#chain reaction by zorosmalewife

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes Chapter 15

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The sixth one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14.

Structure:

Theme of the chapter

List of scenes, each of which contain:

scene number as depicted in the outlines from my update posts on this tumblr - POV character - one line summary of the concept - (time left until they return to Sabaody) (how long Ace and Zoro have been together) - list of relevant variables, details, etc

Title of chapter

Theme: mutual understanding. finally understanding how the dynamic works and how to operate inside it. things becoming whole.

18 - ACE - charades w/ humandrills - (about 10.5 months left) (1 day before their 1 year anniversary) [all scenes in this chapter happen on the same day, so I won't repeat the counts!] - Ace 'loves Perona', 'she's basically his best friend' - he doesn't let her talk to him about it tho - Ace doomspiral about Zoro's eye - it's still Zoro's room despite them sharing it for months now - Ace's thoughts all over the place. overwhelmed + lost. swinging mostly b/t feeling bereft and fucking Angry

20.5 [scene was moved to here, hence nonconsecutive numbers] - ZORO - Zoro Autism Meltdown (tm) + Mihawk talking sense into him - first time Mihawk calls him 'Zoro' - Zoro's internal monologue calling Mihawk 'his father' w/o commentary - Mihawk: "I will not allow you to keep hurting one another. It's killing Perona."

19 - ACE - ostensibly a spar but they're just wrasslin' in earnest - Ace lashing out while lamenting the fact that he is the type to lash out - but Ace loves Zoro. despite everything, he doesn't want to give up - Ace finally gets thru to Zoro. Zoro tells him everything. <- Ace calls him 'baby' - Ace feels like he Gets Zoro now. FR this time. But... Ace still hasn't told him... - "Zoro deserves better, that much is obvious, but he's already chosen to be with Ace, and thus his mind won't be changed. All Ace can do is become a man worthy of this." - Zoro and Perona hug when they get back to the castle. He whispers to her. Perona says she loves him. Tells him to tap out next time - Zoro calls Ace 'babe' but it's mostly joking. Calls Perona 'P'. She shoots negative ghosts at them - Zoro's - their - room - Ace feels small and needy and cracked open. Needs to feel held and covered and safe - epic Zoro topping dot png - the ^ exemplifies the change in their relationship. the easy understanding, the reciprocity, the boundless + overt love. it's about trust w/o being shy abt it. - "Ace has never cried during sex before, but he's not humiliated, nor does he try to hide it." - Zoro calls him 'baby' in the heat of the moment - Ace says he loves Zoro + Zoro says "I know" and Ace is 100% okay with that

Title: reciprocity

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes - Chapter 14

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The fifth one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11 - 12 - 13.

Structure:

Theme of the chapter

List of scenes, each of which contain:

scene number as depicted in the outlines from my update posts on this tumblr - POV character - one line summary of the concept - (time left until they return to Sabaody) (how long Ace and Zoro have been together) - list of relevant variables, details, etc

Title of chapter

Theme: despite appearances, there is no full transparency. Zoro has his eye opened and is still blindsided. Miscommunication.

17 - ZORO - Zoro doing Perona's hair - (11 months left) (together 11.5 months) - Zoro being like hmmm have I told them anything about my relationships with my crew...? Oops! :p I'll fix it - Zoro talking about Nami. Perona gets jealous. Ace gets weird, convincing himself that Zoro's crew is the the most important, not equal to him and Perona - Zoro wonders what their plans after the 2 yrs are, but still doesn't ask - Ace hearing 'neechan' for the first time - Zoro says he loves Perona and Ace and is ok w/that - shows that Zoro is willing to share parts of himself. also lulls him into a false sense of security

17.33 - ZORO - spar w/ Mihawk. Mihawk asks if Zoro has told Ace about what happened with his eye - (11 months left) (together 11.5 months) - Mihawk cares about their relationship - Zoro still not close to Mihawk's level, but is def improving - fully adjusted to losing his eye - Zoro surprised pikachu. Understands that Ace will freak out + why - Zoro accepts Mihawk's help - sets up that telling Ace about his eye hadn't even occurred to Zoro and that it will take time, but he'll try to figure out a way to tell him

17.66 - ACE - He sacrificed his eye for you dot png - (about 10.5 months left) (2 days before their 1 year anniversary) - establish that they banter a lot - Perona, who does not know better, flippantly drops the fact that Zoro sacrificed his eye for Ace - Ace loses control of his fruit. He feels cold - Perona curls up on Mihawk's lap and he lets her - Zoro Autism Meltdown (tm). Out the window - Mihawk + Ace see eye to eye for but a moment - shows that Zoro is still Zoro. He will still shut down under pressure he can't fix w/ his swords or his tenacity.

incident @ dinner -> Zoro doesn't come back that night -> Ace goes after him after dinner the next day

Title: blindsided

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes - Chapter 13

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The fourth one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11 - 12.

Structure:

Theme of the chapter

List of scenes, each of which contain:

scene number as depicted in the outlines from my update posts on this tumblr - POV character - one line summary of the concept - (time left until they return to Sabaody) (how long Ace and Zoro have been together) - list of relevant variables, details, etc

Title of chapter

Theme: Love is scary. It is a delicate baby bird in big, clumsy hands.

14.5 - ZORO - spar w/ Mihawk - (1 year 1.25 months left) (together 9.25 months) - Zoro isn't matching Mihawk yet, but he's making progress - Mihawk is indulgent. fond - Zoro wants Mihawk to be proud of him. First time feeling like Mihawk's son

15 - ZORO - Ace drops the L word mid fuck - (1 year left) (together 10.5 months) - have glass of dinner after wine as a quartet. Zoro + Ace often make bedroom eyes @ each other and Mihawk + Perona always pick up on it - Ace typically wants to eat Zoro alive. This time, it's worship - Ace says it. Zoro cums instantly, prematurely, but doesn't say it back - Zoro knocked off his axis - "Zoro believes him. Zoro doesn't say it back."

15.5 - ACE - family breakfast the next morning. Shit is downright frigid - (1 year left) (together 10.5 months) - Zoro doesn't say anything. @ all - Ace doesn't either. He falls asleep repeatedly - Ace doesn't understand what the problem is. He doomspirals. (Guilty. Always guilty.) Convinces himself his love is a burden that Zoro can't handle

16 - ZORO - Zoro stomping around the woods, trying to think. Perona finds him - (1 year left) (together 10.5 months) - Zoro's patented Autism Meltdown. Bees in his skull - feels bad about how he reacted. the confession made him happy - "His big, callused hands are weapons, not cradles. Is he capable of gentleness enough to handle Ace's heart without breaking it?" - Perona arrives and Zoro is forthcoming with her. "He's tired. And he loves her. And maybe she can help." - "Some days it seems like she understands Ace better than [Zoro] ever will." - Zoro tells her what happened. A part of him is bleeding out - Zoro finally internalizing that Ace thinks himself a burden - Zoro is going to communicate. Because Ace chose him as a partner - Zoro tells Perona he loves her <- cuddling without commentary, besides that he's enjoying it

16.5 - ZORO - Ace and Zoro spar + talk it out - (1 year left) (together 10.5 months) - When Zoro approaches, Ace says, "I assume you're here to dump me." - Zoro, stricken, says no. He asks Ace to spar - Zoro apologizes. Says he was overwhelmed. Admits to being scared - Zoro isn't ready to say it back, they both know it, but he will be one day <- he wants it

Title: love is a heavy anchor

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes - Chapter 12

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The third one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11.

Structure:

Theme of the chapter

List of scenes, each of which contain:

scene number as depicted in the outlines from my update posts on this tumblr - POV character - one line summary of the concept - (time left until they return to Sabaody) (how long Ace and Zoro have been together) - list of relevant variables, details, etc

Title of chapter

Theme: trust + connection. showing others the most vulnerable parts of yourself

12 - ZORO - The Bath(tm) (1 year 4.75 months left) (together 5.75 months) - Ace almost namedrops sabo but cuts it off <- setup for later convo - Zoro won't pry but he is starting to wonder... he wants to be told - Zoro "feeling a little bit in love" - "Zoro hates seeing Ace deny himself something he clearly wants so badly. More than he wants to know him, more than he wants to be trusted, he wants Ace to stop hurting." - Ace: "I trust you more than I'm afraid of what the water will do to me." - Ace saying Zoro is too good for him. Zoro thinks it's the opposite but won't argue - Ace crying. Zoro reflecting on having to be to be taught how to deal w/ tears, how to give each person what they want, but not with Ace. Zoro can't help but hold him close. - Zoro finally seeing Ace's internal darkness + acknowledging it - Zoro "wants to love Ace from the inside out"

12.5 - ZORO - spar w/ Mihawk. Mihawk tells Zoro to go eat - Mihawk showing fatherly concern again

[NOTE: 12.5 was cut from the final piece.]

13 - ZORO - piercings thing (1 year 3.75 months left) (together 6.75 months) - Zoro w/ his head in Perona's lap. States that she's always touching him and he doesn't bother getting upset about it. (He doesn't mind.) Last time her ever thinks to complain about her being touchy - trio behavior. Ace clearly fond of Perona - Zoro says she can leave whenever she wants. it hurts him to think about, though. she's confused, bc she always assumed she's stay @ least as long as they did. Ace says good! You should! and she's like :3 - Zoro off handedly thinks that Ace has never mentioned his mother

13.5 - ZORO - roronoa your nipples. (1 year 3.75 months left) (together 6.75 months) - says Mihawk likes to stalk around the castle w/ his eyes closed - "What is he, Zoro's goddamn dad? // Oh, shit. He's Zoro's goddamn dad." - Mihawk both embarrassed and judgy (humiliated by his own dad-ness but unwilling to back down) - Zoro thinking he's going to miss this when they leave

14 - ZORO - drunk convo. kuina + sabo (1 year 2.75 months left) (together 7.75 months) - habit of drinking in order to help them open up - openness isn't easy, but it's not difficult either - Ace cries during Zoro's story about Kuina - choosing to share true vulnerabilities - that which could hurt not the body, but the heart - "Zoro wonders if this is what love feels like. He can't be sure."

Title: cracking open your own ribcage

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes - Chapter 10

Friendly reminder that chapter 10 is the first one that isn't posted yet! If you want to know what's to come, and what I as the author think is important about the scenes, read on. If you don't, then don't expand the readmore! You could always come back here after the chapter is posted :)

Each chapter's notes start with the theme of the chapter. Then a list of the scenes, structured as follows:

scene number as depicted in the outlines from my update posts on this tumblr - POV character - one line summary of the concept - (time left until they return to Sabaody) (how long Ace and Zoro have been together) - list of relevant variables, details, etc

Then, after listing all the scenes, I decided on a title!

Theme: Learning our new normal. (Establishing what they'll be leaving behind at the end.) Learning is a significant theme. Setting the stage for what's to come

6 - ZORO - Zoro beats Alpha (1 year 9 months left) - he's finally not stressed out <- back on form

6.5 - ZORO - spar w/ Ace (1 year 9 months left) - first time Ace goes all out - Ace gets distracted. Learns logias need to dematerialize consciously <- Ace + Mihawk @ odds - mini observation haki lesson

7 - ACE - Farming! (1 year 8.25 months left) - says Zoro trains w/ Mihawk after lunch. Mihawk is rarely present for breakfast - Ace thinks he kind of wants to stay forever - Perona + Ace chat. Warming up 2 each other - group bonding. Perona teasing Zoro, Perona and Ace goading Mihawk into tossing Zoro into the lake

7.5 - ZORO - family dinner. resting is important etc (1 year 8.25 months left) - Ace + Mihawk @ odds. Like in a major way - more family bonding. somehow - Zoro thinking there's nowhere he'd rather be

8 - ZORO - armament haki lesson! (1 year 8.25 months left) - kuraigana is home, now, to zoro - Ace leaning against Perona. Allies, if nothing else - fambly...

8.5 - ACE - spar w/ Ace. Haki practice~! (1 year 7.5 months left) - Ace thinks he's a bad bf who can't provide emotional support <- bro is so guilty all the time - A massages Zoro for the first time

9 - ZORO - camping! drunk convo. (1 year 6.75 months left.) (together 3.75 months) - mention Ace falling asleep in his food - 2 days after being able to drink again (1.5 months after ban) - Zoro sparred w/ Mihawk that day - relationship talk. 'this is just alabasta 2.' 'so what?' - Zoro wants to love and be loved but isn't there. Wonders if he even can get there. Wants to, tho - isn't emotional availability enough? - when they kiss... fireworks, and all that.

Title: equilibrium

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes Chapter 16

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The seventh one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15.

Structure:

So, um. Remember how I said I got a little lazy with the notes? This is the first chapter that suffers from that. It's partially because it was late enough into the piece that it kind of stopped mattering. It's also because working on chapter 15 made me rethink my outline AGAIN, so I ended up using the notes to rearrange scenes more than anything else. So there ended up being two pages of notes: one rearranging the scenes, and one with the final scene order. Therefore the structure of the notes is just:

Title of chapter

original outline: scene number from Tumblr outlines - what i'm changing about it

final outline: scene number, one line summary, and how long they have until they return to Sabaody and how long Ace and Zoro have been together

Title: full transparency

20 - Roger news coo. Changing it so Ace tells Zoro by choice after Mihawk shows him the newspaper in private. No more fight. Just a long ass talk

20.5 - move to chapter 15 between 18 and 19. continuous w/ 19

depending on length and other factors, might pull 19.5 down into this chapter, before 20

21 - delete. add resolution right into 20

final outline:

19.5 - their anniversary - (10.5 months left) (together 1 year obvs)

20 - it all comes spilling out. - (9 months left) (together 1 year 1.5 months)

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes - Chapter 11

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The second one, in fact. Missed chapter 10's notes? Read them here! If you want to know what's to come, and what I as the author think is important about the scenes, read on. If you don't, then don't expand the readmore! You could always come back here after the chapter is posted :)

Each chapter's notes start with the theme of the chapter. Then a list of the scenes, structured as follows:

scene number as depicted in the outlines from my update posts on this tumblr - POV character - one line summary of the concept - (time left until they return to Sabaody) (how long Ace and Zoro have been together)

- list of relevant variables, details, etc

Then, after listing all the scenes, I decided on a title!

Theme: exposing Zoro's flaws. Cracking him open to let the light in. He is loved

9.5 - ZORO - family dinner. setup for 10 (1 year 6.5 months left) (together 4 months) - Zoro doing mental gymnastics to justify being kind to Perona - "God, he loves her. (Shit, he loves her. Goddamn it.)" - Observation haki improvement - Zoro is 'kind of obsessed' with Ace

10 - ZORO - Perona doing Zoro's nails. Ankle scar convo (1 year 6.5 months left) (together 4 months) - fun, comfy dynamic b/t the 3 of them - Zoro's not ready for red - Zoro "wants to throttle and kiss him at the same time, and if that's not love, I don't know what is" - Perona actually conceding and asking for permission from Zoro (mutual respect for real now) - Perona and Ace upset about Zoro's sword-jumping thing [tendency to jump on any sword that presents itself, regardless of the actual situation] - the girls are fightingggggg

10.5 - ZORO - makeup sex dot png (1 year 6.5 months left) (together 4 months) - Ace falling asleep ment. - Zoro is made to understand that his sword-jumping thing hurts those he loves - he didn't even know he was doing it - Ace almost says he loves Zoro but catches himself and diverts instead - Perona picked out a mystery novel for Zoro and he's actually reading it - Ace: "I'm scared of how scared you make me." - Monumental sex. Zoro feels cherished. Not tender, really. Intense. (mirrors when Zoro tops later) [SPOILERS LOL]

11 - ZORO - Feesh! W/ Dadhawk :) (1 year 5.5 months left) (together 5 months) - Zoro just letting Mihawk boss him around (he feels indebted to Mihawk) - Zoro thinks he 'loves Ace and Perona' but doesn't really notice that he had that thought - Mihawk interrogates him. Decides to face him properly in their spars <- Mihawk respects him

11.5 - ZORO - Bath convo family dinner (1 year 4.75 months left) (together 5.75 months) - Ace's Bath Issues - Mihawk pointing out that everyone has vulnerabilities <- Ace and Mihawk @ odds once again - Ace 'I'll heat your bath, stud'

Title: growing pains

[zorosmalewife]

JSYK, we're still waiting on the beta read! I sent it to my beta in early January so I'm really hoping he gets to it soon... Thanks for being patient, everyone. As a little reward, I was thinking about maybe typing up all my fic notes? I have pages and pages of notes across multiple notebooks (a LOT of work went into the last 9 chapters haha) with all sorts of extra information about the piece.. Maybe it would be fun to type it all up for readers to peruse, if they so choose? The notes have all sorts of fun details. Would anyone be interested in that?

[zorosmalewife]

Just so y'all know... I'm done with my final solo edits! All we're waiting on now is the beta read :) Once that's done, and I've addressed any issues, I'll start posting again! Chapters will go up weekly :)

[zorosmalewife]

HEY ALL - BETA READ IS DONE

There's some stuff I have to fix, and I have to get it all formatted for Ao3, but if all goes according to plan, I can start posting this week! Probably on Sunday, since that's when I was updating it before. Thanks for sticking with me!

[zorosmalewife]

chapter dropping 12am EST btw. 28 mins

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes Chapter 18

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The ninth and final one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17.

Welcome to the epilogue! This has a different structure than the rest of the piece, and therefore the note structure is different, too.

I won't bother to explain the structure, tho - it should be obvious!

Okay, so what happens? Kuraigana -> Sabaody -> Thousand Sunny

Start epilogue w/ arrival @ Sabaody

Maybe, in opposition to the timeskip era of the fic, it'll be a montage of mundane scenes. We'll work between the offscreen story beats

Offscreen story beats: arrival -> [secret ;)] -> saying goodbye to perona and mihawk -> reunion w/ rayleigh and shakky -> returning to the sunny -> reuniting w the strawhats -> leaving -> end

each -> given a number, 1 thru 7

arrival @ sabaody park, not the archipelago

comedy of errors trying to book a hotel room

somewhat subdued bar scene

grocery run for shakky's bar

buying ace supplies.

nami scene

hopeful wrap up kind of thing

OMG how about outsider povs. for all but 1 and 7

1 - Arrive @ Sabaody Park - Zoro POV - cover them hiding their identities

2 - booking hotel room - receptionist POV - "Name for the reservation?" "Zo--" Ace elbows him in the gut. "--cho." "...Zocho? Your name is Zocho?" "Yes. Zocho." Ace facepalm dot png - Do Not Notice the fake strawhats - green-hair and freckles

3 - bar scene - bartender POV - easy support - Zoro drinking wine and being a snob about it - they miss their fambly already - make plans to call regularly - the brunette and sunshine

4 - bar grocery run - deli guy POV - talk about how they plan to tell the crew about their relationship - the swordsman and braid guy

5 - shopping trip - fellow shopper POV - Perona made them clothes so they need other supplies like bedding. - "Isn't this a bit presumptuous?" "Luffy won't say no." - scar and cowboy hat

6 - nami scene - nami POV - I'm not going to ruin this scene for you. This is a scene I thought of before I even asked the original author if I could write a fic based on their idea - in point of fact, it's part of the reason chain reaction even exists.

7 - wrap up - Ace POV - just like. general future shit. I don't know

[zorosmalewife]

Chain Reaction Notes Chapter 17

Please remember that this is an unposted chapter! The eighth and penultimate one, in fact. Missed the other notes? Find them here: 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16.

Structure:

Yeah, um. This one is lazy too. The next one won't be, but this one is. Sorry! It will look like this:

Title of chapter

original outline: scene number from Tumblr outlines - what i'm changing about it

final outline: scene number, one line summary, and how long they have until they return to Sabaody and how long Ace and Zoro have been together

Title: hope beyond hope

21.5 - delete

22 - not a drunk convo anymore. they don't need to do that. move into 24

22.5 - I don't know if this needs to be a scene... might delete it and just mentioned it happened. I'll use this spot for Ace and Perona to talk about roger and parents. Bonding (tm)

23 - this can stay. might add a companion section where Zoro and Perona talk about the next steps... yeah let's do that actually. we set it up.

24 - now w/ 22. not even post-coital, they're just able to have conversations now

24.5 - announcement and back to Sabaody

final outline:

22.5 - parents - (7.5 months left) (together 1 year 3 months)

23 - legacy [what it was called in the outline from very early on. doesn't actually work as a summary of what happens tho lol] - (5 months left) (together 1 year 5.5 months)

NEW - Perona and Zoro have future talk - (3.5 months left) (together 1 year 7 months)

24 - okay stud. - (2 months left) (together 1 year 8.5 months)

24.5 - announcement etc. - (1 month left) (together 1 year 9.5 months)

[zorosmalewife]

chain rxn epilogue upd8

IT'S DONE!!!!!!!!!! Well, the rough draft is done. I'll need to go over it a few times before it's officially finished, but we're still basically there. Now, don't get too excited just yet; updates won't start up again until my beta is done with their read-through. I would give it about 3 weeks, maybe more, because once they're done, I'll need to do final edits on all nine of the new chapters. Still, though. We're getting really close! I'm so excited! If you aren't subscribed to the piece, now's the time to do so. Easy link to the piece is here!

The bulk of the epilogue is a departure from the rest of the piece in both execution and tone, but I hope that everyone can enjoy it nonetheless. I had a blast writing it.

Rough outline for the epilogue:

1 - arrival - [COMPLETE] 2 - booking - [COMPLETE] 3 - bar - [COMPLETE] 4 - grocery - [COMPLETE] 5 - shopping - [COMPLETE] 6 - nami - [COMPLETE] 7 - wrap up - [COMPLETE]

CURRENT WORD TOTAL: 105,023 -> 107,192

[zorosmalewife]

chain rxn up8

Chapter 12 DONE! BOO YAH! Just [checks notes] five to go haha. [looks at all the hacking and sawing I've done to the outline] Six to go! Haha!

I'm trying to do NaNoWriMo this year, with my goal being to complete this fic! I've been making good progress on it, and I will hopefully be able to continue as I have been.

I am once again changing the projected chapters because God I am apparently totally incapable of hitting target lengths. The scenes are going to be as long as they want to be, and I know that forcing it will make an inferior product, so. Until this point, I have (obviously) been following a set pattern of scenes (scene, family dinner interlude, scene, spar interlude, repeat) but since a lot of those flow into each other without breaks, it might behoove me to be less strict with it. (It's not like any readers who haven't seen these posts would recognize the pattern for what it is, anyway.) Chapter 13 was supposed to be 3 sections long, so 'love' needed to be at least 3k, but I wrote 500 words that I'm extremely pleased with and need a separate followup... So that means chapter 13 will have to be different. The emotional through-line no longer works, so I'll have to push 'sacrifice' back into chapter 14, and probably pull some of the slated chapter 14 stuff into 13. And then because of that I kind of ended up adding new scenes, removing old ones, moving a bunch of shit around... It'll be a bit of a hackjob, but worth it. Hopefully.

There's a lot that goes into the pacing. I tend to have only one Major Emotional Beat per chapter, otherwise it feels muddled and rushed. So each chapter will, ideally, have one emotional through-line, interspersed with character interactions. Which means that if I'm writing according to the outline, and I write something I like that has a different emotional through-line from the chapter it's slated to be in, I'll just have to move the scene. That's part of why everything keeps changing. Another part is that while it's a little silly, I like to end chapters with impactful lines. So, if I write a really good closing line, I might just end the chapter there. It's mostly about vibes TBH

Scenes, in tentative order, starting with chapter 12:

12 - trust [COMPLETE] INTERLUDE - S5 - wrestling -> mihawk [COMPLETE] 13 - solidarity [COMPLETE] INTERLUDE - FD 6 - nipples [COMPLETE] 14 - honest answer [COMPLETE] -- predicted end of chapter 12 & start of chapter 13 -- INTERLUDE - S 6 - mihawk.... 2! [COMPLETE] 15 - love [COMPLETE] INTERLUDE - FD 7 - icy [WIP] 16 - sick INTERLUDE - S 7 - excuse -- predicted end of chapter 13 & start of chapter 14 -- INTERLUDE - FD 8 - recovery 17 - hair INTERLUDE - S 8 - secrets INTERLUDE - FD 9 - sacrifice [COMPLETE] -- predicted end of chapter 14 & start of chapter 15 -- 18 - charades [WIP] INTERLUDE - S 9 - real 19 - top INTERLUDE - FD 10 - calm -- predicted end of chapter 15 & start of chapter 16 -- 20 - it all comes spilling out. INTERLUDE - S 10 - unseen -- predicted end of chapter 16 & start of chapter 17 -- 21 - reunion INTERLUDE - FD 11 - awkward 22 - future [WIP] INTERLUDE - S 11 - unequivocal victory 23 - legacy -- predicted end of chapter 17 & start of chapter 18 -- 24 - ok stud. INTERLUDE - FD 12 - announcement, and all that comes next

Total word count: 72,677 -> 78,167

[zorosmalewife]

so chain reaction is done...! you can read the epilogue here

what's next? the short answer: i don't know! the long answer:

i have some stuff in the works, but honestly i'm not sure if any of it is going to get finished, let alone posted to this acct. i still have about a third of that franky/robin/zoro pwp for my Zoro Sex Anthology, and there is a chance i'll finish that eventually, but i won't make any promises. if i finish that, it'll go up on the zorosmalewife ao3 acct.

other stuff i'm working on: some kaiju no. 8 stuff, a persona 5 collab, a stardew valley collab, a bleach thingy, and a supernatural thing. don't judge me for writing about things that suck (bleach + spn) i just want to try and fix them god bless. anyway. i think the only one that has a real shot of going up on zorosmalewife is the sdv one bc that has smut (written by me, tho the piece on the whole is being co-written by a good friend of mine) but the bleach one miiiiight end up there too because of its themes. idk yet bc it's nowhere near done.

so what's next? nothing, for now. i have a full time job now and don't have a lot of time to spare, and most of that scant spare time has gone to playing metal gear lmfao. if you're interested in my back catalog on my sfw acct, you can find that here, tho i do think chain rxn is far superior to basically everything on that acct except for maybe one fic..... you can keep an eye on that acct too but like i said, don't expect anything new for a bit

all that said, i once again want to thank everyone for reading and caring about my piece. it means the world to me.