#before she tried to insult me by saying i’m on tumblr???

[you-have-been-frizzled]

slang terms make no sense to me and the never will

[trensu]

So this was originally a little ficlet i added to @gyroshrike's EXCELLENT angel dust fanart. You should check it out IMMEDIATELY. Anyway, I ended up writing it out into a proper fic so I could post it to ao3 here. and i thought i might as well make it its own tumblr post as well since the fic is done already. Enjoy!

“What do you mean no?” Cherri asks, annoyed. “This is the fifth fucking outfit you’ve shot down.”

Angel doesn’t know why he thought Cherri would be helpful on this shopping trip. He forgot that Cherri’s idea of fashion involves singed tops and torn up bottoms. He snatches the clothes from Cherri’s hands and throws them back on the rack.

“Ya keep pickin’ slutty clothes!” Angel replies, also annoyed. 

“That’s because you are a slut, bitch.”

Angel gives her a two fingered salute because he’s fucking cultured. Cherri cackles and flips him off in return. Angel marches to the other end of the store to the rack full of boring colors like navy, gray, and black. They don’t go with his coloring at all. It’s the only rack left he hasn’t looked through in the entire store, though. Cherri follows behind him, purposely shoving racks and mannequins to make a mess as they go.

“Well, I ain’t tryin’ ta look slutty this time,” Angel says as he aggressively inspects the rack of clothing.

“Good luck getting that cat in bed after your date,” Cherri snorts.

“It’s a first date! Husk ain’t like that,” Angel says, feeling a bit offended on Husk’s behalf. “He’s a gentleman.”

“Yeah, the drunk arsehole is a total gentleman,” Cherri rolls her eye. 

“He is about this kinda thing. He’s a classy guy, okay? So I’m givin’ classy a try,” Angel insists. He reaches the end of the rack with nothing to show for it. He growls. “Fuck this place, it ain’t got shit. Let’s go.”

“Fuck yes! About fucking time,” Cherri cheers.

After blowing off steam with Cherri, Angel sneaks back into the hotel. Not that he’d done anything wrong; he just doesn’t want to bump into Husker at the bar after the spectacular failure of a shopping trip. He’s stressed because he was running out of time to get an outfit together. He knows he gets catty under pressure. (Ha. Catty.) He doesn’t want to risk getting catty with Husker.

Once inside, Angel wanders the upper levels for a bit until he is absolutely sure that Charlie was nowhere around. He knows Charlie would be overjoyed to help but she's about as subtle as machine gunfire when she's happy. Angel wants his future upscale look to be a surprise for Husk.

Since Charlie can’t be considered, Angel is left with one last option. With extreme reluctance, he makes his way to Charlie’s room. He makes sure not to show anything but confidence and charm when he knocks on the door.

Vaggie opens it with a scowl.

“Angel. What do you want?” Vaggie asks in that flat yet annoyed tone she was so good at doing.

“Heyyy, Vaggie. Ya know that redemption thing Charlie always yaps about?” Angel starts. Vaggie’s scowl deepens, so Angel continues before she could say anything. “I was thinkin’ I should change up my look, so I ain’t so sexy and tempting. Looking like a prude is a virtue, ain’t it? You’re the biggest prude I know! Wanna help a fella out? For redemption and sh–uh, stuff?”

Angel bats his eyes at Vaggie, channeling his ‘I’m a sweet, naive virgin, please take advantage of me’ character. It’s a very popular character in his line of work. He is much better at that than at looking innocent but he figures it’s basically the same thing. Vaggie glares at him. Okay, slight miscalculation on Angel’s part, then.

“No,” she says, and tries to close the door. Angel catches it with two hands before it shuts completely.

“Wait!”

“I’m not helping you with whatever porno you’re doing,” Vaggie says. 

“It ain’t for porn!” Angel says. He’s not exactly insulted that Vaggie assumed it was a porn thing, but he’s not not insulted either. He’s got a life outside of porn, sometimes!

Vaggie stares at him. It’s an expectant stare. It’s a stare that clearly says Angel has to give her a reason to not harpoon him with that spear she carries everywhere. (It’s also super judgemental but that doesn’t offend Angel since Vaggie looks at everyone except Charlie judgmentally).

A small jolt of embarrassment hits him. He wishes it was a porn thing now. 

He doesn’t want to say it out loud, this tiny frail chance Husk gave him by asking him out. If he says it out loud, Vaggie will scoff. She’d roll her eyes and ask him why he’s even bothering to try. Does he really think anyone would seriously want to date a cokehead pornstar? This is a pipe dream and Husker will get fed up with him so fast.

(Vaggie wouldn’t say any of that, a part of Angel knows. Those were Valentino’s words, but he’s so sure that Vaggie must have thought it at least once. Everybody must think that about him at least once).

The longer he stays quiet the more Vaggie’s glare softens until she starts to look genuinely concerned. And, fuck, Angel can’t have that. He’d die (again) if Vaggie felt sorry enough to be nice to him. He pastes on his smile and keeps his tone girlfriend-ly.

“I got a hot date, Vaggie, that’s all,” Angel says. “Wanna try somethin’ a little different for it.”

Vaggie is not convinced by his nonchalance which makes Angel wonder if he’s losing his touch. His acting skills are second to none! She should be eating out of the palm of his hand with this performance! Instead, she marches out of the room and waves him along.

“Follow me,” Vaggie says in her drill sergeant voice that makes everyone who hears it straighten their spine and find themselves already halfway to a salute.

Angel learns that Vaggie approaches clothes shopping with the same tactical focus and determination she approaches any mission, which is weird but whatever. She stealthily leads him to the nicer side of town into a more upscale shop than Angel is used to. She marches through the shop without bothering to ask Angel for his input on anything. Still she manages to pick out a few outfits that went well with his coloring and in his size. Angel has never appreciated her observational skills more.

“Try these on and show me,” she demands, piling her pickings into both sets of Angel’s arms and shoving him into a dressing room.

Angel complies without protest. He sashays out of the dressing room like a supermodel four times before Vaggie nods in satisfaction on the last option. She actually smiles at him.

“This one. You’ll impress your date with this one,” Vaggie says without a hint of irony.

Angel smiles back and thanks her enthusiastically. He ignores how he hadn’t recognized himself in the mirror in any of the outfits. He ignores how uncomfortable the clothes feel on his body. The clothes are classy, just like Husker prefers. That’s what matters.

–

When Husker shows up at his door for their date, he does a double take.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Husk asks, confused.

Angel starts to lean flirtatiously into his space, a salacious come on right on the tip of his tongue. He catches himself halfway and quickly straightens himself with an awkward laugh.

“Just somethin’ I found in the back of the closet,” he lies through his teeth.

He’d devoted time to doing his makeup just right and making sure the clothes were crisp and clean. He still feels uncomfortable in them but all things considered, Angel thinks the final product came out pretty good. The way Husker looks at him now makes him wonder if he overestimated his looks for once.

Husk’s eyes narrow as he studies Angel. His gaze trails Angel top to bottom. It doesn’t feel very sexy but Angel supposes the point is to not look like a whore so this means he succeeded, right? 

“Sure,” Husk says, notes of confusion still in his tone. “You ready to go?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course!” Angel stutters like a moron.

“Alright,” Husker says after a beat.

Husk gives Angel another suspicious look, shoulders tense and wings pulled close. Something shifts in his expression that Angel can’t read. He’s afraid it might be disappointment. Husker shakes out his wings and offers Angel his arm, which Angel accepts with relief.

“So, where ya takin’ me, Huskie?”

Husker tells him about a little place with good food, better drinks, and a live jazz band. As they walk out of the hotel, Angel almost cozies up against Husk, so tempted to rub his cheek against Husker’s furry ear. He catches himself again and over-corrects by pulling away from Husk until their linked arms are the only point of contact. Husk stumbles a bit with the weight shift. He shoots him another indecipherable look. Husker opens his mouth to say something but appears to change his mind and snaps it shut.

That’s okay, though, right? Husker wasn’t much of a talker anyway! Angel fills the silence between them with nervous babble. Angel is normally very good at conversation but tonight he keeps having to stop and restart mid-sentence when his stories get crass. Being crass is not good first date behavior. Husker grunts every now and then but it’s clear he’s only listening with half an ear. It doesn’t help Angel’s nerves at all.

The date goes downhill from there.

Husker finds them a booth when they arrive at their destination and helps Angel order their food and drinks. He points out several he thinks Angel will like.

Usually, he and Husker can pound back alcohol like nobody’s business. They sometimes make a game of it and those nights are some of the best Angel has because he gets to see Husker soften and relax in his company. However, Angel is an affectionate drunk and Husk has had to nudge Angel away more than once those nights. Husker is always sweet about it now, with gentle hands and amusement in his eyes. Husker always helps him back to his room afterwards like a perfect gentlemanly escort. Despite that, Angel can’t help feeling a bit stung at the rejection each time.

Tonight, he only orders one drink. He knows he can’t be getting too handsy with Husk on their date. He’s sure it would annoy him. He doesn’t want Husker to regret asking him out. With his focus strictly on keeping up his good behavior and watching his alcohol intake, Angel barely touches the food Husker recommended to him. 

Husker keeps shooting him these looks that make Angel anxious. With each glance, Husker slinks deeper into his taciturn demeanor. Of course, Angel overcompensates with his babbling. At one point, Husk has to shush him during the jazz show. Angel clacks his jaws shut in shame, because he knows how much Husker likes jazz and here he is ruining the experience for him. At least Husk is nice enough to hold Angel’s hands throughout the rest of the show, though he probably only does it to keep Angel from fidgeting too much.

When they leave the joint, Husker doesn’t offer his arm again. He doesn’t even walk very close to him. Angel's stomach churns so much, he’s afraid if he opens his mouth to speak, he’ll puke the two bites of food he ate earlier.

They’re halfway back to the hotel when Husk clears his throat. His hands are in his pockets as he trudges on, keeping his eyes on the crumbling sidewalk.

“You didn’t have to say yes,” Husk says, not even glancing at Angel or faltering in his steps as he speaks. Angel, on the other hand, halts in confusion.

“What?” Angel asks, not sure what Husker was talking about but the tone of voice made his stomach drop. Husk sighs, stopping in his tracks to finally look up at Angel. His face was closed off in his standard apathetic frown.

“When I asked you out,” Husker says, his tone going to his usual bored gruffness. He hasn’t used that tone towards Angel in a long time. Hints of panic start crawling up Angel’s veins. “You didn’t have to say yes.”

“What?” Angel asks again like a fucking idiot. He hopes he doesn’t sound as shaky and pathetic as he feels.

Husker’s voice goes flatter though his tail has started to twitch uneasily.

“You should’ve said no if you didn’t want to…be with me. We woulda been fine.”

“Huskie–”

And at last some of that soft, hidden sincerity crept back into Husker’s voice. Only a little bit, but it’s there.

“I’d still be your friend, Legs,” Husker says, gazing into Angel’s eyes and sounding painfully honest. “I wouldn’t abandon you over that.”

“No! I-I–”

Husker looks away with a bitter grin. Angel’s heart cracked at the sight.

“I’d need a day or two to lick my wounds, but I knew it was a long shot anyway. I woulda come back,” Husker shrugs when he finishes going for nonchalance, but his wings are once again curled protective and close, making his usual slouch look less like carelessness and more like defeat. Husker doesn’t wait for Angel’s response, instead choosing to continue walking back to the hotel.

Angel stands in place, floored by how badly he fucked up. He notices his breathing becoming erratic. He does his best to do the calming breathing thing Charlie taught them all. It works well enough to get him running to Husker again though Angel still feels unsteady and insecure. Most of him is screaming to fucking book it in the other direction because fuck, fuck, Angel hates feelings. But Husker also hates feelings and he basically threw up his guts at Angel despite it. The least Angel can do is return the gesture, right? He owes Husker that much.

“Husker, wait!” he shouts. 

Husker’s posture becomes more guarded but he doesn’t acknowledge Angel’s call. Angel catches up quickly (Husk can’t go too far too fast with those short legs, Angel thinks, helplessly fond despite the anxiety). Dodging around Husker’s wings that quiver with tension, Angel grabs the crook of his arm to bring him to a stop and place himself in Husk’s way. He lets go quickly at Husk’s glare but somehow manages to stand his ground.

“I did want! Husk, I wanted ta say yes, I wanted ta go on this date so much,” Angel says desperately, feeling a telltale burning around his eyes and hating himself for it.

The tension in Husker’s body breaks free as his patience caves to his temper. His wings flare open and his tail whips side to side aggressively.

“Then why are you acting so fucking fake? With the clothes and you treating me like I got the fucking plague! I thought we were done with that bullshit,” Husker snaps furiously.

“Cuz I wanted ta…I wanted ta be good for ya, Husk,” Angel chokes out, shoulders slumped in defeat. “You like classy. I wanted ta be a good, classy sorta guy for ya. I-I fucked up. I always fuck this shit up. I don’t mean ta do it.”

Angel stares at the poor excuse of a sidewalk they’re on, blinking back tears. Husker doesn’t say anything for a long time. Angel nearly loses his nerve and turns tail when Husker speaks again.

“You fucking dumbass,” Husk says. 

His voice is deep and warm and fond, the way it is on their drinking nights together. Angel’s head snaps to Husk at his words. That cocky little smirk– the one Angel first saw after Husk had pulled him out of his self-destructive spiral at the club and realized that if he wasn't careful he'd lose his heart to the guy–has replaced the angry slant of Husk’s mouth.

“Hey!” Angel protests with a cautious smile. Husk rolls his eyes.

“Don’t expect compliments if you’re gonna act stupid,” Husk says and offers his arm to Angel. “You’re already classy enough for me, Legs.”

Angel takes his arm and looks down at him slyly.

“But not good, huh?” Angel tries to tease but Husker doesn’t take it.

Instead, Husk looks at him intensely and says firmly, “If this redemption shit the princess keeps talking about ain’t total bullshit, you’d be the one to make it.”

“Oh,” Angel says, stunned, then adds to cover how hard it made his heart beat, “Husker, ya big ol’ flirt. I betcha say that ta all the pretty boys.”

“Fuck you,” Husk grins at him. Angel bats his eyes and lets his voice go all breathy.

“Oh, yes! Please, daddy,” Angel simpers. He adds a loud moan for good measure. Husker throws his head back with a rough, loud laugh. Angel knows immediately he wants to hear it again forever.

By the time Husk drops Angel off at the door of his room, the pair of them have relaxed significantly. Angel opens the door slightly to peek in on Fat Nuggets. After he makes sure his Nugs is sleeping soundly, Angel catches Husk’s sleeve before he could make a sneaky escape.

“Hey, Husk, can we get a do-over? A new first date? I want ta do it right next time.” Angel asks shyly. The corner of Husk’s mouth quirks up, making his golden eyes crinkle in a way that makes Angel’s heart melt.

“Depends,” Husker says with that charming smirk. “You gonna wear that stupid outfit next time?”

“Oh baby,” Angel says, plastering himself against the door frame in one of his sexiest poses. “I’m gonna wear my sluttiest dress for my handsome kitty. Everyone’s gonna wish they were you when they see us togetha.”

Husk snorts.

“When you put it like that…”

“You can put it wherever ya want, daddy,” Angel flirts. He’s only half-joking but he keeps his hands to himself to keep things light. Husker rolls his eyes in good humor.

“A do-over sounds good.”

Angel drops the pose instantly, beaming at Husk.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Angel’s heart flutters at the small smile that accompanies Husk’s assurance.

“Next week?”

Husker nods in agreement.

“Great!” Angel said, probably a little too enthusiastically.

Before Angel canlose his nerve, he dips down and presses a light, meek kiss on Husker’s cheek. When he pulls back, Husker’s eyes are as wide as saucers and his wings have puffed up in a way Angel hadn’t seen before. If Angel didn’t know any better, he’d say Husker was downright flustered. And oh god, Angel wanted to make him blush all over. Husker would be so cute in bed.

“G‘night, Huskie!” Angel says quickly and slams the door closed behind him.

After nearly tearing himself out of the uncomfortable clothes, Angel crawls into bed wearing only his boxer briefs. Next time, he thinks to himself in joy and disbelief. I get a next time.

He knows it will be perfect because next time he’ll be himself. Angel. Because that’s all Husker wanted. Just Angel.

He curls up around Fat Nuggets and allows himself one quiet, happy squeal.

[seireitonin]

please can you do some Nina headcannons I love your version of Nina!!!!

Yes! My fellow scemo queen I love her! I was pretty indifferent to her before, but seeing her on tumblr and TikTok made me like her a lot more! Especially bc ppl hc/draw her as black and the fandom needs diversity! I like many others hc her as black so these will be written that in mind!

🎀Nina the killer Headcanonns🎀

Nina grew up in the suburbs

So she got bullied really bad

Not just because the way she looks, being scemo but being black and dark skinned

She would sob herself to sleep every night

She started to hate her skin color, bad

Like really bad

She correlated it with being “ugly”

So when she got into Creepypasta and saw Jeff, she was mesmerized by him

I mean he was beautiful. The pale skin, jet black long hair the blue eyes

The opposite of everything Nina was

So she aspired to be like him

So she practiced with knives she stole

Butterfly knife tricks, knife throwing you name is she could do it

She also taught herself how to fight

So next time when her bullies tried it with her, she beat their asses so bad

I mean really really bad

She got suspended

And got stereotyped as the “violent angry black girl” causing her to get isolated even more

It wasn’t fair. She was just defending herself and retaliating

Her mental health was awful and she was severely insecure

So she dove into Creepypasta and Jeff even more

When Jeff started putting letters in her locker she was so happy

She would do anything to be his and Jeff knew that

He came into her life when she was unwell and vulnerable

So he manipulated a 17 year old Nina into doing what he wanted

He made her cut a smile in her face

He encouraged her to bleach her skin, playing on her insecurities

“Don’t you want to be beautiful like me?”

She went along with it, she hated her skin color anyway

And he told her to killer her family last. She did it.

Then he abandoned her in the mess she made

Nina thought Jeff was her only purpose and put all her value into being Jeff’s

She thought Jeff gave her her worth and she thought she “loved” him

She looked for him and found him when she was 20

Jeff, impressed with her finding him kept her around, but he’s never liked her

This was all Nina thought she was worthy of and the closest thing she thought she was gonna get to love

This went on till she was 26

One day Jeff told Nina to find and kill Jane

Jane being the baddie she is talked some sense into her as they fought

“Fighting me? Because Jeff told you to? You and I both know he doesn’t like you. Why do you listen to him?”

“No. You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Nina was deeply in denial

“Come on Nina. Cant you see Jeff is using you to do his dirty work and for fun? I don’t believe you’re that stupid.”

Nina gets teary eyed and runs back to Jeff

“Do you like me at all?”

Nina knew the answer but part of her wanted to prove Jane wrong. But she knew that wouldn’t happen

“Like you? I like that you do what I say. Did you kill that bitch Jane like I told you to?” He laughs in her face

Nina attacks Jeff out of anger. She gave her whole life to this man since she was 17 and he didn’t even respect her?

Nina got a few hits and stabs in but Jeff ultimately won. You can’t outdo the doer

He kicked her out and screamed at her. He called her every insult. Pointed out every insecurity. Made her feel worthless

Nina wanders through the forest sobbing and injured and comes across Jane again

“Jane, I’m sorry I-“

“You’re injured, did Jeff do that?”

Nina nods and cries

Jane takes her to EJ and lets Nina stay with her

Nina wasted her years on a guy she never loved and a man who never even liked her

They grow closer over the months and have multiple conversations

“How could I have fallen for that? I’m so fucking stupid Jane.”

“You were a child, Nina. You have to forgive yourself”

“Jane…I hated you. Why are you being so nice to me?”

“You need space to heal from Jeff. Besides, we’re both his victims in our own ways.”

That word “victim” broke Nina. She killed and got stronger so she wouldn’t be a victim of anyone. But she willingly became Jeff’s victim by being so insecure

She cried and cried for months

She wasted her life on Jeff

While she was going through the process she started her relationship with Toby (I went into detail on that on TikTok)

She asked Toby and Jane to come with her to EJ to get her smile stitched up permanently, leaving every piece of Jeff behind

She’s also letting her skin heal and go back to its natural color and she’s super insecure about it

“Toby…what if you don’t think I’m pretty anymore?”

“Huh?”

“My skin…”

“Oh, that. I don’t care about that. I think it’s really pretty. You’re really pretty. I don’t care about your skin. I care about you.”

Nina let some silent tears stream down her face and smiles. She knows Toby only says what he means. And bluntly. “Thank you, Toby”

Nina is 27 years old

She’s 5’8

Nina is full scemo in looks and music

Nina listens to emo, scene, dubstep, hardcore, post hardcore, metalcore and pop punk. But she’ll listen to anything she likes

She loves going to concerts and raves, since she never got to go as a teenager

She drags Toby along, even though he’s not a people person(he enjoys himself bc he’s emo too even though he won’t admit it)

Toby let Nina cut his hair because she begged him to. She wanted to give him straight emo hair with layers and a fringe and she did just that

She wants to dye it pink and black to match hers but he won’t let her. She still begs him every day though.

She’s always been good at doing emo hair because she’s been cutting her own hair for years and dying it too

Nina loves thrifting and shopping (Toby goes with her so she doesn’t get harassed)

The skin where her smile is stitched up is textured and scarred

Nina sometimes misses her smile and will draw it on with makeup

Her favorite foundation is Fenty Beauty and her shade is 430 :3

She loves making Candi bracelets especially with Toby and Jane

She “steals” Toby and Jane’s clothes

Nina’s favorite foods are cosmic brownies, birthday cake milkshakes, sushi, burritos and kettle corn

She loves sugar a lot and any food that’s rainbow like her

She’s always switching hair colors but always goes back to pink and black

Nina and Toby have matching piercings! (Canine bites, septum, tongue, eyebrows, and a whole bunch of ear piercings)

Nina has band posters all over her room and plushies too!

Her pillow is always stained with hair dye

Nina teases her hair every day so it’s super big

Nina kills people still, but mainly shitty boyfriends

Nina has tried to be friends with clockwork but Clockwork REALLY doesn’t like her because she’s dating Toby now

Nina is sweet, bubbly, outgoing and kind so a lot of creeps like her :3

She’s a bit more mature now that she’s away from Jeff and a lot happier too

When Nina teases and straightens her hair she teases and straightens Toby’s hair as well. He doesn’t care. He’s actually impressed with how cool it looks

Nina loves practicing her screaming while Toby sings and plays drums but she’ll practice screaming on her own too

Nina has big round light brown eyes

She feels horrible about stuff she’s done in the past

Nina gets really insecure about people not liking her and she’s scared Toby and Jane secretly hate her

She’s much smarter than she was before but you can’t really tell by the way she acts

Nina hugs Jane and thanks her once a day. She wouldn’t have gotten away from Jeff without her

Take Toby’s goggles and wears them to raves

His mouth guard sometimes too

She’s just healing her inner child by being her beautiful self

And having people around her that truly love her

She loves wearing pink lipgloss and black lipliner to match her hair

Her makeup is traditional emo/ scene makeup circular eyeshadow and big eyeliner

She convinced Toby to wear a bit of eyeliner

Nina is bisexual!

She had a crush on Jane first but didn’t act on it since Jane’s married

Nina has an extremely high pain tolerance and plans go get tattoo sleeves all in one sitting

Mixes her black culture with scemo culture

Brown lip liner and large hoop earrings with some 90s/y2k fashion seen on black women at the time along with all her emo fashion

She’s truly accepting herself we love that for her she would’ve never done that before what a queen

Nina is a huge people pleaser

She’s extremely hyper, expressive and jumpy!

(God I love her!)

When she likes someone or falls in love she’s extremely obsessive and will do literally anything for them

Unironically likes the ham egg and cheese hot pockets

Doesn’t wear purple as much as she used to reminds her of when she met Jeff

Constantly getting candy from LJ

She enjoys rolling the dice to see if it’s poisonous or not

She’s impulsive and a risk taker like that

Wow this is long can you tell I’ve thought about her character a lot?

[lemonthepotato]

Tw: weight

I keep getting videos like “ILLYMATION DESTROYED HER CAREER” and “WOKE YOUTUBER TRIED TO CANCEL ME” in my recommended. I finally look into the situation and I’m just… so confused. So I skimmed the guys original video, right? Come to the 10:00 mark, and I stop skipping, and it’s just him insulting her appearance 💀.

So, I look into the situation, and her crime is having a bad opinion and trying to get a video taken down. If having a a bad opinion is a crime, 80% of YouTubers are criminals. As for trying to get the video taken down? Sure, you could call it petty. But cancel-worthy? I just consider it human error.

Apparently doing 1 questionable thing means you deserve to be treated like the devil and treated like a criminal mastermind. It’s the IRL equivalent of kicking Sharon out of book club because she made fun of you.

Also, I was looking at that LBYS guys channel, right? It’s just a bunch of content about “wOoooOOke people.” I uh, yeah. Wow.

I’m not saying she did nothing wrong. Just like… I think it’s being overdramatised.

Full disclosure, I haven’t watched Illymations video in full, or TBYS, but the “there are no bad foods” comment or smth like that is kinda true, just poorly worded. Essentially, it’s about eating in moderation. Nothing wrong with a square of chocolate on a Saturday, but pizza every day is different. Honestly, criticise the video if you want, I haven’t seen it all, so I won’t comment on that. Just. Yeah?

I’m not an illymation stan. I’ve only talked about her once before in relation to a different situation (the reitanna situation and her god awful statement about illymations grooming.) and I don’t watch all her content. I like her music though (Ursa Major), it’s good. I just like. Think the situation is a bit blown out of proportion?

Idk, tell me I’m wrong in my replies or something. I probably won’t respond but I won’t delete your comment unless you’re just being an ass and I’ll hear you out if I’m wrong. I’m just sick of this. Every few weeks I get a video in my recommended like “THIS YOUTUBERS CAREER IS OVER” and it’s always overdramatising the silliest shit.

“She sent 2 million people to harass him.” No? She made a tumblr post telling people to report the video. You know, I can’t even FIND the tumblr post, so that 2 million people claim is a bit over dramatic. She doesn’t even have her tumblr linked to her YouTube. Wait, was it on Twitter? People are claiming it’s on tumblr. I’m so confused.

Also I haven’t watched all of TBYS’s video but people are saying the dress part wasn’t even the worst part of what he said. Idk if that’s true. I condone doing your own research and free thinking so I’d be a hypocrite to say he 100% said anything terrible. It’s weird, cuz Reddit is mostly on Illy’s side, while everywhere else is against her, and that’s really funny to me, because REDDIT of all places?

Also didn’t she delete the post?? Whatever, I’m getting a headache. If you’re gonna call me fat in the replies btw? I’m on a weight loss journey so it’s unironically motivating. I used to be 13’5, now I’m 11’3. I was 11’1 for a short while, but my weight has been static the last two weeks. I’m only saying this cuz I know how people are lmao. But if you’re civil that’s cool. (Edit: 10’12 now. A year and four months.)

Idk I’ll probably delete this later. I don’t keep my rants up for long but I’ve been keeping them up a lot recently even tho like, I’m meant to be deleting them? Ugh, I guess I just got lazy. Anyway, bye, love you, or whatever.

[boofckenhoobitch]

In Another Life - Sparrow! Ben x Reader

A/N: I haven't wrote fanfics/oneshots in so long lmao but I am way too attracted to Sparrow Ben so i have to. Though please forgive me if the style is weird since I used to write on Wattpad a lot so Tumblr format is still something I’m trying to learn lol so bare with me pls and ty and hope you like my writing!

P.S : Let me know if you want a part 2 for the morning after because I thought about it but I don’t seem to have any ideas on how to turn ideas into words lol

Pairing : Sparrow! Ben x Reader (female pronouns)

Word Count : 2500+ (I’m too lazy to separate it into 3 parts so I apologize)

Warning: nothing special, a make out scene, mentions of death

Y/N has the ability of intangibility, it allows her to phase through physical matter. With Y/N’s ability, she was the only one able to survive the first apocalypse. 15 year old Five found her and they spent other 30 years together before Y/N died due to sickness; meaning that Five had lived a whole life with Y/N, only to go back in time and face the Y/N who lived in the present, a week before the apocalypse strike. Five would sometimes tell her stories of them together in the apocalypse and Y/N would just be a good listener and listen along.

You never asked for much in life.

Growing up, you learned not to ask for much given the background of your family. The most that you asked for was for your siblings to stay together as a family, and to have the chance to grow old with the love of your life, Ben.

It’s funny how you didn’t get neither.

With the disappearance of your second favourite sibling, Five then the death of your boyfriend, your family just stopped giving a shit. Missions stopped mattering, people grew more distant and it was everyone for themselves. Your siblings left the house one by one, and eventually you did as well.

There were times where you would try to meet up with your siblings after your departure, doing your best to still connect with them.

Especially Klaus when he was out of rehab, you always tried to meet up with him. You would always ask him if Ben’s with us, asking him questions about Ben and trying to see if Ben said anything back, but Klaus’ answers were always a slurry of nos, along with side comments about anything unrelated.

Eventually you realized that Klaus only really agreed to meet up with you because he needed money from you for more drugs and alcohol, and you stopped trying with your hopeless brother.

Without your brother’s ‘help’ to pass on words from the dead, you eventually gave up. Perhaps that was better for the both of you, as you two were never meant to be.

-

Life is a cruel mistress as one would say.

After saving the world twice, you really thought that for once in your life, you would be rewarded for the good deeds you had done. Instead, you had to hear your sister tell you that Ben had finally passed on, and that he would love you for the rest of his eternity.

It was heartbreaking that those were his last words to you.

And yet here he is, standing in front of you alive and breathing.

God, if you weren’t in shock, you would’ve socked this man in the jaw for toying with your emotions like that.

“Dad, who the hell are these assholes?” Ben asked Reginald. His eyes scanned the group of the Umbrella siblings before his eyes stopped at you, who was standing at the back of the group, already staring at him with a shocked expression.

“ Y/N?”

His voice brought back a sense of nostalgia, like how your Ben used to whisper your name when you cuddled in his bed, or how your Ben would call out your name with a sense of playful annoyance when you teased him; but he’s not here anymore and this is not your Ben, shown by the roughness of his voice.

His other siblings all stared at you from the second floor railing in shock, surprised that you're alive and siding with the enemy.

Ben froze up, and Marcus stepped in as Number One to take control of the situation. After Klaus’ sad attempt to hug Ben along with the many insults and taunts being thrown to each other, a fight broke out between the two groups (and sadly it wasn't a dance battle).

After fighting some of the Sparrow siblings, somehow you ended up in front of Ben. You both stared at each other in a stand off, you could see the conflicted emotions that swarmed behind his eyes. Hell, maybe he could see yours as well.

Both of you felt reluctant to fight one another yet with a sense of suppressed anger, both of your burning stares slowly toughened. You both stood in front of each other, strangers to one another.

You were the first to swing at him, breaking the tension between you both. Your fist collided with his cheek, his upper body turned to the side with the force. Clutching his slowly bruising cheek, he looked back at you hurt or maybe betrayed? You didn’t care as your own mind was clouded with anger. There was a small pause in both of your movements before his eyes hardening, and he lunged at you.

A tentacle sprung out of his chest, wrapping itself around your wrist. Though it was weird, you missed the weird slimy yet smooth texture of his tentacles. You phased your hand through the tentacle sending a chill down Ben’s spine, as he felt the coldness of your ghostly wrist pass through him. You both fought fiercely, attacking and dodging.

Perhaps the held back emotions you both had finally found a healthy release.

You retreated after seeing your siblings’ defeat, with Marcus’ threat and Ben’s lingering stare on you.

You wished to never see him again.

You hoped that you would never have reopen that closed wound again.

———

The second time you met him was when you went out for a jog with your dumb yet lovable brother, Luther.

Your brother, lost in his own world next to you as you both jogged with the same pace.

Slowly, you felt a presence around you, or above you? Your head snapped up, spotting a few ravens flying as they landed on lamp post and park benches around you, they all stared and observed you. Sensing the danger around you, you tugged on your brother’s shirt as you picked up your pace from a jog to a sprint. The ravens swooped and flew towards you two, they cawed loudly as Luther let out a yelp and turned around, running away from you as the birds chased after him.

Seeing the birds and Christopher, the floating box followed your brother, your sprint slowed as you stared at your brother’s retreating form, trying to catch your breath.

Then suddenly, a sharp pain at the back of your head and darkness.

Ben reached out to grab you before your body hit the floor. His glance softened at your unconscious figure and lifted your body in his arms. His siblings, Fei and Sloane watched him with unspoken pity, knowing how much you their Y/N meant to him before her death.

“ Make sure to catch that big oaf.” He ordered as he turned around, making his way back to the Sparrow Academy with you passed out in his arms.

-

You blinked away the blurriness as you sat up in an unfamiliar room.

The walls were filled with photos and as you slowly walked towards them to observe them, you can see that they are mostly of you and Ben.

The you in the photos looked different, a lot kinder and more gentle, she smiled a lot bright and so did Ben. Photos of you two on a picnic, napping together, sneaked photos of one another, or photos where either of you were trying to cover your faces with a smile. It’s weird seeing yourself living another life you have no memories of.

Your eyes stopped on one last photo. The photo was slightly covered and hidden under the other brighter photos, a photo of you standing in front of the sunset on a grassy field. Your features were hidden due to the brightness of the sun behind you, but you can see that you were laughing. Your silhouette looked so happy, reaching a hand out towards the photographer.

“ That was the last photo I took of her.” You looked back to see Ben leaning against the doorframe. Your eyes returned to the photo before covering the photo up like how you found it.

The silence was deafening.

“ How… How did she die?” You finally decided to ask, breaking the silence. Ben stayed quiet as the longing look eyes left and the cold look returned. His posture straightened out and his voice toughened as his head turned to look at you.

“ Come downstairs, my family wants to talk to you and your brother.”

Then he left.

———

Honestly after Ben let you and Luther go in exchange for Marcus, you really really thought you wouldn’t see them again. After all, the deal seemed simple enough and you have no need of seeing them again.

But life never gives you what you want.

So here you are, at Sloane and Luther’s wedding as the world outside slowly get sucked into a black hole. The happy couple danced with each other, as everyone either joined them on the dance floor or sat around the venue, eating and drinking away.

You were on your sixth cocktail, sipping away with a tired drunken look in your eyes. You looked around at everyone having a good time as your eyes landed on Ben who was sitting alone by himself, hunched over the table in front of a bunch of… shrimp?

Curiosity got the best of you so you made your way over in your maroon dress. As you sat down next to him, his head slowly lifted up from his arms, and let out a loud burp.

“ How… Charming.” You said as you looked at the man who once always had his guard up.

“ Ten people. Ten people left and they didn’t invite me to their stupid bachelor party.” Ben said, his eyebrows furrowed.

“ Well you didn’t make yourself a very welcoming person, so I get it.” You reply, letting out a laugh into your drink as you went for another gulp. A hand latched on to your wrist as you turned your head to look at an upset Ben.

“ Why don’t they like me?”

“ Because you’re an asshole, and you’ve been nothing but rude to them, so why would they like you?” You laughed as your finished your drink, his hand slipping from the motion of your hand.

“ Why don’t you like me?” That’s when your laughter died down and you stared at Ben, who was already looking at you. You let out a sigh, looking back into your now empty cup.

“ I don’t hate you, if that’s what you’re trying to insinuate. You just…”

“ Remind you too much of him?” You never told Ben about your relationship with the other Ben, but it was rather obvious how you two were together in your timeline while he was with you in his timeline. You simply smiled bittersweetly at Ben.

“ Sometimes, but in different way.”

“ How so?”

“ Ben was always so annoying. A nerd and a party pooper. He’s like a tiny gray cloud on a sunny day.” You laughed at yourself, knowing if he was still here he would’ve pushed you jokingly for those comments.

“ Those are all bad things…” Ben replied, confused at your choice of words.

“ Yeah… and he was the best thing that ever happened to me.” You smiled, recalling all the old memories of you and him.

“ How… how did he die?” Ben finally asked after a short moment of silence.

“ I wasn’t there when it happened, which was the worse part of it all. I was sent away on a different mission, and when I came back? No one would look me in the eyes and tell me what happened. I had to force it out of Diego who told me vaguely what happened. None of them were willing to go in detail anyways, just called it the Jennifer incident.”

“ My Y/N… she died alone on a solo mission. Till this day, we still couldn’t find her body. I prayed that she was alive and was simply in hiding due to the circumstances of her mission, but that faith lead to nothing and I eventually had to face the facts. She’s gone.” Ben looked ahead, his eyes glossed over as he recalled the memories of himself crying over you, never returning to him again.

“ How was she like?” You asked, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“ She was kind. Always so kind even if this kindness required her to sacrifice herself. She was stupid but she always looked for the best in people. After all, she saw the best in me.” Ben smiled to himself and you smiled with him.

“ Both of our better halves died and now we’re just left here, isn’t that just so sad.” You laughed as you went to go pour yourself another drink, perhaps to have fun, perhaps to drink your sorrows away, who knows?

The party continued in the back as you two who were sitting at the bar poured your hearts out to each other, drinking more drinks. The topic slowly changed through the night as you two went from talking about your dead ex lovers to your interests and funny stories of your life.

“ No stop, you did not fucking do that to her.” You laughed as you took another sip of your drink.

“ I did! I also blamed it on Alphonso so him and Jayme both got chores for a whole week as their punishment.” Ben laughed along with you as you propped your elbow on the table, holding your head up as you looked at him with half lidded eyes and a small smile on your face. The alcohol in your system slowly introduced a hint of sleepiness as you blinked slowly at the man. You let out a yawn.

“ Okay, I’m gonna head to bed.” You said as you stood up and stretched.

“ Tired already?” Ben asked, looking back at you with a tired smile.

“ Why? You gonna miss me?”

“ Maybe a little.” He smirked as you laughed. You reached out your hand to lightly pat his cheek as you slowly leaned forward, closer to his face. With a few inches left between you two, your eyes scanned his face as his eyes did the same with yours.

“ Goodnight Ben.” You whispered and kissed him on the cheek. You turned around and walked towards the elevator.

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open in front of you. After stepping in and choosing your floor, you leaned against the wall of the elevator, your eyes closed as you tried your best to stay awake. Suddenly, a hand stopped the doors right before they closed, making a noise that surprised you and your eyes to snap open. And there stood Ben, outside the elevator panting as he stared at you, his eyes so intense as a surge of energy suddenly filled your body and you stood up straighter, staring back at the man.

He headed straight to you at the back of the elevator, his hands found their way to your face as his mouth found its way to yours. Your mouths moved together in a unison while one of your arms hooked around the back of his neck, and your other hand reached up to grip his hair, lightly tugging his roots. He let out a groan as your bodies pressed closed to one another, grinding against each other.

The elevator dinged once again, your mouths separated from one another, slightly panting as you staring at each other with lustful eyes.

“ We take this back to my room?” You asked. You tilted your head and leaned into his hand, his fingers brushing your cheek while you played with his hair.

“ Sure.”

And you all know what happened next.

[kataraslove]

longing-for-rain doesn't do ai art. she tried to be honest by saying that the filter she uses can technically be considered ai, and people fixated on the ai and attacked her for it. be honest, you're just jumping on this hate train because she's a zutara shipper who responded to a braindead take your friend sent her. this is not a coincidence that she is the one you people chose to kick off your ai witch hunt

so you’re telling me that someone can rapidly improve their art like THAT in just 4 months? when it took other artists - actual artists - years to improve their art? please don’t insult all our intelligence by saying this is in any way a harmless ai filter. this is straight up ai.

again, the person who made this post explains it perfectly below, and i doubt that they’re a kataang shipper with the intent to “bring this person down” or whatever nonsense you came up with. and after reading this post, it makes perfectly sense, doesn’t it? why the eyes always looked like that, why the hair always looked like that, why it has that eerie ai feeling, why the art is always whitewashed. let’s just say it’s not ai - why were you all hyping up whitewashed art for months? do you not have any standards for the art you reblog? any common sense? you see a brunette with light skin and automatically go, “omg that’s literally katara!!!” even though it looks nothing like katara?

what longing-for-rain was doing (or continuing doing idk) is such a spit in the face to actual artists. do you know how much artists appreciate when you ask them to repost their artwork, merely because you asked for permission (which is the thing you should be doing)? on top of that, that fraud was asking people to send them money for ai artwork. who knows how many people donated. does that not enrage you? most likely not, because you don’t actually care about the ramifications of ai art on the artist community. you care about how this reflects on zutara shippers. well, my response to that is that tons of zutara shippers should’ve used their brains first before blindly reblogging ai art. especially reblogging whitewashed ai art?

all i was going to do was reblog that post up there with the tags “i should’ve known omg” because that eerie feeling I got when I saw their art suddenly made sense. you transformed this into something so much bigger by not only sending me these asks, but falsely accusing another artist (an authentic, non-fraudulent one) of creating ai art. conveniently, this happens to be the very same artist that happened to be the one to respond to longing-for-rain’s initial anti aang response, which they felt was not a fair critique (and they are within their right to do so, because this is tumblr!)

this extends far beyond aang or shipping wars - what l-f-r was doing is considered scamming. interestingly enough, after my initial reblog, i never arrived at the conclusion that the zutara community were filled with ai enthusiasts, because unlike you, i don’t suffer from fandom brainrot and actually go outside.

you, on the other hand, managed to make it so much worse. for the fraudulent ai artist you’re trying and failing so hard to defend. for the zutara community. if there’s an ongoing hate campaign against the “artist” (which i’m not aware of, because i want nothing to do with them), then you are the one instrumental in leading it, not me. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

Hello everyone. I’m sorry that this had to come down to me making a post about this terrible subject. I’m here today to address the cyber bullying that has befallen the royal fandom. Me and @abigaaal and @katjaa (deactivated) have been notoriously harassed by @krasivaa and @goofie-light.

First let me explain about @krasivaa, or as she’s more commonly known, Divna. It first started as a friendship between me, @katjaa and Divna, then @abigaaal joined our little trio. Before long @katjaa messaged me and told me that Divna was repeatedly harassing her and was calling her mean and vile insults. She was also body shaming her and sending her cruel asks from different accounts. This got so bad that she had to deactivate her tumblr account. Divna was still my “friend” and I didn’t understand the full extent of @katjaa’s situation until she started repeatedly lying to me and manipulating me. She was always telling me that I could’ve done this better or that I was “fake”. I still wanted to be friends with her until she messaged me in one long message that my so called actions and posts were hurting her and others. She spread lies about me to @abigaaal and shen she called me horrible names in the chat. I was very shocked at this and confronted her about her actions to @katjaa. She then started angrily telling me that I was a liar and started swearing at me in a horrible way. I then spontaneously blocked her and tried to repair ways with @abigaaal and others including @queenalexandraofdenmark and @duchessofvolterra. They did not know why me and Divna got into a fight and definitely did not know the full situation so there was a lot of explaining to do. We all repaired ways but then @abigaaal repeatedly messaged me over time that Divna was doing mean stuff and saying terrible things. She was also manipulating her to do what she wanted. This FINALLY came to an end when @abigaaal posted this post confronting Divna and Jade who I will explain right now.

I first heard of Jade (aka @goofie-light and @rewrite-starsss) when @abigaaal messaged me saying that she was Divna’s irl friend. She sent me various messages of Jade body shaming her and was horrifically bullying her. Then I saw @abigaaal’s recent post showing EVEN MORE disgusting screenshots. I knew that this bullying was bad but I didn’t know the full extent of it. Then this morning I received this message from Jade:

What she is saying here is OBVIOUSLY a lie and I immediately blocked her after telling her to go to hell. I also reported her for cyber bullying and harassment. (also idk why it says we are mutuals bc we aren’t)

If ANYONE and I mean ANYONE is experiencing cyber bullying, PLEASE report the blog or tell someone who can help. It is important that this stops and that everyone is okay and away from this shit. Also PLEASE watch out for Divna and Jade. They are manipulative people who deserve to be brought to justice.

Thank you for listening.

[marie-swriting]

Is Your Plan Working ? - Steve Harrington

Drabble Masterlist

Summary : Steve thinks he still can get a number from a random girl, you think he can't.

Warnings : sister!reader, reader is 14, set before season 3.

Word count : 706

French version on Tumblr

French version on Wattpad

Prompt : "Was I supposed to be impressed ?" 4th prompt from this list made by @exhuastedpigeon

“Hey dumbass !” You shout, making Steve turn around.

“What do you want, Y/N ?”

“You make me an ice cream ?”

“You literally insulted me at my workplace and you want me to give you an ice cream ?” He questions, outraged.

You roll your eyes before putting your innocent face on and stating with a small voice :  

“I apologise, my sweet brother. May I have an ice cream, please ?”

“Alright, I’m gonna do your ice cream, but only because I don’t wanna see your face anymore.” Steve gives up, annoyed.

“Love you, too.”

While Steve makes your order, you observe him, wanting to distract him. He started working at Scoops Ahoy three weeks ago so it’s still kind of hard for him. For you, it’s the perfect occasion to have free ice creams and mock your brother. Unfortunately, Steve does his work without a mistake today.

When he’s done, you take your cup and sit at a table near the counter. Steve rolls his eyes as he sees you’re still not leaving. You take your time to eat because you want to annoy him as much as you can. You’re taking another spoon of your ice cream with a fake-angelic expression on your face.

“Tell me Steve, is your plan working ? Did you get any numbers ?”

“Yes. Totally. Without a doubt.” He exclaims, trying to play it cool.

“Huh, technically, you got none.” Robin corrects him as she arrives at the counter.

“That’s false, I got one !”

“Yeah, zero and half. She didn’t give you the good one.”

When you hear this information, you can’t help but burst out laughing, imagining the scene in your head.

“I wish I could have seen that. I can’t believe after all these years being nicknamed ‘King Steve’, you’re struggling that much. I love it.” You state as you take another bite of your ice cream.

“It’s always nice to feel supported.” Steve says ironically. “But we’ll see who’s gonna be laughing in the end when I’ll have a girlfriend before the end of the holidays while you’ll still be hanging out with your little friends.”

“At least, they’re my age. Listen, we really like you Steve but you’re hurting our feelings when you hang with us.”

“Wait, the kids that come here almost everyday are your friends ?” Robin asks you and you nod. “I’m coming back in a sec.” She informs before getting a white board.

As you finish eating, you watch Robin taking a marker pen, drawing two categories where it’s written ‘YOU RULE’ and ‘YOU SUCK’. In that last one, she draws a stick before saying : 

“I feel like this column is gonna be full really soon.”

“Yeah, whatever. Keep mocking me, I’ll prove to you that my charms still work. I’m gonna do it right now, actually.” Steve affirms, showing you the new client. “Get ready to put a stick in that ‘YOU RULE’ column.” He says to Robin before smiling at the girl. “Welcome to Scoops Ahoy, can I offer you an ice cream ?”

“Hello, can I have lemon and strawberry, please.”

“Right away.”

Steve is fully focused on the making of the ice cream, making sure it’s done perfectly. Once he’s done, he gives the cup to the client. She’s about to pay when he stops her with a charming smile. 

“It’s free.”

“Really ?”

“Yes, my pleasure.”

“Thank you ! My boyfriend is gonna be happy.” She smiles while Steve’s face breaks down. “Have a nice day.”

You wait for the young woman to leave before laughing out loud with Robin. She holds her tummy before drawing another stick on the board. Steve tries to not let anything show, even though hurt can be seen in his eyes.

“Was I supposed to be impressed ?” You ask, calming your laugh. “Your face was beautiful, wish I could have taken a picture. Well, I’d like to keep mocking your lack of charm but I have to hang out with my friends.” You state before throwing your cup. “See you Robin.” You add before leaving and ignoring your brother. 

“You have to be home by six !” Steve orders you.

“If you get one number, maybe yes.”

“I love your sister.” Robin smiles, making Steve roll his eyes.

Drabble Masterlist

{This is my side blog so I'll be answering comments under the username @marie-sworld}

[heloflor]

The issues with Movie Peach: A comparison of portrayals

Ok so I know it’s been literal months since the Mario Movie came out but I’m still a bit salty about the way Peach was portrayed in it, and honestly the more I think about it the more I find flaws in this “adaptation”, and I need to get it all out, hoping talking about it here will help me stop thinking about this shit and finally get over it. If you enjoyed her movie portrayal, good for you and feel free to ignore this post. For the others, here are the things that bother me about it.

(Very long post ahead! A bit over 11k words. It’s "cut" in several parts to make it easier to follow. I also made a Google docs version in case it’s easier to read. Tl;Dr under the cut because Tumblr does weird things due to the length otherwise)

Tl;Dr: Outside of a few personality traits that are the same but expressed differently, which is an issue all main characters in this movie have when compared to their game selves, the main issues with Movie Peach are her body language and the fact they removed the overly kind nature, more or less pacifist nature, wit and softness she has in the games and instead made her confrontational, a competent physical fighter and overly-confident, all of which make her OOC when compared to the games. This is especially insulting given the way Illuminations seems to look down on Games Peach and consider what they did with her in the movie to be an improvement, when Peach’s main issue in the games isn’t her personality but her lack of screentime to make said personality shine.

Setting a few things straight before we start, just to make sure we’re on the same page here:

1. No, it’s not about the pants. While an argument could be made about Peach only wearing pants in outfits that require it (adventurer and farmer in Odyssey, some events in Olympics, Strikers, swordfighter and Kung Fu in Showtime, biker in Kart, her cap/snow/moon outfit in Odyssey and detective in Showtime do have pants in a setting where it’s not necessary but both also give her a long jacket, making it look like she’s wearing more of a dress with long stockings rather than actual pants, same for Olympics ice skating) ultimately there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her wearing pants. Heck, one of her scraped Odyssey outfits has her wearing jeans, and it’s one of her best outfits! Also Showtime might have more outfits with pants that will make this argument null (I mean the concept art for Odyssey kinda already does with the jeans). All this to say, the people who claim Peach was “ruined” because she’s *looks at smudged writing* “wearing a biker outfit on a bike” need to chill tf out.

2. There’s also nothing wrong with the fact she can parkour. In all the games she’s playable, Peach can keep up with Mario without any issue (she does have a slower walking speed in Super Paper and 3D World but it honestly barely matters, and it makes sense given she has a dress). Plus, the movie establishes that she was raised here, so it’s normal for her to have the abilities needed to get around. Now I do take issue with her body language in the training scene (more on that later) and the mention that she first-tried it (I like when characters struggle and grow rather than getting everything right first-hand) but both of those things are unrelated to her platforming abilities. So if you see little to no mention of her being great at it later in the post, it’s because that’s not something I consider out of character for her.

3. I am beyond excited for Princess Peach Showtime. From what we’ve seen so far, this game perfectly encapsulates what makes Peach who she is, and I am so happy that she’s getting her own game again!!! As for the swordfighter and Kung Fu outfits, it’s mentioned later on in the post but yeah it absolutely works with her game personality. Again, the issue isn’t with the outfits, or in that case with some specific abilities that work with what we know of her, the issue is with the personality that goes with it.

4. While the post will likely give the opposite impression, in no way do I consider myself some sort of expert on Peach’s character. This is a character that was created 15 years before I was even born, and I have no rights whatsoever to dictate what Nintendo can or can’t do with their own characters or how they choose to portray them. It’s just that she’s a character I absolutely adored as a kid and, while I’m not sure if she’s currently my favorite Mario character (hesitating between her and Bowser), I’m still incredibly attached to that character and her potential, hence why I care so much. But by the end of the day, I’m just some random weirdo over-analyzing a character from a kid-oriented piece of media.

5. I have no issues with the strong female character archetype, or at least none outside of the common grievance of “stop giving us boring planks of wood with amazing natural abilities and instead give us great characters who happen to kick ass and be badass!”. In fact, was this movie a completely original piece with characters unrelated to Mario, I’d probably enjoy Peach’s character. My issue in this specific case is that this movie is meant as a faithful adaptation of a specific franchise, so you’d expect all the characters to be in character. And while all main characters have some traits that are missing or not exactly the same as their game counterparts (I could make a short post about it if anybody asks), it still works very well for what Illuminations was going for and they’re still recognizable. Peach is the only exception where her character feels very butchered. There’s also the issue that it feels like Illuminations looks down on Peach’s game portrayal and wrote her this way with a desire to “fix” her, when there’s nothing wrong with her in-game personality. More on that later. But yeah, it does feel insulting if they do look down on her game character.

(Also I know this is a whole other discussion but I’m really not a big fan of the way everytime a new female character is created she needs to be called like “girlboss”, “damsel”, “Marie Sue” etc. Can’t a female character just exist without being put in a box, like male characters do (obviously I’m talking outside of fandoms, I know men are put in boxes around here)? Also can’t sweet female characters, strong female characters and anything in-between just exist without people arguing over which ones are “better”? Just let women be women. And while I do understand the issue with how many movies do nothing with their women outside of making them the love interest, which is an issue, by that point we have so much diverse female rep that we should be able to write characters the way we want without having to compensate for the shitty portrayals. You want your female characters to be likable or great role models? Just make them interesting. Give them goals, an arc, interesting relationships, things they’re good at and things they struggle at. And if you want them to be soft and kind and raise a family? Go ahead! You want them to be badass as hell and kill without a sweat instead? Go ahead!

Also last thing about it but I find it pretty crazy how Disney specifically struggles so much nowadays with female characters in live-action. I mean Disney Animations Studios gave is tons of great women, both protagonists and antagonists, all with different personalities (Snow White is childlike and naive, Cinderella refuses to let her situation take her down and remains kind to those “below” her, Ariel is curious and passionate, Jasmine is stubborn and independent, Esmeralda is incredibly selfless while still having no issue standing up for herself, Megara is cynical and sharp, Tiana is determined and hard-working, Mulan is very smart and loves her father so much she’s willing to die protecting him, Rapunzel is spunky and has a natural talent to bring people together, Elsa is shy and introverted, Anna is impulsive and empathetic, Mirabel is probably the most relatable Disney protagonist, the list goes on), heck the Disney Princesses is their most popular brand that they didn’t buy out from the competition, and yet when you look at the remakes and the superheroes movies, they give us the blandest characters, whose “empowerment” messages are the most nothing thing when compared to the original animated movies. Mulan especially is a ridiculously good example of that given how fantastic the message of the original movie was in terms of female empowerment.)

Now, with all that out of the way, let’s get into why I dislike Movie Peach when compared to Games Peach:

1. The two biggest issues with Movie Peach

Starting with one of my two biggest issues but also the shortest to explain: her body language. To go over it quickly, just watch her scenes in the movie while focusing on her body language, mannerisms and facial expressions, and then go to her scenes in the Mario + Rabbids games along with the trailers for Princess Peach Showtime and do the same thing. You’ll quickly notice that Rabbids and Showtime have a very similar Peach, while the Movie gives a completely different vibe. In fact, on body language alone, they come off as two completely different characters.

Now there are small moments where her body language in the Movie works as Peach, such as her reactions when Mario is training or when she’s watching the fight between him and DK (at least when the camera isn’t fully focused on her for that second case). But overall, she’s still very different from the games.

To give more precise examples, notice the way Movie Peach always looks very confident when she’s about to start a fight. In comparison, the first teaser for Showtime opens up with Peach and Stella going on stage, and Peach comes off as someone who isn’t sure if she can do it but is willing to try her absolute best. Basically when I look at Movie Peach her face says “Alright, let’s do this >: )” while Peach in the first Showtime trailer has a face that says “Alright, I can do this”, if that makes more sense.

Then there’s also things like in the first Rabbids games with Peach showing up to the fight floating with her parasol Marry Poppins style. And upon being about to land, Mario extends a hand to help her even though she doesn’t need it, which kind of reminds me of the ending of Super Princess Peach where Mario is the one in distress yet Peach is the one getting carried bridal style by him because that’s just the kind of person she is. I just can’t picture Movie Peach doing the same.

Btw funny thing but while I disagree with the people claiming that Movie Peach is basically Daisy, since Daisy is very aloof about her role as ruler while Movie Peach takes it incredibly seriously, I do believe that Movie Peach’s body language would fit Daisy very well.

I guess it’s also worth mentioning how different her voice sounds in the movie? But then again I watched it in french and only saw some english-dubbed scenes through video reactions, and I can’t say I really care about the og dub enough to take a good listen. That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of her french voice when you compare it to what Peach sounds like (I do think the voice actress did a great job though, regardless of whether or not she sounds like Peach). And looking at trailers in different languages, the German version I believe has a much higher-pitched voice and it does feel a lot more like what Peach sounds like.

Second biggest issue is how great she is in combat and that’s the biggest one for me. Not only did they remove some of Peach’s traits (which we’ll get to in a moment) but they added something that is extremely out of character for her.

In the movie, Peach is a fantastic fighter, especially with hand-to-hand combat. She drop-kicks Mario, would have probably won against DK no problem had she accepted the duel, does a great job defending herself in the Rainbow Road scene, is very quick and agile when confronting Bowser at the wedding, and was single-handedly winning against a whole army, probably would have won had she not gotten distracted. She’s also clearly aware of those abilities, very often smiling during those fights, showing tons of confidence in her abilities.

On top of that, she’s very confrontational. She hears of Bowser being a menace and immediately wants to go to war. When a stranger gets a bit too close for comfort, she attacks. When encouraging her Toads before leaving, her posture when she gets interrupted shows a desire to fight. When they meet the first Kong and he glares at her, she immediately glares back. She also takes a fighting stance when he roars at them. When Bowser approaches, she’s willing to take him out all by herself and later on starts the battle at the altar. All-in-all, fighting is her first solution to pretty much every problem.

Peach in the games, however, is very different. If you look at her relationship with fighting throughout the series, three things will arise:

1. Peach doesn’t like fighting and only does so if there’s no other choice. In Mario 3D Land, she fights back against a pile of Goombas but looks incredibly uncomfortable doing so. In what we’ve seen of Showtime, she cowers when Stella uses her magic on her hair and then looks confused about having to be the hero for a second there.

In Smash Bros Brawl, the one cutscene where she truly shines has her stopping fights left and right and trying to befriend everyone while letting Sheik protect her if needed; she doesn’t even take a fighting stance when Mr. Game and Watch attacks (at least in the cutscene compilation I saw, could have been a glitch where her animation didn’t trigger considering she’s dusting her dress off instead, which looks like an idle animation; note that I haven’t played this game). Btw it’s both very funny and pretty embarrassing for the Movie writers that a fighting game of all things understood Peach’s dislike over fighting better than they did. On that note, this one Ultimate trailer with no music that got memed a lot features Peach and Zelda surrounded by a gust of wind, and while Zelda looks ready to fight, Peach instead gasps and looks at the wind, completely dropping her guard and forgetting about the whole “having to fight” thing.

Then there’s the Mario and Luigi series where she sends the twins to fight her battles, the first Rabbids game where you meet her very early on yet she only becomes playable much later in the game, plus in both Rabbids games she’s a support character whose role is to protect the others (of course she still has an attack like everyone else; also I’m in no way saying that a support character is “lesser”, it’s an essential role in making sure the hard-hitters use their turns to attack rather than heal).

In Paper Mario 64 she also doesn’t fight directly and in the last boss uses her wishes to strengthen Twink, playing support. Even in the Super Mario Adventures Comic, outside of dropkicking on the Koopalings, she never fights directly. When going back to the tower, she threatens to blow it up but doesn’t do anything when Wendy calls her bluff. There’s literally only one panel during the “getting the keys” fight in which she’s visible, and she’s in the background running around and looking surprised!

Oh yeah and while I might be wrong as I’ve only seen it in like, 2 cutscenes, Peach in the Rabbids games doesn’t seem to have a fighting stance, at least outside of cutscenes. So you know how the characters have some small animations, like “thinking” stances or “happy/cheering” stances or “sad” stances, you know the ones? Well in at least two scenes, while everyone is taking a fighting stance, Peach is standing with her mouth open in surprise. I know one of these moments is in the Last Spark Hunter DLC but I couldn’t tell you which is the other cutscene. I’m not even actually sure if it’s true for a second one but also for some reason I remember seeing it at least twice. 🤔 Btw random fun fact but Bowser also doesn’t have a cheering stance, at least not in this DLC.

I also know incredibly little of Super Mario RPG but doesn’t she use magic in this game, and is again the supporting character meant to heal the others?

Also also not sure if this matters much since other characters like Daisy do it too, but in Super Mario Party, and possibly other party games (?), during the minigames that require punching other people, she pushes them instead. You can see she doesn’t use her fist but her palms instead.

Lastly, because it does need to be brought up, yes Peach jumps on enemies without any hesitation in the platformers she’s playable in. This is basically the main reason why I called Peach “more or less pacifist” in the Tl;Dr. And honestly, the only counterargument I can give is the fact that those aren’t really fights, at least outside of bosses. You’re just kind of hopping on enemies’ heads and then they disappear. But in games that are more focused on the fight itself like the RPGs or the Smash cutscenes, Peach tends to either be less comfortable with fighting or have more of a supporting role.

Now, I could also point out how the vast majority of platformers Peach is playable in are co-op games (Bros 2 USA, 3D World, Super Paper, Wonder), and the stories of those games imply the whole group is going on an adventure together, meaning it’s possible Peach does less fighting and more exploring for example, leaving Mario and Luigi to do most of the fighting. And while this is an idea I like to explore in fics, I don’t want to diminish Peach’s abilities here. Plus Super Princess Peach and Showtime prove that she doesn’t hesitate when on her own.

And yes I know the real reason why she doesn’t hesitate in the platformers is because people want to be able to play as her and it’d be stupid to have a character who doesn’t have the basic abilities literally every character has, so it has less to do with her personality and more to do with gameplay. The RPGs on the other hand assign different abilities and roles to different characters, so they can make Peach the healer/support as a means to make her an active character while keeping her personality intact. Still, for the sake of argument and to avoid being a hypocrite, I consider the platformers as proof that she can fight directly when she needs to, with the RPGs and Smash cutscenes showing that this might not be her preferred choice.

All this to say, Peach is not much of a fighter. If she can prevent a fight, she will choose the more peaceful option. She’d also rather have other people fight instead of her or play support for them. But if it all comes down to it, she will fight. She’d rather not, but she will if needed.

2. Peach doesn’t know how to fight. Now this might be a flimsier argument but bear with me here. Basically, the first time I thought of this was due to the 86 anime and Adventures Comic, both of which have her defend herself using furniture, which does give the impression that she doesn’t know how to fight so she does the second best thing: throwing heavy shit to at least do some damage.

But even with those aside, Peach is definitely one to use unusual weapons. In Super Princess Peach and a few other games, she fights with a parasol. Her gun in Rabbids 2 is even shaped like a parasol. In Super Mario RPG, from what I’ve heard/seen, she uses a frying pan. And while I don’t know her Smash moveset, looking at her character descriptions from the wiki, the Smash games keep mentioning her using said frying pan along with turnips, her parasol, sports gear and Toad as a shield, with her hand-to-hand combat being her kicking while in the air. I also know what her final smash sort of looks like with the way the screen changes to look like a Peach-themed frame (and I think I remember hearing that peaches fall off the sky but don’t quote me on that).

She also uses magic, mostly star/wish-related magic, which seems to be healing magic for the most part? On that note, her specials in the sport games tend to be heart-shaped. And while it’s definitely undermined by the swordfighter and Kung Fu outfits, her main means to defend herself in Showtime is a ribbon. And who knows, maybe we’ll get some other wacky ways to attack in other transformations?

So yeah, overall, Peach doesn’t seem like someone who knows how to fight. She just holds onto an object that she’s comfortable with and wacks people with it. In a way, it goes with what’s said in the previous part. In platforming games, she jumps on enemies just like everybody else. But when it comes to more hand-related combat, Showtime is seemingly the first time where she’s getting some abilities on that front.

Now, there is the argument that Showtime is all a play, meaning her abilities are her playing a role. But I do think that, regardless if this is a play or not, her physical abilities in this game do come from her. So even if the fights are “scripted” to an extent, she’s still capable of executing those moves. Same deal with the possible argument that Stella might be giving her those powers/boosting her. Peach still is capable of doing them on her own, unless we’re explicitly told in-game that Stella gave her those abilities and Peach wouldn’t be able to do them without her. But then this would undermine her baking and detective skills, and we know how much Peach loves baking. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see once the game comes out.

3. Peach is physically weak, much more so than what the movie shows. This is actually why I saw her Smash descriptions because I went to the wiki pages for all the sport games to check her stats. And in all the games showing said stats, her strength is almost always below average, sometimes by a little, other times by a lot, with quite a few instances having her as one of the physically weakest characters. I can only remember one exception where her strength was around the same level as everyone else. Everything else, she’s below.

For those curious about which stats I used to check on that: every game that has a “strength” stat, I checked it. As for the others, for the golf games I looked for the ball distance a throw gives as it seems like the one that would require the most strength, and for some Strikers games it was the shooting stat. I didn’t take Mario Kart into consideration as I don’t think there’s anything in that series that would count (even weight doesn’t really have anything to do with it), and the baseball games were a bit more complicated. By that I mean that Peach in Sluggers for example (at least I think it was Sluggers) has a bad stat as a hitter, but good at pitcher. And both of those positions require physical strength I believe? Unless Nintendo considers pitcher as more of a technique-related skill and hitter as more strength-related? But yeah, just leaving this here in case it’s relevant. Literally the one time I don’t spend time looking at the other characters’ stats to see what they have in comparison, it’s the one time where I’m not sure what it means in terms of strength.

(Speaking of which, because I found those interesting, know that Mario is always the most balanced character, Luigi tends to be not as strong as his brother but has more agility than him, Bowser is always one of the strongest, DK and Wario swap between which one has the same strength stat as Bowser and which one is a bit weaker depending on the game, Daisy is a fast character in the Olympics games which I find funny considering Mario Kart Wii, and Waluigi tends to be on the weaker end due to being lanky apparently.)

And outside of the sports games, one of her Smash Melee descriptions calls her one of the weakest characters physically, and how using her is a test of endurance (again, a literal fighting game gets it), while that one long gone Doctor Mario mobile game has her attack stat in combat mode be at its lowest, while her defense on the other hand is pretty good (haven’t played this game actually, just stumbled across the page and looked up some stats, funny how well they’re tied to the sport games, like with Mario being balanced, Bowser having the most attack etc).

Now there might be more examples I’m forgetting, but all-in-all, there’s a pattern of Peach being weak when it comes to physical strength. And on unrelated news, the part of me that headcanon her as a Toad is very happy about that fact.

2. Other personality differences

And speaking of patterns! Here’s something the movie removed from Game Peach: her wit. Peach in the games is smart, resourceful and quick-witted. And while it’s not something the games really focus on, it’s absolutely there.

In all those sports games I mentioned, there’s one stat that’s always her highest, and that’s her technique. In all the games that have a stat called technique, she has the highest one. In almost all the games that don’t have stats but just put the characters in categories based on their abilities (all-around, strength, technique, speed etc), she’s put in the technique box, with only like one exception in an Olympics game that puts her in the speed category, switching with Daisy. In strikers, the golf games, the tennis games, and likely the baseball games, her best stats are the ones related to her control over the ball, which I’d argue is the most related to technique (don’t remember the exact names of the stats but it was something along the lines of passing the ball, giving effect to the ball, choosing the trajectory of the balls and being pitcher respectively). One of the Olympics games I believe even calls her quick-witted.

On that note, I like to think that this is why she makes for a great swordfighter and Kung Fu artist in Showtime, as those are skills that require a lot of technique and she’s good at picking up on it (also is there an Olympics games that has a fencing challenge that she’s playable in? Because that could explain it too).

As for outside of the sport games, you have the 86 Anime where she manages to outsmart Bowser though she doesn’t get away with it, the Adventures Comic with her outsmarting the Koopalings and even managing to escape the tower by making fast decisions on where to run to and using Wendy’s possessions against her (granted she got lucky with the cape, but still), Paper Mario 64 with her sneaking around the castle finding info to help Mario, same deal with Thousand Years Door (from what I’ve seen of it), Superstar Saga with her switcharoo plan, Partners in Time with her quickly grabbing the star against Elder Princess Shroobs, Dream Team with her and Toadsworth going through a few trials on their own (plus, depending on when she got captured, she might have been the one to think of hiding with Madame Broque), Showtime with the detective outfit, all the games where she’s able to send Mario items (like Galaxy) or attempts to run away (3D Land), and overall she’s seen as a great Princess loved by her Toads, which is a role that requires a lot of thinking to take the best decisions for her people.

On the other hand, Movie Peach lacks this wit. While she does have a lot of technique given how much she can do physically, she lacks the smart decisions that Games Peach is able to do. Or at least, she doesn’t think things through like, at all. I mean if you look at her decisions one by one:

- She intended on traveling to meet the Kongs all on her own, going on a fairly dangerous adventure without a single person in tow. The only reason she went with others was because Mario showed up.

- She meets that completely random guy that broke into her castle and is immediately willing to take him on said difficult journey after one day of seeing him train, all because he looks like her (this is the main reason why I would’ve loved to have Toadsworth in the movie, he could’ve told her not to go alone, thus giving an excuse as to why she would take Mario with her).

- When Cranky refuses to land his army, she just doubles down on what she just said. While her arguments make sense, she clearly didn’t know what to say and had no backup plan in case he refused, and only got the army due to Mario’s impulsiveness (granted I think she could’ve taken DK in a fight). And while yes, she’s surprised when Cranky first accepts, meaning she might have expected him to disagree, the fact she says “that’s it?” makes it seem more like she expected a deal rather than a direct approval. She didn’t come off as someone who expected him to say no, but instead expected a conditional yes and didn’t consider what to do in case of refusal.

- When Bowser arrives, she intends to face him alone, literally getting surrounded by Koopas the second Bowser steps out of his ship. Then she tells him to use the star now. She basically sent herself on a suicide mission here, and clearly decided to face him without any sort of plan. Was she hoping her looking badass and all would be enough to deter him or something???

- The wedding scheme. Now, this one is fine overall and does show she can come up with plans, but also a few people have pointed out how there could have been alternatives. She could’ve tried talking Bowser out of the sacrifices, try to accept the marriage and bide some time in order to strike when there isn’t a fricking army standing right next to her. But instead, she chose to blow up the whole thing, which was a crazy dangerous plan. It also showcases what I was saying about her being confrontational, when this is the first thing she can think of. Now of course, in the end it was the best idea due to Bowser wishing to sacrifice other people, meaning she needed to act now. But with the context of Peach not knowing about said sacrifices, it means she still intended on doing the most dangerous thing first rather than getting the marriage over with and destroying Bowser’s empire from the inside. Heck had she waited until after the marriage she could’ve gotten access to the Star during the night or something. Also, again, there’s no telling how Bowser would’ve responded had she asked him to spare those lives, at least for the time being.

So overall, while I wouldn’t call Movie Peach an idiot as she’s not, she isn’t that smart either. She keeps rushing into dangerous situations thinking her fighting abilities will be enough to solve the issue, exercising none of the caution and patience Games Peach has when trying to escape or snooping around. And it honestly sucks that Illuminations decided to take out what is arguably one of Peach’s biggest strengths and replace it with another type of strength that not only she doesn’t need but also goes against her character.

Now, before we get into the last thing bothering me, which is her kindness or lack thereof, I’d like to talk about a few minor traits that could’ve worked in the kindness part but can also be talked about separately. Those things are her snark/sass, her seriousness and her anger. Basically, those are traits that both Movie Peach and Games Peach possess, and as a result it doesn’t bother me when Movie Peach displays those.

Peach in the games can be sassy at times, especially in the competitive games. That sassiness can also be turned into playfulness a few times, like in Superstar Saga when she trolls Mario and Luigi about her voice and laughs about it, or during the escort mission where she makes comments about how “it wasn’t that bad” when you exit an area.

Like Movie Peach, she’s also fairly serious during dangerous situations. It’s just that, due to her personality, she expresses a lot of worry in those situations, which might take away some of her seriousness when compared to her movie self.

As for her anger, boy is it present in the games, but again it comes off as toned down due to her inherent softness. In the 86 Anime, she’s constantly talking back against Bowser and gets mad at him a lot, same for Paper Mario 64. In Super Paper Mario, it’s easy to get her angry. In the ending of Odyssey, she’s pissed off, and I actually love how when she gets on the ship she needs to take a deep breath to calm down enough to bring back a smile for Mario. That doesn’t mean she isn’t angry anymore, but again she’s incredibly kind and compassionate so she’s willing to put it on the side for now and focus on getting home. Also in the intro of Super Princess Peach, she’s absolutely furious after reading Bowser’s letter.

About her anger, I can’t help but wonder if this is what Miyamoto meant in an interview related to the movie where he apparently claimed that Movie Peach is how he’d always wanted her character to be. Because let’s be real here, this claim, if true, is corporate bullshit. Miyamoto has a lot of power at Nintendo, he could’ve made Peach like that from the get-go if that’s what he’d always wanted. Hell just look at Showtime where Peach is the same as she’s always been in the games, very much proving that claim is false. So again, I can’t help but wonder if by that claim, Miyamoto meant her temper. Or maybe he was referring to the Adventures Comic, which is the only version outside of the movie in which Peach is confrontational, but then again she doesn’t know how to fight in that comic so…

I’d also like to talk about her confidence, since earlier I mentioned how overly-confident Movie Peach is in her fighting abilities compared to the games. Now, that’s not to say Peach isn’t a confident person, far from it. In fact, there’s that character pic from the second Rabbids games showing off her weapon and her smile makes her look very confident (that pic is at the very end of that post btw, if by then you remember this part). But despite her confidence Games Peach definitely comes off as a very humble person, while Movie Peach is low-key showing off during those fight/platforming scenes.

All this to say, if you praise the movie for “giving” Peach those traits, she actually always had them. It’s just expressed differently in the games. This is also what I meant in the intro when saying how all the characters are a bit off when compared to their games selves, but it still works for the most part. The traits are there, but in a different way that does make it seem weird while still making the characters recognizable. The issue with Peach specifically is that they went further than just changing a few traits.

Also because I don’t know where else to put it, Peach in the games is definitely a lot softer and delicate than her Movie counterpart, but I consider this mostly linked to body language, hence why I’m not making a whole part about this. But it’s definitely something the movie is lacking about her.

There's also her stubbornness and love for baking, but those are also things I don’t really want to focus on. Given the situation the characters are in and the fact Illuminations doesn’t know how to write scenes where characters just sit down and talk, there really wasn’t any opportunity to have Movie Peach talk about cakes. Now I do believe that this lack is due to Illuminations considering Peach’s love for baking as “making her weak and feeble”, but again, even if it wasn’t the case the movie has a pacing issue so they couldn’t have talked about this anyways.

As for the stubbornness, I just don’t really have any example in mind and don’t really know how to explain it as a result, but I do believe that both the movie and games selves have it. I might actually be inclined to say Games Peach is more stubborn, but again I don’t really have any examples of that. I mean I guess there’s the Mario and Luigi series where she disregards Toadsworth’s concerns a few times (wanting to see the Toad village in Superstar Saga, using the time-travel machine in PiT, the intro of Dream Team with the trap door). From the little I’ve seen of it, Paper Mario TTYD also has her go against his wishes at the beginning?

Now, for the last difference between the two: her kindness. Peach in the games is one of the kindest sweetest people you’ll ever meet. I think I remember someone actually mentioning how her liking cakes so much is fitting given her personality, as cakes are sweet and soft and bring a smile to your face, just like she does (sadly I can’t remember where I read this, whether it was a tumblr post, a youtube comment, something said in a video or something else). And while Movie Peach is definitely kind, it’s not as much as Games Peach. Hell whenever I see people praise Movie Peach for her kindness, they say something along the lines of how the strong female character archetype usually doesn’t make women be this nice. So what Movie Peach is clearing is actually a very low bar of human decency that people were asking for. In other words, Movie Peach is nice the same amount a basic supporting character should be nice.

In comparison, Games Peach really is kind to a fault. She’s always warm and welcoming to any new person, is said in one of her Melee trophies to be such a forgiving person she’s willing to play against Bowser, which is a sentiment you can also see with the few times they’ve worked together, also that one cutscene in the Last Spark Hunter DLC where the Rabbids go to Bowser for comfort and when he lets that happen Peach gives him the softest smile. Even in games like Mario Odyssey where Bowser is trying to forcefully marry her, she seems to show concern for him after he’s defeated in the Cloud Kingdom. On that note, she’s also very nice to Junior, despite how awkward it might be for her (never raises her voice on him in Sunshine, has over 80% compatibility with him in the Gamecube Baseball game, plays with him in one of the Switch Online ads/explanations).

Also as mentioned before she’s willing to temporarily let go of her anger at the end of Odyssey to call Mario to come to the ship. I also made a post about four instances where Peach jumped into a dangerous situation without thinking because other people were in danger, whether she knew those people or not + whether they were good or bad people. Btw since earlier I mentioned how Movie Peach lacked wit compared to Games Peach, those four moments show that yes, Games Peach can be impulsive at times and do things without thinking them through, but those instances are specifically related to her kindness/desire to help others, unlike Movie Peach who just does what she think is best in the moment and never plans anything. Also ironic I bring back the wit since I consider Peach’s kindness to be her second biggest strength, on par with said wit.

On that note, I’m one of those people who make up animations in my mind while listening to music and recently was listening to Wander Over Yonder songs thinking about Mario (“I’m the Bad Guy” with the Shadow Queen tho, or “You’re the Greatest Reprise” with Kamek, Bowser, Luigi and Mario when taking the order of which characters speak/sing first, also you have no idea how much I hope someone will make an animatic of Bowser singing “You’re the Greatest”). And the funny thing is, while thinking of voices and how the actor for Wander would fit either Mario or Luigi very well, it got me thinking of how both properties have a very nice/positive cast where even the villains can be friends from time to time, and I ended up comparing Mario with Wonder and realize that Wonder is actual pretty similar to Peach in some ways.

Both Wander and Peach are people who value friendship and understanding over fighting. They both love helping others, though it’s a lot more amplified with Wander, and are both willing to give the villains a shot at redemption, perhaps a bit too much, trying to see the best in people. Now what’s interesting here is that, while Peach is intelligent and her governing a Kingdom shows a level of maturity, at times she comes off as naive or airheaded, and I can’t help but feel like her kindness is the reason for it, and comparing it with Wander explains it.

The short version is, if both of them received an invitation from their respective villain claiming they were willing to change their ways, both would happily accept and go meet the villain with a smile. The difference however is that Wander would have Sylvia looking out for him, ready to jump in any moment. While Wander will play dumb on the possibility of the villain setting up a trap, he’ll be very much aware of said possibility and will be able to escape it. Peach on the other hand will drop all defenses and completely fall for the trap.

And I think that’s the thing with Peach’s kindness, and why she comes off as naive. Unlike someone like Wander who keeps a level of realism over the villains’ intentions and plays dumb about it, Peach believes the best of everyone to a fault. I’m especially thinking of that scene in the Switch Tennis game, with Wario and Waluigi showing up and half-collapsing, leading Peach to immediately run to them, ready to help, forcing a Toad to step in and tell her to be careful. Peach knows that Wario and Waluigi are bad news, yet the second they’re shown in trouble, she forgets all about the possible danger and wants to help, straight up needing someone else to remind her of said danger. In a way, it reminds me of that statement Miyamoto once made about how easy it could be to capture Peach by just giving her cake. While I’m not the biggest fan of this statement as it comes off as mocking her character, when you think about it, there is some truth to it.

Now I guess we kinda went off-topic here but also it’s a good way to show the way Peach expresses her kindness in the games, and how the movie failed to convey that. Games Peach sees the best in everyone, to a point where it can become a flaw, while Movie Peach is a lot more guarded (see her attacking Mario when he got close or her body language around the first Kong they meet). Also, Games Peach is someone who doesn’t seem able to hate anyone, though it is mentioned in I believe a Mario and Luigi game that she hates Bowser. Even then, I don’t remember said hate being really conveyed. Don’t get me wrong, Games Peach can very much be mad at someone and/or dislike them, and I do believe she doesn’t have the best opinion of Bowser, but she never comes off as outright hating anybody. Movie Peach on the other hand absolutely hates Bowser. Just look at her face when he tries to flirt with her. There’s nothing but contempt in her eyes.

3. In defense of Princess Peach

Lastly, I want to expand a bit on that whole “Illuminations looking down on Peach’s character” thing and the way people see Peach in general, along with talking about how I feel about some of her portrayals because why not.

Thing is, to an extent, I get it. Peach’s character origin is rooted in sexism, with her being meant as the damsel in distress who’s constantly helpless. She was definitely meant as a character of her time, and I get why some might find her boring as a result.

But the thing is, even with that origin in mind, Peach has always been more than that. Literally one insignificant year after the first Super Mario Bros game, we had the 86 Anime which gave her a personality. And then we had Mario Bros 2 USA where she was a playable character, one of the earliest playable female human characters in gaming (she wasn’t the first but still definitely pretty early). And while the mainline games kept a status quo of her being captured, we had the Adventures Comic with her being able to escape all on her own, the Mario Kart series with her being playable in every single one of them, same deal for the sports and Party games. She was playable in Smash starting with Melee, she was playable in the first two Mario RPGs (Super Mario RPG and Paper 64). Despite her role as damsel in distress, she was far from being put on the side when it came to non-mainline games. She even got her own platformer where she had to save Mario!

In some small ways, Peach actually reminds me of Luigi. He was player two in tons of games and absent in almost all big 3D games, meaning most players didn’t get to play as him in the majority of mainline games unless they played in multiplayer. Or he was playable but under specific conditions (pushing buttons in the right order for Mario Bros DS, finishing the main story and doing one special world in Mario 3D Land, literally finishing the game 100% in Mario Galaxy 1). And the first time he had his own game, it was in the early 2000s, less than 5 years before Super Princess Peach (granted Luigi’s Mansion was apparently a console launch title, which is a bigger deal; also no I’m not including that Mario is Missing shit), and it took forever to get sequels. And while he was playable in the Mario and Luigi series, he’s barely playable in the Paper series, neither is he in RPG.

Overall, while he does have much more playable appearances than Peach, a lot of it is conditional in the mainline games and he definitely struggled to get recognition, to the point of it becoming a recurring joke in the Mario and Luigi series + Nintendo made a whole “Year of Luigi” event to compensate for his lack of time under the spotlight.

As for personality, Luigi is shy and quiet, easily frightened, and often gets himself in trouble, with a few games needing you to save him. He looks up to Mario for safety and confidence and relies on him a lot, Mario basically being his rock. So you can definitely draw some parallels between him and Peach.

Now where am I getting with those parallels? Basically thinking about it, it does bother me a bit that Luigi gets praised for being an adorable dork while Peach is called bland and boring for expressing rather similar traits/being in the same situation, and I say that as someone who absolutely adores Luigi! In the end, I’m just going to assume it’s due to the weird hatred against women some gamers and fandom spaces have for some reason.

Speaking of which, since people claim to have an issue with Peach’s personality and how bland she is and how the movie “gave her a personality”, I’d argue that there’s nothing wrong with her character, the issue is her lack of screentime.

The best example of that is with Smash Bros Brawl. For most of the cutscenes, she’s getting captured left and right and is basically a non-character. But then there’s that cutscene on the ship where she takes the spotlight, and that scene is great! It’s incredibly fun to see that character during a huge crisis just pulling out tea out of nowhere and generally being more focused on befriending people than protecting herself. Seriously, while I strongly dislike how little agency Peach has in this story, I absolutely love this scene! Btw can we get some justice for Zelda? No because if Peach got shafted by the story, Zelda got it even worse. Even as a kid I could tell from her design that she could’ve done more to help, but instead the only time she actually does something, it’s as Sheik. Girl is clearly able to fight for herself yet she’s useless for the whole thing, it sucks!

The second best example is with the first Paper Mario trilogy, which is also probably my favorite version of Peach. The first game especially did a wonderful job at showing that just because Peach is captured doesn’t mean she has to stand around and do nothing, she can still help. This idea of having interludes with her sneaking around the castle does wonders for her character and really helps in making her personality shine, from her kindness to her wit to her adventurous side to her ability to put her foot down when interacting with Bowser.

Another thing I really like about it is how much it puts some of the kidnappings into perspective. In Paper 64, she finds items by sneaking around and then sends them to Mario. Hey remember the few games where she manages to send letters with one-ups and other items? Same with Mario 3D Land where she’s put in some sort of dungeon, tries to escape, and is put in a cage under high surveillance. Notice how in most New Bros games she’s in a cage when you reach Bowser’s castle, implying all those instances might have been failed attempts to escape.

Basically, while Peach doesn’t get much screentime, some games kind of makes you realize that she does a lot more than you’d think. She tries to get away, she tries to find ways to help Mario. She doesn’t just sit there and lament like many claim. Heck you can also see it in the 86 Anime and Adventures Comic. And reminder that the anime was created one year after the first Super Mario game!

Now the last example I have of Peach suffering from lack of screentime is with the Mario and Luigi series which, outside of the 2023 Movie, is probably my least favorite version of the character, not due to her personality but due to how wasted she is. And between those games being RPGs, meaning they’re supposed to focus on the characters, and the fact that the first Paper Mario games did such a good job with her character, the lack of screentime in those games is particularly aggravating.

In Superstar Saga, she’s actually pretty great! She’s fun, we see her kindness, playfulness, wit and desire for adventure shine. I especially like the way we see her craving for more adventures but can’t go on her own due to how defenseless she is. As someone who made a timeline of the games and has the first Paper trilogy + all the platformers with Peach playable taking place after this series, it’s a great way to slowly set up Peach’s growth into someone who can eventually go on her own adventures as a hero. Honestly the only issue I really have with Peach in that game is the game itself making a joke out of her getting kidnapped all the time. Not the greatest example of meta humor, guys...

I’ve also seen about half of Dream Team and she’s fine in it. I like how they brought back her thirst for adventures. But unlike Superstar Saga, she does feel more like a plot device in this one. Like there’s this whole section where Bowser and Antasma got the dream stone and Starlow is making a big deal about them kidnapping Peach, leading you to try and hide her. Thing is, if it was any other villain, I’d understand the urgency, but this is Bowser we’re talking about here. Peach is going to be fine, why are we wasting our time hiding her when we could focus on the bigger picture!

And even before that there’s this whole section of finding an older Pillow to reach Antasma for no other reason than Peach getting captured, because apparently they couldn’t think of any other excuse to have us meet the main villain, or give a reason for Bowser to show up for that matter. So yeah, the way they used her in Dream Team does make her feel like more of an object than a person, at least past the intro of the game.

But then we get to Partners in Time and Bowser’s Inside Story, and oh boy do I hate what they did with her. In PiT, you could literally take her out of the story and nothing of importance would change. The missing time machine? Just have the whole crew be Toads, it’s enough motivation for Mario. Petey Piranha? Either put a Toad, Kylie Koopa (and remove her scene later on) or even Baby Bowser, I mean why not! Princess Shroobs’ fake-out? Either keep that whole thing in since it’s technically not Peach (just have the characters comment on how she’s supposed to be on vacation or something and how weird it is that she’s there but oh well we gotta protect her) or, if you consider that cheating, just remove the scene and find a better excuse to have Bowser show up and go to the volcano. Or have Shroobs disguise herself as someone else, that’s still a possibility. As for the scene explaining who Elder Shroobs is? Was Peach even necessary in this scene? I mean, it’s pretty obvious what happened, and Elder Princess Shroobs could even explain it herself while gloating. I swear when I saw a let’s play of this game and Princess Shroobs commented on Peach now being useless to her, my first thought was “She was useful to you? Didn’t you try to kill her like an hour ago?”

As for Bowser’s Inside Story, she’s nothing more than a plot device. What does she do in that game? 1. Gives exposition about the Blorbs. 2. Is in danger as a means to motivate Mario. 3. Gives exposition about the Dark Star. 4. Is in danger as a means to motivate Bowser. Oh and did I forget to mention that she’s unconscious for the latter half of the game? Peach in that game could straight-up be replaced with a non-sentient magical item and the plot would stay the same. And I honestly don’t know what’s more insulting between that and what PiT did.

All-in-all, the issue with Peach isn’t her character, it’s the lack of time devoted to her. When she has enough room to be a character, she’s great! When she doesn’t, she’s either boring or a plot device, and it sucks that this is what most people remember her for when she has more going on than just getting kidnapped.

And since I’m out there giving my opinion on Peach’s different appearances throughout the franchise (you can skip directly to the conclusion if you want, this part is pretty off-topic):

My views on the first Paper Mario trilogy and the Mario and Luigi games are explained enough I think.

I also really like how she’s depicted in the 86 Anime. I like how she keeps standing up for herself against Bowser and talking back to him, on top of the usual being kind to Mario and co + her trying to be smart to escape. For Bowser, it’s like early on she realized he’s not going to raise his hands on her, so she’s free to fight back as much as she wants, even if she doesn’t have the abilities to get out of there by herself. Idk, while the Anime itself isn’t all that amazing (it’s pretty funny in how bonkers it is though), I really like what they did with both Peach and Bowser. And it’s pretty fascinating how their modern personalities aren’t that far off from this very early portrayal.

The Mario + Rabbids games also absolutely nail Peach’s character. It’s honestly kinda crazy when you think about it that both the 2023 movie and Sparks of Hope were being developed at the same time, both worked on by a different company that Nintendo had some level over but ultimately mostly gave advice to, and yet the movie struggles to depict the characters properly while Ubisoft did a ridiculously good job at it. Seriously, remember earlier when I said every character in the movie was a bit off? If you want to see a comparison, go see the cutscenes of the Rabbids games. And even if you don’t care about characterization, still do yourself a favor and go watch those cutscenes, they’re amazing!

The Adventures Comic is an interesting one. While she’s very provocative and willing to fight, she also doesn’t know how to do so, and it makes her scenes very funny. Like I love how in the beginning she rants about how she’s going to defend her kingdom, then the next time we see her she gets attacked by Lakitus and gets kidnapped. Girl lasted 10 seconds out there. That contrast of her being all bark but no bite is just very funny, and it fits well with how comedic the story is overall. Also, the way she’s so willing to act is probably why people remember her as a badass in it. Because she does talk like a badass, but she’s not one because her actions don’t follow suit. Still, I don’t take that comic much seriously so Peach is definitely very fun in it, and that’s enough for me. And again, that comic does a good job at showing that Peach’s biggest strength isn’t her ability to fight, it’s her wit and good heart, shown respectively with her tower escape and her constant desire to actively help.

Also, about this comic and how people see it, even outside of the fact they’re not the same as she doesn’t know how to fight in it, I find it really weird that this comic is used as proof that Movie Peach is in character, considering how 1. Before the movie, this comic was the only time in over dozens of portrayals that Peach was shown as confrontational; in statistics we call that an outlier, 2. This comic was made in the 90s, you’d think a more recent portrayal could be used as proof but nope, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Showtime are still different from her comic and even more so her movie self, and 3. That comic is outdated anyways considering the Koopalings are said to be Bowser’s kids in it, so unless Nintendo came back on their words after re-releasing this comic in the late 2010s, it’s still outdated.

The mainline games are...the mainline games. I’d also put the second Paper Mario trilogy and Luigi’s Mansion 3 in the same basket. When she’s on-screen, Peach is her usual sweet self, but those games also suffer from barely giving her any time to shine. I do enjoy her depiction in games like Odyssey, Mansion 3 and the intro of 3D World (mostly because those cutscenes are cute), but again all those games definitely suffer from having her on the back-burner for pretty much the whole thing, and are the main reason why people dislike her character.

I also can’t help but wonder if Sunshine is the reason why she’s seen as a “dumb bimbo” by some people, especially given the “Mama Peach” trainwreck of a cutscene. And I will say, Peach definitely feels very meek in this game. She clearly can tell that something’s off, yet she barely insists on telling Mario and Toadsworth. You’d think a princess would be more assertive than that, especially when the Mario and Luigi games show that she’s not afraid to go against Toadsworth’s wishes.

Going back to the kidnapping issue, ultimately I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with her being kidnapped, especially when it’s impossible in the mainline games to beat Bowser directly without a power up (the intro of Odyssey straight-up shows that Mario can’t win against Bowser in a fist fight) meaning it’s normal for Peach to be unable to fight back easily. Bowser is incredibly powerful all things considered (enormous physical strength, fire breath, every part of his body is a weapon, can use magic, necromancer, can jump incredibly high, has an army at his disposal, his car clown heavily negates his slow walking speed), to the point where even Mario and Luigi are kidnapped sometimes (Super Princess Peach, 3D Land for Luigi, and while it’s not Bowser, Luigi’s Mansion for Mario too). This also all kind of leads into a message about working better together or how it’s okay to ask for help, which reminds me of that Tumblr post about how Mario never travels alone.

That being said, Nintendo should definitely either do something similar to Paper 64 (or at least what 3D Land did with the letters showing her try to escape, that’s already a start), either have her only kidnapped in specific games like the big 3D games the same way Luigi isn’t playable in almost all of those, or reinforce her role in other Mario series like making Showtime the first of several games + bring her back under the spotlight in the Paper Mario series. Again, when thinking of Luigi and his time under the spotlight, you can definitely do a similar work-around where she still gets kidnapped in some games while being playable in others, whether those others are different game series or for example around half of the upcoming 2D platformers.

And call me an ass for that but, while I’d love to have her playable in almost if not every 2D platformer, I still maintain that the big 3D games should keep having her getting kidnapped. Again, outside of Galaxy (and even then for the first one it was very conditional), Luigi doesn’t show up in those either. And if you maintain a good balance between her being kidnapped in the big 3D games + a handful of 2D platformers all while making her a major character in the RPGs and even getting her own series, you’re basically keeping the status quo of the kidnappings all while removing the issue of a lack of screentime.

(Note that my main “issue” with having less kidnappings has to do with Bowser’s character. If Bowser doesn’t kidnap Peach, you need another excuse for him to be the villain. And given how his crush on Peach, the main reason why he kidnaps her, is the first thing used to make him more of a softie which I love him being, I don’t want to see him do more and more messed up things all while his crush gets forgotten. Then again, him being a dad is currently the main thing Nintendo uses to make him a softie, and Origami King still showcased his crush despite him being a teammate, with the two upcoming RPG remakes following the same trend)

Not very much to say about her depiction in the sports and party games. The characters don’t exactly have much personalities here, so other than more proof on how her body language should be, there isn’t really anything to say in terms of “I like/dislike the way they portrayed this character”...also I don’t own a single sports game and only have like 3 party games (DS, Island Tour and Super) so outside of watching the cutscenes there’s not much I know about those games.

Conclusion

Edit: Ended up making a table explaining the differences so putting it there as a good way to wrap up the comparison. While I won’t edit that part of the post as it’s a small thing, note that I ended up considering Movie Peach as not being someone who gets angry as all her “angry” moments are her being serious, and she also doesn’t come off as a stubborn person as she doesn’t have to argue in her choices and doesn’t have moments where people tell her something’s a bad idea yet she does it anyways.

+ Huge difference in body language, mannerisms and facial expressions

+ Huge difference in voice if you want to take it into consideration

+ Slight difference in facial structure if you want to take it into consideration

Finally, a few closing thoughts about this whole thing, and more specifically the fact that one of my two biggest issues is her fighting abilities. Thing is, when you look at her jumping on enemies in the platformer games, her abilities in the sport games, the fact she’s in Smash and the upcoming Showtime game, it’s very easy to disprove my arguments, since Games Peach very much knows how to defend herself. And while I maintain that she’s not that great of a fighter in the games compared to the movie and is more of a pacifist, I understand this view. And thinking about it more, I think the true issue with her movie self is the attitude Illuminations has about it.

As said much earlier, it feels like Illuminations doesn’t like Peach in the games. I also think I’ve seen somewhere that her VO made a comment in an interview about finally giving Peach some personality, something along those lines? Then there’s also the supposedly original script where Peach was the main character, and how Nintendo told Illuminations to rewrite it upon reading it.

And even outside of the production info, that disdain over her Games character is all over the movie. Toad keeps hyping her up, along with other characters. During the training montage, when she does the demonstration, the camera slows down to show just how “cool” and “badass” she is. You get the vibe that, even if Mario wasn’t here, she still would’ve gotten the Kong army and taken on Bowser all by herself. There really are moments where it feels like the movie is going “Hey look at what we did with Peach! Isn’t she awesome! Isn’t she so much better than that wimp that keeps getting captured!” The best example of that is when she saves Toad on Rainbow Road. Like, this was the worst offender for me.

Princess Peach Showtime, on the other hand, gets who Peach is. The intro shows her going on a stroll with her little pink parasol. She cowers when Stella uses magic on her. And while she has a swordfighter and Kung Fu outfits, said outfits are given just as much importance as her baking and detective outfits, the former showcasing the one hobby Peach has been into for years, and the latter showing off her intelligence. And even outside of those outfits, her main attack is magic, more specifically a cute little pink ribbon. Also, like mentioned way earlier, the fact that it takes place on a stage gives the impression that Peach is playing roles, though again it doesn’t diminish her abilities.

I think that’s why I can’t stand her fight-oriented attitude in the movie but can’t wait to play Showtime. The movie looks down on Peach’s character and feels the need to “improve” it by changing many things about her, while Showtime embraces who she is and simply expands on it by giving her a more action-oriented role with the abilities she already possesses. I think that’s also why her body language in the movie bothers me, as it goes into that direction of “making her stronger” by removing her mannerisms. Now, again, there are a few more things other than her fighting abilities that they did wrong with her character, there’s a reason this post is so long after all. But by the end of it, I think it really comes down to how much disdain Illuminations has for Peach.

And on that note, you have no idea how relieved I was when the first trailer for Showtime dropped and Peach was her normal self! While I know the movie is going to get sequels, meaning we’ll keep seeing this random badass woman cosplaying as Peach, it’s at least very relieving to know Nintendo is going to keep writing Peach the way they’ve always done. And I can’t wait to see what Nintendo got in store for this wonderful, adorable, hyperfeminine, incredibly kind, witty, soft, cake-loving pink Princess!

Thanks for reading!

(All pictures were taken from the Mario Wiki except the first one that’s from the 86 Anime and the Mario Odyssey one)

[bookofmirth]

first off - sorry if you have already covered this topic! i tried searching your blog for it but tumblr’s search function is not the best. on reddit and tiktok, i’ve recently seen people saying that feyre devalues “feminine labor” (housework like cleaning, cooking, sewing/mending, etc) by implying that her sisters do nothing at the cabin while she’s out hunting all day, when it’s likely nesta/elain are doing the “unseen feminine” household labor. and they usually throw in that feyre is an unreliable narrator too, which… sigh.

i’m curious your thoughts on this and if there is any textual evidence supporting this? bc in my opinion, reading between the lines made it clear that feyre and her father do most of the household labor or it just goes neglected, nesta might chop wood but feyre has to beg her to, feyre/her father prepare/cook the hunted animals, and feyre’s boots are falling apart so no one seems to be mending her clothes. i always thought feyre said she couldn’t cook bc all she used to do was roast meat (rather than prepare full meals), not bc nesta and elain were the one’s actually cooking. and feyre strikes me as the person who would literally be grateful if nesta and elain did anything, so the fact that she doesn’t notice this “unseen labor” seems ooc to me

i also just don’t like that this interpretation seems to “villainize” feyre for having internalized misogyny against her sister’s contributions to the household by not placing any value in the “feminine” labor they do…. while unseen labor is def a real problem in real life, it seems like a reach to apply to this situation where a young girl is risking her life everyday to provide for a family that is either cruel or indifferent towards her. we could talk about what labor sjm views as important enough to discuss in her novels but that’s a whole different topic

Ummmm I haven't heard this take before, but it's a big no from me. There is no evidence in the books that Nesta or Elain were picking up any of the slack unless Feyre harassed them into doing so.

Nesta says that Feyre should chop wood because her hands are already so rough - meaning Feyre does it all the time, Nesta's hands aren't calloused from working with them or doing any sort of manual labor. Was Nesta trying to insult Feyre by pointing out the state of her hands, and perhaps exaggerating the situation? Maybe, but that doesn't make it untrue.

Feyre says that they can dry the meat, and then thinks that she will end up doing the bulk of the work. I don't see how any of them would be good at cooking, since they grew up pampered and then once they were in the cabin, didn't have the means to learn, and who would have taught them? Assuming that Feyre didn't know how to cook because someone else was doing it is simply not proof. Otherwise, why were they eating Feyre's plain ass roasted meat in chapter 2?

Re: Elain, Feyre thinks "it simply never occurred to her that she might be capable of getting her hands dirty". Tell me how that means Elain does a bunch of work that we just aren't noticing.

The thing is, Nesta and Elain were created to be stereotypical evil sisters, especially at the beginning of acotar. They weren't meant to have any depth beyond showing how hard Feyre worked for her family. I agree with you that this take seems to come from people who just don't like Feyre, and so they're stretching the truth of what we know happened in order to make up some reason why Feyre (and by extension sjm) is unfeminist. It's a pretty popular fandom thing. Decide you don't like something, then come up with reasons why it's problematic. People aren't content to simply have preferences.

In a related note, I've noticed a thing in the fandom lately where people like to argue about things we have no evidence of. So for example, "Rhys has never spoken French on page, and so you can't argue against my claim that he is fluent in French." That's... obviously ridiculous, right? It's a logical fallacy, it's called an appeal to ignorance.

If I also said, "someone must have been sweeping the house and since you can't prove to me that Nesta didn't do it, then you have to accept my claim that she did" then that's also an appeal from ignorance. There is no evidence that Elain or Nesta did any of the labor in the house to make their lives easier, whether we are talking traditionally masculine or feminine labor, and so it's really a stretch to say that Feyre just didn't give a shit because she thought that kind of labor was useless. Like you said, she would have absolutely been grateful if Elain had mended her own cloak instead of asking for the money for a new one, or if Nesta had learned some cooking skills (or chopped wood without being harassed into it).

By the way, Feyre is the one who rations their food, she keeps track of the money and the budget. She doesn't just hunt to make sure they stay fed, she also keeps track of the household chores, what needs to be done, and who can/should do it. She's the mother of the household, which makes it ironic that people would devalue the work she did to keep the family going, since that's also part of the invisible labor of daily life. That also, to me, means that Feyre would have absolutely noticed work getting done without her having to harangue someone into doing it.

[starsunderwaterr]

Peeling Up the Lies (Pearl x reader)

This is my first tumblr post so tbh I don’t really know what I’m doing but we’re gonna go with it! 

Here’s a Pearl x reader I thought of when I was eating yesterday!

also im ngl the insults i used against pearl made me giggle im so sorry pearl please don’t kill me i love you 😭

All characters involved are 18+

Minors DNI

words: 1058

warnings: none

Pearl stared at the laptop with a sigh, scrolling through all of the comments on the group’s new music video. Despite the positive remarks, the same type of comments continued to flow in each time. 

“Haha, egghead”

“Next to Marina she looks like trash”

“MC Onion”

They used to make her blood boil, but now they just made her tired. She had to keep putting up the front that it didn’t bother her though, because she was Pearl, enough said. Marina had confronted her about it countless times before, but Pearl always brushed it off, saying she didn’t care. 

And usually it didn’t, but today, for some reason, it was. 

She continued to scroll, the comments lighting up her face in the dark room. It was an addiction, looking through the mean things they said. Pearl ignored all of the positive remarks, not even seeing them anymore. She was in too deep. 

She didn’t even notice when her partner walked in, instead feeding into the hatred.  Originally, your plans were to hang out with your spunky girlfriend that day, but when she wouldn’t answer your texts or calls, you decided to go looking for her. 

“Pearl…?” You asked from the doorway of the office, trying to catch her attention with a quick wave. When she didn’t answer, not even with a glance or a grunt, you knew something was off. 

You walked over to her desk, still trying to see if she would notice you. I mean, you were right there.

“Heyy…?” You sang, waving your hand in front of her face again. For a quick second, you glanced at the screen, noticing a comment. 

“Pearl ruins Off the Hook, it should just be Marina”

 Pearl finally seemed to break out of her dejected daze, slamming the laptop shut and looking at you. She raised a rather defensive brow, but her eyes that were glazed over told a different story. “(Y/N)? Why are you snooping on me? When did you even come in?”

“I wasn’t snooping on you. I’ve been calling you for the past thirty minutes, but you didn’t answer my calls or texts. I tried calling for you from the door a few minutes ago, but you didn’t answer. Wanted to make sure you were okay.” You added a small smile to try and ease the tension. 

Pearl’s gaze on you lingered a little longer before she looked down at the closed laptop. “Well, I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry.” 

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Really? You think I didn’t see?” You sighed, pulling up a seat next to her in a nearby beanbag. 

“Pearl, I know you’re lying when you say that what people say about you doesn’t bother you.”

Pearl looked down in her lap, staying silent. In all the time of being one of her closest friends (next to Marina, and I mean, you’re literally her partner), you had seldom gotten her to open up. 

“It doesn’t.” She spat, hardening her gaze at you. 

“Really?” You asked, taking the laptop out of her lap. “Then why couldn’t you pull your eyes away?” You glared, challenging her back. It was a little game you two liked to play. 

Pearl glared harder, finally letting go with a huff. She never let herself lose. She looked back at her lap, her brows furrowed as she shook her head in gentle disbelief. 

“I’m so much more than what those people say. I know I am. They’re just jealous that I’ve come so far.” You were happy to hear all of this, but it didn’t shake the fact that the more she spoke, the more her eyes glistened. 

But, you simply listened, not bothering to interrupt her as she went on. She was finally looking at you, too, not at her lap.

“They make fun of the way I look when they’re too insecure to go out themselves! Always saying stuff about my forehead and my style. And…and…” Whatever she was about to say was something that hit home, hard, as she began to get choked up and tripped on her words. 

Your brows furrowed in concern, and you took her hand in support. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to say it.” 

At this, Pearl whimpered, bursting into a quiet cry. Instinctively, you hugged her, feeling her face nuzzle into the crook of your neck. You placed your hand on the back of her head, feeling your heart break as she sobbed into your shoulder. 

After a few moments, you felt her wrap her arms around your torso in accordance, nestling into your side. You remained silent, waiting for her to speak.

“It usually doesn’t bother me, but sometimes, it does. It makes me feel really insignificant when they say I should just be gone.” She muttered the last bit, nuzzling further into you. You nodded, a deep frown on your face. “Of course it would. You are absolutely in no way insignificant. I don’t know where I’d be without you.” You smiled, rubbing her cheekbone as she looked up with glossy eyes. 

As your smile faded, you grimaced. “You can’t keep up that front forever, you know. It’s okay to be upset about it. It doesn’t make you weak, Pearlie. You’re as tough as nails, MC Princess!” With a little smirk, you gave her shoulder a feather-light punch. 

At the use of her trusty nickname, her eyes shined. A small smile made its way to her face, and she nodded, wiping her eyes. “You’re right, (N/N). I’m not weak, I’m only the best rapper in all of Inkopolis and I co-created the sickest band ever!” She cheered, throwing her arms up happily. 

You couldn’t help but smile, even laughing a little bit. “That’s right, Pearlie!” You cheered with her, smiling down at her. To your surprise, she tackled you in another hug, wrapping her arms tightly around you. 

Hesitating, but finally settling upon it, you reciprocated, resting your head on top of hers. “Thanks again, (N/N). It means a lot to have you in my life.” A blush creeped along your cheeks, grinning sheepishly. 

“Thanks, Pearlie. Anytime. You know I’d do anything for you.” You expressed honestly. At this, Pearl grinned, but it was that grin. “Anything, you say…?” 

Your happiness instantly dropped, and your eyes widened. “Oh cod…” You muttered before being swarmed by a tiny love-rage machine. (Rage Against the Machine, anyone??) As you died, you were swarmed by kisses, laughter, and tight hugs. 

Man, what a heavenly way to die. 

[donteattheappleshook]

Not Broken At All Chapter 11/?

Summary:

A season 1 Neverland AU. Emma is still trying to adjust to her new life as Sheriff of Storybrooke and mom to Henry, who still believes everyone in town is a fairytale creature. When she finds a badly beaten, one handed man while patrolling, she’s convinced he’s crazy. He is, after all, rambling about fairies and shadows and crocodiles. But when Henry is suddenly taken out the window of a house everyone believes is haunted, the madman in the hospital might be her only hope of getting her son back. Whether he likes it or not.

Rated M

Catch up on Ao3 (where my italics work) or on Tumblr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I'm so sorry for how long this chapter took! It was going to be a certain chapter, then got switched to another, then got switched back and cut in two because it was too damn long... Even the person in the room changed

So anyway, here it is, the first half of the chapter that has affectionately been nicknamed "the one with the fairy orgy"... I'm so sorry.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you always @the-darkdragonfly and @elizabeethan for your help with this feral fic 😘

And thank you everyone for the reblogs, comments and replies that give me so much dopamine ❤️

*****

Part 11

Emma stands tense outside the room she’s just been locked out of, holding her breath as the unfamiliar voice carries over through the door, confused and on edge about what possible threat could have been waiting for Killian inside. There’s a moment before he speaks.

“Tink.” The word leaves him with a sigh of relief and it takes her a moment to place the name. “It’s been a while.” 

The fairy scoffs, her voice betraying bitter grudges when she answers. “You could say that.”

“I didn’t mean to -”

“Save it,” Tink interrupts him. “I’m not here to talk about that. I don’t care that you’re back or whether you’re planning to stay.” 

Lie, Emma thinks. She knows that tone all too well, defences up, hiding pain with indifference - they can’t hurt you if you don’t care - and realises that this is yet another person Killian left behind, intentionally or not. For a moment she wonders if Tinkerbelle is just another scorned lover, if that’s why he’d locked her out of the room. But Emma heard her carefully constructed detachment. It’s more than that. 

“I’m just delivering a message,” she finishes. 

“From who?” 

“Mab.” A long silence follows the name and Killian’s answer is quiet when it finally comes. 

“Wendy said you went back.” 

She scoffs again. “Not like I had much of a choice, did I?”

“You could have stayed on the ship -”

“What turned to piracy? Pretended to be an overgrown lost boy all dressed up in leather?” The thinly-veiled insult sounds personal and when Killian doesn’t take the bait she continues harshly. “We both know Pan only likes us side-characters when we’ve got our hero to play sidekick to. A fairy with no magic on her own in the woods? I became target practice real quick.” 

“Tink…”

The emotion in her voice hardens. “Like I said, I’m just here on behalf of the Queen.”

“You’re her messenger now?” Emma can tell there’s no malice behind the question, shock maybe, but no mocking. Tink takes it that way regardless.

“They’re my people, Hook,” she spits. “I should never have left them in the first place. They told me you’d get bored - just like Pan did.”

“I didn’t -”

“You’re expected at dawn. Don’t be late - you know she doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Aye.”

“I’m assuming your request has something to do with the blonde in the hall?” Emma freezes, worried that her cover is blown. Clearly Killian hadn’t been as quick as he thought. But Wendy had said they would see through her disguise. He doesn’t answer. “What the hell are you getting us involved in, Hook?”

After a pause he answers carefully. “A change.”

Tink laughs bitterly. “Nothing changes in Neverland. You of all people should know that by now. Two hundred years you tried to get away? And now here you are, back where you started, playing his game.”

“I’m not playing his game,” he bites out. “I’m ending it. Once and for all.” 

She snorts in disbelief. “All you’re going to end is your life - and you’ll drag anyone stupid enough to take your side right down along with you. But you don’t really care about that, do you? Not so long as you get your revenge. Same story, different crocodile, isn’t it?” 

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Tink,” he says, somehow managing to hold his composure despite the accusations she throws at him. “But it’s different this time.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” she snaps in disgust, offended at the suggestion. “I just know a stupid idea when I hear it. And so does the Queen. She’ll never agree.” 

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Emma doesn’t hear anything else from inside the cabin, the silence drawing out until the sound of the lock sliding free snaps sharply against her ear that’s practically pressed to the wood. The door remains shut, shuffling footsteps, a drawer being opened and the clink of heavy glass coming from the other side. When she pushes it open and steps carefully inside, Killian’s sat back in the armchair, a tumbler in his hand, the bottle left open on his desk. 

He looks up when she enters, flashing her a grimacing imitation of a smile and tilting his glass. “Rum?” 

She wonders for a moment if she should leave him alone; clearly, he's in need of some wallowing. But he looks particularly self-destructive as he brings his drink to his lips, staring off at the window where she imagines the fairy came and went through, and she thinks better of it. He did promise her a nightcap after all. 

There’s no second glass, so Emma picks up the bottle, drinking from it as she hops up and takes its place on the table. The little smirk that tugs at the corner of his lips is more believable this time.

“So that was Tinkerbell, huh?” she asks, taking another sip - because it’s really good rum.

“Aye. Different from your stories, I take it?” 

She thinks for a second about the cranky little fairy with a take no prisoners attitude from the movie and shrugs. “Actually they got her pretty spot on I think. Only in the movie she was really tiny, and definitely dressed by a man.” Emma hadn’t seen the stranger the voice belonged to but she somehow assumes those two were artistic liberties. 

Killian hums. “Fairies are only tiny when they want to be. Makes them particularly good at sneaking into all sorts of places they have no business being.”

“From what you’ve told me, I don’t know if you can really call your bedroom somewhere she has no business being.” She’s pretty sure he just rolled his eyes at her and it makes her snort. Or maybe that’s the fourth sip of rum she’s now taking. “Is she right?” Emma wonders aloud somberly as she drinks again. “Are we fucked?” 

“I’m going to assume that’s some lovely colloquial way of asking if we’re going to fail in your land,” he says, raising a brow. “Because if you’re asking literally I -”

“It is.” She’s the one rolling her eyes now. 

“She’s angry with me,” he sighs. “An all too common affliction around here.” Emma doesn’t bother offering any insincere comfort. He messed up and he knows it. He left people behind and now he has to face up to it. “It’s clouding her judgement. Queen Mab hates Pan as much as everyone else on this island. They have the least to lose in trying to defeat him.” She’s not sure she likes the fact that he sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. 

“Why’s that?” 

“Pan’s afraid of them. He has control over the whole island but their magic is ancient and powerful.”

“So then why don’t they just kill him?” 

“I’ve asked myself that same question for centuries.” 

“Did you think of asking them?”

He turns to her, narrowing his eyes. “The creatures of Neverland aren’t very forthcoming with their secrets.” 

“That’s a pretty evasive way of saying everyone else is evasive.” She smirks at his annoyed glare, taking another swig from the bottle. 

“I think perhaps you’ve had enough rum,” Killian suggests, reaching for the bottle as though she’ll hand it over. She only scoffs, helping herself to another drink and he sighs. “Well at least share if you’re planning on finishing the bottle,” he insists, nudging his glass towards her. 

She pours him a generous serving and they drink in silence for a while, both reflecting on the day to come tomorrow. Fairies. As weird as the mermaids were, she somehow knows the fairies will be even weirder. And she’s supposed to be some sort of enticement to get them on their side which is still so confusing to her. What exactly about her is considered the enticement?

“What am I supposed to do tomorrow?” He raises a brow, drawn from his thoughts. “I’m bait right? Or like some strange way of sweetening the deal? What am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing. Stay close to me and Wendy. You’ll be more of a distraction, a way to get their guard down, make them more open to listening.” 

“That’s really weird. And kind of creepy.”

“You’ve never used your beauty or your wiles to help you get what you want?” he challenges and she recalls all the honey traps she’d set to catch dirtbag skips. 

She helps herself to more rum, the dark liquor making her feel warm and relaxed for the first time in days. “So just sit there, shut up, and look pretty?” 

He smirks. “Somehow I don’t believe the ability to sit there or shut up are skills that you possess, Swan.” Emma makes a snarky face at him and he chuckles, sliding his now empty glass back towards her. “You're a rarity in this land, love. The Fae are a vain people and they’re desperate to possess the most exquisite and remarkable of everything.” She moves to refill his drink, spilling when he adds. “And you’re certainly that.”

“Shit,” she mutters, wiping at the little puddle of rum.

“If not wholly uncoordinated,” Killian smirks as she hops off the desk to go retrieve the cloth next to his washbasin. Turning back though, all thoughts of the spill are discarded because he’s sitting there, lounging in his chair with his shirt half unbuttoned, looking like he just sauntered off the pages of a pirate romance novel; and she can blame the rum for it later, or just the fact that it’s been a while, or how good it felt to kiss him in the hallway, but she decides to just fuck everything else. She deserves something good after the hellish few days she’s been through. 

His smirk fades when she crosses the room back to him, discarding the cloth on the desk and stopping in front of his chair. She only hesitates for a second before climbing into his lap, settling a knee on either side of his hips, fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt. Killian’s breath is hot against her lips when he asks, “What are you doing, Swan?” as though he could really be misreading anything she’s doing.

“Using my wiles to get what I want?” she shrugs in answer. “Unless you really did just mean a drink when you offered that nightcap-” His hand is at the back of her neck before she can finish, weaving through her hair and dragging her mouth down to his. 

Emma can taste the rum on him, heady and spiced as he draws her into a kiss that’s more intoxicating than the drink, wasting no time in picking up where they left off outside his room. She chalks it up to some inexplicable Neverland magic, the way she reacts to him, the heat that burns through her, the all consuming desire for him, to somehow get closer than the way they’re already pressed together, to taste more of him, her tongue sliding past his lips, fingers reaching for the few buttons he’d bothered to fasten.

Her legs wrap around his hips as his brace slides across her back, standing suddenly from his chair and lifting her onto his desk, knocking the almost empty bottle off and sending it crashing to the floor. He doesn’t seem to care, thumb tracing her jaw as he tilts her head to deepen the kiss, hook drawing along the length of her thigh to her knee. 

When she drags her mouth away to try catch her breath, his lips find the line of her neck, his tongue dragging across her skin, the scratch of his stubble making her shiver. She tilts her head back to give him more access, biting back a moan, fully aware of how well sound carries through these walls. His mouth is just beginning its exploration of the low neckline of her shirt when, as if she’d cursed herself just by thinking it, she vaguely hears the door unlatching. 

“Hook? Is everything - Oh shit!” Killian pulls himself away - not nearly as quickly as he should really - at the sound of Wendy’s panicked voice. Emma sits frozen, mortified. “I’m sorry. Um, I heard glass break and I just came to see if - I thought maybe Pan - Well, clearly you’re fine so I’ll just… Carry on.” 

As if. Face burning, Emma shoves at Killian’s chest until he steps back from her, jumping off the desk and turning, unable to meet the other woman’s eye. “It’s fine. I was just - we were just… I’m going to bed now,” she says, unable to come up with a decent explanation that Wendy would buy. She’s not an idiot. “We’ve got an early morning after all,” she adds, heading out of the room. 

“We do?” the girl asks, and Emma only casts a glance back at Killian, who looks more annoyed at being interrupted than anything. 

“He can explain,” she answers, hurrying past her. She’s only just shut the door behind her when she hears Wendy’s voice carrying over through it. Clearly all the flustered apologies had been for her benefit, not Killian’s. 

“You didn’t waste any time did you?”

“Didn’t we have a conversation about knocking?”

Shutting her eyes and heaving a sigh, feeling like an idiot, she makes her way down the hall to her room, hoping she can wake up having dreamed the whole embarrassing incident. 

***

Emma wakes to a knock on her door, a soft “Swan,” called through it and she groans, rolling over and hiding her face under the blanket. She’s pretty sure she just fell asleep and now someone has the nerve to rob her of the few hours she was hoping to get tonight. Her head hurts. Probably from the rum, she scolds herself, and then her stomach tightens in embarrassment and something else as she’s flooded with memories of liquor on her tongue and on Killian’s, of bodies pressed together and fingers tangled in her hair, rings catching and tugging at the strands. 

He knocks again. “Swan?”

“Go away,” she grumbles, not ready to face him after she threw herself at him last night… twice. She thinks it almost would have been better if they had slept together. That way at least she could have gotten it out of her system and she wouldn’t have to deal with the awkwardness of unresolved tension and the humiliation of getting caught. 

Killian laughs softly. “We have to go. It’ll be dawn soon and there’s a ways to go to the Fae lands.” She groans again. Of course there is. Because every single group on this island apparently decided to set up camp as far away from one another as they could. She cracks an eye open, the room still pitch black. Who demands their guests show up before dawn? Right, fairy queens, that’s who. She hates fairy queens.

Dragging herself out of bed, she shuffles blindly into her boots and across the room, finding the doorknob and cracking it open, squinting against the dim light of the hall. “I’m up,” she sighs, glaring as best she can between her hangover and the light at the amused look on Killian’s face. “Let’s go,” she urges, gesturing for him to lead the way and following groggily behind him. 

To his credit, he doesn’t say anything, no comment on her current state or on the events of last night. She’d have expected him to be smug - moreso than usual anyway - or embarrassed - does he get embarrassed? But instead he’s silent as they walk through the hall, not even turning back to throw an innuendo over his shoulder. 

For a second she wonders if she did dream up their encounter last night. But the faded redness she can feel still hot on her neck and the slight hangover still stubbornly rattling around in her head and in her stomach tell her it hadn’t been a dream. Either he was over it, or he’d just decided not to be a self-satisfied jerk about it. Or, she thinks - and the thought bothers her more than it should - he just wasn’t as affected by it as she was. Maybe random hookups with quazi-friends aren’t so out of the ordinary for him. He does get his fair share of tail around here. She’s too bothered by the fact that the idea bothers her to even snort at her own pun. 

When they reach the deck and find Wendy and Will waiting for them, Emma can’t meet her eyes. Will looks between the three of them with a confused frown, clearly sensing something off. Emma’s just happy that Wendy didn’t tell him. It gives her the courage to glance up at the other woman and she receives a small, tentative smile in return. 

“Whatever happens,” Killian tells them all, reassuming his role as Captain, “stick together. Nobody wanders off on their own.” 

“Why’re you looking at me, mate?” Will scowls. Emma was wondering the same thing, noting his pointed glance at her. 

“Wendy and I haven’t aged in centuries,” he reminds them. “We’re hardly human by their standards anymore. You two on the other hand...” 

The younger pirate rolls his eyes. “I’m nearly eighty years old, ain’t I? And it’s not my first time at the Fae court.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“Oy!” 

Killian’s headed off towards the dinghy before the younger pirate can say anymore. Passing by him, Emma shoots Will a playful smirk. “You look pretty good for your age,” she tells him before following the Captain over the side of the ship. Will beams.

  They’re deep in the jungle when her guides finally slow their pace. The foliage here is as dense and dark as it was by the mermaids’ caves and the Constant’s walls, and Emma wonders if all the creatures came to some consensus that anyone who wanted to visit would have to find their way blind to their territory, or if it’s just an annoying coincidence. 

“We’re here,” Killian tells her. “Remember what I said; stay close and don’t eat or drink anything unless we tell you it’s safe.” 

She nods. It’s not like she has much of an appetite anyway, between her nerves and the old rum still sloshing around in her stomach. And she has no intention of finding herself alone in a place where any of the inhabitants would apparently be thrilled to steal a hundred years of her life for fun. “Got it, no drinking the Kool-aid.”

Wendy and Will are pulling apart branches that have formed a dense covering in front of them, light poking through the dark as they do, and Emma cranes her neck to see where it’s coming from. There’s a sound of running water as the light takes on a golden hue as what she assumes is the entrance is revealed. But it’s not frightening like it had been at the lorelei’s cave, no strange echo and singing, only the soft, almost soothing rush of a river nearby. She can already feel herself drawn to it, and it’s not until Killian reaches an arm out across her waist that she realizes she’d begun walking unwittingly towards the entrance. 

“Keep your wits about you,” he warns her. “Everything in the Fae Court is designed to make you want to stay; everything is a calculated temptation. Remember that, and don’t give in.” 

“Right,” she swallows. Shutting her eyes in an attempt to get herself back under control, she takes a few deep breaths as Will and Wendy clear the rest of the foliage from their path. When she opens her eyes again there’s a gate in front of them, solid gold and decorated with intricate carvings of flowers and animals, and fairies in various states of undress. It’s beautiful, the soft glow that she’d seen before now revealed to be hundreds - thousands - of lanterns beyond the gate, lit against the dark of the predawn hour. She’s never seen anything like it. 

“Fuck,” Wendy breathes, breaking her from her enchantement (which may or may not have been an actual enchantement). “It’s Solstice.” 

“Solstice?” Emma asks as Killian curses under his breath, walking over to look at the lanterns through the gate. Will looks absolutely thrilled. “What’s Solstice?” she presses. 

“A celebration of the shortest night of the year and the return of the sun,” Wendy explains. 

“It’s the Fae’s most sacred festival,” Killian adds, rubbing at his temples with thumb and forefinger before pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “How did we not realize it was Solstice?” he asks the others.  

“So it’s kind of like Christmas?”

A slow, knowing smile creeps across Will’s face and she doesn’t trust the amused look in his eyes. “Something like that, aye.” 

“We have to go, come back another time,” Killian decides but his second frowns at him in disbelief. 

“And spurn the Queen’s invitation? To Solstice? If you’re looking to make an enemy, Hook, I know some less terrifying people you could offend.” 

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Yes. We go in there before the sun starts to rise,  participate in the celebration like grateful guests, and gain favour with Her Majesty before we ask her to risk her entire queendom with us.”

“You don’t understand… the ceremony it’s… complicated and-”

“It’s not my first Solstice,” she interrupts and his eyes go wide. 

“It’s what?”

“The summer one is better,” Will pipes in, Wendy nodding in agreement with a fond smile. Killian looks horrified and someone had better tell her what the hell this ceremony is that she might be getting involved in.

“We need her help,” Emma reminds him. “Tiger Lily said they wouldn’t help unless we have the fairies on our side. So unless you think we can save Henry and take down Pan with only the lorelei I think we just have to go to the party.” A party shouldn’t hold so much weight, she thinks, wondering when Neverland became high school.

“I agree,” Wendy backs her up and Killian shoots her a disapproving look. 

“I’ll go,” he declares. “I’ll speak to the Queen privately and the three of you can stay out of it.”

“What and leave you to have all the fun?” Will argues, sounding very put out. “Not likely.” 

“Tink probably already told her about Emma, and we haven’t missed a Solstice in nearly a decade.” Wendy points out. “We can’t risk her thinking she’s been stood up or that we’re hiding something from her - especially something she wants. We all have to go.” 

“How bad can it be?” Emma adds, going for encouraging, and wishes she hadn’t when she sees the frown that crosses his face.

“It’s not that bad at all,” Wendy assures her. “It’s actually really fun so long as you’re careful and don’t eat seven walnuts and decide to jump in the river because you think you’re a frog.”

“That was one time!” Will sighs defensively. 

“I’m surprised they invited us back.”

“How many times have you gone?” 

Will looks like he’s counting while Wendy only quips back “How many times have you?”

“Guys, I can’t see the stars anymore. We’ve got to decide soon,” she urges them.

Killian’s sigh is long-suffering and reluctant. “Fine. But if anything happens to her-” he begins to warn the other captain, but stops himself. 

Her frustrated expression softens. “It won’t. We’ll be careful.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun though, right?” Will ventures. “We were invited to the celebration…” 

“Is someone gonna explain this celebration to me, or are you all just gonna keep talking about me like I’m some helpless damsel you all need to watch over?”

With a proud smirk, Wendy reaches for the gate and runs her hand over the seam which trails a golden light in its wake. Emma jumps when two of the little carved fairies on either side suddenly come to life and look at the pirate. “We have an audience with the Queen,” she tells the living gold fairies. “Captain Hook and his crew.” After a moment, the figures each take hold of their side of the gate and, wings fluttering furiously, they pull the doors open. 

“I’m going to regret this,” Killian breathes before leading the way through the threshold.

Wendy loops her arm through Emma’s. “The whole day is a really big party. Food and drinks and music and dancing from sunup to sundown. That’s why the summer is better - the days are longer.”

That doesn’t sound so bad minus the frog walnuts, she thinks as they follow the path through the ancient, winding trees. These don’t look like the rest of Neverland’s dense jungle with crowded trees and dark, waxy leaves. No, these are ancient. Willows and oaks with moss covered trunks and branches, leaves pale green and hanging down along the path reflect the soft light from the lanterns that float magically all around them. The whole thing looks like… well, a fairytale.  

“Beautiful isn’t it?” 

Emma nods, remembering Killian’s warning that everything here was designed to make people want to stay. She can hear music not far off, soft and melodic. “So then what’s the big deal?” she asks.

“Um, well,” Wendy starts as they draw closer to what she imagines is the court, outlines of figures in the dim light, laughter floating over in tune with the strings being played. All dressed in the same, loose fitting tunics and pants or dresses made of gauzy material and ornately patterned fabrics. She can see the gold gleaming off of the stitching from yards away. Disney’s Tinkerbelle was definitely drawn by a dude. “The Fae have a different way of celebrating than most humans.” 

Emma frowns, wondering what she means by the vague explanation as she watches the graceful partygoers mingle, drinking from crystal and golden flutes, picking food from trays being carried by more modestly dressed fairies. 

A group of couples are dancing over by the musicians, others sat around watching or talking over the melody. It seems like a pretty standard party apart from the fact that they’ve all got wings, fine and delicate looking, that extend the entire length of their person. One fairy’s wings flutter as her partner swings her around, her feet leaving the grass as she spins in mid air. 

Another couple have retreated into one another, locked in an embrace that feels a little intimate for the middle of a dance floor, but Emma’s been to clubs before, she’s no stranger to people getting a little carried away in public. What she’s not used to, is the way one of the other fairies, a tall, handsome redhead who’d been watching the pairs dance, sets his drink down, standing to cross the field and join them. She blinks in disbelief as he wraps his arms around the woman and reaches to cup her partner’s cheek so he can kiss him. Emma looks away, face red as the woman trails her lips along the length of the first man’s neck, all three sets of hands wandering, reaching for whatever inch of skin they can touch in the sudden menage-a-trois that seems to have formed.

“Looks like some are getting started early,” Wendy says, as though a random three-way in the middle of the party is nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Early?” she gapes, the words registering as she watches another couple flirting boldly by a table covered in cakes and pastries, a touch starting innocently and then quickly growing bolder. “Oh my god.” She stares at Wendy as they approach the crowd. “Is this a sex party?” Suddenly, Killian’s distress over his near-daughter having attended several of these celebrations starts to make more sense. 

“It’s not a sex party,” she defends. “It’s a celebration of love and new beginnings, of life and the vitality that fuels their magic.” Emma stares blankly at her. “Okay fine, it’s not just a sex party.”  

“That’s exactly what it is,” Killian argues and Emma turns to look at him, her attention having been fixed on the dancers ahead as they walked. She can see more people now, coming from the forest to join the party. All beautiful in their rich clothing and dazzling, excited smiles. 

Oh my god, she’s at a fucking fairy orgy. She’d laugh if she wasn’t still so stunned. 

“And you guys have all been here before?” For a place that was supposed to be for kids, everyone else in Neverland seems to really get around. 

“A handful of times,” he answers shortly and Wendy scoffs under her breath. 

“It’s considered quite an honour in their realm to be invited,” Will tells her. Emma doesn’t really have a reply to that. 

“So everyone just… all day?” 

He snorts. “Basically.” 

“There are other things too,” Wendy promises. “Food and drink and dancing. There’s a whole ceremonial aspect to it as well, you know.” Killian rolls his eyes. She thinks maybe there wasn’t much more to it for him. “Their magic comes from dedication, to all things, from worshipping the power in everything around them, the earth, the sky, the food, and the people.” 

“Hence all the…” Emma gestures vaguely at the couples, “worshipping.” She doesn’t really understand, but this isn’t her world and people throw these kinds of parties for way less where she’s from. 

“It feeds their magic.” 

“And is everyone expected to… participate?” she asks warily, trying to sound as casual as possible. 

Wendy’s casual ‘yes’ and Killian’s emphatic ‘no’ and spoken at the same time. Killian glares at Wendy before turning to Emma. “In the celebration, yes. But one can celebrate however they like.” She holds back a snarky question about how he’s chosen to celebrate in the past as a fairy notices them. She’s gorgeous - of course she is, Emma wants to roll her eyes - tanned skin and short black hair, wings fluttering demurely as she hops up and glides across the field to land in front of them. 

“Hook,” she greets with a coy smile. Killian’s face looks torn between the natural urge to smoulder and a determination to keep his sombre mood. 

“Thistle.”

“Where have you been?” she accuses, pouting prettily. “We’ve missed you,” she tells him, hand tracing delicately along the chain at his neck before wrapping around the charms. 

We? Emma wants to ask, but before she can, two more fairies saunter over, a tall, curvy blonde and an equally stunning redhead. The whole trifecta, she rolls her eyes. The two Fae women join the first, draping themselves shamelessly around his arms, fingers playing at his hair, the lapels of his coat, the curve of his ears which Emma notes are bright red. Wendy looks like she’s going to be sick. It’s a bit much, really. She gets it, he’s fucked a lot of fairies. 

“Solstice hasn’t been the same without you, you know,” The blonde tells him, catching her suggestive smirk between her teeth. “Why didn’t you come back?” 

“I… had some business to attend to in the Land Without Magic.” 

“For ten years?” the little brunette demands. But before he can answer, defend the fact that time continued here without him, the redhead traces a bejewelled finger along the dimple in his chin, smiling wickedly. 

“It’s alright, Thistle. He can make it up to us this year,” she assures them before her lips find the underside of his jaw. 

“Oh for fucks sake,” Wendy curses under her breath. “I don’t know if I can handle a Solstice with him,” she tells Will.

Killian clears his throat, eyes casting quickly and uncomfortably to Emma’s as he extracts both his arms from the fairies’ grips. “I - uh, that is I…” She doesn't think she’s ever seen him speechless before. Though that may have something to do with the blonde’s hand wandering dangerously close to his belt. Emma turns away, not in the mood to watch him get it on with Charlie’s Angels, when a voice calls his name from the center of the party. 

“Killian Jones,” the woman declares, walking over with arms spread wide. The fairies who’d been fawning a moment ago quickly detach themselves from him, pulling back to stand behind Killian, bowing low. The imposing woman beams at him, stunning, dark skinned with black hair curling tightly down to her waist, flowers and golden beads woven intricately throughout. “The infamous Captain Hook returns.” The fairy takes his face in her hands, pressing a kiss to each of his cheeks. “It’s been too long.” 

Killian offers a small bow, seemingly unable to fight his smile. “Your Majesty.” 

*******

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[bard-llama]

WiP Monday: Iorveth and Zoltan's History

Okay, I'm impatient and not waiting until Wednesday. This whole fic started because in the games, Iorveth and Zoltan very emphatically hate each other. That kind of animosity comes from familiarity, you know? So... enjoy.

(under a cut because tumblr fucked the formatting options)

“Has anyone ever noticed,” Dandelion slurred. He, like the rest of them, was on his third bottle of wine and most definitely not sober. “How Zoltan is so adamant that Iorveth hates him? Like, I don't think I've ever actually seen them interact, but Zoltan is very insistent that Iorveth does not like him.”

“So?” Geralt asked, raising his eyebrow and covering a burp.

“Soooooo,” Dandelion waved his hand around, nearly overbalancing himself, “me thinks he doth protest too much!”

Roche blinked. “Wait… are you saying Zoltan secretly likes Iorveth?”

“No, no, no,” Dandelion’s hair fluttered around his head as he shook it. “No, I’m saying there’s history between them. Something that makes them despise each other.”

“Do they, though?” Triss asked. “I mean, they’ve kind of mutually avoided each other, now that I think about it, but it’s not like they’ve gotten into huge fights or anything.”

“I dunno,” Geralt mused, “I mean, Zoltan was pretty insistent that Iorveth hates him. Though… he never actually said what he thinks of Iorveth beyond general insults towards the Scoia’tael.”

“Exactly!” Dandelion snapped his fingers. “I tell ya, they’ve got history. Significant history. The question is… what is it?” He waggled his eyebrows expressively in a way that made him look rather barmy, but then, he kind of was.

Roche took another sip of wine. “I mean, Zoltan was – is? – fairly anti-Scoia’tael. And if my intel is right, the Scoia’tael asked him to lead a squad. Maybe there’s just mutual irritation that he turned them down and doesn’t like them?”

Geralt hummed consideringly, but Dandelion shook his head, “nah. That kinda hatred isn’t business-related. It’s definitely personal.”

“Maybe they’re exes,” Triss chuckled, refilling her wine glass. “Can you imagine? What an odd couple they’d be.” 

Triss’ giggles made Roche tilt his head to picture it. Iorveth, who was already annoyingly tall, with Zoltan, who came up to Geralt’s stomach (and around Roche’s chest, but he was not short, so he wasn’t thinking about it) – the two of them together? How would they even do anything?

Actually… “Is that common? Elves and dwarves? I kinda thought they broadly hated each other?”

“They do,” Geralt grunted. “Before humanity, elves were the conquerors of the continent. Dwarves, on the other hand, have never had a problem getting along and living harmoniously with other species.”

Dandelion nodded in agreement. “Have you ever been to Mahakam? It’s really quite incredible! I mean, awfully stuffy and there’s a reason many dwarves live amongst human settlements, but gnomes and dwarves live perfectly peacefully together. And the craftsmanship! Oh, you wouldn’t believe some of the things I saw! There was this one sculpture of a dryad and she had the biggest–”

Geralt cut him off, knocking their shoulders together. “The point is, dwarves typically find a way to coexist. Even with elves, who tried to conquer them before humans had the chance.”

“That’s interesting and all,” Triss swirled her wine in the glass, letting it breathe, “but what does that have to do with Zoltan and Iorveth? Neither of them are that old… are they?”

There were frowns around the table as the four of them considered that. 

“I don’t… think so?” Dandelion shrugged. “I mean, Zoltan’s old to me, but I think to an elf, nah. I mean, dwarves don’t live quite as long as elves, right?”

“Yeah,” Geralt tapped his fingers against his chin. “Iorveth was pre-humanity, though, wasn’t he? Isn’t that what the Scoia’tael were always saying, about him being one of the last true Aen Seidhe? That means born pre-humanity, right?”

Roche pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe?”

“The point is,” Triss refocused them, slurring slightly, “it would be a little strange, but it’s possible. And elves and dwarves have grown a lot closer in the last millenia or so, because of humanity’s oppression. So like… they could be exes.”

“We could ask them?” Geralt suggested hesitantly.

“Oh, that’ll go well,” Roche snorted.

“No, no, that’s a great idea!” Dandelion fluttered his hands excitedly. “We can put them on the spot, make them tell us!”

“Neither of them are exactly communicative about shit they don’t wanna talk about,” Roche pointed out, but Dandelion ignored him.

“Who knows where they are?”

“Probably not together,” Triss said, shaping each word very intentionally. They’d all had more than a little to drink – which was what made the idea of interrogating Iorveth and Zoltan about their history actually kind of appealing, to be honest. 

“Oh, oh! We can split into groups and ask them and then see if their stories match!” Dandelion bounced in place as he spoke. Given he’d consumed a significant portion of the wine they were drinking, Roche was mildly impressed that he didn’t lose his balance.

Geralt just looked amused. “All right,” he agreed. “I definitely want to see Iorveth’s face when he’s asked if Zoltan used to be his ex.”

“Good! Then you and Roche can go ask Iorveth and Triss and I will ask Zoltan!”

“Okay, but you get to do the actual asking,” Triss said, crossing her arms.

Roche opened his mouth to ask why it was automatically assumed he’d go see Iorveth – but in truth, he was kind of curious about what Iorveth would say. At any rate, he was more curious about Iorveth’s reaction than Zoltan’s.

“Fucking okay, guess we’re doing this,” he snorted to himself, slinging back the last of his wine and stumbling to his feet. 

Geralt chuckled, stretching and joining Roche. “Iorveth likes playing out in the gardens,” Geralt said.

“May as well start there, then,” Roche shrugged, waving for Geralt to precede him.

Iorveth was indeed in the gardens, as the light musical notes they could hear as soon as they left the main house of Corvo Bianco attested to. 

When they approached, Iorveth glanced over them, lowering his flute. “Gwynbleidd,” he greeted, voice pleasant. He did not acknowledge Roche.

Roche frowned. “We had a question,” he managed to get out, only slurring his words slightly.

He could tell Iorveth was curious by the way his eyebrow twitched, but Iorveth still did not acknowledge him. He scowled at the elf. 

“We were wondering,” Geralt said loudly, “what was up between you and Zoltan.”

Iorveth snorted roughly. “Decidedly nothing.”

“Yeah, see, it’s that ‘decidedly’ that makes us curious,” Roche responded, swaying slightly in place.

“Zoltan insists you detest him,” Geralt said slowly, “and it kinda seems like more than just a disagreement over the Scoia’tael’s methods.”

“Detest?” Iorveth repeated. “I suppose that’s one word for it.”

“And another would be?” Roche asked.

Iorveth glared at him.

“How do you two know each other?” Geralt asked curiously.

Iorveth snorted. “You are old for a dh’oine, Geralt. But even so, can you comprehend what it is to live for century upon century? For millennia?” He shook his head, “I have seen elven society rise and fall, driven near to extinction. I have met many, many people during that time. That you should know some of them is statistically expected.”

“That was a helluva non-answer,” Roche pointed out. 

With a heavy sigh, Iorveth shook his head again. “Zoltan Chivay is a human sympathizer, willing to stand at their sides even after all they’ve done. That is your answer.”

“Aren’t you technically standing at our sides?” Roche asked before he could think better of it. Beside him, Geralt groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Iorveth’s glare was impressive, but it probably would’ve been more intimidating if Roche wasn’t seeing three of him.

“Dandelion,” Geralt began, and Roche’s lips twitched at the way he was shifting the blame for their curiosity onto the bard, “thinks that you used to be involved.”

Iorveth’s face darkened significantly in what had to be an answer, right? But the elf didn’t say anything.

“So?” Roche prodded. “Are you exes?”

Iorveth didn’t answer, instead saying, “the bard is entitled to believe what he will. And I owe you nothing.”

“That kinda sounds like a yes,” Geralt said, genuine surprise on his face. “How, though? I mean, you’ve been fighting humanity for ages and he’s – I mean, you just called him a human sympathizer. How did you two even know each other?”

Appearing irritated that they weren’t taking the hint and leaving him alone, Iorveth scowled at them. 

“C’mon,” Roche goaded, “you know we’re gonna keep asking. Isn’t it easier to just answer instead of being all mysterious and broody?”

Iorveth’s glare sharpened, but he did lower his flute, pursing his lips in thought. “I’ve been fighting humanity for ages,” he repeated Geralt’s words. “Yes. Do you know why?”

“What?” Both Geralt and Roche blinked, taken aback.

“I have lived for over a millennia,” Iorveth said, “since before humanity tainted this continent with their filth. But I did not begin fighting humans until Aelirenn’s Uprising. Do you know why?”

“Uh…” Roche frowned, thinking back on his history. He’d heard of Aelirenn, of course – an elven commander who had rallied elves to fight back against humanity in the 1060s, 200 years ago. She’d lost horribly and most of her troops had died. But he wasn’t sure he knew of anything else that had happened around that time. 

Still, Iorveth revealing this much was eye-opening. Iorveth had only been fighting humans for 200 years? What had he done the rest of that millennia of life?

“I was a musician,” Iorveth said simply. “For 1100 years, I played music for human and elven and dwarven audiences. I wasn’t delighted to live alongside humans, but I did, because what other choice was there?” He turned away from them, looking out over the gardens. “There were too many humans to avoid, but I believed we could live in peace, despite the growing evidence to the contrary around me. Despite the way elven schools and museums and concert halls and places of worship had all been destroyed. I thought it didn’t concern me – that as long as I focused on my music and didn’t cause a problem, the violence would spare me.”

Roche swallowed, an unreasonable amount of guilt crawling up his spine.

“Then humans proved that they would slaughter us all, whether we wanted to live in peace or not,” Iorveth said, voice dark, but gaze still fixed on the poppies Geralt grew. “I was lucky,” he snarled, mouth twisted with scorn. “When Marshal Raupenneck slaughtered the inhabitants of Loc Muinne, I wasn’t there. When men and women and children were murdered in their sleep for the crime of being elves, I wasn’t there.” 

“Iorveth,” Geralt began softly.

“I lived in Loc Muinne for decades,” Iorveth forced out. “All of those elves were people I knew, people I’d lived beside for years. And then they were dead, not because they’d done anything to provoke humans, but because they were elves, and humanity couldn’t abide by that. And then,” Iorveth’s knuckles were white around his flute, “then that – that dh’oinefucker Chivay had the fucking audacity to argue against fighting humans.” 

Iorveth took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

“So yes,” he concluded, “I detest Chivay. I detest any who could look at that slaughter and decide that humans could still be reasoned with.”

Roche and Geralt shared a concerned look, but Roche was certain that if he spoke right now, Iorveth would decide to repay him for the harms suffered at humanity’s hands. And he wouldn’t really be wrong, would he? Roche had done a lot of awful things and true, he hadn’t slaughtered the inhabitants of Loc Muinne… but he had pacified the Mahakaman Foothills. The elves and dwarves he’d eliminated had been fewer in number than Raupenneck’s victims, and they’d been rabble rousers and criminals to boot – but somehow he doubted Iorveth saw it that way.

“I’m sorry,” Geralt murmured quietly. 

Iorveth barked a harsh laugh, a sound devoid of mirth. “Your pity is useless,” Iorveth snapped, but his next words just sounded tired. “Go away, dh’oine.”

Roche swallowed hard, feeling absurdly concerned over his once-enemy. But if Iorveth didn’t want Geralt’s sympathy, then he certainly wouldn’t want Roche’s, so Roche curled his fingers into tight fists and turned to leave, Geralt following him hesitantly.

The earlier haze of intoxication had faded almost completely and Roche felt far too sober as he murmured to Geralt once they were back inside the main house, “we never should’ve asked.”

Geralt nodded solemnly. “I wonder how Dandelion and Triss’ conversation with Zoltan went.”

“Guess we should probably find them. Warn them not to ask Iorveth.”

“Yeah,” Geralt agreed, tilting his head to listen intently for a few moments, then guiding them towards the training grounds.

As soon as they exited the house, Roche could see Zoltan spinning his war axe around, going through drills. Dandelion and Triss stood a respectful distance away, but Dandelion didn’t know the meaning of silence, so he was chattering away incessantly.

“Geralt! Roche!” Triss waved at them once she spotted them and Dandelion and Zoltan both looked up to see them.

“You look like your dog just died,” Zoltan commented tactlessly.

Roche winced. He wasn’t wrong, but it was hard to muster a smile when he could still hear Iorveth’s bitter laugh echoing in his ears. 

“We asked Iorveth about you,” Geralt grunted.

Zoltan blinked. “Oh. Is that what you’ve been trying to ask?” he turned to Dandelion with an arched eyebrow.

“Obviously!” Dandelion put his hands on his hips.

Triss just groaned, rubbing her face. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “What did Iorveth say?”

Zoltan snorted roughly, “I can guess. Never met anyone who could hold a grudge as dedicatedly as Iorveth.”

“Yeah,” Roche grimaced. He’d always begrudged Iorveth that, always been irritated that Iorveth would hold his past against him forever while acting like the elf was in the right.

But after Iorveth’s story, he could kind of understand why Iorveth was so adamant in his hatred of humanity.

“He didn’t really say how you knew each other,” Geralt murmured. “But he, uh. He shared why he began to fight humanity. And–”

“And I’m right in the middle of that,” Zoltan nodded. “Doubt he’ll ever forgive me that. Not that it matters, the depths he’s sunk to.” Zoltan’s face twisted judgingly.

“He was different when you knew him?” Dandelion asked softly.

Zoltan’s quick ‘ha’ of laughter sounded almost painful. “Different. Yeah, you could say that. At the time, he was – well. He was a lot more like you than like the elf he is now.”

Roche blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“What do you mean, ‘like Dandelion’?” Triss asked. 

“I mean what I said,” Zoltan shrugged. “He was an artist and a diva. Positively lived for scandal.”

“Iorveth did?” Geralt’s face was disbelieving.

“Yeah, he’s changed quite a lot, hasn’t he?” And not for the better, Zoltan’s face implied. 

“He, uh. He told us why he changed. Sort of.” Roche dug his fingernails into his palm, trying not to feel guilty for events he’d had no hand in.

“Yeah,” Zoltan sighed, grief overtaking his expression. “It was…” he shook his head, “it was a horror. There’s no other word for it.”

“What was?” Dandelion asked.

“Loc Muinne,” Zoltan said. “Iorveth lived in Loc Muinne when Marshal Raupenneck massacred the city. It’s what radicalized him.”

“Oh,” Triss and Dandelion both looked as taken aback as Geralt and Roche had been.

“But,” Triss started slowly, “how does that connect to you?”

“‘Cause I was the one advising him not to fight,” Zoltan shrugged. “You can imagine how he took that.”

“Why though?” Roche asked. “I mean… you’re a warrior, right?”

“Always have been, aside from a few forays into mining,” Zoltan nodded.

“So… why advise him not to fight?”

With a deep sigh, Zoltan set his axe aside and met their gazes squarely. “What you have to understand is that when I say Iorveth was like Dandelion – I mean he was. He’d never held a blade in his life, had no earthly idea of how to fight. I was certain he was going to get himself killed. And he almost did. Hell, I thought he had for a long time. Wasn’t until Eirien received a letter from him that I discovered that he’d managed to survive the slaughter that was Aelirenn’s Uprising. One of the only elves his age left, you know? The rest of them…” he pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

“Who’s Eirien?”

“Oh. Uh…” now Zoltan just looked awkward and it made all of them suspicious.

“What, was she his ex or something?”

“Ha. No. Uh…” Zoltan gulped. “She’s his daughter.”

Roche stared, stunned. “She – what!?”

“With who!?”

Zoltan just looked at them.

“Oh my gods, you have a daughter!?” Dandelion shrieked.

“I’ve lived a long time,” Zoltan shrugged. “And we were together for a while.”

“Long enough to have a kid,” Roche said blankly. “You – seriously? I didn’t even know dwarves and elves could reproduce!”

“‘Course we can,” Zoltan shrugged. “Biologically, we’re more alike than humans and elves, you know. We both originated on the continent.”

“Yeah, but–”

“Granted,” Zoltan tilted his head, “it doesn’t happen that often. Most dwarves, even those who don’t resent elves for our history, have little interest in living alongside them. Though you do get those Scoia’tael dwarves,” he shook his head, judging expression back. He really did not have a high opinion of the Scoia’tael.

“So… you had a kid with Iorveth!?” Triss clarified. “When!?”

“Centuries ago,” Zoltan said simply. “She was about three hundred when Iorveth made his suicidal last stand with Aelirenn.”

“What happened to her?” Geralt asked.

“She lives in Mahakam,” Zoltan smiled slightly. “Makes beautiful bronze sculptures and has no real interest in ever leaving the mountain.”

“How come I’ve never met her!?” Dandelion demanded. “I’ve been to Mahakam with you!”

“She’s shy,” Zoltan shrugged. “And we were busy with other things.”

“Yeah, but–”

“Hold on, hold on,” Roche interrupted. “You’re telling me that not only did you and Iorveth have a kid together, but that she’s alive and well and you both keep in touch with her!?”

“Yeah? You gotta understand, Eirien came of age around 150. So we were pretty involved in her life until then, but you know how kids are. They want to spread their wings and explore on their own. So we keep in touch, but she’s got her own life and she doesn’t want us hanging around watching over her.”

“150,” Geralt repeated. “Does that mean you and Iorveth were together for a hundred and fifty years!?”

“Sure,” Zoltan said casually. “Maybe closer to two fifty.”

“That’s so long,” Roche boggled.

“Only to a human. And it’s not like our lives were completely entwined for that whole time. We each had our own things going on and we both traveled a lot.”

“Still,” Geralt frowned. “That’s a long time to end on a bad note.”

Zoltan hummed, “‘s the way life goes, is it not? Sometimes you have a falling out with people you’re close to and sometimes you never quite recover from that. And then sometimes,” his voice took on a scathing tone, “you go on and become a terrorist and mass murderer.”

Roche winced. “So… no interest in reconciling?”

Zoltan snorted, giving him a side-eyed look. “What is there to reconcile? We knew each other when the world was wholly different and we were different people. The people we are now… why bother? He thinks he’s some kind of hero, fighting for elven freedom. I think he’s nothing but a bandit, notorious for killing innocent men. It is what it is.”

Triss frowned. “Do you miss him? The Iorveth you once knew?”

Tilting his head, Zoltan shrugged. “I miss a lot of people I once knew. I’m just glad Eirien has no interest in his fight.”

Roche nodded slowly. Both his lover and his daughter disavowed his fight. That had to suck for Iorveth, even if they weren’t wrong to do so. 

“So that’s it? You and Iorveth just hate each other now?”

“Pretty much,” Zoltan’s expression was neutral. “Why?”

“Seems a shame,” Dandelion said softly. “So much history, curdled into hatred.”

“Most things about Iorveth curdled into hatred,” Zoltan said easily. “Frankly, I’m surprised he’s even willing to be here amongst the very humans he hates so much. Though… I suppose he’s not really got anywhere else to go. Not these days.” He shook his head, “at any rate… things have changed. Whether we like it or not, humans rule this continent. What point is there in fighting against the inevitable? And humans aren’t all bad.” He grinned, nudging Dandelion, who beamed at him, breaking the tension that had settled over him.

“So,” Geralt asked, changing the subject, “any other kids hiding in that past of yours?”

Zoltan just laughed, not answering. Instead, he hefted his war hammer up. “Say… anyone want to spar?”

As much as Roche really did kind of want to test his merit against the dwarven warrior who apparently had centuries of experience, he didn’t feel ready to set all of this aside yet. But he wasn’t sure what more could be said, so he excused himself and wandered back into the main house, frowning deeply with his brow furrowed in thought.

He almost bodily ran into Iorveth in the foyer and when he stumbled back, stuttering out an apology, he figured that was a bit of a sign. So even though Iorveth ignored his apology and turned away, Roche felt compelled to say it again. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m sorry humans did that.”

Iorveth froze, not looking at him.

He swallowed and forced himself to say, “I’m sorry for the role I’ve played in humans oppressing elves.”

Scoffing, Iorveth whirled around to scowl at him. “You’re sorry!?”

Roche clenched his muscles, willing himself not to falter before Iorveth’s anger. “Yes,” he said simply. “I did what I did for Temeria. But that,” it was hard to admit, but… “that doesn’t make it right.”

He really, really wanted to add something about the Scoia’tael not being in the right either – they did kill innocents – but he bit it back, aware that Iorveth wouldn’t take it kindly. And he wasn’t trying to piss Iorveth off, he really wasn’t. He just… what? What was he trying to accomplish here?

“No, it doesn’t,” Iorveth bit out, not giving an inch. 

Roche gripped his temper between thumb and forefinger and willed himself not to rise to the bait. He didn’t want to get into a screaming match with Iorveth. He wanted– 

“I can understand,” he said slowly, “why you started fighting humans. I – I may not approve of your methods, but my opinion doesn’t really matter.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Iorveth repeated.

Biting back an annoyed groan, Roche continued, “so why are you here now? You hate humanity. So why are you living alongside a ton of us in a land where there aren’t really any other elves?”

“There aren’t any others because humans murdered them all,” Iorveth said stiffly. 

“Okay, but all the more reason to be anywhere else, right? So…”

Iorveth dragged a hand down his face and it looked like it physically pained him to admit, “where else could I go? I’m still wanted in the North, what little of it isn’t Nilfgaard. All the homes I once had are gone. So where should I be?”

Roche wasn’t sure he had an answer. “Mahakam, maybe? If your daughter lives there?”

Startling lightly, Iorveth’s eye narrowed suspiciously as he scoffed. “Fucking of course Chivay told you. What other parts of my life did he decide needed public scrutiny?” There was old anger behind his words and Roche bit his lip.

“Not much,” Roche said. “He did say you used to be a diva. And big into scandals?”

Iorveth snorted. It was not a happy sound. “Scandals sell tickets.”

Roche couldn’t resist asking, “was being with a dwarf terribly scandalous then?”

Even though Iorveth frowned, he still answered. “At the beginning, sure. Definitely sent some of our elders into a tizzy.”

“Right,” Roche nodded, unsure of what else to say. “Uh… want some wine?” he offered.

Iorveth’s face was definitely judging. “Haven’t you had enough?”

“Ha. Decidedly not,” Roche chuckled. He wasn’t even feeling it anymore, which clearly meant that he needed more.

[duckybarnes1917]

Your Eyes Outshine The Town...Chapter 17

Bucky Barnes x Black Female Reader

18+ ONLY

Summary: You and Bucky make the trip to meet his extended family. Things are a bit overwhelming for both you when you realize his family is not what you expected.

Warnings: Anxiety. Microaggressions.

*Tumblr is not letting me add links to the prev or next chapters. Please see the masterlist pinned to my page for the rest of the story!*

The Day After Christmas

Bucky stuffed his metal hand into his pocket as he walked into the coffee shop that had quickly become your favorite. You were waiting for him in the car which he had double parked. He realized he had spent so much time with you since you had moved in that being alone even for these few minutes had his anxiety rising quickly. Without your fingers intertwined with his metal ones, he felt unmoored. People stared at him openly, taking pictures sneakily as he kept his eyes trained on the floor. Things had been worse. Back before he was granted his pardon, people were much more forward. Ugly stares and insults were not uncommon. At that time, he rarely left his apartment. How could he when every ugly detail of his life was constantly breaking news? He truly didn’t know how he survived it. 

Bucky went through the motions of ordering coffee and moved to the side to wait. How much of his trial had his family seen? Was it naïve to hope they hadn’t seen any of it? That they hadn’t watched the constant attacks that passed as news? 

“Bucky!” 

Bucky frowned when the cheery barista that now recognized him as a regular called his name over the sizeable crowd. 

The barista, a college kid with an optimistic smile, scanned the room, looking past Bucky’s big frame for you. 

“She’s in the car.” 

The barista nodded, handing Bucky his drinks. “Well, tell her I say hi!”

Bucky raised his brows in response. Maybe he didn’t need to be worried about what his family knew or didn’t know. They’d be too distracted by you, just like everyone else. Even when you weren't in the room, you outshined him. 

Bucky finally gave the barista a small smile. “I’ll tell her. Happy Holidays, kid.” 

**

“One vanilla latte with extra whipped cream,” Bucky handed you the latte before he sat his plain black coffee in the cup holder. 

You popped the lid off the cup and inhaled deeply. “Perfect. Want some extra spice in yours?” You held out a small vodka bottle and a little flask you had filled with Asgardian ale. 

Bucky laughed and shook his head, “No, but maybe when we get there.”

“Suit yourself,” You shrugged and dropped the flask back into your purse before twisting the cap off the mini vodka bottle. 

Bucky focused on easing the car back into traffic. He didn’t blame you for needing a little help to get through the day; he was actively fighting the pit of anxiety threatening to open and swallow him whole.  

“How long is the drive?” You asked as you gulped down your coffee. 

“About five hours. If I drive fast.” 

“Damn,” you took another big drink of your coffee. “I’m sure the traffic will lighten up once we’re out of the city.” 

You rubbed Bucky’s thigh. You always knew when he was getting overwhelmed. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Being late should not be at the top of his worry list right now. The longer you rubbed his thigh, the harder it was for him to think of anything that should be at the top of the list. 

**  

Several hours later, you were cruising through little suburbs and large stretches of open road. The scenery, large trees dusted in snow, and the occasional deer made you feel like you had left more than just the city behind. The anxiety you had been trying to ignore the entire drive dissipated for a moment as you imagined the life you would lead if you lived here. Out in the quiet, open, calm. 

“It’s pretty out here,” you said casually, stretching in your seat.  

“Yeah? I thought you liked the city?” Bucky questioned. 

“I do, but–I don’t know, it might be nice to live out here… someday.” 

Bucky smiled, “someday?” 

“You know what I mean,” you muttered, not quite meeting his eyes. 

Bucky lifted your chin to meet his gaze. “Tell me.” 

Your tongue swiped over your bottom lip. “Someday, when things are normal, and we have a baby and….” 

“Fuck,” Bucky let you go and turned his attention back to the road. “You’re gonna make us late.” 

“How–”

“Because I’m seconds away from pulling this car over and fucking you right where you’re sitting.” 

You had to bite your tongue to keep from begging him for it. Once you had control over yourself, you opened your mouth. “If I thought I could fuck you without ruining my hair and outfit, I would beg you for your cock right now.” 

“Sweetheart–” Bucky warned, shifting in his seat. 

“I know, I know. Maybe on the way back, though.” 

“Promise?” 

You rubbed his thigh again, “promise.” 

** 

You woke up just as Bucky pulled into the driveway of a large house set against tall pine trees and the cloudy gray sky. An ornate gate decorated with giant wreaths opened automatically to allow his entrance. 

You blinked your eyes to clear your vision. This hadn’t been what you expected at all. 

This house was old and big. Enormous white pillars, decorated with garland, wrapped around the front of the house, making it look like a museum, not someone’s home. Brand new, shiny cars filled the circle driveway. Christmas decorations decorated the expansive lawn; large candy canes, giant glittery ornaments, a full-sized Santa’s sleigh with all 8 reindeer, and a tall white cross covered in twinkling lights. You felt like you were inside a snow globe. It was gorgeous, but you felt a sudden rush of anxiety; everything about this was screaming GET OUT. That was a ridiculous reaction; it was Bucky’s family–but your anxiety spiked again as you looked around and realized there were no other houses in sight. Bucky didn’t know these people; what if it was an elaborate trap and his sister wasn’t even here?

Bucky parked the car and you grabbed his arm tight to keep him from getting out. 

“What’s wrong? You look sick.” Bucky turned in his seat to hold your face. 

“I just–I need a minute.” 

Bucky nodded, his brows furrowing slightly. You avoided his worried gaze as you took deep breaths and reached for his dog tags on instinct. The raised letters of his name brought you back down to Earth. 

“Talk to me.” Bucky kissed your forehead. 

“I’m–afraid.” You wouldn’t look at him, embarrassment scorching through you. 

“There’s nothing–” 

“Yes, there is.” You cut him off and gripped his dog tags tighter. “What if it’s a trap? The Power Broker–” 

“Oh.” Bucky smoothed the worry line from your face. “Don’t worry about that, I trust Shuri. She did her research.”

Of course she did. What were you thinking? But your nerves still didn’t lessen. 

“What if they don’t like me? Did you–tell them?” 

“Of course I told them I was bringing you. They’ll love you–”

“No, do they know I’m black?”

Bucky paused for a moment, at a loss for words. “Um, should I have told them?” 

You were barely listening to him, continuing down your spiral of anxiety. “What if–I mean, I know it’s your family but Bucky, this place screams all lives matter.” 

Before Bucky could respond, the front door opened and several people stepped out onto the porch, all dressed to the nines and smiling excitedly in their direction. One man with cropped brown hair stepped forward and waved them on. 

“Oh god,” you gulped. 

“Hey breathe, everything is going to be fine. We’ll stay right here until you’re ready, okay?” 

 You nodded and closed your eyes again. You could feel Bucky gesturing through the window, buying you some more time to get yourself together. This was ridiculous. How many dangerous missions had you been on? And meeting Bucky’s family was what made you freeze in fear?

“Sweetheart?” Bucky called gently, bringing you back from your thoughts. 

“I’m okay, we can go. I’m sorry.” 

Bucky took off his dog tags and placed them around your neck. “Will that help?” 

You smiled slightly and tucked them under your shirt. The cold metal against your chest had a strange, calming effect. You nodded. 

“The second you feel uncomfortable, we’ll leave. Okay?” 

“Thank you,” You met his eyes, “are you good?” 

Bucky nodded, his face determined. “I’m always good when I’m with you.” 

Finally, you grinned and Bucky kissed your cheek before exiting the car and leading you up the steps. 

**

Bucky hadn’t known what to expect, but the mammoth of a house had not been it. He gripped your hand tighter and tighter the closer he got to the people waiting for you both at the top of the steps. It was odd. They looked vaguely familiar, like a face you’ve seen in a dream but don’t recognize. Connor looked a little like him. He had the same shade of brown hair, the same blue eyes. But his jaw was rounder, his smile bigger. Maybe that’s what Bucky would have looked like in another life. One where there had been plenty of food on the table, where he spent his time indoors with his books like he wanted. He looked away from Connor, quickly scanning the others. The blonde next to him must be his wife, Deena. She was petite in every sense of the word. Even in her white heels, she barely reached Connor’s shoulder. Behind them, there were several older people. One man using a walker looked how Bucky would have if he hadn’t been frozen in time. An older woman looked so much like his sister Becca that Bucky stuttered in his step and you  placed your hand on his arm to urge him forward. Several kids of various ages peeked out between the legs of the adults, wary but curious. 

“James!” Connor stepped forward and met him a few steps down. “So glad you made it.”

Bucky felt your hand squeeze his tighter as you unconsciously tried to hide behind his larger frame. He stood up a little straighter and put a smile on his face. 

“Connor, thanks for having us.” 

Connor turned his bright smile to you and held out his hand. “Welcome!” 

You gave him a small smile and took his hand. Connor pulled you into a hug, and Bucky saw Deena shake her head. 

“Oh–” you exclaimed. “Nice to meet you.” You glanced back at Bucky and he gave you an encouraging nod. 

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone. And surprise! Betty is waiting for us inside. Didn’t want ya to have to make two long drives in one day.” 

Bucky didn’t register the names of everyone he was introduced to. Once Connor told him Betty was inside, that’s all he could focus on. He smiled and shook hands and gave hugs, but his mind was already inside with his sister.

**

You were good with names. Connor. Deena. Mark. Charles. Joan. Such mundane, classic American names. These people were not at all what you had expected. Not a hair was out of place. Their teeth were pearly white, their smiles big and wide. They looked like fucking Kennedys. Bucky had never once given off trust-fund vibes. 

“I love your hair.” Laura, a 30-something icy blonde, held your hand too long. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at your carefully styled curls. 

“Thanks,” your voice wavered, the statement coming out like a question. 

“Absolutely stunning,” Laura’s wife, Rachel, chimed in. “Is it real?”

“Oh, is it a–what are they called–weave?” 

“Nope. All mine.” You finally got her hand out of Laura’s grip and dodged Rachel’s hand as it reached for your hair. “Lovely to meet you both.” 

You looked around for an exit, only to be reminded that you were in the middle of nowhere and there was no escape. Your eyes found Bucky next. He was being hugged tightly by Charles and Joan, Becca’s kids–his niece and nephew. Would that ever not be weird? 

“This way!” Deena looped her arm through yours and led you through the front door and toward the kitchen. “Sorry about them. They can be a lot. I’m sure you’re ready for a drink.” 

“Oh god, yes, please.” You liked her already. 

Don’t forget to reblog! 😉

*Tumblr is not letting me add links to the prev or next chapters. Please see the masterlist pinned to my page for the rest of the story!*

Taglist: @delaber @mannien @raindrcpsangel @cjand10

[mycovenofchaos]

Hello. Hi. It’s me Maddie aka Anon reader or Maddie, for old followers of @evanpeters-tarotreadings blog. For the new followers here, I’m a tarot reader, has been doing tarot readings for Evan Almost a year now.

As you all know or have been caught up with the news of the old tarot blog Admin deactivated her blog, for personal reasons, don’t wanna get deep into that. However this is a part of what I’m about to explain writing this post.

As you all know, I started this first. I did a reading about Evan’s soulmate back in February of this year. Then people liked the idea and well interacted with it, and this was the turning point. The Admin of the old tarot blog, made her blog a place for this readings, was doing readings of her own first. Period. Before I joined to the circle, asked if it’s possible to share my readings with her on her own blog, and so she was kind to welcome me. If I say it wasn’t the best decision I ever made, then I’ll be a liar, she was the best partner a person can have in this journey, she run the blog all by herself, and did it perfectly. She has been always saying she will never run the blog if it wasn’t with me.

Now, it was obvious that we were being harassed over and over again. I was getting almost everyday insults for no reason, but it’s clearly was because I didn’t feed some sick people’s fantasies about being Evan’s future partner. As you guys all know, specifically my old followers and friends i met on my old blog, but also the tarot blog followers, the kind of friendship I had with the Admin of @evanpeters-tarot readings. She was a collaboration partner, we were doing readings for Evan together, for 7 months in a row. But also I built a good friendship with her, well at least online, we had some good chemistry together. And honestly I must admit that she was the mirror soul of mine, perhaps because we both share the same zodiac sign, but also so much in common.

However, it was all good, until the day she had enough. The fandom sounded so draining for her. The day where the fake rumors of Frances leaking Evan’s nudes online, was actually the last day we spoke to each other, she told me how bad she feels about this whole situation, and how the fandom turned to be toxic. Something felt different with her that day, she did seemed very disappointed and exhausted. So was I. We basically, received bunch of insults again, someone called me “ Trashy”, an insulting nickname I’ve never been called with, but I have been called with that day, which was the last day of me on tumblr and the blog.

As a faithful friend, I tried to convince her to stay, and just to get over it. Told her “ it’s a fandom, you can’t give up on your blog, look how far we’ve made it, it’s 3 months until we complete one year”. She insisted, she has already made her decision, to leave. To be frank it was one of the hardest goodbyes I had to endure, so it was for her. We both cried rivers saying goodbye, I did cried, saying goodbye to the best online friend, sister and reading partner I’ve ever met.

Now, if you are wondering why all this emotions, you never met each other. True! Absolutely true, but it happens once in life to meet a cool person in your life, and drifting off from them might never be as easy as when you meet them. I wished we met irl, would’ve been amazing, wished I could’ve just kept this friendship for life, but unfortunately, maybe we were meant to meet but never to last. I wish her all best in her life because she deserves.

The past 2 months were never easy for me, I had to deal with mental health issues, including depression. For those who doesn’t know me well, I have been dealing with depression a while ago, it never left completely, just needed a reason to show up again to the surface, and what happened was a strong reason reason. Had to take sleeping pills to help me during this difficult period. Needed to take a break not just from tumblr but from everything, needed some peace of mind. So I’m sorry if I deleted the blog, my old friends and followers there, you guys were one of the best people I’ve ever interacted with. We made great memories. I’m sorry for everything.

My presence here on tumblr is temporary, I don’t know how this is going to take or if I’m going to ever be back off anonymous again. But it’s suspended at the moment, because I don’t wanna go through the same process again. Not everyone loves me. Excuse me if I made it too long for you, but I had to write this post. For the clueless people.

Honestly, I cried reading this. That’s all I have to say ♥️🥺

[soliloquivm]

he doesn’t see her come in ; broad shoulders are turned toward the entrance, a wall of well-worn flannel ( threadbare would be a more apt description of the garment ― it’s nearly as old as charlie, if not just a hair older ― but he’s too sentimental to toss it ) facing the door as he busies himself polishing highballs and pint glasses. it’s mindless work, and likely a task he would have passed along to one of his staff were they not so slow this evening that he could do it himself. ( and look, he doesn’t bring it up because he’s not that guy, but they never look as good as when he’s the one wielding the towel, alright ? ) he doesn’t see her come in, and it’s all the more reason for his head to whip around in surprise at the sound of her voice, smooth and sharp as his favorite aged whisky as it cuts through the din of the bar. nose wrinkles at her words, though dom’s not sure if it’s more for the implied insult or the idea of her having a better time when he’s not here. ( is she taunting him ? trying to get a rise ? if that’s her tactic, dom’s reluctant to admit it’s working. fuck, it’s working. ) ❝ purely coincidence. gotta be. ❞ for all that he tries to maintain a level face, the start of a smirk twitches at the corners of his lips as he turns to face her. ❝ i’ll have you know i’ve been called the life of the party. more than once. ❞ brows lift as dom nods toward mariko, and he’s already reaching for a bottle and a glass, ready to pour up her usual. and he’s not exactly lying, those very words have been spoken to him a handful of times, typically on karaoke night after he’s had a few beverages himself. ( the notorious feather boa from last year’s pride still hangs behind the bar, and if you know, you know. ) there’s something vaguely flippant in how he tosses a coaster onto the bar top in front of her before placing her drink atop it. ❝ you want me doing tricks back here or something ? is what what micah does when i’m not here ? flipping and tossing bottles or some shit ? ❞ dom shakes his head, but there’s something defensive, almost indignant about it. ❝ i could do that too. i’m a fun boss. right ? ❞

‘ THE LIFE OF THE PARTY ? ‘ she returns the smirk as long nails drag through her hair as way to push it away from her face . her chin rests on the knuckles of the other and she playfully bats eyelashes towards him , ‘ you know — they say that speaking good things about yourself is a way to boost your own self image , but you’re also not supposed to overdo it . ‘ of course she’s teasing him , it’s something of a love language so she’s been told , and why does she keep doing it to dom ? well , easy enough of an answer is basic flirtation , and she loves flirting with the gruff man often poised behind the bar in such an overbearing way that she can’t help but want to watch him squirm .

so she does taunt him , mercilessly in fact , getting a rise out of him is something that only makes her day better . — seeing him , makes her day that much better , she’s come to reluctantly notice as well .

mariko laughs at how he tries to make her toss micah under the bus , but she goes for it as to not allow him to get the upper verbal hand , ‘ oh trust me , i’ve watched him stand up on this bartop and dance the night away to the latest hits ‘ the smirk turns into an almost childish grin before she takes the drink in her palm and raises it in his direction . once a pleasurable sip is taken and it’s placed back down , ‘ you know , i would pay good money to watch you get on this bar and dance like nobody — i repeat nobody is watching , what do you say hot stuff ? want to go and show the younger generation how it’s done ? ‘ a daring look wears in her gaze , pointed and challenging before she settles back in her seat , ‘ but i’m sure the fun boss has too much to do , isn’t that right ? ‘ @thecryptidcottage because again , tumblr hates us .