#and cotc of course

[mikeymyonelove]

Ok, now that COTC has officially come to an end...can we get crew art of the Elders kissing post-finale?

[dennydraws]

Time revert... tragedy avert... a new timeline from Althea's wish reborn.

"Oersted? Ere final bout you'd take a nap? Such confidence you have!" ... ... "Oersted??"

I finished the Live A Live collab at Octopath CotC yesterday and I'm so full of feelings... T^T;;;; The way Oersted fought so hard to save Streibough from Odio... Streibough telling Oersted how sorry he is, the alternative route of Strei overcoming Odio and admitting he never hated Oersted and and and Althea's wish? Let grief and hatred go through your fingers like sand, let go and come back... Arghhhh my poor heart...!! This collab was everything!! I loved the open ending! I want to believe Althea brought a timeline where Oersted remembers the events and doesn't let Odio take over neither him nor Strei (also gives his friend a hug, relieved to see him alive and well (Pogo would be proud!) and if you say this stupid you can come and fight me but I already died on that hill and you can't kill me in a way that matters.

[gengaraii]

fun things to do:

try to make one of your faves in a gacha game useful

[charmainevee]

Tabbitha & Courtney, The Witches from COTC, drew some headcanon concepts of them thru the years, a rehash of some old Tabby ideas @halfglovepunch & I were playing around w/ years ago when we were like... Hey, could she have multiple outfits? Last pic is the old sketches, and 4th design of Tabby is based off a sketch of Ben's. And of course I had to add my takes on Courtney!

I like to think Tabby leans more goth/industrial and Courtney is more punk, but they listen like to things like Smashing Pumpkins together. Courtney is more laid back but still passionate about music, but she also sings Tabby Beck songs to piss her off.

[olive-man]

YOOOOO THESE ARE AMAAZINNGG (IM HERE IM HEREEE WE ARENT DEAD YETT!!!)

HELL YEAH DOODLE DUMP POST!!!

Please cotc fandom... Specifically elder fans... Please come back from the dead I'm begging you...

[glitchyfellow]

୨⎯ Sereia Mariana⎯୧

[Craig Before the Creek OC]

YOOOOOOO, THE MOVIE WAS SO GOOD I CAN'T AGGSGSHAFAHJAJG-

Of course this inspired me to make another CotC OC, BUT this time it's Craig BEFORE the Creek!

This is Sereia Mariana, she's a black brazilian girl who's the queen of the merkids in the Creek!

She's mostly seen as a siren by the other kids tho.

I got slightly inspired by myself to make her part brazilian since i am part brazilian myself✨

Aaaaaaand i may have another fav blorbo so he has a partner now :]

[picturejasper20]

I’m pretty sure tons of other people might’ve said it, but based on what I’ve seen from A New Wish, Dev is giving me some Amity Blight vibes except even more messed up.

Funny how i was just minutes ago talking with some people about this on Discord.

But, yeah, you can see that by watching a few episodes FOP A New Wish takes quite a lot of inspiration in recent DTVA shows from the latest years.

Amity seems to be one of the first examples that comes to mind. She was quite cold at the start of the series and over time, through different series of events, she got to know Luz and learned that she could do better than just following what her parents told her to do.

However, i would say Dev leans more to be like characters like Scratch from The Ghost and Molly Mcgee and Max from Camp Camp, specially Max. Both Max and Dev have similar ways of speaking, coming off as dry and rather insensitive towards others. Dev has this ¨pessimistic worldview¨ and he would rather pretend he doesn't care about things.

Both Dev and Max also can be power hungry,they have very chaotic energy and don't care about breaking the rules at all. Just Max, Dev often has problems with treating other people well, we see this with how he treats Peri in some episodes.

And of course, both have parents who are very neglectful to them and they both show different signs of abandonment issues as result in different occasions.

Other comparisons i could make are Jason and King Xavier from Craig of the Creek, a show the main producers worked on before working on this show. Dev feels like a mix of both of these characters, so i wouldn't be surprised if they were inspired from there.

I could make more comparisons, but yeah. I think Dev is intended to be more a ¨deconstruction¨ of characters like Amity, Andrea, ect that shows that just because he made a friend it doesn't mean that all his issues were ¨fixed¨ and in fact he still can get worse even after becoming better in some ways.

It is a more ¨realistic¨ take on neglectful parenting/ abandonment issues than you see in other animated family shows. It shows how badly it can mess a kid up and it isn't something that goes away so easily.

I think another factor that plays a role here is that Infinity Train writers worked in this show, so they probably wanted to do something quite different with Dev's character and her relationship with Hazel. People who worked COTC as well, since that series tackles themes like complicated and toxic friendships.

[sly-s-n0nfusion]

Irl world inspirations for Orsterra and Solistia 🗺 pt1

So I've wanted to write this post for a while and I think I finally feel comfortable enough to do so. I will cover the 8 Orsterra regions as well as Solistia's regions, and also declare a hypothetical irl nationality for all 16 travelers, since some of them aren't native to their starting region.

I won't be covering COTC content because I feel like it does make quite a mess especially regarding the Woodlands. A huge thank you to my friends @sazuka57, @legendaryandroid, @hanpaopaoo, @saarovar, @silverwarewolf, @captwaddledoo, @postalninja and others

Of course, this is just the final product of speculations and none of the info here are official/canon, but I hope this post does help any content creator with their art or writing :)

Orsterra

the Frostlands: The cold regions were perhaps the hardest place to pinpoint a clear irl world inspiration for. The Frostlands could be Finland (Lapland), even though the Flamesgrace church is clearly of catholic inspiration. We know that Ophilia Clement isn't native of Flamesgrace, but she was taken in by Archbishop Josef for she was an orphan. I would even say her name and surname were given to her by the Archbishop himself, since they sound like names members of the clergy would give orphans (especially the surname, Clement, which is similar to orphans' surnames like Innocent, or Godswill). In the Octopath official Guide book timeline is stated that she comes from a small village named Creek, in the Riverlands

Lapland, Finland

the Flatlands: Given how the Flatlands are a kingdom of their own (the kingdom of Wold) with their capital city being Atlasdam and featuring a Royal Palace and a king, I think it's safe to say that the inspiration for this region was England. Atlasdam probably mimics a place like Oxford or Cambridge, given its academic nature and the vaste grassy areas, with Whispermill's flocks of sheeps and mills, give off British countryside vibes. Also because of his name and accent, Cyrus Albright sounds British to the core

Oxford, England

the Coastlands: I believe the inspiration for the Coastlands are the coasts of Italy, especially Liguria's Cinque Terre. Rippletide, Goldshore and Grandport all seem to have the same similar aesthetic to it of Italian harbour towns. Tressa Colzione, as well as her parents Olneo and Marina all have names of Italian inspiration

Cinque Terre, Italy

the Highlands/Hornburg: The inspiration for both the Highlands and Hornburg is probably Southern Germany or Austria (Bavaria/Austrian Alps) because of the very high mountains and German-sounding names. Olberic Eisenberg comes from Hornburg, Erhardt comes from Grynd (which was stated to be a village near Hornburg) so it's safe to say both have germanic origins

Austrian Alps

the Sunlands: This region is probably of Middle Eastern/Arabic inspiration, and it's understandable because of the architecture, the villagers' clothing style and the spice markets around the Sunland towns, to say some. Primrose Azelhart, however, is native of Noblecourt, in the Flatlands, so she probably also has British origins like Cyrus

Palangan, Iran

the Riverlands: This one was a bit tricky to understand. A very green land, rich in water and with catholic influences (Saintsbridge) immediately made me think of Ireland. Not clearer evidence I can bring to the table other than that though. Irish Alfyn Greengrass does sound right to me though

Westport, Ireland

the Cliftlands: The Cliftlands seem to have Peruvian inspiration to them. The local monsters encounters being big eagles/condors, the villagers having colorful cloths in their houses and the main local resource being alpaca fleece (I know I said I wouldn't bring up COTC in my argumentations but I'cirlo was a clear example of alpaca farms). We don't know much about Therion as he is likely an orphan as well but his poncho also might be of Peruvian inspiration

Peruvian Andes

the Woodlands: The Woodlands are heavily inspired by Norse culture and Viking architectures. the village of S'warkii especially, where H'aanit and Z'aanta come from, is clearly inspired by the village of Njardarheimr, in Norway

Njardarheimr

Part 2 (Solistia) coming soon!!

[sylvershinyyyy]

Scrap and Sly Redesigns/Offshoots

T4T QPR Yuri.

@winterfevers-care sorry for ping but I dunno if my ask got buried by Tumblr or not but TRUCOLORS AND SCRAPBOOK >:3

They are my everything. Meet Cloudpowder and Snufflz. Snufflz has glasses but is self conscious and this has their bangs cover their eyes. I'll draw their glasses soon DW. I can't wait to gush about them more After my COTC fixation of course

[luminous-orb]

happy bday! (in reply to your post) if you'd like to share some of your favorite LAL headcanons or other stuff, i would love to hear 🙂‍↕️ hope you enjoy your day!!

aaaaaa you don’t know how happy seeing this made me….i accidentally wrote kind of a Lot?? mostly about The Guy cause it’s MY birthday and I get to choose the favorite character.

-I absolutely believe that oersted being a silent protagonist is diegetic, and he really just Does Not Talk. I also usually see him as being generally pretty inexpressive, if only because of how many of his pre-odio sprites are just like :|. Strei’s known him since they were kids (that’s actually confirmed by the cotc crossover! the one part of that story I will accept as canon) so I think he’s probably pretty good at reading him, but most people think he’s a bit strange. He’s good enough at Sword that people are willing to put up with the quirks of his personality, but it maybe ends up contributing to how quickly the townspeople turn on him :( and maybe part of what lead to his becoming odio was anger at never really fitting in or belonging in human society.

(Side note but I really love how much of the middle ages chapter is dedicated to showing oersted’s emotions even without him speaking…stuff like flashbacks and even in some cases the background music are used to show that he IS deeply effected by the events of the chapter, even if it isn’t explicitly stated. It’s really subtle and clever storytelling I absolutely adore it)

-I’ve seen oersted’s starting IQ stat of 2 and think it’s fairly accurate. I don’t think he’s Stupid exactly but i think he’s just. Really comfortable letting other people make decisions for him and not thinking for himself. This obviously does not end well for him!!

-I think his sense of self is mostly derived from what other people want from him. When people say he’s a hero, he acts exactly like a hero should, even when the rest of the party is hinting that it might not be the best course of action. When people say he’s a monster, it immediately breaks him to the point that he turns himself in to be executed, before proceeding to become exactly what they believe him to be. He never puts up any resistance when people decide who and what he is - until the sin of odio fight where remembering his own inherent identity is literally what lets him break free. I love themes and I love narratives

-I also see strei as the opposite, someone who knows exactly who he is and has a very high opinion of himself. When he’s overlooked, instead of accepting people’s assessment of him like oersted would he strongly believes that he deserves Better. The way he goes about this is Not Good but it’s still a really good foil to oersted’s whole deal

-I think oersted is someone who, despite being pretty awful in social situations, still really, REALLY needs to be around other people. This is partly because of the “needs other people to tell him who to be, doesn’t have any inherent sense of self-worth” thing, but also I got the impression that he and strei usually worked as a team and that as a result he’s kind of used to relying on someone or just having them around. So basically the dominion of hate is Torture for him specifically. I think a lot about the sundown ending where he talks about how even though a lot of the people he used to know hated or betrayed him he Still misses them and wants them back like. Man.

-this is kind of taken from an old post from @nihiltism but I think a lot of why odio is the way he is is because he took a lot of what Streibough said when they fought to heart. A lot of his monologuing about “heroes” being self-centered and uncaring is almost directly taken from what strei said about him…and it just, doesn’t really apply to most of the protagonists. I think there’s a Ton of projection happening and odio almost treats the protagonists as a stand-in for his own former self, the one person he can never actually punish or prove wrong because that’s Him. And there’s also the fact that he brought the heroes to his domain and left brion in an easily accessible place so that they could potentially defeat and kill him…which may have been what he wanted, deep down…augh

-I think probably strei spends like upward of an hour on his Ye Old Skin and Hair Care Routine while oersted just rolls out of bed and puts on his armor. this isn’t a deep character analysis I just think it’s something that probably happened

-it’s probably obvious but I’m a HUGE fan of odio with wings…it hits this nice balance of “cool looking design” and “legitimately compelling visual metaphor” for me. The wings have connotations of freedom (flight) and divinity (angels.) he’s grown beyond his limits as a human, but it hasn’t made him any happier and he’s in many ways still bound by the same things as before, hence his leitmotif being named “on broken wings.” It’s also a way of making him obviously and physically no longer human which is!! ouch!!!

I also like the grapes from the holy dungeon art I’m just. not very good at drawing grapes. they also raise questions like “can he photosynthesize” and “could spritzing him with water and putting him on a sunny windowsill fix him” that I don’t think I’m prepared to answer.

-I generally picture the whole odio incarnation situation as like. odio has the power to project himself across time and space but he doesn’t really get to bring his Body with him. so he needs to find an equally hateful guy to kinda/sorta possess in order to actually influence anything. and I kinda picture it like, he Can take full control of them, like in the odio route boss rush, but it’s typically more just like. guy in your head telling you to become Worse and More Evil. Might be the quasi-godlike manifestation of hate, who knows. it’s not a huge deal cause all the manifestations share a common goal of Killing and Wanton Violence, so they’re pretty willing to play along. I actually have a half-baked fic idea that’s like. Odio tried to make unryu, the bird guy from the near future chapter, one of his incarnations but he wasn’t quite hateful or driven enough. but this led unryu to 1) start a bird-centric (cause odio is already kind of bird-coded and he just sorta took that and ran with it) religion around “odeo,” and 2) make the whole “perfect vessel for a hate god consisting of thousands of murdered souls” thing. And I like the idea of the liquified souls like, recognizing odio as something like them, something that lost its body and personhood, and almost like. inviting him to join them? and he obviously Can’t, he still has to carry out his righteous revenge against the human race, but at the same time he really, desperately wants to, since he’s been around for so long at this point and just really wants to Rest and not be Alone any more…I don’t know if I’d ever have the time to actually write this but like. I like the concept lol

-oh and I think it probably goes without saying but I think odio is Literally just oersted. like I think there’s some power inherent in the title of demon king that he was able to claim, but it like. doesn’t have a mind of its own, that’s just oersted. this fits with the detail that the sin of odio boss will Never take a turn after oersted breaks free from it—he’s literally its entire will. I also think that like, while there’s maybe SOME truth to the demon king’s power influencing streibough into betraying oersted, it’s probably minimal. In general, I think the story’s more interesting when the characters have as much agency over their decisions as possible, without outside supernatural influence.

-on broken wings/wings that don’t reach is my favorite song on the soundtrack and by a Lot…something about how it uses slightly dissonant chords and how it doubles as both an overworld theme and character leitmotif (and a credits song for the bad ending…songs to Die to) hits different for me.

-finally um. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the cotc crossover? It’s Not Great lol but I’m a bit obsessed with it just cause I thought it was doing something really interesting before the second half dropped and it Didn’t Do That. It’s kind of an alternate universe situation where oersted, streibough, and alethea get quickly isekai’d before strei and oersted can finish their duel at the beginning of the middle ages chapter. And they just kinda hang out and actually Talk to each other, except also streibough accidentally made a deal with odio that leads to him being possessed. and my immediate thought was “oh, this odio is Our odio from the original game, doing some interdimensional time travel shit (something he is pretty much already established to be capable of) to fuck with not only streibough but his own past self.” and I thought it was super compelling!! like, you get a scenario where oersted and alethea get to actually Talk to each other and build a legitimately supportive relationship in a setting where they’re not being forced into a romance that neither of them is really prepared for or wants! you get streibough getting confronted with how bitter and hateful his relationship with oersted has become, but at a point where he hasn’t actually decided to Act on that bitterness and has even started to mend that relationship through communication…and then he would have plenty time in Possession Hell to confront that and grow as a person…. and then you have odio literally trying to kill his own alternate universe self in an act of interdimensional self harm which just. feels like the type of shit he’d do? but also in a really twisted way reuniting with the middle ages cast, who he hates but also misses terribly….its all really convoluted but also scratches the part of my brain that’s addicted to “weird multiverse time travel shit” and “exploring characterization by pitting them against alternate versions of themselves” and idk. I do kind of want to write something for it someday.

Anyway uh. I hope even a Bit of that is comprehensible haha. regardless it was definitely like, psychologically healing to get some of my thoughts out so thank you I owe you my life <3

[cherryvampiro]

Older!Cotc AU Info

Hello!! I wanted to make a post with all my hcs/ideas of both the older creek kids and next generation creek kids. These are all headcanons of course!! 💝😊💝 This post follows the Stump Gang & main next Gen Kids.

Craig & Omar:

Before they got together, they used to date other people.

For Craig (from middle school to high school): Vanessa, Eileen, Canon Ball, & Dianne.

For Omar (MS to HS): Jp & Toman.

There was a 2-3 year gap where Omar & Craig hadn’t seen each other due to Omar leaving to college outside of Herkleton.

During a college break, Omar returned to Herkleton where the two reconnected. Since then they've been inseparable.

Craig (28) works as a carpenter contractor. Omar (30) works from home as a welder.

Craig still has a passion for art and still creates projects on the side (both personal and professional work).

They have one child as of right now named Sonya (3). Isabella/Stack’s is her surrogate mother.

Since Omar stays at home the most, Sonya favors him more over Craig (rip Craig 😔😂)

These two act like carbon copies of Craig’s parents with how openly goofy and affectionate they are to one another & to Sonya.

They own 1 cat and 1 big St. Bernard.

Kelsey & Isabella:

These two are the definition of childhood sweethearts. They’ve had a few fights sure but never broken up or took breaks from each other.

Kelsey (27) is the school coach at Herkleton High School. Isabella (27) works at the Library.

Even with their separate jobs, they still find time to write together and brainstorm on new story ideas. They still plan on releasing a novel together ❤️

When Craig & Omar were looking for a surrogate, Kelsey had offered to be it for them. But after they told her what she could and couldn’t do for 9 months she backed out. (Isabella happily volunteered afterwards)

They have 2 adopted kids together: Jamie (9) & Laura (10).

As a family they like to go to the gym or park together to exercise and bond. Kelsey & Jamie work out more for muscle/strength where as Isabella & Laura exercise for fun.

Aside from exercising, they like to read books together! Though it’s harder for Jamie to join in at first (he’s dyslexic). With some help & patience he’ll get there tho 💪🏽🌟🌟

As adults and parents they still have that fire & ice attitude!! Kelsey being very energetic & outspoken for her family while being warm & welcoming to them/others. Isabella being calm & understanding of her families needs while being strong & assertive when she needs to set someone straight or be a shoulder to lean on.

They own 3 birds & 1 bearded dragon.

Jp & Maney:

During the first year of high school they actually took a break from each other. Jp had dated Omar shortly while Maney dating someone else. During the end of Junior year they reconnected with each other.

Jp (29) works as a mechanic with the Junklord. Maney (29) works at a horse sanctuary & therapy organization called “Hugs for Horses”.

Despite Laura’s words of caution, Jp & Maney end up having a baby together sooner than expected.

When Marcello was born, he had water in his lungs. He had to stay in an incubator for 3 days. When MJ learned about this, he was 100% convinced he was part fish.

Out of all the Stump kids, Jp has kept the most in touch with kids from the creek. If there was as ever a kid from the creek someone wanted to contact, Jp was the guy to go to!

Despite being older & wiser now, Jp still ends up with a broken bone or two every once in a while. Maney wishes he’d be more careful whereas MJ thinks he’s invincible.

Maney still keeps close contact with Kelsey. You’ll often catch her on the phone with Kels planning their hikes together.

As parents they’re both very laid back. MJ doesn’t cause them much of a hassle so they don’t feel the need to be stern with him.

The Mercers don’t own any pets but do take care of the stray cats & dogs that live in their neighborhood (they feed them, make sure they’re not hurt, and are spayed/neutered.

MJ, Nancy, & Sonya

MJ (8) & Nancy (8) don’t have a designated hang out spot. They text each other on where to meet before they go and explore.

Their adventures focus less on exploring the creek and more on how much they can do that day.

MJ has a bucket list of all the things he’d want to do at the creek. When the list starts to run short, he either makes up more or ask other creek kids what to do.

Nancy has a very macabre sense of humor & vibe. She’s fascinated with the concept of life & death (especially with death).

Nancy lives with her grandmother & her older brother.

When Nancy grows up she’d like to be a mortician. When MJ grows up he’d like to be able to touch the top of the fridge.

Nancy always carries her Lil Oopsie Doll named Syd with her where ever she goes. No one is allowed to hold, let alone touch, Syd. MJ is the only acceptation.

If the weathers ever terrible at the creek, these two always run to The Williams house and make themselves at home. (MJ knocks, Nancy gets in through the back.)

Craig & Omar are used to MJ’s visits, they’re not used to Nancy’s. She has the tendency to sneak up behind them and every time it scares the living daylight out of them.

Sonya absolutely adores Nancy and is always happy when the two older kids visit her home.

Sonya’s not ready for the creek yet but has tried to sneak off into it. The farthest she’s explored to was her backyard before getting scared and running back inside. That’s all I have to share for now!! My apologies for any typos & grammatical errors 😵

[ventusrocks]

(BoW Spoilers!)

Developing Thoughts about Tiziano and Oskha the Have-Not

I've been listening to this YouTube video my brother recently showed me this weekend while drawing that has all the character, dungeon, and battle themes for the masters and bestowers of fame, wealth, power, and all since they're not out on Apple Music yet. All these songs really are so good! Oskha the Have-Not is one of my favorites from the video, and listening to his themes a lot has me thinking more about him recently.

I've always had beef with Oskha. Tiziano has always been my favorite member of the original Bargello family (I'm not sure why; he just is), and I was heartbroken when he 'died' in MoW chapter 3. Ever since I learned he was playable in JP, I've been patiently and excitedly waiting for him to come out on GL. At the time, I kept seeing people talk about Tiziano funny when Oskha was mentioned, which confused and scared me. Tiziano was dead! My dumb brain thought that, maybe, Tiziano kept coming up because the two look so similar (I never got so far as to think why they looked similar)! Eventually, I relented and asked my brother, who isn't as far as I am in CotC but basically knows everything that happens, what was going on. Then it clicked that Tiziano was Oskha. I was absolutely devastated. First the game killed off one of my favorite characters, and then they made him secretly evil! Oskha only made it worse when I actually got to the reveal in the game and he kept talking how Tiziano was never real. I really felt for Pierro Della when he told Rosso, frustrated at his reluctance to kill Oskha if necessary, that Rosso didn't know Tiziano. To us, Tiziano was very real. When I fought Oskha, I loved it of course when the family helped me out in battle, and I was so sad and slightly teary-eyed when Oskha died in Bargello's arms and Bargello put him to rest in the pile of gold. I really love Tiziano, but listening to Oskha's themes has me appreciating him a little more than before. Having Oskha be someone that both I and the family knew made the stakes so much higher and the story that much more emotional for me. Sometimes, I try to head canon a way to keep Tiziano alive for my own indulgence, but then the struggle becomes imagining a Bestower of Wealth that is as deeply entwined with the family as Tiziano. It's hard. I don't really have the details sorted. It's odd to say, but Oskha may even be my favorite Bestower of Fame/Wealth/Power (whether he's my overall favorite master/bestower is hard to say because I love Sazantos more by the day, primarily due to his association with Rondo, my favorite CotC character). I appreciate Oskha a lot more now.

[pinkarsonist0]

I'm both excited and scared to see Eliza's parents I already made a whole version of Eliza's dad I got emotionally attached with.

If he isn't a blonde, classist, loving father that is besties with Jason's dad we'll have issues.

Then I'll never watch this show again because it shattered my world.

[bonefall]

I see your “river’s kits have a vicious power struggle after his death” and raise you “River adopted a kit later in life, and made this kit his heir”, leading to civil war as Riverclan almost fractures between those who value the Park Kingdom bloodline more and those who recognize that family doesn’t end at blood

I just get the idea that there are some older cats in Riverclan who have a more feudalistic mindset, old fashioned cats who believe the right to rule is in the blood, who believe Arc’s bloodline should continue to rule, not some dirty stray Riverstar took pity on. Of course this might not work with what you have in mind, but I thought I’d throw it out there

I’m also going to throw a free space on the bingo square, being “some characters have completely different personalities from previous books and are practically unrecognizable

(EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: Riverstar's Heir now takes place BEFORE Cloudberry and Ryewhisker.)

I like that idea a lot, I'll do that.

What I'm thinking at the moment is this; several of the "deputy" stories of DOTC will get combined into one, HUGE story that follows long after the last book in BB!DOTC. It happens in the Code Era of the Ancient Period.

Plots from COTC being thrown into this story like a soup;

Redscar's False Sign

Mothpelt Avenges his Father

possibly Acorntail's Blunder (also I forgot the canon names of these stories.)

The basic plot is that Riverstar, the final founder, is on his deathbed. He is ANCIENT by Clan cat standards, with many of his lives lost simply to old age. He's floating around 20 years old... and in his youth grandpa was WILD

He was in a QPR with at least 3 RiverClan cats, plus a happy, mutual fling with someone in ShadowClan. This is long before Honor Siring; it was well known that he fathered a bunch of kits. But, in his last days, he adopted a child who he was raising as his heir.

Now that he's dead, there's at least 3 major characters gunning for River King;

The Heir Child that Riverstar has adopted and is raising as his successor

The Blood Riverstar's oldest living biological child

The Advisor The cat who was the most qualified in the River Kingdom, equal to the deputy role in ShadowClan, SkyClan, and ThunderClan.

Another Clan (possibly Wind Coalition) even sees the opportunity to absorb the River Kingdom into itself. This has to take place AFTER Cloudberry and Ryewhisker, so maybe in this moment, Wind Co decides that they actually DO want to bring up the deceased Ryewhisker's claim to the kittens. Make Cloudberry a child of Riverstar, with a claim to the throne herself.

At the moment, I'm also thinking that the other leaders are currently Duststar of WindClan, Ravenstar of ShadowClan, and Owlstar of ThunderClan. I'm not sure who rules SkyClan, because I need to know if Sparrow becomes Sparrowstar.

Anyway, my BB redux of Riverstar's Home will probably be Riverstar's Heir.

The BB timeline so far; Hollyleaf's Century -> DOTC -> Thunderstar's Justice -> Moth Flight's Vow -> (Cloudberry and Ryewhisker's Code Addition) -> Riverstar's Heir

[loregoddess]

So what happened with Lyblac in CotC that did her so dirty?

Just a fair warning to anyone who's started reading this and is a big fan of CotC's writing: I am very critical of parts of the writing (specifically relating to the Bestower of Fame arc) in the post below, and have tagged this as such ("cotc critical") for blacklisting purposes. If you're a big fan of the writing that's fine, but you might want to skip this. CotC's just some silly gacha game after all, and there's no reason to make yourself read something negative about something you love.

I'll note that this is all most likely just be a "my personal taste" thing, but what makes Lyblac so compelling to me in the original game, despite how little screentime and writing she gets, is that she is more or less directly the source of everything that goes wrong in the game because of her mission to revive Galdera and end the world.

She's the one who gives Matthias and Simeon longevity because she knows the type of trouble they'll cause will directly benefit her goal and that she can also use them and their cohorts as she sees fit; she's the one who strings Lucia along with promises of forbidden knowledge, and in turn Lucia drags Yvon down with her--and the two of them could probably have done serious damage to the Atlasdam kingdom if Lyblac had commanded Lucia to do so in exchange for more forbidden knowledge; Lyblac's directly responsible for making sure the right people (mainly Werner, but probably others as well) had the right type of power to topple the entire kingdom of Hornburg just so she could get access to the Gate of Finis; and of course the entire thing with Graham where she nearly managed to open the Gate of Finis before the game even starts by using his grief to puppet him along. The only traveler she doesn't have an obvious direct connection to is Therion, since there's nothing to directly tie her to the death of Cordelia's father (whether directly or through the Obsidians) and theft of the dragonstones, although it's technically not impossible she got her hands on one or two stones long enough to weaken the seal on the Gate of Finis.

This is all to say that, despite her lack of screentime, the original game's writing makes it clear that she is a dangerous threat, and even Galdera's two boss themes are named after Lyblac's epithets rather than his own ("The One They Call Witch" and "Daughter of a Dark God"). It is made abundantly clear that she is the main antagonist, and that she is wickedly smart, very careful, calculating, and extremely resourceful.

In CotC she is...none of these things, to the detriment of not only her own characterization from the original game, but to Ceraphina's role as a major antagonist as well. Now, a lot of CotC's writing doesn't, to me at least, feel like it lines up well with the established canon of the original game, which is crazy since the lead writer is the same for both games...but also a lot of the writing just, isn't very strong in my opinion (i.e. the same plot twist gets used at least six times in the main story route), but that's neither here nor there. However, Besower of Fame is probably one of the weakest of the main story routes.

What really irked me about Bestower of Fame was just how much it doesn't make sense with any of the pre-established canon. Rinyuu being Graham's bastard daughter doesn't make any sense, this was the man who was so desperate to save his wife that he left on a years-long trip, and was so beset by grief of her death that he was easily manipulated into cracking the Gate of Finis open in the hopes of seeing her again--he simply would not have a child with another woman. Ceraphina attempting to ascend to godhood to fulfill her revenge is fine and all, and actually kind of refreshing since her arc doesn't pivot on her being a sexy woman, except if she stole the First Flame before the events of the original game, then nothing about Ophilia's arc in the original game makes any sense (Ophilia shouldn't have been able to get into the Cave of Origins easily, she would have been aware of the entire fiasco caused by Ceraphina's betrayal, the lingering scars of that would still be being dealt with, etc.); so the plot execution there is shaky and could have been written differently with just as much impact, and possibly more to Ceraphina's benefit if Lyblac simply hadn't been included in the story at all.

For Lyblac, nothing about her writing in CotC makes sense. The idea that Lyblac had somehow "suffered a fatal wound" (how? from whom? where? when? why?) and hid herself in Ceraphina to recover...only to be smacked down again by the Chosen One and Co. (But she still recovers in time for the events of the original game? somehow? Also if she was recovering inside Ceraphina, just when the hell did she entice Werner to take down Hornburg?) Like? Is that the same woman who quietly plotted the downfall of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, and deftly manipulated all the people around her like pawns, and was clearly smart enough to evade any detection right up until she led Kit to the Gate with false promises of finding his father (and even then she was only found out by the main travelers because they had been helping Kit all along, and she still managed to temporarily revive Galdera). Like, I dunno, it weakens Ceraphina's character arc by robbing Ceraphina of the agency to be the main antagonist of her own story, and it spits in the face of the original game's canon Lyblac, who was terrifyingly cunning and extremely calculating, by making her act really stupid.

The impression I get of the original game's canon Lyblac is not of a woman who would ever put herself in a position where she could get harmed even a little, never mind lethally harmed (and she's also literally part-god, a mortal should not be able to easily harm her never mind fatally harm her), and she certainly wouldn't hedge her bets hiding away in some mere mortal who she definitely was using as a puppet and probably thought of as little more than a useful insect. CotC Lyblac simply does not make any sense with the original Lyblac's characterization, and it's a shame because Lyblac's role is really interesting in the original game, and her influence is felt across every traveler's story to some extent.

But as I noted, a lot of CotC's writing doesn't really jive with the original game's lore. I do still enjoy a lot of aspects of the game, but it does suffer from "is a gacha game" in the writing department, and I've had to sort of think of it as some separate AU so I can more fully enjoy what bits of the CotC-original story are actually decent. I was just really disappointed with Bestower of Fame bc Ceraphina is easily one of the more interesting main antagonists, at least in concept if not in execution, and I feel like Lyblac's character--if she had to be included in CotC at all beyond fan service--should have been written with a lot more respect for the fact that she was the main threat of the original game.

[roaldseth]

Because the Wolffort clan and the Darkwood/Greenwood (Woodlands) are my chosen spots of interest, carryover notes so that I can refer back to it later if needed:

The Hawk and the Wolf: legend goes that the Wolffort ancestor was lead to their approximate current residence under the guidance of a hawk. The hawk then becomes the united clans banner as seen for House Wolffort for pride and fearlessness.

A possible design angle from a team to approach not naming the current dominant family name (Wolffort) after the hawk (like a name like "Falkes") was to be signifiers of both Draefendi's companions: the hawk and the wolf, as according to the Octopath TTRPG.

The hawk of legend would be the literal placeholder to the companion while the other is honored in namesake and so meant to be seen as the vehicle for the Huntress. This also amplifies itself with Serenoa as a unit, ex. Hawk Dive, battle dialogue "when a wolf is cornered," therein taking both companions. Then, noting that Draefendi's ring is the plume (CotC), the hawk likely has more significance in regards to the goddess and would then be more readily recognizable imagery in local legend.

If Wolffort's ancestor was an emigrant of the Darkwood/Greenwood, the symbolism of Draefendi and the old Wolffort legend seem less of a fanatical myth and more of an actuality that happened reasonably where Wolffort's ancestor was able to understand the desires of that one hawk, provided the latent ability of those clans to possibly borne a child able to connect/commune with beasts a little more readily. Of course, visually both the Wolffort demesne and Woodlands share a lot of the same inspiration, but that's understandable on a surface level for far simpler design reasons.

This ancestor then sees the two feuding tribes, Falkes and Telliore, as ancedote to the Darkwood/Greenwood peoples and so unites them as an opposition to Orsterran history.

In a completely different direction from left field, the parallels and crossovers between these people and/or similarities of Orsterra and Norzelia is that Triangle Strategy's stories might be a collection of Orsterran fables or cautionary tales (or a story a novelist made up for fun. Triangle Strategy could just be someone's choose your own adventure story, which would be funny). This really has no grounds other than the usage of "ser" and maybe possibly the cardinal directions somewhat being used.

As a fable anecdote however, it would make the tie in much cooler and more powerful as a story of "old versus new" or "light versus dark" and such in the sense that weather or not the old gods of Norzelia are actually the Osterran pantheon is individual headcanon, but then Serenoa as protagonist, as a Wolffort tied to the "old gods" through iconography and symbolism and the Scales themselves, facing off against not only something that was created by human hand in hatred and pride, the Goddess of Salt (the "new," the sacrilege of it) but also the powers of what is more tied to the fallen god, Galdera, than its namesake, Aelfric, and an Osterran would likely recognize those connections for hopefully easier digestion about the lesser clean cut parts in both Osterra and "Triangle Strategy."