You see how it kind of becomes hard to buy into a movie that basically has no logical consistency because it makes up the rules as it goes along? You don't know what matters because everything could change at the drop of a hat.
—The Critical Drinker reviewing Alien: Covenant
Ultimately, canon for me, is like the foundation on which you build your understanding and investment in a fictional world. The more solid and stable it is, the more you can feel comfortable to lose yourself in a bit of much-needed escapism. But every time some asshole changes some aspect of the canon, it undermines that foundation just a little bit more, and so eventually, the whole thing collapses and you end up saying: "Fuck it, I just don't care about this anymore." That, my friend, is how hobbies die.
—The Critical Drinker, Why Canon Matters
Another fatal flaw of time-tomfoolery in the hands of an iffy writer is that it's easy for them to come off as a lack of commitment and a lack of confidence in story choices they make because they have a built-in "undo" button. Oh, Aerith Gainsborough died a sudden and tragic death? Just hit the undo button; she's alive in some other timeline! Who gives a shit? Even still, if Aerith's death occurs, my brain is just gonna make that happen. This is why, at the top of the video, I said that Tetsuya Nomura introduces the worst possible trope you could introduce to a story that's about accepting loss—you've robbed this universe of its permanence.
—Robot Co-Op discussing
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remake"...Ironically, conjuring things from thin air in fiction tends to take the magic out of storytelling. Also, remember that you can usually only shock an audience once. After that they will rarely let down their guard."
— Terrible Writing Advice, "Mid Series Shakeups"
"When your plot establishes magical resurrection, all the stakes and drama immediately collapse. Where's the meaning in self-sacrifice if we can just get resurrected? Oh, the villain was motivated by her dead babies? NEVER MIND! PBTH they're alive again, be more careful this time! Actually, don't! Who cares? Here's three more babies, fuck it!"
A multiverse does not automatically destroy audience investment, but it is a VERY CONVENIENT SHORTCUT if the writer wants an in-universe mechanism for retcons. Thus, when a previously linear story suddenly introduces the concept of a multiverse, it can be a sign that the writer is contriving a way out of a corner. Not everything in a story matters to the same degree, but drawing attention to this fact reminds the audience that this IS a story, not a living, immersive world. Doing this breaks the audience's trust in the narrative.
And THAT is "The Multiverse Problem."
And THAT is "The Multiverse Problem."
"Farewell, Stanley!" cried the Narrator, as Stanley was led helplessly into the enormous metal jaws. In a single visceral instant, Stanley was obliterated as the machine crushed every bone in his body, killing him instantly.
And yet, it would be just a few minutes before Stanley would restart the game, back in his office, as alive as ever. What exactly did the Narrator think he was going to accomplish?
When every path you can walk has been created for you long in advance, death becomes meaningless, making life the same.
Do you see now? Do you see that Stanley was already dead from the moment he hit Start?
And yet, it would be just a few minutes before Stanley would restart the game, back in his office, as alive as ever. What exactly did the Narrator think he was going to accomplish?
When every path you can walk has been created for you long in advance, death becomes meaningless, making life the same.
Do you see now? Do you see that Stanley was already dead from the moment he hit Start?
— Museum Ending, The Stanley Parable
"you can't understand how this feels. knowing that one day, without any warning... it's all going to be reset. look. i gave up trying to go back a long time ago. and getting to the surface doesn't appeal anymore, either. 'cause even if we do... we'll just end up right back here, without any memory of it, right? to be blunt... it makes it kind of hard to give it my all."
"Tachibana, if Meteora keeps resurrecting people, eventually the impact will dull and with it, the acceptance from the audience. If the audience gets bored or decides not to accept any more revivals, then there just won’t be any."
— Matsubara Takashi discussing on the defiance of this trope, Cinders and Ashes: the Chronicles of Kamen Rider Dante
