Changes:
(Ep 1) "Is what you want?" in the locker room, not believing Shane that he doesn't want Ilya
(Ep 6) "Is that what you want?" at the cottage, not believing that Shane wants to be with Ilya
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(Ep 2) Shane kisses Ilya's forehead and the Russian is scared by the affection and pulls away from him
(Ep 6) Shane kisses Ilya's forehead at the cottage and the Russian is comforted by the affection and presses closer
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(Ep 4) When they napped together, Ilya was awake before Shane and just looking at him, because he knew the Canadian would eventually have to leave
(Ep 6) At the cottage in the morning, Ilya was dead to the world when Shane woke up, because Ilya knew when he did wake up that the Canadian would still be there
I offer a small prompt: what's everyone's agents' go-to choices at a greasy-spoon diner? (xo, bracken)
o-ho, i like this one!
if you see this, reblog with your additions either onto the post itself or in the tags. <3 i'll start!
agent seraphim is definitely an egg person. there's never a wrong time for an omelette (or huevos rancheros, or a benedict, or some house specialty scramble...), and the best time for breakfast food is all the time.
(Following @missredherring ‘s lead, here is my quick guide for the @the-roanoke-society secret Santa, et al. Please hit me up if there’s anything else you’d like to know as I love talking about these nerds)
Agent Hood (Parker Jensen)
Physical: Lily Collins
Personality: it’s very hard to get past her ‘professional’ personality- which is pleasant and eager to please but very uptight. Once you get past that, she’s a very caring friend and quickly ‘ride or die’. Given her ‘incident’ (in which she was stuck in a temporal loop of constantly dying- think the worst ‘Groundhogs day’ ever) she is now unable to sit still for too long and even more desperate to foster a connection with the other agents.
Abilities: Initially thought to have none, but she is immune to fae-magic and is training to extend that to other types.
Background: Raised by their single mother (a former agent of Roanoke who’s ‘retirement’ included a memory wipe), family was instilled as the most important thing early (unfortunately ‘self-reliance’ came as an unintended second importance in an effort to make things easier for her mom). Always eager to be taken seriously, she was very studious and mature as a child, which didn’t make her any friends, but her twin kept her from being lonely.
Agent Thorn (Carter Jensen)
Physical: Brendon Urie
Personality: Fun, popular, and delightfully detached from reality- he is the go-to ‘party guy’. But treating him a little more seriously reveals he is a very sweet and sensitive guy who only ever wants to make people happy (often at cost to himself).
Abilities: A prodigy despite being half-fae and raised completely human: he excels at glamour magic and plant control, but sprouts thorns or coughs up rose petals when overcome with emotions.
Background: Grew up thinking he was adopted, a mix of memory problems and only one child being very clearly fae made for a lot of confusion and so were told that the twins were initially ‘switchings’ (a old fae practice in which human children are taken and a fae one is left in its place) and that Parker was returned, this led to a deep feeling that Carter did not ‘deserve’ his family who he loved dearly.
Being on the society’s radar since childhood (as are most human-raised supernatural children), Roanoke made multiple attempts at recruitment but was only successful following Agent Hood’s ‘incident’.
Technical Officer Rook (Ivar Mayhew):
Physical: A ‘thicc’-er Charlie Cox (like not Joe Maginello levels of beefcake, but a good mix of muscley, tall, and squishy)
Personality: affable and easy to get along with. His background with the military and Borley gave him an appreciation for having his cohorts back, both in and out of the field (he took several certification courses in dealing with PTSD). Always happy to lend an ear, help you move, or buy you a pint.
Abilities: although no longer able to ‘shift’ (at-will or otherwise), he still retains the heightened and increased strength from his werewolf lineage.
Background: Born to a well-off family, his father was a respected figure in the Royal British Airforce, and his mother was from a long line of werewolves. Ivar inherited his mother’s gift and followed in his father’s footsteps- joining the army and quickly moving up to special operatives, where he was recruited by Borley.
At Borley, he was injured during an altercation with the Wild Hunt; a severed sciatic nerve left him paralyzed and unable to ‘turn’. Although an installation of electrical nodes restored his ability to walk, his subsequent treatment at Borley disallusioned him to his associates at Borley (including his *ex*-finacé/partner) and transferring to Roanoke as a technical Officer: too reliant on maintaining a charge to be anything more than tactical support in the field.
Hampton the Bargheist
Personality: A very good dog- literally the goodest boy. One big, happy, pup.
Abilities: A psychopomp- guides the souls of the recently departed to where they go next. To help with this, Hampton is able to ‘appear’ where he needs to be (similar to teleportation but less obvious). Being a baby psychopomp, it is unknown what further abilities he will develop.
Background: Adopted and rescued by Agent Hood as a newborn puppy, once he began ‘working’ he appeared on the society’s radar and Parker was recruited (she wasn’t giving up her puppy and they needed to keep an eye on his development).
Physical: a Newfoundland (or any other large black dog)- now double that size because he is massive. 200 lbs and 4’8 at shoulder height.
Wishlist: I’m happy with anything, but I’m partial to my dummies getting their friendship on with the other Roanoke inhabitants
Aesthetic/AUs/etc: Thorn is a glittery, flower-crown mess while Hood is partial to red and Rook brings out the flannel in her. As for AUs- is it too obvious to say fairytales (you can run the gamut with them- red riding hood, Hansel and Gretel, etc)
Thousands of years ago, just before the Fall of Atlantis, an Oracle of the North gave a prophecy about the bloodline of the ocean. There were already plans for a coup, by a group know as The Collective, and the prophecy only hastened their actions.
The prophecy was given to Pharusian, the King of Atlantis. It came at a time of sorrow, the morning after his wife died. The prophecy stated that a child of his bloodline, mixed and diluted, would unite the regions of the oceans after a great war. It was said, the mix of blood would of like of Human and Fae. There lived in the hearts of most Merfolk, a deep hatred of all the people of land, human and fae alike. This prophecy led to The Collective inciting the common mer and noble mer against Pharusian. They stated that the prophecy proved him and all his blood, traitors to their kind.
Pharusian was able to send his sons to the safety of the north before the war broke out. Pharusian then forsook his throne and faked his death, giving his enemies false victory. His last true allies burned Atlantis to keep it from The Collective. The noble mer went their own ways, establishing their own kingdoms and regions. The collective's claim to the right to rule was ignored by all, and the regions went to war with each other. The Collective slipped back into the shadows, bitter and full of hatred. They turned their attention to Pharusian's sons, hunting them till the only heir to the throne was Valdimar, the King of the Arctic Region. He was protected by the old magic of the north, and by the prophecy. The Collective is a curse upon Valdimar. They are responsible for the deaths of all his loved ones. His mother, father, first wife, one of his children, and are ready to strike should he produce an heir of mixed blood.
Is there any way you could tell us about Former Technical Officer Drake? (The one that uses Tom Holland as a face claim?) Like what happened to him that made him become a Former officer?
let’s talk about jude shepard.
and note, that i can’t talk about jude shepard without also speaking of where he died.
it isn’t often i get to tell a story that begins in one decade and ends over a century earlier.
details of violence, sci-fi-induced stressful situations and implied gore and body horror below the cut. proceed with caution.
turn back the clock to 1996.
jude—that is, drake, at the time—was one of the youngest people ever to be brought onto the basement crew. our watchers pinged him at just 14 for showing exceptional aptitude to what i would best describe as technomancy. the phrase ‘wiz kid’ was used often, and seriously. but, the then-wyvern—justine—knew that lilith wouldn’t bend on recruitment rules. she waited patiently until jude was old enough and immediately “adopted” him as a mentee.
our gate had been completely built by this time. at least, an early version of it.
but we knew way less then, than we do now.
and what we know now, we’re realizing, is still precious little.
i wish that i could tell you what happened to jude was significant. i wish i could say that it was meaningful, that it happened for a just cause. i wish i could say that for the handful of officers our homemade portal has swallowed over the decades.
but—well.
a year and a month. that was how long jude had existed fully in his role, fully as drake. justine trusted him completely, why wouldn’t she? he passed training with flying colors, of course he did, that genius born out of the bronx, maybe he’d graduate to her title someday, of course, why not, he’d make a great leader—
so of course he could do routine maintenance by himself.
of course, his hands would never slip and puncture the wrong wire, triggering an instantaneous opening that would have felt like stepping into a sauna turned way too high.
of course, he would never be snapped up, as though raptured.
but they did. and he was.
now, the good news, what slivers of it were to be found, were that we did trace his landing point.
the bad news—he wasn’t in north america in the 1990s.
he was in 19th century prussia.
and the worse news—which everyone knew was the worse news as soon as they saw lilith’s expression shift when she realized the coordinates—was where exactly in prussia he’d been spat out. it was why we couldn’t pull him back, even after repairing the gate’s puncture. why we couldn’t get a push signal to re-generate to the same point.
brennenburg castle.
she recognized it, of course she did.
alexander.
“lady,” lilith began. her eyes didn’t leave the screen, didn’t leave the green dot blinking in russia. “will you please get brosnya on the phone.”
when was it that she’d last spoken to yekatarina, the head of the order of snow and sun? a year ago? two? five?
because of the atrocities committed in that castle, the order is very—protective, of that particular parcel of land. today, as it was then, it’s heavily warded, and regularly observed. the structure itself still stands, condemned and rotting.
lilith had always run on the assumption that, surely, they’d sent field agents down into the castle’s interior to clear it. to make sure that nothing was left behind that shouldn’t be, like say—a proverbial open door.
an exquisitely, ridiculously dangerous open door.
but she still had a sense of decorum, and wasn’t about to point blank ask for some kind of verification as if it was owed to her. after all, the heaviest parts of that investigation would have been years and years earlier.
surely, they had.
surely.
but the unfortunate truth was that there wasn’t much to be done. alexander’s property was cursed, and that curse was powered by something far bigger, and far older, than us. jude was doomed as soon as he hit the ground.
the gate is our homemade doorway. we made it ourselves.
the orb that lilith desperately hoped was in the order’s protective custody, the entire reason behind the castle’s ruin? was built by something like a god. or gods. we’re—we’re not sure.
but it’s not our fault that research is limited.
remember another time we had someone try his hand at technomancy?
remember the time we hit a wall?
turns out that there is a way behind it after all.
remember, there was never any doubt that it wasn’t a wall, and a wall is not a wall without the other side.
if what had happened at brennenburg castle was anything like the world beyond the wall, lilith had zero desire for us, or any other agency, to go there.
more recently, dohbar has been sending her updates. there are seven orbs. “it’s all set up like spokes on a wheel, diana. spokes on a wheel. are we turning? where we are going? how many spokes? and where is the hub, you think? what could possibly lie at the center of something so vast? so ancient? what do you think, diana?” he was getting worse every month. she could see it in his writing. she knew ness was watching him, but not in the role of distant, mournful witness, not like she was watching him.
we have evidence that alexander managed to secure at least a beginning signal, an initial push, to this other plane.
we have no evidence that it was successfully destroyed—beyond the order’s word.
but lilith wondered.
justine was heart-broken, which is why the handle was retired for fifteen years, even as her title passed to jeremy, who followed protocol out of respect—up until he actually met drake and it felt a little too much like a ‘stars aligning’ moment.
a clever cover story was crafted for the benefit of jude’s parents. one that made his ending quick, easy. pure accident. pure fate. pure whatever would bring them peace.
lilith didn’t know it. she wept, god, how she cried, for nights, praying for the first time in what seemed like lifetimes to anybody, please let it have been quick. please let it have been easy. please let him be in peace. please let it have been quick— a never-ending mental prayer chain, timed with her heartbeats, with her jagged breaths. because she knew it had been none of those things. she knew this for a fact. but she whispered into her hands anyway, cupping her own pleas like water to offer to the universe for just this one thing.
at least... as much peace as they could offer at the price of a body. there was nothing to bury. nothing to burn. “we’re sorry. he is gone.”
they bought a plot anyway. they upturned the soil, (”ned--neddy? honey, is this--are we breaking the law?” “oh they wouldn’t dare touch this flower bed, analiese. it’s--it’s the principle of the thing!”) planting begonias. jude’s favorite flower. and yes, he has a tombstone, calling him by his names: jude levi shepard. beloved son. beloved friend. beloved, beloved, beloved.
jude was “buried” in between his paternal and maternal grandparents in a cemetery in long island.
annabelle has a saved photo on her phone from drake of the view from jude’s garden, looking at the city’s skyline.
fun fact: seraphim sticks out her tongue when her attacks from a distance--whether she’s using magic or a gun or some third kind of weapon. depending on how hard she’s trying to concentrate, it ranges from just a small ‘blep’ to ‘put that thing back in your mouth so help me.’ as a result, despite her deep desire to appear badass (particularly in front of lilith and merlin), she’s never actually done so in these instances.
We’ve gotten hints about Seraphim’s dark past and traumas she isn’t able/ready to talk about, but not a whole lot of definite info. Any chance of knowing more?
you may have to be a bit more–specific, darling.
because you could be referring to…
- the mission in the hills, which left her with the scar that runs down the side of her back. centralia is a cursed place, tied to an old, old magic that is never going to stop attempting to be reborn. at this point it’s not even a portal from somewhere else; it has become an entity unto itself. one we will never be able to eradicate. one we can only attempt to ward, protect, and keep under control.
- her relationship with former agent enoch, which ended so bitterly and badly that she had to throw herself into her work just to keep her sanity. his departure lit into a very stark contrast what they valued and what they didn’t, and she couldn’t stand that he may have felt just as betrayed as she did. you may mean the night before that, though. and all i will say–will ever say–is that coercion is not consent. coercion is not consent. coercion is not consent.
- the incredible strain her induction into the society caused with her family, which wasn’t really about the society, it was how the society found her. there are much, much worse places than roanoke that people like seraphim are sent to. remember in one of the earlier episodes of once upon time, when henry is yelling at regina, “you made me feel like there was something wrong with me! you made me feel like i was crazy when i wasn’t!” they’re on speaking terms, now. but she’s not as close to her parents or her siblings as she’d like–although that is for their own safety. we are a secret society, after all.
- her relationship with jack daniels, which was, at the time, extremely detrimental to the both of them. except when it wasn’t. both those times were very few and far between, in hindsight. i haven’t written much about this half of the #sour cocktails tag because honestly, i’m much more interested in #lies & lessons. besides–they’ve had their closure.
- what happened to her and succubus in the woods near mobile, alabama. this may yet be written about. this wasn’t their first mission together, no–but it was most frightening. wouldn’t you be scared, watching from inside your own head and unable to do anything about what you were doing, thinking to yourself, ‘i am about to murder my best friend. i am about to plant this axe into the back of my best friend’s head, and i can do nothing to stop it.’
- her relationship with merlin. fated love? yes. perfect love? absolutely not. but try not to worry too much–they’ll be fine.
- and finally, there’s just the day-to-day gruesome realities of her role as demonologist and exorcist. sometimes she’ll talk about her fieldwork (and usually then pretty much only with merlin, lilith or succubus–harry, if he’s exceptionally curious, and whiskey, just once), but most of the time she prefers to keep it to herself. if you’d really like to know more about why that is, i’d encourage you to listen to the audio file of one of the most well-known exorcisms done in the united states. do so with caution, and if you feel bold, while picturing yourself in the same room, acknowledging that you are the only force standing between what’s before you, and the family cowering behind you.
