#mirabelle is so cool forever

[mothballs-butgirl]

THIS IS AMAZING THANK YOU SO MUUCUHHHHHH 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Fanart of "to help a star shine" by @mothballs-butgirl IM SO IN LOVE WITH THESE THREE!!!!!!!!! QUEERPLATONIC MIRAISAFRIN LETS GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[felikatze]

ISAT and Ludonarrative Harmony: Combat is a Storytelling Tool

Or: How Siffrin is stuck in the endgame grind, forever

Please Note: This is primarily aimed at an audience that already played In Stars and Time, because I am bad at explaining things, and it's good to already know what the fuck I'm talking about. I tend to only bring up game elements as I want to talk about them.

Spoilers for.... all of ISAT! Especially Act 5!

(image to show how i feel posting this and as an attention grabber over my wall of text)

To pull a definition of ludonarrative harmony out of a hat, game writer Lauryn Ash defines it as follows:

Ludonarrative harmony is when gameplay and story work together to create a meaningful and immersive experience. From a design implementation perspective, it is the synchronized interactions between in-game actions (mechanics) and in-world context (story).

It is, generally speaking, how well game mechanics work hand in hand with the story. I, personally, think ISAT is an absolute masterclass of it, so I want to take a look at how ISAT specifically uses its battle system to emphasize Siffrin's character arc and create organic story moments. I want you to keep this in mind when I talk here.

So, skills, right? If you've played any turn-based RPG, you know your Fire spells, your "BACKSLASH! AIRSLASH! BACKSLASH!" and the many ways to style those.

Well, what does casting "Fire" say about your character? Not all that much, does it? Perhaps you'll have typical divisions. The smart one is the mage, the big brawny one is your tank, the petite one's the healer. And that's the barebones of ISAT's main party, but it's much more than that.

Every character's style of combat tells you something about them. Odile, the Researcher, is the most well-travelled and knowledgable of the bunch. She's the one with the expertise to keep a cool head and analyze the enemy, yet also able to use all three of the Rock-Paper-Scissors craft types.

To reflect her analytical view of things, all her skill names are just descriptive, the closest to your most bog-standard RPG. "Slow IV" or "Paper III" serve well to describe their purpose. The high number of the skills gives the impression there were three other Slow skills beforehand - fitting, considering the party starts at level 45, about to head into the final dungeon. She's also the oldest, so she's the slowest of the bunch.

Isabea, the Fighter, has all his skills in exclamation points. "YOUR TURN!!!" "SO WEAK!!!" "SMASH!!!" they're straightforward, but excited. He's a purposefully cheerfull guy, so his skills revolve around cheering on his allies. He's absolutely pumped to be here, and you see that from his skill names alone.

Mirabelle, the Housemaiden, is an interesting case. She's by all means the true protagonist of this tale - She's the one "Chosen by the Change God," the only one who survived the King's first attack, the only one immune to his ability to freeze time, the only dual-craft type of the game - just a lot of things. And her skill names reflect that facade she puts on herself - she can do this, she can win! She has to believe it, or else she starts doubting. This is how you get "Jolly Round Rondo" and "Mega Sparkle Heal" or "Adorable Moving Cure." She's styled every bit a sailor scout shojo heroine, and her moveset replicates the naming conventions of "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"

Even Bonnie, the Kid, who can't be controlled in combat, has named craft skills. And they very much reflect that Bonnie is, well, a kid. "Wolf Speed Technique" or "Thousand Blows Technique" are very much the phrasings of a child who learned one complicated word and now wants to use it in everything to seem cooler than they are, which is none, because they're twelve.

Siffrin's skills are all puns.

You have an IMMEDIATE feel for personality here. Between "Knife to Meet You!" and "Too Cleaver by Half," you know Siffrin's the type to always crack a joke no matter the situation, slinging witticisms around to put Sonic the Hedgehog to shame. It's just such a clever way to establish character using a game mechanic as old as the entire history of RPGs.

This is only the baseline of the way the combat system feeds into the story, though.

The timeloop, of course, feeds into it. Siffrin is the only character who retains experience upon looping, whereas all other characters are reset to their base level and skills. And it sucks (affectionate).

You're extremely likely to battle more often the earlier in the game you are - after all, you need the experience (for now.) Every party member contributes, and Siffrin isn't all that strong on their own, since they focus on raw scissor type damage with the addition of one speed buff. (Of course it's a speed buff. They're a speedy fucker. Just look at him).

At first, the difference in level between Siffrin and the rest of the group is rather negligible. Just a level or two. Just a bit more speed and attack. And then Siffrin grows further and further apart. Siffrin keeps learning new skills. He gets a healing skill that doubles as an attack boost, taking away from both Mirabelle's and Isabeau's usefullness. He gets Craft skills of every type that even give you two jackpot points instead of one - thus obliterating Odile's niche. Siffrin turns into a one-person army capable of clearing most encounters all on their own.

Siffrin's combat progression is an exact mirror of story progression - as their experience inside the loops grows, they also grow further and further away from their party. The party seems... weaker, slower, clumsier. Always back at their starting point, just as all of their character arcs are reset each loop. Never advancing, always stagnant. And you have Siffrin as the comparison post right next to them.

I also want to point out here a change from Act 2 to Act 3 - Siffrin's battle portrait. He stops smiling.

Battles keep getting easier. This is true both for the reason that Siffrin keeps growing stronger even when all enemies stay the same, but also for the reason that you, the player, learn more about the battle system and the various encounters, until you've learned perfect boss clear strategies just from repetition. Have you ever watched a speedrunner play Pokemon? They've played this game so many times, they could do it blindfolded and sleeping. Your own knowledge and Siffrin's new strength work in tandem to trivialize the game's entire combat system as the game progresses.

(Is it still fun? Playing it over, and over, and over again? Is it?)

You and Siffrin are in sync, your experience making everything trivial.

As time goes on, Siffrin grows to care less and less about performing right for their party and more and more about going fast. A huge moment in his character is marked by the end of Act 3; because of story events I won't delve too deeply into, Siffrin has grown afraid of trying something new. And his options of escape are closing in. They need an answer, and they need it fast. He doesn't have the time or patience to dumb himself down, so you unlock one new skill.

It doesn't occur with level up, or with a quest, or anything at all. At the start of Act 4, it simply appears in Siffrin's Craft skills.

(Just attack.)

No pun. No joke. Just attack. Once you notice, the effect is immediate - here you have it, a clear sign of how jaded Siffrin has become, right at every encounter. And it's a damn good attack, too! The only available attack in the game that deals "massive" damage against all enemies. Because it doesn't add any jackpot points (at least, it's not supposed to), you set up a combo with everybody else, but Siffrin simply tears away at the enemy with wild abandon. Seperated from the rest of the party by the virtue of no longer needing to contribute to team attacks (most of the time. It's still useful if they do, though).

Once again, an aspect of the battle system enhances the degree of separation between Siffrin and the static characters of his play. You're incentivized to separate him, even.

Additionally, there are two more skills to learn. They're the only skills that replace previous skills. You only get them at extremely high levels, the latter of which I didn't even reach on both of my playthroughs.

The first, somewhere in the level 70 range, Rose Printed Glasses, a paper type craft skill, is replaced by Tear You Apart. It's still a pun about paper, but remarkedly more vicious.

The second is even more on the nose. At level 80, In A While, Rockodile!, a rock type craft skill, is replaced by the more powerful Rock Bottom.

I didn't get to level 80. If you do, you pretty much have to do it on purpose. You have to keep going much longer than necessary, as Siffrin is just done. And the last skill he learns is literally called Rock Bottom.

What do I even need to say, really.

Your party doesn't stay static forever, though.

By doing their hangout quests, side quests throughout the loops that result in Siffrin and the character having a heart to heart, all of them unlock what I'd call an "ultimate" skill. You know the type - the character achieved self-fulfillment, hit rank 10 on their confidant, maxed out their skill tree, and received a reward for their trouble.

These skills are massively useful. My favorite is Odile's - it makes one enemy weak to all Craft types for several turns, which basically allows you to invalidate the first and third boss, as well as just clown on the King, especially once Siffrin starts racking up damage.

But the thing is. In Act 3, when you first get them, yeah, they're useful. But... do you need them? After all, they're such a hassle to get. You need to do the whole character quest again, you can't loop forward in the House or you'll lose them. If you want to take these skills to the King, you need to commit. Go the full nine-yards and be nice to your friends and not die and not skip forward or skip back. Which is annoying, right?

Well, I sure did think so during Act 4. After all, a base level party can still defeat the King, just with a few more tricky pieces involved. Siffrin can oneshot almost all basic enemies by the time of Act 4. It's this exact evalutation that you, the player, go through everytime you return to Dormont. Do I want this skill, still? Would it not be faster to go on without it? I'm repeating myself, but that's the thing! That's what Siffrin is thinking, too!

I also want to take a quick moment to note, here - all skills gained from hangouts have art associated with them, which no other skills do. This feature, the nifty art, hammers home these as "special" skills, besides just how they're unlocked.

Siffrin also has one skill with associated art.

Yeah, you guessed it, it's (Just attack.)

At first, helping the characters is tied to a hefty in-game reward, but that reward loses its value, and in return devalues helping Siffrin's friends every loop. It's too tedious for a skill that'll make a boss go by one turn faster. You, the player, grow jaded with the battle system. Grinding experience isn't worth it, everybody's highest levels are already recorded. Fighting bosses isn't worth it, it's much faster to loop forward.

Isn't this what all endgame in video games looks like? You already beat the final boss, and now... what challenge is left? Is there a point to keep playing? Most games will have some post-game content. A superboss to test your skills against, but ISAT doesn't have any of that. You're forever left chasing to the post-game. That's the whole point - to escape the game.

As most games get more difficult as time passes, ISAT only gets easier. The game becomes disinterested in expanding its own mechanics just as I ran out of new things to fight after 100%-ing Kingdom Hearts 3. Every encounter becomes a simple game of "press button to win."

The final boss just takes that one up a notch.

Spoilers for Act 5 ahead boys!

In Act 5, Siffrin utterly loses it. His last possible hope for escape failed him, told him there's nothing she can do, and Siffrin is trapped for eternity. So of course, they go insane and run up the entire House without their party.

This just proves what you already knew - you dont need the party to proceed. Siffrin alone is strong enough. And here, Siffrin has entirely shed the facade of the jokester they used to be. Every single skill now follows the (Just attack.) naming conventions. Your skills are: (Paper.) (Rock.) (Scissors.) (Breathe.)

To the point. Not a moment wasted, because Siffrin can't take a moment longer of any of this. Additionally, his level is set to 99 and his equipment becomes fixed. You can't even pick up items anymore! Not that you needed them at this point anyway, right? Honestly, I never used any items besides the Salty Broth since Act 2, so I stopped picking items up a long time ago. Now you just literally can't.

Something I've not talked about until now - one of the main equipment types in this game are Memories, gained for completing subquests or specific interactions and events. They all by and large have little effects - make Odile's tonics heal more, or have Mirabelle cast a shield at the start of combat. For the hangout events, you also gain an associated memory that boosts the characters' stats by 30. It lets them keep up with Siffrin again! A fresh wind! Finally, your party members feel on par with you again!

...For a time. And just like that, they're irrelevant again, just as helping them gave Siffrin a brief moment of hope that the power of friendship could fix everything.

In Act 5, your memory is set to "Memory of Emptiness." It allows you to loop back in the middle of combat. You literally can't die anymore. Not that Siffrin could've died by this point in the first place, unless you forgot about the King's instant-kill attack. This one memory takes away the false pretense that combat ever had any stakes. Siffrin's level being set to 99 means even the scant exp you get is completely wasted on them. All stakes and benefits from combat have been removed. It has become utterly pointless.

Frustrating, right? It's an artistic frustration, though. It traps you right here in Siffrin's shoes, because he hates that all these blinding Sadnesses are still walking around just as much. It all inspires just a tiny fraction of that deep rolling anger Siffrin experiences here in the player.

And listen, it was cathartic, that one time Siffrin snapped and stabbed the tutorial Sadness, wasn't it? Because who enjoys sitting through the tutorial that often? Siffrin doesn't. I don't, either.

So, since combat is an useless obstacle now meant to inspire frustration, what do you do for a boss? You can't well make it a gameplay challenge now, no. The bosses of Act 5 are an emotional challenge: a painful wait.

First, Siffrin fights the King, alone. This is already nervewracking because of one factor - in every other run, you need Mirabelle's shield skill, or else you're scripted to die. You're actually forced to fight the King multiple times in Act 3, and have to do it at least once in Act 4, though you'll likely do it more. Point is: you know how this fight works.

You know Siffrin's fight is doomed from the outset, but all you can do is keep slinging attacks. Siffrin is enough of a powerhouse to take the King's HP down, what with the healing and buff skills they have now, not to even mention you can just go all in on damage and then loop back.

(And no matter which way you play it, whether you just loop or use strategically, it reflects on Siffrin, too. Has he grown callous enough not even death will stop their mission? Or does he still avoid pain, as much as he can?)

This fight still allows you the artifice of even that much choice, not that it matters. The other shoe drops eventually - Siffrin becomes slower, and slower. Unsettling, considering this game works on an Action Gauge system. You barely get turns anymore. The screen gets darker, and darker. Until Siffrin is frozen in time, just as you knew he had to be, because you know how this encounter works, know it can't be cleared without Mirabelle.

And, then, a void.

Siffrin awakens to nothingness. The only way to tell you've hit a wall is if Siffrin has no walking animation to match your button inputs. You walk, and walk, until you're approached by.... you. The next enemy encounter of the game, and Siffrin's absolute lowest point: Mal Du Pays.

Or, "Homesickness," in english. If you know the game, you know why it's named this, but that's not the point at the moment.

Thing is, where you could damage the King and are damaged in turn, giving you at least a proper combat experience, even if its doomed to fail, Mal Du Pays has no such thing.

You can attack. You can defend. But it is immune to all attacks. And in return, it does nothing. It's common, at least, for undefeatable enemies to be a "survive" challenge, but nope. The entire fight is "press button and wait." Except, remember the previous fight against the King? The entire time, you were waiting for the big instant death attack to drop. That feeling, at least for me, carried forward. I was incredibly on edge just waiting for the other shoe to drop. And, as is a pattern, Siffrin is, too. As Siffrin's attacks fail to connect, they start talking to Mal Du Pays.

But he gets no response, as you get no attacks to strategize around. The wait for anything to happen is utterly agonizing. You and Siffrin are both waiting for something to happen. This isn't a fight. It just pretends to be. It's an utter rugpull, because Siffrin was so undefeatable for most of Act 4 and all of Act 5 so far. It's kind of terrifying!

and it does. It finally does something. Ma Du Pays speaks, in the voice of Siffrin's friends, listing out their deepest fears. I think it's honestly fantastic. You're forced to just sit here and listen to Siffrin's deepest doubts, things you know the characters could not say because it references the timeloops they're all utterly unaware of. This is all Siffrin, talking to himself. And all you, all Siffrin, can do, is keep wailing away on the enemy to no effect whatsoever.

So of course this ends with Siffrin giving up. What else can you do?

And then Siffrin's friends show up and unfreeze them and it's all very cool yay. The pure narrative scenes aren't really the main focus but I want to point out here:

A) Mirabelle is in the first party slot here, referencing how she's the de facto protagonist, and Bonnie fills in the fourth slot left empty, which shows all characters uniting to save Siffrin

B) this is the only instance of the other party members having act specific battle icons: they're all smiling brightly, further pushed by the upbeat music

C) the reflecting shield Mirabelle uses to freeze the King uses a variation of her hangout skill cut in, marking it as her true "final" skill and giving the whole fight a more climatic feeling.

It's also a short gameplay sequence with Siffrin utterly uninvolved in the battle. You can't even see them onscreen. But... it feels warm, doesn't it? Everybody coming together. Siffrin doesn't have to fight anymore.

At last, the King is defeated. Siffrin and co. make for the Head Housemaiden, to have her look at Siffrin's sudden illness. Siffrin is utterly exhausted, famished, running a fever. And this isn't unexpected - after all, their skills in Act 5 had no cooldown. For context, instead of featuring any sort of MP system, all skills work on a cooldown basis, where a character can't use it for a certain number of turns. The lowest cooldown is actually Siffrin's Knife to Meet You, which has a cooldown of 1. In universe, this is reasoned as the characters needing a break from spamming craft in order to not exhaust themselves.

Siffrin's skills in Act 5 having no cooldown/being infinitely spammable isn't a sign of their strength - it's a sign that he refuses to let himself rest in order to rush through as fast as possible.

Moving on, Siffrin panics when seeing the Head Housemaiden, because seeing her means one thing: the end. Prior to this in the game, every single time you beat the King, the loop ends when you talk to the Head Housemaiden.

Reality breaks down, the whole shebang. It's here that Siffrin realizes - they don't want the loops to end, because the end of their journey means their family will leave, and he'll be alone again. The happiest time of his life will be over.

Siffrin goes totally ballistic, to say the least.

As it turns out (and was heavily foreshadowed narratively), Siffrin has been using Wish Craft to subconciously cause the timeloop because of their abandonment issues. It's rather predictable if you paid attention to literally anything, but it's extremely notable how heavily Siffrin is paralleled to the King, the antagonist they swore to kill by themself at the start of Act 5. The King wants to freeze Vaugarde in time because it is, in his mind, "perfect," for accepting him after he lost his home - a backstory he shares with Siffrin.

Siffrin has become the exact antagonist he swore to kill, and it's shown by how the next fight utterly flips everything on its head.

Siffrin is the final boss.

In a towering form made of stars, Siffrin looks down at their friends. His face is terrified, because of his internal conflict; he can't hurt his friends, but he can't let them go, either. The combat prompt is simply changed to "END IT!"

This fight is similar to the previous, in that you just need to wait a certain number of turns until its over. However, this time, it's not dreadful suspense. It's... confusion, and hesitance.

You have two options for combat: Attack your friends, or attack yourself.

And... you don't really want to do either, I think. I certainly don't. But what else can you do? It's Siffrin's desires clashing in full force. Attack your friends, and force them to stay? Or attack yourself, and let them go safely without you?

Worth noting, here - when you attack Siffrin's friends, you can't harm them. Isabeau will shield all attacks. And when you attack yourself, Mirabelle will heal you back to full. And the friends don't... do anything, either. How could they? Occasionally, Mirabelle heals you and Isabeau shouts words of motivation, but the main thing is...

(Your friends don't know what to do.)

None of them want to harm Siffrin. Both sides simply stare at each other, resolute in their conviction but unwilling to end it with violence. It's of note that this loop, the last one, is the only loop where the King isn't killed. Just frozen. And now here is Siffrin, clamoring for the same eternity the King was. Of course everything ends in a tearfilled conversation as Siffrin sees their friends won't leave him, even after the journey ends, but I still have to appreciate this moment.

Siffrin is directly put in the position with their friends as his enemies, forced to physically reckon that keeping them in this loop is an act of violence, against both their friends, and against himself.

It's a happy ending. But... what does it mean?

Of course, ISAT is obviously about the fear of change. Siffrin is afraid of the journey ending, and of being alone. However, ISAT is also a game about games. Siffrin is playing the same game, over and over, because it's comforting. It's familiar. It's nice, to know exactly what happens next. These characters might just be predictable lines of dialogue, but... they feel like friends. Have you ever played a game, loved it, put countless hours into it, but you never finished it? Because you just couldn't bear to see it end? For the characters to leave your life, for there to be a void in your heart where the game used to be?

After all, maybe it became part of your routine! You play the game every day, slowly chipping away at it for weeks at a time. For me, I beat ISAT in four days. It utterly consumed me during this time. I had 36 hours of playtime by the end. Yeah, in that week, I did not do much more than play ISAT.

And once i beat it, i beat it, again. I restarted the game to see the few scenes I missed, most specifically the secret boss I won't talk about here. I... couldn't let go of the game yet. I wanted to see every scrap I could. I still do. I'm writing this, in part because I still do. It's scary to let go.

Ever heard the joke term of "Postgame Depression?" It's when you just beat a game, and you're suddenly sad. Maybe because the ending affected you emotionally and you need to process the feelings it invoked, or you search for something that can now fill your time with it gone.

The game ends, for real this time, the last time you talk to the Head Housemaiden. But Siffrin gets... scared. What if everything loops back again? And so, his family offers to hold his hand. They face the end, together.

For all loops, including the ending, you never see what happens after. After they leave the loop for good. Because the loop is the game itself. It's asking you to trust that life goes on for these characters, and it holds your hand as it asks you to let go. There's a reason for Siffrin's theater metaphors. He is the actor, and the director, asking everyone to do it over one more time. He's a character within the game, and its player.

There's a reason I talked about endgame content. This, the way it all repeats, there's nothing new, difficulty and stakes bleed away as you snap the game over your knee - it's my copy of White 2 with two hundred hours in it. It's me playing Fire Emblem Awakening in under 3 hours while skipping every cutscene. Are you playing for the sake of play, for the sake of indulging in your memories, because you're afraid of the hole it'll leave when you stop?

Of note: the narrative never condemns Siffrin for unwittingly causing their own suffering. He's a victim of circumstance. It's seen as endearing, even, that Siffrin loves their friends to the point of rather seeing the world destroyed than them gone. But Siffrin is also told: we'll stay with you for now, but we'll part ways eventually. And one day, you'll have to be okay with it.

Stop draining the things you love of every ounce of enjoyment just because you're afraid of what happens next. I'm not saying to never play your favorite games again. Playing ISAT a second time, I still had a lot of fun! I saw so many new things I didn't before, and I enjoyed myself immensely, reading the same dialogue over and over. But... it makes me look at other games I love and still play, and makes me ask... is this still fun? Do I still need to play this game to enjoy it? Even writing this is an afterimage of my enjoyment, but it's a new way to interact with the game, to analyze it through this lens. Fuck, man, I write fanfiction. Look at me.

All of this, fanart, fanfic, analysis, is a way to prolong that enjoyment without making yourself suffer for it. Without just going through the motions of enjoyment without actually experiencing any. But one day, the thing you love won't be fun to talk and write and draw about. And it's okay. You'll have new things to love. I promise.

In the end.... I'm certain I'll replay ISAT one day. Between great writing, art, puzzles and unresolved mysteries, it's my shoe-in for game of the year.

But I won't replay it for quite some time. I've had enough, for now, so I let my love take other forms.

Siffrin is never condemned, because love is no evil. Be it love for another person, or for a game. And please, if you're overempathetic - it's still a game, at the end of the day. The great thing about games is that you can always boot them up again, no matter how long its been.

A circle within a circle indeed.

To summarize:

The repetitiveness of ISAT's combat, lack of new enemies, and Siffrin's ever increasing strength eventually allows you to snap the combat over your knee, rendering it irrelevant and boring. Though this may seem counterproductive at first, it perfectly mirrors how Siffrin has also grown bored with these repeated encounters and views them only as an obstacle to get past. The reflection of Siffrin's own tiredness with the player's annoyance increases the compassion the player has for Siffrin as a character.

Additionally, the endgame state of the combat system serves as commentary on the state of a favorite game played too often, much like how Siffrin has unwittingly trapped themself in the loop. Despite the game having no more challenge or content left to over, a player might return to their favorite game anyway, solely to try and recreate the early experience of actually having fun with it. This ties into ISAT's metanarrative about the fear of change and refusal to let go of comfort even when the object (here, your favorite video game) offering that comfort has become utterly bereft of any substance to actually engage with. Playing for the sake of playing, with no actual investment to keep going besides your own memories.

Later on, stripping away even the pretense of strategy for a "press button and wait" format of final bosses highlights the lack of options at Siffrin's disposal and truly forces the player into their shoes. Truly, the only way to win is to stop playing.

[tagintagout-au]

⭐️: ..,

🔷️: ...

🪨: ...

🔨: ...

🎀: ...

🪨: ...Sif, that attack.... it...

🔷️: ...It worked, did it not..? My eyes still hurt from... whatever that was.

🔨: ...the Star isn't here anymore!!!

🔷️: ...Ah, so, wait.... we...

🔷️: ...We won?

🪨: WE WON???

(...You.... you won...)

(They all gather around you and Siffrin.)

🔨: WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID IT!!!!

🔨: THAT WAS SO COOL!!

🪨: Heh...

🪨: Hahahahah!! Wow, for a second I thought we'd lose!

🎀: It's... it's finally...

⭐️: We did it, Mirabelle!

(It's over!!!!)

🎀: We...

🎀: WE DID IT!!!!! AAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!

🔨: YEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

(You all scream happily.)

🔷️: ...What now?

(..Wait.)

(WAIT!!!)

🎀: OH!!!

🪨: H-huh? What is it?

🎀: The people around us, they're... they're all waking up!!!

(The Head Housemaiden and- and!!)

(The Chosen One, you have to apologize to them, to both of them!!!!!)

🎀: I- ah, we have to go on ahead, we have to tell them everything's fine!!!

(You run, you have to find them!!)

(You got a BLESSING OF VICTORY!)

(It will remain a part of you forever.)

{When equipped, Blessing of Victory boosts everyone's ATTACK at the start of a battle.}

[openphrase123]

actually you know what. i'm thinking about body craft and like. how it's such a goofy and magical thing to throw into a setting but like. i'm thinking of the implications

like ka bue strictly does not allow it. to a terrifying extent. and the first kneejerk instinct is to go "oh so ka bue is bigoted against trans people" but then odile's like "what? no. look at the king. we don't allow body craft cause it's dangerous" and then slyly changes the topic to make herself look a little more mysterious

and then i'm thinking like. yeah. is body craft SAFE in vaugarde? i suppose if you mess something up you can craft it back in the right shape. but even so recently as when isabeau changed, it seemed like there was not a true standard for teaching people who were not craft-focused how to do it. cause it seems like you have to do it yourself??

you have a bunch of people doing DIY magical surgeries on themselves - overseen by religious figures but still, these are amateurs - do people mess up? do people have body craft trauma? if you craft on yourself enough does it have any adverse body effects? culturally it seems like sometimes people just Leave and disappear into a House for a while and come back Changed. and it's culturally rude to point this out or ask what they were like before. what's THAT like, socially

and then mirabelle comes in saying there are new advancements in body craft that let you be Changed in a few months and EXCUSE ME? all of vaugarde is going around doing experimental body morphing magic on themselves and they just found out how to do it QUICKER? no wonder ka bue is worried. vaugarde is about to be an entire country of shapeshifters

like what if there's an advancement that makes body craft instant. obviously cool as hell but what the FUCK are the political and social implications of that. is there anything vaugardians learn to change and go "mm no that's too far" or is it all totally fair game.

also unlike a lot of magical fantasy settings, disabled people DO exist in vaugarde. how does that intertwine with body craft? it doesn't seem like they can craft a new eye onto siffrin. there are people missing limbs and in chairs. there's a blind guy. i would not WANT this stuff to be magic-ed away but i'm so SO curious how it fits in with the "you can change whatever you want about your body forever" setting

[colliecross]

hi. can i ramble about sasasaap and loop and the differences between games for a sec? i hope the answer is yes because i am perfectly normal about this topic!

ISAT and SASASAAP spoilers ahead!

so. So. SO.

As we know, because ID5 was still developing lore and stuff for ISAT while making SASASAAP, many things weren’t yet finalised and/or implemented yet.

One of these things would be the concept of ‘Bonding’ replacing ‘Marriage’. Bonding is a cool concept and helps distinguish the game’s world from real life, but it also gives explanations for certain design details (aka earrings). All 3 Vaguardian party members have earrings in their designs, there’s at least one bonded couple in Dormont’s House and we also know it’s seemly a traditional thing.

HOWEVER, the term ‘bonding’ ISN’T used in SASASAAP, with The Housemaiden’s draw content saying to have ‘wedding related stuff’ AND in her ramblings about the “HANDSOME YOUNG MEN FALLING INTO BEAUTIFUL HEARTBREAKING MADDNESS” horror anthology mentioning the heroes ‘marrying’ the monsters.

Now we could just chock this up to prologue weirdness, however to fully comprehend Loop, we must consider everything in SASASAAP to be canon too. And this then would include these small details.

Therefore, can you imagine, Act 2 Loop, in the mist of the internal nightmares their new existence has, notices the odd changes in Dormont’s House. Beside the fact nobody is calling it ‘The Castle’ and rooms are not where they remember them, they watch Siffrin interact with The Partner in the room before the Library. They funnily enough have the same reaction as their Stardust: [What’s a bonding earring?] But it doesn’t seem that important so whatever. But Siffrin then later asks about it, and they both learn about bonding more. And Loop is just confused. This is NEW information to them. What?? Nail in the coffin for them however would be in eastern dead-end on the 3rd floor.

Glossing over the fact that this room that they’ve explored so many times has now been deemed irrelevant by The Universe, there’s that same book. But Mirabelle mentions ‘bonding’ with monsters instead. And it all clicks.

Although Odile saying that bonding is only popular in Ka Bue, connoting that it might not be the only form of “marriage”, the word “marriage” is still never mentioned, so we can assume it doesn’t exist. Loop now has to contend with the fact that this entire concept has now been erased too. They’re now the sole living being who is aware of what ‘Marriage’ is now. They will forever see a ring on someone’s finger differently then the rest of the planet. Another thing that that’s been taken from them.

Now if you’re a shipper, this is the exciting part. Post-ISAT loops AU, and Siffrin + Family are travelling to Nille, with Loop along for the ride. Our dear star is being forcefully loved by everyone around them, and therefore for shipping purposes, they fall for someone. For the sake of example, Sloopis (Isa x Sif x Loop). Now time-skip. The trio are preparing to be bonded together. However, a problem has arrived. Loop doesn’t have ears. Loop can’t wear bonding earrings. Their partners try and figure out a solution, both worried that Loop would feel left out. But then a long-forgotten memory resurfaces.

And so Loop brings up the concept of marriage to Siffrin and Isabeau. How it’s like bonding, but with rings on your finger instead. And the duo go CRAZY! Sif is happy to hear more about Loop’s world, understanding the pain of losing their history, and Isa is fascinated by the style.

And so, when it is the time to exchange accessories, Loop is given two rings instead, from both of their partners, made with love.

[bbunisre]

EPISODE 1

PAIRING ☆ jean kirschtein x fem!oc! ( you can just imagine it as yourself!!! i tried to describe physical features for this purpose x )

WARNINGS ☆ no smut in this one, dirty, slowburn, lots of teasing, a little niccolo x oc, voyeurism (???), vulgar and dirty jokes lol, baddie main character

SUMMARY ☆ In which Mirabelle enters Paradis Island years before the Liberio Attack and finds herself instantly interested in Jean Kirschtein, an innocent man who is soon tied mercilessly to her womanly wiles. Jean attempts to escape her but can only run so far before he starts running back to her.

WORD COUNT ☆ 12k

TAGLIST ☆ @lakeiskewl @greenie-c @alt--er--love @kcch-ns @nobodybutnnoorr @biggityboppingboob @sssmokesignalsss lmk if u want to be added <3

MASTERLIST

MIRABELLE WINDRIDER POV

Living in the storage section of a Marleyan warship for several days comes with having my limbs squished between a box of deactivated bombs and ration packs. It’s one of the several cons of being stuck here, besides the seasickness, having to freeze up when soldiers come in to look for things and multiple hours of being bored, plotting my arrival.

Voices atop tell me there’s a disturbance up ahead the boat. Well, they aren’t telling me. The Marleyan soldiers don’t actually know I’m here at all. It should be kept that way until it’s time is what Yelena strictly instructed.

It’s been forever-and-a-half since we left Marley! We certainly must've arrived on the coast of Paradis by now. I’ve been sharpening the blade all this while like a good girl. Can something happen already?

I stretch my body after eight hours of sitting in a cramped position. The commotion above doesn’t surprise me as I feel the familiar pull in my limbs and torso. An assassin’s flexibility is unmatched, a small breeze in the air, seductive and chilling as we kill our victims.

An explosion and a loud horn cause yells on the warship but a smile on my face.

Thank you, Yelena. 

I flip the dagger into my belt as I make my way up the stairs I snuck down merely a few days ago.

I have to be quick but soft. 

They can’t know I’m here. 

Not yet, at least.

The cool air makes contact with my skin, clearing my lungs and any mustiness that has accumulated instantly. But there wasn’t any time to relish in this moment. I’m here to get the job done—the Beast is counting on me.

The soldiers are stunned at what’s in front of them. I try to get a look at the situation from where I am, right behind, in the corner of the door where no moonlight can reveal me. 

Outside is dark, but lighter than inside the storage bunker where I couldn’t figure out who was coming unless I really tried to listen through the water. The first thing I notice about Paradis Island is that the stars here are explicit, little trinkets hung on the blanket they sit on. That, and the many lights by the tents that illuminate where they must be living. Yelena did tell me when she snuck into Marley in between to pick up a couple of the supplies that the stars here shine way brighter.

It’s beautiful.

I shake my head. I can look at the stars later. I have to assess the situation we’re in first.

Beyond the vessel is rocky land and what looks like many rifles being pointed towards the warfare ship. I attempt to look for Yelena through the hunter green capes but the lanky woman is nowhere to be seen. 

I roll my eyes. 

Looks like I’ll have to get to work.

Cracking my neck, I slide behind the soldier closest to me. 

I slink my arms around him, one coming up to cover his mouth and one around his torso and arms. I whisper in his ear, “Make this easy for me.”

He whimpers against the palm of my hand, making me smile. 

That’s cute. He’s scared of me.

The power thrills me, sending goosebumps through my skin. It’s been a while since I’ve been back in action.

I snake up his chest, up his neck. before he can move or do anything, I twist his neck. He falls onto my lifted foot like I wanted, noiseless and efficient.

The rest of the soldiers are paying attention to the rifles pointed at them and a Paradis person screaming through a megaphone at how excited they are to see Marleyans on their grounds and how they want to invite all of us onto their island.

Is that supposed to be welcoming?

I snatch the pistol off of the soldier I just injured, popping a few bullets into the barrel. The soldier opens his mouth, heaving in to scream but I smash my foot onto his face, glaring right down at him. 

That was a close one. 

They’re all blindly focused on the Paradis soldiers so I make the decision to move.

Now or never, baby.

I cock back the pistol, gaining the attention of the Marleyans.

Their eyes widen.

I clear my throat, “Hi!”

“Who are you?!” the captain of the ship hollers at me.

I kick back the face of the soldier underneath me and walk towards the Captain. The soldiers pull out their guns rapidly, only to cause me to laugh.

“Don’t shoot, men.” he orders them in his husky tone. 

“Doesn’t matter if they only got dummy bullets in them.”

The Captain hesitates, puzzled by my response, “Excuse me—” 

“You’re too slow, Captain.”

I launch the dagger into his neck. Blood splatters out of his throat and mouth as he lands with a thud. He’ll be dead soon. I stabbed the artery after all! 

Slipping my dagger right back out, five men charge towards me, hostility swimming through them.

I kick the first one on the side of the face, sending him towards the side. The next two with simple dagger slices in their necks like their damned Captain. The next one is a dodge—I let that one fall over the boat and into the water. 

The last soldier grabs me by the shoulders while I’m cackling at the soldier who fell overboard. He shoves me against the boat’s railing. My head hits the metal, a weird vibration making the world spin in a way seasickness could never.

Said soldier grabs his pistol and shoves it into my mouth.

I cry aloud. He yanks my hair back so I can properly taste the coarseness of the instrument almost hitting the back of my throat.

I’m going to pass out from suffocation or a dummy bullet. 

It’s going to be the end of me.

“I’m going to choke you out, whore.” he says. 

It’s then that a lightbulb goes off in my head. 

He gets off on the fact that he’s in power right now, that at any moment now he can push me off the boat, shoot a bullet down my throat and touch me however he pleases. The sinisterness in his eyes illustrates his devotion to his job, the real grotesque that comes with it.

I’m dealing with someone much like me—a sadistic fuck. 

With all my strength, I discreetly pull out my own pistol that I stole earlier, tears slipping out of my eyes.

Just one push, just one push— 

I heave my knee into his manhood and shoot him in his abdomen.

He flies back, along with his pistol. 

Coughing, I grab my dagger and kick his chest to send the man flying down onto the wooden board. He yells in pain, a cry that is my favourite sound a human’s ever made. It’s washed out and terrible, sending a chill down my spine.

I swear I hear cheers from the island but it could just be my near passing out from the pistol down my throat. 

I straddle the crying soldier and raise the dagger above my head.

“Please,” he blurts out, “Please spare me, ma’am.”

I throw my head back, laughing, “Oh God…no!”

The dagger sinks into his face. Right in between his eyes, at the beginning of the slope of his nose. 

One stab renders him deceased.

However, one stab doesn’t satisfy the assassin in me. 

Two, three, four, five, six—blood splatters onto my face and clothes, a forced strength coming out of my arms and the target’s face absolutely unrecognisable.

Finally, when I’m about to take the seventh, someone pulls me away from the body forcefully. I launch the dagger backwards but it’s caught for the first time by a hand right above their head.

Instead of trying to pull it out, I yelp in surprise.

“Yelena!” I huff out.

“About to kill me too?” she jokes, nothing in her eyes. As usual.

“Yelena~!” I repeat and wrap my arms around her torso.

“Gross.” she sighs at all the blood of two Marleyans rubbing onto her ironed, white shirt.

Yelena kindly puts a towel around my shoulders.

That’s right. I didn’t even think to check on myself. 

I’m breathing so hard, there’s blood all over my hands and clothes and I’m super excited that I completed my mission to perfection again.

“Oops.” I chuckle, pulling out, “I can’t believe you guys left me!”

“Not my fault someone slept through their alarm on the day we left.”

I punch her playfully, glad I finally see someone I’m familiar with after so long.

“Let’s go.” she says.

“Oh, the sailor! I haven’t killed him yet!” I tell her, pointing at the back of the ship,

Yelena shakes her head, pulling my bloody arm towards the dock, “That’s enough killing for you today. We’ll handle it from here. Let’s go get cleaned up first.”

As I walk down the wooden dock, impressed, blank faces stare back at me. My breathing slows down to a steadier pace as I stare right back, unsure on how to react to this weird attention. What I just did is equivalent to a murderous performance.

I don’t think they’ve seen a massacre happen so quickly in front of them. I don’t blame them. I set a record in Marley. Especially working for the Tybur clan, I was trained to be the assassin I am today. However, I’m not particularly used to doing it in front of people. 

That’s the thing about assassins, we’re supposed to take one’s life in private.

“Get to work!” one of the Paradis soldiers yell, “Stop staring, brats!”

A few soldiers walk down the dock, presumably to get the sailor’s head. One of them stands out—extremely tall, brown hair and a sparkle of innocence as he watches me intently. There’s curiosity within that innocence I discern easily, a little mouse coming out of its hole, respectfully.

A smile forms on my lips.

He blinks at me, blank, yet he knows I’m looking exactly at him.

He walks right past me, avoiding eye contact once he’s close.

JEAN KIRSTEIN POV

The image of gooey blood splattered on her face paired with a bewitching smile from the newcomer has Jean Kirstein confused on one side and intrigued on another. Confused because when the Marleyans said that one of their people was delayed back at Marley, he was expecting another male soldier who’s higher ranked, which is why they wanted him here to help out. Intrigued, because now that he knows it’s a woman, he wonders what kind of situation she was put in to create a flawless combat style.

As the moonlight flashes on her face, reflecting the glossy blood and the glimmer of her teeth. She looks incredibly insane and proud of herself for what she’s done.

Taking down six men in five minutes? Jean has never seen that happen before. The most impressive stunt he’s seen pulled off was Captain Levi taking down five Titans in under a minute—a whole other thing if he was to compare the two. It’s not comparable. By far, Captain Levi is the best he’s seen before.

But, still. 

The woman lingers in Jean’s mind.

As he walked back to the tent him and Conny were sleeping in, he couldn’t help but wonder about her. The way she made eye contact with him as if she could read his thoughts then and there was sufficient to know that she’s seductively dangerous. Almost as if her sole purpose was to lure Jean in—

“Sorry,” he mumbles incoherently as he bumps into someone. 

“Are you okay?” Mikasa asks him.

Jean blinks up at her, escaping his trance. He’s never been the distracted type before.

It’s rare for Mikasa to ask her comrades, it’s often she presses that question towards Eren Yeager. Deep down, Jean wishes Mikasa would be concerned with him the way she was with Eren. He really likes her and wanted to sought out for her ever since he came to know her. Eren took all her time, energy and love, now, Jean remains in the immovable comrade-zone.

He forgets the mesmerising aura Mikasa has that made him fall for her in the first place, “Fine.” 

She walks off without another word. All she needed was that little ‘fine’ to let her keep going about her day. 

After all, she had to go tend to Eren like she was some servant.

Jean sighs as he enters the tent, lamenting about Mikasa and knowing there’s nothing he can do about her or her so-called duty to Eren. He can’t help his attachment. 

He gets ready for bed and the moment him and Conny turn off the lanterns to sleep and darkness fills his sight, the Marleyan soldier comes to mind again. It’s like she cast a spell on him the moment they locked eyes on the dock. 

Her smile, he thinks.

It was beautiful amongst the slaughter on her face.

How can one make the wretched so beautiful?

☆

Conny and Jean are in charge of putting away the deliveries the camp receives from the Walls. The cart is full of food, weaponry and other things that would make living here easier. 

They’d discussed that the Marleyans should be doing the labour here but Hange countered, arguing that it wouldn’t be right for the cause they were fighting for. Jean agreed—they had a point. They were trying to do good for the world. What would be the point of making Marleyans do all the work when they were fighting for equality?

As time goes on, Conny and Jean become exhausted and settle into the carts themselves.

“I need a drink.” Conny groans, leaning his head back on the cart.

Jean hums in response. The sun was burning their backs as they slaved the day away, barely breaking in between to keep this damn camp going. 

“Conny! Jean!”

They lift their heads to see who’s calling their name.

It’s none other than Onyankopon, walking towards them with a great, big smile on him, a wave and a guest in tow. Jean wishes he was as positive as Onyankopon looked right now. He’d be getting through these deliveries in no time.

He looks over at the guest Onyankopon brought along. 

Right then and there, chills run down his spine. 

There’s no way.

He straightens up effective immediately. 

“Wanted to introduce you to someone new!” Onyankopon says as he arrives at their cart, “She arrived last night.”

Jean’s eyes are plastered at the Marleyan soldier, eyes wide, consuming her presence. She’s piercing with caramel tones and charcoal hair, illustrating her humanity. Nonetheless, her eyes tell him something else. There’s a certain depth in them, a void that can suck you in if you look too long.

She steps up.

“Mirabelle.” she states, ample confidence, “Mirabelle Windrider.”

Sultry voice that coats strawberries with chocolate. The woman stares straight into him, taking words right out of his mouth and stomping them on the ground before her. The corners of her lips quirk upwards into a minute smile as if she knows exactly what she just did to him. 

“Conny Springer.” Conny responds, “Weren’t you the chick that killed all those soldiers last night?!”

She laughs, “May have been.”

“You were so cool!” Conny continues and Jean would’ve looked at him but he’s currently too occupied with the newcomer, “The way you knocked them all down. Jean and I were talking about you last night! Everyone was.”

“Were you?” Mirabelle’s eyes easily wander to Jean. “Who’s this?”

He has nothing to say. He can’t say anything.

“Cat got your tongue, Jeanie-boy?” Conny calls. “You know staring at a lady is rude!”

Jean will deal with Conny later. Right now, her slightest provocation forces Jean to give her his name. “Jean Kirstein, ma’am.”

“Jean…” she utters and his eyes widen with fear? Anxiety?...desire?

Onyakopon comes into frame and she leans against his arm which she somehow can despite the man’s height. “Ma’am? She look that old to you, boy?”

“N-No! Of course not, just didn’t wanna disrespect her.” Jean blurts out as Mirabelle laughs. 

There she goes again with that smile like she likes watching him twitch under her glance.

Onyakopon sighs, looking down at Mirabelle, “At it again?”

“What’s wrong with a little fun, Onya~”

Before he could think about what she meant by that, Onyankopon says to them, “We’ve got to attend some meetings. Hope you gentlemen do well.”

“Bye!” Mirabelle waves at them.

“Bye!” Conny replies.

“...bye.”

When they leave, a sigh leaves Jean. A couple seconds of silence passes them until Conny finally speaks up, “Hot stuff, huh?”

“What?”

“Ma’am.” he mocks.

Jean furrow my brows, “Shut up, Conny.”

MIRABELLE WINDRIDER POV

Paradis Island is a blast. 

Besides sleeping inside a tent, I’ve had fun the last couple of days, getting to know the nation’s people and growing the bonds I already have. What Marleyans say about Paradis Island is nowhere near true but honestly, you’d have to have a brain to know that. They’re anything but devils, they’re humans trapped in walls and know nothing of the outside world. 

Hange Zoe, Commander of the Scouts, has created a timetable for me this week so it’d make it easier for me to settle in. 

How kind of them. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten close to this treatment back in Marley, even as a respected assassin.

The next thing on my schedule is a team building session with none other than Hange Zoe leading it. I’ve done a couple the past few days and it’s my favourite so far—something lighthearted amongst all the tedious soldier work. 

As someone who’s not a soldier, the training style is different from what I’m used to. I mean, it is still combat training but it’s coarse, explosive training rather than the elusive, cunning style I’m used to.

When I pull up to the grassy patch a hundred feet from the camp, Hange is waiting with a group of Marleyans and Eldians, animatedly chatting with the group.

That’s one thing I love about Hange so far. They see no difference in our races unlike other members in the camp.

“There she is!” they exclaim as I join the circle, “Our final member.”

“Hello.” I greet everyone, looking around the circle.

I stop almost immediately. Two people over is none other than the starer.

Jean Kirstein’s eyes widens at seeing me join the circle.

There he goes again. 

“Now that everyone’s present, today we’ll be playing a fun, little game I’ve conjured up when working with Cadets! Heard you Marleyan soldiers had no fun when in military, so this will be a little refresher.” Hange explains, “Now, sit down, sit down.”

We all do as they say, plopping onto the grassy land.

“This game,” they start, “Is called, ‘two truths, one lie’. It’s just as stated. We will go around the circle, telling two truths and one lie. The point of this game is to decipher the lie through the three statements told. It’s going to help us understand tidbit information about each other and hopefully, bring us closer as a team. Sounds easy enough?”

The group agrees. We take some time to think about our statements before Hange goes first, telling us that they are the example round, “Okay, so I’m the Fourteenth Commander of the Survey Corps, Captain Levi Ackerman is my best friend and I hate Titans.”

“I am not your best friend.” Levi responds indifferently, “That’s the lie.”

Hange chuckles, “Yes, you are, silly.”

Aw.

Levi rolls his eyes, “You’re so obsessed.”

They hit his shoulder, “You’re mean and short, so you’re just as bad.”

He glares right back at them.

“You’re the Fourteenth Commander, that’s the lie!” a Marleyan speaks up.

“No,” I interrupt before they can give away the answer, “It’s that they hate Titans.”

All eyes are on me.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve stayed quiet during team building sessions, only participating when absolutely necessary. No matter how lively I am around the Marleyans, being thrown into a completely new circumstance can make anyone nervous. So, staying quiet and observing is the best way to be until I’m comfortable enough.

Now I’m comfortable enough.

“Yes!” Hange answers, “How did you know, Mirabelle? I don’t remember telling you.”

I purse my lips and look down on my lap, a little embarrassed, “Not directly, but I overheard you telling other Marleyans that you had two Titans called Sawney and Bean. You said you adored them like they were your children. Plus, you don’t seem the type to hate Titans.”

Hange’s eyes light up.

“Sawney and Bean!” they gasp, “Bless them. Can we have a moment of silence for Sawney and Bean—”

“Those asswipe Titans? No.” Levi interrupts, raising an eyebrow, “Get on with the stupid game. I don’t know why you insist on these timewasters.”

“Ugh,” they groan, “This is not a waste of time! Having team building sessions helps people get along and build bonds. Like you care about any of that stuff, grumps!”

“Exactly. I don’t.” 

“Okay, so shut your mouth. Don’t listen to this party pooper, guys.” Hange sighs, causing us to laugh, “It’s your turn, Mirabelle. Give us your statements.”

I nod, having my statements ready to go, “I’m left-handed, I’m an assassin back in Marley and—”

“You’re not left-handed.”

It seems as if Jean is confused as to why he spoke so quickly before I finished my statements. I’m confused, too. How did he know that was the lie?

“I’m not?” I ask, trying to throw him off.

He shakes his head, right on the money, “You’re right-handed. I remember the way you held the gun at the Captain on the boat that night. You were in a right-handed stance.”

It takes me a second to digest that. 

It was dark that night, how could he have seen my stance?

“Did I get it?” he asks.

I smile at him, genuinely, “Yeah…you did.”

He must’ve really focussed on me on that boat. My heart races a little. To have someone enraptured by me is a feeling I haven’t had in a while.

“Well done, Jean!” Hange compliments, clapping, “Great attention to detail! See, guys. This is the point of the game. It’s to understand each other better, so we can have trusting bonds when in combat.”

Levi clicks his tongue in annoyance.

“You better get your lies ready, Levi,” Hange warns, “You’re after Jean.”

For some reason, Levi looks scared. He is slipped into a trance, probably trying to think of his three statements to tell everyone.

“Go on, Jean,” Hange prompts

I watch Jean think about his statements, scanning the grass below him until he lifts his head, “Alright.”

He looks right at me.

He blocks the eight others around us, part of the game and shoots his statements at me.

It’s a challenge.

“I was forced to become a part of the Survey Corps, my mom makes the best omelettes and my friends call me ‘Horseface’.”

“The first one.” I tell him before anyone can say anything. I don’t think anyone was going to anyways. It was aimed at me. He wants me to get it right, there’s a desperation screaming at me to do so.

He blinks at me, “What? How?”

“I don’t think you’re the type of guy to be forced into the Survey Corps. You probably joined it because it matched your ideals and were willing to go far enough to obtain a goal. In that sense, I think most Scouts are like that anyways…did I get it?”

Jean nods, ever so slowly.

“Yay!” I reply.

An invisible line threads between the two of us, connecting us in the moment. Jean seems lost in thought as if it was the first time he was acknowledged for his decisions.

I’m glad I was able to give him that.

The Scouts in this island deserve that more than anything. The recognition and the pride that comes with it. It’s not an easy job, after all.

We’re looking at each other until Levi speaks up at last, “Get a room, the two of you.”

☆

“Mirabelle, Mirabelle! Wait up!”

I turn around, a running bald boy coming my way.

“Hi. Conny, was it?”

He slams his hands on his knees, catching his breath, “Y-Yes.”

“How can I help you?”

“Are you busy?’ Conny asks.

“Huh?”

“Are you busy at the moment?” he repeats.

What is this about?

“Not particularly, no. Sorry, what’s this about?”

Conny straightens up and grins at me. I try to return it with a boxy grin of my own but all this seems a little suspicious to me.

“Would you like to eat with us?”

“Sorry?”

“Would you like to have lunch with me and a few other Scouts?” Conny invites.

Oh.

“Oh my God. Yes!. I would love to.” I nod enthusiastically,

“Right this way, ma’am.”

“Stop that.” I chuckle.

“I’ve never seen Kirstein act like that in front of a woman,” he says, as I follow him.

So we’re having this conversation?

“Uh-huh.” I reply, trying to stay uninterested. 

Giving Conny the wrong impression is the last thing I want to do. Yes, it may be true that Jean caused my heart flutter earlier but that was for a mere moment. I’m not interested in anything except keeping things cool and casual. Imagine if he thinks I’m interested romantically.

That would send the wrong message.

“He’s really a good guy,” Conny continues, “Don’t tell him I said that but he’d take good care of his missus, if he had one.”

“I see.”

“What do you think of him, Mirabelle?”

Did Jean set him up to this?

No, it can’t be. Jean seems like he barely knows that he’s interested in me. Conny, on other hand, as someone who’s on the outside of this situation probably read in between the lines and got a grip on the situation.

“He’s nice.” I reply.

“Nice~” Conny sings, “Anyways, we’re here!”

He’s brought me to behind a tent where a bunch of Scouts are sitting on upside down crates and eating from paper plates.

“Hi!” all of them greet me.

There’s four of them, including Jean, who is just as shocked to see me there as I am him. Oh, what did I expect coming with Conny?

I look at Conny, raising an eyebrow. He just shrugs, nonchalantly. Is he playing wingman right now? There’s nothing to play wingman for!

This is ridiculous.

“Hello.” I wave at them.

“The food’s over there, by the way.” a girl with a high ponytail and a stuffed face says, “You can help yourself!”

“Alright, thanks.”

I grab my lunch at the stand and come back. Jean quickly stands from his crate and gestures for me to sit down.

“Oh, you didn’t have to, I—”

“I already finished eating.” he interrupts, clearing his throat.

It’d be rude to decline so I take the crate, muttering a small word of gratitude. 

The crates are assembled in a circle so I can see the new people I’m sitting with. Conny and Jean stand nearby, joining the conversation.

“I’m Mirabelle, by the way—”

“You’re the girl that knocked down those Marleyans a couple days ago, right?” the girl with the ponytails says, “Sasha, nice to meet you.”

“You’re right! It is her.” a blonde boy exclaims.

“I’ll introduce you to everyone.” Sasha answers, “This is Armin and Mikasa. You’ve met Conny and Jean?”

I look up at Jean and smile a little, “I have…it’s nice to meet you all.”

And the questions come instantly.

“How did you kill them all?”

“Are you a soldier? You’re not wearing a uniform.”

“How do you get your hair like that?”

“How come you came in later compared to other Marleyans?”

“Hey.” Jean interrupts the eager Scouts, “Let her eat before you talk her ears off.”

“That’s okay, Jean.” I laugh, “Let’s see,” deep breath “I’ve been trained to kill multiple people simultaneously. I’m not a soldier, I’m an assassin. My hair? Well, it’s this product I got from Marley. Totally cannot live without. I can share it with you if you like. I came late because I accidentally slept in when Onyankopon was leaving so I ended up having to find my own way here.”

They stare at me in awe.

“Any more questions?” I ask.

Shaking their heads, they go back to their food. 

☆

“That’s the thing, Onyankopon. I don’t want to be trained like a soldier!” I whine behind him, “My combat style is already flawless and the way the soldiers train is so rough and not adequate for a nimble girl like me.”

“That’s a conversation for you to have with Hange, not me.” he replies.

It seems that Onyankopon doesn’t grasp my joke like he usually does. His lightheartedness and otherwise bubbly attitude has gone out of trace and is replaced with someone serious and, well, not so Onyankopon.

I slide off the horse we arrived on together as it stops before the Walls.

“Mhm, right and you know I’ll convince them anyway.” I say, attempting to bring my best friend out. 

It’s not about the training anymore, it’s about making Onyankopon smile again. I miss that cheesy grin of his already and it’s been, what? Twenty-hours of this gloominess that has gone by?

“I doubt that but you can try. No one’s stopping you.” he shrugs, “Now that I’ve dropped you here, may I please go attend to my business in Wall Sina?”

“If I say ‘no’—”

“Goodbye.” he says and I think he’s about to go before he make a face and looks back at me, “Also, don’t play too much around the Kirstein boy.”

Ah.

“Whatever do you mean?” I ask him innocently, patting the horse’s mane. She has lovely hair indeed, the embrace of rich earth.

Unfortunately, Onyankopon has turned to ultimately-serious-bossman mode. He sighs, “You know what I mean.”

“There’s nothing wrong with having fun, Onyankopon. You should have some fun these days.”

“It’s not fun to be put in that position, Mirabelle. They actually have a word for that.” he says, whipping the reins on the horse.

It moves forward, forcing me to jump back with a gasp.

I cup my hands over my mouth and yell, “What’s that?!”

“Torture!”

“Who’s got his panties in a twist?” I ask myself, watching Mr Grim Reaper himself head off into the gates of Shiganshina.

My stomach twists with unease. He makes it sound like I’m going to cause pain to Jean when that’s nowhere near what I want to do. It doesn’t hurt anyone to flirt and play around a little without any strings attached. At least that’s what it’s like back in Marley.

I could do it as much as I want, until—

“I-I’m not sure.” a voice comes from behind me.

Jean.

“Oh, hi!” I greet him and point in the direction of the gone man, “Did you hear that conversation by any chance?”

He shakes his head, “Just what you said at the end. Onyankopon seems a little grim.”

“Yeah, I think the meetings are getting to his head.” I answer, admiring Jean from below.

Up close, the guy’s big, tall and broad simultaneously. He has slender eyes paired with long, thin eyebrows which exudes a feminine aura amongst the straight nose and frowned mouth. Additional to that, there are those pretty, long lashes that cave his eyes; every fluttering blink is one alike to a lovely maiden. He’s quite handsome though, a gentlemanly handsome that is difficult to find within this field of work.

“I can imagine.” he says.

It appears he's curious about why I'm staring at him. He doesn’t back down or look away from me, he stares back this time.

So he’s not the nervous wreck I thought he was? 

“I thought Hange was training me…” I say, peering behind his shoulder to see no zealous Hange running around, ready to train me.

“About that.” he sighs, “Commander’s gone to a meeting so she told me to train you instead and she sends her regards. I’m gonna be showing you how to use the ODM Gear, hoping that’s okay.”

“Huh…” I respond inquisitively and before I can stop myself, my hands are touching the cool rectangles on his hips. The technology here is definitely a lot more advanced than what I was expecting. It’s so…wait, “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”

I can see the alarms going off in his head.

“I don’t know.”

Has a woman never touched him before?

“I’m sorry,” he breathes out, “I—”

“Jean.” I utter, holding his shoulders in my hands. He tenses up immediately, answering my question right away, “You’re gonna train me just fine. Don’t be scared. Is this your first time?”

Both of us know the real reason why he’s shaking in his boots; however, neither of us can say the reason aloud.

“My-my first time?”

“First time training someone?” I clarify with a small giggle.

“No, it’s not.”

“Then, let’s go! Where’s the equipment?” 

Jean brings me closer to the Walls. A green crate is loaded with ODM Gear equipment, including the gas cylinders, blades and harnesses. After putting on the various different equipment and being safely strapped up, Jean demonstrates how to use it.

“Your turn.” he prompts me.

“Okay.”

“So, you have to—”

I press the triggers, aiming high enough on the Wall and the gear yanks me up forcefully. I gasp, thinking I’m going to smash my face on the wall but I manage to plant my feet on the Wall, keeping my stance light on the surface.

“Like that?” I ask Jean, looking down at him.

He’s about twenty feet away from me, eyes widened to the brim, “T-That’s perfect! Can you get down?”

I do the same thing backwards and climb down the wall to meet him again.

“How?” Jean asks, his eyes glistening with admiration.

I pull back the strings and they snap into the contraption they come from. I laugh, “I don’t know! But that was really fun! Kinda like rock climbing.”

“Rock climbing…?” he questions, tilting his head to the side.

I forget how underdeveloped it is compared to Marley.

“It’s like a…sport, I think? People climb up rocks or walls using their hands and feet and there are these things that stick out that you use to push yourself up and climb up.” I explain, “I used to have to do rock climbing for training. It’s fun!”

He nods slowly, understanding the concept of it, “That does sounds fun.”

“When we go to Marley together, I can show you!” I tell him.

“Together?”

I want to bite my tongue.

“Not just the two of us! With everyone!” I declare, “Sasha, Conny, Armin, Mikasa, damn, even Captain Levi could climb.”

For the first time in my presence, Jean Kirstein slips out a genuine chuckle. Like he means it. There’s no nervousness exuding from him, rather the enjoyment of my presence.

“For sure, but I can’t get over how quick you grasped that. It’s not easy.” Jean replies, raising an eyebrow, “You’re good.”

I lean in slightly, dropping my voice a little, “I’m good at a lot of things, Jean…”

Just like that, the friendly air vanishes into the ether and is replaced with a drop of suggestion. 

Jean freezes, dissecting my words before his cheeks turn red. 

“Aw, look at you!” I point right in his face, “You’re blushing like crazy!”

“Am not!” he argues, quite defensively, “I don’t even know what you mean by that.”

“You are!” I laugh, finding his coyness amusing.

What’s the point of not admitting it when I watched him come to an understanding on what I just said?

“Whatever,” he huffs and points back at the Wall, “Let’s keep training.”

I can’t stop laughing at him.

“It’s not that funny.”

☆

“Wanna go to the Marleyan restaurant in Wall Rose?” Sasha asks the group.

“Of course you wanna go there.” Conny remarks, suggestion glinting in his eyes.

She hits him on the shoulder, red creeping onto the apple of her cheeks.

I furrow my eyebrows, wondering what’s going on with that comment. I don’t question it too much, fatigued from the combat training we just came from. 

To no avail, Hange highly suggested that I join combat training on the island, despite me being a combat virtuoso. They said, although my combat is adequate, there’s always room for improvement and practising on different targets would do me more good than worse.

I couldn’t argue with them there.

However, I thought I had it in the bag and could convince them otherwise, that’s what put me down, not the training itself. I always thought of myself as a finesser but I guess Hange is just way too smart to finesse. 

“Hey, are you alright?” 

Jean appears beside me, peering down with a cautious look on his face.

I nod, “Just a little tired.”

“I see.” he answers, “Combat training can be tiring around here.”

“Mhm.”

“Stop flirting with Mirabelle and tell us what you wanna do, Jean!” Eren exclaims, playfully punching Jean on the shoulder, “Do you wanna go to Wall Rose?”

Jean shoves him out the way, “Get out of my face, asshole…and as for the restaurant, I don’t think we should go. Everyone’s tired. We gotta go all the way to Wall Rose to eat?”

“Yeah!” Sasha exclaims.

“You just wanna see—”

Sasha slaps her hand to Conny’s mouth instantly, “Shut your ass up. Wanna come, Mimi?”

“For sure. I don’t have anything for the rest of the day either.” I tell her.

“Are you sure?” Jean asks me, “I thought you’re tired.”

“She just said she wants to go!” Conny argues, gesturing both his hands at me flamboyantly

“I’m not asking you.” Jean replies and looks back at me, waiting for an answer.

I break into laughter, “I’m fine with it, really, but a Marleyan restaurant? Didn’t know you guys would have those ‘round here.”

“Best food I’ve ever had.” Mikasa speaks up indifferently.

Everyone hums in agreement at her statement.

The last time I’ve seen people react like that towards food was when—

“Let’s catch the carriage before it leaves for the Walls!” 

We run towards the carriages stationed at the exit of the camp, climbing into whichever ones were accessible to us first. I end up in the last carriages, not wanting to get in between Conny and Eren fighting to see which one would go into the first carriage. Jean follows me into the third and final carriage, presumably for the same reason.

“Have they all gone in the other carriages?” Jean questions, peeking his head out of the carriage.

“Seems like it.” 

After a subtle neigh at the front, the velvety carriage starts moving. It renders me silent for a second as I try to comprehend what’s happening. 

No one else is in the carriage with us. I’m going to be going to the Walls with Jean alone. I’ll have forty-five minutes of him to myself.

“I have to say,” Jean begins, five minutes into the ride, “The way you killed those soldiers when you first came…it was amazing.”

I cross my leg over the other, slinking them back to me as I lean back, “You think so?”

Jean nods vigorously, “I haven’t seen anything like that before.”

“I could tell.”

He cocks an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

I take a trip down memory lane to the night before, re-imagining the look plastered on his face—the innocent intrigue and the shimmer of moonlight that swam in his light eyes. I can’t forget how he couldn’t take his eyes off of me, either. I felt so formidable in the moment.

“You seemed really curious,” I answer mildly. Offering a wry smile, I add, “It was cute.”

“Cute?!”

“Cute.” I repeat.

“Cute is not the word to describe me.” Jean retorts.

“Oh, yeah? Then, what are you?”

He rubs his chin, actually thinking about it. 

I don’t know what starts it. 

It must be the way his damn hair. 

It falls in a way that looks incredible, it looks styled with a vehemence of boyishness. A

A sheen layer of sweat on his face, more visible when he looks to the side and the sun hits his face and rolled up sleeves to the elbow because of how hot it is out there. I've been trying to ignore it during combat but now, it’s making me squirm in my seat. 

I think back to how he flung Eren to the ground as if he was just nothing to him, barely a sack of potatoes.

He’s so strong…I wonder if he can read my thoughts or I wonder if he can see how a pool of heat travels down to my womanhood and settles there like it’s its new home. 

If he knew, would he let me take him right there?

“More like…handsome?”

Jean’s eyes sparkle again as he looks back at me—the same look in his face.

He has no fucking idea what he does to me.

I lean forward, arousal sticking to my clit as I mouth, “I’ll tell you what you are, Jean…”

“What’s that?” he asks, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

He must think I’m joking around.

“I think you’re sexy.”

The tension in his jaw slacks, “W-What? I don’t understand.”

“Let me explain it to you.” I reply and reach out to touch a finger to his knee, drawing erratic patterns on it. He tenses up as expected and it goes quiet for a second. All I can hear is the wheels of the carriage pulling us forward and the slight breeze that enters the carriage, sending a chill down my spine.

“There’s a drive in you that I’m attracted to. Your provider mindset, for one, tells me that you bring what is important to the table and you think about others before yourself. But you do it in a way that’s not showy, it’s just who you are. And, when you like someone, you really dedicate yourself to them. The way you think about those you like is only out of love. And, my favourite,” I ease back onto my cushioned seat, the silence from him being the loudest thing in this carriage, “How you lose all power when you look at me.”

The Big Jean makes himself small in his seat.

“I’m sorry.” he almost whispers.

“Sorry? Shouldn’t you be saying ‘thank you’? I just complimented you!”

“Thank you.” he breathes out as if there’s no oxygen in here. He peers at his lap before he looks up, brow furrowed and uncertain, “I think you’re incredible too, by the way. Ever since I saw you defeat those soldiers, I—”

The carriage comes to a halt.

“Huh?” 

We exchange a confused glance. 

I peer outside the carriage. The carriage in front of us opens their door and out comes Sasha and Connny. They come into our carriage and get settled in here.

“What’s going on?” Jean asks disappointedly.

I nearly chortle at the tone in his voice.

“Sorry, Eren started blabbering about freedom.” Sasha replies, getting comfortable next to me, “I couldn’t stand another second of it.”

“He doesn’t get it. No one wants to listen to the same speech again and again.” Conny sighs, sitting next to Jean. He looks between Jean and me, “Bro, you’re like proper sweating. Maybe we shouldn’t have left you here alone with Mirabelle. What have you done with him?”

I laugh at his accusatory tone, “We were just talking.”

“Talking? Jean’s cooking in his clothes.”

“Shut up!” Jean says, pushing him away from him.

Jean casually throws one leg on top of the other. 

It’s only when I look closer I see something peek up at me. 

He catches me looking and changes the way he sits so it’s less obvious. 

Little did he know, I’ve seen those countless times and it only takes time before one explodes.

☆

“Where’s Jeanie-boy gone?” Conny pipes up when we’re seated in the restaurant. 

There are massive fans all around the dining area, cooling us down.

“I think he’s in the bathroom.” I answer casually as I look at the menu in front of me.

The restaurant is by far the most luxurious thing I’ve seen on this island. That’s saying a lot as someone who takes frequent strolls in Sina to attend meetings here and there. It looks somewhat familiar too, in the sense of the vibes.

“He takin’ a shit or something?” Conny remarks, causing the others to laugh.

Conny doesn’t know why he’s in the bathroom. I do. I just keep it quiet.

“What’s the best thing they do here?” I ask Mikasa who happens to be sitting next to me.

“I heard they do the lobsters best—”

It clicks right there and then.

“Hello, everyone. What are you…Mirabelle?!”

I dread it.

I dread it so bad, a morbid anguish blossoming inside me as I blink up. 

In front of me is none other than Niccolo.

My ex.

JEAN KIRSTEIN POV

Jean doesn’t like how eloquent Mirabelle is. 

Her lips move so languidly yet, manages to say everything it needs to within a short time. The way she talked to him in the carriage somehow undid him and his pants. Being stuck in a restaurant bathroom where the walls are paper thin and trying to release the pent up was more than a mere struggle.

He’s like a putty in her hands, moulded and crafted for her to use.

“You make me feel powerful” she had told him.

He hates how, for once, he cannot control what’s happening in his body. It’s like she’s found his weak spot and is stepping into it. It makes him feel powerless—nothing but prey in her eyes.

After the Marleyan restaurant and the ride home, his friends wondered what was wrong with Jean, why their constant teasing wouldn’t rile him up like it usually would. 

Even when Jean slips under his covers at night, he thinks about how Mirabelle spoke to him. Her voice had an effect, she had an effect on him that he couldn’t recover from. 

But he couldn’t let himself fall for her. 

No way. 

That was a death wish. 

He would put a lock on his cock before he imagined how her hands would feel tugging on his hair. Or, maybe how she would sound when he pushes into her. How about how she’d feel clenched around him, all wet and tight for him?

“Fuck!” Jean shouts, sitting up in his bed.

“What the hell, man?!” Conny yells back, equally as frustrated. He sits up, flicking on his lantern, “What’s wrong with your ass?”

“Nothing,” Jean grumbles, getting out of bed, “I’m going out.”

“Where are you going, baby?” Conny asks, softening his voice, “Come on here now. Don’t leave a damsel like me in bed all alone!”

Conny makes what is a horrible attempt of a woman moaning. However, it didn’t matter if it was horrible. Jean had had it. Anything remotely sexual was going to have a horrible impact on him. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen, he just knows it’s going to be bad.

He has to get out.

Outside the tent is a new world. He switches on his flashlight to guide him through the darkness to a place where he can unwind. Hopefully, a serene place where he can collect himself for a second and review what’s happening right now; somewhere with no commotion, just the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Like the rocky pools a few hundred metres from here. 

He’d accidentally discovered it on a walk a while back. Whenever Jean needed to run away for a while, he’d go there. It's been his designated spot.

He walks around the tents, strictly divided between the males, females and the leaders of the place. 

Some lanterns still shone despite it being past two am. 

There were soldiers still planning how to defeat the enemy, coming up with constructive plans and discussing them until dawn. Hange, Levi and Yelena are likely to be awake to be a part of these discussions. They’re saving humanity, meanwhile, Jean had his head wrapped around some woman like a little boy.

Speaking of the devil, Yelena walks right up to him.

“Kirstein, is it?” she asks, getting a good look at his face in the dark, “What are you doing awake?”

Yelena’s comrade has shaken up his mind and he had to go on a fucking walk to clear his head. Obviously, Jean couldn’t tell her that.

“Just walking around.” he grumbles.

“Strange,” she notes with a subtle nod that Jean’s not sure the meaning of. Yelena is a woman of little words and sometimes those words don’t make sense, “Anyways, could you do me a favour?”

“Sure.” he accepts before thinking over it. 

Jean would do anything right now to rid his mind off anything from Mirabelle. He could go to the rocky pools after completing the delegated task.

“I have tons of things to do right now and need someone to assist me. Could you fetch Mirabelle from her tent?” she asks, “I doubt she’s asleep at this hour and I could really use a hand…Kirstein?”

He cannot escape her.

She’s everywhere, at all times, consuming his every thought and circumstance and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Jean sighs in defeat.

“Is there a problem?” Yelena probes.

He will die if he’s asked another question.

Shaking his head, he replies, “I’ll go get her. Where’s her tent?”

“It should be the one that’s the top left corner.” she relays, “Tell her to come to the meeting tent.”

“Okay.”

Yelena walks off the other way.

It takes everything in Jean not to explode right there and then. 

He takes as much of his frustration out on a nearby pebble, kicking it away, simultaneously being aware that there are people sleeping in the tents surrounding him. 

What did he do to deserve this? This is torture, absolutely torture and he wouldn’t wish this on his biggest enemy. As if there weren't already enough problems with planning an attack on Marley, Mirabelle had to make his life miserable.

What should he do?

Oh, but she is so pretty.

Where should he run to and scream?

I want to get to know her more.

He can’t have a full mental breakdown even if he wanted to.

He’s not one for mental breakdown but this…this was a different cause.

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

It’s all wrong.

He refuses to back down. 

In fact, he refuses to submit to her womanly wiles.

Jean is a strong guy, scratch that! 

Jean is a strong man with a strong will and numerous strongly built morals. No woman can control him like he’s her personal toy just like that. He is not easily swooned or influenced by anyone. As it happens, he is guarded.

Who is she to him? 

No one.

Exactly.

He will go to Mirabelle right this moment and act as if she had no effect on him!

Yes, there we go.

That’s the Jean he knew. Arrogant, reckless and the daredevil. 

Off he goes, towards the ladies side of the camp. 

As he makes his way, he can’t lie, his heart is clutched in a fist.

It’s the remaining effects of Mirabelle scouring his tainted mind. It’ll take time for her to be removed from his brain but time was all that was needed. 

If not, a lobotomy will do and who better than Hange to perform it? It’s a joke, that’s a joke, right? Jean forces his thoughts to still. He had to do a task first and he needed his full concentration to complete it. He doesn’t have time to waste.

As he inches to the tent Yelena described, he notices that Mirabelle’s lantern is one of the only ones that are turned on this late into the night.

She’s one of the campers that got lucky enough to have a tent to themselves. There could be a specific reason why. He softens a little, wondering what she could be doing up so late. 

Maybe she had trauma-induced insomnia and she couldn’t sleep? What if she needed someone to be by her side right now?

No, stop.

He’s going to march in there, deliver a message, leave and assert the dominance that she took from him.

That is until he sees something strange.

Two pairs of shoes scattered outside the tent, thrown as if they’d been discarded in a hurry. The tent entrance itself is slightly open. Warm light peeks through like a tease. 

It beckons him to get a look at what he can through the tear of the tent…and halts in place.

“F-Fuck, yes~! Right there, right there…” she breathes out, “Nngh~”

Jean’s mouth runs dry.

“You’re doing so good.” a man says, his voice low and muffled. 

Jean is about to pass out.

It could be a mistake.

Maybe he’s seeing something wrong?

Upon closer inspection tells him otherwise.

A man kneels between Mirabelle’s parted legs. He hooks his arms under her thighs and pulls her closer to his mouth, humming against her. Piercing his nails into the fat of her skin, demonstrating for anyone watching (Jean) that she is his.

The soft amber lanterns catch her breasts in the perfect angle, sitting beautifully on her chest. Of course he’s seen the anatomical body of a woman but like this? Never in a million years would Jean think he would see it tonight.

Mirabelle grabs his unruly blonde hair, pursing her lips. Her eyes flutter shut as she tilts her head back, the curve of her body arching, abdomen meeting the man’s forehead as she pushes him in harder. A desperate cry leaves her. It’s so velvety that Jean couldn’t believe it was her making those noises.

He shouldn’t be looking.

This is wrong of him.

Very wrong.

Jean is not a man, he is not moral, not strong-willed, not anything he wanted to be tonight. 

As he’s about to turn away from the scene, seconds after accidentally looking in, Mirabelle’s head comes forward and her eyes lock with his. 

It’s fueled with intensity. The golden flicker of the light takes a dip in her deliberate gaze. Instead of shock, all he sees is dark, wicked amusement plastered on her face like she’s won an award. She lets him watch, lets him bear witness to her, body moving with slow, languid precision, as though the very act of being observed excites her more. She doesn’t flinch or hesitate, she. Gets. Bolder.

She smirks before tipping her head back and putting on the performance of her life, “Yes, Niccolo! I’m close, I’m so fucking close, baby—I’m gonna, ah~!”

Jean runs.

He doesn’t know where he’s going, he just knows that he has to get the fuck out of here. 

Dashing through the dirty paths of the camp, it’s like his lungs want to jump out of his body. He’s in flight mode

“Jean?! Where are you going?!” Yelena shouts at him.

“Don’t go to Mirabelle’s tent!” he warns her

She cackles as he sprints away.

Had she known? If she had, why the hell would she make him go? He should’ve stayed in his room with damsel Conny!

After a couple minutes of running, he arrives at the rocky pools.

Far enough.

Far enough, physically.

Mentally? Never.

He leans against a rock, much taller and sturdier than he is. It’s been a while since he had to break into a full sprint like that. He never imagined catching people fucking would be the cause of it. 

He places his head on the rock, sweat dripping down his face and a situation to handle.

A rock hard cock under his pyjama pants.

Jean’s heart is racing like crazy and he grabs his clamouring chest, gulping nothing but dryness down his throat. On the other hand, his cock throbs with unease. He needs to get off. His morals tell him no. 

Fact of the matter, he doesn’t really have a choice in this.

Mirabelle’s face floats into his mind, her moans, her breasts…

Jean groans, sliding down the rock and hitting the hard ground with a thump.

He is so verily screwed.

He is screwed in a way that he’s never been screwed before and will probably never be screwed the way he is screwed now.

He has to do what he has to do.

Jean brings out his cock from his pants. Why wouldn’t his mind just match with his dick? What is the pain in that? He wonders, is there some part of him…a truly, screwed up, primal side of him that likes the way he’s being treated?

Does he like her having him in control?

Is he a…cuck for watching them like that?!

No, no, I can’t be. Not that.

It’s her.

It’s her long, black hair cascading in waves down her back. She tucks it behind her ear mid-conversation, focused on what the other person says. She nods, smiles and a little physical contact; usually, it’s a pat on the back or a playful hit on the shoulder. 

Her skin is a soft radiance, captured by the core of the sun's embrace and light of the moon’s spirit. 

Her laugh is a high-pitched melody and sounds like she’s being possessed by a banshee half the time. Nevertheless, seeing the corners of her lips perk up at something he said makes Jean swelter.

And, her body.

God, her body. 

A divine sculpture—the ridges of her collarbone, the angle of her rounded shoulders and the curve of her waist; he thumbs the tip of his cock.

He can’t hold back anymore, he can’t stop himself from wanting her.

He wants to kiss her everywhere, appreciate her for existing as she is. She’s like nothing he’s seen before in a woman and there’s nothing more he’d want than to be a part of her world.

A low moan escapes his lips. 

Jean’s hand travels down the shaft of his cock, pumping it slowly. Precum slips through the crack of his palm, lubricating him. 

The throbbing takes a second to ease into his hand. As uneasiness turns into pleasure, the breeze waves into his face, washing over him.

Jean needs more.

He imagines her here. 

He imagines her warmth.

He imagines her asking him how he got into this mess and asking him if he’d like her to take care of him. She looks up at him, sinister eyes and a grin he cannot fully comprehend. It’s in the middle of adorably charming and shit-eating. He tells her ‘yes’ with a shaky breath. 

She takes his cock in her hand.

She spits on his tip, expertly bringing it down. Because Jean knows she knows how to treat his cock.

Her lips meet his in an embrace, traces of the strawberry jam she always buys from the market, a saccharine overload in his mouth. That woman has a knack for sweet things, it’s a bad habit at this point.

So is this.

“Shit—” Jean moans, biting his bottom lip. 

He closes his eyes, a black screen providing a blank canvas for painting the horrid things he desires. No one’s going to be roaming here at this time. He’s free to do whatever he wants.

Then, Mirabelle climbs on top of him, her hands holding onto the blades of his shoulder like they did when he was teaching her how to use the ODM Gear. That slight squeeze and stability that she gave him was enough to send shivers down his spine.

She sinks down onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She grabs his hair, tugs it back just enough for Jean to let out another moan. He puts his face into her chest, hugging his arms around her whole body. There would be no sign of letting go anytime soon. He’d keep her to his body. He would want to stay inside her as long as possible, to keep that connection as long as possible. Because if it ended, Jean would have a missing heart and a half.

Mirabelle would ride him. She bucks her hips and mewl in his ear, making it tingle. She tantalises him, softens him and bullies him. She knows how bad he wants her.

Jean would feel so fucking full inside of her and she’d be so tight around him. Her walls surround his cock so tightly, he’s lucky he doesn’t have to breathe from down there.

He pumps his cock harder, his hips coming up to meet his fist’s demand and finally, he releases.

Strings of white fly out as Jean lets go of himself, falling back on the trusty rock that was able to support him through all this. 

His sight blurs as he peers at the cloudless sky. A billion stars just watched him pathetically imagine a girl and masturbate to it.

It’s okay if he was pathetic.

He can be fucking pathetic for her.

What mattered more was that he wishes she was actually here doing all that to him.

☆

Jean hasn’t recovered.

When he’s seated at the Marleyan restaurant the next afternoon alone, there’s an air of gloom. He has no idea what to do now.

He hasn’t had much to do today, but his friends were piled with heaps to do. There wasn’t room for distraction.

According to Hange, they like to give soldiers rest days so they could reset and have an actual break. They said that it’s better for them to be different from his friends. The reason being that people need breaks from people too.

Levi full disagreed with the whole concept but Hange said it was especially for Levi since his tolerance for people was at a negative. He couldn’t argue with that.

It just so happens that today is Jean’s break day and he was stuck in the Marleyan restaurant before opening (soldier benefits), eating a meal alone.

Was it bad to come to the place where Niccolo works? Maybe. But he’s sure Mirabelle won’t turn up here. She has a hundred MP meetings to attend to.

She simply has no business here.

He had successfully avoided her the whole day. He will continue to do so as a means to escape thinking about whatever the fuck happened last night. 

The Devil herself had slithered into his dreams last night. This was after he caught Mirabelle and went to fist his cock by the pools. He woke up rock hard—no pun intended. 

You can imagine how scrambled his mind, heart and dick are right now.

Jean was extremely lucky that Conny sleeps like a log or else he knew he wouldn’t hear the end of that. What if it got to Mirabelle?

Double kill.

Anyways, he had avoided her the whole day and treating himself during the restaurant’s close before dinner openings was the best way to go about his day. If he stayed in his tent the whole day, he would’ve gone crazy.

He may have done something he wasn’t supposed to.

Although there aren’t any chefs running around (they gotta take breaks too!), he’s able to control himself in a public space. There was that to applaud amongst this mess.

“Well, well, well,” someone says from behind him, lightly stroking his back, “If it isn’t Peeping Tom.”

Jean freezes against the touch. Time itself stops.

She swivels around to meet his face, fingers still on his back. 

He isn’t imagining her here, this isn’t a dream, she’s really here.

Jean chokes on his lobster. So hard that he doubles over his plate.

“Oh no, you poor thing.” she utters.

Mirabelle grabs the jug of water, pours it into Jean’s empty glass. He reaches out to take it from her. She doesn’t meet him halfway. Instead, she drinks the water.

Jean gulps down the cough and stares at her.

She laughs, “Here. Drink it.”

Mirabelle presses the glass against his lips. 

Jean’s on autopilot, he tilts his head back and lets her feed him the drink. 

Then, she sets the drink down and stares at him a second too long. 

He doesn’t know what to do, what to say, how to process this and he can feel himself slowly getting hard again.

She’s done nothing, absolutely nothing and he’s wordlessly done for.

She reaches out and cups one side of his face, wiping a stray water drop from his face. 

She punctures into his gaze and every wall he tries to set up for himself. It turns into paper and finds his real self, putting it up for display.

“Such a pretty face.” she mumbles.

And then, before you know it, she drops his face and leaves the restaurant.

MIRABELLE WINDRIDER POV

“That’s absolutely outrageous!” Onyankopon cries, shooting up from his seat. He slams his hands on the table for effect. 

I roll my eyes for what must be the hundredth time and yank him from the back of his blazer. He falls flatly on his armchair. The stress lines on his forehead aged him by twenty years.

The meeting room is silent but the faces of the MPs are tumultuous with worry. It’s not every day the Onyankopon breaks out in a frenzy. He’s easygoing for the most part.

I wish I could tell you why he burst out. Unfortunately, I’ve lost track of what the meeting was about. It’s some minute detail in the overarching plan.

When I agreed to go to all these boring meetings, what I’d been doing was dragging his ass back down and mediating the arguments that were happening. I’m only here for his comfort and support of these meetings.

I’m a perfect middleman.

I have to say, Paradis Island makes compelling insights. Yelena and Onyankopon do too. However, being the middleman, I have to take in consideration what is the best and causes the least harm and sometimes, both sides don’t seem to consider this as an option.

I appreciate my comrades for their work ethics. They’re more than comrades, they’re friends and if this makes their lives easier here in the meeting rooms, I’ll do it.

“Let’s take a break and resume later.” Pyxis instructs at last, “We need it.”

There’s no arguing there.

Everyone scours from the room, leaving Onyankopon and I alone.

“Can I bring you some water?” I ask gently.

The man is looking at his lap blankly.

Finally, he sighs, “No thank you. I would like to be left alone though. If that’s okay.”

“Sure.” I reply, standing up, “Collect your thoughts and we can talk again before the meeting. I’ll go take a breather too.”

“Okay.” he responds dryly.

I start heading towards the door.

“Mirabelle.” Onyankopon calls.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, ” he tells me, “I appreciate that.”

I smile, “Love you.”

“...love you too.”

Leaving the room, I head down many flights of stairs of the Mitras’ parliament building. I bid my respects to Queen Historia, who is visiting for a council meeting of her own and step out into the chilly night air. 

There’s something about today’s air that makes it so special. The wind flirts with my hair, winding its way through the seams of my clothing.

To think this meeting was going to take my whole day? I was not expecting that. 

I do hope Onyankopon is alright though. This is a lot of stress for one person to take. I want to help my friends. The only way I can do that is take on more, study more and morph into a soldier. There’s only so much the Marleyans can do here with our restrictions and such.

At least Paradis has a whole army, we’re on our own out here. I don’t know what’s going on half the time. I’m here because I hate Marley and this was a chance to go against them. 

I’ve seen enough to prove that it is not an adequate place to live in. Especially as someone who worked close to politicians. Greed, hatred and sin, committed again and again with no remorse entailing their actions.

That’s not what I want to be a part of.

Assassination used to be a way to make money as someone coming from a low-income family and had to survive. I had to kill to survive—isn’t that ironic?

It’s time for me to put that behind me and turn a new leaf.

There is real happiness rooted in this island.

Coming here, I’ve realised the difference.

I’ve met it through my new friends, new life and…Jean.

“Mirabelle.”

I swivel around.

It is no one but him. 

He’s standing under a streetlight like a full force manifestation of my thoughts. Slightly perplexed, a little untidy from the day’s labour but all in all, Jean.

“I was just thinking about you.”

The way we meet these days is starting to not come off as surprises anymore. It’s almost as if there’s this small part of myself that expects him there.

“What?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. What are you doing here?”

“I…” he begins and drops his head, deeming the stoned ground more interesting than me, “I was just finishing up here, I was about to head back, actually.”

“Hm, must be fate,” I say, linking my arm around his. He flinches, “Is this okay?”

“Yes.” he answers, a little more confidently than I know he’s feeling right now. 

A simple touch must break his insides indefinitely. So I innocently smile, squeezing his arm closer to my face. His arm is tough and plush at the same time, telling me that there’s a good amount of muscle but soft enough for a lady to lay her cheek on.

“Shall we?” I ask, nodding towards the empty street, “I don’t have much time.”

“Okay.” 

We walk down the moonlit street in Wall Sina. 

I can feel tension in Jean’s strides. Every step that hits the ground is rough and not fully taken before he takes the other one. He’s not walking fast but there’s an impatience to the way he does this time around. 

He doesn’t walk like this—he usually takes confident, full steps. It’s enough to tell me he’s still awkward from that.

It’s been a few days since Jean walked in on me and Niccolo. 

Jean’s presence was nothing out of the ordinary. It was right for him to be there, to watch me and wish it was him that was between my legs like that. 

I, for one, do wish that. 

Since he zeroed in on me like that, I’ve never wanted anything more. 

I’d take it so slow, nice and slow, fuck into him until he eases into my body and can take over. There’s nothing hotter than a man who lets me take the lead in the bedroom.

Niccolo doesn’t do that. 

He’s controlling, demanding and can barely make me cum.

I have to clear this up with Jean first. 

I don’t want this to get in between us.

It could start something new though…

“About that night.” I say as we stop under a streetlight, “Niccolo and I aren’t together. Like, at all. He’s an ex.”

It flickers, a constant struggle to seize the light, only for it to evade at every attempt.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to walk into you and him. Yelena wanted me to get you—”

“No.” I interrupt firmly, “I know you like me and you liked what you saw.”

He unwinds his arm from mine, looking anywhere but at my face.

“I—”

He slowly backs up.

“You’ve felt that way from the start.” I continue, walking towards him, “It’s written all over your face. On the first night, in the carriage, when you walked in on me and, look, even now. Why can’t you just admit it?”

He hits the pillar of some desolate luxury motel, broad shoulders taking up the entire distance of it. Despite that, there’s this deniance furrowing in his eyebrows that I’m slowly starting to dislike. It was cute at the start but I need him to own up to it, own up to it like a man.

“...Mirabelle.” 

What bullshit.

“Jean.” I state, looking up at him, “I want to fuck you so bad that it hurts.”

Like magic, the streetlight turns on. A gentle buzz maintains as I search his face. Red blossoms on his cheekbones but no words draw from his mouth.

“There you are, Mirabelle!” someone calls me.

Pyxis is in the distance, waving at me, “We oughta get going. The meeting is resuming soon.”

Talk about horrible timing.

“Right behind ya, baldie.” I reciprocate his wave.

Pyxis walks back towards the building and I turn back at Jean one last time. 

One last chance…and…nothing.

I give up.

“Coming, Mirabelle:?” Pyxis calls.

“Yes!”

I walk away from what could have been.

[vulpixisananimal]

"Eaaaasy Sif."

(Isabeau was helping you walk across your room. Stars, your legs still felt so weak, but, still you walked.)

"Oh this is anything but easy." (You joke.)

"-snrk- W-well if you can't walk we can try another day-"

"I can walk! I can!" (You say, pouting. You had made a deal that if you could walk to your door then you'd be healthy enough to finally leave your blinding room.)

"Well if You're sure!! I'll let you try by yourself, ok?"

(You nod, Isabeau let's go of your arm, and you took a step. So far so good. Let's try another.)

(Stardust, you look ridiculous~)

(You stumble a little, but catch yourself. Do you MIND?!?)

(Not at all, actually~)

"Are you alright?!?" (Isa asked, oh forever worrying.)

"M' fine, just, Loop being annoying."

"O-oh! Well let Sif be, alright! They're trying their best!!"

(Oh fine, I'll behave~)

"They say they'll behave."

(Isa smiles, you take another step, then another, just, a few more steps and. . . You trip as you make it to your door and you end up hanging onto the handle.)

". . . Eh, close enough." (Isa walked over and offered his hand. You took it.) "I'll help you downstairs."

"Yay!!" (Say the line.) "Thank you Mr. Amazinglywonderfullfunnybuffisabeau."

"!!!! S-Sif!!!" (He rubs his shoulder, blushing.) "Y-you can't just say that! I have-"

"-The heart of a delicate maiden?" (you wink, cheekily.) "Oh, I know~"

(Isabeau hides his face in his hands. Oh Stardust you flirt~)

(You TOLD me to do it!)

(And you did~)

"A-alright, alright, alright. A-are you ready to go now?"

"Yeah." (You smile.) "Ready now."

(Before you could respond, Isabeau scooped you up like you were a sack of flower. Now YOU were blushing.) "H-hey!!"

"No way you can tackle stairs, Sif." (Isa gets the door with his shoulder.) "You're taking the Isabeau Express!"

"S-stars. . ." (Ok, it wasn't that bad. Isa was big! And strong! And was carying you very gently. You held on less for dear life, but to try and calm your beating heart.)

(What's wrong, can't hanndle the big guy~?)

(YOU'RE NOT DOING ANY BETTER!!!)

(We'll I'M not so OBVIOUS about it!)

"Last stop comin up!" (Isa says as you two get down stairs.) "Please make sure you haven't left any luggage on your seat!"

(You hide your face in your hands.)

"What're you-" (That was Nille, she paused, then burst out laughing.)

"The Isabeau Express is NO laughing matter Pétronille!"

"S-sure-" (She was trying really hard to stop her laughter.) "Wh. well! Is it a luxary experience, Siffy?"

(You simply groan behind your hands. They both laugh a little.)

"A-alright I'll put you down, if you want."

(You, you really don't want to be put down, actually. This is really nice. You shake your head.)

(Oooooh look at youuuuuuu~)

"O-oh!" (You couldn't see it, but he was DEFFINATLY blushing.)

"Oh wow." (Nille punched Isa's shoulder.) "Look at you two, so sweet I'll get a toothache. C'mon, breakfast's ready."

(Oh Stardust, are you suuuuure you want to be caaaaried through where eeeeveryone can see?)

(Shut up shut up shut up PLEASE shut up.)

"Delivery!" (Isabeau yelled as he walked into the common area.) "Someone order a very tired Siffrin?"

(You braved looking from behind your hands, Mirabel, Odile, Bonnie, and. . . Ramos, where all starting on breakfast. Nille joined them.)

"-Snrk- G-good morning you two!!" (Mirabelle was trying REALLY hard not to laugh.)

"Why are you carrying 'Frin like apples?" (Said Bonnie, they were about to dig into some absolutly delicious looking pancakes.)

"I didn't want him to worry about the stairs!" (Isa responds.)

"And so you decided to carry them instead?" (Odile said from behind a book.) "Or is that just your excuse."

"I-It's not!!!"

"Wow Isa, not like you to make excuses." (Ramos says, cheekily.)

"I don't need excuses!!"

"Y-youcanputmedownnow-" (You mutter, stars, you're NEVER going to live this down.)

(Isa puts you down, finally. You stand for a moment, wobbly, before collapsing into a chair. Your familly claps.)

"VERY well done!!"

"So proud!! So cool!!"

"Quite a show, Siffrin."

"Thank you, thank you~" (You weakly give a wave, Stars, it was good to be around everyone again, even if it was a struggle.) "I've been practicing that performance all week."

"It's really impressive!!" (Mira says excitedly.) "That doctor said you'd be out for at least another week! It really is amazing!"

"Worst case of craft exhaustion she'd ever seen, right?" (Odile continues.) "Goes without saying, but you should be dead, Siffrin."

"I feel dead." (You get a bit more comfortable in your chair, oh stars, food.) "Oh, doctor?"

"Don't remember?" (Mira asks,) "W-well you were pretty out of it- Oh! We didn't tell her anything important don't worry!!"

"I knew you wouldn't." (You smile weakly.)

"Hey let Siffy eat, big celebration after all." (Nille says- oh stars there she goes pilling MORE food onto your plate.)

(Can we PLEASE eat already.)

(You dig in. Yummy!! Super yummy!! Oh stars, Bonnie must have gone all out for this!!)

"W-woah, careful Sif."

"Let them carbbing eat, 'Za!"

"Language."

"YOU'RE language."

(You try not to choke on your food as you laugh. It was nice, being around them all again, REALLY around them all. The past week had been. . . Blurry. You barely remembered anything. Sometimes you weren't you. Sometimes you could barely move. It was all just, so much.)

(But, you were back! You were back here! With good food, REALLY good food. Everyone was happy, everyone was safe, even. . .)

(You swallow your food and put your fork to the side. Right. You need to ask.)

"So. . ." (You look over at them.) "Ramos."

(They sink into their chair a little.) "S-siffrin?"

"Hey."

"Uh, h-hey!"

"So, I gotta say, what you did wasn't very nice."

(They look away.) "Y-yeah, I'm s-"

"But after a week to think about it?" (Joke time.) "I don't really Mind it at all~"

"NO!"

"BAD!!"

"BOOO!!"

"HAHA!! YES!!!"

(Ramos looks at you, perplexed, bewildered, beffudled; then bursts out laughing. Mission accomplished.)

(WOW, Stardust, you ~really~ are that forgiving, aren't you~?)

(No, you're not. But people deserve a second chance.)

(Ramos shakes their head.) "Haha. . . I-I, I am really sorry, Siffrin."

"Oh, we know." (You say, smiling.) "It really sucked, needing to retry the same day over and over and over again, friends memories changing, getting hurt. But hey, we got our happy ending after all."

(Ramos sunk down again, sheepish.) "S-sorry. . ."

"If it makes you feel any better, we've been through worse."

"That's not a good thing!!!" (Mira exclaims.) "Besides, Madame Odile worked really hard to make sure there wasn't any lingering mind craft on anyone."

"That I did." (Odile nods.) "It was more difficult than I thought, how someone changes a mind is much more intricate than changing a body."

"What bout that star?" (You ask.) "It wasn't a wish, was it."

"Well I'm no expert in wish craft." (Odile says while smugly holding up a hand.) "But the emblem only had extremely potent mind craft molded into it. Ramos?" (She gestures to the defender-in-training.)

"R-right." (They nod.)

"I, I got it from someone who came to visit the Defenders house one day. We met, he seemed nice, there was. . . Yeah there was someone with him too."

"What'd they look like?" (You ask.)

(They shook their head.) "Don't remember, I tried real hard, but, nothing. . ."

"You tried your best, and that's ok!!" (Mira said supportivley.)

(They smile, and continue.) "We talked, I must have said something, cause they asked about my Guardian, it was, it was. . ." (They snap their fingers.) "About the Island! North of Vaugarde!"

"Oh." (Yeah, of course it was the Island.) "Do you remember anything specific?"

"N-not really, they asked me a lot, about my guardian, about me, and gave me that emblem, saying it would grant my wish."

"Which was to be strong, like Isabeau." (You say.)

"W-well. . ." (They rub their shoulder.) "Yes and no? I-I mean I did! But, w-well. . . . . . . I was, worried, about, Changing. And how my guardian would take it. A new face, new name."

"O-oh!!" (Mira said, surprised. Did they not explain this to everyone yet?)

(They continue.) "T-they're really nice and accepting!! And said they'd accept me whoever I turn out to be, but, b-but. . ." (They pause, as if considering something.)

". . . Are you sure you're okay talking about it? Rams?" (Isa says, well, maybe HE knew about it. They were good friends, after all.)

"Nono, I'm, I'm ok, with sharing it." (They breathe in, and out.) "I'm. . . I'm from Poteria, and, my parents there weren't, weren't the nicest people. When I found out about Changing and, brought it up to them they. . ."

(There was a cold pause, Mira looked worried, Isa supportive, and Nille. . . Nille looked, well, you couldn't place that look.)

(Ramos continues, finally.) ". . They didn't take it well. So, I cut my losses, and ran away. Don't remember much, untill I met my Guardian, Aunya, they were from that Island, back then people remembered it still. They were my real parent."

"That's. . ." (Mira starts.)

"That's great!" (Nille says.) "Glad you found a good place!!"

"Heh, thanks." (They're smiling.)

(. . . You missed a lot, didn't you.)

(Look at your friends, they're cracking jokes, chatting, smiling like nothing happened. It's been a week, have you even realized that yet?)

(. . .)

(And for us, it was so much more~ We spent so long fighting this. . . This coward, trying to figure out what has happening, why it was happening. I was stuck, here, needing to deal with this while you were struck down with that blinding mind craft!)

(They deserve a second chance? That's what you're going to tell me? After All of MY hard work?!?)

"Siffrin?" (You look up, Mirabelle was talking to you.) "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" (You look down, oh, you were gripping your wrist, your knuckles were pale.) "O-oh, yeah, sorry. . ."

"What's going on, Sif?" (Isa asks. You look away.)

(Stars. . . What do you say?)

(What DO you say, Stardust~ Tell them you don't trust Ramos? Their new friend? Or do you suck it down again. Just wait untill it eats, you, alive.)

". . . It's. . ." (You breathe in, and out.) "Just, hard to believe."

"Huh?"

(You continue.) "That it's, over."

". . ."

"Ah. . ."

"O-oh!"

"It's just, over." (You keep breathing.) "It was that easy, there wasn't any burnt sugar, no twist, no reason to be forced back again. Just, snap that emblem and. . ."

"Well there is still the question of who gave it to Ramos, and why." (Odile adds.)

"Timing, M'dame"

"Ah, r-right."

(You shook your head.) "N-no, no there is still that, just. . . It's just, hard, for us to get over." (Hard to get over how Ramos is just, here.)

". . ." (Ramos fiddled with his utensils before speaking.) ". . . Is. . . Is there any way I can, help with that?"

(You don't respond right away. How? How could they help? It wasn't exactly their fault. Well, it was. But they are sorry, and it seems like they do want to help. Stars, what a turnaround.) "Doubt it. It'll just, take time."

"A-alright. . ."

(. . . Let's just move on.) "A-alright, well, is there anything else I should know Ramos?"

"O-oh! Right!" (They nod, and continue.) "I don't remember if those people who gave me the star told me where they're going next. Sorry."

"You shouldn't appoligise." (Odile says.) "Your mind has as many holes as Siffrins right now."

"Hey!" (You say, pouting.)

(Ramos chuckles.) "I guess, b-but uh, speaking of that, just so you know, full transparency and such. I, do still know some Mind Craft. S-sorry."

(Oh. Ew. You make a face.)

"N-nothing as strong as before!! I promise!!"

"Right, right." (You twiddle your fork.) "Just, no touch."

"Yessir." (Ramos nods.) "That's, that's basicly everything I know."

"Well it's a few questions answered." (Nille says, leaning back.) "Just wondering who those two crabbing idiots who started this were."

"And if they're gonna cause more trouble." (Isabeau adds.)

". . . That's it!" (Mirabelle perks up.) "That'll be our new little quest!! The mystery of the mind craft duo!!"

(You look up at her in shock.) ". . . What?"

"Oh!! I LOVE that idea!!!" (Isa joins in.) "Traveling aimlessly could be so BORING, but a mystery? Oh man, it would be right out of a story book!!"

"You guys are weird." (Bonnie says between bites.)

"I have to agree with the kid." (Odile replies.) "But, the idea is novel."

(Ramos looks like they're about to say something, then stops, looking back down.)

(. . . You're not serious Stardust.)

(What, I didn't even think anything~)

(Yes you did!! Are you insaine!?!)

(Yes, yes we are.) "Do you want to come with us, Ramos?"

"H-HUH!?!" (Ramos looks up, surprised.) "Wh-huh??? What??? Me?!??"

"OH GREAT IDEA!!!" (Isabeau says.) "I think you'd have a great time!!"

"Our first destination could be visiting your guardian." (Odile adds.) "And we'd be able to support you if they do not."

"It would be fun!!" (Mira is bouncing in her seat excitedly.)

"I-I dunno. . . I'll think about it." (Ramos says, looking up at you, then away.)

"Take your time!! It's a big decision after all." (Isa says. He gives you a look of thanks, probably for offering to invite them along.)

(I wish I'd strangled you, Stardust.)

(Try winning next time.)

"But first, Siffrin needs to rest up." (Odile looks over at you.) "And we do need to talk about your health."

(You groan.) "Do we gotta?"

(Yes, Stardust~)

"Yes, Siffrin. (Odile echoes.) "Both physically and mentally."

(You wince.) "R-right, we, we would like to avoid passing out for a week."

"You nearly died, Siffrin!!" (Isa exclaims.) "Please please promise me to be careful with time craft? Please?"

"I-I, whuh-" (You blink. What?)

"I doubt they remember." (Odile looks away from you.) "You had a heart attack, Siffrin, likely from extreme exhaustion. A-and. . ." (She pauses, considering her words.) "Because you nearly died, I had, to stop you from looping."

"Oh. . ." (Like, like before.) "But, wouldn't that have, not been that-"

"Siffrin if you died there where would you have looped back to." (Odile leans over to you, looking you in the eye.) "The moment you woke up. Woke up having a heart attack. What do you think would have happened then?"

(Oh.)

(O-oh. . .)

(You look down, you were holding your wrist again. The temperature had dropped to Sub-Zero temperatures. If, if she didn't. . .)

". . . T-thank you, Odile."

(She sighs, back to her book.) "Please, just be more careful. Mirabelle, please, I'm done talking."

"O-oh!" (Mirabelle perked up.) "O-ok! Right! So! S-so for one Madame Odile has been looking into some really strong medicine to try and limit craft exhaustion. For emergencies only though!!"

"Ideally we won't need you to loop ever again, really." (Isa mumbles.)

(You nod.) "F-fair, it's, it's really not a nice experience."

(But what if you start looping again~)

(. . . Right.) "Actually, should we get a codeword for if I'm looping again?"

"Oh!!!"

"Smart!"

"Like a secret spy or something?!?" (Bonnie says excitedly.)

"Haha! Yeah exactly like that. How about. . ."

(Loop?)

(. . . Back to the stage.)

"Back to the stage." (You finish, before realizing what you just said.)

"Huh. . ."

"Uh, cute!"

"Oh!!" (Bonnie raises a hand.) "'Cause it's like you're acting? Like in one of those plays?"

"U-UH-" (Wow ok! You didn't expect Bonnie of all people to get that!) "Y-yeah! Yeah cause we're acting things out, yeah!"

(There was a general nod of agreement. A good codeword. Stars, for such a nice breakfast you sure did need to deal with a lot of existentialism and anxiety. You go to finish up your food, glad that's over-)

"Oh! One more thing, Sif?" (Mirabelle asks.)

(HAH!)

(You wince, and finish your bite.) "Uh, yeah?"

"Is, there someone else around? You are saying 'we' a lot."

(Wuhoh. You sink down in your chair.) "O-ohright."

"Around?" (Ramos says from organizing their utensils for the nth time.)

"OH!!" (Mira puts her hands to her mouth.) "U-Uh!! Right, uh, I-I'm sorry I didn't think about-"

"I-if this is private, I can go."

(You look between Mira, Ramos, and the others at the table. Stars, what a thing to jump on you! You did promise you'd be more vulnerable, but-)

(STARDUST! You barely know Ramos! It took you months to work up the courage to tell your family. Are you sure you aren't being mind controlled still~?)

(You massage your temple. Great. Headache.)

"s-sorry. . ." (Mirabelle says, looking down.) "I, didn't mean to-"

"You're fine, loops just being a bitch." (ME? being a WHAT?!? I'm trying to keep you from being an IDIOT Stardust! Stars above you are so DENSE!!) "They're cranky because I'm better at talking to people than them."

(WHAT?!?)

(The others at the table laugh, except Ramos, who still looked confused. You said you'd explain to them another time. Whenever that time might be, if ever.)

(But right now, you were hungry.)

(You needed a rest.)

[yellowocaballero]

In Stars and Time AU: Sif Puts The Star In Starcraft

Wow the ISAT fandom has a lot of cool AUs. That's a lot of fun! What if my extremely good buddy @lazuliquetzal theorized while playing ISAT for the first time that Sif was a fallen star? What then? What if I have unsuccessfully tried to restrain myself from talking about it?

Anyway AU where Sif is a star and also a gamer.

Sif is a hip Gen Z star who doesn't go outside nearly enough and spends all of their time playing videogames watching Earth. Their sibling Loop is always telling them to stop touching grass and to get their head back in the clouds, but they can't help it - they might miss the newest adventures of their favorite humans! Look at them, they're questing! Aren't they so cool? Isabeau just got a rare item drop!

Mirabelle and Isabeau are cool. They're brave, strong, nice, and best friends. Sif loves watching their heroic quest and cool adventures. After a while they even feel like his real friends. Eventually they start making a wish on themself - if they could only join them on their adventure! Get out of my room Loop I don't know what a parasocial relationship is.

Mirabelle is scared. Mirabelle is worrying that she's leading Isabeau on a doomed journey, that their struggle is destined to end in their deaths. She doesn't know if she can do this at all. Why her? Why not somebody more competent, more worthy? In a moment of desperation, she clasps her hands together and makes a desperate wish upon a star from the very bottom of her heart - that her party will be protected. That the Change God will send somebody to help them and keep them safe and save the world. Somebody, anybody, a little more competent than her.

Sif logs on.

Sif is a stroke of luck. Sif is mysterious, cool, and very talented. Sif can protect the whole party with a smirk on their face and a quip on their tongue. They're cool. He cheers you up, he's reliable, they're strong, and they are a treasured member of the party. They're a treasured friend. Things might be hard and scary, but with Sif there everybody breathes a little easier.

Sif loves, loves, loves being a human! The world is so fun and exciting, nothing like the boring and dreary cosmos! They have croissants, trees, friends! Being a human is great. They have an entire life on Earth, one way nicer than in the boring old sky that never changes. Sorry, Loop, they're skipping dinner, they have a World of Warcraft guild raid adventure with Mira today!

Sif has a job to do. Sif's here to grant a wish, and Sif is going to earn his place here. They protect the spirits of their friends by joking and keeping everybody hopeful. No friends get injured on their watch! Even if Sif gets hurt, that's part of the job. Bonnie's just upset about the eye because they don't know it's Sif's job as their friend to protect them. There's no point in feeding them during snacktime, so they'll patrol while you guys relax. Sif can't tell them how lonely they are or how they don't want this adventure to end, that's burdening them. They can't know that Sif's not really their friend, that they're not human, that their only point is their job - that's not protecting them. Get out of my ROOM PLANET, Loop, I'm NOT turning off the game touching space! It's not a game to them, it's their lives. Even if it'll never be Sif's.

But this adventure is drawing to a close. Mirabelle wished upon a star, and a star fell, and the star's about to grant her wish. And the star will have to log off. Even if the star wants to a be human, even if the star wants to be together forever - the game ends. Even if this ending really freaking sucks.

Why does this have to be a JRPG? Why can't it be one of the good games, the games that you can play forever and ever - like a farming/life simulator or an MMORPG or something? Where you do the same chores every day and nothing ever changes, and you're happy and safe in this little town forever? Everybody seperating at the end isn't a happy ending. Sif hates this ending. Sif hates this genre. Sif can't log off. They can't protect their friends if they log off. It's their job to protect their friends. They have to play the game right and create an ending that makes sure everybody is safe and happy and everything's perfect.

The party - Sif's family - reaches the third floor. Sif cracks open his Star AO3 account. Mirabelle unlocks the door and swings it open to find…

What's a coffee shop doing here?

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

How does the plot of the movie play out (to whatever extent) in your AU?

It’s the day of Antonio’s fifth birthday/gift ceremony and tonight, he’ll be receiving his gift in front of judgy social-climbing villagers

Isabela is double-checking to see who’s coming, Dolores is decorating Casita, Luisa is entertaining the kids to keep them out of trouble, Camilo is moving around furniture, Mirabel is having the butterflies work on their choreography when Antonio gets his gift and they’re total divas, Julieta’s cooking, Pepa’s trying to control her nerves, Bruno’s avoiding people, and Alma’s giving orders

Antonio’s nervous because his cousins and siblings all have cool gifts and hardly have time for him since they’re all doing their chores

Just an hour before the gift ceremony, the other grandkids sneak into the nursery to comfort and assure him he’ll get an amazing gift…

Anyway, Alma gives her speech about the history of the Encanto, and it’s time for Antonio to get his gift, yay!

But, as soon as he touches the doorknob… The door disappears.

Isabela hears all of the things people are whispering about Antonio and immediately wants to deck them, but right now, her, her sisters’ and cousins’ focus is on getting Antonio out of the damn courtyard and away from everyone

Mirabel uses the butterflies as a distraction and they bring Antonio into Dolores’ room

Throughout the night, they’re assuring him he did nothing wrong, but they still can’t help but wonder why he didn’t get a gift

When he falls asleep, something occurs to Luisa

Luisa: Like hell he’s living in the nursery for the rest of his life.

And immediately, they argue over who he gets to share a room with

Little do they notice that after everyone’s left, a crack begins to form

The next morning, things are tense, Alma isn’t looking at Antonio how she used to, and Bruno’s missing

A week passes with no sign of Bruno, not that many of the villagers even care

Isabela is getting angrier by the day because she has to listen to Alma talking about how “perfect” her engagement to Mariano will be (so people can focus on something else other than Antonio), and the villagers talking shit about her baby cousin. One day, she scolded some kids for bullying Antonio, and they used to be friends with him

The grandkids have been breaking off several friendships with anyone talking about Antonio like he’s a curse, and they’re prepared to retaliate when Alma isn’t around

One day, Antonio is with Isabela (despite Alma telling him for the hundredth time to stay out of the way) helping her look for a boy who got lost in a field, and he notices her eyes shifting, a tick of hers’ when she has a secret

She tells him is that she’s been hearing cracking sounds and Camilo grinding his teeth lately, but he knows there’s more

He finds Camilo with Mirabel bringing the donkeys back to their pen like every week since they were five and asks Camilo if he’s okay, badgering an answer out of him until Camilo snaps

Camilo: NOTHING’S WRONG!

Antonio: *Sad puppy eyes*

Camilo: Oh, my God, I’m a monster.

Mirabel: You really are, primo.

After several apologies, Camilo assures Antonio he’s fine… then his teeth grind again and when Antonio points this out, cue Surface Pressure but as a conversation instead of a song

Mirabel calls over one of the therapy jaguars and Camilo picks it up, hugs it like a plushie, and cries

When he calms down, he mentions Bruno, who’s name hasn’t been spoken aloud in what feels like forever and talks about a vision he heard their parents talking about the night of Antonio’s gift ceremony

Already knowing where this is going, Mirabel tells Antonio to not go into Bruno’s room, but he’s stubborn. So, they compromise. Dolores and Luisa will go in since their gifts would be better suited while the others stay and give excuses to Alma and their parents

Thanks to Dolores’ vines and Luisa being able to stretch her limbs and having to learn stunts for her plays, they manage to get into his vision cave safely and find shards of a vision tablet

With them, they quickly escape before the sand burries them and they run into Alma who inquires about where they were

But then Camilo interrupts, screaming that he’s losing his gift and runs into his room, full on bawling

After Alma tells them to get dressed for Isabela and Mariano’s engagement dinner, she goes to give Camilo her usual and honestly unhelpful, “Be a man” speech

Dolores, Luisa, Mirabel and Antonio assemble the shards in the nursery and find the vision is of Antonio standing in front of a crumbling Casita. But then they shift it, and Casita is okay

As they wonder what this means, Félix makes his way in to tell Antonio dinner is almost ready, but then he sees the tablet and just stares

Félix: We say nothing. Abuela wants this night to be perfect, so no one snuck into Bruno’s room, no one found a secret vision tablet, no one saw Antonio standing in front of a broken Casita, and no one knows about the magic fading. We just need to stay quite, and no one will know.

*Casita opens the door, revealing Isabela and Camilo standing on the other side*

Isabela: … Except us.

Dinner is a little tense. Isabela is obviously not interested in Mariano, Dolores has been looking at him all night, Luisa’s eyes have been shifting, Camilo is trying not to cry, and some rats Mirabel doesn’t recognize are trying to get the vision tablet shards out of Félix’s pocket

Then things start to go to hell when Senora Guzman asks Camilo to get the piano

Mirabel signals for Dolores to get rid of the rats, but it’s a little hard to control her vines when she can’t see them under the table, and when one snags Luisa’s ankle, startled, she shifts into Bruno, Antonio, and then herself.

The sound of Camilo dropping the piano startles Pepa into causing a small cloud over the dining room, and Mirabel’s animals are running out of control

Dolores: We found Bruno’s vision, Casita’s crumbling, the Magic’s fading, and now we’re all FUCKED!

Amidst the chaos, Isabela pulls Antonio out of the dining room and upstairs to a painting, telling him he’ll find who he needs to in the walls before opening the painting like a door

Antonio doesn’t know what she’s talking about until he sees a man with glowing green eyes in the shadows. He runs after him, and soon finds the man is none other than tío Bruno, who’s been in the wall for weeks

After Bruno shows him around, shows him the sad life he’s living in the walls with his rats, Antonio asks him about his vision of him destroying the Miracle

After a bit of convincing from Antonio with his excellent puppy eyes, Bruno agrees to help him, but he needs his vision cave to do so, and it’s not in good shape

Mirabel: You can use my room. The rats told me everything. Turns out, they’re not such thieving assholes once you get to know them.

They sneak into Mirabel’s room, and Mirabel tearfully hugs her tío- the man who was part of the “Encanto Oddball Duo” alongside her- for the first time in weeks before he starts to have his vision

Bruno: You’re with someone and… You fight her!

Mirabel: WHAT?! HE CAN’T FIGHT!

Bruno: Wait, no! It looks like they’re hugging!

Mirabel: Are they hugging or fighting?!

Then…

Mirabel/Antonio: Abuela?!

Bruno: Yeesh. Good luck with that, kid.

However, when Antonio goes to hug his abuela for the first time in weeks, he hears crying coming from Dolores’ room and makes his way in to find her crying in bed. While he knows he should be trying to hug Alma, Dolores needs him more

She confesses that she’s in love with Mariano, but abuela wants him to marry Isabela, then she goes into this self-deprecating rant about how she’ll never be as beautiful or perfect as Isabela and she’s just some glorified decorator no one talks to unless they need yet another bouquet of roses without so much as a “gracias” because she’s just the “other one.”

Not quite well-versed in the world of romance, all Antonio can do is offer her a hug and tell her she deserves her happiness

Despite wanting to stay longer, he still has to go and hug Alma, but then runs into Luisa, who quickly hides him before anyone else sees him.

While they’re hiding, Antonio notices how different she looks and asks if she’s okay. Luisa is about to lie and say her gift is acting up, but eventually breaks down crying, saying that this is the real her- the her Alma didn’t like, the height, weight, her dad’s nose, and her face shape

But Antonio straight up tells her she’s being stupid and she shouldn’t hide her true self to make others comfortable.

But then, while they’re hugging, Alma finds them

Alma: You have to stop, Antonio! The cracks started with you. Bruno left because of you. Camilo’s losing his powers, Isabela's out of control, Dolores, Luisa and Mirabel’s gifts are acting up because of you! I don't know why you weren't given a gift, but it is not an excuse for you to hurt this family!

*Casita begins to shake*

Dolores: … He’ll never be good enough for you… Will he? Is that it? No matter what he does, you’ll just look at him like he’s a curse.

Luisa: She’s right, you know. No matter how hard any of us tries. I’ll never be beautiful enough, Camilo will never be strong enough. Isabela won't be perfect enough, Dolores won’t be in Isabela’s shadow enough, and Mirabel will never be normal enough. Bruno left our family because you only saw the worst in him!

Alma: Bruno didn't care about this family!

Isabela: He loves this family! Antonio loves this family! I love this family! We all love this family! You're the one that doesn't care!

*the cracks reach the outskirts of town*

Camilo: You're the one breaking our home!

Alma: Don't you ever...!

Mirabel: The miracle is dying because of you!

As Casita crumbles around them, Antonio tries to save the candle, but the grandkids try to use what remains of their gifts to save him, to no avail. Antonio manages to grab the candle, but the exit is blocked off. With the last bit of magic, Casita shields Antonio

While they’re getting over the moment of trauma from almost dying in their own home, Pepa notices Antonio is missing

Meanwhile, Antonio sits by a river, blaming himself for everything when Alma finds him. Before he apologizes, she tells him the real version of the night she lost Pedro and how his death gave her a second chance, and in turn, she pushed her pain and trauma onto her family

Of course, being a kid, Antonio says,

Antonio: That’s pretty stupid, Abuela.

Bruno: He didn't do this! He didn't do this! I GAVE HIM A VISION! IT WAS ME! I was like, "Go!" and he was like "Phssht!" He only wanted to help, and those amazing grandkids of yours wanted to help him. I don't care what you think of me, but if you're too stubborn to... to...

Alma: *hugs Bruno* Brunito.

Bruno: … I feel like I missed something important.

They return to the village and the family is starting to feel whole again

Luisa: Not if we don’t have a house. *Augustín nudges her* What? I can’t say we don’t have a house? What is that? Not a house.

They get to work on rebuilding with help from the villagers. You know, since they OWE them. Like a lot.

After months of rebuilding, Antonio puts on the doorknob, and the Magic instantly returns

Their gifts are back, Isabela’s happily single, Dolores is dating Mariano, Luisa embraces her looks, Camilo is finally relaxing and expressing himself, Mirabel meets some fellow weirdos, Pepa is letting her emotions out, and all is well. Anyway, they take a family photo and it’s as chaotic as them

And in the post-credit scene, Antonio’s bedroom door is carved with images of symbols for each of the family members

[gamerbearmira]

You know, I always loved fairytales, and those episodes of TV shows where the characters are part of a fairytale or in a fairytale setting were always fun for me. A fairytale AU would be super cool, where the Madrigals are all royalty, and each Madrigal is the protagonist of a different fairytale.

Alma is the beauty from Beauty and the Beast, Pedro didn't die, he was cursed and ran away after an angry mob attacked him, he hides in a dark castle in order to protect his family from the angry mob and watches over his family from a distance, whether or not Alma knows what happened is up for debate.

Julieta is the princess from the Princess and the Frog, Agustin is the frog of course, that's why he's so clumsy, the story is basically the same as Julieta helps Agustin break his curse.

Pepa is the Snow Queen, after being bullied as a child for her weather powers, she shuts herself off from others until Felix, the Kai of the story, comes along, he can only sees the bad in the world due to a shard of the cursed mirror in his eye but doesn't see fault in Pepa's perfect snowflakes, Pepa falls in love and helps Felix's sister, the Gerda of the story, break the curse of the mirror shard.

Bruno is the protagonist of The Golden Goose, he wanders into the jungle to hide from bullies and offers some of the food he has on him to an old man, who guides him to the Golden Goose, as Bruno makes his way back home, many people try and steal feathers from the goose and end up getting stuck, they are only freed when Bruno comes home and his family ignores the goose as they embrace him, as he had been gone for hours and they had been worried.

Isabela is Sleeping Beauty, cursed at birth by an evil fairy to prick her finger and sleep forever unless she is given a kiss of true love, when she pricks her finger, everyone thinks Mariano can break the curse, but of course he isn't her true love, so it doesn't work, Julieta ends up being the one to break the curse with a forehead kiss.

Dolores is Cinderella, after Mariano discovers he isn't Isabela's true love, he holds a ball to try and find his true love, Alma is very embarrassed by what happened with Isabela and refuses to let any Madrigal attend, so Dolores has to sneak out with the help of her fairy godmother, when she leaves her shoe behind and Mariano starts looking for her, she ends up coming clean to her family and admitting her feelings for Mariano so she can try on the shoe.

Luisa is the princess from The Princess and the Pea, she gets lost in a different kingdom during a trip and seeks shelter at the kingdom's castle, the Queen doesn't believe Luisa is a real Princess due to her 'un-princess-ly stature' and gives her the pea test, the next day the rest of the Madrigals show up at the palace begging for help to find Luisa, Alma and Julieta give the Queen an earfull when they're told what happened, and poor Luisa is given a week off of chores to rest.

Camilo is Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, he trades a piece of jewelry for the magic beans, he didn't really believe the beans were magical he just didn't like the jewelry he had and wanted to get rid of it, once the beanstalk grows, he climbs it out of curiosity and takes the opportunity to cause some mischief when he finds the giant, including stealing a goose that lays golden eggs and a harp that plays itself, needless to say he gets in massive trouble when he gets home and Alma returns the items to the giant with a sincere apology.

Mirabel is Little Red Riding Hood, Alma is visiting her family who lives on the other side of the jungle when she gets sick, since she's too sick to make the journey back home, Julieta sends Mirabel with a basket of food to help her get better, the 'wolf' she encounters is actually her Abuelo Pedro, still cursed, he keeps Mirabel safe on her journey and Mirabel is able to reunite Pedro and Alma.

Antonio is the Pied Piper of Hamelin, he uses his flute to help with a rat infestation and decides to keep the rats as pets, but when people start bullying him for having rats as pets, calling the rats disgusting and Antonio himself diseased, he releases the rats back into the town until they apologize, both to him and the rats.

I LOVE FAIRYTALES TOO!!! THEY’RE SO SILLY!!!

All of these are so cool and fit so well. Tbh I like Alma, Luisa, Mirabel, Antonio and Pepa’s. I mean all of them are so rad, but those have my heart‼️‼️ They’re all so unique and. Love how some of them tie into each other. And all of them fit so well with each of the Madrigals and that is just so cool tbh. Love seeing AUs like that. AND PEDRO MENTIONED 🗣️🗣️🗣️ YEAHHHHHH

Wanted to draw Alma and Pepa but didn’t :((((

LOVE THIS AU RAHHHHHH 🗣️🗣️🤠🤠🤠🤠🦅🦅🦅🦅

[skyistheground]

give/kin assign the ISAT gang cassette beasts,,

I DID DO THIS ALREADY HERE but

i didn't explain my choices in that post because orion knows the game so i will explain them here

i gave siffrin scarleteeth because it's previous form, littlered because it's hooded, cat-like (i personally really associate them with red) and most importantly, it has potential. potential for both good and bad. and we all know where siffrin went. scarleteeth is the more monstrous remaster of littlered. if i made a crossover i think that siffrin's tape would remaster into this in a smiliar (energy wise) vibe to act 5 breakdown

i don't think they're fucked up forever though. permanently changed but it can get better

(sorry in advance for no story details beyond this because i don't actually know what a crossover would be like but MAYBE i'll start thinking)

mirabelle got miasmodeus because the first stage, candevil, is one of the two starter beasts in the game. gives me a "chosen one" energy, and candevil (+ the other one. which i will talk about with loop) is said to be really rare. miasmodeus is fun and whimsical which i think fits her outward personality. as a beast, miasmodeus is capable of a good range of attack and support, which reflects her role in fights. it's very cute and she deserves to be cute

southpaw is a boxer which out of all the beasts fits isabeau's fighting style the best. southpaw is the remaster of puppercut, who is described as being very shy and weak, which reminisces me of how isabeau described himself before. changing (let's go transgenders). more confident self who is very charismatic

odile fit triphinx imo because it's slow and powerful. though honestly thinking she could specifically have a bootleg one (what type. i don't know). but bootleg because they are generally stronger and have more/different coverage. also she is cool like that

bonnie gets padpole because it's cute and also eventually remasters into a bigger frog called liligator with huge fists that hurt really bad if they hit someone (for like. an older bonnie). the padpole line is mainly for support moves (is how i used it, anyway. liligator is one of my favorite guys) with occasional damage

loop gets ramtasm. which is one of the final remasters for bansheep, the other starting guy. ramtasm is very ethereal and also has a special type, astral type, which is a starry-universy "element". in sasasap loop's sort of lack of significance wasn't as emphasized so i figured a starter would be ok

[silusvesuius]

Before, in all my travels, I've seen ships and thought, "yo epic cool this is wonderful. I will watch them like feeding birds in the park in the morning." all was fine and great and I loved seeing the dynamic and Everything about them, especially ships revolving Elenwen because I think she is simply a splendid character, truly stellar.

However. Recently I've been made aware of the most miraculous ship known to Mankind.

Now I know true Obsession. This is what it is like to be truly insane over ship I sympathise with everyone now. Truly. It is Faralda and Mirabelle Ervine.

There's a fanfic called 'snowberry tea' that brought the light into my eyes about them, it's just fantastic I highly recommend both the fic and the ship itself it's just wonderful.

Thank you for posting miraculous things about silly skyrim characters, forever the inspiration, forever sparkle on and continue illuminating the real truthers out there

wearing my th*lmor costume and a shirt that says I ❤ ELENWEN on top of it holding glowsticks, people avoid me and my acquaintances make it seem like i'm a stranger but i'm still on the hypeman grind 4 her...... && dat seems interesting 😼 i actually love the college winterhawld, i put off playing it on my first run for a long time cus i almost never used magic so i didn't see a point of even playing that quest LOL but i actually enjoyed it, everyone there is cute.. all of the girls especially (n*rya is my Fav) ((the average sk*rim fan dgaf about the girls there they just wanna see anc*no Doodooslop Fugly Bozo ass). i see how they would work 💗 tired of seeing male on male elf action bring in the women bro

[isatswap]

(full game isat spoiler (its technically act 3 but im not risking it))

Buddy Quest

TTOS version of Companion Quest (the mirabelle one)

(Isabeau is sitting here, looking at papers.)

Isabeau: Oh, h-hi, Loop! Do you need anything?

Loop: (Questions...)

"I actually forgot where everyone is..."

"Are you feeling fine?..."

"Nothing strange going on today?"

"So, which one will you pick?"

"Nah."

Isabeau: H-huh? What do you mean?...

(You point at his pile of papers.)

Isabeau: What- Isabeau: !!!!!!!!

(Isabeau suddenly seems flustered.)

Isabeau: UH Isabeau: UMMM

(Isabeau hides his face with his hands.)

Isabeau: gsfbdghkphowdoyouknoooooow.....

(!!!)

Loop: "Nononono sorry! I didn't mean to embarass you!" Loop: "You're choosing someone for something, right?" Loop: "And you seem very troubled by it, so i thought I could help!"

Isabeau: ... Isabeau: sigh...You're older, so you must know more about this. Isabeau: You can help, I think, if you want....

(Older than him? Why is that relevant?)

Loop: "Yeah, I will help."

Isabeau: Thanks! Um!

(Isabeau finally reveals his face again and fixes his glasses.)

Isabeau: This might take some t-time... So, um... You can come back later if youre busy...

Loop:

"Yeah, I have time."

"I'll come back in a moment..."

Isabeau: Ok! Good!!! Isabeau: So, ummm.... Sit down next to me?

(You sit down.)

(Isabeau is looking nervously at his knees.) (He looks worried... Maybe you should take the lead.)

Loop: "So, uh...what are these papers about?"

Isabeau: OH! Um.... Isabeau: ...Bonding proposals?....

(??? Bonding???) (Like, the one where you stay with someone forever???) (Is Isabeau looking for someone to bond with???????)

Isabeau: No waitwaitwait uhhhhh thatsnotwhatimeaaant

(You can see Isabeau struggling to not hide his face again.)

Isabeau: Sorry.... It's more like.... dating? Dating profiles! That's the name for it! I'm not bonding with anyone yet....

(Dating? Wow that's so cute of him you need to know more like right now.) (Although.... You would've never guessed, you didn't think he would be interested in that.)

Isabeau: Before the Scary Lady did the... uh.... thing.... I decided i wanted to try...dating! Yeah! Isabeau: And so I asked a dating company, and they gave me a bunch of papers with people I could meet and date and then the attack on the House happened--

(Isabeau inhales sharply. Poor sod forgot to breathe.)

Isabeau: So, um, I decided to do it now! Since we have some time! Isabeau: But...um... it only just today dawned on me that its like... about staying with someone forever... so I probably need help with this.... Isabeau: Also I... need to stop thinking about tomorrow. I'd rather be stressed about choosing a date than... that...

(Oh. Okay!)

(Dating was never your forte, but you would like to help Isa distract himself from tomorrow. He seems to be most worried about it.)

Loop: "Let's have a look, then!"

Isabeau: Yeah! I have some profiles right here!

(Isabeau takes out a MASSIVE folder from under his jacket.)

(Was he carrying that throughout all his journey???)

Isabeau: Okay! So! We should take turns! You can go first and tell me what you think!

(You take a random profile from the stack. Its a buff, strong looking man.)

(Is that someone Isa would like?....)

Loop:

"He looks cool?"

"Meh."

"We have one of those already, teehee~"

Isabeau: What? Who--

(Isabeau suddenly stops and gets a bit flushed.)

Isabeau: Awww, Loop! Don't say that so suddenly! Isabeau: But uh. Yeah. I dont know if i want to date them...

(Not his type, then. Probably.)

Loop: "Got anyone more feminine looking?"

(Isabeau looks through the stack and takes out a file.)

Isabeau: Like her?

(The file depicts a gentle looking lady.)

Loop:

"Looks pretty?"

"(Shrug)"

"Looks like if Mira wasn't buff...."

Isabeau: Yeah, you're right, I guess.... don't know still, though....

(Another indecisive answer. You probably need to be more specific.)

Loop: "What kind of people are you into, anyway?"

Isabeau: Oh....um....I don't....think i have one? I just like people. Different kinds of people. Yeah. Isabeau: That doesn't help, does it?

(You nod.)

Isabeau: ...What kind of people do you like, Loop?

(Oh, that may help! Maybe he'll agree with you on some types and that's how you find out what he likes?)

(....Alas, nothing comes to mind. You've never actually considered dating.)

Isabeau: Oh, you're struggling too?.... Isabeau: sigh.... Isabeau: OK, Loop. I'm going to confess. Isabeau: I actually like quite a few people from the profiles I've seen, but... I'm just.... too overwhelmed by this. Isabeau: Dating...and then bonding... it's just scary to me!

(Well, that explains some things. But then...)

Loop: "If it scares you so much.... why are you doing it?"

Isabeau: Well....

Isabeau: I really, really believe in Change. Isabeau: And the belief requires Change! With a capital C! Always bettering yourself, becoming different in the process! Isabeau: A-and one of the things to help you change is doing something that you've never done before! That's part of the reason Houses offer so many classes, actually... Isabeau: And you know I really wanted to change, so I tried new things! They were often fun and fulfilling...but... Isabeau: You can't just have easy fun most of the time! You need to challenge yourself! To step out of the comfort zone, you know!

(Out of the comfort zone, huh....)

Loop: "And that's why you're trying out dating?"

Isabeau: Yeah... That's why I picked it! It's scary and unknown to me! Isabeau: And also romantic love is one of the best ways to attain Change! Because it brings you so much new experiences! And... Isabeau: And I have to do it to be a Housemaiden, right? I need to find someone to love, and then bond with them, and.... Isabeau: And sleep with them.... and... do stuff.....and...have children....

Loop: "What about that makes you scared?"

Isabeau: The fact that I don't know what kind of person I would want to be with! And such permanent change is scary! And what if they don't like me! Do I even like myself! I don't know! But I feel like a fraud for not wanting to do it like all others.... Isabeau: And I feel bad that I can't just be happy with change like this....

(Wow.)

(That's not easy to digest.)

(But what if...)

Loop: "Do you even have to change?..."

Isabeau: OF COURSE I DO, LOOP!!! Isabeau: And not only have, I need to! And I want to! Isabeau: I want to change myself! To be stronger, to be braver, to be less anxious, to be that person that anyone can rely upon! Isabeau: I want to be a good Housemaiden, too! I like helping people, I like learning new things, I like bettering myself.... But.... Isabeau: This means I have to date someone..... And it not like I wouldn't like it's just...... Isabeau: It feels like if I just forced myself it would help me. Help me change. Help me stop being..... this. Isabeau: Stop being so weak and indecisive and anxious and nerdy and.... and.... Isabeau: ....and I still can't do it! Even if I really want to Change myself, to become someone different, someone I would like to know, someone I would like to be.... I can't. Crabbing. Do this part. Isabeau: ....

(....)

(Huh! You never knew Isabeau felt like this about himself.)

(You knew he was an avid follower of Change, but.....)

(...)

Loop: "Well, I don't know about this dating thing...."

Loop: "But! I think you are already brave."

Isabeau: ....?

Loop: "You went on this whole quest, not knowing if you would succeed, persevering through all the challenges you faced, despite the fact that your adversary has, like, almost otherworldly power." Loop: "Just to save your country." Loop: "That is bravery."

Isabeau: .....

Loop: "And because of it...." Loop: "I don't doubt that you can Change to be the person you want to be."

Isabeau: .... Isabeau: You.... You are right! I can do it! I don't know why, but after you said it, it became much easier for me to think it as well! Isabeau: Heh, I really did need a fresh pair of eyes.... I-I mean, one eye, I guess? Sorry....

(You laugh a bit.)

(You know he didn't mean anything bad by this.)

(He would never.)

Isabeau: Hehehe! Isabeau: ..But, I'm.... I'm still afraid a bit..... Isabeau: What if I'll never be able to date? What if I'll never be able to change in that way? What if--

Loop: "Isa."

Isabeau: ...?

Loop: "Maybe you need to slow down?"

Isabeau: Huh....? What do you mean?

Loop: "This thing with dating it just.... Sounds like you are trying to do too much." Loop: "I'm not a Housemaiden myself as you would know, but...." Loop: "There must be other ways to change in a meaningful way without having to push yourself this hard, right?"

Isabeau: ... Isabeau: ...Again, I don't know why, but after you've said it out loud it made me realize. Isabeau: I am doing too much! I don't really need to do this right this moment! Isabeau: I thought I needed to date to change myself to be someone I liked... Isabeau: But it's actually the reverse! I need to become someone I like to find out who I would want to date! Isabeau: Kinda put the cart before the horse here, haha....

Loop: "Yeah, you really need to..." Loop: "....hold your horses."

Isabeau: Yeah!!!!!!

(Isabeau lets out a hearty laugh.)

Isabeau: Haha... Isabeau: ...Are you Changed yourself, perchance?...

(....Oh.)

(....)

(You think about your starry skin.)

(....You don't remember.)

Loop: "No, teehee~"

Isabeau: Oh, nevermind. I just thought you might have went through something like this. Isabeau: In any case.... Isabeau: Thank you, Loop! Thank you so much for talking to me today! Isabeau: ....I need to think about this. And also about where should I put all these papers, hahah. You can go do your things, now.

(Isabeau smiles brightly at you.)

(You smile back with your eyes and go.)

[sapphireluna96]

Encantober 2023 Day 3: Reunion

The Madrigal family just finished setting Casita up for a special party they were having that night. One of Alma’s old friends was coming back to the Encanto after she moved away when the triplets graduated from high school. Rosa Rodriguez was visiting to see Alma and the triplets and meet her grandkids for the first time. They were sending letters to each other since Rosa moved and Alma has not seen her since the triplets graduated. She never got the chance to come see any of the grandkids’ gift ceremonies; but now that she will be visiting the Encanto, they will finally meet her and tell her about their amazing gifts.

Once the entire Madrigal family came downstairs to welcome Rosa, they heard a knock on Casita’s door. Rosa must have got here earlier than she said she was going to be; the plane must have come early. Alma made her way to the door to answer it to see Rosa with her bags and they gave each other a hug with tears of joy. None of the grandkids saw their abuela get this emotional or happy before.

“How have you been, Alma? I’ve been waiting for today for what feels like forever!” Rosa said excitedly.

“So have I! I’ve been so busy with the grandkids and running the Encanto that I haven’t gotten the chance to write you a letter in a long time! But now here are my children all grown up, and here are my son-in-laws and grandchildren.”

The triplets made their way up to Rosa to give her a hug. “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown! And now you have children of your own and they have grown so much too!” Rosa pointed out.

“Gracias, Rosa. I want you to meet my husband, Agustin, and my daughters, Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel,” Julita introduced.

“Hola, Rosa,” Agustin and the cool-colored sisters introduced, scattered.

“I’m so happy to see you again, Rosa. This is my husband, Felix, and my children, Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio,” Pepa introduced.

“Hola, Rosa. Alma has been talking a lot about you,” Felix said.

“We’re really excited to get to know you,” Dolores added.

“I’ve been excited to get to know all of you since Alma’s been writing to me about all of you since Isabela and Dolores were born.”

“I’ll put your bags in my room, Rosa. I have a bed set up for you in there,” Alma said as she grabbed Rosa’s suitcases.

“Gracias, Alma; do you know where I could put my coat?” Casita grabbed Rosa’s coat and put it on a hook near the front door, much to her surprise. “I completely forgot that Casita can help with everything. Gracias, Castia.”

“So do you want to come to the living room and sit for a bit? I’m sure you’re pretty tired from that jet lag,” Alma said.

“I would love to. Would all of you like to come sit with me so I could get to know you better and see how you’re doing?”

The family agreed and made their way to the living room. Alma let Rosa sit on the couch and she sat next to her. The rest of the family sat around the couch, surrounding Alma and Rosa to let them sit in the center.

“So, how has Sara been? We haven’t seen her or spoken to her since our graduation party and we want to know how she’s doing,” Julieta mentioned. Sara was Rosa’s only daughter, and was best friends with the triplets when they were children.

“She’s doing amazing. She has two children now, Lola and Sebastian, and they’re twenty and seventeen. Lola has been studying to become a social worker, so she’s going to be in school for quite a while. Sebastian is going to be starting his senior year of high school in the fall, so he’s been looking for schools for the year after.”

“Were you friends with Sara?” Antonio asked as he sat on his mother’s lap.

“She was one of our best friends when we were children. She came to our gift ceremony and every birthday party after that before they moved. When Juli and I started dating your papis, she was the first one we would gush about them to,” Pepa explained.

“I remember how when I was bullied regularly when we were teenagers, she was the first one besides Julieta, Pepa, Agustin, and Felix to give me as much comfort as possible when I would tell her. She was the sweetest person I met and I was really upset when she and Rosa announced they were moving,” Bruno added.

“He was more than upset. He cried for several days after they moved,” Juleita said.

Bruno blushed when she said that. “I just missed her a lot! You guys cried when Rosa announced the move too!”

“Yeah, but not as long as you have. Besides, we know you had a crush on Sara when we were teenagers,” Pepa added.

Bruno blushed harder and sank into the couch. “So? I haven’t thought about her in decades and I’m happy for her now. Isn’t that what matters?”

“It is what matters, but why would you want to hide from your nieces and nephews your childhood crushes?” Julieta asked.

“Because it’s embarrassing! I wouldn’t ask the kids about their crushes!”

“Bruno, I know you liked Sara and you clearly cared about her. She cared about you too, and she also liked you a lot. She was just too scared you wouldn’t reciprocate and didn’t tell me until after we moved,” Rosa explained.

Bruno rose back from the couch and sat up. “I’m going to be honest, something was telling me she liked me. I just didn’t ask her about it because I thought it would be weird. But she seems to be doing great now, so I’m happy for her.”

“I’m going to get dinner ready. You can talk for a little more until it’s ready,” Julieta said as she got up and made her way into the kitchen.

“Okay, mija; we’ll talk a little more until you’re ready,” said Alma.

“I will let you know when dinner’s ready, mama.”

Once dinner was ready, Rosa and the Madrigals set the table together and Julieta got dinner set up. Everyone sat down and served themselves Julieta’s Ajiaco. Once everyone served themselves, they continued their conversation and went on about the children’s gifts and how they have been doing.

“So you actually saved the miracle, Mirabel?” Rosa asked before taking a bite.

“I did; and I helped rebuild the house after it was destroyed,” Mirabel responded.

“That’s amazing! Let me tell you, Alma, all of your children and grandchildren have grown up to become such wonderful people. They’ve been helping this community so much, and I’m sure your youngest granddaughter is going to take your place as the guardian of the miracle with flying colors when she’s older.”

“Gracias, Rosa, now that they’ve gotten much older and all of us learned so much from each other, we have become so much happier since Mirabel saved the miracle.”

“And, Dolores, I heard you’re dating Senora Guzman’s grandson?”

“Si, Rosa; were you friends with the Guzmans too?” Dolores asked.

“I was; she, Alma, and I would spend our Saturday nights at the Cantina when we were younger. We would let our children sleep over here and Alma knew someone in town that babysat them.”

“I remember when we had those sleepovers together and Maria would be the one to buy the snacks and bring some games from her house for us to play,” said Bruno.

“Maria was the best babysitter ever! I remember when she graduated from high school and we all went to her graduation party when we were ten and she invited us to the cruise she went on for her college graduation when we were fourteen,” Pepa added.

“How has she been doing, by the way?” Rosa asked.

“We haven’t talked to her since she graduated from college, but she does seem to be doing well,” Alma replied.

“Hey, Bruno, since I know you mentioned that you had a crush on Sara. Have you ever had a date with her?” Luisa asked.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it a date, but I remember this one time when we were in high school we did go to the ice cream shop together, just the two of us. And by that, I mean your mamas set it up for us.”

“Do you remember how it went?” Antonio asked.

“All I remember was that we got to know each other a little bit better and we just had a great time. It didn’t lead to anything since we were too scared to say anything, but it was still fun. Julieta and Pepa were probably disappointed that it didn’t lead to anything.”

As Rosa and the Madrigals continued talking with each other during dinner, each family member continued bringing up fun stories and accomplishments that happened in their lives. After dinner was over, Rosa stayed in Alma’s room to continue catching up with each other, just the two of them. It was a reunion that neither of them would trade for the world.

[lanternlightss]

Also Isabeau :3

First Impression: oh this guy goes :3 and hes reminding me of papyrus a little. oh this is going to be so good

Impression Now: isabeau you are the greatest man alive do not let anyone tell you otherwise. GENUINELY LIKE he would be SO COOL to hang out with !!?!! the way hes always willing to be someone to lean on !!! your buddy isa is here !!! his silly little jokes and how self aware he is and that life is all about trying to be better !!! than before !!!! love him dearly

Favorite moment: I THINK ABOUT ISABEAU TRYING TO COMFORT SIFFRIN IN THE PROLOGUE AND IN ISAT A NORMAL AMOUNT. it’s just. the way he sees sif down and is immediately like okay !! pun time !!! i havent seen you laugh in forever and i miss it :( IM JUST ……. how he tries to make them comfortable too and how Genuine he is with it …. “because we’re friends?” <- sentences that immediately made me crumble. also shout out to the confession scene and the hangout scene. both are so good.

Idea for a story: hmmm …. Hmmmmm ……. personally i think itd be extremely fun if there were ever a like, movie montage kind of fic where isabeau has every one in the party model or something. him making things for his friends !!!!!

Unpopular opinion: i am going to be so real i dont know enough of this fandom’s opinion on this guy before saying anything. one thing though ,,, maybe that counts ?? he’s not a himbo. by definition !!! he’s not dumb !!

Favorite relationship: okay i love him and siffrin’s relationship but i Also am really fond of both what a relationship between him and loop would be like, and him and mirabelle’s relationship is just also so !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that’s his dear friend !!!!! sometimes i see folks have him go up to mira and be like. i need you to talk me out of this and vice versa of them doing lightly shaking each other and yeah. yeah that’s them. love them. they’re each others hype man !!

Favorite headcanon: hmmm …?? i dont think i have one ?? maybe then, other then, that eventually down the line isabeau starts wearing his glasses again. i like that one a lot :]

[bloodyyanya]

Hello!! I just wanted to say that I got the art that direhorizon commissioned and I just want to express my feelings because! I have! So many!!!

I loved how you drew Mirabel so much. The sadness in her eyes and the slouch in her shoulders is just *chef's kiss*. You really captured how I see her as I write her in my fic. I love your art so much and I'm going to cherish this forever. I wish you the best in all of your endeavors!!

I'm so sorry I just got around and checked inbox! but I'm super thrilled that you loved it 🥰🥰. The commission as a gift to you was so sweet and I enjoyed illustrating the au you made!! Super cool. And thank you so much!! I wish you the best also <3