marionette

“not for the most part. the term invited is mentioned quite frequently too.” hades exclaimed as his arms crossed and could almost feel a vein on his head begin to palpitate. poor unfortunate soul of his, how easy it was to get him annoyed, so much that no outside connection was already driving him to the edge.

“i don’t really get the appeal or why someone would willingly want to come here. this isn’t harvard, being invited doesn’t seem all that grand.” of course this was coming from the girl with the most unrealistic standards in the world. she’d get invited into harvard and argue it was no yale instead.

“for you? i don’t do anything for anyone,” genevieve retorted, scrunching her nose at her… friend. there was a trio of them– gen, paz, and tiff– and the power dynamic was an odd one. but, genevieve wasn’t interested in the semantics, she just needed someone to not be a total fucking bore over here. if she could haul ass back to london, she would have preferred to do it. “we’re going to a ramen bar, babe, and then maybe bowling, so get your cute socks on, and let’s go.”

pacifica couldn’t hold back at eye roll at the comment, even though it was one that she likely would’ve echoed to someone else as well. it was funny how in some of the things you disliked about someone were the things that reflected you the most. “bowling, ew i don’t want to wear those ugly shoes other people have worn. i don’t trust that they clean them properly.”

mabel didn’t like to be mean. she tried to actively avoid it as much as she could. but there was something about pacifica that threw all of mabel’s ethics out the window. she wanted to rub things in her stupid, rich, blonde face, but she suppressed that feeling. she didn’t want to stoop to her level. after years and years, almost a whole decade, of dealing with pacifica each summer, mabel knew the best way to get her, is to show that her insults meant nothing. if dipper was with her, it would be easier to do that. but since he was currently MIA, mabel had to toughen up and try to weather the insults herself. “okay, pacifica,” the curly haired girl replied, rolling her eyes at her attempt. her insecurities didn’t lie in the talents, mabel knew she was more than capable when it came to art, but it was when intelligence was brought in. she knew she wasn’t the smartest but she had heart, and empathy, things pacifica didn’t, or at least refused to, show. “i’m sorry, pacifica, i don’t think i can hear you over the sound of my family caring about me,” she retorted, folding her arms across her chest. that was a ruthless dig, she knew, and she knew she was going to feel really bad about saying it later. but for now, mabel stood her ground, staring up at the other with furrowed brow. “you don’t scare me.”

pacifica couldn’t deny that the words hurt, because in all the years pacifica got to perfect her attacks on mabel, mabel got to do the same for her. the pines were one of the few families that had the tiniest glimpse into her families true shame, but they were far from knowing the full truth about it. mabel knew it would hurt though, she knew it was a wound pacifica had that was always open, and she took the cheap shot straight to her. pacifica could respect that, the girl finally standing up for herself and attempting to hit her where it hurts. pacifica had years of training for this though, she knew how to let these things slide off her skin and she knew how to keep a poker face, even if her wound bled out more with the attack. “really? because i look around and i don’t see any of them here with you. you’re all alone, you’ll always be alone. your brother can’t carry you on his back forever mabel, and everyone knows he’s the better twin. he’s smart, he has a chance to be successful, and you’ll just be riding his coattails until he dumps you like the piece of trash you are.” pacifica was a lot better at this than mabel was, hell she was considered a professional. “oh no, i don’t scare you? well i guess i have to pick up my bags and go home and cry, good one mabel.”

“martha dumptruck trio with tiff and gen, but classic i’d always go with hit or miss, duh.”

alice often found herself lost when it came to talking to her peers. they didn’t seem to ever understand her either. which it seemed was happening right now. “why would i need help?” she asked, now starting to worry for the other girl. she wasn’t making any sense, and alice thought she might need help herself. “do you need help? if you would like some water, i could get you water?”

the two were trapped in an endless cycle of confusion, not understanding the other in even the slightest way, and pacifica could feel a headache coming on from that. “because you’re clearly crazy or enduring some kind of mental breakdown you freak.” she couldn’t help but snap that out, not that she regretted it. “i’m good, and i wouldn’t trust water from you anyway.”

leo didn’t fit in with most people. he thought they were all idiots. call it an ego, but he thought he was so much smarter than them. too smart for anyone really. which is why he never applied himself. to put in that effort was unnecessary, because in the end, he was still better than them. it was a complicated sensation to be so much better than the world, and yet to be treated like the street trash he was. he suspected this is what caused him to act out, if the world wasn’t going to treat him how he deserved, then he would burn it down with him. or at least cause as many problems to it as it caused to him. yes, within his own eyes, leo could do no wrong. if there was anything he wanted, he would take it. if that meant by force, he would do that. not brute force, but using his mental strength. not that he was opposed to violence. on the contrary, leo did enjoy a random bar fight from time to time. just to prove he was alive. it was this over confident attitude that leo held all the time. he didn’t know how else to be. it was this confidence he held in his shoulders as he approached the blonde with a mean attitude. “just for me? it’s like you’re already after my heart here, baby,” he grinned, smug satisfaction already growing on his face. pulling his hands back, he wiggled his worn fingers, “all the time, just some recent public works projects. i’m what some might call an artist,” his smile twisting into something more mischievous, “so, pacifica, do you make a habit of making random chicks cry? or did i just catch you at the best time?”

pacifica couldn’t quite place her finger on it but there was something about the boy that made her stick around. usually his type would have her ruthlessly dragging him through the mud then leaving in hopes of never being bothered by him again, but something about him made her intrigued. there was of course the ego trip his compliments and attention gave her, which the ever insecure pacifica fed off of at an alarming rate, but there was more to it than that as well. some weird animal magnetism that drew her to him, and that was the most alarming thing she was currently being faced with. maybe it was his complete and utter confidence he exuded while talking to her, something most couldn’t keep going once she responded. maybe it was the fact that his confidence seemed legit, genuine, unlike her pathetic ruse that she could only hope tricked everyone, because if she were ever caught she’d lose all ground she had to stand on. “i hate to admit it but i actually knew you were there all along and did it in hopes of impressing you, oh please tell me it worked.” she mocked, a fake pout and excited eyes quickly being destroyed by the scoff and eye roll telling him she couldn’t care less about what he thought of her. of course that wasn’t true, she cared what everyone thought of her, well to an extent. there were the people who were truly, deeply, so insignificant that she couldn’t care less. people like mabel and her little family, people that meant nothing. “oh yeah? an artist in what way, what is it you do exactly?” she had never been a big art person, yet she couldn’t wait to hear what disastrous thing it was he considered art. “i wouldn’t say it’s a habit but more of a talent. i don’t mean to, it just happens.” she tries to give a look of innocence, but they both know it’s bullshit.

pride filled tiffany at the sound of her friend’s laugh. maybe she was better at this friend thing than she thought “look, i’d say that’s not true but. it’s just easier to get under their hoods.” she shrugged. racing with guys was a coin toss; she’d either get hit on or made fun of. neither were entirely welcome, but tiff couldn’t deny being so easy. especially with the adrenaline rush that came after a race “i can imagine. the pride in those guys.” she laughed at the question, head shaking “i’m a bit too selfish to sell my cars, ‘specially to old guys that don’t know shit about them.” pacifica was nicer than she’d expected, not that she didn’t enjoy her company before, but it was different when they had an actual conversation “i’ve only done that, like, four times.”

in gravity falls there weren’t many options for secret rendezvous and hookups, no good options at least. the odd tourist that caught her attention was her only reprieve from the dull people in her town, and only her best came from when she was on vacation. in a town like gravity falls few people could afford a nice enough car to be considered a car guy, and the closest thing to a biker was robbie v on his actual bike. she didn’t see herself as the kind of girl to be with a guy like that anyway, but she couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of jealousy of the fact that tiff at least had the option. “how many cars do you have?” she questioned, for once actually giving a shit to hear about someone else and not just speak about herself. “are you some secret serial killer that just makes it seem like it was all accidents? am i your next victim?”

genevieve wasn’t all that impressed with emporia, but that wasn’t to say she couldn’t find any use of the people here. something was gonna have to occupy her while she studied with all the uglies. luckily, there was someone who sorta got her, got her in the mean kinda way. pacifica was someone she met when she first got here, and honestly, genie couldn’t have asked for a better person to enter her life. though, her insecurities were a little too apparent, gen enjoyed pacifica’s presence. so she practically burst into her friend’s room, hands full of skinny lattes. “hey, bitch,” she said, handing the blonde her cup. “got you a gift. alright?” / @pazificas​

the only two people pacifica could really tolerate while being here was tiffany and gen, who seemed like the perfect back up players in the mean girl trio every bitchy blonde needed. they were the heather duke and mcnamara to her heather chandler, the gretchen and karen to her regina, of course all of them thought they were the leader in their own ways pacifica had a little problem with a superiority complex and insisted she was. lying on her bed, scrolling through her phone in absolute boredom, gen bursting through was a godsend. “thank fuck you’re here, i was so bored i thought i was going to die.” she hopped off her bed to make her way to the girl, taking one of the drinks in her hand. “please tell me you have some proper entertainment for me.”

alice couldn’t figure out what the girl was trying to say. rather naive to the world as a whole, the words pacifica was saying had no weight on the world alice knew. in fact, they made no sense at all to her. “drugged?” she questioned further, her brows knitting together, despite the smile still on her face. “you and i are just as high as the building we’re in is,” she said, rather slow for her own sake. “unless you would count your pretty shoes, which would make you a little higher than me,” she pointed out, finger now directed at their feet.

pacifica really was starting to feel bad for the girl, there was clearly something wrong with her. maybe she was locked in an attic her entire life, or worse, one of those weird home school kids. “thanks for the compliment on my shoes, but like, do you need help or something?” this was the nicest pacifica usually would’ve been in a situation like this, making the girl fairly lucky.

“physically, or metaphorically?” she questioned, holding back a smile. the popular whore trope, while overdone, still did apply, and had to be utilized in conversations like these. both to divert from the serious, and keep her image in tact. guys were gross, and she worked with them all day and hated it, but she wouldn’t be boohooing about it to paz quite yet “sounds glamorous. not sure how many of those stories are real, though. i’ve worked with some serious con artists, sold these beautiful cars to hotshot rich guys, all home assembled. then they’d say it was owned by, like, james dean or someone and the price would shoot up.” she wanted to ask paz more about the cushy upbringing, the nice cars, but she figured the home life talk was one for another day “if there’s ever one organized in this shithole, you can be my passenger.”

pacifica was surprised to find tiffany actually making her genuinely laugh. “that’s hilarious. what, are you into like the car and biker dudes? the way they rev their engines just turns you on.” she teased, and for once in an actually amiable way. “i hope for my sake that isn’t true and that if it is my dad never finds out. we’d never hear the end of it. you ever do something like that?” she was curious, something new in this girl piquing her interest. usually she judged anyone for stepping outside of the status quo, yet there was something about tiff’s little hobby that interested her. it was kind of a relief to meet someone she actually enjoyed talking to that wasn’t just a carbon copy wannabe, it was nice to hear someone with actual interests. “promise you won’t kill me in some horrible car accident?”

mabel had the unfortunate opportunity to deal with pacifica northwest since she was twelve years old. the rivalry had been there, simmering, for nearly a decade, and yet every summer, pacifica always singled her out and tried to make her life a living hell. it hurt mabel’s feelings, yeah, but she always had dipper, and grunkle stan, and soos– they were there– and pacifica never really seemed to have anyone. at the name, mabel tried to keep her face as blank as possible, but it hurt. her intelligence was something often questioned, and it made her feel like complete garbage. “i got in for art, pacifica,” mabel shot back. “i don’t need to be a genius to make art. and it’s not your problem!” her brows furrowed, and she took a step towards her, debating just barreling through and being on her merry way, but instead, she just got close to pacifica. “i’m an idiot but at least i’m not making people feel bad about being themselves.”

the only good thing that came out of seeing mabel so often past that dreaded summer her and her sibling first arrived was that with each summer pacifica perfected more ways to really dig deep into mabel. at first it was mindless insults, things that would hurt anyone. she didn’t really know the girl, all she knew was that she didn’t like her. now it felt like an infinite amount of summers had gone by with mabel pines apart of it and with each time she got to know her more, thus getting to know more about what made her tick. pacifica couldn’t even hold back a laugh at mabels pathetic retort, her hand flying over her mouth to try and muffle the cackle escaping her. “you got in for art. aw, baby, isn’t that so sweet. it’s just going to be so sad when you turn in your first assignment and get sent back home because they realized you’re completely and utterly talentless. i just might cry for you.” her laughter didn’t cease, a wide smile painted on her face at just how easy this all was, and how great it made her feel. “you know mabel, that would hurt a lot more if i was someone who cared about others feelings, yet i clearly don’t and you know that, so thanks for just further proving how dumb you really are.”

lock never thought he was much for small towns. or cities. or anywhere. really, he thought he was best suited for living in the woods creating forest fires and scaring hikers into thinking he was a cryptid. that was all he ever really wanted for his life. but of course, everyone thought he would be doing something else. and he had to. he had people he had to take care of. even if he would never admit it, he did everything he did for his family. at least his brother and sister. they were all that really mattered to him. the only real problem with his plan other than that, was the lack of people to mess around with. leo was a fool when it came to attractive people. he was considered smooth, or at least, his little black list would imply such. he had a type. and the type was pretty and mean. the more cruel the better. which is what had caught his eye today. a hot blonde, just ripping apart some poor girl. it set his insides on fire in the best way. his grin was twisted as he watched the girl’s satisfaction. when he was called out, leo glided his way to her, “oh just one of the best shows i’ve seen since getting here.” he smiled even more, mischief glowing in his eyes. “not to mention the hottest babe in town,” he held his hand out, dried spray paint still dried on his fingers. “name’s leo,”

the only thing pacifica really liked about the town was the lack of family. knowing she wasn’t trapped under her fathers thumb, threatened with the weight of his threats and the ringing of a bell in her ear reminding her of her place. it didn’t matter that wherever she went she fought for the superior position, tried to hold her money over them all and be the top of the ladder, because at home she was always reminded she was nothing but a little pawn for her parents to use for their own advantage. at home she was inferior, weak, manipulated and taken advantage of. told not to be a disappointment and yet left alone even when she did succeed, the only person on her side was herself, but with her parents cruel words whispering in her ears she didn’t even like the one person she never could escape. she never could really win, but she could make other people think she did, make them think her life was flawless, that she was flawless, but she could never trick herself the way she tricked everyone else. it always seemed to work for her though, no one doubted the facade she put up, the broken prom queen crown distracting from the sorrow in her eyes. the girl she just bullied believed it, and it seemed this boy did too. “hope you enjoyed it, i did it just for you.” she teased, looking up at the boy as he moved towards her, though she stood her ground. a grimace crossed her face at how crudely he attempted to compliment her, though she couldn’t deny the little flutter of butterflies in her stomach because of it. looking down at his hand she kept hers crossed in front of her, a look of disgust written on her face. “ew, do you even wash your hands? so gross.” she almost wanted to walk away, but looking up at him something told her to stay, and she softened the tiniest bit. “i’m pacifica.”

pacifica found herself entirely bored in this new environment. the so called paradise was far from it, rather it felt like another version of the small town she grew up in but only with the two people she hated most. there was no service to connect with the outside world, she was being forced to work, and despite the very few friends she made and could tolerate there was still an overflow of absolute imbeciles. she felt gross just being around them, itching to get out of here and surround herself with people worth her time. she didn’t feel like a small town girl and yet she was always stuck in them, and worst of all surrounded by small town people too. she was a big fish in a small pond, and if she were any kind of fish she’d be a beta. fighting for her right on top, killing the first sight of competition spotted. it developed past survival though, now she just killed for fun, because there was nothing better to do than show her dominance over the second class citizens that just seemed to be everyone around here. that’s what she found herself doing now, tearing some poor girl to shreds until she ran away crying, giving pacifica just a little something to make her day all the better. with her quota of making at least one person cry per day pacifica felt satisfied with herself, a proud smile playing on her face, and she was more than ready to leave except for the eerie feeling of someones eyes on her. she turned around to see someone she had never seen before with a careful eye on her, as if he had been watching everything go down like it was some show for his viewing pleasure. she didn’t know how to feel about it, though she felt a shiver run down her spine. “what are you looking at?” she hissed towards his direction.