rocktoo
Hello whoever you are. Im rock and my pronouns are she/her. also im autistic. In my free time I play videogames collect rocks. 18+
83 posts
Latest Posts by rocktoo
You guys do know you're supposed to reblog things, right
hello beloveds ☺️
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Climb aboard, then!” But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown. “Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“I can’t help it,” said the scorpion. “It’s my nature.”
___
…But no sooner than they were halfway across the river, the frog felt a subtle motion on its back, and in a panic dived deep beneath the rushing waters, leaving the scorpion to drown.
“It was going to sting me anyway,” muttered the frog, emerging on the other side of the river. “It was inevitable. You all knew it. Everyone knows what those scorpions are like. It was self-defense.”
___
…But no sooner had they cast off from the bank, the frog felt the tip of a stinger pressed lightly against the back of its neck. “What do you think you’re doing?” said the frog.
“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
They swam in silence to the other end of the river, where the scorpion climbed off, leaving the frog fuming.
“After the kindness I showed you!” said the frog. “And you threatened to kill me in return?”
“Kindness?” said the scorpion. “To only invite me on your back after you knew I was defenseless, unable to use my tail without killing myself? My dear frog, I only treated you as I was treated. Your kindness was as poisoned as a scorpion’s sting.”
___
…“Just a precaution,” said the scorpion. “I cannot sting you without drowning. And now, you cannot drown me without being stung. Fair’s fair, isn’t it?”
“You have a point,” the frog acknowledged. “But once we get to dry land, couldn’t you sting me then without repercussion?”
“All I want is to cross the river safely,” said the scorpion. “Once I’m on the other side I would gladly let you be.”
“But I would have to trust you on that,” said the frog. “While you’re pressing a stinger to my neck. By ferrying you to land I’d be be giving up the one deterrent I hold over you.”
“But by the same logic, I can’t possibly withdraw my stinger while we’re still over water,” the scorpion protested.
The frog paused in the middle of the river, treading water. “So, I suppose we’re at an impasse.”
The river rushed around them. The scorpion’s stinger twitched against the frog’s unbroken skin. “I suppose so,” the scorpion said.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Absolutely not!” said the frog, and dived beneath the waters, and so none of them learned anything.
___
A scorpion, being unable to swim, asked a turtle (as in the original Persian version of the fable) to carry it across the river. The turtle readily agreed, and allowed the scorpion aboard its shell. Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell. The turtle, swimming placidly, failed to notice.
They reached the other side of the river, and parted ways as friends.
___
…Halfway across, the scorpion gave in to its nature and stung, but failed to penetrate the turtle’s thick shell.
The turtle, hearing the tap of the scorpion’s sting, was offended at the scorpion’s ungratefulness. Thankfully, having been granted the powers to both defend itself and to punish evil, the turtle sank beneath the waters and drowned the scorpion out of principle.
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” sneered the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back.”
The scorpion pleaded earnestly. “Do you think so little of me? Please, I must cross the river. What would I gain from stinging you? I would only end up drowning myself!”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Even a scorpion knows to look out for its own skin. Climb aboard, then!”
But as they forged through the rushing waters, the scorpion grew worried. This frog thinks me a ruthless killer, it thought. Would it not be justified in throwing me off now and ridding the world of me? Why else would it agree to this? Every jostle made the scorpion more and more anxious, until the frog surged forward with a particularly large splash, and in panic the scorpion lashed out with its stinger.
“I knew it,” snarled the frog, as they both thrashed and drowned. “A scorpion cannot change its nature.”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. The frog agreed, but no sooner than they were halfway across the scorpion stung the frog, and they both began to thrash and drown.
“I’ve only myself to blame,” sighed the frog, as they both sank beneath the waters. “You, you’re a scorpion, I couldn’t have expected anything better. But I knew better, and yet I went against my judgement! And now I’ve doomed us both!”
“You couldn’t help it,” said the scorpion mildly. “It’s your nature.”
___
…“Why on earth did you do that?” the frog said morosely. “Now we’re both going to die.”
“Alas, I was of two natures,” said the scorpion. “One said to gratefully ride your back across the river, and the other said to sting you where you stood. And so both fought, and neither won.” It smiled wistfully. “Ah, it would be nice to be just one thing, wouldn’t it? Unadulterated in nature. Without the capacity for conflict or regret.”
___
“By the way,” said the frog, as they swam, “I’ve been meaning to ask: What’s on the other side of the river?”
“It’s the journey,” said the scorpion. “Not the destination.”
___
…“What’s on the other side of anything?” said the scorpion. “A new beginning.”
___
…”Another scorpion to mate with,” said the scorpion. “And more prey to kill, and more living bodies to poison, and a forthcoming lineage of cruelties that you will be culpable in.”
___
…”Nothing we will live to see, I fear,” said the scorpion. “Already the currents are growing stronger, and the river seems like it shall swallow us both. We surge forward, and the shoreline recedes. But does that mean our striving was in vain?”
___
“I love you,” said the scorpion.
The frog glanced upward. “Do you?”
“Absolutely. Can you imagine the fear of drowning? Of course not. You’re a frog. Might as well be scared of breathing air. And yet here I am, clinging to your back, as the waters rage around us. Isn’t that love? Isn’t that trust? Isn’t that necessity? I could not kill you without killing myself. Are we not inseparable in this?”
The frog swam on, the both of them silent.
___
“I’m so tired,” murmured the frog eventually. “How much further to the other side? I don’t know how long we’ve been swimming. I’ve been treading water. And it’s getting so very dark.”
“Shh,” the scorpion said. “Don’t be afraid.”
The frog’s legs kicked out weakly. “How long has it been? We’re lost. We’re lost! We’re doomed to be cast about the waters forever. There is no land. There’s nothing on the other side, don’t you see!”
“Shh, shh,” said the scorpion. “My venom is a hallucinogenic. Beneath its surface, the river is endlessly deep, its currents carrying many things.”
“You - You’ve killed us both,” said the frog, and began to laugh deliriously. “Is this - is this what it’s like to drown?”
“We’ve killed each other,” said the scorpion soothingly. “My venom in my glands now pulsing through your veins, the waters of your birthing pool suffusing my lungs. We are engulfing each other now, drowning in each other. I am breathless. Do you feel it? Do you feel my sting pierced through your heart?”
“What a foolish thing to do,” murmured the frog. “No logic. No logic to it at all.”
“We couldn’t help it,” whispered the scorpion. “It’s our natures. Why else does anything in the world happen? Because we were made for this from birth, darling, every moment inexplicable and inevitable. What a crazy thing it is to fall in love, and yet - It’s all our fault! We are both blameless. We’re together now, darling. It couldn’t have happened any other way.”
___
“It’s funny,” said the frog. “I can’t say that I trust you, really. Or that I even think very much of you and that nasty little stinger of yours to begin with. But I’m doing this for you regardless. It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s strange. Why would I do this? I want to help you, want to go out of my way to help you. I let you climb right onto my back! Now, whyever would I go and do a foolish thing like that?”
___
A scorpion, not knowing how to swim, asked a frog to carry it across the river. “Do I look like a fool?” said the frog. “You’d sting me if I let you on my back!”
“Be logical,” said the scorpion. “If I stung you I’d certainly drown myself.”
“That’s true,” the frog acknowledged. “Come aboard, then!” But no sooner had the scorpion mounted the frog’s back than it began to sting, repeatedly, while still safely on the river’s bank.
The frog groaned, thrashing weakly as the venom coursed through its veins, beginning to liquefy its flesh. “Ah,” it muttered. “For some reason I never considered this possibility.”
“Because you were never scared of me,” the scorpion whispered in its ear. “You were never scared of dying. In a past life you wore a shell and sat in judgement. And then you were reborn: soft-skinned, swift, unburdened, as new and vulnerable as a child, moving anew through a world of children. How could anyone ever be cruel, you thought, seeing the precariousness of it all?” The scorpion bowed its head and drank. “How could anyone kill you without killing themselves?”
Siffrin’s hat and cloak are probably doing wonders to young artists everywhere… they will be guided into doing clothing folds in 3d space so early in their journey…
The decade you’re given is the decade to which you’re transported. Your geographic location doesn’t change; only the time period changes. “Equivalent QOL” means a qualify of life that approximates the life you have now and anticipate being able to have in the future.
i love when characters lie to themselves in the complete privacy of their own minds
ITS DONE!
KABOOM! CHAPTER 12! FINALLY!!!!
merry christmas. enjoy chapter 11. :]
Tumbr keeps crashing for no reason. Clearly this means the media is trying to silence me
My fic hit 200 kudos! Very awesome very cool :]
Do not lubricate him!!!!!!!
Tragic news everyone, I have decided to remove the Sloop from my fic to focus almost entirely on the angst. Very shocking I know, but don’t worry. I’ll make a dedicated sloop fic at some point, I prommy.
ALRIGHT, I ASKED FOREVER AGO, BUT WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT MY ISA LOOPS AU??
Heads up this contains a lot, and I mean A LOT of spoilers for In Stars And Time. Including: = Act 6 spoilers, including main mystery and secret encounter = Minimal Act 5 stuff = And a bunch of extra stuff that happens through Act 3 and 4. SO BASICALLY ALMOST EVERYTHING, FINISH THIS GAME COMPLETELY BEFORE READING (ESPECIALLY THAT ACT 6 ENCOUNTER, IT WILL LITERALLY BE THE FIRST THING I MENTION UNDER THE CUT)
With all those warnings out of the way-
IN REPETITION AND CHANGE
Initial Concepts:
I feel it's important to show these sketches because they were the first ideas I ever had. I wasn't even entirely sure I wanted to make an AU at this point, I didn't even know how I'd approach it. But I started sketching and it's been on my mind since- SO! Isa is stuck in the timeloop. I know what his wish is and he DOES have a Loop equivalent! The grumpy dandelion guy is Roboro (it/they/he). Their name is a very small play on Ouroboros and they call Isa "Seedling". However, this post is not about them, as I'm gonna talk about it and Isa's dynamic in a separate post. In short, Isa is his normal loud self up until Act 3, right? They beat the King, they reach the end, and whoops, the loop isn't broken. So now, what happens is that Isa starts getting his brains out. He starts thinking more analytically and tries to problem solve.
The more stuck he gets in his head, the less he's able to perceive his friends as real people, and more like them holding him back. Because even if Isa explains that he's smart, that they shouldn't be surprised if he says something, shock of all shocks, reasonable- They'll forget it the next loop.
So Isa is stuck with trying to portray his confident, loud, supportive facade- Which is fine! It wouldn't be the first time! But it progressively gets more and more frustrating, as he tries to find answers and simply looses the energy to pretend to be stupid.
TL;DR: Isa in the timeloop, unlike Siffrin, becomes more distant and cold rather then something more akin to Sif's mania.
NOW, MORE ART!!!
KILL KILL KILL:
I imagine Isa didn't have this encounter the same way that Sif did. Yeah, frankly, Isa is pissed with the sadness- But that's not why he goes through with this.
In this moment, Isa is trying to kill two birds with one stone. He's trying to get through this quickly, as well as reassure Mira that they can do this! If he shows how strong he is, then she'll feel safe right???
Poor Isabeau forgot that whenever he shows that he thinks ahead, he scares people. How could he forget that? How could he forget that he's inherently---
Family Quest:
I still think Odile is the one to call out to him (same with sus quest).
The hangouts I'm still figuring out, cause I don't think they'd too similar to base game- But, fun fact, at the end of this run, everyone agrees to keep travel together!
Isabeau brings it up, can't hurt if you can fix your mistakes right? And everyone agrees. The relief on Siffrin is the most palpable thing Isabeau has ever seen.
In this moment they love you. In this moment they all love you. In this moment---
Death Screen:
He loops back anyways. (This is one of the initial concepts that I ended up animating. This line in particular is when he reaches the end)
Act 5 Tarot Card:
NOW TO SEE MORE OF HIS PASSIVE AGRESSIVE SIDE
Thanks to @the-bitter-ocean for prescribing tarot cards to Isa (THEY ALL FUCK SO HARD) and for the RAW ASS LINE
If interacted with in act 5, predictably, Isa tears it apart. He doesn't need the divine judgement upon him, he's faced everyone's perception his entire life.
However, he tears it methodically. Tears it once in even pieces, twice, three times, and one of the pieces once more. In a way he isn't even getting his emotions out, it's like he's actively trying to tear it apart so it stops nagging him, like he wants to shut it up. Though, the Judgement card symbolizes rebirth, absolution and inner calling. In Act 6 he'd be able to look at it and find comfort and confidence in the card.
Act 5 Mirror:
And lastly, I have the Act 5 mirror picture. I haven't quite figured out how to make the normal ones work yet, however, I couldn't let go of the idea that Isa would not want to be in the picture.
The idea of seeing himself at all makes his head hurt and his stomach squeeze. The memory haunts him as he stands to the side and says the word. He didn't think the mirror would catch him.
AAAAND THAT'S ALL THE ART STUFF FOR NOW!!
I still have quite a bit of it to post, especially about Roboro, but I'm gonna leave it here for now.
I still gotta figure out the hangouts and potentially the dagger equivalent- but I have ideas for Bad Touch, the glass equivalent, and some extra little things that didn't happen in Siffrin's loops.
I needed to yap about this, because I've been slowly stacking up ideas and writing and I needed to share it at some point- If anyone read all this and has questions and stuff I fully welcome 'em!!
"Isabeau isn't that interesting of a character compared to the others" is a take I have regrettably seen. I have never believed it for a moment but I realized I had way more immediate thoughts on the other cast members, so I went to fix that. And ohhh, Isabeau.
Siffrin's "not the only one acting in this play," but Isabeau's act of sorts is compelling to me because of how deeply intentional it is, even before the loops. He agrees with the craftology book's description of Protector Craft users being patient, loyal, and "very gullible" with a smile. He's upset that he didn't know what colors were, but when Odile tells him, "We don't usually count on you to know things," he corrects himself after a short pause with an "Oh yeah! That's true!!!"
His relationship with Odile makes me ill because her more straightforward, joking remarks unknowingly hit right where it hurts. I think of the SASASAP art book's relationship chart - "I wanna impress [Odile]! Old me would have..." as if the current version of him would never be able to. But he can! He does, in different loops! The two of them are the ones that synthesize the information on Wish Craft, and Odile compliments his questions about the King in the candle room ("Good questions, Isabeau. You have pretty smart insights sometimes").
Isabeau and Siffrin are the two that always ask Odile what her research is about, and she goes along with it because it's easier than explaining. Both Isa and Odile unknowingly reinforce those boxes, because those boxes and labels are easier to live in instead of telling the truth. And in Isa's case, it's not that faking it 'til you make it is bad or wrong, but it becomes a cover-up for the problems he can only heal by confronting them.
I think of the bathroom conversation between Isabeau and Mirabelle, how when she asks if he's doing okay, he tries to call himself simple, saying he "[doesn't] have a big enough brain to worry about things." How it's such a painfully obvious lie. How he's the one to always worry about others and whether they're alright, but he can't accept the same for himself. (Like a certain someone else.)
There's a lot to glean from comparing Isa's anxieties and conflict avoidance with both Mirabelle and Odile. Odile is caring, but also pragmatic, confronting the problem even if she isn't the best at it. Isa knows something's wrong, but isn't ready to ask. Their bathroom talk during Susquest highlights their dichotomy.
And although Mirabelle admits she's "no good at being confrontational," she's the one to ask Siffrin what's wrong in SASASAP's True End route. Isa was going to, but he spends so much time trying to "build up to it," trying to plan out how to word it correctly, that he's too late to the punch.
(thank you isat script project! 🤍)
Isabeau has been working on it, for sure, but his fears hold him back constantly. He's the type that wants to both reassure others and to be reassured. To make sure he's not messing up his relationships, to make sure that existing the way he is is okay. He's become louder, more boisterous, someone who loves hugs, because those are qualities he values, but to an extent where his older traits - shyness, but also his intelligence and nerdiness - feel incompatible in his mind. He starts to see those qualities as bad because of how he struggled to love himself (and still does). His Change is good for him, but the way he tries to mold his personality is forced, even inauthentic, as he tries to run away from himself.
It's compelling in the context of ISAT's rejection of stereotypes and the typical found family structure, too. Odile's the "smart one," so he can't outshine that, Siffrin's the "funnyjokespun person," so that can't be his only trait, even if he's the big strong man (and he instead contrasts this by acting gullible and foolish - I wonder if he exaggerates it around the party at all, consciously or not?) Bonnie's the kid to take care of (which can lead Isa's words to sounding "patronizing"), and Mira's the leader, the kind, loving Chosen One who brought everyone together (not that he'd want to take center stage to begin with). And it's also interesting to examine from a gender role lens (a few people have done so. ouuuch!).
This doesn't even begin to talk about how similar he is to Siffrin, how closed off they both are in different ways, how they want to be loved so badly but can't express it, the way they suppress their emotions (thinking about these two posts. i'm normal!). That could be its own separate infinity word post by this point.
But it's so lovely how Siffrin's actions in the end - how they take Isabeau's hand, how they reassure him ("We wouldn't like you any less if you were smart, you know"), are ones that help Isabeau confront his fears just a little bit more. It's like he says: "Changing takes time, you know!!!"
And fortunately, he has people who will be there for him every step of the way, even if they physically go their separate ways.
Poured my heart, soul, and very evil mind into this chapter. Enjoy.
I just realized if you look at my bio on mobile my pronouns are just cut off. It just says “I’m rock and my pronouns“ like they’re also in charge of the account.
giggles and kicks my feet i love loop instarsandtime
CHAPTER 9 - ACT 5
I just barely got this out on loop/siffrins birthday. Yippee!
#isat and Other Things That Ruined My Life: An Autobiography by rocktoo
I got a funny idea while brainstorming for writing ideas: as seen in the act 6 fight loop is pretty much immortal as long as they wanna be, they can reverse all damage they take with relative ease, so… what if they try to say the name of the island, could they keep trying until they get tired or would the universe force them to stop somehow? Would the universe let loop die saying it?
Imagine
Isat but every time Siffrin loops, Loop has to sit through an entire loop without siffrin and every time this happens the amount of loops they have to sit through increases by one. Like the Stanley parable skip button gag. I think that would be funny.
It’s so funny how when I’m writing something graphic I’m like “oh man I hope I’m not going too far here. Is murder on the table??? Oh jeez.” and then minutes later I look at some fanart with 1 bajillion notes that’s literally 10x worse than what I had planned (in a good way)
Keep putting characters in awful situations y’all. Makes me feel better about putting them in awful situations myself :]
There’s a lady at my local pizza inn who is there daily and has never eaten a single pizza. Every time I’ve gone there this tiny old lady is just standing around doing not much and occasionally getting a salad. I don’t think she leaves the place.
2x the length
3x the pain
Have fun
Btw I’m gonna be updating some chapters of my fic with just general improvements + making them longer sometimes. Probably won’t be anything major so if you don’t wanna reread everything there’s no need to. I just wanna refine some parts now that I’m a lil better at writing 👍