Everyone has it. That one moment in your life that should have or could have turned out differently. Maybe it was that choice that blew up and sent everything out of control. Or maybe it was a circumstance completely out of anyone's control; something that just happened. The past, though filled with it's darkness, made you who you are today. And you can't change the past.
...Or can you?


I don't know how this originates yet, but to keep this going: What if you could alter one moment in your life-time? Just to see how things would have turned out. Maybe that life-changing disaster never happened, or maybe that winning lottery ticket found its way into your grubby little paws after all.

And that's it in a nutshell: An alternate present-day, where one event of the characters' pasts has been altered to their liking. Changing the past, however, alters the events to follow. Financial status changes, occupations, even relationships change or cease to exist entirely.

I ran this by the mods, and it was suggested that I post it and see what you guys all think. Sooo....questions? Comments? Criticisms?

Alternate reality is always fun, I don't have much history on the site with my character, but I'd love to see an AR thread for those who have more diverse histories, and I mean even without much to do, I could join enjoy it too!

It sounds interesting, but I'm not totally sure how it would work. Would it be Ty's history that changed? Or everyone's would have changed, all in the same non-MRO universe (separately from Ty's change)? Or they'd each have their change in their own universe so there'd be Ty's AU and Miles' AU and Alli's AU all separate from each other and main MRO at the same time?

It'd affect everyone. The alternate-present would pretty much be one where everyone's respective histories have changed. Which in turn, has changed the present, due to a certain event not happening or ending differently. So AU Ty and AU Miles probably wouldn't have the same relationship Ty and Miles do, AU Ty and AU Tses likely aren't dating...AU Ty may not be living at Sanct, or may not even be a pickpocket.

It takes some thinking, I know, but I thought it could be fun. Take a moment from your history, tweak it to your liking, and...how does that change the events that followed?

I know there are some holes, but hopefully it'll get easier to think on once we fill those out, like how it would happen in the first place. xD

If not, well, I tried?

Sounds like a really interesting idea. I'm not sure I'd want all my characters involved, but if it happens I'd gladly volunteer one of them.

I personally think this Idea is awesome, maybe there are little subtle things in peoples histories which have changed the way the character have been played overall, I know that they are certainly in mine, and I'd love the opportunity to experiment with a slightly different version of Serena.

Not gonna lie: I've dallied with thoughts of alternate timestreams many times for characters. I like this idea, though. Kinda like MRO's version of the What If? comics from Marvel.

Now, for this alternate world, Ty, were you thinking that suddenly, everyone's histories were slightly tweaked? Or that one event happened differently, and so that changed everyone? Because if it were the latter, I think it would be interesting if Tricity had never founded the Mansion or the X-Men. Everyone seems to have some connection to one of those two things (even if it's only one of antagonism). Then everyone's roles could switch, as some people might become heroes while others turn evil, the Sanctuary could advertise itself as a haven for Mutants, etc.

Just a thought.

I'm not sure how it would happen exactly, but I was thinking that everyone's histories were slightly tweaked.

Like maybe somehow, all involved characters are given the same opportunity to change one event in their history, and the alternate reality is the result of this.

Sooo I was thinking about the 'how' of this plot idea, and there are always the fall backs. 1 - it's a drug induced hallucination that makes everyone feel like they're living different lives. 2 -It's the result of mutant action. Perhaps there was a mutant NPC who could who an alternate reality, they get shot or injured and their powers effect everyone within a certain vicinity. That kinda ends up with the whole 'shared dream' type thing that happened in AoS though I think.


EDIT: thought some more on this on the way to school. I think if we did this, whatever makes their 'histories' changed in the alternate reality would still place them in New York for whatever reason. For example, if Tses mother never died, she would have pretty much ended up as a rather well off smart but snobby little rich kid in Chicago instead of a poor and uneducated street rat. But she could be 'visiting' New York with her sister. Eventually, as the 'drug' or the mutants effects on them wear off, they'd start to question the coincidences of everyone being there, start showing traces of their old selves, or something interesting like that could happen.

I had a thought on this at work, though as far as your edit goes, Tses, I agree 100%. Was thinking on those same lines.

So, what if there is a mutant capable of altering a person's reality? That kinda power would take alot of control. So, here's the deal. If this is the route we take, for some reason or another, he or she is dying. This sends his/her power out of control, affecting the immediate area, sinking into their subconscious and changing their past, sending them into more of an alternate/virtual reality than a dream.

As time draws on, the mutant's death draws closer, and the effect weakens. Until finally, the mutant in question dies, returning everything back to pretty much normal. But the memory remains...

EDIT: So I did some thinking. Everyone in the alternate reality will know everyone they'd met before this. Anyone you meet in the alternate reality will give you a feeling of "Do I know them from somewhere?" after it's over. Anyone not participating in the plot will either be cleverly handwaved or written out as to avoid confusion.

I hope I'm being clear here. I know it seems sorta complicated, but that's what threads like this are for, right? x3

This is an interesting idea, semi similar to the What-If story line in the comic books. It could be a good chance to see how the characters would change if certain things in their past didn't happen. An interesting writing exercise to say the least.

That said, would this mutant you are talking about would he have the ability to literally erase someone from existence or erase their presence in the persons memory. This seems to run under the same principle as AOS as well as the Future did with a powerful mutant simulating an alternate reality.

Alternate Realities sees to be a semi common theme on MRO and the only criticism I have with this is the fact that we had a alternate reality/future plotline not too long ago and while AOS was fun and it worked having two plots like this so close together seems like it would be a little bit confusing for new members coming to MRO for the first time to follow. The last alternate reality plot MRO had was a future plotline that took place long before AOS and that was part of the reason AOS worked as well as it did because of the gap between these alternate universes.

Not that this is a bad plot idea, it's not, but it might be too soon after AOS to do right now. In my own opinion all of the characters need to be in the normal reality for a while before we do another plot of this magnitude again. Our characters really do need to stick in the normal reality for a while so we can establish how they are in the real world with real events rather than constantly poofing back and forth between alternate universes.

Yeah, this isn't something that needs to go into effect soon, as there are still kinks to work out. The mutant thing is just a suggestion. Seeing as how the mutant-triggering stuff like this is common, I'd like something different, but that's a fallback.

Anything I've mentioned can be tweaked to make it simpler/less confusing.

Hmm...or maybe if we can just find some way to play it as just that--an Alternate reality, with maybe no direct link to the present. It's just a massive...What-If universe?

I appreciate the feedback and the participation. I posted this not only to suggest a plot idea, but so that maybe we can build on this together. Sure, the foundation may be my idea, but the plot as a whole, if/when we initiate it, will be something that everyone who responded will have had a part in creating as well as playing it out.

Also it would give those poor saps like me, who missed AoS to dabble in something like this. xD