Meanwhile: Difference between revisions

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[[File:meanwhile.png|frame|Choose wisely.]]

 

One day, Jimmy goes to eat some ice cream. Afterwards, finding himself in desperate need of a bathroom, he runs to the nearest house and asks to use the facilities. Then the owner introduces himself as Professor K, and asks Jimmy if he would like to help test one of his inventions: a machine that can travel back in time ten minutes, a machine that can read memories, or a box that can kill everyone on Earth.

''Meanwhile'' is a branching storyline that [[Choose Your Own Adventure|unfolds differently depending on Jimmy's choices]], and the bizarre branching panel layout reflects this. And most of these branches end unpleasantly: death, endless feedback loops, or the discovery of a very dark secret about Jimmy's world. The reader is pretty much required to read every branch in order to get the entire picture--and the one happy ending can only be reached by cheating.

 

 

Not to be confused with the trope "[[Meanwhile Back At The]]..."

* [[Choose Your Own Adventure]]

* [[Depopulation Bomb]] / [[Doomsday Device]]: At face value, the Killotron is a device which inexplicably kills all human life in the universe. {{spoiler|However, with the proper preparations, it can be used to prune off alternate quantum possibilities and thus control entropy. The upshot of this is that proper use of the Killotron can apparently result in Utopia.}}

** {{spoiler|Also the alternate ending, an infinite loop hidden in plain sight on one page spread. In it, Jimmy finds Ultima, a Utopian world free of entropy. On this note, during the argument between Jimmy and his past self, there is one panel that cannot ever be reached normally where one of the two Jimmies says "Ultima" for no apparent reason. This is potentially a clue to the above-mentioned alternate ending for those who know what it's a [[Shout-Out]] to (see below).}}

* [[Mad Scientist]]

[[Category:Sci Fi Webcomics]]

[[Category:Meanwhile]]