Erica Vivian Ingles-Lloyd

[Erica Vivian Ingles-Lloyd]

Erica Vivian Ingles-Lloyd

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME: Erica Vivian Ingles-Lloyd
AGE: Thirty-two
RACE: Witch (mimicry channeler)
GENDER: Female
ALLIANCE: Our Lady of the Water (OLW)
OCCUPATION: Deputy Headmistress of Our Lady of the Water witch coven and school
FACE CLAIM: Olivia Wilde
ORIENTATION: Heterosexual
RELATIONSHIPS:

*Victoire Grace Lloyd, ancestor, deceased, witch
*Derek Hannah Ingles, ancestor, deceased, human
*Jason Victor Ingles-Lloyd, father, 70, undeveloped warlock
*Rachel Vera Ingles-Lloyd, mother, 62, human
*Angus Vincent Ingles-Lloyd, brother, 36, undeveloped druid
*Theodore Vance Ingles-Lloyd, brother, 34, human carrier
*Sebastian Vernor Ingles-Lloyd, brother, 33, human
*Greta Violet Ingles-Lloyd, aunt, 78, witch (channeler)

WITCH POWER: channeler, mimicry subspecialty

Erica doesn't have her own special power. Instead, her ability allows her to "copy" others', essentially absorbing the magic of those around her. For example, if there's a pyrokinetic around she can draw their power from them and become, for a short period, a pyrokinetic as well (but no, the original pyrokinetic will not lose his power). For her to be able to actually "take" a power from anyone there has to be a gifted person within distance for her to do so; that is to say, approximately within a fifteen-foot radius. That's not exactly very far, but there are plenty of people in New Orleans that provide her with a healthy range of powers to pick from.

Speaking of which, she can't manifest multiple powers within her. She is stuck with whatever power she first picked until it fades away, in about two hours, give or take a couple minutes. During the time that she has someone else's power within her she can't discard it and pick another, she is trapped with that ability until it leaves her body. In other words, she can't use her own power more than once every two hours.

Whatever powers she takes she can only make the most basic use of; there isn't enough time for her to try and master the ability. That being said sometimes when she inherits a new ability it acts sporadically at first, and she has to take a couple minutes to get used to it. With her strength however, it's not hard to get a power under control, although she certainly won't come close to learning anything past the basics.

Her ability acts as almost a sixth sense, allowing her to "see" what powers are around her and allowing her to pick from her choices. In this sense she also can tell who is a witch and who isn't. Telepathic and empathetic people, depending on what they can do, may have the ability to block her if they so choose, but she has almost total ability to take whatever other powers are available. Her favorite so far is invisibility, as it allows her to travel around campus unseen and spy on students, especially the sketchier ones who are out-of-bounds.

PERSONALITY

Devoted | Callous | Imperious

You know those people who seem destined to lead and always tend to take charge of whatever they're a part of? Erica is one such person. She enjoys her position of power over the rowdy OLW kids and rules with an iron fist. She is very comfortable with her current role as deputy headmistress; this means that she can have a considerable amount of control while not carrying as much weight of the academy as the headmaster. She can even push for her own agendas and if they fail it won't reflect back onto her; the one who will be ridiculed in public will be the headmaster.

That being said, Erica has a tendency to be extremely manipulative. She is a vain and selfish woman, proud of her name and everything else that is her. She has a very high amount of self-esteem and whenever she walks around she appears to radiate authority. She is a no-holds-barred, frank woman who strives to make mistakes no more than once. She prefers to deal with problems that arise in the harshest way possible, so that everyone knows not to piss her off again. Once her decision is made, it is often final, but she does go with what is logical-- above all, she needs people to obey her. Erica knows that she can't dole out barbaric punishments twenty-four-seven if she wants her students to respect her.

A callous, crisp person, Erica addresses people in a cold, high tone that both implies that she is above them and that she expects the best from them at every moment. She is extremely critical and anal; everything has to be done perfectly with finesse and grace. If you are to commit to something, she says, you better give it your all. It's better to focus on one thing and do it right rather than spread yourself thin and end up half-assing everything.

But Erica is also not a heartless monster. She is human, and all humans must have some kind of understanding with others in order to keep surviving in society. Growing up, Erica has always been proud of whatever she's a part of; it's what her family implemented in her. Whole-hearted, endless, unquestionable devotion to anything you belong to (though she herself is guilty of violating that belief). She loves her coven and the supernatural community as much as herself. It is shown in her actions, in how far she's willing to go to protect the face of the school and her students and colleagues-- if murder is necessary, then so be it, as long as it's done cleanly and can be covered up and not traced back to her. At times, though, it is a selfish thing; OWL is a part of Erica, and because she loves herself she ends up loving OWL; it is not because she likes the coven for the coven. But over time she has also come to appreciate the loyalty and support of her fellow sister witches, as well as the students. Her heart swells at the sight of the influx of students into her school. She loves the notion of a united front. OWL is her army and her family and she wouldn't trade it for the world.

Erica has some favorites. There are a select few students whom she likes more than the rest; for those she will do almost anything for, though she is actually unconscious of this; she just likes them because she likes some part of them, and she thinks because of this special light within them they can go far (she likes people with potential); again, Erica likes to be proud, and there are times when she acts like these students are her trophies, her projects, instead of actual people. Other times she is shown to exhibit real compassion towards them, such as coming to their defense during an accident or helping them out when they're going through rough times. Her way of showing kindness towards people is often mistaken as being critical; she does not have a drop of maternity within her, and will appear to be more strict with those she wants to help, instead of being outwardly nice. She will snap at them and whip them around with her words and eventually, without knowing it, they will find themselves on their feet again.

There is an even smaller group of individuals within this batch of darlings whom she will do things for without expectation of repayment; these people are people she truly, wholly loves, the people that she will let live with her and actually listen and consider their opinion. She actually admires strong-willed, clever people who continually challenge her authority and question her decisions. To her these people are the survivors, the paragon of humans. Erica views these girls as her unofficial equals and often gives them more leeway than the rest. If they need a place to stay, her house is always open to them. These people come by rarely, and for them she is even willing to risk her reputation to save them; for all others, she will often chose herself over others. Loyal as she is, she still takes responsibility for herself first.

Lastly, though Erica herself likes to command others she demands (through commanding) that others treat all people equally. Erica judges people purely on their character. Race, gender, sexuality is all bullshit. How are those things even important? What matters is what the person can do, and how she or he does it. Erica strongly discriminates racism and sexism and bigotry and xenophobia. OWL is a school for all witches and if you don't like that then you're more than welcome to leave.

HISTORY

First, to break the fourth wall: the founding of the NOLA Ingles-Lloyd family began with Derek Ingles, a male human, and Victoire Lloyd, a female witch. In an attempt to live a normal life, Victoire denied her witch heritage and did not teach any of her children that may have inherited the magical gene about their possible powers; thus, for many generations, witches, warlocks, and druids in the Ingles-Lloyd family did not fully manifest. It was only until in 1955 when Greta Ingles-Lloyd left the family did she find out about her gift, and revived the practice of witchcraft. 

After Rachel had successfully birthed three beautiful sons, the Ingles-Lloyds were not expecting another child. And they were definitely not expecting a girl.

The Ingles-Lloyd family remain one of the oldest families in the history of New Orleans, and they are extremely proud of this. And, up until Erica's adulthood, had extremely outdated views about men's and women's roles in society. 

The Ingles-Lloyd family were not rich-- six people living on $100,000 is only about $17,000 per person, excluding all the other expenses they have to pay for. Their pride was perhaps the one thing they clung onto, the one piece of themselves they cherished. The Ingles-Lloyd name had long faded into obscurity, but they still liked to think of themselves as the big-shots, special people who were above the rest because their lineage extended way back to the founding of the city. From the beginning, even though Erica was largely discriminated against because of her gender, she was taught to be proud and thankful of who she was. "You were born with every sin imaginable," Jason had once snapped at her. "It was like God was punishing us. For what, we don't know. But we did what we could and we saved you. So you better be goddamn fuckin' thankful." People in the family had various reasons to resent her-- that she'd been born a girl, or that she had been an accident (many of her relatives did not hesitate to remind her of how strongly they'd advocated for an abortion, but the procedure had been too expensive to go through), or-- perhaps most of all-- that she was just weird. No one could explain that last bit, but everyone could sense that Erica was somehow different from the rest of them. She acted as if she knew things they didn't, things that didn't exist. And Erica denied such knowledge, because what did she know about herself? 

For a while the family's misogynist, conservative ways got into Erica's head. She obeyed her parents, followed Rachel around learning the ways of the housewife and picking up beauty tips that, according to everyone, would be the most important things in her life. It would help her be successful, by landing her a husband. She soon became the family doll, more of a tool than a child, and was kept on a strict diet at an early age to maintain her figure. Everyone became extremely protective of her, because she had become the jewel and the key to the family's way out; Jason and Rachel hoped to marry her off to a richer family and pawn off some money and other benefits from their future in-laws.

And then Aunt Greta came, her attitude and eccentric lifestyle hitting the family as violently as a hurricane. After she'd left her job as a lawyer at a firm she hated, she needed a place to stay. Not wanting to look bad in front of their friends and peers, the family grudgingly look her in, though they didn't treat her with too much respect. Nevertheless Greta settled in comfortably, annoying everyone with her loud, brash comments about their antiquated lifestyle and "backwards views."

Erica, however, felt drawn towards her aunt. Here was another woman who had been beaten down and weathered by the family. She could see the shitty times Greta braved through, judging by the hard, determined look on her face and the set line of her jaws each time she faced off against her brother Jason. She was a warrior and Erica admired her strength. Eventually she got the courage to approach Greta and talk to her and ask her about her life. She was intrigued by Greta's ability to survive after the entire ordeal she must've gone through. Erica wasn't even ten yet and she was already feeling the toll of her family's regressive and oppressive beliefs.

Greta sat Erica down and told her about how she'd been just like her, expected to become a housewife to a nice husband, as was typical for women in the family. Instead she'd ran away to Harvard to study law, to the disgust of her family, and in grad school had gotten pregnant and eventually gave birth to her son Steve. She married the man who'd gotten her pregnant (a poor nobody, another thing the family despised) but somewhere along the years he died of cancer. So she raised Steve by herself-- all the better, she said, because he turned out to be like her. Like the two of them. Did Erica know she was a witch?  

A witch. What? So Greta laughed and told her, told her that she always knew Erica was one and that she was destined to be a great one. Which was why she'd temporarily quit law to extract Erica from their horrible family. 

All this Erica took in with wonder. The rest of the family had stopped talking to Greta, and despite their hate she still lived an excellent life, and raised a son to a good man. She was confident with who she was. Greta in turn saw how miserable young Erica was, and made it her personal mission to ensure that Erica reached success-- true success. She taught Erica all the things her family refused to teach her and would give her candy when parents' back was turned. When Erica turned ten Greta snuck her out for her first taste of ice cream. But it wasn't like Greta was soft on her niece; no, she was a strict mentor and she taught by the figurative whip. She set the bar high for Erica and forced her to reach higher and higher. 

By her early adolescent years Erica had already grown into a confident and clever young woman. When Greta announced her moving out of Jason's home, Erica went with her; no one dared to complain. At the age of twelve she attended Our Lady of the Water, and, by Greta's encouragement, focused hard on her witch training. "If you want to get out, kick your family in their pathetic asses, you'd better ace school," she'd warned. Erica took her words to heart and she shone in academics and sports and power training. She fell into herself, her destiny, and came to cherish the coven and her sister witches. Back at home Greta was her protector, the one who constantly worked to prevent Jason and Rachel from intervening and pulling Erica out of school. They were furious at her for intruding on their family matters, but Greta was an unstoppable influence. For a long time she held off actually finding a job just to help Erica. Despite the fact that she herself was giving up a lot for someone else, Greta stressed the fact that Erica had to put herself first if she wanted to win. During what Greta called Erica's "campaign" for success no one was more important than Erica herself. Use people if you needed to, she'd say, but never forget to repay them. Show your affection through loyalty or other actions. Put yourself out there. Establish yourself as an important person. You are a witch. You can do anything.

Erica quickly learned exactly how hard and firm she had to become in order to truly fight and emerge victorious against her family. Her parents constantly called Our Lady of the Water (to them, a private school that was far too liberal with what it was teaching girls) to try to get them to kick Erica out for one petty reason or another. They would show up unexpectedly at her door and the shouting matches between them could be heard across campus. Occasionally one of her brothers would come and plead for her to give up, to turn herself in, to just stop this feud. But again and again she refused, slammed the doors in their faces and suppressed the tears and the guilt, and with time the feelings hardened like amber into a thick, hard, impenetrable shell. Even though part of her always wanted approval from her family-- she's proud of her heritage, after all-- she learned to love and prioritize herself, always. For her to succeed she needed to believe and trust in herself first. She may be selfish and she may be conceited, but she's been butchered and bullied too much in her childhood for her to not become a bitch.

Eventually Greta left, deeming Erica okay on her own. She barely came forward to help when Erica was in school, instead offering her support through the battles at home and texts and late night phone calls, but Erica was growing and Greta knew that she needed to start figuring this stuff out on her own. She needed to learn to know what to say and what to do. Learn by experience. Greta refused to hold her hand, and besides, she had her own life. Steve was getting married, had gotten a job and a nice house. And so gradually her aunt faded out of Erica's life, and then she was alone. 

Well, not exactly. She had an excellent group of supportive coven sisters and by now she had become a seasoned witch herself. She worked while in school, paying for her own tuition, and after she completed her coming-of-age ceremony she continued to work at Our Lady of the Water, eventually becoming a teacher there. She had come to love the place, had come to think of the Manor as her true home. Her heart lay with her gifted kin.

Things began to flow smoothly then. She cut ties with her family, completely stopped talking to them, felt a lot better, and began to carve out her own life. Immensely proud of who she was, and how far she'd gone, Erica became a force to be reckoned with. Her excellent grades at the coven had not gone unnoticed, and she ascended from a position as teacher to full professor. Eventually she worked her way up (with some manipulating, but she's not ashamed to admit that because her life has always involved having to play people and impress them, just as Greta had taught her) to the position she is now: deputy headmistress. It is a job she wholeheartedly enjoys. Who cared what anyone else thought of her? Especially the rest of her pathetic, mortal family. 

And then something miraculous happened. Jason was sitting in front of her door one day, as she came home from work. They hadn't spoken in about ten years. Erica knew nothing of what happened in her family, but Jason stood up as his daughter approached him with the wariness and aggressiveness of a defensive lion. But she could tell from the expression on his face that he had not come for a fight.

"Father," she'd greeted, coolly, calmly. "What are you doing here?"

For a moment Jason was rendered speechless at her toughness, her attitude, and the imperious tone she was using. But he cleared his throat, and began to voice how shocked he was by her. He'd kept careful track of his children throughout their lives, and he'd watched her bloom in her adolescent years and soar as an adult. His heart had grown as he realized how powerful his daughter had become. She had a real reason to be proud. All the years he'd been boasting about his family name-- that was bullshit. No one knew who the Ingles-Lloyds were anymore. No one cared how old the lineage was. There was nothing he'd done that he could be pleased about. Erica had worked so hard, grown so much. She was a storm, a tornado. He had not believed she would go far, let alone as far as she'd gone. She had completely changed his perspective.

He didn't apologize. He could not apologize. Sure, with his new views and insight he knew he wouldn't have repeated his abusiveness if given a second chance. But there was nothing that he could say that would excuse his behavior, and both of them knew it. Still, that day was perhaps the first day since Erica had been on her own that she'd cried. She broke down in tears and in that moment they were just father and daughter, finally united. Jason had held Erica tightly and Erica had held Jason tightly and they didn't speak for a long time.

To the outside eye, the times afterwards may have seemed kind of awkward at first, small steps of improvement in the relationship between Erica and her family. But the air and the power between Erica and her father had changed dramatically. Respect now flowed mutually, perhaps a little more towards Erica. The following year she received a card (she had smiled at the fact that Jason still liked to send out formal invitations) for a family reunion. People were surprised when she showed up, but Jason clapped a hand to her back, guided her into the house, and asserted that she be acknowledged as part of the family. As more years passed, everyone began to talk to her again, some visibly more admiring of her than others. And unsympathetic, bitter, and stony as she was, Erica forgave them. You could say it was partly out of selfishness, for her need to feel better by letting past squabbles go. Or you could say that that moment had been one of her rare displays of tenderness. While neither of those factors are false, but the main reason was simply that Erica was tired of fighting against her family.

Today things are back to normal, and she has even found herself a little family. Erica cannot be more satisfied with herself. But just because she is back on speaking terms with her family does not mean that she has softened. She is still the powerful deputy headmistress, the fearless tiger. She had given up everything to be where she is now, and she has no intentions of throwing it all away.

PLAYER INFORMATION

PLAYER ALIAS: Lionhearted
PLAYER AGE: 20
PLAYER PRONOUNS: she series
OTHER CHARACTERS: Lucille 

RAZZ ♦ ADOXOGRAPHY

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