warnings: this story does not glamorize hollywood, tough topics (that i do not condemn) including the fetishization of women and girls, manipulation, sexism, toxic childhood, obsession, etc. rafe is not the best person in this au, age gap, reader is described as docile and shy, rafe calls the reader; betty (not the reader’s name, just a nickname which will be explained in the story), dolly, doll, darling.
note: i saw @starfxkr post about her hollywood au and this is very inspired by that !! this is an introduction to marionette!reader and director!rafe (but more reader) <33 i didn’t proofread this because i wrote this at night and was too lazy to wait till morning to do it so sorry if there’s any errors (hopefully i’ll fix it tmw)
Rafe Cameron; a controversial director known to be loved or hated for his world-renowned movies that mostly center around his fantasies of you.
Once a young girl watching various films (that may or may not be age inappropriate for you at the time) and looking up to icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Aubrey Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Temple, and Natalie Wood. Bright eyes staring at the television a little too closely, almost being sucked in to the flashing screen while your mom smiles down at you to which you smile back. You were born into a wealthy family, one of pure rainbows and sunshine. A truly inspiring success story your father had, from rag to riches, joining the elite with his new money. An actress from humble beginnings but raised to be a “proper” girl as many gazettes say. How very heartwarming.
This is the glorified version of your childhood; one that you were pushed to tell the public. The story that is like thorns to your mouth. You grit your teeth and smile so falsely like you’ve learned as each lie rips out your throat. The interviewer grinning back at you while he listen so “fondly” but his eyes glance ever so often at your cleavage. You want to yell at the top of the mountains about what your past really was, talk about your trailer park days rather than briefly mention it and have the host fly past it.
The naked truth is always better than a well-dressed lie:
Here the tapes roll back when you were admiring the women on screen, the television blocking out the yelling in the background. The plush authentic carpet below your feet used to be a cheap stained carpet that filled the whole trailer. It was small but in your youthful mind, it was cozy. No big empty rooms and halls that seemed to expand fields which you were soon to become used to. The smell of your mother’s famous meatloaf (that she never made again) wafting around the house making your stomach rumble. That and the smell of smoke from your mother’s cigarette which was less pleasing. A scent that made your nose scrunch but eventually it will almost become familiar, too much so. Your father was a hardworking man, barely managing to come home after his rough shifts but he always still made time for his family. Your parents were happily in love, a heartwarming affection that you used to look up to with adoring eyes.
Everything changed when your father took a chance and opened a “revolutionary” business. Much to many’s disbeliefs, the company took off exponentially and your father’s wealth increased by tenfold. Soon, your family was able to move out of the dingy trailer park and into a huge mansion that never ended. This is where lay your family’s downfall.
When humans get too much money and too much power, they tend to test how far they can go. Greed overtakes their bodies, covering them in a dark green. You’d think your family would be happier with this newfound wealth, having enough money to buy anything you desire but instead it was the undoing. Your parents scowling and spitting on everything that was considered poor as if they weren’t once exactly the same. Their marriage turning sour, your father becoming buried in his work and neglecting your mother. They grew distant with each other, both going their own ways (into others’ beds) and becoming almost like a divorced couple yet their rings stayed on.
You became almost like a shadow in your household. The adults in the house coming and going, not even sparing a glance at you. It was like you were invisible to them and you were sure of that until one day. Your mother had come back home from one of her gatherings, staring down at your smaller figure that curled up on the couch doodling. “Say child, have you heard of.. what was her name? Sheerly? No, no.” She ponders as you stare up at her with big curious doll eyes. It was almost unbelievable that your mother was talking to you after months. You couldn’t help but feel hopeful that the nostalgic past would return. “Shirley Temple?” You meekly speak up, causing your mother to clap her hands like a light bulb had been lit in her head.
“Yes, that’s right!” She smiles almost sinisterly, the idea she had gotten from her friends creeping up. “You like her, don’t you? You always watch those films.” The word ‘films’ comes out of her mouth like it was a dirty term. You nod at her, trying not to seem to excited, the paper you had been drawing on covering your upturned lips.
“So why don’t you become her? You’ve got my.. looks.” The real goal she’s looking at is the money. Your mother couldn’t believe it when she heard the child actress’s salary during her so called friends’ gossiping session. There was money to be made and there was no option to say no.
With glittering eyes, you accept, not knowing the nightmares that was to come.
It began with pageants. Children caked up with pounds of makeup and dressed in pretty dresses while they get judged by adults. You hadn’t known how wrong it all was, too blinded by the attention. The eyes you hadn’t felt in a long time, it was thrilling for you. Your mother spending her time signing you up for each one, focusing on the dollar signs and wins, while you were just happy to spend time with her. You believed that your mother’s love would continue to grow as you continued on winning.
But, You had been a fool to believe that. That woman would throw you away as soon as she got the prize money in her itching palms. No amount of riches could keep your mother satisfied. Your father looked away as she worked you down to your bones. Every second, every minute, was filled with those stupid beauty competitions you grew numb to. You constantly missed school, something you had loved and became a loner who was isolated from your peers. Your life became beauty, you were nothing but a doll to look at now. A beautiful pearly shell that people admired but if you looked inside, it was bare. It was empty. You were empty.
It was when your body grew fuller and your lips became poutier that you met Rafe Cameron. He was a business associate to your father, a man born with old money passed from generations of successful businessmen. Rafe was different because while he did have his hands on other areas, his main source of interest was cinematography. An art that left a bad taste in his father’s mouth, deeming it as useless and not a “true man’s job”. Rafe was driven on proving the old man wrong even after he died due to some unfortunate circumstances, he could watch from down there for all Rafe cares. He had been looking all his life for inspiration for his works, something truly worthy of the Rafe Cameron name. It was when he saw you, so pure and so alluring, that he felt like he hit jackpot. His eyes admired the scene in front of him, you looked ethereal while you drew against a willow tree by your front yard. He watched your soft hands move skillfully, guiding the pencil to make something worthy of museums, at least in his head it is.
The older man walks up to you carefully, hands in his pocket while his eyes never left your figure. “Hey dolly, what’re you doin’, huh?” You look up at him, caught off guard by the unfamiliar man approaching you. Rafe sees how wide your eyes get, staring up at him like some lost puppy. He smirks at you and raises his hands up in mock surrender, “Don’t be scared, darlin’. M’your dad’s friend.” Rafe crouches down to your level, observing you up close. You were perfect.
“Nice drawing you got there.” He glances down at the notebook resting comfortably against your lap, playing off the fact the he was staring at your legs for looking at your doodles. Stranger danger was something you learned long before your dirty overalls were switched with dainty dresses however you couldn’t help but indulge in the man’s praises. Your face growing warmer, a tinge of pink peeking on your cheeks. “Thank you.” Jesus, even your voice was music to Rafe’s ears, he couldn’t believe he found you.
“You’re real sweet, doll.” His cold ring-clad hand tilts your chin up to face him, securely holding it between his thumb and his pointer finger. He was scanning you all over, slowly his pupils become bigger. It was almost euphoric to finally have what he has been searching for in his hands. Rafe wasn’t gonna let you go.
Rafe started coming around your house a lot, even when your father wasn’t home. It was made very clear that he was here for you and you loved it. Rafe Cameron filled something in you. “Your beauty is breathtakin’, little betty.” Betty, the nickname he had given you because you reminded Rafe of the iconic Betty Boop with your sugary personality and voice. He tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear, his breath fanning against the sensitive part of your neck. “I can make you a star, dolly. You’d like that wouldn’t you?” He grins when you nod so foolishly at him, so obedient to him. Rafe needs you, you are his muse.
You’d think you learned from the first time you took a fox’s hand, but you didn’t.
You trusted Rafe and you were by his side every step of the way. First, he had to convince your father which was very easy, he was fine with it as long as you didn’t damage the reputation he worked so hard to build plus his trustworthy friend Rafe was going to be right there with you so there was no reason to reject. The more demanding part was your mother, the only way she would give away her little moneymaker was money. A deal was set with your mother and Rafe, one that you had no clue about what was included but from what you hear, it was a lot of bills. After everything was settled, Rafe Cameron booked you as the female lead in his first ever movie ‘Magnolia’.
And that’s how you became the actress who has been heavily over-sexualized since the start of your career portrayed as an innocent and pure yet highly seductive woman. Hollywood’s favorite doll. At the very height of your career, the flashing lights and screams of adoration never stopped whenever you stepped on the red carpet, Rafe’s firm arm around your waist. The attention that came with your newfound fame was exhilarating to you. Nothing was greater to you than all the eyes that were on you, admiring you, loving you. You were now apart of the ones you looked up to, a shooting star in the night sky of the city of angels. Your name on posters, magazines, newspapers alike everywhere.
Soon, it all turned black. You were smarter, more aware, and now you saw more things. Behind every scream of passion was a whisper that caught your ears more. Every move you made was criticized and picked at. You could truly never be perfect for anyone. The adoring gazes masking the piercing glares of judgement. People looking down at your for your suspected affair with your director. Murmurs of you sleeping your way to notability, calling you a whore who didn’t deserve anything you had. It was expected by the people for you to not make even the slightest mistake. Tidy hair, tidy clothes, tidy personality, tidy house, tidy mouth, tidy makeup, tidy nails, tidy body, tidy.. tidy.. tidy.. neat.. clean.. proper..
Fame was no longer a blessing but a curse. Now, you wanted nothing more than to be back in your mansion as the little girl you once were and become a shadow again. You worked hard to get where you were, so what if you got into romantic entanglement later in your career? It has been four movies since you accepted Rafe’s hand with giddy anticipation and now you’re thinking it was the worst decision of your life.
Each film that you starred, all of which Rafe directed, was a thorn to your side. Your characters were nothing but fantasies of dirty men’s wildest dreams. All your marvelous acting wasted on fetishizing and sexualizing yourself in different characters. Rafe’s intense eyes focused on the monitor in front of him, watching you in all your glory. In his eyes, every one of his works was a masterpiece. He didn’t care about all the angry protests of people saying his films were strange and made the women in them too erotic. No, you were perfect, your characters were perfect, his award-winning films were spectacular. Rafe had made a name for himself with the same thing that his father clicked his tongue to. He had proven that old man wrong.
Rafe was basking in the delightful sun while you were slowly drowning.
It felt like spiders were crawling all of your body each time a man even looked at you. You wanted to cover up every inch of your skin. The curves you were given becoming nothing but an inconvenience to you in the present. The way you were treated in the industry was nothing more than that of a common whore. You should be respected, you were a renowned actress but instead everyone looked at you like meat to starved animals. It grew uncomfortable and it was all because of the man who held you closely to his chest, looking over the new script.
“What do you think, dolly? You like?” He asks your distracted figure, hand slowly caressing your plush thigh. “Think it’s perfect for you. After all, you never fail me. You’ll be the perfect ‘Vivian’, right? I’m su….” Rafe Cameron was a man. A man down to his filthy core. A man who brought you to your hell. A man who destroyed you so others could look at the broken pieces with lustful eyes. A man whose neck you wanted to wrap your hands around and squeeze until it turned white. But instead, you cuddle up to him, the man you’re looking at is the only man who loved you when you were nothing and the last person who still loved you.
And you wanted to believe it.