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Kingswap: An 'In Stars and Time' AU MASTERPOST:

Because I like being organized. :)

What's This?

"Hey what if we completely swapped The King and Siffrins Roles completely. We make The King into a wandering knight (now named Clovis) travelling with Mirabelle and the party to save Vaugarde from a villainous Siffrin, known as the Stagemaster. That's it, that's the premise, nothing else is different and/or wrong.

This AU contains spoilers for the entirety of In Stars and Time (Or will eventually contain them). This includes things like 'two hats' and other important plot points. Any content warnings that apply to 'In Stars and Time' also apply to this AU.

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Big Posts:

Pre Loop Stuff

Introduction Post

Clovis/King and the Party

The Stagemaster

Isabeau and the Stagemaster (The Asks)

The Loops

oops nothing here yet

Misc Posts:

Is the Stagemaster as Irredeemable as the King?

The Stagemasters Visual Design

Rated E for Everyone

King/Stagemaster OTP (Sillypost)

What's up with Bonnie? (Post 1, Post 2)

Is The Swapped King...Maybe Too Much of a Blorbo?

Unsorted Asks

Sisyphus vs Atlas

Bark bark

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Fan stuff (Woauw...)

1, 2, 3, 4

This AU is mostly just a playground to be creative, so it's probably not gonna be a big focused project; I just think it's neat

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Hello. I was instantly hooked on this concept for Siffrin swaped with the King. So I wanted to ask, if possible:

What would other party members' "King" form loom like? For example, Isa's could be themed around seams and threads, Odile's could be either a massive chronicler (familytales), and Bonnie's would be a massive chef.

Thoughts?

First off, thank you! I'm rather giddy that people are resonating so much with this feral cat I made of Siffrin (and the wet dog that would have been King) I'm very proud of the design of The Stagemaster, and this little AU concept has been cooking in my brain for a while now. I don't have any concepts on hand for a swapped party. However, I can walk through the methodology of the Stagemaster's design which might inform how each of the party would look like? There's aspects to Kingswaps ~deep lore~ I haven't covered that I'll try not to talk about, but it might bleed through anyways.

This post will be mostly yapping, and there will be some Spoilers related stuff to In Stars and Time under the cut

I knew from the start I wanted StagmasterSif to be a ghost of some kind, with a bit of a flair for both misery and theatrics, building up off of the games existing themes of Siffrin feeling like he's not a person anymore, not real, their existing love for theatre and stage motifs, alongside the mean streak we see in Act 5. Leaning less into The Mania and more into the conversation Siffrin has with Isabeau - cold and calculating like a knife who knows where to cut to make it hurt.

The designs sort of fed into each other - I already knew I wanted to keep some of that Siffrin 'cuteness' in some form, even if it's scrungled beyond recognition, so leaning into influences from similar 'vibes' from adjacent media to pull inspiration from was a Boon. Villainous characters that have menace and presence, but are still a little silly and fun. Also it's a lot of my personal taste - I always did like 'goofy little guys in a robe and wizard hat'. og Final Fantasy Black Mage, Kirby's Smirror enemy, etc. Siffrins already got that idea paired with him by that one Wizard loving kid in Dormont, so it was a perfect match. (Wizard kid has conflicting feelings about the Stagemaster. One one hand, evil! On the other, Wizard!)

The design for The Stagemaster is informed by both the external factors (their interests, their looks) as well as the deep internal Complexities that have been picked at and made Far, Far Worse (Siffrins act 5 behavior, the self loathing, fear of being left behind, the fear of change and losing what little you have left, and everything that also applies via Loop's behavior and thought process. I also include Comic Siffrin here as well, as they too can be seen as a reflection on game Siffrin, if that makes sense?). Imagine taking a look at a version of yourself and going 'wow! You're pathetic, how could you not do xyz? Loser behavior, couldn't be me (Internalizes all that shit anyways but worse)' It's sort of a...Characters own response to seeing themselves? And hating it on principle but still stumbling into being that person?

So How Does This Apply To Swapping a Party Member?

Well, it's a bit harder since we're not privy to the inner workings of everyones mind, but lets try! Internal Hangups vs Visuals/interests

Lets examine Odile. What do we have to work with? A Researcher researching nothing (and only went along with the researching bit cause it was funny watching the group guess), she's interested in Vaugardian family tales because it's a topic of interest and complexity to her (mother was Vaugardian and left, and she feels robbed of an opportunity to know herself) She also likes Fairy Tales and learning about Vaugarde in general, taking genuine interest in other peoples opinions on the matter. Which is a fun contrast to her being Not Very Keen on the emotional touchy feely sappiness, instead expressing her affection through playful jokes, sarcasm, and dry humor. She's also quite attentive to detail, and is the first to know something is wrong. She's also capable, in her words, of doing terrible, terrible things to protect the party. Ka Bue is Fantasy Japan with a focus on Gemstones and the Expressions, so we get another layer to mess with. And the paper motif is there as well, with her chosen weapon being Heavy Ass Books. Design wise, we get a lot to work with - gem motifs, paper motifs, books, tales. I'd probably categorize her a Collector of Things and People. Something that is both an expression of love, that can be easily warped into something possessive, while still keeping Odile's sense of distance. (Now, how she actually, like, gets to that point? Lots of stuff would prolly need to change in her life, because dammit Odile is just so damn cool and put together it's hard to see her jumping off the deep end!!). Physicality wise, she probably still just looks like herself? Again, Kingswap Stagemaster looks the way they do because they're built off of existing hang-ups for the character of Siffrin - meanwhile, the King was just A Dude in Armor with Big Hair. He knows exactly what he is and what he wants. I feel Odile would be similar, and her gimmick is instead the funky ways she's collecting stuff. (As the kids say. Yoink).

Anyways, I have no art to share of this idea, but I hope maybe it is sufficient in answering your question? And I hope my rambling of my methodology was at least interesting to view! Thank you so much for the question and interest!

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you walk into the King fight and you see this mess of a boss fight wyd (Canon King and his evil court wizard who depersonalized so hard they're little better than a ghost haunting a bedsheet (Kingswapped Siffrin))

they're gonna beat each other to death with hammers the second the saviours are gone

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Before Pride Month ends

Anyone wanna admit they have a crush on me?

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Before Pride Month ends

Anyone wanna admit they have a crush on me?

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“Poor Thing”

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What's in Grunkle Ford's pockets?

Journal 1!

2. Fancy pen (for journaling)

3. sci-fi electro-gloves

4. Bag of normal DD&MD dice

5. Super illegal, 9-thousand dimensions banned, infinity-sided die (in a cheap plastic case for safety)

6. Black Gloves, normal, snappy

7. flask (presumably of I'm Fine Juices)

8. touching childhood photo

9. fuck-off huge poster of his ex

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this is them to me

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Every poll on this blog is about fictional characters only. This was submitted to us. If you’d like to send us your own scenario (plus different ways a character might react to said scenario) so we could make a poll for you, feel free to send them to our inbox.

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i can't get over this stupid fucking animation. i love how comically high the framerate is compared to all of his other animations. blud looks like he's boutta roundhouse kick silver the hedgehog

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A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”

“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”

“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Climb aboard, then!” But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. “Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.” 

“I can’t help it,” said the scorpion. “It’s my nature.”

___

…But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the frog felt a subtle motion on its back, and in a panic dived deep beneath the rushing waters, leaving the scorpion to drown.

“It was going to sting me anyway,” muttered the frog, emerging on the other side of the river. “It was inevitable. You all knew it. Everyone knows what those scorpions are like. It was self-defense.”

___

…But no sooner had they cast off from the bank, the frog felt the tip of a stinger pressed lightly against the back of its neck. “What do you think you’re doing?” said the frog.

“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”

They swam in silence to the other end of the river, where the scorpion climbed off, leaving the frog fuming.

“After the kindness I showed you!” said the frog. “And you threatened to kill me in return?”

“Kindness?” said the scorpion. “To only invite me on your back after you knew I was defenseless, unable to use my tail without killing myself? My dear frog, I only treated you as I was treated. Your kindness was as poisoned as a scorpion’s sting.”

___

…“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”

“You have a point,” the frog acknowledged. “But once we get to dry land, couldn’t you sting me then without repercussion?”

“All I want is to cross the river safely,” said the scorpion. “Once I’m on the other side I would gladly let you be.”

“But I would have to trust you on that,” said the frog. “While you’re pressing a stinger to my neck. By ferrying you to land I’d be be giving up the one deterrent I hold over you.”

“But by the same logic, I can’t possibly withdraw my stinger while we’re still over water,” the scorpion protested.

The frog paused in the middle of the river, treading water. “So, I suppose we’re at an impasse.”

The river rushed around them. The scorpion’s stinger twitched against the frog’s unbroken skin. “I suppose so,” the scorpion said.

___

A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Absolutely not!” said the frog, and dived beneath the waters, and so none of them learned anything.

___

A scorpion, being unable to swim, asked a turtle (as in the original Persian version of the fable) to carry it across the river. The turtle readily agreed, and allowed the scorpion aboard its shell. Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell. The turtle, swimming placidly, failed to notice.

They reached the other side of the river, and parted ways as friends.

___

…Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell.

The turtle, hearing the tap of the scorpion’s sting, was offended at the scorpion’s ungratefulness. Thankfully, having been granted the powers to both defend itself and to punish evil, the turtle sank beneath the waters and drowned the scorpion out of principle.

___

A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” sneered the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back.”

The scorpion pleaded earnestly. “Do you think so little of me? Please, I must cross the river. What would I gain from stinging you? I would only end up drowning myself!”

“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Even a scorpion knows to look out for its own skin. Climb aboard, then!”

But as they forged through the rushing waters, the scorpion grew worried. This frog thinks me a ruthless killer, it thought. Would it not be justified in throwing me off now and ridding the world of me? Why else would it agree to this? Every jostle made the scorpion more and more anxious, until the frog surged forward with a particularly large splash, and in panic the scorpion lashed out with its stinger.

“I knew it,” snarled the frog, as they both thrashed and drowned. “A scorpion cannot change its nature.”

___

A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. The frog agreed, but no sooner than they were halfway across the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown.

“I’ve only myself to blame,” sighed the frog, as they both sank beneath the waters. “You, you’re a scorpion, I couldn’t have expected anything better. But I knew better, and yet I went against my judgement! And now I’ve doomed us both!”

“You couldn’t help it,” said the scorpion mildly. “It’s your nature.” 

___

…“Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”

“Alas, I was of two natures,” said the scorpion. “One said to gratefully ride your back across the river, and the other said to sting you where you stood. And so both fought, and neither won.” It smiled wistfully. “Ah, it would be nice to be just one thing, wouldn’t it? Unadulterated in nature. Without the capacity for conflict or regret.”

___

“By the way,” said the frog, as they swam, “I’ve been meaning to ask: What’s on the other side of the river?”

“It’s the journey,” said the scorpion. “Not the destination.”

___

…“What’s on the other side of anything?” said the scorpion. “A new beginning.”

___

…”Another scorpion to mate with,” said the scorpion. “And more prey to kill, and more living bodies to poison, and a forthcoming lineage of cruelties that you will be culpable in.”

___

…”Nothing we will live to see, I fear,” said the scorpion. “Already the currents are growing stronger, and the river seems like it shall swallow us both. We surge forward, and the shoreline recedes. But does that mean our striving was in vain?”

___

“I love you,” said the scorpion.

The frog glanced upward. “Do you?”

“Absolutely. Can you imagine the fear of drowning? Of course not. You’re a frog. Might as well be scared of breathing air. And yet here I am, clinging to your back, as the waters rage around us. Isn’t that love? Isn’t that trust? Isn’t that necessity? I could not kill you without killing myself. Are we not inseparable in this?”

The frog swam on, the both of them silent.

___

“I’m so tired,” murmured the frog eventually. “How much further to the other side? I don’t know how long we’ve been swimming. I’ve been treading water. And it’s getting so very dark.”

“Shh,” the scorpion said. “Don’t be afraid.”

The frog’s legs kicked out weakly. “How long has it been? We’re lost. We’re lost! We’re doomed to be cast about the waters forever. There is no land. There’s nothing on the other side, don’t you see!”

“Shh, shh,” said the scorpion. “My venom is a hallucinogenic. Beneath its surface, the river is endlessly deep, its currents carrying many things.” 

“You - You’ve killed us both,” said the frog, and began to laugh deliriously. “Is this - is this what it’s like to drown?” 

“We’ve killed each other,” said the scorpion soothingly. “My venom in my glands now pulsing through your veins, the waters of your birthing pool suffusing my lungs. We are engulfing each other now, drowning in each other. I am breathless. Do you feel it? Do you feel my sting pierced through your heart?”

“What a foolish thing to do,” murmured the frog. “No logic. No logic to it at all.”

“We couldn’t help it,” whispered the scorpion. “It’s our natures. Why else does anything in the world happen? Because we were made for this from birth, darling, every moment inexplicable and inevitable. What a crazy thing it is to fall in love, and yet - It’s all our fault! We are both blameless. We’re together now, darling. It couldn’t have happened any other way.”

___

“It’s funny,” said the frog. “I can’t say that I trust you, really. Or that I even think very much of you and that nasty little stinger of yours to begin with. But I’m doing this for you regardless. It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s strange. Why would I do this? I want to help you, want to go out of my way to help you. I let you climb right onto my back! Now, whyever would I go and do a foolish thing like that?”

___

A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”

“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”  

“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Come aboard, then!” But no sooner had the scorpion mounted the frog’s back than it began to sting, repeatedly, while still safely on the river’s bank.

The frog groaned, thrashing weakly as the venom coursed through its veins, beginning to liquefy its flesh. “Ah,” it muttered. “For some reason I never considered this possibility.”

“Because you were never scared of me,” the scorpion whispered in its ear. “You were never scared of dying. In a past life you wore a shell and sat in judgement. And then you were reborn: soft-skinned, swift, unburdened, as new and vulnerable as a child, moving anew through a world of children. How could anyone ever be cruel, you thought, seeing the precariousness of it all?” The scorpion bowed its head and drank. “How could anyone kill you without killing themselves?”

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happy pride month transfem eclipsers

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People liked this one twt so here u go

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I support the "fiction isn't real so nothing matters" mindset but tbf at a certain point it can tip over into "the curtains are just blue" territory