Lost in Time Series

Lost in Time is a fanfiction series set in the Ice Age world by thelonemongrel.

The series begins with the fittingly titled Lost in Time: Origins, which sets forth the events of the main characters Frank and his wife Claire, their son Ben, and his sister Sam and her husband Terry, along with a few minor characters as they find themselves stranded in the Ice Age, coming across the herd as they try to escape the clutches of the villainous Not Quite Dead Soto as their bonds deepen with their new animals friends and revelations come to the surface, threatening nearly everything Frank and Manny hold dear.

The sequel to the first story released on February 6th, 2012, and is called Lost in Time: Yesterday's Child and it details what has become of the herd twelve years later and what has happened with them since the events that made them national and across timelines heroes in Origins but a new threat - and one that hits close to home, especially for Manny - has struck as they return to the Bredelands, Manny's old home that was foreshadowed in Origins since the humanity of the original film has fled south, into the Bredelands and is causing trouble for the animal residents. The herd soon finds themselves trapped on the verge of war, forced to choose between their own survival... and the survival of the human race. Stay tuned for further developments and more additions to its folder on this page as the story really gets into the action!

An anticipated five other stories are due to become a part of this series, starting with Lost in Time: Yesterday's Child (now released and with four chapters), which is then to be followed by To Kill a King and then the fourth story, Ghosts of Future Past and then after that, the fifth story, Harbinger, and then the sixth story and the finale, Journey's End. Come along on the journey and experience an adventure filled with sacrifice, loyalty and excitement!

Tropes used in Lost in Time Series include:

Lost in Time: Origins

  • Action Fic Quiet Drama Scene: The scenes of chapter twenty-eight where the herd has a defiant celebration that is overseen by two others....
  • Action Girl: Sam Howard is implied to be one in Origins and the spin-off Destiny confirms it.
  • Action Mom: Claire, even though she is not comfortable with guns or warfare at all, she will come to the aid of her family if needed in that way if worst comes to worst. See her actions in the gorge ambush battle in chapter fourteen at the aforementioned gorge and her ferocity at Fort Halstead in chapter thirty during the showdown with Soto and his army.
  • Alternate Timeline: Hudson comes from a timeline where animals are sentient and can talk and be friends with humans, and by the end of Origins it has been fulfilled - although at the cost of half of the herd's lives, since the other remaining half of the herd Set Right What Once Went Wrong by returning to the past to make sure another herd survives and ultimately creates the future that Hudson hails from.
  • And This Is For: The Diego of the first timeline says "This is for Frank, Mark, and everyone else you've tortured over the years," before giving the signal for the rest behind him to slay Soto, who has injured Frank (of the second timeline) badly only moments before.
  • Anyone Can Die: As exemplified by the deaths of The Hero Frank, along with his wife Claire, his sister Sam, Ellie and Sid and the possums of the herd, and the doctor Nigel in the disastrous outcome of the Battle of Halstead Pass in the first timeline before the remainder of the original herd go back in time to ensure that a second herd survives.
  • Alternate Universe Fic:
  • Apocalypse Wow: Chapter.thirty.
  • Arc Words: "A herd will survive." Also, more cryptically, "the Remnant", especially in the latter chapters of the novel.
  • Anachronism Stew: The bases - fusion-powered trucks yet levers for lifts.
  • Ascended Extra: Hudson, the dire wolf.
  • The Atoner Frank became this after he was forced to experience the execution of several civilians during the Troubles, and the guilt of it has never left him, causing him to make his Heroic Sacrifice in chapter thirty "The Wages of Sin" partly due to the memory the civilians who died near the river Thames in the midst of the Troubles, making his sacrifice not only for the herd, mainly Diego, but also for those who had died long ago in the past, and that he has never forgiven himself for.
  • Author Catchphrase: "Brave New World" has become a refrain as the story reaches its climax. Also doubles as a Shout-Out/To Shakespeare.
  • Badass: Frank, Terry, Buck, Diego... even Sid takes a level in badass!
  • Battle Couple: Terry Daniels and Sam Howard.
  • Big Bad: Soto in Origins. Another Bigger Bad is already being foreshadowed though...
  • Big Badass Battle Sequence: the fight scenes of chapter thirty "Wages of Sin".
  • Big "What?": Diego says this after he asks why Frank had this expedition come here, and Frank explains that the UN forced his hand.
  • Big No: Diego lets out one as he watches Frank TakeTheBullet for him in chapter thirty "The Wages of Sin."
  • Blood From the Mouth After thrusting his sword into Soto, killing him, Frank slumps to the ground, letting out a chuckle that causes blood to trickle from his mouth in chapter thirty, "The Wages of Sin".
  • Breakout Character: Hudson, and to a lesser extent, Sam and Terry.
  • Character Development: All of the major characters (Frank, Terry, Manny and Sid especially) have grown during their experiences in the story.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Over and over again, but for some reason readers don't catch them.
    • A blatant Chekhov's Gun that everyone missed is the fact that the dire wolf James Hudson has a surname. More info about this under Fridge Brilliance on the YMMV tab.
  • Chekhov's Skill Buck, Diego and Sid's ability to handle a gun.
  • Chess Motifs: The conversation that Second Timeline! Frank has with Faux-Hudson is a very clever one, with different animals of the Ice Age as corresponding chess pieces: mammoths for kings and queens, sabres for knights, humans for rooks, weasels for bishops, and an assortment of possums and sloths for pawns. Faux-Hudson employs the game to illustrate to Frank the gravity of the herd's importance to events, and many hints dropped in this will prove important later to the rest of the Series.
  • Cigarette of Anxiety: Terry Daniels does this when he's feeling the strain of his choices and so he smokes to try and relieve his nervousness about them in chapter ten before Frank confronts him to learn the truth about why he sided with Soto.
  • Crapsack World: It becomes evident after chapter seventeen "All's Quiet on the Western Front" that the Ice Age has become this due to the effects of time travel
  • Cliff Hanger: Many, and done very well. Chapter thirty, "The Wages of Sin", that ends with the base being engulfed in flames as a shock wave radiates with half the herd dead is one of the best and most chilling.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive The UN, who forced Frank's hand in the decision to go to the Ice Age.
  • Curse Cut Short: Frank in chapter twenty-nine "Minutes to Midnight pt 2" as he is cut off from saying "sh-". Terry cuts short another curse as he shoots his gun into the cave where his nephew Ben and Peaches are hiding, realising his mistake and trying hard not to injure them.
  • Creator Provincialism: All of the main characters, bar one, are English, and the major background to the story that is detailed below is set in England/London, and the creator's knowledge of London and England actually lends a strong sense of realism to the story and one of the reasons why you eventually bond with the characters because their backstories in "the Troubles" have made them very human to readers.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: "The Troubles" when they first began to be alluded to in chapter sixteen "Partings" and the chapters after "Partings" such as seventeen, "All's Quiet on the Western Front", as neither the readers or the main Ice Age cast knew anything about "The Troubles."
  • Darker and Edgier: In comparison to much of the Ice Age fanfiction fare available, which is Lighter and Fluffier.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Frank, Sam, and Hudson. Mark also counts.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Hudson, and how. Also Frank and Terry, and at times, Sam.
  • Defiant to the End: Frank when he faces off against Soto whilst mortally injured at the climax of chapter thirty, "The Wages of Sin."
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Fort Halstead translates to "Fort Fortress."
  • Description Cut: In chapter twenty-three "The Tunnel" this occurs between Manny and Ellie in a conversation, wondering how the others are doing. Ellie responds that they must be doing fine. Cut to Frank, Diego, Buck, and Sid, and they are not doing as fine as Ellie thinks they are....
  • Determinator: Frank Howard and his sister Sam. They will let nothing discourage them from their purposes, whatever they may be.
  • Doorstopper: As of chapter 35, the fanfic is now the equivalent of a 500 page novel - and the story isn't even finished yet! Currently, the fic is 197,174 words long complete, definitely a short Doorstopper but still the longest story in the archive. Word of God intends for the sequel Lost in Time: Yesterday's Child to be shorter in length (though still long).
  • Drowning My Sorrows: Frank during the flashbacks of chapter ten "Faust" since his memories of the Troubles are tormenting him and this is his way of dealing with it, much to Sam's annoyance and Terry's reluctance to tell Frank that Sam wants him to accompany them on the expedition through time.
    • Frank has a tendency to drink whenever he feels guilty, most particularly when it comes to his part in the massacre in the Troubles. In the context of the story he uses Terry's whiskey to get back at him even though he was drinking it out of guilt for the abrasive, cold manner that he had treated Terry previously.
  • The End of the World as We Know It Heavily implied to be the case due to the "Troubles" and time being destroyed (completely accidentally, Frank had no idea that people would have to follow them back into the ice age...)
  • Evil Plan: Soto, Soto, Soto. The Remnant.
  • Eye Scream Terry does this to one of the cave bears he is fighting with near the end of the big battle.
  • Family-Unfriendly Violence: This story has loads of it, with events like two young children nearly being killed in an ambush led by Terry, and the implications of genocide as the time stream begins to unravel and the herd races to save themselves and half end up dying, along with countless others in "The Wages of Sin" chapter thirty.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: Soto is dispatched by being loaded into with dozens of bullets after he smashes Frank into a wall after Frank was trying to learn who his masters were and offer him a chance to repent in chapter thirty-two "Once More Unto the Breach."
  • Famed in Story: The Sub-Zero Heroes's herd.
  • Fan Art: The story does have some - namely a movie-poster creation and concept art which doubles both as fanart and as material for the fanmade animation (made with the same animation equipment that helped create the first Ice Age film!) that is in production currently.
  • Fanfic: And there is a Fanfic of the Fanfic, something that has never ever happened in the Ice Age fandom archive before.
  • Fever Dream Episode: Frank has at least two.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: This is what happens after Terry and his group mutinies against Soto and joins the herd...though it did take them escaping the Meltdown Valley as it collapsed in on itself to do so!
  • Flash Back: Used to show the disastrous effects of the Troubles, and was one of the first times to actually allude to them, creating a Cryptic Background Reference.
  • Foreshadowing: Loads of it, notably with the character of Hudson. and the significant chess game played by Faux-Hudson and Frank at the beginning of chapter thirty-three, that is filled with tonnes of subtle hints and allusions to future events that Word of God has planned out.
  • Future Me Scares Me: Inversion, it's Frank's earlier self that he encounters during his FeverDreamEpisodes that scares him, not his future and/or present self - although he still carries with him the guilt of causing the deaths of a group of civilians in the midst of the "Troubles".
  • Genre Busting: This story could be categorized as sci-fi - adventure - spiritual - action - mystery - fantasy - drama - suspense - hurt/comfort, but since the site only allows two categories, it is only classified as sci-fi/adventure, although it clearly is not just that. This story is in fact a major Genre Busting story for the Ice Age fandom in and of itself. It has also had major influence in creating a subgenre of sci-fi stories taking place within the Ice Age in the fandom archive, but this story still remains the best out of all of them.
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: The incident with the time machine, the Troubles.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck: Terry averts this trope to hell and back.
  • Happily Married: All the main couples, from Frank and Claire to Sam and Terry to canon couple Manny and Ellie. (Known within the fandom as "Mellie.")
  • Heel Face Turn: Terry after Soto nearly causes him to kill his own nephew in the fourteenth chapter in Origins. And after his wife Sam's gentle questions eventually cause him to break down once he realises that Soto could make him kill her too, thus his decision to revolt.
  • Held Gaze: Twice in Chapter thirty, "The Wages of Sin". Once between Diego and Terry as they fight Soto's army, locking gazes gratefully after Terry has just saved Diego's life and then time appears to slow for Frank and Claire as he holds the gaze of his darling wife for the last time.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Frank for Diego, and by extension the civilians who died at his unwilling hands during the Troubles, in chapter thirty, "The Wages of Sin."
  • Hidden Depths: Terry once he makes his Heel Face Turn. For one thing, his Sickeningly Sweethearts behavior in relation to Sam becomes all the more prominent.
  • Hypothetical Casting: If this were a live-action film, Clive Owen would be Frank Howard, Marion Cotillard would be Claire Howard, Adam Baldwin would be Terry Daniels, and Sam Daniels would be Keira Knightley.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Terry Daniels and the petite Sam Howard.
  • Insistent Terminology: Provides much of the humour with Manny, especially the Callbacks to the movies that involve his statement, "I'm not fat. It's this fur."
    • Likewise, Frank seems to keep using phrases that mean "It can wait"
  • It Gets Worse: The latter half of Origins.
  • Jerkass: Terry before his Heel Face Turn.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Terry and Hudson.
  • Killed Off for Real: Sam, Claire, Ellie, Frank, Charlie, Sid, and Crash and Eddie out of the main cast in chapter thirty "Wages of Sin" although there is a Timey-Wimey Ball subversion of sorts since the remaining herd members from that timeline go back in time to ensure the survival of another herd.
  • Lampshade Hanging: This quote from Hudson in chapter twenty seven "The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men": Hudson snorted, "No, I'm saying we're actually in a novel, and governed by a plot!" He snapped back sarcastically. "Of course I'm saying this was planned!" He scanned the room. "We have been maneuvered into a trap."
  • Last Stand: The battle of chapter thirty "The Wages of Sin", where the entire herd bands together to face off Soto.
  • Literary Allusion Title: Several, notably chapter twenty-seven "The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men" taken from the Robert Burns poem, chapter thirty-two, "Once More Onto the Breach" William Shakespeare, Henry V, "Faust" mentioned in chapter seventeen, and chapter thirty, "The Wages of Sin" The Bible, Romans 6:23, and chapter twenty-five "Ashes to Ashes" from the funeral prayer from the Book of Common Prayer.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Just in the main cast, there is the canon characters, Frank and his wife Claire and their son Ben, Sam and Terry, Hudson, Nigel and Charlie, and don't forget Mark.
  • Made of Explodium: The bases, and how!
  • TV Tropes Made of Win Archive: Most definitely!
  • Meaningful Name: Samantha, Sam's Howard's full name, means "Heard by God" and is the feminine version of the name Samuel, and tis a good indicator of the type of person she is - the sole Christian in the cast barring Hudson. Her husband Terry, short for Terrence, also has a name fraught with import: his name means "maybe soft, maybe tender," a hint at his Hidden Depths and kindness beneath the Jerkass Facade that he shows the audience at first.
  • Mind Screw: The time travel element is well thought out, causing some readers' heads to spin...
  • Mood Whiplash: Relatively often as Origins begins to reach its climactic parts and as the predicament the herd is in gets worse.
  • More Than Meets the Eye: Sid, Terry, Sam, Claire.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Terry, Frank, Manny, Diego.
  • Mysterious Past: Hudson.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Frank's reaction to his involvement in the Troubles, notably his being part of an order that killed off a group of civilians at the river Thames.
  • Narrative Profanity Filter: Occasionally used, more often than not averted.
  • Non-Linear Character: Hudson the dire wolf, who has been sent back in time in Origins by Secretary-General Sam Daniels on an important assignment - make sure the herd is safe. He originally comes from the 21st Century, having been born in the year 2208, and as such his appearance in the first timeline wherein he meets the herd proves his position as a Non-Linear Character - his true timeline isn't the one he first appears in and he is in fact travelling backward in time.
  • Not Quite Dead: Soto, and he's back for Revenge. Or so it appears...
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Both versions of the trope have been employed at least twice.
  • Oh Crap: Said by Frank in chapter nineteen "The Complex pt 2" of Origins. And several times after that chapter, and a bit before... doubles as another Author Catchphrase.
  • One of the Boys: Sam Howard, who is obviously more comfortable in the company of her husband Terry and the other men, and is not afraid to stand alongside her husband in battle, and who is certainly not adverse to handling weaponry, unlike her sister-in-law Claire Howard, who only uses weapons to defend her family, whereas Sam likes the feel of a gun and is much more comfortable employing them. She even is upset that she wasn't with Frank's half of the herd because if she'd been with them, she would have had the opportunity of being part of a gun fight!
  • Omniscient Council of Vagueness: In chapters 27 and 35 in Origins.
  • Parental Abandonment: Sam and Frank lose their father during the Troubles whilst Sam is only eighteen and their mother died around Sam's birth; and in the first timeline before the original herd that we've been following for thirty-one chapters is bereaved of half their members including Sam, Claire, Frank, Nigel, Ellie, and her brothers, Ben Howard is left an orphan.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: First Timeline! Manny {called Manfred in the chapter to differentiate him from Second Timeline! Manny, who is just called by his nickname} in chapter thirty-one explains to his other self that the two combined groups of herds (from the First and Second Timelines) are: "Ready to make that cat regret he was ever born"
  • Opposites Attract: Terry and Sam, and to a lesser extent, Manny and Ellie (at least according to Canon).
  • Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Sam Daniels and Claire Howard both have dark hair and light skin, making them this trope.
  • Recursive Fanfiction: The spin-off story Lost In Time: Destiny written as a birthday present for the author of Lost in Time: Origins.Tis still in progress even though Origins itself is now complete.
  • The Reveal: Chapter twenty seven "The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men." Or aka "The chapter where Hudson at last explains all the mysteries surrounding him and gives some hope to the herd by doing so."
  • Revenge: Soto's shtick, or so it seems...
  • Retcon: Quite a few examples, both in-universe and out.
  • Rounded Character: Frank, Terry, Sam, Claire.
  • Rule of Cool: Well, it's a valid reason for why a truck can still run despite it being thrown through the air by an explosion, crashing through the ground as the Meltdown Valley is destroyed, and after getting driven by Sid...
  • Running Gag: Frank's Insistent Terminology of "It can wait," which he uses to avoid giving straight answers. This also provides some humour for the middle of the story when things beginning turning dark to alleviate the tone somewhat.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Frank is very much for this, given his arguments for staying behind and fighting Soto (despite the high probability that it means they may die) as a desire to set right what once went wrong for him when he fires upon the civilians in the Troubles. In a more straight example, the half-dead herd from the first timeline going back eight months in the past to prepare the second herd of that new timeline for the battle against Soto so that they will win this time, thus finally Setting Right What Once Went Wrong.
  • Sickeningly Sweethearts: This is how Sam and Terry usually act around each other, although they are rather restrained about it despite their touchy-feely behavior around each other, in comparison to Frank and Claire, who are not as open with their feelings as they are. It might have something to do with Sam and Terry being a Battle Couple, though....
  • Show, Don't Tell: A notable aspect about Origins, with very clear-cut, "see-able" images that are reminiscent of watching a movie instead of reading a fanfiction.
  • Shown Their Work: One valid reason why the time travel elements in the story are so MindScrewy.
  • Shout-Out / Call Back: There are many references made to the Ice Age movies along with many historical/literary allusions.
  • Something That Begins With Boring: Diego and Buck play this game to pass the time while they wait it out in chapter twenty-nine "Minutes to Midnight Pt 1".
  • Spirited Young Lady: Sam Howard.
  • Sure Why Not: Word of God has admitted that the characters got Retconned after Fanon saw them as a different nationality, altering them slightly from being American to British.
  • Taking the Bullet: Frank leaps in front of Diego to protect him from a stray bullet set off by a grizzly bear Terry was struggling with at the climax of the battle scene in chapter thirty "The Wages of Sin."
  • The Hero Dies: First Timeline!Frank's Heroic Sacrifice during the battle of Fort Halstead in the chapter "Wages of Sin."
  • Time Travel: A major plot point in fact, and Timey-Wimey Ball is even allowed to be employed to truly defeat Soto for good!
  • Time Travel Tropes:
  • Tempting Fate: Look no farther than chapter twenty seven "The Best-Laid Plans o' Mice And Men", the title is practically a Lampshade Hanging!
  • Took a Level in Badass: Sid, and how! It even causes him to return back to the Sid of the original movie, which is a pleasant, and refreshing surprise.
  • Tomboy: Sam Howard.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Sam Howard and Claire Howard. One is a biologist who hangs out often with the men, whereas the other is a botanist who derives pleasure from standing along her husband supportively and taking care of their son, Ben.
  • Those Two Guys: Nigel and Charlie.
  • True Companions: The humans eventually form one with the herd, starting with Frank and his family and later the herd (with Claire and Ben) forge a bond with the defectors from Soto's pack, which includes Terry and Sam as the spearheads along with Nigel and Charlie and half of the pack at the end of chapter twenty-one "A Rock and a Hard Place" with them as the valley crumbles around them.
  • Troperiffic: And this is only the beginning!
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: This trope typifies the relationship between Terry and Frank.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Frank and his father, Christopher Howard.
  • What Could Have Been: Word of God says that these are only a few of the WhatCouldHaveBeens
    • 1. Terry was intended to become a Complete Monster, who came completely under Soto's thumb after Sam is killed/he kills Sam/he engineers it so that Sam is killed (ideas vary)
    • 2. Time travel as a plot was non existent in the original draft of the plot, nor was the Meltdown Valley. Whilst Glacier Pass still featured, it bore no resemblance to the hellhole it had become, and in fact was completely untouched.
    • 3. Hudson and Mark didn't exist in the original draft.
    • 4. The story was initially intended to be, at most, about 19 chapters and about 20,000 words.
    • 5. Unlike the final version of the story, Frank's motives for bringing the expedition back in time were very different; instead of being forced to by a corrupted UN, he *chose* to go back...in short, he was a jerkass who willingly risked the integrity of the timeline.
    • 7. One early draft for chapter eighteen "The Complex pt 1" had a massive argument break out between Manny and Frank that tore the herd and the expedition apart from each other. This was dropped after Word of God couldn't find a reason why they would ever reunite.
    • 8. Hudson was originally intended to be a One-Scene Wonder, appearing in chapters seventeen-eighteen, and then appearing at the end briefly...this was promptly dropped as Hudson proved too...interesting...to assign to such a minor role.
    • 9. An initial idea for chapter twenty-two "Escape from Meltdown Valley" had the roles reversed for the two parts of the herd; the truck would have stayed topside whilst the rest would have jumped into the ship, plunging into the depths. this was very quickly dropped after it became obvious that no one would survive such a fall without many serious injuries...
    • 10. One of the initial ideas for Hudson was that he was a *robot* operated by the last remaining human at Glacier Pass, who would then have provided the herd with valuable information before passing away...this was dropped in part, as it seemed unnecessary (and even pointless) to have Hudson as a mere robotic avatar...though the human was kept, after a fashion. He dies in chapter twenty-five "Ashes to Ashes".
  • Wham! Line: Hudson's revelation of who he is in chapter twenty-seven "The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men."
--> ""Fine then, I shall have to spell it out," He mumbled in exasperation. "My name is James Hudson, born to David and Millie Hudson on August the ninth, twentytwentyeight, at Pembury hospital near Tunbridge Wells. I was raised an Anglican and went to Bennett Memorial Secondary School, where I studied for my GCSEs, after which I entered the army and studied at Sandringham, eventually joining the Brigadier Guards in service of His Majesty the King, William the fifth. I was then promoted to be a liaison officer of the United Nations Temporal Commission," He glanced over at Sam. "Headed no less by a certain Secretary-General Samantha Daniels, on whose orders I am here," He turned to Frank again. "Is that enough information for you? Or would you like more proof that your expedition are not the only time travellers in this room."
  • World War III: As the story progresses, there is a harrowing scene in chapter twenty-four where Hudson and Terry, whilst on a scouting trip, discover a Dictaphone that provides a Cryptic Background Reference to what occurred a hundred and thirty two years later after the failure of Frank and his expedition. All over the world there had been bombings and war in every country because of the rips in the time continuum. Eventually a remnant of humanity flees to the past, to the Ice Age, only to bring the world war with them. And with that the Dictaphone is switched off.
  • You Shall Not Pass: A variation of this trope happens at the end of chapter thirty "The Wages of Sin", where Frank, who has been badly injured, insists the others leave while he faces off with Soto alone.
  • Walkie-Talkie Static: Shows up in chapter three, "Panic" as Frank tries to contact the others as he worries about them due to their separation, and in chapter twenty-two "Escape from Meltdown Valley" when they are trying to escape from Meltdown Valley Claire turns one on to hear only static - for a moment. It pops up again in chapter twenty-eight "Minutes to Midnight pt 1" when Frank, Buck and Hudson take a test drive, leaving the others waiting behind anxiously with no sound but static from their walkietalkies.


Lost in Time: Yesterday's Child

  • Alternate History: In the events of chapter six, Sid explains that instead of Alaric, who brought about the end of Rome in the original timeline, he died of a disease instead and his brother Ataulf sacked Rome. This is a subtle Foreshadowing that time has somehow gone awry, but no one realises it yet amongst the herd.
  • Alternate Timeline: The herd in this story hail from the second timeline Hudson alludes to in Origins but despite being Second Timeline! characters they - Frank especially - retain memories of the defunct timeline that contained the Troubles where he ordered the massacre of sixty-seven people whilst the other Second Timeline people take to it more easily, except for certain herd members such as Manny and Diego for instance.
  • Arc Words: "The Remnant shall rise again." is the main one that has been repeated since throughout the Original story and now its sequel.
  • Bad Liar: Regent William is seen by the herd as one as he poorly tries to make up a reason for why he was late in meeting them to show them the history of the Bredelands.
  • Chess Motifs: Faux-Hudson's allusion to the herd's experiences to a game - namely a chess game, and his implication that he did hint to Frank that Diego's loss of his leg would occur, since the idea of a game and movers in it making characters into pawns is implied.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: The herd members - Manny, Ellie, Frank, Claire, Ben, Diego, Mark, Buck and Sid and the possums have had to take on a lot of responsibility within their own valley that they live and as the Guardians, but because of Diego's nearly fatal injury the sequence at the Barrowboy and The Banker illustrates how much of a toil this is causing all the herd members, human and animal alike.
  • Cool Old Lady: Justice Helen Johnson.
  • Cool Old Guy: Manny's best friend from his earlier days, now Regent of the Bredelands, William.
  • Continuity Nod: In chapter 4 "The Way of Things", Frank's Insistent Terminology "It can wait/it has to wait" is turned on its head as Regent William keeps finding ways to hedge answering the herd's questions directly. Manny and Diego even tease Frank about this, to his irritation.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: Sid, Buck and the possums end up at the Barrowboy and the Banker later in the day; too disturbed at how vulnerable Diego was at the hospital that they drunk themselves into a stupor to try and forget about it. The pressure being laid on them because of their various responsibilities as Guardians and leaders of the valley isn't helping matters either, since they feel completely alone since they always have to save everyone but no one's got their backs. And now that Diego is out of commission it only makes them feel worse since, like Manny, Diego was one of their strong ones and the loss of his leg will affect him terribly.
  • Famed in Story: The actions of the Second Timeline!herd in Origins have turned them into myths and legends and religious figures as of the opening of Yesterday's Child. Frank, however, is still not comfortable with this, and neither is Manny himself.
  • Fantastic Racism: The creatures of the Bredelands are suspicious of the herds' humans, and when the herd comes to the Bredelands at the request of Regent William there is nearly a riot that takes place because of who is accompanying them - Frank, Claire and Ben.
  • Foreshadowing: The hints of what occurred during the incident where Diego made a Heroic Sacrifice that deprived him of his leg are subtly slipped in throughout the story - even though the actual event has not yet been seen.
  • Genius Ditz: Sid, who in chapter two is reading Plato. It's also implied that he was one of the first who took quickly to the idea of words and reading originally and this was confirmed in chapter six.
  • Grammar Nazi: Frank is implied to be one when thinking to himself that he should also teach the members of the herd grammar along with basic economics when Ellie fails to understand what a "tab" is.
  • I'm Standing Right Here: Sid says this with annoyance both in chapter two and in chapter five when the herd is returning home to the Bredelands.
  • In Medias Res: How the story opens, with all the events taking a back seat to the fact that Frank and Mark and the herd is being called upon to testify at a military tribunal about the events that occurred in the Bredelands.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Regent William of the Bredelands. In the 21st century, Cool Old Lady Justice Helen Johnson, who is presiding over the tribunal. Sam also counts as she's the Secretary General of the entire UNTC.
  • Nightmare Sequence: After having joined Sid, Buck and the possums brothers in drowning their sorrows over their despair at Diego's state of his leg, Frank makes himself sick with alcohol and is hospitalised, where he finds himself in another nightmare with the Faux-Hudson of Origins and a chessboard. Frank is afraid of the wolf, especially by his implications that the lives of the herd are being played out as if they were all pawns in a game of chess.
  • Sequel: To the popular Lost in Time: Origins. How do you know this story is popular in the Ice Age fandom? It's the only one with Recursive Fanfiction and Lost in Time: Origins has a record 224 reviews with more coming as fans finish reviewing the story before moving on to the Sequel. It also has fanart and a fanmade animation set up for it. (For more details, see above at Fan Art) You can bet like hell that this story is popular for its well-written characterisations and intricate plot hinged upon mature themes, and the sequel should soon gain the same story and popularity mass as the original did, since these stories have quality.
  • Shout-Out: Manny being tossed off the side of a cliff by Advocate Samuel and his conspirators for seeing and overhearing something he wasn't supposed to know is an obvious Shout-Out to the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. In fact the scene is inspired by Jaime Lannister pushing Bran Stark out of the tower for coming across him and his sister in book one, A Game of Thrones.
  • Time Skip: The Sequel takes place a decade and two years after the events that transpired in Lost in Time: Origins. By this time, the younger members of the cast, i.e. Peaches, Mark, and Ben, are much older, with Peaches being around the age of twelve, and Mark and Ben around the age of twenty-two or twenty-three, as confirmed by Word of God. And thus around the same age as Roshan.
  • Title Drop: In the second chapter "Cordially Invited", as a bird - a messenger - repeats these words verbatim of Regent Elder William to the herd.
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