parallel timeline
Coexisting separate reality
A parallel timeline is a hypothetical sequence of events running alongside our own history but diverging at some point—what might have happened if circumstances differed.
The concept appears in science fiction, physics discussions of multiverse theory, and alternate history speculation: In a parallel timeline, the Confederacy won the Civil War.
Informally, it describes feeling disconnected from shared reality: He's living in a parallel timeline where the breakup never happened.
- alternate realityHypothetical different version of existence
- multiverseHypothetical set of universes
- divergenceSeparation from common origin
- branchingSplitting into separate directions
- quantumSmallest discrete unit
quantum leap · split decision · what if · dimension · fork · convergence · paradox · butterfly effect · sliding doors · doppelganger · causality · ripple · nexus · crossover · mirror world · alternate self · temporal · road not taken
- narrative techniquesflashback, nonlinear plot, fragmented narrative, flash-forward, point of view
- time conceptsclock, calendar, hour, minute, second
- Alternate Historyalternate history, alternate reality, alternate world, counterfactual, point of departure
- temporal shiftsflashback, rewind, fast forward, flash forward, temporal anomaly
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