Me: I have too many Mishanks AUs already

Also me: Okay but what about rival professors in the same university department AU

(sincerely, someone who is scrambling to grade things last minute and needs to project this somehow LOL)

Thought I absolutely have to get out of my head before I can sleep:

Shanks canonically has issues controlling his conqueror’s haki, sometimes. Combine that with one of my favorite magic tropes, where excess amounts of magic can be physically and/or mentally draining to contain for extended periods of time. (Now that certainly isn’t canon, but it is a headcanon I love, haha.)

There aren’t a lot of people around that can withstand the force of Shanks’ haki uncontrolled. The best good example who’s around would be Beckman, but if Shanks is dealing with handling his haki, Beckman would be handling the crew, so he’s out.

The other option? Mihawk. Earlier on in their duels, Mihawk finds out about Shanks’ conundrum; he was spending so much energy keeping it in check that he was an absolutely shit fighter that day, and Mihawk pressed the issue long enough until Shanks spilled the details.

Mihawk’s proposed solution: use their duels, when safe/out of range of the crew, as a way to release some of that pressure valve for his haki. Gets Shanks under control, and Mihawk has a decent level of resistance to it. As time goes on, Shanks is comfortable letting more and more of it go after Mihawk proves it won’t absolutely knock him out, which does wonders for his wellbeing. (Mihawk gets hit with how beautifully terrifying Shanks can be, and then chooses to not process that for a good long while.)

An additional option that pops up later down the road: sometimes, the above happens but without a duel, if things are really bad. Beckman takes over for an afternoon, and Shanks and Mihawk take Hitsugibune out to a nearby deserted island so Shanks can absolutely let go. At that level, it’s not a great idea to involve dueling or weapons. Shanks also isn’t a fan of the crew seeing him lose that degree of control; Mihawk realizes how big of a sign that is for Shanks’ trust in him. Often ends in Shanks falling asleep on or near Mihawk with his haki still active. (It’s like a very strong mental weighted blanket, albeit Mihawk will never say that out loud.)

Additional third option: there’s very fun possibilities here for when they actually get into a relationship, but that’s its own post, haha.

(This is missing a lot of detail because I’m about to sleep, but I might expand this one into a fic soon! Out of control magic just has too many good hurt/comfort opportunities.)

do you think mihawk’s facial hair is just Like That or he just puts that much effort into shaping it

OPLA!Mihawk’s hair being ever so slightly curly is giving me lots of thoughts. Absolutely none of them are coherent, but there sure are a lot of them.

(@milfhawks tagging you because I feel like you’d agree with the sentiment haha)

Thought is bouncing around in my brain but don’t have time to elaborate right now, so take the cliffnotes version:

Mihawk having his hat because it looks good and why not? In-character and fun.

Mihawk having his hat because of the above + light sensitivity is a bitch, especially on the open ocean (+ gets him referred to as a vampire by Shanks as much as he insists that’s not what the other half of his name is from)? New headcanon.

Spent a good couple hours today trying to make a semi-canon compliant timeline for Wings of the Emperor, and… wow, that’s hard! I usually throw canon timelines out the window but wanted a change of pace this time, but early Red Hair Pirates era is messy at best trying to cobble together, haha. I’m not even adding in Film Red beyond who would be on the crew by 1505 (when Uta’s found), and that already made things more confusing. 😵‍💫 Rewarding, but complicated!

If anyone’s curious, the biggest snags to make plausible answers to were:

1) how to make when Yasopp joins and Usopp’s canon birthday not contradict each other

2) when Lucky joins without being too young (because the oldest he can be when joining is 16, if we’re following Film Red!)

Anyways, I’m curious as to where other fic writers land in terms of canon adherence, anywhere from “I couldn’t care less” to “I’ve checked the wiki far too many times for random details”. I’d love to hear what other people’s approaches are! :0

(Tagging some mutuals because this question might be up y’all’s alley, but no pressure to respond! @giurochedadomani @erinyra @reineyday @badtzbot)

Queue post: sometimes with this time travel AU, I’m like, “is this too self indulgent and angsty?”

And then two seconds later I’m like “fuck it” because why am I stopping myself from writing a scene I want to write??? @ brain: do fun things and stop worrying about canon vibes so much dude

Birthday!! 🎉 Actual plans fell through, so my gift to myself is working on some very self-indulgent fanfic, haha.

Artistically, I 100% get and agree with the choice to cut OPLA S1 content surrounding Loguetown for the sake of the season at large.

…However, I am still sad it’s been confirmed we lost shots of young Buggy + Dragon in the process. ;-;

Quick life update: I’ll likely be semi- to completely inactive for a short bit due to a mess of medical/insurance things I’m drowning in. Once I get that and the semester over with, I’ll be back around! : )

had to check the calendar multiple times at work because I’ve seen so many mihawk and/or shanks b-day posts, not realizing a lot of people are posting in a timezone that’s already there (3/9) rather than what day it is here (3/8) lol

ever open a WIP after a late-night writing session and go “hm. this was far less kinky last time I checked”. because that’s where I am rn

tfw my pile of WIPs is too much hurt/comfort even for my tastes (did not know that was possible lol)

Maybe it’s time to write that fluffy Mishanks birthday date (aka: mostly dueling) for a change of pace haha

accidentally hurtled back into my once-a-year pokemon anime interest phase so

trying to write one piece fanfic while your brain is blaring the pokemon johto journeys theme is an. Experience

new writing sprint challenge: see how many words you can write while on hold with insurance and/or your doctor’s office

Thoughts while getting ready today: one of the hardest parts for me writing One Piece fanfic is knowing about so many characters through AO3/Tumblr/general fandom osmosis, but not being far enough in the series to have met them and feel confident writing them, haha.

That being said, my current favorite fluffy “fuck canon, this is for fun” WIP is toddler Perona stumbling onto younger Mihawk's ship and Mihawk eventually becoming responsible for her. (+ bonus bits of Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates appointing themselves as extended family lol)