#neo doesn’t have a arc but he’s interesting just for the fact he isn’t doomed by the narrative

[no1ryomafan]

Characterization discourse is so funny for me to watch because it’s people getting upset that a character they really like has their personality changed over time, whether this be because their a new iteration of the character in a new canon or their still in one canon but changed how they act because of different writers, usually to appeal to a newer fans which causes long time fans to be upset more often. It genuinely does suck to see a character you’ve liked possibly as early as your childhood be butchered by the writers just to try to appeal to a newer audience that they feel like a shell of them old selves, especially when this is a character you consider to be one of your favorites OR all time favorite…

But then I’m standing outside of this fire like “good fucking thing the only character I liked that has been reintroduced multiple times is from something that’s not really ongoing but also never fucked up his character to begin with!” Even if the trade of being a ryoma fan is some people just flanderize him.

[rwby-nwbe]

Just Finished RWBY Volume 2...

...and HOLY HECK IT GOT BETTER.

[Warning: Spoilers for Volume 2 and Long Post.]

New antagonists! More huntsman action! More characters and interactions! And the fights, tho. THE FIGHTS!

*Ahem* Okay, clearly I just need to start from the beginning...

Episode 1

We start the new season by being reintroduced to our new antagonists, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. They may be villains, but they're also obviously teens (Mercury radiates prick energy) and they're dynamic is entertaining. Also, RIP Tukson, he seemed like a nice dude...

We then cut back to Team RWBY and JNPR, who are apparently on break at the moment. It's also nice to see Sun again, and we also get to meet Neptune. Anyways, someone throws a pie in Weiss face, and you know what that means...

FOOD FIGHT!!!

Seriously, THESE KIDS ARE CRAZY. Ruby can apparently surf on lunch trays! Weiss used ketchup and a freakin' swordfish like Myrtenaster! Blake used baguettes and a sausage link like Gambol Shroud! Freakin' YANG was punching things with TURKEY! JAUNE... threw a melon, that was cool; nice to see that he's losing the noodleness of his body. NORA RIPPED OUT A PIPE, STUFFED IT TO A MELON, AND CALLED IT MAGNHILD! Note to self: never challenge Pyrrha to a fight near a vending machine (or anytime, really). Ren can kick WATERMELONS, and fight with LEEKS. HOW CAN THEY EVEN DIGEST ALL THAT FOOD!?

RIP Neptune's hair though, I hear grape is hard to wash out...

Then we cut back to the White Fang and Torchwick, who are then met with Mercury, Emerald, and later the great Cinder Fall herself. I'll admit, Mercury's funny but a jerk, and Emerald... I'm pretty sure I was mentally screaming "YOU'RE BEING MANIPULATED" when I saw her and Cinder. First she doesn't give Emerald a hug, then she tells her to not think and just obey? RED FLAGS. RED FLAGS EVERYWHERE.

Oh, speaking of Cinder, while she does radiate boss energy, I'm glad that I don't personally like her. I don't know what it is, but it might be the fact that she's treating everyone else like her pawns (and considering she used a chess piece later in this volume, I wouldn't be surprised). I mean, good villain, but like any good villain, I want her to get roasted, though that might not work given her Semblance.

Also, Roman Torchwick, you beautiful jerk, never change. I love ya, but I also love seeing you get dragged, which is what Emerald did to you at the end of this. Yep, I'm on board for this season!

Also, the new opening. I thought nothing could top "This Will Be The Day." I was wrong. Haven't listened to all of it yet, but "Time To Say Goodbye" SLAPS.

Episode 2

So, several things. There's board games, insert Yu-Gi-Oh reference here... Yang has too much power. Also, if I remember the lingo right, then this is also the episode where the White Rose shippers got crumbs, the White Knight shippers were once again denied, and where the Iceberg shippers were born (while the rest of us were titling our heads in confusion with Jaune). Jaune continues to be a social dork (what's with the blonde boys blowing Blake's secret? Don't think I've forgotten about Sun...). Blake is being consumed with the burden of RESPONSIBILITY. I feel that Blake. Oh, and the ending...

Why do out villains have to be clever enough to infiltrate the actual school!? And Weiss' "We're doomed." I hope that's not secret foreshadowing...

Episode 3

Jaune fails yet again at wooing Weiss (at least Yang comforts him at the end), and the gang begins their espionage. We meet Penny again, Weiss deals with her past, albeit briefly, and Penny... oh boy. She's hiding something, and the hiccups make it obvious. What could it possibly- oh...

Episode 4

Most of us had our suspicions, what with Penny's awkward demeanor and ludicrous super strength, but yep, she's a robot! Aw, get yourself a real one like Ruby. Oh, and Neptune's useless with Yang around. Speaking of, HEY, good to see you again, Junior! So Blake and Sun intercept the White Fang rally and... oh fudge they got giant robots. BAIL! We also get to see Neptune's weapon and Sun's semblance (before they nope off the road and leave the rest of the fighting to RWBY, while they go off and get ramen, the jerks...). Also, nice to see that they have team attack names (I believe some of them double as ship names), and this is where we get to meet the Ice Cream Queen Neopolitan (not to be confused with the now officially dubbed Ice Queen Weiss Schnee. If even the villains are calling you that, then congrats, you have a new title)! Neo then proceeds to give them the slip, and I personally believe that Yang only disliked Weiss' pun because it highlighted her failure.

C'mon Yang, at least she's TRYING!

Episode 5

Pyrrha is a combat queen. 'Nuff said. Suck it, CRDL.

Oh no. Mercury is both a smart aleck AND smart. This will not end well.

Blake, take a break. No, seriously, working yourself to death just because you think you can doesn't mean you should. You will only feel worse. TAKE A BREAK.

Well Jaune, mission failed. You'll get her next time.

Pyrrha Nikos. Sweetie. We're talking about Jaune Arc here. He's not gonna get the hints you're dropping unless that "hint" is a full blown irrefutable confession so obvious that even he can't screw it up. I know you want to help him because you like him (and yes, even like like him), but it's clear Weiss isn't interested, at least not now. Capitalize on that!

And our villain group continues to be dastardly. *Chuckles* We're in danger.

Episode 6

The dance draws near, and it seems that both Blake AND Jaune could use a pep talk!

Poor Blake. It appears your faunus trait makes you more cat-like than just the ears.

Also, poor Ren. He just wants a nice bath, but alas, the power of bromance.

Oof, tough love from Yang. Pretty good flashback, though. Also, Pyrrha, your selfless nature will be your undoing, listen to Nora.

...oh God, if I'm saying "listen to Nora" when the world isn't ending, we might ACTUALLY be in danger.

Aw, the dance looks fun. Poor Jaune, tho. Don't worry, at least Yang, Blake, and Sun are having a good time (and this is the part where I realize I'm becoming a SunnyBee shipper, crap). Poor Ruby, having to wear heels. Don't worry, Ozpin will keep you company.

Oh crap, the villain kids are here! What are you up to!?

Episode 7

This one gets the runner up for my favorite episode. Alternatively, I give it the title "Team Leaders Know What's Up."

Jaune, you may be a dumbass, but you're the rare "Surprisingly Competent Dumbass With A Heart Of Gold," and you get my respect for that. Being socially awkward with Ruby? Comedy gold. Putting things into perspective for Neptune? Props, my dude. Comforting Pyrrha? Friendship goals (even though it should be more than friendship goals, but hey, you put on the dress, I'll give you that). Nice dance moves, by the way, JNPR.

As for Ruby... drinking Jaune's punch? Iconic. Noticing Cinder sneaking away? Nice. Fighting her in heels of all things? You, my dear red reaper, are on another level. A shame that Ironwood couldn't get there faster and that Cinder had to bail, but oh well.

Also: Penny continues to be heckin' adorable. I will never NOT stan.

Episode 8

HEAR YE, HEAR YE, THE NOBLE DOG ZWEI HAS GRACED US WITH HIS ADORABLE PRESENCE. Tremble before his ability to fit in boxes and melt Weiss' heart. Oh, and RWBY gets exposed to Ozpin, but surprise! Even Ozpin doesn't have to play by the rules! Though that could get him in trouble with Ironwood later...

Why does this show keep showing me characters that I want to get to know better in record time!? Team CFVY looks so interesting, and it's nice to see Velvet again! Ooh, I hope we see them more later...

Also, Professor Oobleck, I know we saw a bit of you in Volume 1, and I wish we got to know you better. You seem delightful.

Episode 9

Okay, my previous statement of DOCTOR Oobleck still stands. I love this chaotic fast man.

He's both funny AND deep! His reaction to Zwei? Comedy gold! Him picking apart RWBY's motives and the Grimm? Disturbingly thought provoking, but enjoyable. Also, Ruby, you're great, but you're not entirely a genius, you're just a little bit lucky.

In conclusion: there are a lot of characters to stan in RWBY. Dr. Oobleck is one of them.

Episode 10

We learn about WBY's motivations, now excuse me while I go crying in the club right now.

OH NO, RUBY GOT KIDNAPPED! AND SHE DOESN'T HAVE HER SCYTHE! FRICK, it's a mindset kind of deal! Without her scythe, she thinks she's useless! Oh, and Roman's there too, that's not good.

...that is REALLY not good, Oobleck! Get down there, all of you! Wait, is your thermos... your WEAPON!? HOW THE FU-

(Sidenote, I looked up the name, since most weapons have them and I'm impatient for them getting name dropped. "Antiquity's Roast," eh? Fitting...)

Episode 11

So... this episode.

Poor Ruby. She failed to fight back, she almost ran away but then it turns out Melodic Cudgel is also a GRAPPLING HOOK. Thank god Yang and company finally busted their way in.

...why are Roman and the White Fang going kamikaze with those train car bombs? Oh right, the Grimm. Crap, that ain't good.

Ah, Oobleck. You may have accidentally repeated Ruby's line, but a swig of your thermos/club/flamethrower and then using it to bat Zwei into a cannonball of death redeemed you!

So Neo's back. She's skilled, sassy, has something going on with her eyes... Oh boy, Yang's getting outclassed by a pipsqueak. That's gotta suck.

Does every faunus (baring Blake, Sun, etc.) hate the SDC? Seriously Weiss, what did your father DO!?

Roman, do not get flirty with Blake. Junior tried something similar with Yang way back in the Yellow Trailer, and he got socked in the face. You deserve that kick in the head.

Oh look, Yang's mom is here! Nice, now Neo can't kill her (don't you dare, you little ice cream, I swear...). Oh. OH. That's a big sword. Yeah, ya better run, Neo. You ain't winnin' this fight. Great, now I want to know what Yang's mom's deal is. Figures she just warped away afterwards...

And now the Grimm are above ground. Yeah, seems like a good time for the season finale.

Episode 12

Now THIS is my favorite episode.

Look at that, Jaune's getting good instincts! And it's nice that Team JNPR was able to help RWBY. Also nice that Jaune can actually kill a Grimm now. Good job, man. You earned Pyrrha's smile of approval.

As much as I'm wary of the antagonist trio, I'll admit, they can fight good. Especially Emerald, her guns are sick. Why am I warming up to her so fast? What is this magic!?

...CFVY. CFVY. WHY ARE Y'ALL SO BADASS? Seriously, Yatsuhashi's carying an entire sword and a half. Fox just pulled a Ren and caused a Grimm to explode. Coco... God, Coco- WHY DOES RUBY HAVE SO MANY QUEENS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!?

"You just destroyed my favorite clothing store. Prepare to die."

I-FREAKING-CONIC!

And she just murders Grimm with a BRIEFCASE. That turns into a GATTLING GUN. BECAUSE OF COURSE IT'S ALSO A GUN. (BTW, Gianduja is a really cool name for it.)

And now I want to know Velvet's weapon! It doesn't look like much now, but apparently it took a semester to build. And we know that Velvet can fight based on what we saw with her and Fox, so how does she ADD to that!?

THAT TRACK IN THE BACKGROUND, TOO! "CAFFEINE~" HELL YEAH!!!

Ooh, Port and Oobleck teamup! Oh no... THE GLYNDA IS MAD PEOPLE. I REPEAT, THE GLYNDA IS MAD! SHE HAS NO PATIENCE FOR YOUR GRIMM BS!!!

Welp, Roman got handled, though I doubt it's for long... Yay, RWBY finally gets a break! Oh boy, trouble brewing between Ozpin and Ironwood, that ain't good.

...bull man's back. Uh, guys, Adam's back! And he's helping the bad guys! THIS IS REALLY NOT GOOD.

...oh, so your name is Raven? And that's what you look like under the mask. There's the resemblance... Oh boy, where have you been all of Yang's life?

...

So all in all, Volume 2 was even better than Volume 1, in my opinion. It's like they took the first volume and amped it up to 11. Longer runtimes, great comedy, great action sequences, great CHARACTERS. It's just a complete trip! 10/10, would ride again. Welp, it's getting late, so I can't immediately start Volume 3. But what Volume 2 gave us is good enough to tide me over.

...I am so glad I started this series. Well, this is goodbye for now. Cheers, internet!

-Mathewton, the RWBY Newbie (22 March 2020)

[kaleidodreams]

Sailor Moon Free Will Timeline Theory

This is an essay I originally wrote years ago for my mostly dead SuperS website, explaining how I viewed time travel in the Sailor Moon universe. Someone recently asked me the same question, so I decided to repost it here in case anybody else might be interested. (This is pretty much solely manga based, BTW, and was written using the old Tokyopop translations.)

The common theory that most people believe is that the Pluto we meet in the Black Moon arc has lived from the Silver Millennium to the 30th century, and that even after Setsuna was reincarnated and sent to the present time of the Infinity arc (or even back to before the other senshi were born, according to some theories), that first Pluto will live until the time Crystal Tokyo becomes the present. If you look at the manga superficially, that does appear to be what happens, but there are so many holes in that theory, you might as well have Swiss cheese.

First off, just why would the original Pluto, which for the sake of simplicity I will call Pluto 1 from this point on, and the Time Gate be "anchored", so to speak, in the 30th century when it doesn't even exist yet as anything more than a possibility? Surely, there are other possible futures out there. What if Usagi and Mamoru don't marry? What if Usagi gives birth to a boy instead of a girl? With if Usagi, Mamoru, or any of the Sailor Senshi die in battle before Crystal Tokyo comes into existence? Any of those things would mean that Crystal Tokyo Chibi-Usa came from would not exist, so why would Pluto 1 be from that particular future?

Secondly, there is only one Pluto Crystal. If Pluto 1 is still living at the Time Gates at the time of the Infinity arc, then there can't be another Pluto -- Pluto 2 or Setsuna, if you prefer -- living in time. This is by far the most conclusive evidence that Pluto 1 ceases to exist at the Gates after the events of the Black Moon arc.

Third, to have two Plutos would cause a time loop, because if Pluto 2/Setsuna was to disappear before Chibi-Usa's birth so Chibi-Usa won't "know" her, as seems to be the popular explanation, and she met Pluto 1 again at the time she was supposed to when that time finally became the present, then she would again go back to the past, and it would be a never-ending cycle. (And if she didn't, then Chibi-Usa would have to awaken as a Sailor Senshi some other way, since that would mean that Pluto 1 actually wouldn't die and that the future changed.) There has to be a reason why it is forbidden to travel time, and it is because it screws up the timeline. From the time the Black Moon attacked and Chibi-Usa stole Pluto 1's key to go back to to the present of the Black Moon arc, she doomed the future she came from not to exist since that future was built on a past in which they did not fight the Black Moon. The only way that future could exist exactly as it was before was if there was a never-ending loop, and that would mean that time would end at the 30th century, which we know is not true because of the existence of Sailor Cosmos, who came from the far future.  

Okay, so it has been established that the most widespread theory has some major flaws. Is there another way to logically explain the manga timeline? I believe so, and I call it the Free Will Theory.

The basis of my theory concerning the timeline is free will -- the idea that the future is only a possibility, not something that definitely will happen. Before I begin explaining, however, I made this outline to help clarify some important points concerning definitions and Pluto herself.

I. Definitions of Time (Source: http://www.m-w.com)

A. Present

“now existing or in progress”

Looking at the definition above, we see that the “present” comprises the period of time happening right at this moment. Once something has already happened, it becomes the “past”. A time that has yet to happen is called the “future”. The present is also constantly changing. I am writing this in the present, but by the time you read this, it will already have become a past. The present does not include the entirety of the 20th century canon, though it is common practice to refer to it as such as a way to distinguish it from the time of Silver Millennium (past) and Crystal Tokyo (future). If you happen to be reading, say, Vol. 14, the events shown in that volume are the present at that time. All the volumes before that would be considered past, and all the volumes afterward would be considered future. Even within the volume itself, there are past events and future events. Once you have read a scene, it becomes past. The scenes you have yet to read are future. The present is only what exists at that moment.

B. Future

“a: time that is to come, b: what is going to happen”

The future is nothing more than a possibility. It does not exist in real time. That means the glimpses of the future we see in canon may or may not happen. Many fans of Sailor Moon seem to believe that no matter what happens, the “canon” future will come to exist. They seem to think Crystal Tokyo really exists, but according to real time, the 30th century has yet to happen. It is the future, only a possibility -- one of probably many. If Crystal Tokyo actually existed, it would be the present. (I’ll elaborate more on this in the “Pluto” section.)

What about free will? For those who believe that the future we see will happen no matter what, are you saying that there is no such thing as free will? Because if you believe that Crystal Tokyo already exists and its only a matter of Usagi and the gang catching up to it, you are essentially saying that they have no free will.

C. Past

“having existed or taken place in a period before the present”

The past is a time that has already occurred before the present. I emphasize that, because Small Lady does not travel to the past. Yes, from her perspective, she is traveling to the past, but in the universe’s perspective (real time), she is only traveling to the present. That is important to remember for my next point.

Now, is it possible to travel to the past? There is no clear-cut answer to this, but I believe it is not possible. Ever hear of the saying, “The past is set in stone”? It means that it is impossible to change the past, and I, for one, think it is an accurate observation. In all of canon, did a character ever once travel to the past, as in a time before the present? No, they did not. I realize that simply the fact that nobody did doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t happen, but do you realize what kind of power that would be? I’m reminded of the first season finale of one of my favorite shows, Charmed. (EDIT: I’m talking about the old show, not the new reboot.) In it, the Charmed Ones face a powerful demon with the power to turn back time for a day, which he uses to help another demon kill the girls. The theory was that the killer demon, who kept his memories, was supposed to learn from his mistakes until he finally succeeded in killing all three, and it would have worked too if Phoebe hadn’t also remembered what happened due to her powers of premonition and strong connection to time. So what does this have to do with Sailor Moon? Well, if it was possible to travel to the past in Sailor Moon, then why doesn’t anybody ever do it? Think about it. With that kind of power, they could have saved Silver Millennium or the Black Moon family could have kept repeating battles until they won, like in that “Charmed“ episode. The fact that they don’t is a pretty strong indicator that it simply isn’t possible. Besides that, traveling to the past would mean that the past would change. If the past changes, then it stands to follow that the present and future will also change in response to that change, causing MAJOR problems to the timeline. The ability to travel to the past is just too powerful.

D. How is time measured outside of time? 

There is no definite answer to this. The realm of Time-Space is both all times at once and no time at all. However, I think the simplest way to think of Pluto 1’s realm is happening in real time, or the present. Why? Because it is the only concrete existence. Now, that doesn’t mean that the realm is the present, but when dealing with explanations, it’s the easiest way to deal with it.

E. The Effect of the Present on the Future, and Vice Versa

- If present Mars dies in the present, the future we saw will change

- If present Mars dies in the future, she will cease to exist in the present and the future will change.

- If future Mars dies in the present, the future will probably remain the same until the time she was supposed to go back to the present. Since at that time, the present will have become a past, and it is impossible to go to the past, the future Mars, who is now a present Mars, will continue to live since she will no longer be able to go back to the past to die. (That means if Chibi-Usa dies during one of her trips to the 20th century, she’s not really dead.)

- If future Mars dies in the future, when she is supposed to die, the timeline is unaffected.

- Pluto 1 is a special case, since she lived outside of time. See below.

II. Pluto

A. Pluto 1

Many fans like to call the Pluto shown during the Black Moon arc the 30th century Pluto, but that is incorrect. She does not live in the 30th century. She lives outside of time, and there is only one Pluto. Up until her death, there is no such thing as a past or future Pluto because she does not live in time. She is the real time Pluto who just happens to die in the 30th century. Her death has no affect on the present time, since she did not live in the present.

B. Pre-reincarnation or Resurrection? 

In the Infinity Arc, Pluto 2, taking the name Meioh Setsuna, reappears, this time in the time line itself. She claims that Neo-Queen Serenity did something akin to pre-reincarnation, sending her to complete an important mission, but that does not make sense in the least if you believe, as I do, that the past cannot be changed. For that to have happened, NQS would have had to sent a reborn Pluto 2/Setsuna to a time before the present. Thus, it is my opinion that Pluto 2/Setsuna was simply resurrected and sent back only as far as the present. This is further evidenced by the fact that we learn absolutely nothing about Pluto/Setsuna before she appears in Infinity, attending university. Or, if she was reborn, she went through something akin to Hotaru’s rapid growth spurt in the Dream Arc. In any case, I don’t believe that she existed in the time stream proper prior to the events of the Infinity Arc.

C. Appearance of a Future Pluto? 

In the last arc, we see a Pluto in the future. I believe that is in fact the true 30th century Pluto (Pluto 2), a future version of Setsuna. We can call her a future Pluto because Setsuna is now living in the time stream. It is my theory that after the Pluto 1’s death during the Black Moon Arc, Neo Queen Serenity resurrected her and sent her to the present, releasing her of her duties at the Time Gate. Because of that, I believe that Setsuna will still be living in the time stream in the future and that after the Pluto 1’s death, the Gates of Time will remain unguarded. Setsuna still can access the Gates, though, which explains how the future Pluto2/Setsuna can tell NQS about the trouble happening in the present. Now, why don’t I believe that nobody is guarding the Gates? Two reasons. One, Small Lady, the Asteroid Senshi, and Sailor Cosmos are able to time travel without any interference from Pluto, and two, the fact that there can only be one Pluto existing at the same time, even if one of the Plutos is living in the realm of Time Space, which we have established as being the same as real or present time. There is only one Pluto crystal, so only one Pluto. When there is a Pluto (in this case, Pluto 2/Setsuna) already living in the time stream, there cannot be another one guarding the Gates.

D. The first law of time 

The first law of time that Pluto 1 promised to uphold was not to allow time travel. Why do you think that is? I believe it is because time travel damages the timeline. This is why I find the idea of the “canon” future occurring even after everything they learn illogical. The idea that the timeline will simply fix itself in the end doesn’t make sense. If that was true, then why ban time travel in the first place?

Okay, now on to the explanation itself.

In the simplest terms possible, it’s my belief that because of the damage done to the time line due to time travel, one of either two things happened:

Number One: The time line ends up destroying itself, making way for a new time line with a completely new future.

or

Number Two: The timeline is not destroyed, but the future we see in canon will not come into existence. (This will be the one I’ll be discussing here.)

I guess the easiest way to explain this is to make a basic timeline.

- Silver Millennium is destroyed.

- Everybody except for Pluto 1 is reincarnated in the 20th century

- Events of the Dark Kingdom Arc

- Events of the Black Moon Arc

- Pluto 1’s death results in the Time Gate being unguarded from that point in the present onwards

- Chibi-Usa returns to the 20th century, still thinking Pluto 1 is gone forever

- Neo-Queen Serenity resurrects or reincarnates (with rapid growth) Pluto 2 and sends her, now known as Meioh Setsuna to the present (Infinity Arc)

- Events of the Infinity Arc

- Events of the Dream Arc

- Chibi-Usa returns to the future in which Pluto 2/Setsuna is still alive, though Pluto 2 is no longer obligated to guard the gates (It is unclear what future she returns to, though.)

- Events of the Stars Arc

- Mamoru and Usagi get married, take the throne, and become parents of Small Lady

- The future goes on normally (as long as they don’t make a decision that contradicts it - see below) until Small Lady is meant to meet Pluto 1 who guards the Gates of Time. Since Pluto 1 does not exist anymore, she is unable to do so, and thus a new future is begun in which Small Lady never time travels to the 20th century. Yet, because there once existed a future in which that <i>did</i> happen and it is impossible to change the past, everybody else retains their memories.

Now, if you want to get more complicated, we can delve into the idea of choice and different possibilities. Say, for example, that Usagi and Mamoru were to decide not to get married. Until they make their choice, there are at least two different immediate futures - one in which they do get married and one in which they don’t. Once they make their choice, the future they don’t choose is destroyed, while the future they do choose becomes a present and they are presented with more futures. Every single choice they make affects what futures still exist, although it should be noted that not every decision will have such a major effect on the timeline. If Ami decides to eat cereal for breakfast on a day that she was supposed to have eggs, I highly doubt that will cause the non-existence of Crystal Tokyo. Both will theoretically lead to the same future shown in canon, just not in the same way. There are multiple ways to achieve the same future. It’s not a straight line from the present to the future.

This, of course, begs the question, if Small Lady’s visit to the 20th century in the Black Moon Arc began the original timeline’s downfall, then how is it that she still has a future to go back to? Shouldn’t the fact that she went to the present, thus changing the course of the future, make that future null and void?

Not necessarily. This is because the future is still just a possibility. Even if Pluto 1’s death (which has no affect on the present time stream - see outline) means that the “canon” future theoretically will not exist, to the universe, it’s still a possibility until a present choice is made in the time stream to make it impossible. That means, Chibi-Usa’s future will still exist until they reach a present point in which that future becomes impossible. In my timeline, I chose the moment that Small Lady was meant to meet Pluto 1, but that’s just an arbitrary point. It’s entirely possible that the point will come before that, like if Neo Queen Serenity decided not to make Nemesis into a penal colony or if a second child is born after Small Lady. Both of those choices will lead to radically different futures than the one shown in canon.

I hope I explained things clearly. I do believe my theory is the best way to describe the manga timeline in the most logical way, but feel free to believe other theories or even make up your own. (It's fun!) After all, only Takeuchi Naoko can know the true explanation.

[nautilusopus]

Serious non-troll: What if you like the cop-outs and the scrambled bullshit plots and the nonsense towers of half-constructed ideas? I agree that for example Nomura is a goddamn crazy person but I find his convulsions fascinating and want to see more of them.

i mean, you’re entirely within your rights to do that. it’s just frustrating that there’s visibly no effort put into any of it, and he’s just writing for the sake of what makes the trailer look good, and that’s been 100% to the detriment of the story ever since he’s started doing it

i’m not even inherently opposed to ridiculous convoluted bullshit. i’m one of those pretentious fuckheads that unironically likes End of Evangelion and thinks it made perfect sense, obviously, duh, with all its absolute nonsense of adam and lilith and rei being a god-analogue from absorbing both the white and black seeds and allowing shinji to dictate the ultimate outcome of third impact in the culmination of a couple of really fucking long and extremely obtuse character arcs. i mean, hell, i’m 38 chapters into a fic that is running off nothing but weird high-concept ideas of how reality and parallel universes work and abstract metaphor andsleep deprivation. in any other circumstances, i’m fine with convoluted batshit nonsense.

i think the best way to explain the heart of the issue is to look at what happened to the matrix trilogy. or actually wait this is tumblr, everyone’s in high school and would’ve been foetuses or something when Revolutions came out. homestuck, then. we’ll look at homestuck. 

okay so homestuck. remember when that was as big as it was? initially, the big stumbling block was the slow pace of act 1 where john just kind of fucks around throwing glass at clown dolls for a while and if you weren’t into that kind of humour that was where the comic immediately lost you, but what ultimately got the ball rolling was [S] WV: Ascend. the general metric back then was if you weren’t hooked by that one, you wouldn’t like homestuck at all, and for many people that was the point of no return. the reason WV: Ascend was as big of a deal as it was is that we’ve been seeing a bunch of disconnected nonsense happening all over the place, and this is the first time we see our first major time loop actually closed, with the promise of a few more being set up. all that supposed joke nonsense we’d been watching the whole time? it actually mattered, surprise! from there, the narrative spends a lot of time introducing a lot of new concepts – we have captchaloguing and paradox slime, and time travel, and doomed timelines, and exiles and future versions of planets from a parallel universe the metanarrative being perpetuated by the author being diagetic and fuck knows what other things i’m forgetting about. and then, to throw you for a loop twelve whole other characters show up on top of that. so then the narrative needs to spend time establishing who these people are and what their relevance to the story is – which it does, by having them be active participants in the first arc as things go on. this ultimately culminates in [S] Cascade, where we see all these different concepts eventually tie into one another because they were deliberately set up to, and it’s at that point that you figure, well shit we’ve hit a point where all the time travel stuff has finally come to a head. and with it, you’d expect it to also bring all the character stuff to a head too, but instead hussie has an entire extra act to go so we can’t have that resolve yet. 

so in the meantime, here are 20-ish whole other characters doing some other things. but we don’t have time to establish what’s effectively the silmarillion by now, so we have to speed past it, meaning we aren’t given a chance to care about these new people. but we can’t have a chance to care about them either, because we still have to tie all this into 5 whole previous acts that are meant to feed into this. at this point, homestuck is visibly collapsing under its own weight. character arcs are forced to fart around in circles because the status quo can’t change because we still need to make it to endgame with these character dynamics more or less intact. but that’s boring to read so we’ll do this entire “what if” thing and then retcon it all out of existence, and then have the fact that you can retcon things suddenly become vital to the resolution of the coming in place of anything we’ve already established previously – not the time travel, not the parallel universe with the trolls, not even the whole thing with the Scratch leading to the alpha kids being here in the first place – when the mechanic was only introduced in the first place to sloppily patch a story together that had long since devolved into infodumps that served to paint hussie further and further into a corner as he was forced to define his lore to get the plot to keep moving forward despite the fact that the narrative wasn’t focusing properly on the people that could make that happen anymore because the story had since switched focus from those people almost entirely. 

and in the meantime the damn thing got eaten up by filler, and suddenly characters from that filler are showing up like they were totally relevant to the main story the whole time even though literally nothing they did in their own subplot had any direct bearing on the story at large, unlike the initial 12 trolls. why yes, Alternate Universe Calliope was a completely necessary addition to the story! didn’t you see our important sidestory thing where they do Stuff, and then her showing up in the climax to resolve some other things that are sorta disconnected from the main plot anyway?

not to mention the shipping. nothing ruins a story faster than throwing in a love triangle or eight, and then immediately invalidating all the character growth that happened on top of that anyway by having it literally never happen. not that it would’ve mattered anyway, because remember, we never actually got to have any of this really developed to begin with. 

by the time we hit end of act 6, there’s been so many new concepts haphazardly stapled onto the story and so many threads brought up and discarded entirely when we already established back with [S] Cascade that the story works best when they actually do this and it is doable, that it stops being merely complicated and off the wall, and starts being spread too thin, incomprehensible, and ultimately no longer part of a whole narrative deliberately comprised of interlocking storylines. shit’s just kinda happening at you, and rather than getting to see parts of a text interacting as a result of them coming from somewhere for the express purpose of then going to somewhere, you’re just being asked to accept that, yup, that’s a thing that’s going on right now. neato. sure is some stuff happening and whatnot. and in the end, for all that posturing, it didn’t even do anything. in pre-cascade homestuck that wouldn’t have even been a full flash. a bunch of nonsense happens, and then They Fightan Good, and then it’s over and there’s not a single time paradox or meta-interaction to be found. none of the stuff they built up to over all these years mattered, and neither did any of the stuff they just threw in, either. 

i’m sure you see what i’m getting at with this. 

(also he treats the women in his stories like shit and quite frankly i’m sick of it and even more sick that people keep giving him a pass for it because it’s practically reached parody levels at this point , so there’s that)

i have no problem with convoluted twisty bullshit in and of itself. but it has to accomplish something aside from just existing, and nomura doesn’t do that. by his own admission, kingdom hearts wasn’t planned, and it shows really badly. characters and entire story mechanics and plot lines are introduced solely for the sake of introducing them. they don’t go anywhere or build to anything, because they can’t, because fuck we have to stall for kh3 shhhh just keep adding more soras and hopefully no one will notice. i think the last time any of this actually mattered was kh2, and even that had a lot of the issues i’ve mentioned here. as a result of all of this, the character arcs suffer a lot, and you’re left with nothing but a big ball of plot twists that goes nowhere, and a bunch of characters that only somewhat have anything to do with any of it. 

i don’t feel like it’s overly nitpicky to find this kinda gross and seriously insulting of the audience’s intelligence. it’s just lazy time-stalling. i get that people sometimes really don’t care about stuff like narrative and character development and are just here to see riku punching mike wazowski in the teeth or whatever, but i think it’s disingenuous to pretend that these aren’t nonetheless important parts of a game’s construction – especially a studio that used to openly pride itself on selling games with a focus on story. 

and the genuinely frustrating part is, no one cares. people are gushing all over everything square puts out because it’s square, so they know they don’t have to put effort into their stories. i’m well aware i’m in the minority for saying that these games are bad. but i also thought we were done with treating, “it’s just a video game, bro! why do you care so much about the story having quality as a narrative? this isn’t an english class!” as a valid rebuttal. 

maybe i should’ve used the matrix trilogy instead. most people hate movies 2 and 3 for the weird “YOU’VE ALREADY MADE THE CHOICE/EVERYTHING THAT HAS A BEGINNING HAS AN END NEO” shit and the bonkers christ-allegory ending. i hate it because neo is about as interesting as the rock that cracked goofy’s skull open.