Line #17 Literature/BlueSkiesInCamelot


1	->''“It’s not snowing like it was last year, Jack. It’s warmer too. I think it’s a good sign.” She put her other hand over her husband’s and squeezed it tightly.''\
2	''“There’s blue skies ahead for us, my love.”''
3	-->--Jacqueline to John F. Kennedy, [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/blue-skies-in-camelot-an-alternate-60s-and-beyond.431559/page-12#post-16282857 before his second inauguration]]
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5	''Blue Skies in Camelot: An Alternate 60's and Beyond'' is an alternate history timeline written by Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom user President_Lincoln. Set around the premise of Creator/MarilynMonroe not dying in 1962 leading to JFK surviving his own assassination the following year.
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7	From political changes such as a joint American-Soviet Moon Mission and no Vietnam War, to pop culture changes such as Marylin Monroe as an early feminist icon, Music/ElvisPresley collaborating with Music/TheBeatles and ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' not getting canceled, ''Blue Skies in Camelot'' highlights a more hopeful alternate 1960s with a surviving JFK at the helm.
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9	It can be read [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/blue-skies-in-camelot-an-alternate-60s-and-beyond.431559/ here]], with a second thread continuing to the 80s also [[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/blue-skies-in-camelot-continued-an-alternate-80s-and-beyond.536581/ here]] as well.
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11	----
12	!!This work features the following tropes:
13	* AdaptationalSexuality: Brian Epstein (who IOTL was a closeted gay) is ITTL openly dating Elton John.
14	* AdaptationalVillainy: ComicBook/ThePunisher is a prominent member of Spider-Man's rogues gallery ITTL. IOTL, Frank Castle is more of an anti-hero.
15	* AllohistoricalAllusion:
16	** This timeline's equivalent of the USS ''Liberty'' incident happened to a British ship, the HMS ''Hope'', with similar consequences for Anglo-Israeli relations.
17	** Much like in our timeline, Alec Guinness gets involved in a popular sci-fi property playing a character that comes to be his most famous role. Unlike in our timeline, that role isn't Obi-Wan Kenobi, but [[spoiler:the Third Doctor]].
18	** At least one American President is the victim of a high-profile assassination during his first term. Except that it isn't John F. Kennedy but instead [[spoiler:George W. Romney]].
19	** JFK's tour of Dallas ends in tragedy but it results in the death of Texas Governor John Connally.
20	** The U.S. is involved in a conflict in Southeastern Asia for the purpose of containing communism. In this case, it's Cambodia and not Vietnam.
21	** [[spoiler: In 1981, a first-term President barely survives an assassination attempt. Here, RFK is crippled by Mark David Chapman's assassination attempt.]]
22	* AlternateHistory: An obvious inclusion. Though the 1960s of this timeline do parallel our own in many ways, there are several differences:
23	** Some figures live longer than in our timeline; John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe both survive their deaths, as do [[spoiler: Otis Redding, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Randolph Churchill.]] While others are not so lucky... including Bob Dylan who dies in a Motorcycle crash in 1966, [[spoiler: the Animals]], killed in a bus accident the year after that, and [[spoiler: Pierre Trudeau and Barbra Streisand, along with several others who become TTL's Manson Family victims]].
24	** The People's Republic of China is thrust into further upheaval in 1968 when Marshall Lin Biao [[spoiler:assassinates Chairman Mao during a summit between Mao and Secretary of State Robert [=McNamara=] with the aim of opening relations with the west.]] The tragic result being [[spoiler:The Cultural Revolution and its ensuing bloodshed are prolonged and intensified.]]
25	** With a second term to pursue his agenda, [[spoiler: President Kennedy enters into legend; becoming known as "the Second FDR" with his New Frontier programs of Medicare, Medicaid, Universal Guaranteed Income for American families, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and more.]] The 1960's subsequently earn the descriptor "The Wonder Years" to describe the progress and prosperity of the decade.
26	** As the result of a failed coup attempt in 1964, [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev remains in power in Soviet Union until 1967, when he is succeeded by Alexei Kosygin. UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, who attempted the coup, is quietly killed by a Khrushchev-loyal KGB.]]
27	** The Equal Rights Amendment passes in 1975, and becomes TTL's 27th Amendment.
28	** ''Film/TheGodfather'' only has two parts ITTL.
29	* AlternateTechline: Naturally occurs as a result of Alternate History.
30	** Xerox enters the home computer market in 1982.
31	** Betamax wins the format wars ITTL.
32	** Philips abandons plans to work on the CD-I, and works with Nintendo on the SNES-CD for real.
33	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: As IOTL, the Manson Family's first target is an African-American drug dealer named Bernard Crowe whom they mistakenly believe to be a Black Panther. Unlike IOTL, they succeed in killing him.
34	* TheBusCameBack: Lyndon Johnson resigns as Vice-President in 1964 due to an ethics scandal. [[spoiler:When Senator George Bush becomes Vice-President in 1968, LBJ wins the special election for his seat. He ran for President in 1972 but lost to Bush Sr., and remains in politics until his death from a stroke in 1975.]]
35	* CelebrityCasualty: Barbara Streisand is among the victims of the Manson cult ITTL.
36	* CelebrityParadox: Judy Garland as Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins.
37	* CopKiller: Lee Harvey Oswald murders a police officer in a failed attempt to escape capture.
38	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Ed White, Gus Grissom, Pavel Popovich and Valeri Kubasov burn to death with no hope of escape in the Apollo-Svarog 1 fire.
39	* DeathByAdaptation:
40	** Music/BobDylan dies in the July 1966 motorcycle accident that he had survived in OTL.
41	** Tex Watson is executed in 1970.
42	** Music/BarbraStreisand is one of the Manson family's victims.
43	* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation:
44	** UsefulNotes/PierreTrudeau and Creator/OmarSharif are killed by the Manson family.
45	** Soviet cosmonauts Valeri Kubasov and Pavel Popovich are killed alongside Gus Grissom and Ed White in the Apollo-Svarog I fire.
46	* DifferentWorldDifferentMovies: In a sense. ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' runs for five seasons.
47	** ''Star Wars'' stars [[spoiler:Creator/ToshiroMifune]] and [[spoiler:Creator/ChristopherLee]] instead of Creator/AlecGuinness and Creator/JamesEarlJones.
48	*** The ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' is a completely different work that is not a variety show, and instead focuses on Han and Chewy trying to get home to their family and chased by Boba Fett.
49	** [[spoiler:Elvis Presley]] and Steve [=McQueen=] co-star in ''the Getaway''.
50	** Disney releases ''The Snow Queen'' and ''Scruffy'' in this timeline, when in our timeline they were canceled.
51	** ''A Star is Born'', released in 1976 and starring [[spoiler: Elvis Presley]] and [[spoiler: Olivia Newton-John]].
52	** Instead of [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Gwen Stacy being killed off]], Aunt May is killed off in TTL's equivalent storyline.
53	** Jack Kirby remains with Marvel instead of leaving for DC, leading to Darkseid being the biggest threat the Avengers have ever faced.
54	** ComicBook/ThePunisher is a Cambodian War veteran turned villain who is an enemy to both Spider-Man and Daredevil.
55	* DiscOneFinalBoss: When Ian Smith is killed by some of his own RSF officers, bringing about the fall of Salisbury to British troops, nearly everyone assumes the serious fighting in Rhodesia is over. They turn out to be very wrong.
56	* DomesticAbuse: Manson is violently abusive to his lover "Mother Mary" Brunner.
57	* ElectionDayEpisode: First in 1964, on which JFK wins reelection handily over New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller; then in 1968, when [[spoiler: American Conservative Party Candidate George Wallace siphons just enough support from Democrat Hubert Humphrey to throw a plurality in several states, and the election, to Republican George Romney. Romney becomes the first President since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 to win the electoral, but not the popular vote.]]
58	* EveryoneHasStandards: Strom Thurmond might be a commited segregationist, but even he refuses to work with George Lincoln Rockwell when he manages to get himself elected to Congress, on his party.
59	* FalseFlagOperation: In 1966, ZANLA defectors shoot down two Supermarine Scimitars participating in the British naval blockade of Rhodesia, correctly predicting that the UK government would blame the Rhodesian Security Forces and go to war against Ian Smith's government.
60	* FauxAffablyEvil: Like any successful {{cult}} leader, Manson's a very charming and charismatic individual. But this doesn't change the fact that he's a brutal and depraved monster.
61	* FictionalizedDeathAccount: Quite a few.
62	** John Connally is shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in a failed attempt to assassinate JFK.
63	** [[spoiler:Ian Smith]] is murdered in 1966 by members of the Rhodesian Security Forces near the end of the Siege of Salisbury.
64	** Colonel Tom Parker dies in a car accident in 1964.
65	** [[spoiler:Mao Zedong]] is assassinated by Lin Biao.
66	** Leonid Brezhnev is murdered by the KGB for attempting to overthrow Khrushchev.
67	** Pierre Trudeau, Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif and a few others are killed by the Manson family.
68	** Charles Manson is shot dead by his girlfriend after trying to persuade her to kill their infant son to make their escape easier.
69	** [[spoiler:George Romney]] is assassinated by Arthur Bremer.
70	** [[spoiler:Martin Luther King Jr.]] passes away in his sleep in 1976.
71	** John Wayne and his wife Pilar Pallete are killed in 1972 after a drunk driver crashes into their limousine.
72	** [[Music/{{Aerosmith}} Steven Tyler]] is killed in a motorcycle accident in Boston in 1981.
73	** Music/JerryLeeLewis dies in 1981 following complications from surgery
74	* FictionalPoliticalParty: [[spoiler:George Wallace and Jerry Falwell create the American Conservative Party in 1967.]]
75	* ForWantOfANail: Marylin Monroe doesn’t die in 1962, followed by JFK surviving in Dallas in 1963. What follows is a very different sixties and beyond.
76	* GeniusCripple: [[spoiler: RFK becomes this after the failed attempt on his life]].
77	* HesBack: After being forced to resign in 1964 due to a pending ethics investigation, [[spoiler: Vice President Lyndon Johnson "retires" for several years before returning to the United States Senate in 1968. From there, he quickly plans to grow his own power once again.]]
78	* HeroicBSOD: Mitt Romney has one upon [[spoiler: seeing his father get assassinated.]]
79	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Another obvious inclusion.
80	* HistoricalInJoke: [[spoiler:Arthur Bremer is involved in an assassination attempt on an American politician named George. Except that it's not George Wallace but instead George W. Romney]].
81	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: A few people who in our timeline were already guilty of some crimes get into even hotter water in this timeline.
82	** Charles Manson's followers kill Canadian Prime Minister UsefulNotes/PierreTrudeau and Superstar Creator/BarbraStreisand, along with a few others. Much bigger targets than Creator/SharonTate and her friends.
83	** Arthur Bremer shoots and successfully kills [[spoiler: the 36th President of the United States George Wilcken Romney]].
84	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each chapter from the second onward is named after a song that was released in the year the chapter is set in (example: Chapter 2 is titled You've Really Got a Hold on Me, a Smokey Robinson song recorded in 1962).
85	* InMemoriam: In-Universe, ''Film/HelloDolly'' is dedicated to the memory of [[spoiler:Barbara Streisand]], which helps the film succeed.
86	* InSpiteOfANail: While a lot has changed from OTL since Marilyn's addiction was discovered, some things have not changed.
87	** Gus Grissom and Ed White still die in the Apollo 1 (ITTL Apollo-Svarog 1) fire, which also claims the lives of Soviet cosmonauts Valeri Kubasov and Pavel Popovich.
88	** The LaBianca family's parents are still killed by the Manson family, even after [[spoiler:Pierre Trudeau is assassinated]].
89	** While only 100 people died in TTL's Jonestown massacre, Jim Jones is still among the dead.
90	** Creator/MorganFreeman is still the lead in ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' despite a radically different career up to that point.
91	* KarmicDeath: Charles Manson is shot and killed by Mary Brunner after being handed a gun and told to "kill the monster".
92	* TheKingslayer:
93	** [[spoiler:Marshall Lin Biao, who assassinates UsefulNotes/MaoZedong.]]
94	** [[spoiler:The [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Manson Family]] graduates to this, murdering UsefulNotes/PierreTrudeau.]]
95	** [[spoiler:Arthur Bremer, who in our world unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate George Wallace, manages to murder another George... President George W. Romney.]]
96	* MassivelyNumberedSiblings: RFK has a total of 11 kids, becoming an inspiration for this universe's version of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''.
97	* MoodWhiplash: "This Magic Moment", which details the joint US/Soviet moon landing mission and is optimistic in tone, is followed up by "Helter Skelter", wherein [[spoiler:Charles Manson's Family murders Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Music/BarbraStreisand, and several others as part of their Reign of Terror]].
98	* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: President Ace John F. Kennedy, an exceptional leader bordering on being President Mary Sue, survives the attempt on his life in 1963, going on to [[spoiler:win reelection to a second term over Nelson Rockefeller in 1964. This leads to a prosperous, mostly peaceful four years which cement JFK's legacy as one of the nation's greatest Presidents.]] He is followed in [[spoiler:1968]] by President Personable; [[spoiler:Republican George Romney, a liberal in his party whose grandfatherly demeanour and moderate tendencies are soon put to the test by an increasingly hostile political environment. He is assassinated in 1972, being succeeded by his Vice-President George Bush, who is elected to a full term from 1973 to 1977. His successor is Democrat Mo Udall, who is currently the President of the United States. Then, after Mo Udall announces he will not run for a second term in office, he is succeeded by Democrat nominee, Robert F. Kennedy, who wins the 1980 election over Ronald Reagan.]]
99	* PointOfDivergence: Marilyn Monroe's barbiturate addiction is discovered the day before her fatal overdose by her housekeeper, Eunice Murray, producing a butterfly effect where JFK survives his assassination.
100	* {{Retcon}}:
101	** Lee Harvey Oswald was originally executed, but this was retconned into his sentence being commuted to life without parole.
102	** Originally, Orson Welles played Darth Vader, but this was retconned into Christopher Lee.
103	* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: A few interesting examples of this come about such as:
104	** [[spoiler:Bill Clinton never becomes a politician. Instead, he becomes a famous Saxophone player and later marries Raquel Welch.]]
105	** [[spoiler:Hillary Clinton stays Republican. She later enters a relationship with George W. Bush.]]
106	** [[spoiler:Elvis marries Ann-Margret instead of Priscilla. Avoiding many of the... less than stellar films of his later career, Presley instead focuses on recording excellent music, including collaborations with the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.]]
107	** Lee Harvey Oswald spends the rest of his life in jail after his sentence is commuted to life without parole at the last minute.
108	** [[spoiler:Joe [=DiMaggio=] marries Marilyn once again shortly after her stint in rehab. Inspired by their newfound bliss and Monroe's decision to adopt a son and continue acting, [=DiMaggio=] becomes batting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the 1960s and early 70s.]]
109	** [[spoiler:John Lennon begins an affair and eventually leaves his wife, Cynthia Powell, as per our timeline, only now it's with Ursula Andress; not Yoko Ono, whom Lennon never meets. Paul [=McCartney=] marries Jane Asher and becomes something of a music industry bigwig, working closely with a surviving Brian Epstein to turn Apple Corps. into a legitimate record label. As a consequence of these changes, the Beatles remain closer as a group and do not break up... yet.]]
110	** [[spoiler:FormerChildStar Creator/ShirleyTemple is elected to represent California in Congress as a conservative Republican in 1967. Temple would later become Senator for California in 1974.]]
111	** [[spoiler: Mark David Chapman fails to kill RFK, but succeeds in crippling him.]]
112	* RuleOfCool: Numerous examples of this are present in the story.
113	** [[spoiler: The Beatles and Elvis Presley]] go on a World Tour together in 1965.
114	*** Something similar happens with [[spoiler:Elvis and Bruce Springsteen]] in the 70s.
115	** [[spoiler:The joint American-Soviet Moon landing, with Valentina Tereshkova walking on the moon with Neil Armstrong.]]
116	** Johnny Hallyday, a French musician who has often been described as the 'Elvis Presley of France', doesn't stay an obscure figure outside of France thanks to the King himself.
117	** ''Star Trek: Phase II'', starring George Takei, [[spoiler:Lesley Ann Warren]], and [[spoiler:Morgan Freeman]]. With a special guest appearance by [[spoiler: Martin Luther King Jr.]]!
118	** The ''Superman'' films, directed by Steven Spielberg.
119	* RuleSixtyThree: TTL's Star Trek features a Genderbent Universe with a Captain Jane Kirk played by Sharon Tate.
120	* SparedByTheAdaptation:
121	** Creator/BruceLee survives his allergic reaction that caused his death in 1973.
122	* SugarBowl: The story plays on this a bit. While the 1960s of this timeline is shown to be so much better than the 60s of our own timeline, that doesn’t necessarily mean everything's hunky dory.
123	* SummerRomance: Charles Manson and Mary Brunner first fall in love during the summer.
124	* TitleDrop: At the end of Act 1, the title of TTL is dropped:
125	-> “The Kennedy administration had been an example to the nation of its ideals in action; a heroic display of what it could be. Truly, they were years of Blue Skies in Camelot.” - Arthur Schlesinger Jr., JFK: His Life and Times
126	* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Pierre Trudeau and Barbra Streisand end up like this after they get killed by members of the Manson Family]].
127	* TranquilFury: California Governor [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Ronald Reagan]]'s address about the murders of [[spoiler:Pierre Trudeau and multiple celebrities]] is described as being "controlled, but clearly enraged".
128	* WhamEpisode:
129	** Chapter 53. [[spoiler: Pierre Trudeau, Barbra Streisand, [[Creator/OmarSharif Omar Sharif]], and four others are gruesomely murdered by members of the Manson Family]].
130	** Chapter 71. [[spoiler: George Romney being assassinated in 1972 as he headed into re-election, which causes a pro-Republican wave of sympathy that propels George H. W. Bush into the White House in his own right (Bush was Romney's Vice President).]]
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132	!! Tropes impacted by the TL:
133	* ILetGwenStacyDie: Becomes "I Let Aunt May Die" after the comic storyline ''The Night Aunt May Died''.
134	* WhoShotJFK: Becomes [[spoiler: "Who Shot J.R.?"]] as a result of the season finale of ''Series/{{Dallas}}''.

Context Literature / BlueSkiesInCamelot