#check out all the authors too

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

no pressure to answer, but any hatchetfield fic recs?

ooooo I've got a bunch so get ready! I'm gonna split this into multi-chap works and oneshots so you can find what you want

Multi-chapter works

The Hatchetfield Anomaly by @shhimavoidingsleep is so so good. It's a two fic series that's really long and has lots of characters, twists and turns, lore, and so much else. It's really long tho so def keep that in mind before you sit down and read it. It hasn't been updated in over a year, however it's also collectively got almost a million words, so I think it's worth a read regardless.

Into the Black and White by @warriorblood1 is another fave, sort of a post black Friday slow burn fix it, so so good

I'm Going to Live Twice by @wizisbored is based on the premise of infected Paul and Emma being taken by evil!PIEP and studied/experimented on. lots of unethical science stuff and dehumanisation so read the tags but I adore the dynamic with Paul and Emma, so well written

walk around (as if you never cared in the first place) by @marianara-sauce makes me so so happy. It operates under the premise that Max comes back as a ghost, but he can't touch anyone, so he's left just haunting the nerdy prudes. They gave him a redemption that felt natural and well done and they're the only person I trust with Max.

What the darkness does by @fencecollapsed is a very funky fic with a fun premise with Paul as a shadow creature in the Witchwoods, def give it a read.

One shots

Father and Son by @graceschasity is so so so good. I was grinning and kicking my feet the whole time. Such a funky premise executed so well

one hell of an abnormality by snarkywallflower is an excellent look at pete and his grief post npmd with some very nicely done lautski in there as well

but are you fast enough by silent_h is such a funky fic with an interesting premise executed so well, mashing two characters you wouldn't expect in a way that works well

It's hard to know they're out there by basilpaste is another excellent fic about pete's grief where Ms. Holloway gives him an opportunity to say goodbye, very well done

Heya Darlin by @warriorblood1 is a series of unconnected oneshots about holloduke that I love.

[comradekarin]

im sorry but social media “leftists activists” are some of the most unserious people? especially twitter ones? you don’t vote, you don’t donate, you don’t endorse candidates…. hell some of you have never taken a civics class before and it shows. y’all just bitch about trivial things like flag emojis and instagram posts and fucking twitter likes? play moral high ground? distress over the current state of affairs and then do absolutely NOTHING about it? project 2025 is probably the most terrifying thing I’ve ever read, and I foresee 2016 happening all over again. for an online group of people who preach about caring about human rights and civil liberties, you’ve been doing such a great job showing that. VOTE blue

[artemistorm]

I wonder if the reason why I tend to get overlooked as an LU writer is because I tend to write for Wild and Hyrule and not the "cool" Links like Legend, Warriors, Time or Four.

[in-omni-scientia]

COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] — Hey. Pssst. VOLITION — ... COMPOSURE — ...You've been staring at the wall above your little desk completely motionless for what can't be more than about two minutes straight now. I think Authority is getting weirded out.

You turn your head to where Authority has, also, been standing and staring at you completely motionless for two minutes. He tilts his head back and to the side a small amount.

COMPOSURE — Almost... inquisitively, I think.

"Just gathering myself. I'm okay." Involuntarily, your body tacks on a (rather awkward) thumbs up. He huffs and turns away.

COMPOSURE — Give him five seconds maximum, and he'll turn back again. I don't think he wants to let you out of his sight right now.

Shifting your gaze back to the notepad in front of you, you run your eyes over the list of allocated duties once more.

ENCYCLOPEDIA (FACTS)

Claims to be: "what I should be"

Currently useless.

Allocated job: Prevent Authority from speaking.

Allocated job: Stay quiet.

THE OTHER ONE PERCEPTION

Claims to be: "joy"

Currently useless.

Allocated job: Perceiving.

VOL ME

Claims to be:

Be dumb and stupid forever, haha. With love, Authority.

?

Allocated job: Do what we are supposed to.

COMPOSURE

Claims to be: Social cues, knowing how to act, culprit of the Suggestion Anonymo

Allocated job: Making us *appear* normal to the others.

Allocated job: Just generally keeping our shit together?

AUTHORITY

Do *not* allow to speak under ANY circumstances.

Allocated job: Movement.

VOLITION — Good. A rather rough draft, though I'm sure we can continue to allocate roles as we find them necessary. ENCYCLOPEDIA — A rather poor effort for categorization by your standards. PERCEPTION — Come *on*, why do I have to be Perception just because I do the seeing? I'd be far better suited for Ele... VOLITION — You both have *new* jobs now, stay quiet unless you can contribute something of use.

Flipping your notepad to a new page, you start to write:

WHAT CAUSED THIS?

ENCYCLOPEDIA — A good place to start. Theoretically, all reactions are reversible... VOLITION — What can you recall about our affliction? Anything at all.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Trivial: Success] — Obviously, this happened after the Whale communicated with us. We were experiencing its effects prior to that interaction, but to a minimal degree; the pain inflicted upon its response to us prior to this beginning is not negligible. Causation can be assumed here. COMPOSURE [Easy: Success] — I have to point out -- well, look at Authority.

You cast a side glance in his direction. Even with your blurry vision, you can see him pacing back and forth, occasionally throwing a glower your way.

COMPOSURE — He’s fine, even after communing with the Whale. A little bothered by all this, obviously, but that’s natural. VOLITION — Yes -- it’s unusual. Charmer is fine as well.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] — There’s a logical explanation for it. We just have to find one.

[Encyclopedia - Challenging 12] Do we know why you could have been impacted so adversely compared to your colleagues? (WHITE CHECK)

HIGH - 72% +1: Know about the Whale. +1: Savoir Faire’s fragmentation. -1: No Logic subskill. +1: Authority is here.

Rolling...

⚂⚄

CHECK SUCCESS (Challenging: 12 vs. Your Total: 14)

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] — If *they* have not been impacted by a pale anomaly to the same degree as you have, you can only assume it has to do something with mental fortitude, or something similar. VOLITION — …Are you saying the Psyche skills know Volta do Mar? ENCYCLOPEDIA — No. Well – you could always ask, but I don’t know if you would get a good response. What I’m saying is, it may have something to do with your level. VOLITION — Go on…

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Recall the average pulses per minute for each attribute as studied by the Turtle -- [110 for Intellect, 150 for Psyche, 70 for Physique, and 50 for Motorics]. This lines up fairly well with the base levels for them, 4-5-2-1 (though some individual skills *have* been levelled beyond this via Thoughts). ⠀⠀Remember, too, the Turtle’s studies into the neurons. They made sketches of them – but some neurons had a strange pale sheath on them that was slowing their communication. (The fact they selected a Motorics neuron for that diagram is significant, too, as it evokes Savoir Faire’s current state).

ENCYCLOPEDIA — We know that it is unnatural for neurons to have that sheath on them. What I am trying to say is, I believe that perhaps the Pale Whale has given us pale exposure, and the skill’s levels afford certain Skills protection from being affected by the pale exposure.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — The effects of pale exposure for us seem to follow a pattern: high-levelled Skills, such as Authority, Suggestion and Empathy, receive no visible afflictions. Medium-level Skills such as yourself, Drama, Composure, Rhetoric, Pain Threshold and Interfacing have their abilities to communicate affected, and low-level skills experience partial fragmentation. ⠀⠀I am unsure of *how* this fragmentation exactly occurs, considering our and Savoir Faire’s presentations are very different. Though I believe we have the resources to figure this out.

VOLITION — Hmmm… ⠀⠀This theory may have some flaws in it. I will begin with smaller flaws. First of all, cop radio was affected with a similar presentation to Skills from medium levels. How do you explain this? ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] — Esprit De Corps was the first to contact the Whale, of course; perhaps their initial contact overcame the natural protection their level afforded them.

VOLITION — *How* were we affected by the pale? The closest origin point is in Martinaise, and we have not been there for some time. ENCYCLOPEDIA [Heroic: Failure] — Admittedly, I have no rebuttal for that. Perhaps the theory that Harry has one in his own head is correct. Perhaps the Whale has the power to reach beyond the bounds of where pale ordinarily can.

VOLITION — Savoir Faire’s affliction was caused *prior* to the Whale’s first contact. ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] — Remember, the incident occurred after you had explained the Pale, when they claimed to ‘backflip into Rodionov’s trench’. While that is completely ludicrous to believe they could actually pull that off six thousand kilometres from the nearest point of even porch collapse, I do believe the Pale has something to do with their presentation. ⠀⠀Furthermore, the Whale claimed in its contact with you that ‘Mother Nature’ is disgusted by us, that ‘the verdict’ had already been made. Perhaps it has had its eye on us for some time now, and Savoir Faire’s affliction is another case of pale exposure, simply occurring before we were aware of the Whale’s presence. VOLITION — So it wasn’t me… PERCEPTION — It wasn’t you.

VOLITION — Okay. And finally… ⠀⠀We have six points. Not that far off from the Psyche skills. This fragmentation is *not* a low-level presentation, unlike what you said. PERCEPTION [Easy: Success] — Actually… I’m so sorry. VOLITION [Formidable: Failure] — ? PERCEPTION — You are at two points currently. VOLITION — What? Why?

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Minus-two from No Wedding Bells Chime in this Church Anymore. Minus-one from Brilliant Bibliolater’s Blues. Minus-one due to the lost morale. (Normally that last one wouldn’t be an issue, but I think the fact you’ve been proclaimed Volition is doing that…) ⠀⠀They’re distributed among us, but they add up to minus-four overall for Encyclopedia, the construct.

VOLITION — You’re kidding me. ⠀⠀*Thinking about the concept of marriage* caused this? Made me more prone to it? ⠀⠀And I’m even more prone now because Authority yelled at me?? PERCEPTION — I’m sorry. IN MEMORIAM — Until pale do our atoms part. VOLITION — We… we have to forget those thoughts *now*. Do we have the points? ENCYCLOPEDIA — No. VOLITION — *Shit*. We need to—to ask someone what to do. Who do we talk to about this? Can Volition do something?

PERCEPTION [Medium: Success] — Are you sure you want to do this?

VOLITION — Of course I am!! I’m going to be *completely torn apart* if this goes on! PERCEPTION — If you forget those thoughts, you will never be able to think about them again.

VOLITION — Yes, well… ⠀⠀… ⠀⠀Never? PERCEPTION — Never ever. VOLITION — Well, I can’t get married or have favourite facts if I’m dead. PERCEPTION — Don’t you want to take the chance? VOLITION — Empathy wouldn’t want me to. I’d leave them all alone.

IN MEMORIAM [Godly: Success] —

⠀⠀‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than to never have loved at all.

PERCEPTION — Yes, exactly -- it will hurt them far, far more knowing you saved yourself but doomed yourself to never wanting more, than to know you risked yourself to finally put a name to what you are. You *talked* about that.

VOLITION — …Uhm. ‘Exactly’ to what? PERCEPTION — Uh. I don’t remember…? ⠀⠀But seriously, please. Just take the chance. It’s irrational, it’s irresponsible, it’s impossible. ⠀⠀But… give it a try.

VOLITION — ...Sigh. ⠀⠀You… *people* are terrible. Fine, I’ll leave them for now. But the *moment* any funny business happens, we’re dragging Authority with us over to Volition’s zone and demanding they give us the points to get rid of them.

AUTHORITY [Challenging: Failure] — You want me to do something?!?! VOLITION — Not *you*. I don’t call you Authority by choice, it’s simply because it is convenient at the moment. AUTHORITY [Legendary: Failure]— (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

VOLITION — So… what do we do now? ENCYCLOPEDIA — Actually, can I try to figure out what exactly is causing fragmentation to occur? It’s a rather big step up from language difficulties. This could be important to figure out. COMPOSURE — You should tell Authority what you have worked out. Just to let him know this hasn’t been a waste of time. PERCEPTION — If you want to regain a level, you need to heal that morale you lost; I would recommend finding Empathy. It’s been a little while since you last saw them. AUTHORITY — Definitely *do not* do that; not in your current state. They’re already far too stressed. ENCYCLOPEDIA — Finally, something reasonable from that one.

VOLITION — Hmmm…

[Encyclopedia - Legendary 14] Do we know how this fragmentation could be occurring? (WHITE CHECK)

About going to talk to Empathy…

“Authority, I think I’ve worked out what is happening with all of us.” (Finish thought.)

[Encyclopedia - Legendary 14] Do we know how this fragmentation could be occurring?

LOW - 28% +1: Know about the neurons. +1: Know about Savoir Faire. -1: Holes in your theory.

Rolling...

⚃⚄

CHECK SUCCESS (Legendary 14 vs. Your Total: 14)

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Legendary: Success] — It has to be the pale sheath that’s doing it. ⠀⠀The sheaths are slowing the action potential of the neurons they are attached to. Theoretically, if the neurons that make up *you* could not communicate fast enough to keep you together... VOLITION — …they’d start dissociating from one another. ENCYCLOPEDIA — Yes, like the turtle proposed. And each one may begin to function as separate entities. Perhaps it would get to the point where they disconnect entirely. VOLITION — Lord. Is-- is it reversible? ENCYCLOPEDIA — I don’t know.

You gaze down at your notepad unseeingly, half-filled with a near-unintelligible frantic scrawl that has barely kept up with the pace of your thoughts.

AUTHORITY — Unintelligible?! I’ve been doing my best! PERCEPTION — OG, we can find out. Heal that lost morale, get that one point back; see what it does for you. VOLITION — But… that’s not going to do anything. Losing it hasn’t actually done anything in regards to how this… condition is presenting itself. AUTHORITY — Wrong again, worm. Look up. COMPOSURE — I think you meant bookworm? AUTHORITY — Irrelevant. Look up.

You do – and gaze directly into a near-identical copy of your own face, with the notable exception of two pinprick lights flashing at you from the abyssal shadows.

AUTHORITY — Boo.

With a yelp, your stool clatters to the ground – but as soon as you’ve jumped up, it’s gone.

[seaweedstarshine]

RIP Krakoa 🌹 I can’t lie I’ve been kinda behind since midway through Fall of X I’m gonna catch up before my first SDCC this summer but I hear Vulcan didn’t see much action anyway. Anyway my hand slipped and I found myself looking into the eyes of my canonically psychotic son the best Summers brother who’s never done anything wrong in his entire life, (he’s done lotsa wrong things but I love him more for it)

[keyofjetwolf]

So far 2024 has seen me knocked flat by a cold, but hey, enabled my first book of the year to start and finish!

[theygender]

For any horror fans out there that haven't read it yet: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher is SO GOOD. I don't remember ever being so scared by a book

[softquietsteadylove]

It’s time to read more about tomb raider! Let them meet again after the almost drowning incident and let there be teamwork fighting against a group of treasure hunters! :D

"Will you stop?!"

Thena - surprisingly - stopped squirming behind his back against her own binds. Her chair stopped rattling against the floor as she stilled. She huffed. "I'm sorry, were you trying to get some sleep?"

He joined her in her frustration. "I just mean conserve your energy. We don't even know how long we've been down here, let alone how much longer we have ahead."

She went quiet, and he was quite sure he was more uncomfortable with it than she was. Thena spoke two languages: yelling, and sass. He was unfamiliar with any quieter sides of hers.

"I'm sorry."

The simple words gave him chills. He whipped his head around but all it did was hurt his neck, and he couldn't even get a glimpse of her anyway. "What?"

"They followed us all the way out here and I had no idea."

"I didn't either," he interjected.

"I was the one who came up with the plans. The next time they come down here, I'll tell them I can guide them, but only if they release you." Now she was really talking crazy.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he grumbled, now starting the game of fruitlessly tugging at his binds again. "You think I'm going anywhere without you?"

"We may not be afforded another option," she bit back, also turning her head. He could feel her ponytail against the back of his neck. "If at least one of us makes it out, there's a chance of escape."

"There's no way you believe that if you cooperate they won't hurt you," he snorted.

"I didn't say I believed that."

He jerked his shoulders, attempting to get a look at her again. The backs of their chairs clanged together, although they were still technically bolted to the floor. What little movement they did get on them was from the general state of the ship's disrepair. "Don't be stupid, Thena."

She didn't even have a scathing retort about him assuming such a thing about her Ladyship.

"Once they come back, we'll reason our way through this." Sure, he didn't totally believe what he was saying either. But it was a better solution than Thena giving herself up as a bargaining chip for his life. "All they want is the bounty, right? Your plans were solid, and I doubt any of them can dive for as long as you can. We'll-"

"Gil."

She was right, there were few options they had which might lead to their escape. They knew the risks, running in the circles they did. There was always a risk.

"You have connections on the mainland," she continued to talk him through things like she was coaching him. "Tell them that they can collect your bounty if they return with you."

Rather then killing them both and leaving them somewhere.

"And what about you?" he just barely dared to ask.

She took a damn long time to answer, twisting his gut all the way around itself. "Karun and Druig always know the risks of our field. They have instructions should I fail to return one day."

Gil scoffed loudly, rolled his eyes, shook his head--all of it. Anything to convey to her just how ridiculous this was. "I am not going to just leave you here, let alone with those-"

"Gil-"

"They slapped you, Thena," he reiterated, since that didn't seem to matter to her as much as it did to him. "They backhanded you across the face. I'm not exactly counting on them to uphold a gentlemanly agreement."

He leaned forward, pulling at the legs of the chair, still bolted to the floor by a couple of rattling brackets.

"It wasn't how I saw our collaborative efforts ending," she tried putting on a lighter tone, as if that would distract him from the gravity of all this. "But I must admit, we make a good team, Gilgamesh."

He huffed, leaning as forward as he could, "don't 'Gilgamesh' me."

"Could we not spend what might be our last time together arguing?"

He paused in his efforts, partly to catch his breath, and partly to twist his neck again. "I thought you loved arguing."

"I love anything at which I can win."

Well, there was the Thena he knew and tolerated.

Her tone changed again, and he felt her hands move from being tightly balled up fists. Her fingers fluttered around, as if searching for his. "But arguing with you was always a byproduct of the job. Your company from the same side is far preferable."

If he didn't know better, he could think she was admitting to some fondness for him. But he did know better, and beyond that, this was not going to be the pre-burial-at-sea confession she thought it was.

"Who said you could talk?!"

The door slammed against the back wall. All the hinges in this place were falling apart. The men filtered into the room, fully armed and just as dark in expression as when they had found them.

Thena glared at them of course. "You didn't gag us. I don't see how you expected us to remain silent."

"Silence might do you some good." The same one who had struck her before raised his hand again, just barely in Gil's periphery.

He jerked in his chair, "don't touch her!"

They all laughed at his noble effort to protect her. The hand changed from an open palm to grasp her chin instead. She jerked back like a caged animal, but he grabbed harder. "Is she your pretty little treasure?"

Thena practically growled at them even with her cheeks smushed.

"That's all you want, right--the artifact we got sent here to find?" he clarified, doing everything but snapping his neck right off his shoulders to try and see what they were doing. "I'll take you, but only if she's unharmed."

"Relax, big guy," another one instructed, even slapping the grabby one's hand away from Thena's face. "The bounty from the artifact is only half of it. There's also the matter of you two."

Thena must have made a face, because they glared at her again. "We have no insurance policies on us, if that's what you're after."

"Not at all, girlie," he chuckled at her. "The museum will pay his ransom, surely. And as for you...you're sitting on an old family estate, aren't you? That will do nicely."

Gil was desperately trying to think of something but if anything, Thena relaxed. He kept his mouth shut though; they hadn't mentioned Druig or Karun, which meant they didn't know about them. They hadn't done reconnaissance on them or anything, they just happened to be their lucky catch of the day.

"You're right, you will guide us to the artifact." The men began gravitating towards the door again, one with his hand already on it. "And when we have it in our possession, then you'll make the ransom call for us."

The grabby one rattled the handle in his grasp. "We might have to rough her up some, just to make it believable."

Gil launched forward. The chair came clean off the floor as he cried out in his rage. He hunched forward, swinging the legs around as a line of defense. He turned, charging at their captors.

His shoulder jabbed into the most dominant one, crushing him against the handle of the door and doing some good damage to his back. He slumped down. He turned as fast as he could, using the legs of the chair to do some damage to the other two.

The grabby one grunted as he got hit in the gut. Gil positioned himself better, throwing himself back and ramming the legs into his shoulders. He screamed at the top of his lungs but Gil did little more than grimace. "Relax, it's not like I stabbed you."

He tried to get a sound out, but the wind had been knocked out of him. Gil looked down at him, holding out at a hand as if to plead for something. Unfortunately for him, that was the hand he'd used to slap Thena, and Gil wasn't feeling particularly forgiving.

Thena winced as he rammed the chair leg into his open mouth. "I never took you for the sadistic type."

But he didn't have a witty retort for her. He knelt down, feeling around the mess of bodies for a knife. "I'm tired of him yapping."

Thena sighed as stood again. "I suppose it's a better option for us. We still don't know how many of them are out there."

"Let's not be tied up when we find out," he groused. He walked back around her. "Got it?"

She did have it, grasping the knife firmly, passed from his hands to hers behind their backs. "You seem confident I won't slice anything essential"

"Like you say, we may not have a better option," he conceded. He strained the ropes tired around him, pulling as Thena attempted to pressure the blade against them. It wasn't a great angle, or a serrated blade. But he continued to pull as she worked, eventually pulling them apart before she could slice through the middle.

The knife clattered to the floor between them.

"Okay," he sighed as he finally pulled his arms around to his front again. They hurt, and usually it would be more ideal to move them slowly. But he swung them around, desperately needing their full range of motion sooner than later. "I've got you."

He worked at Thena's ropes more gently. They were tied tight, but he could see the red irritation in her pale skin more. "Do you know how far out we were when they found us?"

Her ropes snapped apart, and he immediately grasped her shoulders, rolling them forward for her slowly and gently.

"Well, someone was hogging the radar," he commented, and was rewarded with her turning in the seat, skipping over examining her wrists in favor of glaring at him. He grinned, "but I know the jetski you used to get to the boat is still being towed. If we can get to a railing, we can definitely swim under the ship and get to it in time to get outta here."

It wasn't his most risk-free plan, but they both knew the risks--had just gone over them, in fact.

Thena nodded, rubbing her wrists but wearing the usually determined expression he had come to expect. "Lead the way, then."

He planned on it, and not out of some need to protect her or anything. It just made good sense.

They hugged the walls all the way up. He really didn't know how many of them were on board, but he dreaded to think about the possibilities considering the expected crew for any boat this size. He looked over his shoulder and nodded his head.

Thena showed her understanding; they weren't far now.

He held out his hand. She gave him a look but he shook it at her. He wasn't going to let them get separated again. Begrudgingly, she slipped her hand into his. It was cold.

Gil looked both ways before dashing across the deck and to the railing. No life boats, of fucking course. He climbed over the railing while Thena crouched between the top and middle bar. He looked at her. "Ready?"

She didn't reply, but she let her hand give his a squeeze.

"Don't let go." He didn't know why he said it. There was no need, but he held her hand, getting ready to free dive into the water and potentially be chased down like wild animals.

"I won't." That was much more assuring than anything she could have said about them making it. She looked ahead, resuming her usual role of being the one to pull him along.

And despite their rivalry, he would follow her anywhere.

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[cs-cabin-and-crew]

I had the wonderful experience of working with my favorite author on turning one of my fanarts into a sticker for her backerkit!

If you’re interested on having this little guy on your laptop, waterbottle, phone, forehead, whatever! Go and check out the backerkit by Emily McCosh!

Link: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/emily-mccosh/all-the-woods-she-watches-over-stories-poetry-special-edition?ref=bk-social-project

Go and give her some love!

[tidepoolalgae]

[unproduciblesmackdown]

truly lmao 2024 lambda literary award finalist wynnstannery

[mortellanarts]

Zero Sum Game

[aroacettorney]

perhaps the reason why aup ended like *that* is because it was not supposed to have a happy ending in the first place, but sayren didnt have the guts to deal with readers' backlash for when they finally kill off the main character so a half baked happy ending is what we get 😔

[yeonban]

from ash . me &. the bestie ! ✌️ :P ( < - - - guy who irritates the crap out of ash )

* kind of conditional for the spoiling one , bc soaking up tobias’ resources &. funds is hilarious sometimes , but too much &. ash’ll start rejecting it . especially if nothing is asked in return . 🙄

* betrayal is also conditional because ash works on a “ don’t betray me / give me a reason to betray you &. i won’t ” basis . so it depends on tobias really . betrayal from ash’s side would be unlikely almost impossible if tobias was able to achieve ash’s loyalty in the first place , but that’s a matter of if , so ! depends !

Are you Tobias' type?

❛ Hm? ❜ While the amount of checked boxes and the feat of achieving (multiple) bingos fall short of a surprise given the person who's completed them - for had they truly been that different from one another, Tobias would never have taken this longstanding of an interest in Ash -, his eyes immediately dart to what appears to be a small, typically unobtrusive note at the bottom of the card. Without it there, perhaps he would have found it more compelling to contemplate the meaning behind having been willingly handed something of this sort, but as things stand, Tobias' gaze falls on the minuscule comment and after a single, reticent blink, the nonchalance in his expression cracks and the corners of his mouth begin to twitch. ❛ Pfft--- ❜ It isn't long until he caves and laughs, and a finger must soon reach to wipe the tears that threaten to form in his eyes.

It takes a prolonged moment for the laughter to subside (through rather monumental efforts on his part) yet even after it fades, the glint of amusement in Tobias' gaze remains steadfast, unwavering. ❛ You should go ahead and check the 'similar sense of humor ' box too. I'd say the difference isn't quite as big as you think it is. ❜ One last soft chuckle, the previous laughter's final bastion, and the mafioso decides to swiftly gloss over Ash's answers. The majority of the important ones are checked, with the sole exception of being trusted, and dare he say another one has also positively caught him off-guard, but instead of letting it show, a mischievous grin steers the conversation towards the harmless, unchecked ones. Travel and adventure. Does Ash dislike them because of past experiences, a distaste for new experiences, or because he's the one he'd have to be stuck with for the entire experience? ❛ Are you sure you don't want to give some of these others a go, though? If you combine everything you've left unchecked, you might just give Dino a heart attack. ❜

[aristoteliancomplacency]

Nnnnnnng. Normal Friday listening podcast is doing an episode on Secret Mark and idk if I can bring myself to listen.