#for those confused about what's going on: Alice is a Malkavian

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Tell Me Where To Find Shelter -- Weird And Complicated Video Game Crossover AUs Strike Again

Okay, so last week I offered you all an updated rewrite on my old Fallout 4 Sole Survivor!Victor AU, Tell Me Where To Find Shelter. And at the very end of said update, I let you know that I had an idea for fitting Alice into the AU --

Specifically, my Malkavian Alice from Vampire: the Masquerade -- Bloodlines.

Look, the fact of the matter is, Fallout 4 and Bloodlines have been rather closely connected in my head from day one of my purchasing them -- hell, I got them during the same Steam sale! (Along with the BioShock series entire, which is why I had a couple of posts about Tell Me Where to Find Shelter back in 2016, then it dropped off the face of the earth -- I played Bloodlines first, and followed up with that series.) And my “Londerland Bloodlines” playthrough of Bloodlines was done concurrently with my starting up Fallout 4, so -- yeah. Me wanting to figure out how to cross the two over was probably inevitable.

I know what you’re all thinking, of course -- “how the hell do you make this sort of crossover work?” Well, I have had a few ideas:

-->This version of Malkavian Alice and her adventures in 2004 Los Angeles would be much more like the standard fledgling’s, given that the Corpse Bride characters are now born in the future. So the person she saves in the hospital is Heather (who she does manage to send away in time to save her life), and the Giovanni party goes down without dragging an undead version of Lizzie into the mix. Obviously the story and setting would have to be tweaked to fit better into Fallout’s alternate history (though given what the computers in the original game are like, maybe that’s easier than expected). She still goes Independent, and escapes from Los Angeles in the wake of LaCroix’s explosive death, making her way slowly but surely to the East Coast because she has had enough of California and everyone there.

-->She manages to get on with her unlife, watching the growing tensions with China and the Resource Wars with unease, but keeping to herself and doing her best not to let her humanity slip as she gets older. When the bombs fall, she’s sleeping the day away in a basement bunker she set up in Boston -- but the destruction from the explosion ends up collapsing part of the ceiling, burying her in rubble -- with a chunk of timber piercing her heart. She ends up in a staked torpor. . .

-->Until Victor shows up at her location at night to clear out a few raiders who are taking over the place as a base. One of the raiders yanks out the stake to use as a weapon, has three seconds to wonder why it’s got fresh blood on it -- then Alice explodes from her centuries-long hiding place and drinks him dry. Victor is too stunned at first to actually shoot her, and once Alice’s blood thirst has been quest, she immediately puts her hands up and does her best to show she means him no harm. They talk, Alice explains what happened (and goes ahead and admits she’s a vampire when Victor explains about the nuclear apocalypse -- who gives a shit about the Masquerade when the world has ended?), she offers to help with the remaining raiders to prove her good intentions, Victor accepts, and they take down the assholes together.

-->Obviously, Alice isn’t immediately “unlockable” as a companion -- she’s still got her sunlight thing, after all! She and Victor chat about it, and Victor, feeling bad, offers his assistance. Alice accepts -- she misses the sun -- and says that she’ll stay where she is for the moment (after finding a non-partially-collapsed basement to stay in) and keep raiders and monsters out while he searches for information. And so the “Here Comes The Sun” quest begins, with Victor searching for a way to counteract the sunlight curse! I’m thinking this would end up interacting with the Cabot family stuff, because I don’t think it would be hard at all to change the source of their immortality, and the artifact upon Lorenzo’s head, from something alien to something vampiric. Maybe Lorenzo’s partially possessed by the spirit of an Antediluvian, and it’s turned his blood into something close enough to vitae it can make ghouls? At any rate, Jack manages to whip something up after examining some of Alice’s blood (which, naturally, she’s kind of nervous about, but what choice does she have?), and it successfully stops her from burning up in sunlight (though she is weaker in it). A grateful Alice thanks Victor (and Jack) and agrees to travel with him to experience the Commonwealth.

-->As they go on together, they end up getting closer -- Alice likes that Victor is generally a good guy and sympathizes with the story of his lost family; Victor likes Alice’s snarky wit and strong sense of justice. As they share more details of their lives, help out the settlements, and battle monsters together, they realize they’re growing feelings for each other, and eventually get together, facing off against the Institute as a couple and parenting Synth Shaun/Chester together afterwards. (Alice jokes a lot that it took both her dying and the end of the world in general to finally get a domestic happy ending.)

-->Alice’s starting clothes would be a simple blue dress and apron with black buckled boots (the dress would naturally have a big bloody hole right over her heart when she first wakes up; she patches this after you leave her to her own devices for a bit), and she’d have the Tal’Mahe’Ra Blade (her prize from her storming of the Hallowbrook Hotel, taken from Andrei’s lair) as her standard weapon. She has a unique bite attack, being a vampire, and can still use Obfuscate (turning invisible to sneak past/sneak attack enemies) and Dementation (inflict debuffs on enemies so they’re confused and can’t shoot straight, or kill a single enemy from fear alone), though both have a cooldown so Victor can’t rely on her just spamming that to take care of every raider for him! XD Her perk would allow you to drain blood from enemy corpses (which other companions would find less disturbing than outright cannibalism, but still fairly creepy) and/or increase the healing capabilities of blood packs. I’m thinking, once romanced, she’d also have a unique variation of the “Lover’s Embrace” temporary perk, “Love Bite” -- Victor wakes up with HP not fully restored, but the XP boost is greater than “Lover’s Embrace” (+20% vs +15%).

-->Other vampiric elements of the Commonwealth would include:

A) That blood bank you can find? Those bags of blood are warm and fresh because there’s a Tremere there who has built up their power and knows some rituals for preserving the stuff. Unfortunately, they’re also very low humanity by this point, so they end up being a nasty surprise fight.

B) There’s a secret settlement of vampires that is made up of all the various fledglings you could pick from in Bloodlines, having learned to live together after the destruction of vampire society along with human when the bombs fell. The local Tremeres managed some blood sorcery that infused a mutfruit tree with human blood, so plasma fruit, a la The Sims 4, is a thing for them, and allows them to live in relative peace with their human neighbors (though they’ll happily drain anyone who attacks them). They’d probably have a quest revolving around either talking down or killing some vampire hunters who have been eying their base, and they could be persuaded to allow Jack Cabot and family to study them in exchange for vitae to help them stay in their immortal states. Also, the Malkavians openly call Victor the “Sole Survivor” and offer roundabout tips on his quests -- if he can decipher them. XD

C) This is just one that amuses me -- this universe’s Mysterious Stranger is none other than good old Caine! He’s trying to be a little more helpful to mortal and Kindred alike in the post-apocalypse, and has decided this means “showing up randomly to help people out of tight spots before vanishing again.” Alice, upon seeing him, jokes that the cabdriver thing didn’t work out, huh?

D) I’d kind of like to make stimpacks developed from vampire or ghoul blood to explain just how it is they can heal crippled limbs so fast -- the wiki didn’t provide much of an answer there! Which means anyone who uses them is at least slightly a ghoul. . .which might explain a few things about carry weight and why some enemies are so tough. (Legendaries have more vitae in their system, prompting the power-up, maybe?)

So yeah -- that’s how I’d get Bloodlines and Fallout to work together, and thus have my Malkavian!Alice and Sole Survivor!Victor be a couple in the wasteland. Because why make a crossover simple when I could make it way more complicated than it needs to be? XD Look, I just like the mental images I have of them together -- and of Alice taking out a whole army of baddies by hitting them with Voice of Bedlam to throw them into absolute chaos.

[thevalicemultiverse]

Things You Need To Know About: Londerland Bloodlines

Tag: ~V: Londerland Bloodlines

Premise: What does one do when, after having been “strongly encouraged” to date the local upper-class girl, they’ve accidentally awakened a corpse bride-to-be, seen the Land of the Dead, saved the local upper class girl with the bride’s help after she was kidnapped by another potential date, set the bride on the path to finally moving on, and agreed to a break with the upper-class girl to give her time to recover? And one’s parents won’t shut up about it? Move to California, of course! Victor hoped Los Angeles would be a new beginning, but it nearly turned into a new ending when he was hit by a car three days in. But then, his own dark-haired, green-eyed angel entered his life – with sharp fangs and sweet blood he just can’t get enough of…

This AU is is a crossover between Corpse Bride, the Alice games, and the Old World of Darkness (and, quietly, Back To The Future). Specifically, it asks the question, "What if Alice ended up the Malkavian protagonist character of Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines, and Victor took the place of Heather Poe, the protagonist's potential ghoul?" In this more modernized (2004, to be precise) world, before the main action starts, Victor and Victoria are not arranged to be married -- instead, they're just being pushed toward each other by the very-enthusiastic Nell and the rather-more-reluctant Maudeline. Victor and Victoria, fortunately, actually like each other, and they're happy enough to go on dates and think about a future together.

They're less happy when, urged by Nell, Pastor Galswells shows up on one said date to extol the virtues of marriage. They're able to have a laugh about it -- but later, on a walk through the local woods, Victor finds himself wondering about a future with Victoria, and does a practice proposal with a plastic ring he got out of those "toy in a bubble" vending machines during the date, slipping it onto a convenient hand-shaped branch.

Convenient hand-shaped branch turns out to be an actual skeletal hand, and its owner -- a murdered bride named Emily -- promptly rises, believing Victor's proposal to be legitimate toward her. Victor tries to run, but Emily catches up and takes him to her home in the Land of the Dead. Victor, terrified, blurts out the whole thing was a joke -- and then, seeing the heartbroken look on Emily's face, clarifies that he didn't even know she was there. Emily's friend Bonejangles explains her history (killed by the man she intended to elope with for the money he told her to bring), and Victor, feeling awful, decides he has to do something for her in apology for getting her hopes up. Emily admits that it would be nice to just have a date Upstairs, if possible -- Victor explains about Victoria but says that if she's okay with it, he'd love to take her on a little moonlight picnic or something. Emily is cool with this plan, and after talking with Elder Gutknecht (the most powerfully magical dead person around), they go back to the Land of the Living so Victor can talk to Victoria.

But when Victor arrives at the Everglots, he finds the lord and lady in a tizzy and the police taking statements. Turns out Victoria has been kidnapped by the second date she had that day -- Maudeline pushed her to meet a "Lord Barkis" once she got home, and Victoria agreed just to get her off her back. Barkis promptly took her hostage and is demanding a ransom the rather-broke Everglots simply can't pay. Victor, horrified, brings this news back to Emily -- and Emily wonderingly admits that her old beau went by the name "Edward Barkis." Getting Elder Gutknecht's help in finding the missing Victoria, they discover that yep, it's the same guy, and that he fully intends to kill Victoria instead of releasing her once he gets his money. A furious Emily (backed up by Victor and a few of her dead friends) confronts him, and they manage to subdue him and get word to the police, sending him to prison and saving Victoria. Emily, feeling like the major anchor holding her to the living world has been released, decides to return Downstairs and have a farewell party or two before preparing to move on, and she and Victor fondly bid each other adieu.

Which is followed by Victoria admitting the whole kidnapping really shook her and she'd like a break from dating altogether. Victor is understanding, but his parents are less so -- and after the fiftieth complaint about how he let their best chance for social importance slip through his fingers, Victor snaps and decides he wants to put as much distance between them and him as possible. One ticket to Los Angeles, California later, he's ready to start a new life!

Three days in, he's hit by a car and rushed to a severely-understaffed clinic in Santa Monica. Victor, certain he's going to die, begs the first person he sees -- a mysterious green-eyed girl in a blue dress -- first for help, then for company as he passes. The girl instead cuts her wrist and makes him drink her blood. To Victor's intense surprise, he not only enjoys the experience, but when he wakes up later -- he's fine.

Fortunately, he's not left in the dark as to the reason for his mysterious cure for long -- a run-in with local bounty hunter Knox Harrington explains all: the mystery girl is Alice Liddell, she's a vampire (a Malkavian, to be specific), and her blood is what healed him, turning him into a ghoul. Victor promptly tracks down Alice, and the two end up living together in her downtown apartment while Alice runs errands for the longer-lived members of the local vampire population (being the newbie, and one who shouldn't have even been made to boot). Along the way, Victor reunites with Victoria, who also fled to California after her parents tried to push her into yet another unwanted relationship -- and with Emily during a raid on a family reunion of the Giovanni clan of vampires. The Giovanni specialize in necromancy, and Emily's spirit had been captured and restored to a kind of life as an advanced sort of zombie in one of their rituals -- along with Alice's murdered sister Lizzie. Both Victor and Alice are only too glad to welcome the pair into their home, and soon a sweet little quartet forms between Victor, Victoria, Emily, and Alice.

However, not all is well in the City of Angels -- Alice has made a lot of enemies in her time as a vampire, and as they start closing in, Victor and Emily are forced to flee L.A. for their own safety. Victoria and Lizzie follow shortly thereafter, having been narrowly rescued from abduction by the evil Sabbat vampires (Victoria, as you might imagine, is sour about being kidnapped TWICE in one year). The four end up settling in the little town of Hill Valley, waiting with bated breath to see if Alice will eventually join them.

She does, having very thoroughly told the L.A. vampires to fuck off. And so Victor settles into a very content future, with three women who love him dearly, an honorary older sister, and a steady supply of that amazing blood from Alice's veins.

This verse has two distinct time periods/locations threads can be set in:

Epic of the Ankaran Sarcophagus: Anything set during Victor's time in Los Angeles, post the car crash (aka the time period of Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines, which starts in October 2004 and probably runs through at least the end of the year). He's a little confused at how he keeps ending up in situations involving undead women, but he's happy playing a supporting role in Alice's various adventures. She saved his life, after all -- and he's come to like her quite a lot for her imagination and determination. Just, uh, don't ask him why he's twitchy sometimes. He's trying not to think about that addiction Alice refuses to feed.

Nice Place To Live: Anything post-V:TM-B, when Victor and company are living in Hill Valley (starting in 2005). Victor's happily settled back down into small-town life -- albeit the kind that includes being part of a romantic foursome with another ghoul, a zombie, and their vampire mistress. And with Alice having finally gone ahead and blood-bonded him, he's a lot more stable in his cravings. He's only too happy to chat with the neighbors now! (Though if you're visiting from L.A., expect to get some side-eye until he confirms you're not part of the Camarilla, anarchs, or Sabbat, come to ruin their day.)

Common NPCs:

Alice Liddell (throughout)

Victoria Everglot (throughout)

Emily Cartwell (throughout)

Lizzie Liddell (throughout)

Shipping: Another poly AU! It started out as just Valice, but the moment I decided Victoria was going to take the place of Samantha -- the NPC in Hollywood who recognizes the player character as a mortal friend -- and figured out a way to get Emily into the main story. . .well, things just fell into place. Victor’s feelings for Alice may be the strongest (thanks to her literally saving his life and being her ghoul, with all the benefits and drawbacks that entails), but he loves Victoria and Emily dearly too, and is all for romance with any of them.

NPC Ships: None

Important Facts:

NPC Alice’s backstory is similar to what she had in the games (Bumby stalked and raped her sister, burned down the house to cover his crimes, Alice escaped and was committed for ten years before entering his care and realizing the truth), only Bumby actively bribed someone in the forensics unit to keep from getting caught at the time and she didn’t suffer quite so badly in Rutledge (no leeches, for one thing). Her move to L.A. was prompted by shoving Bumby in front of the train -- while she was reasonably sure she’d get away with the murder, it still seemed prudent to put as much distance between her and England as possible.

NPC Alice’s sire was a seventh-generation Malkavian called Fish -- a narcissistic asshole who considered Alice’s attempts to leash her hallucinations and delusions a personal insult. He lured her to his apartment by pretending it was for lease -- Alice tried to fight him off when he first bit her, but he overpowered her. He seriously did not expect Lacroix to kill him for the deed. Alice does not hold his death against the Camarilla prince at all.

NPC Alice’s Malkavian madness is basically a permanently-on Londerland. As she’s used to handling these sorts of hallucinations by now, it’s possible anyone who didn’t know her clan might think her a Brujah until she starts having conversations with cats and rabbits that no one else can see. Following the rules of the video game, she has access to the Auspex, Obfuscate, and Dementation disciplines, along with general Blood Buff and Blood Heal. Alice finds inflicting more than hysterical laughter on people to generally be a little uncomfortable, but she loves Obfuscate.

NPC Lizzie became a ghost after her unfortunate demise, anchored to the mortal world by her fury at Bumby and her worry over her little sister. A Giovanni vampire heard about the poltergeist activity at the site of the old house, and managed to capture Lizzie and take her to the L.A. mansion, where she received a new physical body in a ritual to create a more durable kind of zombie. However, the ritual happened to leave her with her mind and free will, and when it became obvious she wasn’t going to play ball, she was locked in the cellar with Emily, the other failure of the day. The two became fast friends in their confinement, and made regular escape attempts -- up until Victor and Alice showed up and were able to rescue them. Lizzie wasn’t happy that her little sister was a vampire, but was thrilled to hear Bumby had died. She’s basically the honorary older sister of the entire group, and rather protective.

Actually, they’re all protective of each other, as is the norm. Victor in particular will take a baseball bat to anyone who threatens his girls (never mind that one of them is a vampire and probably better-suited for dealing with threats).

As a ghoul, Victor heals faster, is a bit stronger and quicker in general, and can amp up his strength, speed, and stamina even more using the vampire blood in his body (in game terms, I imagine him being able to use Blood Buff). He’s also addicted to vampire blood, and, being a Malkavian’s thrall, occasionally hears voices and has prophetic dreams. During Epic of the Ankaran Sarcophagus, he’s struggling with the fact that Alice, frightened of stripping him of all free will via the blood bond, is refusing to give him any more of hers. She occasionally lets him have elder blood from packs she picks up, figuring either those vampires are dead or at least unlikely to meet Victor, but he doesn’t find it as satisfying as hers. Talking to him about his status is likely to make him a bit twitchy. By Nice Place To Live, Alice has realized Victor knows what he’s getting into and wants it anyway, and has blood-bonded him on a weekly feeding schedule. He’ll happily rhapsodize about what a lucky ghoul he is in that time period.

NPC Victoria is also a ghoul bonded to Alice, at least by the time of Nice Place To Live -- she got hurt during the escape from the Sabbat, and Alice gave her some blood to heal her (with more of a warning this time). A combination of the Malkavian blood and being kidnapped twice in one year has made her somewhat paranoid of going anywhere outside alone, especially anywhere that might put her near strange men. Fortunately one of the others is pretty much always available to walk with her and calm her down should she panic.

While Back To The Future’s characters aren’t huge players in this verse, the quintet does know Doc Brown and his family -- largely because they’re renting Doc’s old garage apartment. (They’ve sub-divided it with screens and made a special sun cover for Alice’s bed.) So BTTF characters are more than welcome here!

Bloodlines characters are welcome too (obviously), but be forewarned -- Victor knows very few directly apart from Knox and Mercurio, his fellow ghouls; the rest he generally hears about through Alice. And, uh, Alice doesn’t like many of the L.A. vampires apart from Beckett and VV. There probably won’t be any overt hostilities unless the other person makes the first move, but expect lots of snark.

This verse is open to everyone!

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines -- Prophetic Nightmare, Take 2!

Hey everyone -- remember the fic snippet Prophetic Nightmare from my Londerland Bloodlines AU? I do because I was looking at it recently, thanks to being back into said AU because of the recent sequel announcement. And while I was looking at it, I thought, “I really ought to edit this now that I’ve changed the AU around so Bonejangles, aka Sam Thatcher, is part of the group after the Giovannni raid.”

So I did! What’s the point of being a writer if you can’t improve your old fics? So today I present to you the updated version of “Prophetic Nightmare,” where Victor has a pretty intense dream about the possible fate of his World of Darkness family. As per the first version of the fic, I’m going to warn for blood, gore, dismemberment, and eye trauma. I’m not lying when I say it’s fairly intense -- there is a LOT of horror in the beginning. Fortunately, it also keeps the trip to Victor’s happy place at the end if you need a breather after all the gore. Hope you like this new, “canon-compliant” version of the fic!

"I'm home, everyone! Who wants – hello?"

Victor shifted his grocery bags, peering between them into the apartment. To his surprise, the living room was empty, as was the attached kitchen. "Emily? Lizzie? Sam? Wasn't there anything good on TV?"

No response. Victor frowned. It wasn't like them to just vanish like this. . .had they gone out for some reason after he'd left? But he couldn't see a note anywhere. . .he glanced up toward the loft. "Alice? Are you up?"

Silence. Now thoroughly puzzled, he set the bags on the counter bar, then headed upstairs. The bedroom door was closed, and the little office nook was empty. Victor bent over the computer and wiggled the mouse. The screen came to life, showing the six of them lined up on the couch – Lizzie and Sam each perched atop an arm, and him, Emily, Victoria, and Alice crammed into the middle. He grinned as he took in Emily's enthusiastic wave to the camera, Victoria's shy, almost embarrassed smile, and Alice's sparkling eyes as she hooked her arm around his shoulders. Just knowing a single one of these lovely ladies was a privilege. And here he was, the boyfriend of all three. With an honorary older sister and brother in the bargain. And to think I once thought moving here was a mistake. I really am the luckiest man in the world.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just stand here and stare at his favorite ladies all night – he had a mystery to solve. He opened up the "LaCroix Foundation Secure Intranet" application. "15 e-mails – 3 unread" appeared under the title bar, in all their DOS-y green glory. So Alice, at least, had to be here – she never left the haven without reading her e-mails. Perhaps she hadn't yet risen? But the sun had been sinking below the horizon when he'd arrived back. . .surely she'd be up by now, driven to seek out her first drink of the night? Frowning, Victor put the computer back to sleep and went over to the bedroom door. "Alice?" he called, knocking. "Everything all right?"

Still nothing. Victor opened the door, now thoroughly concerned. "Alice?" he repeated, flicking on the light switch. "Al – ALICE!"

His hand clamped itself over his mouth, holding in a surge of horrified bile. The bedroom was painted in blood and gore, red dripping off the walls and body parts flung carelessly every which way. A leg, dangling over the edge of the bed. A hand, saluting him from the top of the dresser. An arm, lying right at his feet. . .and, sitting on the pillow, a very familiar head, watching him as he struggled to keep down his lunch. No. . .no no nonono –

Dark sister, not dark mistress!

Victor blinked, then forced himself to step over the arm for a closer look at the head. It gaped up at him, an expression of agonized horror on its beautiful features. But – the hair was a different shade of brown, with a fringe of bangs falling across the forehead. The lips were a trifle fuller than the ones he was used to kissing, the nose turned up slightly more. And the eyes were a clear blue instead of a bright green, the sky on a summer's day instead of the grass. The voice was right – not his dearest beloved. Yet someone almost as bad. "Oh no. . .Lizzie. . ."

Tears welled up in his eyes as his fingers traced the contours of her cheek. "Oh Lizzie. . .who did this to you?" he whispered. "I thought. . .didn't we get rid of all the local Giovanni? Who else would – would want this?" He sniffled, wiping his face with his sleeve. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. . .oh, Sam's going to be heartbroken. . .and Alice too. . ."

If they're still alive.

Victor's blood went icy. The whole apartment was silent as a tomb. And just because it wasn't Alice here didn't mean – he tore open the door to the master bathroom, hoping against hope there wasn't a similar scene inside.

There was – but again, it wasn't Alice's face that greeted him. Instead, Emily's broken and bloody visage stared up at him from under the toilet, the rest of her body scattered across the floor. Looking into those dulled blue eyes, seeing them stare sightlessly back at him – dead in a way she'd never been, even during her time in the Underworld – it was more than he could bear. He dropped to his knees, one hand tangled in her freshly-dyed locks, the other gathering up one of her discarded arms – the left, the one he'd first seen as a skeletal "branch" back in Burtonsville, the one that had accepted his ring and his hand and pulled him into this mad, wonderful world beyond human understanding – and cradling it to his chest, weeping openly. "No. . .no. . .Emily. . ."

SLAM!

Victor jumped, head whipping around toward the noise. What – was that the front door? Did I leave it open? I don't think I did. . .and I don't think it would close on its own either. Oh God, is Victoria here? No, I can't let her see this. . . Carefully setting Emily's abused parts on the floor, he hurried out onto the balcony. "Vi – VICTORIA!"

It was indeed Victoria downstairs – or, rather, what was left of her. His living love was lying on the floor of the apartment, skin even paler than his, throat torn open almost to her spine. Victor stumbled his way to the stairs –

And promptly tripped over Sam, flopped across the steps like a rag doll. His legs stuck out at odd angles, and the back of his head was caved in. One arm reached toward Victor in a pathetic postmortem plea for help. Victor turned away, pressing a hand against his heaving stomach. All gone. . .all of them, gone. . .he forced himself past Sam's still corpse, to where Victoria lay. Her bright blue eyes stared past him, full of fossilized terror. He collapsed next to her, sobbing. Why? he mentally screamed. Why? We made it past the Giovanni! We hid ourselves from the Prince! We were happy! We were – we – I – I had so little time with them. . .

Dark mistress still lives, the voice in his head whispered, tone urgent. You must find dark mistress!

Victor lifted his head, touching his chest. Yes. . .Alice still lived. He could still feel her in his veins – weak, faded, but – there. Not broken, not gone. He still wasn't entirely alone. Not yet. But where was she? There was no way she was responsible for this chaos, and no way she would have let it come to pass if she'd been at home. . .he scrambled upright, flinging himself at the front door and throwing it open so hard he broke it off its hinges.

An alleyway stretched out before him, longer than any he'd ever seen. He blinked, then groaned. Oh no. . .not now! he scolded the voice in his head. I thought I'd lucked out just hearing you!

Not me, the voice replied, sounding distinctly confused. Not my luck.

Victor blinked again, staring at the impossible concrete below him. What? But – but if it's not you, then why –

Dark mistress! the voice cried, and Victor snapped his head up to see a figure dressed in blue, long dark hair streaming out behind her, running down the other end of the alley. In pursuit of whoever had inflicted such carnage on those they loved? Fleeing same? Victor didn't know and didn't care. All that mattered was that she was there, she was alive –

and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He took off down the street, sorrow and confusion subsumed under a gush of rage. You took my loves, he hissed mentally at the invisible culprit behind the slaughter. You took my family. You took almost everything I had that made life worth living here. But you will not get her. You will not get the one I have left. I am going to find you, and I'm going to tear your heart out and feast on your sweet blood. I'm going to commit as close to diablerie as a human can! I am going to hunt you down and suck you – "Ooof!"

Something leapt on him from behind, dragging him to the pavement like a wolf taking down a deer. Victor fought against its grip, arms and legs flying, but its strength was ten times his, and it easily pinned him to the concrete. "Let me go!" he screamed, reaching toward the far-away figure of his beloved. "Alice! Alice!!"

But she was already gone, almost as if she'd never been. Moments later, so was the light. Panic gnawed at Victor's mind as the alley plunged into deep shadow, leaving naught but the vague suggestion of walls and floor. No. . .please no. . .I-I don't like the dark. . .

Claws caressed his face, a painful parody of Alice's hand against his cheek. "What a yummy little bloodbag," a voice rasped in his ear. "We might keep you a while." Fangs raked his neck, leaving stinging welts in their wake. Victor elbowed the creature, but it didn't even notice. "Let's make you a proper drink, why don't we?"

Victor had exactly one second to wonder what the hell that meant. Then suddenly his eyes were on fire as the claws dug into them, and the darkness deepened to an endless impenetrable void, and there was wetness on his cheeks but it wasn't tears and he couldn't see he couldn't see he couldn't see no no no no no no – "NOOOOOOO!"

He jerked bolt upright, eyes flying open – and thank God, they were there to open, he could see the little lamp glowing in the corner of Alice's bedroom, but his sockets still hurt his neck still hurt everything still hurt and he was afraid to move, afraid that if he got up and switched on the light he'd find himself staring at another disembodied head and no no no he couldn't go through that again once was enough –

"Victor?"

A hand touched his knee, and he looked down. Alice was peering up muzzily beside him, her expression sluggishly concerned. "What–"

"Victor!"

The door banged open, leaving him and Alice blinking as the light beyond intruded on their darkness. Moments later, it was shrouded again as Emily, Lizzie, Sam, and Victoria crowded the threshold, each trying to be the first get inside. "We heard a scream – what happened?" Emily asked, finally making it to the front.

"Are you both all right?" Victoria added, twisting her hands together.

"I think you woke the whole building with that cry," Lizzie said, glancing behind her.

"Yeah – Jesus, Victor, didn't know you could reach those high notes!" Sam agreed, scratching under his hat. "Seriously, you okay?"

Victor opened and closed his mouth, unable to do much more than stare. They were here. Everyone was here. Everyone was here, and whole, and alive, and – and – and –

The tears were pouring down his face before he even realized he was crying. He curled up on himself, pressing his face into his knees as he sobbed. He couldn't help it. He was so, so glad to see them all okay. . .but the images of Emily and Lizzie's torn-apart bodies, Sam's mutilated corpse, Victoria's violated throat, Alice's back vanishing into the black danced before his mind's eye, tormenting him with the possibility that it could all still be true. . .can't let it happen can't let it happen I can't lose them can't lose them. . . .

A cool arm wrapped itself around his shoulders. "Hey, hey, it's all right," Alice said, voice still a little foggy. "It's all right. We're all here. You just had a nightmare, okay? You're all right."

"Please don't cry, Victor," Emily added, settling down beside him with a squeak of the bedsprings. The others crowded around them, hands rubbing his back or stroking his hair or just laying comfortingly on his arm or leg. "Everything's okay. It was just a dream."

Just a dream. . .he managed a nod, sniffling and gulping down air. He knew that. Knew that the hell he'd just gone through was blessedly unreal. But the biting, gaping sorrow of seeing his friends – his family, his loves – torn apart before him, and the sheer, unadulterated terror of the monster in the dark clawing at his face held him tight, refusing to let him wiggle free. Just a dream, he told himself. Just a dream. . .but God, it felt so real. . .

"Victor." Suddenly Alice's voice was all command. "Look at me a moment."

Victor raised his head. His vision was cloudy with tears, but Alice's green gaze pierced him straight through, holding him still. "Is it all right if I – make you calm down a bit?"

Victor's brow furrowed. Make him. . .then he remembered Santa Monica, pain forgotten in a rush of sweet elixir, and an examination cubicle transforming into his childhood bedroom. "L-like in the clinic?" She nodded. "Y-yes, please." Anything to stop this agony.

Her hand cradled the back of his head. "You're in a safe place, Victor," she said, voice echoing across his skull and blocking out all other sound. "A place where you feel completely comfortable. A place that makes you happy, makes you calm. A place where nothing can hurt you. You're safe there, Victor. You can relax."

The world flashed purple – and just like that, the walls around him were gone, replaced by trees. Victor wiped his eyes and looked around. The six of them were now sitting on a mossy log in the middle of a forest, pines and oaks and birches stretching up to a bright blue sky. Beneath their feet was a layer of needles and old leaves, interspersed here and there with patches of stubby grass and little clumps of bluebells, growing in the dappled light that reached the ground. A stream gurgled away happily nearby, winding its way through the wood, and a robin sang a cheery song on some high branch. Victor sighed deeply, shoulders slumping as as the tension drained out of him. Yes. . .he was safe here. This place, this world – this was all his own. Not even the horrors of his own dreaming mind could reach him while he sat on this log. Especially not while surrounded by the people he loved. He cuddled into Alice, smiling. "Thanks."

She stroked his hair, smiling back. "My pleasure."

Sam looked between them with a puzzled frown. "Okay, guessin' that was one of your party tricks, Alice. . ."

"Is this the same power you used to make Augustus see centipedes all over him?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, though obviously Victor got something rather nicer," Alice said with a tiny smirk. "What are you seeing? I'm not actually privy to what's going on in your head when I use this."

"A forest," Victor told her. "Kind of like the one near Burtonsville, but less – gray." He glanced up at the sky. "It's daytime, but don't worry, we're sitting in the shade."

Alice snorted. "Good. I think me bursting into flames would be against the purpose of this little mental trip."

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Londerland Bloodlines/Tell Me Where To Find Shelter -- Layers of Alice

Okay, I said that I wanted to do this meme for Alice back when I did it for Victor, and I FINALLY completed it. Reason it took so long? Well, I did it for BOTH my Malkavian!Alice’s -- the standard one from “Londerland Bloodlines,” and the one that I felt the need to jam into “Tell Me Where To Find Shelter.” And it took me longer than I thought to nail down some of the favorites. . .

Anyway. Here’s the completed meme. Anything that applies to a specific version of Alice, I have designated with either LB Alice or TMWTFS Alice.

LAYER ONE: THE OUTSIDE

- Name: Alice Pleasance Liddell

- Eye Color: Green

- Hair Style/Color: Very dark brown, practically black – though it used to be a lot lighter. If Alice had a picture of herself as a child on hand, she could prove she used to be practically a redhead. She thinks age and so much time spent in an asylum is what caused it to darken the way it did. At any rate, it's about shoulder length, a bit shaggily-cut, and she tends to wear it loose, parted in the middle. If she needs it out of the way, she'll put it up in a ponytail.

- Height: Five feet, five inches

- Clothing style: For everyday wear, Alice tends to be very practical – simple, easily-cleaned tops; sturdy pants or skirts; and solid boots or a good pair of running sneakers. But she will confess that she's a sucker for a pretty dress (as anyone who could look inside her head when she's in Wonderland could attest to), and if given the chance will happily flounce around in a full skirt. Her go-tos tend to be in darker colors – blacks and browns don't show stains as well, after all. If she's dressing up, though, she'll go with something brighter, or at least work in some pops of color.

TMWTFS Alice, post-War, scavenges whatever jeans and shirts she can find, along with whatever armor might fit – she's can see how dangerous the Commonwealth is, and even if she's a lot harder to kill than your average settler, she wants to be prepared! She does take a couple of pretty dresses, though – and in my world, there's a Mistress of Mystery dress to go with the Silver Shroud costume that she grabs from Hubris comics. Victor finds it very – distracting.

- Best physical feature: Alice would say her eyes – people seem to find them pretty attractive, and she herself likes the shade of green they are.

LAYER TWO: THE INSIDE

- Fears: Fire (comes with just barely surviving a house fire); losing those she cares about (also because of the aforementioned fire); being mind-controlled (thank you, Bumby and LaCroix); losing control of her Beast (because it's the decapitation-happy Queen of Hearts in her head and that would be bad on a number of levels)

- Guilty pleasure: Drinking from humans – Alice tries to be pragmatic about it, and does her best to obtain some form of consent before she does it (unless it's a battle situation – you're trying to kill her, anything goes), but she can't help but feel bad sometimes that she enjoys sucking the blood out of people's necks. The fact that they enjoy it too mitigates it a bit, but. . .

- Biggest pet peeve: People making jokes about her name, or not believing she's actually named "Alice Liddell." TMWTFS Alice is actually somewhat relieved when it transpires the post-War world doesn't remember "Alice in Wonderland" well enough to make fun of her.

- Ambitions for the future: LB Alice just wants to keep up her peaceful existence in Hill Valley, protecting her loved ones and avoiding other vampires and vampire politics as much as possible.

TMWTFS Alice wants to help the Minutemen and the Railroad with their operations and continue adjusting to life after the nuclear apocalypse. Happily, she has a much easier time avoiding vampire politics, mostly because they don't exist anymore. (Kindred – did not do well after the nukes fell.)

LAYER THREE: THOUGHTS

- First thoughts waking up: Depends on the situation and how thirsty she is – if she's calm and sated, it'll be something along the lines of, "okay, nightfall – what's the most pressing activity I can think of?" If there's danger afoot, it'll be closer to "crap, okay, where's that sword of mine?" And if she's hungry, it'll be something like, "Closest source of blood is?"

- What they think about most: How best to keep herself existing, and keep the people she cares about safe. LB Alice of course has her little polycule, plus Lizzie and Bonejangles; TMWTFS Alice's main priority is Victor, but she likes most of his friends well enough to want to look out for them too. (I imagine she gets along well with Preston, Piper, and Nick in particular.) Keeping herself properly sated is also a common concern for her – it's not so bad for LB Alice, who has willing ghouls to donate, but TMWTFS Alice has to factor in the radiation levels of her prey. She's pretty sure she's immune, but she doesn't want it to turn into a "plaguebearer" situation. . .and if she isn't immune, well. . .

- What they think about before bed: LB Alice generally just reviews her day and tries to make a few plans for the next one, if she's not plopping into bed just before sunrise. TMWTFS Alice is typically looking for the safest place to go to bed – her "sunlight allergy" means she needs a well-protected shelter, and even after that's eventually taken care of, she wants to sleep somewhere relatively out of danger!

- What they think their best quality is: Her ability to survive whatever the world throws at her – I mean, no matter the verse, this girl's been through some shit. Yes, it takes her longer to recover from some things than others, but the world has yet to get her down permanently, and she intends to keep it that way.

LAYER FOUR: WHAT’S BETTER?

- Single or group dates: Alice would actually not mind going out as a group as a first date – while she's not really a fan of crowds, she'd feel safer with more people around in case her date turned out to be an asshole. Once a connection is made and she's comfortable, she'd prefer single dates, so they don't have to worry about anyone but each other.

- To be loved or respected: Alice would choose respected, especially with her memories of being a fledgling in LA! She does not like people talking down to her or ordering her about.

- Beauty or brains: Brains – Alice can enjoy a pretty face on an aesthetic level, but in a partner, she wants someone she can talk to. Being gray-ace probably has a bit to do with that.

- Dogs or cats: Cats, definitely. She grew up with cats, she befriended a cat in the asylum, she followed a cat the day she plunged back in Wonderland and started discovering just what it was Bumby was up to. . .cats all the way. Of course, finding cats that like her back can be tricky when you're a vampire who gives off an "unnatural" vibe animals tend to pick up on. . .but I like to think both Malkavian!Alices eventually find a pet. In TMWTFS Alice's case, Victor likely traps one for her, and luckily its one not bothered by her Kindred nature. :)

LAYER FIVE: DO THEY?

- Lie: Definitely. Usually to protect herself or her loved ones. And as long as the Masquerade has to be upheld, she's always lying at least a little bit to the average person on the street. (TMWTFS Alice is relieved when that particular lie can be dropped!)

- Believe in themselves: It's a bit of a "fake it until you make it" situation with Alice – she does her best to believe in herself and her abilities, but she still struggles sometimes with self-loathing and survivor's guilt and all that fun stuff.

- Believe in love: Believe it exists? Sure – her parents had a very happy marriage while they were alive. Believe she can find it? Not until she realizes she's falling for Victor – which means LB Alice believes in it for herself a lot sooner than TMWTFS Alice!

- Want someone: LB Alice, though she gets Lizzie back, would still like to have her parents returned to her. Her sister is awesome, but she's still only one part of the family Alice lost. She also wants Victor after getting to know him more, and feels guilty as hell about it for a long while because of the whole "accidental ghouling and blood-blonding" thing. And then Victoria and Emily enter the picture, and things get even more confusing. . .at least with those three, she gets everyone she wants!

TMWTFS Alice wants her whole family back – going more canon for her Bloodlines adventures means she doesn't even get Lizzie, poor thing. :( She knows it's basically impossible, but she does still miss them. And, again, she ends up wanting Victor after getting to know him. Fortunately, she gets him.

LAYER SIX: EVER?

- Been on stage: Never in a professional capacity – just in the "nearly executed in front of an audience of vampires after her illegal Embrace" one. Oh, and being an extra in a school play once.

- Done chems/drugs: Never willingly – she was subjected to a few "experimental medications" while in Rutledge to help her catatonic state, none of which worked (though fortunately none of which left truly permanent damage either). And if she's not careful about who she feeds on, she can get a high from whatever's in their blood. Alice tries her best not to feed from anyone drunk or high, but she has gotten a bit tipsy from sipping on revelers early on in their revels. TMWTFS Alice drinks from one raider on Psycho once and basically goes Ragebox mode for a while – it takes months before she's willing to bite another raider in a fight.

- Changed who you were to fit in: Not really, unless trying to suppress her Wonderland hallucinations for a while after getting out of Rutledge counts. But that was firstly, a mental health issue, and secondly, in the bad old Bumby days, so she's not sure how much it counts. She was also politer to LaCroix at first than she really wanted to be, but that was out of fear of his Dominate discipline – and that facade smashed to pieces after the Grout Mansion Incident. These days (whenever they are), she's just herself, and everyone else has to deal.

LAYER SEVEN: FAVORITES

- Favorite color: Blue and red

- Favorite animal: Cats, butterflies

- Favorite movie: Both versions of Alice actually have rather fond memories of Negative Zero, which they saw after helping Ash Rivers (figuring they ought to take a look at his work). It's a rather dumb and cheesy action movie, but Ash's performance was good, and they can think of much worse ways to spend a couple of hours. Also, for some reason, my brain has decided Alice likes Ghostbusters, or whatever the local universe equivalent is thereof. This is probably just because I'm fond of the movies myself (yes, the 80s originals AND the 2016 reboot) – I guess an actiony-horror-comedy appeals to her?

- Favorite game: Okay, I'm not sure what of the parody games in Bloodlines would appeal to LB Alice, but I do have a persistent headcanon that, if Sims 2 exists in that world, she and the family end up getting it once they're out of Los Angeles, and really enjoy it. Alice probably recreates herself and her family as humans so they can have a happy life together (after getting some sort of polyamory mod).

As for TMWTFS Alice, of the available games in Fallout 4, I think she'd enjoy the challenge of Pipfall – seeing if she can beat her best time and whatnot. She might like the Automatron holotape as well, trying to beat every wave of enemies as fast as she can.

LAYER EIGHT: AGE

- DOB: May 4th, 1984 (she was 20 when Embraced)

- Day of their next birthday, they will be: LB Alice would have been 21, though now being an undead creature of the night, that doesn't mean a lot.

TMWTFS Alice on the other hand. . .20 years old when Embraced in 2004. She would have been technically 93 when 2077 rolled around – and 303 when finally unstaked in 2087. Her next birthday would be May 4th, 2088, so that would make her 304. Probably one of, if not the, oldest in the Commonwealth!

- Age they lost their virginity: Never – Alice is gray-asexual and never wanted to have sex with anyone before getting turned, and doesn't want to have sex with anyone now. Being a vampire, she prioritizes the Kiss anyway.

- Does age matter: Yes, in the sense that, after Bumby, she is going to slaughter anyone going after a minor. Between two consenting adults? She might be concerned if there's a particularly large age gap, but as long as everyone is happy and there's nothing illegal going on. . . TMWTFS Alice happily admits this question gets a bit muddied with her and Victor's situation too (she was Embraced at 20, he was frozen at 27 – but she was born in 1984, and he was born in 2050. . .).

LAYER NINE: IN A BOY OR GIRL

- Best personality: Alice likes kind, gentle people who don't mind getting their hands dirty and who don't want to order her around. Bonus points for a good sense of humor or being able to give as good as they get when it comes to her sarcasm. It's kindness that really gets her attention, though – part of the reason she's attracted to Victor is just because he's nice to her. She hasn't gotten nice a lot in her life, especially not from men.

- Best eye color: Alice wouldn't say she has a preference, but she does like Victor's eyes – it intrigues her to see a brown so dark!

- Best hair color: Again, Alice doesn't really have a preference. Heck, she might joke that having one would be hypocritical, given how her own hair proved so changeable.

- Best thing to do with a partner: Something they're both good at and can enjoy – Alice would like a quiet night reading as much as a spar, as long as her partner was having as much fun as she was. She also likes board and card games – she and Victor probably play their fair amount of chess!

LAYER TEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE

- I love: Victor, and I will not let anyone take him from me.

- I feel: rather more confused than I would like, most of the time.

- I hide: how scared I am by some of what's happened.

- I miss: being a proper human.

- I wish: that my loved ones and I could just have a normal life together.