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Did I just pre-order the Year Of Hell Janeway figure without any hesitation whatsoever?
Yes. Hell Yes.
Long term Ben is going to completely forget, and Future Ben living in October of this year is going to be super surprised...
Cause that's what is taught in temporal mechanics classes.
You want to physically feel your emotions-chemicals firing off in every direction at once? You want peak surreal time travel vibes? If you're coming back to visit a place you lived a long time ago, and you would like to set yourself up for the weirdest version of that experience; may I recommend being sleep deprived, coming into town after dark after spending six hours in a car, and going straight to the grocery store you used to shop at? That'll Do Things to you.
@seismologically-silly #I gotta save that first picture
&
@mylittleredgirl #that temporal mechanics rainbow image will live in my head forever lol
I was debating whether I should make this a GIF, but then I saw these two tags back to back and I took it as a sign from the universe!
(So obviously I had to tag you both so you could see my masterpiece lol)
Strange New Worlds' "Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow" explicitly tells us that due to interference during the Temporal Wars (see: Enterprise, Discovery), we see Khan as a child in 2023 even though the Eugenics Wars were supposed to have happened in 1992 as per "Space Seed". Which means Strange New Worlds isn't quite the same timeline as The Original Series. So TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT were pre-Temporal Wars and everything after is... after.
Except, we have clips of "The Cage" as a "previously on" on Discovery, clips of "Unification II" in "Unification III", Voyager's "Future's End" with no sign of the Eugenics Wars, the SNW Enterprise in Picard season 1, the TOS-style Constitution class in season 3.
And IRL, we have alternate timelines in Trek, differing adaptations of the same timelines in Trek and now rewritten versions of the same timeline in Trek.
It's a bit of a mess😂
Me: "Hey, the 1980s called and they want their pants back"
Stranger who is secretly a time cop: "They called?! That's a level 3 violation!"
We don’t all ace temporal mechanics.
Time Travel Types
One of my favourite subjects, partially inspired by my favourite video game (Chrono Trigger), is time travel. I love all forms of time travel and have made enough of a study of them that I jokingly call myself a Temporal Physicist at times. In doing this, I boiled time travel down to four major types, each with two sub-types.
Methods of Time Travel
Physical: You and/or objects travel to the future or past. Most commonly seen form of time travel. Messages from the future count for this type as long as it isn't a psychic message.
Mental: Only your mind travels in time either to your own body or another person's. Type of time travel seen in time loops.
Result of Time Travel:
Alternate Universe Split: This result creates a new universe where the changes happened, rather than changing the current universe.
Return to Home: After the time travel is complete, the traveller returns to his own universe, leaving the new one to develop on its own. Seen in Dragon Ball Z when Future Trunks returns to his own timeline after saving Goku and creating a new one.
Return to New: After the time travel is complete, the traveller visits the relative present day of the new universe; returning home requires the ability to move sideways in time. Taking The Slow Path counts for this version of AUS. Seen in Chrono Trigger whenever someone changes history (one such new universe seen in Chrono Cross).
Temporal Overwrite: This result changes the universe it happens in.
Memory Shift: The results of the time travel creates new memories in the traveller reflecting the changes s/he has made to the timeline. Seen in the movie Frequency whenever John changes his father's decisions in a way that impacts the timeline.
Time Orphan: When the traveller returns to the future he has no knowledge of the resulting changes of the timeline, which can include the traveller no longer existing. Seen in Magic: the Gathering when Sarkhan saves Ugin's life 1280 years in the past, then returns to a present where he was never born on Tarkir.
Immutable Fate: The time travel has no actual result.
Already Changed: The time traveller, whether or not s/he knows it, has caused the situation s/he went back in time to change or going back in time must be done because it was done; alternately known as the Stable Time Loop. Seen in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Harry and Hermione save Buckbeak and Harry saves their past selves.
Unable to Change: No matter what the time traveller does, the timeline remains unchanged. This is either due to the traveller being unable to accomplish anything or because time manages to snap back to the original path on its own. Seen in the Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 fic Fist of the Moon.
Destruction Paradox: The time travel destroys things.
Destabilization: When the time travel changes something, its existence begins to unravel, getting rid of the object or person in question. Seen in Back to the Future, when Marty's family starts fading because of his interference.
Total: The time travel erases the universe immediately. Rarely used due to it making for a very short story.
Things get more complicated when these types are mixed, such as in Back to the Future, which has a little Temporal Overwrite (Time Orphan) mixed in, because any changes made in the past remain even if the time traveller is erased.
“We have to draw the line somewhere.”
“Why? So you can preserve your theory about who invented the linear fusion rifle first?”
“No, that’s not in dispute. Obviously the Eliksni wire rifle predates Earth-made linear fusion technology. But—”
“—But this somehow proves we came up with it ourselves, just because it’s older than the first commercial models from the City foundries? C’mon.”
“It’s not like it’s just a little bit older. It’s hundreds of years earlier than the first City-made linear fusion platform. It proves someone developed the technology a lot sooner than we thought, and that makes it a lot less likely it was dependent on reverse-engineering Eliksni examples.”
“Oh, no. See, this sucker came out of that Sundial thing on Mercury.”
“So?”
“So it may not even be appropriate to regard it as coming from this timeline. Have you seen the fuss over in Future War Cult’s little disco lounge?”
“No, I thought it’s been really quiet over there.”
“Exactly! They all have their heads down, buried in frantic calculations and conferring in hushed tones about possible worlds and unforeseen outcomes and stuff. This Sundial and its ramifications have them in a tizzy. And let’s not even talk about the Warlocks down in the chrononautics department.”
“What’s your point?”
“Just that this is a wild card, and we shouldn’t take it to have any bearing on the history of precision directed particle weapons in this timeline.”
“You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Fall back on temporal mechanics to weasel your way out of losing arguments.”
(Line in the Sand)
