#which i think is whats missing in moreau's

[darkjusticiar]

And now heisenberg :3c time for some grimy cyborg bullshit (<- this is my 2nd favorite section)

[werewolfsmile]

The Eliot Spencer Details Masterpost

I have been recording details about our beloved Eliot Spencer on my latest watch through. And now, it's finally time to reveal the details!! If I have gotten any details INCORRECT, I beg of you to correct me, at which time, this post will be updated and credit given. (Note: S1 was aired out of chronological order. I am going by chronological episode numbers - aka the correct order - and providing the episode titles as well to minimise confusion.) !! This post contains details from Leverage: Redemption! Read the episode references carefully if you are wanting to avoid certain spoilers !!

Shirtless Moments

S1 E7 The Two-Horse Job: The flashback scene when Aimee asks Eliot what his excuse was for not coming back to her, we see him being dragged/tortured, shirtless. "Tell us what you did with the monkey!"

S2 E2 The Tap-Out Job: Eliot is shirtless for the fight match.

S4 E9 The Cross My Heart Job: Ehh he's not completely shirtless here but whatever. At about 16 mins in, Eliot and Parker are getting changed together, Eliot strips to a singlet then throws his shirt at me the camera. (I didn't include other scenes of Eliot in a singlet here because in this scene he's actively undressing, whereas in others he's not.)

Necklaces

The earliest sighting of his guitar pick necklace is S1 E2 The Homecoming Job. It continues to pop up frequently in episodes, though noticeably less in S1. I thought about recording every occurrence of it here but ... lmao it's in legit waaayyyy too many episodes for me to bother.

S2 E10 The Runway Job: Honourable mention of the necklaces Eliot wears with his fashion week outfit. The longer one is kinda dogtag-esque, the shorter one is ... I think it's a fleur de lis? He also wears a range of chain necklaces later in this episode.

S4 E18 The Last Dam Job: Bird pendant (possibly kingfisher) visible at 34 mins 39 seconds. Full credits to @wolves-in-the-world for this one including the time stamp! You can check out their reblog of this post with more details here!

Dammit Hardison

S1 E13 The Second David Job: The FIRST INSTANCE of dammit Hardison in the entire show! Said upon discovering each other in the gallery, around 4 mins 15 seconds.

S2 E1 The Beantown Bailout Job: Said around 22 mins 30 seconds, immediately following, "What are the odds that Eliot's crotch will actually explode?" Iconic.

S2 E6 The Top Hat Job: When setting up for the magic show and discovering the rabbit missing, roughly 19 mins 45 seconds.

S3 E3 The Inside Job: Running from security, around 31 mins 30 seconds.

S3 E4 The Scheherazade Job: Trying to enter McRory's at the same time, around 1 min 30 seconds.

S3 E5 The Double Blind Job: This is an honourable mention because this time NATE is the one to say dammit Hardison! 9 mins 15 seconds.

S3 E6 The Studio Job: Upon discovering the master tape isn't in the case, roughly 32 mins.

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Eliot and Hardison running in the woods for their lives, arguing as always. This one is a bonus 'dammit' because Hardison says it straight back to Eliot after Eliot yells it at him! Around 21 mins.

S3 E12 The King George Job: Discussing Hardison's forgery work, followed by Eliot regretting touching anything. Around 23 mins 55 seconds.

S3 E13 The Morning After Job: Pretending to be cops and accidentally ending up with a prisoner to take back to jail, around 16 mins 20 seconds.

S3 E14 The Ho Ho Ho Job: Honourable mention of Chaos mocking Eliot by saying dammit Hardison. Roughly 21 mins 15 seconds.

(phew, S3 was rough on Hardison! given what Eliot was going through with the whole Moreau thing.... ooh that's delicious angst)

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Honourable mention for Sophie saying it this time! While playing the role that was meant for Eliot, around 24 mins.

S4 E6 The Carnival Job: Mixing chemicals for a distraction, roughly 25 mins 30 seconds.

S4 E17 The Radio Job: Hardison running away from being thrown off a high floor, around 5 mins.

S4 E18 The Last Dam Job: Sneaking around at the Bellington Dam, roughly 13 mins 35 seconds.

S5 E1 The (Very) Big Bird Job: 'Accidentally' putting a brew pub menu in front of Eliot, around 10 mins 20 seconds.

S5 E15 The Long Goodbye Job: Emotional scene that we do not speak about, around 12 mins 40 seconds.

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: After knocking Harry out and asking Hardison to help carry Harry, and Hardison refuses. 11 mins 40 seconds.

RS1 E2 The Panamanian Monkey Job: Upon discovering that security is headed to the vault where Parker is, and the only way down there is through the vents. Around 34 mins 10 seconds.

RS2 E1 The Debutante Job: We get 3! In this whole episode! Probably to make up for Hardison being gone for most of Redemption. Anyway! First one when Eliot and Hardison are in Ralphie Roy's place and Hardison has no idea who Ralphie is, around 23 mins 15 seconds. Second is when they're breaking into the elevator and Hardison won't help fight or move the unconscious guards, roughly 37 mins 40 seconds. And third, after the job when Parker says that Hardison was the one who took out all the guards. Around 45 mins 10 seconds.

RS2 E3 The Tournament Job: Right at the start after Eliot says gaming isn't a sport and Parker texts Hardison, so Hardison starts blowing up Eliot's phone. Lmao. Around 4 mins 20 seconds.

RS2 E4 The Date Night Job: After realising Breanna stole his truck, Eliot says dammit, then aims it at a grinning Hardison, since Breanna is already running away. Around 46 mins 50 seconds.

Dammit Parker

S1 E4 The Snow Job: Parker jumps out of a second floor window, Eliot catches her. 15 mins. (Parker gets a dammit from Eliot before Hardison does!!)

S3 E8 The Boost Job: Parker driving erratically, Eliot thrown around in back seat. (Technically there's a pause between dammit and Parker but I'm still including it) 35 min 35 seconds.

S5 E12 The White Rabbit Job: Searching the mark's house, Parker wants to steal a shirt. Again, this isn't technically a proper dammit Parker, as Eliot instead says, "Put it back! Dammit." But I'm still including it because it was aimed at her. 21 mins 20 seconds.

RS1 E9 The Bucket Job: Parker is pretending to be a hacker heavily modelled off Hardison. Not a proper dammit Parker as, again, Eliot only mutters "dammit" under his breath, but still counts to me. Just after 18 mins.

RS1 E10 The Unwellness Job: At end of episode, after Parker admits that she didn't even learn Eliot's name till after the team broke up the first time. 44 mins 30 seconds.

RS1 E13 The Hurricane Job: After washing up on shore and entering the Beacon Inn, Parker and Eliot are bickering about Maria. He doesn't strictly say dammit Parker but there's absolutely no doubt who he's directing the dammits towards. 3 mins 30 seconds.

RS2 E6 The Fractured Job: When farewelling Billy and Parker says next time she'll finish telling him about the robot bodies. Again, it's just dammit not dammit Parker but it's close enough. 41 mins.

RS2 E8 The Turkish Prisoner Job: Another standalone dammit that is most definitely aimed at Parker! When breaking Romero out, Parker says she's a firefighter (with far too much glee), around 14 mins 30 seconds.

RS2 E10 The Work Study Job: A full dammit Parker this time! When Parker reveals that it's super easy to steal from a university and produces a whole bunch of stuff, roughly 22 mins 40 seconds.

Very Distinctive Moments

S1 E2 The Homecoming Job: Eliot ID's the weapon from the gunshots, around 8 mins. Later, he ID's a guy off his knife fighting style, around 18 mins 50 seconds.

S2 E6 The Top Hat Job: ID's a CIA guy from his stance, roughly 7 mins 45 seconds.

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: ID's the smell of peppermint on Hardison's breath, around 21 mins.

S3 E12 The King George Job: ID's former British paratroopers by their haircuts, 30 mins 10 seconds.

S4 E1 The Long Way Down Job: ID's a former spetsnaz guy by his footprint, 13 mins 45 seconds.

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Honourable mention of Eliot ID'ing ex-military personnel by their stances, he just doesn't say very distinctive. 18 mins 50 seconds.

S4 E11 The Experimental Job: Honourable mention of Eliot ID'ing a helicopter by the whumpa-whumpa (there's 7 of them did you know). Around 7 mins.

S5 E3 The First Contact Job: ID's military satellite transmission by the static, 7 mins 20 seconds.

S5 E9 The Rundown Job: ID's a Navy Seal who enlisted between '90-'95 by his watch, around 16 mins.

RS1 E2 The Panamanian Monkey Job: ID's a drone (Breanna's) from the sound. 11 mins 50 seconds.

RS1 E3 The Rollin' On The River Job: ID's Russian mob by the tattoos, 36 mins 30 seconds.

RS1 E7 The Double-Edged Sword Job: Honourable mention for Maria ID'ing the way Eliot disarmed her gun, 7 mins 50 seconds.

RS2 E4 The Date Night Job: Eliot ID's a guy as not having a distinctive anything - which is what is so distinctive. 20 mins 40 seconds.

RS2 E13 The Crowning Achievement Job: ID's MI6 off their search pattern, 6 mins 50 seconds.

Known Family

S1 E6 The Miracle Job: When discussing Bibletopia, Eliot says his nephew would like it. This is the ONLY mention of a nephew in the entire show, Redemption included; nor is there any direct mention of a sibling beyond this (which leads me to believe that this nephew is actually the son of a close friend/cousin/military buddy, rather than a direct family relation, but that's just my headcanon).

S2 E3 The Order 23 Job: When talking to the abused boy, Randy, Eliot says he has an uncle named Randy.

S5 E11 The Low Low Price Job: Eliot's dad owned a hardware store and he wanted Eliot to take over one day. But Eliot wanted to get out of that small town, so he joined the service. Fought with his dad the night before he left and hasn't been back since. He goes back at the end of this episode and knocks - but his dad never answers the door 😭

RS1 E9 The Bucket Job: While interrogating/torturing Eliot with Red Haze, Bligh says that Eliot's dad's friend from Vietnam has invited Eliot to join them for Christmas. At the end of the episode, Eliot goes to join them for dinner, only to get a message from 'J' that his dad was a no show. This 'J' is widely accepted as Eliot's unknown sibling but that is incorrect! 'J' is Eliot's dad's buddy from Vietnam!

RS2 E6 The Fractured Job: The ultimate Eliot family backstory episode!! (if you haven't seen it yet and don't want spoilers, skip this one!) Eliot was adopted by a black couple, Billy and an unnamed woman, after being abandoned/surrendered at a hospital as a baby. His father was a war hero who got none of the glory and sustained a wound, ruining his civilian career path, so Billy never wanted Eliot to follow in his footsteps. Eliot loved the stories of his dad in the military so joined up to be like him. His mother died while Eliot was on an op and he couldn't get leave to come back for the funeral, deepening the rift between him and Billy. Ultimately, they reconcile, (Eliot says his dad was always a hero to him, Billy say's he's proud of Eliot, they hug), and I cry every time 😭❤️ [Edit: Eliot being a baby at the time of being found at the hospital and consequently brought home by his adopted mother is unconfirmed and my presumption. We have no clear info on his age at adoption. Thanks to @nival-kenival for picking that up!]

Phrases: Ain't

S1 E4 The Snow Job: Said to Nate, right before Nate tells him to go skip some rope.

S1 E9 The Stork Job: Says it twice while conning Irina.

S1 E10 The Juror #6 Job: Upon being told to go help Parker instead of watching a sports game, Eliot takes his beer back.

S2 E2 The Tap-Out Job: Discussing the fights the mark runs, says they ain't the UFC.

S2 E3 The Order 23 Job: Said right before threatening to throw Randy's abusive father over the railing of a stairwell.

S2 E4 The Fairy Godparents Job: Upon spotting a hitman sent to kill McSweeten and Taggart.

S2 E8 The Ice Man Job: After hearing Hardison call himself the Ice Man, says he won't bail him out when things go wrong.

S2 E9 The Lost Heir Job: While trying to get Parker to the court room and end up cut off by the police.

S2 E11 The Bottle Job: When Hardison wants help to clean up Nate's apartment and Eliot refuses.

S2 E14 The Three Strikes Job: When Nate says to meet outside the ballpark but Eliot refuses because now he's sucked into the sport.

S3 E3 The Inside Job: Twice while arguing with Hardison about how to rescue Parker, once when Parker offers him a lift down the stairwell with her on her harness rig and he refuses. This is the most he says ain't in a single episode!

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Once when the militia try to make him kneel, later when the militia kid catches him and Hardison near the train tracks.

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: When Sophie changes her story to mock Eliot's accent and mannerisms.

S3 E15 The Big Bang Job: When confronting Moreau with Hardison.

S4 E1 The Long Way Down Job: Upon arriving at the base camp and complaining to Nate.

S4 E7 The Grave Danger Job: When looking for a buried Hardison and hearing the sprinklers.

S4 E10 The Queen's Gambit Job: At the end, swearing revenge on Sterling.

S4 E12 The Office Job: Arguing with Hardison about Eliot's sandwich while searching the warehouse.

S4 E13 The Girls' Night Out Job: When trying to convince Nate to socialise at the very start.

S4 E14 The Boys' Night Out Job: Exactly the same as the previous episode, so this one barely counts.

S4 E17 The Radio Job: In the patent office, when trying to figure out who lured Nate into this situation. The same scene is used later as a flashback.

S4 E18 The Last Dam Job: Warning Nate of the consequences of taking a life with your own hands.

S5 E2 The Blue Line Job: When ambushed by Marko when leaving the ice rink.

S5 E9 The Rundown Job: Once when going to wring information on the hit out of Riley, once when Hardison steps on the trigger plate of the claymore.

S5 E13 The Corkscrew Job: First time talking to Betty about how Leonard's a jerk.

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: Twice when ambushed by RIZ thugs in the warehouse.

RS1 E2 The Panamanian Monkey Job: Once when discussing Ryan Corbett at the start, once when refusing to let Hardison have a turn with the diamond-tipped drill.

RS1 E3 The Rollin' On The River Job: When warning Breanna to be certain of her calculations for how to get him and Parker out of the casino's vault.

RS1 E8 The Mastermind Job: Once when discussing hiring people to overthrow a government, once when discussing how they're going to do like 6 things at once, including saving Harry.

RS1 E9 The Bucket Job: Said twice while talking with Blanche, after Blanche helped rescue Eliot from RIZ.

RS1 E14 The Great Train Job: While digging through the tainted soil with Harry.

RS2 E1 The Debutante Job: When trying to get to Volkov's plane with Parker and seeing that two guards are in the way.

RS2 E5 The Walk In The Woods Job: Talking to Paul after rescuing Harry, who was pretending to be Eliot.

Fun fact: for every ain't that Eliot says, Hardison says at least two more. And that's too many for me to bother recording!

Phrases: Y'all

Never. Not even once.

Hardison, on the other hand, says y'all all the damn time - every season, multiple times, sometimes even multiple times in the same episode.

Honourable mention for Chaos saying y'all as an incorrect mockery of Eliot's accent in S3 E14 The Ho Ho Ho Job.

... Okay, okay! So Eliot says it a few times in Redemption! But only in ONE episode!

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: Said 4 times when playing a character and convincing people to clear out of the auction house.

That's it.

Aliases

These are all the names that Eliot's gone by or used on cons that I could find, not just full blown aliases.

S1 E1 The Nigerian Job: Detective Lieutenant Carden (the scene with this alias was cut from a lot of versions of this episode)

S1 E4 The Snow Job: Vince Fetkey, Hans Von Schwesterkrank

S1 E7 The Two-Horse Job: Brad Mackie

S1 E9 The Stork Job: Dale

S1 E12 The First David Job: Professor Sinclair

S1 E13 The Second David Job: Professor/Dr Adam Sinclair

S2 E2 The Tap-Out Job: Kid Jones (on the fight match poster)

S2 E4 The Fairy Godparents Job: Coach Brewer

S2 E5 The Three Days Of The Hunter Job: Earl

S2 E9 The Lost Heir Job: Officer Hilts

S2 E10 The Runway Job: Julian

S2 E14 The Three Strikes Job: Roy Chappell

S3 E1 The Jailhouse Job: Dr Abernathy

S3 E2 The Reunion Job: Lloyd Hickey

S3 E4 The Scheherazade Job: Guy Hamilton

S3 E5 The Double Blind Job: Phil

S3 E6 The Studio Job: Kenneth Crane

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Agent Quint

S3 E8 The Boost Job: Skeeter

S3 E9 The Three-Card Monte Job: Detective Moffat

S3 E10 The Underground Job: Eric

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: Dr Wes Abernathy

S3 E16 The San Lorenzo Job: Ray Laroque

S4 E2 The Ten Li'l Grifters Job: Charlie Siringo

S4 E4 The Van Gogh Job: Lieutenant (only granting him this one because CK played him in the flashback)

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Tom Boonen

S4 E12 The Office Job: Mr Dennis

S4 E14 The Boys' Night Out Job: Luigi

S4 E15 The Lonely Hearts Job: Jackson Cooper

S4 E16 The Gold Job: Tobias Bowden

S4 E17 The Radio Job: Cowboy (*cough* John McClane *cough*)

S5 E2 The Blue Line Job: Jacques "Jack" Labert

S5 E3 The First Contact Job: Willie Riker

S5 E5 The Gimme A K Street Job: Steven Turner

S5 E6 The DB Cooper Job: DB Cooper/Young Steve Reynolds (again, technically not an alias but whatever it's here anyway)

S5 E7 The Real Fake Car Job: Barry McElroy

S5 E11 The Low Low Price Job: Archer

S5 E14 The Toy Job: Carl

Honourable mentions of Eliot being called: "Rambo" by Hardison in S1 E2 The Homecoming Job [thanks @independent-fics for this!]; "Emeril" by Parker in S1 E3 The Wedding Job [thanks @aardvaark for this one!]; "Sparky" by Parker in S1 E10 The Juror #6 Job and by Tara in S2 E15 The Maltese Falcon Job; and "Skippy" by Hardison in S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job.

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: Will Gallagher

RS1 E6 The Card Game Job: Glenn the Savage

RS1 E7 The Double-Edged Sword: Emmett Milbarge

RS1 E8 The Mastermind Job: Frank Farmer

RS1 E10 The Unwellness Job: Hank

RS1 E12 The Golf Job: Reed Wilkins

RS1 E13 The Hurricane Job: Calvin

RS1 E15 The Muddy Waters Job: Armus Vagra

RS2 E7 The Big Rig Job: Kris

RS2 E8 The Turkish Prisoner Job: Nick O'Brien

RS2 E10 The Work Study Job: New Blood, Caterpillar

Honourable mention of Eliot being called "Skipper" by Hardison in RS1 E16 The Harry Wilson Job.

Known Associates

This is in direct reference to hitters/people from the criminal world that Eliot knew or was aware of prior to the Leverage Team. Quinn is not included in this list due to that distinction (sorry Quinn).

S1 E3 The Wedding Job: The Butcher of Kiev

S2 E7 The Two Live Crew Job: Mikel Dayan

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: Gutman

S3 E15 The Big Bang Job: Chapman, Damien Moreau

S3 E16 The San Lorenzo Job: Damien Moreau

S4 E4 The Van Gogh Job: Frank, Randall

S4 E6 The Carnival Job: Roper

S5 E4 The French Connection: Rampone

S5 E9 The Rundown Job: Riley

Trivia

S2 E6 The Top Hat Job: Eliot claims he only sleeps 90 minutes a day, and that he cured his claustrophobia as a kid by locking himself in the woodshed behind his house for a couple nights.

S3 E6 The Studio Job: Eliot is nervous to perform in front of an audience, to the point that Parker startles him and she's surprised that she did. Interesting to note that he seems to have no issue playing sport in front of crowds.

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Eliot says he hates beets.

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Eliot chews gum. He does this throughout a LOT of episodes across the seasons but I've only noted down this one episode for it.... thanks, past me 🙄 [Edit: thanks @nival-kenival for more info! Another confirmed episode is S1 E2 The Homecoming Job, and S3 E13 The Morning After Job!]

S4 E9 The Cross My Heart Job: Eliot says he fought a guy with a Nerf sword in Damascus, 2002.

S5 E11 The Low Low Price Job: Eliot drives an F-150 to his dad's house in Oklahoma. This is a THIRD vehicle that apparently belongs to Eliot, in addition to the Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Challenger we see in other episodes. The F-150 is not seen again.

S5 E12 The White Rabbit Job: Eliot has 'special sedatives' aka a little psychotropic he picked up outside of Bogota.

Eliot mostly walks at the back of the group, presumably to be the rear guard and make sure no one falls behind. See ... just about every damn episode for evidence.

RS1 E3 The Rollin' On The River Job: Parker says that Eliot has cut his way out of an ice cave, escaped a gorilla enclosure, and catered a wedding for the mob.

Eliot is seen wearing glasses throughout various episodes. A flashback in S1 E1 The Nigerian Job shows him wearing presumably his own glasses. All other instances of him wearing glasses (that I can think of) are when he takes someone's glasses for a con. It is unconfirmed if Eliot actually needs glasses to correct his eyesight or not, but is a fandom headcanon. In S3 E1 The Jailhouse Job there is an interaction where Nate ribs Eliot for taking so long in a fight, and Eliot says it's because of new glasses. An argument could be made that this means Eliot does require glasses. [Thanks @independent-fics for picking this up - for pretty much all the details pertaining to Eliot's glasses!]

And there you have it! All the details that I've spent the last 3 months collecting!! Now it's time for me to take a good, long break because my brain is fried! 😂

Once again, let me know if you find any errors so I can update the post. Data from Redemption S2 is where I've most likely missed things, since I don't have it on DVD and it's sooo much harder to scrub through streaming footage to find things. When will they release RS2 on DVD I need itttt.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope this post can be a helpful reference for you!

[codename-adler]

it’s just that- we’re leaving neil’s pov behind. we’re getting our whole world reframed. and by none other than jean mf moreau. there is no one, and i mean no one, that could top neil “stupid raging bastard meow-meow with an attitude problem and shitloads of mafia trauma” josten’s narration than jean “classy raging bastard meow-meow with an attitude masterclass and shitloads of mafia trauma” moreau. i’m loving this ‘passing of the torch’ moment if only bc i know jean would be coldly infuriated and utterly ashamed to be neil’s heir.

i mean, the possibilities!!! what’s his internal monologue going to be like? what’s his awareness level? what does he remember? how does he remember it? what has he forgotten? what doesn’t he know? what does he know? what will he tell us? which characters’ whole persona will be reframed by jean’s pov?

we’re allowed access to jean’s mind. a mind that has not been spared by life, Riko, Tetsuji. a mind that has nearly been broken. a mind nearly lost. a mind with eyes we’ve never seen through before. do you get how precious that is?

we’re getting the chance to come back, and not only come back, but with a fresh perspective at that. a perspective we’ve imagined countless times since aftg came out. a perspective we’ve cherished with the utmost care. and we’re getting it. jean’s eyes. oh, jean’s eyes.

thank you neil for your story. it’s sad and painful to leave behind your voice, which we know all too well, as clear and familiar as the back of our hands. it’s scary too; we’re losing all our bearings. our instincts. you’ve given us everything. to think there is a whole world out there in which you are just another life, it’s fascinating and terrifying.

i cannot wait to read what miss sakavic has in store for us and jean. i cannot wait to read jean. i simply cannot. this is more than a gift.

[willalove75]

Alcina's New Maid Pt. 18 Lady Dimitrescu x Reader

Summary: Things at the meeting get out of hand and Alcina loses control.

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI. Canon violence, blood

Tags: angst, hurt, some comfort, the tiniest dash of fluff

Notes: Part 18! Shit gets real!

Click here for the rest of the series

Gif source

A soft click echoes through the dilapidated chapel when the door closes behind you. Alcina strides forward into the center of the room and you follow behind her right hand side.

"Donna, how have you been?" Alcina asks Donna who is sitting in a chair to the left of the small stage in the back of the room.

"Very well, and yourself, Lady Dimitrescu?"

"Excellent. I've been well. You remember my new handmaiden, yes?"

"Of course. Good morning." Angie's mouth moves but Donna's voice is what comes through.

"Good morning Lady Beneviento." You say with a bow.

"Hey! What about me?!" Angie says in her own voice.

Alcina rolls her eyes at the doll and waves her off.

"Yes, good morning to you too Angie." Alcina mumbles.

"That's what I like to hear! Your new bloodbag is cute, wonder how long she'll last!" Angie says before cackling loudly.

The doll hops off of Donna's lap and walks right up to you and looks up as she circles you.

"Hm, I guess she's okay. Probably won't last too long." She says before shooting you a wink and climbing back into Donna's lap.

"Good morning Miss Angie." You say with a bow.

"And she has manners! Who would've thought?!"

Alcina rolls her eyes again and turns towards the other side of the church. As you look around you notice that the chapel is in worse shape than the hallway that led the two of you here. The back of the room is being help up by what looks like makeshift scaffolding and there's a gaping hole in the ceiling.

"Ah, Salvatore, good morning." Alcina says.

As you look up you see a hunched over man with a rather large hump on his back. He's wearing a black leather jacket that looks more like a cloak draped over him with a crown of, are those bones? Fastened to the hood. Strands of black scraggily hair dangle just below the multiple tumor-like lumps on his neck and face.

Moreau looks up at Alcina and waves with a purple-grey webbed hand.

"Good morning Lady." He gurgles.

"Salvatore, I would like you to meet my new handmaiden." Alcina says, gesturing to you.

"Good morning Lord Moreau." You say with a bow.

The man lets out a noise that almost sounds like a sob. When you look up you see a mouth full of rotted and crooked teeth, most of which are nearly pointing outwards towards you. It's then you realize that he's laughing. A feeling of uneasiness washes over you and you look up at Alcina to find her narrowing her eyes at the man.

"Oh this must be the one mother was speaking of!" He says as he excitedly claps his hands together. "Mother said she has many fun things planned for you!"

"Has she now?" Alcina says as her stare intensifies.

Moreau looks up at Alcina and the glee in his eyes quickly fades. He begins to stutter and she cuts him off.

"Well I certainly hope mothers plans on playing nice. We all know that I take pride in keeping what is mine in pristine condition and that I don't like when my property is damaged." She says through her teeth.

You watch as the ice laced in her voice causes Salvatore to shrink back into himself. He begins to tremble under her stare and just when you think the man before you is going to fall down to his knees and beg for her forgiveness, the back doors swing open with a loud "BANG."

Everyone turns and looks towards the direction the noise came from to find Heisenberg strutting through the doors with his hammer slung over his shoulder.

"Heisenberg. Do you have any manners?" Alcina hisses as she walks towards him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's not like this dump could get any worse."

"You're late."

"So is the bird bitch but I bet I won't see you saying shit to her about it." Alcina glares at him and his gaze shifts to you. "Hey kid, gotcha something."

He tosses something at you and you're able to catch it even though you were caught off guard. Alcina eyes what's in your hand as you unravel it and you realize it's a dagger in a leg holster. You slide the dagger out of its holster to take a look at it. Right away you notice the Dimitrescu coat of arms engraved into both sides of the hilt. The dagger is lightweight but razor-sharp, it's beautiful.

"Thank you very much, Lord Heisenberg. It's wonderful, your craftsmanship is excellent." You say with a bow.

"Don't thank me yet. You can thank me when you know it works." He shoots you a wink and Alcina's glare towards him intensifies. "Go ahead, slap that baby on!"

You look up at Alcina to see that her eyes are still aimed at Karl. Her gazes drops down to you and she sighs and gives you a nod. Stepping aside, you turn away from everyone and strap the dagger to your thigh so you can easily grab it with your dominant hand. After making sure it's secure and easily accessible, you smooth out your dress over it and turn back to the two of them and give them a nod.

Karl gives you a nod and Alcina places her hand on your back and begins to guide you towards her large chair. Karl sits in the pew opposite of her and you stand to her right just a touch behind her.

"Sal, Donna, china doll." Karl says, nodding to each person.

"HEY! I'm not china doll!" Angie screeches.

"Might as well be, Frankenstein." He drawls.

"Listen you! Keep it up and you're gonna regret it!"

"What are you gonna do? Give me a splinter?"

Donna has to restrain Angie in her lap so she doesn't jump out and run over to Karl.

"I'll show you what I can do!"

Alcina pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her temper from getting away from her.

Just as Karl is about to retort and Alcina's patience nearly runs out there's a burst of black feathers in the center of the stage. Mother Miranda steps out from the black cloud in her usual garb. Alcina releases the breath she was holding and Angie and Karl's bickering immediately stops.

"My children, good morning."

"Good morning Mother Miranda." You all say in unison.

"I hope this morning finds you all well." She says, looking at each person in the chapel. Her eyes wander from Karl, to Sal, to Donna and Angie, to Alcina and finally land on you. You watched as each person, Angie included, met her gaze and bowed their head so you do the same when she catches your eyes. "Ah, y/n. So wonderful to have you with us today."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mother Miranda." You say.

"You will be taking today's notes, is that correct?"

"Yes Mother Miranda."

"Excellent." She walks over to you and places a book and a pen into your hands. "I look forward to reading your recordings. Please, pull up a chair." She says, gesturing to a knocked over chair behind you.

Looking at Alcina, she gives you a nod and you move to pick up the chair, placing it in the exact spot you were standing; on Alcina's right side just a little behind her. Mother Miranda watches your every move until you're seated and have the book open in your lap. After looking you over once more she makes her way back to the center of the stage.

"It has come to my attention that there have been hunters in the vicinity of the castle, is that correct Heisenberg?"

"Yes, my lycans have encountered nearly 20 of them in the span of just a few days. They seem organized and heavily armored. Two were also spotted a few miles south of Potter's Field as well as two more south of the reservoir. My lycans went out to find more and to follow them back to their base but they haven't seen any more since the last encounter."

"And did you meet with Alcina like I had asked of you?"

"Yes, we met the other day to discuss a plan. I am increasing the amount of lycans I have patrolling the castle grounds. I am also sending out extra lycans to both Potter's Field and the reservoir to patrol."

"And I plan on patrolling the castle grounds myself this week to see what I can find." Alcina adds.

"Excellent. Were there any prisoners taken?" Miranda asks.

"My lycans were able to get one after the last fight, but the prisoner put a bullet in his own head before they were able to get anything useful out of him."

"Well, that's certainly interesting, isn't it?"

"Can't say it's happened before."

"And when the base is located, what is the plan?"

"We plan on taking some time to quietly scout it out. Get a rough layout, a headcount of the amount of hunters that are there, what kind of weapons they have and if we can get wind of their plans. Once the information is gathered we will act accordingly."

Mother Miranda, Karl and Alcina discuss the hunters more as you continue to take as detailed notes as possible. Donna and Salvatore chime in every so often with questions and suggestions. Donna said that if the hunters do end up entering the field she will use her cadou powers to get rid of them. Moreau seemed more worried and mentioned that he doesn't have as much control over his mutations as his siblings, leaving him more vulnerable. Karl and Alcina reassured him that they will take extra precautions to ensure his safety.

"Does anyone have any more questions or concerns?" Mother Miranda asks. When no one says anything, her eyes shift over to you. "Well then, it seems as though this portion of the meeting is finished. Y/n, if you could be so kind, could you please bring me your notes?"

You feel your body tense and your eyes shift towards Alcina. Alcina's eyes are narrowed towards Mother Miranda. Miranda returns Alcina's look and Alcina turns her head towards you and gives you a nod. There's a worry in her eyes you can tell she's trying to hide. Maybe no one else can see it, but you can. Perhaps because you're trying to hide the same look from your eyes.

"Well, well, Alcina. Do you have this one well trained." Miranda says as she watches you move towards her.

The short walk towards Miranda felt like it was a mile long. As hard as you tried to keep your nerves at bay you could feel your heartbeat increase with each step towards her. You truly felt like you were walking into the lions den. Miranda extends her hand and you give her the book. She flips through it, skimming through the notes you've taken. After a minute she closes the book and holds it down. Angie jumps out of Donna's lap and grabs the book from Miranda and returns to Donna. Miranda takes a step towards you and you feel your breath freeze in your lungs. You do your best to keep your face neutral but your heartbeat is so loud it's drowning out the sound of everything else around you.

"Excellent job. Your penmanship is quite exquisite."

"Thank you, Mother Miranda." You say as you bow your head.

Just before you're about to pick your head back up you feel cold metal against your skin. Opening your eyes you realize Miranda has placed one of her talon-clad knuckles under your chin and lifts your gaze up to meet hers.

"So, you are Alcina's new handmaiden?"

"Yes Mother Miranda."

"What else?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand?"

"What else do you do for her?" She hisses.

"I do anything my Mistress asks of me, Mother Miranda." You say, trying to keep your voice from shaking.

"Anything, you say?"

"Yes Mother Miranda." You say before you swallow hard.

"What about you is so special? Why would she chose you, purchase you, a poor orphan? A useless wretch?"

You can hear Alcina shift uncomfortably in her chair and Miranda's eyes snap towards her. They slide back to you and an evil grin creeps across her lips.

Before you know it, the finger that was under your chin snaps down and she grabs you by the neck and lifts you up.

Instinctively, your hands grab at her wrist and your feet dangle just above the ground. Mother Miranda slowly presses the base of her palm against the front of your throat and she begins choking you. You start to sputter and your feet start to flail.

"Mother Miranda that is enough!" Alcina roars as she stands to her full height.

Miranda holds out a finger towards Alcina, signaling for her to wait.

"What is it about her that makes you want to protect her so, my daughter?" She asks while she examines you. "What about her is so special? So special in fact that you are unwilling to allow me to use her in my experiments?"

"Mother Miranda let her go!"

Miranda's grasp around your neck only tightens as she cuts off the rest of your airflow. Her sharp talons dig into your skin and you feel blood begin to trickle down your neck.

"Just how much are you willing to sacrifice, Alcina? I had to teach Karl a similar lesson all those years ago. I never thought you would be in need of one as well but perhaps I was wrong about you all along."

"Mother Miranda, please! She is not a distraction, I am still working diligently towards your goal, please just let her go!"

As you're struggling in her grasp you see Donna and Angie in your peripheral vision as your eyes dart around the room. Donna is as stiff as a mannequin but Angie has a look of horror on her face. You hear movement to your right and you look over to see Moreau staring at Miranda with a look of excitement on his face and Karl next to him with his hammer in his hand. You feel something move on your leg and you realize it's Karl wiggling the dagger, reminding you it's there. Your vision begins to blur as you gasp and the world around you begins to spin.

"Are you sure I don't need to teach you a lesson Alcina?"

"Yes Mother, please!"

An evil chuckle emerges from her lips. With her free hand, Mother Miranda digs her talon into your clavicle and pulls down as blood begins to pour down your chest. Her talon in your skin feels like a hot knife and you can't do anything but scream out in pain before she throws you to the ground.

You feel the impact of the hard stone but it doesn't register right away. The first thing you do is gasp for air as your hands go to your neck and chest.

Alcina begins to step towards you and you hear Miranda tsk at her.

"My, my, Alcina. I've never seen you care for such a disposable maiden before. Maybe you do need to learn a lesson after all."

"Mother no!" You hear Alcina shout before the ground next to you splits in two and a black vine shoots up towards the sky. Pieces of stone are sent flying across the room and the vine dives down towards you.

Mother Miranda cackles as the vine wraps around your neck again and lifts you into the air. You hear Alcina scream and when you look over towards her, her legs and arms are being bound by more vines.

The vines begin to choke you as they dangle you in front of Alcina, just outside of her reach. There is fear in her eyes, you can see the terror as she watches the vine around your neck tighten its grip. Alcina roars and rips her arm out of one of the vines when you reach out towards her. The vine holding you pulls you further away. A new vine tries to grab Alcina's free hand but her claws come out and she shreds it when it tries to grapple her.

Remembering the dagger strapped to your leg, you reach down and grab it. Even something as simple as grabbing the dagger that's strapped to you is harder than it should be. Your vision starts to get spotty and you put all of your focus into reaching for the blade. Your bloodied fingers are able to find the grooved hilt, they graze over the coat of arms engraving and you're able to grab it. With one quick swipe you manage to cut through the vine. When you're released from it's grasp you plummet to the floor and hit the ground. The noise of metal against stone rings in your ears as the dagger bounces away. Air once again floods your lungs and after a moment you're able to breathe.

Before you can catch your breath, another vine lunges towards you and you dodge it. The dagger isn't far from your grasp so you crawl across the dirt coated stone floor and grab it. Another vine comes at you and you roll away. When you're finally able to get back to your feet another, thicker vine shoots towards you and you parry it, slicing it with the sharp blade. More vines come at you and you're able to evade most of the attacks. Each time one wraps around one of your limbs you're able to cut it off and escape. Looking over at Alcina, thicker, stronger vines try to hold her back but her focus stays on you. She has both fear and rage in her eyes. You notice them widen when you make eye contact with her and she yells out "draga!"

By the time you see the vine coming towards you it's too late. It wraps itself around the hand your dagger is in and crawls up your forearm. In one hark flick the vine throws you across the room, the dagger flying out of your grasp.

You're thrown into debris and broken pews and Alcina screams. When you open your eyes everything is blurry and spinning. As your vision stabilizes and clears you see her shred through the vines holding her in place. She claws at every vine that comes her way as she runs towards you before she falls to her knees and scoops you into her arms.

Everything around you spins again and all you see are more vines coming towards you. Instinctively, you close your eyes and wait for the vines to wrap around you once more. Alcina's body violently twitches and she lets out a pained cry. A horrific tearing sound and the cracking of bones fill your ears as she cries out and holds you tighter. With one last twitch Alcina's shoulders slump forward, all of the noise fades and you notice that the light has dimmed through your closed eyelids. When you open them up again, you're met with Alcina's golden eyes. Looking around you see massive white, veiny wings surrounding you both. Alcina brushes the hair out of your face and you meet her gaze once more.

"I have you, draga mea. I have you." She whispers with a trembling voice.

You bring your hand to her face and stroke her cheek with your thumb. Alcina closes her eyes and leans into your touch. A slow clap pulls the two of you away from your moment and Alcina pulls her wings back allowing the light in. She turns with you in her arms and Mother Miranda is standing at the edge of the stage slowly clapping her hands.

"Well, well. That was quite a show. Your little handmaid is more dexterous than I would have thought. And you, Alcina, care more deeply for her than I ever would have imagined. You defy me, for her?" She says, her voice growing cold.

You can feel the rapid rise and fall of Alcina's chest against your body, you can practically feel the anger radiating off of her.

"I have told you before, Mother, she is mine. She is my property. You said you understood and that you would leave her be."

"You care for her?"

"Yes."

"You need her?"

"Yes."

"Then prove it."

Alcina's grip around you tightens and you look up at her and back to Mother Miranda. Miranda has a sinister smirk on her face and it's worse than unsettling. It's downright terrifying.

"Prove it, Alcina. Prove to me that you care for her, that you need her. Feed from her."

Terror flashes before Alcina's eyes and by the time you blink it's gone. She's nearly trembling as she stares at Miranda. It's mostly out of anger but there's something about her that makes you feel her fear. Whether or not Miranda can feel it too is something you're unsure of. For whatever reason, Alcina is worried about feeding from you and you don't know why. She's done it plenty of times before and there's never been any issues. There's something about this that's different, but you don't know what.

"If you do, I give you my word, I will leave her alone. For good." She says, her sinister smile curling upwards even more.

Alcina's wings flare at Miranda's statement and she looks down at you. Looking up to meet her gaze, you see how scared she is, but you also see something else, something you've never seen before. It's almost animalistic, feral even. The both of you know this is your only chance, but deep down you know that if Mother Miranda knew this would be easy she never would have suggested it. It worries you but you're much more afraid of Miranda than you are of Alcina, even if the look in her eyes is completely feral. This was your one shot, you had to take it.

You raise your hand to Alcina's cheek and stroke it with your thumb.

"It's okay, I trust you." You whisper.

Miranda chuckles and Alcina looks up and glares at her. She looks back down at you and you smile at her, nodding your head. Her grip on you relaxes and when it does you notice her golden eyes begin to cloud with white. Alcina lifts you towards her mouth and she leans down.

She inhales deeply through her nose into your neck and you can feel and hear a deep growl come from inside her chest. You've heard her growl before but this was stronger, more primal than you've ever heard before. Alcina begins to suck and lick the perfect spot on your neck. Each movement becoming more frenzied than the last. Whenever Alcina fed from you previously she was always gentle, she made sure it was as painless as possible every time. This time you can feel her control slipping and a bolt of fear shoots through you.

The moment you felt that fear it was like Alcina was able to smell it. Because the moment after it hit you she bit down into your neck harder than she ever has before. You clench your jaw to keep the yelp in but you still grunt in pain. After biting through your flesh Alcina takes deep gulps from your neck, her grip on you tightening once more.

This is the worst pain you've ever felt in your life and she isn't making it any better. Previously, Alcina would barely move as she fed from you, but today her head and neck are bobbing with each gulp. Every time she sucks down more blood you can feel her teeth sinking further and further into your body. You can hear them tearing through muscles and tendons, the noises make your stomach churn. Every time she bites through something else inside of you you can feel every inch of her teeth against parts of you body that should never be exposed.

Alcina has never taken this much blood from you and you realize that she's completely out of control. She doesn't realize how much she's hurting you, and right now, she doesn't care. This is why Miranda wanted her to do this. She knew she wouldn't be in control of herself. Miranda wanted Alcina to be the one that kills you.

Another bolt of fear shoots through you and Alcina becomes more ravenous.

"Alcina!" You say, trying to push her off of you. "Alcina! Stop!"

She grabs your wrist and pulls it away from her face, as if you're getting in her way. You start to thrash in her grasp as panic sets in. She's going to kill you. The harder you fight the tighter her grip on you becomes and the more she drinks.

"Alcina please! Stop! You're hurting me!" You cry.

You were trying to keep your tears from falling but now you've lost all control of them. As you continue to try, and fail, to fight her off you start to feel weak. Soon you physically can't fight back anymore. Tears stream down your face and you cry out to her.

"Alcina, please! Please stop! That's enough, please!"

Your begs fall on deaf ears. This isn't Alcina, you don't know who - or what - has possessed her but this isn't the woman you love right now. That woman is far gone and has been replaced with a bloodthirsty creature you've never seen before. The more she drinks, the more lightheaded you feel. You can feel her teeth scraping against the artery in your neck and the fear gets stronger. If she punctures it, that's it. You'll be dead in minutes. There has to be something you can do to save yourself, isn't there? You don't want to die, not like this.

Alcina, the woman you love, is going to be the death of you. She's going to be the one who kills you. It breaks your heart knowing how devastated she's going to be when she realizes what she's done. If you were going to die, you're glad it would be by her hand at least. You would chose being killed by Alcina as opposed to Mother Miranda any day of the week, but still, you don't want to die.

The world around you begins to blur and you think back to your training with Cassandra, desperately trying to remember if you learned anything that could help you right now. The entire time you were training was to help you defend yourself against Miranda, you never thought you would have to defend yourself against Alcina.

As the thoughts flood your mind you remember something Cassandra had said at dinner after your first day of training. You were too exhausted to really participate in the conversation but you remember she said something about how prey tastes better when it's afraid. The fear sweetens the blood.

A lightbulb goes off in your head. The room begins to spin faster and your vision gets blurrier but you do your best to completely relax in her arms. You stop fighting against the hand she has around your wrist and after a few moments she loosens her grip enough for you to slide out of it. Bringing it to her face, you begin to caress her cheek and whisper to her.

"Alcina, my love, please. That's enough. That's enough."

You know you can't handle much more, if she doesn't stop, that's it. As you continue to caress her cheek with the little strength you have left you realize there's a very good chance you won't be able to stop her. One nick to that artery and you're done. More tears fall down your cheeks as you make peace with the fact that this is how you're going to die.

"I love you, Alcina. I love you. Let me go, that's enough."

Just as you feel like you're about to lose consciousness, just as you feel her starting to bite down harder into that artery, she eases up. Mustering up the tiny amount of energy and lifeforce you have left, you continue to caress her cheek and whisper to her.

"That's enough my love, that's enough."

Alcina pulls away from your neck and you feel the blood pour down your shoulder and back. It takes a lot of energy but you manage to open your eyes. When you look up you expect to be met with Alcina's golden irises but instead you're met with completely white eyes. As if the gold was never there to begin with. Her impassive eyes stare down at you as you bleed in her arms from your neck and chest wounds. Alcina's face is covered in your blood, coating her chin down to her neck and chest. She looks like a predator that just had its way with its prey.

Her grip around you tightens and her breathing starts to increase and her eyes widen as if she's afraid.

"Shh, I'm okay." You whisper as you stroke her face again. "I'm okay."

She leans down and you close your eyes. You feel her nose against your cheek as she gently nudges you, like a mother animal nuzzling her baby. A whimper escapes from her and you open your eyes once more.

"I'm okay," you say as you struggle to stay conscious. "I'm okay."

Alcina's eyes dart up as Mother Miranda takes a step forward. A deep warning growl rumbles in her chest towards Miranda. Miranda takes another step forward and Alcina takes one large step backwards, baring her teeth and snarling at her, holding you in a protective position in her arms. Mother Miranda doesn't take another step forward and Alcina takes one more step backwards before kneeling to the ground and covering the both of you with her wings again. Your eyes open when you feel her nudge you again with her nose and after you make eye contact with her she nuzzles you.

Alcina leans in towards the wound and you try to lift your hand but you're too weak.

"No more Alcina, please."

She pulls back and nudges you again. A loud purr erupts from her chest and you can feel the vibration throughout your body. She leans in towards the wound again. You realize that she isn't going to feed anymore so you don't stop her. Alcina licks over the open wound, cleaning away the blood. It's still bleeding profusely but the more Alcina tends to it, the less it bleeds. The purring in her chest echoes throughout the chapel as she continues to clean you. When she's finished she places a soft kiss to the wound and pulls away, you open your eyes to see the white in her eyes slowly fading back into gold.

Alcina blinks a few times and a few tears roll down her cheeks. She puts her forehead to yours and holds you tight.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry draga." She whispers.

Her arms begin to tremble and she pulls away, wiping the tears from her eyes. Standing back up, her wings fold against her back, opening you up to the rest of the chapel once more.

Glaring at Mother Miranda, Alcina doesn't wait for her to speak.

"Are we finished here?" She says through bloody, gritted teeth.

Mother Miranda tilts her head as she observes the two of you for a moment.

"Very well. I suppose so. Meeting adjourned."

In a burst of black feathers, Miranda is gone. Alcina wastes no time opening up her wings and begins to beat them. After a few seconds her feet are off the ground and she's flying through the air and out of the hole in the chapels ceiling with you in her arms.

If you were more conscious you would be either terrified or amazed as she flies you over the castle grounds. Since you can barely keep your eyes open you focus on the feeling of the wind in your face and try to stay awake.

Alcina lands on the balcony of her chambers. The blood she took from you is starting to take its effect and she can finally let her wings disintegrate. It's uncomfortable but not nearly as painful as it is when they rip themselves out of her back when they form. She dusts off her dress and ducks into the room.

She lays you on the bed and cuts your uniform off of you and removes the now empty leg holster. After taking off her gloves - her hat had fallen off and was forgotten about during the fight - she grabs medical supplies from the bathroom and returns to your bedside.

Truthfully, you feel half dead, you probably looked it too. The blood loss you've suffered is making you a little delusional. You think you're in Alcina's room but you're not quite sure since the room is spinning and your vision is blurry and black spots are fading in and out of it.

The wound on your neck opened up again and continues to bleed. Luckily she never hit your artery but you're still bleeding too much. Alcina takes out gauze and places it over the bite mark, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. The feeling of pressure on your wound sends a lightening rod of pain through your body and you cry out as you try and move out of her grasp.

"Shh, I know it hurts draga, I know. I have to apply pressure to it, we have to get the bleeding under control." She pleads with you as you start to thrash under her grip. "Draga please!"

The more she tries to restrain you the more you scream and cry. You don't understand that she's trying to help, all you know is that you're in pain and you need it to stop.

The door to Alcina's room swings open and the three girls swarm inside.

"What's going on?!" Bela asks.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Daniela screams when she sees you, a bloodied mess, on her mothers bed.

"Hold her down!" Alcina yells at the girls. The three of them remain frozen in place. "Now, damnit!"

Bela flies to the other side of the bed and holds your arms down, Daniela and Cassandra each hold down one of your legs. Alcina continues to apply pressure to the wound and you shake your head back and fourth trying to get her off. A large hand cups your face and holds you still. Opening your eyes you see Alcina's golden eyes filled with tears.

"I know it hurts draga, I know. I have to stop the bleeding. Please, please relax."

Your body is still in fight or flight mode but your brain begins to register that she's trying to help. Staring into her eyes, you stop flailing and start to cry.

"It hurts." You say through tears.

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry, just hold still, it'll all be over soon. I promise."

"Mama, was this you?" Daniela asks as her wide eyes stare at the blood soaked gauze at your neck.

Alcina can't bear to look her daughter in the eye. She turns her head as the tears she's desperately holding back threaten to fall.

"What happened?" Cassandra says through her teeth. Alcina keeps her head turned and Cassandras tone becomes ice cold. "Mother, what did you do?"

Looking down at Cassandra, you feel her grip on your calf tighten and you see the anger in her eyes directed towards her mother. As the panic in you fades, you realize just how angry she is at Alcina. For all she knows Alcina lost control and almost killed you on her own.

"Cassandra, please." Alcina whispers.

"You almost killed her!" She yells.

"It's not her fault." You say with a rasped whisper.

From Mother Miranda's hand and vines around your neck, your throat is in pain and you can barely speak. Cassandra's gaze shifts from her mother to you. Her eyes are just as intense but have less rage directed your way.

"It was Miranda's fault. She made her."

Speaking just that much was enough to properly exhaust you. You close your eyes and Cassandra looks back at her mother.

"Cassandra I didn't have a choice-"

"I told you she was evil!" Cassandra yells. "We've been telling you for years that Mother Miranda is horrible and you wouldn't listen to us! Now look what happened! You almost killed her! This never would have happened if you told that bitch to fuck off!"

"Cassandra Dimitrescu-"

"No! I don't care! I don't care if Miranda made you, this is your fault! Look at what you've done to her!" She yells, gesturing to your bloodied and bruised body. "Look at what you did!"

Alcina stares at Cassandra with her mouth open in shock. Out of the three girls Cassandra was always the one that talked back the most but she's never screamed at Alcina like this before. The room is so silent you can hear a pin drop. Looking at her daughter, Alcina reaches out to put her hand on her arm.

"Cassandra,"

Cassandra's arm turns to flies and Alcina's hand goes straight through it.

"No, I don't want to hear it. I don't care. I'm so sick of this bullshit!" She shouts before swarming out of the room.

Alcina's hand covers her mouth as she sits there in shock. She begins to tremble as she tries with all of her strength to keep herself from breaking down in front of you and her daughters. No matter how hard she squeezes her eyes shut the tears begin to pour down her cheeks.

Bela and Daniela sit on the bed frozen. Cassandra was always the most like Alcina, their tempers practically mirroring one another, but this was the only time they've ever seen her scream at someone like that that wasn't a maid. They never thought they would ever see her flip out on either one of them like that, no less their mother.

Shaking her head trying to rid herself of the tears, Alcina grabs more gauze from the medical kit and replaces it with the blood-soaked gauze on your neck. She's trying to busy herself so she doesn't break down but her hands are trembling with every movement and her eyebrows are knit so closely they've practically become one.

"Bela," Alcina says with a shaking voice. "Do you think her chest wound will require stitches?"

Bela looks at her mother with confusion and worry for a moment before examining the cut Miranda gave you.

"No, I don't think so. It doesn't look deep. If it's taken care of properly it shouldn't scar too badly."

"Good. Bandage it up please."

"Mother,"

"Bela, please. Do it now." Alcina says as she barely holds on to her composure.

Bela makes quick work of the cut, applying an ointment to prevent infection - that stung like a bitch - and bandaging it up. As she tends to your wound Alcina is focused on your neck. She continues to check to see if the bleeding has stopped and it hasn't, although it has slowed. The longer Alcina looks at the wound she gave you, the harder it is for her to hold back.

"Okay, it's done."

"Thank you. That is all girls," she says as her voice shakes. "you may go."

Tears begin to roll down her cheeks and her breath trembles as she inhales.

"But mom-" Daniela says.

"No, go." The girls say nothing but don't move. The thin rope Alcina was clinging to snaps and a sob breaks out. "Just go!" She shouts as she waves them off.

With one hand still applying pressure to your neck, her other hand rests on your chest. Alcina folds forward, her head laying on top of her hand and the dam breaks. Her shoulders shake as she cries into you, Bela and Daniela exchange looks and they both move off of the bed. Both of them give their mothers arm a loving squeeze before they leave the room, shutting the door behind them.

Your hand finds the back of Alcina's head and you run your fingers through her hair as you try and comfort her.

"It's not your fault Alci, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is. I'm a monster."

[kevinsdsy]

THE TROJANS SOCIAL MEDIA AU HEADCANONS pt. 2

jean moreau & shawn anderson dynamic

jean properly likes having shawn around. although he keeps telling shawn to fuck off. and to leave him alone. and to shut up. he doesn't actually mean it (most of the time).

and shawn knows this too. and what’s so great about shawn is he knows to set boundaries even though jean has never asked him to do so, but when jean seems even more quiet than he usual is, shawn takes a step back.

shawn notices when they're in a group environment jean is keeping more to himself and staying in the background where he can watch the group instead and shawn lets him without trying to put too much attention towards jean.

ananya deshmukh

ananya is a youtuber. idek why i made this a thing. i just love girls vlogging and blogging and i want her to be an it-girl like.

haoyu liu & travis jordan

look i'm going to be really honest. i forgot they were mentioned in the books for the longest time and then i did some stalking and was like ohh they exist too so i made their accounts on the same day and now they're dating each other in my mind

shane reed

OKAYY SO hear me out shane has not yet be mentioned in the au. but i’m posting this now for his introduction in today’s upcoming part. i was going through the book and noticed i missed his appearance when starting out the au which is CRAZY because he's mentioned quite a few times when the foxes vs trojans game is happening.

BUT I DECIDED TO ADD HIM AND I HAVE A FEW THINGS IN MIND FOR HIM (i want to give him shawn anderson treatment LMAO) but his character would be connected to kevin and it might be weird to have a canon x canon ship that's build on shit and giggles

but now that i think of it, is that literally not what jerejean used to be anyways??? SO LET ME TALK MY SHIT!!!!!!!!

with the summer olympics socmed au coming and having the foxes and trojans in one place i want to have them flirting with each other

like one day they barely know each other and the next day people are like ...wait?? what's going on here.

and not many of the trojans even know about the sexuality of either one of the guys so they all have to go and be like WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN

and i just think i can have a lot of fun with that LMAOO but maybe i'll decide to not even do it we'll see

angela "angie" lewis

angie, god bless her, has to put up with shawn during media training

angie pretends to be so sick and tired of shawn but she actually absolutely adores him

i was talking about them with @amberlouigi and i told them how i think when shawn graduates she will always mention him and be like "you guys be better! you will never believe, but i had to put up with shawn and he said..."

if shawn ever becomes pro he will be an ABSOLUTE menace to society/press/social media @amberlouigi said they think angie would get a call/message from his pro team asking if she wants a job. and angie decides to take it.

shawn will not necessarily stop his behaviour, but he respects and loves angie enough to cut back a bit on his behaviour so he can prove to everyone how well of a job she's doing.

i truly wish i had added angie to the socmed au before and added more of their dynamic together :((

bonus: kevin day

KEVIN DAY IS BISEXUAL !!!!!!!!! i think in canon he would have a lot of feelings to deal with and to unpack this but in the au he knows this about himself and he doesn't really care. he keeps it hidden from the press & media tho

[humongousgothskeletonfarm]

tsc thoughts while reading (beware of spoilers) starting with -

david wymack my fucking beloved

also i never rlly liked/cared for thea but her scene with jean and her nickname for him was cute

chapter 3 thoughts:

jeremy being in awe of neil and the foxes is giving me life

fanfics with alvarez in them gonna go crazy now that we actually have a first name for her (and don’t have to invent one)

oh they rich rich (in reference to jeremy’s family butler?!)

jerejean first interaction!!!!

chapter 4:

omg sunshine court mentioned

having the sudden realisation that i can never read fanfics that have jean’s perspective or anything about the how the ravens work, raven!neil/aftermath of the kings men in the same way again

my neighbours are having a party and while i’m loving the music and absolutely jealous i’m not there, it’s really distracting me from reading

ngl i rlly miss neil and andrew and the foxes please let me see my family soon

‘ what you hold onto is less important than the act of holding on itself’ nora sakavic shut the fuck up you philosophical genius i’m gonna cry this is so real to me

renee i love u

WIT WTF JEAN IS NINETEEN I DIDNT KNOW THAT OH MY GOD BABY HE JOINED THE RAVEN LINEUP AT SIXTEEN WTF

i’m drinking red wine while reading and i think that’s appropriate… also i’m listening to that jean moreau playlist someone made and it’s mega depressing https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5zlPt63Ap0AjJQ1Ff5OKrd?si=75oEzLE8SO-bfJwewM8Evw&pi=a-ge04jIlVTJGY

this is so funny to only me but i’ve been hyperfixating on one direction again and zayn just dropped new music so everytime i read about jean’s raven roomate zane i think of one direction and confused myself a bit about what fandom i’m reading rn

fuck riko u sick fucking fuck u put jean into a box with a singular hole for air and left him to die u fucking cunt

KEVIN ASKING JEAN TO PROMISE NOT TO KILL HIMSELF AFTER NORA WROTE COUNTLESS DRAFTS IN WHICH JEAN KILLED HIMSELF WHILE ON THE PHONE TO KEVIN AND THE ONLY TIME SHE DIDNT KILL JEAN OFF IS THE VERSION SHE PUBLISHED AND THE REASON WE GET TO HEAR HIS STORY TODAY IM SO BROKEN

jean’s ‘gift’ from the ravens with his broken magnets, blacked out postcards and angry letters is making me cry he deserves so much better

slowly realising that this book is gonna be super triggering lol whoops

a cool evening breeze 🥲

THAT CREEPY LITTLE GOALKEEPER IS MY FAVOURITE GUY OK

‘kevin saw nothingn but the court, but jean had stopped hoping for more than that years ago’ shut the fuckkkk uppppp i cant do this anymore kevin/jean relationship is so deeply important to me (i say this about everything)

chapter 5:

SECOND NEIL/ JEAN INTERACTION OF THE BOOK IM SO FUCKING EXCITED

‘of course it’d be you, you tedious malcontent’ ‘good morning to you too’ is so ‘morning sunshine’ ‘fuck you’ coded (neil and matt bromance confirmed)

the amount of mitski on this jean playlist is making me sick

FUCKING SCREAMING OMFG THIS IS THE JEAN/NEIL CONTENT I YEARN FOR

‘abominable cockroach’ aww jean u say the sweetest things 🥰❤️ neil loves u too babe

literally devouring every last scrap of information jean feeds us about neil - his slow, hungry, hateful smile and the madness in his eyes (neil baby i love u never change)

oh jean don’t diss aaron, do u know how many fanfics have been written about u two

tsc is confirmation that jean moreau will come into ur house and judge u based on the contents of ur fridge (and then throw out ur stash of lollies)

‘to have a real match as a palate cleanser’ jean is really trying to win my favour by borrowing neil’s sassiness huh (no wonder i love them so much together) ((and yes i know he’s BEEN sassy ok))

jean reaching for the tv screen as if he could save neil and describing andrew running for neil as if hell was on his heels is making me absolutely giddy idk whether to scream or cry i’m doing both and i’m giggling

I bet on losing dogs is so jean moreau coded omg

holy fuck nora, the moments after the raven/fox match when riko tries to kill neil is fucking amazingly written. reading from jean’s perspective as he watches the game on tv, the tension, the breathless anxiety and confusion of the scene is palpable i coukd fucking taste it, my chest is tight just reading it

JEAN SAYING ANDREW WILL BE COURT IS IMMACULATE

[gamerbearmira]

Resident evil 8 Au where Mother Miranda kidnapped Mirabel when she was like 8 or so after watching her family from a distance for a while she infects Mirabel with the black mold instead of the cadou so she is more on power level with Mother Miranda and doesn't have an obvious mutation kinda like Karl. Like Karl she hates mother Miranda but does as she says because she isn't as powerful as her and won't be able to beat her. She doesn't see her family again until they are kidnapped by mother Miranda when she's around 15 maybe 16 they are a gift to her from mother Miranda for her "devotion and hard work". she is the kindest most benevolent of the Lords actually taking care of the people in her territory and trying her best not to be violent like the rest of them though she will kill anyone who tries to hurt her family.

RESIDENT EVIL I LOVE RESIDENT EVIL LETS GOOOOOO TRCTVHUVRDT I’M SO EXCITED

I think that Mother Miranda using direct Cadou makes sense. She actually probably wanted to use her as a vessel. But much like Heisenberg, she despises Miranda. She's just better at not showing it. Unlike the others, like you said, she doesn't have any inheritly noticeable mutations (Lady D, too tall, Donna her eye, Moreau...yeah.)

I think Mother Miranda's favorite in this AU is Mirabel, rather than Karl. I mean obviously. Karl actually doesn't like Mirabel (he doesn't hate her tho), mostly because she's quiet about Mother Miranda and doesn't want to take her on. She knows better. Lady D actually sort of likes her, and treats her with some respect, because Mirabel treats her with respect. Moreau tries to manipulate Mirabel, but as she gets older, she stops falling for it. Donna and her are somewhat?? On a friendly basis, she makes new dresses for her dolls.

Mirabel is freaked out by the big ass baby in the basement. It literally terrifies her 😭😭

I think Mirabel does have a mutation, she just hides it under clothes. I was thinking her power has something to do with bugs, mostly moths, though she likes butterflies and has a butterfly house. Ironically, she had wings, but they're folded under her dress, and they're sort of weak, so she can't fly for too long. Her clothes are supposed to sort of look like a beetle or a ladybugs wings. But she has dragonfly wings. The family dresses up similar to the bug Mirabel associates them with.

Many people in her part of village actually like her. They don't mind her among the lords. Other people from the other villages likes when she visits, and give her (somewhat crude and often disgusting,) gifts. Mirabel hides survivors in the deeper part of the village. She's not supposed to, but she helps them escape. Miranda knows, but doesn't really stop her because she's the favorite. Mirabel sometimes refers to her part of the village as "her own little Encanto". She hates the Black Mold and refuses to acknowledge it as any kind of "god", instead just out right calling it mold. A parasite.

Mirabel deeply misses her family, but she never brings it up to Mother Miranda. Miranda knows, once again, but doesn't act on it. She wanted to keep it a surprise when the Madrigal family, absolutely terrified and traumatized, were brought to her doorstep. No one knows what happened to the (original) Encanto Village, but...you can guess. Mirabel house, which is pretty much a replica of Casita, is alive. Granted, it's a little twisted, and dark and...gloomy. But it's alive. Miranda does give her the candle (she swiped it, because magic), after learning that she has no use for it. Whether the Madrigals have their gifts is up to debate. Mirabel does infect them with black mold. Only a small amount. Like Ethan, they can keep regenerating, or at the very least don't take much damage and repair wounds easily. They essentially can't die, much like her/Ethan. Miranda let's her do it, because Lady D did the same thing with her "daughters", so why can't she? Though...it did sort of mess with their gifts. Biological black mold and magic surprisingly mixed and changed somethings.

Come Ethan (because Mirabel was likely taken in the 1940s), she does help him. The people in her territory don't really like Ethan, I mean they're brainwashed, but they don't attack him unless he attacks them. Ethan is very relieved to learn that Mirabel is kind enough to let him stay in her Casita as a safehouse of sorts. She also just outright gives him her piece of Rose (much to Miranda's dismay). Mirabel, though not have the torso, was give the heart of Rose.

After the events of the game, the BSAA finds out about Mirabel and her family. They are relocated back to Colombia, and out under a protection program like Rosemary.

[freakshowtwopointoh]

I Won't Pretend That I Won't Miss This

Jordan stared at the offer letter like it was their death warrant. Six months ago it had been everything they wanted. But everything changed in six months so why did they have to get this job now? Different parts of themself pulling in different directions, pulling so hard they might actually become two people with the intensity.

UCLA. R&D intern for a Vought subsidiary. Brink had pulled a few strings for them, wrote a killer recommendation, and they wrote a stellar essay. At the time, they were sure they would get the job. This was the first time they hated being right.

The small voice in the back of their head, the golden butterfly of hope, reminded them that they could make it work. That plenty of people managed long distance relationships, and that the internship was only 9 months long. And then they thought about watching Marie walk away from them at the fucking JFK departure lane and the ache in their chest was enough to cause them to shift involuntarily. They thought about how her voice doesn’t sound quite right through the phone. How her eyes don’t shine as bright through a camera lens. And how hard it was to fall asleep without her next to them. 

The louder, darker voice in their head reminded them that she probably wouldn’t want to wait for them anyways. It’s one thing when they live just a few buildings away from each other, but multiple time zones? She would be going to sleep around their dinner time - if they were even out of work. They would be waking up when she was already in classes. When they imagined making their way through the UCLA campus, there was that sickening lurch in their stomach as they realized she wouldn’t be in any crowd. They would be alone again.

And it would be selfish of them to even ask her to wait for them. This is college, and she’s just starting. They’d be limiting her, hurting her, by asking her to put in all that time and effort for them. But if they were truly honest, it was cowardice. They didn’t think they would be able to stomach it if she rejected them. She was truly going places. She had this ease about her, an earnestness to her that drew people to her like the sun. She was a true star - and they were never going to break out of the background.

They didn’t hear Marie come in, but they felt her stand next to them, forcibly unfurling their tightly clenched fist to hold their hand. She didn’t say anything, just stood there holding their hand until they realized tears were falling from their eyes onto the offer letter, which they hadn’t stopped staring at since they opened it. 

“So. What’s our next move?” They had to push her away. She deserves so much more than them. 

“This was fun, Moreau, but I think-”

“Are you serious?” She snapped, cutting them off. “If you think I’d rather lose you than wait nine months, you are actually an idiot.”

“I-” They went to argue with her again, but her eyes made it clear she wasn’t interested in dealing with their shit.

“If you actually want to end things now, go ahead. But I can feel your heart pounding, Jor. And nine months is nothing.”

“You could have a whole ass child during that time.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a half ass child, but I guess it’s possible.” That got a chuckle out of them, in spite of everything. “Stop trying to protect me from yourself, Jordan. You’re not as dangerous as you think you are. I’m not afraid of loving you.”

Afraid? Of loving Marie?

“I’m afraid of losing you, Marie!” They yelled, unsure of what she was accusing them of. Did she think they were afraid of loving her? No. They were afraid of losing her, they were afraid of hurting her, but loving her? That was as easy as breathing. But breathing wasn’t always easy, was it. Like now, the fear corrodes the love until their breath is tangled in their tongue and nothing makes sense anymore. 

“Isn’t that the same thing?” She spits back. They don’t have a response to that. They’re glaring at the letter again, as if that would help anything. Marie breaks the silence again.

“Just... love me anyways.” She said softly. “I’m scared of losing you too, baby. But don’t stop loving me just because you’re afraid of getting hurt.”

Love me anyways. Wasn’t that what true love was? Loving each other even though it might actually kill us. Facing every one of their fears would be worth it if they could be by her side, right? They finally looked at her, finally met the big brown eyes that had made them fall in love in the first place.

“I’m so fucking scared, Marie. Wh-” They were about to launch into the series of what ifs that had been plaguing them all morning when her lips met theirs and everything faded away. Their hand shook slightly as they cupped her face, trying to put as much love and courage and care into the kiss as they could. Because when she was this close to them, when their lips met, it was almost like they had never been afraid of anything in their life. When she pulled away, she met their eyes with a soft smile. “Ok. I love you, Marie. Let’s figure this out.”

So they did. They planned out when Marie would be able to fly out to UCLA. They scheduled weekly video calls. They fell asleep on the phone with Marie every night - her soft breathing becoming their own white noise as they worked into the night. They never stopped looking for her in crowds, even when they knew she wouldn’t be there. So when she surprised them at their big presentation (despite it being a couple weeks before exams) they noticed immediately and nearly cried on stage. But it was the best presentation they’d ever done. 

And when they finally landed back at JFK, ready to start their senior year with Marie by their side, the reunion was sweeter than they could have ever imagined.

[perpetualproductions]

If We Were Vampires (Pt. 6)

- Jordan tells a story.

- Let's shout till we cry, and cry till we shout.

- Jordan needs a hug. And Marie's got arms.

CW: mentions of blood and violence.

~2.5k words

<-Previous | Next->

Jordan Li stood outside Marie Moreau’s dorm, fist raised, trying to summon the courage to knock on her door. They let out a breath, running a shaky hand through their bob, and telling themselves that this is the right thing to do. No matter what happens, this is the right thing to do. With that, Jordan swallows their nerves and knocks on the door.

The door opens and Jordan is met with the absolutely stunning Marie Moreau. Even in just a t-shirt and jeans, she always manages to take their breath away. A small smile tugs at Jordan lips. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” Marie matches their casual tone, though Jordan can tell she's also a bit nervous. “Come on in.” She steps aside and Jordan walks into the dorm. Marie closes the door, then makes her way over to her bed and sits down on the edge. 

Jordan drops their backpack down by Emma's bed and takes a seat. They felt hot in this room, their nerves not seeming to let up, making them sweat. It was the first time they've felt hot since turning. Jordan slid off their jacket, leaving them in a fitting black tee and joggers. 

Jordan is about to speak when Marie pipes up first. “So, what did you want to talk about?” She asks as she nervously picks at her fingernails. 

“Right, um-” Jordan wipes their palms on their pants, as they think about the best way to start. “I'm here to apologize, and I'm also here to tell you the truth. For real this time.”

Marie nods. “Okay. Well, you have an hour, so…” she gestures at Jordan to continue.

“Okay. First off, I'm so fucking sorry. You were right, I had no right to decide if you could handle the truth or not. I told myself I was doing it to protect you, but I realized that if you know the truth, you could better protect yourself… and maybe actually listen to me when I tell you to stay away.” Jordan mumbles that last bit, but Marie still caught it. 

“Why would you want me to stay away from you?” She questions, finding the idea ridiculous.

Jordan takes a second to just look at Marie, memorizing every detail in case they truly lose her after they tell her the truth. Jordan pushes the thought back, not wanting to dwell on it. They switch into their male form before explaining. “What I'm about to tell you is going to sound completely ridiculous, impossible even, but I promise you it's the truth. The whole truth.” They speak with absolute certainty.

Marie shifts around a bit, Jordan's seriousness making them a bit worried. She wanted to ask questions already, but thought it best to just let Jordan speak for now. “Okay.”

Jordan takes a deep breath. “That night I went missing really is a blur. I don't really remember anything after driving over to the party. I don't even remember arriving.” They say, truly in disbelief. They thought the memories would slowly come to them, but the night still remained blank.

“What I do remember is waking up in an alleyway at like 3am, confused as hell, with no cellphone or anything. I couldn't drive or Uber, so I ended up walking back to Godolkin. That had to be the worse fucking walk of my life. I felt like I had the worst hangover I've ever had, ten times over. My head was pounding, every light was too bright and every sound was too fucking loud. And on top of that I had this terrible ache in my stomach that was slowly getting more painful.” Jordan explained, making sure they don't leave out any details.

Marie watched as Jordan spoke, engaged in Jordan's story telling. Marie always loved when Jordan told stories or went off on a tangent. Their face (especially their eyes) were always so emotive, using their hands to emphasize certain points. But in this instance, as Jordan described their pain and discomfort, which Marie really wished she knew about sooner, all she wanted to do was run over there and hug them. But she refrained for now, wanting to hear the whole story first.

“Anyways, after walking for a while I managed to hitch a ride from a lady in a red pickup. She was kind enough to drive me the rest of the way to Godolkin, but-” Jordan cleared their throat, choking on their words as they began to explain one of the worst moments of their life. They continued, pushing back the tears already threatening to come up. “-but we didn't get that far...” 

Jordan looks up, meeting Marie's eyes, and their heart breaks when they see how worried she is, not of them, but for them. That was gonna change soon enough. Jordan takes a shaky breath and continues. “I- I really wasn't feeling right. Something was clearly wrong but I was too overwhelmed to think about it. I… I noticed that the pounding in my head wasn't in my head. It was coming from her.” Their voice shakes, the inevitable truth on the tip of their tongue. “I couldn't take my eyes off of her… off of her neck. I think I disassociated for a second cause next thing I know the car stops and I'm stumbling out. I was so overwhelmed by every sound and smell, and the pain was fucking bad.” 

Jordan makes eye contact with Marie again, some tears managing to escape and slide down their cheek. “She tried checking on me to see if I was alright, but- but when I turned around…” Jordan looks off into the distance, not able to look at Marie. “She got too close. And I was so fucking hungry…” Jordan couldn't help it, they felt their face change, their true face pushing forward. It's as if they were back on that road, every emotion they felt then, coming forth just for a second. They quickly tried to push it down, but it was too late. Marie had seen it.

Marie's eyes widen as she watches Jordan's face change for a second. They black veins and dark red eyes, appearing as quick as it left. She involuntarily jumps back, as she stares back at Jordan, who was wearing an unreadable expression.

Jordan stares back at Marie, feeling a mix of emotions that they tried to not let get the best of them. A part of them was sad, distraught even, that Marie jumped back in fear of them. She looked at them like the monster they knew they were. Another part of them wasn't surprised, having anticipated a reaction like this. And the other part was angry, frustrated that they were right. That Marie would act this way, cause why the fuck wouldn't see? They haven't even explained the bad part yet and she was already afraid. They hated the look on her face, and that they were the one that put it there. 

“Jordan, your face! Wh- what was the fuck was that?!” Marie said, a combination of fear, shock, and worry in her voice. 

“It's what happened to me, Marie.” Jordan spoke, voice low and serious. “I haven't even gotten to the worst part and you're already afraid of me… Which you should be.” The words were cold as they left Jordan's mouth, adopting an almost cynical tone.

As startled as Marie was at Jordan's sudden change of behavior, she wasn't gonna let that slide. “I'm not afraid of you, Jordan!” She gets up from the bed, standing in the middle of the room. “I don't know what the fuck that was, but I'm not gonna run away because of it. Just, please help me understand.” She pleads. 

Jordan stands up, “You really want to know, Moreau? Cause I guarantee you'll never look at me the same way again.” They say, hoping she'll take the fucking warning and back down. 

“Nothing you say is gonna change the way I feel about you, Jordan. Just tell me what happened.” She speaks surely, tone soft in comparison to Jordan's. 

Jordan's not sure why, but this really infuriates them. Fuck it. Jordan flashes away from Marie's view, now standing behind her. She's visibly confused and jumps when Jordan begins to speak. “She was so close, and all I could hear was her pulse, pounding just beneath her skin.” Jordan slowly reached out to gently caress Marie's neck, right at her pulse point. Marie, now facing them, takes a step back. 

Jordan pulls their hand away immediately, and flashes behind her again. This time holding her shoulders, whispering into her ear. “I couldn't help it. The smell was fucking irresistible, and I was starving. I felt like I was gonna die if I didn't do anything.” Jordan did everything in their power to not bite into Marie's neck, her scent taking them over. A low growl escaped them as they fought to focus.

Marie shivered as Jordan's breath hit her neck, a small amount of fear climbing up her spine. “Jordan-” 

Jordan spins Marie around and pushes her back. She stumbles a bit, but doesn't fall down, catching herself on her bed. “Next thing I knew, I was biting into her neck. Her skin ripped like fucking paper.” They took a step closer to Marie, who was clearly too shocked to speak. “The taste was strange at first, metallic. But then, it was like electricity was coursing through my body, my mind lit up.” Jordan vividly recalled the feeling.

Another step closer, “It was fucking divine... I've never felt anything like it before, it was amazing. And the only thing I could think was, ‘I never want this to end’. ” An almost crazed look flashed in Jordan's eyes.

Another step. Jordan looks down at Marie, studying the mixed expression on her face. The unmistakable fear in her eyes. They started to feel guilty for what they were doing to her. Jordan's face softens. “But it did end. Reality came crashing back as I realized what I did. I dropped her on the ground after staring at the bite mark on the side of her neck. It- it looked like a fucking animal attacked her.” Now Jordan was the one with fear in their eyes, voice shaky. They really were terrified of themselves.

The tears begin to fall again. Marie stands up straight, her face softening as Jordan finishes the story. “I looked up and saw my reflection in the car window, and an animal is exactly what I saw. Next thing I knew I was running away as fast as I could.” 

The tears continued to stream down Jordan's face. “Jordan-” Marie said softly, reaching up to wipe the tears away, but Jordan pulled back, putting some space between them. “I just left her there, Marie! I fucking killed her like some animal and ran like a fucking coward!-” a sob interrupts their words. 

Marie tries to step closer to them. “Jordan, you didn't know-” 

“It doesn't fucking matter if I didn't know! I still did it! And that's not even the worst part! The worst part is I fucking enjoyed it!” Jordan shouts, begging Marie to stay away, to treat them like the monster they are. “You wanna know what I am, Moreau? I'm a vampire! A fucking monster that feeds on blood to survive! This is what I am now!” Jordan's true face comes forth once again, but this time they don't push it back. 

Marie stood there for a minute, looking at Jordan's face, managing to catch a glimpse of their fangs this time. She thinks, trying to wrap her head around what Jordan just said. Vampires… They were real, and Jordan was one of them. She really didn't know how to feel about this. Jordan just described themselves biting into a woman's neck and drinking her blood. She was half convinced this was all just a weird fucked up dream, but it wasn't. 

She studied Jordan's face, the blood red eyes and black veins just below them. Yes, it was an objectively horrifying look, but all Marie could focus on was the fact that this is Jordan. Her Jordan. The Jordan that would gently cup her face before kissing her. Who would insist on being the big spoon when they were in their female form, and vice versa. It didn't matter that Jordan had fangs or bloodied scleras, they still had that adorable beauty mark on their chin, and Marie could still make out the deep chocolate brown of their irises.

Jordan freezes in shock as they watch Marie step closer to them, not seeming to back down, even at the sight of their monstrous face. Their breath hitches as Marie lifts her hands to cradle their face, wiping the tears away. Jordan feels their face relax at her touch, slowly turning back to normal. Jordan closes their eyes and leans into her touch, breath still a bit shaky. 

Marie sighs as she continues caressing Jordan's cheeks with her thumbs. “Look… I don't know what to think of any of this. If I'm being honest, I'm still processing most of it. But if there's anything I know, it's you, Jordan. And you are not a monster.” She makes sure to look into their eyes as she says this, conveying her honesty. “Yes, you hurt someone, and that's bad, but you didn't mean to. You didn't know what was happening, and that isn't your fault. It took me years to realize that myself.”

Marie looks down for a second, an image of a blood soaked bathroom quickly flashing through her mind. She looks back up at Jordan with a sympathetic look, moving her right hand down to their chest, resting over their heart. “And the fact that you feel guilty about what you did, proves that you aren't a monster. No matter what your face looks like, your heart's still beating, and you still have your humanity.”

Jordan opens their eyes, looking at Marie as if she just grew a second head. “I can't control it, Marie.” Jordan forces out through gritted teeth, pleading with her. “It just takes me over. I lose focus, I can hear every fucking sound in a mile radius, I can smell everything, my stomach screams at me, urging me to feed… I've almost bit into your neck twice now. I managed to pull away at the last second, but soon enough I won't be able to. One day, I'll just be too hungry to stop myself.” Jordan begs her to see the reality of the situation.

Marie shakes her head defiantly. “That won't happen. Not if you learn to control it. I know what it's like to not feel in control, to be terrified of yourself and what you could do to others. I've been there, Jordan, and I can help you get out of this.” 

Jordan pushes away from Marie, walking over to sit on her bed. “Fucking hell, Marie! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you yet! I don't want you involved in this Supe-vampire bullshit.” Jordan complains, gripping their hair in frustration.

Marie puts her hands on her hips and looks down at Jordan. “So it's too dangerous for me to get involved in this shit with you, but it's fine if you do it alone? That's bullshit, Jordan.” Jordan groans and puts their head in their hands, elbows resting on their knees. 

Marie sighs and walks over to sit down next to Jordan on the bed. “I can take care of myself, Jordan. You know how much I've been training lately. I have a much better grasp on my abilities, and as far as I can tell, vampires still have blood flowing through their bodies.” 

Marie reaches over and begins rubbing circles on Jordan's back. “If you ever do lose control again, I'll use my powers to stop you.” She adds in a reassuring tone. 

Jordan lifts their head, sitting back up and looking at Marie. “You promise?” They give up on trying to fight her on this. A part of them knew they'd never convince her otherwise, but they still had to try. 

“I promise.” She states firmly, emphasizing it with a nod. Marie scoots back, further onto the bed until her back is resting against the wall. “Come here.” She beckons, patting her lap. 

Jordan looks at her for a moment, wondering what in the world they did to deserve her. They sigh, kicking off their shoes and scooting over to Marie. They lay down on their side, placing their head on her lap, closing their eyes and relishing in the warmth radiating off of her. Marie began to run her fingers through their hair, earning a satisfied hum from Jordan. For the first time in a while, Jordan felt relaxed.

They sat like that for a while, forgetting about the rest of their classes. The two just enjoy the other's presence, choosing to stay in the calm while they can.

--

She knows!! Let me know what you think of the story so far! What do you think is next for our half-vamp couple? Hope you enjoyed. Have a nice day! 😎👍❤️

-PB

(Also, I have a masterlist now. If you want to check it out.)

[dayurno]

God. The last ask you answered. Losing my mind over Robin accidentally parent trapping kevjean. Andrew Minyard wakes up in a cold sweat across the country

IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THISSS SINCE I READ THE FIRST ASK its perfect its really perfect. jean has no idea who robin is until she gets signed into his team, he's surprised to hear the psu foxes couldve produced such a nice normal well-meaning person, then he gets a call from kevin after years of no contact to ask him to look out for essentially this random ass girl. at first jean would be so annoyed at kevin because it's been YEARS and this is what you're asking me to do? but kevin is so insistent and he eventually grows fond of robin too, to a point where he's actively doing what kevin asked of him (and angry at himself for it)

then kevin visits robin on the off-season and robin's like oh well jean is in town too we should totally meet with him for dinner kevin! and one thing turns to another and now robin is sitting there between these two grown men who so clearly have missed each other like a limb but can't even admit it to themselves. her only friend in the professional league and her mentor. after a few minutes of tense conversation she mentions she's considering sponsorships and they both start (loudly) discussing what she should or should not pick from the two most marketable perfect court members

and this is all without mentioning the andrew angle which is hilarious. he's lying back home with neil thinking robin is being looked after by kevin and then he hears she's actually become friends with fuck ass jean moreau. the worst possible person andrew could think of

[werewolfsmile]

re: "All I’m saying is the fact that someone isn’t talking to me about Eliot Spencer every second of every day is very unfair and borderline illegal." & tags - if you want to, can you elaborate on your werewolf!eliot ideas?? i’d like to hear about it!! if not all good tho :)

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Yes I would love to elaborate! (buckle up because i have Thoughts)

(wow this really got away from me so uhhh .... warning for 2k of ranting about Eliot as a werewolf?? list of headcanons under the cut)

From the moment I first met Eliot Spencer, I knew he was werewolf-coded. Aside from his insanely fantastic fighting abilities and the absurd amount of punishment he can take, there are many other factors that contribute to his werewolf status.

Eliot needs a pack Our boy is out here working on his own for years and look at all the good it did him! None! He carries severe trauma from his family life because he blames himself for how it all went down and doesn't think he'll be welcomed back. Plus something probably happened during his military days or early PMC days to put him off working with others. Could have been the pain of losing people all the time, could have been something more. Either way, Eliot working on his own is a defence mechanism - but a self-destructive one.

Wolves thrive in packs - like duh, they're pack animals. As my username suggests, I'm into werewolves and, by extension, wolves. I've done research for my own werewolf novels in the past, so I know that in an average wolf pack, each pack member will have physical contact with the other pack members on the regular. Like, several times an hour! (gosh if I can find the research paper this info came from I'll link it but honestly it's been years) That's a serious level of physical contact required to keep the emotional bonds of the pack healthy!

Flick back to Eliot. He loves to fight, he loves the violence and the pain, yes. He hates the killing and the blood on his hands. He actually tries to leave the assassin world behind after he meets Toby (which is before he meets Moreau, as per early dialogue in The French Connection Job). He bonds quickly with Toby. Show Eliot a little love and care and he's yours for life! He moves onto retrieval work, then somehow ends up working for Moreau.

Now, when we see Eliot and Moreau in The Big Bang Job, Moreau says, "You work alone." Which means that Eliot had that reputation when he came to Moreau. He probably only took contracts to start off with. But he accepted job after job from Moreau and was so good that he was highly respect and it's inferred he ended up as Moreau's top bodyguard/assassin. Why the hell would Eliot end up that close to a man who brings out all the worst in him? Because Eliot's a werewolf and no matter how toxic, Moreau fulfills the need for a pack bond that he's been missing all this time.

Fast forward to Eliot meeting the rest of the Leverage team. One job only - my ass. He saves Hardison's life after Hardison brought a gun to their little meeting - and we all know how Eliot feels about guns.

Wolves are designed to live and operate in packs. Eliot says it's one job only but is bonding with them all from the get-go. Werewolf trait confirmed.

Eliot needs physical touch Now, I know what you're thinking. Eliot canonically avoids physical contact with the team. He refuses hugs, especially from Hardison, growls at Parker poking his bruises (don't get me started on the growls), and shoves people (ahem Parker) out of his personal space. So why would he do all this if he needs physical touch??

Because he's one gigantic ball of angst and self-loathing and guilt.

Eliot doesn't think he deserves forgiveness or love or family, etc. That is a whole other rant, but he denies himself the physical contact he needs with others as a way of punishing himself.

However, as the series progresses, we see him become more comfortable with physical contact! He hugs Hardison several times, he doesn't move away from Parker, etc. Why? Because he's bonded with this team (ahem pack) and there's only so much he can suppress his instincts. The more time he spends with them, the more naturally the contact flows.

Eliot needs to protect others Whenever we get a scene of the team walking as a group, where is Eliot positioned 90% of the time?? That's right, at the back of the group. He lets the others walk in pairs and falls back to bring up the rear. He's keeping them all in his line of sight and constantly scanning for threats ahead, along with protecting the team from any rear attacks. It makes sense for him to do this given his military background, but it also makes sense for a werewolf to do this.

He's the only werewolf in the team. His instincts revolve around keeping the pack safe and protected, so he does that in the best way he knows how.

Not to mention how feral gets over kids!!

Wolf life is all about the pack and the family structure. Pups are integral to the pack's survival and future. Eliot doesn't have kids of his own. But that doesn't stop his instincts from blaring every time he interacts with a kid, be it on the con or off. He takes time out every time to help that kid in an attempt to calm the raging storm of instincts inside his body.

Eliot needs to feed others It's another werewolf instinct that rears its head when they're in the safety of their headquarters (ahem den). Protecting the team/pack from physical threats is just one aspect of taking care of them. Feeding them is the other major one.

None of these idiots can cook to save their lives - except Nate, but he's also drowning his liver 90% of the time, so Eliot has to compensate for that, too. The team can't operate at full capacity if they're not consuming good nutrition. So Eliot makes sure to feed them.

His humanity recognises that these are independent people - coworkers - and he can't control every meal of every day. But he can cook for them, once a week or once a job, which is just enough to satisfy his instincts that he's doing his part to care for them. Plus they love his cooking, and the praise he gets from it is an unexpected but pleasant bonus.

Eliot and team sports/kitchens This ties in with my first point about Eliot needing a pack, but all the times we see Eliot go super hard and get absorbed in the role he's playing are when he's on a team sport or he's in the kitchen. Both of these fulfill super important instincts for him - being in a team/pack and providing food for others.

Think about The Tap-Out Job. Eliot's playing a fighter but he's not pretending to be on a team. He doesn't get over-invested in the role. But what about when he's a baseball player? A hockey player? He falls into those roles hard because he's working with another team again, and this little werewolf is built for that environment. Same in The French Connection: the kitchen becomes his den, the students are his pack mates, and he goes hard at investing in them and protecting them. Never mind the personal aspect of Toby.

Same for episodes like The Fairy Godparents Job when we get a scene of Eliot teaching a bunch of girls self-defence. Team setting + protecting kids = happy werewolf instincts.

So, werewolf headcanons? I have a lot of different origin theories but the main one I like for Eliot is:

he became a werewolf either for a covert military op, or was bitten by Moreau (choose your own angst flavour)

if it was for the military, they were trying to engineer supersoldiers and he was deemed a failure; he has werewolf instincts all the time but only has enhanced strength, healing, etc on full moons

if it was bitten by Moreau, there's a psychic-style bond linking them, which is why he was so loyal to Moreau for so long, and also why he is so reluctant to go after Moreau

(wow this is too different theories already and i said this was my 'main one' whoops)

Eliot can only shift easily on the full moon; shifting outside of a full moon can only be caused by extreme stress and is ridiculously painful

he suffers an insanely high prey drive all the time and is so strict about his control because he doesn't actually wanna rip out the throat of Random Guard #3

he used to chain himself up for full moons so he didn't hurt anyone, but since the team found out about him, Hardison and Parker have taken it upon themselves to 'puppy-sit' him every full moon

this involves no chains but an obscene amount of dog chew toys. Eliot is never impressed. He also never chases or chews the toys. The video evidence Hardison has was obviously doctored.

Hardison and Parker found out the truth when a con went sideways and Eliot was trapped in a room with them during the full moon

he was terrified he was going to kill them - or worse, bite them - but his instincts recognised them as pack so instead he just tried to wrestle with them all night

Hardison had a major freak out when he discovered Eliot was a werewolf - it's one thing to be obsessed with sci-fi/fantasy, it's another thing entirely to see your best friend transform before your eyes

Parker was not even remotely phased, being all like, "pfft of course werewolves are real, I thought you knew that Hardison, you talk about your elves and orcs all the time!"

"Woman that is completely different and you know it!"

"What else do you think is fake? The tooth fairy?? Ha!"

Eliot is Done With Their Shenanigans

Parker only ever refers to Eliot as Sparky when he's in his wolf form

Sophie didn't actually know about werewolves before the reveal but she pretends that she did

Nate knew about werewolves before Eliot, he just chooses to pretend that they're Not A Thing

werewolves generally don't make good hitters, because the constant exposure to violence ramps up their hunting instincts aka they find it hard not to kill

of course, this doesn't matter if you're someone like Moreau who specifically wants killing machines and thus turns his top hitters into werewolves, to ensure loyalty and enhance his strength

the only other werewolf hitter not under Moreau's control that Eliot knows is Quinn, who most certainly did not pull his werewolf strength punches when they tousled in The First David Job

Quinn doesn't have a pack (werewolf or otherwise) and genuinely doesn't seem phased by this, which pisses off Eliot to no end

however, after they work together in The Last Dam Job, Quinn deems himself Eliot's Best Werewolf Bud and keeps popping up randomly to hang out on full moons, etc

Parker and Hardison are a bit weirded out (and a little jealous) of Quinn's attention initially, but soon get over that when they discover that two werewolves on a full moon absolutely play for hours like 6 month old puppies - especially with the tug rope

Eliot is Extremely Susceptible to belly rubs even in his human form, which is half the reason he pushes people out of his personal space a lot - his reputation would never survive anyone finding out

of course the entire team figures it out and take to ambushing him with belly rubs whenever he's being stubborn or annoying

belly rubs are also the only way he will relax enough when he's injured so they can treat his wounds

despite the incessant dog jokes, the ever-growing pile of dog toys, and the bowls labelled with "Sparky" and cartoon bone symbols ... Eliot absolutely adores the pack he's found himself in and wouldn't change them for the world

One of these days I will sit down and write a thousand fics for werewolf!Eliot! Till then, I'll just keep churning out the headcanons ;)

[blood-red-ocean]

really glad u loved the idea! i was afraid it's too silly cause I'm not thinking properly right this moment(it's past 3am in my country)

anyway, thank you for agreeing to write for femSal! can't wait to see what you come up with!

Sorry it took so long, this is my first request so I wanted to make it perfect!

Fem!Sal x Reader

The original request can be found here! This work is inspired by @classyfruit's genderbent Moreau art! Word count: 2.3k. Warnings: None

There may be typos <3 -----------------------------------------------------------------

The crunching of leaves underfoot ignited a kind of childlike joy in you as you wove your way through the trees. The snow was melting, the harsh winter finally coming to an end and at last, you were able to return to your favourite place in the Village.

The sun would no doubt have melted all the ice away by now – or at least you had heard from your neighbour that the lake was liquid once more, he had seen it on his way back from his foraging trip and he wanted to let the Village’s resident ‘water baby’ know. As soon as you had heard the news, you packed your satchel to the brim with your sketchbook, pencils, and snacks enough to last you hours, and off you went.

The sun warmed your shoulders and face as you went, and you took a moment to let your head fall back, relishing in it. Three months cooped up inside your house had taken its toll, and you were ecstatic to be out in the fresh air again. As you approached the lake, a slight breeze kicked up, sending the faintest of ripples across the surface, warping the reflections of the nearby trees. The ground was soft and muddy from the melting snow, but thankfully your usual spot – a large, flat rock, jutting out over the water – was free of dampness. You climbed atop it with a grunt and settled down, letting the sun warm you for a moment, basking in the feeling.

You frowned slightly into the distance a while later, your sketchbook open in your lap. You chewed absentmindedly on the end of your pencil, waiting for inspiration to strike you. The sunlight was casting thin ribbons of parchment-coloured light through the gaps in the trees on the opposite side of the lake to you, and you just couldn’t figure out how to encapsulate it within a drawing. But damn, you wanted to.

A faint splashing sounded from below the edge of your rock seat, and you put your sketchbook aside, leaning slowly over the edge and looking down. The sight of silver, shimmering shapes darting just beneath the water’s surface brought a smile to your face, and you readjusted to lay on your stomach, reaching down. As you gently trailed your fingertips along the surface of the lake, you giggled as the shimmering shapes nibbled your fingers curiously, some of them bumping up against your hand as they swam by.

“Well, hi to you, too,” you whispered. The fish swam beneath the surface of the water as if dancing, and you smiled softly, watching them. You pushed yourself back up to a kneeling position, feeling in your satchel for the container of mealworms you had brought with you, scattering some of them into the water. You sat back again and started to draw, oblivious to the larger rippled which were approaching from elsewhere in the lake.

The next day found you back at the lake again, not wanting to miss a day of being in your sanctuary. The sun was high in the sky, which was just as clear as the day before. You were distracted as you made the same walk as yesterday, and you didn’t notice the object on your rock seat until you were about to sit down. You made a noise of surprise and peered at it. It seemed to be an old boot, something from far before your time. It was covered in algae and aquatic moss, and the sole had been eroded over time. You looked around, thinking that somebody was playing a prank; but when you saw nobody, you simply shrugged and picked the boot up, placing it beside the rock in the soft mud. Again, you drew, this time paying close attention to the mud below the rock, trying to emulate the textures and patterns of it. Again, you fed the fish gathered near your seat some mealworms. And again, you were oblivious to the ripples rolling across the water’s surface.

The third day you went back to the lake, a sight saddened you somewhat. There, on the muddy bank, beside the untouched boot, was a small bone. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be a fish skull. You held it delicately in your hands, turning it this way and that, intrigue mixing with your faint sadness at the poor thing’s state. Holding it as if it were glass, you bent over by the edge of the lake and let it roll out of your hand into the water, fading from view as it sunk to the depths. You settled yourself down on your rock perch again, pulling your sketchbook out of your bag and, with one hand drawing and the other holding an apple you took occasional bites from, you began to sketch the intricacies of a piece of driftwood, floating atop the water. It bobbed up and down, slowly, as ripples coursed across the water’s surface. This time, just before you left to go home, you leaned over and whispered to the group of fish swilling in lazy circles beneath the steadily elongating shadow of the rock, telling them a fairytale from your childhood. Something you did quite often, even if it didn’t quite make sense.

The fourth day arrived and with it, dark clouds, heavy with rain. That didn’t stop you, though, as you simply grabbed your raincoat from the hook by the door and set out towards the lake again, slipping and sliding and laughing in the muddy puddles on the way. The lake had swelled with the overnight showers of rain, the boot now having been swept away. The rain had ceased for now, and you slowly climbed atop your rock again – stopping in your tracks as you saw something on the very edge. You peered closer and your eyes widened at the sight of an eel skeleton, curled up neatly on the edge of the rock. You looked around again, more vigilantly this time. The only footsteps in the muddy earth were that of your own, and the trees looked undisturbed, as well.

The eel skeleton looked beautiful, in a delicate, morbid way. You stepped off of the rock and to the water’s edge, where the mud was the softest, and you started to dig. With shaking hands, you very carefully lifted the skeleton and placed it in the makeshift grave, covering it up again and placing a rock on top. You took a moment to be pensive, and as you stared into the water, you saw ripples distorting the reflection of the trees. Following them with your gaze, you could see that they originated from the center of the lake. Stepping closer, just below the surface of the water you could see a faint, misshapen shadow lurking below. You frown and take another step, the water lapping at the toes of your shoes. Just as quickly as you had seen the shadow, it darted away, and the rain started to fall again, stirring the surface of the lake, rendering anything underneath invisible.

There were no peculiar objects on your seat the next day. The sun was high in the sky again, the lake still swollen from the previous day, and your fish friends had resumed their usual habit of circling for food beneath your rock perch. You laid on your stomach, fingers trailing through the water again as they swam excitedly. Lost in thought, the shadow moving towards you beneath the surface of the water went unnoticed. What was very much noticed, however, was one of the fish flying out of the water, soaring in an arc over you and landing with a wet shlap in the mud to the side. Gasping, you half rolled and half fell off of the rock, hastening to pick up the frantically flopping and flailing fish, gently placing it back in the water to join its friends.

“What the hell…” You breathed. There was another splashing sound and another fish flew out of the water, narrowly missing your face as it soared across your field of vision, landing back in the water. Returning to the rock and looking over the side of it, you saw all of the group still there, unharmed and circling as before. Mind reeling with questions and confusion, you looked around, trying to figure out what happened.

“I’m tryin’ to flirt with you!”

The sudden disembodied voice startled you, hands gripping the rough surface of your perch so as to not fall face first into the lake. Sensing movement out of the corner of your eye, you turned, and your gaze met those of someone almost completely submerged in the water. Their eyes were dark, a slight frown on their face as they stared you down. It looked as if they were wearing a crown of bones, and you gulped.

“Hey, are- are you okay?” Trepidation and intrigue combined in your chest to create a potent blend that kept you fixed to the spot.

The figure didn’t speak at first. And then: “I was tryin’ to flirt with you. Didya not like my gifts?”

The voice carried a tone of insecurity, confusion and determination. It was low and husky, like the vocal version of the crunch of gravel as it is stepped on – and it had a kind of warbled tremor, like the ripples of the lake itself. But it was pleasant, and you wanted to hear more. You sat back down on the rock and crossed your legs, pulling your sketchbook out of your bag and running your fingertips along the spine to soothe yourself.

“Flirt with me?” You asked.

“Yes,” The figure responded. The water rippled around them as they started to move up out of the water, and you saw that the figure was a woman, her skin tinged the same green-blue as the lake. “D’you not like my gifts?” She repeated.

“I… I didn’t realise they were gifts, to be honest.” The woman sloshed closer through the water, coming to fold her arms on the edge of the rock and rest her head upon them. You continued, “I hope I didn’t offend you with my actions.”

The woman stared up at you for a long moment. “Nope,” She said. “I see you here a lot. You’re good to the critters here.” As she spoke, you could detect the faintest lilt in her voice, which somehow made you want to hear her speak even more, if that were possible. Silence fell between the two of you, and without knowing what else to do, you grabbed a pencil from your satchel and started to sketch, not really paying attention to anything but her proximity.

“What’re you doin’?”

“Huh? Oh—” You glanced down at the paper before you, realizing that you had absentmindedly begun to draw her. “I’m just sketching. Would you like to see?”

You held the sketchbook up before you, going back to the first page and flipping through them one by one, telling her the backstory of every sketch. The view of the mountains from your bedroom window, the jewels of dew on a spider’s web, the iridescence of a raven’s wings in flight. Her eyes studied your sketches, focusing hard as she listened. Without a word, she splashed back under the water, leaving you alone. You couldn’t help but feel disappointed as she left and, with a dejected sigh, you turned back to your work, the pencil scratching over the paper.

“Look out! Outta the way!”

“Wh—Woah!” You leaped back as she emerged from the water, her arms full with weeds and grasses from the depths of the lake. She sifted through them, inspecting each piece and discarding some of them with an unimpressed grunt. You turned back to your artwork, but you were distracted now, curiously glancing up at her every so often. Her deft fingers worked at the pieces of grass, twisting and turning them in her hands, and after a moment you realized she was weaving something. You became mesmerized by her movements, a slight frown on her face as she concentrated.

By the time she had finished, the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, the surface of the lake reflecting its orange glow. She held it out to you with a wide grin, your fingertips brushing her palm as you took it from her. She had weaved the grasses and weeds tightly into the shape of a fish, mirroring the fish that you often fed. It was intricately weaved, and your head spun trying to make sense of where each piece of grass started and ended. Gazing back at her, a blush crept up your neck at her intense gaze. As the chill of the night air started to settle in your bones, you were tempted to stay here for a while longer, if only to see her grin again.

“Thank you…” I trailed off questioningly.

“Name’s Sally. Sally Moreau,” She grinned, making your heart jump in your chest. “But you can call me Sal.”

You smiled. “Thank you, Sal. It’s beautiful.”

“So’s you, if you don’t mind me sayin’ so.”

Her boldness made your blush grow even more, and you shivered regretfully against the chill of the growing darkness. “I…” The words were hard to force out, as you slowly packed your things back into your satchel. “I should go home.”

Sally’s shoulders seemed to drop a little, but she kept the grin on her face. “Comin’ back tomorrow?” She asked, hopeful tones lacing her voice.

“Yeah,” You smiled. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” That night, you fell asleep with a smile on your face and Sally’s grin burned into your mind, the woven fish standing proudly on the top of your bookshelf. Somehow, you knew that today had been the start of something wonderful.

[symphorine]

endlessly fascinated by that moment in s3 where eliot picks hardison to come with him to meet moreau. knowing what kind of situation he's likely to walk into - dangerous, at the very least, and how it went in the show is probably the best he could have hoped for. knowing that he'd give his name and of course hardison wouldnt let it go!! of course!!! im just. he picked him over nate or parker or sophie. he knows if it comes to fighting hardison will be at a worse disadvantage (arguably sophie also would be). in terms of grifting, of deceiving moreau, nate or sophie would be a safer bet. and then it pays off!!! yeah its a shit situation and eliot, while thinking it was entirely necessary and the safest, best path (and he's right i think) is not happy or satisfied or like. at peace with having brought hardison so close to danger and death. and hardison is rightfully angry. he's the one least likely to understand, too, and to let it go, but he still picked him to come with him. he chose hardison to reveal this side of his past to first, to reveal the extent to which he has sat on information that was crucially relevant to them the whole season. did he want to go through hardison's anger and indignation? did he think he deserved it? he's ashamed of what hes done for moreau, afraid for his crew if moreau got his hands on them. did he want that? did he want hardison to resent him for it? or did he think hardison was the most likely to forgive him? to truly forgive him. which i dont think he was tbh, and i always feel like theres a scene missing where they actually talk about it one on one, and i think it takes hardison a while to genuinely, fully come to terms with it. hell eliot could have told them beforehand and let them all plan and choose! he could have gone in alone! why didnt he? (well we can guess, probably because of the shame; it's hard enough for him to talk about it after, when he doesn't have a choice and he's left himself no escape door - maybe that's why hardison, because hardison wouldn't keep it quiet, because it leaves him no other option than to come relatively clean). eliot didn't name hardison to come with him on a whim there has to have been a thought process. he knew what he was going to do and he knew it would be a dangerous situation. he has to have weighed his options. why bring someone else and why hardison.

anyway. 1am leverage thoughts. i love them

[dmc-tings]

I gotta say I love your writing, especially for the 4 Lord's. If I could put forward a request, how would they react to a blind SO who lost their sight in youth but remains one of the friendliest and supportive people to others... Although also has almost comical habit of getting into dangerous situations... Like nearly walking off a cliff or just narrowly avoiding getting run over by Sturm. A sort of 'I love you but how are you still alive?!' situation.

The Four Lords Friendly Blind S/O

Alcina Dimitrescu

She nearly had a heart attack

Scratch that, three today and it was only 7 am

You were skipping through the damn castle

SKIPPING

She assumed you thought you knew where you were going

But no

That was an over estimate on your abilities

In your happy stupor, you crashed into a large vase

The vase wasn't able to be salvaged

But you were unscathed

No cuts, bruises or anything

She agreed with herself that you were an enigma

Nonetheless she kept an eye on you after that

One day in particular you decided you were going into the village

Just to say you went

You gathered your cane and headed out

She followed, allowing you to traverse on your own

Which surprisingly went smooth

Save for your tripping a bit once out of the castle

But no harm... Yet

You got to the square, and decided that the lycans were decent to talk to, along with a Vârcolac

You reached your hand out to pet the "big dog"

And almost ended up a snack for the beast

Had it not been for Alcina slicing the monster in half, causing the others to scatter

And you, "Hey! Where you guys goin?!"

"What compelled you to try and pet them?!"

You were scooped up in to strong arms

"Alcina!" Your happy little yelp rang out

She was happy you were ok, but damn it!

You would have died had it not be for her following you

Donna and Angie Beneviento

"NONONONONO OH NO!"

Is what's said alot around the Beneviento Estate

There's so many stairs and you like to explore alot

Just cause you blind don't mean you can't do what Donna and Angie do

You just ain't careful, but that's the only difference

Donna is stuck on you holding her hand

But that one time you went into the village

And got lost...

And almost, almost got eaten

Donna made it a big fat deal

You waved her off

"Its fine. He missed anyway and ate a tree."

Which was true, but still

The poor woman nearly had a heart attack

Angie scolded you as well

It doesn't stop you still

So the pair of them designed a few puppets and dolls to keep you company...

Or rather guide you around

They also tired to limit you to the estate area

That was until you gave the puppets the slip and made your way to the cliffs

Donna was in the greenhouse when it happened

Angie actually saved you

So NOW your kept on a thread...

Think of it like a super loose leash

That tightens whenever you get into self-induced peril

It works better thay way

Oh, and the thread is attached to Donna's finger

Salvatore Moreau

In your defense, the Reservoir isn't the safest place

The biggest danger is the lycans that run rampant

Even at Moreau's threats, they just don't understand that your their Master as well

At your insistence, Moreau created a Vârcolac that accompanies you around there

It lost you one day in the caverns

And Moreau lost it

BIG MODE

He rampaged until he found you sitting with a different Vârcolac, one which was confused as to why you were petting it

But it was happy-confused

"S/O WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

*concerned roar* (that's your Vârcolac)

"Hi honey! George and I-"

"Thats not George-!!"

*more yelling and roaring*

Your rolled your eyes, and kept petting not-George

After a few hours of explaining, Moreau decided that you'd now have two George's

Karl Heisenberg

He stared at you

And you blindly looked at the wall, trying to glare at him

You were pouting

"I told you not to go down there."

*large fan noises from the basement*

You pointed at the basement, and made sure to turn your head at Karl

Or at least in the direction of his voice, currently

He made it a habit of moving to piss you off

"HES LONELY DOWN THERE!"

"You are NOT supposed-"

"HES MY SON TOO!"

You were screeching at the wall again, but Karl had to cover his ears

The metal made your voice reverberate around

"My Darling. He nearly ran you down!"

You pouted at him

"So?! He loves the attention."

Karl wrapped his arms around you and hugged you

"Im sure he does, but he's dangerous... He's a jet engine for fucks sake..."

You pressed your face into his chest

"But I like him..."

Karl sighed and frowned

"What if I build you a protective cage? So you can be down there and-"

You looked up at him, bouncing a little bit

"Really!? That would be amazing!"

Karl smiled then frowned, nodding

"Its so you can just be down there, you won't be able to touch him."

You nodded and turned your eyes to the floor

You'd convince him to figure out a way to let you touch Sturm

But that was for a later date

You'd take the win for now

[addysfandomdump]

Finally, a Faye Moreau questionaire for the @sonic-oc-showdown!

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

At first, it was just "Faye the Fox," because she was an independent character. Then I thought of giving her a family, so I wanted to have a family name, so I chose "Moreau*," a surname meaning "black-haired" in French. I chose "Faye" because it was a very soft-sounding name and I liked it.

[*I looked it up again to double-check and it actually means dark-skinned. Now that doesn't make any sense! Faye's family is very very white. One of the very few times I actively make the choice to white-code my OCs. There are reasons for this.]

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

Faye is 8 years old, same as Tails.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

No.

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Grandma's meatloaf!

💼 - What do they do for a living?

She is a child and does not work, but she does help Mother with chores in the basement sometimes.

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Faye loves dollmaking and taxidermy. She also loves to play pretend and make up stories, as any child does.

🎯 -What do they do best?

She has a genuine talent for dollmaking and sewing in general. She has a nack for the tiniest of details, probably in half thanks to her abnormally small hands.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Faye loves playing in the garden and collecting materials for her dolls. She doesn't like doing chores for the house, though. Or fighting 1-on-1.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

The first time she ever had to help with dinner.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The first time she ever had to help with dinner.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Nope! This clay figure of her is her oldest design--

She still retains most of her features, but this "Beta Faye" has an oversized bow instead of a tiny hat, a ribbonless black bow on a white bib, and no purple trimming on her black dress at all! She also has black ear furnishings and is missing her heart-shaped ear tips.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Sonic Forces and Little Nightmares. One of my first fangame ideas was a horror game inspired by LN. I still have a game in mind for Faye, but it looks very different compared to how it used to be then.

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

Psychological horror.

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Unlabeled. She's a little girl and hasn't been thinking about those things yet. Also, with the way her family reproduces, she never needs to worry about boys.

🙌 - How many siblings does your OC have?

Quite a few, it's hard to keep track. She's the youngest, though.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Mother can be quite strict and a little mean, but she's nice to her. Mostly.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

She's a weird little freak and has a nice and simple design that's easy to draw.

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Pretty much never, which is a shame. This is the most I've talked about Faye in a while.

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

Not really.

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

I suppose a fear of the unknown, funnily enough. Her family is incredibly xenophobic and paranoid about the outside world, unfortunately.

🍩 - Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Tails, I guess, with the current storyline I have for her.

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

A few months at least, maybe even a whole year. She was one of my first Sonic OCs.

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

Around 15. I'm 16 now, will be 17 in a few months.

[random-thought-depository]

The movie Island of Lost Souls (an adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau) was on TV last night. I really approve of how they handled the animal-people rebelling against Dr. Moreau!

The catalyzing incident is that Dr, Moreau commands one of the animal-people to break Moreau's own law and kill a human (the same animal-person earlier attempted to break into the room of Moreau's human female "guest"; it's implied that Moreau ordered him to rape her, as part of his experiments). From this the animal-people learn that normal humans can die, and extrapolate that Dr. Moreau also can die, and his power over them is broken; the next time he shows up to order them about and threaten them with his whip, they do not obey him, and they attack him, chase him into his own "house of pain," restrain him to his own operating table, and kill him with his own surgical instruments, inflicting on him an ironic reversal of the torments he inflicted on them. I also see a possible unstated subtext that the animal-people have more respect for Moreau's laws than Moreau did; they rebelled when they realized Moreau would break his own laws the instant they become inconvenient to him, that his laws were always just a tool he used to manipulate and control them. This is almost the only violence we see the animal-people do under their own initiative (and the exception is something that's also easily interpreted as Lota taking revenge on somebody who abused her on Moreau's orders - though I'll note I missed the first ten minutes or so of the film, so I might have missed something). The most clearly objectionable and monstrous violence comes from Dr. Moreau!

I find it interesting to compare this to the 1996 The Island of Dr. Moreau movie, which felt like it basically went with a centrist-brained "Yeah, Dr. Moreau is kind of bad, but revolutionary violence is also bad and scary, and the animal-people are ugly and scary-looking so they're probably bad, so really, who can say who the real villain here is?" take. Island of Lost Souls had a more implicitly positive attitude toward the animal-people and their revolutionary violence, and a more implicitly condemnatory attitude toward Dr. Moreau!

On that note, interesting to note the differences between how the two films presented Dr. Moreau. In the 1996 movie he comes across as kind of an out-of-touch old weirdo who doesn't realize how dangerous the situation he's created is. Island of Lost Souls feels like it has a clearer idea that Dr. Moreau is an abuser, he knows exactly what he's doing, and when he finally messes up and gets himself killed it's through underestimating the cleverness, and, perhaps, the humanity of his victims, in a way that rings pretty true for the kind of mistake an arrogant abusive petty tyrant might make. Motherfucker makes his electricity by chaining people up and forcing them to turn a crank!

Also interesting to note that the movie does something pretty close to just letting the animal-people win and benefit from doing that. It throws in a line about how soon the fire will destroy all of Moreau's work but, really, it's pretty easy to interpret the ending as the animal-people kill Dr. Moreau and end his tyranny over them, are liberated, survive, and are left to try to build their own society without him, basically getting about the happiest ending for them that they plausibly could have.

Side note: watching the scene where Lota throws the book in the pool gave me the same kind of feeling I got reading The Sisters of Dorley. I was like, man, if that was me I think I'd be better at solidarity than this protagonist, I'd realize the abusive cult leader is probably not going to just let me leave after what I've seen, I'd realize that me and Lota are likely both Moreau's victims and thus likely have common interests, I'd be less condescending about her probably not knowing what a radio is and I'd suggest that building one is a possible escape strategy for both of us, when I saw her claws I would not tattle on her to the people she's clearly afraid of for reasons that should be pretty easy to imagine given what this guy has already seen so far.

I feel like there are actually some very striking parallels between Dorley and Moreau's cult and there's probably an interesting gender studies essay in poking at that. Could totally see the Dorley girls having some kind of ritual where they recite some code of conduct with each rule accompanied by the rhetorical question "Are we not women?" or giving their surgeon an aggressively cutesy-feminine pink novelty mug with "Hers is the hand that heals. Hers is the hand that hurts," written on it in fancy text with a couple of heart symbols next to it.