#UGHGHUGHG. I AM PUTTING BOTH HIM AND MOREAU INTO A BEAKER. I AM STUDYING THEM.

[scattered-winter]

😈🤲🏻 <- guy asking for a winter ramble(TM) about eliot spencer <333

tw for uh. abusive relationships and manipulation and shit like that. like I said. I'm going feral.

LISTEN HE'S SO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm specifically going super insane over his relationship w moreau because it's very clear that there Was In Fact some kind of relationship there. like ?!? the thing I'm the most insane about is how moreau seems to get under eliot's skin in a way that none of the other marks they've had can. I'm thinking specifically about the scene when hardison and eliot go face-to-face with moreau for the first time. eliot actually looks nervous, which is a look we haven't seen on him like .. at ALL. his whole THING is being the unrufflable, unshakeable team hitter who doesn't balk at anything, and so seeing him so visibly distressed was SOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a collection of some of my favorite expressions in the ep:

he literally ??? has tears in his eyes in the last one as he's begging parker not to ask what moreau made him do ??? i am ??? in shambles??????

and like. any other character showing this amount of emotion wouldn't even phase me because that's like. not a lot of emotion for someone to show but when it's eliot ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, especially since there were so many microexpressions I couldn't possibly get a screenshot of because they're soo blink-and-you'll-miss-it like ,, jaw ticks and lip trembles and voice trembling and shit like that. because it's eliot, the guy who hardly ever cracks, who's showing this much open emotion, it's the equivalent of someone scream-sobbing onscreen. I'm actively going insane

because it's like. moreau must have had ?? so much power over eliot in the past ???? the way he was acting in that scene, the way he was being So confident and almost...mocking .. taking every opportunity to throw the fact that He Knows Eliot into their faces (saying eliot prefers beer, calling him "old friend," reminiscing about "the old days," etc). he was deliberately trying to get under eliot's skin and the thing that makes me insane is that it WORKED. eliot was already so tense and ready for a fight even before moreau showed up, and it was SO !!! so !!!!!! even when hardison was drowning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! eliot didn't have the luxury of showing his stress and worry on his face because if moreau Knew he was scared for hardison their whole job would be blown!!!!!!!!! and it is SUCH a favorite trope of mine where a character has so force themselves to be impassive while a member of their team (bonus points if it's a S/O!!!!!) is in danger !!!!! so really this concept had me from day ONE

and like. the concept of them being A Thing (tm) romantically before canon. not in a cutesy healthy way but in a "there's 13 layers of manipulation and control and one-sided codependency and moreau was using eliot as a tool and a weapon and it's all about eliot being his possession and eliot was trapped in a cycle of manipulation and wanting so desperately to be wanted and being controlled and even after breaking free from it he still had lasting scars for years" kind of way. for moreau it's all about possession and control and for eliot it's all about having a place to belong even though he's losing parts of himself along the way. because the worst, darkest thing from eliot's past* happened while he was working for moreau, and he didn't tell the team about it. now, that's not really a shocker, because the team lies to and withholds information from each other all the time but !!!! still !!!!! there's been this level of Openness eliot and the team has had in the last few eps I've been watching where like ..... if anyone has any questions abt their past, they'll answer them pretty willingly. but he specifically asked parker not to ask him what he did because he didn't want to tell her !!! (which ALSO makes me insane because .... he literally can't say no to her????????? even though he Doesn't Want Them To Know ,, he fully knew that if she asked he would Tell Her ... aoughhh)

*I don't think they ever confirm what that was but bro.....I Have Theories (tm)

and like !!!!!! eliot being used as a tool by his abuser, and doing the absolute worst things he's ever done in his life, that will haunt him forever, and then even years after leaving moreau behind being shoved face to face with him ??!!?!?! I really hope moreau comes back in later seasons because eliot was DISTRESSED and I was EATING IT UP !!!!!!!!!!!!! and I also have had a LOOONG lasting love for whump/angst tropes where one character has been Controlled And Manipulated by another character and even years later that person still has so much power over them ,,,,,,,,, it's SO.!!!!!!!!

if I take some liberties w all these concepts ,, there's SOOO much potential there. moreau being a "toxic ex" but crank the toxicity up to 11 and throw in a healthy dose of whumper/abuser behavior and he somehow gets a hold of parker and hardison and basically forces eliot to leave the team and come back with him ,, kind of a "you don't belong to anyone but me" kinda deal ,,,,,,, oughhhgogughgghghh