Webcomic / Project Star Tree

Project Star Tree is a story that depicts a human race at the mercy of a strange phenomenon dubbed the Unending Year which resets reality and the time-space continuum after the span of a year. Only Loopers, those with a neurological condition that allows them to perceive the year's myriad iterations (dubbed Mobius Syndrome) are able to understand the problem mankind faces. After a long time watching their growing family of functionally immortal humans both in reality and in their Isekai Library, the people of Premise Lab Industries opted to launch the entire population into space to comb the earth for new cases and check to see how well the Linear society's holding up in that iteration or roll. If it was a time of prosperity and freedom, it was spared. If it was basically Brave New Fahrenheit 1984 or even remotely working its way up to such a hellscape, it would be blown to bits.

Guess which side gets the most iterations.

As such, this comic depicts the greater machinations of such a dystopian utopia through the eyes of its myriad Loopers ranging from a clique of child characters from Pixar's cinematic history who attend school at Cy Snyder Academy to a married couple who are suddenly blessed with a daughter despite a sterilizing effect from Mobius Syndrome to even the Timeline Jockey and acting captain of Spielberg Station where we lay our scene. But one of the biggest keys to what makes this world and its characters as relatable as you'd expect is how they often cross paths with each other among a growing web of Looping individuals. The other key factor is the mysteries surrounding the setting and its characters ranging from the child's origins to how the collapse of Firmament Tower.

Star Tree began publication on March 27, 2021 and now has two fully formed volumes and is currently publishing pages of its third as of this writing.

• [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zXD5d4Ru-6boyHvFEa8EaXP60RYPQrE865jmhNzKEZw/edit?usp=sharing The Obsolete Planet] - Edobarde Elgatsu did not expect to become a father, but he did not expect to end up a suspect in a murder mystery concerning the Book of Retribution and yet here we are.
• [https://www.deviantart.com/spoon300/art/Project-Star-Tree-Volume-2-993469641 The Crawling AI] - When Premise picks up a curious machine from its past, it also comes packed with a trio of sisters from different times and ethnicities.
• No Time to Die Hard - Marnie comes to terms with Premise’s tendency to destroy the Earth in each roll where it fails to live up to expectations.

Star Tree has the following tropes.

• Advanced Ancient Humans - Loopers have predictably become this as a result of the Unending Year
• And Then Kazuhiko Was A Hollow
• Asteroid Miner - Mentioned on a few occasions throughout the chapters.
• Bad Boss - Del tends to fall into this trope, but from what we saw of this Tyrnorne lady, she might be worse. Though given he did vaporize a Mister Maclickity at the start of Volume 2, that may give such hints a run for their money.
• Brick Joke - If there was something that turned up for a minor panel, expect it to receive a nod in the next chapter, especially when it’s in the first volume.
  • Chapter 1 introduces the Mix Disc entertainment console which is used to an extent with the intent to lull the newborn Gale to sleep. It went as well as you'd expect.
  • Chapter 3 has an ad for Big Al's Mecha Barn, guess where Chapter 4 takes Edobarde.
  • Chapter 4 features the origins of the Final Testament written by Sister Aisling whilst Chapter 5 explores a bit of its contents.
  • Chapter 6 features a panel and exposition about Thymestone shuttles before a reconnaissance mission showcases one being sent to Earth.
• The Bridge - There is an entire ensemble to accompany the captain.
• Bridge Bunnies - ...including two of them.
• But I Can't Be Pregnant! - Mobius Syndrome leaves Loopers Sterilized, which makes Olivier's pregnancy and subsequent delivery all the more surprising.
• Call a Human a "Meatbag" - or rather a Linear.
• Chekhov's Gun: Chapter 4 alludes to the Book of Odyssey written in a ‘Final Testament’ and its contents are further explored the following chapter in keeping with tradition.
• Close-Call Haircut - Darwin deliberately inflicts this trope onto Marnie.
• Colonized Solar System - Chapter Four features Edobarde going to a national park on the planet Saturn.
• Colony Ship - The titular Star Trees that line the cosmos.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom - Chapter Two caps off with this as Olivier comforts her new daughter
• Earth That Used to Be Better - The Loopers of the Unending Year abandoned their home planet, blowing up the re-roll's iteration on a regular enough basis that the characters are desensitized.
• Earth That Was - Earth has spent more than half the first volume and even most of the third as this.
• Elaborate Academy High - Again, Cy Snyder and other Schools across the Star Tree forest
• Establishing Series Moment - Again, Chapter Two's ending.
• Expendable Alternate Universe - Well, Expendable Alternate Earth…
• Express Delivery - The first Loop Crash Del causes in Chapter 2 causes this to Olivier.
• Fantasy Contraception - Mobius Syndrome acts like this as an exchange for the ability to carry over the memories of each iteration of the Unending Year.
• Fiction 500 - Premise Lab Industries falls under this trope.
• First Day of School Episode - Chapter two is this to newcomer Mary Gibbs
• Fountain of Youth - Some re-rolls have caused this trope as evidenced by McStuffins and Sakurai in Chapter 2 and the former's patient the following chapter. she gets better.
• Fourth-Wall Mail Slot - The Author has used whatever designs he feels like adding and is open to commissions and requests to incorporate specific OCs into future chapters.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop - The Unending Year is this to a slowly expanding cast of Loopers...
• Groundhog Peggy Sue - ...resulting in an entire civilization of these to sprout up in space
• Gym Class Rope Climb - Chapter 1 and 3 feature a brief glimpse of this trope.
• Happily Married - Edobarde and Olivier, while they do have their moments of tension, fall into this trope.
• Happily Adopted - Marnie and Socorro are this to the Sasaki family.
• Holographic Terminal - Mobius Solutions created books with this trope built in, whilst also dispensing a given form of media in which it could seem compatible.
• Homeworld Evacuation - Anyone caught on Earth with Mobius Syndrome will be subjected to this whether they like it or not...
• Honest John's Dealership - Big Al's Mecha Barn falls into this trope to a tee
• Humanity Is Young - The short life of a Linear compared to Looper is prime for nurturing such an opinion.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming - Each chapter is named after lyrics from whichever song the author had heard in his life.
• I'm a Humanitarian - Roast Gimp is often served at the Fated Feast, much to Shawn’s chagrin.
• Improbable Hairstyle Sequence - Every Roll gives Del a different outfit and hairstyle to conceal his identity.
• Important Haircut - Marnie ends up getting one at the hands of Darwin
• Inferred Holocaust - often the cause or result of many an obliterated Earth.
• Interstellar Weapon - The Red Ring of Cicero is equipped with one.
• Kill Sat - The Red Ring of Cicero and likely all other Red Rings, which combines six Star Trees
• Lecture as Exposition - So far, if it isn't Riley explaining how everything works to Mary, it's Stonewall Elgatsu teaching the students about the Unending Year's Origin.
• MegaCorp - Premise Lab Industries is this even before the Unending Year.
• Mega Crossover - The Isekai Library and its many fictional worlds give plenty of opportunities for this trope.
• Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds - Riley and her clique end up as this in one of the many rolls in Yggdrasil depicted in Chapter 6.
• Negative Space Wedgie - The destruction of any server in the Isekai Library causes a crash to respawn it back in its proper place and in mint condition, it's everything and everyone everywhere beyond said servers that end up at the mercy of a faulty reroll.
• Newspaper Backstory - A digital example of this is depicted in Chapter 7.
• One Nation Under Copyright - The Star Trees are all this due to Premise's development of said vessels.
• Outside-Context Problem - inevitable, given the circumstances of both the Watsonian and Doylist layers. One such example being Kazuhiko becoming a [[Manga/Bleach Hollow]] at one point.
• Overnight Age-Up - or rather, Post Crash Age Up to age little Gale up to a point where she can communicate.
• Panicky Expectant Father - Edobarde ends up as this for all of a page and a half before Del dishes out an upgrade
• Pointy-Haired Boss - Del has shades of this but has proven to be capable in times of need.
• The Power of the Sun - Justified, as these colonies used to be Solar Satellites that beamed this trope to Premise facilities.
• Reteaux - How else do you explain the Mix Disc catching fire like that.
• Sadistic Game Show - So You Think You Won’t Snap definitely fits the bill.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here - Dottie proceeds to abscond from the Doylist plane and retreat into her native Isekai at the start of Volume 2.
• Shout-Out - If it ain't tossing cameos around, it's barking this trope left and right.
  • The Duracell commercial isn't the first time Admiral Aakbar endorsed a consumable product.
  • Not even the MST3K seal of shlock can protect films like Pod People as it put Android 13 in an 'I'm a Virgin' tee and Edobarde capping off the page in question with a gesture often confused by the professionally triggered as a White Supremacy symbol and saying: "It stinks."
  • And on the topic of Next Sunday AD, there is an invention exchange in Chapter 3.
  • With Don Patch and Dentakuman came an entire chunk of nods to their source material, mainly those from episodes that the author remembered having recorded on VHS…
  • One page of the comic includes Sephiroth supervising a reconnaissance field trip to [[Theatre/Hamilton 1776 New York]] and after a Laugh Energy experiment to light up america well over a century early goes explosively awry, Seph is found in a familiar-looking cast
  • When a crash casts the Loopers back into the Doylist Layer, Riley tries to prank Mary using a similar tactic to what a certain Odd Della Robia pulled after a bug came up in a particular adventure.
  • A Shout-Out Souffle is served at the tail end of Chapter 7, first Mermaid Man appears before the raid crew at Firmament Tower, then Darwin chops off part of Marnie's Hair specifically for a [[Anime/RanmaOneHalf Ranma reference speaking the very sound effects to boot. obligatory doves flew by the tower as Edobarde burst in to claim the clones. When Mermaid Man shouts ‘You May Kiss the Bride!’ [[Western Animation/Chowder Kiwi]] announces that this would be where Marnie goes berserk. Cue Skyward Scream echoing across the whole canon one Borrowed Catchphrase from a certain shiny youtuber and an expected response from Mermaid Man later, a screencap of Beuller from [1] quotes Kiwi as the recon crew gives chase stating that [[Film/Monkeybone ‘We just wanna]] shoot ya into space! As Marnie engages in a chase sequence also lifted from Beuller, her final jump ends with her hurting herself near a sculpture of Elizabeth Hurley's Foot complete with her right iris on the ankle… Mermaid Man reacts accordingly
  • Chapter 8's entire gimmick is a strong focus on So You Think You Won’t Snap as a central part of its combat.
• Solar Punk - Can technically be considered this given that the earlier Star Trees used to be solar farms.
• Space Cadet Academy - It technically falls under this trope but not really.
• Space Station - The titular Star Trees are built like this trope.
• Time Stands Still - Lunchboxes apply this trope to the food enclosed within.
• Two-Teacher School - The first chapter smashes this trope and smashes it hard.
• Unexpected Character - plenty
  • For starters, a fully grown Marin Asagi works as a teacher at Cy Snyder Academy before bailing for the foreseeable future.
  • Speaking of Obscure Anime, who expected Lake of all one-offs to represent Sorcerer Hunters let alone Sorcerer Hunters get represented at all?
  • The student body includes Tina Rex among a few fan made OCs and gender flipped designs
  • Member those Bridge Bunnies from earlier in the page? Karada Iokawa and {Doc McStuffins} with Android 13 as a weapons engineer and it turns out a human iteration of Flik is aboard as Science Officer.
  • In keeping with borrowing from more unsung IP, TheGoodDinosaur joins the very film it followed in the student body as male friends to accompany Riley and Mary.
  • Edobarde would go to [[Western Animation/Chowder Mung Dahl's Catering Company]] to provide a Thanksgiving Dinner.
  • Well, HAAAHHHOOO-DO, PARTNERS!
  • A third and Final Testament of the Bible was written by Sister Aisling of Kells… yes, THAT Aisling
  • [[Anime/Shinzo Kutal of Enterra]] is hired as a field guide for Saturn's sheer nature. And we see him branching out a familiar set of teen witchlings.
  • Apparently Yua's not alone, he's apparently brought Web Video/Vannamelon along as a sniper.
  • And he's also got a pair of Wiggin fighters on his side on top of that.
  • Gimberly is a character who lives in Speilberg. Why? Because the author wanted to draw her.
  • Did anyone expect a chapter where Marnie is cloned from her secret friend’s dead ghost grandma?
  • Apparently Mermaid Man exists in that same roll and has appeared in Firmament Tower because Jenkins.
  • Junior can be seen driving Yoriko to the Oiwas when Marnie runs by the car, forcing them into a full stop.
  • The introduction of the Sakurai family in Chapter 9 features the perverted lead Tomoki hiding as a woman yet again. And it is neither his mother Tomoyo or even the former guise Tomoko but an aged up Vanelope Von Scheetz
• We Are as Mayflies - Again, Linears compared to Loopers.
• What a Piece of Junk - Edobarde's space van fits this trope, so much so that Big Al often aims his efforts at getting Edobarde to trade it in to no avail.
• Write What You Know - Time and again, the author has let his life influence certain story beats.
  • The Mix Disc technology came to the author in a dream.
  • Some of the ways Elsa finds herself grounded was lifted straight from the Author's life.
• You Mean X Mas - The Turning Season, used to signal the end of a Roll, with analogs for Halloween (The Trust Harvest), The Day of the Dead, Thanksgiving (Both being the Fated Feast) and all assorted Winter Holidays (The Eve of Kindness).

: Snail! I'll call you snail!