For discussion and appreciation of our favorite tropes in fanfiction.
[Trope of the Week] Time Travel - Question #5
If your favorite character(s) were suddenly thrown forward or backward in time, how would they react? Or is it nothing unusual for them to find themselves in another time?



My two favorite fandoms are Star Trek and Supernatural, so I don't think my boys would be caught off guard by a rewinding or fast-forwarding of time. It's more likely that they'd think, "Ah, man, not again. I just got my watch reset." ;)
I figure that Remus Lupin has some experience with short-range time travel, but I have no idea how he would react to being in a totally different time… he would probably observe and blend in, and be mildly annoyed with whoever is responsible. But also amusued and intrigued and generally very happy about things being interesting.
Since one of my favorites is 616!Steve Rogers (the original, non-HYDRA, I refuse to acknowledge current canon version), we basically already know how he'd react to being thrown forward in time. Which is.. pretty well, all things considered. Steve is surprisingly mentally/emotionally stable for a costumed superhero (admittedly, that's a low bar to clear). it probably also helps, realistically, that he's only in his mid-twenties when he's time-displaced. He might be from the same generation as your grandparents, but he's physically and emotionally still twenty-something (30-something in canon now, where he's been in the present for over a decade and has now spent more of his adult life living in the 21st century than in the 40s), and younger people adapt to change and new technology faster.
My favorites from more mundane shows would probably be pretty freaked out. How well they would cope would depend on the specific character and the specific situation they were placed in during time travel. My Buffyverse faves would probably just be annoyed at the disruption and start trying to find a spell or a magical way to get back to their own time. With all of the stuff they've been through, time travel would just seem like another irritating thing to them but nothing more difficult than suddenly being pulled into another dimension (and if they're in the past and can figure out the time period, probably less difficult).
I think my favourite Les Mis characters would be delighted at the future's changes for the better, disappointed or irritated at what has stayed the same or new problems created, and would probably manage to adjust reasonably well overall? Definitely be pretty freaked out to start with, but they'd adjust, and probably enjoy living in a free France, where the Revolution worked. Even if things aren't perfect, they're better.
My favourite characters canonically travelled back into the past a number of times, so this would be just another day's work for them. ;)