#i want her to have wendy from peter pan vibes in the dark world

[wolfkitty42]

Concept art sprites for a Deltarune AU I’m making! As of right now it is called Deltaswim (because that’s what my friend suggested XD) but I’m still taking name suggestions if anyone has anything! It’s basically just Deltarune but Hometown is on a beach and all the Dark Worlds are ocean themed. 

Kris - They now have a flower patteren shirt and a captain’s outfit. I am by far the most proud of their sprite.

Ralsei - The best way I can describe him is as one of those h2o just add water mermaid thingies. He usually wears his scuba suit to keep water from touching him, since it makes it easier if he needs to quickly move between dry and watery areas.

Susie - I mostly just leaned into the sea monster dragony aspect for her. i also swapped to her only having one ponytail, since I felt like it would fit better with her fin on her head. Her shirt is supposed to be netting and rope with a vest on top. She also has some gills present near her cheekbones.

[martianbugsbunny]

OUAT Thoughts Pt.20--Episodes 20-21

I have watched through S2E21; spoilers DNI. Also, spoiler warning for anyone further behind than I am.

—Nailed it! Lo and behold, there is drama about the beans.

—Snow White telling a random stranger *wink wink* about how Regina saved her as a kid is terribly sad. I despise Regina for making that lovely woman so unhappy.

—Has Snow been vibing with Robin Hood? I hope we get to see some of that eventually. Maybe Marion and Snow were friends.

—The Maleficent beast is disgusting. I hate it *truly hateful* *horrified* *screaming in the corner*

—The teardrop potion! Gosh that’s freaky.

—Wendy is a fink. She promised Bae she wouldn’t open the window, and then what did she do? SHE OPENED THE FRICKIN WINDOW!

—This is possibly the most appropriate level of malevolence ever attributed to Peter Pan. He’s creepy. He steals children. He uses them as child soldiers to fight pirates. Also, I’m pretty sure he kills Lost Boys every now and then (but don’t quote me on that one, because I don’t know if it’s from the source material or from an adaptation). Either way, Peter Pan is one of the most disturbing mothertruckers to ever exist in a fairy tale.

—Lol they put an army hat on the dog :)

—I hate both Tamara and Owen. I’m supposed to; I’m supposed to see them as fanatics, and I do. They must be among the most boring, soulless people walking the planet, because for many of us the idea of magic is a beautiful thing. Now, granted, I don’t know what I would actually do with a world of magic, but it’s not like humans never do evil things with the world as it is. Magic is the escapist fantasy of many. It’s an idea that brings a spark of otherworldly joy into our lives. Magical or fantasy worlds have brought me a lot of comfort and inspiration over the years. I can’t even comprehend despising the idea of magic so much that I would be willing to snuff out every single piece of it that showed up.

—Also, that’s another thing. Keeping magic out of our world at the gate would be one thing. Wiping it out when it already exists is a different one entirely. Especially considering this means killing a whole town’s worth of people. No matter your opinion on magic, what Tamara and Owen are doing just isn’t right.

—Lacey is so trashy. She disgusts me.

—But I think I understand now why Mr. Gold is with her. He can’t have Belle, but he can have the woman who looks exactly like her. And, I’d like to believe, he’s still holding out a tiny bit of hope that she could be Belle again someday. His turn back to darkness is both displaced anger about his situation with Belle/Lacey, and the fact that this is the last guy who needs an enabler. Darkness is frankly easier, and Mr. Gold is still afraid of the hard work it would take to be a good person again. He does alright when he has loved ones to keep him on the right track (although he still has the occasional slip-up) but with an enabler, with someone who actively encourages him to be his worst self, of course he’s not going to choose good. Not to mention, he’s so desperate for any remnant of Belle, he wouldn’t risk losing Lacey by trying to be good, even if he wanted to.

—I’m also pretty sure Rumbelle can’t be endgame at this point. Even if Belle does get her memories back, she’s going to be appalled with herself and disappointed in Mr. Gold. Or maybe, just maybe, her getting memories back will involved Mr. Gold doing something genuinely heroic, and that would make them a bit more plausible as a couple. Either way, they’re gonna have a lot of work to do.

—On the bright side, this lil romantic misadventure has given me proof that Mr. Gold is factually the kind of man to help his lady put a necklace on. That is quality boyfriending right there.

—I refuse to believe that Bae is dead. It just can’t go down like that.

—At least he and Emma finally got honest about their feelings. It took them bloody long enough.

—Emma still isn’t being honest with Henry though. I get that it’s a complicated situation, but she promised him a couple of episodes that she wasn’t going to keep him in the dark anymore, and now she’s trying to do exactly that.

—Charming is being a great father/husband right now. He’s there for Emma in her heartbreak, and he’s there to support Snow in her troubles with/about Regina.

—I think I may have to apply the rule of “hoes mad” to anyone who’s still acting like what Snow did was cold-blooded murder. Looking at you, Regina. Cora was ready to kill Emma, Charming, Mr. Gold, Snow, or Bae. Several of those people had swords pointed directly at Cora at varying times. It was a very twisted form of self-defense.

—I appreciate how hard Snow is trying to fix her heart. Maybe saving Regina will help…but then where would the drama be?

—Regina is getting worse. Trying to kill everyone and abduct Henry to the fairytale world is intense even for her. Although, maybe she’ll do better now. At the end of episode 21, she seemed a little more tame.

—You know what, I don’t think it would even surprise me if Lacey stabbed Mr. Gold with the *magic dagger*. And now I get to panic about that for a while. YAY!

[camrensrealbish]

Camila’s spotify playlists 2015 part 1

I found Camila’s playlists recently and they definitely don’t get enough attention from us. There is so much valuable information there!! Ok, here we go..

2015

Let’s see what the songs are about and what was on August 2015 Camila’s mind. 

- You’re still the one by Shania Twain

When I first saw you, I saw love ----- from how Camila and Lauren described how they met, it was attraction from the first sight ---- And the first time you touched me, I felt love ----- but every touch is oh lalala (Señorita)---- And after all this time You're still the one I love, mmm, yeah

Looks like we made it Look how far we've come my baby We mighta took the long way ----- it took you 2 years to make up your mind (Should’ve said it)---- We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it" But just look at us holding on We're still together still going strong

You're still the one I run to ----- I should be running, you keep me coming for you(Señorita) --- The one that I belong to You're still the one I want for life (You're still the one) You're still the one that I love The only one I dream of ---- all I do the whole day through is dream of you (Dream of you)---- You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better We beat the odds together I'm glad we didn't listen ----  My mama doesn't trust you, baby And my daddy doesn't know you, no (My oh my);  And papa says he got malo in him(Havana) ---- Look at what we’d missin’

- Kiss me by Sixpence None the Richer

Kiss me out of the bearded barley Nightly, beside the green, green grass Swing, swing, swing the spinning step You'll wear those shoes and I will wear that dress

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight Lead me out on the moonlit floor ---- Expectations MV---- Lift your open hand Strike up the band, and make the fireflies dance ---- Burning, fire and dancing are everywhere in Lauren and Camila’s songs---- Silvermoon's sparkling So kiss me

- Fly with me by Jonas Brothers

If time was still The sun would never never find us ---- SUN!! We could light up The sky tonight ---- MOON!! I would see the world through your eyes ---- Camila is obsessed with Lauren’s, also “ When I look in your eyes / I see through to my soul” (No way)----- Leave it all behind

If it's you and me forever If it's you and me right now ----- All the strangers are gone (In the dark)----That'd be alright Be alright If we chase the stars to lose our shadows

Peter Pan and Wendy turned out fine ---- Camila loves Peter Pan, also Camren talking about Tinkerbell and Wendy in this interview ---- So won't you fly with me ---- Camila’s fairy wings and angel references in Romance ----

Maybe you were just afraid ---- Lauren had hard time admitting she’s attracted to women ---- Knowing you were miles away From the place where you needed to be And that's right here with me 

- Sweet disposition by Tamper Trap

-----Lauren’s tumblr name------

Sweet disposition Never too soon Oh, reckless abandon Like no one's watching you

A moment, a love A dream aloud A kiss, a cry  Our rights, our wrongs ----- the inconsistency of their relationship, expectations, moments - only having the nights for each other, not too many days off---- A moment, a love A dream aloud A moment, a love A dream, aloud

So stay there 'Cause I'll be coming over ----- I love it when you call me / you keep me coming (Señorita);  this love calling my name (This love) ---- And while our blood's still young It's so young, it runs And won't stop 'til it's over Won't stop to surrender

Songs of desperation I played them for you

- Drops of Jupiter by Train

Now that she's back in the atmosphere With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey She acts like summer and walks like rain --- loving you was sunshine, but then it poured (Consequences);  Will you be the sun or the pouring rain? (Who are you)----- Reminds me that there's a-time to change, hey, hey Since the return of her stay on the moon --- MOON She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey Hey, hey

But tell me Did you sail across the sun? ----SUN Did you make it to the Milky Way ---- All night MV ----- To see the lights all faded? And that Heaven is overrated?Tell me Did you fall from a shooting star --- I thank God and my lucky stars Darling, don't you know what you are? (Beautiful) ----

One without a permanent scar? ---- Everyone comes with scars but you can live them away (No way) ----

But tell me Did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day --- instead of just at night in secret?? ----

And head back to the Milky Way? And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find? And did you miss me while you were Looking for yourself out there?

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken ---- Chickens!! :) ---- Your best friend always sticking up for you Even when I know you're wrong? Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance Five-hour phone conversation The best soy latte that you ever had, and me?

- I’ll be your man by James Blunt 

Too many voices, too many noises ---- Little voices in my head (consequences)----

Invisible wires keeping us apart --- management?---- So many choices, but they're all disappointments And they only seal me away from you

Climb into our own private bubble ----secret relationship --- Let's get into all kinds of trouble

Slide over here let your hands feel the way --- touch me till I find myself in a feeling (Easy)--- There's no better method to communicate --- Tell me with your hands slow (Living proof) --- Girl stop your talking words just get in the way ---  Baby, could you shut up? / 'Cause I don't need you to come up with excuses / I just need your eyes on me (Back to me)---- I'll be your man So baby come over from the end of the sofa --- this couch is getting smaller (Into it)---- I'll be your man, I'll be your man

So many faces, staring at their shoelaces When all anyone wants is to be seen So tonight let's be honest We only want to be wanted And darling you got me wanting you

What are we all looking for? Someone we just can't ignore it's Real love dripping from my heart You've got me tripping What are we all looking for?

- No air by Jordin Sparks

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air?

If I should die before I wake It's 'cause you took my breath away Losing you is like living in a world with no air, oh ---- Losing you I couldn’t face but to love you is worse (This love) ---

I'm here alone, didn't wanna leave ----  Up in bed, all alone (Expectations)---- My heart won't move, it's incomplete Is there a way I could make you understand?

But how Do you expect me, to live alone with just me? 'Cause my world revolves around you It's so hard for me to breathe

I walked, I ran, I jumped, I flew right off The ground and float to you There's no gravity to hold me down, for real

But somehow I'm still alive inside You took my breath but I survived I don't know how but I don't even care

Camren supposedly broke up in the second half of 2015, but I think this song is not about this break up yet, since they were all added to the playlist on the same day.

 Expectations, consequences, In the dark, Real friends, This love, More than that can be related to this period. Read Karlaswine’s analysis of In the dark, some great insights there.

They probably got back together in the beginning of 2016. (Songs to fall in love to playlist from Feb 2016)

Conclusions

Every single song on this playlists has so many Camren references. They are all love songs except for the last one, so we can assume it was still ok in August 2015. I’m really suprised how much sun and moon Camila can find in other’s songs. Also these songs seem to fit her writing style and her vibe.

I’m gonna analyse the other playlists too and it gets interesting in the following years when she starts going back to songs from 2015 2016 in e.g 2018 ---> Camren is still alive? Stick with me ;)

[starlitfaery]

ooc

The following post will contain KH3 spoilers, marked and sectioned off, that you may need to fully understand this theory on the Fae in Kingdom Hearts and where their fabled world, often called in our world, the Otherworld, is located, and how I was friggin right about how Maleficent truly sees Riku as one of her own.

no images will be used as Mun is too lazy to find appropriate sceenshots of every scene I will refer to.

ANYWHO!! Let’s get this show started, feel free to reblog this post, just remember to tag appropriately since some people still don’t know the game

First some background and history on the fae, just a bit.

Fae = Faerie = Fairy = Fayrie = The Good Folk = Little Helpers = People Under The Hill = basically any sort of nickname you can think of besides fairy or an alternate spelling of fairy, because if they heard you dissing them by daring to say they weren’t good and kind and just and shit, then they often chose to make you their next pranking target for a while. I tend to just use the word Fae to generalize and make things easier

The fae are said in some cultures to live under the hill, their world, because it is a whole other world in mythos, is hidden from human sight. Often, it has even been said that to travel to the Otherworld, is to see death.

Because animals can see the fae easily, animals also see ghosts

(In fact, many traits attributed to fae, are also attributed to ghosts, or vice versa, but that’s only partially important to this post)

It’s said that in the world of the fae, there is no such thing of time. Years can pass in the human world, or mere minutes, and the fae would barely even notice if at all. The funny thing is

Aqua says that about the Dark World too.

In her game, Fragmentary Passage, she makes a note of how she has no friggin idea what’s going on out there in the Realm of Light, how she can’t understand how long she’s been trapped, but she knows time has passed, she can’t tell though.

She cannot tell how long she’s been there. Because “there is no time in the realm of darkness.” 

We can assume from that, that she didn’t get hungry, she didn’t get exhausted. In fact she started the game as lvl 50, so it’s not like she started over just cause she basically died.

That’s another thing, there are 5 thousand million and one references to dying being equated to being lost to the darkness

Which brings us to the thought that the Realm of Darkness is where the dead go

The Sleeping Worlds are often said to be nestled in the Darkness

in her game, Aqua takes solace in the  fact that while she wandered Cinderella’s world, she never saw a person there trapped alongside her, so she assumed they were all safe and alive even though their world wasn’t

she didn’t take a moment to wonder if the heartless she was killing were the very villagers she was glad weren’t trapped with her, she should have, but she didn’t

so here’s the rub, whenever a person in our universe was said to be stolen by the fae, they were believed dead for as long as they were missing, sometimes they would return and they would either be the same age they were when they disappeared or older than they should be

time does not exist to the fae, not in such a way that we mere humans understand according to all the myths and fables and legends

so, all that said, let’s leave Aqua for a moment in the Darkness which is basically close af to Death and to the Fae, and see other characters affected

Maleficent is not merely a dark witch, she is a dark fairy. As a fae, she cannot actually lie, she can withhold truth, she can twist truth, but she cannot blatantly lie. she can say things that are truth to herself

she and The Three Good Fairies are kin, but the truth of the matter is, fae politics are strange and unusual, and a good large amount of fae would stab you in the toe if you dared say they weren’t good, so we honestly can’t take their title of Three Good Fairies seriously

Maleficent however admits she is dark, admits she can do great evil

she takes pure unadulterated pleasure in wreaking chaos across all worlds

in bringing the Realm of Light, notably full of humans, and covering it in Darkness, which, as we stated above, could very well be where the fae actually live

we only have a few fae we get to know in KH, Maleficent, Fauna, Flora, Merryweather, Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan (edit! and the Gullwings, whom are single minded the entire time and focused only on treasure)

however, Peter Pan is often likened to a changling more than a human or a fae, a child created or strengthened through fairy magic, through chaos magic. some versions of the tale have it that Tinkerbell stole a human babe and all that pixie dust eventually turned him into one of them, others tell of him being fae right from the start

unseen normally in kh and most modern depictions of Pan, is that he will legitimately kill people once they’re no longer of use to him, all he cares about is his enjoyment

and Tink? she does everything to make Pan happy, because she loves the chaos just as much as him, she’s his enabler in that regard, and dislikes when he chooses to allow something she doesn’t like (exhibit a: Wendy)

all fae the same, in that they seek out something that brings them joy, and then they tend to spend a large time of their life doing that over and over and over and over and over and over again

The Three Good Fairies hereby shortened to TGF have this thing, they like helping humans. They like to give humans magical things and see what happens afterwards. They like to make clothes too, and their chaotic nature shows in the way they interact with humans, unable to stop squabbling amongst themselves because obviously each separate fairy knows better than the other two

all of the KH fae have their respective territories, though Maleficent, as stated before, obviously wants to make her territory larger, for the most part, they don’t interact with each other

and none seem to call a single place home except for Pan and Tink, but then, they have a world to play with humans they’ve picked, and often grab new humans when eventually their humans grow to have no use to them

who is to say they didn’t all come from the fabled Otherworld, and simply spread out across the Realm of Light since, if the Otherworld is truly nestled in the Realm of Darkness and thereby void of humans and full of Heartless, all fae love to interact with humans?

since humans can do what they can’t, they can lie

and fae are often noted to steal away their favored humans, to a place beyond time

in KH1, Riku asks Maleficent why she’s helping him, and she says, he’s like a son to her.

anyone that’s known me long enough knows that I strongly believe she was twisting the truth so that the other members of her Circle wouldn’t look down on her, because it appears that a fae’s inabillity to lie is NOT well known in KH, i never see it mentioned anywhere

and so her Circle overhears her saying to the young boy that threw his world into darkness (into chaos, into death, into her home) that may or may not be able to weild a keyblade, that he’s like a son to her, obviously she’s manipulating him, lying to him to gain his favor

but i don’t believe that, when i took a look at the japanese version, the way they spoke to each other, riku was rude af and Mal didn’t seem to mind at all, led me to believe that she truly held affection for Riku

in CoM it’s shown she gave him a huge fucking room with a gazillion books, he had always been given a choice in what he did, she gave him options, asked if he would join her plans or continue freeloading, because he was a freeloader

she found his friends, told him “hey that Sora friend of yours seems to have new friends”, let him see what was going on and take from it what he would, and did no more than offer him a place to crash, maybe do a few errands, hey kid wanna learn magic while you’re here, hey kid wanna go to Hook’s world I think your other friend is there

(it’s implied he’s the one that kidnapped Alice/Snow White depending on the order of you doing the words in KH1, but if that were completely true, he would have seen Sora while grabbing Alice)

he was given everything by her, everything he could want, because that’s how she and her kin work

they take the unwanted, the children the adults, they take the forlorn, the depressed, the anxious, they take all the ones that believe they would not be missed, and they give them everything they want in order to keep them among the fae

is that not what happened?

and, here’s where we get to kh3 spoilers, just a few but honestly, considering when it happens i’ll call it an endgame spoiler even though it has basically no bearing to the actual end of the game (as far as we know)

KH3 SPOILERS START HERE, I’M TRYING TO BE AS VAGUE AS POSSIBLE WHILE STILL GETTING THE IDEA OF THE SCENE ACROSS

in one world i’ll not name, Maleficent is wandering around all willy nilly with Pete, marveling at the world, when a corridor of darkness opens up behind her and out walks a Riku

he’s like “you better not be thinking of getting in my way”

and she’s like “i wouldn’t dream of it my child, play around to your heart’s content and let us both do whatever we want and not get in each other’s way”

and then Pete’s like “new phone who dis” as Riku is happy with her answer and smiles and walks away

and Mal is like “a friend, but i couldn’t begin to tell you from when”

KH3 SPOILERS END HERE

that scene reminds me heavily of the fact that the fae have a strange understanding of time

she knew instantly he was time displaced, and didn’t question it

if anything, she seemed outright proud of him traveling through time

like a mama birb watching her chick learn to fly

(again, very much of a “you’re like a son to me” vibe being more truth than fiction)

and we also see that her affection for him extends to anyone with his face, because she sees something in him that basically screams out to her Fae instincts to grab him, teach him, initiate him into her culture of darkness and timelessness

and riku

he took to darkness easily

it was intuitive to him, he was reckless yet strong

and she praised him for it

so yeah

Maleficent is a Fae, Riku is Fae-touched and Fae-Chosen, Repliku is basically a changeling, Mickey and Aqua basically died when they entered the Realm of Darkness

The Fae World is in the Realm of Darkness

.....did I mention the changeling bit? No? Okay Imma run through that real quick

so basically changeling can refer to one of two people, a human child stolen away from the humans, or the fae creation made in the child’s image and used to replace the child in the human’s crib

because normally it’s done to a small child or baby

and it is a fae creation used to replace the original

the human is taken in by the fae of that area, lives amongst them, slowly turning into one of them

and the creation, often created from whatever elements are around and a spell said over them, is meant to be tougher than the human child, able to withstand any cruelties that the human child would have received

(because often the changelings were said to happen to unhappy children suddenly changing)

(there’s also a few other things that normally denoted a changeling child but i’m not gonna get into that here cause it’s more of a socioeconomic politics things)

the creation would know everything the original knew

and they would believe themselves the original

some tales eventually had the changeling eventually leave their human homes to go join back with the fae, but honestly, anything past about 15 years old was free game in most tales, i think i remember one where the once-human and the creation tried to kill each other

but yeah, and Repliku is a changeling but created by Vexen instead of by a fae (but for all we know he was a science-leaning fae and that was his obsession)

aaand i think that’s everything??? i’ll edit if i realize i forgot something but yeah

Maleficent = mom figure of riku

Fae = darkness = death

[littlestarprincess]

So, I am actually going to argue with this. I guess I feel argumentative. First of all, I want to direct you to the end of the summary and also the very first page in the book.

"The Never King is a dark retelling of Peter and Wendy*. If you like your enemies to lovers romance with hot, ruthless, morally gray love interests, you'll enjoy the Never King and the Lost Boys. You can expect hate kissing, fighting, bickering, and 'touch her and I'll unalive you vibes'.

While the Never King is inspired by Peter and Wendy, it is for 18+ readers only. All characters are over 18."

That's literally in the synopsis on the amazon page, so uh. Yeah. Before we get to the next section I'm gonna show you, though, I wanna talk about Peter and Wendy, the words "inspired by" and a world building detail I think you missed.

Inspired by means that Nikki St. Crowe is taking the idea of Neverland and Peter Pan from somewhere, and then making it her own. That means she doesn't need to justify that Peter Pan is visually 18+ and in actual practice over 200. She doesn't need to justify why Peter Pan is smoking cigarettes or why he has tattoos or why he drinks or any of that stuff. He's inspired by the Peter Pan in Peter and Wendy. He is not the same character???

Second of all, Peter and Wendy doesn't even exist in the Never King -- Peter Pan is a personal family legend to Winnie. If you handed her the Disney movie she'd probably assume it was weird niche thing. So, again, there's no need to justify why the Peter in the Never King is an adult? And quite frankly, since there is a whole genre of Peter Pan retellings where Peter is an adult, it's weird that you keep trying to make it seem like he's not an adult here. . . ?

(Especially because, as someone else mentioned, Winnie referring to the Lost Boys as having a youthful appearance and a much more adult presence is her seeing people closer to her in age, since she just turned 18, which would, again, be around the 18-19 range if you really needed to be stuck on it. Which like, if you really can't let go of one throwaway line describe one character that is never brought up again, I guess. . . stick to things that have been vetted by publishing houses?)

The other bit is from literally the first page of the book. In big bold letters, on a page labeled "Before You Read":

"The Never King is a re-imagining of Peter and Wendy, though all characters have been aged up and are 18 and over. This is not a children's book and the characters are not children.

Some of the content in this book may be triggering for some readers. If you'd like to learn more about CWs in my work, please visit my website here:

" So we um. Don't even need to explain what CW is, right? Because right there in the website it says "content warnings"? Anyway the content warnings in question do include degradation, which should tell you that Winnie being degraded is part of the fantasy, because some people (especially the girls who "had to grow up too hard and too fast" per the dedication page) do have sexual fantasies about being degraded. There are whole communities that have formed around it, there are studies that have been done about it. It's a fact of life.

(You do raise an interesting point about Winnie having been groomed that I think actually adds to the characterization in the books very naturally, incidentally. St Crowe does seem to have tried too hard to make it clear that this is a sex-positive space, and consent, as a result of this, does get a little shaky. I've struggled with it most in regards to Vane's consent being revoked or ignored multiple times -- however, my consent is never being invalidated, because it's a book and I always have the option to close it.)

So I think this is a case of you just . . . not being suited to the book, and that's okay! But the people who are suited to the book are also allowed to like it, and it's weird that you're . . . so insistent that you like dark romance when you kind of clearly don't?

The Never King is kinky, focused on found family and recovering after trauma, and that doesn't have to be your thing, but holy hell, try to know what you're reading before you start reading it because . . . there are warnings all over. How did you miss those before you even opened it?

The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe

The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe My rating: 1 of 5 stars Holy god, this was an absolute mess. The author was evidently inspired by the arc in Once Upon a Time when they go to Neverland. In that season, the Dark One(Rumplestiltskin) is revealed to be the son of Peter Pan. Peter Pan kidnaps the Dark One’s grandson because he needs the heart of the truest believer since the magic in Neverland is dying. It’s very obvious where she got her influences. In the show, the narrative of Peter Pan being evil was done very well, and it made sense why he behaved more like an adult (because he literally was an adult who gave up his son to become a child again and live forever). In this, Nikki St. Crowe ages everyone up to ‘just 18’. Edit: She describes the Lost Boys as 'boys with the presence of men’ which is really ick to me. I also am not a fan at all of the just 18 thing. I’m almost 30 and I don’t get the craze of writing about really young girls having lots of sex. It feels gross to me and it always has. Before I get into the actual story, let’s talk about the writing. It was heinous. So many spelling errors, just tons of single-sentence paragraphs and poorly written dialogue. The first person POV was a bad idea considering that there are multiple POVs, and they all sound identical. I find it incredibly upsetting how many five star reviews this book has. So basically, the book opens up with our main character–an Americanized Wendy (Winnie) Darling, having sex with a random dude in a car. She’s from Missouri, and she describes her neighbors as a 'prude and a prostitute’. It is apparent what the author thinks of women with how she writes about her women. The prostitute is amazing and Winnie’s favorite person ever and encouraged(groomed) Winnie from an incredibly young age to use her body to get what she wants from boys. ( HIGHLY concerned that the author has a daughter.) The prude neighbor hates the prostitute neighbor because of her 'low morals’. Winnie’s mom is a prostitute also, and she uses this to justify her fucking everyone she can. Nikki St. Crowe is sure to repeatedly tell us that Winnie JUST turned 18, and she is very skinny and meek. Again very icky vibes. The idea of a prostitute neighbor grooming a girl from a very young age to use boys to get what she wants is disturbing as fuck. The story is set up so poorly and underdeveloped that it seems like Nikki St. Crowe was just desperate to get it out there and had zero beta readers go over this. Every woman in the Darling family gets kidnapped at 18, and then Peter Pan and his lost boys 'break them’. My first thought was that they’re all rapists but apparently this actually just means they let a faerie mind-rape them until they go insane. First of all, why is it only women? Do the Darling’s never give birth to boys? Can boys not retain memories of their ancestors? Or is it just because they’re all a bunch of horny lost boys who like to torment women? Secondly, if the Darling’s are well aware of this 'curse’ on their future daughters, why do they continue to have children?? Wouldn’t you want to avoid your child having such a terrible fate? The fuck. The whole point of Peter Pan is that he never grows old, and you go to Neverland so that you don’t have to grow old. So what is the point of ageing Peter Pan up? It rubs me the wrong way that the author wanted to turn Peter Pan of all the Disney retellings into a dark romance. There’s a point when Winnie is chained to a bed, looking at the Lost Boys and fantasizing about them 'taking her easily’. She essentially wanted to write a character being a fuck toy for the Lost Boys, which is precisely what she did. It’s gross. She describes the Lost Boys as boys with the presence of men but then tries to describe them in a way that’s supposed to be like 'sexy’??? EW??? She describes them as being 'cut’, and I’m just thinking of that one bodybuilder child who looked so strange with a full-on eight pack. Nikki St. Crowe thinks boys are so sex-crazed that they pop a boner every time a woman makes a sound. Winnie eats a pancake and licks some syrup off her lip, and oh look; Bash has a boner. Not to mention that Winnie is also so fucking sex-crazed that she got turned on while gutting a fish because she was told to gut from fin to anal-cavity, and I understand nothing. “He detests Cherry. He detests most of the women he fucks.” That’s nice, Vane….this being said, it makes no sense that Vane is the one to stop Winnie’s torture. He legit spits in her mouth and constantly degrades the shit out of her so why is he suddenly bothered at the idea of her losing her mind? Why is he the one to stop this? Also, he’s called the Dark One. Sound familiar?? Also, he has fangs for one second, but they’re never mentioned again. The narrative is so confusing. The Lost Boys constantly talk about breaking the women, loving to see them cry or bleed or beg, etc. But then they’re at the same time worried about how thin she is(this is mentioned so much it gets ridiculous. the book is less than 200 pages.), hoping the meaner brother isn’t 'too mean’ and worried about her getting broken even though they seem to WANT to break her. It makes no sense. Let me just show you some of my notes while reading this. • why is everyone taking 'hits’ off of cigarettes, bro? And like passing it around the group like it’s a joint??? • laughing at how all the Lost Boys have single-syllable names. Cas, Bash, Vane, Pan… probably because the author didn’t bother giving them individual personalities. • Okay, I genuinely worry about these dark romance authors who write women who are INSTANTLY horny over their kidnappers. Like I’m sorry, Winnie behaves so illogically. She gets thrown down on a couch beside her kidnappers with her skirt all out of proportion, and she TAKES HER TIME ADJUSTING IT SO THAT THE MEN CAN OGLE HER LONGER???? NO. This all happens within like two days also!! • They chain me to the bed again, and Kas is such a pervert that his eyes lingered on my body. Eheyehyehyeh” • Did Kas really try to tell Winnie ‘we always have a choice’ when he just CHAINED HER TO A BED?!?!?! • Also, having a woman tell another woman that all we have are our tits and brain? Do you really like to perpetuate the idea that all women are good for is essentially broodmares? What the fuck is wrong with you??! • “I can handle a weeping Darling without trying to fuck her” yes, because a crying woman is so sexy. All men just pop boners at the sight of scared women, oh man Nikki you’re such a genius. • Why the fuck is Kas telling Winnie Pan won’t break her when he literally knows that he will and is looking forward to it. * “I want to fuck her just to teach her a lesson.” Ah, sex as punishment so hot. * WHY ARE ALL THE WOMEN DESPERATE FOR MALE ATTENTION? * Winnie is seriously jealous…over Kas face fucking some random girl….when she is a kidnap victim. I genuinely HATE this. * The sex scenes are laughably bad * It only took 92 pages before we get a description of Winnie and the only descriptors we’re given are “pale skin, dark hair, green eyes.” * Uh…I’m pretty sure that glass can’t like be ‘naturally patinaed’ ma’am. That’s something specific to like metals and wood. * “I’m familiar with anxiety.” Yeah, so is everyone Winnie. You’re not special. * “You were kidnapped and chained to a bed….” And this bitch really said that’s what made the sex more enjoyable? * “If only he’d watched me take it last night.” Ew? * Listen if you’re into that whole cuckold/voyeurism shit you do you but let me tell you this. If anyone ever kidnapped me the last thing I would be doing would be getting off on having sex with my kidnappers as well getting off at one of them watching it happen. What the hell is wrong with this author bro * *heavy sigh* Winnie thinks about sex and is suddenly desperate to get fucked. I never used to read books that had erotica in them this is legit the first year I’ve done it and the three authors that I’ve read seem to have little to no idea what it’s actually like to be horny and/or have sex. * “Good god, I’m a captive here and all I can think about is these boys taking me. What is wrong with me?” YOU’RE WRITTEN BY A PORN SICK DEGENERATE. * “He’s clearly the cook in the house, but I don’t think there’s much fat on him.” Are all people who cook inherently fat in your mind??? What the fuck? * The only thing I enjoy about this book is that she’s attempting to make up fantasy foods. * Winnie is such a fucking idiot. Oh, faerie wine that supposedly traps you in the realm you’re in? Lemme try some! So I can be trapped with all these rapist lost boys. * She’s already fucking all uwu over the fae twins calling her ‘our darling’. She is so god damn pathetic. * “I’m beginning to like this place…” even though I’ve been there two days and have been brought against my will, chained to a bed, tormented by Vane and then like essentially assaulted by every man here. But yeah, this place is great cuz I’m getting laid! * Literally this book is so stupid and makes no sense at all. What’s the point of Peter Pan’s we don’t touch the Darlings rule? They literally fucked her instantly. * Please tell me she did not just try to make gutting a fish sexual?!?!? * “Out of all the idiots I’ve slept with, none have ever treated me like a slut even though I sorta was.” Lmao, girl, you are so delusional if you think that any of those boys saw you as anything other than a slut. The way she writes this character is someone whose only personality trait is the fact that they have “loose morals”. * Nikki St. Crowe fails at writing a woman who is empowered by her sexual freeness. She writes about someone who thinks they’re taking their power in sex but in reality is just a starfish who is giving the dudes exactly what they want. * The fact that she just starts fucking everyone at an incredibly young age because of her prostitute neighbor’s encouragement is disgusting. She says she thought her life would be over at 18 but also claims she never believed her mom. So which is it? * Also since Peter Pan is a well known urban legend why doesn’t Winnie know anything about Peter Pan? All the things that should be common knowledge she acts oblivious to. * What the fuck is empowering about getting gang banged and called a whore by men who kidnapped you1?!?! * If they live in a tree how do they have a whole ass library? How d they have a working stove? Is there a local town where they can go to get these things? Did they take them from the human world and bring them back to Neverland with them? * Peter Pan sees Winnie in a big sweater and no pants instantly is horny. * WHAT THE FUCK IS A MORTAL WORD? * “I can’t speak her name…” shut the fuck up we all know it was Wendy. * It’s confirmed that this was inspired by OUAT with the fucking ‘dark one’ * I am so grossed out by how they keep calling her their ‘little Darling’ why are you infantilizing her all the time. * Literally makes NO SENSE that Vane is the one that rescues Winnie. * Someone explain to me how there is a light switch in a TOMB. * THIS IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS. She gets kidnapped and finally gets home but now she’s just so desperate for dick that she wants to go back and be the Lost Boys fuck toy. So empowering. Don’t ever teach your daughter anything. * ALSO, if they are living in a tree how do they have a working stove? How do they have electricity? None of this makes sense. EDIT: Listen, I get that dark romance includes a lot of the tropes that I critcize in my review but this book is so poorly written that it makes no sense. Like I can’t move past how badly everything is written and how badly the dark romance of it is handled. That’s all. View all my reviews