History Main / TheStationsOfTheCanon

* The "It seems like XXX is going to YYY" genre (starting with mascot character Yaruo but the practice has since exploded across all characters and series), first popularized on Japanese image boards and then spread to Chinese forums, inevitably has some degree of this since many thread "gamemasters" are new writers. However, depending on how the dice land, the plot may go wildly OffTheRails as early as the set-up/character creation phase. Depending on how much the "gamemaster" wants to keep the plot going, AnyOneCanDie, including the protagonist!

* The "It seems like XXX is going to YYY" genre (starting with mascot character Yaruo but the practice has since exploded across all characters and series), first popularized on Japanese image boards and then spread to Chinese forums, inevitably has some degree of this since many thread "gamemasters" are new writers. However, depending on how the dice land, the plot may go wildly OffTheRails as early as the set-up/character creation phase. Depending on how much the "gamemaster" wants to keep the plot going, AnybodyOneDie, including the protagonist!

* The "It seems like XXX is going to YYY" genre (starting with mascot character Yaruo but the practice has since exploded across all characters and series), first popularized on Japanese image boards and then spread to Chinese forums, inevitably has some degree of this since many thread "gamemasters" are new writers. However, depending on how the dice land, the plot may go wildly OffTheRails as early as the set-up/character creation phase. Depending on how much the "gamemaster" wants to keep the plot going, AnybodyCanDie!

* Discussed in the RPG rulebook for ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. In one section about what to do with the eponymous wizarding PI, it mentions that whatever you decide to do with him, there are some defining events of the setting that need to be taken into account--usually because Dresden himself was in a wholly unique position that let him stop TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Therefore, if you go the "kill off Harry in the background" route, the GM needs to either figure out a way that the world continues to not be a ZombieApocalypse, or perhaps have the {{player character}}s deal with it.

** Most writers that do a self-insert fic, by inserting either themself directly as a human character, or as an AuthorAvatar, tend to drag it through most of the major events of the show, such as villain appearances, regardless of what impact the new character has on the story.

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fics that replace Taylor's original power with something else usually still have the locker as her trigger event, a run-in with Lung that she'll win, joining the Undersiders or Wards, the Undersiders bank robbery, Leviathan as the first Endbringer that comes by[[labelnote:though]]given the Endbringer "schedule" that is one of the setting's rules, the only way to avoid this one is by completely not having it show up at all[[/labelnote]], a visit from the Slaughterhouse 9... The confrontation and inevitable defeat of Coil always happens; however, exactly when it happens is a variable. Amusingly, the Armsmaster-branded underpants Taylor mentions once owning seem to be a popular mention.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]] focuses on a ForWantOfANail timeline in which [[spoiler:Donna Noble never met the Doctor and, as a result, the Doctor dies.]] Many of the present-day events from earlier in the season and the previous season are revisited with very different outcomes, usually involving a much higher body count.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Given the rather linear progression of the canon story, there are quite a few stations that fanfic authors tend to check in at. If the story starts in Midgar, we will have the first job to destroy the reactor, and then the next, falling into the church to meet the flower girl, interrogating Don Corneo, the destruction of Sector 7, and finally the storming of Shinra tower. In some cases, the entire Midgar section can be skipped, but even if it is, there are still stations from later parts of the game that seemingly ''must'' be hit; at some point, they will go to the Temple of the Ancients to retrieve the Black Materia, followed by Aerith going to the Forgotten Capital to summon Holy (roll of the dice as to whether or not she survives in this instance). This will be followed by Meteor appearing and the WEAPONS being released and needing to be dealt with before a final confrontation, usually at the Northern Crater, and ending with the Lifestream being summoned to destroy Meteor before it can destroy the planet.

* Artistic license aside, ''Manhua/RavagesOfTime'' follows actual history closer than ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', but it still alludes to the ''Romance'' version of events from time to time. There have also been several tie-in novels, and when it comes to revisiting scenes from the manhua it does so beat for beat, line for line.

* Many of the {{Wham Episode}}s and important lore events of the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'' would be this, most notably the L'Manburg War for Independence, the L'Manburg Elections, the Manburg Festival, the Manburg-Pogtopia War, the Exile Conflict, Technoblade's execution by the Butcher Army, Tommy and Techno's team-up, the Doomsday War, the Disc Confrontation, the Red Banquet, etc. -- it technically depends on when and how the fic is set, so the plotline can turn out to be a mix-and-match of any of these events. Most notably, in a WhatCouldHaveBeen confirmed by WordOfGod, if Wilbur had won the L'Manburg Elections instead of Schlatt, a festival would still have occurred, with disaster going down all the same (minus the [[spoiler:public execution]]).

For example, if you have "someone else falls into the [[VideoGame/UnderTale Underground]]" Fanfic, you must cross over the Stations of The Fall Into Mount Ebott, The Encounter with the Flower, The Ruins' Puzzles, The Ruins Escape Attempt, and, depending on how you play things, The Napstablook Fight, all the way up to The Confrontation With Asgore -- all iconic moments that establish key points of the setting or characterization as the fandom knows it. In most cases, the reason for doing this is to show just ''how'' the divergence(s) has changed the story.

For example, if you have "Literature/HarryPotter raised by someone else" Fanfic, you must cross over the Stations of The Letter From Hogwarts, The Visit To Diagon Alley, The Trip To Hogwarts, The Sorting Hat, and, depending on how you play things, The Troll, all the way up to The Confrontation With Voldemort -- all iconic moments that establish key points of the setting or characterization as the fandom knows it. In most cases, the reason for doing this is to show just ''how'' the divergence(s) has changed the story.