It was in early 2016 I had decided to copy all my written fiction on alternatehistory.com to a plethora of new alternate history sites, some of which were spurred by a controversial administrative decision on the former. I was of the impression that AH.com would lose its status as the undisputed hegemon of online alternate history, and for my artistic future I would have to diversify the sites I was active on.
I established myself on some ‘refugee’ sites established by those disaffected by the decision on AH.com, as well as on some other ones that were older but also small. One of these was the Alternate Timelines Forum, a small forum with only a few users run by a lordroel, an aficionado from the Netherlands. He had several of his own works on this site, and let me on almost immediately (he was online when I joined; it was afternoon for him and late at night for me).
We developed a friendship based on shared like of alternate history. We, and the few other members of the site who showed up regularly, slowly built a small community of alternate historians. Unlike the titan that is AH.com, it was intimate, and things we posted were more than likely to be responded to. We had our own in-jokes, our own traditions, and our own idiosyncrasies.
I posted a lot; I could be more independent than on a larger site. We played post-based games, and we bounce scenarios off each other. I advised (and continue to advise) his development of the site ranking system and the badges, among other small things that help forums grow and retain membership. It was small, and I knew from the beginning that it would never match AH.com, but the camaraderie was worth it.
Then, lordroel decided to expand the moderator corps, and tapped me for a moderator status. I was honored; I would now have a much larger stake in seeing the success or failure of this small site. I mentioned it on Facebook groups and the occasional article, and later shared it on reddit and on my personal Facebook as part of a recruitment campaign.
We’ve gotten a few new folks, but it’s still a small site. The site has become my online home in a way, and for that I thank lordroel and the other members. I with the Forum bright spirits and hope it gains followers to the point its place in the history of our little genre is made manifest.