#and henrik literally said 'fuck it'

[midnightorchids]

Hey babe- I wanted to know how you felt about booknerd!reader x Jason. Because it's been rotting my brain forever now and I need to know what someone as genius as yourself thinks about it. So like- We know Jason is a book girl. He's got huge floor to ceiling shelves in his apartment filled with non-fiction, historical fiction, classics, and maybe a few Si-Fi titles. I feel like he would love Toni Morison, Maya Angelou, Henrik Isben, Margret Atwood, and maybe even Harukai Murakami. He has this beautiful collection of leather bond additions of the Iliad Bruce gave him when he was 16. And when he finally invites you over, he cannot contain his excited smile as you start gushing over his home library. He makes you guys coffee and you spend hours talking about your fav genres, authors, online author drama - and after he's walking back to his apartment after dropping you off, he's smiling down at his phone at the message you sent. 'I had so much fun today! Ur library is so so so cool, was wondering if you would be ok going with me to Chapters next week? Wanted to pick up the new Skyward book' He's kicking his feet and hiding his face in his pillow. So deeply overjoyed that his crush shares in his immense love of literature. After you guys officially get together, he buys you so many fucking books. He fallows your goodreads wishlist religiously and surprises you almost every month with a new addition to your growing collection. He usually collects used paper backs, but for you, he splurges on the hardcover special additions. Of course it's because he loves you but it's also so that, maybe, you'll be more incentivised to move into a different apartment. One with floor-to-ceiling book shelves and a shared bed... just saying.. He branches out into more genres and authors he wouldn't usually read from just so he could talk about your favourite books with you. You do the same - your book collections getting mixed together in the process. Library dates, bookstore dates, used-bookstore dates. Your first couple of dates and realisations of love happened in and around books. You would always leave little messages inside the first page of the books you give him. So that if your every away or he's on a mission and he takes a book with him, he'll have one of your small messages of love as a reminder of something to return home to.

Hi hon!! I’m so sorry for the late response, I’ve been dying with uni and just life in general recently, but I’m back and ready to write again!!

I fully agree with almost everything that you said, like you’ve written it out so well and it’s just so cute! I was literally giggling and kicking my feet at the last one omg.

I shall try to add more stuff!!

Jason’s go to present for his loved ones is annotated copies of his favourite books. He only does this when he feels comfortable with a person because sharing his thoughts feels raw and vulnerable sometimes.

Having a significant other who loves to read and appreciates these types of gifts would make him feel happy and very emotional. It’s not often he gets to share this side of himself with people.

When he gifts his copies to his friends or his partner, he feels like he’s leaving a piece of him with the person, so he only does this when he trusts you.

He leaves detailed little messages on the margins of his books. He draws little smiley faces on the cute parts and angry faces on the parts that made him upset.

In the books for his significant other, Jason leaves little notes around the quotes that remind him of you. He highlights them in a different colour and makes sure his notes look extra tidy.

He sucks at wrapping things, so sometimes you’ll get a very poorly wrapped, tape covered novel. You’ll look at the wrapping and laugh, you’d pinch his cheeks teasingly and tell him he did a good job. He’d turn his face away in embarrassment, which leads to you placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

Then, there would be times where he doesn’t have the energy to deal with the horrible wrapping paper. So, you’ll be gifted a plain paper back with a sticky note on the front cover that reads ‘for you,’ in squiggly lines.

It’s honestly sweet and he gets very shy about it.

Also, Jason’s taste in books is very diverse, he reads anything from the classics to romance to gothic horror. He reads anything and everything and because of that, I think that it would be very easy for you to share your thoughts and recommendations with him.

Even if Jason hasn’t read the book, he listens intently with a huge smile on his face. He loves listening to you talk. If he doesn’t know the author or the book, he will try to familiarize himself with what you’re reading and branch into different genres.

There would be lots of reading and bookstore dates. You’d browse through the different aisles with his hand in yours, only letting go when a particular book catches your attention. He watches you in awe as you gush about the different series.

(Side note, my friends and I always go to bookstores and just point out the worst books we’ve read and I think Jason would do that too.)

As you search through the shelves to find your next read, he’ll come to you all excited, rambling about the book in his hand. From the looks of it, it seems like he loves the book. His hands are moving around, he’s smiling and giggling, but if you pay attention, he’s actually just cussing out the author.

This becomes a tradition in your relationship. You both bring up books that you hate instead of the ones that you really enjoy. You’d spend the next hour of your bookstore visit just giggling at the random passages that the author thought were good enough to share with the world.

I think this would also lead to a book club of reading awful books sometimes just for shits and giggles. There would be weeks where you would read amazing, well written stories together, but then there would be times when you guys would pick up something bad just to make fun of it.

Overall, Jason would love having a book nerd significant other because he finally has someone who he can geek out with.

[colemckenzies]

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ultimate Edition

this easter It Is Time. using my years of fixation and research i present to you The Best Version of every song from jesus christ superstar, plus commentary. obviously subjective opinion so do feel free to discourse in the tags bc as you may have picked up i enjoy talking about the relative merits of jcs productions. also i might not even stand by this in a week bc i find it hard to keep multiple versions in my head at the same time for comparison and there are so so many versions.

please note that acting, vocal quality, music direction, and where available staging have all been taken into account. act 2 in rb bc of link restrictions.

heaven on their minds - 2012 broadway revival

obviously in terms of pure vocals carl anderson is unbeatable forever, but the staging of the 2012 broadway revival pips it for me. josh young's voice is still gorgeous and the judas/jesus/mary throuple is everything. i love versions where hotm is sung directly To jesus, and i love that in this version jesus actually listen and takes judas' concerns on board. the love and respect between all three of them is palpable and even though it is a serious disagreement, part of that disagreement comes from the fact that they care about each other so much. that's tragedy baby!

special mention to henrike tönnes on the 2022 rob carroll version, i specifically like the Ending of the song for that one. also the sarcastic clap along w the disciples that judas does in the 2013 hungary version.

what's the buzz/ strange thing mystifying - 2018 tv event

annoyingly this isn't on youtube but tbh the staging is nothing mindblowing. i think what's the buzz is a great song for showcasing the usp of each version and in this one i think being able to hear the real crowd actually cheering for jesus (john legend) really adds to the narrative. i also absolutely love brandon victor dixon and as i have said before he would be one of my favourite judases if judas were straight. sara bareilles does a great 'offended' face when he bitches about her lmao.

honourable mention to the 2012 uk arena tour for again showing off the conceit of 'modern day activists' really well in this song, not forgetting of course WOTS THE BUZZ #buzz tweet

then we are decided - 2013 hungary

(starts at about 9:49) obviously not a huge amount of competition for this one, i wish more versions included it bc it's a great song :( anyway i loveee the staging choice to have everyone else freeze-framed on stage with the priests walking among them, and i freaking love this caiaphas. literally inserting it into what's the buzz also works nicely

i do miss kurt yaghjian from the 1973 film tho, forever obsessed with his voice and facial expressions. extra shout out to the striving artists version for simply existing.

everything's alright - 2006 austria

something about the musical direction in 90% of versions of this song goes right through me, like there is always some weird instrument that makes me Cringe. but this version is Nice :) really enjoy how Pissed this judas is. and i love the way the long notes last into the next section of the song. i will say i prefer the alt melody for 'people who are hungry' but you can't have everything

this is a really nice one on the all-female cast recording as well, obviously it's already the most female-heavy song of the show but shoshana bean's judas is particularly good here i think. also of course carl anderson with tears in his eyes grasping ted neely's hands while the music swells is ingrained on my brain for all time.

this jesus must die - 1994 studio cast

this album as a whole is probably my Least Favourite JCS Ever, but i will admit that this song fucks. the haunting eeriness at the beginning. the way it kicks into a funky little syncopated rhythm. the disembodied hosannas. unexpected delight.

2012 uk arena tour is unfortunately disqualified for having possibly the Most antisemitic portrayal of the priests, which is a shame because it's probably my favourite casting. one of my favourite annas portrayals, but in general all of them are distinct and fully embodied which does make that version very fun to watch. i also really enjoy the 2019 castaway productions version for this song, the way they play instruments while they sing like a lil band, and caiaphas' eye make-up is sick. 1973 film is obviously also iconic with the little scaffolding tippy taps, and the way kurt yaghjian sings 'a trick-or-two with lepers'. i love this song sorry.

hosanna - 2017 striving artists

i kind of don't have justification for this one LOL i just like it. i know there are versions that are sung better and really the staging is quite important for this song but idk i just find this version really calming. i don't know if it's the music direction? i don't know enough about music tbh

admittedly this is another one that works really well for the 2018 tv event, but doesn't quite win for me as the crowd don't cheer in all the right places and john legend doesn't react at all to the 'would you DIE for me?' line which is crucial. for good reaction to that line the 2000 film where it elevates the bitchy gay tension in the love triangle really nails it.

simon zealotes - 2011 austria

EASYYY WIN FOR ME this is actually the song that made me want to pick a best version for each one because this version IS so much better than any other one for me. the guitar!!!!!! rob's energy!! the music design for this one really fucks so severely and then there's just rob jumping around hyping up the crowd (there is a film version from 2008 on youtube, but i wanted to capture the music for this one). iconic.

big love also to hungary 2013 for having a simon who's in a wheelchair, particularly notable when it's really the highest energy role in the show. i do enjoy.

poor jerusalem - 2022 rob carroll

i cannot find any information about this album other than what's on spotify but i do enjoy the slight alt melodies in this version and i like his voice.

not a lot to go into for this song really. i like the ben forster version a lot as well, and the 1996 london cast version. 'close your eyes' is a better lyric than 'live a lie'. moving on.

pilate's dream - 2022 all-female cast

may be biased bc I LOVE ORFEH but i just think this version is so gorgeous. i love the little vocal drifts without going too overboard and distracting from the song. the music composition is especially pleasing as well.

there's a lot of honourable mentions i could give here bc i think pilate has so much potential for power and gravitas, but 1973 film, 2012 uk arena tour, 2013 hungary, and east end theatrical ensemble. are also big favs. in terms of staging i love the fact that 2019 castaway productions has jesus himself on stage playing the backing piano like he actually is haunting pilate.

the temple - 1992 australia

australia 1992 habitually has some of the most interesting and creative music direction and this is one of the songs where it particularly pays off. love the whistles. i also like that the second 'get out' is spoken, not screamed. the second half is appropriately creepy with the sustained 'chriiiist'. pretty boring staging but at least the costumes are fun.

i don't know how to love him - east end theatrical ensemble

possibly controversial choice but ugh i love this version i even love how low the sound quality is. like listening to a vinyl. i think her voice is so gorgeous and i love her accent. deeply soothing to listen to. i feel like im in the 70s rn.

i'm also a huge fan of the 1996 london cast recording, joanna ampil has such a sweet voice and the way she emotes so that you can really Hear it works well for this song. special shout out to 2012 uk arena tour which i don't think is a particularly amazing version but we get the absolute gunshow from mel c at the end so we love it.

damned for all time/blood money - 1973 film

CARL!! I feel like 1973 film and 1996 london album are at a disadvantage in this bc they're what i grew up with so i kind of take them for granted but this is undeniably iconic. no one can commit to the tortured soul but belief he's doing the right thing like him. the way he can scream but it still sounds Good. i prefer versions that have annas suggest 'a fee' rather than caiaphas just repeating himself so that's here too. the weird keening way he sings 'on thursday night'. annas dropping the coins just as he reaches for them. UGH so good. a lot less brassy than other versions as well.

this is another song that kinda fucks in every version, but the original 1970 album and the 2018 tv event are particularly good i think. also that one bit in 2012 uk arena tour where annas is like '...... get up off the floor.'

[hyperactivewhore]

Do you think that Klaus loves Hope enough to forgive her for anything? Like say, she kills one of his love interests like Caroline, Aurora, or Cami, would he still forgive her? Or if, she killed one of his siblings like Rebekah or Kol? Personally I think that if Hope killed one of his love interests Klaus would react much the same way Elijah reacted when he killed Gia. Obviously hurt and angry, but at the end of the day, he’ll forgive her because he loves Hope more than anyone else. But I don’t know how he would react to the lost of one of his siblings. Even when he daggered them, he still loved them in his own twisted way. He refused to abandon any of them, including Finn. After all, he hauled their bodies around the world for centuries.

Klaus would forgive her, but not forget.

Before his daughter was born, Klaus was the center of his own universe. He's narcissistic, paranoid and he spends all his time making enemies anytime he much as breathed. Those enemies were trying to kill him 24/7, and that included his own family more than once.

Literally all of his siblings (except Henrik but he didn't even reach puberty) have tried to kill him at least once: Elijah in the ritual, Rebekah by summoning Mikael to New Orleans and by siding with the Scooby-Doo gang, Kol spend half of his life trying to remove his brother from earth, Finn was manipulated by Esther and Freya seemed really ready to take him off the way if he didn't stop threatening her.

I don't remember Klaus seriously trying to kill any of his siblings: he just daggered them and kept them in coffins so they wouldn't be away, but the only people in his family he tried to seriously murder were Mikael and Esther, but that might be wrong because this characters are constantly being rewritten to fit into the narrative so correct me if I'm not in the right. And judging by how much Marcel and Klaus went back in their threats, they would never be able to actually kill the other and Marcel even said he couldn't hate him, because he's his father and stuff.

It's not hard to see that Klaus is toxically attached to his family members and he allowed Finn, his least favorite sibling and someone who originally intented to harm Hope, to live despite everything because he did love his brother no matter what.

So if Hope ever wanted to hurt anyone of his inner circle I don't see him taking it well, but I also don't see him hating her for it. Especially taking into account how Hope is: the only way I could see her ever harming anyone in her family is by having her humanity off, and not even then because when she had it she was only bullying all of them except Marcel (stan her for that btw.)

It's obvious how much he loves her, so I'll skip it and go straight to the point: Klaus would 100% forgive Hope, that girl could set the world on fire and he wouldn't give a fuck as long as she is safe and sound. But if she ever harmed anyone he cares about it would definitely hurt him. I don't see him picking the same strategy he always goes for whenever someone hurts him, that is playing the victim. No, Klaus would be definitely disappointed and hurt for a long time and that may strain their relationship for a while, but that wouldn't change his love for her.

Again, I can't see Hope hurting someone she/he loves in purpose without having her humanity off and not even then, but Klaus wouldn't hold it against her.

He would forgive her, because as Marcel said, Klaus will love the very worst of her until the oceans are dust.

[andiatas]

Writing Scandinavian, Nordic &/or Swedish characters

Maybe someone has done a guide like this, and I've missed it, but I wanted to gather some words and phrases for all of my writer friends who have or are thinking about adding a character of Scandinavian/Nordic descent.

This came to mind after seeing too many LITG fics where people have Henrik speaking Swedish and no shade to the writers, but it was clear as a day to me that they used Google Translate and hoped for the best. That's not to say that writers from other communities and/or fandoms can't use this guide, but just to be transparent, that's where I got the inspiration from.

With all that said, let me talk you through some basic info and phrases so you can make your bilingual or trilingual character sound legit or like a native!

Definitions

The Scandinavian countries = Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

The Nordic countries = Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland.

So, an important distinction to keep in mind is if you're talking about Scandinavia, you're talking about those three "bigger countries" (aka the ones who have f*cked over the rest at one point or another throughout history). As soon as you bring, for example, Finland or Iceland into the mix, you're talking about the Nordic countries.

Language

On the language aspect, I suggest checking out this post, where I've talked about it a bit, but as a general rule of thumb, Swedes and Norwegians can understand each other while still speaking their respective languages.

When Danes and Swedes, or Danes and Norwegians speak with each other, one generally switches to English. Same when communicating with people from Iceland.

Swedish is one of the official languages in Finland and Åland, whilst Danish is one of the official languages in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Also, English is taught from first grade until upper secondary (high school) but is already introduced to children in kindergarten. I don't know how it's in the other Nordic countries, but in Sweden, it's mandatory to study either Spanish, French or German from sixth grade until the first year of upper secondary.

Swedish swear words

Fan - this is the most common swear word in Swedish & whilst the most accurate translation would be "damn" it's used similarly to how "fuck" is used in English. So, this is the word I mostly see mistranslated & the tell-tale sign (for me) of someone who has relied on Google Translate because they will have their character say "knulla" when they're swearing. Technically, this isn't wrong because knulla is slang for sex... but yeah, I think you get it

Helvete - literally means "hell" & could probably be compared to how Brits use "bloody hell". If I got a paper cut or stubbed my toe, I would curse, "Helvete!"

Jävlar - this is the one that's most difficult to translate, but one could say it means "shit" or "sodding". Whilst it's a curse word in itself, it's primarily used in front of another word. So, for example, if you want to say, "You're a goddamn idiot", you would say, "Du är en jävla idiot!"

Swedish lovey-dovey words & pet names

Älskling = Darling, love, babe, beloved

Jag älskar dig = I love you

The word "älskar" is the Swedish word for "love", so if you bend it, you get the word "älskling" which is the most common term, or nickname, for your partner. I would say it's best compared to how darling, love or babe is used in English.

Käraste = Beloved, dearest

It can get confusing because "kæreste" means girlfriend/boyfriend in Danish, but in Swedish, "käraste" is just an affectionate word for someone. If you want to say "my dearest XYZ", you would say "min käraste XYZ". The word means girlfriend/boyfriend in Danish but is a nickname for your girlfriend/boyfriend or someone else close to you in Swedish. Are you still with me?

Hjärtat = literally "the heart"

This is a bit of a variation of "älskling." While talking to a partner or someone you hold dear, you would say "hjärtat," but if you're talking about them, you could say "mitt hjärta" ("my heart"). While älskling is more versatile and can be compared to numerous pet names, I would say hjärtat/mitt hjärta is best compared to love/my love.

Sötnos = Sweetheart, honey

Sötis = Cutie

Okay, so to start, "Sötnos" is the whole word, while "Sötis" is the short version, but they mean two completely different things. If you're talking to a partner or a really close friend and go, "Oh, sweetheart," you would opt for "sötnos." But if you're talking to someone from your friend group, you would opt for "sötis."

It's not an insulting word, but if you called your partner "sötis," they would probably be offended and question what they had done to offend you. I would compare it to when your dog does something stupid, like trip over its paws and hit its head, and you laugh at it like, "Oh sötis!"

[ashtonisvibing]

Trickshot, witchdoctor and antiaverage :3

okay uhhhhhhh i'm pretty sure i'm right on who's in witchdoctor (henrik and marvin???)

i ask very kindly and nicely to include actual names as well if you're gonna gimme ship names i am le stupid and don't know very many of the ship names

with that being said

trick shot

oh, this is 100% a "friends with benefits -> falling in love" ship

god they have so much baggage to themselves but together they've somehow managed to help the wounds at least a little

literally the gayest couple ever (half joking, but they are so fucking queer)

marvin is definitely a power bottom between them

witchdoctor

another ship that i don't think about much, honestly. but yeah, i can see them being the sassiest couple on the block (when henrik isn't utterly exhausted)

they kiss kiss fall in love and with the magic of that plus therapy they're gonna be fine :3

antiaverage

they hate fuck YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND

they yell at each other for 10min and then aggressively make out on the couch

god they are not healthy for each other and honestly good for them, good for them

but also fuck them if they could fix each other with a kiss I COULD'VE GOTTEN A BINGO FROM THEM

[iamvegorott]

Meeting A Magical Man Pt. 20

Part 1: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

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Marvin finished making his tea and some tea for Chase and Henrik as well before sitting at the table with them. He took a deep inhale of the tea’s steam and then sighed.

“If we’re doing this, I want to set up a system.” 

“A system?” Chase asked. 

“Let me guess, one question at a time?” Henrik didn’t sound surprised by this at all. 

“Yep. We take turns asking one person one question, and follow-up questions are done by the next person or until your turn again.” Marvin wanted just a little control of this. He was still willing to let any question be asked, but having that little hold of something helped keep him from feeling like the world was spinning. He didn’t like to talk about serious things. He was never scared of questions, always more than happy to explain something to others. Jackie knew about magic users before Phantom because of him, because Jackie would ask how something worked, and he was happy to answer. 

But this was different.

This was so different. 

“Do we want to like, draw sticks for who goes when?” Chase suggested. 

“I’ll go first. Why did you make out with Wilford?” Marvin said, looking right at Chase. Henrik was unprepared for that and started choking on his tea a bit, coughing into the crook of his elbow. 

“I don’t feel like that’s top priority right now.” Chase’s protest had a bit of red on his face. 

“We all have plenty of questions, and I’m asking my first one,” Marvin said. “Why did you make out with Wilford and yes, it’s the same Wilford you’re thinking of.” He added the last part toward Henrik. 

“We met after me and Stacy split, and I was figuring out my sexuality, and he offered to…give me a hand in that. Just a friend helping me out, that’s all.” Chase’s face got redder and redder the more he spoke. He was clearly very flustered and not expecting to be discussing this. “My turn for a question.” Chase turned himself to Marvin. “How did you end up working for Dark? Phantom said he got involved to help Jackie. What about you?” 

“I knew this would come up.” Marvin sighed. He removed his mask and set it down on the table. “When my powers came to be, they quite literally blew up in my face. I had no control, it was too much, and I was a danger to myself and those around me. Thankfully, I had already moved into my own place by then, so It only got to me and some belongings.”

“Didn’t you say that-”

“One question at a time.” Marvin cut off Chase’s comment with his reminder. 

“Sorry.” Chase deflated a little.

“Oh, darling.” Marvin placed a hand on Chase’s leg under the table. “I promise it’s just a me thing. You’re fine.” 

“Okay.” Chase softly smiled.

“And how I got involved with Dark was that he heard about the mess, knew what caused it, found me, and offered to help from something bad like that from happening again. I was his first contract hire.” 

“My turn to question,” Henrik said. “What did Dark want?”

“He wants me to do one more job for him.” Marvin gestured to the folder. “He says if I find and bring him this ‘new apprentice’ I’m officially freed from my contract.” He could tell that Henrik had more questions by his eyes alone, so he quickly asked one. “How much does Robbie know? He went from five to fifteen in a night. I don’t know if he’d be caught up on what all a teen knows.” 

“From what little I have gathered, he seems to be as fully developed as anyone his age would be. He understands culture, he has knowledge, I still have to test how much knowledge he has to see if he is advanced in anything or not. To be honest, his personality reminds me a lot of how we were back then. Again, I will need more time to see how true that is. Most teenagers have some form of sass.” 

“Do you think the magic stuff you used has to do with it?” Chase asked. “Ah shit, that was my question, and I wanted to ask something else. Fuck it. I’ll ask it next time.” 

“The magic stuff…” Henrik didn’t pay attention to the latter half of Chase’s talking as his brain started turning. “I gathered magic from my home and office to bring Robbie back to life. Myself, both of you and Edward are the most common in those places. Well, Edward in my office.” 

“Could be your bed if you-”

“Do not.” Henrik stopped Marvin short. “As I was saying. From what you have explained to me before, magic is personal, it attaches to the person uniquely and can even affect those without magic if they are around it for so long. Perhaps we added to the influence of the magic as well and gave our knowledge, or at least a chunk of it, to Robbie, so he is already knowledgeable on things despite never being taught it.” He hummed to himself. “That is something I will be looking more into.” After a pause, he nodded and looked at Marvin. “You said a new apprentice. Whose apprentice is it? Is it…you know?” 

“Nope, don’t you do any ‘he who shall not be named’,” Chase said. 

“Is it Actor?” Henrik changed his question. 

“I haven’t read anything yet, but with how Dark was talking. I wouldn’t be shocked if it was Actor.” Marvin peeked over and could see Chase literally biting his tongue. “Would you like help shopping for Robbie's clothes tomorrow?” 

“Oh…sure?” Henrik said with a shrug. 

“Who the fuck is Actor?” Chase slapped both hands down on the table, speaking his words quickly. 

“He was Dark’s mentor,” Marvin said. “Taught him almost everything he knows, and because of some…drama behind the scenes, they fucking hate each other. He has his own little group like Dark does. I’ve only met one of them before, and for the life of me, I can’t remember his name.” 

“This does not sound safe in any form,” Henrik said. “Actor is not one you should mess with on your own, but I do not want to know what would happen if he finds someone who could be potentially more powerful than you. I may not know much about that man, but from what I have been told…I do not like any of this.” 

“I don’t think I have a choice, Hen. Regardless of anything, I want to find this person. Who knows what Actor is doing or what Dark would do?” 

“I want to help in any way that I can.” Henrik sighed. “Chase, did you have any other questions? I believe there was one you wanted to ask earlier, but it got skipped over.” 

“Go for it,” Marvin said when Chase hesitated since it wasn’t technically his turn. “We’re done with the one-question-at-a-time thing.” 

“You said you were doing magic since you were a kid, but your powers kicked in when you were an adult?” Chase asked. 

“The magic I did when I was a child were those tricks you can learn online, and I was seventeen when I first discovered my real powers. I was on my own because my father kicked me out, and my mother couldn’t convince either of us to have me stay. And I would like to end that conversation there.” Marvin stood up, picking up his now cold tea. 

“Remember when this was about making a potion for me to sleep?” Chase asked with a weak chuckle. 

“Right, I do finally have everything for that. I’ll work on putting that together so you can give it the first test run tonight.” Marvin put his mug into the microwave. He didn’t like warming up his drinks like this, but he wasn’t in the mood for cold tea or to do anything else to warm it up. What little energy and will to do things for the day he had left he was going to save for making the potion. 

“Are you going to read the folder?” Henrik asked. 

“In the morning. I need a break from that.” Marvin watched the mug spin, eyes half-closed as he could hear the soft humming of the machine. 

“We can do Robbie's clothes shopping in the afternoon tomorrow?” Chase suggested. “Not a whole wardrobe, but a few shirts and pants, so he’s comfortable until the next growth spurt.” 

“You think there will be another?” Henrik sipped on his tea, not minding that it was cold. 

“I wouldn’t be shocked.” 

“Maybe he’ll get as old as us since you mentioned us influencing your place and my magic. Maybe he’ll get as old as I was when I first started putting magic in this place. Wasn’t I twenty-one or something when you got this house?” Marvin glanced over at Henrik. 

“Twenty-one. I only recall because we had my housewarming and your birthday party on the same night, and it was…interesting.” Henrik clicked his tongue at the memory.

“The word you’re looking for is ‘fun’. That night was amazing.” 

“I am shocked you can remember it.” 

“I didn’t get that…you know what, fair.” Marvin laughed. “Maybe when we get all this shit done, we can have another rager like that. Chase can be one of the strippers~” 

“You had strippers?” Chase snorted a little, the comment not hitting him the way Marvin had wanted it to. “I can’t imagine Henrik and strippers in the same place.”

“He had a blast with them, baby. Oh! We can invite Edward to be one, too.” 

“Do not dare!” 

“Now, I have to.” 

“Do not!” 

“You’re blushing, Hen.” Chase poked his own nose with his chuckle. 

“You are both terrible!” 

----------

Tags: @brokentimewatch @bookwormscififan @d-structive @rainymae523 @ashtonisvibing

[trashyswitch]

Pranks and German Lessons

Henrik is about to start his day at work. But there's one problem: His password is claiming to be incorrect. And he is certain he didn't change his password. So...What's going on? Who's responsible for changing his password?!

This fanfic was suggested by Shannon. I hope you enjoy!

Marvin had ran up to Henrik’s room, and quickly snuck into his office. He closed the door and started to mess with some of the stuff in the room. When he was done, Marvin planted a camera in his room, before leaving the room through the examining room and walking back to the couch to get a good view of all the commotion. 

Marvin pulled out his phone and pulled up the camera screen. The office was sterile, pristine, and perfectly organized. Well, so it looked. Marvin looked up at Henrik as he walked up to his office. 

“Hallo, Marvin.” Henrik said. 

Marvin nodded. “Hey Doc.” Marvin replied. 

Henrik headed into the room and closed the door behind him. Marvin looked at the phone screen and watched as Henrik moved around his room. He opened his computer and put in his username. 

[Username: Henrik-Von-Schneeplestein@brightonhospital.org]

[Password: ***********] 

[PASSWORD INCORRECT] 

Henrik blinked and tilted his head. Did he used caps lock? He looked at his keyboard and saw that the caps lock light wasn’t on. Just to be sure, he clicked the caps lock light on, and then off again. Then, he put in his username and password.

[Password: ***********]

[PASSWORD INCORRECT] 

Henrik grunted and grabbed the sticky note that had his password. And…the username was fine. But the password that was written on his sticky note was crossed out with black sharpie marker. On the back, was a hand-written note in the same sharpie: 

[Try to guess your new password! In the different patient files, are the letters and numbers to your new password. Have fun! ^_~ ]

Henrik audibly growled and threw the sticky note onto the table. “Was für ein Haufen Pferdescheiße!” Henrik yelled. Not only did Marvin change his password and make him find it out for himself, but Marvin had opened up patient files…And that was literally illegal. 

Henrik opened the door to his office and stomped up to Marvin, who was doubled over laughing. “OHO MY GAHAHAD! Your fucking FACE!” Marvin yelled. 

Henrik grabbed Marvin by the ear. “Ich werde dich töten!” Henrik yelled in his native language. 

“Ow-ow-OW! HENRIK-” Marvin yelped, clearly in pain. 

“HALT DEINEN MUND!” Henrik shouted at him as he yanked the magician into his office. “You are going to fix zhis mess, or ELSE.” Henrik threatened, throwing Marvin into his office chair. 

“Oh come on, Shneeple. Can’t you take a joke?!” Marvin asked. 

“BREACHING PEOPLE’S PRIVACY IS NOT A SCHERZ!” Henrik yelled. 

“...Is that joke in german?” Marvin asked. 

Henrik growled even louder at Marvin’s remark. “Youfuckin-” Henrik grabbed his duffle bag, and removed the long over-the-shoulder handle from the duffle bag. He wrapped the handle around the front of Marvin’s waist, and tied the two sides together on the back of the chair. 

“What the- the fuck are you doin’?!” Marvin asked, growing super confused. 

“Making you regret your choices.” Henrik replied as he grabbed Marvin’s legs. 

Marvin raised an eyebrow as he saw Henrik removing his socks. “...A foot massage?” Marvin asked. He guffawed in reaction. “What is a foot massage gonna do?!” Marvin asked. 

Henrik wrapped his one hand around the left ankle, and started to skitter four of his fingers on Marvin’s arch right away. “It is not a foot massage, Marvin.” Henrik told him. 

Marvin gasped right away. “EEK! Wait- NOHO!” He shouted, pulling his right foot back so that Henrik didn’t tickle that foot too. “YoufuckingAHAHASS!” Marvin yelled as he felt Henrik’s fingers move from the arch up to his toes. 

“You gonna tell me vhat my new passvord is?” Henrik asked. 

“NOHOHO WAHAY!” Marvin yelled. He could feel Henrik’s hand move back down to his arch. “Thahat’s for you to fihihind ohout!” Marvin replied as he wiggled his toes to try (and fail) to cover up his ticklish foot.

“Vell, zhen it looks like I vill have to tickle tickle tickle you, until you give me vhat I need. Because I have vork to do.” Henrik told him. 

“Ihihit’ll only take a- GaAAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHA! NOHOT THERE! NOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE!” Marvin tried to reach out and cover up his poor foot, but was unable to because of the rope that was wrapped around him. 

Henrik smirked as he mercilessly tickled his heel. “I’ll only tickle harder if you vait.” Henrik told him. 

“EHEHEHEEE! WHYHYHYHYHY?!” Marvin yelled. 

“Because you have made zhis very inconvenient for me.” Henrik told him. 

“IHIHIT’S A JOHOKE! TAHAHAKE A JOKE!” Marvin yelled. 

Henrik moved his hand up to the sole of his foot. “Now is not zhe time for zhe funnies.” Henrik told him. 

Marvin’s laughter lessened a little bit. “Ohokahahay. Fihihine! Ihi’ll tell you whahahat the pahahassword for your compuhuhuter ihihis.” Marvin finally replied. 

Henrik smiled and stopped tickling. “Good.” He let Marvin breathe for a moment. 

Marvin took the time to fill his lungs generously with air. Though he hadn’t been tickled for very long, he was already a little bit tired. “It’s…” Marvin started. He let out another breath. “The password is ‘Hellohenrik456.” Marvin told him. 

Henrik raised an eyebrow, but nodded and put the password in. 

[Password: hellohenrik456] 

[PASSWORD INCORRECT] 

Henrik hummed and looked at Marvin. “Any capitals?” Henrik asked. 

A capital H at the beginning.” Marvin told him. 

He typed in the password with a capital letter this time. 

[Password: Hellohenrik456] 

It started to load…Then, his familiar portal started to display itself onto his screen. Henrik smiled and then went to settings, and changed his password back to what it was before. “Zhank you, Marvin.” Henrik told him. “Now:” He minused out of his program and walked up to Marvin again. “I am not quite finished vizh you yet.” Henrik told him. 

Marvin widened his eyes. “Wait, what?! Why?!” Marvin asked, wiggling around. 

“Because I still need to make sure you do not prank me to zhis level again.” Henrik told him. “Simple zhings like svitching salt for sugar, or putting kleenex in my shoes is fine.” Henrik told him as he walked up behind the chair. “But changing zhe password to my vork computer?” Henrik grabbed Marvin’s sides with a smirk. “Utterly unacceptable.” Henrik told him. 

“Wait- Yohou dohohon’t uhuse that wohohord in thahat cohohontehehext!” Marvin reacted. 

“Vhy not?! What are you? Die grammatikpolizei?!” Henrik asked. 

“WHAHAT ARE YOU SAYIHIHING?!” Marvin yelled. “SPEAK ENGLIHIHISH PLEHEHEASE!” Marvin begged. 

Henrik just laughed. “Hehehe! Fick dich!” Henrik declared back with a smirk. 

Marvin couldn’t understand what a dich was…but he could somewhat understand the moment he guessed what fick likely meant. “Dihihid yohou juhust tehehell mehe to fuhuhuck ohoff?” Marvin asked him. 

“Nein. I specifically said zhe vords ‘Fuck you’.” Henrik told him. 

“Wohohow.” Marvin muttered. 

“Now how ticklish is zhis belly of yours?” Henrik brought himself to the right side of the chair, and lifted up Marvin’s blue shirt. “I have heard from a leetle bird that your belly is a good spot to go for.” Henrik asked as he slowly started to tickle right around the magician’s belly button. 

“Wahahait- NOHOHOHAHAHAHAHA! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHA STOHOHOHOHOP!” Marvin shouted, kicking his legs wildly as he wiggled back and forth in an attempt to get out of the chair. “LEHEHET MEHE GOOOHOHOHOHOOO!” Marvin shouted. 

“Let you go? But vhy vould I do zhat?” Henrik asked. 

“BEHEHECAUSE YOU LOHOHOHOVE MEHEHE?!” Marvin asked. 

“Platonically? Or intimately~?” Henrik asked as he leaned into Marvin’s face with a smug little grin on his own face. 

Marvin’s face morphed into a bright red color almost immediately after hearing those words. Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Marvin opened his one eye. Quickly, he opened both his eyes and widened them once he realized how close Henrik was to his face. He immediately pushed Henrik’s face away from his own. “Shuhuhut uhuhup! Ihihi meheant platohohonicallyhyhyhy!” Marvin told him, covering up his face with his own hands. 

Henrik stuck out his bottom lip and looked down dramatically. “Aww…Shame.” Henrik whined, before dropping his facade with another smug grin. 

Marvin split his index and middle apart from each other to look out his left eye, so he could see what Henrik was doing. When he saw the doctor was smirking at him, Marvin whimpered as he covered up his left eye again and grew very timid. 

Henrik chuckled and removed his hand from the exposed belly. Marvin kept his eyes and face covered, hoping Henrik would leave him alone to melt into his seat like lukewarm ice cream. But when nothing else had happened for the next few seconds, Marvin uncovered his left eye again. 

“Uhhh…Hello-” 

Marvin SCREECHED and just about jumped 10 feet in the air! SPIDER! SPIDer- 

Henrik fell onto his back with laughter, pretty much rolling around with fits of laughter. “OHOHO MYHY GAHAD YOU’RE SOHOHO TIHICKLIHIHISH!” Henrik yelled. 

Marvin stared at him in disbelief…before embarrassed and slightly angry. He kicked Henrik’s chest with his heel and growled. “Leave my feet alone, ya fuckin’ weirdo.” Marvin told him. 

“Alright, alright. I vill leave you alone.” Henrik told him. “But only if you promise to not change my passvord again.” Henrik decided. 

“...But-” 

“No buts! Versprechen oder kein Versprechen.” Henrik told him. 

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “...and that means…?” 

Henrik sighed. “Promise, or no promise.” Henrik told him. “Jésus Chrístus. You need to learn German.” Henrik reacted. 

“Do I now?” Marvin asked. “Or do you need to practice your englisch?” Marvin asked, specifically impersonating Henrik’s pronunciation of the word ‘english’. 

Henrik rolled his eyes. “First of all: German is pronounced as ‘Deutsch’.” Henrik told him. 

“Oh! Yeah, I remember you mentioning the words ‘Deutschland’ often when I first met you. Does that just mean German land?” Marvin asked. 

Henrik closed his eyes and huffed. “Nein. Deutschland only means Germany.” Henrik told him. “Yust like Yapan is called Nihon.” Henrik added. 

“...Yeah, I guess.” Marvin muttered. “Alright. Deutschland! I speak the Deutschland language.” Marvin joked. 

Henrik couldn’t stop himself from chuckling in horror. “Verdammte Hölle…You are killing me vizh your vords and pronunciation.” Henrik told him. “Zhat is like saying ‘I speak the england language’.” Henrik told him. 

Marvin laughed. “Really? Cause English actually comes from-” 

“Latin. Ya, I know. And Deutsch is from zhe Indo-European people. The Indo-European people have multiple versions of zhe same language, one being zhe Germanic people, who spread from Norway and Sweden, to zhe Slovenian border.” Henrik told him. “Zhere vere even Deutsch people in zhe scotland and English- 

Henrik squealed in a girly high pitch voice, interrupting himself in the process before doubling over. “BAHAAAHAhahahahaha! VAHAHAIT- VHAHAHAT AHARE YOU DOHOHOIHIHING?!” Henrik yelled, trying to push the tickling fingers off of himself. “HOHOW DIHIHID YOU GEHEHET OHOHOUT?!” Henrik yelled. 

“I wiggled myself out while you were rambling on and on about the origin of Germany.” Marvin told him. “Now tell me, oh wise Deutsch: What is ‘tickle’ in German?” Marvin asked as he gently skittered and squeezed his ribs. 

“IHIHI’M NOT TELLIHIHING YOHOHOU!” Henrik yelled back. 

“Come ooooon. You sounded so excited about teaching me German! Or Deutsch, I guess. What’s ‘tickle’ in Deutsch?” Marvin asked as he severely lessened his tickling for a moment. 

Henrik’s laughter lessened to small bouts of giggles. “Ihihit’s…uhuhuh…k-kihitzeln. Kitzeln. Ihihit’s kihihitzeheheln.” Henrik repeated. 

Marvin giggled. “Kitzeln. That’s the noun, right? What’s the verb?” Marvin asked next. 

“Ihihihit’s kihitzehehelt. Kihitzelt.” Henrik replied.

Marvin smirked evilly upon being fed this wonderful information. “So does the phrase ‘Kitzelt, kitzelt, kitzelt’ make sense in Deutsch?” Marvin asked with a shit-eating grin. 

Henrik verbally groaned. “Nohohohoho. Dohohon’t sahahay zhahahat!” Henrik complained. 

“So I’m right! Kitzelt, kitzelt, kitzelt! Kitzelt, kitzelt, kitzelt!” Marvin teased as he started tickling faster and faster. 

“HaltdeineFresse! HALTDEIHIHINEFREHEHEHEHESSE!” Henrik yelled. “HAAAAALT! BITTE HÖHÖHÖR AHAHAHAUF! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Henrik kept yelling and laughing, weakly punching Marvin with his petty little hands. 

After a couple more minutes, Marvin stopped his wild revenge game. He placed Henrik onto the chair, quickly removing the bag handle that was holding him down right before sitting Henrik down properly. He filled up Henrik’s dried coffee mug with some water from his own water bottle, letting Henrik drink while he grabbed the camera that was still recording. 

Henrik hummed and removed his mug from his lips. “Vhat’s zhat?” Henrik asked. 

Marvin couldn’t stop the smirk from growing onto his face. “Noooothing…” Marvin teased. “...Except for a camera that I used to record your reaction…” Marvin finally confessed. 

Henrik widened his eyes…and opened his mouth, forgetting about the water in his mouth. All the water in his mouth quickly started spilling out of his mouth like a waterfall…Then, Henrik wiped off his chin and slammed the mug onto the ground. “Fünf…” Henrik started. 

“Hahaha! Is that Deutsch for ‘Fuck’?” Marvin asked. 

“Fünf is a number.” Henrik said. “Fünf…” 

“Number? Wh- Oh shit you’re counting.” Marvin muttered with a surge of panic running through his veins. 

“Vier…” Henrik said. 

“Shit shit shiT SHIT SHIT!” Marvin shouted. 

“Drei…” Henrik counted next. 

“Oh fuck OH FUCK UH- BYE!” Marvin sprinted towards the door, before crashing into the closed white door. “OW!” 

“Zwei…” Henrik said, before taking a step. 

Marvin gasped and heaved on the doorknob. “FUCK!” 

“EINER!” Henrik sprinted up to Marvin and grabbed his shoulders. He threw Marvin to the ground, before tickling him mercilessly. The camera flew absolutely everywhere, before being flung onto the ground nearby. All you could see was the wall…but Marvin’s strong laughter could tell you everything you needed to know:

That you should NEVER prank Dr. Schneeplestein. 

[iamfruitie]

Jealousy yesss

I would love to see a little blurb of that please lol

- 🧀 anon

Caught me in a good mood XD ----------

“A skin irritant would likely be helpful,” Henrik suggested as he and Mad sat together at the table. “Hard to concentrate when you’re itchy. So they will be distracted.” 

“That’s not a bad idea, Hen.” Mad hummed with thought, tapping a finger to his cheek. “Easier to make the target move locations if they’re too busy scratching.” 

“They’ve been talking for hours,” Mare muttered to Edward, the two standing at the dining room’s entrance. 

“Get them talking about work, and they never stop,” Edward added.

“They’re totally eye-fucking each other.” Phantom popped his head between the two and felt them looking at him. “What? They are.” 

“They are not,” Edward stated.

“Mad doesn’t even know what that is.” Mare huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Neither does Henrik.”

“Really? You don’t have to know what eye-fucking is to do it.” Phantom said. Mare and Edward may be correct that the two weren’t doing that, but he was tired of watching them stew in jealousy and not doing something about it. Plus, he wanted to use the table for…reasons and needed everyone out of the room. “Now, go get your himbo and your twink before they go from eye-fucking to actual fucking.” He clicked his tongue and popped his head back away, stepping back into the kitchen and casually taking his phone out while he waited.

“That’s it.” Mare went into the room first. There was no actual worry, but damn, did his brother know how to get into someone’s head. 

“Hello, Mare. How are-” Henrik’s greeting stopped when Mare ignored him, scooped Mad out of his seat, and carried him right out of the room. “What in the world was that about?” He asked himself before he felt hands on his shoulders, and he looked up, seeing Edward. “Oh! Hello, Edward. Do you know why Mare left with Mad like that?” 

“You two were getting too close,” Edward answered. 

“Close? We were sitting at opposite ends of the table.” Henrik took the comment literally. 

“It was the way you two were talking.” Edward started to rub his thumbs into small circles on Henrik’s shoulders. 

“The way? How was the…” Henrik paused as it finally clicked. “Are you jealous?” Edward’s hold on his shoulders tightening gave him his answer. “There is no need to be jealous.” Henrik giggled a little and placed a hand on top of Edward’s. 

“Well, I think-” Edward moved so he was in front of Henrik, taking his free hand to hold Henrik’s chin and tilt it up. “-that I should still show you that you are mine~” 

“O-Oh,” Henrik’s face flushed. “Okay.” 

“Good boy.” Edward praised with a deep chuckle before moving his hand to Henrik’s cheek and kissing him. 

[longbobmckenzie]

6,14, and 18 for the positivity ask game please!

Thanks so much, Mo!

6. What is your favourite part about being in this fandom?

@mrsbsmooth already said it, but the community. Literally the fanfiction community is the only thing that's kept me here for the last number of years, the people are incredible and FUCKING TALENTED

14. What’s your favourite universally-accepted headcanon about a character?

Gotta be Henrik's surname (Bergström) and his brothers Magnus and Rasmus. The Bergström thing is particularly funny because at least 2-3 people came up with the name independently of each other. And his brothers... as their creator, it's such an incredible honour to have other people accept them as fanon and include them in their own works! I seriously have a 🥹 moment every time someone uses one of them or even just says something nice about them!

18. Your favourite fanwork about a canon moment?

Gotta be @beesandfigsart drawing Roberto and MC in the hot tub for me 🤣

LITG Positivity Asks

[youvereachedthebadend]

Hopefully they'll realize there are bigger problems right now. And if they don't have any copies of the information in the book... that's really their fault

"They said it was something very not used, yes?" Henrik says. "I mean, ah, not used... often. So... I doubt they will."

"If there's any consequences, I'll fucking... kill them, I dunno," Jackie mutters.

"Literally?" Chase asks.

"No! I mean, unless it comes to that--I mean like in self-defense I mean!!!" Jackie sighs. "Being defensive about it makes me sound bad, I know."

"I'd kill them if they tried to hurt any of you," Henrik says quietly.

"Please don't kill anyone," Jack says.

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 7: The Little Things

Summary: Ethan wants to be a hero, he wants it more than anything else in the world. And Silver is terrified when he won’t take no for an answer.

Prompt: Leaf/Leaves

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Ever since Ethan was little he could remember the heroes. They had a team in his own home city. When he was five his mom moved him and his brother into Egoton.

He saw Silver flying around and even doing aerial tricks. And as a young gymnast, Ethan thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

It was all he wanted, and now literally the only thing standing in his way was Silver himself. Someone who seemed to believe that Ethan should do anything but be a hero. And literally everyone in the Coalition seemed to be making Syndrome jokes, and that was only making Ethan want it even more.

Dark even seemed to be under the impression that not only was Ethan working with Silver, but was his kid or at least a younger brother. And anyone who saw Ethan, at least in costume, was to chase him out of the area. Or if Dark was in the area to bring the “child hero” to him.

On one particular slow Saturday, Ethan was wandering around town, trying to find things to do. He was crunching any leaves he could see on the ground, some gave what he was looking for, others were disappointed. He was minding his own business, trying to keep an eye out for Dark’s enforcers, when Silver flew in.

“Fuck off,” Ethan said, trying to sound bigger and tougher than he felt.

“Let’s talk,” Silver said. He was holding out a baggie. “Your mom mentioned you were allergic to peanuts, before you ask. It’s safe.”

That disarmed Ethan a bit, so he took the bag as Silver touched down on the ground.

“Talk about what?” Ethan asked, looking at the sandwich inside. It looked like a normal burger.

Silver canted his head to the side. “Somewhere a bit more private, we’re too close to Barnum Park.”

“Park’s a great place to talk,” Ethan said, pointing his thumb in that direction.

“Yeah, just not that park. C’mon, I’ll explain once we get to 5th Street Plaza.” Silver began leading the way, actually walking.

“Can’t you fly?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, but you can’t, and I could use the exercise,” Silver said and started walking.

Debating for a second, Ethan watched him go before following Silver down five blocks until they got to the plaza. The changing leaves following the whole walk.

Silver asked how school was going and when they got to the plaza Ethan had eaten half of his sandwich and it had yet to cause an allergic reaction.

Besides a free sandwich was a free sandwich.

Instead of sitting down on some random bench, Silver directed Ethan up three flights of stairs to a roof. On the top of the roof was a couple air conditioning units and two benches that were side by side and overlooking the plaza.

“Sometimes we come up here to talk and get a break during patrols.” Silver brushed off some leaves and sat down on one of the benches.

“Okay,” Ethan said and took a seat, sitting around some of the leaves as he eat the rest of his sandwich. “Nice view.”

“It is,” Silver agreed. “Barnum Park is owned by Dark, he’s got spies all over the place in there.”

“Oh,” Ethan said.

Silver nodded. “Yeah, anyways, Bing, Jackie, and I have been talking and you’re in if you want to be.”

“Yeah,” Silver said, a slight sigh in his voice. “Bing and Henrik got apprentices behind my back and it’s not fair that they got in and you don’t. Even if all three of you should get kicked.”

“When did that happen?” Ethan asked, excitement bubbling up inside of him.

“One of them happened a couple of days ago, and the Septics have been sitting on theirs for a couple weeks. They're both seventeen."

“This is awesome!” Ethan shouted.

Silver held up a finger. “Wait a minute, we’ve gotta set some ground rules, first.”

“Sure, whatever.” Ethan could help but grin.

“No, not whatever, you break the rules, you’re either off the team or suspended.”

Ethan sat back down, unable to stop his legs from bouncing.

“First, you don’t tell a soul. Your parents will know, but that’s it. I don’t care if you think you can trust your best friend with your life, they can’t know. Your grandparents, siblings, cousins, they can’t know. For any reason. You keep pretending like the only thing you want to do is be a superhero and I keep saying no. But don’t overdo it.”

“Okay.”

Silver stood up and pointed to his spot on the bench. “Sit here, it’s got a better view. Jackie always takes it first.”

Ethan quickly took the spot and Silver moved to the spot on the bench where Ethan had been.

“First thing’s first,” Silver said. “You picked a hero name yet?”

“Blank or Crank,” Ethan smiled at him.

“You picked one yet?” Silver asked.

“Blank,” Ethan said, “cause invisible.”

“How does it work?” Silver asked. “You use it often?”

“Sometimes,” Ethan said, which sounded like a lie and Mark wished that Ethan could see his face. “Anyways, I just concentrate and I turn completely invisible. It used to just be me, and my clothes wouldn’t go, but now I can do it with anything I’m wearing or holding.”

Silver leaned forward. “Really, anything you’re holding?”

“Well, the more things I hold the more I have to concentrate,” Ethan said. “Heavy stuff takes a while. And if someone taps me I tend to come out of it real easy.”

“Neat power, how long have you had it?” Silver asked.

“Maybe a year,” Ethan said. “I don’t know when it first started, and it took a while to figure out how to control it.”

“You’ll learn more, after we talk to your folks, you’ll be working directly under me, and we’ll make sure you know how to use those powers better. Just make sure you’re not stealing anything or peeking in the girl’s restroom okay?”

“Hey, I only have stolen one candy bar, I’ll have you know,” Ethan said.

“At least you’re honest,” Silver said, laughing a little. “We’ll get you a better outfit too. Can’t have you running around in sweatpants. And you’ll get to meet the other two apprentices: Logic and Stripes.”

“Awesome,” Ethan looked out over the plaza with a huge smile.

He was finally getting everything he wanted and he was so excited he could hardly stand it.

[beerecordings]

Werewolf AU - Part 12

In his sleep, he has his babies.

"Up!" He heaves Hunter into the air, clutching his back and his head firmly. "And down!"

He drops him low, beneath his waist, and Hunter screams with delight, kicking his legs.

"Again? Up! And down."

Hunter laughs wildly, red in the face.

"Me too, Papa," calls Izzy, tugging on his pants. "Me too!"

He shifts Hunter against his chest and picks up his daughter, squeezing her to his neck. The warm smell of her fills his nose in a way it never has before. He can smell everything she's had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, can smell the wood of the drawers her clothes came from, can smell her strawberry shampoo and mint toothpaste. Most of all, she smells of candied nuts. He rubs his face against hers, squishing up her round cheeks, adding chocolate to the mix, and then does the same for Hunter. He wants to hide away with them, literally, wants to find somewhere dark and warm and safe just for the three of them to cuddle up in. To spread their scents across heaps of blankets and feed them everything they want and then watch them fall asleep, safe with Papa watching.

Maybe that's why it's so disorienting to wake up alone.

He can still smell her, he swears. He can still smell his babies. But there's no one in the room. No scent but his own. The sheets are cold beyond the cocoon of his own body.

His hands clench, nails biting into his palms, and something wild and furious rises in his throat, burning. His teeth ache as they grow out and he groans, flopping down into his mattress, trying to keep his control.

"Take my kids from me," he whispers, pressing his face into his own lonely smell. "Both of them."

It was Stacy, and he's angry, but at least she had some reasons, much as she's blown things out of proportion now. But that wolf - that wolf. They both stole his babies from him. He would have unsupervised visits by now if it wasn't for the lycanthropy. He could have them at his own house, instead of Stacy's fucking sister's place; he could cook for them and snuggle with them without being worried their aunt would call it inappropriate or say he was being manipulative by telling them he missed them; he could have them, he could have them, he could have them --

Chase keens aloud, and it almost sounds like a howl.

He's grasping for the scrap of fabric in his drawer before he can think about it, but his brain stops him before it gets to his nose. No! This is the wolf he hates, the one who hurt him, who destroyed his life and replaced it with something new. He can't hate him one moment and then press his scent to his face the next. And parts of all this have been good, yes, like Sean has been good and the guys have been good, and he loves his wolf form in the same tentative way a new sailor loves the sea. But he didn't ask for it, and he would take it all back if it meant he could just have his kids, his babies, his Hunter and Izzy, please. The guilt of every time he didn't put them first hits him like a bucket of water dumped over his head, and then the anger, the grief, the betrayal of his wife and every friend who turned on him, and the hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt.

He crumples back into his bed, inhaling the scent of that stupid fucking scrap of fabric. The last hint of that wolf is so close to being gone, but it's still there, haunting him, almost a month later. The smell of a far-off storm oozes over him. Such a pretty smell, and so deadly. He may as well have had a drink.

"Chase?"

He shoots up in bed, frozen. Knuckles rap against his door.

“You yelled. What's wrong?”

“Um, nothing,” he coughs, shaking his sleep and his rage off as best he can. “I'm fine.”

Henrik opens the door anyway.

They stand there looking at each other for a second, and Chase knows how he must smell, wrecked and angry and probably tainted by the poisonous smell of the storm. But Henrik just gazes at him, mouth soft and head tilted, and somehow, it only makes the anger worse.

“I said I'm fine,” he repeats, louder.

Henrik blinks. “If you don't want to talk about it, you can just say you don't want to talk about it.”

“Look, just – just give me some space, okay? You're in my space.”

His voice fades as the words come out, but Henrik still shrinks back a little, eyes pulling away. “You invited me in your space.”

Chase scowls down at his bedsheets, feeling on the verge of crying, and he's had enough of doing that in front of everybody for a lifetime.

“Do you want me to leave?”

He shrugs. Sullen and exhausted, clutching that fucking fabric.

“Can I come in?”

He doesn't have it in him to reply. Henrik comes over to him and sits down carefully on the edge of his bed, bringing ocean waves and lemon tea with him. And Chase wants to hide in him, suddenly, so badly it's actually embarrassing even to think about. What the hell's wrong with him, anyway? He never wanted to fucking cuddle of all things with other guys. Is it just wolf stuff, this need to share his scent with him, to spread the sense of belonging and unity between the two of them like cinnamon spread across toast? He can't help it that he's attached to him in a way that's new. He can't help it that he got attached to that other wolf, either. And it strikes him, then, how unsafe this all is, how out of control, how badly he's going to get hurt.

“Just get off me!” he snarls, leaping out of bed, and Henrik ducks back as though a wasp stung him. “Why are we even fucking doing this? You're just going back to Germany! You won't even be here in a couple months! I can't be your goddamn pack, Henrik!”

Henrik's scent mists, and then twists, and then sours, in a way Chase wasn't expecting. He shrinks away from him, lowering his head and his posture.

“You're right,” says Henrik.

His voice comes out cold in a way Chase has never heard it.

“We can't do this. Forget it.”

Henrik gets up from his bed and stalks toward the door, twisting the handle.

“Fine, well – then, go, then!” Chase snaps, pressing himself against the wall. “You were always going to anyway. Are you even trying, Henrik?”

“Am I trying?” he demands. “Is that what you just asked me?”

“Schneep, the full moon is in five days. What the hell are you going to do what it comes? How are you expecting to go back to Germany when you still won't even try running in the park?”

“You want to talk about me? At least I'm not the one still hugging that piece of cloth from a wolf who tried to kill the both of us! It's pathetic!”

“I don't need you to tell me it's pathetic,” Chase shouts back, eyes burning, pushing himself off the wall. “Fuck you, you know I hate that this happens!”

“If you hated it, you would give that stupid thing to Sean so maybe they could actually find that wolf and we could be safe, and maybe then I wouldn't be so scared!”

“So this is my fault?”

“I didn't say that!”

“You might as well have.”

“No, you're the one who internalizes all that shit, you think I don't know it? That you only took me in out of pity and guilt, because you think that if you had gone with that wolf – ”

“Don't you fucking dare, don't start with that – ”

“You think that if you'd stayed with him he wouldn't have bit me.”

“Shut up, Henrik! You know what, just get the fuck out! Get out of my room, get out!”

And he's crying now, dammit, always crying, red in the face and working to breathe.

“Fuck, this is out of control!” Henrik screams, and his scent spikes with something like ice, burningly cold, afraid. “We can't do this, I can't do this, I have to go home, I can't take this, I wish I could go home, I want to go home, I want my life back, I'm going to die, I'm dying, why is this happening?”

“Henrik,” chokes Chase. “Henrik, stop, stop yelling, just – ”

“It's killing me, it's killing me!” Henrik shrieks, grabbing his hair. “I knew you'd get sick of me anyway, I want to go home and be alone, forever, I want – ”

“Schneep,” breathes Chase, moving towards him. “Look, man – hey, breathe, breathe, okay.”

He didn't mean to upset him like this. Hell, they were actually yelling at each other just now, weren't they? What was he thinking?

“Forget it, forget it,” Henrik rasps, shoving through the door. “I know all I do is piss people off, I know there's a reason I don't have any friends, I know, I know – ”

“Henrik!”

He follows him down the stairs, watching in shock as he throws a jacket on and goes for his shoes next, tugging them on. “Dude! Breathe, okay? What are you doing?”

“I'm going to the hospital,” Henrik snaps back, lacing his sneakers.

“What?” Chase's spine chills. “Why? What's wrong?”

“I need to go to the hospital,” Henrik says, scent chilling and chilling, almost cold to breathe in. “I need to go to the hospital.”

“I'm not going to fucking argue with you while you're saying that, dude, but the hospital's miles away! I'll drive you, okay? Fuck's sake. You are freaking me the hell out. Look, I'll get the keys, but just tell me why you need to go, yeah? Are you in pain?”

“I – I need to make sure,” Henrik whispers, shouting fading out of existence like it never happened.

“Make sure of what?”

“That's there's no cancer,” he whimpers.

Chase pauses with his keys in hand, staring at him. “Why would you have that?”

“Because this – this is what it feels like,” Henrik hiccups.

And his own words seem to hit him like a car wreck. He staggers back against the wall, grabbing his mouth, and then he just sinks. Chase thinks maybe his knees give out. He moves forward to grab him, trying to keep him up, wrapping his arms around him.

Henrik shakes against him. Chase can barely stand his smell in that moment, too scared and too angry and too hurt all at the same time, overwhelming.

“Okay, okay,” Chase breathes, rubbing his back tentatively, pushing their skulls together. “I'm sorry we yelled at each other, but now you're starting to freak me out a little.”

Henrik chokes on a cry, gritting his teeth together so hard Chase can feel his jaw trembling against his shoulder. His fangs are so close to Chase's neck, and bizarrely, he finds something soothing in it, because they just screamed at each other, but he still knows Henrik won't bite him. Won't hurt him.

“You don't have cancer, okay, man?”

“You don't know that, you don't know that,” spits Henrik, digging his fingers into Chase's side. “You don't know – ”

“Schneep. Listen to yourself. You got bit by a werewolf, and now things are a little out of control. But that doesn't mean it's cancer.”

Henrik's just there by his ear, breathing. Shaking.

“When did you have it?” Chase asks. “That's what that was, right? You had it, and now it scares you sometimes, thinking you might have it again.”

“I told my mother I had no memory of it,” Henrik rasps. “I swore up and down. I never tell anyone. Never, never.”

“So... is that, like, why you became a doctor?”

“I won't touch cancer cases,” Henrik replies, shaking his head. “Anything but those cases.”

“Isn't that, um. Kind of a problem, in your work?”

“I'm so good at everything else no one makes me,” Henrik croaks, steadying a little against him. “I never have to do anything I don't want to. I've never had to.”

Chase laughs weakly, despite everything, letting out a long sigh.

“Well, dude, maybe that's not such a good thing?”

“We just... we grew up so rich, and after I got sick, my parents gave me anything I wanted. And then I was so clever, and the other kids couldn't keep up with me; I looked down on them and they hated me. My sisters too. I couldn't make friends. Every now and then I would, but they would never last. So I just... just studied, and excelled, at everything, all the time.”

“And by the time you were an adult, you had nothing but textbooks on your shelf and no real hobbies to speak of, huh?”

Henrik pulls back from him at last, gazing at him with red, exhausted eyes.

“Are you actually a genius?” Chase asks, grinning crookedly.

Henrik sighs. “Yeah. I suppose.”

“Isn't it kind of a stereotype to be the genius who can't make friends?”

Henrik scoffs. “It didn't help being the only Jewish kid in a school full of the richest children in Germany. My family made their wealth within the last generation, rebuilt from nothing. Want to guess where some of those other families stole their money from?”

“Yikes.”

“It was never easy.”

“Well, geez, doc, have you considered that not everyone in the world is a rich asshole?”

Henrik smiles timidly, looking down at the floor. “I felt removed from those social circles, too. Never fit anywhere. But when Sean took me back to his place, I was so pleased with it. He's so down to earth. He didn't care at all where I came from. And you, with your trashed, over-sized house, it's – it's perfect. Like your house isn't sure which group it belongs in either.”

Chase snorts, covering his mouth for a second. “I think I should be offended?”

“No. No. I like your house very much.”

The conversation halts uncertainly. They're just here, now, looking at each other at ass o'clock in the morning, and Chase doesn't even think he's processed that they just fought so badly they screamed at each other and then Henrik barely came back from the brink of an actual panic attack. And it just... shouldn't be this way. It just shouldn't.

“What are we going to do?” he asks him, so tired he thinks he might need to sit down.

Henrik stares at the floor. Shrugs.

“I really don't think I can do this,” he whispers, after a moment. “The shifting. I'm terrified of when the full moon will come, Chase.”

“But it will come. It's coming. Five days. I think you've got to make a decision about whether you're going to keep hiding until that day comes, and then be torn apart by the first shift – or if you'd like to be brave now, so you don't have to be quite so scared, then.”

“It's not that simple.”

“That's what I said when I realized I had to stop drinking. Like, holy shit, this is impossible. The first couple days, I thought I'd die. Or that it would be easier to die. But the alternative was losing everyone I love and drinking myself to death here in a couple years. There's just no easy ways out sometimes, dude.”

Henrik is looking across at him like he's actually getting through to him, so Chase keeps talking.

“You've had as much control as you could for years now. Even as a kid. Me, I never had that. I told you I was a foster kid. I never got to choose where I lived, or for how long, or what rules they would make me follow, or how other people would see me, or anything. I did stupid shit to take my control back, don't get me fucking wrong. But other times, you just... you have to accept impossible things. You have to keep moving past the worst, most life-destroying things you can imagine. It's not even because you're super tough, or super brave, although you might be by the end of everything. Sometimes, there's just no other way. Henrik... you've just got to shift.”

“I can't make myself,” he whispers. “I can't.”

“If you would try, I think you could learn. And you know something, doc? I honestly think the best way for you to get some control back is to embrace this. Learn to shift on command. Spend time in your other body, in your fur and fang. When you shift for the first time, it won't be an animal controlling your body, won't be a stranger or a monster or a sickness. It'll be you, Henrik. It's only ever going to be you.”

“Do you promise?” whispers Henrik, like a kid telling secrets beneath a blanket fort.

Chase holds up his pinky finger, and Henrik blinks down at it for a second before a smile clears his face and he reaches out shyly to intertwine their fingers.

“I promise,” says Chase.

Henrik clears his throat, letting his finger drop, smiling at him with the fragility of a little bird in the throat of a crocodile. “Should we... talk about how we just fought?”

Chase is too tired. “Actually, can we just not?”

“Yeah? Like... just pretend it didn't happen?”

“Honestly, yeah.”

“That's okay with me. I'm sorry.”

“Me too. Just tell me you'll go for a run next class, okay?”

Henrik nods slowly, letting his eyes slide shut. “I'll... go for a run.”

“Thank you.”

“If you give Sean that cloth.”

Chase stares at him, heat rushing to his face. If he does that, the last tiny bit of warmth he got from that wolf will be gone, and it will just be him, alone with the memory of how badly he was treated, and he'll have to accept impossible things again, and keep moving anyway.

Henrik sets his hand on Chase's shoulder, very near to his neck. The warmth seems to radiate from him.

Chase steps closer to him, unsure what he's doing, and then, very gently, Henrik massages the side of his neck with his thumb. Chase's eyes close. That's... really nice.

And a little less lonely, after all.

“Okay,” he says. “I'll give Sean the fabric.”

Henrik hugs him.

“Dumb sit-com to try and calm both of our frazzled nerves?” Chase offers, when they finally pull apart.

Henrik grins at him lop-sidedly. “Yes. That sounds good.”

And if Chase ends up falling asleep on the couch, well, it doesn't really matter. All he can smell is chocolate and ocean waves, and there is no storm in the distance.

.

He knocks on the door of Sean's office, shivering in the wind, despite the summer heat. He's wearing nothing but his sleep shirt and gym shorts.

There's shuffling upstairs, slow.

“Sean!” he calls. “Jack, hey!”

The door creaks open. Sean stares at him, completely bedraggled, and Henrik can't help that he starts laughing, looking at his crusted eyes and messy hair.

“It's too early,” groans Sean.

“I'm so sorry, mein schatz.” Henrik reaches out to grab his hand, pulling on him childishly. “But I've only got the adrenaline for this now. I can't wait til class.”

“Henrik, you smell terrified.”

“Yes,” he laughs. “Completely.”

Sean stares at him, rubbing the sleep from his face.

“I want to go to the park,” Henrik tells him. “Now. Please. I'm truly sorry, but please help, now.”

“I'll get my shoes.”

The park smells the same way it did before, but this time, Henrik doesn't try to distract himself from it, doesn't try to ignore it. There's other wolves here. He can smell them. Okay, okay. He's safe, he can do this.

“Deep breath, Henrik,” says Sean, and his soothing smell washes over him in a wave. “You're hyperventilating a little. Breathe.”

“I have to do this now,” he says. “I'll never get the courage again. I need these teeth out of my throat. Please.”

“Don't have to ask me, it's all up to you. And I know you can do this. You're going to be just fine. Henrik, it only gets easier after the first time. Okay?”

He grips Sean's hand, squeezing til he leaves half-moon marks against his palm.

“We can start with a walk, til your breathing slows down.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “No, it has to be now.”

Sean breathes out, nodding. “Okay. Let's not think, then. Don't think at all. Just come with me.”

He pulls him forward. Henrik follows. 'Don't think' is such a bizarre sentiment to him. What else does he do?

“Here we go. Just run.”

He used to love to run, before all this. He ate healthy, ran, never smoked or drank except with family, always wore his mask around the hospital. He just wanted to feel safe from his own body.

“We'll head for the trees. Follow with me.”

They're running now, just a little. It's good, to be exercising again, but now that he thinks about it, truly, it's not like this could have ever saved him if the cancer came back.

It wasn't real. The sense of control. It was just a story he told himself. A myth. He made a myth of his own body.

“There's the wind, yes, here we go, come on!”

And it's not his body's fault. It was never trying to hurt him. It was just a victim of circumstances, the same way he was. This body is a part of him. The surgery scars. The bite marks. It's still his body, and it's healing, recovering, caring for him.

It is him. His body.

It will never be a monster because he's not a monster.

Sean howls in front of him, piercing through every thing else, and Henrik realizes he's let go of his hand as Sean shifts, effortless. The wolf bounding in front of him is gleaming in the light of the moon, his fur glossy and his eyes alight, and he barks at Henrik, leaping across a fallen tree and beckoning him forward, yapping.

Medically, it's really very interesting. He wonders how many textbooks there are about just that single moment of transformation. The miracle of transmogrification in front of his eyes, and it looks so painless, so easy, so joyful.

He's changed halfway so many times now he feels it coming, and something in him screams aloud, but don't think, don't think, it's just my body. It's just my body and it doesn't want to hurt me. It's just my body and it's not my fault. This is just –

The radiation that destroyed and saved him at the same time. A new life, but not a new person. He's five years old, and he loves to read books because they interest him, and not because it scares him not to know; he's seven years old and he wants to talk about what he remembers; he's sixteen and he has a friend for the first time; he's twenty-five and he's ready to realize there are some things in his life that are out of his control, and that's okay. That will have to be okay.

And in that moment, Henrik lets go of something he's been clinging to for twenty years, and shifts.

.

On the top of the hill, a pair of black wolves are watching.

[sugarrspice]

Fluff with Marvin and Henrik please :)) Maybe the both of them bickering about something while their friends are like 'look at this two disasters'. Something something bickering maeried husbands vibes.

((Ah, right in the weak spot. I have no idea what their ship name is, unfortunately, so if anybody fills me in, I'm happy to change it.

Update: I do apologize for the delay! This piece has been fighting me, but here's to the third try.))

"-I'm telling you, I don't care how fucking esoteric your work is, physics and chemistry will still work the same and your grounding line will fucking dissolve in contact with water if it's godsdamned salt-"

"-oh, bite me, Henrik-"

"-you're just irritated I found a flaw with your damn circles, again-"

Chase exchanges a long-suffering look with Oracle, the other villain sighing as he holsters his blade. Hands freed, Oracle signs, wearily, "They are like this every time I come by to pick up Aurum once he's been healed."

Chase blinks, and slews around to stare at the scene before him, again. Yep. Okay. Aurum is definitely looking rough- their usual, flowing shirt is looking all sorts of torn up, and there's dried blood all up and down their arm. They're holding it in a way that indicates it's been pretty recently broken- and then set. He looks back to Oracle, baffled.

"And they just-"

"They argue like this every time," Oracle signs again, movements heavy-handed with exasperation even if Chase can't read his face. When he looks back, Aurum's leant into Henrik's face, and the heat in their eyes can only be described as-

Well.

It's not like Henrik's not reciprocating. If Henrik weren't fucking interested, Chase reflects ruefully, he would've booted Aurum out ages ago. Oh, gods. Is his roommate flirting with a fucking supervillain?

Faintly, he whispers to Oracle, "please tell me this doesn't look like literal fucking Aurum is flirting back with the only vaguely neutral medic for capes."

He only just holds back from slipping up, calling Henrik our only medic. He doesn't need every fucking villain knowing his identity out of costume. Oracle, unfortunately, only shrugs a shoulder deeply, pale eyes flicking back to the scene.

"You'd think Aurum would find an easier way to try to attract his attention," he signs, and Chase sighs.

"This is Aurum. He thrives off of the drama."

Oracle gives him a wry, wry look. "You'd know that well, I suppose."

Chase tries to parse that, figure if it's a threat. He's not exactly a small-name reporter, not anymore. He's pretty much guaranteed as the front-liner whenever he writes up a cape. But Oracle's signs are steady; his stance doesn't seem particularly much of a warning. Oracle's reserved, sure, for a villain, but even he should have tells.

In the end, he only shoots Oracle his usual easy grin, and leans against the wall, keeping all three of them in his sightline. "Unfortunately- or fortunately, depending on who you ask. His columns have always sold the best."

"Even next to Livewire, or Hyperion," Oracle notes, and somehow his signs seem dry.

Chase grimaces. "Big names are big names. But they're getting there- don't tell them I said that."

Oracle laughs; at least, Chase assumes he does, and glances back at the pair.

Aurum has gotten to their feet sometime in the last five minutes. They have not, however, moved out of Henrik's face- and Henrik has his arms folded, glaring them down just as spiritedly.

"It's a wonder more of your circles haven't sent you to my doors if they're all cast this shoddily," he says, voice sharp, and Aurum sighs, loud and gusty.

"Oh, yes, let's tell the expert how they should cast their circles. Would you like to inspect them for me, perhaps? Grade them?"

"If it's an open invitation, I can't leave you to flounder," Henrik snaps back, and then- pauses. Aurum visibly pauses, too, and Chase considers how much of the last half hour he can erase if he slams his head into the wall behind him. Oracle is pinching the bridge of his nose.

Aurum's lips curl into a smirk, then, and Chase idly notes the pointed tips of his teeth. Huh. Not joking, then, about the canines.

"I can make it one." His voice is a downright purr, and Chase knows he's not imagining the way Henrik just barely clamps down on a visible start. The man's hands are white-knuckled, for the gods' sakes.

Henrik, to Chase's never-ending exhaustion, doesn't do something as reasonable as firmly deny inviting a supervillain over to pick him up, and instead snorts.

"Don't bother with nights. I work night shift. Come on a weekend, and hope your idiot compadres don't need to slam down my door for the day."

Chase clears his throat, and suggests, half jokingly, "I can put up a column asking for a replacement," and the two whip around to face their audience; oh, gods, they didn't even know they had company. This is nauseating.

Aurum recovers first, and shoots Chase a blinding smirk. "No need. I'll make sure they give us the day off."

Right. Supervillains. Top cut, in fact. Chase doesn't sigh again.

Henrik shakes his head, eventually, and steps away from Aurum. Oracle exchanges a look with him, and Chase tries not to sigh at the obvious reluctance.

"Ready to go, Hen?"

"When you are," he starts, and then arches an eyebrow at Aurum. "Unless you have anything else I haven't looked at."

"You've looked me over quite thoroughly," Aurum hums, and... not the fucking flirting again. Henrik doesn't blush- has told this many times to Chase, but he looks like he would be flushing if he could.

Oracle clicks his heel against the floor, signs light with clear amusement. "Then we shall take our leave. A pleasure, Chase. A pleasure, Henrik."

Henrik nods to him, though it's somewhat distracted. Chase exerts great patience and does not shake him by the shoulders.

Aurum grins again, lazy and assured, and pecks Henrik on the cheek before sweeping past.

"Bring your best, Henrik. I look forward to it~"

Chase's going to need to put up a new fucking roommate listing.

[white-eyed-girl]

Now that's it's been over for almost a month I am catching up with this year's other Mello songs

When I heard that Loreen, Wiktoria, Mariette and Jon Henrik would all be in it I was ecstatic but I also had flashbacks from 2017 - all 4 of them were there as well and Loreen was actually the only one to NQ so in the end I said fuck that, I am not watching that happen again :" But tables have turned quite a lot lol Mostly because none of the other 3 were at their best I think I was kinda shocked when I heard Wiktoria got her first NQ, but the song didn't amount to much indeed Mariette's song was alright, better than her last one Jon Henrik's song was nice but it also wasn't his best one (why didn't they let him win in 2017, WHY)

Yeah the twins were cute and Air was cool and sleak but it would have been such an anticlimatic choice methinks Omfg Mer av dig SLAPPED, you don't understand, I will listen to this ALL summer asdfghjdfghj

In Mello I have exactly 3 recurring moods, one is Loreen, two is Jon Henrik, and three is stupidly happy-clappy no matter what the song is about (includes Wiktoria, every folk-ish song and a very specific brand of catchy songs in swedish, stuff like Mer av dig, Släpp alla sorger and Om allting skiter sig - literally one of the songs I've listened to the most in 2021 lmao)

[egopocalypse]

2 13 43 ?

2) talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

Oh no, the horrors. /j

Truth be told, I used to just write whatever came to mind and improvised based on how the characters were reacting to each other (especially in JSE stories), but this is absolutely apparent in three cases: 1) Sawbones falling in love with Maker, 2) Jackie "killing" Henrik in Kingdom Come, and 3) Tubbo taking the lead 100% in Gone Away.

Because a lot of people don't know this, but Gone Away was not supposed to be only through Tubbo's POV. It was originally planned as a multi-POV story that would rotate through several characters' perspectives as the story evolved, but I could not finish the first chapter with that plan in mind. No matter what I tried, it felt flat and just Didn't Work. For six months, might I add. Until finally, Tubbo grabbed me by my non-existent tie, brought me down to his eye level, and took charge of the entire narrative.

It only took four days to write the first chapter after that change (while I was working, mind you), and he's been the lead ever since.

(Also, for those of you who were here for Kingdom Come, no, Jackie didn't actually kill Henrik. I will explain my ideas if anyone wishes to know, but the gist is that everyone's perception was Fucked due to Anti intentionally twisting everything to his benefit. I may or may not have plans to revise Kingdom Come/remake it in another medium/actually finish the goddamn fic. We'll see.)

13) talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

So fun fact: I first started handwriting my first draft because fate literally gave me a notebook.

Around this time last year, I was walking back from class with a friend when I found a Moleskin notebook on the sidewalk. I asked a couple students who were in front of us if it belonged to them, but no one claimed it. I then decided to peek at the first page (because moleskins are Expensive and Not notebooks you want to lose), only to find that the entire book was completely blank. I kept it, wrote in it for the first time a couple days later, and wrote nearly half of Gone Away Chapter 5 in the span of an hour or two. I've written first drafts exclusively in moleskins ever since.

43) how did writing change you?

Writing has ultimately changed my entire life's direction. Before I started writing as a young teen, I genuinely thought I would go into politics and spend my days debating, lobbying, and campaigning for whatever topics captured my passion that election cycle. But now, I can't imagine myself as anyone but a writer. My passion for stories and characters has been a vital part of my life from the moment I learned to read, and writing simply evolved into the natural next step of that passion. I've crafted my entire identity around it and made all my friends through sharing stories. I genuinely have no idea where I would be right now if I wasn't writing, and I never want to know.

Ask game

[lonelier-version-of-you]

So I want to be clear that I don’t resent any of the actors crossing over and I’m glad that characters are getting checked in on. My issue is why does seemingly any Holby person get to do that except the one character that had the most crossover appearances, most connections to the ED, was meant to have a much longer and different SL, was the face of the franchise, and the actress was literally begging to cross over (which would have meant a massive move but she was ready to literally uproot her life for it)? I have nothing against Donna or Sacha and Fletch getting to live on - it even makes sense for some of them - but it drives home how pointless and cruel they were to Rosie/Jac and fans. (And the way the show is now acting like Henrik doesn’t exist basically ?????????!? You must get a headache so often I’m sorry)

Yeah. It's fucking weird, it does come across as some sort of bizarre spite towards Rosie. I bet if she'd wanted the finale to be her last time playing Jac, then they would've moved her over to Casualty... it really felt like they were that obsessed with not listening to her. I think basically everyone wanted Jac on Casualty! Rosie did, I think most of us Holby fans did. Even the Casualty-only fans I've asked have said they would love to see Jac on Casualty.

I do indeed now live in a constant Casualty-induced irritation about them not saying that Henrik has left. It makes it even more frustrating that it's such a small thing compared to everything with Jac. Like... it's not that hard to write in a line or two of dialogue saying that Henrik left and telling us who is now running Holby. I think they must be shying away from it because they're trying to have it both ways or something, that's the only reason I can think of - staying in keeping with the Holby finale's continuity while also not angering fans. And I'm so tired of it. I know this must sound surreal coming from me, but I never, ever want to see Henrik again. Casualty were quite good at handling Henrik in his first few crossovers, but I don't believe they'd handle him well now. They basically seem to go along with how Holby write him, which was fine when Holby wrote him well - but now? Now, we'd get him painted as a wonderful hero who is eternally suffering, and every episode would remind us "You must think Mr. Hanssen is wonderful! We are going to demonise every woman who has ever pointed out his behaviour!". I got fed up of that on Holby and I don't want to see it on Casualty. (Sorry, I got ranting there.)