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Reading so many writing prompts has my mind going off in so many directions the last few days. It's been a while since I've been so creatively-minded. It's nice. But certain prompts get me thinking of plots I've seen before, and how well some of them were instituted. There have been a few prompts about fate/prophecy, some about subverting it. And all I can think about is how the show Angel turned it and used it.
A demon, centuries before, saw a prophecy written in blood about how the son of a vampire (normally an impossibility) would kill him; so naturally, he went around changing all written references to say that the Father (Angel) would kill the son. So when some major mojo goes down and Angel has a child with Darla, Wesley consults the prophecies, worries that it will happen and, along with some other demon meddling, basically betrays everyone in an attempt to keep the child safe. Not only does one of the greatest enemies of Angel end up with the child, he takes it into a hell dimension with himself, raises it as a warrior, and they eventually come back. Eventually, maybe a season later, we find out the entire backstory, and the child, Conner, does indeed end up killing the demon. But wow, the whole twist of using the prophecy to subvert its own meaning and use the heroes to defeat themselves was mind-blowing, and still one of the best I've seen. Damn, but Joss Whedon is excellent at unexpected and painful twists.
Come to think of it, the Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson has a similar editing of ancient texts to make the heroes work against themselves. But, like Oedipus, it is so often the fleeing from fate that causes it to happen. Of course, it raises the question of how things would play out had people not tried.
A demon, centuries before, saw a prophecy written in blood about how the son of a vampire (normally an impossibility) would kill him; so naturally, he went around changing all written references to say that the Father (Angel) would kill the son. So when some major mojo goes down and Angel has a child with Darla, Wesley consults the prophecies, worries that it will happen and, along with some other demon meddling, basically betrays everyone in an attempt to keep the child safe. Not only does one of the greatest enemies of Angel end up with the child, he takes it into a hell dimension with himself, raises it as a warrior, and they eventually come back. Eventually, maybe a season later, we find out the entire backstory, and the child, Conner, does indeed end up killing the demon. But wow, the whole twist of using the prophecy to subvert its own meaning and use the heroes to defeat themselves was mind-blowing, and still one of the best I've seen. Damn, but Joss Whedon is excellent at unexpected and painful twists.
Come to think of it, the Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson has a similar editing of ancient texts to make the heroes work against themselves. But, like Oedipus, it is so often the fleeing from fate that causes it to happen. Of course, it raises the question of how things would play out had people not tried.
