AH Title and Description Game

[ThatOneGuy]

That Time That Time Began

A Timeline beginning with Caesar falling ill and missing the Senate meeting meant to kill him. Instead, he would go on a grand campaign around the Black Sea as planned and come back a living god to Romans. Riding this high tide of popularity Caesar would proclaim himself First Citizen of Rome in 37 BC and reform the Roman calendar to the Julian Calendar which began at Year 0, and the first day being the day of his ascension. The next decade and a half of Caesar's rule was tumultuous as opponents to Caesar rose and started a Civil War which drug on for 12 years, leaving Rome sorely lacking for manpower with its Legions depleted to critical levels. Finally, after Caesar was kicked to death by a horse in 15 PE (First Era), the nascent Roman Empire was destroyed by yet another Civil War and sacked by a Gaulic alliance which took the chance to invade and destroy Italy. The TL would eventually be abandoned by 50 PE TL-time due to how much the world would change without a long lasting Roman Empire. Nevertheless the TL was enjoyed for its entertaining yet thought provoking writing and the authors next TL, touching on a world without Russia, would be equally praised.

Neu Amerika

Eight Women and A Horse or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Think of England

Dirty Laundry

 

[Alias_The_J]

Neu Amerika

A geologic ASB where this is North America:

This changed the pattern of colonization- most notably, the Spanish had much more difficulty conquering the Aztecs (who had a larger population base), as well as with a civilization in the Rockies similar to the Incas. Hence, European colonization of the New World was somewhat slower, and also focused more on South America. The French had limited success as traders, but their ships were constantly harassed by the Spanish; the English religious colonies were able to survive, but were less profitable than expected. The ships sailing between Columbia (as the eastern continent was known) and Amerika (the western) failed to return. This was until the House of Hohenzollern entered the picture.

They (and some Dutch backers) successfully sailed the channel, charted the currents, discovered the island of Nunavut, and revealed ice-free routes that would lead from Europe to Asia. Taking lessons from the English, they were also able to regularly establish successful ports, shipbuilding facilities using the twin continent's boundless forests, and farms- and in doing so, became the premier colonizers of the island of Nunavut and the continent of Amerika. Prussia and the Netherlands

In order to shore up power, Prussia helped to create the Northern Confederation in Europe, encompassing the Netherlands, northern Germany and part of northern Poland. However, the Amerika colonies- especially those founded by the English, French and Spanish (who were fomenting rebellion) came to resent the Germans, and rebelled in 1800. This rebellion was highly successful, as many of the naval officers and army generals were from Amerika; additionally, it helped spark a civil war in the Northern Confederation. Hence, the entire continent of Amerika became an independent country- and, courtesy of it's German, Dutch and English heritage (plus some of the tribal confederacies that go unnamed, but are implied to be similar to the Iroquois- including how they're often forgotten in OTL), becomes a constitutional republic akin to OTL United States- except that the primary language is German, and the actual structure of the government is not at all like the United States.

A Tale in Black and White: A Timeline of the Second American Revolution

A Song of Ice-Nine and Atomic Fire

Falling On Sharp Things: Not Living to Tell the Tale

 

[Liam Johnson of The Army]

A Tale in Black and White: A Timeline of the Second American Revolution

A story detailling the rise of a military dictatorship headed by Curtis Lemay in 1960’s america as he used fear of communist subversion and scandals within the whitw house to overthrow president Lyndon Baines Johnson and abolish american democracy. The strory details how Lemay continues the Vietnam War indefinitely as more and more bombs and troops are deployed to win the war. It details the fall of the regime after the Fall of the USSR as the regimes reason for existance,to defend against communism was snuff out and thus the people demanded an end to the regime and the leadership obeyed fearing for their lives,restoring american democracy in 1994.
The Reforms Are Many Yet Worthless:An Economic Solution.

 

[Alias_The_J]

The Reforms Are Many Yet Worthless: An Economic Solution

A TL where Deng Xiaoping is forced to flee communist China in 1968, after the defenestration and death of his son Deng Pufang during the Cultural Revolution. Deng then joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and by 1974, becomes the economics minister. This enables the USSR to begin major economic reform, while China loses it's major impetus for doing so. The USSR's state capitalism does give it an extended lifespan, with it becoming a true economic and scientific competitor to the United States by Deng's death in1995, experiencing nearly double-digit economic growth on an annual basis. However, growing nationalism, the demonstration of the limits of state capitalism (most notably where Pripyat disaster, where the local populous of the town of Pripyat were irradiated by a failing nuclear reactor without being informed), and the early 2000s recession, still caused the breakup of the USSR in 2005. The PRC, seeing the USSR's success, also began emulating them in 1990, putting the world in a similar situation to OTL.

The Epilogue involves Vladimir Putin handing the Presidency of the Russian Federation to Dmitri Medvedev in 2016, while Xi Jinping becomes President of the Chinese Communist Party. Ultimately, the TL's theme is towards the import of continuity, and against the impact of the butterfly effect.

A Song of Ice-Nine and Atomic Fire

Falling On Sharp Things: Not Living to Tell the Tale

A Game of the Walking Dead

 

[naraht]

A Song of Ice-Nine and Atomic Fire

The most chemistry dense TL ever found on AH.com. It is an alternate history based on Cat's Cradle regarding the years after the accidental exposure of the world's oceans into Ice Nine and the survival of Humanity afterwards. It is determined that two "types" of water will not form Ice-Nine crystals: 1) Water beyond a certain level of salinity (the oceanic waters *will* crystalize, but the Great Salt Lake and Dead Sea will not. 2) Water in which the percentage of Hydrogen which is Deuterium is at least 3%. Combining these methods of protection against Ice-Nine will work at slightly lower concentrations of both (Ocean waters for example, only need to be about 1% Deuterated) Placing Water which meets either of of these criteria next to Ice-Nine *will* eventually dissolve the Ice-Nine as long as the resulting liquid still meets the criteria.

Within a year of the freezing, humanity has been reduced to sealed areas near salt water lakes with the power for desalinization away from cystals of Ice-Nine and locations that either filter for Heavy water or can create it by use of Nuclear Reactors. The timeline covers the first few years and the centuries of recovery to the point where Nuclear Reactors can be used to produce Deuterium to raise the planetary water to the percentages needed to remove all Ice -Nine.

Only Nixon can go to Canada.

Serving on the Swiss Navy

Kamchatka and Empire.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Kamchatka and Empire.

A TL about the UK, Japan, Russia and China all competing for Siberia, primarily Kamchatka. The UK wants it due to gold being found there, even going so far as to found the Siberian Company to oversee British colonization of the area. Meanwhile the others all want it for other various reasons but also to just keep the UK off their borders. The Four Powers would continue to bluster and agitate for their claims on the area until 1854 ITTL when they all sat down in Haggardstown (OTL Vladivostock) to find a diplomatic solution. After six months of hard negotiating they came up with a compromise. The Siberian Company would be sold by the British government to a cabal of investors from each of the interested nations. The Company would then split profits between the two while colonists from all the interested parties would be welcome within Company territory. The Siberian Compromise worked well as a way for the UK and Russia to disengage from what would've been a costly war over an area that increasingly looked to be more or less worthless. However, the rest of the TL would detail no less than five wars between China and Japan over competing interests before the Company collapses in 1934 and its land is overrun by Imperial Russia.

Down with the Stars! Up with the Bars!

New Vegas

Don't Go West

 

[Alias_The_J]

New Vegas

In this TL, the PoD is that the Dust Bowl (a severe drought in the US west, primarily around East Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas, lasting from 1930-1939) both lasted from 1928 to 1960 and affected a larger area, including the Colorado River watershed. The story itself is focuses around the Clark County commissioners from 1970 to 2010 as they tries to rebuild the city of Las Vegas, which was devastated by the lack of a water supply, both locally and across the plains states- which devastated the economy. Most of the story itself is transcripts of various conversations and presentations, plus a few encyclopedia entries explaining the backstory.

It begins with newly-elected Commissioner Davies in 1970 promoting the benefits of a second dam along the Colorado River, located in Echo Park, Colorado. The site location is approved (over objections by multiple parties), and Davies then manages to convince the Nevada Chamber of Commerce to use construction contractors located in Las Vegas. Over his 20-year career, he's then able to oversee Las Vegas turning from a future ghost town into the center of Commerce in the US Southwest, hosting many regional headquarters to multiple companies with a growing business district. Under the next two commissioners, the business district matured, and some high-tech manufacturing and solar energy firms had also entered the city. As of 2010, the city had completely shed it's seedy reputation; however, this may have been unwarranted, as several members of the city council were caught working with Marijuana growers suspected of ties to Los Alphas in Glen Canyon State Park in Colorado.

In the backstory, among the changes caused by the drought are:
- In 1966, the Mayor of Las Vegas, all of his staff, a full third of the Las Vegas Police Department, and the entire City Council were arrested by the FBI for ties to organized crime. The Clark County Commission was found to be uninvolved, so they were given complete authority over the city- after the FBI finished rooting out the criminal elements, of course. Although taking place just prior to the start of the story, this was not revealed until 1980 in the TL.
- The Wall Street Crash was in October of 1928, and was caused by the agricultural failure in the west. Hoover still won the election, however, and Roosevelt still won in 1932.
- Hitler still took power at about the same time; however, the US's precise entry into WWII was implied to be different. The war ended in the same way, however.
- For years, Hoover Dam was called Hoover's Folly because of how the Colorado River watershed was affected by the drought.
- First the dust storms, and then smoke from fires burning in the Rockies, led to the US being far more environmentally-conscious than in OTL. Climate effects are also implied to have taken more precedence in anthropology and history as well.

Falling On Sharp Things: Not Living to Tell the Tale

A Game of the Walking Dead

 

[Alias_The_J]

A snip

Because this game is slower and usually has more detail (seriously, read the previous posts- they're very entertaining), there are usually multiple suggested titles, not just one

 

[ennobee]

A Game of the Walking Dead

Originally a one-shot scenario imagining what would happen if 'The Walking Dead' were written by George R.R. Martin. The original started in the spring of 2018, just after the final episode of 'Game of Thrones' had aired. Releasing the first dozen posts in two weeks, covering four pages, self proclaimed 'popcukturegeek' @TheSeventhFriend told the complete story about how HBO needed a writer for their new show and landed with a not-so-young-but-still-aspiring science fiction writer who was slowly getting frustrated because after having written enough chapters for three books, his experimental medieval fantasy saga was getting nowhere. She (*) then goes on to tell about the preliminary talks between Martin and HBO, the ways GRRM brought in his own ideas and the haggling over which actors he envisioned for which roles versus the ones HBO wanted to cast. She even got to post the drafts for the first episodes before suddenly the readers took over: half out of dissatisfaction with her outline for the series, half to show off their own inner pop culture geek but mostly because @TheSeventhFriend kept encouraging them in some underhanded way, several readers started posting their own ideas of how a GRR Martin designed 'Walking Dead' should feel. Eventually some five serious writers and another dozen irregulars took turns in writing a complete three seasons of the show, filling 8 more pages over 4 months until they collectively lost interest. No new material has been posted since Thanksgiving of 2018.

Early 2019 a separate thread was launched by three of the regular contributors to 'A game of Walking Dead'. This one turned the premise around and imagined that if GRR Martin would be writing 'The Walking Dead', who would then write GOT/ASOIAF and what the result would look like. This thread ended after six weeks with barely five pages written despite massive support by @TheSeventhFriend who although not contributing herself steadfastly read every new post and liked almost all of them.

(*) On her profile @TheSeventhFriend identifies herself as a 'bored Boston tv-binging housewife'

For the next challenge, choose one of the following:
=> The Actor Presidents of California and Texas
=> Good walls make good neighbors
=>Titus Aromaticus, a well-fragranced tragoedia
=> Alexandra Hamilton (a sort of SI?)
=> An irreverent tale from the court of the empress dowager Ohwata Kiutie (read aloud)

 

[Alias_The_J]

A snip

Woah, dude- I was just suggesting you to add another title or two, not to delete your whole post!

 

[Alias_The_J]

Good walls make good neighbors

A TL where the Steppe nomads, those who would later become known as the Mongols, recognized the threat of a growing and uniting China under Qin Shi Huang- or at least, that's how it appeared to the Chinese; it's entirely possible that a Ghengis Khan was growing among them anyway. Therefore, when Liu Bang of the Han and Xiang Yu of the Chu rebelled against Li Si and Zhao Gao, Councilors of the Qin (all actual members of the Qin being dead or underage at this point), they attacked- resulting in all three dynasties dying.

This led to a complete fracturing of the Chinese system. A new Warring States period erupted- one with a very different result from the first one, and from the Spring and Autumn Period. This time, much effort was spent on alliances and fortifications- against the north, certainly, but also against each other. Several states- most notably, the Fang- did make large inroads towards unifying China, but for various reasons, they all failed. Additionally, they also faced warfare with the Mongols, the Koreans, the Burmese, the Vietnamese and the Mongols- all under different names, of course- who also shifted the alliances, turning China into something akin to western Europe during the middle ages.

This did have a number of effects across the rest of the world; most notably, it weakened the silk road, but also allowed for silkworms to be moved out of China. This shifted production westward- and it did, with production as far west as parts of Persia and Ethiopia, though more centered in India, where hybridizations with local silkworm moths led to both more broods in a year and increased pest resistance. By 1000 AD, Europe was divided politically between two major blocs: Gaul and the Holy Roman Empire. The Byzantines were small, but still surprisingly strong; the British Isles and Espania both were a collection of petty kingdoms supported by one side or the other (or possibly the Vikings, the Byzantines, or the Irish).

In China, meanwhile, borders began to stagnate. By 1200, in order to avoid war, most were formalized on an individual basis. Walls were built, walls extending and connecting the Great Wall- the walls of the title. Of course, more may be coming, as the TL is not near completion.

Things began changing around 1600. In Europe, the most pagan of peoples- the Norse, the Dutch, and the Welsh (also comprising those who, in OTL, would be the British, the Scots and the Irish) began ploughing the waves, looking for trade. Seeing the opportunity for trade, the various East Asian states also began building trade ships. Knowledge was exchanged. By 1800, China- as a collection of states- was beginning to see the power of industry. The Great Wall, dividing all of the Chinese States and helping protect them from invasion from each other, is considered one of the Wonders of the World. However, the Kingdom of Wales- famous for their black sheep and black silk moths, used to create austere, severe, terrifying clothes- was a strong rival power, and even the Kingdom of Ethiopia began building ships, helping others bypass the dying Byzantium through ports in modern-day Somalia.

The TL is most popular for showing the possible evolution of Chinese philosophy, as well as for doing something involving accurate knowledge of China in general.

Falling On Sharp Things: Not Living to Tell the Tale

Blizzards, Hurricanes and Earthquakes, Oh My!

Apocalypse 12/21/12: A Truly Rapturous Experience

 

[Emperor Norton I]

This thread is almost 10 years old. Good Moses.

 

[Alias_The_J]

This thread is almost 10 years old. Good Moses.

Six months to go! Compared to th eother three, it's ancient- ah cultural descriptions is 8, explain the ah quote is 4, and ah event descriptions was made earlier this year.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Apocalypse 12/21/12: A Truly Rapturous Experience

The Rapture actually happens except only four people get raptured. The TL follows the next four hundred years as humanity grapples with its own apparent sinfulness, fights off the legions of Hell and eventually are 'redeemed' by invading Hell and killing Satan. However, when given the chance to be raptured en masse humanity decides to ultimately reject God and lives forever on the natural Eden they created. The TL is told through the POV of Jesus who actually returned in 1962 but quickly fell into the hippy scene and spent the next decades doing drugs and advocating for world peace under a variety of different names. When the rapture happens he is almost taken back but convinces God to let him stay and guide humanity to greatness, only to then continue to do drugs and watch humanity fix itself.

The TL gained much controversy over its run for lampooning Christianity in what many more religious board members who accuse it of being little more than an athiestic power fantasy. Eventually the discussion around the timeline got so toxic that administrators banned any discussion of the timeline at all before banning it all together soon after. The author however continued his work on his own website and eventually published it through Amazon though according to him he only made about $10 off of it.

Tears in the Rain

The Big Bang

The Upside-Down

 

[MegaToon1234]

Only Nixon can go to Canada.

An alternate timeline where Richard Nixon goes to Canada and things change because of that, including politics. Some changes have their ups and downs, but there are some changes that are in the middle of the road.

Nintendo’s Animation Domination

The Day Al Qaeda Was Destroyed

There Wasn’t a Family Guy Now

 

[mrcubfan415]

The Big Bang

A timeline where Eric Bischoff and his company Fusient Media Ventures succeed in buying WCW in early 2001. (For context, “The Big Bang” was the name of a planned PPV which would have served as the beginning of a relaunch of WCW. More details here: https://www.wwe.com/article/big-bang-untold-story-wcw-pay-view-almost-happened )

New New Orleans


(sorry, I was only able to think of one title)

 

[Alias_The_J]

New New Orleans

Title of a TL where the American Colonization Society (a group promoting the repatriation of slaves to Africa) was much more successful. This also led to several different Presidential elections, leading to a very different American Civil War- for a start, neither all southern politicians nor all southern states initially supported the 1853 rebellion, leading to it starting in a manner similar to Bloody Kansas (which never happened ITTL); however, poorer development (and later northern support, especially from anti-abolitionists and scientific racists) also extended it much longer, to 1864. During this time, Louisiana fully joined the war against the North, besieging and destroying the Port of New Orleans for itself rebelling in 1860. As such, after the war, most the the mixed-race and blacks, plus a fair number of whites, decided to migrate to Liberia.

They established the formal Port of New New Orleans in February 1866 on Cape Mesaduro, Liberia. In part because of the familiarity with economics (as well as the French language), the Liberians were able to expand into parts of Mali, Cote D'Ivoir, and Guinea north to Bissau, even winning a war with France in 1877 (on the side of Prussia).

The TL focuses mostly on how the economy of the city (and hence, Liberia) was developed as a whole, as well as internal security; despite issues of disease, poverty and starvation early in its history, Liberia was able to become a successful country by keeping trade and transport internal if possible, as well as unifying it's people (often at the expense of the locals), creating a shared culture, language and religion (English with a large degree of French influence; Protestant Christianity). As such, Liberia was able to benefit from trade in the 1980s; however, beginning in 2000, the city of NNE- at this point, the capitol- began suffering tremendously from severe heat waves, drenching rain and parching drought, killing off 2% of the country's agriculture and spawning a new era of political instability.

Falling On Sharp Things: Not Living to Tell the Tale

Blizzards, Hurricanes and Earthquakes, Oh My!

Bellum Britannica

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Bellum Britannica

A timeline about Late Roman Britain which covers the Bellum Britannica or the period after the Romans abandoned Britain. However, in this timeline the local governor refused the order and instead resolved to fight and maintain Roman civilization on the isle. The TL coves the major invasions of the Picts, Anglo-Saxons, Hibernians and even Franks. The Romans are able to scrape by on the skin of their teeth only loosing minor coastal areas but eventually, towards the end of the timeline, the Roman British launch an expedition against the Picts and get wiped out, leading to the collapse of Roman order in Britain. However, the lasting Roman presence does have an effect on British culture with the Timeline implying through a flash forward that ITTL UK claims to be the last vestige of the Roman Empire and English is a Romance language.

Hot Pants, Sweatpants and Lies

Tears in the Rain

The Upside-Down

 

[LuckyLuciano]

The Upside-Down

An timeline with an evolutionary point of divergence, where mangrove trees along the ancient Sahul continent adapt to have deeper roots. As sea levels decline, and the ocean swallows up Sahul, leaving Papa New Guinea and Australia, a massive mangrove forest still stretches across the many miles of ocean between the two. This is the region which would come to be known as the Upside-Down ITTL, both for it's geographical location and the unique ecosystem that would form there. The mangroves of the Upside Down create an ecosystem of canopy without a ground for miles at a time, and with little available freshwater except in the form of rainwater. While the roots of mangroves create some terrestrial ecosystems, a highly predator form of mudskipper, which kills anything unlucky enough to get to close to the roots or worse yet fall into the waters below, evolves and locks terrestrials out of the ecosystem. Meanwhile the skies above the canopy are host to massive predatory birds in transit between the continents hoping to make a quick snack of the creatures which might emerge to the canopy for sun. As a result, two species quickly come to dominate this vast and unique ecosystem, yet highly specific ecosystem, geckos and bats. Geckos are one of the first species to establish themselves, needing little water outside of the insects they eat and their setae allowing them to remain upside down on the branches of the canopy their entire life and well above the deadly ocean. The second species is bats, their ability to hang upside down from branches allows them to take to flight without ever needing to emerge from the dense canopy or touch the waters below. The specific species of bat which comes to proliferate this environment is the little red flying fox, being able to subsist solely on mangrove pollen and collect water in its fur during rain to save until later just like IOTL. These two species diversify and fill many of the niches of the ecosystem, with geckos stalking the lower canopy in defiance of gravity, some growing large enough even to become apex predators, large enough to eat the herbivorous bats, and some bats evolving to use their flying less, choosing instead to wander the lower canopy in search of pollen, their powerful grips allowing them to appear to walk upright while upside-down.

Insects and Pepperspray, the Color of Time
The End of History, 500 Yrs Early
Fellini's Children

 

[Alias_The_J]

Insects and Pepperspray, the Color of Time

Pop-culture timeline where the popular web serial Worm by Jim McCrae was published on Usenet, in a world where the development of the microtransistor and networked computing was slower than in OTL. As such, by 2011, the Internet was more accurately several different interlinked networks, and was similar to use to the Internet of the late 80s. The TL mostly takes the form of comments and Usenet discussions, documenting what was- up to that date- one of the largest internet fandoms to date; many of the Interlude chapters also documented the reactions of other parts of society- such as the Preacher's and Priest's Talk Net- to various parts of the story, including the use of violent white-nationalist gangs and the inclusion of multi-note gay and trans characters. With those, factors such as how "less/no internet" would have affected global culture were discussed; it's also implied that government regulation was explicitly used to limit some Internet networking, with Japan doing so to promote "traditional values" and Germany to prevent a resurgence of online Nazism, especially through contact with the US. As nine atomic bombs were used in Japan, it's also implied that the PoD was decades prior to the events of the story.

Falling On Sharp Things: Not Living to Tell the Tale
Blizzards, Hurricanes and Earthquakes, Oh My!
make War, not ROck