WEIRD MAGIC: PYF stupid storylines/epieosdes in Sci-Fi-Fantasy

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > WEIRD MAGIC: PYF stupid storylines/epieosdes in Sci-Fi-Fantasy

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SimonChris: Apr 24, 2008; The Baron's daughter is missing, and you are the man to find her. No problem. With your inexhaustible arsenal of hard-boiled similes, there is nothing you can't handle.; Grimey Drawer

galagazombie posted:

The conundrum with Time Travel is theres basically three ways to do it and it's wrong to act on any of them.

If your working on Terminator 1 "Closed Loop" rules then theres no point in traveling because you always time traveled and nothing will change, you just wasted everyones time (pun not intended).

If your working on Terminator 2 "Going back creates a new future" rules then you shouldn't go back except in the most extreme case of preventing humanities extinction via something like a robo-pocolypse (where everyone will die anyway). Because going back is literally murdering everyone currently alive by erasing the present with a different one with different, not currently existing people who didn't ask to be born. No good you do will ever be outweighed by the blood of billions of innocents on your hands.

If your working on Terminator 3 and onward "You can change history but it will self-correct but only kinda" rules then you shouldn't because you're making a lovely story because these rules don't make any sense and ruin characterization. Unfortunately this is by far the most common ruleset.

You are forgetting the one where time travel creates a new timeline, branching off at the point of change, so the same people are still living in the old timeline, but you have been moved to the new one, with new people. This makes for bittersweet endings at best, since all your friends are still suffering in the old timeline, and you have basically abandoned them to go live in a better world.

I don't think this option was ever used in a Terminator, but at least it makes logical sense.

# ? Sep 26, 2020 07:53

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 23:35

Yngwie Mangosteen: Aug 23, 2007

Anonymous Zebra posted:

My friend, let me introduce you to a little Netflix TV show called Dark.

# ? Sep 26, 2020 08:08

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

galagazombie posted:

If your working on Terminator 2 "Going back creates a new future" rules then you shouldn't go back except in the most extreme case of preventing humanities extinction via something like a robo-pocolypse (where everyone will die anyway). Because going back is literally murdering everyone currently alive by erasing the present with a different one with different, not currently existing people who didn't ask to be born. No good you do will ever be outweighed by the blood of billions of innocents on your hands.

This argument makes contraception equivalent to murder. There's no functional difference between doing something today that results in a potential person not being born, and waiting till they are born then going back in time and doing that same thing. You can't murder someone who doesn't exist, even if they would have existed if you'd made different decisions. That's just nonsense.

# ? Sep 26, 2020 10:50

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

What about DBZ style where you can go back and forth, and both help out with the new timeline while trying to unfuck yours?

# ? Sep 26, 2020 12:42

IShallRiseAgain: Sep 12, 2008; Well ain't that precious?

galagazombie posted:

The conundrum with Time Travel is theres basically three ways to do it and it's wrong to act on any of them.

If your working on Terminator 1 "Closed Loop" rules then theres no point in traveling because you always time traveled and nothing will change, you just wasted everyones time (pun not intended).

If your working on Terminator 2 "Going back creates a new future" rules then you shouldn't go back except in the most extreme case of preventing humanities extinction via something like a robo-pocolypse (where everyone will die anyway). Because going back is literally murdering everyone currently alive by erasing the present with a different one with different, not currently existing people who didn't ask to be born. No good you do will ever be outweighed by the blood of billions of innocents on your hands.

If your working on Terminator 3 and onward "You can change history but it will self-correct but only kinda" rules then you shouldn't because you're making a lovely story because these rules don't make any sense and ruin characterization. Unfortunately this is by far the most common ruleset.

This video is highly appropriate, but it also contains 999 series spoilers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2RXXlq9EIA

# ? Sep 26, 2020 17:23

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > WEIRD MAGIC: PYF stupid storylines/epieosdes in Sci-Fi-Fantasy

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