#melpomeneprose

[songandflame]

I only take a half share in the civil war; I am willing to die, I am not willing to kill.

(Or: you bastard <- derogatory, where did you disappear off to? 🧐)

(Félix Tholomyès ~ melpomeneprose to Fantine)

@meerawrites / @melpomeneprose (thank you!)

His statement harkened back to the days of their courtship; of grandiose prose and hours of senseless poetry. Where there was once... admiration, Fantine instead felt a steadily rising anger.

It had ignited that day he'd left her, his words equally as meaningless. Where he had given it no further thought, Fantine watched her life begin crumbling around her. How many letters had he written since? How many other Cosettes had there been? Fantine knew his ilk; he may be married, but men like him were never faithful. Fantine learned such between their legs, their wedding bands always seemingly cutting into her skin.

"You're a coward, Félix," she stated plainly. Metaphorically cutting him down from his high horse. "You would die for nothing because you value nothing." She could forgive him for not valuing her, for whatever it was they shared, but she could never forgive him for doing the same to Cosette— his child who had not asked to be born.

"You kill carelessly. Our child nearly paid with her life because of your callous apathy." Fantine hadn't acknowledged that before. True, the Thénardiers claims of sickness has just been a ploy to rinse Fantine of money, but the very real possibility was there. If Fantine hadn't paid, then Cosette would have been cast out. She would have succumbed to the cold and the elements. She would have starved, and all while wondering why her mother had not returned.

The reality of it all set Fantine on edge. The anger she felt reignited with passion, Fantine's teeth clenching painfully together. "You made us collateral in a war between yourself and your parents. I will never, ever forgive you, Tholomyès." He wasn't worth being called by his first name. They were no longer friends, let alone lovers. "Do you understand?"

[honorhearted]

@melpomeneprose liked for a short starter!

Benjamin's head ached and the taste of iron filled his mouth, his lashes fluttering once a boot pressed down painfully onto his injured shoulder. "You might as well k.ill me," he said, his voice a low rasp. "Everything I know, I'll take with me to the g.rave."

[quaintnecromancer]

Closed Starter for @melpomeneprose | Marquess Renee de Sade

As confident as Jett had grown in his abilities over the years, he hadn’t actually expected the ritual to work. Certainly not on the first try! It was an ancient rite he’d found in the grimoire of a Gaulish mage who had largely been described to him as a madman by the online seller. Given the oddly well-preserved nature of the journal, the young witch had initially been skeptical of its authenticity, but the more he read, aided by a translation spell and a few other texts to give much needed context, the more intrigued he became.

He had to test it.

He just had to.

In choosing whom to attempt to pull from the bowels of Purgatory, he took little care other than making sure that they were at least somewhat interesting. Language barriers could easily be crossed, so that wasn’t much of a factor. Protective wards were of greater concern to him, as he had no way of assuring that whomever he summoned would not be violent or otherwise volatile. No sense in setting the living dead loose on his sleepy North Carolina town, after all. The wards and ritual circle combined took a little over an hour to set up, and required the entire basement of his cabin. Candles lit. Runes drawn on the wooden floor with a mix of chalk and pig’s blood (sourced responsibly from a local butcher). The small windows near the ceiling opened to allow both the cool breeze and the light of the full moon to permeate the room. A smaller circle in the very center, drawn with grave dirt and surrounding a bucket of well water. And a long incantation that Jett stumbled over a few times but managed to recite entirely, finishing by loudly and clearly calling the name of the one he wished to summon.

“Marquess Renée de Sade!”

A deafening silence overtook the room, and for a moment, Jett wondered what he had done wrong, convinced that this attempt at the resurrection ritual was a bust. He should have known. Without a body for the soul to inhabit, how could one hope to raise the dead? In the next moment, however, chaos erupted. Blinding light flashed in the center of the room, followed almost immediately by a crack of thunder so loud that it shook the house, knocking Jett off his feet. Disoriented and with ears ringing, the necromancer tried to get his bearings. Easier said than done. Minutes felt like hours. Pain radiated through his skull, and blood dripped from his nose. Magic always had a cost, after all, and death magic had an especially steep price. He couldn’t get up. Couldn’t hardly move. All he could do was wait in agony while his body worked to right itself.

When the dust settled, however, and the stars had mostly vanished from his vision, he was in for quite the shock. There she was, staring down at him. He stared back up at the newly restored Marquess, his slack jaw slowly working itself into a bewildered but victorious grin. “Holy fuckin’ shit,” he drawled, still trying to catch his breath. “It worked! It actually worked!” An exhausted laugh escaped him then, relief flooding through his prone form.

[orchestrahearts]

🎄 | @melpomeneprose hit the heart for a holiday starter

“It’s so cold,” Galinda complained, shivering slightly. “It looks beautiful with all the green and gold decorations but why must it be so cold?”

With all the Lurlinemas decorations out, Galinda had decided it would be good to take a stroll outside with Elphaba and Nessa. She’d worn her best jacket and hat but it seemed it wasn’t enough. She wondered if her companions felt the same. There had been a cold front at Shiz, and while Galinda enjoyed looking at all the buildings covered in snow, she was never one who much enjoyed cold.

[avinkusprince]

@melpomeneprose // starter call.

"Who is Dr. Dillamond?" The question emerges in a rare moment, alone with Elphaba. Their circle is the same, and all his friends at Shiz were her friends first, but somehow it can never be just the two of them, without those friends. Maybe its the class timetables, or maybe it's chance. Or maybe it is the powers that be, in their wisdom, keeping the young married man away from a woman whom he finds terribly, awfully fascinating. (He never thinks of acting on the interest, of course. Out of sensibility or cowardice, who can say?) But those powers fumble today, leaving Fiyero and Elphaba the last two of their picnicking party on the grassy bank of the canal, and so he asks it, knowing it may be too bold. "Crope mentions him sparingly, but shuts up when I ask who that is. I asked Boq and he was just as skittish. So... I'm asking you, since I know you don't mind being a little shocking, and I figure that you'll tell me the truth. So who is he, and why the taboo?"

[curseconsumed]

'This isn't you.'

from here.

( From: Benjamin Tallmadge to Clara / melpomeneprose )

"What isn't me?" Clara asked, her chin stiff with annoyance. "With all due respect, Mr. Bolton, you seem under the impression that womenfolk are forthright in our mannerisms -- that we haven't developed a universal need to conceal our true desires, for fear of losing inheritance and marriage proposals." Her lips curled into a simper. "Not that I'm overly concerned, of course. I'm not so sure I want to be tied to the same clotpole day in and day out. "

Irritably, she flicked open her fan, cooling herself amidst the back gardens. "Even so, I find it puzzling how after only a fortnight of acquaintance, you seem to think you know precisely how I would or should behave." Clara sneered, her green eyes glittering. "In my experience, a man only presumes so much once he's gotten inside my mutton. What's your excuse, hmm? What makes you believe you know me?"

In truth, Clara was perplexed by John's behavior. There had been a man h.anged earlier in C.hatham S.quare -- a beastly r.ebel, at that -- so she couldn't even begin to understand why Mr. Bolton seemed so displeased with her attendance.

"It was a h.anging, not a scandal," she coolly said, deciding to cut off any further speculation. "The man committed t.reason against the Crown. You've claimed to be a staunch l.oyalist, sir, so speak true: are you so green that you'll recoil at the sight of necessary bloodshed?"

[betterto-die-thanto-crawl]

❝ The c.ops? They're the dirtiest f.uckers. ❞

From here.

(from Eponine to Enj: melpomeneprose)

Enjolras winced, clutching at the cut to his side, but nodded heavily. "They surely seem like they are." He groaned. "Our rally was peaceful until they showed up, but that's usually how it is." He grimaced as he moved to sit down before looking up at the girl with a pained frown. "I don't think I know your name, but I know I'm in your debt." He made to extend his right hand to her to shake only to realize it was streaked with blood. He shakily pressed it back against his wound before awkwardly extending his left hand.

@melpomeneprose

[honorhearted]

[ FESTIVAL ] ~ from Lola / melpomeneprose

H.oliday m.eme

It was odd being out and about, doing mundane, everyday things as if there weren't a care in the world. Benjamin wasn't delusional enough to believe as such -- not yet -- but with a fresh layer of snow on the ground, and several children scurrying about with vibrant, gleeful giggles, he almost felt like his old self again.

That afternoon, Y.ork City was having its annual winter c.arnival. He almost hadn't bothered attending, but once Caleb revealed how their mutual friend, Lola, had been speaking about it all week, Benjamin decided to surprise her with an invitation.

At present, the streets were dotted with food stands, tents with c.lairvoyants tempting passersby with their fortunes, and plenty of games and trinkets. Benjamin personally found it all rather s.inful, but for the sake of Lola's enjoyment, kept his mouth shut while they strode along the grounds.

"Did you want anything?" he asked her. "The whole point of this outing was so you could experience something enjoyable...so for once in your life, the phrase 'you can look, but you can't touch' need not apply."