How to handle the MC meeting his future-self

[Zenomew]

I want to know how to write a scene involving a character using time travel encounters themself in the future or the past, and goes to introduce themself.

Or maybe one of the character in the story is actually the future version of the main character

I can think of only reasons this could happen:

A horrible event happens, resulting in a time traveling character going back in time to warn the past version of himself about the disaster, hoping that his past self will listen and thus Set Right What Once Went Wrong.

The character, after discovering time travel, will go into the future, possibly to Help Yourself in the Future, or just to see what it's like.

 

[MasFaqih]

Go to specific place that involves time and space,portray the mc or mc future state of exhaustion or in danger somehow by the time keeper,make the dialogue simple

 

[Cipiteca396]

You nearly sent me down quite the rabbit hole. Turns out there's a lot of memes on this subject.

That said, it's way too character dependent to give general advice. Some characters just need to hear the code word, and they'll instantly agree to do whatever they're told. Some will never believe it and become an obstacle to their own plans.

What is the goal of your scene? Do you just want to develop the character? Do you need them to work together? Do they need to avoid each other to prevent a paradox event? Do you want a paradox episode?

 

[Deleted member 19066]

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Step 1: Establish rules on Time Travel lest you completely fubar your story.

I myself have the omnipresent now, but with enough chronoenergy, you can create limited change in time.

Time is a series of beads on a string. You enter a bead and possibilities expand until you get to halfway through the bead, then possibilities contract until you get to the exit. However, you do not move in a set path, but your path is a series of beads inside a larger bead, inside a larger bead, until you get to a bead that is THE CURRENT UNIVERSE.

To change a bead, you have to obey the conservation of energy. Meaning, you need chronoenergy. Try to change too large a bead, it fails.

Going into the future is easy, but it doesn't matter. To go beyond the Omnipresent Now is just a 'What if' and nothing is set in stone until universal 'Now' catches up. If you run out of energy on your trip, you snap back to NOW.

The energy is used to 'fix paradoxes' For example, you go back in time, kill your own grandpa. You return to the present. If you had enough energy, that's fine. You are still alive. You are now a Neverwere. Maybe you go back in time and convince yourself to be evil. Now you return to the present there are two of you. You are now a Meanwhile.

The conservation of matter and energy is balanced by Chronoenergy. However, there is only so much in my setting. In fact, it's running out. The end of everything is Neigh. There are only a few million years left, and every immortal in existence is fighting over the last remaining scraps of time left.

That way, when readers go, "PARADOX!!! THAT DOESN'T WORK!!!" I go, "He had enough chronoenergy to pay for it." and move on.

 

[Placeholder]

> I want to know how to write a scene involving a character using time travel encounters themself in the future or the past, and goes to introduce themself.

As an author, you'll want to have an outline of the story between the two time periods, so you don't screw up later. And figure out how many timelines you will have.

And then the two characters will act out the scene based on their reactions and goals. For one thing, the future person has had a chance to think things out, and plan, maybe in little bits, but for a long time.

 

[Rhaps]

My MC met her future self, she got her own medicine/experience how insufferable she is as a person.

From what I learned:
-Establish the rules of your time travel, you are writing this, it obeys you, not the other way around.
-Have consequences for time travel, a warden of time that tracks down time traveller or some sort of time predator.
-What would the MC think of their future self, would they want to change that fate or continue on that path?

 

[Tsuru]

I want to know how to write a scene involving a character using time travel encounters themself in the future or the past, and goes to introduce themself.

Or maybe one of the character in the story is actually the future version of the main character

I can think of only reasons this could happen:

A horrible event happens, resulting in a time traveling character going back in time to warn the past version of himself about the disaster, hoping that his past self will listen and thus Set Right What Once Went Wrong.

The character, after discovering time travel, will go into the future, possibly to Help Yourself in the Future, or just to see what it's like.

Mushoku
nailed the nail on its status of "Classic masterpiece"

with the twist of "future self" traveling to MC




(still era, without smartphones being common, without marvel huge prevalence in movies, without so many videogames, without so many time travel stories, without chinese/KR works translated as much, isekai wasnt a TREND yet - mushoku being not the first but the popularizer blazier, especially the word ISEKAI itself, and no multiverse BS invented)

 

[Nolff]

Step 1: Establish rules on Time Travel lest you completely fubar your story.

I myself have the omnipresent now, but with enough chronoenergy, you can create limited change in time.

Time is a series of beads on a string. You enter a bead and possibilities expand until you get to halfway through the bead, then possibilities contract until you get to the exit. However, you do not move in a set path, but your path is a series of beads inside a larger bead, inside a larger bead, until you get to a bead that is THE CURRENT UNIVERSE.

To change a bead, you have to obey the conservation of energy. Meaning, you need chronoenergy. Try to change too large a bead, it fails.

Going into the future is easy, but it doesn't matter. To go beyond the Omnipresent Now is just a 'What if' and nothing is set in stone until universal 'Now' catches up. If you run out of energy on your trip, you snap back to NOW.

The energy is used to 'fix paradoxes' For example, you go back in time, kill your own grandpa. You return to the present. If you had enough energy, that's fine. You are still alive. You are now a Neverwere. Maybe you go back in time and convince yourself to be evil. Now you return to the present there are two of you. You are now a Meanwhile.

The conservation of matter and energy is balanced by Chronoenergy. However, there is only so much in my setting. In fact, it's running out. The end of everything is Neigh. There are only a few million years left, and every immortal in existence is fighting over the last remaining scraps of time left.

That way, when readers go, "PARADOX!!! THAT DOESN'T WORK!!!" I go, "He had enough chronoenergy to pay for it." and move on.

That's just a step to make a counter-attack for those readers who search for errors.

But, still. Note taken.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

That's just a step to make a counter-attack for those readers who search for errors.

But, still. Note taken.

Sort of.

Instead of assuming that Time Travel is UNLIMITED and basically violates the laws of thermodynamics. I eliminate all infinities and require that time travel follow the same rules as the rest of reality. Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. Entropy always increases. Therefore, there cannot be any time loops because entropy will cause the loop to collapse, sooner or later. If traveling through time requires energy to pay for the matter created out of thin air when you use time travel to duplicate objects, then the loop is closed.

All problems with time travel involve Infinity, Something for Nothing, and zero entropy. That's why introducing time travel seems to always cause stories to implode. But infinities don't exist, you can't get something for nothing, and entropy always increases. Include these things, and time travel won't cause problems.

It also becomes fairly boring, but I'd rather be boring than have my story implode from illogic.

 

[Zenomew]

What if it is a yuri romance comedy where the main romance is between the MC's and her future self

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Mc and their future self, if you think about it, is just a meeting between a young person and older person with similar appearance, experiences, and habits.

How do you think the interaction between New teacher and their 4-6 year old kindergarten students went ?

How about interaction between teacher and their 7-14 year old student ?

How about teacher and their high school 16-18 year old student ?

How about a college professor with their 18-21+ year old student ?

And thats for teacher-student interaction.

And how about interaction between strangers in same activity with age difference ?

Have you tried talking to stranger older than you ?

 

[Nolff]

What if it is a yuri romance comedy where the main romance is between the MC's and her future self

Mc and their future self, if you think about it, is just a meeting between a young person and older person with similar appearance, experiences, and habits.

How do you think the interaction between New teacher and their 4-6 year old kindergarten students went ?

How about interaction between teacher and their 7-14 year old student ?

How about teacher and their high school 16-18 year old student ?

How about a college professor with their 18-21+ year old student ?

And thats for teacher-student interaction.

And how about interaction between strangers in same activity with age difference ?

Have you tried talking to stranger older than you ?

The real definition of "Questions answered with even more questions".

Sort of.

Instead of assuming that Time Travel is UNLIMITED and basically violates the laws of thermodynamics. I eliminate all infinities and require that time travel follow the same rules as the rest of reality. Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed. Entropy always increases. Therefore, there cannot be any time loops because entropy will cause the loop to collapse, sooner or later. If traveling through time requires energy to pay for the matter created out of thin air when you use time travel to duplicate objects, then the loop is closed.

All problems with time travel involve Infinity, Something for Nothing, and zero entropy. That's why introducing time travel seems to always cause stories to implode. But infinities don't exist, you can't get something for nothing, and entropy always increases. Include these things, and time travel won't cause problems.

It also becomes fairly boring, but I'd rather be boring than have my story implode from illogic.

So, basically, you learned quantum physics just to add a rule of time traveling in a web novel?

 

[TroubleFait]

I've read a sci-fi story where digitised consciousness plays a big role. The main character turned into a revolutionary freedom fighter against corrupt elites.

So they used a copy of his consciousness from the past when he was still a good soldier following orders. And they told that copy to kill his future self.

That story was awesome.

 

[Zenomew]

Mc and their future self, if you think about it, is just a meeting between a young person and older person with similar appearance, experiences, and habits.

How do you think the interaction between New teacher and their 4-6 year old kindergarten students went ?

How about interaction between teacher and their 7-14 year old student ?

How about teacher and their high school 16-18 year old student ?

How about a college professor with their 18-21+ year old student ?

And thats for teacher-student interaction.

And how about interaction between strangers in same activity with age difference ?

Have you tried talking to stranger older than you ?

I was thinking more along the lines of the Future MC being a few days or a month old after breaking up with her Ex and trying to stop her younger self from doing the same mistake

It ends up in a completely unexpected way with both of them starting to fall for... well...themselves

 

[Nolff]

I was thinking more along the lines of the Future MC being a few days or a month old after breaking up with her Ex and trying to stop her younger self from doing the same mistake

It ends up in a completely unexpected way with both of them starting to fall for... well...themselves

 

[Zenomew]

View attachment 29599

YEP

 

[Nolff]

YEP
View attachment 29603

Me, trying to understand the LGBTQ+ periodic table:

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

I was thinking more along the lines of the Future MC being a few days or a month old after breaking up with her Ex and trying to stop her younger self from doing the same mistake

It ends up in a completely unexpected way with both of them starting to fall for... well...themselves

Yeah sure, the usual scenario of Student and teacher falling in love between themselves.

The teacher knew the student is seeing the sign of doing those mistake, and the student is helped, and thats end of story.

Except the author gives them magical plot aphrosidiac that force them fall in love with each other, in order to appeal to the readers.

Then 20 chapter of romance begin.

 

[Zenomew]

Yeah sure, the usual scenario of Student and teacher falling in love between themselves.

The teacher knew the student is seeing the sign of doing those mistake, and the student is helped, and thats end of story.

Except the author gives them magical plot aphrosidiac that force them fall in love with each other, in order to appeal to the readers.

Then 20 chapter of romance begin.

Yeah sure except I don't really see how it is a teacher student-scenario