I was thinking about many people assume that Doc stayed in the past until 1895 - before visiting Marty on the train. That year has become so engrained into the BTTF fandom that even Wikipedia, for awhile, mentioned the Old West characters ages at 1885 and 1895. There is nothing in the trilogy, though, that indicated that Doc and his family left from 1895 - and I don't think it was even mentioned in The Animated Series.

It also seems to be such a common belief that Jules and Verne were nine and seven when the family visited 1985 at the end of the trilogy - even well-respected fanfic writer, Kristen Sheley, had put Jules and Verne at those ages in her fanfic stories - but I guess you have The Animated Series to blame or that, since those were the ages of Jules and Verne in The Animated Series.

I think they looked much younger, though, that I would put them at the ages of seven and five. In fact, it's even been said that the actors who played the characters were six and four. That's a pretty far cry from nine and seven. I'm sure the family was already in the present for a few years by the time The Animated Series started - as the whole family, even Clara, already seemed to be well-adjusted to the present.

I think part of why many people, myself included, prefer to use 1920 as Doc's year of birth instead of 1922 - is because of the whole "nice round number" issue. Some believe that the information found in the novels are "more canon" than information found in The Animated Series - but that's pretty arguable, as some of the information from the novels contradicts what you see in the movie. Although, to be fair, some of what you see in The Animated Series also contradicts some of what you see in the movies - especially the 1967 episode.

Speaking of 1967, in a few ways, I would've liked to have seen the 1967 portion of the Number Two script be filmed. It wasn't exactly a "nice round number", but it did centre around Marty's conception - which maybe did make the plot seem too much like the first film.

I still don't understand why the Paradox script had Doc and Marty going back to 1888 instead of 1885, though. I'm glad they did end up going with 1885 in the movie, though.

Generally, in my own fanfic stories, whenever I have Marty or whoever travelling through time, I usually have them arrive at the same month and date in the past (or future) - even if the year isn't necessarily a "nice round number".

Incidentally enough, in my take on Back to the Future Part IV, Marty and Doc end up going back to 1925 - which I figured was the best logical year to include for a BTTF4 story - but I didn't exactly have them going back to the same day. They left 1985 on November 12 (the 30th year anniversary of the day the clock stopped ticking) to go back to September 5 of 1925 (the 40th year anniversary of the day the clock started ticking).

In Blast to the Past, Marty goes back to 1938. Not a "nice round number", but still a good year, as that was when Doc was Marty's age.

Of course, I've done a series of stories that included travel between 1986 and 2016 - definitely a "nice round number" - and they always show up in the other year on the same date.

In Psychedelic Psummer, which is based on the 1967 portion of the Number Two Script - Marty and Jennifer from 1986, as well as Marty Jr and Harmony from 2016, all end up going back to 1968. Not a nice round number - even though '68 is '86 flipped around - but they all leave 1986 and 2016 to arrive in 1968 on the same date.

In I Enjoy Being A Doc, I did do the "nice round number" thing (1986 to 1946) for the year, as well as having Marty and Jules show up in 1946 on the same date.

The Missing Link (1986 to 1903), Back to the Beginning (1986 to 1855), and A Tale of Martin McFly (1986 to 1880) all do the same date but not a "nice round number" thing as well. Even though Back to the Beginning is a "nice round number" from the first year Marty travelled back in time to.

Another "visitor from the future" story I write is Cosmic Baby, which has Haven Brown travelling from 2004 to 1986 - not a nice round number. Haven leaves 2004 on November 12 to arrive on November 5 in 1986 - but, once in 1986, she stays until November 12.

That '70s Story is basically a similar concept from the Marty '05 and Haven side - and it's a "nice round number", as well. For Marty '86 and company, though, it's not as cut and dried - as they leave from December of 1986 to arrive in November of 1975.

Even in crossovers with non-BTTF alternate realities - in particular: the Family Ties Universe, the "real" world, and Orwell's 1984 Universe - I do the "same date" thing. Warped has Michael J Fox from 1990 being warped from the "real" world to the BTTF Universe in 2020. It's a "nice round number", and it's also on the same date. Dreams Can Come True has Amanda Martini being warped from 2006 in the "real" world to 1986 in the BTTF Universe. That, too, is a "nice round number" and on the same date.

In my latest story, The Prized Time Capsule, I'm kind of breaking a little out of my usual mould. Marty leaves December 20 of 1986 to arrive in June 9 of 2006 - technically a "nice round number", but pushing it a bit - then Marty and Haven will be taking a trip back to August 31 of 1997.

Yeah, Jules and Verne were six and four when they first visited 1985. I guess that 1997 would show Jules and Verne as teenagers. Jules would be 19 and Verne would be 17. Haven would be 10 1/2.

One thing I forgot to mention in my post is that I'm of the school that Doc and the family only stayed in the past until 1893 before visiting 1985. Otherwise, that means Doc and Clara would've waited over two years before having Jules - which is possible, but I think they'd want to start as soon as possible.

Check out my Important Dates In Trilogy Universe topic in the Fan Creations category. I guess I did kind of push it with putting Marlene's and Marty Jr's birthday's together - as well as having Jules being born so soon after Doc and Clara got married. It is possible for sibling to be born within nine month of each other, though - and I believe that's the closest of sibling being together in age that is biologically possible, without them being twins. I also figured out that the soonest after Doc and Clara's marriage that Jules could possibly be born. As much as the two obviously loved each other, I don't think they would've "done the deed" before being married.

Because, yeah, I wanted to feature pregnant Jennifer in the 1997 portion of the story - and I wanted Marty to come right between the ages of Jules and Verne. Although, Haven '06 would be a few months older than Jules '97.

I think the only reason that 1888 was used instead of 1885 was because they probably thought the movie would be released in 1988 and wanted it to be a hundred years before the release of the movie. I agree that I think it was a good idea to use 1885 instead.

I'll leave this topic here for now, but from now on please talk about the fan fiction stuff in the fan creations forum. Thanks.

Sure! I guess that would make sense. I like how, at the end, they did end up sticking with 1885.