Thoughts on time dilation stories?

[CarburetorThompson]

To me a time dilation story is a story with an unequal time skip. Something where more time passes for some characters than others. Like an event happens and a character is trapped in a magical realm for what feels like a month but is actually several years to those on the outside.

An example would be something like the hyperbolic time chamber from Dragon Ball (I think never actually watched dragon ball)

Personally I really enjoy time skips, but a time dilation time skip tends to muddy my opinion on a bit. What are your thoughts?

 

[melchi]

It depends, like in pushing ice they take 12 years to get to another star system but because of reactivity with approaching the speed of light centuries pass on earth. It is kinda a disturbing thought that everyone they knew before is gone. It is a bit heavy.

Shorter time skips are easier to stomach. Like if they are building a thing but it'll take years so it is more of a fast forward to keep the story going then doing 1000s of pages of day to day while they do the thing.

 

[ElijahRyne]

To me a time dilation story is a story with an unequal time skip. Something where more time passes for some characters than others. Like an event happens and a character is trapped in a magical realm for what feels like a month but is actually several years to those on the outside.

An example would be something like the hyperbolic time chamber from Dragon Ball (I think never actually watched dragon ball)

Personally I really enjoy time skips, but a time dilation time skip tends to muddy my opinion on a bit. What are your thoughts?

I don’t like it in action/adventure stories. They are a way to justify a massive power up, while little time has passed. I don’t think I have seen any other use of it out side of Ito’s Long Dream which is my favorite one shot from him.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I am reading a story right now that has some time dilation, and I like it.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

I am fine with it.

But you gave me the idea of a story that progresses with two perspectives. One happens in a day, the other each scene is a much longer time apart.
Probably good for a mystery or something.

 

[tiaf]

It is kinda a disturbing thought that everyone they knew before is gone. It is a bit heavy.

^^This. I hate time dilation for the emotional damage.

They are a way to justify a massive power up, while little time has passed

It has become some kind of cheap cheat in storytelling. u.u

Does different timeflow between dimensions/worlds also count as time dilation?

 

[ElijahRyne]

Does different timeflow between dimensions/worlds also count as time dilation?

Believe so…?

 

[tiaf]

Believe so…?

Then I have myself guilty of TD for one of my stories. Though it's fantasy and everyone is basically forever young immortal so even if time flows different it does not really have influence on them?

Just read the summary of Long Dream. Wow, this one of a kind. Never thought td could be used like this. But reading that at 4am was wrong. The concept is so bizarre, gross, yet fascinating, I'm imagining Ito style pictures now ?

 

[ElijahRyne]

Just read the summary of Long Dream. Wow, this one of a kind. Never thought td could be used like this. But reading that at 4am was wrong. The concept is so bizarre, gross, yet fascinating, I'm imagining Ito style pictures now ?

I like it because I have had a couple month/year ‘long‘ dreams, or at least ones that felt that long. My second favorite one shot from Ito is The Hanging Balloons

 

[NotaNuffian]

Personally, I might enjoy it if other weak characters besides MC and crew, be they allies or foes, grow to be as strong or if not stronger than the main group.

Why? Because oftentimes MC (and crew) have this unfair advantage called plot armor/ plot fed, making them more and more powerful, resulting in a power imbalance and characters thrown out the window for no good reason than "they can't keep up anymore". Making the main group stagnate while raising everyone else's power level is good. Also, Fairy Tail's Lucy and dad interaction actually made me go "Oo", shame the author fudged it by skimming past it.

Though irritatingly, what I am currently reading is the inverse of the situation, where MC is trapped in a place where he spent four months in resulted in four years passing in the outside world. The worst part is that the power imbalance is made even worse as pre-time skip MC is a level 10 that can only go after level 13s. He got his shit rocked by a group of five level 15s and had to hide in the place and now he came out still a level 10 (in name based, his base stats were boosted beyond ungodly level) but now capable of one-shotting a level 15.

 

[tiaf]

I like it because I have had a couple month/year ‘long‘ dreams, or at least ones that felt that long. My second favorite one shot from Ito is The Hanging Balloons

I really admire Ito. But I'm a scaredy fish that can't with horror. I just feel bad. The drawings from Ito are iconic and grotesque enough to make fish palpitate in horror.

 

[ElijahRyne]

I really admire Ito. But I'm a scaredy fish that can't with horror. I just feel bad. The drawings from Ito are iconic and grotesque enough to make fish palpitate in horror.

Ito’s drawings are more beautiful than horrific imo, although they are definitely grotesque. He is my favorite mangaka tied with Naoki Urusawa.

 

[Chaos_Sinner777]

As long as we're talking the manga, the Seven Deadly Sins did it well. I feel like it anyway.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Depends on why and how. I have time dilation in my stories, but I'm kinda vague on the specifics so that it's easier to synch up the multiple plotlines.

 

[DeathLight]

It depends on how much stuff happen during said Time Skips like if shit got real while it happens then it is BS. Or not much happens then it somewhat okay.

Also depends on how Time Dilation is being used in general. Is it being used to make life more convenient or for asspulls that no one wants.

 

[AYM]

I'm writing Time Skips and Time Dilation, but Temporal Dao is difficult to manage.

 

[Thraben]

Ok, hear me out:

Realistic time dilation. A post-FTL space opera setting, focusing on the nature of FTL communications being used for mundane stuff, like dating.
A star-crossed (perhaps quite literally) romance where the tragedy is that they can't be together because one or the other of them will be hundreds or thousands of years dead before they ever meet, yet they can facetime over an entire galaxy's distance with ease.

Truly hit em right in the long-distance relationship shins.