[Polaris] But only if it wasn't my fault

[David Shockley]

Play in our game was entirely linear through time, time just moved rather quickly at times. If I had noticed the rule you mention about future stuff getting written down as 'fates' then its more likely we would have treated it as negotiation over a future event, anyway.

Also, what Callan said.

[Web_Weaver]

In response to

? It's the player saying "but only if there was nothing I could have done", not the character, isn't it?

I think this cuts to the heart of the issue with the way the key phrases are being used in the example. It's not just that they suddenly move the scene into the future, but that the whole conflict is being held at arms length, at a safe distance. An attentive Moon player could perhaps confront this mode of play and suggest back how player weaseling might imply character Experience, it would at least help bring the conflict back to the here and now and out of the safety zone.