#isat.tag

[beneathsilverstars]

Ooooh, tumblr, do you know how this feels? Can you imagine it?

DO YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS, TO KNOW THAT OTHER FANS HAVE THE ENTIRE ART BOOK IN THEIR HANDS RIGHT NOW, AND YOU HAVE NOTHING?!?

SIFFRIN… LOOP… MIRABELLE... ISABEAU... ODILE... BONNIE...!!!!!!

THEY WERE MINE, THEY WERE MINE, THEY WERE MINE!!!!!!

THEY WERE MY SKRUNKLY BIMBLOS!!!!!!

AND JUST BECAUSE I PREFER DIGITAL, YOU GOT TO LEARN ABOUT THEM FIRST!!!!!!

[beneathsilverstars]

wow guys my copy of the art book just arrived look at this page

[beneathsilverstars]

siffrins will ask "is anyone else gonna martyr themself" and then not wait for an answer

[beneathsilverstars]

it might be really nice for siffrin waking up on rainy days, because that’s instantly recognizable as very different from the loops even before they open their eyes… i wonder if they could get a crafted music player of some kind to play meditative music or rain sounds or something (ideally with multiple options) to just always keep going while they sleep? or maybe just when they’re having a rougher time or staying somewhere at all similar to the meadow / clocktower?

[beneathsilverstars]

bonnie + siffrin the ultimate meal prep duo tbh. siffrin teaches bonnie foraging and hunting and knife skills and then bonnie takes the lead for trying out and perfecting new recipes using what they’ve prepared

[beneathsilverstars]

Worldbuilding Notes - Vaugardian vs Ka Buan gender etiquette

Instead, Odile said, "I've always found it interesting that Vaugardians introduce themselves with their pronouns." ... "Sometimes I wonder if everyone’s been translating the word ‘privacy' wrong, and the Vaugardians don’t actually have such a concept after all." - Trying Something New

Pronoun etiquette is extra interesting to Odile partially because French Vaugardian is so much more gendered than Japanese Ka Buan, but partially because Ka Bue’s general transphobia meant that even the queer communities Odile was part of were more circumspect about it. Asking about someone’s gender would be taken as rudely implying that they don’t pass, or putting them in a position where you expect them to out themself, or even just being weirdly prying.

The most commonly used third person pronouns in Japanese aren't gendered; afaik, gender would most often be relevant to personal pronouns and honorifics, but there are other factors like how casual you're being and how close you are to the person. So in Ka Bue, it would be more polite to just use polite, neutral words for other people, and otherwise take your cues from the way they speak about themself and the way mutual acquaintances speak about them. It's more of a vibes-based "would this person prefer to be called beautiful or handsome" sort of thing, which would be a very weird fact to introduce yourself with!

It was also pretty common (in Odile’s circles at least) for people to change their presentation by situation — sometimes the classic “closeted at home, out among friends”, but sometimes more of a genderfluid "femme in the streets butch in the sheets a sort of androgynous dark academia at work and i'm only a girl when i'm being extra lesbian". This is because Ka Buan philosophies of self tend to focus less on consistent identity and more on what facets of your personality are brought out by different situations. So it’s interesting to her that despite how often they Change, Vaugardians usually treat their pronouns as more of a semi-permanent fact (like hair color) as opposed to something that shifts by occasion (like clothes).

[beneathsilverstars]

isat characters ranked most to least likely to get pregnant

1. isabeau. big ol classic romantic, would love to start a family with the love of his life. understands how monumental and difficult change can be, but loves doing it anyway, and he’s a huge nerd — he’ll do his research and he won’t be put off by the messy bits! he also loves being a provider and protector, and would be so proud to carry his child.

2. the king. he coulda gone a totally different route with his trauma response and decided to recreate / pass on his heritage instead of doing all that. maybe getting pregnant would have fixed him

3. siffrin. more hesitant about the physical toll of pregnancy as well as the demands of parenthood, but with support he may feel up to it. and after losing their birth family, they might really like getting the chance to start their own!

4. euphrasie. she seems busy being a head housemaiden and already has plenty of youths to guide, but hey, it’s a fun change! so it’s probably not off the table entirely.

5. claude. definitely less into the whole shebang, but very into euphrasie.

6. odile. go go gadget abortion craft

7. mirabelle. she’d be super squicked by the roulette of possible physical changes! she might be more torn about it than odile, but she goes lower on the list because there’s no chance of even just a couple weeks of accidental pregnancy. celibacy 🔥

8. loop. infertile :(

[beneathsilverstars]

Worldbuilding Notes - Vaugardian Inns

“The festival really must be popular,” Odile finally said, “if they run out of space in the inns, and the House, and the homes of every kind citizen." ... "I suppose they can’t charge as much here in Vaugarde, when people have so many other options. I wonder if there’s a quality difference? It would make sense if lower prices meant lower budgets for buying furniture and hiring staff, but it would also make sense for higher quality to be necessary to justify there being a price at all." - Trying Something New

The main perk of staying at an inn in Vaugarde, rather than a house or House, is the privacy/professionalism!

If you accept someone's offer of their guest room or couch, you're staying with strangers who will want to make smalltalk and set a place at their table for you. They might offer to help you with travel plans or laundry etc, and it would be polite of you to offer to help them with dishes or cleaning etc in return for their hospitality. And every household just has its own quirks and expectations to adapt to.

If you stay at a decently sized House of Change, it will likely be a dorm situation with multiple beds in a room, shared bathrooms, and community meals. Or, a small village's House might be just a couple rooms, so you're basically camping out in a classroom. Either away, the housemaidens and visiting townsfolk will again most likely be chatty and helpful and suggest you participate in the community, by taking a class or pitching in on chores or such.

In contrast, Vaugardian inns will almost always have small private rooms with ensuite bathrooms. There's no room service, so you won't be disturbed by strangers. You can ask for fresh linens at the front desk if you want, but there's usually a common laundry room where you can wash your sheets along with your own laundry. There's often an attached restaurant/bar, where you can order what you like and then bring it back to your room if you prefer solitude, and sometimes there's a kitchen stocked with basic pots and pans and maybe some shelf-stable staples, which you can use to cook independently.

So, overall, you don't have to take charge of your own laundry/food, but you also don't have to accept other people meddling with it, or feel obligated to help with anyone else's chores. You're left alone unless you request help, which is then a paid-for service instead of a favor — which appeals to exactly the kind of person who would find it incredibly awkward to crash on a stranger's couch or in a religious community building.

This also helps the inn keep their costs down, compared to nice inns in many other countries, where perks like room service and laundry and meals and preemptive assistance are all wrapped into the experience, and thus, its price. Vaugardian inn rooms also tend to be quite plain, and on the smaller side, but with decent mattresses and bath tubs and soundproofing. There are cheap inns in other countries that are plain and cramped and devoid of perks, but they tend to be hostels with bunks and shared bathrooms, which is a niche filled in Vaugarde at a higher quality by Houses.