I'm considering participating. Strictly speaking the story I'm developing is not time travel. But also it is. I am employing “frozen life in stasis tube traveling across the universe” conceit to achieve what other stories do with starships or time travel. The motivation of my story is to describe 3 versions of the Earth societies that we know: now, a worse future, & a better future. Is it time travel?

Below are the upcoming prompts for the hashtag #TimeTravelAuthors August 2025. I will interlace my answers in this post.

1. Tell us about your time-travel story (optional: end with “out of time”) 3. Deleted sentence or scene

5. Jobs/work in your story

Starling is a frustrated artist & writer. Starling streams daily as a form of intimacy with xir lover who lives an ocean & a continent away. The relationship among the nations of Planet A make travel & migration difficult. Starling & xir lover live in repressive regimes that differ in their inhumanity. Starling is trapped in a nation that promotes the following cruelties: economic inequality, anti-science, harsh treatment of immigrants, globally bullying militarism, racial superiority & colonization. Starling's lover is trapped in a nation whose cruelties suppress individuality, sexuality, gender expression, and intellectual freedom. Despite opposing the regime's totalitarianism Starling's lover works in the government as it's one of few options for trying to improve societal conditions. Xe serves as a low level engineer in the vast ministry dedicated to survival in the face of existential climate change. Starling's nation, the largest threat to A's survival as a livable planet, takes an evolving official position: climate change is (1) a hoax by ambitious scientists, (2) naturally occurring all the time beyond the influence of mere mortals (2b) only the supreme being can effect it, (3) an inevitable (3b) excuse for isolationism & (unfortunately) fuck the rest of the planet. [The inclusion or exclusion of “unfortunately” represents the opinion range of the nation's 2 dominant political parties.] For decades Starling's nation was able to gleefully accelerate the worldwide path to climate catastrophe while denying it was happening in part because it suffered very little. Another reason is the fact that a 2 party political system invites the adoption of diametric views—if one party is in favor of saving the planet the other becomes pro-planetary destruction. But, Rob, you said that the 2 parties only differed in their level of regret expressed? Yes, because of the final and foremost reason that global environmental destruction was encouraged and ignored, simple venal GREED.

By the randomness of geography, ecology, and meteorology, the devastating effects of the changing climate were first felt by those nations that least contributed to the problem. Thus Starling's lover worked tirelessly to solve the issue that Starling's own government continued to accelerate.

Starling's lover dies in climate catastrophe. Why am I not giving characters names?! It's a genuine problem that I have. I don't want to assign gender & I don't want to invent alien languages. Something for me to think about. Writing this way is awkward & most likely makes characters less personable. At that point Starling reveals that all xir streams were primarily covert communications to xir secret lover living in a sexually repressive culture. Starling feels that xe has little to continue living for. Starling's channel comes to the attention of à scientist in Starling's nation's space agency. Another opportunity for choosing names to increase comprehension & engagement. I'm using Planets A, B, C, and not naming nations & characters in a (misguided?!) attempt to keep it mysterious & generalized. For centuries readers see parallels between fiction & reality despite foreign or alien characteristics & settings. I may be missing out on intriguing world building by my desire to keep things vague. Anyway the character I only so far call Scientist might have had a professional relationship with Starling's lover & after xir death learn of the connection to Starling. Scientist becomes sympathetic for, fond of, parasocial to Starling who incidentally isn't named Starling at this point, another problem with my naming!. Scientist eventually arranged for Starling to go into the space pod. could give that project a name! That at least is a good opportunity without affecting the mysteries of planets, nations, & characters. In some sense see: what's that alien cartoon I think by Nathan that was made into a Apple animation. The show I think is boring — a good warning — but I love the panel cartoons. I have been thinking that keeping it vague allows readers to imagine anything. It's a big component of the story that's still being considered.

On Planet B the main character Earthling is linguist. Maybe? Kinda has to be to be the one who connects with Starling's writings & videos. Also perhaps a writer & artist like Starling. An activist, a politician?

7. Do they time travel many times? Once? Something else?

The stasis tube carrying Starling travels one very long time from A to B. The transmission of the records that make up the bulk of the story travels from B to C, our Earth.

9. Saturday excerpt (optional word: line) 11. Cold/freezing in your story 13. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: sky) 15. Injustices in your story? 17. How athletic are your characters? 19. Nicknames in your story 21. Any time police/parties restricting time travel? 23. Saturday excerpt (optional word: line) 25. Writing advice you liked 27. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: sky) 29. Is anyone late? 31. Author's choice/promo All time-travel authors and published works, WIPs, etc. welcome! To join, just answer the prompts on odd days, using the hashtag.

I imagine Starling being asked about Earthling, a being ze does not know, and saying truthfully, “Ze was my best friend.”

How is this possible? (And is this sad?)

Short version (for now): Starling is the legendary name given to the Artist from Planet A after crashing down on Planet B. A new possibility I am considering (for story purposes) is that the crashing of the probe occurs in a remote area and is unnoticed by all except Backpacker (whose legendary name is Earthling). Backpacker would follow the streak of light and crash sounds to find the probe containing Artist from Planet A. Despite the crash landing, the probe is intact with noises and lights from functioning electronics. Ah, as I write this I am considering a parachute and splashdown in a lake. I was worried how Backpacker would transport the probe if it is in a remote wooded area wedged into the ground. It will be difficult even if it's in a lake. Presumably it is heavy. Ahhh this is confusing me because the probe is designed to be found, and up until recently I assumed that it would be taken under the control of a government but now I'm thinking for story purposes it's better to be kept away from the establishment until later. Hmmm. Sorry for writing my uncertainty. It could be emitting a homing signal that Backpacker disables. Then B hides signs of the probe until B is ready to move it. However it happens... B becomes inspired by the materials that accompany A in the probe, some of which are released to the public & some of which become the basis of Starling & Earthling. B gets to know A via videos and writing during decades in which A is kept in stasis. By the time A emerges B is old/dying and then A has to get to know B by videos and writing. Their best friendship happens non-concurrently. The Starling & Earthling stories are a fictionalized account that puts them into the same timeline. It's beautiful. They both love the stories.

I have a lot to consider.

On Planet Be there would be a division between pre-school and school [1] that would demarcate a progression from a time of pure play & baby-sitting to self-directed learning. Yes self-directed. A portion of learning at every age is to be self-directed. Pre-school would be close to home, walking distance, as shared pantries, repair centers, and libraries of things are. There would be frequent interaction between and among these home centers and surrounding learning centers. Pre-school aged children will accompany a parent, sibling, or community member to schools as introduction. Until they are ready to learn they will return to pre-school. [2] In schools there would always be physical activities and games going on, as well as independent reading — and yes computers and videos — as alternatives to / in addition to structured classes. The logistical structures and extent of school staff are to be considered. By having schools be community centers open to all ages there is a blending of staff and other adults. [3] I don't even know how much I want to go into schooling! or children! The purpose for bringing this subject up was to discuss the learning resources available to adults. As often happens while writing I got off track!

I may try to sleep so quick bits: benefits to adults of lifelong learning centers are obvious. there is never a time when one isn't intersted in learning something. our system creates a dislike of shcool and learning. but like we are all always learning. sports stats is learning. how to build and repair is learning. film appreciation is learning. (music, entertainment, art). on planet be learning would dovetail with trades [1b]. life on Be isn't work focused on making money; it's life focused. changing trades is natural. things get done because ppl want to do them and need to do them. like, on Earth practical financial planning could be a popular adult course. but by the time Be enacts all their good changes I don't know if the topic will be relevant. Resource management will be. Self improvement, literacy, psychology, faith, community, healthy lifestyle activities, family dynamics are ALL behaviors appropriate for school.

more later

oh dang! i got so into the school thing I forgot to embed the video on Camus' The Rebel. It's important. I'll do it soon. it's here: https://youtu.be/giVO7wKlMcw

※

[1] [a] Retain the name school? It has nice bones, particularly in bold:

From Middle English scole, from Old English scōl (“place of education”), from Late Latin schola, scola (“learned discussion or dissertation, lecture, school”), from Ancient Greek σχολή (skholḗ, “spare time, leisure”), from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold, have, possess”). [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/school]

[b] Also see trade:

From Middle English trade (“path, course of conduct”), introduced into English by Hanseatic merchants, from Middle Low German trade (“track, course”), from Old Saxon trada (“spoor, track”), from Proto-Germanic *tradō (“track, way”), and cognate with Old English tredan (“to tread”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“to tread, walk, step, run”). [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trade]

[2] Introducing pre-school aged children to school could be loose, or formal, say every Monday morning. It could be part of a morning walk to a learning facility up until the child's choosing to stay and take part. I really do not have to figure *all this out, but I could construct scenes involving a young child choosing to learn; and I am interested in the back-and-forth between learning & home centers. (I realize a term like home center may sound dystopian! I'm at the early stages of world building. For now I'll simply add that within walking distance of nearly every dwelling will be child-care; basic health clinics; recycling, repair, and waste collection; shared food stores; and libraries of things like tools and recreational equipment.) While I do intend to emphasize autonomy and consent in all things there may be a cultural norm or expectation for children to begin structured learning by a certain age. If I choose I may research self-directed educational theories. Behavior and attention are key factors to consider in differentiating between those suitable for school and pre-school. Yet even as I typed that it didn't feel right. I am not imagining a “perfect” society but I want to create the best one that I can. Better learning will accommodate wandering attention and play. As I say I could do research. I could have a young character wander before committing to learning, perhaps because zir friends are learning.

[3] As a member of a sick society my alarm bells naturally go off at the thought of children with “random” adults. A factor in the health of Planet Be is that everything is in the open. There is safety in numbers and there should be nearly zero moments when a child is alone with an unknown adult. Of course we know that most abuse is committed by a person who is known. These are not topics that I am eager to cover in my stories except insofar as I do want to contrast our sick society with what a better one might be. I think that we make sex and the human body into something that is secret, shameful, and dirty; and in so doing we as society are largely to blame for creating the problems of abuse. I cannot know what rates of various problems my invented society will suffer but I have to imagine that enlightened, open, honest attitudes without shame will produce much better results than we see here on Earth. This is a tricky subject and if I can avoid it it's probably best. If I can find a clear explanation for child safety I will include it. I don't even know how much I want to go into schooling! or children!

Once upon a time Thrice upon 3 times Once upon 3 times there were 3 planets, Planets A, B, and C. The person writing this story & those of you I'm telling it to are on C. Our planet is C because it comes third chronologically. The story is once upon 3 times.

Once upon a time a long time ago Planet A was in trouble. The intelligent beings on A were not unified. Their history was full of exploitation, conquering, genocides, suffering, and diseases. Most people on A felt that they were good, and those they loved were good, but that there were many others who could not be trusted. Feelings of distrust prevented the cooperation that would be necessary for the planet to survive. This dilemma is well known yet remains unfulfilled for decades, and then more than a century.

To reach an audience on my own Planet C, I must make decisions to make the text accessible. I am using a language that makes sense to us, choosing terms of measurement widely understood by us. When necessary I will use our metric system. When I reference time I will speak of seconds and minutes and hours and days and weeks and months and years and decades and centuries. There is no way for me to know for certain the exact equivalents for any of these on Planet A. I just know that, like us, they measured time and they measured distance and height and temperature and all the things that we also measure. If I told you they purchased their nutritious liquids in vlork-sized containers, do you need to know how many milliliters that is? I think it's simpler to translate vlork as liter. That's not the word anyway. Their language is not expressible in a human alphabet.

On Planet A there are billions of intelligent beings, all of one species. There are many other species of varying intelligence levels but only one that developed complex languages that facilitate civilizations. The ancient history of A is not fully understood. The oldest surviving records are believed by most scholars to be mythological, although a great many of the intelligent beings follow ancient texts as moral instructions from immortal deities.

END FOR TODAY. I HOPE TO CONTINUE ON IN THIS SIMPLISTIC FORMAT FOR PLOTTING PURPOSES. THAT IS, IF I DECIDE, UPON REFLECTION, THAT THIS FEELS WORTHWHILE.

Planet Be the title is meant to evoke phrases like, “there is no 'Plan B' for saving our planet.” I spell it “Be” because the main setting of my story will be on a planet that has got its act together (Planet B).

Planet A Chronologically the story begins on Planet A. The main characters on Planet A are 2 who do not yet know each other but have a lot in common. They are idealistic in that they believe strongly in equality and cooperation as the path to peaceful coexistence. They are also realistic/pessimistic in facing the fact that their planet's future is bleak. They live in a wealthy, populous nation that is most responsible for the ecological disaster the planet faces; and the dominant group of citizens within that nation refuse to take responsibility or accept scientific truth. In fact the dominant group within the dominant nation on Planet A just elected a demagogue who deliberately intends to accelerate worsening conditions for the planet's most vulnerable while stockpiling resources for the already wealthy. I have yet to decide whether the action on Planet A begins during the election or during the relatively long transition period between the election and when the demagogue takes office. The philosophy driving this nation's government is about to go from neoliberal to fascist, roughly speaking.

The 2 characters on Planet A are Scientist & Artist. I realize that I'm conceiving an odd book. I do not want to describe my characters physically. I do not want to limit them with names (yet). I am thinking these things through. Scientist works at the government space agency, whose controversial Legacy Project has been debated during the campaign. The Legacy Project is an idea to transport archives of the civilizations on this planet via long range rockets in every direction into space. Obviously they can't go in all directions but they're manufacturing a large number of rockets for this purpose.

The project is criticized from the right and left. The demagogue has little interest in science but wants to transition the capabilities of the space agency to war. He makes it known that he plans to change all exploratory rockets designed for space into missiles that can attack nations on the opposite side of the planet. Our Scientist character and others within his agency are disturbed about handing their agency over to a war monger. They develop a plan to accelerate the project should the demagogue win.

From the left the Legacy Project is criticized as “Plan B”—like, Plan A would be saving the planet we're on and the best the center-left government can do is a Plan B.

The Artist character is among those critical of Plan B.

During the campaign it is leaked that the rockets are not only designed to transport documentation of the planet's civilizations but that each rocket has the capacity to carry a being in stasis. This news causes a lot of mockery {it won't work; the government is giving up on the entire planet & planning escape; etc.} by the demagogue even though some in his circle begin to secretly vie for space on the rockets. In true neoliberal fashion those being considered as representatives of the planet are “esteemed personages of the status quo,” as the Artist points out, “the exact people who ruined life on earth for all of us! Are we hoping to kill other planets too?!”

speaking of Earth, in my universe the intelligent beings on every inhabited planet call their planets earth! That comes up later

During a repetitive task at work Scientist finds the Artist's video channel & gradually becomes a fan of the Artist's thinking. Scientist begins to raise the same objections he gets from the Artist to his superiors. For example some of the people being considered for the stasis program are elderly. Scientist thinks the selection process is being corrupted by cronyism. Later when some old rich person who is selected for an escape tube dies, Scientist is able to substitute Artist in their place. It's a whole discussion, because Artist doesn't like this program at all. Insert good scene of dialogue here ;)

so that's the outline for how a main character who is countercultural ends up being shot into space as a representative of their planet.

I have some ideas for how it gets to the Planet B. One difficulty is deciding how Artist is woken. I really want to write multiple alternatives. I'm figuring out if I can do rehearsals or simulations or something. I want the main character of Planet B to be someone who takes a personal interest in ensuring Artist has the best awakening experience possible, rather than taking place in a sterile lab in isolation.

There's so much more to write!

R-)

[1] The importance of this poem in my life consisted of the author's explanatory note that he had dreamed up a magnificent creation that he attempted to describe upon waking, only to be interrupted by a visitor. I found romance in this view of creativity as something grand that I may only hope to capture. I aspired to be an artist in this way. I believed in geniuses as a mysterious and elevated human cohort that I dreamed of joining. Nowadays I see genius as a useless, othering concept.

When I hear stasis tube I picture something with a window at eye level, for that is how such things have been depicted in many stories. The reality of those in Starling's situation is that they are entirely dependent on actions taken outside the tube and that being able to see in or out provides no benefit. A window might even cause anxiety for those inside and outside of the capsule. No, at first appearance it was not entirely clear what the object was.

My second impression of Starling was from the following video:

↑ on YouTube / off YouTube ↓

By now the Starling capsule has been on the planet for over 52 years. Approximately 5 years ago the decision was made to revive the being inside. Tomorrow is the day that Starling will be disconnected from the capsule and depend on our medical facilities. I am assigned to be there around the clock until he regains consciousness. I was selected due to my skills in understanding the Starling language. Despite my strong intention not to be sleep deprived tomorrow I am fighting to keep awake, intent on filling my brain with data from Starling's capsule. Refilling, I should say. I have studied this information multiple times over the course of years. Heart Mind & Body, I say to myself as a reminder that a good result will depend on all 3. I take one deep breath, hold, and exhale. Then I repeat. Between each inhale and exhale I close media, devices, lights, and finally my eyes.

above is video as hosted on youtube / below is the video presented via a commercial-free youtube container