I like connecting with people, and that’s what good art is, a point of connection. There’s nothing better, on stage or on film, than feeling like you’ve achieved that.
Dorcas couldn’t help but laugh at the term ‘missy’, despite the other woman’s obvious exasperation. Some cat jumped up the couch to curl itself near her feet, as if it knew its role in the argument. “I’m sorry, grandma. O'Fluffy right there is such an exciting sight I totally stopped listening to you! Couldn’t help it!” She was definitely pushing a button, and oh was it worth it looking at Arabella’s face. She didn’t need to like the cats in order to enjoy her presence though.“
“His name is Fuzzy,” she said, her voice even more venomous. She didn’t mind having the younger Order member over, liked the idea that she was looking after her --- even if, sometimes, she felt nervous when she was there, but she had that with everyone --- but moments like these made her question why she bothered. “And you wish I was your grandmother. I’d make a great one.”
@fataledahlia asked me for a random encounter starter
“Okay, weird question,” began Arabella, glancing over the bar to the person sitting nearest to her. “WHAT are you drinking? That looks like a right good drink, and I’m all about trying new things.” She wasn’t, really, liked the things she was used to, but she was feeling a nervosity she was desperate to shake with some small talk.
@brokenlockhart asked me to use a line from my favorite TV show as a starter
( orphan black. )
“You selfish, manure bag of a man!” exclaimed Arabella. Some days, anything could tick her off --- from the wind blowing too hard or not at all, to certain words people spoke, even if their intent wasn’t malicious at all. She looked at Gilderoy, took a breath, straightened her back, opening her mouth to apologise before closing it again.
@wanderiisms asked me to use a line from my favorite TV show as a starter
( orphan black. )
“After all these years? I feel electric,” said Arabella, and she wasn’t lying as she glanced at her fellow Order member. Being part of the Order finally gave her the feeling that she was doing something, lit her aflame with purpose. Of course, university hadn’t made her feel useless at all, but this ... THIS was something else entirely. “I’m done sitting idly by.”
@wormtvil asked me to use a line from my favorite movie as a starter
( heathers. )
“If you were happy every day of your life you wouldn't be a human being. You'd be a game-show host,” said Arabella. She wasn’t usually a source of advise ( especially not advise this cheesy ), but she had her moments. “So allow yourself to frown a little, every now and then, yeah?”
“LISTEN, missy --,” the term missy wasn’t meant to be used, it reminded her much of old ladies ( which she wasn’t ) and mean school teachers ( which she wasn’t ), but it was the heat of the moment, and Arabella was seriously agitated. “Cats are NOT boring. I --- I get that dragons breathe fire and that they fly, but cats -- especially when crossed with Kneazles, are exciting too, so ... shut it.”
🎬 for me to use a line from the last movie I watched as a starter
📹 for me to use a line from my favorite movie as a starter
📚 for me to grab the book nearest to me, flip to a random page, and use the first line of dialogue I see as a starter
🎧 for me to shuffle my playlist and use the first line of the next song as a starter
🎶 for me to use my favorite line of the last song I listened to as a starter
📺 for me to use a line from the last TV show I watched as a starter
💻 for me to use a line from my favorite TV show as a starter
🎵for me to shuffle my playlist and use my favorite line of the next song as a starter
💋 for a shippy starter
😡 for an angsty starter
👊 for an argument/fight starter
🌈 for a random encounter starter
💀 for a dark starter
🍬 for a fluffy starter
please don’t expect me to always be good and kind and loving.
there are times when I will be cold and thoughtless and hard to understand.
ARABELLA FIGG is AN ORDER MEMBER in the war, even though HER official job is as AN EMPLOYEE AT THE MAGICAL MENAGERY. the THIRTY year old SQUIB is known to be STEADFAST and ADAPTABLE but also PARANOID and EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED. some might label them as THE CAT LADY.
hello meet arabella little tiny bitter bean who loves cats a bit too much. imma dive into Background stuff first.
youth !
the figgs are an irish pureblood family, an old one, one of pride and ambition and neutrality in any kind of confrontation. they don’t meddle in purist movements, but don’t act out against them either. they live in the country, hundreds of kilometers away from london and the ministry, nicely removed from any turbulence occurring in the world. they’re passive, truly, prefer to revel in their privilege and money rather than do much of anything.
arabella is the first to come out of a union of a shafiq and a figg. after five years, two more kids follow, and she’s branded oldest: most responsible, the one to follow, the one to lead the way and be the example. and this she does, most of the time, but not when it comes to the most important thing: magic. her younger siblings show signs much earlier, accidental magic brightening their futures and those of her parents with pride. they think that she’s just a late bloomer, but she’s not --- her eleventh birthday passes and no letter arrives and the truth that most of them knew already dawns on them.
arabella figg, oldest of three, daughter of two respected purebloods, is a squib. they don’t know what to do at first; this is not what they want, this is not something that fits in their lives. they are disappointed, turn the blame on their daughter ( as if she can help it! ), and treat her differently, like a freak, an elephant in every room.
eventually, with some questionable spellwork to get her in, arabella is dropped at a prestigious muggle boarding school. she’s behind, there, on many things --- she’s good at english, as she was thought that by tutors, but all the history she learned was magical and she barely knows how to do the easiest of sums. she’s just thought stupid as well as lazy, and arabella just feels anger --- she doesn’t want to be in that place, where the kids are all from a different world than hers, where so much of her knowledge cannot be applied. she works hard, though, even if she hates the place and its stuffy dorms and the snooty kids. she doesn’t like failure, after all, nor does she want to be kicked off for failing too many classes.
her moments back at home are awkward at first, but grow more nasty over time --- her parents’ embarrassment grows into something more nasty; disgust and despise. she’s met with snide and is treated as less, because while the figgs are not the most actively pureblood family, they ARE traditional. a squib doesn’t fit in their lives, and they make that very clear, without ever saying the words exactly.
she breaks ties with them after a very nasty christmas dinner, where glasses and hexes flew and words were shouted and tears were shed. she fled, to a friend without a drop of magical blood in their blood, and stays there for the rest of christmas break. her last year at boarding school is spent working harder than ever, her ambition having grown out of nothing but spite and the desire to succeed. she gets accepted at a good university and is granted a scholarship to keep herself alive and works her ass off. she studies english lit, because books have become companions to her in a time where she neither fit in among her peers and her parents. she gets a bachelor!! onto the next bit!!
adult lyf !
she starts working for a master’s but drops out. why? war. WAR!!!! yay! war! she has more important shit to do than read and analyse books and god!! she just!! she walks in the squib rights marches and is reminded of all the anger she holds towards her parents, towards the shit attitude of so many purebloods. and somehow ends up getting an invite for the order from mr dumbles himself. she had corresponded with him years ago, wondering if she could follow some classes (she could not) and calling him some nasty word years later (self control? whomst? she was angry ok!!). she accepted and tried doing uni and order at the same time, but it just didn’t work (the traveling was killer tbh lmao, she CANT DISAPPARATE ITS TRAGIC) and so she Dropped uni bc priorities, but she had her bachelor so??? and so she moved to london and threw herself into the wizarding world again after having turned her back for a good five years.
started working at the magical menagerie bc she loves animals and cats!! moved to london (muggle london, tho, bc like ... it’s scary living in diagon alley nowadays esp as a squib). also started doing some freelance text writing stuff for shops around diagon alley who needed pr (her dad worked in pr too so she Knows the ways). just. made her life a little there.
like??? seven yrs have passed since then and she’s been doing her thing in diagon alley and london and man. the War has had its impact. being part of the muggle world allowed her to take distance from all the risks, but being in it again is reminding her of all the Shit people like her get.
paranoia tw // anyway. those years took its toll. arabella doesnt regret joining the order, not at all --- it gives her purpose, allows her to know more about what’s going on, gives her a channel to throw her anger into BUT. BUT. she’s grown paranoid. she thinks people follow her when they take the same routes, sees danger in corners where there is none and is overly wary, having asked people to put wards on her place, moving through the world too quickly, always in a hurry to get from one save place to another. it’s gone undiagnosed but she has paranoid personality disorder. end of tw //
personality & rambling !
okay wtf this is my first time playing this one and lsfklhdf that got LONG!!!
anyway arabella is ?? a smart cookie tbh, she’s got Intensely Good language/literacy skills. also? knows a lot abt cats. canonically becomes a kneazle/cat breeder. just!! intelligent.
super ambitious and would have been a slytherin but there are complications (read: war) which have kept her from following them + the whole ppd business is also a Thing. could’ve gotten a masters but ya know. the order called!
suppresses her anger like a Pro. has a Lot of it, re: her parents, the world, etc. just. god. she’s gonna explode one day but she’s just doing her repressive Thing rn.
makes good chocolate cake + is v dependable as a person. as an order member, she does a lot of Supportive shit, when necessary (she may be Repressing her own shit but she can LISTEN), is good at adapting to any situation and is kind of flying in between doing little jobs and doing stuff in the muggle world.
can adapt to many situations?? it’s?? really
loves her cats. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
likes red wine.
rolls her eyes sometimes and can come off as a bit of an asshole but she doesnt mean to, she’s just Chronically Done with the world around her. v brave, v scared.
when people fuck up easy shit she will get angry.
idk i dont have her figured out Too Much yet but i love her.
➥ Legal name: Arabella Doreen Figg
➥ Nickname/alias: Ara, Bella
➥ Birthday: October 9 ( libra )
➥ Birthplace: In the country of Galway, Ireland
➥ Current living place: Brixton, London
➥ Gender | species: Cisfemale | Squib
➥ Preferred pronouns: She/her
➥ Sexual orientation: Panromantic, pansexual
➥ Spoken languages: English, Amharic
➥ Bloodstatus: Pureblood
a history lesson
➥ Current work: Salesperson & cat expert at the Magical Menagerie
➥ Education: English lit bachelor degree
➥ Socioeconomic level growing up: Upper middle class pureblood family
➥ Living conditions growing up: She grows up the oldest of three and her youngest siblings both show signs of magic before her. Her parents fear the worst, and when she never shows them and no letter arrives, there is only disappointment. Arabella was eventually dropped at a muggle boarding school after being tutored, because her parents just didn’t want to deal with her. It’s a long story I will talk more about in her intro!
➥ Criminal record: None.
relationships
➥ Parents: Frederic Figg and Naomi Figg néé Shafiq. Both estranged.
➥ Siblings: Two younger siblings, up for grabs so TBD!
➥ Relationship status: Single
➥ Pets: Owl ( Jane ), four cats ( Fuzzy, Jimmie, Charleston and Mister )
let’s get physical
➥ Character’s build: Rather short, skinny
➥ Height: 160cm / 5′3
➥ Hair colour: Black
➥ Eye colour: Brown
➥ Body modifications: None
➥ Scars/birthmarks: None that are notable
➥ Powers/abilities: Arabella is smart. She went to muggle university while being part of the Order, is good at applying her brain to something. She’s sneaky, too, good at adapting to any given situation and pretending, lying, making her way through it with a stoic face. She’s dependable.
➥ Restrictions: Coops up her anger and is very paranoid.
➥ Physical or mental illnesses: (Undiagnosed) paranoia.
➥ Addictions: Keeping cats.
magical info
➥ Wand: None.
➥ Boggart: At this time, it’s Death Eaters; Arabella fears for herself a lot, due to her being a Squib.
➥ Patronus: None, would have been a hare.
➥ House: She would have been a Slytherin!!!
➥ Favourite subject: English
➥ Worst subject: Maths
➥ Clubs/Extracurricular: Football team
underneath her cynicism,
there is a cowering idealist.
a romantic running scared,
both fearful that she cannot believe,
and absolutely terrified that she can.
she is the girl who will flee
kicking and screaming
from any real intimacy.
yet underneath her cynicism,
she has an extraordinary gift for hope,
an infinite capacity for faith,
and the ability to love limitlessly.
without expectations
and without demands.
because once you have her heart,
you will have it forever.
i don’t blame harry for being freaked out in order of the phoenix though, i mean i’d be fucked up if i learned that my eccentric old cat lady babysitter was secretly a wizard spy the whole time
honestly landslide is too important of a song to just be played haphazardly on the radio
it should only be listened to if and when you’re ready to accept stevie nicks into your heart and admit that you’re afraid of changing and you don’t know if you can handle the seasons of your life
And these are my vices:
impatience, bad temper, wine,
the more than occasional cigarette,
an almost unquenchable thirst to be kissed.
a hunger that isn’t hunger
but something like fear…
Cecilia Woloch, from “Fireflies,” Carpathia
(via lifeinpoetry)
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areudirty
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