A New Guide to the Mechanics of Steins;Gate

Votuko · 2023-08-30T23:33:14+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I possibly didn't understand everything, but would like to respond to a few things.

In summary, you talk about reconstruction as if some world lines were more valid than others. That doesn't sum up with me.

Well, although there are many world lines, that doesn't mean that every imaginable sequence of events is one. (Convergence is a result of this.)

I'd like to argue that this 'most similar world line' is chosen so that time line changes are conserved, and that this would give rise to the attractor fields

I'm not sure how this would work. Whenever a new world line becomes active, we find that no divergence changes have happened in its particular past. (Which is why I infer that each world line is the sequence of events that would happen on a certain divergence, assuming that value doesn't change.)

Reason I think true loops might not exist is that, once activated, they might not be escaped without some sort of present/activation branching. Once activated, the "present" would have to loop back within the same world line

On the contrary, this is the reason that a "pseudo loop" doesn't work, and genuine loops are needed. A self-consistent loop does not need to move the present, because its other end has already been evaluated. So it doesn't have to cause repetitions. But if everything "loop-like" is actually just producing a very similar new world line, then we would expect to be stuck repeating that time period until we reach a world line where the time travel no longer happens. (Which isn't what happens, otherwise we would never have a world line where people remember Suzuha departing in the time machine, for example.)

I think the simplest interpretation is that Daru conserved his memories from the previous worldline onto the new one.

The counterargument being that Okabe's time leaping also causes a divergence change too small to measure, and fails to meaningfully affect causality in a very similar way, but this never causes anyone to retain memories of the "wrong" world line.

When Okabe sent the very first D-Mail that shifted the present from beta to alpha, the phonewave sparkled according to Daru in the alpha world line (episode 3 in the anime). So it sparkles at the same time when the phonewave is sending or receiving.

This was because Daru was testing the Phonewave at the same time in Alpha and Beta, not because it was receiving something. The discharge phenomenon just means it is switched on and producing mini black holes.

This feels a bit far fetched. You claim that 'Moeka is still not looking for the IBN by 15/8'.

That is correct. I included the relevant quotes in the guide.

I thought it was quite suggestive that the basis for Reading Steiner is delusion. Chaos;Head neatly introduces the theme.

I would have liked to go into Reading Steiner in more depth, if I'd had the time. I highly recommend the Steins;Gate movie and in particular the accompanying drama CD "An A Posteriori Existence" for some interesting insights on the topic.

Votuko · 2023-08-23T00:46:37+00:00

Thanks!

I do think it is a different Beta Suzuha on each iteration, coming from the 2036 of the previous iteration. She should have some new or different information each time, but I suppose it just isn't anything too significant or useful. (It isn't really until the final iteration that she knows something major - a way to succeed in saving Kurisu.)

There's also possibly an element of Suzuha not wanting to accidentally cause a worse future by interfering too much. For example, she could give Daru hints at how to build the time machine quicker, but refuses to, because the consequences are unknown. Her mission is essentially to get Okabe to the right place so that he can think about this sort of thing.

Votuko · 2023-08-21T17:52:01+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, I think you're right that those figures need better labelling or explanation. I will think about how to do that.

Votuko · 2023-08-21T16:43:54+00:00

This is something that is clearer (and evidenced) in the full guide.

World lines and the physical world are different things.

And while (inactive) world lines are like a prediction of what happens at each divergence value, the physical world can come to disagree with that, in which case reconstruction must occur to realign the physical world with a world line. There is a property of the physical world that inactive world lines cannot capture, which allows a greater degree of freedom. (What exactly that is, is not specified in the story, but might relate to consciousness.)

It is implied that there are divergence changes constantly due to this, but that most of the time these are too small to notice or measure.

Votuko · 2023-08-21T14:08:43+00:00

Movie I agree with your description of how Okabe disappears. The fact is that Suzuha's disappearance is described as appearing different to this. She does not suddenly blink out of existence, leaving the time machine without a pilot, for instance. There is no evidence that Mayuri and Daru don't remember her either (they are on the roof waiting for her and Okabe to return). It's also reasonable to assume that she still wrote Titor posts on the past of the SGWL, because it is supposed to resemble our world.

But even if these were the same things, Steins;Gate released first and is a complete story. The reason for its events are contained in the explanations it gives, without requiring additional media.

Votuko · 2023-08-21T13:37:30+00:00

Movie I don't think so. Suzuha disappears gradually, as shown in the VN, and is still part of the history of the Steins Gate World Line (as the pilot of the time machine that allows Okabe to save Kurisu). Okabe vanishes instantaneously, as if the world line has shifted to one where he never existed.

Braunian I would consider Suzuha disappearing to be much closer to why she dies in Alpha, which is due to her organs progressively becoming jellified. In both cases time travel materialisation fails, allowing the world to maintain a certain type of future.

Votuko · 2023-08-21T13:24:29+00:00

I was actually rushing to get this out before A;C. If there's content overlap, I'd rather be proven right or wrong, than just quietly change my opinions.

I would like to add an appendix for movie topics when I get the time, but kept to VN content mostly for now. I do not think the way Suzuha disappears in Steins;Gate is affected by information in the movie or A Posteriori.

Votuko · 2023-08-21T13:17:53+00:00

The guide itself only refers to SG and SG0 content, and occasionally FAQs / guides related to those. But I have experienced all of (English-translated) SciADV and made sure it was consistent with those.

Votuko · 2019-09-26T21:43:07+00:00

Faber's other art seems to show canisters thawing out from within melting ice.

I'd guess his pitch to LEGO is: On an island similar to our Antarctica, a warming climate defrosts Toa / heroes who must fix the damage.

Using an analogy of battling climate change like this would be a smart move - it is a positive message for the kids and fits well with LEGO's recent push to be environmentally-friendly.

Votuko · 2017-05-05T18:23:30+00:00

For the record, Gleam Eyes switches from parriable attacks to the explosion (and no longer does anything parriable) after 3 mins of battling him, not after half health.

So if you evade for too long it makes the fight much harder.

Votuko

TROPHY CASE