Alternative Timelines
by KateCoe

It's only a tiny change...but everything's different.

What is an alternate timeline? And what's so interesting about them when you're writing fanfiction?

First, check out this article by paintpastel for more information on timelines! Basically, with a standard timeline, you're fitting your characters into the canon world. You're not changing what's there; the canon characters and events exist, and you're working around them in whatever way suits you.

But with an alternate timeline, you're taking things up to the next level: there's been a change. It might be big or it might be small, but the canon isn't quite what you expect it to be.

And in your fanfic, you get to write the story of what happens because of those changes.

In short, you're playing with "What if...?"

Using Alternate Timelines

Making an alt timeline is a lot like dropping a pebble into the pool, and watching the ripples work their way out...

Historians have a lot of fun with past timeline changes. "What if the Nazis had won a specific battle? What if the Internet had been created earlier? What if the space race had continued?" Using a "what if...?" is a really good way to analyse what did happen, because you then have to consider what factors went into actually making those events take place, and it also highlights how many of the future changes came around because of those original events.

Writers have even more fun with timeline changes: "What if aliens had been discovered at Roswell? What if superpowers worked? What if time travel existed and we built a car with a time machine in it? What if I hadn't caught that train on that particular day?" They get to add the fantastic and theoretical factors in, and watch as everything becomes that little bit stranger.

And sci-fi writers get to play with "what if...?" with an extra dimension: what if we took our current technology and extrapolated it forward? What if the future contained aliens? What will life look like if we live on Mars? What could happen based on what we currently have?

Alternate universes? Alternate timelines? Alternate realities?

Well, they're all pretty much the same thing!

As a basic rule of thumb, alternate timelines tend to focus on the canon characters and plotlines, with changes that keep them roughly in line with the existing canon; alternate universes tend to introduce much larger changes, where the entire canon may not exist, but the universe is recognisable as from that canon.

The alternate universe scope also includes crossovers (where characters switch from one universe to another), and reality swaps, where fictional characters end up in our universe or vice versa.

However, if you use "alternate universe" or "AU" then fanfic knows what you're getting at.

Alternate timelines in Fanfic

There's a couple of different ways that you can use an alternate timeline when you're writing fanfic.

- an EVENT went differently in the canon timeline

This is taking an existing event and changing the outcome. In all those just-in-time scenarios, what would have happened if they weren't in time, and the bomb went off? How about if Voldemort succeeded in killing Harry, or went for Neville first? This approach often reveals extra information, or lets you explore the current characters; for example, what if Peter Parker had made a different choice, and Uncle Ben hadn't died? How would that have affected the character of Spiderman?

- a new EVENT changed the canon timeline

So this is adding something that maybe doesn't exist in the canon timeline, but could have. (Although do note that this is heading into alternate universe if you make too big a change, where the event could not have happened in the canon timeline, and therefore you're shifting into a much bigger set of "what-ifs".) What if nuclear war broke out? What if a new superhero got added to a team? What if you threw a new ingredient into the mixture? This can also include adding another character, removing someone, or - the ever-favourite - creating a new relationship, which could include your hero's parents never meeting...

- a timeline where...something changed.

Hermione isn't a wizard and someone else took her place. Steve and Bucky had an existing romantic relationship. Pikachu wasn't the last one left. It's still a what-if, but it's one that you don't need to necessarily think too hard about; everything else is still the same. This is the get-out clause of most alternate timeline fanfic, as you don't even need to explore the causes if you don't want to; we don't need to know why Hermione isn't at Hogwarts, simply that we're in a timeline where she isn't, and maybe Harry and Ron become friends with someone else... (And that's a timeline that's guaranteed to burst into flames at some point!) You could change as few or as many things as you wanted to, and the rest of the world might not notice at all; the events could continue as they do in canon with a new character at their centre...or you might find that everything changes!

And just a quick aside...

A lot of fanfiction - particularly for stories that are put out in episodes, or serialised, or might have gaps between releases - jumps off from the currently existing timeline. You might have read up to Book 3 or seen Episode 5 of a series, and decided to write a story from there... but as soon as the next canon episode comes out your story might be pushed into an alternate timeline, because in your universe the canon events (probably) didn't happen.

But call it whatever you want - if you're continuing a story, or heading into alternate universe, or fitting your story into the gaps; if you want to continue a story on from where it's left off then what the heck, write it anyway!

So why write an alt timeline?

Honestly: they're a lot of fun!

- the change can be as large or as small as you want it to be. If you just want your two favourite characters to get together but still go on the same adventures, then that's fine; if you want the Earth to be destroyed because there was a different negotiator (hello, Babylon 5) then that's fine too!

- you don't need to write existing characters. If you feel that maybe you wouldn't be able to capture an existing relationship, or you're not sure about writing in a particular setting, you can use an alternate timeline to pick the areas you want to write - for example, you could drop a different character into a known position (for example, you could have a different Doctor Who but the same enemies and problems) or make a small change that sends an existing character down a completely different path, meaning you're never interacting with a particular setting.

- you don't have to worry about getting everything right with the canon. You can incorporate the areas that you want, and if you don't want to, then it's fine: something changed!

- you don't need to know everything. Alt timelines are brilliant simply because things are different - and it means you don't necessarily have to explain everything, and you don't have to know the details.

- they let you explore. Asking, "What if...?" is one of my favourite things to do with settings that I love; it can be stories outside of the canon, subtle changes inside it, or big changes that alter everything. It lets you expand and experience in a different way, and lets you see your favourites from a different perspective.

And, most importantly:

- they let you get those feelings out. Let's be fair: we probably all have that one moment in our favourite canon that's rage-inducing, either because we feel the writer got it wrong, or maybe it just shouldn't be like that! What if they had got together? What if that character hadn't died? What if they had saved the world? What if everything had gone right...or everything had gone wrong?

What are the problems with an alt timeline?

I have to admit, alt timelines aren't the easiest to work with.

- you're operating half in an existing universe and half in a new one! Some things will stay as they are so you have to build around them, or work out what you want to still exist. While you can make changes, you also have to check that those changes don't completely destroy the canon you want to keep.

- you have to form new relationships and consider how the characters would act, even if they potentially don't have the events that may have formed their personalities or relationships in the canon universe. You might worry that you need to know them really well, or need to understand the motivations of everyone involved; if you make enough changes, the ripples will affect everyone.

- they need a lot of flexibility, and an appreciation of the wider rules of the canon world. Even if it isn't the same character fighting a particular enemy, or it's the same team dealing with a different disaster, you still need to understand the motivations and what drives the story onwards.

But then...you wouldn't be writing fanfic if you didn't love the world you're writing in!

Why we love alt timelines

Basically, alternative timelines are brilliant if you love the canon world, but have those frustrating little niggles running around in your head.

You can use it to answer all the questions. What if things were different? What if they hadn't died? What if they got together? What if someone else was there?

Or you can use it to change the world. What if everything had gone wrong? What if someone else had become that character? What if I just changed it a little bit?

"What if..."

What is the best "what if" you can think of?