She had no magic tree dropping dresses. No birds pecked lentils for her out of the fireplace ash. Her only friend was her rage. Her only weapon her desire. When fate doesn't hand you your happy ending in a glass slipper, you have to fight for it.

She scrambled, scarred, out of an embattled childhood, and into the arms of sir francis tremaine. He was older. He was wiser. And he promised to take care of her—and their daughters—forever—and ever.

The promises died with him. Twenty years of his debts, lies, and closed-door dealings left his legacy broken, his wife and children penniless. Still in her mourning blacks, Lady Tremaine brokered her own kind of deal.

Herself for her children's future. Her life for their security.

happily ever after ended.
the wicked stepmother entered Cinderella's house.

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headcanons of note

These are my most referenced headcanons for Lady Tremaine, and hugely influence the way I play her. Only the first is 'required reading,' but you might want to read the rest if we write extensively! My headcanons are also compiled in a full masterlist which no one but me need read and which I am very bad at updating in a timely fashion.

things to notice. *(please read for basic character knowledge!)
MARGARETHE’S VOICE, HEADCANON ONE, HEADCANON TWO.
MARGARETHE’S EARLY LIFE.
margarethe and the childhood sequence.
family and love.
margarethe as a young adult.
the timeline of margarethe’s adolescence.
adolescent margarethe + victorian womanhood.
margarethe and other women.
margarethe’s aggression vs. victorian patriarchy.
margarethe and social transgressors.
margarethe and francis tremaine.
margarethe and postpartum depression.
margarethe and children.
the death of francis tremaine.
arranging margarethe’s second marriage.
margarethe and ella’s father.
margarethe and cognitive dissonance.
margarethe and dishonesty.
margarethe and physical isolation.
margarethe and the passage of time.
lady tremaine as abusive ringleader.
margarethe, ella, and the cycle of abuse.
ella and the narrative of abuse.

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headcanon compendiums

I've done a lot of writing on this blog, and have chosen to gather certain related and important headcanons in masterposts or compendiums, rather than leave them scattered. Check them out here!

headcanons on the first attic scene.
headcanons on lady tremaine and ella.

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canon material

I draw my canon almost entirely from Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Lady Tremaine in Kenneth Branagh's 2015 Cinderella. The name Margarethe ten Broek, the character's Dutch origins, and a few trace references are drawn from Gregory Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which otherwise does not influence my portrayal. I make use of the name Auguste for Ella's father, and De Barbarac for their family name, which I have taken from Ever After: A Cinderella Story.

First of all, hello! This is an independent roleplay blog for Lady Tremaine of the 2015 live action Cinderella, with influence from Gregory Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. This blog was established November 23, 2014.

As you can see, I've had this blog a while. It's given me time to become very relaxed on certain aspects of Da Rulez, and very strict on others. Here's the essentials.

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I am open to interaction with all, whether we are mutuals or non-mutuals. Send memes! Send IMs! Write starters! It makes me so happy to hear from you.

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I am, however, s l o w. I work full-time on my feet, have IRL friends, hobbies, favorite TV shows, Duolingo courses, etc. Not to mention I usually have one or two other active blogs, which may divert my creative energy. Please bear with me. Trust me when I say no one is sorrier for how slow I am than me, haha.

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There are some essentials of Lady Tremaine's character that I require folks to know before roleplaying with me:

Lady Tremaine is an incredibly harmful, toxic, dangerous person. She is not merely an antagonist, but a villain. There is a standing trigger warning on this blog for abuse.

She is also a flirtatious character, with an especial liking for men. If this happens to you, don't panic! React as you would to a bear attack: climb up a tree if you can, or play dead. Or flirt back. It's up to you! (Please don't flirt with bears.)

In addition, she is problematic™. She has a great deal of deeply internalized misogyny, not to mention ingrained homophobia and transphobia. I will tag overt examples of these, but please be mindful that—like all of us living in a patriarchal culture—she has basic and harmful assumptions which form the foundation of how she sees the world. Her problematic qualities will inform her behavior throughout my roleplay.

Finally, my portrayal is very headcanon-heavy. I have worked hard to develop my character, and I would ask that you do not make assumptions about her, her motives, her history, etc.

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I am over 18, and NSFW content will be present on this blog. I will not write any such content with any person under 18, no exceptions. Even to write mildly suggestive content with a minor quite frankly makes me feel crawly.

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I tag all triggers, with one exception. Because Lady Tremaine's abuse of Cinderella is a main feature of her story, I will not tag abusive interactions between them. Feel free to read these posts about this choice and how I handle abuse in writing.

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Why did I unfollow/not follow back? Feel free to check out this post for my general reasoning with regards to following/unfollowing.

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I don't do exclusivity. I may designate some roleplayers as 'mains' due to long-standing RP relationships, but that's about it.

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Please come say hi! My name is Rabbit and I would love to hear from you! 🐰🐰🐰 I am never, ever bothered by any ask or IM I am sent. As a caveat, I am not great at talking/chatting about myself, but I treasure every message I receive!

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Rabbit, how do I...? Her name is pronounced "Mar-gar-eh-tuh." :)

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N.B. regarding theft. I consider myself a super reasonable, chill person. One area where I lose my chill is that of theft. Please do not take anything I create—my words, my code, my graphics, and so on.

I have been repeatedly burned in this regard, including by individuals I previously respected. I do not find it flattering to be imitated. I do not find it cute. I have written many tutorials in the past on my work and even have a resources blog specifically created to teach you how to do things I do. I would so much rather you ask for a tutorial and actually learn from my explanation and create derivative works with my full blessing than simply poach things I work hard on and creative ideas I am proud of.

If I've so much as breathed on a fandom or AU situation, I've probably made a verse for it. Here are the verses I write in most, and feel free to scroll through the verse writeup tag to see more.

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The text in my sidebar is from Margaret Atwood's "Unpopular Gals," from Good Bones and Simple Murders.

The text on my theme is drawn from the song on my music player, which is "Primadonna Girl" by Marina and the Diamonds.

I relied on Pexels and Pixabay for stock images used in my theme. I also used stock provided by ericamarieart and rain-gear on DeviantArt.

I would probably die without the Cate Blanchett Fan gallery.

I learned to make use of radio tabs from Art Lawry's "Radio-Controlled Web Design". I used and altered the fix for Tumblr controls provided by omnipotenceisoverrated.

The fonts I use are Bebas Neue, provided by Adobe Edge Fonts, Droid Serif, provided by Google Web Fonts, and Calibri.

Many of my tags are quotes from the short stories collected in Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber. You can read the whole collection online here, and should, because it's awesome.

I've referenced a lot of different books and articles over the time I've had on this blog, but off the top of my head, here are the ones I remember using or finding influential:

• Daily Life of Victorian Women, Lydia Murdoch.
• The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture, 1830-1980, Elaine Showalter.
• The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime, Judith Flanders.
• The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir.
• "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence," Adrienne Rich.
• "Throwing like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality," Iris Marion Young.
• Feminism, Animals and Science: The Naming of the Shrew, Linda I.A. Burke.