#but they're so interesting!

[dragonprincess18]

I've written fanfic for a while, across multiple fandoms, so I feel like I've gone through all the milestones. Stilted dialogue, Mary Sues, plotholes...What I haven't dealt with was having AUs for my own story.

The Dragon That Will Pierce The Heavens is the longest story I've written in a long while, and add in that One Piece is the largest sandbox I've ever played in, it kinda just...happened.

A few of those AUs and crossovers have been started but generally discarded, like Miraculous Dragon (basically a Miraculous Ladybug crossover), or one shots just to get the itch out, like in Moonbeams and Stardust, where I did chapters for Pokemon, Digimon Adventure, Harry Potter and even a modern chapter.

Lately, I've even been collaborating with ReynaAtTheEnd to do a collaboration with her amazing story Summit Apocalypse, which will hopefully see the light of day at some point.

But there are definitely divergent ideas I've had that are too big for me to write, and those are the ones that gnaw at me.

For example...

What if Hikari never escaped Estrella to the East Blue?

What if, when she was about to go over the coral, something happened with the other boat and she had to give up her chance in order to make sure they escaped? Leaving Hikari to be captured and shipped off to Dressrosa, where Doflamingo happily threw a lavish wedding to celebrate finally getting the queen he believed he deserved.

Over the course of two years, Doflamingo believing he broke Hikari down into the perfect doll, not knowing she was secretly coordinating the Tontatta and toys and gladiators to overthrow him.

Then Law and the Straw Hats show up with their own plans, throwing Dressrosa into chaos, and Law ends up chained to the Heart Seat, where he meets the infamous Ice Queen that acts as Doflamingo's most valuable council...Only to learn, much to his surprise, that Hikari has been undermining the Donquixote Pirates the entire time as she frees him from the Sea Prism Stone cuffs.

Having followed the Straw Hats since their assault on Enies Lobby, Hikari knows to just point Luffy in the right direction and let him rip, revealing her Celestial Dragon powers to tag-team Doflamingo with Law while Luffy deals personally with Bellamy before taking over.

In the end, once Doflamingo has been defeated and everyone bandaged up, Hikari is ready to leave on her own when Luffy obliviously offers for her to join his crew instead of be alone.

(Law may be a little jealous he didn't ask fast enough.)

Or...

What if, at the end, Hikari is mentally sent back in time to make things right?

If things ended badly, a la of pop greens and tangerines (which I started and never finished, seriously great but broke me), Hikari regretted leading her loved ones into such a bloody fate and is thus sent back to when she was eight years old.

With Lily to think of, and knowing that her crew and allies are currently suffering through their childhood trauma, Hikari pulls the trigger on her plan a decade early, escaping with the slaves to Fishman Island...Where she meets JInbei, and tells him she's looking for the man that her mother's locket names Eddy. Jinbei, recognizing said locket and seeing her resemblance to a lost friend, then takes her to Whitebeard, who is devastated to learn his love is dead but accepts her daughter with open arms.

Hikari tells him about Rosinante, that he had tried to help her but is in danger saving another child, and they need to go save both of them. So Whitebeard goes with Marco and a whole ship of his men to Minion Island, where he gladly stomps Doflamingo's face into the ground for daring to think he could just buy his precious daughter with favors, and taking in a very confused Rosinante and wary Law, who remembers his 'past' life once Hikari hugs him in tears over seeing him dying from Amber Lead.

Using her memories of stories told by her crew, Hikari carefully leads Whitebeard around to gather the entire gaggle of children that would one day become the Supernova Alliance and their various family and/or friends like Kaya and Nojiko, with Luffy, Zoro and Kid all getting their memories back after Hikari touches them.

No one else ever seems to remember, but Whitebeard and his commanders catch on and get Hikari to tell them the truth, including about Fairy Tail and Luffy's Fruit. That's when the training starts in earnest, only interrupted by visits from Shanks (who was worried about Luffy and then blubbering over meeting his 'baby sister') and Garp (who initially got into a knock-out, drag-out fight with Whitebeard until Hikari disabuses him of the notion his grandsons would be safe as Marines) and even Sengoku (who comes off-duty just to make sure Rosinante is okay and meet his 'grandson').

Luffy decides to set out from Dawn Island as originally planned, and everything is different.

[cutter-kirby]

obligatory “cool characterization, still murder” like I’m not excusing him but it does make him incredibly interesting

(*girl gender neutral edition)

[riickgrimes]

I know who you are. You're Fire and Ice, right? Which one's which?

CHALLENGERS (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino

[notbecauseofvictories]

I'm re-reading the Discworld series for reasons, and honestly the most relatable part of reading these as an adult is how many of the protagonists start out being tired, used to their little routine and vaguely disgruntled by the interruption of the Plot. Sam Vimes wants to lie drunk in a gutter and absolutely doesn't want to be arresting dragons. Rincewind is yanked into every situation he's ever encountered, though he'd much rather be lying in a gutter too. (Minus the alcohol. Plus regretting everything he's ever done said witnessed or even heard about fourth-hand in his whole life.) Granny Weatherwax is deeply suspicious of foreign parts and that includes the next town over; Nanny has leaned into the armor of "nothing ever happens to jolly grannies who terrorize their daughters-in-law and make Saucy Jokes"

Only the young people don't seem to have picked up on this---and that's fortunate, because someone has to run around making things happen, if only so Vimes and Granny and Rincewind have a reason to get up (complaining bitterly the whole time) and put it all to rights. Without Carrot, Margrat, Eric, etc. these characters don't have that reason; they're likely to stay in the metaphorical gutter and keep wondering where it all went wrong or why anything has to change.

............well, that's not quite true. You get the sense that Vetinari knows how much certain people hate the Plot. And as the person sitting behind the metaphorical lighting board of Ankh-Morpork, he takes no small pleasure in forcing the Plot-haters specifically to stand up, and say some lines.

[writeouswriter]

People sorting ao3 solely by stats and only clicking on fics with a certain amount of kudos or comments, you will not survive the winter, nor the summer, nor at all, *brings out knife,* run

[02511213942]

katelyn and marissa's adventures in being normal cheerleaders for the world's most insane college sports team 🎉🎀🧡

[sakuravalelp]

Phantom letters - DPXDC PROMPT

The bats wake up one day to the internet going crazy; people around the world were getting letters from they're diseased loved ones. The reactions are mixed, from people being outraged for the "prank" to people crying in melancholy at getting closure.

All the letters have something in common: They're closed with a green sealing wax that had an stylize DP and the name Phantom beneath it. Posts about the cards were using the # Phantom Letters.

The bats are discussing the viral posts in the cave when Alfred comes holding a basket filled with letters, announcing they were left at the doors. The letters had the sealing wax that they recognize from the posts. Checking the cameras they can see how they glitch before the basket appears.

Alfred starts to distribute the letters that had only one destinatary. Letters from each Thomas and Martha to both Bruce and Alfred. Letters from each John and Mary to Dick. A letter from Catherine to Jason. A letter from the Drake's to Tim, and another one to Bruce.

Once they had calmed down enough from the shock, Alfred proceeded to read the shared recipients. From Thomas and Martha to "The grandchildren we never got to meet." From John and Mary to "the family that took our little Robin in." Letters from Catherine to "My little boys family." The letters were directed to people the deceased didn't get to meet.

As much as the mere existence of the letters tugged at their hearts, they decided to not read them until they verified that the handwriting actually belong to the ones it claimed. They checked each letter, and in the end confirmed the letters were in fact from they're lost love ones.

After much discussion, each person makes the decision to read they're own letters later in private, and they proceed to read the ones that shared recipients out loud. The letter mentioned specifics like names and events that the deceased shouldn't have been able to know, including they're vigilante abilities, which had them pause each time to panic a bit. But what was more interested were certain pieces of the letters that mentioned a Prince Phantom.

"Prince Phantom said to don't mention things past our death, but it wasn't a command, so we're hoping this won't be much of a problem." - John and Mary

"I still can't believe Prince Phantom is letting us do this, but I'm so glad." - Catherine

It finally paints the mystery in a more concerning light when at the end of Thomas and Martha's letter there is a call for help.

"We're sorry for ending the letter on a serious tone, but seeing the kind of job you all get involved in, we wanted to ask: Could you please help Prince Phantom? Phantom had asked us to not give information about this, but he's so young, and has already been hurt so much. Please, check on Amity Park, Illinois."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Meanwhile, team Phantom has decided that they needed to get the news about the GIW out of Amity and ask for help. Two problems:

the GIW blocks any technological attempt made.

People might be afraid to learn that ghosts exist and side with the GIW.

As a way to deal with the public image, Phantom opens a possibility that the death have never had:

"All afterlives are open to write letters to their love ones that are still alive today. Nothing that includes threats, and don't go talking about the anti-ecto acts or Amity Park yet, we're trying to ease people into our existence first. Also, I know you all check on your love ones when the veil is thin, but please keep the things you shouldn't know out of the letters if possible. If you want your letter to be sent in the first batch, make sure to deliver your letter before the week ends."

Letters are a good way to reconnect people with the death, they aren't digital, and the GIW won't be able to intercept letters if they're send through inter-dimensional portals. Two birds in one shot.

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID in ALT] I've made posts before about Talia/Dick co-parenting Damian moments (will never happen but let me dream) and this came to me in a vision. Took me ages to finish for some reason 😭 and then even longer to post

[lotus-pear]

free will is drawing ur two favorite characters together and making them gay

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Ghouls night out

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[forgettable-au]

FORGETTABLE-AU (Page 36-39)

* To note. Her hands are scaly. * And...unexpectedly wet?

[BEGINNING] [PREVIOUS] [CONTINUE]

[wardingshout]

Zelda goes mushroom girl

[sonoda-oomers]

realizing thistle never actually reached the maturation point for an elf is so. eye opening. especially bc he actually witnessed both delgal's birth and the birth of delgal's son (AND HIS GRANDSON!!). as a human reader it's so easy to be lulled into thinking he's so old and marcille's remark of him being a child came so fast it's so easily forgotten

like i definitely think the golden kingdom and delgal himself never knew let alone be able to perceive thistle as an immature person. bc in their years he's just so old. and i think growing up surrounded with all tallmen also gave thistle false perceptions of how mature he was and it played a part in him taking on the responsibility of rejecting death for the whole kingdom. it's a brilliant and raw display of what age discrepancy actually means in the world of dungeon meshi

[indivisiblecell]

"you're staring"

[gejnialnie]

hi I don't think this duo gets enough love, so here are my fave screenshots of Raph and Leo mirroring each other! :D

+bonus:

look at this frame! don't their poses look similar, even though they're in totally different places?? well, there's a simple reason for it! we can see raph in the driver seat, his left hand on the wheel, while the other one's searching for someting, it's symbolising his active role as leader, while leo stands alongside him, his left hand on a handhold while he gestures with the other, showing him being less active and more of a passive presence, but he's ready on his feet, it's symbolising his potential as raph's co-leader but also him not yet being ready, still gripping the safety rails instead of the driving wheel-

(nah i'm kidding- like, was it just artists drawing similar poses in one scene? oh yeah most definitively! will that stop me from over-analysing? nope! :D this basically wrote itself!)