"Look out, everyone!"
(Your feet feel like lead weights. Your shoulders, your back, your arms, your head your BLINDING head!! You could barely think! Let alone fight!)
(Don't think about the pain. Keep breathing.)
(How, HOW!?! PLEASE tell me HOW I can think about ANYTHING!!!)
"Loop please!!!" (Someone your shoulder, it was. . . The. . . Housemaiden.) "We can handle it, please! Just go rest!"
"I'm fine!" (You take your shoulder back, no touch.) "I, I can't leave you guys to, to do this alone."
(That was only half true. The real reason you stayed is because you woke up ten minutes ago. Despite your best efforts, you drifted to sleep. Stars, how stupid could you be!!! Now you were stuck HERE. And every failure would make it worse!!)
"We might not have that luxury." (The. . . Researcher calls over, readying herself.) "If we can figure out how to stop them now then. . ."
(. . . You forgot. Didn't you.)
(The Housemaiden looks at you, worried, then to Ramos, or what used to be Ramos.) "Grrr, fine! But you'll answer for this, buster!!!"
(Haha, you were terrified.)
"Plan, Loop?" (The Carpenter yells, she's in position with her hammer near The Kid)
(Ramos. . . Stars, what was your Defender thinking! You barely caught whatever conversation they were having, and, he could have been mind controlled or-)
(You forgot their names. Didn't you. You remember Ramos but not them? Your friends?)
". . . Try not to kill it." (You pause, trying to think of a tasteful way to say it- oh never mind that!!) "It'll, it'll kill Ramos too."
"!!!!"
"Oh. . ."
"R-right." (The Researcher says.) "Right, I suppose that, might make sense."
(You don't have a plan.)
(Yeah, you know. . .)
". . . J-just, just, just-"
(You, you don't know what to do.)
"Here they come!" (The Defender called over, he positioned himself in front of you.) "Don't strain yourself, Loop, just, try and figure something out."
(Right. . .)
(You feel like your body is shattering.)
(ATK down, DEF down, SPD down.)
(You concentrate really hard to speed up your friends.) "Right, it can still confuse you, try to avoid getting hit."
"Okay- Wait! I know!" (The Housemaiden claps her hands, and you feel something like a warm blanket wrap around you. You laugh.)
"Remembered the carrot method, did we?" (You call over.)
"Oh, it just came to mind, y'know?" (She smiles back.)
"Dunno if it'll work, but it's worth a shot. Let's go!!!" (Your Defender, strikes a pose, you feel a little stronger, but, not much.)
"We'll need to stall for time." (The Researcher crafts her spell.) "I can slow it down, but we need a proper plan."
"I-I'll, I'm trying-"
(So are you the Traveler again, Loop? And I, the Shadow? The Sadness?)
(Shut UP, you KNOW you forgot!!)
(The Sadness cries out, looking between you all, before diving at The Housemaiden.)
"I got it!!" (The Carpenter dashed forward and intercepted the attack, blocking with her hammer.) "N-no issue!"
"Thank you!" (The Housemaiden ducked to the side and swiped out with her rapier, it scraped on the sadness, but didn't doo much damage.)
(You're slow.)
(You shake your head. Loop time, you rush forward with your dagger and take a stab at the sadness. You connect. It doesn't do a thing.)
(Oh.)
(You look up at the sadness. It looked at you, it had insanity in its eyes. Oh. You're very weak.)
"HEY!!!" (Before you noticed, The Kid had smacked the sadness, it recoiled and you stumbled back.) "BE CAREFULL YOU CRABFACE!!!"
"R-right." (You held your head in your hand. Stars, come on, come ON. You're starting to feel numb again.)
(Do you even care?)
"Ramos!!!" (The Defender cried out.) "C'mon buddy!!! Snap out of it!!!" (He strikes, the sadness intercepts it with its, hands?)
"I don't think they'll hear you." (The Researcher whiped her brow before holding out a palm. The creative craft blasted the sadness, making it recoil, then scream.)
(It charged at her and lashed out.)
"Hrrngh-"
"M'dame!!!"
"A-are you alright?!?"
"I-I'll be fine."
(You shake your head, no, no she wouldn't be, there would be confusion, and then, and then-)
(Swap with me.)
(What?!? After what you've done!?! You'll drain the last of our energy!!!)
(You've been fighting too long. You need a breather, I handle it, stars, you forgot their names.)
(Like I'd trust you! You'll kill us!!!)
(You're killing us, too. Loop, I promise, I'll be conservative. I'll be careful.)
(. . . . . .)
(You breathe in, and out. Stars, you really did feel like walking death. Just breathe, Mal, it's Mirabelle next, take your time, look around.)
(Mirabelle claps her hands again, sending some healing craft to Odile. They were talking, making some comment, it didn't matter. Just focus on the Sadness.)
(Sadness. . .)
(A thing born of the sadness from frozen peoples; can no longer tell friend from foe. You could have been a sadness, maybe. What a sight that would have been. Ramos looked sad, and they looked desperate. They didn't want to fight you. Hmm. . .)
(You guard.)
"Smart!" (Isa calls back.) "We got it handled!"
(No, you don't. Isabeau threw a rock symbol and punches, the blast of craft glancing the sadness' side. It didn't do much. Rock on rock, of course.)
(Odile stood up, she shook her head.) "I-I think I'm being, effected." (She guarded.)
"Crab!!!"
(You needed a plan. Think. Think.)
(Why a sadness? Sadness were born from those frozen in time by the King. Ramos wasn't frozen, and there was no time craft in play. Perhaps it was made from Mind Craft? If that's the case then what other crafts could summon a sadness. Come to think of it, Ramos' sadness never froze any of you in time like those in the house could.)
(Sadness is a powerful emotion after all. And that is the domain of the mind.)
(Mirabelle holds out a hand and crafts a paper spell, the Sadness recoils, rolls with the hit.)
(What was Ramos screaming? As they turned into a sadness. Was it to someone?)
(. . . You open your mouth. You call Ramos name.)
(You see your allies wince at your voice, Ramos screams back. You didn't understand it. How do sadness communicate, you wonder. You call Ramos again.)
"OW!!" (Nille yelps.) "Crab was that!?!"
(She'll be fine, maybe Ramos could understand- wait-)
(WAIT.)
(You turn.)
(The sadness screams again and charges at you.)
(You try and dodge away, but your feet are still like lead, it's-)
(It strikes you in the chest and throws you across the yard.)
(Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. You got hit. You could feel your mind freezing up. You could, feel, your, mind. . .)
(Some "protector" you are.)
(You grip your head as a wave of nausea and strains run through you, swap. switch. tag out. can't. stay. I'm, sorry.)
(Was Ramos tugging at the star?)
"Loop!!!" (The Housemaiden ran over to you, a hand helping you up.)
(Your head. . .)
(Haha. . . You were going to diiiiieeeee~)
(You collapse back to the ground, gasping for air, keep breathing, c'mon, Loop, you need to keep breathing. Stupid, dumb. No, not stupid, it had a good Idea. Hah, Mal was being safe, and yet it still got hit. Actually, physically that hit wasn't that bad. But the lingering mind craft was still giving you waves of unease.)
(You feel the ground shake, you look up. The Carpenter had ran past you, charging at the Sadness, the Housemaiden cried out to stop her but, too late. She swung with her hammer and, sure, it hit, but the sadness just turned around and threw her accross the yard.)
(You're going to die. You're going to die again, and, and you won't be able to win.)
(The housemaiden, her name, what was her name! She stood between you and the sadness, hah, she was as weak to that thing as you were. She was so brave. . .)
(The sadness was coming towards you.)
(You're going to die.)
"Hey!!!" (Your Defender came swinging in from the side, striking at the sadness chest.)
(The sadness moved back, looked at the Defender, and attacked. It slashed acrross his chest, he tumbled backwards.)
(No, nonononononono.)
(The Housemaiden rushed forward, slicing at the sadness again and again. But, but, but the sadnnes just threw her to the side.)
(NO, NO, NO!!!)
(In Tears, And Time.)
(Blood. And. Stars.)
(You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die You're going to die-)
"H-Hah! Good hit, buddy."
(. . . What. . . ?)
(The sadness stepped back and turned. Your Defender was standing up, he, he should be KOed, by all rights he should be, but. But he's still here, standing. His face, you could tell he was straining. The sadness screamed at him.)
(He closed his eyes, straining, but, he didn't fall.)
"I'm, I-I'm not, giving up, buddy. Rams."
(What, what is he. . .)
(The sadness attacked again, but the Defender, he wasn't even phased, he blocked them.) "I'm, I'm not gonna give up on you, buddy!!"
(He's, he, he-)
"You promised to never forget you're strong! So I promise, I'll be there for ya when you can't!!"
(. . . Isabeau. . .)
"We're gonna find a way to help you! And we're gonna fix this, we're gonna do it! And we're gonna do it together!!"
(He strikes a pose- Wait, that's--)
"We're gonna win!! Together!!!"
(It is. Stars, it is! It's that, it's that skill! That one Stardust always was able to get but YOU WEREN'T!!! IT's, IT-)
(You feel warmth through your veins. You stand up.)
(You're going to win.)
(You're going to win if it killed you.)
(Keep going.)
"Isa!!" (You yell as you run.) "Ramos!! What'd they say about the star!!"
"Huh?!?" (He turns to you as you get to his side.) "He said someone gave it to them!"
(Someone GAVE it to them?)
(Wishes aren't given. You're given the tools for them. Wishes aren't an item. Wishes- It's not a wish.)
(IT'S NOT A WISH!)
(IT'S, IT'S A TRICK!!)
"I GOT IT!!" (You smile, hehehehe. You had a plan. You rushed at the sadness, it screamed and lashed out at you.)
"Loop what-" (Isa yells, running to catch up.)
(You sidestep it, focus, focus. You grab onto the sadness tendrils, hopefully your gloves would be enough to stop the mind craft.)
"I have a plan!!" (You yell back,) "Try keeping it distracted!!"
(Isa nods. You lift yourself up onto the sadness' body. It's writhing, screaming, rattling through your head but still you persist. Not, yet. Isabeau strikes at the sadness, distracting it.)
(Hand, over hand, you grab onto the sadness head, it screams again, so loud. You feel numb, your legs, your fingers, just, keep, your, grip. Just, think, one thing, one target.)
"L-loop!!!" (You feel warmth wash over you, looking back, Mirabelle had ran over to help and healed you.) "P-please just be careful!!"
(You were way past careful. You pull yourself up, once, twice, again, again.)
(You grab onto the star upon its head, and tug.)
(It comes free.)
(You fly back off of the sadness, tumbling to the ground. You could feel the second wind of energy starting to dwindle again, but just a little bit more, please. You lift your head up to look.)
(The star landed at Isabeaus foot, The Sadness, it looked maddened. It charged at Isabeau, screaming.)
(Isabeau opened his arms.)
(As soon as it started, it was over, in a flash of light.)
(Ramos tumbled into Isabeaus arms, crying their brains out.)
(. . .)
(Did. . . Did you Win?)
(. . . You breathe out.)
(Mirabelle is now level 46)
(Odile is now level 46)
(Isabeau is now level 46. . . And learned the skill "WE! WILL! WIN!!!")
(Nille is now level 19)
"Loop!!!" (Mirabelle ran over to you and offered a hand, you took it. She helped you to your feet.) "A-are you alright?!?! Are you hurt?!? Where are you-"
"Slow down, Mira, I'm fine-" (Both a lie and too late. She was already fussing over a gash in your side. When did you get that?)
"You are absolutely not fine!!! You look like, like-!!"
"Hey go easy on em'." (Nille said, Bonnie was helping her over.) "Did just save the day after all."
(It, it's not over though, right?)
"THAT WAS SO COOL!!!" (Bonnie, by contrast, was full of energy and a-okay.) "I didn't know you could do stuff like that!!"
(It, it couldn't have been that easy.)
(You hid your face in your cloak.) "It was just a hunch it would work." (Stars, you feel so tired.)
"!!!!" (Mirabelle went running to Odile. Looking over, she was sitting on the grass rubbing her head.)
(It just, couldn't have been that easy.)
"Hah, healers job is never done I guess." (Nille said cheekily.)
(Bonnie turned to you.) "Dontch'ya know healing craft too?"
(Oh right.) "Oh! Are, are you two hurt?"
"I'll be fine, had a tonic. And my heads clearing up." (Nille said with a thumbs up.) "Those two though. . ."
(She gestured to Isabeau and Ramos. You could hear Ramos cries from here.)
"R-right. . ."
(You head over to them. Isa looks up as you approach. He looked, so, so happy.)
". . . It, it worked!" (He smiled at you.)
(It, it was that easy?!?)
(It, it can't have been, right?!?)
(He continued.) "I, I feel fine, Ramos is shaken up but fine. What about you? Any effects?"
(You stare at him. He's, fine? Ramos is fine? What? You, you felt. . .)
(Isa tilts his head.) ". . . Loop-"
"We won?" (You ask.)
(He's giving you the biggest smile you've ever see.) "Yeah!! We won!!"
(But, but that was, so fast. How did, how did you do it? It, this can't be it, right? You'll smell burnt sugar soon or see something red or-)
". . . H-hey. . ."
(You look down, Ramos had turned to look at you. They looked like a mess, they were crying still. They looked, they looked-)
"I-I'm, I'm sorry." (They mumble.)
(After all that. They're sorry. After all that time. After all that pain. That, that-)
"Y-you, you're. . ." (You say, feel dizzy.)
"Hey, Loop are you okay?" (Isabeau asks.)
"You're so, so. . . (The world is spinning.)
(You can't think straight. You feel numb. You can't feel your legs, your arms, you can't, can't, can't. . .)
"Yyyou're so, stuupid. . ."
(Curtains fall. Piper; payed.)
(You black out.)
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DO YOU HAVE ANY. headcanons about!! families?? outside of the party??
if not, relationships with food / cooking :]
Mira's family dynamics I talked about recently! Only child, lots of pressure to be her parents' perfect coddled baby, they loved her but couldn't love her bc they never gave her space to be herself. Let's say she has a mom and a dad, both trans. I think her parents struggled with infertility and had a previous late-term miscarriage — lots of time to desperately plan out their perfect family, and not much hope of a second child on whom to pin any of those dreams. They're so sad that she's not really in contact with them anymore, but they don't push it because they know they did something wrong, even if they don't quite get what they should've done instead.
Mira tried her best to go along with their plans and act properly as a child, but withdrew more and more as a teenager, then left at age 16. She didn't run away, and technically her parents gave their blessing, but they had a huge fight about it which had never really happened before. Sometimes Mira considers reaching out, but she feels too guilty about making her dad cry like that, and then upset that she feels guilty, etc. Easier to stay strangers.
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Isabeau we know has a huge family! I think he has three older siblings and two younger (which means he has no older child responsibility, but also no younger child attention). Let's make them up real quick! But only with initials, I can't pull out names that fast.
31 - F - rebellious, angrily resists getting parentified
30 - J - overly kind, helps raise the younger kids, stressed
27 - M - neat freak, lots of hobbies/activities
24 - Isa - quiet, allergic to bothering anyone
23 - D - very sensitive both emotionally and sensorily
21 - L - fussy baby to loud and rambunctious child
The combination of D and L was very difficult! L knocks over D's tower, D starts wailing, L starts screaming, D cries so hard they throw up, etc. Also L's favorite activity from age 2-4 was escaping the house and exploring by herself! And that's why she was the last kid.
Let's say, two moms. Decent people, and good parents for the older couple kids at first, they love kids and looove babies! But they're a bit impulsive, and very stubborn, and really started to struggle with the last two kids. They still did a pretty good job with the most urgent issues, but they just didn't have time or energy for anything that wasn't an urgent issue.
Isabeau's parents often praised him for being so easy — you never cause trouble, you take care of yourself, you're so responsible! So he never went to them when he did maybe need help. Got good at teaching himself skills and repressing difficult emotions and not taking up space. Didn't protest chores, or other people not doing their chores. Didn't invite friends over. Didn't complain. Oh, Isabeau, so self-sufficient you hardly know he's there!
He got really good at reading a room! He's seen many a tantrum and argument, and quietly learned which resolution methods worked better or worse and even usually reasoned out why. He just... never did anything with that knowledge, because stepping in to mediate involves stepping in and becoming part of that conflict. Scary! And it's not like any of his siblings would listen to him, anyway, they barely remember he exists.
For the first half of his childhood, one of his mom's siblings lived with them too, along with their two kids. The cousins were nice enough, but 2 and 5 years older than F, and kinda fed up with all the young children pestering them. Though, out of everyone Isa was the favorite of the younger of the two, because he wasn't annoying and made a useful sounding board for her schoolwork. Isa got to learn about advanced topics and sometimes receive cool trinkets! Still not a super strong relationship, but he was devastated when she reached adulthood and moved out.
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We know Odile's mom left when she was very young, I'm gonna say 1.5 years. She got past the baby period and went fuck, it's not getting easier? It's just getting different kinds of difficult? It's going to be difficult for the next 16.5 years??? And skedaddled. Odile's dad had also been ready for things to settle back into normalcy now that the baby was sleeping through the night and eating normal food, and was absolutely blindsided by his partner leaving. He got extremely depressed and relied a lot on community support to help care for Odile for the next little while.
Once Odile was walking and talking like a person, he was able to pull himself together and be there for her, and loved her so ferociously. But sometimes her laugh or something would remind him too much of her mom and he would kinda check out for the rest of the day. He hated thinking about his ex and then he'd start to hate her and then get so, so sad. Maybe even hate Odile for a moment and get even sadder. Why can't he just be content? Odile's the only light in his life, she's what makes everything worth it, why does he still wish he had her mom back instead?
Pobody's nerfect though and he did pretty well! Odile was a fairly cranky toddler because she just couldn't do all of the things that she so desperately wanted to be able to do (also trauma), but once she got past those first 5 years of constant developmental leaps, she mellowed out a lot. So she didn't mind hanging out and coloring or reading a book by herself while her dad was "taking a nap" (staring at the ceiling fighting his inner demons). And she love love loved all the things he did with her, reading and gardening and especially shopping — she got to write the grocery list and count out the money and everything! She got cranky-frustrated again as a teen, on top of increasingly complex feelings about her mom and realizing her dad is depressed as fuck, but they had a strong enough bond to make it through that phase okay.
At some point in her 20s Odile made him go to therapy! It helped, and so did anti-depressants. He even started dating again eventually and now has a nice husband, who Odile was quite wary of at first and generally not interested in getting to know. She's glad her dad is happier now, though! I think he's still alive during ISAT, but getting fairly old since he and his wife were a bit on the older side when Odile was born.
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Bonnie is 11 years old during canon and Pétronille is 20; she ran away from home when Bonnie was 4 and she was freshly 14. She saw that their parents were starting to treat Bonnie the way they treated her, now that they were a full kid instead of a useless toddler, and she got them the fuck out of there!
(cw for the next paragraph: abusive parents, person who is both abusive and mentally ill and abused)
Nille is bipolar with psychotic symptoms, and I've been going back and forth on this but I'm gonna say yes it runs in the family and her mom was bipolar as well. She didn't really give a shit about her kids, she had them because that's what you do! She made Nille do most of the housekeeping, and help with her schemes to turn their lives around for real this time: surely if I perfect this recipe I can open a restaurant, surely if we rearrange the furniture I'll stop hating this house, surely if I buy and wear the right necklace my partner will love me again, etc. The second baby was an attempt to fix her relationship, and while she'd thought baby Nille was cute and had enjoyed the intense new baby-mom relationship, she got sick of baby Bonnie even faster and foisted their care onto Nille. Their dad was worse! He bonded with the person he did because he knew she'd be totally reliant on him, and he had kids because he wanted more people to control. Mom sometimes tried to stand up for the kids, but always quickly gave up and withdrew more or turned on them instead.
So! Nille stole her mom's jewelry, put Bonnie in a wheelbarrow and walked as far as she could. She ended up in Bambouche. She started working for a trio who fished and ran a shop/restaurant; she prepared the fish and washed dishes and other odd jobs, and she was allowed to bring Bonnie with her. Some people offered to take the two of them in, or babysit Bonnie, but she did not trust like that. So everyone just quietly patronized that shop a little extra so the trio could afford to do things like say "oh no I bought this huge bag of the wrong kind of rice, can't just serve a different kind, but I don't want it, guess I'll throw it away unless you could use it..?"
Eventually she started trusting her neighbors enough to directly accept leftovers and hand-me-downs, let Bonnie play at their houses, etc. Right in time for her bipolar disorder to really hit! She tried so hard to keep forcing herself through the motions for Bonnie, but one day she went into work manically ranting about how she was going to destroy Bonnie's life just like her parents did hers and her bosses were like woah there! They closed shop for the day to focus on checking on Bonnie and making sure they had babysitting arranged, finding Nille a therapist, and reassuring Nille that Bonnie was safe, and everyone will help make sure that Bonnie stays safe, and she can get help too so she can keep being a great gaurdian.
By pre-canon she is on anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers and knows a fuckton of coping mechanisms! She fishes now and sells her catches herself, and while she works Bonnie goes to school and runs around the village with the other kids and pesters travelers for stories and whatnot.
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I don't have super solid headcanons for Siffrin's family yet because it makes me soo sad to imagine their family missing them or not-missing them or obliterated. So I'm trying to let myself just leave it open so I can practice the skill of "deciding on worldbuilding facts as they become relevant to your story instead of typing out an entire bible first". But let's say he had three parents and two siblings, which is pretty standard for the island, and lots of cousins and family friends. Someone or other is holding a huge cookout at least twice a week, and, and Siffrin was a really kind-but-mischievious older sibling and, bwahhhh 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
He sailed off for a couple hours at age 15 because his baba's super strict about everyone trying a bite of every food every time, yes even if you're sure you hate it it's important to be a good example for the younger kids and who knows maybe you'll like it this time! So Siffrin ran off to prove that he was basically an adult and not actually beholden to their rules, and they should appreciate his presence and take him seriously instead of treating him like a clueless baby.
:(
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