20 • Time Stuff Explained, sort of: FOR EVERYONE

Guys, please remember: This is my own guide.
What does that mean? I might be wrong, so please, feel free to correct me.


What I've said so far:

"Doomed timelines cannot interact with universes outside of them. The doomed player may contribute to the alpha timeline in a constructive way for short while, but will soon die." That's from the Homestuck wiki's page on time shenanigans. So, canon-wise, Time players can't interact with the universe outside of their doomed timeline (which is the primary reason for both Kimiko and Lucia not traveling back in time to prevent said doomed timeline from happening, IC-wise) and therefore they can't bring other people with them, unfortunately. :c

There's good news, though -- as long as the timeline isn't doomed, Time players can go back in time to help out past selves. It works as an explanation.

But there's a catch with that -- according to Leap, "[7/25/2014 7:56:59 PM] The Judge (LEAP): When fighting against underlings and bosses and such, it would take the same amount of posts as another character to defeat the enemy she's [ the time player is ] fighting.
[7/25/2014 7:57:23 PM] nette [ yasna ]: ah, okay.
[7/25/2014 7:57:35 PM] The Judge (LEAP): Because time clones could get kind of OP if she [ aka time players ] utilized them right, and it would be kind of unfair if the time players had that advantage. X'D"

And oh hey here's a loophole though: "... however a person can travel back in time from the doomed timeline and avert the timeline ever being created. In fact this is at times necessary to succeed, meaning a doomed timeline has to exist in order to ensure its own non-existence." -- Homestuck wiki on doomed timelines

So basically, you can travel back through the doomed timeline, but not the other timelines in the universe.

If you're talking about sending knowledge back, though: "Players from doomed timelines can also send their memories back to their past selves on the alpha timeline. This is accomplished by going to sleep before the doomed timeline is erased. It is possible because, according to Dave, dream selves operate somewhat outside the normal time continuum, allowing memories from alternate timelines to be passed on. It should be noted, however, that the only player to ever do this has been Rose Lalonde, who is a Seer and has said, that her alternate timeline memories come to her like visions. So it is unclear how much of this phenomenon might relate to her class."

Now I'll explain this shit.

1. There are multiple timelines.

All of them reside in the same universe. No if's, but's, or anything else. They all exist on the same plane of existence. Anything else is likely not from this dimension.

2. Alpha timelines need to make sense.

Literally, from the Homestuck wiki page on Time shenanigans: "The alpha timelines must be internally consistent, with all time travel being done in the form of stable time loops. When this rule is violated, a doomed timeline is created, splitting off from the main timeline." So if the Time player fucks up, it's automatically a doomed timeline. There's no other way to put it.

3. Dooming is absolute.

Again, straight from the source: "The timeline continues to exist, dooming anyone who remains in it. It is implied that these timelines, like the players that come from them, are destined to somehow be destroyed." You can't escape from it. Sorry, guys.

On the subject of doomed timelines:
A. Dooming happens when someone fails to do what they're supposed to do.

What that means is, there's something like a pre-determined list that players need to check items off on to make their session successful. Some people believe the list comes from Skaia; others believe it comes from SBURB itself; where it comes from is up to you, but the point remains -- if you fuck up, that's it. Game over. That timeline is automatically doomed.

B. If your timeline is not the one that's Doomed, you most likely (99.9999999%, really) don't know that it isn't.

Directly from our godsend, the Homestuck wiki: "It is also possible that if that timeline did not affect the alpha timeline, none of the alpha players would be aware of its existence, and it would therefore have no bearing on the story."

C. As of now, it's likely that doomed timelines can't help the alpha timeline.

Yes, the knowledge of a doomed timeline worked its way back to the alpha one eventually, but that was by Rose, a Seer of Light. As I've stated before, whether or not the Seer class is the cause of this is currently unknown.

D. Doomed timeline players appear in alpha dream bubbles after death.

You know where this shit is from: "Players that die in doomed timelines can appear in dream bubbles within the Furthest Ring. Doomed players who enter the alpha timeline also appear in dream bubbles after they die. Players that are still alive when a doomed timeline is erased do not seem to enter dream bubbles, as they cease to exist."

E. Doomed timelines, at one point, simply cease to exist.

From bladekindeyewear.tumblr.com: "blastyoboots: remember that it [ the doomed timeline ] lasted until *Dave went back*, and then immediately faded out from dream!Rose’s perspective?
blastyoboots: there’s your time limit
blastyoboots: it lasts until it no longer has physical relevance to the alpha
....
Benedict: so doomed ghosts are only from people who die while in a doomed timeline, and if you’re not dead in time, like gamzee, you just
Benedict: cease to exist, or something"

Aka, after doomed timelines spiral off so far from the alpha that they don't even resemble each other anymore or have any physical, tangible relevance, it poofs. Completely.

F. Not really Doom-related, but: important thing about the Furthest Ring.

"It is a void separating the sessions, inhabited by Horrorterrors and sleeping/dead players after losing dream selves. Time and space do not work there [ in the Furthest Ring ] in a linear or comprehensive way, causing problems for both players and readers alike."

Since we're on the Furthest Ring, this is really, really important guys: "All Sburb players with only one remaining self will dream of the Furthest Ring, regardless of whether their dream self that died or if their real self died and was replaced by their dream self."

Now for us Time people.

1. Stable timelines is equal to multiple Selves running around, apparently.

"According to him [ Dave ], this involves a lot of stable time loops and multiple Daves running around at the same time (because otherwise that means alternate timelines and dead Daves)."

2. Timetables (the stuff you use to time travel) is generally music related.

Dave had literal timetables, Aradia had a boombox. They're, in general, shown to be quite similar to the Scratch constructs, although there are theories floating around that it might be the other way around.

3. Time travel, itself, relies a lot -- a lot -- on both luck and intuition.

There is no "right" way to time travel. As Dave put it right in canon:
TG: the thing with time travel is
TG: you cant overthink it
TG: just roll with it and see what happens
TG: and above all try not to do anything retarded

AND YOU EXILES, THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Exiles are 413 years in the future from the current session players. What does this mean? This means that there are both current and future exiles, both of whom can contact the players, either physically on Prospit/Derse before they were exiled, or by Pesterchum, which is for their future selves. Let the confusion commence.

I'm pretty sure I've covered everything we need to know. If you need/want more info, poke me in the cbox or on Skype, and I'll either explain or post a follow-up here.