That is So Cliched

[randomideaguy]

Okay, so after a bit of posting and seeing responses like "That is very cliched", I thought it would be appropriate to make a topic dedicated to some harder to find cliche timelines. Some examples of PODs considered "cliches" are:
1. Confederates Win the American Civil War.
2. Franz Ferdinand avoids assassination. (I am not in any way suggesting that this would prevent WWI, before you say that. I'm simply saying it would start differently)
3. Theodore Roosevelt runs and wins the Presidency in 1908, instead of going off on safaris and letting Taft take his place. This butterflies in a 1912 win for him, and possibly, if the war is still going on, a 1916 win.
4. The Nazis win World War II.
5. America doesn't discover the Atom Bomb.
6. Russians land on the moon first.

You can add to the list of things considered cliche, and also post links to timelines of said "cliches".

[General Mung Beans]

7. The Nicaraguan Canal (Virtually every TL I've ever seen)
8. In a CSA victory world the US is allied with the Central Powers
9. Ameriwanks go either horribly bad (like Decades of Darkness) or are completely awesome and utopian

[dreadnought jenkins]

Originally Posted by randomideaguy

1. Confederates Win the American Civil War.

I wouldn't consider the confederates winning a cliche...

Now, the Confederates winning with the Americans than invading Canada and joining the central powers in WWI, THAT is a cliche (in my own opinion).

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by General Mung Beans

7. The Nicaraguan Canal (Virtually every TL I've ever seen)

Maybe that's because besides the Panama Canal it's pretty much the only viable option?

[General Mung Beans]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Maybe that's because besides the Panama Canal it's pretty much the only viable option?

Cliche #2 is the same: either Franz Ferdinand survives or dies.

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by General Mung Beans

Cliche #2 is the same: either Franz Ferdinand survives or dies.

Hmmm, you're right. I suppose #5 is the same too. Either the US gets the atom bomb, or...someone else does.

[randomideaguy]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Hmmm, you're right. I suppose #5 is the same too. Either the US gets the atom bomb, or...someone else does.

Although I didn't want to mention Germany (which is the cliche usually), I have seen TLs having the Soviets or some other country discover it first.

[General Mung Beans]

10. Some people: Adolf Hitler, Teddy Roosevelt, John F Kennedy must always appear in a TL no matter how far the POD before was.
11. Republican Presidents have a 99.99999% chance of becoming fascist dictators.
12. The Randomoid Caliphate

[Gwendolyn Ingolfsson]

What about "no World War I?" I ask because in a mere five years it will be the 100th anniversary of the start of that particular era of fun and good cheer, and I've kinda got the beginnings of a novel percolating in me head.

[Morgan Brykein]

The Confederacy being an ebil fascist nation.

[Zacoftheaxes]

I've always wanted to do a board by board run down of these:

Before 1900: Any nation that is powerful or well know today can be balkanized by any random event. Tomas Edison never invents the light bulb; several US states secede in the dark without electric lights to see them. Also, all president that are consider great in our timeline will become either failures or Satan.

After 1900: If before or during World War 2, the world become has several fewer nations and always includes: Nazi Germany, The Soviet Union, America, All Powerful Britain, Imperial Japan, And a random evil altered nation that makes Nazi Germany look like daycare. If after World War 2, everything leads to Hilary Clinton being president, What if Pee Wee Herman was never caught masturbating? Well, the butterflies point toward Hilary Clinton being president....

Future History: In the future, every political party except the one you support is useless. And the more deaths it takes to create this future the better.

Alien Space Bats: One the Alien Space Bats start the timeline via ISOT or what not, they never, ever, ever, change anything afterwards, even if it ends up resulting in the opposite of what the intended goal of the ASBs, they just sit back and watch everything go to crap and forget about their powers.

and that's just a few.

[Invictus]

Only Liberals and Socialists are acceptable good developments.
Anything approaching Social Conservatism is always looked at negatively.

[Morgan Brykein]

The Roman Empire always lasts to modern day. Islam can easily be butterflied away.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by General Mung Beans

9. Ameriwanks go either horribly bad (like Decades of Darkness) or are completely awesome and utopian

Don't you dare insult Ameriwank, Ameriwank is good, Ameriwank is your friend, all hail Ameriwank!

[Invictus]

Something getting wanked.

[Morgan Brykein]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Don't you dare insult Ameriwank, Ameriwank is good, Ameriwank is your friend, all hail Ameriwank!

America, America, we'll always kick your ass.

[Invictus]

Who? Vietnam? There basically Ewoks of the real world.

You couldn't do any better.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Maybe that's because besides the Panama Canal it's pretty much the only viable option?

The Nicaragua Canal was geophysically more viable, but politico-commercially less so. Therefore, it evens out as being equally viable

I think a cliche is not so much that the CSA wins the civil war, but that in so doing it abolishes slavery to do so.

I don't think people understand the states' rights position, or that the CSA reforming after a victorious civil war would need to be done on 2 levels - the (con)federal government can do things such as decree no new slave states, no international slave trade, and later no slave trading between the states. It can also PROMOTE bills in each state to mean that children of slaves are born free, and for compensated manumission, but it cannot force either of these

Best regards
Grey Wolf

[Spitfiremk1]

Just some that i have noticed

13: Independent Quebec
14: Charles Limburgh Becoming a facist dictator
15: The Ubiqitous "USSA"/Communist America
16: Canadian Northwest
17: Independent California
18: CS always ending up with former Spanish Colonies like Cuba, Puroto Rico and evan the Philipines.
19: Independent Tibet
20: Austria Hungary disintergrating after a CP victory, with Austria always ending up as part of Germany.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally Posted by Invictus

Something getting wanked.

That's a load of cock !

Best Regards
Grey Wolf