#sky cotl analysis

[gundamcalibarney]

[ Shattering Opinions So Far #1 Spoilers Ahead ]

okay now that i’m over the first quest hype i wanted to give a few opinions on the season so far (these are subject to change as the season goes on);

[ General Opinions on the Season so Far ]:

The first quest is really fun, dodging and jumping the shattered crabs makes it feel like an action game in a sense and can be enjoying and epic to do so.

Getting the scattered lights with other people while leaping-dodge crabs is VERY fun.

That being said it’s Very frustrating to do it Solo, it’s likely to me that TGC made if difficult to play it alone on purpose to have the whole “Get friends to help you” thing but to me it almost felt like a repeat of the Season of Assembly quests (which is even more annoying esp when not a lot of friends are active).

I feel like reducing the number of shatter crabs would still make it difficult in a good way while also not making it feel like overwhelming.

So the first quest is either a fun challenge or a tedious drag depending on how you view it.

Not an opinion but i’d like to note that when you go back to the Ark (Quest 1 Shatter area) it resets even after you complete it so beware.

[ Story things of Note ]:

I see TGC has a whole Show not Tell approach to the lore of Sky and i think it is because they said the lore is up to interpretation besides the obvious (The fact that nearly everyone here used to be alive and such). I appreciate it and think it’s cool but to me it feels like they tell Too little of their own lore.

The main Seasonal focus is that the mountain in Eden seems to actually be a volcano of sorts and it’s eruption has caused shards to fly out everywhere to different areas and infect other lifeforms.

We don’t know Why this occurs besides the usual volcano stuff but we see it’s effects in the crabs getting red crystals on their bags, an increase of size and the fact that they just Really want to kill us.

Wherever the shards lands dark plants follow, in a very “useless protective circle” kind of way.

The Void where the seasonal spirits are located is already a very interesting place, it’s so Empty with only two structures(?) and the statue to get back to the hub.

Unlike prior seasons the spirits aren’t given the usual ancestor names but rather go by “Ancient Light” and “Ancient Darkness” and are balls of yellow and blue instead of humanoids.

(They still ofc do have the cosmetics used for the sky kids widjajsjs).

Ancient Light spirits are a Jellyfish and Manta respectively, while the Ancient Darkness spirits are based on the Dark Plants and Krill.

Both have lily pads but i assume this is just so you can get to the seasonal spirits without.

When you complete the first quest you are sent to a void similar to the seasonal spirit area only this time you are greeted with jellyfish and the hub back home, i unfortunately did not take any photos of this part of the event.

The most intriguing bit about this part is that the jellyfish are stylised differently then what we are usually shown in-game.

The Jellies in the void look like actual jellyfish, more spindly tendrils and look like a jellyfish you’d actually see in an ocean compared to the starry astral ones seen mostly. You can still get light from the void jellies.

Ancient Jelly is based on the King Jelly from the Post-Eden section of the game where you ascend but before you get reborn.

Ancient Flower has a flower over their eye in a ‘infection’ sort of way.

[godofthestupid]

todays photography highlights and later references

[natokorode]

running from the thought of your death (@slink-a-dink :])

[kw4bbage]

Rally fan behaviour is analysing/studying their hairstyle 🚮🚮 two times. Three times? Idk

[grimm-the-tiger]

I feel like it's probably a bad sign that the endings of two of my favorite games involve destroying yourself and all your progress in a painfully slow, cruel way.

[dkniade]

Dive

I love how the water looks too, the fact that you’re the only glowing thing yet it looks so warm even though the environment is pretty dark

ThatGameCompany knew what they were doing when it comes to the visual style of this game

[31seas]

I’ve been getting really into the tf2 world the past two months but rlly struggling to draw the mercs, here are some of the better attempts. I really love all the characters, been watching any gameplay or random like emesis blue type analysis videos I can find, I read the comics too, they were so fun. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to play the actual game (I did the same thing with sky cotl and botw and now I’ve owned both for years so who knows), my friend give me a macbook a bit ago but it doesn’t work super well, and playing a shooter game on a macbook seems…

these really have no brain juice, I just wanted to talk about tf2

it’s so fun

I started out thinking medic was the silliest and my favorite but lately I’ve gotten more invested in the sniper (and a little of engineer)

oh right this too I forgot, this was like the second thing I drew abt it… I tried to make it fancy but it’s kind of odd.. I like the top hand!

[aroace-poly-show]

pinned post time!!

(user boxes all by @/sweetpeauserboxes, except otori siblings one, that one is by me, isat one is by siffrin-enthusiast, and the tags are a screenshot of a compliment i got from a reblog game)

hello i'm marlo!! i have a bunch of names though, you can also call me mono, venus, jupiter, milo, stardust, or siffrin. i use he/it/neos

i'm honduran/american!!

i have a few sideblogs including: @cyberpunk-deadboy - art only blog!! @marlos-fave-characterthoughts - character analysis blog thing?? where i save a lot of posts about characters i like :] @vflower-spotted - rbing vflower fanart!! @rui-kamishiro-spotted - same thing but rui!! @pjsk4koma-cutouts @daily-polyshow @marlos-shelf-of-posts @daily-rui-kamishiro co run blog!! more. that i am forgetting to add here. plus a few rp blogs and like 3 secret ones. which if you find i would prefer you did not bring up here <3

my main fandoms are: project sekai, in stars and time, vocaloid/utau, omori. project sekai is currently the main one but in stars and time might as well be co-main one at this point too

i also enjoy and sometimes reblog stuff for: sky cotl undertale, bungo stray dogs, we know the devil, dr stone, one piece, your turn to die, sanrio, night in the woods, sarazanmai, persona 5, and other stuff i know i'm forgetting

i use caps pretty often and swear a lot. heads up lol.

don't ever be afraid to tag me in stuff i'm more than happy about it!! i also LOVE ask games i reblog them whenever i see one pls pls pls send me asks i think theyre so fun i love talking to people

tags to note: mono’s stuff - self explanatory. any of my own posts, be it text a photo or whatever mono’s art - self explanatory. any of my own art. some of it is from my sideblog. won’t queue let me feel like a real devil for a moment? - queue tag. wktd quote. hollow ☆ wonderland - unit swap again but its wxs as n25 i love them so much please ask me whatever you want about them i’m so normal about them i prommy (lying) (MASTERPOST) <- THIS SHIT IS BROKEN BUT I’LL FIX IT EVENTUALLY IGNORE IT FOR NOW how eternity can be spent - rui and wxs in isat…….

also if you couldn’t tell wonderlands x showtime is my favorite project sekai group, they mean a lot to me and i post about them a lot. just a heads up i get SO annoying about them. i love them so dearly.

and uhm i think thats it? i might be forgetting something. idk though.

[pessimisticshapewithablog]

Who was Ratoo's lost love?

There is an optional side quest involving Ratoo where if the lamb has a follower become the demon Hathor, it given can be given to him for a health upgrade.

Considering how hidden and easy to miss this interaction is, it got thinking about somethings. Like how did Ratoo lose his heart, how is he still alive, how did his heart become a demon? Who or what is Hathor, what exactly are demons in COTL. After some research and alot speculation here is my interpretation of it all.

(This headcanon is incomplete because I lost inspiration halfway through but already put alot of time into it sooo, here. I didn't want it to live in my drafts...)

Demons in COTL

I will expand more on this later but this is a small exert of what I learned. Demons in COTL are all named after IRL gods, as in, NONE of the demons are named after actual demons, of which there are many. I found this odd since there are characters that are named after demons, like Baal, Aym, and Forneus, the bosses at the end of crusade dungeons and all the witnesses. Why then would the only creatures specified as demons in this world be named after IRL gods? Irony, maybe? We'll come back to this.

Who is Hathor?

The IRL namesake of the demon Hathor is an Egyptian Sky Goddess of music, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care. Her nature was multifaceted as she could also be wrathful and bloodthirsty.

"Hathor was often depicted as a cow, symbolizing her maternal and celestial aspect, although her most common form was a woman wearing a headdress of cow horns and a sun disk. She could also be represented as a lioness, a cobra, or a sycamore tree."

"Hathor crossed boundaries between worlds, helping deceased souls in the transition to the afterlife."

This aspect may be relevent later.

In game the demon Hathor will fly away and returns with red hearts. If you are at max health then you will have no use for the heart it has brought you. In this way it acts very similar to The Hearts II tarot card. And the many hearts Ratoo has pulled through his summoning circle. Like Ratoo, it seems as though Hathor is also looking for hearts, for you, the player or for someone else...

Ratoo's Dialogue about Her...

"My love took my heart to the sea, the sea, she took my heart to the sea... 'Tis where my heart will be, will be, in her bed at the bottom of the sea"

"Welcome crusader, take a moment to join me in my search. I look for the heart that once beat in my chest. That is until it was taken by... her. I have been sitting here for so many years, even her face has faded from my mind, yet I keep searching. Always searching. I've a dozen hearts you see, but none of them are mine. They are yours if you wish to have them, crusader. They are worthless to me. I care only for the heart that was once mine... so that I might look upon her face one last time... sigh."

A moment of respite in the eye of the storm!"

"I'll trawl the depths, for the heart she took from my chest!"

"Crusader you have come to join me! I am glad for the company, for this can be such a lonely place."

"I need only find it and I will see her again. I have waited here for so long and all I want is but a moment together once more."

"Oh! Oh! I am happy and I am sad, I weep and I laugh, and I love! Thank you, crusader, for what you have done."

My analysis.

Ratoo seems to be under the notion that his heart is in the watery depths of... somewhere. Not the ocean though as we don't every find him near the piers. Instead Ratoo has etched a summoning circle to someplace unknown where lost hearts can be found but, not his. The circumstances surrounding the loss of Ratoo's heart must be different from the others that he caught if it could not be found by this method. Not that he knows this. The fact this his heart has been very obviously removed from his body could be a factor as to why it can't be found.

I feel as though Ratoo's situation is a metaphor made manifest. His heart was, physically and metaphorically, taken by someone he considered his lover, we do not know if these feelings were reciprocated. Ratoo's memories of his lover are seemingly kept in his heart, which he needs to remember her. His heart has somehow become a demon that finds hearts and brings them to it's summoner. The two are able to be reunited but nothing really changes. The player is still able to summon Hathor at the Demonic Summoning Circle (this is very likely just a game mechanic though).

Because of how open-ended and indefinitive theory crafting is, I couldn't settle on any one in particular that could explain who Ratoo's lover was so, these are the ones I liked best:

My theories

1.

Ratoo's lover was once the goddess, Hathor, that he worshipped dearly. In an act of devotion he gave his heart to her, literally. Some time later, Hathor came into conflict with the old faith and was killed. Now all that remains of her is Ratoo's love for her in the form of the demon Hathor.

11.

111.

Demons in this world are remnants of deposed gods, Hathor being one of them. In this world Hathor is/was a goddess if love and preserving it. Hence Ratoo being drawn to a Hathor, demon of hearts.

Ratoo's in his feeling of love and longing for his lover, elevated his lover to godhood status after her death. Now empowered, she manifests hathors out of love for him. When we give him one in game it's like he is given a love letter from beyond the grave.

[ollyou]

What mainly got you to like the Origami siblings so much?

OOH OKAY THIS IS A FUN QUESTION FOR ME. WARNING FOR LOTS OF TEXT!

TL;DR FOR EVERYTHING: I was obsessed with Olivia and Bobby as family to Mario, and just really found interest in how tragic Olly and the siblings are in general. Then, I had my obsession reignited by the dreaded (/j) “Ollys ship”.

Okay, first I gotta say how I got into the game in the first place!!

To make it semi-brief, I got back into my Mario fixation after years of lessened interest by playing Minecraft…. SILLY, RIGHT? Well, I decided I wanted to listen to video game OSTs while I play with my little sister watching, and naturally, Mario games have always consistently had my favorite OSTs— and actually, my two favorite OSTs of all time (even before this story) are the ones for Super Paper Mario and Bowser’s Inside Story! Eventually I decided I’d listen to more Paper Mario music, and then it led to me getting a short-lived fixation on Color Splash.

While I was listening to Color Splash’s OST in early May 2020, I recall telling my sister, “I wonder when they’re going to make a new Paper Mario game, if they will at all. I’d really wanna play it!”

And then not even a week later, PMTOK was announced. IT WAS REALLY FUNNY AND CRAZY TIMING. I was already at the peak of my Paper Mario fixation, so this was perfect!

Basically I was pretty much immediately excited to see two completely original characters in this game. I thought Olly looked really pretty, too, even though at first I wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole origami stuff. Nonetheless, I was OBSESSED. With the whole game. I vividly remember checking the website for it constantly and watching analysis videos of the trailers, as well as gushing over Bobby (before I even knew much about him at all) to my friend on Sky: CotL…. I also had made sure to watch the Nintendo Treehouse livestream for the game. I watched near EVERY trailer online, to the point that when I played the actual game, it felt like almost nothing was new. I had preordered the game too, on my birthday about a month prior to the game’s release. I WOULD CONSTANTLY TALK ABOUT THE GAME, SAYING “You should buy Paper Mario: The Origami King releasing exclusively on the Nintendo Switch for $59.99 USD on July 17th, 2020” FOR THE FUNNIES. No one I knew was super interested in the game, though, so I was just gushing about it by myself on my private Instagram.

When the game released, I livestreamed myself playing it! And.. my… my first livestream caption 😄😄 was um 😄😄😄😃😄😄

…YEEEAAAH. /J

Again, all silly jokes. I constantly joke about wanting fictional characters… it’s not a creepy thing, TRUST ME….

BUT ANYWAY, this kind of started the “public” gushing over the origami siblings (in quotations because it was only to my friends on a private Instagram account, before I even joined the PMTOK fandom).

Then, of course…

There goes my crazy attachment to Olivia and Bobby. I was so obsessed with those two (IN A PLATONIC/FAMILIAL WAY + MARIO). The drawing above is of myself playing the role of Mario, hanging out with Olivia and Bobby.

I also was just… super obsessed with how tragic but beautiful Olly was. I wanted to give him a better ending, which resulted in so many of the AU stuff going on. You can see how I felt in the moment in the image above.

The game itself basically got me obsessed with the siblings! But then….

I started drawing them as people. (I know, the art is kind of ugly. It’s from 2020, cut me some slack!)

I also apparently wrote this on my designs for them…?! So that’s why my human designs look so basic.

I’d never liked humanizations, because I’ve always had this thing where I hate human characters. However, this somehow changed things for me. These were pretty much my first humanizations, made in August 2020.

Well, that’s great and all, but how am I still so obsessed with them???

The answer is super embarrassing.

I actually had a moment where I was losing interest in PMTOK. This was around early 2021. Then comes along the worst thing to ever happen to me. /j

The Ollys.

I was randomly DMed fanart of me and Sega (Jaded_Is_Jade on Twitter)’s Olly designs by Sega herself one day. Kissing. Passionately. As a joke. It was based off this meme:

…Unfortunately, I don’t think Sega will ever allow me to share this drawing with the public.

Anyway, as someone who found selfcest absolutely hilarious due to its sheer absurdity and impossibility in real life, I thought this was a new funny recurring joke we’d have.

Yeah. “Joke”. We kept drawing art of the Ollys. It was all funny, but then we moved on to writing fanfics about them. Then, this sort of wound up becoming a symbol of our bond.

The Ollys have been a thing since February 24, 2021. It’s horrifying. I feel embarrassed every time I talk about it, because I don’t want people to think I’m often into selfcest (I don’t ship that stuff anywhere else, but if you do that’s cool, it’s just not my thing because I prefer more… possible ships), but this… somehow got me infatuated with Sega’s Olly. Which is really funny, because I used to say “why do people find him hot??? He’s literally a cube.”

So, now a lot of the obsession comes from the Ollys. They really do hold a special place in my heart, for some godforsaken reason. That, and I just love tragic siblings. And fictional siblings in general. I used to be OBSESSED with Papyrus and Sans’s relationship (in a familial way, ya freaks. /j).

SO YEAH. I WENT OFF… A LOT… BUT I HOPE SOMEONE FINDS THIS INTERESTING!! I’d be happy to answer more questions in the near future, so if anything is confusing here, please ask away!

Thank you for the ask! ^_^

[kiro-withahat]

Sometimes i get jumpscared by character analysis and i end up reading 10 in a row like i came here to see if anyone still enjoys sky : cotl

[verdant-soaring]

Above the Prairie temple has always been one of my favorite OOB spots.

There used to be a way to make a castle appear over the top of it, but I can’t remember how. I managed to get the castle to show up but not in the right spot-- it was beyond my reach...

[yurious-george]

About: PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION. Other than that: I can come across a little condescending or contrarian sometimes - sorry about that! It’s not intentional. If you want an ask meme answered, please include the question with the emoji. Similarly, I don’t do chain/copy paste ask games, but I appreciate getting them! I’m not “pro” or “anti” ship, I go outside, and you should too. Karibu karibu, enjoy your stay!

I only accept anon hate in the form of limerick. Please be aware of this before sending or your message will be blocked & deleted without comment. My blog MUST remain a silly space.

Blacklist Tags:

#important - catch-all politics & current events tag.

#this is cassandra - talks tag. From the song by Talis Kimberley.

#sadismposting, #the intersection where the bodies meet - horny violence babyyyy

#something rotten in the house - incest, haunted houses, and greek tragedy. context

Interests:

wazungu wednesday is a wednesday event on my blog where I muse on my life as a previous american-african immigrant, being othered both in and out of Africa explicitly for my whiteness, and how my ostracisation functioned under the same imperial banner as African & Black exploitation. Don't use my suffering to justify your bigotry. Also just african-related goofs and opinions.

I’ve been getting into political and economic theory lately, and post my thoughts & research. I’m firmly anti-capitalist, but have my criticisms of communism... I identify as an anarchist with some democratic socialist leanings, and if that seems contradictory, it’s because I’m still working out the kinks. Communist, anarchist, or socialist, everyone who believes in a kinder world & concrete action is welcome on my blog! No tag besides my usual talks tag.

Opera - #opera tag

Textile arts, focused historical techniques & materials. I’ve knitted hand warmers from yarn I cleaned, carded, and spun myself! - #textile, #move the sheep and the fences around

Fashion - mostly “vintage”/historical women’s styles, with the occasional kitenge or si-fi-esque look. - #clothing

Sub-Saharan African mythology, cultures, and tribes, particularly the Maasai. East Africa for culture, and West Africa for mythology, just because I think the West African gods are cooler. (Sorry, Kenya.😅) - #africa

Farming, homesteading, animal husbandry, etc. No tag. Lots of chickens.

Spiders - #spiders

Ancient legends, media analysis, meta narrative. Enemies to lovers, too; if the Epic of Gilgamesh did it, I can put it here. #can’t argue with a monomyth, #the play that eats the players, #enemies with benefits, #stories

Angels - I am not religious but feel strongly associated with them. #angels

Character tags: #gawainposting, #gearposting, #ishtarposting

Fandoms & medias & sideblogs & such

Abzu, Journey, Sky cotl (@starsfallhome)

Hollow Knight (@bobbinbugs)

comicaurora (no longer like it but left my side blogs up.) (@aurorar34, @gaias-letterbox)

Dungeon Meshi

Kiwi Blitz

Princess Tutu + princess tutu abridged

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Blue Eye Samurai

Lego monkie kid

Mabel Podcast

Death Palette

Outer Wilds

Ultrakill

Portal 1 & 2

Hatoful Boyfriend

Paul Shapera (no longer following but soft spot for older works)

Medieval literature

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Inanna's Descent Into the Underworld

[czarojay]

Hello! My name is Jade, Nettle or 101 for short. Surprising, isn't it.  I use They/he/she pronouns!

You will find my art at Jade canvas, doodles at teal doodley doos! Requests/asks are at Emerald entreaties

Then for my writing you will see Ideas and Analysis and Shamrock Scribbles! You can see me chattering sometimes in 101 talks, however i hardly ever do that anymore ^^;

Mind you, this is a new post and a new change of me actually organising my posts, so not all posts might be tagged properly quite yet! 

Asks and messages are always open (for now), so feel free to shoot a message if you’d like, just like, don’t be a weirdo. Requests are also open, feel free to shoot one and i may doodle it :D (mcyt, sky cotl mainly i imagine)

I welcome any image IDs on my art and kiss people who write them gently on their hand, king shit.