Space opera thing

Ooooh that’s going on the list, but I meant the plot thickening when the trio return to the future. Something always happens in the return.

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Maybe they return to a different time? (Example, they return to before they left and have to relive and escape the planet explosion again, or the windmill tech sends them back in time by accident to dinosaur time, etc.)?

Or, because the flux capacitor or whatever is still broken, they jump through random Terran time periods and cause several historical accidents , including but not limited to: C-T extinction, Titanic, Sphinx’s nose, London fire, Kennedy’s death, Pearl Harbor, Mt. Vesuvius, Great Kanto, and Apollo 13.

Edit: On second thought, escaping Chara U’s destruction fits the theme of time much more, a slight difference to the original event.

Are Jake and Jack the same person?

Ooops I didnt notice I used differnet names

I guess Jake is just his second name.

He’s also black. Of Malawi descent, to be precise.

Speaking of, here’s some notes concerning Sadie. Just like Mark and Jake, she’s treated with ridicule. The antebellum and bellum South society was politically, culturally, economically, and spiritually built around the institution of slavery. Race and gender determined a person’s status with white slaveholding males at the top of the social hierarchy. With both sexes, slave ownership elevated social status, thus giving women power in a system that they would not typically have power in. The sense of power that came from the institution of slavery fueled white women’s acceptance for the institution of slavery, which they advocated for based on paternalism, and in effect maternalism. In layman words, racism = social status.

Sadie, however, is not fueled. It’s not that she wishes she was born a man. She’s a lady, she likes being a lady, she just doesn’t fathom why the capacity for her expression of her gender can only be at the expense of anyone else’s, black or white. She also realized at a young age that she will never be perfectly feminine all the time, what society expected of Southern women at the time. Regardless of what she presents herself as, Sadie wants to use her femininity outside of wooing rich, young, and stupid perverts. Still, the perfect image has to be maintained. So for a majority of her life, she was socially shunned by fellow members of high estate. This is why she grows attached to Mark - a future of freedom, to look ugly sometimes.

Bout time we gave this a name. THRIVE: Self Selection is a fan favorite at the moment.

It also has a working Campfire page. THRIVE: Self Selection (campfirewriting.com)

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Maybe not cause, but witness these things?

(Replying to the post talking about them causing historical disasters)

Maybe along the way they could pick up and befriend people who ‘died’ in these incidents. (Could become side characters that help the cause when they are back in the future, as they wouldn’t be able to go back to their own times)

That’s a thought. It’ll have to wait.
The focus of this story isn’t Earth, 'cause then it wouldnt be a space opera. The planet is still a vital part of the story, as it directly affects their character growth (explaining after you answer). Upon returning to the 26th century, Mark and Jake are arrested, because backwards time travel is illegal in this universe except for the elitest of the elite. The further back you go, the longer your sentence. For our duo, it’s approximately 800 years, minimum. For comparison, most humans can barely live for a quarter of that same time. As for Tlep, he was dutely thrown in with the rest of his kind in the relocation into the Alliance. Of course, the prisoners are entitled to one message per year. It doesnt matter who it’s from, just that one is all you have. And guess who wrote the message Mark chooses? Yep, Sadie. In her now centuries-old letter, she confesses that Mark was the first man she’s ever had real feelings for (In the sudden absence of husbands, fathers, brothers and beaus during the War, white Southern women discovered a newfound freedom, one that simultaneously granted them more power in relationships and increased their likelihood of heartbreak. “One looks at a man so differently when you think he may be killed tomorrow,” one South Carolina woman mused. Of course, Sadie’s family cannot stand this change or of Black freedom, leaving Sadie stifled. And even without high status, Mark’s instant connection to her was forbidden locally, since he has a New Yorkian accent, and thus is taken for a Union spy, resulting in the spilled beans and promise), and she’d give anything to rejoin him in the future, no matter the consequences. In something of a twist, Mark’s heart is set aflutter. Jake realizes that he had the wrong idea about this white-y. To make up for the mistreatment, he formulates an escape plan out of this “impenetrable” fortress, which Mark actually follows this time, but in a way that shows that he still has a lot to learn. Coming to help midway is Lorena, a Latin direct descendant of a freedman that Sadie released from her slave farm. Just goes to show how much of an impact he’s made in her life. As a trio, they come back for Tlep and free his species from the Alliance’s tight grasp. To return the favor, the Kalmanders combine Mark and Jake’s ships, giving them the best of both dimensions - Space and Time - so they can keep Sadie’s promise. Upon returning to 1862 Tennessee, Mark and Sadie have a heartfelt reunion and share their first kiss. Don’t worry, it’s not that passionate.

The way time travel works in this multiverse is intriguing. Whenever an object is relocated from its home time to another, its very presence automatically creates an alternate timeline, which is perceived by the rest of that universe. That’s how Lorena can still exist if Sadie left her period.

Also, Mike calls Jake “Jack” on purpose, then Sadie “Sarah”. Nicknames are one of his things, and they later become affectionate.

Say, what is Tlep’s language?

since they live chara u, a colony of the alliance, tlep speaks Latin. this is because it is controlled by a mechanized julias caeser.
also tlep is non binary.
also kalmanders is what tlep farms, not what species they are. kalmanders are large amphibians bread for meat that are descended from earth hellbenders

I know who mark is:

yoooooooooooooooo i never thought about it like that

tlep, who had been alone there entire life. began to grow as a human. they had never experienced the love of a parent, as tlep was grown in a test tube, nor the love of a sibling. mark taught tlep how to love. they had pancakes together. fished in the nearby lake. they grew a fondness of one another and eventually asked an old man who was a pastor to have them married. they had grown acquainted with there life in America. they had a son (tlep reproduces asexualy) , jack. named after marks best friend.

a little bit about tleps species.

tlep is a kind of asexuel super human created by the alliance to do labor. they grow in test tubes. tlep was engineered for the planet chara u, a swampy jungle planet colonized by humans century’s ago.

I don’t think this fits what Underfish had planned around Mark and Sadie…

Also isn’t Tlep a lizard dude how would he have gotten aquainted with an old American Pastor?

Cool backstory tho (for the race/character)

tlep isn’t a lizard. they are a genetically modified human that farm large salamanders. here still in the 1800s America right? there’s plenty of those lying around. also aren’t mark and Sadie just really good friends?.

^Nope

I mean they are friends first (hence this quote:

), but they are in love with one another in Underfish’s plot

sorry the whole Kalamander mix up had me confused that they were lizard person

Can’t tell if you are joking or not. AFAIK there were no genetically modified humans or giant salamanders in the americas in the 1800s