#ludo pop figure

[xalygatorx]

Powerless (2017) | Chapter 6, "Falling Down"

Years after Sarah’s wit and bravery saved her brother and brought the Labyrinth to its knees, her daughter Andie is transported to what remains of that same fantastical place, somewhere she thought only existed in her favorite childhood stories. To find her way back home, she must traverse what’s left of the crumbling kingdom, find a way to set both moments and magic in motion again, and even save the Goblin King, himself. But who will save her from him?

Powerless is a SFW slow-burn romance between Jareth and an original female character. The story overall contains descriptions of fantasy violence, mild suggestive content, and grief regarding family illness. Chapter-by-chapter warnings will be provided as well.

Summary: Andie, Jareth, and the others go in search of the Wiseman in hopes to find further answers for how Andie might return home. After staring at some knockers, they reach a new, perilous section of the Labyrinth that descends into another layer even Jareth doesn’t remember crafting.

Pairing: Jareth x Fem!OC

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.8k

A hot burst of air on her face served as her morning wakeup call and Andie was a bit displeased to note that it reeked of beef jerky. Pulling a face and opening her eyes, she found Ludo looking at her with his face just inches away, first with concern and then with delight when he discovered she was awake. "Andie?"

"Yup, still Andie," she mumbled as she reached up and rubbed her eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Breakfast," Ludo said pleasantly in his loud, gravelly voice and she noticed he was holding a small plate of rations that looked dollhouse-sized in his enormous hands.

"Oh," Andie said, feeling a bit guilty about her slightly snarky awakening as she took the plate. "Thank you, Ludo."

He smiled in his peculiar way and nodded his head once before going back to where Hoggle sat, who grumped boisterously when Ludo accidentally knocked him over. Andie picked one of the small hanks of meat off the plate and bit into it, twisting it to tear it between her teeth and trying not to wince at the dry, gamy texture. "Where did you guys get this stuff?" she asked, leaving it open for anyone to answer.

Nyle, sitting near the fire pit, was the one to reply. "I got it from the castle after the collapse. Figured I should take something before I left. Most of the provisions in the cellar were left untouched."

"Have you guys been living on this?"

"Somewhat," he acknowledged. "On and off. There have been other finds along the way and, with time stopped the way it has, we may not even need to eat, but better safe than, well, dead. You stop tasting after a while, I promise."

"That's pretty dismal," Andie commented as she chewed another bite, glancing around the clearing. "Where's Sir Didymus? And Jareth?"

"Didymus is scouting the area for any sense of direction in this place so we can start looking for the Wiseman, I believe," Nyle said, a snarl curling his lip with his next words. "Jareth is who-knows-where."

"Lurking, apparently," Leona said quietly as Jareth stepped around the corner of a turn in the maze, re-entering the courtyard. "Do you enjoy that? Popping out all dramatically when you are being talked about?"

Jareth looked a bit bemused. "Yes," he replied obviously, "but I did not think that was dramatic… My name was spoken and I answered."

"My intention wasn't to summon you by using—," Nyle began and Andie noticed for the first time that his teeth were pointed, which made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"I was not talking about you," Jareth said dismissively, his eyes fixed on the girl across the way.

Andie met his gaze and arched a brow. "I wasn't, er, summoning you either."

Jareth's barely concealed smirk chose that moment to curve his thin lips. "Pity." 

Andie heard Hoggle groan a little at the exchange, shaking his head in her peripheral. Her eyes moved back to Nyle as he stood, long thin limbs unfolding like a puzzle before he trudged away, a shadow making its way unaltered in the sunlight of the current sky. Jareth watched him go as well, lithely closing the distance across the courtyard before he was next to Andie, slowly lowering himself to sit next to her. "I like him even less than I used to."

"This might surprise you," Andie said as she swallowed her last bite of food and chased it with some of the awful leafy tea that they kept brewing, "but you're not his favorite person either."

Jareth sneered. "I'm truly shocked," he bantered back.

"I knew you would be." Andie finished her leaf water—to call it tea any longer was an insult to tea—and asked, "Any idea what you did to make him dislike you that much?"

"What makes you think I did anything?" After a heavy dose of side-eye, Jareth relented. "Perhaps."

"Care to share that information?"

"He was once to be my successor. Then my jester. And then a servant."

"Harsh," she murmured.

Jareth shrugged. "He was deemed no longer fit to ascend."

"By who?"

"Well, by me, of course."

"Hmph," she murmured as she stretched carefully and set her plate aside. "Is that why you steal babies?" At his inquisitive look, she added, "I've been told multiple times since coming here that a girl came through, looking for her brother."

He appeared amused by that. "Indeed."

"Was he one of the ones you stole?"

"Let's make one thing clear," he said, holding up a leather-gloved finger between them, "I do not steal children. Much like the brother of the girl you've heard of, they are wished away by careless siblings or they are left to dwell in orphanages or with unrelated families who treat them like garbage. They wish for escape and I have given it to them time and time again."

"But you didn't give the girl's brother back to her when she began her quest to get him back, so…"

"She wished him away," he argued, beginning to grow visibly annoyed.

"And then took it back," Andie persisted. "Where's the humanity in holding a girl to a wish that large?"

"You seem to be under the impression that I should have some form of humanity in me," he noted with a slightly calmer demeanor. "I am a goblin, little girl, a goblin king—the Goblin King—and am not held to your petty standards."

"There's nothing petty about being a fair leader," Andie countered. "Besides, you said yourself you were selecting human children as potential heirs. Weren't you chosen in the same way?"

His eyes narrowed and he admitted, "I cannot say I remember."

Andie's lips pursed a bit before forming the word, "Pity."

Just then, Didymus rode into the clearing atop Ambrosius—the sight of which still made Andie hard-pressed not to snort with laughter—and skidded to a halt that nearly threw the uniformed terrier from his steed. "There is no sure way to understand the direction of the Labyrinth any longer, but based on the areas nearby, I have an idea of where we must go in order to find the Wiseman and ask him what is needed," he reported before adding, "and, truly, simply sitting here will do us no good. 'Tis time to carry on!"

Andie nodded and stood. "Sounds good, any idea where we're headed first?"

"There is familiar ground down the right passageway after a few turns. I have marked the path we must take to get there again," he replied as the others packed up the campsite. Nyle had returned at some point within the last minute or so, slipping in like a puff of smoke. Sudden, yet soundless.

After what little they had was packed back into a knapsack Hoggle hauled along, the group followed Didymus down the right passageway, walking along behind him until he suddenly pulled Ambrosius to a stop, nearly causing Andie to trip over them both. "Why did you stop?"

"My…" He looked back at her with distress. "My markings are gone!"

"Gone?" she repeated, glancing around. "How can that be?"

"Likely the smaller goblins who do stone maintenance," Jareth admitted, looking disgruntled at the situation. "They rotate the stones whenever there is an impurity or repair to make."

" 'Tis no matter! I believe between the two of us, we will remember the way! Ambrosius, onward!" Didymus sent the sheepdog forward again and the group behind them followed, not quite knowing what else to do when no one had any better ideas. Didymus stopped at the end of a pathway, pausing heavily before noting, "This was not here before…"

Andie peered around the others to get a good look at the end of the path, at first wondering if they'd run back into the guards she'd faced earlier when she saw the doors. However, these were different; smaller and unguarded, with large detailed door knockers cast in bronze. When they all arrived, Andie continued studying the doors, at least until one of them yelled at her.

"It's rude to stare!" the pudgy one on the right shouted, making Andie jump.

"Excuse me?" she demanded.

"All you little girls that come through here are the same," it yammered on while the other one—whose mouth was occupied by the ring portion of the door knocker—mumbled unintelligibly. "Staring at us like we don't know you're there—oh, the mannerlessness of it all!—and then supposing that we are the rude ones?!"

"That's probably not a word. Could you maybe calm down, I was—"

"WHAT?"

The right door knocker was mumbling again, more voraciously than before, so Andie pulled the ring out of its mouth. "You were saying?"

"Thank you!" the door knocker said exuberantly before explaining most amiably now that she'd helped him, "He can't hear to save his life."

"What life? I'm a door knocker, you twit!" the left demanded irritably. "Not like you offer much in the realm of conversation!"

"It's by design, not choice, I'm a—"

"Could one of you tell me," Andie asserted loudly, causing them both to stop their bickering for the moment, "which way to go? We're trying to find the Wiseman." She glanced over at Didymus for confirmation that she'd said that correctly and, at his nod, she looked back at the door knockers. "Would anyone have come through here?"

"No one's come through," the left one grumped before adding, "though we don't know what's on the other side either. That's up to you."

Andie nodded. "That does make sense… Okay," she said before turning around to discuss the choice, though she only managed to turn right around into Jareth. "Could you stand any closer?" she grumbled as she stepped back.

"Is that a request or an admonishment?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Andie informed him as he cackled quietly. "Anyway, which way? Has anyone been through here before?"

As there was a collective shaking of heads from everyone apart from Ludo, Andie focused on him. "Which way did you go before, Ludo?"

"OH, I remember you, you big slobbery bum!" the right door knocker crowed once he looked toward Ludo, who appeared to have hurt feelings now. "He came through this way before, but not before salivating all over that ring, which that girl then stuck back in my mouth after nearly suffocating me!"

Go, Mom, Andie thought with a small snicker, then more seriously asked, "Did you go that way before?" Ludo nodded timidly. "What was that way?"

"Forest," Ludo said simply. "Ludo fell doooown."

Andie pursed her lips. "Ah."

"The forest? That's where the Fireys are," Hoggle said with a grimace.

"Hm, then I doubt that's still what's behind the door. I already ran into them toward the beginning of the maze," Andie reasoned, tapping the knocking ring on her palm while she thought. "Any input, O Lord of the Labyrinth?"

"I could get used to that," Jareth remarked before becoming more serious. "I am at as much of a loss as you, with the Labyrinth in its disarray. You'll just have to guess."

It was her turn to grimace. "Why do I have to guess?"

"Because I should like it if our potential failure is your fault," he mocked unhelpfully.

"You know, for wanting my help, you sure—"

"Fine, fine," Jareth snapped, cutting her off so she didn't spoil his plans to keep his conundrum a secret. "You whine worse than Sarah, even."

"I don't whine," Andie growled, avoiding any comments that might divulge her relation. Hoggle had told her explicitly that revealing her lineage would jeopardize her safety here and—with the deal she'd struck with Jareth, at least that of his owing her a favor for all this—she didn't feel like bringing all that old drama to light. 

Andie took a deep breath and looked between the doors before deciding on the left. "Here," she said to the right, holding the ring back toward him. He pursed his bronze lips tightly and earned a glare from the girl before him. "Really? We can do this the hard way. History can repeat itself." The door knocker looked at Ludo before sighing and opening his mouth, letting Andie place the ring back inside.

Turning to the left door, she looked for a handle before deciding she had to use the knocker, taking the ring and tapping three times on the door, which swung open slowly to reveal a lush setting. "Look at this place," she murmured in wonder as she stepped through, finding herself surrounded by towering blooms, vines creeping up the walls on either side of them as the Labyrinth continued.

"Careful," Jareth said quickly, grabbing the back of her shirt and yanking her backward.

"What are you—?" she started to ask peevishly until he nodded toward the ground in front of them and she saw the unforgivingly dark void she'd nearly stepped into. "Oh…"

"Watch where you step," he said softly into her ear, making her squirm out of his grasp. This time she avoided the patch and paid more mind to the ground, hoping her face didn't look as hot as it felt. "Funny, I remember making sure there was something peculiar about every location…"

Andie started to turn around to hurl an insult, but she paused when she saw one plant rearing back, looking very much like a Venus flytrap. "Look out!" she shouted just as the thing uncoiled and struck, Jareth and Hoggle dodging away just in time as it collided with the ground behind them. Andie looked past her travel companions to find that the door had swung shut, so their only choice now was to keep running.

She stood her ground as Hoggle ran past her, followed by the others, making sure everyone was making it through okay and avoiding the apparently carnivorous plants now after them. When Nyle passed her, his shoulder accidentally caught hers and she toppled backward onto the ground, looking up to see one of the plants coiling back, its eyeless face aimed toward her. However, she felt hands wrap around her arms and suddenly she was dragged backward, the plant striking and missing her by inches.

"You fool, what are you thinking?!" Jareth demanded as he tugged her to her feet, giving up and scooping her off the ground before he ran through the passage to catch up with the others, dodging any plants that came their way, though now it seemed that the entire path was out to get them. The vines wrapping around the walls and over the floors were alive, spearing toward their ankles and lashing off the stone toward them as they passed. As a vine sliced open Jareth's cheek, he winced and muttered, "What was I thinking with this place…"

"What were you thinking with any of this?" Andie wondered aloud, shrieking as a vine hit her in the face and reopened her split lip. "Ow, dammit!"

When Jareth looked down at her to see what was wrong, the real commotion started up ahead and all they heard was Nyle shout, "No, you brute!" before the entire pathway slanted downward and they were caught off their feet, sliding down into the dark underground beyond. Jareth cursed and gripped Andie tightly as they all fell into the blackness, hitting more stone—icy compared to the rest—after they'd run out of pathway to fall on. Once they were off, the pathway replaced itself above them and they were sealed in tight.

Groans and swears echoed through the dank chamber, everyone blind for the lack of light. "Are you all right?" Andie heard Jareth ask near the top of her head.

She nodded, then remembering none of them could see, said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," acknowledging that he'd taken the brunt of the fall. "Are you?"

"I believe so," Jareth murmured, his grip on her still tight. Once he realized this, he loosened it, though they both stayed where they were for the moment. "Where are we?"

"You don't know?" Andie asked apprehensively. "That's not comforting."

"I…," she heard Nyle say hesitantly. "I think I do…"

"Hold on, let's shed some light on this! Hoggle, where's that firestarter…," Didymus said and there were some bustling sounds, then the clink of Hoggle's rucksack of supplies. "Ah! There it is!"

"Wait," Nyle said urgently, "don't!"

However, Didymus sparked the starter and lit up the space just long enough for Andie to make out a large reptilian eye, the pupil elongating from the flash. Her heart felt as if it would seize. "Oh, my god."

Next chapter: Chapter 7, "Through Dangers Untold"

[childoferebus]

I was challenged tagged by @parrot-parent​ to come up with an answer for every one of these music questions.  Please learn more about my music tastes than anyone should.

1:A song you like with a color in the title: Favorite Color is Blue by Robert Delong ft. K.Flay, which I am not allowed to link to directly for some reason.  I’m going to get The Vermin Survive tattoo’d at some point when I can figure out a design for it.  (If you’re a tattoo artist, hmu 👀

2:A song you like with a number in the title

A Complete List of Fears Ages 5-28 (Aprox) by The Yellow Dress. I want to lick it.

3:A song that reminds you of summertime

The first thing that came to mind was When It’s Over by Sugar Ray, because I’m absolutely ancient by tumblr standards.

4:A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about

Love Me Dead by Ludo, but not for the reasons you’d think.

5:A song that needs to be played LOUD

Hellbent by Mystery Skulls, which is only correct when it’s loud enough to blow my speakers and my eardrums.

6:A song that makes you want to dance

Zoot Suit Riot by the Cherry Popping Daddies. Shouts to the time my prom date got pissed at me for dancing to this when they didn’t want to lol

7:A song to drive to

On the Road Again by Willy Nelson is the first song on my roadtrip playlist, as is good and right.

8:A song about drugs or alcohol

Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind is the most obvious song about crystal meth that has ever been played and I don’t care it is my favorite song of all time, it delights me

9:A song that makes you happy

Cheesecake Truck by King Missile.  So then I got this idea about driving a cheesecake truck

10:A song that makes you sad

Your Voice as I Remember It by AJJ.  I have an entire playlist dedicated to songs I can’t sing along with without crying but this was the first that came to mind.  Notable other mentions are What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie and A Plea from a Cat Named Virtue by the Weakerthans

11:A song that you never get tired of

BlackBoxWarrior (OK Ultra) by Will Wood. I can and have listened to this song on repeat for hours at a time.

12:A song from your preteen years

Preteens.  Jesus. Are you sure you want me to delve back that far?  Anyway, when I was around that age I was really into Jewel, so probably Little Sister.  Which is also a song about drugs.

13:One of your favorite 80’s songs

Safety Dance by Men Without Hats is the correct answer.

14:A song that you would love played at your wedding

Brand New Colony by the Postal Service.  I eloped so I don’t get any wedding music, but I’ve made a wedding playlist for my OCs and I’m totally normal about the fact that this is the first song

15:A song that is a cover by another artist

You Oughta Know by the Killing Moon is one of my favorite covers of all time by virtue of them not changing the pronouns

16:One of your favorite classical songs

The hardest part of this meme isn’t thinking of songs for every ask it’s picking which out of the dozen possible answers for every question that I’m going to go with. I listened exclusively to classic piano for like 2 years in my teens.  Anyway, tough call but I gotta go with the Moonlight Sonata Third Movement by Beethoven.  From what I was told, it was written as he was losing both his sight and his hearing and it’s so aggressive and mournful because of it.  Beethoven was a prick but man the dude could play.

17:A song that would sing a duet with on karaoke

Snow Miser/Heat Miser. Get that shit stuck in your head and sing with me.

18:A song from the year that you were born

Listen I’m not going to date myself out loud so if you want to know that bad you can look and see.

19:A song that makes you think about life

This might be the hardest one to answer yet.  I don’t know man, every song makes me think about life. All of them do. What aspect of life? What topic? So here’s one, I guess: White Noise by Will Wood.

20:A song that has many meanings to you

Weak and Powerless by A Perfect Circle. I know it’s about drugs, but man if you take it literally...

21:A favorite song with a person’s name in the title

Jacqueline by Circa Waves. Please watch the video. Please.

22:A song that moves you forward

Point to Prove (I Was An Ugly Kid) by Bug Hunter. yeah.

23:A song that you think everybody should listen to

Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrman.  Get to it.

24:A song by a band you wish were still together

Inexplicable by the Correspondents.  If I don’t think about it too hard I’ll be fine.

25:A song by an artist no longer living

Faint by Linkin Park. IF I DON’T THINK ABOUT IT TOO HARD I’LL BE FINE.

26:A song that makes you want to fall in love

Passenger Seat by Death Cab for Cutie. 

27:A song that breaks your heart

Well if you’re going to do this to me twice in a row, What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie.  I put my mp3 player on shuffle after my adopted grandfather died suddenly and violently to try and calm myself and this is the first song that played and I’ve never been okay since.  Love is watching someone die.

28:A song by an artist with a voice that you love

Grace for Sale by Terrance Zdunich.  Tough call but considering I stole his voice for Taj Na...

29:A song that you remember from your childhood

I Will Buy You a New Life by Everclear, which one of my classmates was obsessed with, and played every lunch at school for months.  Jimmy you were 12 what was it about this song that spoke to you so much

30:A song that reminds you of yourself

Kokopelli Face Tattoo by AJJ.  I have a viper rune tattoo because of it.

[deigowatson]

4 Popular Marvel Toys For Kids

The world of superhero movies is one of the most popular topics for kids, and Marvel has plenty to offer in terms of movies, toys, and video games. Kids love superheroes and marvel toys. It doesn’t matter if they are children or adults, these individuals can attract their attention and get them to look at the world from a whole different perspective. Marvel Comics has provided superheroes for many years, and now they have turned their love of superheroes into playtime with marvel toys and marvel action figures. There are Marvel toys available to buy for children of all ages to enjoy. We have some suggestions for you below.

Avengers doctor set

Wondering which is the best preschool doctor set for your little one? Well, we’ve got you covered. Marvel’s Spiderman Little Doctor Set comes in a multicolor pack, with all the essentials that you need to start your child on their journey toward health and wellness

This adorable marvel toy set comes with everything your little one could ever want: from a roller coaster car, to pretend stickers and an amazing-looking doctor’s kit. Not only is this toy set fun and engaging, but it’s also educational. Your child will learn about colors, numbers, and parts of the human body as he/she plays with this toy.

Avengers ludo table

Avengers are the most powerful force in the universe. Join them in a game of Ludo, and witness the might of our titans! Marvel Avengers Multipurpose Portable Ludo Game Table is our way of showing you just how big and mighty we are. With its bright colors, amazing graphics, and sturdy construction, this table is everything you’d expect from a Marvel product. And when you add three pieces to it — that’s when we start talking about versatility.

There’s no telling why but kids love playing with these marvel toys more than anything else because they can feel like superheroes!

Marvel action figures

With Fantastic Four Legends Invisible Woman and funko pop marvel action figures, your little darling is the one to envy for sure. These figures come in a beautiful multicolor and feature a classic look of the superhero. Plus, the invisible woman looks pretty authentic thanks to her bright colors and unique design. There’s nothing that kids love more than superheroes, and this action figure surely holds its own on the shelves!

Also, with its soft material making it easy for kids to hold, this is an all-time classic.

Spiderman bowling set

Spidey loves to bowl, but he’s not the only one. Now it’s time to get down and spit in a Marvel-themed bowling set!

The perfect way to spend some time with your favorite superhero, this multicolor set has everything you need for an exciting night out at the lanes. Marvel Spiderman logo prints on each ball add extra style and flair, while durable construction means that they’ll stand up to even the most enthusiastic of bowlers.

With the advent of all-new Marvel toys, your little fans might be wondering what to get as a sweet treat. From Spider-Man to Thor, you and your little ones can bond over these popular toys, from the latest to the greatest, and then take them home and pop them in the toy chest for a fun evening. So keep an eye out for what’s new this holiday season, and remember that when you have kids, it’s always worth the hunt.

[tonkirc]

Pop in a bix

POP IN A BIX SERIES

Sarah encounters the worm towards the start of her journey through the Labyrinth. The worm has a cockney accent, and wears a bright red scarf. Meanwhile, here’s the small character who offers Sarah guidance when she is at the point of giving up on her quest to save her brother. That’s why even the Goblin King became smitten with her. It’s a practical outfit suitable for her journey to the Labyrinth.Įven the back of the figure is greatly detailed.įrom this angle, you will see the ribbon behind her waistcoat, and she’s wearing a bracelet too. In this figure, Sarah is wearing a white blouse, a patterned waistcoat, and a pair of blue jeans. Here they are, the heroine Sarah together with the hospitable William the worm! The back of the box features other characters you can get from this film aside from Sarah and the Worm: Jareth (2 forms), A 6″ Ludo and of course, Hoggle! I didn’t know these came back (they’ve been sold out!). He’s even holding a sword, ready for his quest!Īnd the most important detail of all… he’s wearing the iconic ring as a necklace pendant!įunko Pop! Labyrinth Sarah & Worm Vinyl Figure ($9.73) Our next POP comes from Labyrinth, a classic adventure-musical-fantasy film. Look at the details on his disheveled hair! It’s actually impressive! Here, though he is in his bare feet (love the hair!), he’s sporting on his mithril coat and elven cloak. Standing with all his might is the ring bearer, with his usual hobbit garb. If you wish to have one of those, remember to give them a thumbs up!

POP IN A BIX SERIES

The back of the box features other POPs from this series aside from Frodo Baggins. They don’t track what you get, so when you get them, add them to your tracker so you don’t receive them again (and don’t forget to add all the other Pops you get to your tracker too).įunko Pop! Frodo Baggins Vinyl Figure ($4.99) A hobbit of the Shire during the Third Age is included in our box this month! Note: When you receive your Pops from PIAB they will not be added to your collection. Here are my contents! I have found that the boxes are usually in great condition but we take them out because our kids play with them. There’s not a lot of fanfare with this box. Once you’re signed up you’ll get a new pops email whenever they add new pops to the shop – and then you’ll know it’s time to do thumbs up/down. I do find it fun and easy to do the thumbs up & down a couple times a week, and I suggest filling out your collection and blocking any POP!s you hate and marking any POP!s you really want before actually subscribing. Thumbs Up will place the Pops on your Wish List.ĭEAL: Save 20% on your first $20+ order! No coupon required, just use this link to subscribe. Everything that you Thumbs Down will be blocked, and you can pull them back out if your tastes/fandoms change. When you sign up you can add POP!s to your collection, thumbs up and down (never get a thumbs down, more likely to get a thumbs up). They do give away figures randomly to subscribers. You can block Pops from being sent, rate pops in their tracker, and if you track your collection with their tracker and subscribe you will not receive any dupes. Shipping is always a flat $4.99 but you can get as many as 12 POP!s a month. In all seriousness, they have a totally awesome and exhaustive Pop tracker that you should sign in to use if you have any sort of Pop collection (we have quite a few). Every month, you will receive the number of POP! figures you order (starting at $9.99 per POP!). Pop In A Box is a monthly Funko POP! vinyl figure subscription. Food & Cooking Subscription Box Reviews.Geek, Gamer & Nerd Subscription Box Reviews.

[missuspantherphotography]

✨🦉

[thybig1]

I bought them all...I couldn't help my self but worth it.

[voorhees1]

[popculturebuffet]

Amphibia Weekly Season 3 Reviews and Analysis: Hollywood Hop Pop and If You Give a Frog a Cookie: The Calm Before and After The Storm

Hello all you happy people! I’m Jake, I review stuff and things and i’m almost done with Amphibia for the year! Next Week’s Christmas episode marks the end of this half of the season and of new episodes for what will likely be months. Probably sometime in spring, though maybe not as early as last time given they also have to squeeze in big city greens and owl house. Unless they decide to try and just burn off the rest of owl house inconspciously because it’s “not with the disney brand”. Which is code for “WE let one homophobic shitweasel have too much power apparently so now this is going away. “ HOpefully fans, including my close friend @jess-the-vampire will keep up the fight. Seriously I just wanted to give her a nod for fighting hard and long for this and currently working on stickers to help the cause. It means a lot to her and I support that and this. We need more dammit. 

So with that this is one of our last episodes and with it we finally get introduced to the rest of the characters from that shot in the intro with all the supporting cast from this season.. and get a change to it. Clearly Matt wanted to rub salt in the gaping wounds from last time, so Marcy in the tank’s been replaced with Marionette Marcy. Which took a long time to figure out as coming up with a name is hard.. and the fandom as a whole settled on “Darcy” which.. just dosen’t work given you know THIS happened to make that

I’m all for goofy nicknames, but there’s a limit and that limit is a 13 year olds screams of pain to make that version of a character exist. 

This also once again brings up my longstanding fascenation with Disney Intros, how they used to NEVER change but disney’s become more and more opena nd thus we’re seeing intros reflect the whole show more and more often or get small but likely costly cosemtic changes to hide spoilers. Which still begs the question: Was Star Vs unable to change intros and thus kept posseed ludo LONG after he stopped being the big bad, or were they just lazy. You make the call.. mine is the former because the rest of seasons 3 and 4 strongly agree with my assement. 

But being in the final lap of this part of the season, it has me sitting back and reflecting a bit, though i’ll save it in full for next episode as it COULD adress the only two complaints I have left. For now we get a nice calming batch of episodes after.. well see above for burning teenager. Wallace Shawn heartwarmingly supports Hop Pop’s dream, the most fabulous secret agent in existance returns, one of my favirite voice actors and the female equilvent to my keith david obsession joins the cast, and we get Cree Summer hamming it up in a voice she dosen’t get to use as much. A fun time is had by all before presumably next week kicks us in the testicles and runs off for a few months. So join me under the cut for Hollywood, Mad Science and Cookies, as well as a full analytical review with spoilers. 

Hollywood Hop Pop:

Much like Spider-Sprig, this one’s a breather episode. While the former was ease us into the hellscape that was “Oliva and Yunan”, this one’s to ease us out of it and back into normal episodes for a sec. Sort of like a sandwitch with two halves of a crossant for it’s bread and a still living snake covered in mustard for it’s filling. 

Given the show’s newfound LA setting it was really a matter of “when” rather than “If” the show would visit Hollywood given Hop Pop’s love of acting set up last season, one of the very few things during the road trip arc that actually advanced the story or characters. The others I can think of being the skipman, which we’ll get to next ep, frobo, polly’s episode and finding out Wally’s backstory. That arc continues to be a giant waste of time and good concept to me and could’ve been shrunk by a few episodes so we got more time with Marcy before...

Exactly. The fact she’s likely going to be gone an entire season makes keeping her out of focus last season during the Newtopia portion even MORE baffling than it already was. 

Anywho, Hop Pop’s acting dreams were a nice bit of depth to his charcter, showing he didn’t ALWAYS want to be a farmer despite being so dedicated to it. Now granted, we still haven’t gotten the connective tissue for that, which frustrates me to no end, but it’s still more than “was born and died a farmer”, instad painting a picture of a kid who wanted to act but came to see his family leagacy as his calling, even if he still never regretted becoming a star. It may be the good foundation for a possible prequel. Hint hint Disney HINT HINT. 

But to me it was just a character trait and not something that needed full resolution.. only for matt to give it one in this charming ep that was utterly heartwarming. 

Our heroes are visiting Hollywood since Anne is being a good host and all. The Plantars have likely seen even more movies now their not limited to whatever Anne happened to have on her phone, been to a theater.. now it’s time to go to the holy land of filmaking. Hop Pop is naturally star struck, especially upon finding out as anne puts it we don’t just love actors here “we worship them as gods”... I mean given the altar I have for keith david hidden in my crawl space I concur. 

So despite you know, being on the run from Mr.X... who Anne knows by name

I did go back and check the clip of his meeting Anne’s parents: he DID flash Mrs. B his creditals, so them knowing his name is plausable.. but it still feels clunky to have her just abrubtly state a character name that Mrs. B MIGHT know from the guy flashing his badge for two seconds. 

Anyways, our heroes had after Hop Pop who runs around starstruck before bumping into Humphrey Westwood, an old man who happens to look almost exactly like him except human. He’s played by WALLACE MOTHERFUCKING SHAWN. 

Granted Mr. Shawn does a LOT of voice work, smaller rolls like this one, so it’s not a massive shock he’s here but it just highlights how absolutely stacked the guest cast is this year. The other two years weren’t lacking, the shows always had some of the best talent, but this season has added Wayne Knight, Ankia Noni Rose (And shame on me for not pointing out that she and Keith David are reunited in a disney project, and might even come face to face (Probably not but a man can dream), Dana Davis, Kate Micucci (We’ll get to that), Cree Summer (Ditto), RuPaul, Brad Garrett, and now Wallace Shawn. And ther’es even great new additions like On Braly and Brian Sounalouth who arne’t as big names, but slap just as hard as all these sizeable guest names. The show is going above and beyond to nail the finish and bringing in everyone they can to do so. And it is WORKING. 

So anyways, back on point: Humphrey is a vetran actor, having put his nose to the grindstone for 45 years hoping for his big break. It hasn’t happened yet but he’s not giving up either and he’s nothing but friendly to Hop Pop. And in most acting based stories you’d expect for him to stab HP in the back.. but no. He accepts this out of towner and welcomes him, and it’s the sweetest thing, even more when Humphrey gives Hop Pop his audition slot> He’ll have other chances. 

Said Slot is for a commercial, something Hop Pop dosen’t realize as they don’t have those back home. He mostly nails the audition, but is almost let go for lack of a catchphrase.. until he lets out a 

And thus gets himself an ad Campaign, with Anne accepting it because he says it was a play and Humphrey congradulating him. While he didn’t get the part he’s just happy for someone else. God this man is amazing. 

Anne isn’t happy the next day to find Hop Pop’s commerical, which they shot that day because 

Is now on all the channels and is pissed off while Hop Pop and the rest of the family are utterly thrilled with Mr and Mrs B even adorably appearing on the banister.. because they have an upstairs now? Probably always did I just never noticed the stairs before. Look over the past few weeks i’ve seen a killer robot, a baby riot, grime in hop pop’s bed, a food truck do a rail grind, a possum, a museum heist, a huge battle with the entire thai community of this part of LA, so gals being girlfriends and making robots, Mrs> B go thor on a motherfucker, Ru Paul as a secret agent and a teenager get horribly possesed by a sentient ai hive. It has been a lot of fun but also a lot. So forgive me for not realizing Anne’s house had more than one level despite it being obvious in hindsight. 

Anyways their all cute on the Banister talking about how they know someone famous and Mr. B wondering if they shoudl charge rent.. then REALLY wondering if they should. Mr. B no. He also muses that because Mr. X is a busy goverment agent surely he won’t be watching tv. Cut to the obvious joke of Mr. X indeed taking time for himself to watch TV. We also get a peak at his personal life and it is adorable

He has a snazzy robe, an alien themed kitchen (Unsurprisingly) with all sorts of cool stuff I wish I had frankly, two posters of Ru Paul in drag race for m as a nice little nod , and the frogs from last time who he’s since adopted. Awwww. I know I know he’s trying to dissect our heroes but awwww. 

So naturally he gets wind of this and easily finds out what Studio the commercial was at.. which wouldn’t be a big deal, he took HUMPHREY’S spot and thus they have his address.. but the Plantars happen to be heading to the studio as Anne wants to get the Ad pulled before they get found out.. only to find out it’s likely impossible given the campaign has spawned billboards t-shirts, mugs and other fine merch. And I could blame the fast turnaround on just being for the sake of a joke.. but the sheer amount of Tommorowland funkos still clogging up shelves show that companies simply put out a ton of merch and HOPE there’s a demand sometimes. Yet oddly disney STILL hasn’t given us anything for Amphibia. Your priorities disney I swear. 

Anyways Hop Pop gets a call on Anne’s phone for his big break, which Anne is against but he plans to go for anyway. It’s even in a Water Tower. Huh, didn’t know the Warners were renting out that space for meetings.. or maybe Nora forced them to. Either is likely. Point is Hop Pop goes to embrace his destiny.. only to find Humphrey. Turns out he’s the janitor on the lot, has been for years. Wow the things he’s seen.. and picked up. I mean wakkos crumbs alone. And he’s once again HAPPY Hop Pop gets a big break. But Hop Pop isn’t... mostly because he’s been struggling all episode with the guilt. Humprhey gave up his big shot.. and Hop Pop took it. And what makes it work is that Humphrey willingly did, has no grudge against HP for his success.. and that just makes it WORSE as HP took it from someone who worked far longer for it. 

We also get a great chase sequence with X, the Kids and HP, including fun callbacks for Trantulaman, Suspcsion Island, and the dowtown abby knockoff which dosen’t have real British persons to Anne’s shock.. and mine. 

Thus the next part isn’t a surprise: X is once again humiliated as he attacks the tower.. only to find Humphrey, which not only humiliates the guy again (Again just because he’s against our heroes dosen’t make him a terrible person), but gets the FBI a possible lawsuit, something he understandably takes worse. Last time was an easy enough to write off loss.. this time not only hurts the bearu but his reputation as it makes the switch much less obvious. 

Hop Pop explains himself to the kids: that Humphrey deserved it more (even thanking HP for getting his break at last), but also admits he put them all in danger... he had his moment in the sun... it’s time for humphrey to have his while Hop Pop apricates what he does have his family. He also wants to direct leading to another out of the cart shove. 

Hollywood Hop Pop was a good, nice and fluffy breather episode, which we truly needed. While the next episode isn’t as intense given the last one was....

We as an audience BADLY needed this. Add in Wallace Shawn being as awesome as ever and some fun gags and this was another decent episode. Nothing amazing but again, it was following ^ that so i’m willing to cut it some slack. Onward. 

If You Give a Frog a Cookie:

This one does finally tackle something it’s been bugging me the show hasn’t. No not the Boonchuy’s names.. or Sasha and Marcy’s parents... though the Christmas Special should get on those. I’m talking about the fact that the Plantars really haven’t talked about missing home or everyone they know, especially since they left just as a tyrannical dictator was set to wreck up the place and could easily use them as leverage if he wanted via his giant murder canon. Or just blow Wartwood up entirely to spite them. Both seem up his alley. While the show has made it implicit their worrying, what with their race to get home, we haven’t seen any sign of it. Granted that is a weakness this season has had, kind of just.. dancing around the emotional implications of what just happened in general, with Marcy and Sasha’s parents so far non entities despite that making absolutely no sense, something i’ll complalin about more if they don’t show up next episode, and Anne clearly hurt by the betrayals, but not really talking about them. The show dosen’t ignore the impact, it’s clear the plantars miss homne and Anne is trying to avoid her complicated feelings towards her GF’s, but it still feels like a missing piece of the show they’ll hopefully fill in. 

Still this one at least addresses the Plantars getting homesick and missing everyone, so i’ll give them that. Hopefully the rest will come. Anyways we open the episode with the yard filled with mud, to Mrs. B’s understandable distress. Anne explains that depression has hit our heroes hard and their badly homesick, so she thought a swamp would help. It did.. but now they’ve sunk to lying around in mud depressed. Been there. So now Anne’s making cookies, “the solution to all of life’s problems” to try and placate them. Mrs. B warns against this: they NEED to accept the reality of the situation and cope with it instead of just being given placebos. Trying to help them feel better is nice but this pain won’t just magically go away. As for why their suddenly depressed I feel it’s because they’ve been there at least a month by this point. It was easy to distract themselves when their might be hope of a way home sooner, they had to adapt to the world and were trying to bond with their new family. There was also the killer robot trying to murder them of course. But now time has set in and it’s very clear they aren’t getting home anytime soon, have no way of knowing if home will even be left when they return, and the realization’s likely hit them like a ton of brick frogs. 

Anne decides to keep trying to cheer them up and takes out the cicada cookies... and Mrs. B finds this out after having taken a bite and spits it out.. at jeff. Real love is never having to say your sorry for spitting cicadia cookie on your husband. 

The cookies don’t exactly help... nor does the Plantar’s coping mechanisim: a scale model of wartwood with creepy little dolls of everyone, with hop pop even having one he made of himself dance with tiny sylvia and the kids sadly hugging the adorable hand sewn plushie of Bessie.. dammit now I want one of those.  Anne TRIES to follow her mom’s advice only to get a call from Dr. Jan who has good news.. and a lead. A local scientest, Dr. Frakes is looking into interdimensional portals and could be their ticket home. That said Jan dosen’t want to take them to see her JUST yet: as she puts it the academic community has a lot of loose ends on it’s fringes. Best to make sure Frakes is safe and sane before they try talking to her. 

Unfortuantely the Plantars catch wind of the call and Anne can’t say no to their overwhleming depression so it’s off to the doc they go. Turns out Frakes, who i’m 100% convinced is named after Star Trek TNG actor and David Xanatos Voice Actor Jonathan Frakes, is headquartered in a science center. For those less familiar their basically big places where children go to learn about science in fun ways. I went to one as a kid that was part of Union Station, it was a blast.  So it’s no suprised the Plantars are enchanted. The kids there are also borderline feral when it comes to snacks. 

After some putzing around our heroes make it to the back, and ask to be let in, finding Frakes assitant Terri. She’s played by KATE MOTHERFUCKING MICCUI, who I hero worship and crush on almost as hard as Keith David and for just as good a reason. She’s done plenty of screenwork, a lot of which I need to see, she’s built up a true talent and resume voice acting having voiced Sadie, Webby, Velma Dinkley for the last decade, and MANY more. So it’s a delight to not only see her pop up here, but in a very sizeable roll, especially since Disney canceled her starring role just as she was set to likely get a season long arc.  I”m still bitter about Ducktales cancelation and I ain’t hidin it. Disney needs to learn to let series go on longer than 3 seasons.. or let them finish their seasons.. Disney sucks is what i’m saying you get it by now. 

Terri is also the last of the supporting cast we see in the intro, the girl with blue hair. Whose also as it turns out 20 something. Terri also isn’t buying Anne’s very transparent lie that she’s a reporter. Where’s her yellow jumpsuit I ask you?  But Frakes buys it.. not because a 13 year old is at all convincing but because as we quickly find out Frakes is a rabid egotist, and is also played by Cree Summers getting to use a voice she honestly dosen’t get to use as much but I recognize from.. somewhere. She’s done a LOT of things. I shouldn’t have to say who voice acting legend Cree Summer is. She’s been at this since the 80′s, shows no signs of quitting and has been great in her ocasional live action roles such as her longstanding role as Freddy, her supporting roll on better things and apparnetly a guest spot on what we do in the shadows which I need to watch.  The lady has my utmost respect and has a blast here. She just puts everything into whatever roll big and small and I can’t help but repsect that. 

Anyways as I was saying Frakes is an egotist, naming all her experiments after herself and feeling science is about naming things after herself. Huh.. so gyro gearloose is a woman in this dimension. Fascenating. Terri shows off that she’s not impressed with her boss or her egotisim, if quitely and snarkily. 

Frakes leads them to her baby: an interdimensional portal. Turns out 6 months ago when the calamity box was opened and zapped our golden trio into Amphibia, a surge was sent through the power lines and into Frakes lab as Terri was hard at work and Frakes is rocking out on her skipman. Yes this is where the Skipman came from, as it gets sucked into amphibia as Frakes nearly does and ever since she’s been TRYING to build a portal. Sadly the most she gets are some foggy images of other worlds, one of which does look like amphibia, as she can’t get it to stay. My theory is that she has the right combo of exlectrical surges to create a portal.. but not the power or tech yet to keep it on or properly guide it to a world. And given only Andrias and the Core seem to know how the box works it’s fair a scientest not even knowing HOW the first portal happened and only able to barley replicate it could only get so far. 

The Plantars pressure Anne into using the portal, and then guilt her when she refuses on very solid ground, not trusting Frakes for good reason and clearly regretting not letting Jan vet her. While this MIGHT be a way home... it’s through someone who clearly cares more about herself than actually helping people. And given the goverment is after them, that could mean she’d sell them out easily as long as she got public credit for it or something enought to satisfy her ego. But the plantars are blinded by seeing a way home at all and guilt anne into it. 

So Frakes turns on the machine and knocks everyone back, getting a brief portal into somewhere. Bunch of shapes and stuff. But it’s not amphibia so the plantars are disapoitned.. and exposed as the blast knocked their clothes off. Shockingly the raging egotist who views science as a means to feeding said ego sees the frogs only as something to disect for her own glory and uses a localized force field to caputre the plantars for disection. Anne dashes off and runs into Terri and gives her the “I need to stop her speech”... and in a nice twist for the genre, where normally the beligured assitant would dicker a bit or worry about themselves.... Terri agrees right away. Science is important but those are innocent people and Frakes has clearly lost it. So Terri helps her get to the other part of the lab, but gets tripped up by some children who sense a granola bar on her so Anne’s forced to  hoof it alone. 

At the disection lab, Anne tries breaking the window open, and the plantars ar ein danger... till Terri prepares to shut it off. Frakes threatens her both with loosing her job and being blackballed asking if it’s worth it. One yup into my heart later and Terri frees the plantars, allowing them to escape. Frakes takes it as well as you’d expect and grabs a buzzsaw arm, and uses it to chase them. You know.. your threat to blackball someone is kind of empty when you follow it by chasing an elderly man, a teenager, and two children around a place full of kids with a buzzsaw. Just saying. Anne however saves her family with a chekovs gun, holding off frakes while they escape with Terri by throwing some cookies at her. Those kids don’t care if they have bugs in them. Their cookies man. 

So as Frakes is slowly devoured by children, our heroes drive off in Terri’s car. Nice of her to give them a ride. Anne calls out the Plantars pointing out she understands, better than anyone, what their going through but they can’t rush this. Doing so got the three of them nearly cut up, and lost Terri her job. The Plantars apologize, realizing they did overguilt her and were wrong. Terri however.. is not remotely phased. Besides the fact that like I said the person trying to blackball her from science just charged through a public space full of children with a buzzsaw , she points out the job sucked anyway and her “mentor” was wrong about science: it’s abotu helping people, not yourself.  She also makes an obvious point: the portal SHE’LL build will be more than enough to get a grant. I hear the venture foundation has a pretty nice one.  It also once again shows what a big heart this woman has: she just met these people... and she’s fully into helping them get home, without them even asking first. Sure the portal could change the world and it’s worth doing on that.. but to her it’s clearly just as much worth doing because it helps these strangers. WIth thta our heroes pick up  yet another helpful ally and some hope of going home. 

IYGAFAC was excellent. The Plantars actions, while greasy , were understandable and it nicely sovles one of the overarching mysteries of the series, and in a way that helps our heroes get one step closer ot home. Terri is yet another great addition to the supporting cast, and kate miccui or now she’s shown to be a kind, badass scientest who wants what’s best for people. 

Next Time: Mid-Season Finale Yo! Rebcca Sugar Song! The IT Girls Return! Andrias does something that thankfully isn’t sending his master over there! Maybe Anne gives her mom a pin I dunno! WOOOO!

[voxofthevoid]

hey! you’re song-lyric fanfic titles are absolutely amazing so i was just wondering if you had any song recs! any would be great, but ones with story-title-worthy lyrics would be very much appreciated :)

no pressure though i get it if it’s too much effort ^^;;

Oh, you bet I do!

So many. I favor pop and rock, but my music collections wind up with a bit of everything.

As for songs with great fic title potential, keep in mind that I stumble into these. I have a note on my phone dedicated to just jotting out any catchy (and by catchy, I mean angsty or sexy) lyrics. So most of the time, when I'm looking to title a story, I already have a decent collection to go through. And often highlighted lines from a song remind me of more from the same song or artist.

First, artist recs:

Starset

Halsey (so many of my songs are from their songs, it's insane. I'd definitely recommend If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power)

Thirty Seconds to Mars

Lorde

Here are some individual tracks. The full list is too long for tumblr or my sanity, so i've picked a handful of tracks I'm currently listening to.

Mirror by Halocene and Violent Orlandi

Figure You Out VOILA

ANGELS & DEMONS by jxdn

White Flag by Normandie

E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE by CORPSE and Savage Ga$p

The Horror of Our Love by Ludo

A Little Death by The Neighborhood

Loved You A Little by The Maine and Taking Back Sunday

[fantasy2739]

Prompt jamie and Ted father/son bonding please. 🥺🥺 Whether playing video games, watching a movie idk just wholesome lol

Ted Jamie father son??? Sign me up!!

Also I am currently emotionally wrecked after 2x08 so if anyone needs me I will be crying over hug and phone call (iykyk)

Anyway, enjoy!!

Jamie isn’t entirely sure what he’s doing at Ted’s. Only that he’s there. He feels like he missed a trick somewhere. Maybe he was lured here. Like by one of them mermaids. Wait no, sirens. Yeah like a siren call. Point is, he’s here. In Ted’s flat. On the fucking couch. Ted’s pottering around the kitchen.

“Tea?” He calls.

“Nah, that’s an old person drink.” Jamie says. “It’s gross.” He refrains from cracking a comment about how much Roy drinks it. Fucking senior citizen.

“Finally, someone who understands.” Ted says. “Garbage water. Coffee?”

“Yeah.” Jamie agrees and a steaming mug is placed in front of him. Ted sinks into the chair next to him with his own mug. He’s smiling at Jamie, like he’s waiting for him to start talking. Jamie thinks he’d rather not. Because he’s got no clue what to say.

“Now I know you didn’t come all this way to enjoy my coffee.” Ted says when it’s clear Jamie isn’t going to say anything. Jamie shrugs. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” Jamie admits.

“Should you talk about it?” Ted asks, which is oddly comforting. Jamie shakes his head in the negative.

“Can we just talk, do something else?” He asks, his voice coming out slightly cracked. Something in Ted’s face softens.

“Sure thing mr bling.” He says. He pulls a face. “Oh I do not like that. Hmmm. Thing. Thing. Sing? No that makes no sense. Ooh king, huh. Sugar king, little king?” Jamie snorts at that. Ted grins like it was his intention all along. Probably was the sly asshole. “Now let’s see, something to do, something to do. Hmmm ooo I have some board games. Y’all got Ludo over here?”

“With like the dice and meeple and shit?” Jamie asks. He realises that it might be a little vague given how many games include dice and shit. Ted’s understood though, and scarpered off to unearth the board. He places the board on his coffee table.

“Alright now we both know the rules?” He asks, all polite. Jamie just nods. “Good, but I should warn you I am a champ at this game. And I won’t go easy on you.” Jamie gives him a look that says ‘try it’ and it’s on.

Jamie’s always kind of sucked at board games. He never really played them, far too invested in sports, tv, dating. His mum had played a few with him, usually mercilessly wrecking him and telling him he was a sweetheart for letting an old gal like her win. It’s not that he doesn’t get the rules or anything, it’s just not something he’s invested a lot of time in. Or thought really. So sitting cross legged on Ted’s floor, eagerly leaning over the game of Jenga that Ted brought out, is a new kind of feeling. It’s a happy one. Ted had, as expected, beaten him at Ludo. He’d been super encouraging the whole time though.

“Uh I believe you touched that one.” Jamie points out, watching Ted like a hawk. “House rules.” Ted scrunches his nose but agrees and begins the task of trying to work out his best to pull the piece out. Ted closes one eye and manages, by some kind of miracle, to get the single piece neatly out of the Jenga tower.

“The laws of physics salute me.” Ted says with a grin. Jamie almost wants to grump but watching the tower drop neatly down was kind of fucking impressive. Jamie plays it safe. Taking a piece from a row that still has three.

“Go on then, dazzle us.” Jamie teases. Ted pulls of another insane move, leaving Jamie to feel the pressure. Unfortunately, he picks the wrong piece and the whole thing tumbles.

“Fuck!” Jamie yelps, more in surprise at the pieces flying everywhere than annoyance. Ted laughs a little.

“Alright, loser takes some punishment.” Ted says, still chortling. Jamie freezes slightly, because this was just meant to be fun. Fuck he hadn’t actually been bothered by losing. Fuck. “You ticklish Jamie?” Jamie stares at Ted like he just asked him streak around Richmond or something.

“What?” He asks.

“Ticklish.” Ted repeats. Jamie flushes slightly because he is. He’s just never really admitted to it because it’s embarrassing. Who the fuck wants to be ticklish? Ted raises his hands and waggles his fingers expectantly. Jamie’s off like a shot. They’re sprinting around Ted’s appartement, with Jamie at one point diving over the bed to escape. They’ve definitely pissed off Ted’s upstairs neighbour, Mrs Ship or whatever. They’re back in the living room and Jamie is leaning against the couch, moving side to side to avoid Ted like he’s got a fucking chainsaw.

“Can’t I just, do like a shot of cinnamon or something?” Jamie asks. Ted drops his hands, waggling fucks, and stares.

“No that’s disgusting. It’ll dry your mouth out faster than the Nevada desert.” He says.

“I could shot tea.” Jamie offers, raising one eyebrow and pointing at Ted. Ted thinks about it.

“Garbage water it is.” He agrees and Jamie sags in relief. He doesn’t hate tea and the cup Ted makes him is more sugar than tea.

“You trying to ruin my sexy body?” Jamie asks as he takes a sip.

“I figured it would taste better with more sugar.” Ted says. “Don’t all y’all kids like sugar.” Jamie shrugs like he doesn’t mind either way. Ted shrugs too, ambling off to tidy up the mess they made. Jamie sits back on the floor, sipping at his tea and grimacing. How the fuck Roy drinks this shit, he doesn’t know. Just as he sets the mug down a blanket appears at him. He flinches slightly but picks it up.

“What’s this for?” Jamie asks, like Ted’s handed him a fucking book again or some shit.

“It gets cold round this time.” Ted says simply. “C’mon now budge up, I’m thinking it’s time for a movie.” Jamie does as he’s told because when in Reno right? Ted’s moving back and forth between the kitchen and suddenly there’s popcorn, hula hoops and crisps. Ted grabs another blanket (fuck there’s a lot of blankets floating about) and settles down next to Jamie. Jamie tugs the blanket (Richmond fucking blue of course) and wraps it round himself. Ted’s talking and moving his hands, discussing the pros and cons of the movies on Netflix. Jamie settling his back against the couch and listens half heartedly. The control lands in his lap and he sort of stares at it. Ted’s smiling at him. Jamie has no clue what to watch.

So he sticks on fucking Toy Story.

At some point, he dozes. Maybe because he’s tired, or because he’s seen Toy Story a thousand times, or because he just feels like he can. He ends up smushed against Ted, eyes heavy, before his body just caves and he’s out. It’s warm and cosy, and there’s an arm reaching round him to cuddle. He’s almost missed cuddling. And most of the men he grew up around weren’t exactly… well they weren’t the cuddling type. Ted clearly is because he’s tugged Jamie close, soothingly rubbing his arm up and down.

He wakes up the next morning on the couch, wondering when the fuck that happened. He’s a light sleeper usually. He doesn’t have time to ponder it as Ted pops into view.

“Morning Jamie, cereal?” He asks, like this is the most normal thing in the world. Like players regularly crash on his couch.

As Jamie stretches and drags himself out of the makeshift bed he realises.

It feels right to him.

[oddarin]

It is one of the most meaningless thing I’ve done in time - all least-to-most ranks and just characters’ fact answers (those that with no pictures) from oficial Ask Arcana gathered in one place. Have no idea what that information could be used for and if it even useful but it kept me occupied and distracted from some life shit for a while, so let it be.

who is most to least likely to enjoy the movie Frozen? Lucio, Portia, Julian, Asra, Muriel, Nadia

Out of the cast, who is the most to least likely to be the jealous type? Portia, Lucio, Muriel & Nadia (tied), Julian, Asra

would you like to rank the characters from who cries most to least ugly? like from sniveling to shoujo manga tears? Muriel, Lucio, Julian, Portia, Asra, Nadia

who is the most to least superstitious Portia, Julian, Nadia, Lucio, Asra, Muriel

most to least excited to be at a WWE event Portia, Lucio, Asra, Julian, Nadia, Muriel

From worst to best at handling children Nadia, Lucio, Muriel, Asra, Portia, Julian

From worst to best for alcohol tolerance Muriel, Asra, Lucio, Julian, Portia, Nadia

Character ranking from best at keeping secrets to loose-liped gossip? Asra, Muriel, Nadia, Lucio, Portia, Julian

best to worst dancers? Asra, Portia, Julian, Nadia, Lucio, Muriel

Most to Least likely to slap you for stealing a mcnugget Nadia, Lucio, Asra, Portia, Julian, Muriel

Least to most likely to eat something weird (read: probably shouldn't be eaten) because of a dare? Nadia, Julian, Muriel, Lucio, Portia, Asra and not even on a dare

how old are each of the revealed characters? everyone is old, but in order of least old to most old: Asra, Portia, Muriel, Julian, Lucio, Nadia

Who's the best kisser? Who's the worst? Best kisser: Faust (good snake smooches) Worst kissers: Mercedes and Melchior (too much cronch)

-------------------------------------------------

If the main 6 played MTG what color decks would they play? Asra: Blue Nadia: White Julian: Black (Portia made his for him) Portia: White/Green Muriel: Green Lucio: Red

How did cast look as babies? Nadia: The best baby, perfect in form and function Asra: A cute baby, always looking around Julian: Not the most handsome baby, a little gangly Portia: Round, squealing delightful baby Lucio: Red-faced screaming awful baby Muriel: Sturdy and well insulated for the long winter

Of the main six characters, which ones are capable of juggling and which ones would absolutely love doing needlepoint? capable of juggling: Portia, Asra, Muriel absolutely love doing needlepoint: Nadia, Julian incapable of juggling/ absolutely hate doing needlepoint: Lucio

what would the cast choose as their job in the mmo final Fantasy XIV? Julian: Dragoon Asra: Astrologian Lucio: Ninja, but he messes up the mudras Nadia: Machinist Portia: Summoner Muriel: Paladin

What would be the favorite attractions/rides of the cast at Disney? Julian: Pirates of the Caribbean Asra: Astro Orbiter Lucio: Tower of Terror (RIP) Muriel: Matterhorn Portia: California Screamin' Nadia: Carousel of Progress

What do the rest of the cast smell like? Nadia: Les Larmes Sacree Du Thebes by Baccarat Asra: Lord of Misrule Lush Shower Cream Julian: Leather seats in a rental car Portia: Cocoa butter and laundry soap Lucio: Fireball, Axe body spray & ass Muriel: myrrh

What board game would The Arcana gang be? Nadia: Clue Asra: Twister Julian: Sorry! Portia: Mouse Trap Lucio: Monopoly Muriel: Guess Who

Who do all the cast main in over watch? Nadia: Ana Asra: Sombra Julian: Reaper Portia: Zarya Muriel: Bastion Lucio: Genji

If everyone participated in a Winter Olympic sport, which one would they be in? Nadia: figure skate (singles) Asra: snowboarding Julian: alpine ski Portia: freestyle ski Muriel: luge Lucio: ice hockey

Main casts Starbucks orders? Julian: Black coffee and he flirts with the barista until it’s ready. Nadia: London Fog Latte. She comes in at exactly 8 every morning. Asra: Matcha latte unless there’s a new radioactive-looking Frappuccino flavor and then he gets that. Muriel: Waiting outside in the car, asks Asra to get him a water. Asra comes back with a hot chocolate and a cake pop. Muriel grumbles but accepts them every time. Lucio: Salted Caramel Mocha extra whip extra sprinkles nonfat no foam soy upside down actually coconut milk instead and then he yells at you if you get it wrong. Portia: Pink Drink and all the baristas get excited when she walks in because they love her and she always tips.

The cast as Kanye songs Nadia: Power Lucio: No Church in the Wild Asra: Love Lockdown Julian: Heartless Portia: Paranoid Muriel: Coldest Winter

Which characters would be in the fire, water, earth, and air nations? Slightly different from what you asked, but: Asra - waterbender Nadia - airbender Julian & Portia - non-benders Muriel - Earthbender Lucio - Firebender

What kind of parents are the cast at their child’s soccer game? Nadia: standing on the sidelines in sunglasses and heels biting her thumbnail and watching every move on the field because she doesnt trust the ref Asra: cheers whenever anything happens, takes as many kids as can fit in the car out for ice cream but doesn’t check with the parents Julian: chats up the other parents relentlessly and isn’t watching when his kid gets hit in the face with the ball Portia: “cmon cmon cmon cmon cmon cmon cmon AW WHAT WAS THAT” Muriel: watching from the parking lot inside the car Lucio: yelling on the phone the whole time, spills all 24 oz of his salted caramel mocha on the bench and doesn’t do anything about it

Which Disney movie is the favorite of each of the cast? Nadia: Fantasia 2000 Asra: The Emperor’s New Groove Julian: Muppet Treasure Island Portia: Muppet Treasure Island Muriel: The Fox and the Hound Lucio: Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True

what kind of youtube channel would each character have (letsplay, cooking, craft, etc)? Asra: very unstructured mostly-cooking channel that also features videos of him just eating weird things, and videos of Faust existing and being cute Nadia: beauty guru with very polished high-end editing Julian: doesn’t know how to use youtube but Portia made an account for him and uploads her shaky/blurry phone videos of his jazz performances Portia: likes and comments on all of Nadia’s videos while occasionally posting cute cat vids Muriel: does not have an internet connection Lucio: extremely loud letsplayer, mostly FPS

What would the cast be as animal crossing villagers? Muriel: Cranky Bear Julian: Smug Eagle Portia: Uchi Cat Nadia: Snooty Ostrich Asra: Lazy Wolf Lucio: Jock Goat

What Fire Emblem Fates' classes would each character be? Asra - Diviner Nadia - Priestess Julian - Adventurer Portia - Maid Muriel - Wolfskin Lucio - Berserker

if the arcana cast were naruto characters, which ones would they be Portia: Naruto Muriel: Gaara Lucio: Orochimaru Julian: Itachi Asra: Kakashi Nadia: Fancy Shikamaru

If the characters of arcana watched rupaul's drag race who would be their faves? Nadia: bebe, raja, peppermint Asra: yara, aja, adore Julian: nina bo’nina, sasha, raven Portia: chichi, bob, ginger Lucio: willam, kimora, mimi imfurst Muriel: Latrice Royale

WHAT ARE THE CHARAS PREFERRED FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM? Nadia: Lavender Lemon Asra: Rainbow Sorbet Julian: Pistachio Portia: Cookie Dough Muriel: Rocky Road Lucio: Red Velvet

Please please arcana cast as mcr songs Lucio: It’s Not a Fashion Statement, It’s a Deathwish Julian: Thank You For The Venom Asra: Welcome To The Black Parade Muriel: House of Wolves Nadia: You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison Portia: Give Em Hell Kid

What are the characters going to be for Halloween? Asra - glow-in-the-dark mermaid Nadia - [elegant ballgown interpretation of] a swan Julian - tortured vampire/werewolf hybrid Muriel - sheet ghost Portia - ninja turtle Lucio - slutty angel Faust - a very long hot dog

If you had to assign the characters from the Arcana to characters from Labyrinth who would they be? Nadia: Jareth Asra: Sara Julian: Sir Didymus Portia: Hoggle Muriel: Ludo Lucio: The Chilly Down birds

What's each character's favourite fruits? Nadia: Concord Grape Asra: Blue Raspberry Julian: Fig Portia: Banana Muriel: Lemon Lucio: Pomegranate

what's everyone's favorite season? Asra - spring Nadia - summer Julian - autumn Muriel - winter Portia - spring Lucio - summer

Who would the Arcana cast be in a cliche Noir Film? Nadia: boss with kinetic ball bearing desk ornament and brandy in the drawer Asra: first love turned old flame that you run into halfway around the world Julian: haggard scientist with an unbuttoned shirt scribbling on the walls Portia: wisecracking secretary who takes a bus a train and a ferry to work Muriel: ominous farmer that lets people use the phone after a car breaks down Lucio: raging starlet shattering a vase after being blacklisted by every studio

The Arcana cast as Michael Jackson songs? Nadia: Man in the Mirror Asra: You Are Not Alone Julian: Smooth Criminal Portia: Will You Be There Muriel: Ben Lucio: Bad

What would each character be in cats? This probably wasn’t supposed to be Cats the musical but if you think i’m gonna pass this up Nadia: None they’re all awful/ Munkustrap Asra: Mister Mistoffelees Julian: Macavity Portia: Jennyanydots Lucio: Rum Tum Tugger Muriel: Grizabella

what would their favorite emojis be? Asra: 🌚 Nadia: 🍷 Julian: 🎷 Portia: 👀 Muriel: 👁 Lucio: 💃💸😏👑

What panic at the disco songs describe each character best? Julian: Death of a Bachelor Asra: I Write Sins Not Tragedies Portia: She’s a Handsome Woman Nadia: Northern Downpour Lucio: Victorious Muriel: From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins

What stereotypes for a super cliché highschool do the characters fall into? Nadia: Valedictorian who has been doing independent study and hasn’t set foot in the building for the past two years Asra: Shows up late every class with loud ass Sunchips, does homework in glow in the dark gel pen Julian: Eats lunch with his teacher so they can keep talking about mitochondria Portia: Gets really hype about dances, always ends up fighting at dances Muriel: Puts away all the folding chairs that everyone left behind Lucio: Gets on the intercom to talk shit about the teacher who gave him a D+ on his plagiarized essay

What sports would the characters play? And would they be any good at those sports? Muriel: Any solitary sport. He likes track and shotput. Nadia: Swimming. She isn’t on a team, she just likes the water. Portia: Wrestling. She’s got a few championship belts. Julian: Grandma Devorak forced him to take One Sport in high school, and he chose long-distance running. Asra: Beach volleyball and snowboarding. He’s just there to have a good time. Lucio: Ice hockey, but he spends it mostly punching other players.

what dragons from books/movies/games match each character best, would you say? As for dragons, one of our writers plays Flight Rising obsessively so here’s every character as a Flight Rising breed. Asra: Fae Nadia: Imperial Lucio: Wildclaw Muriel: Guardian Julian: Skydancer Portia: Snapper

What is each character most likely to do with the mc when they're feeling 'unusually affectionate'? Nadia: feed them champagne grapes and engage them in conversation so she can watch them try to talk with their mouth full Asra: stare at them and stop acknowledging anyone or anything else Julian: preen and spoil them to the point of being a public embarrassment Portia: constant cuddly contact Muriel: follow them at a respectable distance Lucio: belt out an aria at the sight of them

What's everyone favorite manga if they read any in this world? Nadia: Rose of Versailles Asra: Yugioh Julian: Blackjack Portia: Ranma ½ Muriel: Hunter x Hunter Lucio: Berserk

how much does faust like all the characters? like, who does she like the most/least? does she like the main character at all? Faust adores the main character almost as much as she loves Asra. But if she had to choose from the rest: Most good smelling: Nadia Most fun to squeeze: Julian Most too big to eat: Muriel Most hard to hide from: Portia Most attackable: Lucio

what kind of drunk is everybody? Nadia: capable, professional drunk on the move. Never in the same room twice Asra: touchy-feely but won’t leave the couch, still somehow manages to catch on fire Julian: morphs into The Storyteller, everyone in earshot ends up caught in a dramatic reenactment of his life story waiting for him to take a breath but he never does Portia: makes 6 new friends in the bathroom line Muriel: moody, talks to no one, keeps taking everybody’s empty bottles out to the trash Lucio: the loudest, the drama, the legend, the first to dip out when the cops show up

Of the Characters: Who tells a dirty joke? Who doesn't understand it? Who is disgusted? Who laughs? Who hides a smile? Who gets annoyed? Lucio: tells a dirty joke Muriel: doesn’t understand it Julian: is disgusted Asra: laughs Portia: hides a smile Nadia: gets annoyed

What are the characters usual reactions when subbing their toes? Nadia: It Does Not Happen Asra: hops it off Julian: hissing, closes his eyes while he savors the pain Portia: (string of curses) “ok………. i’m fine” Muriel: doesn’t notice because his toes are too far away Lucio: shrieks, revenge kicks the wall, shrieks harder

what you think everyones deadly sin would be? the deadly cliches: Nadia - Pride Asra - Lust Julian - Wrath Portia - Envy Muriel - Sloth Lucio - Gluttony

On a scale of good to bad, who sings karaoke? Nadia has a silky voice with impeccable vibrato. But she only sings karaoke alone in the bath. Asra has an airy, intimate voice. He’s the worst at karaoke because he doesn’t even get up off the couch. Julian has very limited singing ability, but he will talk sing the whole way through if he has to. He’s great at duets, somehow. Portia has a throaty, powerful voice. She brings the house down with Heart and Bonnie Tyler ballads, even if she squeaks on the high notes. Muriel has a gravelly grumble that he is convinced is useless for singing and if you hand him the microphone he’ll drop it and go stand in the corner. Lucio has an overdone musical theater voice but he is tone deaf. He will shout out the high notes and power through the rest and if you try to skip his song there will be hell to pay

which social media platform which each character Prefer™ ? Asra - twitter (RTs a lot of memes and shitposts, posts incomprehensible dril-like tweets at 3am) Nadia - instagram (flawless makeup and aesthetic™) Julian - yahoo answers Portia - snapchat Muriel - what is social media Lucio - LinkedIn (you will NEVER stop getting email notifications from him)

what dnd classes would the cast be (like mage, assassin, cleric etc)? Nadia: Paladin Asra: Warlock Julian: Rogue Portia: Bard Muriel: Fighter Lucio: Barbarian

what would each characters spice girl name be Asra: Mystery Spice Nadia: Boss Spice Julian: Suffering Spice Portia: Sassy Spice Muriel: Surly Spice Lucio: Spicy Spice

how complicated is each character's personal hygiene routine? Nadia’s personal hygiene routine: an exact science and takes a practiced team of servants to execute. Julian’s personal hygiene routine: splashing his face 5-7 times and gargling with his famous mint vodka peroxide formula Asra’s personal hygiene routine: sticking his head underwater until he’s awake Portia’s personal hygiene routine: putting her hair in a bun and scrubbing herself with a cloth and bucket down by the frog pond Lucio’s personal hygiene routine: milk and caviar bath every 13 hours Muriel’s personal hygiene routine: standing in the pouring rain

What's everyone's favorite alcoholic drinks? Asra - St Germain, tequila, blue curaçao,  lime juice, hibiscus syrup (serve in a champagne flute or martini glass, garnished with a wildflower or tiny umbrella) Julian - whiskey, Kahlua, Grand Marnier, lemon juice (serve in a highball glass) Nadia - Chambord, white wine, seltzer (serve in a wine glass, chilled or on the rocks) Portia - beer & apple cider with a shot of rum (serve in a lowball glass) Muriel - Baileys, butterscotch schnapps, hot chocolate (serve warm, in your coziest mug) Lucio - Jägermeister & Goldschläger topped with overproof rum (serve as a flaming shot)

what would be each of the characters' favorite genre of music? Asra: Bossa Nova and EDM Nadia: Obscure Opera and Calming beach sounds Julian: 20 minute tracks of Quality Jazz Portia: Reggae and dad rock Muriel: New wave and white noise Lucio: Top 40 and Dark Funky Disco

who would the arcana characters be from mean girls?? Asra: the guy who asked what day it was Nadia: cady Julian: gretchen weiners Portia: janis Lucio: regina george Muriel: damian

Which Hogwarts house would each of the Main Cast belong in? Asra & Julian - Ravenclaw Nadia - Slytherin Portia & Muriel - Hufflepuff Lucio - Gryffindor

What would the characters modern!au job/career of choice be? Lucio owns and manages several nightclubs and has a trashy daytime talk show Asra does really low-budget magic shows at kids’ birthday parties by day, and DJs at one of Lucio’s clubs at night Nadia is the city mayor, an international chess champion, and concert pianist Portia works at Home Depot (used to be a waitress at Red Lobster but the tips were terrible), but she wants to be a zookeeper Julian is a doctor at an underfunded hospital with lots of drama Muriel lives off the grid in a broken-down van in the woods

Just due to mild curiosity what would be the casts favorite musicals? Asra - Legally Blonde: The Musical Nadia - Chicago Julian - Les Mis Muriel - Wicked Portia - Cats! Lucio - Phantom of the Opera / Kinky Boots (it’s a tie)

what cryptid is every character Asra = Chupacabra Julian = Mothman Nadia = Nessie Portia = Loveland Frog Muriel = Bigfoot Lucio = Jersey Devil

how would the game's characters celebrate the MC's birthday with them?? Asra would take them on a long journey without telling them where they were going (but would keep them entertained with riddles) to a scenic oasis, where he would pretend to drown so MC has to dive into the water and at the bottom is a magic flute that can summon a swarm of bees (their favorite!) Nadia would throw a tastefully brief festival in their honor. MC would be lavished with pampering (by professional pamperers) from dawn to dusk and when the clock struck midnight, they would be presented with seven bejeweled eagles (one for every day of the week) Julian would meet them for dinner in a shady tavern, bring them heaping plates of food and offer unsolicited advice for the coming year. About halfway through the meal he would have to scramble out the back door because law enforcement arrived on the scene but he’d put it an order in the kitchen to bring them something for dessert Lucio would declare the day a holiday and call it Day of the Beloved One of Lucio. They would have to sit uncomfortably still while a master artiste painted their portrait and a mile-long line of peasants laid gifts at their feet. Muriel doesn’t celebrate birthdays because time is a human construct Portia would throw a big loud party with a barbecue :D

Since it is soon, what would the characters do for Valentines day with us (the MC)? Nadia would take you on an elegant river cruise stocked with 130 varieties of tiny cake and a private crooner hired to serenade you but she would end up throwing them overboard for not hitting the high notes Asra would take you to the mall and splurge on all the stuff you both can’t afford but wait way too long to get lunch so you get into a fight and he proposes in the food court Julian would show up on the 15th after with all the candy he scored at 75% off, pretend it was on purpose that he got the day wrong, and wake you up at 3 am to come clean because the guilt was eating him alive Muriel would light some scented candles, cook up a sensual meal and throw a bearskin rug in front of the fireplace for you to enjoy alone while he escapes into the woods Portia would pack a picnic of chicken and tortilla chips, take you to the beach where you could splash around until the sun goes down and lull you to sleep on the sandy blanket with her acoustic guitar Lucio would have servants fill your room with floor to ceiling flowers while you sleep and wait impatiently for you to wake up like

Would you roommate with any of the characters? it’s hard to decide, so here are some pros and cons Asra - pro: never home / con: leaves dishes in the sink for weeks Nadia - pro: your home will be spotless / con: it’s spotless because she orders you to clean it for her Julian - pro: medical professional / con: half of your apartment is now this

rate the characters on how #extra they are Muriel: 4/10 Lucio: 13/10 Everyone else: 10/10

Which character could be best described as "tender"?? "Spicy"??? “tender”: Muriel “tender”/“Spicy”: Asra, Portia “Spicy”/”tender”: Julian, Nadia “Spicy”: Lucio

what the favorite Pokemon of all the characters were. Asra - Ekans, Delphox, Espeon Nadia - Noctowl, Gardevoir, Musharna Julian - Absol, Bisharp, Murkrow Portia - Chansey, Politoed, Hoothoot Muriel - Pangoro, Aggron, Wigglytuff Lucio - Houndoom, Pyroar, Skarmory

[thetrinketgal-collection]

Ludo (Labyrinth) - Funko Pop

And speaking of the devil...

There are characters suited for ‘the Funko Pop Look', but they are few and far between. Sweet Ludo here is, to my surprise, one of them!

Last Christmas, a friend of mine introduced me to Labyrinth Funko Pops, and I swore to myself that if I ever ran into Ludo’s, I would get him. Labyrinth merch is not easy to come by, and he looked so cute... I have to say, he’s even better in person! I’m in love! >w<

He is not 100% accurate, but he is recognisable and sooooo lovely!

Look at his three-toe feet and his three-finger hands, and his tail:

And his face is just so perfect...

I also like the size of the figure - he’s bigger than regular Pops:

(his box is just too big, it doesn’t fit anywhere >.<)

He’s bigger than a Q Posket and has a nice weight to him, not too much, just enough.

I’d like to customise a little my other Funko Pops because their vacant, dead eyes creep me out, but not Ludo - sweet little cuddly Ludo is perfect just the way he is!

[sunnymusingsao3]

director's commentary: haunt me, then? :3c

Behind the Scenes: Fanfic Edition

Edit Post-Writing: Buckle up, friends, this got LONG (so sorry slkdjf)

So you, Crow, were there when we discussed the idea to haunt me, then, so I'll try and keep this about stuff that you may not have seen! However, before I do that, a quick tl;dr for those who did not see us hollering about this idea lol:

It happened right after we got the Rise of the Titans teaser trailer, back when we still knew so little about the movie itself. In the teaser, we saw Bellroc and their cool fire titan, and that spawned a whole myriad of ideas-- some earnest speculation, others just forming from the metaphorical playground because they were fun. One such idea that, if I remember correctly, was somewhere in between "wouldn't this hurt?" and "oh god what if it actually did happen?" was born, in order to explain why Skrael wasn't present in the teaser. Crow suggested the truly heartbreaking (compliment) idea that someone had to be sacrificed in order to raise the volcanic titan, and oh boy did that one gain legs.

So, moving on, I got permission from Crow to write this fic because the idea was just so good, and also because I was really in the mood to write something in the vein of horror, with romantic themes undercutting it. I was very enticed by the idea of monstrous love, and the different forms it can take, as well as the idea of loving someone so much that when it comes time to sacrifice them, you do it, because you know that not doing it would feel too much like coddling them. You have a mission that you both would lay down your lives for; to not allow your lover the chance to do so, when it is necessary, would feel like dishonor-- it would be an insult.

So this was the thesis of the fic, as it were; the central idea behind all of the themes and imagery that I wanted to explore.

Now on to some things that, to my memory, were not told to anyone as I was writing!

I toyed a LOT with the idea of Skrael figuring them out before they actually sacrificed him; I ended up landing on "he's suspicious, but doesn't stop them"

The reasons he has for not stopping them are: 1. It's his job 2. He was always prepared for the possibility that only one of them would end up making it to the new world 3. He wants to see if they did their research; was this an impulse decision, or are they really sure about this?

By the time they stop him from grabbing his staff, he is sure that it's not an impulse decision; that was his last reservation-- because if he can get his staff, he can fight back. But if they ensured that he couldn't even fight back, then it meant that they'd prepared for even the least likely outcome. It's not that he doesn't believe they know what they're doing, but it reassures him to know that they are taking extra measures to stay safe, and to make sure their plans come to fruition

In the final act, where they lean him over the volcano's lip, it's a much calmer version of what I'd initially had in mind, but I liked it better because the slow inevitability was more compelling to me. It felt like a natural progression. And if I wanted drama, it could come after, when the grief actually hits Bellroc, so there was less harm in delaying some of that higher emotion for a little bit later in the fic

The more dramatic version, however, was Skrael beginning to fall, and him grabbing their arm on instinct. It was a good image, the idea of him dangling openly, held only by a hand that he knows now is going to let go, but it also felt too much like Skrael didn't know what was happening beforehand, which didn't feel like the right character choice for him. He admits to being unfamiliar with the ritual they're about to perform, but the pieces rather start to add up, and he's always been good at reading Bellroc.

Speaking of that ritual, I imagined that he is less familiar with this one because it's one born of fire magic, and he just simply does not possess the necessary understanding of that magic to make it-- in his mind-- worth his while to read the spellbook it's in. He's surely dabbled in reading about fire magic a little, because it's smart to at least have some level of understanding when you live with a fire mage, but it's more like he was reading the Fire Magic 101 textbooks, while Bellroc was about to submit their PhD dissertation.

However, though he is less familiar with the ritual in the fic, I also like to think that he has a similar one in his own practice. He hasn't needed to use it, but he knows it, however distantly. I think it would involve a much, much slower death for his sacrifice, leaving them exposed to the ice and the elements, to slowly wear the person away. This would be why, if the Order were given the choice between Bellroc's ritual and his, Skrael would always push to be the sacrifice in theirs, because he does not think he could be steadfast enough to last the length of their death. With his death in theirs, he knows it would be quick, and they'd have little chance of changing their mind, but with them in his, he'd have to wait hours to days, and he just doesn't think he could subject them to that.

It's linked in the fic itself, so this is known, but the song that inspired this was The Horror of Our Love by Ludo. However, the other songs I primarily listened to for this were Eternally Yours by Motionless in White, Brutus by The Buttress, and a slowed version of Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer (blood warning). These helped set the mood, and then in between them, I wrote to darker classical music playlists on Youtube!

The quote at the end was almost the one from Black Panther, between W'Kabi and Okoye: "Would you kill me, my love?" "For Wakanda? Without question."

I went with the Wuthering Heights one, however, because it felt more appropriate to Bellroc's grief, and since that grief was focused on less in the fic than the sacrifice parts, I wanted to highlight it a little more

This was also an idea I talked about with Crow, but I wanted to share it here, too, since idk if it'll ever gain proper legs, but I really like the idea of, after this, Bellroc becoming the new North Wind, as well as the Keeper of the Flame, because I don't think you can truly get rid of the North Wind. But, perhaps the "powers that be" (whether that's something sentient or not) see that they've only really got two options left for who they could make the new North Wind, and, well, Bellroc's got his staff already, and they're right there when he dies, so maybe they just kinda... pop that magic right in there

It's a very AU idea though lol, so I'm not sure if there's enough grounded basis for it

However, if I ever did write it, I also really like the alternate idea of... the best way I can describe it is Greeling in FMA:B? Body sharing, basically, and Skrael being a whisper in the back of their head. When they want the North Wind to "take over" as it were, they don't change their form or anything, but suddenly, they grow very, very cold, and they can no longer perform fire magic, but ice magic, instead

I just think it would be neat to see the North Wind and the Keeper of the Flame as one person, whether it's only one soul in the body, or two!

This is one of like, three fics I've considered making a podfic for!

I think that's about everything I can think of off the top of my head, but if there's anything else you or someone else would like to ask about, please feel free to come into the inbox again! <3

[atinyrabbit]

love/hate songs

Since 8tracks is messed up and playmoss is gonna disappear and Spotify doesn't have many songs, I’m posting some of my playlists here. This is a list of songs about love/hate relationships for pairings. Enemies to lovers, tsundere personalities, hero/villain couplings, opposites attract, loving someone you know you shouldn't. This list is several years old so the songs are older and kinda ‘scene.’

Major trigger warnings for the lyrics of these songs. Some songs have violent lyrics. This playlist romanticizes conflict.

Song list under read more:

Love to Hate You - Erasure Nicotine - Panic! at the Disco Don't Let It Go To Your Head - Fefe Dobson Your Love Will Kill Me - Daniel Lavoie Bruises and Bitemarks (Remix) - Good With Grenades October & April - The Rasmus feat. Anette Olzon Violator - Son of Rust Sick Amore - El Creepo Disgusting - Ke$ha Dangerous - Depeche Mode Oleander - Mother Mother Fear & Delight - The Correspondents Love is a Suicide - Natalia Kills Sex as a Weapon - Pat Benatar I'd Love To Kill You - Katie Melua Before I Ever Met You - Banks Rent - Pet Shop Boys Helpless When She Smiles - Backstreet Boys Holy - Zolita Strangelove - Depeche Mode I Won't Say (I'm In Love) - Susan Egan Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd Only You - Ellie Goulding Devil Devil - Milck Livin' In A World Without You - The Rasmus  

Hate Love - Adelitas Way Suddenly - Peter Heppner Sick and Twisted Affair - My Darkest Days Radioactive Mirrors - Amazinglyjon Dangerous - Cascada Violence (Club Mix) - Grimes & i_o This Is Love - Air Traffic Controller Make Hate To Me - Citizen Soldier Gently Break It - Beck Pete Portrait of a Female - Cruel Youth This Could Be Love - Alkaline Trio Lie, Lie, Lie - Myra You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi I Only Wanna Be With You - Volbeat Maybe You're Not the Worst Thing Ever - Cast of Galavant I've Got You Under My Skin - Seether Human - Oh Land Le Bien Qui Fait Mal - Mozart, L'Opera Rock Can't Help Falling In Love [Light x Dark Remix] - feat. Brooke Tommee Profitt Fell For You - Green Day Stupid Grin - Dragonette Broken - Lauren Hoffman Take Me to Church - Hozier Super Psycho Love - Simon Curtis Whip - Mr.Kitty   Get You Off - Fefe Dobson Crazy Girl - Ke$ha Vice - POP ETC Cannibal - Silversun Pickups Rest in Peace - Original Cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Hem of Your Garment - Cake Tear You Apart - She Wants Revenge Truth Or Dare - Marianas Trench We Sink - CHVRCHES Gingerbread Man - Melanie Martinez You Stupid Girl - Framing Hanley   Die For You - Red F*cking Boyfriend - The Bird & The Bee Mean - Nicole Dollanganger Must Be Crazy for Me - Melissa Etheridge That Girl - Alexz Johnson FMLYHM - Seether Bad Romance - Halestorm Aquarius - Within Temptation Flirt (With Me) - Zeromancer I'm With Stupid - Pet Shop Boys Stop This Song (Love Sick Melody) - Paramore Trying Not To Love You - Nickelback Kill for You - Zolita A Love Like War - All Time Low You Need Me - SWANS Hatef--k - The Bravery Bottled Affection - Cold War Kids True Love - ThouShaltNot Terrible Thing - Ag I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters Exit Wounds - The Romanovs Gun - Chvrches Every Breath You Take - Chase Holfelder Whole Lotta Love - Smash Mouth Bloodsport - Sneaker Pimps XXX - Imran-C Bitter Rivals - Sleigh Bells Destruction Of Us - Mr.Kitty Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer Love Me Dead - Ludo Paralyzed - The Used River - Bishop Briggs Neon - VERSA Sucker For Pain - Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa & Imagine Dragons I'm Your Villain - Franz Ferdinand Beautiful Monster - Ne-Yo I Own You - Birgit Let Me Be Your Armor - ASSEMBLAGE 23 Perfect Enemy - t.A.T.u. Straight for the Knife - Sia One More Night - Maroon 5 I Hate You (Don't Leave Me) - Ke$ha The Moth - Aimee Mann Mad Love - The Veronicas Toxic (Acoustic Britney Spears Cover) - Johnny Goth Bad Intentions - Digital Daggers Shut Up - Nick Lachey Soldier - Bitter Ruin First Bad Habit - Vanessa Hudgens In The Darkness - Dead By Sunrise Tearin' Up My Heart - *NSYNC You'll Be Back - Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton & Jonathan Groff Crazy In A Good Way - VERIDIA Combat Baby - Metric In Bluebeard's Castle - Unwoman When Doves Cry - Prince State of Seduction - Digital Daggers Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert Broken Inside - Broken Iris Murder (feat. Minx, Chilled) - Boyinaband Why Do You Love Me - Charlotte Lawrence Follow You Home - Nickelback Love To See You Cry - Enrique Iglesias Impressed - Natalie Imbruglia Die For You - Megan McCauley Your Kind (Speak to Me) - Danger Radio Tyrant - The Bravery Violent Games - Polica Toxicated Love - NEO Nemeses (feat. John Roderick) - Jonathan Coulton Miserable - Lit Running From My Shadow - The Velvet Teaparty Barricade - Stars Trouble (Stripped) - Halsey Brutal Hearts - Bedouin Soundclash Desire - Meg Myers Sticks And Stones - The Pierces Just the Girl - The Click Five Himerus and Eros - The Spill Canvas Blood - In This Moment I'm Insane - Myah Marie Fiction (Dreams In Digital) - Orgy Whore - In This Moment Monster - Ryan Adames Foundations - Kate Nash Only When I Lose Myself - Depeche Mode Hatchet - Archive The Beginning of the Twist - The Futureheads Change - Deftones Trust Me - Marc Senter Love Me Hate Kiss Me Kill Me (Scndl Remix) - Fukkk Offf Big Bad Handsome Man - Imelda May The Mighty Fall - Fall Out Boy My Obsession - Cinema Bizarre Stitches - Orgy Miss Kiss Kiss Bang - Alex Swings Oscar Sings! Sweet Dreams - Beyonce Fuel To The Fire - The Maine Closer (Nine Inch Nails Cover) - Niki Barr Band Clueless - Orla Gartland Devil Woman - Cliff Richard Hatefuck - Motionless In White I Love You But I Don’t Like You - Molly Moore Overpower Thee - AUF dER MAUR Get Down On Your Knees And Tell Me You Love Me - All Time Low Post Blue - Placebo Genghis Khan - Miike Snow Poison - Alice Cooper I Know I'm A Wolf - Young Heretics Little Toy Gun - honeyhoney I Miss the Misery - Halestorm Dirty Sticky Floors (radio mix) - Dave Gahan Clarity - Zedd I Get A Kick Out Of You - Frank Sinatra I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Die for You - Otherwise Labyrinth - Oomph! Black Black Heart - David Usher I Want to Destroy Something Beautiful - Josh Woodward I'm a Priest - Daniel Lavoie You Need Me - SWANS Afraid of the Dark - Phildel Virus - Ryan Adames I Wanna Be Your Dog (remix) - Emilie Simon Hello Goodbye - The Beatles Sarcasm (Album Version) - Get Scared Use Me - Hinder Poison & Wine - The Civil Wars Pretty When You Cry - VAST Tainted Love - Soft Cell Scream - Avenged Sevenfold Think About It - Danger Radio Gallery Piece - Of Montreal Bang Bang Bang Bang - Sohodolls Little Girls - Say Anything I Hate Everything About You - Three Days Grace Love Runs Out - OneRepublic Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins Hit Me Like a Man - The Pretty Reckless Bang Bang (feat. Adam Levine) - K'naan Hurts So Good - John Mellencamp Addicted - Kelly Clarkson Whiplash - FEMM Paralyzer - Finger Eleven Crime - Temposhark Misery Loves Company - Emilie Autumn It Was Good for You Too - Marian Call Price Of Company - The White Tie Affair Burn! - Kobra And The Lotus I Love My Lawyer - Ofelia K I Want Blood - empires (I Always Kill) The Things I Love (ft. The Real Tuesday Weld) - Claudia Brucken Misery (Cutmore Radio) - Maroon 5 Fire and Ice - Pat Benatar I Lust You - Neon Neon Pistol Whipped - Marilyn Manson Bitches Brew - Crosses A Formidable Marinade - Mikelangelo And The Black Sea Gentlemen Control - Puddle of Mudd Scary Love - Skye Sweetnam Loveyouhateyou - Sad Robot Untangle Me - Snow Ghosts A Little Taste - Skyler Stonestreet E.V.O.L - Marina and the Diamonds   (You're the) Devil in Disguise - Elvis Presley Shut Up & Kiss - Me Orianthi Cool for Chaos - Nostalghia Oyeme - Enrique Iglesias I Hate You - Sick Puppies GirlShapedLoveDrug - Gomez You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk - Pet Shop Boys Need You Like A Drug - Zeromancer Werewolf - Cat Power Bathwater - No Doubt Bad Dog - Neon Hitch Guns And Horses - Ellie Goulding Rev 22-20 - Puscifer Won't You Please Be Nice - Nellie McKay The Perfect Drug - Nine Inch Nails Until The Day I Die - Story of the Year Womanizer - Britney Spears Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations I Think I Love You David Cassidy Stalkers - Mindless Self Indulgence   Kill Me Every Time - Blue Stahli Preface - FKA twigs Every You Every Me - Placebo Want - Disturbed Spit It Out - IAMX Destroy Me - Mr Kitty My Sweet Prince - Placebo Psycho - Imelda May Monster - Meg Myers Figured You Out - Nickelback Suffocated Love - Tricky Satisfy Me One More Time - Frank Sinatra This Love - Maroon 5 Miss Jackson (feat. Lolo) - Panic! At The Disco Fire and Ice - Pat Benatar Every Other Time Lyte - Funky Ones How Do You Love Someone - Ashley Tisdale Poison - Gin Wigmore Bitter and Sick - One Two The Outsider - Marina & the Diamonds True Love (feat Lily Rose Cooper) - Pink Bad Boy - Cascada Irresistible - Temposhark Painkiller - The Queenstons Born to Die / Russian Roulette - Amazinglyjon Like Sugar - Matchbox Twenty Mad About You - Hooverphonic Stupify - Disturbed Problems - Mother Mother What Is Love - Haddaway Animal - The Cab Marionette - Antonia I Hate You But I Love You - Russian Red Carve A Name - Mother Mother Criminal - Britney Spears Danger - Hilary Duff Fell in Love w/an Android - Simon Curtis Demon Lover - Róisín Murphy Always - Saliva Too Close - Alex Clare Little of Your Time - Maroon 5 Sex and Violence - Scissor Sisters Electric Storm - Delta Goodrem Black widow - Susanne Sundfør Dangerous Kind - Rasmus You've Really Got a Hold on Me - The Miracles Over and Over - Three Days Grace Devour - Marilyn Manson Nature of Inviting - IAMX The Odd Couple - Weezer Hurt Me Harder - Zolita Terrible Love - The National Mad Love - Jojo Boomerang - Reliant K Bad News - Sleeper Agent I Was An Island (EP Version) - Allison Weiss Rock Bottom - Hailee Steinfeld You’re the One That I Want - Lo Fang Poison - Rita Ora Kill For You - Skylar Grey ft Eminem Wouldn't Be Love - Ritual Hate Me - Nico Collins Irresistible - Fall Out Boy I Love You... I'll Kill You - Enigma

[prongsies]

Star Crossed ⁕ Chapter Three

WARNING: Mentions of Blood

←Chapter 2 | Master List

“Pay up!” Thalia exclaimed excitedly as she stopped in front of the two eldest Weasley siblings with her hand up. They looked shocked to see her, mainly because she had been standing with Fred and George in the very back of the group as they walked back to their tents, but stuck their hands in their pockets nonetheless.

Charlie was mumbling under his breath as he dropped two galleons onto Thalia’s palm, while Bill just let out a laugh as he did the same, before excusing himself to catch up to their father.

“We told you it was a bad idea” Fred squeezed himself in between Charlie and Thalia, wrapping an arm around her again. She simply rolled her eyes at him, shrugging his arm away before walking ahead to join Ginny and Hermione.

“Siding with her won’t make her accept your apology” Charlie sang teasingly, punching his Fred’s arm lightly, “What did you do this time?”

“He placed a bet with Ludo Bagman using her guess” George answered humorously.

“Hey, it wasn’t just me!” Fred exclaimed defensively, “You were there too, you know!”

“Yeah, but you did all the talking” replied George, “As far as I’m concerned, we’re in good terms”

Fred groaned, shoving his brothers away as they teased him for Thalia not accepting his apology, before he got fed up and walked away from them.

As soon as they returned to the tent, they shared a hearty dinner of sandwiches prepared by Percy – who had gotten back to the tent earlier than all of them. After they’ve brushed their teeth, Thalia tucked herself into her claimed bunk bed, spreading open a muggle fiction book onto her lap as she drowned out the noise of Fred and George teasing Ron for his immense love for Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian team’s seeker.  

In the middle of her reading, she felt her eyes start to droop from the lack of sleep and the tiredness she felt. Shutting the book and placing it over her chest, she allowed herself to succumb to sleep, smiling when the noise around her vanished.

That was until blood-curdling screams flooded her ears, jolting her awake. She could see Arthur and Bill’s silhouettes peeking outside the tent, and Charlie and Percy standing behind them, wands raised in front of them. Thalia knew something was wrong, so she was quick to jump onto her feet, waking the others as quietly as she could, telling them to get ready.

“Must be the Irish” Fred said sleepily, rubbing his eyes as booming sounds echoed the air.

“Something’s wrong” Thalia muttered as she walked towards Arthur. He looked at her, then peered towards the children already awake, before breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Outside the tent, everyone!” Arthur shouted once the noise started getting louder and louder, and there was already a proper commotion outside as people ran like their lives depended on it – maybe it did. Everyone piled outside, panic running through their bones as people dodged them, running away from a group of masked men in the distance, marching in line towards where they were, incinerating tents along the way. “We’re going to help the ministry! Get into the woods and stick together! I’ll come fetch you when we’ve sorted this out”

With that, they sprinted towards the commotion, leaving the children to themselves. Thalia was quick to run, seeing that Harry, Ron, and Hermione have already gained some distance. She turned to look for Ginny, realizing that she, Fred, and George were all still standing near the tent, frozen in shock as the group slowly neared.

“What are you all standing there for?” Thalia exclaimed, running Fred’s hand to tug him behind her. “George, hold on to Ginny, we’ve got to go!”  

She dragged Fred behind her, relieved to see George with Ginny not far behind, starting to catch up to her. “Fred, please, you’ve got to run!”  

Fred, whose legs were barely moving, was pulled out of his initial shock and blinked at Thalia a few times before finally taking control of his feet. He looked behind, realizing the masked figures were actually Death Eaters, following closely behind them.

“They’re gaining on us, Lia!” Fred exclaimed in panic, picking up his pace. They have reached the woods and so far, everything was going as planned, when the first beam of red light flew past Thalia’s shoulder hitting a tree in front of them. They’re throwing spells now, great.

“Just duck and run, guys!” Thalia screamed, starting to feel tired over balancing navigating the four of them in the forest and throwing spells behind her. She felt a bit of pride having hit one Death Eater who have gotten closer, but since there were about a dozen more behind them, that wasn’t enough.

She felt a stinging pain behind her back as she dodged a low branch, brushing it off as a thorn she hadn’t noticed while they were dodging plants. “Fuck!” She screamed, realizing they’ve reached a dead end, cornered between a wall and the group of Death Eaters that pursued them.  

Without much thought, she shoved Fred, George, and Ginny behind her, stretching an arm to keep them there while raising her wand with the other. “Hold on to me” She muttered, gripping her wand until her knuckled turned white.  

Her eyes flickered to Ginny, noticing how the younger girl was staring up at her like she trusted her with her life – and maybe in this scenario, their lives did depend on her, on what she planned to do next.  

When she was sure everyone was grabbing on to her, she closed her eyes, silently praying to all the gods and deities she knew. Please work, please work, please work.

Just as a death eater muttered the beginning of a Killing Curse, they vanished out of the woods with a soft pop, appearing onto a hill near The Burrow. Thalia lied, moaning as she writhed in main, clutching her sides where blood seeped through her sweater. It’s alright, we’re all alright. Ginny’s safe.

George was quick to pick Thalia up from the ground, wincing as the blood seeped through his shirt as well. He carried her to the Burrow, Fred and Ginny trailing close behind, as he screamed for his mother in panic. He placed her gently onto the sofa, ridding himself off his shirt to press it against Thalia’s side to stop the bleeding while Molly searched through cupboards hurriedly, coming across the potion she was looking for, and immediately joined the two near the sofa.

George lifted Thalia’s shirt on instruction, exposing her wound to Molly, who poured half the bottle over it, erupting a cry of pain from her lips.

“Fred, take Ginny out!” George exclaimed, eyes softening at the frightened look on his little sister who staring at Thalia. Fred, now realizing Ginny was watching, took her outside with him to shield her from the scene, allowing George and Molly to continue treating Thalia.

George collapsed onto the floor minutes later, leaning back against the coffee table in relief after Thalia had been treated and she had passed out. Molly sent out a Patronus to Arthur, informing him that the four of them had arrived, but Thalia was injured, before retrieving a shirt for George from the laundry she had done earlier.

˚✧₊⁎⁺˳✧༚

“What happened?” Molly finally asked, breaking the silence in the living room as she handed out cups of tea to Fred and George. Ginny, who had been a bit shaken up from seeing the person she had grown up with in pain, excused herself to have a hot shower, probably to calm herself.

Fred took a breath, lowering his cup, “We- we were” he cleared his throat, “We were all asleep when Thalia woke us up. People were screaming. We thought it was the Irish at first – celebrating, you know? - but dad... and even Percy were suspecting it wasn’t”

“Dad told us to run into the forest” George, sensing his brother couldn’t continue, filled in for him, “They chased us, the Death Eaters” Molly audibly gasped, “and we got cornered. Thalia told us to hold on to her and – and we ended up here before- before-”

“Before what, George?” Molly urged on.

“Before they could use the Killing Curse on us” Ginny’s voice filled the living room. She had finished her shower and decided to join the three in looking over Thalia.  

Molly, upon hearing that information that three of her children would have been dead if Thalia hadn’t gotten them out of there sooner, stood and rushed into the kitchen, not wanting to cry in front of them. Moments later, cracks were heard from the garden, followed by Bill, Charlie, and Percy piling into the living room, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione close behind.

“Is everyone okay? Why is your mother crying?” Arthur’s voice boomed in the living room, before he stopped in his tracks, staring at the young girl asleep on the sofa, “How did you get here? Better yet, where did you go?”

“We ran to forest like you told us to, but they cornered us!” Fred exclaimed, his father’s eagerness getting to his head, causing his eyes to start watering.

“She apparated us here! She was bleeding when I saw her so I carried her inside” George explained further, exasperated at the sudden turn of events that happened just hours apart.

Molly joined them in the living room, eyes brimmed red from crying.

“Are you sure she wasn’t splinched, Molly?”

“She wasn’t” Molly assured, shaking her head, “I don’t know how she learned how to apparate, but from what they’ve told me, the four of them would have been dead by now if she hadn’t”

The living room was enveloped in silence at the revelation, none of them knowing what to say. Molly instructed the children retreat to their rooms and get some rest for the night while Arthus, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all apparated to the Ministry to settle everything that’s been going on. And while Molly had told them all to leave, Fred and George insisted to wait for Thalia to wake.

Thalia had just acquired her new wand from Ollivander’s after hers had exploded into confetti just as their break began. Her mother had signed her up for a two-week advanced magic tutoring session, which she had always done even before Thalia had gotten her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. She had met her tutor on their first scheduled day – a man named Vulcan Gregorio, who spoked too formally for Thalia’s liking, but seemed to know what he was teaching.

Usually, when Thalia was pushed into having summer classes, she’d be taught charms and potions, gaining her an advantage for her classes the following year. However, when Vulcan told her she’ll be learning apparation and disapparation even if Thalia couldn’t acquire a license because of her age, she thought she needed a bit of an explanation.

“It’s for emergencies” Her mother had replied when she asked why she needed to learn it. Astraea’s voice established finality, so Thalia didn’t dare ask any more questions. She agreed, and in a week, she had mastered disapparating from the library of her home, to apparating in the nearby village – and vice versa.

However, when Vulcan came the following week, claiming he’s be teaching her the Unforgivable Curses, she started questioning the intentions of her mother. Sure, her mother had been kind to her and to others her whole life, but something about this didn’t sit well with her.

They pushed through the lessons, though, despite Thalia’s protests, mainly because Vulcan had threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on her if she didn’t cooperate. She tried telling her mother about his threats, really, but all she did was wave it off and tell her he had a rather dark sense of humor, then she dropped the topic completely.

When the day came, Vulcan had set a live spider on a stool, teaching Thalia to use the Imperious Curse – which wasn’t that bad considering it was the most forgiving of the unforgivable curses.  

But when she was forced to practice the Cruciatus and the Killing Curse on the innocent spider – ooh, the thought just sent shivers down her spine. Vulcan had his want pointed to the back of Thalia’s neck that day, urging her to use the first.

“I really would prefer not to-”

“You know what would happen if you don’t” Vulcan threatened, the tip of his wand digging deeper in the nape of her neck.

Thala swallowed dryly, pointing her wand towards the spider with a muttered, ‘crucio’.  

Of course, nothing happened, but Vulcan’s voice rang in her ears, “LOUDER!”

“Crucio!” She raised her voice, feeling hot tears run down her face as she watched the spider writhe in pain.

“Good,” Vulcan commended, although scowling when he noticed Thalia wiping her tears away. “You know what comes next”

“I don’t want to do it” She pleaded, turning towards Vulcan, whose wand was pointed directly in her face now. She stepped back, cowering slightly, but she didn’t give up. “I don’t want to do it”

“You either do it on the spider or I’ll do it to you” He looked serious, and Thalia didn’t want to test if he really was. So, she turned back, staring at the spider. “I’m waiting, Ms. Pallas”

Thalia’s hand shook, tears already running down her face as he felt the cold tip of his wand pressed in the back of her neck again. Closing her eyes, she forced out, “Avada Kedabra”

Thalia sat up, eyes frantically searching the room as she struggled to catch her breath. Her eyes caught Fred and George’s worried ones as they kneeled on the floor beside her, holding her hands. “Is everyone okay? Where’s Ginny? Is she okay?”

“She’s good” George replied, voice slurred from what Thalia assumes is sleep.

“Merlin, Lia! You were screaming in your sleep” Fred exclaimed, hand grasping hers tightly, “Are you okay?”

“What’s happening?” Molly’s voice broke through the room as she rushed down the stairs, wrapped in her robe. Upon seeing Thalia sitting up, she was quick to join her side, holding the younger girl to her chest as tears escaped her eyes. “Thank Merlin you’re okay”

Master List | Chapter 4→

TAGLIST:

@elf-punk

[izukult]

sorry i can’t have you? one up me? so this playlist isn’t part of the matchups i’m sorry😞🤝

here you go IDIOT CHILD ( @rat-bastar ) being your friend is so hard 😁

choke - i don’t know how but they found me

ok absolutely your vibes. if you got the chance you would bitch slap me, we both know it. you big ol bully. this is the vibey pop ish version of a villain song and it’s such a hype song in my opinion idk

love me dead - ludo

we’ve established its a good song ok🤝. idk lmao play this while you’re thinking ab your friend OR her ex gf ;) as of my knowledge those the mfs you simp for or whateva LMAO

lemons (demo)

please. PLEASE THIS ONE IS SO OBVIOUS. you vibes. absolute you vibes. you @ me. you @ everyone. you play this on full volume while you try to convince yourself you hate everyone. you play this while judging every violin player ever. you play this glaring at maliek or whagever his name is. this song is you

piano man - billy joel

i saw this on one of your playlists lol BUT i feel like this is something you would blare on the bus or on your way to a fucking debate tournament you fucking loser

hesitation - hot flash heat wave

such a good song. this also feels like something you would listen to while you think ab other people. i dunno it’s got that sweet, sweet ‘condescending to hide real emotions’ energy and it’s vibey and it’s kinda sad yea

waltz #2 (xo) - elliott smith

don’t even get me started on how big of an elliott smith can i was. you def give him vibes but i mean that as a compliment?? i can imagine you with ur head down hands in ur pockets being all bummed out and angry walking up the hill to ur house idk that’s very niche oddly specific? i never really realized this song had BIG BIG BIG you vibes until i started typing this but i’m listening to the lyrics and it’s like describing you go off ig

everyone hates his parents - falsettos

i know you love falsettos and we both know we love to shit talk our parents so. it just seems to make sense. ALSO i feel like we would argue like marvin and trina or marvin and whizzer or marvin and anyone LOL

colorful penguins - we shore is dedicated

ok i know iM the one working, but this song please. listen to it. listen to the music. to the tone of voice. to the certain old tavern rustic vibe. that’s you. i cant rly describe it but the vibe of this song is your vibe

beachboy - mccafferty

well we have the shared mother’s name in the beginning there and that’s fun for me. also we know that i be smoking and yada yada and i know your friends do too and i feel like this song is just you dealing w ur friends dummy habits and angry fast sing

hannah - swmrs

something about this song just feels like a convo we’d have?? like in my head i can tell what you would say and what i would say IDK LMAO maybe that’s just me but it’s also a good song

problems - mother mother

this song. LMAOOOO. the way you constantly BULLY me i feel like this song is how you present urself to other ppl v some deep shit like how you feel ab urself idk i’m not ur therapist ur apparently mine w how much you be psychoanalyzing me🤨. ALSO you’d scream this dont argue w me

i love you like an alcoholic - the taxpayers

multiple things here. again those crusty cobblestone streets at night after it rains where someone’s getting murdered in an alleyway vibes that you give. and i feel like if u were ever like <3 at someone, this is how you’d feel idc bitch

seashore - the regrettes

i love this band sm pls i want to kiss her. ANYWAY feels again like a you @ the world song. you just feel like someone who would shove someone in a trash can if they said one wrong word about you & i rly appreciate it

gooey - glass animals

this song feels like something that would be on a playlist with “i know this:” and i thought you’d like those vibes. sorry for the peanut butter reference

chicago - flipturn

you feel like someone who would let me play flipturn and pretend to hate it cos you pretend to hate everything i do but actually vibe w it so

everybody loves raymond (except for me) - mookamay

this is the girl i was tellin u ab who wrote the songs ab me YEA THIS IS ONE OF THE SONGS AB ME SO I FIGURED YOU WOULD APPRECIATE A SONG THAT WAS KIND OF A SLIGHT TO ME SO LMAO I PUT IT ON THERE. basically this is a song ab someone literally getting tired of ME so yknow felt fitting 😁‼️ (this one is mostly a joke and i will probably take it off the playlist but it still stands)

power over me - dermot kennedy

you seem like someone who would listen to dermot kennedy which is fair bc i used to scream this shit in the shower i would just have a lil concert and you give me the same vibe this one isn’t that deep

ghost duet - louie zong

lol some serotonin. just this playin in the background while u game

iris - the goo goo dolls

just a rly good song. just a rly good song that fits ur vibe. also if u were ever in love i also stand by saying you would listen to this & think ab them

dream sweet in sea major - miracle musical

if you were ever listen to “soft music🥺✊” this would be your version of it

bs - still woozy

I TOLD U TO LISTEN TO THIS AND I DONT THINK YOU DID YOU BITCH SO NOW I WILL FORCE YOU. also i have brown eyes so basically this is everyone including u @ me it’s ok ur human u can’t be blamed for acknowledging my charm ;) 😁🤝

paper thin hotel - matt maltese

you just seem like someone who would listen to him during a depressive episode

troubled mind - cannibal kids

cant find the right words for this one but like gives me you trying to be there for someone and coming off as apathetic and someone not knowing how to be a proper friend to you and yall just space vibes yknow what i mean?? Idk

bloom (bonus track) - the paper kites

if you and a girl (strictly a girl idc that this was written by a dude no fucking guy gets this song) were in love. like in any way. romantic love, platonic love, competitive love idgaf i just feel like THIS has the vibe for u

kill the director - the wombats

i don’t care THIS IS YOU IN LOVE. I THINK YOUD HATE HAVING REAL FEELINGS FOR SOMEONE. YOUD DEF BE THE PERSON TO IGNORE IT AND YOU BULLY THEM JUST A L I L EXTRA AND YOU DO LIL THINGS THAT SHOW U LIKE EM LIKE IF YOU RLY PAY ATTENTION YOU CAN PICK IT UP but no way you’re gonna express that shit LMAO

i got the blues - big bill broonzy

i dunno this ones just a banger

dirty imbecile - the happy first

this is you having a breakdown. that’s all! thanks queen!

under my skin - jukebox the ghost

very similar to lemons but also different?? you getting pissed at everyone but having a select couple ppl you cherish 👍

song for me - greer

where do i START? you not properly voicing emotions ? preppy pessimism ? dissociation ? vibing ? teen angst ? good vibes ? in love w ideas ?

my explanations aren’t as good as urs but also i’m cool so 👍 ur welcome you’ve been blessed by a personalized playlist from ME 🙄🙌 not from no bitchass capitalist anime character 😐