#SORRY MEL

[drrutherford]

He fixes her with a silent glare. Yes, he means freedom from people like Melissa Lin... People like Johnathan Parsons or even his own father. She knows his feelings on that front already. Gideon won't let her goad him into having to declare it again aloud. Not when her mocking laughter pierces his skin like shrapnel, as if even with that caustic sound she can tear apart his determination to stay free of everything she stands for.

"I think it, because you've wasted no opportunity to rub it in everyone's face how good you are at being just that, yes! A puppet-master." He throws the word back, viciously glad she'd been the one to choose it this time, lest she try to guilt him for that, too, on some future occasion. "— Even now!" Gideon's tone pitches into disbelief. "Even now, you admit it's what you are. What difference does it make, the degree?... The motive?"

Even Stalin had a motive, he thinks bitterly, but doesn't charge her with it for fear she'll latch onto the parallel and refuse to hear anything else he has to say. "The ends never do justify the means, Ms. Lin, nor do motives and degrees of manipulation make you any less what you are — A manipulator."

Is it any wonder, then, that he's angry when the puppet strings she's decided to play with this time are his ex-girlfriend's?... A woman he still cares deeply about?

Is it any wonder he cannot stand to hear her opine about 'what happens to those who lack power', when she's so often the steel hand that rips it away from her targets in the ugly underbelly of London's street war?... Gideon shakes his head, the word dancing on his tongue, barely lashed by his teeth. Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite!

He sees her intention to leave before she grabs her coat. More importantly, Gideon sees that she's denying him a satisfactory end to the conversation, a guarantee that Amélie will be spared her machinations. 'I thought I was doing you a favour,' Melissa had claimed, and her words echo in his ears like a taunt. He ignores her quip about sleeping elsewhere. He doesn't care, let her make her own bed and lie in it, as he'd foolishly done on the ground of this same tent last night.

So he calls out after her, loud enough to ensure he's heard. "The only favor you can do for me is to keep the hell away from her." Mark my words or I'll do far worse than paint you a villain, he doesn't add, turning to survey the empty space she's left. He grabs the bed sheet and begins airing out all remnants of the treacherous Underboss' perfume.

— End.

"Freedom? From what exactly? Me?" The laughter that followed was un-humored. Instead, it mirrored disbelief as a hand raked through her hair. For a moment, she forgot that she probably looked in a state. And cared little — because this carousel of emotions was going off-kilter, and she was not enjoying it.

Instead, Melissa simply decided to let him rant. 

She'd seen Andrew similarly over the years, but their relationship differed from the one she had with his son. Mutual respect seemed to be lost on Gideon once he deemed her unworthy. 

But Gideon, the almighty, the righteous, condemned her for playing the game: like he'd expected her to be better than the rest. Even if he didn't...it was unreasonable thinking on her behalf. Melissa presented herself like a broken mirror: a hundred different faces...her forward, most facing sharpness had always been gentler with him. She’d favoured him for some time. But when did she stop? When did enough become enough? 

Standing there, those dainty shoulders squared, hands flexing at her sides as she tried to let go of a feeling that was curling at the base of her spine. At her five foot three, Gideon towered over her, even from where he stood. Instead, Melissa made an executive decision.

Flip the goddamn cards, Melissa.

She wasn't one to crumble under fire. And yet, when he finally stopped, her head tilted, lips pressed into an unforgiving thin line. Suffocating, bitter.

' — do you take me for a fool, Melissa?? '

"Funnily enough, Gideon, of everyone I've met...I always thought you to be smart." a short pause. "...you’re angry, far more than you used to be, Gideon, but I see no fool." It wasn’t a question she understood. 

“You think I’m just this..." A laugh broke through...hurt. "This...fucking puppet master pulling strings at every corner...and yes, to a degree. I am. I don't pretend to be anything different. But what you so often forget, manipulating everyone around me is my job — not for the fun of it.” two steps closer. "You're always so damn eager to believe the worst in me. It’s easier, isn’t it? To paint me as the main villain, so long as I give you someone to hate? To blame..." 

Grabbing the coat and bits she'd piled together. She couldn't stay here, not when he was in a mood like this. "I believe in power. I believe in control." If she didn't, that lovely life that he'd been afforded by Andrew and Cerys would've been far different. "Because I’ve seen what happens when you don’t have it," and she shot him a look. 

Standing there, coat in hand...looking at him. How she'd missed him...and still, he drove the knife in time and time again. “I’ll find somewhere else to sleep.” And he better pray she didn’t find a way to send Roman over here, so she could bunk with Benjamin.

Without another word, she scoffed and walked out of the tent doors.

[desiderium-eden]

ღ ( for Mel and Genya )

@godforsakcn

attraction meme

ROMANTIC ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme SEXUAL ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme AESTHETIC ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme SENSUAL ATTRACTION: none | very low | low | medium | high | very high | extreme

[soldier-lodbrok]

Wall Market was just different whenever a massive Shinra promotion hit their ranks - the success of the happy promoted ones trickled down to underplate, and more often than not the newly-appointed SOLDIER members found their way to the many entertainment options available in the Sector 6's slums, away from the company's more vigilant eyes. Some preferred the bars, others opted for karaoke - but a good chunk of the men ended up at the Honey Bee Inn.

Things were incredibly busy that night - no girl was allowed any rest and the ever-looming threat of punishment from Corneo saw every employee on their best behavior. Melissa was making do with coffee - perhaps more than she should within 24 hours, but it was temporary, she knew. Most of these new faces wouldn't be around again, either - fame had a way of turning men with no famous surnames or personal wealth into suddenly approved matches for decent girls... And Wall Market was not home to any wife material, anyway.

(Oh, and there were those who would die for Shinra, never to return - but that was not a happy detail to invoke on a celebratory day.)

The girl had barely delivered a couple of drinks when she was directed to a booth - newcomers in pristine uniforms, of course. Melissa was prepared to offer her best professional smile when one of them gazed at her direction before the others - and something about him hit her differently. There was something about that guy that spelled 'trouble' - but of the best kind. A free spirit, perhaps? How they lived within Shinra's leash the girl didn't know, but wasn't she the same? These guys had uniforms, Melissa had the bee costume.

"Oh my - I can't believe this. Not the best student of the class?" the woman grinned by means of a greeting, sitting beside her designated client and pressing a kiss to his cheek, a hand softly caressing his jaw for a second before pulling away but remaining within his reach. Melissa then winked at the blonde guy, canting her head innocently, "I mean, you have to be the best one from your class this year - I can tell from the confidence. And if I'm wrong...," another grin, "Well, then I guess you get another kiss to make up for it."

Glenn was... overwhelmed. In a way, at least. He had been riding that high for the past few weeks. But today was special. He had been tested and trained, he had gone through trials and he had been told he was a perfect fit for the SOLDIER program. Some boy, barely an adult yet, picked from the dirty streets of the slums after some brawl, where he had won thanks to his sheer strength. Enough to be recruited.

There had been so many promises. A contract. Praise for his strength. He was fucking taking that in like a drug, he was addicted to it. Finally he seemed to have a purpose. And it came with a good and regular pay.

Tonight though? Final stage of preparations completed. He'd be on track for the real SOLDIER program. Freshly promoted and signed up. The P0 class. He fucking made it! And since Glenn knew at home there just would be snide remarks about this from his brother, he had joined the others to head to Wallmarket.

Truth be told, he had lingered around here often, everyone growing up in the undercity had done so. But this was the first time he was freakin allowed in here. And could afford even just the drinks.

All the more he was in awe of the flashy lights, music, voices, laughter, the costumes and offers.

The grin on his face could not be wiped off by anything.

And he had no reason either - because barely had he just glanced to the side, there was one of the pretty girls coming at him. Long dark hair and eyes like the golden honey accents all around. She knew how to do her job, no doubt - because Glenn sure as hell didn't feel like she just played him.

A sudden kiss on his cheek, having his jaw caressed and being peppered with more teasing compliments. Any man his age would perk up at that and feel like the king of Midgar, right? he sure as hell felt like the king of the undercity that moment. Even if he could barely believe his luck.

Grinning back at her, Glenn tipped his head to the side.

"Huh, well in that case: I'll say I was the second-best!"

He was pretty sure of himself. Even though his claim earned laughter and some mockery from the comrades sat beside him. Of course all claiming he didn't do THAT well.

Glenn waved them off with a throw-away gesture of his hand. He didn't care for the details of their ranking. He had done pretty well and was among the best in strength and fighting! Who cared about some other shit like politics and being well-read and writing nice essays, huh?

Looking back to the pretty girl, he seemed pretty confident: "Yo, don't believe them, they obviously don't know shit."

@stingslikeabee

[prothos]

pls tell me about your fave atla muse.

@banishmark! So, it's taken me a while to answer this. Not because I didn't want to, but because I wasn't sure I could actually nail down the answer. ATLA is my favorite cartoon series. Full stop. It took some time for me to really decide here. So... here we go!

Ultimately, when it comes down to it and I strip away all the justifications for why I love so many characters, I would have to say my favorite is Zuko. His journey is wildly emotional and encouraging. Where he started as opposed to how he ended. The overwhelming internal struggle that got the best of him in the worst way (i.e. when he let Azula manipulate him in Ba Sing Se after pseudo-bonding with Katara when they were imprisoned together). The desire to earn Ozai's favor, even after he'd been burned by him; Zuko finally realizing that he could never garner the love and respect he's always craved from his father. Never feeling like he was good enough. Having someone like Iroh (who was one of the other characters in contention for my favorite) lift him up and hold him close, while projecting his own lack of self-confidence and self-worth onto his uncle... the list goes on and on about how relatable and painfully human Zuko is. Yes, he's a prince, but he's had it rough. His journey is painful. Disappointing. Uplifting. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. And in the end, he was able to overcome it all. Not without learning hard lessons and feeling like he lost the most important person in his life (Iroh). But he did overcome. His strength means so much to me. Zuko's actions (by breaking free of Ozai's conditional favor, refusing to keep comparing himself to Azula, and going to find Aang to help him take down Ozai!) literally saved the Fire Nation from continuing to barrel down a path of destruction and war. Yes, Aang defeated Ozai in the end. But could he have really done it without Zuko? Maybe. Or, maybe the story would've ended differently had Zuko not been such an integral part in saving his people from being remembered for the horrible things they had done under Ozai's rule.

Let's also not forget that he taught Aang firebending. Thus securing his spot as one of the saviors of the world, in a sense :)

[gildedxpleasure]

oh....right. part of why i didn't wanna come back here was not wanting to know how many of my old dd & chronically ill mutuals died.

[blaithnne]

Live Mel reaction

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: 2x01 - “Heavy is the Crown” ↳ "She was a great woman. A good friend. I don't know how we'll face this crisis without her."

[giarossin]

mel and jayce: arguing and fighting viktor in a freaky robot:

[therabbitthatpostthings]

Mel and Viktor I apologize, I see the vision.

[egophiliac]

Since book 7 part 5 (the part where we meet Meleanor/Maleanor 👀) is coming to EN this month, i would love to see your take on lilia’s proposal to meleanor! i mean they were like little kids right? it couldn’t have been that serious…i think the only reason she even brought it up again is because she could tell lilia still genuinely loved her…(even if he didn’t realize it himself?) but, oh well! Let’s think about silly childhood shenanigans to numb the pain! ^_^ (orz)

oh shit?! get ready for a doozy guys, it's comiiiiiing ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

I chickened out of posting the whole thing (look, I get VERY carried away when it comes to these wacky kids and their Tragedy), but I do believe that it probably ended with Lilia getting embarrassed and just shoving the first thing he sees into his mouth to try and cover for it.

(we're just lucky it wasn't a frog this time)

[melissa-titanium]

hello space girl

[ID: Various colored drawings of Tome Kurata from Mob Psycho 100 on a beige background. Tome is light skinned with a slightly blemished face, and has green nail polish. She's wearing her school uniform in all the drawings.

Text to the left and right of the top drawing reads: "eyebags from way too many nights spent binging conspiracy theory series. upturned nose, girl wash ur hair, bad acne, mini underbite, super gangly."

Text in the middle of the drawing reads: "Tome." with decorative lines surrounding the text in a halo, and the letter 'O' is replaced with an alien head.

Text to the left and top right of the bottom right drawing reads: "bites her nails, patchy eyebrows." / End ID]

[sigmalaussene]

Gay people do love glitters

art • commissions

[mash-the-buttons]

Me, after watching Jayce constantly neglect his relationship with Viktor throughout Season 1: Wow, Viktor is too good for Jayce, Jayce better be on his hands and knees begging for Viktor back istg Me, immediately after watching S2E2: wait, no, i didnt want this, not like this

[pocima]

Leaving my 3467778 Alight Motion edit drafts in the basement and opening Capcut to edit the skinz mv to Twelve by Shygirl

[abisalli]

Monthly Ko-Fi for @darlinglissa <3 

If you like my work and would like an experimental sketch like this for yourself: consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi! ☕️

[tenaint]

Rose 1.01 / Empire of Death 14.08