#bootstrap paradox au

[amalgamorph]

YOU.

GIVE ME STORY SNIPPETS.

(plz? 👉👈)

Why that picture? 😂

Anyways here's a couple of snippets from two of the fics I'm working on.

First one is from an Apothecary Diaries AU for Monkie Kid (not too spoilery 😉):

The morning dawned bright and early, a single beam of sunlight filtering through a curtained window onto a slumbering figure. The figure had somehow managed to twist themselves around in their bed so that their head was where their feet should be and their feet were where their head should be. All in all, it was a very undignified position for one to be found in. Thankfully, the figure was alone and no one else was around to see them. The sunlight slowly moved towards the figure’s face, gently warming their body with its early morning rays. If only they could stay like this forever… “MK! Get down here! It’s almost opening time!” MK startled awake, completely confused as to where he was. He blinked and rubbed his eyes as his brain struggled to catch up with his surroundings. What day was it again?

Second is from the next chapter of Bootstrap Paradox:

Beng scratched his head. “But how? You showed it to us last night.” MK shrugged as he turned on the phone. “Eh, Pigsy says I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body.” He glanced at the power level before unlocking the device. “Oh, come on! That’s just what I need right now!” “What’s wrong?!” Ma asked hurriedly. “My phone’s almost dead!” MK exclaimed. Then he remembered a very important detail. “And I was going to call Pigsy today! Which is totally a thing I remembered this whole time and not just now.” “Uhhhh… ok,” Beng said slowly. “So, is your foon alive or something?” “Is my phone…what?” MK repeated slowly, not quite sure he heard Beng correctly. Sure, he and Mei often joked their phones were alive, but they weren’t actually alive, even if they were smarter than the phones Mr. Tang had as a kid. “You said your foon was almost dead,” Beng said. “That means it has to be alive so it can be almost dead.” “Wha… oh. Pfft,” MK chuckled. “No, my phone isn’t alive. But that is a good joke! I’d bet Sandy would love it.” Beng frowned. “But you said it was almost dead. Does it need food? Or some water?”

And that's just what I've been working on lately! I have more WIPs in my folders and even more ideas in my head, but sadly writing is hard.

[nenoname]

me: oh i totally get it if some folks dont jive with same coin theory, plus it's strange to conceptualise at first--

me when i see people call it lame:

[a-mel0n]

Okay, so I know we joke about the whole “Invisible String theory” thing a lot for Bucktommy, but this idea just hit me like a fucking train and I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t write it down. So, hear me out:

A Bucktommy “Your Name” AU.

If you don’t know about Your Name (go watch it it’s a good movie), the basic synopsis is that two people keep switching bodies when they fall asleep. The switches are fairly common, but they’re random and not on a set schedule. When they “wake up,” they only have faint impressions of their time in the other person’s body— like it was a dream. To keep track of what the other person does in their body, the pair write small “diary entries” at the end of the day to inform the original owner of the body what happened, and to just talk to the other.

Throughout the film, the two people slowly fall in love with each other before the switches suddenly stop, and all memory of the experience fades, including the memos they wrote each other. All that’s left is the faint impression that they’re searching for something, for someone.

So. Here’s my idea. The switches can start at really any point in their lives, but my idea is that they start switching sometime in Season 6, at least from Buck’s perspective. For Tommy, the switches start when he’s still at the 118.

A crucial part of the swaps is that they’re not only switching places, they’re also switching through time, which prevents the pair from actually meeting, because any attempt to meet someplace would just get fucked over due to the time difference.

They write each other small reminders of things they set up while in the other’s body on the other’s phone or on their body; a small set of rules of things to NOT do while they’re swapped; the occasional back-and-forth; the whole nine yards. Maybe you could have a fun scene of Chimney showing up at the 118 for the first time while Buck is in Tommy’s body and he has to slam his mouth shut everytime he goes to instinctively call him “Chimney” instead of “Howard” or “Howie.”

(Maybe that’s how Chim got his nickname in this universe, a whole bootstrap paradox situation.)

The swaps continue all the way up until Buck gets struck by lightning while in his own body, and that three-minute-eleven-second period where he’s dead is enough to prevent the swaps from ever happening again. Once he wakes up from his coma dream, he’s lost all memory of the swaps, and all the little notes that Tommy wrote on his phone are gone.

Despite that, he can’t help but feel like he’s missing something, or… someone. Someone dear to him, someone he couldn’t have possibly forgotten. And yet, no matter how hard he tries, he can’t remember anything about them.

(Actually… maybe there is a moment where they can talk to each other. While Tommy is passed out due to the gas leak in that mall, Buck is still in his coma dream, and they actually speak face-to-face for the first time. Maybe they promise each other to meet up after they wake up. But, once they do— they’ve forgotten all about the other.)

Tommy continues to live his own life, with this faint feeling that he’s waiting for something. He transfers out of the 118 and over to Harbor in order to satisfy that feeling, and while it does provide some relief, that feeling doesn’t go away. When Howie calls him to help the 118 out with that residential fire, that feeling of “waiting waiting waiting searching” blazes to life again, pulling him towards the ground and the people running around beneath him. It recedes fairly quickly, though, in fact— as he’s flying away from that neighborhood after preforming the water drop.

Buck, on the other hand, is in that post-lightning-strike state. He’s got his super math powers and the newfound appreciation for life, yet the feeling that he’s looking for something (a feeling he’s had all his life, independent of the swaps), has gotten a whole lot stronger and he can’t pinpoint why.

Then the cruise disaster happens, and he has to push those thoughts out of his mind, for Bobby and Athena’s sake. And then… Chimney calls in an old friend for a favor.

(“You and I… haven’t we… haven’t I met you somewhere before?”)

[eddiespornstache]

Thinking about a time traveler’s wife au except not exactly

But so Buck is the time traveler, from his perspective he meets Eddie as an adult in LA with a thirteen year old son

From Eddie’s perspective, Buck is the ‘imaginary friend’ that Chris has been talking about since he was five back to El Paso, that he feels like he knows even though he’s never met (because, thought he wasn’t real)

From Chris’s perspective, he first meets an older Buck as a five year old in El Paso, and later meets a slightly younger Buck when he’s thirteen in LA (we’re fudging the timelines because au)

And as Buck and Eddie hit it off in the present, and Eddie reckons with Chris’s imaginary friend who he’s sort of been half in love with from the way Chris talked about him being a real man who’s in some ways the same and in some completely different, Buck reaches the point in his life where he starts traveling back to Chris’s past and is falling in love with Eddie both through knowing him in the present and witnessing Chris’s love for him in the past

Anyway yayyy bootstrap paradox my beloved

[onestepbackwards]

I'm cracking up at the idea of where contests come from in the case of the Streamer AU. It reminds me a lot of the Song of Storms Paradox in the Zelda Ocarina of Time where in that game Windmill Man teaches adult Link the song because of his fury at the damage young Link brought by playing it. After traveling back in time, young Link uses that knowledge to cause the damage that led to the Windmill Man's fury. But in that case where did the Song of Storms come from to begin with? It's basically that, but with Pokémon Contests. For a bit of fun fact both 'Where did the song of storms come from' and 'Where did Pokémon contests come from' would probably be considered a Bootstrap Paradox since they both involve time travel and made it so there is no way discernible point of origin for contests/the song. I can see that becoming a running joke in the Pokémon world, and in the chat. The Contest Paradox becomes a thing now in the Pokémon world, and is a subject of debate online.

Gets even funnier to me if pictures of the Streamer existed in history books long before they got sent to Hisui because it makes it seem like at least part of the reason Arceus flung them into the past was just to make sure that Pokémon Contests would exist.

LITERALLY THOUGH

Ocarina of Time is literally what I had been thinking of when I wrote that! How funny it would be if it was one of those paradox things!

No one knows what really came first. Could one exist without the other? The thought has historians and scientists in a tizzy from the whole situation.

It becomes a hot debate topic in the future and in your chat. You even have people arguing in your donos, just so people can argue in text to speech. It ends up becoming a meme discussion in your chat.

Anytime you wanna change the subject, all you or your mods have to do is simply say: “Hey chat, which came first? Contests here in Hisui, or contests in the future? Would contests exist without me coming here and having hisui’s first contest?”

It never fails to make your chat speed up and debate each other.

[theveryconfusedartistsart-blog]

“What’s my name...? ...It doesn’t r̸͔̗̽͌e̵͇͒͋a̷̙̓͗l̸̪̂̽l̵͍͘y̸̡̍́ m̴̡̧̧͇̲͚̹̝̮̻̝͕̼̳̮͙̳̥͇̩̣̲͔͈̣͋ͅa̶̡̧̛̛͔̼̻͈̯̻̹̝̝̗̘̲͎̙̟̪̥͎͑͒̐̀̔̇̐̓͗̈́͒͐̐͌̅̀̔́̒̄͗͝ͅt̷̡̡̢̢͔̫̹̟͕̰͍̞͙̥̠̲̭͚̺̜͔̖̯̱̭̱̝̲̹̾̃̍͗̐ṭ̵̢̨̨̛͇͔̤͙̦̥̦̲̦̟̫̠̱̞͙͎̝̹͊̏̈́͛̎̐͋̐̿̎̽̆͒͑̑͊̾̉̌͝͠͝ͅè̷̡̛̼̯̤̗̼̠̻̮̞̞͛̈́̌́̉̑̋̔̌̌̀̂͂̋̐̉̓͗̀͊̆͗̈́̕͘͝r̷̨̢͍͓̫̭͎̰̫̮̘̲̜̭̗̺̣͈̲̬̬͉̩̜͎̥̆͊͆̅̔̚̚͠,̸̡̧̬̥̹̪̱̤̺̝̲͖͙͓̜̙̪̦̰͚̞̟̻̹̄̐̔̍̇̇̉̽̉̅̕͝ͅ"̵̧̗̹͇͖͍̱̗̻͈͔̜͙̦̻̳̄̾͆̾̄́̀̏̑͐̑͆͑͘͝͠ͅ

From my River Person AU and my (currently discontinued) fanfic, River of Time

This is a version of Frisk who became a trapped paradox (or glitch?) in the timeline, and things go horribly wrong with the fabric of reality when they do something that messes with the original Undertale timeline, and when that happens, they are forced to reset.

Meeting people and getting involved in their lives alters things drastically, so...having their identity revealed? Instant glitching, time to go. Literally. 

Eventually, something or someone else adjusts things (sans? Gaster?) and around the same time- Frisk realizes that they are the River Person, it’s a Bootstrap Paradox kind of situation.

[mindfogger]

mind's 2022 reading round up recs... pt. 1

featuring bad coping skills and over 1000 hours of reading

January: 1,979,541 words read, 132 hours

Most Memorable Read: 

With A Conquering Air by Inexplicfics

Featuring Geralt/Jaskier.

Slow burn romance with a political twist. The whole series is a treat!

Honorable Mentions: 

Pizza And A Movie (Suits, Harvey/Mike, Different First Meeting AU) by Closer

Boiling Point (MCYT, Dark SBI, Sickfic) by SilverWing15

February: 997,938 words read, 67 hours

Most Memorable Fic:

Butterfly Reign by SilentTeyz

Featuring SBI & DSMP Character

Dark and unhealthy family dynamics with a royal flavor. Literally had me up till 4 a.m. crying.

Honorable Mentions:

history has its eyes on you (Naruto, Gen, Reincarnation & Whump) by tasalmalin

you wait and you wonder who’ll take on your odds (Queen’s Gambit, Beth/Benny, Marriage of Convenience AU) by paperclipbitch

March: 1,485,471 words read, 99 hours

Most Memorable Read: 

how fast the evening passes by meridies

Featuring SBI and college dropout Tommy

This just holds a special place in my heart. The family dynamics hit really well and I felt like it was portrayed really realistically and lowkey relatable for me.

Honorable Mentions:

By Wire Wood And Stake (Emerald Duo, Fantasy & Hurt/Comfort) by SilverWing15

from ice to water series [blanket me in snow specifically] (MCYT, Gen, Figure Skating/Olympics AU) by Drhair76 and Plantform

April: 1,770,795 words read, 118 hours

Most Memorable Read:

I’m A Healer, But… by yellowleader

Featuring Dark SBI and baby badass Tommy

I think I’ve read this about 3 or 4 more times since I first read it back in April. The way that Tommy and SBI interact in this and the fact that they have actual animosity and fights between them makes it really good. The twist also hits so good on re-reads.

Honorable Mentions:

By Your Ancient Names (Featuring God!Technoblade and Religious Themes) by Charnel

sleep deprived (SBI, Zombie Apocalypse AU) by micah_is_haunting

May: 1,250,854 words read, 83 hours

Most Memorable Read:

devoted by loosingletters

Star Wars Canon AU with Obikin featuring Religious Themes

I really loved the world building and the angst in this… It all worked together so well. Warning for temp. character death though

Honorable Mentions:

come to the jedi temple in the next ten minutes if you want an asskicking (Star War, Obikin, Canon Divergence) by destiny919

Complication With Optimistic Outcome (The Social Network, Eduardo/Mark, Time Travel) by yagyuzue

June: 1,283,408 words read, 86 hours

Most Memorable Read:

A Hell of His Making by obsidienne

Star Trek, Post-Canon AOS Kirk/Spock

I love all Vulcan culture focused fic and Spock's angst and Jim's insistence is so good in this. I also like the smart!Jim hints in this, it's so good.

Honorable Mentions:

The Bootstrap Paradox(Tenet, Neil/The Protagonist, post-canon... technically) by Vulcanodon

Sigh No More (Skyfall, James Bond/Q, Hurt/Comfort) by dhampir72

[asterism343]

Homestuck AU wherein everything is the same except for in the post-scratch timeline, the adult version of Dave makes the Goncharov movie in real life. And then Roxy pirates it in the future and sends a copy back in time to Jake and it becomes one of his favorite movies (because every movie is one of his favorite movies)

Maybe this could be like, a bootstrap paradox of sorts, where older dave comes across a partial and/or corrupted version of the movie and decides to shamelessly copy it because of course he would

Also since hussie said that every fantroll is canon that means that Troll Goncharov canonically exsts in homestuck

[ladylakebees]

I wasn't initially planning to expand on this AU anymore than I already had, because it was quite literally just a fleeting thought about "what if the next Legends game took place in Gen 9?" But I've been getting so many reblogs and comments and even a few asks on this ever since I posted the first set of designs, so I thought I'd briefly go over this AU in text form! So:

What's this AU about?

It's basically a Legends Terapagos, obviously inspired by Legends Arceus. Juliana enters Area Zero after an earthquake takes place in one of the lower caverns of Area Zero, where Terapagos suddenly comes out of it's ball and causes them to travel through time and space back to the distant lands of Kitakami, where the Crystal Pool had begun to form. The time she appears in happens to be around the same time Pecharunt, the Loyal Trio, and Ogerpon and her friend roam. Juliana's goal is to investigate the Crystal Pool's origins, how it connects back to Area Zero, and how to get Terapagos to come out of it's Jewel, as it had retreated once the two had traveled through time and has not since come out.

How did she appear all the way in Kitakami?

Similar to how the professors are summoned to the Crystal Pool by Terapagos all the way from Area Zero, Juliana is send from Area Zero to Kitakami's Crystal Pool. The seismic reading is meant to indicate an overwhelming amount of Terastal energy being emanated, which gives Terapagos the overwhelming power to more permanently mess around with time and space hijinks, and also explain why it has since retreated into its jewel (used too much power.)

Doesn't this then create a time paradox if Juliana is sent all the way back in time to when the DLC legendaries/mythicals originated?

Yes and no...? The Professors have suggested that what the time machine and Terapagos actually do is not time travel itself, but instead crossing into extremely similar alternate timelines, which would also partially explain the Bootstrap Paradox of you naming the Winged King/Iron Serpent, + the professors giving you the Scarlet/Violet Book in exchange for Briar's Book, even though Arven should have the professor's book that eventually gets taken with the time machine....

If you want to call bullshit on this theory though, then let's just leave it at this: there's no reason why Ogerpon, Pecharunt, or any of the Loyal Three would remember her after several hundreds of years when she's only there for a (relatively) short time. They just forget about her for the most part.

Is she stuck in the past seemingly forever, similar to Akari/Rei and Ingo?

No. The "three years post-incident" is meant to indicate that she disappeared for 3 years, but suddenly appeared again.

How and where did she come back?

Shortly after the canonical events between Ogerpon and the Loyal Trio + Pecharunt, Juliana goes back to fervently researching the original Crystal Pool. Ogerpon and Juliana have formed a bond, and she follows her around after the Mask-Maker's death. Using a combination of Ogerpon's terastal energy imbued within her mask, the crystal clusters within the pool, and the amateur Tera Orb the Mask Maker helped her create, Terapagos awakens again, and sends her home.... to the present day Crystal Pool in Kitakami. It's Kieran and Carmine's grandparents who find her after her arrival.

Why the Crystal Pool and not Area Zero? Idk I just thought it'd be cool. Headcanon it either way you want to, it really doesn't matter where she reappears in the context of this AU.

What happened to the Zero Crew and the Blueberry kids during Juliana's time gone?

Nemona, Penny, Kieran, and Drayton all join the Paldea league in some capacity, with Kieran and Drayton being recruited to the Elite 4, Nemona as the acting Top Champion, and Penny working in cybersecurity as well as virtually patrolling the closed off Area Zero.

Carmine has also moved to Paldea to Levencia to become a model as well as watch over Kieran.

Arven doesn't resent the current League, persay, but he does not keep frequent contact with anyone after Area Zero is sealed off. Juliana's Pokémon other than Terapagos were left behind, and they were dispersed across her friends to take care of them. Arven takes Koraidon, though he becomes just about as standoffish to it as he was at the beginning of the game.

Amarys, Lacey, and Crispin are still in Unova, training to be gym leaders after graduating Blueberry. They keep in frequent contact with Carmine and Nemona.

What happens after Juliana returns?

Juliana has a hard time remembering her friends for a while because of how long she was gone compared to how long she knew them, even when they remind her of times spent together. Her relationships with everyone are strained for a long while before she begins to open up about her experiences. Although she had once been the prospective Top Champion of Paldea, she doesn't find the idea of joining the League or becoming a gym leader enjoyable anymore. Instead, she returns to working with Jacq, who has since become a Professor specializing in Pokémon biology and variants, and shares her experience with the regional forms and convergents of Kitakami's Pokémon. Arven and Penny become much less hostile after Juliana's return, Nemona and Kieran's spunk begin to come back, Blueberry's former Elite 4 + Carmine visit more often to also help Juliana ease back into modern life. It's a happy ending, even if not a perfect one.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask, though I can't guarantee I have a good plot-hole free answer, let alone one at all haha. I don't really see myself going in on this AU much more after this, but who knows, maybe I'll return to it later after I get my current one out of my system.

POKEMON SCARVI AU

3 years ago, Juliana was tasked by Top Champion Geeta, also known as La Primera, to investigate a seismic reading found within Area Zero's depths.

Within 3 hours of Juliana's entrance to Area Zero, the seismic reading goes silent.

Within 5 days, a rescue team comprising of three of the Paldea Elite 4 as well as one champion leveled Naranja student are deployed to pull Juliana out.

Within 2 weeks, a quiet excursion comprising of three Naranja Academy students and six Blueberry Academy students are deployed to pull Juliana out.

Within 2 weeks and 3 days, Juliana is officially declared a missing person.

Within 2 weeks and 5 days, Area Zero is officially sealed from all personal, public and private.

Within 5 weeks, Top Champion Geeta resigns from her position as Top Champion, with Elite 4 member and Naranja Academy professor Hassel taking her place.

[amalgamorph]

STEM - How do they treat criminals?

For Bootstrap FFM?

Hmmmmm this is an interesting one. Cuz currently, criminals are either banished from their tribe or from the island entirely depending on the severity of the crime, but later there will a more refined system of judges and stuff.

I'll have to flesh it out later tho, but this could be vary interesting to do in the fic!

[finalfantasyxivwritings]

I can’t believe I’m having to refresh my knowledge of the Infinite Hotel Paradox in order to explain how the hell my Future Past AU works within the confines of time travel within a series of infinite parallel universes of FFXIV (because fuck what canon says about there being only a single timeline Except For That One Time)

Forgive the scribble as I did this on lunch, but assuming that there are an infinite number of timelines, with the WoL traveling back to the past of another and triggering the events leading to the present, then that means that the Elpis Gang of Gremlins can travel to the future of a separate timeline without any chronological issues. No bootstraps paradoxes here!

Or, well, maybe a little

[ford-ye-fiji]

Honestly I’m a huge fan of the bootstrap paradox, especially in relation to the Umbrella Academy. A good example of the paradox is just a causal loop. Wherein you go back in time and create your own existence/experiences in an infinite loop.

Let’s just use what I remember from Doctor Who’s explanation because it’s the simplest one. So you go back in time to meet Beethoven because you’re a huge fan. However you can’t find him anywhere. You can’t bear the thought of the world never hearing his music. You also have copies of all of his music and since, for some reason he doesn’t exist, you decide to publish all of his works, thus making yourself become Beethoven. (However, the question remains, where did all of Beethoven’s music first come from?)

In relation to the Umbrella Academy, considering the evidence as to how much Five is like his father, it only seems appropriate that maybe Reginald never existed and Five, is in fact, Reginald Hargreeves. To make it angstier, since there are key differences between Five and Reggie, to preserve the correct outcome of the timeline, maybe he needs to behave exactly like their father (aka how the future version of him) had behaved. I don’t think it will happen in the show, considering what Reggie is and paradox psychosis, but it’d be a great au concept. 

[professorscrooge]

This AU has stuffed my brain with enough Thoughts™ to finally make a Tumblr account.

So, thoughts, specifically, re: Mando archaeologists coming in to look at the statues, particularly thinking about the timescale this idea exists on and its implications:

I agree on all your points about a New Mando archaeologist being able to identify things just fine, but think I’d go a step further of anyone contemporary would identify the symbols better than any of their predecessors across the centuries, as they would be the closest to the actual timeframe they were painted in. Ancient symbols they wouldn't be able to identify would most likely be the ones that have fallen out of favour by the time of the Clone Wars and the Clones themselves painting them (before being Terracotta’d). The ones the Clones saw/replicated are most likely the most popular ones of the current era amongst the True Mandos, regardless of age, which likely makes them the most recognisable to a current New Mandalorian (which can be both a good and a bad thing depending upon their feeling about what might earn or reflect upon those symbols).

This leads me into my second thought, that being the incongruity of the statues' age vs the symbols they have on them. Star Wars has ridiculously long timeframes for the relative stagnancy its tech/culture has across the different eras, but we can still extrapolate reasonably that there would be cultural shifts over thousands of years – languages have changed or shifted, been created and lost over much shorter timeframes in the real world, nevermind cultural symbols and dress codes etc. especially on the military front, where uniforms can change multiple times throughout a singular conflict as the participants adapt. The Mandalorians are one of the few cultures where we see some of this change in their many appearances due to popularity and distinctiveness; Crusader armour to Neo Crusader, for example (which I bet annoys historians due to the emphasis on depersonalisation likely resulting in a loss in understanding of the armour designs that came before, but I digress). All this means, they might have symbols that are ‘only’ a few centuries or decades old, which then calls into question wtf are they doing on a statue that is seemingly far, far older.

e.g. "Those are Jaig Eyes, a memorial tradition stemming from Jaig's Last Stand at the 3rd Battle of Mimban."

 "Oh, interesting, interesting" excited/bored junior Jedi on archivist duty writes down "When was that?"

"730 years ago, which makes this statue utterly impossible."

 Logically, this then stems into two options for the archaeologist: either a) the statues are a far younger fraud, or b) the statues are the origin of the symbol as they predate the believed origin (as in potentially a very, very big historical/cultural discovery that probably throws a whole load of academic discourse into a tizzy).

 (Point b) could actually be evolved into a Bootstrap Paradox where that actually did legit happen on one of them from a previous expedition – can you imagine a shocked post-revival Ahsoka seeing her facial markings not just on many of the 501st around her like the Siege of Mandalore, but also on some random Mandalorian because, oops, accidentally inspired history, and maybe a conspiracy theory or two).

 This then also leads into; what do they actually make of them? (Yes, I have way too many thoughts about this, I’m so sorry). We generally have the vibe of the Clones have inherited lots of bits and pieces of Mando-ness, but that they also don’t necessarily understand all of what they do know. So, you have frustrations of “That’s a recognisable symbol of [Insert here] but it’s supposed to be painted on a vambrace, not on the helmet!” (he just thought it looked cool), “These three are apparently married, but they didn’t adapt the symbol into a triad??” (they just thought it was a symbol of closeness as batchmates, and had no idea it had further connotations or polyamorous adaptations), “That one’s just got Sandwich written on his head!!!” (it’s his name, yes he picked it). This seeming randomness that makes it even harder to glean the purpose of the symbols that are used correctly as they make assumptions, e.g. Jaig Eyes are something we know are a relatively big deal, and Rex is the only person there with them in all likelihood, and is obviously a commander of some sort – so, did he take ownership of those, give them to himself, and ban others from using them because they wanted to be important and unique? Or maybe he did earn them rightfully, and that’s why he’s a commander? And the Archaeologist just doesn’t know and has to second-guess things more than they should need to, because they’re not following the rules everywhere, they don't know what to make of it where they are.

 They also despair over the armour itself, because it’s clearly mass-manufactured and militaristic in bent, which should narrow it down to a historical period (as more uniform styles seems to be less common across Mandalorian history than more individualistic ones, though we’re missing big periods and I’m gonna assume on some being for animation budget vs comic artist reasons), but it’s completely unknown. The advantage of mass-manufacturing is more examples are likely to survive to a modern era intact, but this is completely new, and not just the result of an artist reusing a base mould or something because every statue is unique. They can probably put together a ranking system based on some of the extra pieces Clones added to their armour (and things like Kama and Pauldrons will presumably be recognisable) but it doesn’t match any known organisation, and implies either very small delineations, or perhaps this being a small part of a very large group.

Basically, by the end of their examination, the archaeologist is absolutely tearing their hair/lekku/horns out and very much needs an offered cup of tea and someone to yell at because none of this makes any sense.

Finally, at the end of all this when they make their reports, is when Politics might get involved. Because there are various angles you can take for these statues to be Historically Significant to Mandalore. But they’re not on Mandalore, they’re in the Jedi Temple, and suddenly we’re at a British Museum situation of ownership (sorta). Neither the Jedi nor the Archaeologist want to move the statues due to the Vibes they give off, but would be very easy to write a politician/just a Mando with an axe to grind against the Republic (pick a reason, there’s loads – this is where you could insert Jaster or Jango, with added weirdness if this is post-Galidraan and this might bring the question of reparations on the table, idk, exact things I have no idea on) who finds out about them to launch a campaign of having them ‘returned’ (as we’ve seen what lengths they went to when retrieving the Darksaber, this would likely be a Thing). And the Jedi probably don’t have much control over something as big of a Political deal like that, it’s presumably up to the Senate; who I bet would first off send a dozen art valuators and insurers down there to try and value them, and then procrastinate and bureaucratise for half a century and be reluctant to give things up because it’s Mandalore, and the Republic is still kinda scared of them after the many centuries of warfare. (The valuers also get lost constantly on the way to the army because this is a Jedi Temple, and if it doesn’t want you to find your way, you won’t).

 Apologies, long post, and I have no idea if I’m butting in or necroposting or what etiquette here is really, just too many thoughts in a small brain. I have a half-written fic based on the previous posts of this AU and discovering this addition today got me thinking again.

Thought- in the terracotta warriors thing, you mentioned that the Jedi archeologists brought in a specialist in mando iconography to try and work out what’s going on with the 501sts symbols- what if that outside specialist is jaster mereel? Could be pre becoming the mand’alor, could be just his side job, but either way he spends a few years studying it all and getting used to being the only mando in a base camp full of Jedi, makes friends, has academic discussions and disagreements, steals someone’s holopad to try and use the link to the Jedi archives to read all the things on tarre visla, gets into an actual argument, reconciles with agreeing to help with a historical reenactment of a Jedi mandolorian war, gets Madame nu’s comm number, introduces his new son to his comm bff who argues historical nitpicks with him, brings jango to the next summer at the site, clones react to jango somehow and/or there’s a few tubies in there who look distractingly like jango and/or someone has their helmet off and jango has a breakdown over it looking like a family member? And so on and so on

Context: Sleeping Soldiers AU

See, I don't really subscribe to the "halfway to archaeologist!Jaster" fanon. I'm especially reticent to engage with the Jocasta ship, honestly.

But... okay, here's the thing. It does feel pretty incongruous with how I've written Jaster thus far. I can believe him having like. A 'classical' education. Not actually tutored like a noble, but that he sought out the same subjects as an adult to make sure he understood how to rule once he started having a proper political angle. He's a history nerd in the way that a particularly political/philosophical aristocrat of the 18th century would have been.

Military history, philosophical history, political and even some arts... but not actually in an archaeological sense.

(Also, it raises my hackles because it's one of those things that feels like it's heavily associated with the whole "True Mandos Were Best Mandos" crowd.)

It also really depends on the era! Tarre makes more sense than Jaster, just because of the timescale! The soldiers are millennia buried by the time Jaster is born! That said, even Tarre is a few millennia late but... makes more sense than Jaster.

Most likely, there are historians and archaeologists coming by every few centuries, as new generations encounter the issue, and older analyses are lost in the depths of the archives. Frequency tapers off after a few millennia, but... by the time Jaster is around?

It's 100% a New Mandalorian with an art history doctorate. (With a military symbolism specialty, in this case.)

It's probably not a New Mando if it's an Early On moment, but it probably is a New Mando if the Jedi start getting Weird Vibes and investigating the soldiers in the decades leading up to the Prequels.

Would the New Mandalorians know more than the traditionalists? Not necessarily. Would they know less? Actually, no.

I firmly believe that the New Mandalorians are taught about their histories in a "German kids learn about WWII atrocities, going on field trips to historic sites of said horrors, so their teachers can stress that they don't repeat the mistakes of the past" kind of way. I imagine the New Mandos would have plenty of research and records in regards to actual history, with plenty of museums and such. Part of maintaining pacifism is ensuring that the coming generations understand what led them to pacifism in the first place.

Is this thousands of years in the past, and thus difficult to research? Yes, but the traditionalists would have that same problem.

More of them, even. If the New Mandos have been around for seven hundred years, like Legends claims, then the traditionalists have probably have lost a lot of history through various battles and bombings, while the New Mandalorians, while not entirely escaping large scale destruction and such attacks, are much more likely to have protected and maintained their sites, simply by not courting war as a matter of culture. The traditionalists, meanwhile, would have had a much stronger emotional and cultural attachment to legends and themes, though I'll admit those are probably prone to revisionism, much like real-world folklore and mythology.

As @atagotiak put it:

Ehhhh. The traditionalists do care about legends and history and stuff. Often in an idealized way, sure. But you could argue that they’d have more reason than new mandos to be into these stories. Which, to be clear, isn’t like, saying that Jaster is definitely a part-time historian or anything like that. It’s just I don’t think one side would have an advantage over another. (edited)

So the New Mandos and Trad Mandos are probably on an even playing ground, insofar as skill and resources and knowledge go.

But by Jaster's time, the Jedi would have more reason to think the New Mandos would cooperate. No real downside to asking them when it comes to knowledge/skill, and an upside in terms of 'not getting shot when asking.'

As Tia said:

And even if we assume Jaster is a big history nerd and would be receptive to the Jedi (and tbh there’s even less indication of the latter) there’s no reason to think the Jedi would know that.

So yeah, when the soldiers start having Vibes And The Force Becomes Suspiciously Active on that level... New Mando archaeologist, definitely.

[enderbot-magic]

Not sure if I can ask this on the mix au but are we gonna see Kliff get powers back?

The simple answer is no.

The destroyed synth is like destroying a big part of your ability to grow, and your growth too. He bonded with it, his powers are attached to it, and with it unable to be repaired he’s also unable to fully embrace the lost power. He’s effectively stunted permanently.

There is a reason why destroyed instruments are a big deal in this universe, especially those went sentimental value.

However, I will say he has potential he can reach. If you lose something, you’re bound to grow stronger in another aspect to compensate for it. He’s actually not aware of this yet, but it’s been shown, and whether he’s aware or not it’s what makes him perfect for his role in Neo nsr. I won’t say it just yet, I wanna see if you can guess, but it’s great.

But keep in mind: It’s not the same as fulfilling what he lost in his time abilities: The most he can manage is future vision, some bootstrap paradoxes to extreme a parry (which will bite him back later because you don’t just do that without consequences), that’s it.

[trans-hero-of-time]

So what I’m suspecting is this game is gonna be an AU

Aaaaaaand we’ve got a bootstrap time paradox with eggbot!

[rayj4ck]

So what headcanons do you have for some of the aus?

Oooooh boy, loaded question. 

Azura Noceda!AU

-Azura kind of becomes the fun aunt. Everyone comes over to the Owl House a lot more to hang out with her. 

-Eda is genuinely pretty hurt for a while, maybe an episode or two, until 

–Luz goes to her and keeps up like nothing is wrong, and when Eda asks “Whys don’t you just learn from Azura?” Luz goes “But I want to learn from you.” and it’s the only time we ever see Eda cry.

–Azura comes in and Eda gets all aggressive like “Why don’t you go hang out with Luz? She likes you more anyway.” But Azura doesn’t take the bite, instead she hugs Eda really tight and thanks her profusely. “Without you, I would have never met my niece again.” Eda is stunned, but she eventually she hugs back, until Azura pulls away and goes “Come on, Luz is trying to make us dinner, but I think she’s going to burn your house down before that works out.”

GWAL!AU

-There’s so much about the human world that’s different of course, everything hi-tech, history, and all the rest. But man, it’s all about the FOOD.

-I don’t know what people eat on the Isles, but man it’s probably not great.

-For a while, it’s all candy. Chocolate, popcorn, cotton candy, lemonade, all that.

-Even Luz, who would love nothing more than to gorge herself on candy too, thinks maybe they went too far

-It’s after the worst stomach aches of their entire lives that they decide to tone the sugar back a bit. 

-But that leads them to discover all the other good stuff. Mashed potatoes, pasta, burgers, broccoli, apples, oranges, it’s all new and exciting and doesn’t make you feel like vomiting afterward.

-Gus would probably go vegetarian. You’d think Willow, but if anything her empathy for plants pushes her more toward meat. Amity has no leaning, and will eat anything.

DnD!AU

-Honestly, my lack of knowledge kinda kneecaps my ability to headcanon here. 

-I think it would be cool if they got an airship and started wandering the planet as an adventuring crew, but that’s about it.

Future Luz!AU

-Luz, Amity, Gus and Willow grow up to be a close-knit group of friends, despite Luz not living in the witch realm.

-One day, while visiting Amity (romantically or platonically, up to you), a magic mishap sends her back in time with some of Amity’s hair dye on. 

-Before she gets back, a human author catches sight of her doing magic and uses it as inspiration for a book series, and Luz realizes she basically bootstrap-paradoxes herself into existing, and has to keep going back in time to make sure the timeline stays on the right path.