TimeTravel
to:
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Changed line(s) 50 (click to see context) from:
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
to:
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed. passed.
** The second half of the book [[spoiler: where Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]] takes place over only a few seconds
** The second half of the book [[spoiler: where Charles travels back on his own timeline and observes his childhood and father]] takes place over only a few seconds
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Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
* DisappearedDad: Played with. Charles's father is missing by the time the book starts, but he was present and quite close to his son during Charles's childhood. The last part of the book focuses on finding him.
to:
* DisappearedDad: Played with. Charles's father is missing by the time the book starts, but he was present and quite close to his son during Charles's childhood. childhood [[spoiler: Except when he wasn't, as Charles gives contrasting descriptions of his father throughout their lives. We find out is part of the nature of time travel and paradox.]] The last part of the book focuses on finding him.
** Later we find out [[spoiler: she also mirrors Charles' own personality.]]
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* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.
to:
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot. [[spoiler: Turns out you can survive getting shot.]]
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All The Myriad Ways is being renamed to Expendable Alternate Universe. Bad examples and Zero Context Examples are being removed.
Deleted line(s) 16 (click to see context) :
* AllTheMyriadWays: It's mentioned that there are special projectors that show you how your life could have gone. Charles and all his better and worse versions of himself also count.
* WhatIf: It's mentioned that there are special projectors that show you how your life could have gone. Charles and all his better and worse versions of himself also count.
Deleted line(s) 51 (click to see context) :
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Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
One day, Charles is startled out of his ordinary, timeless routine when he sees himself come out of a time machine. So he shoots himself, as per the rules of paradoxes. But the future Yu passes on a book that he himself has written--a book called ''How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe''. Knowing his hours are numbered from this point forward, Charles decides to use the book and what little clues he's been given in the hopes of finding his father.
to:
One day, Charles is startled out of his ordinary, timeless routine when he sees himself come out of a time machine. So he shoots himself, as per the rules of paradoxes. But the future Yu passes on a book that he himself has written--a book called ''How To to Live Safely In A in a Science Fictional Universe''. Knowing his hours are numbered from this point forward, Charles decides to use the book and what little clues he's been given in the hopes of finding his father.
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* DisappearedDad: Played with. Charles' father is missing by the time the book starts, but he was present and quite close to his son during Charles' childhood. The last part of the book focuses on finding him.
to:
* DisappearedDad: Played with. Charles' Charles's father is missing by the time the book starts, but he was present and quite close to his son during Charles' Charles's childhood. The last part of the book focuses on finding him.
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* ScrewYourself: In a way, [[spoiler: Charles' relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
to:
* ScrewYourself: In a way, [[spoiler: Charles' Charles's relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
Changed line(s) 49,50 (click to see context) from:
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles' life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.
to:
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles' Charles's life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he wasshot.shot.
----
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was
----
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Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:323:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/howlivescifiu_8152.jpg]]
-->When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself.
-->Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. I kill my own future.
Charles Yu, time machine repairman, lives a weary, faintly disappointing existence in Minor Universe 31. His mother is trapped in an hour's time loop of her own choosing. His father, an inventor of time travel, has vanished into some point or another, and his only companions are a neurotic computer system, TAMMY, his computerized boss who thinks he's a human, Phil, and an ontologically invalid dog named Ed.
One day, Charles is startled out of his ordinary, timeless routine when he sees himself come out of a time machine. So he shoots himself, as per the rules of paradoxes. But the future Yu passes on a book that he himself has written--a book called ''How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe''. Knowing his hours are numbered from this point forward, Charles decides to use the book and what little clues he's been given in the hopes of finding his father.
Yeah, it's that kind of book. But while the book deals with majorly mind-screwy elements such as the concepts of time travel and the stories within metafictional universes, at its heart the book is a bittersweet, surprisingly tender story of a son's search for his father.
----
!!This book contains examples of:
* ABoyAndHisX: A time-machine repairman, his neurotic robot and his time-erased dog.
* AllTheMyriadWays: It's mentioned that there are special projectors that show you how your life could have gone. Charles and all his better and worse versions of himself also count.
* AlternateSelf: Charles meets a few.
* AlternateUniverse: Charles visits a few, and encounters other versions of himself, but ultimately is stuck in his own universe.
* AnImmigrantsTale: Underneath it all, there's a very brutal look into the Asian-American psyche.
* AuthorAvatar: Both in and out of the text - the book is written by Charles Yu. Both books. The real world book and the book inside the real world book.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Charles does manage to find his father. They reconcile and he finds purpose to himself and understands their relationship a bit more, and Ed becomes ontologically valid...but his dad has aged in the years he's been trapped in time, he eventually replaces TAMMY with a TIM unit, and the fate of his mother is unknown]]. And there's the whole 'getting shot' thing.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The advertisement for the Chrono-Adventurer Survival Kit.]]
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles.
* DisappearedDad: Played with. Charles' father is missing by the time the book starts, but he was present and quite close to his son during Charles' childhood. The last part of the book focuses on finding him.
* EvilMeScaresMe: Charles states at one point that he has looked in at a bunch of alternate versions of himself, and they were all assholes. He then mentions that if most of the alternate versions of yourself are jerks, you're probably not hot stuff either.
* FutureBadass: Charles sees one version of himself as this...
** FutureLoser: ...and another as this.
* HomemadeInventions: The prototype time machine Charles and his father makes.
* HurtingHero
* ICouldaBeenAContender: [[spoiler: Charles's father couldn't get the time machine working right on the day he was to present it to the government, and someone else with the same idea got all the credit]].
* IntangibleTimeTravel
* '''MindScrew'''
* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler: Charles's father failing to patent the time machine]].
* NewNeoCity: New Angeles/Lost Tokyo 2.
* NoAntagonist: Minor Universe 31 has an extreme lack of heroes and no villains to speak of.
* NoFairCheating: Charles tries to skip to the last page of the book to see how the story will end, and ends up unstuck in time and space. [[spoiler: The last page was intentionally left blank]].
* ParentsAsPeople
* RecursiveReality
* RetroactivePreparation: [[spoiler: At the end of the book, Charles engages in this]].
* ScrewYourself: In a way, [[spoiler: Charles' relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and pay for them!).
* SpearCounterpart: TAMMY has a male counterpart unit, TIM.
* StableTimeLoop: Most of the book consists of one.
* TechnoBabble: Quite a few passages delve into this, though it doesn't have to be understood to comprehend the story.
* TemporalParadox: Charles's job is preventing these.
* TimeTravel
* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Charles's father is this due to his time machine breaking down when visiting the past]].
* UnstuckInTime: Charles, after trying to get to the end of the book.
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles' life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.
-->When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself.
-->Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. I kill my own future.
Charles Yu, time machine repairman, lives a weary, faintly disappointing existence in Minor Universe 31. His mother is trapped in an hour's time loop of her own choosing. His father, an inventor of time travel, has vanished into some point or another, and his only companions are a neurotic computer system, TAMMY, his computerized boss who thinks he's a human, Phil, and an ontologically invalid dog named Ed.
One day, Charles is startled out of his ordinary, timeless routine when he sees himself come out of a time machine. So he shoots himself, as per the rules of paradoxes. But the future Yu passes on a book that he himself has written--a book called ''How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe''. Knowing his hours are numbered from this point forward, Charles decides to use the book and what little clues he's been given in the hopes of finding his father.
Yeah, it's that kind of book. But while the book deals with majorly mind-screwy elements such as the concepts of time travel and the stories within metafictional universes, at its heart the book is a bittersweet, surprisingly tender story of a son's search for his father.
----
!!This book contains examples of:
* ABoyAndHisX: A time-machine repairman, his neurotic robot and his time-erased dog.
* AllTheMyriadWays: It's mentioned that there are special projectors that show you how your life could have gone. Charles and all his better and worse versions of himself also count.
* AlternateSelf: Charles meets a few.
* AlternateUniverse: Charles visits a few, and encounters other versions of himself, but ultimately is stuck in his own universe.
* AnImmigrantsTale: Underneath it all, there's a very brutal look into the Asian-American psyche.
* AuthorAvatar: Both in and out of the text - the book is written by Charles Yu. Both books. The real world book and the book inside the real world book.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Charles does manage to find his father. They reconcile and he finds purpose to himself and understands their relationship a bit more, and Ed becomes ontologically valid...but his dad has aged in the years he's been trapped in time, he eventually replaces TAMMY with a TIM unit, and the fate of his mother is unknown]]. And there's the whole 'getting shot' thing.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: The advertisement for the Chrono-Adventurer Survival Kit.]]
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Charles.
* DisappearedDad: Played with. Charles' father is missing by the time the book starts, but he was present and quite close to his son during Charles' childhood. The last part of the book focuses on finding him.
* EvilMeScaresMe: Charles states at one point that he has looked in at a bunch of alternate versions of himself, and they were all assholes. He then mentions that if most of the alternate versions of yourself are jerks, you're probably not hot stuff either.
* FutureBadass: Charles sees one version of himself as this...
** FutureLoser: ...and another as this.
* HomemadeInventions: The prototype time machine Charles and his father makes.
* HurtingHero
* ICouldaBeenAContender: [[spoiler: Charles's father couldn't get the time machine working right on the day he was to present it to the government, and someone else with the same idea got all the credit]].
* IntangibleTimeTravel
* '''MindScrew'''
* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler: Charles's father failing to patent the time machine]].
* NewNeoCity: New Angeles/Lost Tokyo 2.
* NoAntagonist: Minor Universe 31 has an extreme lack of heroes and no villains to speak of.
* NoFairCheating: Charles tries to skip to the last page of the book to see how the story will end, and ends up unstuck in time and space. [[spoiler: The last page was intentionally left blank]].
* ParentsAsPeople
* RecursiveReality
* RetroactivePreparation: [[spoiler: At the end of the book, Charles engages in this]].
* ScrewYourself: In a way, [[spoiler: Charles' relationship with TAMMY is ultimately this, as she's programmed to reflect his own personality. Also, TheAce version of himself kissing him. Both times he is rather squicked.]]
* {{Sexbot}}: Different from the norm in that they're free-thinking; lonely ones are left to pleasure themselves (and pay for them!).
* SpearCounterpart: TAMMY has a male counterpart unit, TIM.
* StableTimeLoop: Most of the book consists of one.
* TechnoBabble: Quite a few passages delve into this, though it doesn't have to be understood to comprehend the story.
* TemporalParadox: Charles's job is preventing these.
* TimeTravel
* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Charles's father is this due to his time machine breaking down when visiting the past]].
* UnstuckInTime: Charles, after trying to get to the end of the book.
* YearInsideHourOutside: Charles' life to a T. He lives in a non-temporal time pocket and enters temporal dimension of Minor Universe-31 about once a biological year, whereas on temporal space, only a day has passed.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Eventually, Charles knows he will have to return to the time he was shot.
