History Literature / TheLayOfPaulTwister

** In the first chapter, the reader's first solid indication that Paul is a guy from modern-day Earth, TrappedInAnotherWorld, (at least if the reader didn't notice the TagLine at the top of the site,) is when he [[TheEmpireStrikesBack quotes Darth Vader,]] because it makes him sound badass even though [[LampshadeHanging he realizes no one around here is going to get the reference.]]

** In the first chapter, the reader's first solid indication that Paul is a guy from modern-day Earth, TrappedInAnotherWorld, (at least if the reader didn't notice the TagLine at the top of the site,) is when he [[TheEmpireStrikesBack quotes Darth Vader,]] because it makes him sound {{Badass}} even though [[LampshadeHanging he realizes no one around here is going to get the reference.]]

** Paul's alter-egos: [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]], [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]], [[IronMan Anthony Stark]] (no one goes by "Tony" where he is,) [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Wayne Bruce]] (apparently "Bruce" is not a first name), [[{{Zorro}} Diego de la Vega]], and [[RobinHood Robin Locksley]] are mentioned.

** Paul's alter-egos: [[SpiderMan Peter Parker]], [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent]], [[IronMan Anthony Stark]] (no one goes by "Tony" where he is,) [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Wayne Bruce]] (apparently "Bruce" is not a first name), [[{{Zorro}} Diego de la Vega]], and [[RobinHood Robin Locksley]] are mentioned.

** In the first chapter, he pulls out a Darth Vader quote, fully aware that no one's going to get the reference, just to make himself sound {{Badass}}.

* CarFu: Used in the climax to break the shield spell that [[spoiler: Ken'tu Kel]] has erected around the ritual.

** Paul's alter-egos: [[SpiderMan Peter Parker]], [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent]], [[IronMan Anthony Stark]] (no one goes by "Tony" where he is,) [[{{Batman}} Wayne Bruce]] (apparently "Bruce" is not a first name), [[{{Zorro}} Diego de la Vega]], and [[RobinHood Robin Locksley]] are mentioned.

** When Paul makes an embarrassing slip of the tongue in front of Aylwyn, he ends up doubling down on it and fast-talking her into believing what he said was perfectly reasonable. According to his narration, this technique is known as a [[BurnNotice Westen gambit.]]

** Likewise, Patrick Hill mentions his friend April, who he believes is from the same place as Paul. When he tells Paul that her name is [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles April O'Neil,]] it takes a moment for him to get the reference, because it was a bit before his time. (It's implied that she's been there a lot longer than he has, and was probably taken from Earth sometime during TheNineties.)

* [[spoiler: CarFu]]: Used in the climax to break the shield spell that [[spoiler: Ken'tu Kel]] has erected around the ritual.

** Back home, Paul [[spoiler: [[ChekhovsHobby played baseball.]] ]]

** April uses a second message to get across just how dangerous of an enemy they're facing: [[spoiler: [[EndersGame "Remember, '''our''' gate is down."]]] Paul is quite worried when he [[InstantWinCondition gets the meaning behind it.]] ]]

--> '''Paul:''' ''(Narrating)'' You know how it goes. [[Disney/Aladdin Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, tell ya all about it when I got the time...]]

** Multiple StarTrek references throughout the plot, including April using a [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]] episode reference as a secret message.

** The folk song Paul composed for bards to sing about himself, titled [[TitleDrop ''The Lay of Paul Twister'']], was "set to proper [[DrSeuss Geiselian anapestic tetrameter]] for optimum whimsicality," and includes a scene where Paul "sneaks into a dragon's keep to [[DistressedDamsel rescue a princess,]] but finds that the dragon tricked him, and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 she was being held]] [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle in another castle entirely."]] Apparently the entire song is full of TricksterArchetype references that should be familiar if anyone else from Earth happened to hear it.

* SequelHook: In the epilogue, [[spoiler: Ryell reveals to Paul that magic was never taken from Earth; only the knowledge of how to use it, and apparently Ken'tu Kel left behind some documents that someone is going to find and study, and eventually use to cross over from Earth.]] A sequel called ''Literature/TheFateOfPaulTwister'' was recently started over at www.paultwister.com.

It can be found at [[http://www.paultwister.com The Tales of Paul Twister,]] along with [[Literature/TheFateOfPaulTwister a sequel which is still in progress.]] Please read it before reading the trope list below, ''especially'' the spoiler-tagged stuff!

* Expy: [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] WordOfGod says that Paul was originally conceived as "essentially the Anti-[[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]]."

** Invoking a magic mirror (see {{Magitek, above}}) always seems to involve a silly rhyming couplet of the "Mirror, mirror on the wall" variety.

** CoolHorse: [[{{Irony}} Much to Paul's chagrin,]] right after he narrates up a big rant about how silly and unrealistic the AutomatonHorses trope is, Aylwyn introduces him to her celestial horse, Wyntaf, who he admits looks like she could probably hold her own against a car.

** When confronted with a skeleton that turns out to be a fake, planted to distract them, Paul calls it a [[{{Mistborn}} kandra.]] When Aylwyn asks what that is, Paul says it's just something out of a tale he heard once, about a creature with strange bones that is not what it looks like.

** At one point Paul needs a fake coded message to try to get in to see somebody, and he uses a couple of lines from a Literature/((Dragonlance)) novel.

It can be found at [[http://www.paultwister.com The Tales of Paul Twister,]] along with a sequel which is still in progress. Please read it before reading the trope list below, ''especially'' the spoiler-tagged stuff!

* SequelHook: In the epilogue, [[spoiler: Ryell reveals to Paul that magic was never taken from Earth; only the knowledge of how to use it, and apparently Ken'tu Kel left behind some documents that someone is going to find and study, and eventually use to cross over from Earth.]] A sequel called ''The Fate of Paul Twister'' was recently started over at www.paultwister.com.