#(letting ace get totally adored by a powerful captain who he knows loves him unconditionally)

[chromotps]

p-please. if you still ship ace/luffy? if not then it's fine no need to read/answer etc. i just wanted to ask because i think i saw you post related art on here earlier at some point? and i haven't stopped thinking about it since honestly. could you possibly. please add some more thoughts on that future/time-travel/age swap (??) AU that's basically older/pirate king luffy meeting spade captain ace? because it has infinite angst potential to me (something something you're as beautiful as the day i lost you....), but also an equal amount of emotional hurt/comfort. and i'd like to hear more. how would an older luffy react to a young-ish (still alive.) ace? like, how would their dynamic change? (or not at all, with luffy going immediately into younger brother mode despite being in his 40s or something like these videos of fully grown up golden retreivers acting like puppies in specific situations. though not gonna lie, a more collected/a fully grown luffy in both the physical and emotional aspect is also. ugh.) would he respect the potential time-travel /rules/ that probably the rest of the strawhats would try to make him adhere to (like not talking about events that ace doesn't know about yet, or generally not engaging physically with people that clearly don't belong in the timeline), or would he just selfishly try to enjoy the moment while it lasted? (or a secret third thing, maybe?)

it's like. a purely self-indulgent AU for me because it both allows luffy to meet ace once more/say goodbye to him/thank him for a lot of things or just do things that he didn't get to do being the younger brother (even more self indulgent sub-scenario to this is. similar to your acelu week work? luffy helping ace bathe/washing his hair because it had always been the other way round, with ace taking care of him), and ace technically gets to see luffy as the pirate king? which partially equals to seeing him accomplish his dream.

yeah. sry for all the spam but i'm. just so weak for this AU honestly and just wanted to reach out to you as i think you came up with it initially?

hello!!! yes, thank you for messaging—I've had Ace on the brain so much lately... Definitely still ship acelu!! It just started seeming like there were fewer and fewer people who shipped it in, er, the same way I did? Which is totally fair, with how much possibility for interpretation there is with these characters.

ANYWAY, my version of the time travel acelu AU (since, you know, I don't think I came up with anything groundbreaking—there are a few fics out there, I think, with an older Luffy saving his younger brother Ace, things like that)... So much of it depends on the circumstances, like, if Ace was briefly transported forward in time, or Luffy + the SHs went back. I might go with the first option—let Ace get a fullllll sense of Luffy in his Pirate King grandeur, haha.

"angst potential"—I definitely see that possibility, like, the pure shock Luffy would have seeing Ace young and healthy, miraculously alien after however many years it's been and yet so, so familiar. The little details Luffy might have even forgotten... the particular way the freckles fell across Ace's skin, the way he was always so expressive in his movements, tensing up in this new environment, leaning in toward Luffy when he's laughing. Also, different kind of angst, but I could imagine Ace having this sinking, freezing feeling when he finds out he died. A sort of resignation, like, his fear that he never deserved to live confirmed. Then, Luffy explains more about the situation—how he owes Ace his life, how so many people fought for him, how even Ace was moved to want to be alive. So then Ace is like, at least my death was worth it—I made something valuable of my life. And finally Luffy has to be like, no. I appreciate your sacrifice, but what I really wanted was for my brother to live.

Also (it's probably clear already) but because this is *my* take on the AU I wouldn't have it get too angsty. Not that I want everything to magically be perfect, I'd want whatever catharsis happens to feel earned... but with any of my headcanons, I'm just not compelled by a story where Ace still dies. 😂 So:

"would Luffy respect the potential time-travel rules" absolutely not, ahahaha. Mr. "I heard your rules, and they're stupid, so I'm making my own"? Fair, a more mature Luffy would recognize the true weight of messing with the past/future... But even recognizing that risk, he'd actively choose to prioritize his connection with Ace and his faith in his own instincts. Plus, I don't know, Luffy feels like the kind of character who you could tell, "It's either you let Ace die, or your crew" and he'd say, "no! I'm taking option #3" and then he makes it happen.

"how would their dynamic change?" - so, tbh, I first came up with this AU on a horny whim. I wanted older, even more self-assured Luffy to just have the time of his life messing with Ace while also piling on the adoration. I don't think Luffy would really "revert"... The way he acts in Wano, and other places, shows that his mindset has really shifted over time. (Actually, okay, caveat—I could see Luffy in his initial shock of seeing Ace, if you wanted to really push the angst, completely breaking. Then he might get a bit clingy, wrapping Ace in as close as he can get him, crying for his big brother...) On Ace's side, maybe he's put at-ease, because this really is Luffy, the person he loves most in the whole world... Same ridiculous laugh, same unstoppable smile. But Ace is also completely thrown for a loop, because you're telling him this guy?? Right here?? Is his baby brother (who he last saw as some 14yo pipsqueak??)? The guy able to shove him around with a slap to the back, and who's somehow able to restrain himself from yelling for meat because he's so engrossed in Ace, for some reason?

I definitely think Luffy would thank Ace for everything he did, both during Marineford, and just their whole lives... I don't even need to get into it in this post, but thinking of how Luffy carried Ace's love with him all those years (this post says it better). Anyway, Luffy would express all that to Ace, and then let that lead into why he wants Ace to live this time around even more desperately.

From there, it just depends on how long the time travel effect lasts. If it's brief, it might just be Luffy trying to convey some way to make Marineford go differently to Ace ("train your haki!!!! don't make reckless sacrifices thinking it's the only way you can show your love!!"). But............ if I wanted to be really indulgent, I could say the effect is a few days, maybe even weeks. And then, I could so see Pirate King Luffy just doting on Ace completely. Being the one to show Ace all kinds of wonderful things in this future, interesting treasure they've found—the same way Ace made him feel that wonder when they were kids. And then, like, treasuring Ace's physical form, that he's whole and safe... Gosh, with how defensive Ace might get at this whole situation, I could see older Luffy and his insight immediately clocking how much teen Ace was hurting and angry in a way his younger self never noticed. Especially Ace from his Spade Pirate days... So, Luffy's response to that could be the care you mentioned—insisting on doing something soft and appreciative, like bathing, or bringing him his favorite food to share in a private place, like a quiet spot on the ship or Luffy's room or somewhere...

Ahhhhhhhh I have once again dumped an absolute mess of thoughts into the world. Hopefully this is something like what you were looking for (even with all my biases 😂)!