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fandom-zoomer · 1 month

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I think I may have come up with the best worst tma time travel “fix-it” au (imho)

Inspired by Ketakoshka's 'dread spawn' idea in their dread child jon series, Dribbledscribbles' origin story for the dread powers and extinction entity interpretation in their extinction!jon fic (and some more of the latter in their post-eyepocalypse fic too), as well as my own love for making unholy (aka fun) fusions of things and sandboxing eldritch interactions with the 'mundane' . . .

. . . I have created a post-canon, Somewhere Else, time travel ""fix-it"" story that I think might be unique (at least I've never seen any fics like it– but if I'm wrong then please please share the link!! or dm me if it's your own work hehe but no pressure!!)

(mag 160+ spoilers after this point!)

(i'm about to wax poetics here (hopefully coherently)—so you can read the story-ramble OR you can scroll to the TL;DR at the bottom to skip it & spoilers to read the nutshell & see if you're interested :3)

so get this...

The big Change happens right? But this time the Extinction is a bigger player in the game than canon, and ultimately deeply marks Jon throughout the eyepocalypse.

So when the finale happens, since Jon is now connected to the epicenter of the whole show, his 'death' and the panopticon's destruction has the simultaneous effect of baiting the Dread Powers into the Hole (via his voice in the spools of tape)– and also killing everyone trapped by the Dread Powers in the world via Jon the walking detonator thanks to being entrenched in the Extinction's influence. —Combining both his best and worst plans and realizing his worst nightmare: killing everyone and spreading the Powers to an unknown number of worlds to wreak even more havoc.

How did this happen?

Simple—but first some backstory for context.

The Extinction was more of a 'lurker', much less "outgoing" than its 'siblings'. And when it was "grandiose", well. . . it tended to leave no survivors. Thus its unrecognition by those like Robert Smirke or Jürgen Leitner.

To go back even further, the Dread entities were originally one cohesive entity with many faces and limbs. Its faces reflected the same developmental complexity as the sources of their manifestation. So those with the most diverse species feeding them held the widest capacities. Namely: the Hunt, End, and Extinction. But being a singular entity, it didn't mean much.

But as human species' family lines develop and grow more complex cognitive ability, more esoteric Dreads developed, and more faces become more complex. And the Extinction was right there from the beginning as more species died out one by one. Quietly. (...maybe? 👀)

Over time humans discovered the Powers and bonded with them, then started to classify them. From here, the Dread entity fragmented into Dread entities.

They developed their own 'consciousnesses' distinct from the hive 'mind' they once were. And, eventually, sapience. Self-awareness. Desires. Personalities. But they were still connected, part of the 'system'.

The Extinction and the Web (newer, but always sapient) are a quirky pair, the Web seeking control over everything and the Extinction seeking ultimate entropy and change upon its catastrophe.

It's hard to distinguish the Extinction exactly, its work misidentified for others with few under its own unique umbrella. Things 'unique' to it get missed due to being a misnomer and not getting clocked. (But that is the nature of the Dread Powers after all.. being a fragmentation of their original singular mass.)

...

The Extinction represents the fear of disaster that will bring about the end of everything—everything you know, love, need to survive. Everything you built, worked for, hoped for. The destruction of stories and of life, of the very history written by your land—your home.

Your community. Your society. Your species.

You.

Annihilated in totality.

The Extinction represents the fear of those that come after you to replace you—worse than you, different from you. Leaving you and your history and stories (the driver of your continued existence) forgotten forever. The fear of life moving on after you, ignorant and apathetic. Your story meaningless, irrelevant.

Your community's story. Your society's story. Your species' story.

Your story.

Erased and written over.

The Web represents the fear of being controlled, fate being out of your hands—by malevolent authorities out of reach, by abusive companions or relatives, by invisible forces far beyond the human comprehension. Spinning, winding, twisting, pulling each decision in your life made for you. Until destruction of the self by your own hand.

Your struggle for change futile. Your feet following the same path. Your fate determined for you.

You forfeit control—your feet march you to your bitter demise.

The Web represents the fear of being conspired against. Scheming, plotting, planning your downfall. The loss of everything you hold dear, worked for, bled for. Spinning, twisting, scripting lies about you. Your credibility falls to pieces, your world shatters, and your story distorts.

You are kept alive by the spreading of your story. And the people have decided to trust the manufactured tale.

You are forgotten—twisted into an image of something wrong.

...

Sometimes they're at odds. Where one seeks to manipulate the threads of everything endlessly, the other seeks to destroy it all so thoroughly, with such finality, as to mutate it– the schemes, the pawns, the gameboard itself.

Sometimes they're complementary. Where you watch as you lose everyone you cared for one by one, spiraling down a path darker into entropy, the irreversible nightmare, and wondering if you ever really had free will in the first place– if anyone did.

What if the end for you really was just another game to them? What if this wasn't their first round? What if you're just the next step in the grand scheme, larger than even your own universe?

Alright, now with that out of the way, let's bring back the question.

How did the Extinction change Jon, and how did this cause the altered result of the finale?

The Web has been there since the near beginning, pulling Jon along and guiding him to his next milestone in the plot. She had known the world would come to an end one way or another, and wanted to bring it about on her own terms so that she—they all—could escape it.

So when the Web saw what the Eye was doing, she had an idea. So she aided their acolytes, seeing her sibling as the perfect way to bring all of them together for the final step. And the Web set her own card onto the board: Jon.

Jon had a natural disposition for the Eye; from stubborn curiosity to the reckless pursuit for answers to even the coldest cases. Whether he knows it or not, his mind is a gaping maw for horrible knowledge—chasing after experiences disguised as answers to his burning questions so dreadful they leave scars on him like sigils of a looming doom.

While he has no affinity for the Web's machinations, he is still hers. She has no issue with guiding agents from across the court, she knows how to share. Especially when it benefits her. Jon archives each event, every little detail, with such care and readiness that he makes the perfect vessel to pull them in—to guide them out. He'd flourish best as her tool in the Watcher's sphere.

After the Watcher's Crown and the Dread Powers came into the world, the Extinction started to make its presence known. It seeped into other Domains and fed on the people's dread for permanent catastrophic change, on their fear of ruin and total desctruction. And as Jon traversed them and lived through their fear, so was he marked by the Extinction.

It seeped into his skin like oil and burned through his veins like acid. It tainted his trails with the radioactivity of human hubris and greed, twisting and mutating both the mundane and Dreadful as he passed. It closed its grasp on him with the tightness plastic rings and infected his Perceived routes with the stench of mountainous landfill and the thickness of city smog.

The Web and the Extinction had a complex relationship, but in this moment they guided the Archivist in synchronous song like a soldier being led to his final mission: dropping the nuclear bomb.

Did Jon know?

...

No.

The twines of manipulation layer labyrinthine over everything, above and below and through every angle and dimension. Even the Nigh-Omniscient Antichrist and his All-Knowing God will never fathom its depths.

He might never know that he helped start the Extinction's ritual: Raze the Earth.

Or that both the Web and the Eye knew and did nothing. (honestly, the latter's only there for the show)

So when Martin stabbed Jon and Melanie lit the gas mainline, the threads around the world snapped and the glowing light of humanity's greatest sins exploded over everything—

—and they prayed—

—and they wept—

—and the Dreads rushed out torrentially. (pulling a few strays with them)

Now for the part you were all waiting for (well I was)—the Heart of this AU

The Dread Powers and the ones who were dragged with them were transported Somewhere Else– a parallel world in a parallel universe. But they were. . . Changed from their previous/original selves.

The tag-alongs—Martin & Jon of course, but also Annabelle Cane, Oliver Banks, Simon Fairchild, and Arthur Nolan—replaced their parallels at birth, and gained partial or full amnesia to their past lives. But their personalities are altered, reflecting some aspects of their pre-finale personalities.

Except for Jon. Jon, the Pupil of the Eye, the Warhead of the Extinction, the Spools of the Web, the Archive of the Dreads and linchpin to their escape. . . was significantly destroyed in the center of the storm. He got it and so much worse—a stick so short its existence was inverted.

While they did get reach the new universe, they had to reconstruct their linchpin/Archive that they're still connected to so that his total destruction doesn't tear them apart as well (being an Extinction avatar that's now deeply connected with them, he's capable of "taking them down with him").

When Jon was reborn, he was literally thrown into the world like a meteorite, landing with an explosive blast that rendered the surrounding area a lifeless wasteland in moments. High radioactivity and a deathly curse left few flora or fauna returning before wasting away soon after. Those that 'survived' did so by being infected by the Extinction or Corruption.

It would permanently remain uninhabitable, and it would take months before the withered stillborn spawn of the sapient eldritch Dread Entities would crawl out of the jagged crater on its own, none the wiser to its tragedies.

TL;DR

The Web manipulated Jon's attempt to put a stop to the Entities' reign, utilizing the Eye's easy influence to help the Dreads escape the world and into a fresh new one before they were also destroyed in the Extinction's "Raze the World" ritual (set up by using Jon to weave toxic-filled veins throughout the world he was traversing that'll explode at once 'grand finale' style).

Jon, now deeply binded to the Entities' purest forms and still an Extinction time-bomb, was mostly destroyed during the trip to Somewhere Else and the Entities had to reconstruct him so his death wouldn't destroy them too. This led to Jon being reborn a near completely different being (with some of him preserved) as functionally the direct spawn of the Dread Powers, replacing his parallel counterpart from the new world.

#yes i made him So Much Worse ur welc <333 #if you couldn't tell this is my favorite self-indulgent au #i love jon he's my favorite ragdoll /aff #so sorry for the length i honestly thought it'd be shorter :8 #i have a name for this au but it's also the name of a collection of au's so lmk if you have a name for this one specifically!#i'd love to hear any thoughts!#don't be shy but don't feel obligated #tma #tma au #yafc au #yafc-j au #tma time travel au #tma somewhere else #it's not really a 'fix-it' au i'm just used to that being part of the name lol #ig it'll depend where the au goes whether it's a fix-it or just me using jon as a sandboxing dummy #tma jon #jonathan sims #tma entities #jonmartin #to-be #(sorry for the clickbait jonmartin consumers they're not in this post just the au hehe)#tma writing #my writing #god i'm probly gonna cringe at the mess of these tags later but whatever i'm too busy riding my high to care atm #future me's problem #my post

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flowercrowngods · 3 months

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anyway, uhhh time travel au steve finally getting to look at hopper and daring to keep looking when the man meets his eyes; it no longer feels forbidden even though now there’s a weight to the way they look each other. hopper’s death is in the room with them. his death a little more impactful now that it’s in this world, too

“what is it?” hopper asks, and his voice is gruff but steve’s learning that that’s just the way he sounds now. not softened yet, not smoothed around the edges on the journey to get his woman and to care for his daughter. the gravel in his voice is a bit like the pieces of his heart coming out with every word he speaks and steve wonders if he really is hurting all this time. but he knows he is. grief does that to you. sudden, insurmountable grief.

and he wonders, too, if, given time, his voice will sound like that as well. if it will get gravelly from lack of use so that all the pieces of his heart remain lodged in his lungs keeping him from breathing and making themselves known every time he tries to speak, to talk about it.

“steve?”

“nothing,” he says, snapping back into the moment, curling in a little on himself even though the cabin is so warm he wants to cry about it all the time now. “just…”

hopper waits. lets him look. that patience is new. a little unsettling, too.

he wants to hug him. it’s completely irrational, they’re not like that, they don’t care about each other like that or pretend like they’re some kind of family where you can just go ask for a hug, or offer one; or… but he died. and now he’s back. and steve wants to cry about that all the time, too, and—

he swallows. “nothing.”

a hum is his only response, the sound not as gravelly as before, almost melodious as it lingers between them. his body feels like it’s about to burst, and his chest is constructing, and he really wants… he really wants that hug. or just to go sit beside him and lean into him. feel that proof of life. tell him he’s glad, apologise again for his words. i wish you’d stayed dead.

the urge gets worse, and he imagines getting up and asking for a hug. he imagines hopper getting out of his dusty old armchair and closing the distance, pulling him into his arms because he sees how fucked up steve is and isn't scared of it.

he doesn’t. he won’t. and the impossibility of it leaves him tearing at the seams.

@spookednsaucy you say such real things

#time travel au #time travel steve #he lives in my head rent free and i love him so much #steve & hopper #steve harrington #every chapter people comment that steve needs a hug. does this count as edging then?

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forgetfulmachineart · 1 year

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[ID: Three digitally drawn side profiles of Red Son. He has three hair styles left to right. "Pre-Time Travel" is a high ponytail, "Pretending to be DKR" is a half up bun, "Ch. 12" is a messy layered chin length hair cut. /End ID]

How I imagine Red's hair through A Test of Time by @purble-turble ! Go read it now 🔪

#lmk #lego monkie king au #time travel demon king red au #red son #art by this machine #i love this au so much y'all have no idea #his hair has got to be a huge mess after cutting it with a knife tho #<- knows this as a fact cause I've cut my hair from a ponytail and oh lord the unevenness #I'm still trying to fix it tbh #time travel au

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ramagerslatteart · 5 months

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as soon as i saw her i knew i had to

[part 1] - [part 2] - [part 3]

#i love her so much hh #shes less silly than the other phighters cus i was picturing her as more of a ringmaster. she seems more dignified to me idk #the skirt is definitely tear-away so she can launch into combat or an acrobatics routine at a moments notice #ramagersart #phighting #phighting scythe #au: phunny!#the definitely-not-a-cult is a travelling circus in this au because that is just SO hilarious to me #aaa this came so naturally. i wanna do more but maybe i wont burn myself out this time hehe

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gingergari · 25 days

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Ooh for Toad Peach AU how did the first meeting go with the officials of the Beanbean Kingdom? Ohh maybe more on Peach and Peasley's becoming friends. Does he help her feel a little more confident in her true form? Gimme all of the dynamics hehe

idk why i thought i dreamed this ask but i forgot you sent it 😭 here ya go!

the beanbean and mushroom kingdoms have an extremely close relationship that’s rather old, and as such the births of both heirs were highly celebrated by both families.

here, peasley is roughly 1 year older than peach, and the betrothal between the two was set up very early so the two do not remember their first meeting as they were infants at the time. but still, they visited peach many times before her debutante.

peach’s parents died in a horrific incident i still haven’t detailed when she was around 3-4, which did result in queen bean reaching out more often as peach grew older to offer additional guidance and support :]

but back to peasley and peach, they were thick as thieves and peasley introduced her to fencing! toadsworth wasn’t a fan at first but eventually relented (whatever endears her to peasley, plus any experience with a weapon could come in handy if the mushroom kingdom were to ever leave the peacful era). she’s quite adept in both forms, but prefers to fence in human form. it isn’t something she practices often in current day but it’s something she treasures the memories of alongside trying his bean pillow and learning about beanbean allies and his travels :]

though, as they got older, the two became more aware of their betrothal and what would follow, but things weren’t clicking so they decided to experiment a little (read: they kissed and neither of them liked it. sad!) but neither have brought up calling anything off as both are quite fine with something contractual if it came down to it (but peach would call it off if peasley asked)

at peach’s debutante, they danced together first as a show of the kingdom relationship, and when the first attack/kidnapping happens, the beanbean kingdom offered aid and refuge (little fungitown)

re: her appearance and peasley—she initially meets the beanbean family in toad form, but as she got older this became rarer as experience (and her self image) became priority. peasley makes sure to praise her toad form’s beauty when he sees it, and when mario does come into the picture is of the firm opinion alongside daisy that he does not deserve her if he doesn’t like her true form. on most days she agrees with him

as for superstar saga, he still arrives to the mushroom kingdom ahead of time and toadiko volunteers to take peach’s place instead of birdo (the effect is later undone before peach arrives in the beanbean kingdom)

post superstar saga, the two meet (peach crownless) to discuss their love interests, and their betrothal is officially called off. consequent meetings with the beanbean kingdom are held in her toad form :]

#gari’s asks #nintendo #smb #toad peach au #princess peach #prince peasley #ty key ily 🩵#oh my god i hate tumblr no i did not click on that notification i was working on a draft 😭#for clarification: mario and luigi know about her toad form by superstar saga #i’m not sure if peach ever publicizes their relationship but they are more explicit/open after superstar saga #but overall peasley is a treasured confidant before daisy enters the picture #and i imagine that peasley would give her gifts from other kingdoms since between her preparations and toadsworth she never left the castle #so peach has a healthy love of travel #i feel like peach wouldn’t have wanted to call off the betrothal first and foremost bc of how much she loves queen bean #like she knows that it wouldn’t change but still #also after the debutante and the bowser thing that’s the only thing saving her from a marriage plot working #kind of. you know what i mean #peasley visited a few times after her debutante but he did not meet mario or luigi until superstar saga #(they weren’t isekai’d yet or mario was away or sick)#half wrote this off the seat of my pants but it is mainly based of what i wrote about their relationship in my notes #i did write that she was gonna get married at like. age 23-25 but im still figuring out the timeline so rn superstar saga happens when shes #a lot later than that i think. i don’t want everything to be so compressed but if i want everything to fit in a certain timeline i need #to do some adjustments on timeframe and/or maybe make peach younger when smb happens #peasley and daisy have a lighthearted rivalry 👍🏽

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grimalkinmessor · 2 months

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I keep thinking of a Mobrei soulmate AU to the tune of the fic Polarity by Writeous specifically where you have a soulmark but the TRUE bond is that whenever you share blood with your soulmate, you travel back in time to a time they needed support as an invisible phantom that can only interact with them—and I'm just picturing the first time Reigen and Mob swap blood to confirm and Reigen getting yeeted back into a chaotic nursery room in the middle of the night, tiny ???% Mob floating above his crib crying and wailing as his things fly around him at high speeds and his parents watch helplessly from the doorway. And Reigen, who literally probably learned about his tiny soulmate like ten minutes ago, considering—sighs and just scoops the wailing baby Mob out of the air and holds him. And, since ???% is the one awake, he can see Reigen and is able to interact with him more before Mob calms back down and wakes back up. By then, Mob's parents (why do we never get their NAMES) have kinda scolded themselves for not helping their own child and being afraid of him, enough that this became a moment his soulmate needed to step in, and they come in to take back over—thus Reigen's first big change to Mob's life.

Reigen, however, had a very different experience with his soulmate and is incredibly reluctant to activate the bond after they've confirmed it—because while Mob and everyone else thinks it's platonic, Reigen, who has experienced far more soulmate visits than Mob has at that point, knows that it isn't. But of course, like fate always does, circumstances have them activating the bond far more than he'd like. He's there, afterwards, for every moment Mob needs him, like a delayed memory.

Because he still remembers every time Mob was there for him, even if he doesn't know it yet.

#mobrei #reimob #swappable #soulmate au #mob psycho 100 #reigen arataka #kageyama shigeo #mob #time travel #eating my couch cushions going insane #i think about this. so often. SO often.#bc reigen grew up in love with his soulmate #practically grew up WITH him bc the first time a ten yo reigen feels his soulmate mob is eleven #and from there he's with reigen through all his hard times and its v easy for him to convince himself that this is his SOULmate you know #like forever partner put a ring on it #but then more and more time goes by without them ever meeting in person and he gets more and more desperate and hopeless #and then theres the fact that once they meet reigen almost accidentally gives mob a(nother) complex w how much he protests bonding #AND the fact that while he still sees bits of mobs delayed present life in canon time reigen's own visits from future mob get VERY sparse #like he just needed the real mob for support and hes fine but mob has him and is not. fine. not at all #:')#idk i chew on this one a lot i gnaw on it and shake it in my teeth like a feral dog im nuts about it

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banananagoose · 4 months

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I am horrendously in love with Tim Stoker

#like I get jonmartin is our collective end game and we love them and treasure them but god #I love me a good timjon fic #especially time travel aus where Jon like #wakes up back in his office after Martin does the 🔪🔪🔪 but it’s like pre everything so Tim #and Martin and Sasha are all still fresh! now worms have happened or not Sasha #and Jon and Tim are still friends and it’s just #Jon Knowing all that he knows suddenly back at the beginning and it’s so much and he just loves them all so much and he loves Tim so much #I love me a good angst + fluff #lemons and peaches #sorry about my #tma rambles #jontim #tma

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softquietsteadylove · 1 month

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Could we get a little something something from My Kingdom for a Heart fic that’s on ao3? Idc if it’s fluff or angst I’ll literally take anything you give out bc it’s just that good!!

Sersi was spinning around the floor with Ikaris, her veil whirling around her, sparkling silver against her emerald green gown. She always had a certain joy to her, of course. But even Thena had not seen her beaming so fully in all their lives together. It was exactly the kind of free, unburdened smile she had always wished for her sister.

To marry without obligation was the best gift Thena could pass on to her sister, and that included abdicating the throne as the eldest and making Sersi the acting queen. Thena had some reservations about the marriage in question being to Ikaris, but she had to admit, he was not so villainous. Annoying, perhaps, but that was a lesser of evils.

He was her brother now, and while she felt she was truly understanding the petulance a brother could bring to her life, their families - and kingdoms - were becoming one. Unfortunately, he still liked to argue with some of the advice she had to offer (as the royal advisor). But Sersi was always quick to hear out her sister, and that usually managed to pull her new husband along with her.

"It is a beautiful ball, your Grace."

Much to her disappointment, it was not the one she was expecting, but rather some lord or another. She did not know why he was saying so to her. She had not planned it alone, nor was she truly participating in it, past being the one who had walked Sersi down the aisle to her groom. "It is."

"Congratulations, to you and to the happy couple."

"Indeed," she muttered. She was no longer the princess and regent, she was merely Sersi's second in line, and that came after her job as advisor, as far as Thena was concerned.

"You look splendid as well, of course."

He was wearing on her patience, of course.

"I should almost think it possible for you to steal the attention away from the bride herself."

"My Lord," Thena drawled, keeping her eyes on her sister, "I should think that you would rather not insult my dearest sister in the process of attempting to compliment me."

"I-I-" he stammered, "I would never-"

Thena moved away from him. She no longer held the power to send people away with the flick of her wrist--truly the only part of her position she truly mourned. The crowd cheered for the guests of honour, concluding another of many dances this evening. Thena smiled.

"Your Grace!"

Was tonight destined to be a gauntlet through which she was to battle?

"Congratulations on your sister's happy marriage, your Grace," another lord bowed to her formally at least. "The kingdom could not be happier for the Prince and his bride."

Sersi would make a wonderful queen. "I shall tell them."

"It does free you, does it not?" he continued, perhaps not catching onto her locked tight posture and cold eyes. "Without expectation to marry the Prince, you are more able to select a husband of your choosing. Perhaps even a love match?"

Thena looked at the brazen lord speaking to her without end. He was younger than she had expected, his hair sitting atop his head with as much arrogance as he exuded in his smile. "Do you have a matter that concerns you, my Lord?"

"Perhaps," he grinned at her, and it made her want to take a long step back from him. He held out his hand to her, "if you would do me the honour-"

"Forgive me, my Lord, but her Grace has other obligations."

Thena's eyes rose, and she failed to contain her pleasure at the sight of her rescuer. "Captain, if you would be so kind as to escort me."

"Of course, your Grace," he smiled back at her as a gentleman would. He even removed his leather glove before offering his hand to her. He stood between her and the man asking to dance with her, turning his back - unthinkably rude! - on him in the process.

"Thank you," Thena murmured as they made their escape, descending the steps closer to the thrones and skirting around the crowd. "I can no longer decline such invitations without good reason."

"I would think that not wanting to listen to him preen himself is reason enough."

Thena attempted to keep her laughter contained, but a faint puff of air escaped her. She held the skirt of her dress in the hand that was not perched in Gil's. "You have rescued me yet again, Captain."

"It is part of my job," he stated, although the royal advisor was not technically part of his obligations as royal guard. He winked at her, "Thena."

She smiled down at the lush carpet beneath their feet. If her hands were free they would be wringing around themselves again and again. The Captain continued to have such effect on her, and her poor, suffering heart. "I keep telling you, it is not."

"And I keep telling you: you will always be Princess, to me."

How was she to think clearly when she had such poetry over her shoulder, no less whispering in her ear?

"Would you like to?"

"To what?" she looked up at him.

He nodded his head towards where Ikaris was claiming another dance with his bride, even wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the ground in their shared glee. "Dance?"

Her hand flinched in his, while the one holding her dress began squeezing it for her life. Her throat dried. "I'm afraid I have not nearly the grace my sister does, Captain."

"Come on," he whispered to her, even coming to a stop at a small gap in the crowd's observation of the bride and groom. "I thought we had a deal."

Thena's eyes darted up to him and then forward again. Her heart flitted and fluttered in her chest as she sighed, "Gil."

He stood straight, his hand behind his back and the other holding hers aloft. "It is a celebration, y'know. No one would think twice about you having a little fun at your own sister's wedding."

She could feel how warm he was next to her, even with his light chest plate over his formal uniform. Her fingers trembled faintly, but he held her steadily. "I suppose your gallantry should not go unrewarded."

She winced at herself, and her need to make the simple act of a dance something obligatory. Why could she not simply say that she did wish to dance with him?

Because that would be far too damning an admission, and far too revealing for one simple dance.

But Gilgamesh just smiled at her as he always did. He moved slowly, grasping her hand as he took the first step out from the edge of the crowd, "I'm honoured."

Thena forced herself to look up at him as he swept her onto the dance floor. It wasn't that moving with him was unfamiliar, or even awkward. It felt like when he had helped her from the wagon by lifting her delicately by the waist.

If anything, it felt too familiar, and perhaps even too...nice. He was warm, and gentle, and if he were not wearing the pauldron of his armour, she had half a mind to slip her hand up to his shoulder. His hand grasped hers out from them, the other on her back in a proper and appropriate position.

"So, have you thought about it?"

"Hm?" she blinked, betrayed by her mind wandering away from her actions and instead meandering along the subject of her dance partner.

"Marriage."

The royal advisor's cheeks took on a lively rouge as he spun them around with ease. This was not the first time they had discussed such a topic, either. And remembering the last time they had never failed to send her heart into a frenzy.

Somewhere behind them, Sersi also spun past amidst her dance with her husband. Her sister's giggling reached her ears, worsening Thena's feeling of fluster. Sersi knew very well that the subject of marriage - when it involved the Captain - always left her feeling stymied.

"I," Thena started and then paused immediately. Her mastery of language was slipping from her mind. Her eyes slid down his chestplate to the crest of the kingdom sitting right in the centre. Her hand twitched in his again, "I have...considered it."

At her own insistence, her marriage simply had to wait. As soon as she had abdicated, there was little time until Sersi's coronation and the wedding happening right on top of each other. And she and Gilgamesh were at their busiest when Sersi and Ikaris were.

There was no time to consider Gilgamesh's proposal of a proposal, as it were. And a man of his word, he had not brought it up amidst all the chaos of things. But he was asking now. As she had told him, he was asking if he could ask her again.

"And?" he prompted her gently--sweetly. He ducked his head closer to hers, moving closer in their dance to a proximity one could consider salacious. "If I were to ask you, would you say yes?"

Thena tried to keep her breathing even. She felt as if she were drowning in him, and she did not fully want to emerge from it. But she forced herself to keep her face from burying itself against his neck. "Your timing could be improved, Captain."

"Oh?" he chuckled, still in good spirits as she dodged his approach to marrying her yet again. "And how is that?"

Thena closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, and unable to do so while she thought people might be observing them acting so improperly. All she needed do was turn her head for her lips to graze his cheek or perhaps even his ear (indecent!). She gulped. "It is my sister's wedding day, Gil. This is no time for you to be asking for my hand."

"I daresay she would approve."

Sersi would be the first to jump for joy. She would also point right at Thena and say that she had said so long beforehand.

"I will not become engaged on the day of my sister's wedding," Thena resolved with a bit of a huff. "Have you no sense of propriety?"

On the contrary, it was mortifyingly she who was breaths away from pressing her forehead under his jaw just to feel the warmth of his skin.

"Forgive me, your Grace." She knew he was smirking--she just knew it. "Shall I ask again tomorrow, then?"

Thena's heart pounded. He hadn't asked in the exact words, but her whole body felt flush with warmth and thrill all the same. The warmth did not drain from her cheeks as she gripped his hand purposefully with her fingers. "I will be at the garden pond at first light. I expect you will not keep me waiting."

As she had done to him.

His hand squeezed hers, and he even dared to weave their fingers together (the absolute audacity). He tilted his head, disguising the way he touched his cheek to the top of her head, no longer weighed down by a golden circlet. "I wouldn't dream of it, Thena."

#Thenamesh AU #I loved this fic so thank you so much!!!#listen they're very busy #Thena is royal advisor and has to be attached to Ikaris and Sersi at all times #mostly Sersi but still #she's always advising them #in every meeting and plan #the coronation and proposal happen literally the same week #the wedding happens no more than three weeks later #it's old times shit's gotta happen fast #Ikaris and Sersi do tours of the kingdom in celebration #Thena travels with them and Gil guards them all #some might think it odd how the captain of the royal guard hovers around the advisor rather than his king and queen #some whisper about seeing his hand on the advisor's back to steady her #he stands aside when the king and queen get out of their carriage but he holds his hand out for the advisor to use when it's her turn #it's about the pining!!!!!#anyway Thena has been avoiding it because she doesn't know if she's ready #because there's no question that she's in love with Gil #she doesn't sleep at all that night #and she's so wound up she's pacing by the pond when he finally arrives

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quirkle2 · 2 months

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THAT GORE IS SOOOO GOOD!! PEAK WRITING IF YOU ASK ME TBH (i love feral zombie mobu, he has my heart) will you be publishing your zombie au oneshots on ao3 or just here on tumblr?

also one last question (or not. >:D), how was zombie mob's dynamic/relationship with tome tho? i assume in this au that they didn't know each other before mob got turned? did they form some sort of relationship in a way that he eventually start to recognize her? or did mob stayed seeing her only as a stranger :o

- 🪻 (i think i'm just gonna go by this emoji from now :3)

WAHHHH TY SM,,,

ill prolly just stuck to tumblr for the one shots! i usually like to stick to longer stuff for ao3, so tumblr it is

and yes, mob Does grow to recognize tome as a friend instead of a stranger! it's a bit of a weird dynamic at first, bc when tome meets ritsu, the boys r separated. ritsu is adamant that zombie mob isnt violent, but tome begs to differ...

when tome led mob away from ritsu so she could get him back to the settlement, she ended up tying him to a random utility pole w rope from ritsu's bag she totally rifled through. in any other circumstance she'd prolly just let the patrol guards kill him, but mob is the one that got her attention and Led her to a sick ritsu, and she finds that they're traveling together.. (their labeled water bottles in ritsu's bag is the biggest sign; saliva can infect u so ritsu has to be careful abt not drinking after mob) this zombie is Behaving Strangely and tome is too curious abt this wack ass setup they've got goin to just,, let this zombie die or wander off. the only method she has of keeping him in one place is to tie him somewhere :/

zombie mob doesnt seem to rly care at first, he's just worried abt ritsu, but then when tome doesnt come back for a bit ??? the next morning when she returns (with food and water for him !) he is vicious toward her. he cant do anything tied up like he is, but he's constantly snapping his teeth at her, hissing and spitting and snarling, and trying to wiggle free

all that mob knows if that he tried to get help from this girl, ritsu is gone now, and he's tied to a pole. that pisses him off and all his addled brain can rly process is that ritsu is In Danger somewhere he cant get to. and in tome's perspective, this strange kid she saved has been traveling with a fucking demon, but somehow isnt infected.they checked. he's miraculously not

when ritsu is well enough to hold a convo, tome tells him she has his zombie friend safe somewhere, bc even in his delirium ritsu was mumbling abt his brother (tome voice ah! they're brothers... inchresting i see the resemblance if i remove the horrid eyebags from mob's face). ritsu says mob is an extremely docile zombie by default. tome says he's literally one of the most vicious ones she's ever seen. neither of them believe each other and ritsu is convinced she has the wrong zombie and that mob is still out there somewhere, wandering the settlement grounds just Asking for a patrol to kill him

when ritsu is better, she sneaks him outta the settlement to see his brother. as soon as tome comes around the corner of mob's sad little Utility Pole home he gets riled up and starts snarling, but when another figure follows behind her, he Instantly settles. he sees ritsu's face, still a bit pale but otherwise alive, and every alarm bell in mob's head is cleared and he relaxes like a switch in him was flipped

ritsu saw that viciousness for a split second tho, and is Shocked by it. nevertheless ritsu is so relieved he's okay, so he basically rushes at mob and envelopes him in a Hug and tome watches this, kinda stunned. the way his brother instantly settles in the hold ?? maybe ritsu Was right, in his eyes... maybe being around ritsu just calms mob down, so ritsu's only seen his tame side

tome joins the gang after that (her joining might seem strange, given she hasnt much of a motive, but trust me, for tome, getting to study this enigma of a dynamic is basically her dream. also she has a backstory that motivates her more but im not getting into that now). and it's very odd how mob seems to,,, be largely ok w her now ?

she thought it'd be difficult, given his obvious hatred of her after their first meeting, but it seems that her eventually bringing back ritsu erased most of the distrust there. he's typically pretty cool w her around; the only times he gets testy is when she shoves ritsu around when they're bullying each other. after all this time of walking w a gentle ritsu alone, mob doesnt rly know the difference between fun roughhousing and actually hurting each other, so he typically growls at her lowly until she stops

later on in the journey, he shows genuine trust in tome, particularly after moments where she saves him or ritsu from getting shot. and way later on, when tome is in trouble, mob even attacks another zombie to keep them away from her

eventually he sees her as part of the gang, and tome sees him as less of a Vicious Monster and more of what he actually is; somebody's brother that is sick, and is one of the only zombies in existence that is actually being taken care of and accommodated for

#qktalks #anon #zombie au #for a while tome thinks ritsu is just fucking crazy #and . yaknow she's not Wrong #but after a while of traveling w him... she sees how much ritsu loves mob. and she starts to Get it #ritsu is so patient and gentle w him.he gets frustrated obviously everybody does but #most of the time he's just as nice as he's always been to mob. and he doesnt treat him any lesser #it's So different than Anything tome has ever seen. she's used to people killing zombies ruthlessly #and that's not due to a lack of ruthlessness on ritsu's part. tome is Very sure of that #ritsu is very much capable of displaying extreme violence. he just saves his wild moments for the uninfected #sorry i rambled a bit here. also ty for the ask i had a bit of a shitty day and this brightened it a lil :]

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soulprompts · 1 year

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fast zombies will always be elite but like. i also wanna acknowledge certain movies that explore the notion of zombies becoming selective and developing social norms. like wwz explores the idea of an infectious virus that needs healthy hosts to survive, and so they won’t infect people who have any degree of disease that could be fatal. ravenous studies the idea of an unknown culture forming within the infected society. warm bodies has the idea of newly infected zombies becoming deranged with time, and the consumption of human victims brings forward moments of humanity within the infected, and that the newly infected even develop a sort of language as time passes, too. there’s so many movies that entertain the zombie genre but also offer insight into ways to enhance it, and that’s why i love the au sm, bc we could literally say anything about the zombies and it’ll be fine bc nobody is expected to have an indepth scientific knowledge in these things, the survivors just want to survive a little longer, there’s no real interest in studying the infection. aside from some media that does attempt to provide exposition, but we don’t NEED that. you can say there’s a fire-breathing zombie species and nobody can really say “MAKE IT MAKE SENSE???” bc guess what besties, a zombie virus itself doesn’t make much sense either.

TL;DR: i used a very specific example to get here, but as writers, we don’t need to have explanations for everything we write. you don’t need to justify everything. we live in an era of “somehow, palpatine returned”. u can say “somehow there’s a fire-breathing zombie species in arizona”.

#plot ideas.#ooc.#( i was gonna post this on my rp blog )#( but u know what )#( zombie apocalypse aus deserve so much more love )#( i even have ideas for like crossovers )#( royal zombie apocalypse aus?? western apocalyptic aus?? time-travelling zombie au??? )#( anyway here u go besties i'm working on memes but u also get THIS )

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kanerallels · 11 months

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For my 501st follower celebration from this ask, a fic for @ladywren7! Au #73, the Time Travel Au. Rated G, with major character death implied

The first time it happened, he didn’t really understand.

One minute, he was on the bridge of the Chimaera, facing off with Thrawn. Or, rather, he was defeating Thrawn. And launching himself into the unknown with a ship full of enemies and a handful of purrgil as backup.

Generally speaking, it wasn’t Ezra’s best idea.

But it was the only one he had. It was the only way out for his home. Sometimes, you had to make the sacrifice. Like Kanan had taught him.

So he’d done it. And as hyperspace had rushed to meet them he felt this awful twist, and—

He reeled backwards, his head spinning. Every bone in his body hurt, like he’d been shoved into a small space he didn’t really fit in. Stumbling backwards a little, he caught himself on the low wall behind him and gasped for breath. Ow. What just— wait.

As he blinked the spots out of his vision, Ezra registered the familiarity of his surroundings. He wasn’t on the Chimaera any more. He was on a rooftop in Lothal.

What? Frowning, Ezra cautiously stepped forward, looking around. There was something strangely familiar about this particular rooftop, like he knew it somehow. Is this real? Or is it just a Force vision? He was too familiar with those to totally rule that possibility out. Swiping his hair out of his eyes, he started towards the roof’s edge— and then froze again.

His hair. His hair was supposed to be short. Cut close to his scalp.

So why was it long enough to brush his jawline? Like he hadn’t had a haircut in months. Like… when he’d first met the crew.

No way, Ezra thought. That’s impossible. But he remembered how he’d rescued Ahsoka, and how the hyperspace jump had felt, like he was being shoved into a too small space.

Or… a too small body?

Reaching up, he touched his cheek where the two scars from the Inquisitor’s lightsaber were. But his fingers met only smooth skin. Oh, crap. Does that mean—

Taking a step forward, he peered over the edge of the roof— and saw the ponytailed figure of Kanan Jarrus. His dead master. Looking years younger than the last time Ezra had seen him.

This was the day he’d first met him. Somehow, Ezra had wound up in the past.

He did his best to keep up after that. Followed along with events similarly to how they’d gone the first time through. But it was so much harder to just toss Kanan a snarky salute and zip out of there, instead of hurling himself into his master’s arms. His master, who he missed so much.

Still, Kanan didn’t remember him— Ezra’s prevailing theory was that only people on the Chimaera, or possibly only him and Thrawn, since they’d been most directly involved with the purrgil, could remember what happened— so he played along. Pretended like his heart didn’t leap with joy at the sight of Sabine, and Hera, and Zeb. Force, he was even glad to see Chopper.

He stuck to the timeline as long as he could.

And then, he didn’t any more. Ezra figured he was here for a reason. It was his job to figure out that reason, and help as many people as possible.

So he saved lives. He helped them evade the Grand Inquisitor, and Gall Trayvis. He tried to save Kanan at the comm tower— but his master wouldn’t leave. Ezra reluctantly let him, knowing they’d get him back. And they did.

He managed to prevent Minister Tua from dying, and got the Rebellion important intel. He played mediator on Seelos and kept them out of the way of the two new Inquisitors. When the question of a base came up, Ezra nudged them towards the planet where Chopper picked up AP-5.

He hadn’t been sure if it was the right idea. But when they made it to Malachor, and he ran into Maul again, Ezra let him come with. But when Kanan voiced doubts, he made sure his master knew he agreed. “Just stay out of his way,” Ezra begged him. “Be careful, okay? Trust that I can keep myself out of danger.”

A confused Kanan had agreed— and somehow, made it out with his eyesight intact. Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. The months between Malachor and Kanan’s return had hurt, and he knew it would still hurt, even knowing what he did.

Things had gotten… a little confusing at that point.

Mainly because Ahsoka made it out alive.

And Ezra was pretty sure that was something he did.

So he did a little casual snooping, while Kanan and Hera reunited, and everyone else tried to figure out what was next. And it turned out that the Ahsoka who was here? This wasn’t the Ahsoka who’d been fighting with them the past few months.

This was the Ahsoka from Ezra’s timeline. And she had her memories, same as him.

She still needed a little catching up, but it was nice to have someone else who knew what was going on.

Unfortunately, there was someone else who knew what was going on. Sort of. And he showed up right on time, in all his red-eyed, blue-skinned glory. Thrawn had his memories, same as Ezra. But he seemed to be playing it safe, just to see what Ezra would do.

So Ezra kept going, kept saving people. He handled Maul, made sure Sabine found the darksaber, supported her through that. (And still teased her a little. This was the one area he was better at something than her— was he supposed to resist it?)

And when Thrawn’s fleet found Atollon, Ezra was ready. He made sure everyone escaped safely, even Commander Sato. And when the crew, plus Kallus, made it out, he let out a sigh of relief. Maybe this could be better this time.

But then. Lothal came. Hera still ran the blockade, the Rebellion still refused any real help until the last minute, and Pryce still caught Hera.

Ezra did everything in his power to convince Kanan to stay. But his master wasn’t about to let the woman he loved be in danger and do nothing.

So, for the second time, Ezra lost his master. And despite everything, despite all his frantic working and planning, he still wound up on the bridge of a Star Destroyer. Just him, Thrawn, and the purrgil.

But then he woke up as Kanan helped him and the crate of blasters onto the Ghost. And that was when Ezra realized it.

He was stuck in a time loop. This wasn’t a second chance. This was a “get it right and you get your second chance, otherwise you’re stuck reliving this over and over again”.

So Ezra went to work.

It didn’t really go as planned. For one thing, Thrawn seemed to have put this together, too. And he had decided to hound Ezra as long and hard as he could, ruining every plan he could. But Ezra was stubborn, too. He would go through this loop as many times as he had to— a loop that he quickly became aware was growing smaller with every go round. Every time he woke up, time had passed since his previous awakening— in order to get it right.

He grew bolder. Prevented bigger things, or at least he tried to. Some things seemed to be a fifty-fifty chance, like Kanan going blind. He got rid of Inquisitors and… well, he tried to get rid of Maul. He seemed to be pretty consistent, though.

But Thrawn kept throwing bigger things at him— more Inquisitors, more troops, more everything. And Ezra was finding it hard to keep up on his own.

And then he did something that he hadn’t tried before. He brought someone else into the time loop with him.

~~~

Sabine knew what Ezra was planning. She’d seen the look in his eyes, and knew the odds just as well as he had. So she’d let him go.

And about five minutes later she’d regretted it.

And so, somehow— she still wasn’t quite sure how— she’d snuck onto the Chimaera after him. She’d made it onto the bridge just as the purrgil showed up, which she hadn’t expected. But Ezra had this really bad habit of making plans and then refusing to share them with others, so it wasn’t really her fault.

Diving under a tentacle, she pushed her way into the bridge, where Ezra had Thrawn pinned. Around them, Sabine could feel the thrumming in the air that was the Force— and something else, as the tentacles surrounding them flashed.

We’re about to jump to hyperspace.

This was his plan?

Ezra was saying something as she moved out into the open. A stormtrooper moved towards her, and Sabine shot him before he could take another step. The sound of blaster fire caught Ezra’s attention, and he looked towards her. His eyes went wide with horror. “Sabine?”

And then they made the jump and everything hurt, in a way that was Wrong. Sabine stumbled backwards, smacking into something. Her stomach churned, and she clenched her teeth, eyes squeezing shut. Don’t be sick. Don’t be.

The turmoil swirling around them seemed to still as Ezra’s voice came again, this time closer. “Oh, boy. Uh, Sabine? Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Sabine mumbled, taking a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she said, “That plan was— AHHH!”

Letting out a very undignified yelp, she leapt backwards from Ezra Bridger. But it wasn’t her Ezra. It looked more like Ezra when they’d first met him— long hair, scruffy clothes and an overall scrawny look. “What the kriff?” she demanded.

“Don’t panic,” Ezra said, holding up his hands. “It’s okay— we just went back in time a little bit.”

“We WHAT? How? Wait, what color’s my hair?”

“Orange and blue,” Ezra told her. “I think this is… right after Zeb and I stole that TIE fighter?”

Sabine rubbed at her face as she blearily took in their surroundings. They were in the Ghost kitchen— but it looked different. Some of the paintings she’d done on the wall were gone, as were some of Kanan’s newer implements. This can’t be happening.

But she took another look at the much shorter Ezra, who was gazing at her earnestly, and knew it was.

“What. Just happened,” she said, propping her hands on her hips. “Particularly how and why, too.”

Clearing his throat, Ezra said, “So, in coming on the bridge of the Chimaera— like I specifically told you not to—”

“You did no such thing. Also, since when do I listen to you?”

“Fair. Well, when you did that, you kinda got yourself… caught in a time loop with me?”

Sabine’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“I’ve been reliving my time with the crew repeatedly,” Ezra said matter of factly. Then he frowned. “Well, kinda. Some parts seem to kinda get skipped over. Like, I’ll go to sleep and you and Ketsu’s mission already happened when I woke up, and I was there. Some things are on autoplay, I guess. But other things aren’t, which is where I change stuff.”

Rubbing her face with one hand, Sabine said, “Okay, let me get this straight. You’ve been time looping your way through the past four years, and changing stuff?”

“Trying to,” Ezra said. The expression that flashed across his face was far, far too old for a fourteen year old to be wearing. Although Sabine supposed he wasn’t technically fourteen.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “It’s because of the purrgil, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, but Thrawn and I seem to be the only ones who remember anything,” Ezra said with a frown. “Well, except Ahsoka.”

“Ahsoka?”

“Yeah, she… long story short, she gets her memories of the original timeline back on Malachor.”

Sabine lifted her eyebrow at him. “What’s the long story?”

“Really, really long,” Ezra said. “But I’ll tell you someday.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Sabine told him. Starting to pace back and forth, she said, “Okay. So you’ve been changing stuff. Like what?”

“Well, for one, Ahsoka doesn’t always come back with us from Malachor,” Ezra said. “For another… we lose people. Commander Sato, some of the others. I’ve tried to save him in as many loops as possible. In— in some of them, I even kept Kanan from getting blinded.”

The catch in his voice was obvious, and Sabine felt an internal pang at the memory of how much both he and Kanan had been through during those six months. But that hadn’t been the first time he’d handled that.

“Ezra— how many times have you done this loop?”

Ezra’s gaze flicked downwards, and his voice held a note of forced casualness as he said, “Oh, like eighty-six or so.”

“EIGHTY-SIX?”

“SSSSH! The others will hear you!” Ezra hissed. “But… yeah. Not all of them were the full loop, though. Turns out that when you die, the time loop resets.”

Sabine stared at him, shock stabbing through her. “You— you’ve died?”

“A couple times, yeah. First time Thrawn did a little orbital bombardment thing. A couple times the Inquisitors got me, and Vader did once. Oh, and Maul, obviously. And the fight on Atollon, once— what?”

Sabine shook her head. “Nothing, I just— you’ve been doing all this alone?”

Shrugging, Ezra said, “No one else knew. And no one would have believed me. I couldn’t really ask for help.”

“You have it now,” Sabine told him firmly, and a smile crossed his face.

“Thanks.”

“So,” Sabine said briskly. “How do we break this time loop?”

Sighing, Ezra said, “I have a theory. The one thing that’s been the same every time has been… Kanan.”

Sabine swallowed hard, pain shooting through her chest. He’s not dead here. Which means… we can save him. “Challenge accepted,” she said with a shrug. “We have a Jedi to save.”

#501st follower celebration #star wars rebels #swr #ezra bridger #sabine wren #time travel au #hehehehehe i love this time travel au. so much #it's one i would happily write more for someday #writing stories is a kind of magic too

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