InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "no fighting in the war room!"

Tyler Dayspring (boyanachronism) wrote in undertherainbow,
@ 2008-07-02 11:38:00

Entry tags:

cable, marcus rogan

Okay, so we've been in the past two weeks, and already the future is different. What the Hell? I thought it was impossible to travel back in your own personal timeline?

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	thelonggame 2008-07-02 06:46 pm UTC (link)
	...who told you something like that? If you change the past while in it, then unless you have a way to jump back to your original timeline, you travel forward to the new timeline you created. Time, and time travel work on the path of least resistance. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 06:47 pm UTC (link)
	I dunno. Not exactly like I took 'time travel 101' or anything like that. It just. . . made sense. Because then it would be a paradox for me to go back to the future and be from a different one entirely, where I might not exist or even have the powers that sent me back in time in the first place. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

thelonggame
2008-07-02 06:52 pm UTC (link)

No, because when you go back in time, you create an alternate timeline, and from then on, all your actions in the past create a new, unwritten future. In order to get back to your old future, which is now an alternate timeline, you have to travel crosstime, into the alternate universe.

When you change history, you end up in a new timeline, so the one that made you as you are still exists.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 07:02 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, so there are a lot of little timelines that are really similar, one for each time I've gone back? Crap, the multiverse police are going to come after me and give me a ticket for littering or something. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 07:07 pm UTC (link)
	You got it, kid. There are an infinite number of universes out there, some dying and some being born, every minute. Nah. You don't do anything worse than the time cops themselves. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 07:08 pm UTC (link)
	Great. Now I can't claim ignorance. Not that it ever works in those scifi novels anyway. So, how do you know so much about this, anyway? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 07:09 pm UTC (link)
	Because I was a time traveler in my old world, spent a lot of time in the timestream itself, wandering, watching, seeing how it reacted to stimulus. You learn a lot when you are as old as I am. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 07:12 pm UTC (link)
	Oh? Dare I ask how old you are? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 07:17 pm UTC (link)
	Very old. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 07:25 pm UTC (link)
	Right. So you're going for 'suitably cryptic'. Whatever. Thanks for the advice. I just hope I don't fuck up time and space. That would suck. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 07:27 pm UTC (link)
	Just be careful. There's a lot worse in the timestream than just travelers, and time splits. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	Duly noted. I've seen some weird ass shit. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 07:38 pm UTC (link)
	Welcome to the fun. I hope everything works out for you. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 07:47 pm UTC (link)
	Still, it beats actually doing my physics homework. Everything should be fine. What harm can two teenagers do, realistically? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	...think about that for a little while. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 08:01 pm UTC (link)
	. . . So I should probably encourage Angela to not hang out here too long. That'll be a fun argument. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	It is more like... make sure you understand what you are doing. Or just live. If this is where you want to be, then stay. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-02 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	But that's the thing. I don't want to be stuck here. And I can't leave her behind. And I don't know what will cause irreperable damage to the universe and what won't. The whole things sucks. Wish I just blew stuff up, then you don't have to think about the consequences of your actions. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	So find a way to go crosstime, and go home. Think, instead of complaining. And you can't make the decision for her. Also, there is no such thing as irreparable damage. ...right. Do you think before you type? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

boyanachronism
2008-07-02 08:18 pm UTC (link)

Occasionally. I left my foot in mouth medication back home.

I guess I can't, but I can't leave her here, either. I'm pretty sure that abandoning family in strange timelines is one of those things that Just Aren't Done.

I guess there's not much we can do, since the only future I can go to is the one we're writing now. Except try and keep things from falling apart.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:19 pm UTC (link)
	If she chooses to stay, it isn't abandoning, it's both of you choosing your own path. You both deserve that chance. Sometimes, that is all you can do. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	boyanachronism 2008-07-03 02:06 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I guess. Thanks for the inspiring pep talk. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-03 03:41 pm UTC (link)
	You're welcome. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	nothing_of_note 2008-07-02 07:58 pm UTC (link)
	Ha. That's so true. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	I've been around long enough to see the Time Cops in their various forms mess things up far worse than most time travelers ever do. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nothing_of_note 2008-07-02 08:04 pm UTC (link)
	Don't doubt it. I was one of them, I left. So much abuse of power. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	I just generally blow them up. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nothing_of_note 2008-07-02 08:17 pm UTC (link)
	... Eh, I'd do the same. Kinda glad I'm just a traveller now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thelonggame 2008-07-02 08:18 pm UTC (link)
	I always found that time cops shot first and asked questions later. Anyone shooting at me tends to get shot at right back, and I don't miss. I am just staying in the here and now, now. (Reply to this) (Parent)