March2022 Small Story Poll (Patreon)

Hey all! Sorry this is a day later than I normally would want it to be, I wanted to get some of the timing-type stuff clear in my head, and then tried to work out how long these chapters would be without writing out a full outline. Hrhrhrhm, a difficult task, this is.

First, a moment of silence for those in the Ukraine. The times change, but ever are there tyrants who will trample upon the lives and liberty of others.

Anyhow, The choices this month are:

Fate Touched In Middle Earth - HP/Tolkien crossover: With his lady-fair gone, Harry hurls himself into helping Thorin and the others prepare Erebor, trying hard not to think of the three dead members of the Company. Bilbo finds himself in even greater demand than the wizard, but is still firm on his desire to leave soon. Despite that, a week goes by, then, as the first glass garden (not what you might think) is finished, Bilbo declares the Taint cleansed. Thorin makes an amusing decision, formally names his heir, and bids farewell to the two most unusual members of his party with gifts and well-wishes. Elsewhere, wizards meet, while a philosophical discussion is had and Mirkwood’s eaves beckon. Unfortunately, duty still pulls too hard for Tauriel to leave, and although she spends a few days with them, eventually the two go on alone. A journey is finally finished, and a Baggins reclaims his hobbit hole, while a wizard makes his way back alone, before deciding on a detour into an entirely new forest to chase a local legend.

Horse for the Force – SW/Ranma crossover: While Wayland is further reinforced and progress continues to be made breaking the various computers within the mountain, Shaak and Ranma and the crew of the Wild Blade take themselves off for some training and getting to know you time. Elsewhere, Thrawn and Master Fay make contact with the High Council, and Thrawn officially becomes the Jedi’s Fleet Admiral, taking control of some of the allied forces, correctly discerning where a CIS fleet is about to attack and countering it. At the same time, back on Wayland, Master Vos and Obi-Wan talk, before Master Saa comes by. A betrayal most foul occurs as Jedi die to one of their own, and Vos attempts to complete his mission, only to fail. A Sith secret comes out, a hotheaded youngster reacts poorly, and a infiltration mission is planned, far too soon for Sidious’ plans…

Magic of the Force - HP/SW crossover:  War dominates the news shows and discussions in the halls of power for better or worse on all three sides of the war, while the news of Ord Cestus, though small, puts heart into people and allows the Senate to issue a series of ultimatums to the High Command. A member of Clan Saa and her Master get a new assignment as Aayla proves she remembers all her Master’s teaching about being sneaky. Ahsoka, meanwhile, shows Potter Luck has nothing to do with blood, and strategic visions are discussed and the Dooku Training Center is turned to a new purpose. Several campaigns begin, and perfectly made plans on paper quickly run into this thing called reality. Nonetheless, the war grinds on, while in the shadows of chaos, Kas and Mak come closer to finding what they seek. An assassination occurs, while fleets clash, and Padme tries to sway the hearts and minds of the senate. Harry and Aayla find themselves embroiled in a political argument while Valahari comes under attack.

Stallion of the Line - Ranma/One Piece Crossover:  With a minor stopover to grab a Robin-sized statue, Luffy leads the retreat back to the ship, only to realize precisely how many people are trying to use the ship to escape. Soon the survivors are out to see where a certain ghost girl is terrified out of her hiding space, and is made to kowtow on pain of a beating. While Franky leads the efforts to try and salvage enough material to make the Gecko Victims Alliance a ship, the rest of the crew have a meeting with Boa and her officers. The news of Ace is shared, and Luffy’s fury rises. With Robin calming him down an alliance is agreed upon, while Luffy agrees to lay low for now, as a debate occurs on what to tell the WG about the disaster on Thriller Bark before word reaches them in other ways. Shenanigans of all sorts ensue while the crew is on quarter rations until, after making the acquaintance of a certain mermaid and her lucky starfish, they arrive in Shabondy Archipelago to meet a Dark King and create a plan to rescue Ace.

You all will note that Horse for the Force is still here.  This was mentioned in one of the questions, and astonishingly enough, more of the people who mentioned it were in favor of it staying, and a few said they liked both fics. This surprised me, as I thought DxD had a larger following. I want to thank Kariston Draconis, zagan, Delphinous, Hiryo, Travis G, Lostone2, Averagejo32, Loganand Scott for giving me their opinions on this point.

Especially Hiryo. He reminded me of a fact that I will remind all of you of here: Horse is within 5-6 chapters of being finished, folks! It isn’t a fix-em all, it isn’t meant to show Ranma somehow accidentally solving all the Republic’s ills. It is simply to solve a certain number of Sith-shaped problems, delve into the mystical side of things in the future, and then show Ranma and Shaak Ti essentially living what both believe to be a happily ever after.  So it is going to remain in this small story poll for a while.

Further, thanks to Kariston Draconis and others mentioning it, I will start a rotation in the small story poll, much like I have done in the patron only poll. This means the winner will be removed from the poll for a month to let other fics have a chance.

This poll is only going to go to the tenth. I don’t want ATP to go above 40,000 max and forcing it to remain under that will allow me to have flexibility the rest of the month, which means I can start on the winner here faster.

So this month I might have some… flexibility… We will see.