#they asked to be here. they were here to help siffrin. and they did. and it ended

[dailyloopdeloop]

DAY 75: onehat

[abowlofsourcream]

💫⏳ The Switch-A-Loop AU Guide ⏳💫

In this Au, Everyone Loops except Siffrin! This Au will focuses more on the party’s dynamics outside of just Sif. They try their best to figure out what is going on with the help of the mysterious Loop. They will find out more about the curse, the king, and most surprising their lovable rouge! Whether they want to or not…

Have fun!

Special Memories Here!

v The Characters v

- Mirabelle, The Chosen Heroine: Chosen by the Head Housemaiden, She first believes that the loops were the work of The Change God. A silly idea if you knew what she knew but a pleasant idea nonetheless! Besides, this way, she may be actually able to prove herself! This blessing would somehow give her the change she needed! At least… That’s what she thought… So why are they still here? What more does she need to prove? Maybe, the Head Housemaiden would know what happened to the world… Oh, if only there is a way to ask Siffrin what she said to him?

- Isabeau, The Beloved Warrior: You know it’s funny, he always thought that defeating the king would be more impactful. Like in those books you read as a kid! The hero goes on this incredible journey, growing stronger, falling in love, all that jazz! But boy, these Loops took the wind out of his sails! Like, he barely try’s to confess to Sif anymore (not that he feels any less about them). However, now knowing that beating the king wouldn’t stop the loops, the next best thing is to try other ways! Now he doesn’t like to brag, but he’s a pretty smart guy. Siffrin has something to do with what’s happening, as much as he doesn’t want to admit it. Maybe, there is a way to help them help the others! It just might work!

- Odlie, The Wary Scholar: Well, this turns out to be quite more than she signed up for. Not to say that she entirely regrets meeting any of them, they are quite the enjoyable lot to be around… However, it seems these Loops are taking a toll for the lot of them. Fortunately, she is ready to find out what exactly is going on. Luckily, she has taken the time of taking notes, oh she loves her notes! Although, there is a part of the puzzle that at every angle doesn’t quite fit. Siffrin. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, they are in the middle of all of this Somehow… The fact that they don’t remember the loops, the way the king talks to them, even when he talks to the Housemaiden. The other’s try tell Odlie that it’s probably nothing, that Siffrin is in just as lost as the rest of them. But she just can’t let this go. She will find out why this is happening to her family, whether Siffrin is guilty or not…

- Bonnie, The Pure Hearted: Now, they may not understand what is happening and why all the adults are scared. But that is okay! The party snack leader is here to keep everyone safe, especially Frin. Frin can’t remember like the rest of them, so Bonnie has to make extra sure that he’s okay. Making sure he avoids all the tears, not to hit their hip against that counter, not to eat the pineapple and all that stuff! After all, it’s the least they can do. After what they did to… Anyway, they already somehow got Frin to let them hug him and sometimes he even call them “Bon Bon”! So, the other’s say that Firn and the king might be from that country that everyone forgot or something. Maybe, if you can get the King and Frin to talk… Maybe the King will help them! Like, What’s the worst that can happen! :)

- Loop, The Starstuck Guide: It’s Loop! The incredibly helpful and informative guide to this party! The only one that seems to know all about the loops. The party is unsure about what Loops wants out of this, and all the advice they give is weird/confusing! Also, they are kind of mean? Like, they try to comfort the party the best they can. However, when it comes to Siffrin… They don’t say anything out front about Sif but they do say things about him. Like pointing out all of his deaths or mistakes, lightly insulting him and making fun about how forgetful he is. It’s not great! Like who do they think they are. They just don’t know Siffrin like the rest of the party do… However, there is something familiar about this stranger.

- Siffrin, The DAMNED Traveler: ………………….. It’s all their fault………… just you wait……

[tagintagout-au]

(Puppets, big and small, all with different faces, clothes, hair.)

(Some of them have sad eyes, others a bright smile.)

(A few are animated by Craft, and one jumps around and bumps gently into your foot.)

(The Change Goddess, your deity worshipped by all of the country of Vaugarde, stands before you.)

(You have trouble believing you're finally here, almost at the end of your long journey.)

(It was only a few months ago that you met Siffrin, after all!)

(So much has happened since then.)

(It was almost a year ago that the Star appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.)

(Possessing immense Craft power, they spread Darkness across the country of Vaugarde, putting anyone in its path into a deep sleep.)

(With Dormont's House of Change in their control, they patiently wait for a challenger brave enough to fight them.)

(You yourself were the only survivor, given a last-second blessing to fight back against the Darkness.)

(You wandered through the country for months, lost and confused.)

(Vaugarde would surely be doomed if it wasn't for Siffrin.)

(Your dear friend Siffrin, a mere traveler just a year ago, was the only one to stand up and fight against the Star, a shining beacon through the dark.)

(When you met them, they were already travelling with Odile and Isabeau, trying to get the orbs necessary to open the House's gates and defeat the Star.)

(They saved you from a particularly strong sadness, and upon learning of your abilities invited you to join them.)

(You had no chance to survive if you didn't, so you accompanied them.)

(A few weeks later, you met Nille, completing your little team.)

(You saw a lot of Vaugardian cities during your travels, some already submerged, some not, and did your best to sidestep the slowly encroaching Darkness.)

(But still, you all kept going.)

(Siffrin out of the kindness of their heart, to save Vaugarde's people.)

(Odile came with him after Vaugarde's Defenders themselves refused to help...)

(...and because, she said, "leaving the fate of this country to a bunch of young ones would give me an ulcer".)

(Isabeau came along to study the Darkness, as well as out of determination to save Vaugarde.)

(Nille came to save her sibling, trapped in an endless dream.)

(You're here because you have to be.)

(You couldn't make it without them.)

(Once, Siffrin asked you if you were alright with following him on this journey to save Vaugarde.)

(He said that he shouldn't be the one given credit for saving Vaugarde, and that you should be the one leading the party considering your blessing.)

(You wanted to put them at ease, so you said easily and truthfully that you hadn't done nearly enough to deserve it.)

(They looked upset.)

(You cringe just thinking about it, truth be told. Maybe not the most considerate thing you could've said to someone with his problems at the moment.)

(But tomorrow, one way or another, your journey will end.)

[circlesuponcircles]

You stand before the door. The silence is deafening.

Siffrin steps forward, reading the text above the door. They open their mouth, and say... something...?

A quick sting of pain shoots through your head. You can't be bothered to ask anymore.

You hold your breath as you watch it open, revealing the almost pure darkness inside, almost spilling out of the room like water that's been kept still by a dam for too long. Cold air and the unpleasant scent of metal and salt hits you, mixing with the unbearable smell of caramel to create a dreadful combination.

🎀: ...Loop? Hello?

A light flickers inside, cutting sharply through the darkness. You almost don't hear the footsteps, a rhythm quiet and yet familiar. But before you realize why exactly you know that sound, the way it would only come from someone who's learned to be quiet, who's supposed to be fast and stealthy-

You see... another shade, in the darkness. One that hurts to look at, one that feels wrong, as if the world itself was not meant to contain it. You feel sick.

You avert your eyes as you hear them get closer.

✨️: ...Oh, Mirabelle...!

✨️: You're finally here to join us! How wonderful~

✨️: But... why did you bring them with you? Is this some sort of joke?

🪨: What... are you?

✨️: Oh you wouldn't know me.

✨️: But don't you worry, Fighter~ Soon enough, you won't have to think about anything anymore!

You grip your rapier tightly.

✨️: My, my, that's no way to treat an old friend! Don't you remember, Mirabelle? How I helped you? How useful I was?

✨️: Helpful Loop, here to help you with the loops!

✨️: ...Or, I would've been, if it wasn't for a certain someone.

Your family looks at you. You look back at them, concerned.

✨️: Your little wanderer here could have freed me much, muuuch earlier, you know.

✨️: But they chose to forget, instead! I suppose that's always the easier path, hm?

Siffrin is silent.

✨️: But! That doesn't matter anymore, does it? No, not~ at~ all~~

✨️: Because I'm not alone anymore! I have my little family, and now that you're here, we'll all be together again! I can... we can finally go home...!

✨️: All you have to do is just ditch those pesky little copies of your real party and join us, Mirabelle! It's just that easy!

🍳: Wh- copies!? We're not copies!! We're real!!!!

...Family...? But...

🎀: ...Didn't you say you were alone?

✨️: ...I was. But not anymore.

✨️: Now, if you could just come here and-

Loop takes a step forward. You step back, tightening the grip on your rapier. Your family gathers around you.

🔷️: You will not be taking her.

🪨: Yeah! We just got her back, and we will not lose her again.

🍳: YEAH!!!!!!!

⭐️: ...

🔷️: If you continue this behavior, we will be forced to fight you.

Loop freezes, looking at you.

✨️: You... you want to fight me?

...They're... laughing...?

✨️: You..! You want to fight me! Hahaha!

✨️: Why, of course~ I'll happily take an excuse to finally snuff out your miserable little existence~

✨️: But... oh, my, would you look at that! It seems I'm outnumbered! Why, that's just so unfair!

The darkness behind them begins to move.

Four figures emerge from the living void.

You know who they are.

✨️: Perhaps I should introduce you to my own little family~

[lucabyte]

obligatory ramble about postcanon loop ask

also your art is amazing

Hiiiiiiiii :D thank you :)!!

and thank you for the excuse to post the. just absolute wall of text that i truncated down to form the tags of that post. (i did,,, hit the tag limit. i forgot tumblr had one of those...) so let me just paste that and tidy it up a bit...

I am putting this under a readmore because it's a bit long. but:

This is like. The General Context for all* of my postcanon doodles? (Except AUs obviously) Like this is the base idea I've been drawing them all in. So, feel free to backread with this in mind. I've basically had this 'postcanon' timeline set in my brain since finishing the game...

My general thoughts are that I like the idea of Loop (even if through dubiously ethical means) being able to slowly reintegrate with the party as a whole new person, because they are, in fact, their own person.

It's a muddle of thematic threads im pulling on and "wouldn't it be fucked up if", but. (at its core, it's powered by the fact that like, while narratively isat's theme of 'the only person who can truly take the first step to help you is yourself'. (wrt: loop helping the party help siffrin in act 5) which i LOVE AND IS GREAT NARRATIVELY…. would be super fucked up irl to learn that your friend 'learned as a lesson' while you stood by kinda uselessly. I know i'd be upset about it. but thats mostly background here. doesn't really come up. at least not until loop has to explain who they are and the party realises they had to fall back on literally themselves again for help, but i digress,)

The real core concept is: Occam's razor. It is like, inherently, a buckwild thing to accuse a person of being somehow a clone or copy of your friend. Even if they start vaguely alluding to a backstory it's far more likely they were some other person before all that. (I still think Odile has that theory in the back pocket but she's rational enough to know it's a really long shot without a solid explanation. and i think Loop deep down knows this, and would, if cornered into confessing, turn the situation around to go J'ACCUSE and make HER explain it instead. Ever longer dodging being direct with their emotions...)

And the party are nice! And if someone has changed and wants to keep stuff secret it's kind of not their business? (Though it's hard not to speculate… see: the main joke of the doodles) And they seem important to Siffrin so they just try to accept them abrasive quirks and all. And eventually the question of their prior identity just fades away since, well, they're Loop. Their friend Loop.

but yeah. personal headcanon is that a few months/weeks after picking up and getting aquainted with Nille** (since that was presumably the IMMEDIATE TASK postgame), Loop reappears (either after a literal period of nonexistance, or just spending a few months wandering the french countryside alone being attacked by wild dogs). Since Siffrin has had a while to be therapised by the party they're doing mostly okay, but Loop showing up and still being agitated/aggressive pulls them both into a bit of a backslide behaviourally and puts the party on the back foot again.

Hooowever, I do think that due to no longer being literally stewing in the worst pressure cooker of all time together, the two do mostly actually sort themselves out with productive conversation. (Via a cycle of: genuinely distressing argument -> weeeird lovebombing -> ok we're good -> repeat, that gets less intense over time)

Thus, allowing the party to just. Integrate loop as a new person. They and Siffrin shuffle into different ecological niches (Loop taking over stuff Siffrin is now too squeamish for, etc (see: hunting, mostly)), and while it's not exactly what Loop wanted they generally get that beggars can't be choosers and it's a pretty good deal. And the rest of the party does straight up just like them as a friend, especially when Loop quits trying to actively antagonise them after a few weeks of being around them, since they just can't keep up being mean to people they like forever.

As for how I think the truth eventually drags itself out. This is where I invoke The Isabeau Torment Nexus™. So its gonna get shippy here for a bit hold on.

Which is, I think giving them time before Loop reappears long enough that Siffrin and Iseabeau actually manage to become established, Isabeau has to be the one to nudge the pair of them and go. "Hey. You know we're in Vaugarde right. I'm okay with polyamory if we all communicate." Before Loop and Siffrin actually even acknowledge that whatever the fuck they have going on kinda looks a lot like a relationship of some kind. (or have already been agonising about that via fighting and arguing, depending) (Obviously this comes after Isa "Emotionally intelligent enough to keep a lid on the jealousy" Beau has managed to use that big brain of his to Not just go Scream somewhere on the daily because oh godddd they keep talking like theyre suicide-baiting each other jesus chriiist. is it overstepping his boundaries to bring that up?? god)

This, taking a bunch of the tension out of Loop and Isabeau's relationship (Since I imagine Loop is a. being weird for the obvious reasons and b. feeling kinda guilty about 'getting in the way of' Siffrin and Iseabeau), allows them to actually get close in a normal friend way. (I think an interesting turning point could be Isabeau actually taking Loop's side in an argument vs Siffrin, which would absolutely break Loop's brain. Especially if it's an argument that matters. Like what do you mean he isn't just going to play favourites. What?)

Then Isabeau, just actually open minded and charmed by Loop (and maybe even somewhat at Siffrin's suggestion?) tries to close the final open side on the polyamory triangle here and that's the final straw for Loop on "This lie by omission is too unethical to keep up, this is just actually sick and wrong. I can't do this while he doesn't know who I am." Though. Obviously it probably goes. Very poorly with emotions high like that. And the added element of several months of deceit. Getting dark here for a second but that dagger is going MISSING and so are THEY for a hot minute.

Then yaaay everything works out in the end 👍 yippieee!! all it took was maybe a lot of harrowed recontextualisation of all the weird shit your new friend said and did when it turns out they're your old friend. It's fine.

But yeah. this is basically the context all of my postcanon doodles have existed within? And those exist to give other people something to chew on. So this does too.

I suppose TL;DR: Imagine if sloopis almost fucking happens before isabeau knows who loop is. can you fucking imagine. can you imagine having to navigate that. nightmare.

*Yes this includes the implied cannibalism comic. Uhh. Comes part and parcel with headcanoning that Loop went way off the deep end similar to A5 Sif But Maybe Worse before giving in. Add weepy half-asleep confessions to murder wherever you see fit in your mind palace. 👍👍👍

**Re: Nille footnote. I don't have anywhere to put this besides here! I have some thoughts on Loop and Nille having an odd dynamic. I don't imagine Nille to be super gung-ho on trusting a bunch of adults (even if they are majority around her age) given their implied backstory. It's probably a big shock to the system, especially since Bambouche is a good couple hundred Kilometers up north from Dormont and these guys don't seem to have trains. She would've been unfrozen and without Bonnie for some time....

Which is to say: I think she's suspicious of them. I think she may be looking for excuses to distance herself, keep Bonnie safe. SO.... A new guy showing up? And antagonising the party? What do they know that I don't...? I should find out.

And since... Loop didn't ever know Nille, they have no ammunition or real reason to be cruel. Plus, if they're trying to stay on Bonnie's good side (SINCE... if Bonnie thought Loop was cringe they may as well kill themselves. In their mind.) they SUPER have no reason to antagonise Nille.

Mostly, they might be able to open up to each other easier than they can the rest of the party?

I feel like this resolves with Loop feeling compelled to apologise for what they and Siffrin let happen to Bonnie, though... Hmm... Depends on how you interpret Nille that they'd be glad nobody else had been told about that yet, or furious it had been secret this long. I lean toward the former.

[vulpixisananimal]

<You jolt awake. Stars, you thought you'd survive that. It was just one story up, and sure, it was a little glass, but->

(Do you mind?!?!?)

<You roll your eye. No, but Odile did. Ha. Come on, Siffrin. Odile wasn't acting like herself. She was a dangerous enemy- we had to escape.>

(Stars, come on! You had to at least try and see what was going on, right?!?)

<Stop being stupid. Odile knows how to stop us Looping.>

(. . . I-)

<I'm right.>

(Shut up.)

<You sigh and sit up from the Favor Tree. Back here again, strange- oh stars, You hold your head for a moment. Headache, and sick. Your stomach churns, head pounding.>

(Craft exhaustion- stars, this is why, I wanted to-)

<We'll get over it. Just- just, breathe. . .>

(You breathe in, and out.)

(. . . Ack, stars. Why WERE we waking up here again? Wasn't it because of sleep that we make a checkpoint?)

<Perhaps whatever strange logic the Universe has at work counts our little meeting as a sleep. Which doesn't make sense, because->

(Yes I know we weren't asleep. I'm not stupid.)

<Could have fooled me.>

(You grunt, and shake your head. You start walking down to the homestead, seeing Ramos and Mirabelle walking up to meet you.)

(Mira waves to you.) "S-siffrin!! Oh thank Change, are you okay???"

(You laugh half-heartedly.) "Yeah, just a bit dizzy, it's the stage."

"It's. . O-oh!" (Mira perks up a bit at that.) "Oh then! T-then I guess we've, told you everything already?"

"Yup." (You nod.) "I'll try and make this quick. . ."

>>>

(You quietly open up the back door to the Homestead, which lead straight to the kitchen. Mirabelle and Ramos followed behind you, ready for anything. With Isabeau waiting for you up front, and Odile possibly going after you upstairs, getting in the back would be the best idea.)

<Or you could break in a window again.>

(After what you did?!? Not a chance.)

"Hey, wasn't Bonnie cooking here this morning?" (Asks Ramos.)

"O-oh, yes! They were getting along with Jan." (She tried not to bite her nails.) "W-we should, check on them! Make sure they're ok!!"

"Good idea." (You nod, continuing through the kitchen. Nothing too strange, so you continue-)

"I thought the kiddo usually cleans up after themself." (Ramos says, you look back, they're looking at some half finished dishes.)

". . . They do." (You squint. That's not like Bonnie. If they didn't clean up, they'd make sure someone else did.) "Let's hurry."

(You get to the doorway to the common area and stop. You hear some voices.)

"Get him upstairs, we can figure it out there."

(Huh? Oh wait you knew that voice. You pause for a second.)

"I, I don't, why should I trust you?!? I'm fine! I-"

(You didn't recognize that voice. You hear a craft spell of something. You feel Mira lean in a bit close to listen in. She asks,) "What is it?"

"People I met last loop. One of them gets effected." (You listen in again.)

"He'll stay asleep for a bit. I'll take him upstairs."

"I'll make sure everythings safe. Just be quick."

(You hear them walk off. You sigh.) "Stars, maybe talking to Polaris coulda helped but. . ."

"Maybe. . ." (Ramos starts.) ". . . Well, maybe next time I could do something about it? If we're quick to get here?"

(You nod.) "Right, next time. C'mon, lets find Bonbon."

<You're really worried about the Kid, aren't you.>

(You frown as you step out into the common area. Of course you are! You care about Bonnie, and you have to make sure they're okay!!)

<The time could be better spent looking for the star. Then the Kid could be safe.>

(You ignore him. You start looking for anything out of the ordinary. There's a few random dishes left out, Jan wasn't around, those three travelers went upstairs, Isabeau was waiting outside. . . Hmm.)

(Looking up to your friend and ally, Mirabelle looked distracted, probably worried about the rest of your family. Ramos was staring at that sign in your language.)

"It's just a cheesy proverb," (You call over, going back to looking around.)

"Wait, really?" (Ramos turns to you, hand on hip.)

"Really."

"Why."

(You shrug.) "Not every island thing is some omen- Oh, yeah that reminds me, Mira?"

"O-oh?" (Mira looks over to you.)

"Did I ever mention that I found a book in my language in the Dormont library?"

"Oh really??? What was it about?? Was it helpful or anything???" (Her eyes brightened- genuine interest! Yes!!)

"I mean, I got the title," (You stick your tongue out.) "The Cursing of Château Castle, volume 2."

". . . Pfft-" (That makes her giggle.) "Of all the things to be found there!"

"I know right?!?" (You shake your head.) "H-haha, I was so excited, too. Finally able to read it, and lo and behold. . ."

"Hehe, It was just a book from my favorite series!"

"Exactly." (You finish looking around and walk over to her.) "Well, nothing here. Upstairs next?"

(Ramos and Mira nod in agreement. The three of you get back in formation as you lead them upstairs. You make sure to step quietly, listening as you go, not wanting to be caught off guard.)

(You hear some talking, a door opening, then closing. You take a few more steps, and peek over the top of the staircase. There's no one in the hall.)

<What is your goal, Siffrin.>

(To find Bonbon, like I said!)

<Ugh, fine. If you're looking for the kid, why would they be here? Where should you go?>

(The room they were staying in? That's where you think, anyway. You walk through the hall, hand on your dagger, Ramos and Mira right behind you.)

". . . Which room was Bonnies again?"

"O-oh uh, that one, on the left." (Mira replies, pointing to a door further down the hall. You head over to it. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. You put an ear to the door.)

(You could see Mirabelle get more and more fidgety with each second. You wait, still. . . . No, you couldn't hear anyone on the other side. You try the door, locked.)

"Stars."

"I could break it down, probably." (Ramos suggests.)

(You shake your head.) "Too much noise."

"Uhm, what about the outside window?" (Mira asks.)

(You make a face.) "Yeah, that could work. Again."

"Why didn't you go in a window this time?" (Ramos asks.)

(Your face was all the response they needed.)

<It wasn't that bad.>

". . . W-well. . . Where, where else can we check?" (Asks Mira, finger to her chin.)

"I'm. . . Hmm. . ." (You tap your foot.) ". . . Your room, Jans, double check my own room."

"Lets check yours- out of Odile's way, hopefully, and maybe Isa did something." (Ramos suggests. You nod.)

<Your rooms one door down. Right side. You have a key for it in your pocket.>

(How did- Oh, it was YOU who was in charge this morning then?)

<It was. What of it.>

(Unpack that another day. You get to your room, listen at the door for a moment, then unlock it. The three of your slip inside and you lock the door behind you.)

"One bed?!?" (You hear Mirabelle exclaim. Uhoh.)

"Stars, you two really are like a bonded couple." (Ramos jokes, giving you a look.)

"S-shut up! I thought it was going to be two beds!!"

"Suuuuuure." (Ramos rolls their eyes.)

(You tug up the collar of your cloak. Stupid. Dumb. At least they wont remember this. You go over to your pack to check if everything's in order, only to find it isn't.)

"Oh blind it all!" (Your pack had been completely upturned, belongings spread out across the floor. Stars, what on earth was this?!? Null, did you forget to lock up once you woke up?!?)

<No. I made sure to lock the door.>

(Great. Mira came to your side with a sour look.) "Was, anything stolen?"

(You crouch down, sorting through your things.) "No, it doesn't look like it, but. . ."

(Among the items was a lot of scrap paper. You had been noting things down on them. A lot of things. Before you realized your amnesia was partially caused by freeloaders in your head, you had made notes to yourself. A lot of those notes you didn't remember. Each of those notes were laid out neatly, like someone was looking through them.)

"Someone tried getting in here." (Ramos comments, you look over, they were inspecting the window.)

<That window's stuck.>

"But isn't that window stuck?" (You echo.)

"Yep, but. . . Here, here and here, signs of an attempted forced entry. Probably gave up 'cause it would make too much noise."

<Very, very concerning. There is a good chance that was last night.>

(Yeah yeah.) "Who was trying to get in then?"

(Ramos shrugged.) "I dunno. Someone who could scale up to a second story window?"

"But whoever it was, that might be who we're looking for!!" (Mira says, almost excited.) "Oh this is like a murder mystery!!"

"But without the murder." (You hope.) "Stars, what a mess. . ."

"Don't think there's anything else here." (Ramos comments.) "Where to next?"

"I'm not sure. It was around now that Odile showed up last time." (You sit down on your bed.) "She was upstairs, and I opened the door and. . ."

<Quiet down, then.>

(You hold up a hand, and a finger to your lips, and listened.)

(. . . There were a few footsteps outside, from down the hall. There were a few voices, possibly the other traveling group. No-one coming upstairs. . . You hear some light footsteps run past your door, followed by a slower, heavier pair.)

<Going downstairs. Light footsteps are possibly Wren. Possibly Bonnie. Check that out next Loop. Heavier footsteps are either Odile or Vixul. Most likely Odile and Bonnie then, right?>

(Then you should go check on them! Make sure they're alright!)

<No. If Odile is being effected by Mind Craft, which I think she is, then Bonnie is too.>

(You frown. Stars, you hate that he's right. You wait a few moments more before saying in a low whisper.) "That might have been Odile going downstairs."

"R-right." (Mira nods.) "What, w-what's next then, Siffrin?"

"Don't know." (You shrug.) "This was where I died last time."

(You see Mirabelle wince at that. Oh, right, she's still not used to you dying. Eh, it was fine. You think for a moment, where to go next. . .)

"Uh. . ." (Ramos spoke up.) "I, know you can't exactly take a note thought the loops, but, maybe going through daily events could help? Where everyone is and such?"

"Right. . ." (You tap your foot. Where would you even start with that?) "Next loop, though."

"A-alright." (Ramos replies. They look out the window to the rain.)

(There's an awkward silence, and you're not sure what to do right now. Sneak to one of the other rooms? You weren't sure if Odile was still out there waiting for you. You were really sure she was downstairs now, but you didn't know.)

<There is still a lot to think about, Siffrin. For one, why did, assumedly Isabeau, look through your things?>

(Because he's being mind controlled?)

<No, stupid. Think deeper. Why would he be commanded to do that.>

(Why would he- right. Someone is in control, after all. Was it who talked to Ramos and gave them that star? They did seem like prime suspects, and they were interested in their guardian who was from the Island. Were they looking for more about the Island?)

<Good. You're on track. What about people we know are here.>

(Well. . . Jan? Maybe? No that just doesn't seem right-)

<"Doesn't seem right" isn't a good reason.>

(Alright, what about Vixul and her group? Sure, they seemed just as confused about this as you were, but she was a researcher. It would be up her ally.)

<Getting better, keep going.>

(What about that mystery couple who left this morning? We don't know much- well, anything about them.)

<Then that's who you should look into, right?>

(But they left long before any of this Mind Craft started! Who knows if-)

"Crabbing Stars-!"

(The strange mix of curses snaps you back to reality. You turn to Ramos, whos face was pressed against the glass, looking, concerned.)

"W-what's wrong???" (Mira asks, standing up. You stand too, going to the window. Ramos moves to let you look.)

"It's that sadness again." (Says Ramos. As you look out. . . Stars, it was. It was barreling towards the homestead. Looking as mean as last time! Come ON!  Why did this have to happen NOW!!)

"O-oh, oh no-" (Mira grabbed her sword, moving to the door.)

"Mirabelle wait, just a second." (You start.) "If, if we just rush out there, then we could be stuck between, u-uhm-"

(You stop talking at the look Mirabelle gives you. R-right. You, you couldn't just, leave a sadness to run rampant, even if you were looping.)

"N-nevermind."

(You hear a crash from downstairs, and a scream. The three of you race to save the day.)

[chiiimchar]

Small fic based on this!

---------

"So do you think a HUGE scissors sadness could beat a small rock sadness?"

Siffrin chuckled, but kept his gaze on the unfinished chair leg, "I think so, yeah. A strong Scissors craft done by a person can still beat a rock sadness, so it could work in a hypothetical sadness versus sadness fight, can't it?"

Bonnie hummed, "I guess so? You should try that sometime."

"Are you suggesting I go explicitly against precisely what Nille told me not to do?"

Bonnie giggled, "It's not like you don't do it anyway!"

Siffrin almost messed up their carving, "No I don't!"

"Yes you do! I know things, you know?"

Siffrin grimaced, "...how do you know?"

Bonnie laughed, loud and cheerful, "For starters, you've just confirmed it!"

Siffrin groaned.

"And also, you keep going out to 'fish', come back with no fish, and looking like you got mauled by a bear."

Siffrin gasped, "No I don't! I don't lose fights!"

"If you say so."

"I do say so."

Bonnie giggled, and Siffrin exhaled, finishing up another chair leg. He blinked, "Oh! I think I'm done with the chairs."

Bonnie turned away from the stove, "You are?"

"Yeah. I just need to make the table legs, sand and assemble all of these, and I'll be done with Ms. Jill."

"Good," Bonnie says, "She sucks. I don't like her coming here so often."

Siffrin hummed, sanding the latest chair leg some more, "Are you almost done cooking? I can help if you're not."

They shook their head, tongue sticking out as they stirred the pan, "No, I'm neeearly done." They gently flipped the sweet potato fries, and promptly turned off the stove, "Ok, all done!"

"Did you salt the fish?"

Bonnie nodded, then the nod slowly turned into a shake of the head. "Forgot."

Siffrin laughed, and stood to ruffle their hair, "It's okay. I'll bring the salt once I set the table, then."

Bonnie pushed his hand away, sticking out their tongue, "Okay! I'll go wait for Nille outside!"

Siffrin smiled as they ran off the house, and set the table. The cute, nicely decorated fork for Bonnie, the plain darkless one for themself, and the one with the darkened handle for...

"NILLE'S HOME!" Bonnie exclaimed from the door, startling Siffrin into dropping the forks on the table, "Oops! Sorry!" They said, a nervous smile on their face.

Siffrin breathed deeply, and smiled at them both, "Hey, Peel."

Nille smirked at him, "Hey Crabfrin, did Bug here blow up the kitchen today?"

Bonnie groaned, "No!!!! I didn't!!!!!!"

"Results inconclusive. I was busy carving. The kitchen might just be gone."

"I didn't!! I didn't blow it up!!!!!"

Nille shook her head, fake remorse in her tone, "Wow, that's too bad. Guess we'll have to get a new kitchen."

Bonnie puffed out their cheeks, "Alright that's it. None of you get to eat my delicious and amazing fish and sweet potatoes."

Nille laughed, "Nooo! Buggg please let us have some!!"

Bonnie shook their head resolutely, "No. You were a crab. No food for you!"

Siffrin smiled, "What if I apologized and gave you a little kiss on the forehead?"

Bonnie paused. "..fine."

.

They sat down to eat.

Dinner was about as eventful as always, which is to say everyone spoke about what they did during the day (and when had Bonnie had time to do all that? Had Siffrin really been that immersed while carving?) and, of course, sent their compliments to the chef ("We MUST have someone else cooking here, the cooking is too good!", "Wow, you picked out all the fish bones? Thanks Bug!")

After that, Bonnie went to bed as Nille was on dishwashing duty, and Siffrin in drying.

"Did Mr. Flemming give you much trouble?" Siffrin asked, drying a fork and putting it away.

"Huh?" Nille tilted her head, passively scrubbing a plate, "Oh, nah, he was patient and all, he just had me waiting for long bouts of time in-between tasks. That's why I took so long to get home."

"Ah." She usually got home before Bonnie even started cooking, after all, "I see."

They cleaned for a few more minutes in comfortable silence.

"Oh, right." Siffrin said, "Do you want to come with me to watch a play, next weekend?"

"Sure," Nille answered easily, "What's it about?"

"I'm not sure, I think it's new? Something about a boy going inside of a book?"

"That sounds fun. Are we taking Bonnie?"

"If they wanna come!" Siffrin nodded, finishing up the last plate, "I don't think it's age restricted."

"Cool, we have a weekend plan, then!" Nille smiled, and walked out of the kitchen, "Don't forget tomorrow Bon has that playdate of theirs after school, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll pick them up." Siffrin nodded, removing his gloves and smiling at her, "Good night, Nille."

"See you tomorrow." She smiled back, and they both went to bed.

.

Sifffin sighed shakily under their cloak.

Bonnie never did go to that playdate. He refused to think about what happened to their little friend, and instead held Bonnie's hand tighter and they continued to run.

Chin up Siffrin.

Chin up.

[guided-by-stars]

Thoughts on Mister "I killed my past self so that I could live" Isabeau vs Mage "I tried my damnedest to kill my past self but couldn't do it" Loop? this has been stuck in my head for ages and I would love to hear your thoughts on it (too scared to get off Anon oopsies)

What fascinates me about that comparison is that Isabeau is often analyzed under his struggles to act. He fears being seen as a coward, when Siffrin in act 5 calls him such, he later confirms that it was indeed an insecurity of his. It’s not exactly surprising to see why- he does struggle with inaction, whether it comes to his hesitance to put his valuable input out there (despite how it could’ve incredibly helpful, he’s so smart!), or his holding back of his confession to Siffrin. However, when it comes to Changing, it seems that he never hesitated to take action, once he realized that was what he wanted.

Could this be because of the incredible strength of his desire to be different? Was it that much stronger than any of his other desires? Or was it easier because of the institutional pushing of Change in the first place?

When it comes to Loop, it’s interesting, because there are multiple meanings of “kill [their] past self.”

Of course, there’s the direct physical attacking of Siffrin that they do in act 6 (and that battle will never stop haunting my mind), where they do indeed try their damnest to kill him (open up your rib cage, take out my heart that beats in your chest) , but when given the opportunity when they win, pinning him to the floor, they can’t. At the end of the day, Loop feels like Siffrin deserves to live, deserves to win, deserves to be helped. Their pity, their care, their love, is as equally strong as their resentment, their hatred, and their burning envy in that moment. [For more on that, see here: https://www.tumblr.com/guided-by-stars/758267393131855872/when-siffrin-first-asks-loop-why-theyre-helping ] They say, shaking on top of Siffrin, hands still on their throat, eye full with tears, “I can’t do this, not when I had to see you fight so hard…!!!”

But then, there’s also the active metaphorical killing of their past self. Choosing a new name, a new role, partly because Siffrin would certainly not have trusted them as much if they knew they were also them (ironic), but also because they didn’t feel like they deserved to be a Siffrin, like they were faking being one, that this wasn’t their world anyways, so they no longer had a place in it as themselves. Despite their best efforts, though, Siffrin figures it out. Their comedy mask wasn’t able to fully conceal the tragedy underneath. At the end of the day, that transition is a construction, an illusion.

Of course, there’s a third type of killing of the self that Loop seemingly at first succeeds at, but ultimately fails at. Their Wish. They don’t even intend to do so- all they want is to escape their torment. But they give up their body and their place as “Siffrin” in that moment. Despite that though, their past self isn’t dead, not really. At the end of their battle, Siffrin smiles gently at them and says “I’m sorry, Siffrin. And thank you, Loop.” They’re both. The Siffrinness inside of them never went away, not really. That body created by Wish Craft is theirs, they grew into it, spreading into the star as a new skin, but they are still Siffrin, really and truly.

So, if we return to the comparison, it seems fairly simple why Isa was able to kill his past self, make them disappear, kill them with his bare hands, as he says, and Loop could not.

…

When Loop tries to kill the self, the first time, it wasn’t an actual choice, it’s just Craft, the second time, it’s not a true Change, it’s a facade, a mask, and the third time, deep in their heart, they don’t actually want to go through with it. When Isabeau does, it’s a genuine true change that he had the utmost conviction for.

But is it really fair to purely contrast them? Did Loop truly fail? Aren’t they similar in their method of changing and being changed? Isabeau also says this, while under the stars:

The person he was before is still here, he grew around them to protect them…an armor becoming the real thing…he wanted to become someone he would have liked to know before…

Does this not sound like someone we know? Someone who physically grew around themselves, a new form being created to protect themselves and creating a facade to emotionally protect themselves, a facade that melted into them until it became an inextricable part of the real them, trying to be helpful and useful, someone who wanted a literal other version of themselves to like them and want to know them… [clears throat]

…Isabeau and Siffrin are more alike than many realize, and it’s not just because of their mutual love of puns and lack of wanting to make the first move. They are deeply similar, and echo each other.

[livesworthlivingau]

Behind the Vale Chapter 26

Spoilers for ISAT/Two Hats below as usual!

"Here, go find these." [The Kid commands flatly, handing you a slip of paper without even looking at you. The both of you and Nille were out in the market for a little bonding time, trying to find the rest of the supplies for them to prepare Nille's favorite recipe as a bit of a celebration.]

"Bonnie!! Ugh... I'll go look for them, you two play nice while I'm gone, alright?" [Nille sighs, snatching the list out of their hand. You feel your heart sink as she walks away, worriedly looking down at the Kid. They crossed their arms and refused to look at you.]

"... Sooooo... How has your journey been since the loops?..."

"'sfine..."

"... Right, right... I heard Stardust-"

"His name is Frin!! Siffrin!" [They shout at you suddenly, clenching their fists tightly.]

"S-Sorry!... Names are... very hard for me sometimes, it's a star thing, sentimentality and all~." [You try to deflect explain gently, kneeling down and smiling softly to get to their level.]

"Is that why you only call Nille by her name?"

"... Sort of, yes..."

"'sstupid."

"What, are you jealous you don't get a special nickname~?" [You tease a little, but their reaction tells you all you need to know, a slight pang of jealousy before getting defensive again.]

"N-No!!! That's stupid!!!"

"Is that so? What a shame... I had just the name in mind~." [They perk up, again quickly trying to hide it behind their anger.]

"S-So?! was probably stupid anyways..." [They mumble before kicking a rock on the ground.]

"Is that so... Little Flare~?" [They almost jump at the name, taking a moment to process what they were just called, then finally turning to face you.]

"What's that?"

"Well, you see the sun up there? That's actually a big giant star, kinda like I used to be. A massive ball of fire, floating in the sky!" [You start to explain, Little Flare staring up at you in wonder as you do.]

"And sometimes the fire gets a bit wild, and it escapes, lashing out in a beautiful display~! Those are called flares, and you my dear..." [You lightly boop their nose as you go on.]

"are quite the little fiery thing, aren't you~? Escaped from the very sun itself~!" [They continue to stare up at you in wonder, their eyes sparkling.]

"Woah... I'm a flare!!" [They proclaim with their fists raised in the air.]

"Haha! That you are little one~." [You smile softly, trying so desperately to fight the lingering itch inside of you, not wanting to ruin this moment. Their expression starts to fall as they look down.]

"... Frin told me... without you, they'd never have gotten out of the loops... Is that true?" [Your heart absolutely sinks at that question. Keep it together Vale... We have to keep it together, we can't ruin this... Do it for Nille blind it... You breath in deeply, then sigh it back out, helping keep yourself stable.]

"... I think it might be Little Flare..."

"Why though?! Why couldn't we help Frin?!... Why didn't they just talk to us?..."

"It's... complicated... Stardust has a lot of trouble opening up, or... well they did at least, I guess a lot can change in a few decades."

"... stupidfrin..." [You can't help but chuckle a little at that.]

"He was pretty stupid back then, wasn't he?" [They stand there for a moment, arms crossed, looking on the verge of tears. Suddenly then tackle into you, arms wrapped around you in a tight hug... You blink and stay frozen in shock.]

"... Thanks for helping them..." [You're still in shock for a moment, slowly realizing you should return the hug. Your arms slowly wrap back around them, holding them close.]

"O-Of course..." [Your cheek feels wet...]

"Glad to see you both are getting along better!" [Nille's voice startles you. You quickly wipe your face as Flare breaks the hug.]

"Nille! I'm a flare!!! I escaped the sun!!!" [They cheer excitedly, holding their fists up again.]

"You sure did, but what the crab are you going on about?" [She asks with a confused chuckle. You clear your throat to compose yourself better, standing back up.]

"Just a nickname I thought they might like, Little Flare~. It means some fire that escaped a star's form." [You smile brightly, trying to hide all the other emotions you were feeling.]

"Awww, now ain't that just the sweetest thing. My fiery little flare~." [She says, patting Flare's head through their big hat as they smile up at her proudly.]

"Thanks, Vay... I really appreciate you trying so hard." [She adds in a quiet voice as she faced you. Your smile cracks the slightest bit but you hold firm. You perk up as you feel Flare tugging at your sleeve, looking back down at them curiously.]

"Y-Yes?"

"Were you always a star?" [You freeze for a moment. Why are we so blinding bad at thinking of a cover story?! Just... MAKE SOMETHING UP!! They're a child, they'll believe anything we say!!]

"Y-Yes! Of course~! It was my job to come down and help all those little Flares like you that get lost on their way~!" [You wink, booping them on the nose yet again. They giggle some but keep looking up at you in awe.]

"Is that why you helped Nille find us?!"

"A-Absolutely~! How could I let my favorite one go without their dear sister for another moment~?" [You look back over at Nille. Her face holds such a bright, warm smile. You could swear you even saw some tears starting to well up. You feel Little Flare wrapping their arms around your waist, hugging close as they look up at you again.]

"Thanks for bringing Nille back... but does that mean you're gonna leave now? Aren't there more people to help?"

"Well... My star duties have been... 'put on hold' lets say. So I intend to stay, at least for a little while."

"Good!... Frin needs you here... and Nille too I guess." [They grumble those last words as you perk up, starting to blush the slightest bit and glancing back over at her, her face darkened as well as she looks away.]

"Come on, let's get the rest and head back to the house, I'm sure everyone else is gonna be real hungry!" [Nille remarks, trying to move the moment along quickly. You finish gathering the supplies on the list and make your way to return to everyone else.]

[koshiaoi]

More sif from In Galaxies And Eons, he gets a bit worn-out whenever he loops.

My hc is he is affected by the craft exhaustion way more than normal sif, by way more I mean while in the loops, and that's because it's not just local to Vaugarde and is instead just reversing time completely! But his body does still feel the effects of it harshly, as each time he dies the scar on his cheek and the black bits of his hair, hat, and the inside of his clothes gains another star. All the black bits slowly turn a dark blue! Just cuz I wanna and I love blue.

If anyone is wondering, the scar on his cheek he got from loop, this loop spent way longer in the time loops than the original loop (around 10k I think?) And doesn't really talk to siffrin because of this. Loop attacked sif because he wanted to replace him and get back his actors.

From everyone else's perspective, they were a few days before they got to dormant and were taking a break when they heard sif scream, they rushed over and saw him almost dead being attacked by a "sadness" that somehow could talk? They hear it say something about ripping his skin off and replacing him, at which point they were able to save sif. Frightening loop, causing them to run away. Isa and odile noticed something in its eyes though... a weird shade that gave them a visceral feeling.

Bonnie wouldn't be able to leave sifs side after this, as they were told that he was 'just going to take a nap' and he ended up getting attacked. So bonnie sees this and knows that they can't leave the rest of the party anymore, but what's worse about it is that even though frin looks half dead, they're not bleeding, like at all. Instead, every scratch and wound is this weird back nothingness, which is even more reason to not let him alone ever again!

Mira tries her best to heal him, but nothing happens, almost like its permanent damage, like its scars, which stress her out even more! The person who she thought she could trust with her life is now badly injured because of her! If she just didn't ask him to come along, he would never have gotten hurt! It's all her fault! Its-

And isa would hide his true feelings about the entire thing, just trying to cheer sif up by telling him how cool he is for being able to hold his own against that sadness, they that couldn't even damage... wait what? Why couldn't they damage it? Why could only sif damage it? Well that doesn't matter! Sif looks really cool now! He tries his best to help out the freaking out siffrin.

Odile on the other hand would take that thought and run with it. When she saw that when they tried to attack the sadness, not only did it not flinch, like at all, it's form also didn't even react! No small bits of water, nothing. And then there's the fact that whatever it did to siffrin is permanent and can't be healed, what it said was weird to, not to mention that IT COULD TALK? No something wasn't right here... they should really talk to siffrin later.

Yes! I am using some headcannons for this! Specifically the loop appeared before the loops and was just hiding, the loop being sap!sif but I made him worse, and one thing that's just true, is that odile will know that isa also saw the weird thing and will talk to them about it and everything.

[basilpaste]

osis!swap. because i was thinking about lock.

(Under the tree is…)

(You're not sure what you're looking at, actually. It looks like a bunch of inanimate objects piled together.)

(It has a face. Or at least it has a mouth. The thing grimaces when you see it.)

〘"Hi."〙

(It talks! It can speak!)

("… Hi." You say back.)

〘"Welcome to your rebirth! This is your first loop!" Its porcelain darkless hands come up into the most pathetic jazz-hands you've ever seen.〙

(WH. HUH???? HOW DID THIS THING KNOW ABOUT-)

〘"Sorry!" It yelps, waving its hands nervously, "That's probably a spooky thing to hear from something you just met!"〙

(You sputter. "H-how do you know about how I-" You can't finish that.)

(It seems thoughtful for a moment. Looking at this stranger now, you notice that its head is almost shaped like a planet. There's a ring that wraps around it where its eyes would be.)

〘"How do I know you died?" It finishes for you.〙

(… You nod.)

〘"I saw it." It says quietly, regretfully, "It's my job to watch over you."〙

(Is this some sort of agent of the Universe? That doesn't make sense, though. A higher being watching over a person is… that's weird. Not how the Universe works. You think.)

("Why?")

〘"… You're looping through time. I'm here to act as a guide to you, Siffrin."〙

(You freeze. "HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?")

〘"Er." It looks away, head bobbing slightly, "I know things about the loops, but I also know things about you. Like your name, your parties names, and other important things. Like… pronouns."〙

(You're not entirely sure if you'd put pronouns on the top of important things for a celestial body to know??? Also you're kind of freaking out.)

(Instead of freaking out more you find your voice. "Do you. Have pronouns?")

(… Good question, Siffrin. Great going.)

〘It laughs, bright and warm despite how quiet it seems. "Hah! Yeah. Yes, I have pronouns."〙

(…)

〘"It/its. If you don't mind." It sighs. "Like I said: I'm your guide. A something. Think of me as... a tool. A, uh, resource to use!"〙

(Well... at least if you know this one's pronouns, you can think about how out of place it seems. Like a swing taking a role it doesn't know. You nod.)

〘"Oh! Right, um. There's a lot of information that I'm gonna throw at you in a second!" It gestures at the space under the branches of the tree, "You might want to sit down?"〙

(That's. Probably a good idea? Your legs are shaky and your heart is racing so you should probably sit that might help.)

〘"Woah, buddy!" It exclaims, "Take a breath?"〙

(Hah! Yeah, yeah, you should do that! You were just thinking about the fact that your heart was racing. You should breathe. That might help! Probably!!!)

(In)

(And out.)

〘"Pheeeeeeeew." It breathes with you.〙

(... It kind of reminds you of someone. The way it holds itself.)

〘"So... the loops, huh?"〙

(You nod. "The loops.")

〘"Every time you die, you'll loop back in time. Like... what just happened. Until you break the loop."〙

(You squint at it, "Can't you just tell me how to do that?"

〘"Er..." It looks away from you, "No? I'm a resource, not an answer key. I'm here to help, but I don't really have all the answers. Sorry."〙

(Oh... thats disappointing. You guess you'll have to figure that part out on your own then??? The actual important part? Which is not being trapped in a death loop forever?)

(... Actually.)

(It's not all bad, is it? Being back means you have a chance to try again! To do better next time!!! You won't die like an idiot this time! You'll make your way to the King and then break the loops! No problem!)

〘"So I can't tell what you're thinking but I can sort of guess and I probably wouldn't think about things like that? If I were you? And obviously I'm not you, but I just wanted to, uh, give you that little nugget of wisdom."〙

(!!!)

(Weird! You're not sure how to read this guy at all! This guy... hm)

("Do you have a name?" You ask it.)

〘"... Do I need one?" It replies, tilting its body to the side. Its head follows a beat later.〙

(You think about your own name.)

("I can't just call you nothing, can I?")

〘"You can call me whatever you want! Your guide, your resource, cr-stars! You can even just call me annoying, haha!"〙

(It's weird, for sure, but you don't know if you'd call it annoying? Maybe it is, but you don't really have a super strong opinion yet? You can't tell if you like or hate this guy yet.)

(You shrug, "I guess? But give me something to call you. So I won't forget.")

(It hugs itself, mouth pressing into a thin line. Oh, stars. Did you already make it mad at you?)

〘"... You can call me Lock." It tells you finally, "Your tool for breaking the loops, Lock. Ironic, huh?"〙

[ashleys-doodle-corner]

I love love love your two coins same side au so much. Im so happy whenever you do art for it. Thank you for making it ♥️♥️♥️

I beg of you. What would Loop answer for Isa? Is it a variation of "You know he's never made a wish. Especially for you."

Also bonus: any answer in particular you'd like to share that you didn't in your comic?

Hoho, you have fallen for my trap card, because I am going to list out dialogue for ALL the possible answers that I didn't do in the recent comic! You will be subjected to long answers because I have not written in a WHILE.

But first, OW, no yeah, I think Loop would answer with what you mentioned, though maybe they would be vague about it, because I don't think Loop would know what Isabeau wished for since in-game Siffrin only finds out at the end of Act 5. It would be a very fine line between wanting to make Siffrin feel bad about himself but also a bit of self-deprecation.

But let me put all the answers right here under the cut for y'all <3

Loop: Who do you think sent me to help you?

"The Universe?"

Loop (LOL3): That's kind of a cop-out answer, isn't it? The Universe leads, and we can only follow, so obviously they had their hand in sending me here! Loop (LOL5): What, did you think you could weasel something out of me for that pitifully vague answer? Well, tough luck Stardust, you're not getting anything!

"The Favor Tree?"

Loop (Thinking): ... The Favor Tree isn't exactly a person, you know? Why do you think it would put me here? (... You feel like you were onto something, since The Favor Tree grants wishes, but it's not exactly making them, is it?) Siffrin (Disbelieving1): I guess I mean that someone wished for you to be here with The Favor Tree...? Loop (Well2): ... in a sense, I suppose. Loop (Teehee2): Bit of a weak answer, though. But nice try.

"One of my allies?"

Loop (LOL2): Well, which one, Stardust? Siffrin (Um1): ...

"Uh, Mirabelle?" Loop (LOL1): Is it because you think she worries too much about everything? That she was worried about poor, poor you and enlisted me to help you out? Loop (Well2): ... I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to imagine it. Loop (Happy1): But no, it wasn't her.

"Uh, Isabeau?" Loop (Well2): ... I thought he didn't make a wish at The Favor Tree. And besides. Loop (Subdued): What makes you think he'd make a wish on something like that? Loop (Fake1) [dialogue occurs if Siffrin has gone through the Bad Touch Event]: Do you really think he would do that for you?

"Uh, Odile?" Loop (Well1): Hm, that does feel like the most level-headed option, doesn't it? Loop (Happy1): But no, it wasn't her.

"Uh, Bonnie?" Loop (Looking Away): ... no, Stardust, it wasn't them. Loop (Well2): But I'm sure they would have if they were given the chance.

"The Head Housemaiden?"

Loop (Considering): Hm, she did say that the loops were broken, didn't she? That she couldn't fix it by herself? Loop (Teehee1): A good answer, but not the right one, unfortunately! She didn't send me here.

"Uh... I don't know?"

Loop (LOL5): Here I am, asking you a question for once, and you can't even be bothered to give back a good answer? Loop (LOL3): I'm you and you're me, and you couldn't even wrack your silly little head for something you'd think I'd say? Disappointing! Loop (Teehee5): Oh well! I was just curious about what you'd thought. I won't ask again!

"It doesn't really matter, does it?"

Loop (Oh): ... it doesn't? Siffrin (Neutral3): "I don't need to know why you were sent here or anything else." Siffrin (Serious): "You're the me that got out of those loops, and you're helping. I don't care about the rest." Loop (Looking Away): ... Loop (Fake1): ... I suppose you're right, then. (... You get the impression that Loop's not happy with your answer).

[abowlofsourcream]

⏳💫Congrats Stardust! You got Memory of Dreaming!💫⏳

I’ll make sure you won’t forget this!

…

Teehee! Sweet dreams, Siffrin!

…

If you got One Hat at the ending of the game, DO NOT READ THIS AFTERMATH! Get the secret in Act 6 and then you can enjoy this aftermath! If You got Two Hats, read on head! ;)

v Aftermath v

*…

*He should be here any minute…

*You can imagine them right now.

*The poor little thing probably is so confused…

*Their most likely aimlessly searching for the party, thinking the worst is happening!

*…

*You can’t help but pity him…

*…

*Finally, You see them come to the foot of the Favor Tree.

“H-Hello, guys? The villagers said I should go here… Is… Is anyone here?”

*They forgot their eyepatch and still wearing their undershirt and pants…

*…

*He looks so small…

*Were you this small? Back when it was you?

*Stars, has it been so long?

*That you don’t even remember what you look like?

“Mira? Isa? Madame? This isn’t funny!”

*You can’t help but stare.

*…

*Okay, you’re wasting the time you have…

*You did your part! Now, it’s their turn.

*It would be silly to ruin all your hardwork!

*You hop of the branch and put on your best performance!

“Oh! You finally found your way, Stardust?”

*They jumped at your voice.

“What the-?! Who… What?!”

*You put your hand to your face…

“Oh my, Stardust! That’s no way to greet someone! Especially someone who has been helping your friends!”

*That gets their attention, of course it does…

“You’ve seen them? Where are they? How can I get to them?”

*… Stars, you forgot how clingy you were…

“Stardust, you know where they are…”

*After all, They should remember now! Remember what they did to the others…

*They can no longer hide behind their ignorance anymore!

*They know it’s all their fault…

“B-But! W-will they be okay? Without me?!”

*What a stupid question.

*You imitate picking your nails…

“They were doing just fine without you before… Besides, are you really in any condition to do anything useful? Hm?”

*Ha! Even now… You can see how much the loops destroyed your body…

*No, it’s not your body anymore…

*They look down on the ground, ashamed…

“But… I’m the reason why we’re suck here… Shouldn’t I be the one fixing it?”

*That’s exactly what you were thinking…

“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”

*They rub their left elbow, looking defeated…

“I don’t know… I didn’t think that far…”

*…

*It’s amazing, how clueless they are…

*But it’s fine…

*That’s why you’re here!

“Well, I have an idea… You might want to try it!”

*They look at you, confused.

“Why? I barely know you, yet you somehow have me already figured out?”

*Ha, of course!

*How could you forget how paranoid you were!

*You roll your eyes.

“Believe me, I’m probably the only one who could understand how that silly little brain of yours… Unless, you want the others see how awful you really are?”

*Yea, that shuts them up.

*So eager to please, in hopes of getting people to stay…

*It’s funny how easy you are able to shift him into place…

*How pathetic…

*How disgusting…

“Hm… They should be nearing the third floor by now…”

“Hmm…”

“You want to hear my plan, now?”

*They chew on the inner part of their cheek.

“Hmm, okay… If it can help the other’s, okay…”

*You take a deep breath.

*Mira asked you not to do anything stupid.

*She made you promise to watch over them…

*She would be heartbroken if she knew what you were planning on doing…

*The others too…

*You would be betraying the little trust they had with you…

*…

*But…

*But that promise was for this Siffrin, wasn’t it?

*She’s not your Mirabelle…

*She could never be your Mirabelle.

*Your Mirabelle is long gone, you think about that every blinding loop...

*Just like your Isabeau, your Odile, your Bonnie, they are all gone!

*Why should you care about that mere copy of your precious family that you destroyed?!

*IF ANYTHING, THEY SHOULD BE GRATEFUL TO YOU.

*For the fact that you’re letting them escape…

*For fixing this mess…

*Once and for all…

“You could… Make a new wish…”

*His eye grows wide…

“But-”

*You take the coin from their pocket.

*You roll it across your hand.

*They stare at you…

“You can use this…”

“How did you-”

“You know how. Stars, you can be so annoying…”

*You can’t hide the venom in your voice.

*Sorry, Odile…

“Come on, Stardust…”

*You hand them the coin…

“Let’s take this from the top, and get it right this time!”

*They look at the coin, conflicted…

“After all it’s the least they deserve,”

*You make sure that they can hear you.

“After what you put them through…”

*You see their face crumpled as you say that.

*Yep, that got them…

*They take the coin and looks at them…

*Looking at you for any guidance.

*They only have you.

*…

*How tragic…

”Make your new wish, Stardust, and free your family…”

*He looks at the coin, cautiously…

*…

*They close their eyes…

*Breathe into the coin.

*Repeat the wish three times.

*Holds it to his chest, to keep it safe…

*Then… They flip it to you.

“So… Now what?”

*You see them yawn… The affect of your wish beginning to show on their face…

*Part of you feels guilty, on how easy this plan went…

*How all your little actors played directly into your hands.

*But you in to deep now, are you?

*This is what the Universe wanted from you…

*…

*They should be near the king now…

*…

*You can’t help but laugh!

“Now we wait!”

[itstheval]

Telling the Truth

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Why would I?"

"What? We're your-"

"Friends, yes, I know, but think about it. Think, with me. First thing I could tell you is 'We're guaranteed to win'. Cool! Blinding great. Except you'd know that winning was costing me my life. Something that seems to have upset you, even AFTER the fact!"

"Well, yes, that's because it's your LIFE! We didn't…we don't want you to die for us, Siffrin!"

"Even if it meant saving all of Vaugarde?"

"…"

"We did NOT save Vaugarde without that wish. I can tell you that with a straight face. In whatever magic realm of make believe where I don't wish, we're all standing still as statues right now. I knew that as SOON as I knew that I'd made a wish. You don't need that choice in your mind. Especially not when I'm the one who's dying…If I'm the one feeling it, it should be my choice, shouldn't it?"

"Siffrin…"

"You said first thing you could tell us. Implying there were more things." Odile's voice was stern. Cold. Steel. Good, she was the one person who could understand without her heart weeping. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince the others.

"Oh, there were plenty more things to tell you! Like how the end of the King wasn't the end of the loops? How we were trapped here, by whatever this was? Would you want to know that? That every time we won, it was just washed away like a kayak too far at sea?! Or how about everything I'd failed to do, would you want the list of that?"

"Yes."

The word cut through everything else. Her stare was impassive. Almost empty. Somehow, colder than before.

"Well, I didn't want to tell you about it. It was over a dozen loops before I found that out, and can you imagine having…having THIS conversation a dozen times? Two dozen? Watching your heart break every single time? Watching Mirabelle sob, watching Isabeau practically shut down? Just so I could have a scrap of comfort?! Any Siffrin that would do that to you is a Siffrin that wouldn't have wished at all. Any person who would destroy all of you, who would break all of your hearts, just to have two days of understanding, that person's on the path to being the next King."

"Siffrin. This was…" Odile, of all people, having to choose her words carefully. She was close to understanding. She was close to breaking. It was in her pose, her words, her face. "Not a matter of emotions, beyond a certain point. While I believe you, and your kind heart does you credit…You clearly, fundamentally, could only follow one path at a time. If you had shared your knowledge, you could have been done many loops before…We could have helped you."

"No. You couldn't."

"Oh?"

"The books that told the truth? The books that explained how bad I'd blinded myself? Written in a language only I could read! And that was AFTER I killed myself trying to speak it! The wish, to make the Head Housemaiden tell us what happened? None of you could've believed hard enough! Yeah, I could've asked you about staying together…If I'd had any reason, at all, to think that's why I was looping. NOTHING said that! That wasn't the wish I made, I wished to stay with Mirabelle. I could do that even if you all split up. It would've blinding HURT, but I could have! Nothing. Nothing at all you could have done would save me. Not until the end. Not until you DID."

"You have some proof of this?"

A thud. A book, borrowed from the House…stolen, truly, but no one there could read it, and what good was a book no one could read? A book, laying on the ground between them, the sound of it having shocked the other two from their emotional stupors.

"If you can read this…If you can tell me the title of this…I'll admit I was wrong."

Odile's hands were shaking. Odile's hands never shook. Not with the tremors of age, not with exhaustion, but now…With her fingers outstretched to the book, she was trembling. Cautious. Like it would bite her. She picked it up, turned it around, and stared at it.

Her eyes widened. Then narrowed. Flicking across the title. Opening the book, and her eyes darting back and forth. Looking for something, for anything, as even the steel in her soul bent under the weight. Her back hunched, her brow furrowed, and the signs of a headache were obvious.

A flip of the page.

Another.

Then, a scream of rage, as she tossed the book into the campfire, and fell to the ground, clutching her knees. She sobbed. The Madame, the great Odile, unflappable, steel-spined and sharp-eyed, sobbed like a lost child. It felt like the most damning victory imaginable.

"That's why I didn't tell you. How you're feeling right now. I'd do that to you, every time, for NOTHING." They had to understand, by now. Looking around, at the shattered wrecks of the three, hearing sobs and seeing blank-eyed stares, they did.

Now, only now, could the healing actually start. Now that they believed. Now that they knew. Now that they understood what hat happened, and what impossible choices there were to make. Now that it wasn't 'Silly Siffrin got mixed up in emotions, isn't it cute?', now that it wasn't 'We can talk about whatever happened, Feelings Buddy!', now that it wasn't 'Oh, your fee-fees, your ling-lings'.

Loop said to tell them the truth. They knew how much it would hurt when they said it.

Well, let's see how that works.

[sneeg-snag]

Loop, and the potency of “I asked to be here”

i have been thinking non fucking stop about this game since i played it and i NEEDED to talk about this one damn line. SPOILERS FOR ISAT ACT SIX AND TWOHATS IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THAT PLS DONT READ!!!!!

i thought of this while driving a couple days ago so APOLOGIES if its a little rambly and all over the place but ive genuinely been turning the act 6 fight and just Everything about the game around in my head like a rotisserie chicken for the past couple days.

thinking back on loop after Act 6 has got me really mulling over some of their lines- ESPECIALLY said before I personally figured it out. one of those lines that stuck in my head was when loop says "I asked to be here"

at first i definitely interpreted this as "i saw your situation, and i wanted to help. i asked a higher power/the universe (why theyre a star) and here i am! in return, i am now stuck with you until you get out." loop was playful and kind of carefree, making jokes and poking at siffrin.

and i feel like in some stories this could very well be the case! its apart of the heros journey to have this kind of higher power help the protagonist, and i can definitely imagine a world where something like this happened. Sif wished, and a shooting star saw and wanted to help him.

but thats not what happens in isat. Isat is a game about loss.

and now, looking back after the reveal and the act 6 fight, that line of "i asked to be here" is incredibly potent and hard hitting. instead of it being "i asked to be here" like i originally thought, its "i asked to be here."

its a knife that turns on loop and twists, just gets worse and worse for them. you say "there cannot be any place worse than this", stuck in a timeloop of your own wish, and no matter what you do you cannot leave. so you say "anything will be better than this" and the universe listens and says "really?" and the monkey paw curls.

you asked to be here you say as you watch someone with your face be put in the same predicament. you asked to be here you say as you watch this clone go through the same events you did. you asked to be here you say as you give advice to this doppleganger because youre still stuck. you asked to be here you say as you watch this understudy get out. live the life you were supposed to have.

the universes biggest punchline.

[torchstelechos]

Hi! I was looking at your blog and I was thinking about my own emotions during the game and...

My memory is not the best, but I remember that during the first conversation with my friends at the end of Act 2, I... Could really sympathize with Siffrin. Understand what drove him to do this

I mean, when all these characters started talking about how they would all go their separate ways, how they would "abandon" Siffrin (and us as a player by proxy), how they would all go home and just... Leave us aside, just asking to "drop by" sometimes?..

I felt like I couldn't let them go so soon.

And I should clarify, at that point I didn't know that Siffrin was the one causing the time loops, but something deep inside me already knew, so I looked at Mirabelle's game sprite and said "no, you're not going to be let go that easily, that's not going to happen" with tears in my eyes, because I hate saying goodbye, and I felt some... Strange resentment that they wanted to leave so soon, from Siffrin, from me

For me, that ending was unacceptable, unsatisfactory, and I was actually glad that the loops continued, even if it meant that Siffrin and I'd failed our "defeat the king, break the loops" mission, because it meant that I would be stuck with these characters for a while longer

And maybe Siffrin was also happy about it on some level, and I was actually on Siffrin's side here

It's just interesting how Siffrin and the player are so deeply connected on some level that you can feel a similar spectrum emotions that made Siffrin create this loop in the first place

It's interesting how the game pushes you to feel like you're in Siffrin's shoes when the characters talk so much about "going home and asking to visit sometimes" which felt like "leaving you behind"

So when the game told you that Siffrin is the reason the loops continue... I understood it. And even supported it

Hahaha... I hope it didn't sound like a crazy person xd

Good mood!

Howdy!! Happy you liked the stuff in my blog, i have a lot of emotions about the game and the character interactions. Which is why!!! I loved the very in depth description of your emotions about the games character stuffs!! I think its fascinating how well the game can connect the player to Siffrin, especially since the game holds no reservations in telling you that "No. You are not Siffrin. Siffrin is part of this world and you are not" which might sound harsh but it actually makes it very satisfying when you as the player can help Siffrin get his wish in the end. We aren't Siffrin, but we are helping them, and sometimes that means getting really emotionally invested in the same goal.

When I first started the ISAT experince, it was strange how much I felt connected to Siffrin because at first it is very much Oh! I did not feel this with SASASA! So,, its strange how much the different circumstances of the two games can change the outcome of the player's feelings. Going further into this, I did start with SASASA and then went into ISAT which informs an experience that I had not anticipated. With Loop, we were not there from the start and we as the player are only helping right at the end which makes it hard to connect to the same degree as Siffrin but we still care very deeply because of what we have seen. Loop is already knee deep into Act 4 mental anguish, we have no lead up, no build up, just that they are there and we have to help them. And then we fail. But we only find out in ISAT that we fail!! So, at first you can brush that aside as, We can do better! We can help them more than we did before! Then we get into ISAT and its,, different. Because now we know Siffrin from the start instead of right at the tail end of their spiral, we know how important everyone is to them, we know that its going to hurt when Siffrin gets to the end and loops back. We already know.

We have these preconceived conceptions of how this is going to go, but at every step we are wrongfooted because the game cares. Siffrin forgets the parties names, but Loop instantly goes to fix this and we the players can relax. We have someone to talk to! Who knows whats important and helps us get more into what Siffrin thinks because now we have a variable! The others stay the same for countless loops but then we see more of them and suddenly we're right there with Siffrin, we didn't know this about them. We couldn't know this about them until now! But then it grows stale, because now we know. We know, because we are learning with Siffrin. Then we have to focus outwards instead of inwards, because we love them all so much! We care about them! ...and then it doesnt work and suddenly we have to figure out why we're stuck. And it hurts because it starts getting obvious WHY its happening and,, we dont want the characters to leave just like that! There isnt any release of emotions! We didn't help Siffrin like we wanted to! We can't help Siffrin! Only the party can, and from the previous loops we know they'll leave us.

We're stuck forever, and thats horrible. Because Siffrin is losing things he can not lose without it becoming SASASA, and we know that. So when Siffrin starts to lose it, it hurts but at the same time its amazing! Something new! Something changed! Maybe this time, we can help Siffrin! Even if Siffrin is wrong, maybe this time. Except the house is changed, the ending is changed, the party has changed, and Siffrin has changed. And suddenly the thought of explaining hurts, because its the end. The real end!! And we have to be the ones to press the dialogue! We have to be the ones to press attack! We have to help guide Siffrin to their ending! And we do! and its amazing! The party is going to stay with Siffrin, even for a while longer! ... We wont get to see it, but thats okay because we're just here to help Siffrin.

And then we go to the favor tree to let Loop know.

And suddenly it becomes clear we failed someone.

But without them, how could we have saved this Siffrin? How could we have led them to where they needed to go? How could we have broken the loops without them?

We failed the Star, but we saved the time traveler who can help the Star in our stead.

I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT HOW THE GAME PROGRESSES AND HOW WE THE PLAYERS ARE PART OF THE ROYAL WE UNTIL WE NO LONGER CAN BE WITH SIFFRIN OR THE PARTY AAAAAAHHHHH.

Anyway thanks for sending this ask it made me go crazy with how I see the player in relations to Siffrin and Loop <3