#ein wahrer freund - king of ice - a r k t o s

[warncdandwiles]

open

something was not right. Not right at all. He awakes from a rather ugly and humiliating incident with the little dragon (he's made of snow and hit something at a good speed; it takes time to literally pull himself together) and on instinct, he'd dropped into the snow. Licked his wounds, metaphorically, before re-emerging somewhere in his icy landscape. He adjusts his hat, dabs the side of his head as if knocking water (or in this case, snow) out of his ears.

And is met with quiet. An oppressive quiet. The snow here feels...wrong? How can that be? Did he hit his head harder than he thought?

"James?" he calls, and his voice does not ring in harmony with the icy terrain like he ought to. He --- can't describe it. He is not at home.

He rubs the back of his head. "Oh. This would happen to me."

He's near the border to Greenland, but even that looks unfamiliar. He doesn't recognise those mountains, this sky...

[warncdandwiles]

The penguins pause in the halls, outside on the icy balconies, as utensils, ornaments and anything not nailed down starts shifting. On the palace windows, frosted glass starts to change. The snowflake patterns shift into something twisted. It becomes clear: Arktos is dreaming.

He does not recognize this chamber but it could pass for a wing of his own castle, if he didn't know every inch of the place. It was an extension of him, you see.

He hears...drumming. Fingers? He turns, and finds nobody.

The quiet presses in, and he does not like that. Yet calling into the dark, to demand answers? He simply cannot muster the courage. What is he afraid of?! He is ice itself!

Something brushes his shoulder. Arktos is not short by any means, in fact, aside from the polar bears, he's one of the biggest things around. So when he looks over a snowy shoulder, and sees a shape looming, well.

He is probably trembling.

There is a pair of eyes, pale, nondescript but oh so cold. They are familiar and completely alien, all at once. They take him in, he is seen. Contemplated, with chilly interest.

It's dark, but he's sure the mass behind him is...smiling.

he awakes. The floating objects around the palace clatter back into place. The etchings on icy tapestries and windows ease back into formation.

And Arktos is on his throne, slumped, a hand over a chest with no heart, and yet, is tight with terror he can't possibly explain.

[warncdandwiles]

continued x @drachliebe

She knows! She knows that his heart aches just at the peal of her laughter, and he doesn't know why. He's quite convinced this affection is a kind of deathly illness. Why would mortals wish this on themselves, on anybody?

...he doesn't know how to do that. Not even slightly. Is it like knitting? Not that he'd have any idea what knitting was like.

"I don't even have hair." He mutters, as a last ditch attempt. But alas, he is beaten.

The little round pieces of coal that link his smile together sit in a wobbly line at the sight of this big, shiny eyes. Ice help him.

The telescope lays abandoned as he reaches out, hesitates, and tries to loop two strands of his daughter's snowy hair together. It's a valiant effort, if he does say so. He looks slightly terrified.

"Erm...there's supposed to be two braids, right...?" Yes, Arktos, but not on one side.

[warncdandwiles]

the fact that the tree isn't even real

[warncdandwiles]

@drachliebe​

“This is my place! Everything here is ice and what’s ice is my place! NOW you have to play!”

Certainly an odd way to announce yourself, and a tiny little snowman in a big hat calling from a endearingly-crooked snow-fort is probably not a cause for caution...though there are ice figures dotted around; snow-squirrels and snow-bunnies, acting as eerie sentries.

He’s sure he’s not seen this dragon before; he’s too green, eugh, even greener than the show-boater who ruins all his games! And he doesn’t know what he’s got with him, some skinny elf creature!

But they’re here, so now they have to play!

[warncdandwiles]

While the first season of the Tabaluga series got retconned a bit and Arktos' menace was a little more potent, I'm going with the later version who wasn't responsible for Tyrion's death, and whose freezing doesn't kill. In fact, in one episode he unfreezes a thief on a whim to add to his scheme, and he's (physically) no worse for wear.

That says, it takes powerful magic to safely unfreeze anybody safely, and while he's not completely immortal, Arktos is still very long-lived and doesn't appreciate the fact that some of those statues have been stuck there for years.

[warncdandwiles]

i bought the 'ice princess' by chance, you guys. I made a habit a couple years back of buying cheap obscure dvds of animated films and happened upon it. Saw gifs of the evil snowman floating around tumblr and finally gave it a watch after it sitting on my shelf for ages. Now I'm writing the most emotionally raw thread I've ever done ---

[warncdandwiles]

it was little moments like this short, resentful look passed between them that made me see this movie as a little deeper than its goofy runtime would have otherwise

[warncdandwiles]

the likelihood of an evil snowman hiding in the bushes is surprisingly high. Jokes aside the writers decided to just let this menace roam the summer areas so he could cause more trouble. Movie!Arktos literally melted within seconds since he's so set in his element. Show!Arktos is more...flexible. The guy's still a rotter but he has an entire episode devoted to him adopting a baby crocodile.

[warncdandwiles]

i need to switch my Arktos-ses around for a day or something

[warncdandwiles]

❓ both muses for a.rktos , main or 90s !! ^^

I'm a little curious about exploring the young version of Arktos seen in the 'Where's Winter' episode. That, and the 'Tabaluga and Leo' special gave a few glimpses into his past, which got the noggin full of head-canons. Arktos had to trick and bully Tyrion into playing with him, and he was completely on his own, without his mother in sight --- I get the feeling that even when she was alive, and for all his respect and admiration, she wasn't the parent he thought she was.

Having this rude little snow Gremlin go up against the ever courteous but no-nonsense Lilli would be a whiplash for him. Arktos would try to trick Tabaluga and Lilli into playing with him, and probably would try to stop them from leaving the past, and his icy play area, too.

[warncdandwiles]

❝ well , if you have nothing to hide , you won’t mind answering a few questions . ❞ said very sarcastically by lilli to main!arktos . maybe for her freed verse ?

"I suppose not,"

he snaps his teeth on the final 't', letting the statement hang there. black fingers twitch, he ought to be blasting. But his powers are still not back to full capacity, even now. Like healing sunburn, the effects of his quarrel with the dragon still linger throughout him, invisible to the eye but felt oh-too well.

there's not a mocking affability here, anymore, his scowl is distinctly cold, even dismissive.

"here I thought you'd discovered all the answers over in that abysmal green marshland. ask if you must. that is, if you don't sic your new pet on me before you do.."

what an ironic choice of words.

[warncdandwiles]

❝ well ! don’t blame me for your sloppy footwork and general clumsiness ! ❞ // taba ? giving 90s!arktos lip ? say it isn't so-

He does not have ears nor a core temperature anywhere near 0 or above, and yet steam bursts out on either side of his noggin, prompting his top hat, eyes and all, to fly off his head, to land again upon head and shoulders trembling with rage.

this is why he detests truces! ice cream trucks indeed !!

"Expecting any kind of footwork from a snowman is like expecting a fish to climb a tree, you impudent little beast! If you hadn't insisted on having me traipse across grasslands and dirt when I am clearly not suited!"

[warncdandwiles]

Arktos: creates a creature that is meant to be lovable

the creature: is lovable

Arktos: oh no

[warncdandwiles]

🍁 + what are some 90s arktos past headcanons ? given that he doesn't seem to be the eternal eldritch horror that that the main is 👀✍️

he's still an eldritch horror all right, just not an internal one --- it seems that he can die, which puts a dent in his ego.

Hilariously, the series flipflopped on his backstory themselves; originally, a flashback displayed a young Tyrion faced a full-grown Arktos, implying he was the same eternal embodiment of winter he was in the stories. Then the later seasons have him at a similar age to Tabaluga's father. There's several references to his mother, so while long-lived I think there's a family line of ice-creatures here.

When he grows ill, his palace starts melting, very 'Fisher Kingdom' and its stated winter itself will falter without its 'king' around. I interesting question - does this 'role' pass from parent to child? When does it happen? Or does at least one family member need to be alive to keep winter in this world going?

and where is the green-land counterpart?

I head-canon that Arktos lost his mother very young. He grew into a less-than stellar ruler because of this, and in the first few years of his reign, since the land was tied to the physical and mental well-being of an angry, grieving child, Ice World was probably in a bad state. Storms, cloudy skies. (A foil to Tabaluga, also an orphan who grew up much better adjusted.)

Based on how giddy he gets showing James his ice-car collection, and forcing prisoners to play chess with him, its likely Arktos is very lonely but nigh incapable of having healthy (and sustainable) connection to people. Even when playing nice, his abrasiveness leads to trouble. He has to have everything his way, or the high-way, but it doesn't change the fact that he DOES try to engage positively with people (particular in games) even if he doesn't realize it.

[warncdandwiles]

what if the little one just scales up the throne like the little creature she is and hugs her father ? what then , hm ? // 90s!a because she's his problem now <3

Well, he's just going to have to perish. he stammers, looks to James, to his attendants, but they offer to rescue. The penguin has the audacity to shrug at him. He's sitting there with the little ice child cuddling his side, comically small arms unable to reach even halfway round.

What does he do????

and why does he feel a stirring of something in his chest? It must be discomfort, for it feels alien. No, not it doesn't. He does recognize it, he's felt it before --- but it was a very, very long time ago. When he was little bigger than the child herself.

A hand raises, twitches, above her head. Does he pet her head? He does.

"you are trying to kill me," he says, surprisingly subdued, staring forward. He utters it with the same foreboding as if he were witnessing the end of days.