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#bedlam au
ax3-e0ns · 2 months
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okay so I'm just gonna upload a few older pieces that I don't think I've uploaded but will do now since I wanna clean out some files n all.
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catsafarithewriter · 3 months
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A/N: Part 37 of the Bedlam AU! This part is a longer piece, but there was no tidy place to split it, so you get all of this! Enjoy! I certainly enjoyed writing it ;)
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Haru is not afraid of the dark.
After all, she's been on enough cases where the odd dungeon delving, or cave diving, or secret passage walkthrough with non-existent light has been necessary, so she's familiar with dark. But the thing is, absolute darkness is rare. Usually there's a lantern, or starlight, or even bioluminescent algae to shed some light, and that's not even considering Baron's light magic. Usually, even if she can't see much, there's still a vague sense of her surroundings.
Behind the blindfold, it's nothing but black.
Haru is not afraid of the dark, but her heart skitters nonetheless. There is something about the complete nothingness, something about the spidersilk on her skin, something about the stillness of the air, that feels all wrong.
Then again, simply knowing that on the other side of the blindfold is a soul-sucking monster might also do that to a gal.
"Haru?"
"Haru, what's happening?"
The voices are indistinguishable from one another, perfect copies of Baron's voice. It sounds like both are stood before her, one to the left, the other to the right.
"It's one of the Bedlam's games," she says. "One of you is the real Baron, and the other is the Bedlam in disguise. I need to guess which one is real."
"I am!" one Baron cries.
"Naturally, you would say that," the other retorts.
"Yes. Because it is the natural thing to say. At least, it is if you're real."
"Or if you're pretending to be."
"Enough!"
At Haru's command, both Barons went silent.
"This isn't a puzzle that's gonna be solved by who can shout the loudest, or insist they're a real boy the most often. From now on, you only speak when I ask you something, got it?"
"Yes, Haru."
"Yes."
"Okay, good."
Haru's mind races over the options. There is always a possibility that neither is the real Baron... but somehow she doubts it. It's not that she doesn't think the Bedlam is above cheating, but rather that everything she's encountered so far implies that weaving a new Baron puppet would take time, and she's somewhat sprung this upon him.
So that leaves... well, one Bedlam masquerading as Baron, and one real Baron. Still, there are ways the Bedlam could cheat.
"Both of you, hold out your hand," she orders. "One on my left, the other on my right."
She feels cotton brush against her fingers, and she curls her hand around each gloved wrist. "This way there can be no secret switcharoos happening while I'm blindfolded," she says.
"Clever," the right Baron approves.
"What did I say? No talking unless I ask you something."
Haru wants to pace, but there's no way of doing that without trawling both Baron's behind her like two wayward children. If she could see them, this would be easy – the Bedlam seems unable to create puppets or alter himself without button eyes – but then that explains the blindfold. That said...
She runs her hands up the respective Barons arms If the Bedlam is limited by button eyes, she'll be able to feel them by brushing a hand across his face. Her hands have only reached their shoulders when both vanish.
"Hey!"
"Now, now, now," the Bedlam's voice croons. "That'd be cheating."
"You didn't set any such rules when we started," Haru retorts.
"You're making this a thing of logic, rather than of knowing. The point of this game was you proving you could recognise your Baron blindfolded–"
"Which you've helpfully provided."
"–so if you go looking for my button eyes, where's the fun in that? Where's the creativity? Prove to me you know him for who he is, not who I am."
"I take it from the fact I still can't see a thing that I get a second chance?"
"I'm looking forward to you guessing wrong."
"Bold words from the monster who's just had to take a time out to establish extra rules," Haru scoffs. "So, what am I allowed to do?"
"Why, talk, of course. Ask questions."
"You've been watching me for months. I doubt there's much I could ask that you wouldn't know."
"But you've known the Baron longer than that," the Bedlam assures. "I'm sure there's something you can ask him that only he will know. Now, if you're quite done complaining about the game..."
The world shifts, and suddenly there is a gloved wrist in both of Haru's hands. "Baron? Are you back?"
"Yes," two voices chorus.
"Good. Now, let me think."
The Bedlam's interruption has unnerved her more than she wants to let on. Questioning both Barons on their knowledge had been Haru's next plan, but the Bedlam's assurance that such a scheme might work seems... odd. Even if he had only been watching for a few months – and that is plenty of time – he still managed to make a very convincing perfect world for Haru.
And Haru had talked with the Bureau so often (at least before her exile) that the Bedlam probably overheard them reminiscing about the past. He certainly knew about the Cat Kingdom and Katzen Blüt. And that was at least a decade ago.
Still, there were ways in which the Baron-Bedlam had differed from the original Baron. Maybe the Bedlam hasn't learnt from his mistakes. Some habits die hard, after all...
But, oh, this is going to break her heart.
"I have a question for you," she says eventually. "I want you to answer it truthfully, one at a time. Was what the Bedlam said earlier true? Do you..." She falters, and steadies her voice before attempting it anew. "Do you wish I was a Creation too? Would you have still thrown me out of the Bureau had I been... like you?"
Was I not enough?
She turns her head to her right. "You first."
Right Baron cradles her hand in both hands, his hold soft and precious. "No, never," he promises. "Haru, the Bedlam preys on our worst insecurities, using them make us doubt ourselves until we leave our world and all its imperfections behind. He said what he knew would wound you most. He used the biggest mistake of my life and used it to convince you that I didn't love you, and for that there is no apology I can give that will do justice to the harm I've done."
She feels Right Baron move closer, and she shakes her head, even though all her heart wants to do is fall into the embrace he would surely give.
Right Baron reads her correctly and backs off, but is still closer than before. "It's taken all of... this for me to see the error of my ways – taken me almost losing you – but now I see I never should have pushed you away. Instead I should have told you the truth: that I love you, exactly as you are."
Haru swallows. For the first time, she's glad of the blindfold – glad that neither can see the effect those words have had on her. Still, her mouth wavers as she turns her head to the left.
She doubts either one miss the way it takes her two tries before she can speak, and when she does she cannot fully hide the tremour.
"Now you."
Left Baron doesn't speak immediately. Though she can hear his breathing to be steady, she can feel his erratic pulse from the wrist caught in her grip.
"It would be a lie to say things would not be... simpler, if you were a Creation," Left Baron says. In contrast to Right Baron's heartfelt fervour, Left Baron's words are soft and sad. "Humans are so fragile and, sometimes, I think you forget that. But I don't. I can't. I look at you, and I see all the close shaves, all the near misses, all the times I could have lost you, and it breaks my heart."
His fingers brush against hers, so briefly that she could almost believe she imagined it.
"So would I have thrown you out of the Bureau had you been a Creation? No."
Haru can't help it; a pained, disgusted sound rises through her throat. She releases Left Baron's wrist before she can stop herself, but he grabs her hand.
"But would I love you if you were a Creation?" he asks, and his grip is firm and just a shade off desperate. "I don't know. Maybe. But even if I did, I would be in love with a different person. You would be different. Your compassion and bravery is rooted by your mortality, strengthened by your humanity, and that is the Haru I fell in love with."
Haru blinks and, even blindfolded, her eyes water. "It's you." She drops her hand away from Right Baron and cups Left Baron's face. She feels the dimple where eyes rest. No buttons. "It's really you."
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balyena-lu · 4 months
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XOver Fanfiction - Bedlam
Enma walked with nervous strides. His hoodie concealed most of his obvious features, specifically his eyes, considering that the pupils of his eyes took the shape of four pointers of a compass. Well, aside from that, the bandages on his face might lead people to take notice of that firstly. “Are you sure that we’re in the right place Dick?” Enma muttered, half listening to the small earpiece and half of his attention focused on his surroundings. The earpiece crackled to life, a mischievous voice came to life. “Of course Enma, I wouldn’t put one of our best men out on the field if this would lead to a dead end, would I?” “I wouldn’t be so sure about that Dick, after what happened with Lenny…” The voice on the other end laughed and Enma faintly heard the doors whirring open. “Well, Lenny was… Lenny. Anyway, it looks like the guy I’m waiting for is here.” Saying that Enma straightened his top and let down the hood to look more unassuming. Slowly, a man wearing a Plague Doctor costume straight out of 17th century Europe neared Enma. While the attire was a bit confusing, Enma kept quiet and decided to just wait further before assessing the situation.
Enma walked with nervous strides. His hoodie concealed most of his obvious features, specifically his eyes, considering that the pupils of his eyes took the shape of four pointers of a compass. Well, aside from that, the bandages on his face might lead people to take notice of that firstly.
“Are you sure that we’re in the right place Dick?” Enma muttered, half listening to the small earpiece and half of his attention focused on his surroundings. The earpiece crackled to life, a mischievous voice came to life. “Of course Enma, I wouldn’t put one of our best men out on the field if this would lead to a dead end, would I?” 
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that Dick, after what happened with Lenny…”
The voice on the other end laughed and Enma faintly heard the doors whirring open. 
“Well, Lenny was… Lenny. Anyway, it looks like the guy I’m waiting for is here.” Saying that Enma straightened his top and let down the hood to look more unassuming. Slowly, a man wearing a Plague Doctor costume straight out of 17th century Europe neared Enma. While the attire was a bit confusing, Enma kept quiet and decided to just wait further before assessing the situation.
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weirdozjunkary · 2 months
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What is bro yapping about?
Linx belongs to— @pink-link-lemonade
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bedlamsbard · 5 months
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bad sign about CCverse Steve that I, a known Steve girl, have literally no thoughts on him as a character. like...none.
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vanillaflowerstuff · 1 year
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i know mermay is almost over and i kept forgetting to draw this, but! bedlamstacks mermaid au! merrick is a marine biologist instead of a botanist. no idea what the story is, other than that
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pokedocbedlam · 1 year
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For me, it's still Mantits Monday! And YOU deserve shirtless Submas regardless of the day~
(Technically these are Selkie AU designs, to explain some of the details!)
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saintlygames · 1 year
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modern merrick and raphael...who are they gossiping about?? sketch by the incredible, the iconic, the absolutely godly @spittinwatches <3
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trufflesandbedlam · 3 months
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I love vinyl stickers.⁣ ⁣ This is the greatest understatement, because when I find a new material I like, I want to use it everywhere. I've had an itch to work on a Book Shop design for a little while — it's been on my wishlist of designs for forever — but I guess I was holding back on actually designing something because I didn't have a great way to translate it into the format I wanted. ⁣ ⁣ Enter: the awesome matte vinyl laminate that has a silky texture and protects my sticker prints and can handle a splash of water. ⁣ ⁣ So, then I guess I got a little carried away? I have nine designs for shops from a Little Town, all inspired by fanfic AU settings. These are the first three. 😊 They'll be up in the shop this week.⁣ ⁣ #fanfic #fanfiction #au #alternateuniverse #bookshop#teashop #bakeshop #bakerylove #bookshoplove#teashoplovers #sticker #stickershop #stickershops#cutestickers #stationery #stationeryshop
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pagingdoctorbedlam · 1 month
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Hi my name is Doc Bedlam and my hobby is making overly complex and detailed World of Darkness AUs for anything I like ever, complete with character sheets.
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jasbell · 1 month
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"Prominent citizens of Wonderland! (And Alice) Allow me to introduce to you, the new and improved; ULTRA MAD HATTER!"
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ax3-e0ns · 1 year
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I like having specific color pallets depending on my AU. Rouge is no exception to this in regards to the red, teal, and browns/creams color pallet and I think this came out great.
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catsafarithewriter · 10 months
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A/N: and now the fun officially begins! When/if I finish this, I do plan to upload this to AO3, but you lovely folk shall be my guinea pigs ;)
Part 1
x
Haru never meant to fall for Baron a second time but, as it turns out, she has a type – and that type is unattainable immortal cat gentleman.
She hadn't even fallen for him in the same way, which might at least have been understandable. No, this time she hadn't fallen for his suave ways, his chiverous habits, or his ability to save one in the nick of time and look good while doing it (although none of these things had dissuaded her). This time, she had fallen for him while older, allegedly wiser, and working with the Bureau (which, given the number of near misses, might have nullified the wiser claim) in a hundred mundane little moments.
She fell for his laugh (all of them, from his breathless, I'm about to do something reckless laugh that accompanied them on too many cases, to his sheepish chuckle when he was trying not to encourage more of Muta and Toto's bickering, to the silent laughter she could feel while they sat, shoulder-to-shoulder, reading beside one another). She fell for the way he would read aloud whatever passage had caught his humour, voice velvet-smooth, and the way he would listen to her when she read from her own novel. She fell for their conversational cups of tea, for their shared knowing looks, for the rightness when they worked in tandem on a case.
She fell slowly, gently, until one day she realised that there was no place she'd rather be than alongside him and their Bureau.
The only real flaw (okay, perhaps not the only flaw, but the one which was a source of some consternation) was that Baron was... well, somewhat elusive when it came to voicing matters of the heart. (A cruel irony, given that her first encounter with him, so many years ago now, had been the catalyst for her finding her own voice.)
She was... fairly certain he returned her feelings.  77% perhaps 82% on a good day. After all, there were only so many ways to translate the looks he threw her way and her way alone. (At least, she assumed; she hadn't spotted Toto or Muta receiving any such looks, but that didn't entirely rule out it just being Baron being Baron - i.e. being utterly oblivious as to what someone else would consider flirting.) And, had he been anyone else, she might have plucked up the courage to come forward with her own inconvenient, lovestruck emotions, and hope he either swooned into her arms, or did the polite thing and pretend it never happened if her feelings were somehow one-sided.
But he wasn't anyone else. This was Baron, her coworker (boss? colleague?? She wasn't entirely sure what the hierarchy was in the Bureau) for whom the phrase 'needlessly dramatic' had been created, and who had leapt out of a window upon being plied with a love confession at least twice. (And that was counting only windows and only incidences Haru was aware of. She suspected the actual number of times Baron had made a dramatic exit following someone else's outpouring of emotions was probably far, far higher.)
So she knows to hold her tongue, to keep her heart under lock and key where Baron is concerned. And she is okay with this – has accepted this in an adult, mature way (read: complaining copiously to Hiromi, who is rather under the impression Haru is pining after a fellow volunteer at the charity she spends her weekends at) as an unexpected cost of running with the Bureau. After all, the price of a little pining was worth it for the adventure, and magic, and travelling to other worlds which had drawn her back to the Cat Bureau in the first place.
Even if, sometimes, those other worlds don't always agree with her.
She sits on a Bureau armchair now and tries not to bleed onto the furniture. (She had suggested getting fixed up outside, but Baron had informed her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't about to be left on any paving slabs in her current state.) She leans her head back, gently lightheaded from the blood loss, and makes the concious decision to not watch Baron patch up her bloodied shoulder. It wasn't that she was usually squeamish but... well, she didn't really want to think about how much blood she'd misplaced.
"Before you scold me," she says to the ceiling, "you should remind yourself that you would have done the exact same thing if our roles had been reversed."
"Indeed," he replies tightly, "but only one of us isn't going to bleed out if stabbed."
"If I hadn't interceded, he would have burnt you to a crisp. And we both know that that's one thing your Creation tricks wouldn't have saved you from."
"Instead, you take it upon yourself to have a cutlass run through you."
"I didn't mean for it to happen," she argues ruefully. "Strangely enough, I was more occupied with getting the fireglove off him. The cutlass was incidental." Her breath hitches as Baron catches on the wound.
She feels him freeze, and there is an unspoken apology in his next attempt to tend to the injury. "It very nearly wasn't incidental," he admonishes. "A little bit more to the right, and he would have cleaved your heart in two."
"Then it's just as well I dodged left, isn't it?"
"It could have easily gone either way."
"But it didn't. Baron, I know what I'm doing."
"And that is?"
"Well, today it was stopping you from getting turned into ornamental firewood, and only getting minorly stabbed."
"This isn't minor," he grumbles.
"It's not fatal." She rolls her gaze to Baron, raising an eyebrow. "What was I meant to do? Stand back and watch the love of my life be used like kindle?"
His ministrations falter; from this proximity she can see the way his eyes widen, hear the way his breath catches.
Oh.
See, this is why conversations when one is down a pint and a half of blood is a bad idea, she laments. You do stupid things like confess long-repressed crushes and you can't even make a run for it.
"I didn't realise–" he begins. Now he is the one carefully avoiding her gaze, attention fixed doggedly on her shoulder.
"Yeah, well, I did my best to avoid shouting it from the rooftops. Already did that once, it didn't get me very far." She hopes to tug a reluctant smile free with that joke, but his expression doesn't shift.
"How long have you felt this way?"
"About... a year?" Long enough to assure herself she wasn't merely experiencing a repeat of her original schoolgirl crush – that this was, unfortunately, not going anywhere. "I didn't want to make things awkward, and, you know, you don't have the greatest track record with reacting to these sorts of things, so I just..."
"Stayed."
"Yeah." There is a shadow in Baron's eyes which she does not recognise. "Look, I'm an adult. I'm not going to let it get in the way of helping here – I mean, you don't seem to have realised I felt this way until now," which, honestly, she's a little disappointed to learn, "so obviously I've been handling it just fine..."
"Is that why you keep returning here?" he asks. His voice is soft in a way Haru doesn't know how to read. "For me?"
She snorts, and then immediately regrets it as her shoulder blazes into pain again. "I mean, way to reduce me down to a one-note lady, Baron. I come here because I like the work we do here – I like the other worlds and the magic and the helping – and I like seeing Toto and Muta too. But," and her body somehow manages to summon up the spare blood for a blush, "I would be lying if I said that spending time with you wasn't also a part of that."
"You nearly died today because of that."
"I've been nearly dying since before we ever met," she reminds him bluntly. "The only reason I ever found the Bureau in the first place was because I ran in front of a speeding lorry trying to save a cat. And then when I was twenty, I nearly drowned trying to haul a kid out of a river. I'm pretty good at nearly dying, emphasis on the nearly."
"One day it may be fatal."
"I'm mortal. That's kind of unavoidable."
Baron is silent for a good long while. He's almost finished binding up Haru's shoulder, when he says, "I'm not so sure this was a good idea."
Haru rolls her eyes. "I did say I was going to bleed all over your furniture if you insisted on me sitting here–"
"Not that." He pins the bandages into place and his hand automatically lingers there, before making the concious decision to break the contact. It feels pained, somehow. "Your being part of the Bureau."
Haru snatches a breath; her shoulder flares up again but she barely even notes it. Baron's words feel like a kick in the ribs. "Because of some near miss? Come on, Baron; I think I've proven that I can handle myself."
"Love makes us reckless," Baron says. His gaze is on his hand. Blood stains the ginger fur; already it's starting to dry a russet-brown. "As it did today. You didn't know you would survive the altercation today – but more importantly, it didn't matter to you if it meant saving me. And I cannot be responsible for that."
"You say that like it wasn't my own choice."
"Then let me rephrase: I don't want to see you throw away your life for me."
"Then look away," Haru says curtly.
"I have." His eyes crinkle, shame lining his brow. "I've chosen not to see the sacrifices you make in your human life to be with the Bureau – the lies you've had to tell, the secrets you've kept, the moments you've missed."
"I haven't–"
"It was your mother's 60th last month," he says, "and you spent it with us, trying to track down an assassin in the Shadow Kingdom."
"To be fair, I didn't know that case was going to overrun so badly."
"I know you had an offer of promotion at your work, but you turned it down when it meant less flexible hours you wouldn't be able to change if a case turned up."
"So I like having more control over my days off, so what?"
"You lie constantly to your best friend to cover up the scars you suffer while working here."
"What am I meant to tell her? That a ghost pirate stabbed me? It's fine, Baron. I have everything under control."
"No," he says, "you don't. But you will soon."
Unease creeps beneath Haru's skin. "What do you mean by that?"
He finally meets her gaze, and the apology in his eyes is overshadowed only by his own surety. "It means, Miss Haru, that from today onwards you are free from the Cat Bureau." He stands, and the distance between them is only a foot, but it might as well have been a mile. "We will not be needing your services again."
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ask-eldritchtale · 2 months
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Here’s the original concept designs for Bedlam and Dolor, two of the eldritch horrors that fandom would be to the characters.
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sesamestreep · 1 year
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Merrick/Raphael, "instantly"
i keep telling myself I'm going to write an honest-to-god coffee shop AU for these dorks and then I never do, so here's the espresso shot version 🤎
It’s another busy afternoon in the café and this time Inti is out because Aquila brought home a nasty case of strep from school and gave it to her, so Raphael is stuck at the register again and he’s in such an efficient rhythm with taking customers’ orders that, once Merrick gets to the front of the line, he just rings up his usual without even asking. It’s only after Raphael has told him his total that he looks up to find Merrick staring at him with wide eyes and he instantly regrets every choice that has lead him to this moment.
“Sorry, I should have—”
“No, it’s fine,” Merrick says, fumbling to quickly pay with his card. If there’s one thing Raphael has noticed about him (aside from his name and his usual order and…well, quite a few things, now that he thinks about it), it’s how much he hates being in the way. He’s obsessively polite about that in particular.
“You did want your usual, right?” Raphael asks, and he’s not embarrassed that he remembered. He isn’t. It just means he’s good at his job. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about!
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
“Merrick…”
“That’s what I wanted,” he says, firmly, and then gives Raphael a hesitant smile. “I just didn’t know I was so predictable.”
Raphael remembers what Inti’s always scolding him about and tries smiling back. “Not predictable,” he says. “Memorable.”
“Oh,” Merrick replies, looking pinker than he had a moment ago, despite having just come in from the cold. “Well, that’s certainly better.”
“You staying, or…?”
“Yeah, I thought I might.”
“Good. I’ll, uh…”
Merrick nods, even though Raphael hasn’t managed to articulate his thought yet. “Sure. I’ll be around, if you want me.”
With that, he makes way for the next customer in line and Raphael is left to think about what exactly it is that he wants, which is not a subject he allows himself to dwell on very often. He counts it as a minor miracle that he gets anyone's drink order right after that.
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bedlamsbard · 7 months
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I don't want What If to give us more zombies, I want What If to give us the man, the myth, the legend
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