#and i feel like i keep confusing y’all 😂😅

[aquaquadrant]

Oooo not having the concept of years makes so much sense! It works really well for immortal characters too, but also gives us a few more questions (ooo goodie! Worldbuilding is like a puzzle to me I love the interlocking, logickjng puzzle bits like this!) if they have no years, how do they handle and categorize recorded/known history? I mean the kind of stuff that any existing… I don’t wanna call it a civilization but you get what I mean, would keep track of, stuff like city founding, wars, shifting powers, large historical events and the like? (And this goes for the greater universe outside of hels too, parhaps more so, as they would probably be more likely to keep track of universe-wide important events)

So, an adding proposal: while players don’t really have a concept of years on a smaller, personal level, they do have the concept of Ages, as in a time period, an Age or Era of history. These can be anywhere from decades to many centuries long, and their beginnings and ends are much more nebulous, mostly defined retrospectively by larger events (if you were doing updates, I’d suggest these as a few good examples, but eh) instead of referring to events with dates and such, it would be more like “[X event] happened about three quarters of the way through the [Y name] age” it’s all very approximate and nebulous, but at least it gives some context to important events and how they relate to each other! (My brain is the kind that really likes that stuff) what age the world is currently in is a topic of hot debate between anyone who actually cares, hels might still be in the last/most recent age, or If you ask someone in New Hellington, they might say it’s the beginning of the Aliskrian Age!

oh hmmmm i guess i should clarify, the way i view it is that players do have a concept of years, but they just don’t use or think about it much after a certain point? their communicators keep track of how many days they’ve lived and that can translate to years. so like, bravo had to specifically make a point of keeping track of how long he was in hels, otherwise he wouldn’t have known.

cuz like, the universe has infinite worlds and countless players. trying to keep tract of a collective ‘history’ would be near impossible- the only things that really get a timestamp on them are documents and videos shared to the multinet so i suppose that could be a way to keep track of certain events (like the invention of certain types of farms).

hels, on the other hand, is a totally isolated world, so while they’d all have a shared history, they don’t have a multinet. so record-keeping isn’t much of a priority for them. all their news is by word of mouth or one-on-one whispers anyways, cuz no one chats, so most of the population only knows what they’ve personally experienced or heard about, and are clueless about the rich, overall history of hels (and the rest of the universe ofc).

categorizing as ‘ages’ is a neat idea! tho i think that kind of implies a much larger time scale than i’m working with, like on the scale of hundreds-thousands to millions of years? but maybe i only think that bc it’s the only context i’ve heard the term used in irl 😂

[the-sisters-madrigal]

Conexión Con el Arco Iris

Summary: When Mirabel doesn't come to breakfast and the rest of the family is busy in town, Isabela stays behind to check on her. To her surprise, she finds her baby sister sick, and since Mirabel does not want her to leave her to go get some of their mother's healing food, Isabela takes it upon herself to stay there with her, using the opportunity as an excuse to cuddle her sister back to health.

Word Count: 3310

A/N: In case y’all didn’t know about it or already listened to it, you seriously have to check out Diane Guerrero’s cover of “Rainbow Connection.” It’s utter perfection 🥺💕 

Also, a side note, if y’all have heard her sing anything besides “Rainbow Connection” and the songs from Encanto, please do send me the link to it 😅 Listening to her sing and envisioning it as Isabela keeps me going when it comes to fanfics 😂

I hope y’all enjoy! 😊💕

  “Mirabel? Are you awake? You didn’t come to breakfast, and we were all worried,” Isabela called, knocking on the nursery door. There was dead silence on the other side, and Isabela furrowed her brow, feeling an even deeper worry setting in her chest.

  Mirabel had not shown up for breakfast, and since it had been such a busy week, everyone had just assumed that she was likely tired or something and resolved to let her sleep in. However, Isabela and Julieta had been worried about Mirabel immediately, and since Julieta could not stay for long after breakfast, Isabela had decided to go and check on Mirabel to see if she was alright.

  “Mirabel? I’m coming in,” Isabela spoke up, heading inside the room almost immediately. While most people would have waited a short moment, Isabela was not one to dawdle and she preferred to just rip the bandage off fast when it came to Mirabel. It was the way that she had always been with her.

  Despite this, she ensured she was quiet as she came in, shutting the door behind her carefully.

  To her surprise, Mirabel was still lying in bed, cuddled underneath way too many blankets. Isabela furrowed her brow, tilting her head a little. She had never really witnessed her little sister sleeping in so late, and she had never really seen anyone cuddled under that many blankets. Their nights were always so warm and there was no need for more than just one or two blankets.

  Unless, of course, Mirabel happened to be sick.

  With that thought in mind, Isabela came closer, grasping the top of the blankets and pulling back on them some, trying to get a better view of her baby sister underneath them. Immediately, Mirabel took in a sharp breath, drawing in on herself. Isabela furrowed her brow, leaning nearer as she softly touched Mirabel’s head with the back of her hand.

  Mirabel’s head felt hot, but she was not sure if that was because Isabela’s hands generally ran on the side of being somewhat cool.

  Isabela took in a small breath, leaning forward as she delivered a soft kiss to Mirabel’s temple, feeling her temperature.

  “Gosh, I’m kinda feeling like Sleeping Beauty or something now, Isa,” Mirabel joked, and her voice was very concerningly groggy. Immediately, Isabela pulled back a little, groaning as she looked down at her baby sister. Mirabel had a slight smile on her face, but other than that, she did not seem quite like her usual self.

  Overall, Mirabel’s voice concerned her and the sheer heat rolling off of her was also a telltale sign that something was not perfectly right with her. Despite her attempts at jokes, she

  “Are you okay?” Isabela asked, looking at her patiently, and Mirabel furrowed her brow in confusion, trying to draw back underneath her blankets just a little. Isabela instantly noticed and she resisted her immediate urge to pull the covers back further and expose her currently overheating baby sister to cooler air.

  “Relatively speaking… Why?” Mirabel finally questioned as she slowly and blindly reached out for her glasses, and Isabela raised an eyebrow.

  “You missed breakfast,” Isabela pointed out, and Mirabel nodded slowly in recognition, still trying to find her glasses.

  Isabela just reached out, taking the glasses from the nightstand as she slid them onto Mirabel’s face. Mirabel blinked a few times before smiling somewhat weakly.

  “Ah… Kind of explains the empty feeling in my stomach,” Mirabel chuckled wryly, and Isabela narrowed her eyes.

  “Most likely,” Isabela drily replied before offering Mirabel a concerned onceover.

  “So. Is there something wrong?” Isabela questioned again, not giving Mirabel any time to deflect.

  Mirabel seemed to be slowly worming herself down further into the covers. And truthfully, Isabela was extremely close to just heading to town and fetching some of their mother’s food to cram it down Mirabel’s throat regardless of what she would or would not admit to.

  While their mother almost always left food in the kitchen for them, she had been so overwhelmed with work that week that she had not really had time to make anything extra to leave behind at Casita.

  “Well… My throat’s killing me and I’m kind of freezing,” Mirabel admitted, her voice still sounding croakier than it should.

  Isabela furrowed her brow, placing her hands on her hips as she felt some aggravation flare up within her. Her youngest sister was suffering, and she did not even bother telling her immediately.

  “And you didn’t think to tell me that when I asked the first time?” Isabela asked, utterly unimpressed, and Mirabel shrugged a little with some sheepishness in her expression.

  “To be fair, I’m kind of sick and a little slow on the uptake,” Mirabel answered, and Isabela sighed deeply.

  She leaned forward, pulling the covers back. Mirabel gritted her teeth, immediately writhing uncomfortably, and Isabela softly cupped Mirabel’s face in her hands, feeling terrible for having to make her suffer like this but also knowing that the younger girl needed to stay on the cooler side to actually break the fever.

  Mirabel stilled a little of the motion almost instantly, frozen as she stared at Isabela. Isabela just looked down at her carefully, her heart aching as she looked at her.

  “I’m going to town to get some food for you,” Isabela told her, starting to straighten as her hand slipped away from Mirabel’s face.

   However, to her utmost shock, Mirabel’s hand abruptly shot out as she grasped Isabela’s wrist quickly.

  “Wait,” Mirabel quickly spoke up, and Isabela stopped, looking at her carefully. Mirabel just stared at her for a moment, and they maintained eye contact for a few moments. Mirabel hesitantly released her, laughing sheepishly as she withdrew her hand back as she made another attempt to hide under the covers for warmth.

  “Never mind,” Mirabel dismissed, and Isabela offered her a onceover.

  “What?” Isabela asked, reaching forward and snatching the covers away again as she kept Mirabel from getting warmer and worsening her fever. Mirabel immediately cringed, drawing in on herself a little more.

  “No, no, it’s no big deal. I’ll be fine here,” Mirabel assured her, and Isabela furrowed her brow, suddenly realizing precisely what was going on with Mirabel.

  While Isabela had no idea how to really handle anyone who was sick—and especially Mirabel— outside of just bringing them some of their mother’s food immediately, she suddenly realized that Mirabel obviously did not want her to go. Despite the fact that Isabela knew logically that she should just go straight to town and bring something to heal Mirabel instantly, she could not help but find herself hesitating.

  As much as it killed her and went against her better judgement to let Mirabel sit here and exist like this, if it made Mirabel happy for her to stay and if she wanted her to stay more than she wanted a quick fix, who was she to turn her down?

  And apparently her baby sister did not want to admit to this desire for her to stay, so Isabela was going to have to make the decision for her. It hurt Isabela to know that Mirabel did not have the confidence to just demand things from her as younger sisters were supposed to, but she was going to do her best to start trying to give reasons for Mirabel to have that boldness as Isabela should have a long time ago.

  Isabela quirked a brow.

  “Are you trying to make me stay?” Isabela gave her the opportunity to own up to it, just studying her carefully as she made a conscientious effort to ensure her expression was actually welcoming in the midst of the teasing veneer that she had casted over it.

  “No! No, not at all!” Mirabel argued, and she coughed painfully. Isabela furrowed her brow, concern in her face as she eyed her baby sister. Once Mirabel had finally managed to get ahold of her coughing fit, she sobered a little, precisely how terrible that she was feeling starting to shine through clearly.

  “Well… I mean… Unless you wanna stay or something. Like… It’d make a lot more sense to just go and get Mamá’s food, but… I dunno, I just—”

  “Mirabel, you should’ve just asked me,” Isabela interrupted, starting to move on the bed. She paused momentarily, attempting to ensure it was alright before proceeding too far on this track.

  Mirabel quickly made a move to get out of her way, and Isabela smiled softly as she scooted the rest of the way on the bed, lifting her dress to comfortably slide on the mattress with Mirabel. She moved herself so that her back was leaning against the wall, and Mirabel swiftly started trying to drag the blankets so that she could cover up and move a little nearer to Isabela. Isabela immediately raised a hand, stopping her.

  “However, if we’re going to do this, you’re going to have to get out from under those blankets. Just because we have a cure-all just down the road doesn’t mean that I’m about to let you keep a fever,” Isabela informed her firmly, stating her terms of service. Mirabel almost pouted, gauging the entire situation for a moment.

  However, endearingly, she seemed to decide that being close to Isabela and her not leaving was more valuable than being stubborn about the blankets and Isabela heading off to town immediately. She scooted out from under the blankets, instantly gritting her teeth and shivering all over, and Isabela opened her arms to bring her close and offer her at least a little warmth.

  Mirabel wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity, and she moved in close, sinking into the oldest sibling as she let Isabela just wrap her arms around her and engulf her as well as she could. Isabela smiled gently before frowning a little at the realization of how hot that Mirabel’s forehead felt. She made a mental note to sneak away and at least fetch a washcloth for Mirabel even if she could not quite manage to get away long enough to leave for some of their mother’s food.

  Isabela let out a gentle breath, her cheekbone grazing the side of Mirabel’s head as she moved in closer.

  “Here, just rest,” Isabela whispered to her gently, and Mirabel sunk down heavily into her, her glasses riding up her face somewhat. Isabela huffed just a tiny bit, reaching her hand up and gingerly plucking them from Mirabel’s face as she placed them on the bed a little ways away.

  Mirabel sighed tiredly, coughing a little, and Isabela smiled gently, unable to help feeling a soft warmth in her chest in response to the younger girl’s affection.

  Even if Mirabel was sick, Isabela could not deny that she did appreciate the excuse to hold her close.

  She just wished she could usually do these things unprompted without potentially making Mirabel uncomfortable.

     ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

      Mirabel woke up at last, but she did not bother opening her eyes, feeling Isabela’s ministrations as she remained softly giving her attentions. Mirabel must have sunken down in Isabela’s embrace and somehow ended up lying there with her head in her lap. However, with how Isabela was stroking her face and cheeks, she could not find it in herself to mind too much.

  After all, it was affection that Mirabel had not experienced from Isabela often during her waking hours, so the last thing that she wanted to do was stop her older sister from fulfilling her need for touch that she so desperately thrived off of when it was from Isabela.

  The truth was that Mirabel was exceedingly touch-starved when it came to Isabela. Therefore, as a result, she was always more than excited when Isabela actually gave her that touch.

  However, just as she was finally about to give up the charade, Isabela surprised her with the sound of her voice speaking up in a very quiet song.

  “Why… are there so many… songs about rainbows?” Isabela suddenly started. Mirabel resisted the urge to furrow her brow from the shock as she took in the soft sound of her big sister’s voice. She almost opened her eyes as well, but she quickly exercised restraint, not wanting to stop Isabela. She simply did not utter a word as she remained dead silent, ensuring that she did not disrupt this almost magical moment.

  “And what’s on the other side?” Isabela sang gently, her voice softly lilting along in the most careful of songs.

  Mirabel remained nestled close to her, her mind utterly blown as she realized that her big sister must have thought that she was asleep.

  The truth was that Mirabel had never heard Isabela’s voice like this. It was so gentle and so painstakingly soft. It comforted her deeply, and she honestly thought that she could just lay here forever and listen to it.

  “Rainbows are visions… But only illusions… And rainbows have nothing to hide,” Isabela trailed off for a moment, her voice so utterly soothing that Mirabel felt as if she might actually fall asleep for real this time. However, her enrapturement with Isabela’s voice was far too strong for her to miss the heavenly sound.

  “So we’ve been told, and we choose to believe it… Some… I know they’re wrong wait and see,” Isabela’s song continued on despite the small blunder that she had in the midst of attempting to remember the words, and Mirabel could not help but think that even that small imperfection was sheer perfection in itself. Isabela somehow managed to pull it off and make it sound like it was actually a part of the song.

  Something about the entire experience felt surreal. Isabela’s soft song, regardless of what it was even about, was everything to her because it was something that she felt like was only for her to hear.

  She knew that Dolores could likely hear it as well, but some selfish part of her wanted to hoard the entire experience for herself. This was her big sister and her song, and the fact that Isabela was being so soft and gentle with her was honestly just something that she wanted to stow away forever.

  She knew that she had to share Isabela with Luisa, but sometimes, at least since they had overcome their differences, Mirabel truly treasured the moments that it could just be her and Isabela.

  It was not that she loved Isabela more than Luisa, but it was just that all those years, Luisa was someone easily accessible to her and someone that was actually on her side. Now that she had the opportunity to get to know her oldest sister and someone that she looked up to so, so much alongside Luisa, she wanted to catch up on everything she had missed.

  And lying here with her head in Isabela’s lap with her singing above her was a personal heaven in Mirabel’s genuine and honest opinion.

  She just hated that she had to be sick to experience it.

  “Someday we’ll find it… the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me,” Isabela trilled, her hand ever so carefully reaching and brushing through Mirabel’s hair. Her hands were painstakingly soft in their touch, and she ran her fingers through the thick mess of hair, her nails scratching ever so slightly.

  It took everything in Mirabel not to hum in pure happiness. However, the one thing that she could not help was the little shiver that went through her at the sensation.

  Isabela paused momentarily, and Mirabel remained frozen as well for a short minute.

  Mirabel very hesitantly opened her eyes, knowing that she had been caught. Isabela tried her best to hide the embarrassment in her gaze as she shifted her eyes to the side and picked up a washcloth nearby that Mirabel assumed she must have gotten while she was asleep, dabbing Mirabel’s forehead as if she had not just been singing like an angel.

  “Feeling any better?” Isabela questioned, her voice remarkably steady considering the fact that she would hardly meet Mirabel’s eyes for longer than a millisecond. She was quite obviously pretending that nothing had happened and that Mirabel had actually been asleep during her song.

  Mirabel swallowed, noting the presence of her sore throat as she slowly took account of the remainder of her symptoms. However, she did not really feel too cold anymore.

  “Throat still hurts… I think the fever’s broken, though,” Mirabel admitted, and Isabela nodded with a slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

  “Yeah, I noticed you broke a sweat,” Isabela replied easily, and Mirabel was quiet for a moment, letting Isabela focus almost entirely on her task at hand.

  However, Mirabel finally managed to catch Isabela’s gaze, and the older girl paused for just a moment, their eyes locking. Mirabel smiled gently.

  “You sing pretty,” she complimented, and Isabela was frozen for a second before she finally huffed somewhat dismissively. Isabela moved the cloth to the side, placing it on the bed where it had been laying a few moments ago as she shrugged.

  “You’ve heard me sing before,” Isabela pointed out astutely, and Mirabel let out a soft, somewhat forceful exhale that was almost a chuckle. However, it set off a few coughs, and Isabela was quick to touch her shoulder gently, her thumb stroking Mirabel’s skin just barely. Mirabel could not help her grin.

  “Maybe so, but I just… I don’t know. This time was just really pretty,” Mirabel complimented, somewhat losing focus as the fogginess of her head was slowly seeping back in more heavily.

  “Are you saying I don’t sing pretty usually?” Isabela deadpanned, and despite the fact that Mirabel knew she was just messing with her, she quickly tried to remedy her statement. Her sickness was affecting her thought process a little.

  “No! I was just saying that was really pretty. Not that all the other times weren’t. I just—”

  “Mariposa, it’s okay. I’m messing with you,” Isabela assured her with a soft chuckle, and Mirabel let out a sigh of relief.

  Isabela was terrible for messing with her while she was down, but alas, that was the way that she rolled. It was also simply the nature of their relationship. They loved to mess with each other. And it was okay as long as they did not step on any toes or strike any nerves amongst them.

  “Picking on me while I’m down, huh?” Mirabel could not help but gripe lightly, voicing her thoughts aloud.

  “Why not? It’s when it’s easiest,” Isabela breezily replied, and Mirabel rolled her eyes a little, looking up at Isabela from where her head was relaxed in her lap.

  “Thank you for staying,” Mirabel expressed finally, and Isabela just furrowed her brow, lightly patting Mirabel’s cheek as she gazed down at her with some reprimand.

  “Don’t thank me. I’m your big sister. It’s what I’m supposed to do,” Isabela assured her, a gentle smile on her face, and Mirabel grinned a little, enjoying the feeling of Isabela just giving her all the soft touches and affection that she had been craving from her for so long.

  She did not enjoy being sick, but if it meant getting this sort of attention from Isabela, she would gladly do her time. She just wished that it was not all going to come to an end when she got better.

  But nevertheless, she closed her eyes once again and just chose to forget about the future, basking in the heavenliness of the now.

  “You going to let me go to town and get you some of Mamá’s food now?” Isabela questioned, but the tone of her voice gave away the fact that she knew the precise answer to her inquiry already. Mirabel shook her head with a soft laugh.

  “Nope.”

[sunnibits]

Trust me on this when I say that my 18th birthday did not make me feel like an adult lol, sure you may legally be an adult but nothing will change about you overnight.

Growth is slow and even as I’m nearing 20 I still do not feel like an adult! And I think many people feel like that! So take your time and have fun at whatever age you are :)

Oh don’t worry, there’s a reason I specify “legally”, I’m well aware that turning 18 isn’t gonna change much 😅 I have every intention to treat it mostly like just another age and take my time with things :)

I feel like some people I know get really freaked out about turning 18 but I’ve always been like, idk man, you’re still the same person, you don’t really have to change anything about your behavior and activities if you don’t want to??? I’m just looking forward to being more independent lmao

I do appreciate the reminder though!! It’s kinda funny being a minor surrounded by a lot of adults online, but if I’m being honest, I think seeing a bunch of 20-something year olds agonize over how they still don’t have their life together has been a very helpful perspective 😂 Like, okay, y’all are all confused as fuck too, I’m gonna be fine 😅 just gonna keep doing what I do and take it easy 😌