sillylittlecharacters

[sillylittlecharacters]

By the by. If you want more fics about the cast meeting Isabeau's family, i've got a lil something something cooking for you.

Isn't it interesting that he's the one family member confirmed to have spent his childhood in a large family, yet he's 'had connections with the party he's never had with anyone else'? Just saying...

[sillylittlecharacters]

imagine being the friend whose default response to observing unusual behavior is to come up with nearly-fantastical conspiracy theories, and then one day you successfully figure out that one of your pals is in a timeloop. i’d be riding that high for— well. for about twenty seconds in this case

[sillylittlecharacters]

Previous Engagements:

A Guide to Isabeau's Family Tree

Soooo you wanna read Previous Engagements on Ao3, my Isabeau family reunion fic, but it's been a hot minute (two months!!) since you've read any of the chapters, and you don't know who's who. I get it, I get it. Luckily, I have an unofficial guide to Isabeau's family tree, brought to you by the man himself.*

*please note, as this is from the man himself not all of the information is complete and/or accurate.

Take it away!!

The Adults!! Mr Moineau (He/Him) - Yep. That's my dad. Ms Obalia Moineau (She/Her) - that's my mum alright! For better or for worse. Zorenn Nevis (She/Her) - Not my step mother, but great nonetheless! Ms and Mr Moineau's kids: Clement (He/Him) - Not my oldest brother or oldest twin. The less attention he gives me, the better. Ange (He/Him) - Probably not the older twin. He's good at talking about himself, and giving gifts - so he should just stick to his strengths. Isabeau - ME! It's easy to forget about me, apparently, but I'm here too!! Carmen (They/Them) - My younger sibling, who's great when they're not drinking. Zorenn and Mr Moineau's kids: Avann (Him/He) - My slightly-younger step-brother who makes both of those facts my problem. Marianne (She/Her) - My little sister. A good kid, even if looking at her makes me feel… anyway, she's a good kid! Twins (They/Them) - Which one's which? Don't know, don't care. Won't matter until they're 6 anyway.

...Don't tell Zorenn I said that.

Previous Engagements is back TODAY!! Read it!!!

[sillylittlecharacters]

Previous Engagements Update Tomorrow!! So glad the horrors (exams) are over with so I can go back to my true calling - torturing the blorbos! If the first five chapters was me turning up the heat in the pressure cooker, this one has got to be me dumping it straight Into The Fire.

See you there!!

[sillylittlecharacters]

I'm finally baaaack!! And I'm here to staayyy!!

(〜^∇^)〜 Be afraaiiiiddd!!! (〜^∇^)〜

Just to give a little perspective on what I'm working on: The next chapter of Previous Engagements will be published on the 18th, to give me some time to work up to a weekly publishing schedule!! Maybe. Hopefully. In an ideal world.

(For reference of those who have no clue what Engagements have been Previoused, it's my Post-Canon Isabeau Family Reunion Fic filled with fun found family banter; designs for Isa's not so fun biological family; terrible coping mechanisms and even worse puns. It's a good time!!)

First Impressions and Other Miracles recently hit 4k!! insane!!! I'll be doing a 'directors commentary' on each chapter to celebrate in the next coming weeks, filled with insights, snippets from the first drafts and mushy fee-fees and ling-lings for my first finished fic!! So watch this space...

(For those not in the know either, First Impressions is a pre-canon fic for how the party first met! Expect rain sandwiches, worldbuilding, and juuuuust enough Isafrin to make it a tag. cause I can't help myself.)

And in terms for the future. Well.

Let's just say I'm waiting for The Perfect Moment to write it.

[sillylittlecharacters]

"You don't know me. I'm not the same person anymore."

"That's okay. I'll get to know you again."

[sillylittlecharacters]

you ever think about how isat initially introduces bonnie and odile as the iconic child and adult duo -- odile is bonnie's favorite adult, the one they respect and look up to most, the one they look to for guidance, etc...

but that was actually originally siffrin's role and siffrin's dynamic with bonnie. and then siffrin got permanently injured because of bonnie. and it made them so guilty that they couldn't look him in the eye anymore. so they had to find a new favorite adult to latch on to, someone they didn't have complicated feelings towards. and that new adult happened to be odile. you ever think about that

[sillylittlecharacters]

i love that isafrin can be the most straightforwardly romancey, wholesome pairing on a surface level and then you go one (1) level deeper and run into siffrin’s seething guilt and convoluted feelings around touch and intimacy and the extent to which they want or don’t want those things in a specifically romantic way or if he was trying to seek connection and love in any way he could once he knew that Isabeau wanted those things from him in that context, and the combined power trip/self disgust at “manipulating” Isabeau’s desires without his knowledge to make themself feel wanted and in control. and then you keep going and there’s also Isabeau’s own warped self image (still, in spite of all his changes, fearing that he’s someone that would be shameful to know), his “emotionally stable pillar” role and self-taught therapy talk masking his deep fears of real confrontation (struggling loop after loop to confess, not wanting Odile to confront Siffrin about their weird behavior in the sus quest bathroom talk) and how Siffrin’s fear of vulnerability and Isabeau’s fear of Pushing Too Hard allow both of their issues to fester unspoken long after it’s clear that the problems exist.

all this to say. duality of isafrin. makes my heart full and warm and happy to see the sweet, fluffy, silly love and connection between them (mutually romantic or otherwise). and then also. the delicious, delicious complications. gnawing on them like a dog with a beloved bone

[sillylittlecharacters]

clicked on this isat fic without really understanding what the summary was setting up. like yes obviously siffrin does not overnight become an open book, but a specific Terrible Thing for odile to discover??? is it The Incident???

read to the second chapter. where siffrin is triggered by bananas and doesn't properly explain why. and odile does not make the connection btwn 'guaranteed way to die in dermont' and 'siffrin dying resets the loops' and 'Siffrin Looped Many Many Times'

and. ah. okay. so 'in a time loop reset by your death you will end up killing yourself a lot' is maybe not inherently obvious to everyone. this might be a bit dependent on your history with suicidality. isn't that fun.

[sillylittlecharacters]

very VERY silly isat au:

you know how InsertDisc5 said that anyone else stuck in a timeloop would get out really easily? What if... what if that wasn't a net positive? What if they got out of the timeloop, but the wish they made still put them in a personal torment nexus afterwards?

(This isn't to bash on other party members looping aus, btw. I love them to death!! They're all so cool!!! And so many people have such cool ideas for them!!! This is merely a silly writing exercise to see how I can ruin a 'happy ending'.)

For argument's sake let's take Isabeau. Immediately after defeating the King he's just. completely stonefaced. Odile's like 'what, are kids these days too cool to get excited about ending our quest?' and he's like 'it get's less exciting the third time around, lol' and everyone else is like 'THE THIRD TIME??' In the end they all agree to stick together for as long as the loops would allow to help him figure out the time travel shenanigans, whether that be for a whole second journey or just to make talking to Euphrasie a little less lonely. This promise breaks the loops!

But it doesn't break the wish entirely.

You see, the phrasing of a wish and the intent behind it is really important. Siffrin's wish was - thank you ISAT script project - (You want to stay with them!) and it directly led to the timeloop, no extra world-breaking complications needed.

But if it was phrased slightly differently? Coloured by the independent traumas and insecurities of the different characters? Siffrin would know that a wish had to be something 'small and simple' so that the Universe would be easily able to take the path of no resistance to fulfill it clearly, but the others would lack the cultural context or the muscle memory to narrow the scope into specifics.

For example, Isabeau's version of the wish could be (You want to be yourself with them. Your true self - whoever that ends up being, for however long they'll want you.)

A timeloop that's broken in like... 10-15 loops max has got nothing on unwanted mitosis. Isabeau keeps being multiplied, his clones representing different sections of his personality. At first they're practically identical: the only difference between them is that IsaOne seems to be louder and more giggly whilst IsaTwo is slightly more anxious and reserved. But as time goes on, each IsaClone is more exaggerated and uncanny than the last. One clone might be as physically affectionate as a tipsy koala bear, latching onto anything that comes close, whilst another is almost neurotic, completely paralysed in fear.

He's left with a choice. Does he continue trying to compartmentalize his personality until he becomes a parody of himself - utterly inoffensive, utterly likable, and utterly unrecogniseable? Or does he accept every part of himself, no matter how flawed they might be, as his true self?

That's pretty much the blueprint for the au! A fun twist on the base 'stay with them' wish that leads to an even worse postcanon torment nexus for the focus character! Because my philosophy is that even fix-its can make it worse!!

I haven't hashed out the details for the other family members yet, but I'll reblog this post with the editions once I do. In the meantime, please feel free to add your own ideas!!

[sillylittlecharacters]

Mirabelle and Isabeau's early dynamic has to have been interesting. Like Mira already struggles w imposter sydrome but Isa being her first companion must've been so,

She just happened to have gotten immunity to the King's curse by chance. She considers herself the least capable person to do this. People put her on a pedestal she doesn't want and claim she's blessed and she feels all the more like a fraud for it.

Then you have Isabeau who's already been working as a defender and was ready to take up the quest to defeat the King not for any glory but because it was the right thing to do and he buries any fear he may have about it.

And then you have the fact that both of them to some extend try to make themselves palatable/easily likeable?

Mirabelle is genuinely forgiving and caring but she also tries to hide any grudges she holds and rarely openly expresses dislike for someone. And to a certain degree she allows people to step on her toes because she wants to take teasing towards her in good faith.

Isabeau dumbs himself down and wants to appear unthreatening and safe and simple. He'll basically play the therapist friend while insisting he doesn't even have the mind to worry about things and works to make himself into someone that no one "would be ashamed of knowing".

That and the whole "he embodies the change belief better than your housemaiden" as Loop puts it. We know Mira and Isa are close friends now but I can't help but wonder if there was tension early on because they might consider each other more capable versions of themselves, when both of them struggle and don't really know who they want to be and don't really show their authentic selves out of fear of rejection.

[sillylittlecharacters]

I am obsessed w/ your comic!frin au (& just comic!frin in general. there are no fics for the comic on ao3 and it is killing me), PLEASE ramble at me about it.

Hello!! Thank you!!! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to see this!!!

Please please please feel free to send me more asks about this!! anyone!! everyone!! this post got really long under the cut but i can keep yapping for days!!

For anyone who hasn't seen my original post, this is an fic that I'm planning to write (in the distant, D I S T A N T future) about Comic Siffrin. They're the Siffrin from the original comics that the concept of In Stars and Time and Start Again: A Prologue was developed from! A proto-frin, if you will. Apparently they're still stuck in the time loops and that makes me vividly sad.

Ma poor fully grown adult baby. they are significantly older than me. Someone save them.

*ahem. * BIG SPOILERS FOR IN STARS AND TIME.

The base concept for this au (which is absolutely subject to Change!! don't trust me with anything) is that Comic!frin is the 'first' Siffrin, or at least the 'first' Siffrin stuck in a timeloop.

And when they hit their breaking point, instead of wishing for 'someone, anyone to help me!!' and turning into an astronomically themed guide for another Siffrin, they wished for 'someone, anyone to take this responsibility, this fate, this life away from me!!'

This had its consequences.

Unlike with Loop, where the differences between ISAT and SASA:AP universes are minor, there are a LOT of differences between this version of Siffrin and the ones we're more familiar with. The biggest one being, of course, that they alone are the Saviour of Vauguarde.

How did that happen?

Well, Comic!frin actually knew the Head Housemaiden personally before the Royal Court attacked, and when the group of villains began to freeze Vauguarde in time she enlisted their help in finding mcguffins around the country. But Euphrasie's travels meant that there was no one to protect the House of Dormont from the Court's attack, and she went in to face the group alone. Vauguarde's greatest warrior, capable of reversing time craft.

But she didn't leave before crafting a few... plan Bs.

In the end, even she wasn't enough to defeat the combined might of the Royal Court. But there was one last hope, one last blessing that the Change God bestowed on their people. Siffrin, the Saviour of Vauguarde. Not just able to reverse time craft, but completely immune. Or... that's what the people believe.

Yeaaaaaaah, the blessing that Comic!frin received wasn't a gift from the Change God: it was Euphrasie's back up plan. A fail safe for the worst case scenario; an experimental manipulation of Siffrin's wishcraft; true, she couldn't replicate her immunity, but what better guarantee of victory than being able to erase your failures?

Than a time loop?

It was still Comic!frin's wish that trapped him in the Loops, that much stayed the same, but it was Comic!Euphrasie who made sure the wish would be interpreted by the Universe as forming a time loop. Which is why, in the comics, she actively 'sends them back' once they've won - Comic!Euphrasie has much more control over the loops than in ISAT. In her defense, she hoped that it wouldn't be necessary to activate in the first place.

But why does she send them back? How does she know so much about wishes in the first place? And how did Comic!Frin and Phrasie meet??

:)

Wait, Royal Court? What happened to the King??

The Royal Court are this au's main villains, and the ones freezing Vauguarde in time. There are five true members of the Royal Court, each ranging in levels of humanity, and their twisted and contorted 'Pawns' that replaced the game's Sadnesses are completely inhuman, despite their shape. They have their... own reasons for their actions.

As for the King? let's just say he isn't a member of the Court. Our tearful tyrant did exist in this universe, but he isn't involved in freezing the country. I wonder why...

It's a fun reversal of the power dynamic of ISAT - instead of one big bad facing off against a group of plucky heroes, there's one player character against a boss rush, Mario Style!! If only there was a multiplayer option...

More about Comic!Frin!!

I mentioned this on some of the replies to the previous post, but the imagery surrounding Comic!Frin is no longer theatre based, but game based! Funny silly worldbuilding thing, but every time the universe gets reset because of a powerful wish like wishing an entire country out of existence, the timeline gets pushed back, and technology and society becomes more advanced. Comic!Frin has access to technology (in theory. on account of the whole apocalypse making xboxes a lil inconvenient) and sees his life as a videogame. As well as being grounded in the language used in InsertDisc5's comics, I just think it's funny that the one Siffrin who isn't a game is obsessed with them. Comic!frin?? More like Gamer!frin.

This is getting really, REAALLLY long, so I'll keep going on a different post. There's still so many concepts to touch on, like what this version of the party are up to, Comic!frin's saviour complex, more about the Royal Court and their motivations, Loop, and if birds still go 'Piou Piou'!

Spoiler alert - they totally do.

If you managed to get to the end of this (if so you're an absolute madlad) please please please feel free to send me more asks or questions or even make your own ideas!!! that would be awesome!!!!

[sillylittlecharacters]

I am obsessed w/ your comic!frin au (& just comic!frin in general. there are no fics for the comic on ao3 and it is killing me), PLEASE ramble at me about it.

Hello!! Thank you!!! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to see this!!!

Please please please feel free to send me more asks about this!! anyone!! everyone!! this post got really long under the cut but i can keep yapping for days!!

For anyone who hasn't seen my original post, this is an fic that I'm planning to write (in the distant, D I S T A N T future) about Comic Siffrin. They're the Siffrin from the original comics that the concept of In Stars and Time and Start Again: A Prologue was developed from! A proto-frin, if you will. Apparently they're still stuck in the time loops and that makes me vividly sad.

Ma poor fully grown adult baby. they are significantly older than me. Someone save them.

*ahem. * BIG SPOILERS FOR IN STARS AND TIME.

The base concept for this au (which is absolutely subject to Change!! don't trust me with anything) is that Comic!frin is the 'first' Siffrin, or at least the 'first' Siffrin stuck in a timeloop.

And when they hit their breaking point, instead of wishing for 'someone, anyone to help me!!' and turning into an astronomically themed guide for another Siffrin, they wished for 'someone, anyone to take this responsibility, this fate, this life away from me!!'

This had its consequences.

Unlike with Loop, where the differences between ISAT and SASA:AP universes are minor, there are a LOT of differences between this version of Siffrin and the ones we're more familiar with. The biggest one being, of course, that they alone are the Saviour of Vauguarde.

How did that happen?

Well, Comic!frin actually knew the Head Housemaiden personally before the Royal Court attacked, and when the group of villains began to freeze Vauguarde in time she enlisted their help in finding mcguffins around the country. But Euphrasie's travels meant that there was no one to protect the House of Dormont from the Court's attack, and she went in to face the group alone. Vauguarde's greatest warrior, capable of reversing time craft.

But she didn't leave before crafting a few... plan Bs.

In the end, even she wasn't enough to defeat the combined might of the Royal Court. But there was one last hope, one last blessing that the Change God bestowed on their people. Siffrin, the Saviour of Vauguarde. Not just able to reverse time craft, but completely immune. Or... that's what the people believe.

Yeaaaaaaah, the blessing that Comic!frin received wasn't a gift from the Change God: it was Euphrasie's back up plan. A fail safe for the worst case scenario; an experimental manipulation of Siffrin's wishcraft; true, she couldn't replicate her immunity, but what better guarantee of victory than being able to erase your failures?

Than a time loop?

It was still Comic!frin's wish that trapped him in the Loops, that much stayed the same, but it was Comic!Euphrasie who made sure the wish would be interpreted by the Universe as forming a time loop. Which is why, in the comics, she actively 'sends them back' once they've won - Comic!Euphrasie has much more control over the loops than in ISAT. In her defense, she hoped that it wouldn't be necessary to activate in the first place.

But why does she send them back? How does she know so much about wishes in the first place? And how did Comic!Frin and Phrasie meet??

:)

Wait, Royal Court? What happened to the King??

The Royal Court are this au's main villains, and the ones freezing Vauguarde in time. There are five true members of the Royal Court, each ranging in levels of humanity, and their twisted and contorted 'Pawns' that replaced the game's Sadnesses are completely inhuman, despite their shape. They have their... own reasons for their actions.

As for the King? let's just say he isn't a member of the Court. Our tearful tyrant did exist in this universe, but he isn't involved in freezing the country. I wonder why...

It's a fun reversal of the power dynamic of ISAT - instead of one big bad facing off against a group of plucky heroes, there's one player character against a boss rush, Mario Style!! If only there was a multiplayer option...

More about Comic!Frin!!

I mentioned this on some of the replies to the previous post, but the imagery surrounding Comic!Frin is no longer theatre based, but game based! Funny silly worldbuilding thing, but every time the universe gets reset because of a powerful wish like wishing an entire country out of existence, the timeline gets pushed back, and technology and society becomes more advanced. Comic!Frin has access to technology (in theory. on account of the whole apocalypse making xboxes a lil inconvenient) and sees his life as a videogame. As well as being grounded in the language used in InsertDisc5's comics, I just think it's funny that the one Siffrin who isn't a game is obsessed with them. Comic!frin?? More like Gamer!frin.

This is getting really, REAALLLY long, so I'll keep going on a different post. There's still so many concepts to touch on, like what this version of the party are up to, Comic!frin's saviour complex, more about the Royal Court and their motivations, Loop, and if birds still go 'Piou Piou'!

Spoiler alert - they totally do.

If you managed to get to the end of this (if so you're an absolute madlad) please please please feel free to send me more asks or questions or even make your own ideas!!! that would be awesome!!!!

[sillylittlecharacters]

I have several (and I mean several) concepts that I'm very excited to play around with when I eventually write a fic focused on Comic!Siffrin, but my favorite one - and the one that I'm willing to share rn - is that the party doesn't exist.

Like, the alternate versions of Mirabelle, Isabeau, Odile and Bonnie are all alive, well and unfrozen somewhere Dormont for various plot related reasons, but they never joined a quest to save the Country. In their universe, Mirabelle was never given a blessing, and somehow Siffrin is the lone saviour of Vauguarde.

[sillylittlecharacters]

Writing Siffrin is fun. He could just be sitting there and you still have to add a laundry list of trigger warnings.

[sillylittlecharacters]

minor artbook spoilers abt odile

on the section about her weight, the artbook mentions she's been eating more since travelling with the party. i think Personally it's bc she eats best in company and enjoys listening to others as she eats but since her father's passing, she hasn't had much of a family to consistently enjoy a meal with. but now, she can sit at the table for hours asking for seconds, thirds, fourths, as she listens to isa, bon, and mira chat, and sif occasionally chime in :,) meals are a fun, pleasurable time and not a chore she does just to keep alive on the road

[sillylittlecharacters]

I’m so excited for this genderqueer yuri guys you have no idea…