#this is most absolutely one of the crazier things I've done I feel like

[ahundredtimesover]

Omg the mysteries have been unveiled!!!! Can't put into words how much I love this story. Thank you endlessly for putting so much effort, time, and care into it. It's amazing that we get to share the fruits of your talent! It's even crazier that you managed to build a story that just ticks all the points for me and scratches my brain just right.

I commend you for not falling into the common traps of fanfic writing by rushing into things and buying into scenarios that are just not realistic for a non-fantasy fic. As much as the characters' decisions, actions, and attitudes might frustrate us, that's what being human is like! That's real! That's life! We are so contradictory, and we say the wrong thing or the right thing at the wrong time, or we fail to say what must be said.

I will admit that I've been frustrated by both jk and oc throughout the story, and thought they made things more complicated than way they needed to be but now I understand why it's taken so long to get to this point. I get oc's desperation to break free. At first, I was so confused. Why walk away from a job that gives you a decent wage and is prestigious? Surely not everyone likes their job all the time, and would like to have more money, more free time... Now, I understand her fully, and I empathize. There's nothing worse than feeling indebted, subservient, ashamed... it's like she has been walking on eggshells all the time. Even if the family didn't see her in a negative light or looked down on her, sometimes your insecurities get the best of you and your brain convinces you that the worst case scenario is indeed happening right under your nose.

I'm excited to see her heal, grow, and THRIVE! I want to see her comfortable in her own skin, to believe and KNOW she deserves positive things in her life, to feel invigorated by her job, to feel more relaxed, to have time for herself, to find hobbies and passions. Who knows... maybe she dabbles in writing in the future? 👀👀 (She did mention she loves storytelling and the creative process). Of course, healing is complicated and I predict she might have hard times ahead, wondering if she did the right thing, if walking away from jk means losing him forever...

I hope the time apart (hopefully not too long ��, although it makes the most sense) allows them both to see things more clearly and approach their feelings in a new light, without the baggage of power dynamics. Starting a relationship with your boss is just yucky, BIG no. For the people saying that's what should've happened... how would that have made her look like? Oh, yall helped my mom and I escape domestic violence, pay for my uni education, gave me an internship and a job (although my girl earned this, but yk negative self talk), AND then I start sleeping and dating one of the company heirs whilst still working as his assistant? Absolutely not.

Also, jumping right into the relationship after her resignation seems too rushed as well, oc more than jk (imo) needs to sort herself out and find herself, find her identity away from the shadows of her past and jk's family and company. How can she be in her first actual relationship if she feels like she can't stand on her own two feet? How can she do good by her and jk if she feels insecure, lost, and unfulfilled? Love and intimacy don't solve all your life problems. That's the heartbreaking realization they both are starting to have. I will say that seeing the more romantic side of jk and oc was soooo cute. His reasoning (although flawed) of wanting to keep her in the company in order to ensure her being respected and safe warmed my heart. I agree with that other anon that jk might not take the separation too well, and might revert back to his old ways, which could potentially put off oc? She might be at a point where she wants to reconnect, and he's just not there yet (I won't mind this possibility because I, too, LOVE angst 😭)

Also Mr. Ri's backstory :( Bless his heart. He has done so so good by oc and her mom. He deserves ultimate happiness, as well. Also, what about Mr YOONGI! I can't wait to read his opinion about all this and how he will try to help out both of them.

Overall, what a chapter. It has been my favorite yet (hard choice cause you have a goldmine here). I can't wait (I can and I will) for chapter 12!! Much love ❤️

(I'm usually an anonymous fan, but this story is just so good I'm powering through my shyness and panic to send this message off anon 🫣)

HIII oh wow, so much to absorb here and I love it! 🥹Which is also why I took a while to respond. I loved reading through this and knowing what you thought. This story took months of frustration and stress to come together haha but I'm glad it’s able to resonate with readers and you guys can see what I was trying to say through the characters. 😌😌

It's a slowburn for the reason that it's important to get to fully know them, from their pains to their hopes because it's how we understand why they do what they do; it's how we connect with them, too. Bc these very flawed humans have bits and pieces of us in them. Especially with OC - no matter how 'good' a job seems to be, if it doesn't fulfil your desires, if it makes you doubt what you've achieved, it's gonna constantly eat at you, and it finally became too much for her once she realized that her feelings for JK would keep her in a place that she's not happy in, even if the man who makes her happy is right there. Obviously there are the hindrances given their positions, but ultimately it's OC making a decision for herself.

It's also interesting to note what you and other readers propose or believe must be the way forward. They both need healing, but clearly all the years they've spent alone and on their own haven't really done anything good to them. And also, they didn't go through a breakup. It's more like a rejection of requited feelings, and like I said to another reader, they don't know what happiness with each other feels like, and they may not exactly need healing from each other. As we've seen, they find comfort in each other. But I totally get what you're saying about needing time away. Much of OC's feelings of being lost and insecure and unfulfilled are tied to her job, and now that she no longer feels bound by it... it's a good thing! This is actually what I was hoping that people would see because echoing what you're also saying, being apart isn't always a bad thing. 😉

We love Mr. Ri! He's such a comforting character, so is Yoongi. And together with Jimin, we see that OC still has good men around her despite the other assholes she dated. 😌 and also, if u think this JK is romantic... AWW WAIT UNTIL rich boyfriend jk happens 🤭🤭 hahaha but anyway. I loved this. Thank you so much for coming out of the shadows and dropping by. I super appreciate it. It makes me feel fulfilled that I could give you something to ponder and hope about. 💕

I hope you're well! Stay safe always! 🫶🏼🫶🏼

[blurglesmurfklaine]

ok ok I love drag me headfirst (fearless) so I've picked from there. and i adore this scene with you know REVELATIONS and such. sorry that this was probably a little while ago to think about.

“Dance with me?” Blaine asks, grin bright and beaming. 

Hell, Blaine could ask him to jump off a bridge, and as long as Blaine’s hand was in his, he’d do it. Kurt can’t stop the corner of his mouth from twitching, and then Blaine is full on grinning, reeling him in and tugging him close.

You lift my feet off the ground, spin me aroundYou make me crazier, crazierFeels like I'm falling and IAm lost in your eyes, you make me crazier, crazier, crazier

Every passing second, it’s getting more and more difficult for Kurt to ignore the pounding in his chest, or the buzzing, almost shakiness in his arms as he wraps them up around Blaine’s neck.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Huh?” Kurt says, voice a little out of breath and dazed.

“I feel like Taylor has some songs about kissing at parties. You know, full experience, and all.”

Kurt finds himself nodding, although he certainly can’t think of any off the top of his head. Truth be told, he can’t think at all when Blaine is pressed up against him like this.

His eyes dart to Blaine’s lips and then his eyes, scouring his face for any sense of hesitance but find none. Then, Blaine pulls them together, and Kurt’s mind goes blank, all he can think about is the gentle push and pull of his best friend’s mouth on his.

The moment Blaine pulls away and slowly opens his eyes is the moment Kurt realizes something he can never tell: he’s hopelessly in love with Blaine.

“Shit,” Kurt whispers.

Blaine knits his eyebrows together. “What?”

Kurt just shakes his head and pulls Blaine in, until their lips are touching once more. Blaine moves a hand to the back of Kurt’s neck and pulls him closer, as if they aren’t close enough already, as if he can’t get enough of Kurt, breathing him in. 

AHHHHHH THANK YOU! I actually loved writing Drag Me Headfirst because it might be THE most self indulgent thing i have EVER created ajshahshs

The DVD Commentary:

I knew I wanted to use “Crazier” even though it’s not technically on the fearless album because it IS a waltz which gives it that “sway”-y feel to it and I was like “oh yeah they can SLOWDANCE TO THIS”

God they are so stupid. They are just. Absolute fucking idiots and I know I’m the one who wrote them that way but at what cost???? Blaine is literally smiling like an IDIOT, finding an excuse to dance with you, and asking to kiss you and you’re just like “damn I wish he liked me” what kind of fuckery????? Honestly though I can’t even say anything because I’m the same way—I cannot take a hint for SHIT and I think a lot of people can’t either so I was like. Let’s lean into that. See what it looks like from an outside perspective. Ladies: we’re idiots your honor

THE “Oh.” MOMENT—in a friends to lovers AU, I am a HUUUUGE slut for that italicized Oh. moment!! bc like they’ve been besties forever so what makes it FINALLY click? I think it’s always gotta be something really stupidly fucking obvious (a kiss in this case) or something really subtle (like in HS when Tao buys Elle’s drink after she transfers).

But then oh no we’re not done fellas because as anyone who has ever had a crush on anyone ever can tell you—ITS THE PITS. The mortifying ordeal of being known and all that jazz! So I like to lean into that mortification and a thing I really enjoy writing is when a character is like “Omg I love them. FUCK.” because like yes I love love and I think it’s fantastic but the scariest thing about realizing you have something precious is realizing you could LOSE it so that’s where Kurt’s “Shit.” comes from lmao

And then my favorite moment in this scene is actually right after that when Kurt shakes his head because AS I was writing it I literally made myself cry with laughter at my own stupid jokes because I said: “NOW WE DONT HAVE TIME TO UNPACK ALL OF THAT” aloud to an empty room which is Normal Behavior of course.

I just really enjoy the progression of “Wow Blaine is such a good friend for kissing me. Oh, fuck, I’m in love. Nevermind, we’re going to ignore this.” I think in the moment it comes off as romantic and maybe even a little bit angsty, but honestly the whole thing is based off the humor and ridiculousness of it all which I guess you can’t have one without the other!

Thanks so much for sending this in jas!! It was so much fun! :D 💞💞

[nehswritesstuffs]

Thousand Arc Reactor Derived Intertemporal Starship, but we just call her Thousand Sunny

OR, “Why Are So Many of These Space-Time Adventurers Extremely Hot?”: An Essay Crisis Bi-Panic Essay By Sanji Jambenoire

I apologize in advance for this, like, wow.

4042 words; come and feast your eyes upon what is definitely a most unholy of unions between two of my favorite fandoms and I’m still amazed I took this long to come up with it despite the fact it should have been clear in retrospect that I’m a ticking time bomb; contains ZoSan and mentions of other ships for our favorite blond bicycle, as well as some Sanji ogling because, well, it’s Sanji;

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

Things had not exactly been normal since the day Monkey D. Luffy crashed into Sanji’s life.

For one, the dude was a fucking alien. Not, like, from a foreign country alien, but from another goddamned galaxy. Literally. The asshole crashed his ship into his foster dad’s restaurant and everything had devolved from there. One minute he was kicking out an asshole who wasted food, the next there’s this blue box smoldering in the dining room, with a young man stumbling out to announce how hungry he was and stretched his limbs to gobble up the food the asshole was going to waste.

Yeah. Stretched. Like taffy. Bloody fucking alien from outer space.

Secondly, after a lot of arguing, his dad kicked him out of the restaurant and onto the ship, claiming it would do him some good. While the thing nominally looked like a blue police box, inside the seemingly-wooden doors and there truly was an entire ship inside. It was a rather big adjustment, but everything seemed to slot into place fairly easily…

…and that mostly was because of the third thing: the rest of the “ship’s crew” was more than a bit on the odd side.

Luffy had a habit of… collecting people, as it were. Sanji was only one of many people he ended up collecting in his adventures. Well… maybe the term “collecting” wasn’t entirely the case. Possibly “acquired” might be better. No matter what, it was a weird group, though they always made things feel natural, in a ways.

Then again, how could one think things were really, genuinely natural when there was a nine-foot skeleton, a blue-haired cyborg, and a man-fish that sort of wandered around everywhere?

Not a terribly easy thing to do—he really deserved a fucking medal.

Thusly, Sanji traveled with this man—this Time Lord—and his motley crew of weirdos whose origins stretched throughout time and space. There were a lot of Time Lords out there, and the most enigmatic of them with the initial D. in their name, and sometimes, their paths crossed.

“I swear by all that is right in the galaxies, Strawhat-ya, I will break my Hippocratic Oath one day and flat-out murder you,” grumbled the Time Lord they were now currently stranded on a planet with. Both of their ships had picked up distress signals, which meant that Luffy—the Straw Hat—wanted to investigate and Trafalgar Law—the Surgeon—had wanted to make certain there was no one that needed medical attention. Unluckily for both of them, tractor beams kept both their ships grounded while they attempted to figure out what was keeping them there.

“Shishishi—looks like there’s no other choice but to go on an adventure, Torao!” Luffy grinned draping his arm around the other man’s shoulders in the casual way only an interdimensional trickster-god-cum-hazard-to-all-life-itself could pull off. “Isn’t that great?!”

“It’s… something.” Law glared at the small cluster of Luffy’s “crew” that had gathered and attempted to bore a hole through them with only his eyes. When it didn’t work, he raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you happen to have some sense of normalcy, unlike your captain.”

“I’d agree with you,” Sanji shrugged, “but he did convince us to leave our lives and travel with him.”

The Surgeon closed his eyes and grumbled—of course he did.

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

The biggest thing about travelling with Monkey D. Luffy—the Straw Hat, Time Lord Extraordinaire—Sanji found was that he did like to keep an interesting ship.

The particular space-time ship that they were on was custom-built by a cyborg named Franky, the sleek walls and tasteful décor contrasting his loud and obnoxious personality. Was he just an American? From the future? The blond really didn’t know. Shit, he didn’t even know what the Historian found in him.

Oh, yeah, there were other Time Lords on the crew as well. The Historian—Nico Robin, to some—was a powerful woman whose ability to replicate her limbs made Sanji’s heart flutter at the possibilities. The Musician—Soul King Brook—was the walking skeleton with an ear for music so uncanny it could alter emotions and thoughts. The Physician—Tony Tony Chopper—could transform between different sorts of reindeer-themed forms. It was all a bit much, really.

It wasn’t as though the non-Time Lord crewmembers were shoddy, however. Nami was a cartography whiz with the innate ability to find their way through a transtemporal storm with ease. Usopp was an incredible marksman, having grown up in an idyllic colony where really the only thing to do on the entire planet was target practice. Jinbe, despite being an Earthen Sea Devil from the dawn of time, if one would believe, was an excellent driver and could handle any craft from the sprawling multi-dimensional ship to a motorbike. Roronoa Zoro of the Shimotsuki Clan of Wano Prefecture, the spicy-as-fuck actual samurai from the actual Sengoku fucking Jidai fuck fuck fuck why is he hot like a tater tot, could cut through pert near anything with his three swords. No, one of them was not permanently attached. Sanji was not equipped to see all four of the man’s “swords” at once.

It almost made his talent of cooking seem like child’s play, in a way.

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

“How in the hell have we really survived this long?”

Sanji, Zoro, and Law were all watching as Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and several members of Law’s crew bounced happily on the spongy surface of the planet, Robin having deduced that it was a living organism of sorts that colonized the planet after more active species accidentally left some during a resupply stop. Much of the Straw Hat and Surgeon’s crews were off investigating the area, all with the exception of the dozen who were left.

“This is… typical,” Law muttered. “Whenever Strawhat-ya is around, logic and reason and maturity seem to go right out the airlock.”

“Eh, could be worse,” Zoro shrugged. The other two looked at him, eyebrows raised. “We could also be underwater right now.”

Ah, yes, the tragic flaw of the Time Lord: their bodies were so dense due to the extra… stuff allowing them to do their respective weirdo things that they could not float. Sanji knew it well, having had to fish Luffy out of the shallow end of a kiddie pool before. Law was also suspiciously silent—it nearly sounded like he was in agreement.

“Hey, Captain!” one of the Surgeon’s minions laughed. Porg? Penguin? Puffin? Sanji couldn’t keep track anymore. “Come on! Jump with us!”

“I’ll stay here, thank you,” Law grumbled. “Where is Ikkaku-ya and Clione-ya? I need their report.”

“You’re also starting to think there’s no need for distress beacons on this plant too, aren’t you?” Sanji wondered aloud. He side-eyed Law and tried not to drool—how in the hell did he make those gross tats look delectable? “It really is too damn quiet.”

“Wish it weren’t the case, Blackleg-ya.” There was a loud thud behind him and they turned, seeing the Surgeon’s aforementioned crewmates scrambling to get to their feet and run to them. “Report.”

“We think we found the source of the distress signal,” the man, Clione, replied as he gulped for breath. “It was definitely a plea for assistance from a sentient being.”

“Was…?” Zoro wondered, eyebrow raised.

Ikakku’s mouth twisted as she tried not to shudder. “You ever see turkey jerky?”

No; Zoro had never seen a turkey, let alone a jerky of it.

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

Every so often, they take a break on Earth. Mostly it’s Sanji and Nami’s home spacetime, in their flat that they only can afford because his foster dad owns the building, and it’s not like they really mind. Logueton is a decently-sized city, with enough weird shite going on that people might look twice at the Musician, but not think too hard about it.

It also helps that UNIT’s there, although they’re not much help either. Absolutely riddled with other Time Lords, it acts as the front to all the extraterrestrial hullabaloo that goes on, explaining it away as military drills or film sets or a gas leak. Some days it succeeds better than others. They’re working on it.

It was dark as Sanji was walking back from his closing shift at the Baratie, his foster father’s riverboat restaurant, when he came across Zoro staring at a tree. Well, more like glaring at the tree.

“Oi, marimo, it’s not going to bow unless you cut it,” he mentioned around his cigarette. He took a drag and let the smoke filter out slowly in the cool evening air as he walked up to the other man. “What did it ever do to you?”

“You don’t have trees here.”

“You’re looking straight at one, dipshit.”

“…but it’s one tree. Why aren’t there many others? I get lost so easy without the trees.”

“…because this isn’t a nature park or forest,” Sanji frowned. He looked at the way the Western dress shirt and slacks hung on Zoro and choked back a whine—fuck, he could be a model… a surly, green-haired, built-as-hell model. “Maybe I can take you to one on my next day off. Would you like that?”

“Is that a Logueton courtship ritual?”

“It doesn’t have to be.” Except, please, yes, just do it already. “Come on; let’s walk home.”

“Another courtship ritual.”

“What’s with you and the courtship rituals?”

“You’re the one who keeps suggesting them.”

“…and what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that if we hurry back to the flat then there will be no one there to overhear me bust your ass raw with my hips.”

A curled eyebrow raised. “Oh…? How cute. You think you’d top.”

“Don’t need to in order to make you lose all control, future pretty boy.”

Sanji grinned, terrified. Oh, it was on.

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

Ikkaku and Clione did genuinely find the source of the distress signals, but it wasn’t pretty.

It had been the doing of another Time Lord, one that was clearly more vicious than any of the ones within their current ranks. Both crews gathered around the charred corpse, most none too pleased that they were dealing with something this big already.

“Who do you think it was?” Nami scowled. “This doesn’t look like the Garrison’s doing.”

“Miss Nami,” one of the Surgeon’s crew grimaced, “with all due respect: the man is West Quadrant Mafioso.”

“She’s right—he’s too into guns,” the Historian supplied. “This is also not the Haboob—the victim is too hydrated.”

“Sand-themed shit should give you a better name than Haboob,” Usopp frowned. He then looked at the Historian with a raised eyebrow. “How would you know?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers for,” Jinbe said. He glanced up at the Straw Hat, who seemed to be vibrating in excitement. “You seem to know what’s going on, don’t you?”

“Nope!” Luffy beamed. “This is pretty neat though, isn’t it? The mystery! The adventure!”

“Something that knew how to send a distress signal is dead,” the Physician chided as he examined the corpse. The Surgeon knelt next to him, watching pensively. “What do you think?”

“The body was clearly damaged after death,” he replied. Taking a finger, he outlined the neck, stopping at a specific point. “Point of impact was here—they tried to misdirect the blame, make it seem as though someone like the Haboob or the Electrician, but the signs are there, pointing to only one person.”

“Whom?”

“None other than the Heavenly Yaksha himself, Blackleg-ya,” the Surgeon said, deathly serious. “There’s going to be additional bodies somewhere—possibly a colony or a ship that fell by the wayside—and that’s where we’re going to find answers.”

Why couldn’t they have a normal, less-threatening adventure for once? Weird food and pretty space-women and maybe some bizarro-world environments like saltwater in rain and native species that had eyes in their hands. Was that really too much to ask?

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

“While I appreciate you’ve made friends, I’d like if you not get distracted while at work.”

Sanji snapped out of his stupor and looked down at the stock pot in front of him, near to bubbling over and ruining the soup. His face went red as he adjusted the heat and glared at his foster father from across the Baratie’s kitchen.

“I wasn’t thinking about them,” he lied.

“Carne lives right below you and that Japanese lad had you screaming into your mattress for two hours last night.” Oh, fuck—caught. “See you got over Viola pretty quick.”

“She wanted a stability I am not ready to provide.”

“Pudding’s been asking after you again.”

“She attends my cookery class once and she’s the most in love she claims to have ever been in.”

“Gin stopped in yesterday.”

“What can I say? I’m just destined to leave a trail of broken hearts behind me.”

“You’re destined to burn the fucking soup if you’re not careful,” his dad snapped. “If I crack open a history book about feudal Japan, am I going to see a woodcut of your new bedwarmer committing seppuku due to the painful memory of his blond lover from the stars?”

“You wound me.”

“You get away from the fucking soup and work on chopping this veg—maybe the repetition will clear your head before the dinner rush.”

“You sure giving me a knife is a good idea, Pops?”

“Just the fuck away from the soup, Eggplant.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Sanji took the knife and began chopping vegetables for use in other dishes later that night. He popped a stick of chewing gum in his mouth and started on the onions—what a great single solution for multiple problems. “At least I get a leg up every now and then.”

“You don’t want to know what I get up to,” Zeff scoffed from the soup. “It’d make your toes curl.”

“Wouldn’t change the fact that you still go home to a cat.” Sanji grinned inwardly—ha, got him.

“At least it’s not a ball of moss.”

Fuck—had him there.

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

As usual, the Surgeon was correct with pinpoint accuracy. There were more bodies further out, clustered around what appeared to be not only a downed spaceship, but a generations-old colony that surrounded it. Both crews moved about the carnage with unease.

“It must have just happened,” Usopp noticed. “The grass is still pretty short—I’d say the last time they ran a mower through was a week ago.”

“That’s how you notice?” Sanji scoffed. A weird feeling lurched in his gut as he looked around; there was something extra-wrong about this. “What are the rest of you seeing?”

“There’s absolutely no one adorned in any sort of decoration,” one of the Surgeon’s crew said. “There’s no jewelry, necklaces, rings, tattoos, piercings… and everyone has one of three haircuts.”

“Not only that,” the Physician whimpered, “there’s a sour smell in the air, worse than death normally is.”

“No children,” the Historian replied. She allowed the Physician to bury his face in her side, patting him as a mother would her child. “This colony has been around for many decades, and yet there are no children. There is a school, but none of her students amongst the dead. It is highly improbable all of them escaped.”

“Then we just have to find the survivors,” Luffy nodded. Sanji glanced over at the Surgeon, noting how the other man had gone near sheet-white in his face. “What’s wrong, Torao?”

“I hate being right,” the Surgeon grumbled. He nodded once, gesturing over towards a building with a crossed-out smiley face painted on it. “That’s his symbol.”

“Who’s?” Luffy asked, picking his nose. Nami smacked him on the backside of his head, causing him to tumble forward.

“Heavenly Yaksha, you moron!” she sniped. “Weren’t you even listening back there?! I don’t want to get mixed up in that creep’s business!”

“Sorry, but we already are,” Bepo said. For being a bipedal talking polar bear, he certainly had an adorable, little brother sort of air about him. “By answering the distress signal, we’re in it now.”

“Luffy, if I’m late for my next shift because of this, I’m going to kick your ass,” Sanji hissed. The Straw Hat simply grinned at him before wandering off.

“We travel in space-time ships,” Franky noted. “Being late for work is a super-high improbability.”

“...except it’s Luffy: everything improbable happens when it comes to him.”

Shit—he was right.

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

It was weird enough splitting his time between his father’s restaurant and adventuring throughout time and space, but it was much weirder as the two lives he lived began to blur together like a glitch between reality and the Matrix.

At least Nami living at his flat had been pretty normal before then. She was Human, as most people on Earth came, and that wasn’t too disorienting. It was when the rest of Luffy’s collection began showing up around Logueton and at the Baratie did it become a point of contention.

The Historian wasn’t terribly bad, sitting in the corner with tea and a book, and Zeff guessed the Musician and Jinbe were alright on a slow day, but the Straw Hat showing up usually meant that there was something weird about to happen, and chances were something was also going to be broken. Few of the rest of them made for a calmer time, which raised the old man’s blood pressure more than he cared to admit.

“I hate to say that your cross-century affair is one of the most normal things about this,” Zeff said through gritted teeth. He was overseeing as his dining room was being cleaned up, as Usopp had been working on a new batch of Ghost Pepper Exploding Stars and Luffy, Franky, and Chopper had knocked into him, the entire thing exploding. Tears streamed down their faces as they cleaned, the materials of the munitions getting to them. Sanji and some of the rest of staff were watching as well, waiting to be able to prep to open the restaurant.

“It’s weirder that our little shit’s not sleeping with the ginger after all,” Carne mumbled. Patty hit his fist atop the other man’s head and he cursed. “Hey! He’s fucking horny and she’s a hot score! It’d be hard for anyone to keep out of her bed, I imagine.”

“You’re just pissed you lost money on it,” Patty quipped. Eh, couldn’t argue there. He looked over at the corner booth where Zoro was sleeping while Robin read and Jinbe and Brook shared tea. “Aren’t any of you going to help?”

“They need to learn to clean their own messes,” Brook chuckled. “Besides, ghost pepper sauce is for ribs that still have meat on them… which I distinctly lack.”

“I still wonder some days what kind of soup you boil into,” Carne shot back. The Musician shivered at the chill in the air—how threatening.

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

The two crews eventually found where the colony’s children were being held hostage, and it was subsequently difficult for them all not to go bloody ballistic. The children—along with a small group of adults—were tied up and imprisoned inside a laboratory, with a small staff milling about freely. When the leader saw the Surgeon had broken into the lair, he tried to hide his fear behind laughter.

“Funny it is to see you here, Trafalgar Law,” he chortled. “I see you’ve brought some friends.”

“What are you doing?!” the Surgeon demanded. The lead scientist shrugged.

“Joker’s wishes,” he replied. He then turned his attention to the Straw Hat and the others. “How cute—friends? Other subjects?”

“The people who are going to kick your ass,” Luffy snarled.

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

“It’s called Cup-a-Soup. I get nice ones—not the American shit. It’ll do until I can go to the store.”

Trafalgar Law stared at the box in Sanji’s hand, his brow furrowed in confusion. What about instant soup was absolutely blowing that man’s mind? He and several of his crew were currently stuffed into the flat along with all the Sunny’s usual bunch, meaning the blond didn’t have nearly enough food in the place to feed all of them at that exact moment.

“Don’t they have instant soup on your planet?”

He didn’t know if the stunned silence was cute or just plain infuriating.

“Fine; I’m taking Chopper and we’re getting supplies. None of you assholes touch anything. That includes you, Luffy!” He pointed at the stretchy Time Lord as he let go of the windowsill, allowing the twist of his arms that wrapped around his body to snap back into place. Grabbing his keys, phone, and wallet, he went with the small reindeer-teen out of the flat and began the walk to the store. “Fuck, Zeff’s going to kill me.”

“Why would he do a thing like that?” Chopper wondered. Sanji looked at his friend and sighed—the Physician was too pure a person to get embroiled in half of the shit they were involved in.

“The flat he’s currently letting Nami-swan and I rent is currently filled with no fewer than fifteen rowdy crazies from across time and space, and I know that the man who lives underneath us needs to open the restaurant in the morning.” He lit a cigarette to smoke as they went—what a fucking pain. At least it was dark out, meaning that Chopper didn’t have to worry as much about which form he was wandering about in. “I feel like I need more than a goddamned smoke.”

“You know how I feel about that,” Chopper chided gently.

“I know.” He patted him on the head. “I’ll get there, one day. Just gotta get these fucking stress levels down, you know?”

Chopper reluctantly nodded in agreement and changed into a large, fur-covered man as they went into the store. The pair went and bought enough supplies to feed a small army, with Chopper’s immense size helping as they readied to take the shopping home. On their way, they almost ran directly into a woman who was carrying a sword and wearing a pair of eyeglasses atop her head.

“Citizens! I’m from the United Naval Integral Taskforce! Have you seen a giant man-eating gorilla come out of the supermarket?! I have reports of something along that description threatening the peace!”

“It went that way,” Sanji and Chopper said in unison, pointing in the opposite in which they were walking. The woman sprinted off, leaving the other two to go about their business.

“I wonder why she just doesn’t wear contacts,” Chopper wondered.

“…and risk touching an eyeball? I get why she doesn’t.” They calmly went back to the flat and opened the door, only to find that the kitchen was now a complete disaster, with the sane ones having fled to the inside of the Sunny while someone decided to try to make Cup-a-Soup.

How Sanji had never had a stroke was honestly beyond medical knowledge.

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

Caesar Clown was exactly that—a clown for Luffy to punch into oblivion as the rest of the crew freed the captured colonists. Some of the Surgeon’s crew were able to work with Franky to rig the laboratory—a spaceship in its own right—to jettison itself out of the atmosphere and past orbit, sending him back to where the Heavenly Yaksha had his base of operations. It was then up to the two crews to help bury the dead and, afterwards, lead the remaining inhabitants in a Glad to Be Alive party.

“So, who killed the colonists?” the Surgeon asked. The Straw Hat chewed his food and stared at him.

“Uhh… the Heavenly Yaksha.”

“Yes—now who did we just narrowly miss running into here because he left early?”

“The Heavenly Yaksha.”

“Good,” Sanji groaned. “Now, who did we just send Caesar Clown to?”

“Joker.”

“So this means…?”

“We still need to find out the connection between Heavenly Yaksha and Joker! Hey! Usopp! That’s my meat!” The Straw Hat dove across the table for some more mutton, which made both Sanji and the Surgeon groan in frustration.

“Blackleg-ya, I don’t really know how you do this all the bloody time,” the Time Lord said.

“To be honest? I’m not entirely sure how I do either.”

[talkfantasytome]

Listen girl, we get that you don’t have a plot or motivation or something but please please update the Connor and Bryce fan fic. We’ve been waiting forever and I get it, you’re trying to make it good for us but surely as a reader you can understand the utter disappointment when it’s not updated, come on please!

I could just take it down, if you'd prefer. 😒

I've tried to be nice about this, but since that's not working, let me go with blunt honesty:

This is the LAST way to get me to update the fic. In fact, instead of speeding me up, this has delayed me further. Well done.

Clearly you don't get it, or you wouldn't be asking me this. I am a fan fiction writer, I do this FOR FREE. I write for me and I write to de-stress. And if you actually remembered my update notes and cared, instead of so obviously dismissing some of my reasons, you'd remember that I said that this fic was beginning to stress me out, and I needed to take a break for me, for my wellness.

I have a day job, and I also work on a website as a hobby that takes up a solid amount of my time. And recently both my work and said hobby have been far crazier. Last week I was working 11-12 hour days when you combined the two due to a number of things all happening at once on the website. That doesn't even take into account other stressors I currently have in my life.

It's a lot, so when I write, I am writing first and foremost for me as a way to unwind. And writing something that has been stressing me out WILL NOT DO THAT. I understand it may suck to see me put out so much other content, but that content is the stuff that's currently giving me what I need in a de-stressor.

I will not apologize for people being disappointed that I haven't added an extra 6+ hours of stress to my life recently for one chapter, because that's essentially what you're saying you're disappointed with. I will continue this fic, but I will do it on my terms because it is my fic, and I will not hurt myself and put a fic I write over my own needs, because that's a sure fire way to ensure I just stop writing fan fiction all together. And I don't want that.

I love this fic. And I am honored by the love it's been given. But that only adds to my desire to make sure I end it right.

If you really want me to update this fic, then stop fucking asking me when I'm updating or for an update. Instead, comment on the fic, tell me why you love it, what it means to you, what drew you in, what chapters you love the most, how it makes you feel. Tell me you actually understand, that you support me, that you want me to take my time and do this my way because you know that this is my fic and it's something I care about, and that you'll be here when I come back.

Don't dismiss my struggles and try to GUILT me into updating, because all that's done is make me want to update less.

You want me to update? Remember that I am a real person with real feelings who has been under so much stress and frustration over the past week (that I did not get a break from this weekend) that the entitlement and disrespect of this ask had me on the verge of tears. Understand why I - and most of my fellow fan fiction writers - write. And that I write for me, and choose to share it.

Remember that I, too, may be disappointed I haven't been able to get back to this fic, and sending me something like this will only add to all the stress I already feel about it. Remember that you don't know what's going on in my OneNote, or what I have. You don't know that I have, in fact, started the next chapter and have been doing my absolute best to try and write a bit more for it whenever I can. And remember that an ask like this, has truly delayed my continuing of that chapter because you've just undone a solid amount of the work I've been doing for my own wellness and de-stressing of this fic.

[burstingsunrise]

Hiya molls! I realized in the tags of my reblog of in the in between (omg I never remember fic titles but I KNEW that one wow it's cuz I love that title) ANYWAYS It occurred to me that I haven't publicly declared my love for you or cyberbullied you in a while. So here I am!!! I have a couple of things. Number one is that I bought a water bottle today that is The most violently vibrant shade of violet and it makes me think of you. Number two is that I think in the in between felt so real precisely because it had no plot the way most other fics do; real life doesn't have arc plots. Real life is linear. Outta sight, outta mind. And that's what you wrote so perfectly. Lately I've been thinking about the existence of other timelines where I've probably said batshit things in public and been all around more unhinged. Is it possible for me to have gotten where I am, which is where I want to be (I think) and have been a little crazier? I'll never know. Have you ever felt like you're right where you're supposed to be?

ahhhh adri @cringeycal i have missed getting asks like this from you in the middle of the night. i know you've been very busy with stars and a normal sleep schedule so u know...sometimes you have to sacrifice anon asks.

when i first read about your violently violet (nail polish name) water bottle i interpreted it as the water being violet and i had a lot of questions, but now that i've sorted it out i'm very glad you think of me every time you hydrate.

i'm very happy you like the title of in the in between bc i'm terrible with titles. that doc had so many working titles and none of them felt right. that's normal, though, i almost never feel like my fic titles are right and i just have to live with it. but then i was listening to wfttwtaf for approximately the millionth time and that little tidbit of baby blue jumped out at me. i'll pass your compliments along to luke; i'm sure he'll appreciate it since he knows you're a hard sell.

you are a very perceptive person so it is no great surprise that you make a fantastic point about plot. real life doesn't have a plot. stuff happens, and it's never really clear exactly where it starts and ends; sometimes it never does. there's usually no grand climax or resolution, and if there is, you only really realize it in hindsight, not in the moment.

this is probably one of several reasons that as both a consumer and a creator i tend to favor characters and relationships in stories over plot, but i have never really thought about it so directly in this specific way before, so thank you for that.

interesting thoughts on alternate realities and it's like, way too early for me to make sense on the topic, but yeah it's sort of crazy to think about. we've all had these moments where we really WANT to do or say something but we don't for one reason or another, and how might things be different if you'd done the thing?

you probably would've either been emboldened to do the thing (or other similar things) again, or had a bad enough consequence that you never wanted to try anything like it again out of anxiety or fear. and in either case, that winds up creating a different version of you than the one that actually exists, just based on that outcome! sort of insane.

but i like this framing of it as being right where you're supposed to be. because even though i clearly have things i could work on as a human, there are definitely times i think...wow, life is very strange and i never would have guessed i'd be in this specific situation but it's exactly as it should be.

a relevant example: answering this ask from you.

a year ago i was here, reblogging stuff quietly and not interacting with anyone, only starting to consider the possibility of maybe writing a fic, obsessing over fics from people like meg and jess and not having anyone to talk to about any of it.

but look at how things are different now! jess actively bullies me! i've met people like you who i love and can talk to about the thing i love and more! the fact that i've had meg to talk to these past couple of months with all the luke solo stuff is all the evidence i need that i'm right where i'm supposed to be at least in one specific way.

as i say that i realize i sound absolutely unhinged framing, like, big life questions around a blonde guy with an album but i figure it all counts in one way or another. because even if i weren't here i'd still be insane about it, now i just get to be insane with other people.

well that was certainly a way to start the day.

i love you adri thank you for forcing me to address existential questions at 7am. :wrymouth: