Thinking about the episode where Dipper and Mabel went back in time and ran into kid-Wendy, who thought Dipper was cute, and it was kind of this "wow" moment for him. Now I can't stop imagining a scenario in the familiar au where a married, up-and-coming demon hunter Dipper Pines, along with Bill, have to go back in time for whatever reason to about when he was 12. He figures they should keep a low profile if they want to return to their timeline unchanged, but they end up bumping into Dipper's younger self, back when he was first dropped off and all noodle armed and couldn't really defend himself against the town bullies. Almost as if on cue, a group of kids come up on young Dipper and try to pick on him, only for adult Dipper to ward them away. Older Dipper still considering himself kind of a massive loser with a lot to learn, but his younger self just looks at this strange new-comer and thinks he's SO COOL🤩🤩🤩!!! And maybe follows him around a bit in admiration, silently saying stuff about wishing he were "that strong," or "that smart," or "ever a little cool." And Dipper has that same "wow" moment, but for an entirely different reason. Maybe he did grow up to be everything he wanted to be as a kid, and maybe even the kid version of him wasn't a loser to begin with; people were just serious jerks.

(Bonus points if Stan definitely knows who this flame-wielding stranger that just blew into town is, and seeing how Dipper's grown and matured puts him at ease and makes him more confident that maybe he can raise the twins on his own. Look at the kid go. He did something right.)

Anon, why must you tempt me with new ideas when I have so many WIPs