#and hes been using the soul riders + garnok + sands the whole time to like harvest energy for his home world

[calamitydawning]

they are the same to me

[mistfallenjoyer]

Ghost and torture for Lucy please ♡︎ -sso-montana

YIPPEE WOOHOOO UAYAAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you :3

I'm also putting this under a read more because this is PRETTY long.

-ghost-

Genuinely, a lot is haunting her, because a lot has happened to her! There are things I cannot talk about because they are spoilers for her back when she was in high school and I really wanna get my fic out about it before I discuss it. (I may just upload it directly to tumblr though? Still considering the option!)

Like.. We have Lucy getting stuck in Pandoria for a couple of months! With thoughts constantly running through her mind about her partner and friends not even bothering to look for her, among other things... (I'm considering having Lucy just straight up die at some point while in Pandoria, but she gets brought back in some way. I don't know if this is something I will actually do, but I like the idea! Especially if what brings her back are the spirits of past soul riders.) And Pandoria is still a huge problem for her, and she gets panicked when running by the rifts in the Harvest Counties. She's scared to go back, but she will eventually have to.

She hasn't done anything to get over her fears, though. Lucy literally just avoids it.

And then you have her whole Aideen thing. The Dark Riders find out about Lucy being Aideen's reincarnation and she becomes a HUGE target for them. Of course, all of the soul riders and their horses have always been targets... But Mr. Sands is going to kill god if he can. Lucy hates always having somebody with her, she hates feeling like something is always following behind her. Lucy doesn't feel safe in her own home at this point and lives in Valedale temporarily.

But Linda is living with her! And if I remember Alex is living in Valedale, too? So Linda and Lucy could possibly temporarily live with Alex until The Keepers of Aideen feel like it's safe for her to leave Valedale again. (Which won't happen until after Garnok is dead! So fun for her.) I think even after the war is over, she would still feel like she's being followed or watched, I want it to linger for her. I want everything she went through to linger and effect her throughout her life.

The thing is, too, especially for the second one. Lucy hasn't been trained very well at all. She's been a soul rider for a long time now and she still doesn't know how to use and handle most of her powers, so the Keepers of Aideen are really the people to figure out a way to keep her safe, especially since she can't really defend herself against someone like Sabine. Also Lucy is very very pregnant around the time she's put into the Aideen Protection Program, so she's got that to worry about as well.

-torture-

She was mentally tormented for months in Pandoria by fan favorite Jessica! Would she ever torture someone else? Probably not? I don't want to put it past her because I think depending on the circumstance she would 100% torture somebody. Like if one of the evils hurt Beely, her soul steed. Linda, or even her child. I think she would not be above torturing them.

[dapplesndruids]

Theory: MC’s Choice

Based on the short questline from the Jorvik Stables Open House with Sabine - boy did those get my gears turning. Squeeee is one of my headcanons actually becoming canon-

I’m sure you all have a general understanding of where I’m headed with this whole ‘choice’ idea - that is, in short, being a choice of light vs. dark, good vs. evil. What if- just what if- the MC was given that choice? What sparked me into thinking this could actually become canon (and not just my personal angsty OC dark rider headcanon) was that whole dialogue section with Sabine (along with a few other clues/hints). She was really pushing the MC to be defiant towards their Soul Rider friends - granted these small mischevious acts such as letting the Sunfield animals loose don’t exactly chalk up to world domination standards, but they are still inherently “evil”. Kinda draws on that ‘planting a seed of evil’ idea - a small start is still a start. Also, wtf was up with the description of the jacket Sabine gave us - “do you dare wear this in front of your Soul Rider friends?” I mean sure, that dark heart mark is on the back, but why would MC even accept it in the first place - much less, have a desire to be almost secretive about it (if we view the item descriptions as MC’s personal thoughts about said items)? That’s all fine and well, however that is one short scene out of an entire questline -  is it really that indicative of an MC that could go either way? However, this isn’t the only time we’ve gotten evidence towards this theory; I bulleted a few evidence points below with my personal thoughts about each, feel free to add your own ideas!

#1: Catherine’s Journal

- Specifically, the latter entries; reading over them, I noticed a certain trend towards the last few entries. Catherine began writing about having “dark thoughts” and seemed almost manic? when discussing the fact that others fear her (specifically in that case her Moon Sister and Eva; she describes knowing the look of fear “all too well”). Tying all of this to the MC and this theory, we know that both MC and Catherine posses(ed) extremely powerful magic - this magic not without its dangerous consequences when placed in the hands of teenagers. Could this ultimate power have been what drove Catherine almost ‘mad’ in a sense?

#2: Light and Dark (Black and White)

- Something I’ve noticed playing through the recent (past couple of years) quests is how stressed the ideas of “everyone possessing both light and dark” and “not everything in the world (motivations) is black and white” - Catherine specifically stressed those ideas for Justin’s sake in her diary, and referenced Thomas - who was pretty much predisposed to end up involved with Garnok like his father - in saying that he made the ‘right’ choice. This makes me think that potentially, the MC has the ability to be a ‘key’ for both sides; my final conclusion was this: MC is the final key needed for both the dark ceremony and the light ceremony - the dark ceremony being the key to Garnok’s prison, and the light ceremony being the only thing that can keep him imprisoned. This would also explain why Sands and Darko didn’t want to kill the MC in their encounters with them - as Darko said, he only wanted to capture MC. Essentially, the dark riders need as just as much as the soul riders do - this leads me to believe that Sabine was almost trying to recruit MC (or at least plant that seed) at the open house.  This could also explain why Catherine was so adamant with that whole “light and dark” idea - not only for her son’s sake, but for MC. MC has a choice of what cause they want to fight for - they truly do have the power to choose their own destiny.

As fun as it is to theorize and imagine our MC OCs being dark riders with tragic coming-to-evil stories, I don’t think this choice idea will necessarily work with the way the story and gameplay are currently set up. However, that’s not to say that we won’t possibly get a scene or two of the MC trying to make that choice or more of the dark riders trying to recruit them - it just won’t be truly our choice as players, as this would require the design of two completely opposite quest paths.

As always, I’d love to see your input; I’ve seen this idea swirling around ssoblr here and there, so thought I’d go ahead and give my own view/evidence on it.

[pandoriasbox]

Fluffember 5 Cry - DD Dark Rider AU

(The Dark Rider AU has mature themes not suitable for younger readers.)

Despite everything it still broke Lisa’s heart to see Az in such a hopeless state. She hardly spoke, hardly ate and hardly looked alive. Judging by what the redhead had told her and what she had heard from the druids, it seemed as though Lisa was the ex-dark rider’s only visitor. The soul rider sat quietly across from Azalea as she mirrored Lisa on the edge of the bed. Even Eversong looked worried and glanced between Az’s face and the musician. She looked like a lifeless doll, the only sign she wasn’t being the rise and fall of her chest, occasional blinks and her hand slowly and methodically caressing the foal’s head in her lap.

“Az you know you can talk to me…” She said softly, trying not to grip too tightly at her jacket. “I just want to see you heal… I know you’re hurting more than you show.” Lisa bit her lip, watching the other for any sign of reaching past the walls she had built up. Eversong gazed up at her as well, looking worried but hopeful at his companion.

The first sign was a deep sigh that brought with it extensive exhaustion. Dead green eyes flicked up to look at Lisa, causing the soul rider to flinch slightly at the sudden shift. Az’s lips drew into a tight line before she shut her eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it go slowly.

“I know.” She swallowed and let her fingers curl gently in Eversong’s soft fluffy mane. “I… it just hurts Lisa, it hurts to be back here. It’s better than the first time but is it really any different? I’m just in a gilded cage.” Neither rider could meet the other’s gaze, both looking anywhere but at each other.

“I… I suppose not.” Lisa said after a moment, uncertain what would be safe to say.

Az looked back down at Eversong and her lips twitched in what almost looked like a smile when he nuzzled against her free palm. “He’s the only thing keeping me sane...” She said softly.

“I’d imagine...” Lisa frowned, worry gnawing at her for the ex-dark rider. She couldn’t understand how the others just passed Az off as a hopeless and dangerous case. She wished Linda and Evergrey could visit to prove Azalea wasn’t alone but it was fruitless. Linda was rightfully scared after what they went through and Evergrey was still under secure watch. Lisa knew it wasn’t smart of her to come visit, she knew she was putting herself in danger especially going alone but Az had still loved her. Despite everything she cared, she couldn’t lay a finger on her when they fought. It gave her courage but more importantly it gave her hope. “Az please, I know you’ve been through so much but I can’t understand if you don’t talk to me.”

The lifeless rider looked back at her, chilling Lisa to the bone with her gaze but she stayed strong and forced a small hopeful smile on her lips. Az lifted her free hand to rub her face, Lisa having noticed she hardly ever lost contact with Eversong.

“I’m scared Lisa… I’m afraid if I tell you the things I’ve been through, the things in my head… I don’t want you to fear me too.” Az held back the choke threatening to rise in her voice. She had gotten good at hiding her emotions but now with the one person who still gave two shits about her sitting across from her, Azalea was finding it suddenly much harder to maintain her composure.

Lisa didn’t have the heart to tell her she was honestly terrified too. Az was inhuman in a way that no one could understand. Something had gone wrong on the oil rig with Garnok and the image of the eldritch dragon rising up over her would likely haunt her for life. Lisa was already having nightmares, ones where Az didn’t stop at the sight of Eversong, she swallowed both Lisa and Starshine whole before everything went black and she woke up screaming. A shudder ran through her before she collected herself and looked back at Az. The expression of sincere worry instead of apathy made Lisa’s heart drop.

“I promise I’ll still be here.” She whispered softly, scooting closer with her chair and taking Az’s free hand. “I don’t want to lie to you about how I feel but I promise, I’ll still be here.” She squeezed Az’s hand and gazed into her eyes. She felt that emerald gaze searching, it was intense and Lisa held strong as she hoped she could prove to the ex-dark rider her intent.

After a moment Az’s tight lips released into a soft sigh and she nodded. Neither had noticed how tense she had become until her shoulders slumped and she released her tighter grip on Eversong’s mane. “Okay.” Was all she said for a moment before making herself more comfortable on the bed.

Az tried not to go too deep into detail, making sure to leave out the worst of her experiences. She started off softly speaking of the horror she felt since that fateful day she disappeared from Lisa’s life. How the druids had abused her, let Eversong die and left her feeling hopeless. She had given up until Katja and Sabine broke her out and then she stopped suddenly, nearly choking on her words and the memories that returned.

Lisa listened silently except for the occasional encouragement to go on. She watched as Az stumbled and struggled with the Valedale fire. She held her hand, feeling as though Az was clutching onto her for dear life as she quickly recounted the horrible night. Once it was done she almost gasped for air, releasing the memories and returning to the present reality. She moved on quickly, telling Lisa of how she joined Dark Core but not the Dark Riders at first. How hopeless she felt, how lost she was without Eversong or any of her friends and family. She had nothing to live for after Valedale and nowhere she could go. Slowly they made her feel at least useful and then they almost became like a family. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t as good as what she lost she admitted but it was all she had.

Az spoke viciously of Sands, how she felt he twisted her mind and pushed her to become an assassin. She hated the work and she hated everything he directed her to do when she was so vulnerable. Her voice softened as she spoke of Cinders, the mare that opened her eyes to how far she had fallen. How by working to heal her Az realized she was beginning to feel again and in fact was healing herself. She pauses and flushes as she realizes what part she was at and shares an almost smile with Lisa.

“Then I met you again...” She murmured. “And I felt like I had a second chance, if I could just… fix everything then I’d be able to live again. Maybe even move on.” She swallowed and felt her emotions rush up like a tidal wave. Az rushed through the last of it, explaining quickly and in as little detail as possible how she planned and finally removed Sands from leading Dark Core. How she took it upon herself to manage the company and steer it away from the more nefarious work they had focused in. Lisa sat rapt in her attention to Az's words, never having even guessed so much could have happened since she disappeared.

Azalea finished it off, explaining she was desperate when she went to Ydris for the runestone that would summon Garnok. She thought she had everything under control and never imagined she could have even merged with the creature. Then how peaceful things were once Aideen was gone and how elated she was to be reunited. Once her whole story had spilled out, left for Lisa to pick through and consume she sat there gasping for breath as though she had been running. Slowly she sat back from her tense hunched position, still one hand on Eversong and the other holding Lisa’s hand. Az let her eyes fall shut as she tried to hold in the flood of emotions threatening to spill over.

She didn’t realize she had started crying until she felt Lisa’s thumb gently brush away her tears. They were spilling down her cheeks and sobs wracked her body. Soon she found herself wrapped up in Lisa’s arms and she tried to move her free one around the musician in turn. She clung to her ex, letting her voice go hoarse in her wailing at the injustice and stress she had endured. At how hopeless everything once again was and at how weak and broken she felt. Eventually she cried herself to exhaustion and would only vaguely remember later how Lisa helped her lay down, tears finally dry before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

[writingonjorvik]

Can We Discuss Defeating Garnok?

I’ve been talking a lot about how I think that Garnok’s defeat needs to be the end of chapter one of SSO’s story, but I haven’t really explained why I feel like that’s the case. So, let’s talk about that.

Let’s knock this one off the bat first, cause it’s the simplest reason. SSO is an MMO, and while SSO’s narrative is not a traditional MMO experience, MMO narratives are more in like with serial series/monster of the week kind of stories that one big bad. This has a lot to do with expansions in most MMOs cases, but it’s also in part to how big MMOs are. The scale of MMOs typically cover planets, and so to be fighting the same big bad for the entirety of a story tends to get repetitive, while also limiting the scope of the world the the devs can use instead of creating new enemies and challenges in new regions of their massive world.

Which leads well into my next point, because before I do that, I need to address a counterpoint. It was pointed out by someone on the WOJ Discord that while Garnok was the major big bad, there were a load of generals in the way that should be serving as the stepping stones between the players and the final fight with Garnok, so the generals would be serving as those “expansion” bosses. Which is a fair point, if that was being used in application.

However, I think this route is also really risky, for the same issue of repetition, but also the fact that we should have beaten one of the generals by now. And we haven’t. 9 years in and we haven’t finished off any big bad, not even in a “purified the darkness” kind of way where they’re still alive but not evil. And that’s not going into the whole problem with the generals: they reincarnate. If Garnok stays the end game big bad, we’re going to keep the same generals through the end of the game. And that runs a high risk of being stale because we’ll be fighting the same group of people for as long as SSO’s around, characters that will keep one-upping us and we’ll keep one-upping them in a never ending loop instead of meeting new characters and figuring out how we’re going to defeat them each time around. Not to mention, these are thousands of year old demons, they aren’t going to evolve and adapt like more human enemies, which runs the risk, again, of conflicts with them being stale. Mr. Sands will always be the same on the big scale, he’s never going to grow and become more dynamic. Which means we’ll be head first in the same fight over and over until the game ends.

This is why the monster of the week trope works in MMOs, just it’s more of a monster of the month system. It is technically the same trope, but at least there’s progression forward and you’re not being thwarted by the same five goons over and over again. You may meet other cosmic horrors, but those cosmic horrors have a different flavor and a different method to defeat them. Or it’s not a cosmic horror, it’s a bunch of power hungry goons who got their hands on a very powerful source of magic. But the ability to move between different types of enemies, even if the core steps are the same, helps hide those strings in how the characters are being moved to your real big bad.

But that leads to my biggest reason, and it kinda leads back to why I think the Soul Riders need to break up. I’ll try not to repeat this point too much, but the Garnok fight is their fight, not our fight. When Starshine Legacy was recent, I could get more of why people would want to be a part of that story, but we’ve all had a moment I’m sure where we’ve noticed that the plot of SSO is basically shoehorning in an important fifth rider to keep the story going. It’s one of the reasons the MC being part of their group doesn’t work too. And while I understand the need to retcon the SSL games into the new book series, in a lot of ways this makes the problem worse on the Garnok fight being the Soul Riders fight.

Part of this comes to multimedia storytelling, which I personally adore. However, the risk of multimedia storytelling is accepting that it will gatekeep part of your audience. The SSL games, even if SSO couldn’t redistribute them, were easier. You’re playing a game, so you’d play another game, or watch someone play another game. But books get harder. Books require a different type of attention, and they can keep out people with visual and focusing disabilities. Not to mention that it severely limits people who can read them because of language having to be released in print, where as a game could be modded by fans to have a language patch (Star Academy had this recently). And it’s not as easy to have a readalong of the books, cause that opens its own can of worms around copyright. So while it makes sense that the books needed to be made to solve the issue of SSL becoming less accessible, the problem doesn’t get entirely resolved because the books are still being gatekept from a lot of the players, and this is the foundation story of SSO. Which means that attachment to the Soul Riders that would make jumping into their story enjoyable is still just as inaccessible as it is with the SSL games being out of production.

Now for the issues in the story itself, I haven’t read the whole trilogy, my Swedish isn’t that good yet, so I don’t know how the sealing away of Garnok was resolved in the books. But basing this on SSL, Garnok is defeated by the end of the games. The Soul Riders succeed in locking him away for another generation of Soul Riders. And not just “he’s locked away, but we’ve still got to fight” kinda way. No, he’s in there. The game says that Jorvik is safe and the fights over for now. That’s the end of him for some 20+ years.

So when SSO rolls around and undoes that, it makes the Soul Riders look incompetent because they didn’t actually seal away Garnok. They couldn’t even keep Garnok locked away for presumably four-ish years (they’re starting high school in SSL and they’re presumably going into college now, so that’s my guess). And I know the game talks about how it’s been getting harder to hold back Garnok for a while, but the last Soul Rider group, which we know was fractured with Catherine now and was also dealing with that getting harder to defeat Garnok bit, still managed to keep Garnok sealed away for 20+ years. The current team couldn’t even managed a fifth of that. Which seeds that they’re even less capable than a broken team of Soul Riders. Not a good impression.

Which means narratively, the story needs to make the current Soul Riders feel competent again. And the only way for them to overcome such a massive failure of letting Garnok get out after less than four years is to go further than any other Soul Riders before them, which is defeating Garnok and moving the story into other places that aren’t forcing the issues I listed above by making players relate to a story they may not even be able to access and experience. 

It just, there’s so much about the current story that traps the Soul Riders in a cycle that risks running old and making them look incapable, while also shoehorning in solutions to why this is an MMO now. If the story though is willing to end the Garnok plot though, then the Soul Riders can just be the solution the druids went to to deal with the Garnok problem, and now they need to look at the MC at the problems that get opened up after. Garnok’s defeat makes this story so far the epilogue climax to the Soul Rider story and not a continuation of a story that was wrapped up.

[centeris2]

Justin approaches Connie to talk about Rebecca and some Need To Know information.

It had been a few days and Connie was still reeling from Rebecca’s confession. He didn’t know how to feel, it was just a jumble of emotions. Somehow he felt betrayed, and depressed, and possessive, and so many things. He found himself sitting around, part moping and part fuming, trying to sort out his thoughts.

“Hello!” Connie jerked up, looking up at Justin. Justin was awfully smiley.

“What do you want?” Connie grumbled. All his interactions with Justin had not been good. First the angry jealousy incident where Rebecca trusted Justin with secrets she didn’t trust Connie with, and the whole scarred hands thing that terrified Connie. The second, and final, time was Rebecca’s confession that she was polyamorous.

“I thought I’d get to know you,” Justin explained, hopping off his horse and sitting next to Connie.

“Not interested,” Connie scowled.

“It would mean a lot to Rebecca if she didn’t lose your friendship over her orientation,” Justin got to the point. Well, one of the reasons he was there. He was genuinely interested in trying to befriend Connie after the rough start.

“She…” Connie stopped and sighed, not sure what to say, “how am I supposed to be her friend if she hides so much of herself? Friends trust each other.”

“See, that’s the thing I’ve noticed about Rebecca,” Justin said, leaning back and getting comfortable, “she is very protective of her friends, and she hates keeping secrets. But a lot of things have happened to her since she came to Jorvik at the start of the summer. She’s coming to terms with her entire world changing.”

“See, what the fuck is that even supposed to mean? I have no idea what you are talking about!” Connie complained, Justin not making him feel any better.

“She’s afraid. She’s afraid for you and for herself, that’s why she’s keeping secrets. But! If I tell you what is going on then she can’t get in trouble with the druids because it is my fault, not hers. Then she doesn’t have to be afraid of getting into trouble!” Justin did a slightly better job at explaining this time.

“The druids?” Connie asked after a moment of processing the information.

“What do you know about The Keepers of Aideen?” Justin asked.

“Aren’t they like, hippies that live in the woods over there?” Connie nodded toward the Hollow Woods. Justin snickered but nodded.

“Something like that. They want people to think that anyway. Do you believe in magic?”

“Like, stage magic? What does that have to do with the druids?” Connie once more was totally lost.

“Magic is real. The Keepers, or druids, they’re magic, and they got Rebecca involved in their war with Dark Core,” Justin explained.

“War? Dark Core? What?”

“Okay, so, this’ll uh, time for a Justin Moorland history lesson,” Justin said and took a deep breath before continuing, “so my grandmother on my father’s side is the Baroness of Silverglade. The man she married turned out to be Mr. Sands, the owner of Dark Core. He also turned out to be some… ugh. He worships a being named Garnok, trying to control Garnok to get unlimited energy to rule the world. The druids have been in a battle with Garnok since forever because Garnok’s energy can’t be controlled, so if Dark Core and my grandfather manage to get to Garnok the world will explode or something. I’m not sure of the details, I just know it’s the end of the world if Garnok’s energy gets released. Probably like a supernova happening on the earth, it’s not going to be good.”

Connie stared at Justin for a few silent moments.

“What the fuck.”

“Yeah, it’s crazy, right? And the druids have put Rebecca on the front line because she’s like, basically one of the only people they have that can fight, I guess? If you know the legend of the Soul Riders, they’re allied with the druids, but Dark Core had, err has, kidnapped most of them so the druids were a bit desperate. Rebecca comes along and, well, druids recruited her to stop the world from ending. And getting the Soul Riders back.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Connie asked after a moment.

“You’ve seen her hands,” Justin said flatly.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Yeah. That was because she went on a mission for the druids and got captured and tortured by Dark Core for eight days before she managed to escape. She has magic, she literally melted her chains, that’s what the scars are from. The druids were able to heal the damage, but not everything. So she can still use her hands, she still has feeling, but, well… you’ve seen them.”

“But if the druids can heal burning from molten steel… couldn’t they remove the scars?” Connie pointed out, Justin’s face going blank as he realized Connie was right.

“Ugh, those shits,” Justin grumbled, crossing his arms, “Rebecca is so afraid of the druids because she’s on super thin ice with them, and frankly they’re terrifying. They can control your mind, so even if you don’t want to do something they can make you do it. All while making it feel like it was your fault that something went wrong when they didn’t give you all the details.”

“Sounds like they did that to you,” Connie noted the personal and bitter tone in Justin’s voice.

“Yeah. If someone had told me about my grandfather I wouldn’t have joined him, but no, just leave it a mystery and then arrest me for wanting to meet my grandfather who I knew nothing about! Nevermind that Dark Core brainwashed me, the druids don’t trust me because maybe they didn’t really brainwash me,” Justin complained with a scowl.

“Anyway, that’s why Rebecca is trying to keep you away. She doesn’t trust the druids, and frankly neither do I. Between the druids and Dark Core I’m surprised she’s not a paranoid wreck,” Justin explained with a strained smile, trying to make a joke.

“Would the druids actually do something to her? Or to me to get to her?” Connie asked, concerned now. Justin swallowed hard, going pale.

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” he muttered, sweat beading on his forehead as he thought about what happened in that prison cell.

“So, maybe I should stay away from her,” Connie muttered, now worried he might be used to hurt Rebecca.

“That’s up to you. I think she would appreciate not losing you though. And you’re normal, she doesn’t have to think about saving the world when she’s around you,” Justin advised.

“She’d never forgive herself if something happened to me because I was friends with her,” Connie acknowledged and Justin nodded.

“It’s something to think about,” Justin said, giving a moment of silence before adding, “you ARE normal, right? Not a celebrity or magical wizard or something?”

That made Connie laugh.

“I’m just a normal human, last I checked!” Connie reassured Justin, finally able to relax.

Turns out Justin wasn’t so bad, he was just stressed and terrified, like Rebecca was. And if Connie could be a break from the stress and a return to normal for Rebecca, and for Justin, then he’d do it.

When Justin left he had given Connie Tor’s phone number, saying they should get to know each other as well.

[dapplesndruids]

SSO Horrors

A post diving into how dark this franchise’s storyline gets and ideas for a horror game that will never actually be created. SPOILERS for the SL books and SSO storyline.

This idea originally came to me after reading the second book of the SL trilogy, The Legend Awakens. Props to Helena Dahlgren for the Pine Hill Manor scenes in that book; I was completely left on the edge of my seat the entire time. Linda’s whole experience was definitely an unexpected thriller for the children’s genre; cutting her leg on a broken window, exploring an old creepy mansion owned by the centuries-old psychopath that was targeting her, her friends, and their horses, being chased down halls and having to barricade herself in rooms to be protected from the apparent non-human dark riders (not to mention the way Dahlgren describes the animal sounds and scratching that they made, chills), and, to top it all off, nearly dying from sepsis due to her cut becoming infected.... if that’s not horror game material, I don’t know what is.

If you can’t already tell from the title of this post, I am a huge fan of the horror genre. The suspense-packed and often deep moral stories are always a fun watch/read. I personally am currently making my way through some classic Stephen King books that I haven’t read yet which was sort of what inspired this post.

Taking a look at SSO’s storyline on the surface level, we see a classic dark vs. light story, with horses and female heroines as the main points. However, there are quite a few darker elements hidden among the story quests, most of which would only be noticeable to the eye of the older audience of the game. The potential for this plot to be upped to a more mature level as far as darker themes go is definitely there. Regardless, the already existing underlying themes have some heavy themes...

- Teenagers, around the ages of 15-19, have been tasked with saving the world from a demonic entity. They have been granted special powers to do this with. These powers however can be extremely dangerous, as we see with both Alex and Catherine with their Lightning Circle incidents, in which they almost killed living beings. These factors combined would no doubt take some sort of psychological toll on the Soul Riders, as they are so named.

- Brainwashing and cult-mindset was a huge theme brought up with Justin’s kidnapping. He was abruptly cut off from the outside world, had his memories removed, and his mind artificially filled with thoughts of Garnok and world domination. It’s clear when he is rescued and goes back to his home that he’s depressed; his Midsummer dialogue a year back was “My dad thought it would be good for me to get out. I don’t do that much anymore” (not exact but close enough). When he talks to his mother during the memories quests the first thing he jumps to seeing her pregnant with him is “I wonder if she’d would be so excited if she knew all the terrible things I did”. To add to that, upon getting Justin back home, Thomas tells our character “If he keeps having these dark thoughts, I’ll have to turn to the druids.” That in itself was pretty unsettling. All this dialogue was put there to draw attention to the mental affects of literally having your brain tampered with.

- Elizabeth’s story was probably one of the saddest in my opinion. She had to stand by while her friend group fell apart, one going on to die, one going missing, and the other two continuing to split away from her. She then felt it was her responsibility to make up for her sisterhood’s failures, staying with the druids and eventually helping recruit new Soul Riders. Seriously though, imagine that. She saw what pain the magical war brought to her and her friends; knowing that she was pushing four more kids into a situation like that would’ve been devastating (here comes the morals vs. duty idea). Our character must have been a whole other level of that feeling. She saw what Catherine went through with her magic - the fear, the near madness. Then of course she goes on to imprison her close friend’s son (it appeared from the quests that she was closest to Catherine so that just adds to the pain). And to end it all, she sacrifices herself to save a girl who she considered a daughter.... jeez. - Catherine is another issue here for obvious reasons. A teenage girl is entrusted with goddess-level powers, then nearly goes psycho from the inability to control them. You can clearly tell from her last few diary entries how exhausting that was and how happy she was to finally have a somewhat normal life with her husband and son.

- And finally of course we have the DC gang. Mr. Sands is a basket case all on his own, a man who has used mind control (arguably in my opinion one of the creepiest forms of dark magic out there) on numerous victims including his own grandson, a man who legitimately worships a demon, and not to mention has it out for a bunch of teenagers. His whole backstory with Rosalinda made me feel some sort of sympathy for his character (he watched her nearly be drowned to death), and I’m actually quite curious as to where they’re going to take that. Also, The Nightmare Institute? That could be a horror game within itself. All we know so far about that place is that humans and animals are tested on with dangerous materials (ex. Mr. Anwir). Let’s not forget to mention the dark riders who apparently have animal qualities now? (as it was described in the SL books) Ok so we can clearly see that SSO’s storyline gets a bit dark. But just imagine; a Pine Hill Mansion first-person POV game, where you’re in a situation similar to Linda’s, or even one in DC or the Nightmare Institute. Honestly this entire storyline could be turned into some Resident Evil plot lol.

But that being said, as much as it’s fun to speculate these types of things, I enjoy SSO’s storyline just the way it is. It’s enjoyable for me as an older player, but it’s also filled with great moral stories and motivation for young children, especially girls. I love the atmosphere of female empowerment, and it’s especially unique to SSO because around the time of it’s initial release, that wasn’t seen much in video games.

Might start during these ‘chat’ or ‘random things that come to my mind’ posts more often.