#like the whole thing with cordelia

[tys-kitty]

Matthew Fairchild in CHOT - a summary

[cant-think-of-anything]

i keep thinking about what the orginal “tragic” ending of the last hours was supposed to be

[agnes-draws]

a little continuation of the christmas artwork ✨ @vwritesaus's amazing tags inspired me 😌💖

[triangle-strategy-notes]

Cordelia Concept Art

Cordelia concept/reference art. Translation notes and image id below the cut.

Translation Notes

The word for "sash" on this page was literally "obi," the type of sash a woman would tie around a kimono. "Obi" is a valid English word, so I went back and forth between what to use, but since her dress isn't technically a kimono + the sash isn't tied in the style an obi usually would be, I decided to go with the more catch-all term.

"White as snow" was a word that literally just meant "white," but the first character and the word in general had some connotations with innocence/purity, so I added "as snow" to try and give that same connotation.

"Simple" as it refers to the fastener might have also meant "casual."

"Once upon a time" wasn't exactly the Japanese phrase for "Once upon a time," but it was fairly close. A more literal translation would be, "In the olden days, it just so happened that..."

"Girl of innocence" appears to literally be the word "witch". However, if you take the first character as a separate prefix to the second, it would mean something along the lines of "pure/genuine/true girl." I'm not really sure if that's how it works, but it seemed to make more sense than "witch," so that's what I ended up going with.

Image IDs

[id: Five images. The first two are the full pages of Cordelia's concept art in Japanese, the other three are translated versions of the text. On the first page, there is a colored and uncolored version of Cordelia's portrait. Underneath, there is an illustrator's note that reads, "Cordelia's overall tone is pale, so I thought it ended up being pretty difficult to choose a shading color. And actually, her initial facial features were much younger, but Mr. Ikushima redesigned her several times to give her the elegant look she has today. (Rina Yoshiura)". The second page is titled, "Morality's Sister (Healing Hands to Protect) Rough Draft". It has a small illustration/comic of a childhood Cordelia and Roland. It has the notes "Country A," "13 year old," and "girl of innocence." It then has a note that says, "I have to protect," with a large bracket beside it that contains the list, "small, dainty, gentle". There is also the word "pure" nearby. Underneath that is the illustration, titled, "Sister and Morality" with the subtitle "about 8 years ago". In the illustration Roland seems to be throwing a caterpillar-like bug aside. It's labeled, "Weird Bug Arm Bar Throw." Roland has some dialogue that reads, "I've for real gotta catch it!" Cordelia has some dialogue that reads, "huh?" Underneath them both, there's a note that reads, "Once upon a time, a warm fuzzy feeling made him think, 'I have to protect her!'" To the side there are several portraits of Cordelia, some full-body (one of which has a note about her braid being brought in front of her shoulder), and two that are labeled as "Bust portraits". One of the portraits shows Cordelia in a simple cloak with the fastener being labeled, "simple metal fastener." There's a top-down diagram of the metal she wears at her dress's neckline, labeled, "Decoration rough draft." On the second half of the page there is a portion labeled, "Working out the sister's hair ornament….." One version has a large flower on it. Next to it is a small portrait of Groma. A note reads, "Big flower, three strand braid. Doesn't she look like Grandma?" Another section is labeled, "Morality Facial Features and Morality's Sister WIP". There are several drawings of Cordelia's face, along with a full body rendition of an alternate design. She still wears the same sash as she does in canon, and nearby is the note, "For women. If they are wearing a dress, the sash should be wrapped like this." At the bottom of the page, there is another illustrator's note that reads, "She had this more child-like sort of look to her character during the drafting phase. But she ended up taking on a more serious role than I had originally expected, and the design was tweaked to fit. I recall she was a difficult character for us. (Yasuaki Arai)" /end id.]

[someonefantastic]

there is no reason for cordelia and anya to not continue being friends after the wish other than joss whedon’s a coward

[izzyspussy]

why are they laughing at him as he gets straight up killed??? he doesn't deserve this! he's a sweet kid at heart! he literally just needs one (1) real friend!!

[thepunkmuppet]

wait wait wait so if cordelia was already possessed by jasmine. and that’s the justification for why she slept with connor. then why tf did she need to sleep with connor in the first place??? I mean it’s still a stupid and gross plotline regardless, but SHE WAS ALREADY POSSESSED so they didn’t need to have sex for jasmine to exist inside cordelia! and I know the plotline exists because charisma was pregnant, but surely it would be more spooky just to have her suddenly be pregnant after spin the bottle?? ik that’s very similar to fred and illyria but like… that is literally what happened! why did they need to have sex to make jasmine if she was already possessed by jasmine it’s not like jasmine is an actual physical baby she’s a weird spiritual glowing octopus thingy that becomes a grown ass woman so wtf was the point of the scene that scarred my youth I DONT UNDERSTAND

[loregoddess]

Frederica Aesfrost or Cordelia Glenbrook for the ask game?

Oh, I'll do both, they're both great!

First impression: For Frederica, it was something along the lines of "Oh, she seems cool, I bet I'll like her" when I was watching the early trailers. For Cordelia, after meeting her for the first time in the game I didn't...actually have much of an impression of her, she seemed very bland "youngest sister, most gentle-hearted princess" and nothing more (I was very wrong).

Impression now: Love them both lots! Frederica went well beyond whatever I was expecting of her characterization, she's really interesting and I love how she comes into her own and really starts standing up for herself and her ideals as the story progresses. And I was SO wrong about Cordelia, she's literally one of the most interesting and complex characters in a "royalty" role I've ever come across in fiction, and I love her so much for it. She's got an incredibly strong will, she's very intelligent, and she was actually shaping up to be a really extraordinary leader. I'm sad she gets sidelined in the story as soon as Roland's able to reclaim Glenbrook Castle, because she had all this budding potential to be one hell of a powerhouse of a character.

Favorite moment: Hmm, it's been a hot minute since I played TriStrat, so my memory of the story isn't as sharp, but I really enjoyed the scenes where Frederica fights against Thalas and Erika (in her route of Ch13, "Born of Strife and Sadness" specifically, although her battle dialogue with them in Roland's version "Time to Say Goodbye" is good as well). It marks an interesting turning point in her character growth, and it was really nice to see her finally oppose them without fear.

For Cordelia, I'd...have a harder time combing the wiki for the specific chapter, but all of her cutscenes from her father's death to Ch13, where we get to see how she starts to come up with a plan to retake Glenbrook, and how she's able to inspire Avlora to her side, those were really interesting scenes, and I had a new appreciation for her character after watching them because I simply wasn't expecting her to deal with the grief of loosing her entire family (as she didn't know Roland was still alive at this time) to be "well, I'm the only one left and I am Not going to take this lying down, I will be queen of my people in my own right". Just, mm, really interesting character growth, I would have loved to see the type of leader she would have become if things had gone differently.

Idea for a story: Well, I'm always interesting in post-game type narratives that explore how the characters and world begin to heal after all is said and done, and I think that type of story would be really interesting to explore for both Frederica and Cordelia, but in different ways. For Frederica, exploring how her life as the official Lady Wolffort is, and what work she does to help the Rosellen people after the war while also balancing her new married life would be really interesting.

For Cordelia, I think there's a lot of potential to explore the intricacies and power dynamics behind the scenes of Glenbrook's restoration, as I'm sure she ends up doing a lot of work to help Roland even if she isn't the official ruler (again, all that potential she showed as a leader, you can't tell me she doesn't take up some sort of important position in helping to lead the country)--all this while she also settles in to learning that Serenoa is her half-brother (I like to think she learns that at some point), and her life with Avlora as her knight, and just, stuff in general for her since she has a lot to recover from and grieving she can finally go through.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have any wildly unpopular opinions about Frederica. For Cordelia, I guess I'm not keen on the Cordelia x Avlora ship, I just...can't see it as romantic (and the age gap doesn't work for me, I'm fairly certain Avlora is in her thirties at the youngest due to in-game dialogue about when Svarog took her in), although I am partial the idea of the platonic knight-liege friendship between the two, but platonic stuff isn't as popular in most fandom spaces.

Favorite relationship: I'm really fond of Frederica's canon romance with Serenoa, like, normally I'm kinda neutral on canon romances, but the way this one was written was so, so good, and I loved seeing her interactions with the other House Wolffort members. I also like her friendship with Geela a lot.

For Cordelia, her familial relationship with Roland is very interesting (somewhat bittersweet at times), and I would have loved to see and know more about her relationship with Frani and their dad. As I mentioned above, I really like her friendship with Avlora, because it was so unexpected but it makes a sort of weird sense. Would have loved to see more of her interactions with the House Wolffort members, and also would have loved to see how she reacts to learning Serenoa is her half-brother and how that shapes her relationship with him and Frederica after the game's events.

Favorite headcanon: Hmmm, I don't have as many headcanons for TriStrat in general but, I guess for Frederica that in Benedict's ending she eventually ends up breaking away from and opposing Serenoa so she can take up defending the Roselle (probably sometime shortly after Benedict's death), and that in the Golden Ending she grows into an excellent leader for both the Wolffort Demense and Roselle people alongside Serenoa, and the two are fondly remembered by their people in histories later on.

For Cordelia, it would be that her capability and tact for government makes her vital to ensuring Roland's rule is successful in the Golden Ending, and also that she eventually becomes very close with Frederica and Serenoa after learning she's related to Serenoa (catching up on family time), enough that if the two ever had kids she'd be the favorite aunt (she'd be their only aunt technically, but she probably spoils them more than Roland would).

[swiftzeldas]

btw i saw king lear at the colorado shakespeare festival last night and wsdjfkghdfkjghkwfg!!!!!

[sumire-bride]

What is the house where the Kanashi family lives like? Did Sumire ever have frightening experiences because of Cordelia's heart? How does Sumire feel about sacrificial brides?

{ Thanks sm for the ask anon :> Hope I answered this to ur liking}

[⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁𓇬⠁⠁⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠁⠁⠂]

{ The Kanashi's brothers plus Xaing lived pretty hectic when they all lived with Kyuufu, like they were loud n way more dysfunctional then they would be now 😭 Before Sumire it was js wayy worse, so when they all lived wit Kyuufu it was like a very painful silence to the point everyone js kinda lost it on each other constantly. }

{ But then Sumire was born, n her mother n all her brothers moved away from her n saw her three times or so a year, basically only got to see her whenever Kyuufu told them to. Wit js Kyuufu n Sumire, it was quiet n Kyuufu showed her up to zero attention some days then on other days he'd be like "spend ur whole day wit me", when it was Xaing n the brothers at the other home no one spoke to each other, n a lot of the brothers left. It was again painfully quiet n up to no one spoke to each other unless they needed to. When the entire family was together in the same house, it got a more chaotic. Xaing was more prone for out bursts everyone js got emotional. So the the aura of each place is a little different but in gen the family household is painful silence that's loud for no reason. }

𖧷ɤ———ɤ𖧷

{ She has sm scary experiences from Cordelia, Sumire through out her route has dreams, random flashbacks/memories of Cordelia, hears her voice. I've made it that when Sumire is near anything that could possible trigger Cordelia, her heart will beat in a really harmful way }

{ If I have to name one that really scared tf out of her, was when she had her first dream of her when she was in the Sakamaki's home. She was in a black room, n Cordelia was standing in front of her, when she looked up she had Sumire's face stitched onto her while she screamed n attacked Sumire ripping her chest open trying to take her heart "It's mine that heart is mine!" or sum shit like that, it scared Sumire sm that she woke up in full blown tears }

{ Sumire's very fearful, like she knows the heart isn't hers instead someone she doesn't know that's what scares her more she can not catch a break, through MB n the end of HDB Sumire n Cordelia are always js bitching to each other Sumire can not STAANND Cordelia she js wants her out of her body }

𖧷ɤ———ɤ𖧷

{ Sumire didn't really know what they were until later, Sumire can't exactly be considered one since she wasn't offered by any church so she got lucky in that defense }

{ When she does tho she's a bit unfazed- "Most normal info about the Sakamaki's I've ever heard." is her honest mindset- BUT in she says she wants to live for the passed on girls later in her route }

[⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁𓇬⠁⠁⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠁⠁⠂]

[nimblermortal]

In the first chapter of Shards of Honor, Cordelia:

-gets captured -demands her captor lets her bury the body of her fallen subordinates -demands her captor let her take along her useless, wounded subordinate -proves she is willing to dig a proper grave with a trowel (okay, it’s a geologist’s shovel) regardless of how long it takes or how bad she is at it -on tipping the body in, decides it is insufficiently dignified and covers the face with a handkerchief

Aral: Heart eyes, mf, this woman has honor, I wonder if she would consider moving to Barrayar?

[aahsoka]

wish i could add tags to polls after because one of the other times angel had sex he got a vampire pregnant (which shouldnt be possible) and she staked herself so the baby could live and that son (after some fucky dimensional time shit) then subsequently got cordelia pregnant (in arguably the worst plotline in tv history) with a demon baby that killed her so like. inherited corrosive vagina. like father like son.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

I just finished the Angel book "Dark Mirror," and I have to say I was kind of disappointed by this one. It wasn't bad or anything at all. But the description of it just made it sound like it was going to be so much more epic than it ended up being handled, imo. Though maybe I just expected too much and kind of over-hyped it.

...And then there are some Buffy and Angel books where I feel like the summaries don't do them justice at all--or they sound uninteresting--and then they end up being the most amazing things ever. LOL

[coraniaid]

I don't think I believe that people in Sunnydale High School think of the Scooby Gang as "Buffy Summers and her weird friends".

I mean, yes, they know Buffy is (more than) a bit weird and has a history of violence, and they know that she's often at the center of lots of strange things that happen in the school. But if you forget what you know about vampires and the Slayer and look at the dynamics and personal histories of that group from the outside, there's exactly one person who connects them all together. And it's not the (ex?) arsonist and (ex?) gang member who recently transferred to Sunnydale from LA.

Everyone in Sunnydale High seems to know Willow Rosenberg, and everyone knows she's a huge nerd who (A) love libraries and (B) has something of a history of either tutoring (e.g. Rodney Muson) or otherwise hanging out with (e.g. Shelia Martini) some of the school's more violent and dangerous elements.

There's Xander Harris, Willow's best friend since kindergarten (and who, unlike Willow, doesn't really seem to have many other friends at all after Jesse mysteriously vanishes)

There's the (weirdly religious?) ex-aronist from LA who Willow seems to be tutoring in the library a lot (see B above) or who she's possibly recruited as muscle. Sheila and Rodney both mysteriously went missing one day too, so people aren't that surprised when Buffy does herself at the end of junior year.

There's the English librarian (see A above) that anyone who has seen Willow's locker knows Willow has a crush on

There's the computer science teacher that anyone who has been in class with knows Willow also has a crush on, who sometimes has Willow come in to class to help her run sessions for remedial students on the weekends and whose job Willow (somehow) takes over when she dies

There's Cordelia Chase, who Willow has a whole historical Thing with, probably going back to when they were little kids themselves. People say Willow hates her but they're always hanging out together (there's a persistent rumor that they once spent a whole night together in a closet, if you know what I mean) and Willow helped run her campaign for Homecoming Queen. Cordelia was secretly dating Willow's friend for a bit and some people say Willow was really, really upset when she found out; read into that what you will.

There's the mysterious older guy in a band who doesn't talk much and that Willow is apparently actually dating. (This isn't the same older guy in a band Cordelia was dating, but oddly enough it is the same band.) A few kids swear they've seen him naked and locked up in the library at night.

There are (again, from the outside) people like Willow's childhood friend Amy and Amy's friend Michael, who people might remember were once being investigated by the police for ritual murder before Amy mysteriously vanished

To the outside eye, the Scooby Gang are Willow Rosenberg and her weird friends.

(A lot of kids swear that one time they saw her hold the whole Bronze hostage and rip a girl's throat out with her teeth, but of course Principal Snyder hushed it all up and she was back at school the next day. He really doesn't want to have to hire a new computer science teacher this year.)

[headlinehustling]

I am once again thinking about the end of king lear

[someonefantastic]

possible hot take but I think in The Wish we should’ve gotten vamp!Cordy after she was bitten and then she should’ve been allowed to stake Xander and Willow and/or fight Buffy

Even if Buffy wound up staking her, I still think it would’ve worked super well in bringing the idea of Cordelia lashing out in hurt and blaming Buffy for what Xander did to fruition because she actually gets to have that physical confrontation with those who wronged her and even if she is evil, it would be kind of cathartic in a way. Plus, I know wishverse was subverting expectations and all that stuff but it widely sucks imo that in an ep that starts with a focus on Cordelia’s pain and how everything (being cheated on, impaled, etc) is effecting her winds up a) killing her off and b) dragging her for being hurt in the first place (there are multiple times where people call her stupid or ditzy because of her making that wish). Also, I just think we should’ve gotten vamp!Cordy at least once in the show’s run. As a treat