loukinglass

[loukinglass]

Yup, I still love Mirabelle. With all my heart.

Isabeau's here also!! BECAUSE. I don't see nearly enough of them together, and I really like their friendship. They'll kick your crabbing butt, and they WILL look pretty doing so.

[loukinglass]

The Stagemaster

(What's Kingswap?) Meet the Stagemaster, the main antagonist of this little Kingswap AU i've been cooking. The fellow who could have been Siffrin, had their life not taken a different path. In this post, I'll cover a bit about where he came from, their personality, what they're capable of, and other bits and pieces.

Well...maybe not everything. A fellow has to keep some mystery to himself.

As a blanket statement, this AU is just full on spoilers for 'In Stars and Time', and any content warnings that apply to the game apply to this post under the cut!

So...where'd the Stagemaster come from? How'd our Beloved Siffrin end up like this?

Truth be told, no one is born a villain, and the Stagemaster is no different. As I spoke a bit about it in the previous post, the Stagemaster starts in a different place than canon Siffrin; already a young adult, staying in Corbeaux before the Island is disappeared. Think of him as the equivalent of a university student away from home.

Awwww, look at them! So full of whimsy and so many thoughts in that little head of his! I'm sure nothing bad will ever happen to him ever.

He has a life, he has goals and desires, he has friends in Corbeaux (who aren't The Party we know), and he also has strange dreams but that's not a big deal.

Unfortunately, we know how this ends - The Fella Who Could Have Been Siffrin wakes up one day without a name, without any memories of where he came from, and a whole city and House of people who don't know him anymore. Sure, he has some memories, like why he was studying in Corbeaux, that he had people who he loved, but everything else is just swiss cheese in his head.

He doesn't take it very well.

At some point after the Big Forgetting, after trying to reclaim ANYTHING that's his (and failing miserably)...Not-Siffrin makes a request. A small, selfish wish...for just a little bit of control in their life.

You've heard of eating stars, but I present the thrilling sequel(?): Hugging a star so hard you shove it into your ribcage.

And so is born a stranger with nothing to lose and a general spite of having his life messed with...and a desire to mess with other peoples lives in some form of messed up retaliation. Crashing out and making it everyone's problem.

So, What is the Stagemaster Capable of? Is his gimmick still freezing time, or does he have a new skillset?

Both! But the focus for the Smaster is a new thing called 'Control Craft', inspired partially by ISAT Siffrin's view that he was controlling or puppeting his friends/family like actors...so, the Stagemaster takes that concept and makes it very literal!

He also has the floating Disembodied Hands because I Think That's Cool.

Well before the start of the Loops, and even earlier before the King starts his Time Freezy thing in the main timeline, the Smaster is living his best life, playing with their toys (the toys are other people.) He's sort of a travelling ghost, wandering at his whims to hone his skills, so he's messed with all sorts of places across several countries before even starting his grand torment of Vaugarde.

Vaugarde has it too good, in the Smasters opinion, so, he wants to just subject its people to being Crabs-In-A-Bucket and fighting among themselves before he freezes them. He's pretty petty like that.

The rarity of his Tears makes it a bit hard to do the freezing thing...so it's very convenient he is able to outsource them to this Suspiciously Present Sadness That Technically Shouldn't Exist In This AU!

What Kind of Person IS the Stagemaster, Anyways? What's Their Personality?

I'm going to be so real with you, reader, I just threw a bunch of villains whos vibes I really liked into a blender

( Emet-Selch (Final Fantasy 14), Dimentio (Super Paper Mario), Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario), Cheline (Phantomarine (Please read Phantomarine)), Lord Dominator (Wander over Yonder) Fandaniel (Final Fantasy 14))

But in all seriousness, I went with a more low down approach to the Stagemaster - the ISAT fandom generally likes focusing on the more Unhinged, Manic version of Siffrin we see from Act 5, and it's a good approach! I love unhinged manic Siffrin, but, I really wanted to explore the more quiet and avoidant aspects of both Siffrin and Loop (while still being theatrical and fun to watch), while also adding some new bits into them.

(If you know where I stole these quotes from, you get a cookie)

I will be so real with you, the Stagemaster is just fun to draw in general, especially peeled (Without the hat or the cloak)

Also...strangely...He knows a lot about the party. Weird!

I'm sure it means nothing.

Hey, I've read the Intro post to the AU, and there's this talk of the Stagemaster having a Big Form and a Little Form That Exists At the Same Time - whats with that? Are they Clones?

Not clones! But the same person with two bodies.

But...why does he need this?

You see...the Stagemaster did his whole Thing in Vaugarde, with ruining communities and friendships and stuff...and then went 'yeah, lets move on, time to do Dormont'. Unfortunately, for him Euphrasie, the Head Housmaiden, kind of planned in case he set his sights on the House of Dormont, and forced him to 'go loud' as it were.

Hey, do you also remember why there's so many locked doors in The House of Dormont in baseline ISAT? And the Party eventually figures out it was the Housemaiden's actively locking stuff up to keep the King in? That also applies to this AU.

Long Story Short: Euphrasie played him like a fiddle, put up enough of a fight to force him to Go Big Mode, and then before she was frozen, she activated the whole Orb Door dealio, trapping the Stagemaster in the House.

Even in an AU where Siffrin doesn't loop, Euphrasie still gets to be his metaphorical jailer. Because I think it's funny.

Sure, the Stagemaster could just sit on his laurels. He technically already won, the Time curse is spreading, Vaugarde will be trapped eventually...but so will he. And he would rather be Free than to Win, so...The Avatar comes into play, allowing the Stagemaster to pick up the pace of his Freezing Vaugarde thing, and to have some fun.

This also lets the Stagemaster have a presence in the Pre-Loop Orb Quest the Party goes on to open the Big Orb Door.

But uhhh...

yeah the smaller form is much weaker and the Smaster gets his ass kicked in a straight up fight, forcing him to be sneaky during Orb Quest Antagonism. Usually he cultivates and wrangles powerful Sadnesses for the party to fight.

Eventually, the party suspects that maybe the Stagemaster is weaker than everyone thinks, that he's hiding in the House of Dormont because the Party will easily defeat him, so he's stalling for time to freeze Vaugarde.

Yeah, he's turned the Party into a way for him to free himself. (Funny, then, that they're never getting out of this House anyways, because a certain long haired Knight trapped himself in a silly little Timeloop) (Unfortunately for Clovis, our swapped King...he's not the only one here who is aware of the loops. Good luck, Clovis!)

And that's all for today! Thank you for reading! Hopefully this is the last 'Pre timeloop' info post before I actually get into the Time Loops Proper...But it's so fun to speculate and imagine snippets of the previous adventure!

(As always, a special thanks to the ISAT discords AU channel for listening to my brainrot, and thanks to everyone who's expressed such enthusiasm for these posts!)

[loukinglass]

[loukinglass]

umm Mirabelle blast

She’s crafting aroace attacks after Odile’s vague instructions

[loukinglass]

Flower for you.

[loukinglass]

isafrin

[loukinglass]

its the brady bunch

[loukinglass]

"And then?"

[loukinglass]

I like to think no matter the circumstances or Siffrin's role, Isabeau is always a LITTLE down-bad for the little fella. Even when they're dumping his inner secrets out on the ground for everyone to see.

I don't think you can fix this guy, Isabeau

[loukinglass]

(It's Mirabelle!!!)

[loukinglass]

Guh,,,

[loukinglass]

mirabelle being happy

redraw this sprite and a specific scene i think of when i see that sprite. it's SO CUTE

[loukinglass]

I love Mira and you should too.

[loukinglass]

and pngs too

[loukinglass]

old doodle i like

[loukinglass]

He IS weak to rock attacks, after all.

[loukinglass]

bright one