So there's supposed to be total lunar eclipse tonight, which is pretty cool. I'm looking forward to checking that shit out. It's kind of crazy how they know in advance when eclipses are going to happen. That got me thinking about how there's all kinds of stories where people travel back in time and then they amaze the natives by pretending to black out the sun or moon because they know there's going to be an eclipse. That was a pretty cool idea the first time someone thought of it because such a display surely would convince a bunch of primitive folk that you're some sort of god. But it's been done so many times it's starting to stretch credibility. Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to fully accept the time travel component of the story, but the fact that so many time travelers happen to travel back to dates that had eclipses, let alone the fact that they knew there would be an eclipse on that date in the distant past. I mean I sure don't keep track of when eclipses are. The only reason I know there's one tonight is because the internet told me. I've seen a few other eclipses in the past, but I couldn't tell you now what dates they were.
I guess it's possible the time traveler could have researched dates of eclipses and intentionally chosen to travel to one of them, but then there's the part where they have to time it so precisely that they can "make" the eclipse happen right when they're being threatened by the natives. What happens if there aren't any natives around when the eclipse happens? Maybe you don't encounter any until the eclipse is already over. Or maybe the natives already killed you because the eclipse is still an hour away.
All I'm saying is nobody needs to use this plot in a story anymore. Besides they'll probably think you have magic powers anyway if you just bring a BIC lighter with you.
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