SSL and SSO Katjas. (and Mortifa)

09.06 // When I suddenly had Starshine Legacy walkthroughs in my Youtube recommendations, it meant that I would draw the favourite villainess from this fandom. I would like to replay these games in one day And I love her in original design. That remade design is SSO is so out of her character, sorry not sorry

A Not chapter update this time because I realised we've passed Chapter 22, which means I can finally post about this particular thing! I'd like to share my designs for the dark riders in the fic, given that it's somewhat homebrewed and one of the least intuitive things given my writing style

A huge thanks to @dorianwolfforest the absolute goat for being kind and generous enough to draw this for me. (He drew this for me a while ago but I wanted to wait about posting it until they'd all have been Mentioned in the fic atleast.)

As you can probably tell, I take most of my inspiration from the Dark Riders from their SSL incarnations, given that I simply prefer those designs and half-characterisations more. Sabine is the most changed from her Current version, but she's really just me taking her snooty, preppy characterisation from SSL and going haywire with it. Jessica is pretty self-invented in that I give her. Problems. But I figured it was pretty obvious I like her in SSL due to me reusing her Princess of Darkness epithet. Katja... Y'all will see. Don't worry about her just yet <3

These three aren't a huge interest of mine in canon, so I wasn't expecting to give much of a shit about them in QuintSum. As per usual however, once I turn characters a little to the left and I figure out a way to make them suitable to my tastes, needs, and wants, I end up liking them sooner or later. Given I've written a lot about them by now (given that I am, as known, Way ahead in writing scheduling) I'm pretty happy with what I've done, and I still have a lot left to do with them. They will by NO means have any Big Important Role, but they serve as adequate antagonists in a way that I think the game lacks. And as we all know QuintSum is above all else an exercise in showing SSE up, making the Dark Riders competent was just one of them.

SSO - DARK RIDERS Extended/Upgraded Lore (unofficial)

(Full body arts: Sabine, Jess, Elise by Eleanor Nightwalker (Youtube), Katja by @bluelightcore)

SABINE CLAYMORE Dark Rider Malumi (The Black Knight)

Horse: Kaahn (warmblood) Powers: Fire Circle (Anti-Lightning) -> Fire and Nullification. Energy absorbing fire against Alex’s lightning attacks. Alex's rival.

Role: Strong guy/Fighter of the 5-man band Flaw: Envy and Wrath. Her hot temper can be used against her. Personality: She’s angry, malicious and a hothead. Inferiority complex. She is often sent against the SRs to do the fighting, often used as a simple minion and she hates it. She thinks she’s stronger, cleverer and better, than the other DRs, while at the same time being envious of them, because she knows she isn’t. Argues with the other DRs even when on a mission. Wants: to prove herself. To defeat the SRs alone, so she can prove, she is the strongest DR.

Backstory: always envious. Only daughter of the rich and prestigious Claymore family. A spoiled and jealous horse girl, who tried to be the best in every discipline, and bought her way into success whenever she could. The only ones who could defeat her were Lisa and Linda and she will forever hate them because of that. But her true rival is Alex. Hobbies: mischief and petty crimes, making others frustrated, getting them into trouble. She is happy when others are not. Discipline: Eventing (that’s why she raced both Lisa and Linda) consists of cross-country, showjumping and dressage.

KATJA HELBERG   Dark Rider Stiria (The Ice Witch)

Horse: Tyrann (arabian) Powers: Frost Circle (Anti-Moon) -> Frost, Ice and Manipulation. While Linda’s visions show the truth, Katja makes Illusions that are Lies. Linda's rival.

Role: Smart guy/Scout of the 5-man band Flaw: Arrogant and Cold, can’t understand love. Her arrogance can be used against her. Personality: A cold and calculating manipulator, planner, master of Lies. The most dangerous beside Elise. Afraid of her, but won’t admit it. No petty quarrel with the others, she knows her importance. Wants: to control everything. Obsession with controlling and leading the Dark Riders, especially after Elise’s arrival. Wants to prove, that love only gets in the way, it is a hindrance.

Backstory: was betrayed. Norvegian father, kallter mother. She lived with the Kallters in the Dino Valley, inherited her mother’s nature powers, but got corrupted by the forces of darkness. Since she was born with white hair, the kallters always thought she was cursed, but her mother insisted she’s good. After an incident got blamed on her, she got into an argument with ther mother, and she finally gave in to the pressure and said Katja’s bad. Katja ran away into the night in the snowstorm, almost froze to death, but got saved by dark magic and recruited to the dark side. She returned to the village days later, and instead of defending the people from the cold, she unleashed her ice powers and froze the valley. The cold lingers in there ever since, even though the rest of jorvik is warm.   Hobbies: to use her frost powers and cause harm with it (freeze flowers, small animals and such). Likes to prove, that people are cruel and cold and love is a lie. Discipline: Endurance riding. Although normal Arabians are heat and not cold tolerant, Tyrann is just like Katja: doesn’t feel the cold.  

JESSICA JET Dark Rider Umbra (The Dark Princess)

Horse: Erebos (friesian) Powers: Shadow Circle (Anti-Sun) -> Shadow powers and Banishment. Summons shadow seekers to fight for her, when they steal a person’s soul, she locks them in Pandoria. Anne's rival.

Role: Lancer of the 5-man band (to Katja) Flaw: Pride and Hatred. Her hate for Katja can be used to make her help the good guys. Personality: Hates Anne more than anything, since Concorde kicked her back into Garnok’s prison in SSL 3. Short-tempered, proud and hateful. Does little fighting, her minions fight instead of her. Rivalry with Katja, thinks she is better, than her, even though Katja always outdoes her. Wants: to defeat others. To prove that she is better, than Katja, wants to humiliate and defeat Anne.

Backstory: was defeated by Anne. Jordan Jet’s lost daughter, disappeared years ago, causing her to leave the island of Jorvik in grief. Many years later she returned (in Spring Rider) to pursue her dream of leading a dressage stable. She organizes the Rockville – Beauvista – Bayridge triangle in the Spring Valley, when her long-lost daughter shows up again- but on the side of evil. Hobbies: fashion and modelling. Since Anne is also into fashion, Jess wants to beat her in every way she can. They are rivals in the modelling world also. Discipline: Dressage. Picked it up after she was first defeated by Anne. Got her Dark Horse and trained to one day finally humiliate Anne in her own discipline.

ELISE SAMASSA Dark Rider Nihili (The Night Huntress)

Horse: Acheron (Rocky Mountains horse) Powers: Darkness Circle (Anti-Star) -> Discord, Darkness and Destruction. Opposite of Lisa’s trust and healing powers, Elise only destroys and corrupts. Lisa's rival.

Role: Leader/Heart of the 5-man band (keeps them together, working for the singular goal) Flaw: absolute cruelty, even towards her fellow DRs. Gets rid of anything and anyone that's not useful anymore to her. Their fear of Elise can be used against her. Personality: Has an unsettling energy about her. Doesn’t have family, doesn’t have friends, doesn’t have weaknesses, doesn’t bargain, just destroys her enemies like a force of nature. Even the other minions of Garnok are afraid of her. Wants: to win. To achieve total victory over the forces of good. Obsessed with winning always.

Backstory: very mysterious. To be the perfect soldier in the service of Garnok, she removed everything from her life, that could hinder her. No attachments, no family, just the sheer focus on the mission. Doesn’t play around, her only goal is to defeat the forces of good, doesn’t matter who or what she has to destroy. Discipline: Racing. Hobbies: power-lifting, strength training, airsoft.

I want to talk abt Sabine, again !! please correct me if anything is "wrong" in my interpretation. (neurodivergence got me, sorry lads)

I saw some people on the clock app reacting to Sabine's quest, and it's not that i completely disagree with what they said, but idk i need to give my opinion...

To give context, I'll explain Who is Sabine, and HOW i see her.

Sabine is one of the main antagonists of SSL and SSO, more recently she got a redesign (which isn't bad, I'm actually quite a fan of it). Some people like it, some people thrist over it, someone people hate it... Yea, you see it, Sabine's whole personnality is NOW based on her physical appearence. In SSL and early SSO, she was quite the problematic girl, and she wasn't that noticeable compared to now??

Anyways, back to now, I noticed that SSO is now using her as a mascot (just look at their tiktok and IG, it's full of SABINE thirsty posts). She's basically an object now. Object of the community, and i remember y'all this girl is barely eighteen, even if we don't really see it...

The redesign IS GOOD, it's objectively good, but uh... Star stable please, stop that thing with her, some people like her as a character, not a damn object.

Even the whole flirting thing.. The quests are between a pain and corny sh¡t, I wish i could see the Sabine that pointed out all the billshit about Jorvik, that nothing makes sense. I want a girl actually showing a damn personnality trait instead of being... what she is rn.

The Jorvik festival's quests are good. But would be even more cool without that... weird ambiance, atmosphere.

They suceeded with Katja, why not with Sabine ? Katja is a good character ! No thirst or anything, just cool violin and traumatised girl.

(sorry for bad english, again)

2, 16, 24 for the SSO Asks? (@starstable-eve :))

2. Silver-black color, mane braided in buns (because there is no mohawk) Full name, if translated from russian - Chaotic Crow. The name has never changed.

16. I think Valedale, despite the fact that I am generally indifferent to the championships. Why? Beautiful location and rain.

24. If we are talking about the original games series (SSL) - Katja. If about the SSO- Sabine. Maybe because she had the most interactions with us.

Where will the battle against Garnok be set?

^ This is a question I keep returning to lately, especially as the main story grows more and more intense. There has to be a grand face-off at some point, right?

In Starshine Legacy, Garnok was never truly released; the efforts to keep this from happening took place in Pandoria. The same applies to the first three books, though there, Garnok came closer to his return and the Dark Riders gave the Soul Riders far more trouble than in SSL. In SSO, we know with certainty that Garnok still resides in this Pandorian prison. Potential locations to battle Garnok include:

Pandoria. Unlikely and anticlimactic. It's where he's imprisoned; it is no show of power to wander into someone's cell and take them out with a stab in the back while they are in a weakened, restricted state. (That's not how the Druids think, obviously, but it is how the writers probably think; there's nothing epic about such a defeat.) Garnok's Pandorian residence is also probably heavily guarded by Pandorian beasts and Dark Core goons alike. They gave us trouble trying to rescue Anne, even when they had no use left for her; I doubt they'd let us off easy trying to get to Garnok. Our best hope trying to defeat Garnok in Pandoria would be luring him, and thereby the rest of Dark Core, to us - needless to say, a complicated and dangerous affair where we would run the risk of being the ones to let him loose on Jorvik, should we need to escape and accidentally pull him with us.

Devil's Gap. Severely unlikely and somewhat nonsensical. This used to make perfect sense (at least to me) - the implications that Devil's Gap held high concentrations of evil and danger gave strong associations with Garnok, the greatest evil known to Jorvik. Now that we know Devil's Gap to be the residence of the Vala - known protectors of Jorvik - this seems far likely. Their (most likely brief) alliance with at least one Dark Rider and the Druids' resentment towards them means, to me, that Devil's Gap isn't entirely off the list, but I don't really see it happening unless Dark Core manage bring down the Vala's presumably strong defences to let Garnok loose there. It may be noteworthy, though, that Galloper Thompson (or Gunnar Thrymson, if you prefer) has memories of a great tentacled monster attacking Jarlaheim.

Dark Core's headquarters. Did we ever find out in game what the portal is for? It seems to be dangerous - but at the same time, Katja seemingly appeared from it. In the books, it seems to be a gate to Garnok, or at least his powers. No matter, Dark Core's headquarters are a strong contender in my mind, especially if the battle and its location are out of our control. We may very well have to rush there at the last minute, only to arrive to Garnok already there and ready to wreak havoc on Jorvik the second he is directed towards the coast.

Anywhere by the ocean. Garnok's natural habitat seems to be deep under the sea. It's less likely he'd pop up in a random location than just... at the oil rig - but if Garnok's release is as much out of Dark Core's control as it is ours, rather being entirely of his own volition, he may very well appear anywhere he wishes. This is probably more likely than Mr. Sands believes it to be.

Pine Hill Manor. Wild card of the week! We haven't unlocked it yet, and I'm not sure it's even far south enough to fit within the reaches of the in-game map's greyed out area - in fact, there isn't even any water - but it is Mr. Sands' own personal headquarters. Perhaps it is here he has spent time communicating with, researching, Garnok. Perhaps this, not the oil rig's platform, is the place Garnok sees power (and most of all, vulnerability) in.

All of the above. Garnok, going by the books, seems to be just as much a shapeless, endless presence as he is a physical being. Perhaps the climactic battle will have us attempt and fail to stop his escape, and then follow him around Jorvik in a great race against time and the Dark Riders in an effort to bring an end to him once and for all. Garnok's release would not be a threat only to a small part of Jorvik - it would affect every piece of land and sea. A gameplay representation of that is not all too unlikely.

gf is here so im not online much but we did the first day of rainbow festival yesterday and it was fairly fun, it was fun to *see* katja (and the music was nice) but like.. the quest itself felt meh. when new dr are like “we know each other already” i really do not feel i know you at all whatsoever, esp as someone who started playing with sso and not ssl (altho have played it by now)

so i wish they wouldve been less “you already know me and what im doing and we act as if you beat me in a boss fight already before” and more of a re-introduction

and ofc “oh no evil playlist” is like.. yeah its fine its a kids game, its cute, but shes ALSO saying “im not killing anyone... right now” so its a bit back and forth with the tone... like if you turned this in to your teacher they would give it back and tell you to make it more consistent you know? its not just “kids game lol” you can still have consistent tone and writing

and ofc making villains have more nuance and make the player feel sympathy (everything i touch dies bla bla) isnt like. bad. but its again a bit weird throwing this in when i feel more like i need a re-introduction to who you are and what bad things youve even ever done. makes it look more like we’re bullying the dr.

me: star shine legacy 4 is my favourite game of the series because of the plot

the plot:

here is my shitty edit of Glamour front page

I'm also generally confused about the argument in general against the Dark Riders about how they "undo Helena's descriptions" and "now the books aren't canon." And I don't get that?

For one, I don't remember any of the descriptions in the books outside of Katja determining anything about skin color for any of the Dark Riders. The descriptions on the Dark Riders seemed to focus more on how they carried themselves and their eyes than their specific appearance. Maybe this is expanded on in the books not yet translated to English, but the individuals I've heard complaining don't speak/read Swedish or any of the other languages those books are available in.

Two, the state of canon for the books is already wibbly in order to fit them in with the nebulous timeline between the time of SSL/the books and SSO. They seem to fit in the same kind of nebulous space that the comics take place in, without making any canon version of the MC, which has received significantly less criticism (not that it should, Elli is doing an amazing job). Changing details from the books doesn't undermine that, it's just the nature of the relationship and also not uncommon with game novelization.

Three, if anything, I would argue that the changes reinforce the canon of the books. Helena's descriptions of the Dark Riders are the first to suggest that their appearances are artificial and that they aren't human at all, where descriptions in the game and in SSL, based on our understanding of Mr. Sands, was that they were all basically human warlocks with a pact with Garnok and any body morphing was due to Garnok, not their own biologies. The books are the first to state that they are otherworldly, that their appearances are artificial, that their names and faces are made up to pass as humans because they themselves, excluding Sands, are not humans.

Sabine, Jessica, and Katja aren't humans, and their appearances prior are fake just as much as their current ones. So why should these shapeshifters not then change their appearances to something that makes them more comfortable? Why should Sabine continue to pretend to be a weak human dressage rider when she could pretend to be a body builder and hide far less of her power, or at the very least blend in better when she's doing overt Dark Rider shit? Why would Jessica now Jay care about human gender requirements and naming conventions when we have no idea what Jessica/Jay is or her relationship with gender and change into something more compatible with the job she has in Dark Core? But it was the books that made that canon first, not the games. So even if they don't align with the timeline of the books, the game isn't on the books' timeline, it's on the game's timeline, post the books at some point in the future. It is perfectly responsible to then believe that the Dark Riders could have changed their appearances in that time.

Like if you don't like them, don't like them. But saying this is changing canon when it's not kinda just indicates you don't think the characters should be POC because you don't want POC characters in the game despite the fact that most of the people on about this issue are white themselves.

SSO and SSL Sabines (and Katjas)

For u who haven't played SSO or SSL for long like some of us and say oh we like the new updated dark riders which btw are not even freaking updated they are complitly new changed characters and we who grew up with SSL and played SSO longer and like the way they used to look we have the right to be mad I'm not saying everyone who played the games longer feel the same way some like it and love it for some reason good for u and there are some who played the game not that long or haven't played ssl and hate these or doesn't like these new designs. But SSO ruind the characters and the story is messed up nothing makes sense the game is no longer what it used to and yeah we don't like the 4 dark shit baby toddler rider and her hobby horse like what the Fripp that's pathetic and Sabine yo that aint Sabine that's some ugly fortnite Rambo looking crap and omg Katja looks like a 10 year old who looks mad couse she didn't get her candy she doesn't look anywhere near the old design she's not even creepy looking just ridiculous ugly designed looking and Jessica oh wait Jay ugh what the heck is that ugly design all them look terrible awful star stable don't even know the characters even the soul riders don't look the great but at least better than the so called new fart rider but sso just doing they're own thing making shit worse and screwed the hole storyline and for u who say stay mad or no i like it love it well good for u idk why u could like it just means that u don't have the same bond with game and characters like some of us do and would love or like everything sso does even when they ruin things well good for u really and for u who say don't like it don't play it how bout u don't play it couse ur on the "i love everything sso does and I don't mind if they ruining the story and characters couse im oblivious to it"side, i love playing the game I just hate how and where they are going with it and the soul riders gosh need more rant Lisa looks not like Lisa they did her dirty the country look removing the cool punk rock look like why ugh and she's so boring now and Linda naive and quite boring to and Anne why change from someone who had a good self-confidence to shy and non confident yes she was a snob diva so what? She wasn't even mean idk why people say she was u know what mean is go watch a movie with real mean girls you'll learn and Alex used to be cool and happy funny now cringy stupid anoying oh poor Alex wää wää, if u read the books Alex is the mean one to Anne and for what couse she's jealous of Anne that she is rich get the fuge off that's a stupid reason to bully someone when she didn't even do anything to Alex, Alex is just immature and behaving like a brat oh and let's make this girl to the leader when she's making dumb decisions, how is the lighting bolt the leader over the sun the freaking SUN? And Elizabeth is just as dumb as Alex I guess thats the reason Elizabeth wanted Alex to take her place cuse she's just as stupid look how it went for Elizabeth and her soul rider days jeez why can't Anne stay the leader and why is Concorde a girl why why why change my boy Concorde to a boy please as he should be like the others. And Mr Sands oboy he's backstory the most lame cliche Disney backstory why that shit wää the love of my life died im evil now I'm joining the dark side and gonna get my revenge, turing evil doesn't mean u have to lose someone special it or something it would be better if he's evil or become evil couse power and wanted more power and became more greedy of it oh well done rantig for now oh and it's my opinion I'm allowed to have my opinions and rant about it thanks now yeet

Alright so after having all of the books for like a year and only just now finally reading them, I have some thoughts. Don’t get me wrong, I love the books!! I thought they were excellently written and added so much detail and depth. But I noticed inconsistencies.

First off, it irks me that the horses, specifically Starbreeds, don’t speak in the book when it’s been established in the game that they can. And that not just the druids and Soul Riders can hear them, but pretty much anyone can. The books write them to be more intelligent than the average horse and therefore seeming to understand human speech and interactions better, but still interacting in strictly equine body language and vocalizations. I want to chalk this up as being something where they discover they can speak later on after the events of the books, but it still doesn’t quite match up.

Second, while it has been a while since I’ve played these quests and maybe the dialogue has changed since then, events that were in the original StarShine Legacy games are referenced in SSO, while those occurrences do not happen in the books. A staff member at SSO has stated that the original SSL games are no longer canon, and that we must refer to the books for the new canon. But if the books are the strict canon now, then how do you explain some of the events in SSO? How was James affected by Katja in SSO if he was never near her in the books? In the SSL games, he was. There are a small handful of other discrepancies, but this one stood out to me the most.

Third and finally, they never mention us, the player character. The fifth soul rider. While I can understand why this detail would want to be downplayed due to the uniquely personal aspect everyone has to the MC, this detail was completely ignored in the books. No fifth was ever mentioned. Perhaps it was felt that given the events in the books, the mention was thought unnecessary. But we, the MC, are such a critical part of SSO’s lore, that not even one word mentioning us just seems off.

But to counteract these points and note something that I noticed and enjoyed seeing in the books, was the whole interaction with Carl Peterson and Mr. Sands. This interaction was only mentioned in the StarShine Legacy comic books, a now rather obscure piece of SSO history. In the comics, he did stay late and was knocked out. Now, the exact details are pretty different, but this did happen. The comics are also the reason why Lisa’s birthmark is on her cheek, a detail I’m happy they remembered when updating her model, as well as why their last name is Peterson. The incident of also almost running over a future friend and horse is also something that happened, though it was Anne and Concorde instead. The throwbacks to these comics is so nice and I enjoy seeing them referenced.

[Picture source: Eleanor Nightwalker's YT videos] <3

SSO REWRITTEN / FULL STORY SERIES

-> SSO Rewritten is how I would write the main story. The posts will complete the whole main storyline. -> Opening ALL the areas in the horse part of Jorvik (Harvestlands, Winterdale, Springvalley, Summerplains and Jorcrater) -> Story from arriving to Jorvik to defeating Garnok. -> You can find the story related posts with the tags "sso rewritten" and "sso full story series". -> Up to the point where Anne steals the 5-Leaf Clover, I didn’t change anything (unless they did since I played the game lmao), we do it how it is in the game. From that point on, the real party starts. -> The story to come: more detailed descriptions of scenes, unlocking new areas, new factions, new characters and new storylines!

So saddle up and get ready for an adventure!

In this post: Characters Harvestlands: Phase 1-2-3 Winterdale: Phase 4-5-6 Springvalley: Phase 7-8-9 Summerplains: Phase 10-11-12 Final Battle: Phase 13-14-15

CHARACTERS

Rules: --SSL (Starshine Legacy) is the most sacred canon: can’t change it. --Consistent SSO lore, exploring the same Themes as SSL. --Characters staying true to their original SSL selves. --Use Star Shine Legacy and Star Stable Season riders heavily as inspiration. Expand on the stories and worldbuilding suggested in there. --Thus characters’ personalities, magic system, world, etc can’t be changed, only added to. --The Dark Riders are: Sabine and Kaahn (red maned black warmblood, red eyes), Jessica and Erebos (jet-black Friesian), Katja and Tyrann (dapple grey Arabian with light blue eyes), Elise and Acheron (light maned, dark body Rocky Mountains horse)

A, SOUL RIDERS

LISA (Heart of the 5-man band) --Goth aesthetic, “rocker girl”, punk spiky hair, wears black and blue clothes. --Is still into rock music, looks almost scary, but is the heart of the team. --Music based healing powers. --She was the leader of the team in SSL. In SSO, the leader is Alex, but Lisa also remains important.

LINDA (Smart guy of the 5-man band) --Nerd aesthetic, likes to wear green things. Usually the source of exposition. Scout. --Introverted, but will infodump when scared or nervous. --Teaches MC how to see the visions, see truth and dispel illusions.

ANNE (Lancer of the 5-man band) --Prep aesthetic, wears the trendiest light coloured clothes, likes light blue and pink. --She can get like a moody diva sometimes, but mainly brave, loyal and unconditionally devoted. --Sulking sometimes, but not morose. --Teleporting and light powers to dispel the dark magics.

ALEX (Leader/Big guy of the 5-man band) --Jock aesthetic. Likes to wear red and grey, camo, comfortable or even “fighting” clothes. --The one that usually decides they have to act, the others follow her. Anne’s more calm and collected energy balances out Alex’s hot-headedness. Playful bickering. --Reasonable, listens to others now, warrior with a good heart.

B, DARK RIDERS

SABINE (Strong guy) --Short and thin, with short, black hair. Main colours are red, brown and grey/white. --Rival of Alex. Short, angry powerhouse, bone-headed, many times refusing to listen. --Fiery personality, rich, spoiled brat, who secretly thinks, she’s better, than the other Dark Riders, while being deeply envious of them. --Has fire powers. Emotional, easy to anger, will fall into traps playing into that.

JESSICA (Prideful) --Tall and thin (wanted to be a model), prep/goth aesthetic, wears only black, very fashionable. Green eyes. --Rival of Anne. Both start off as prideful, but Anne learns humility by admitting that Alex leads better, than she would. Jessica never lets go of her pride and feeling of superiority and in the end it will be her downfall and fatal flaw.

KATJA (Smart guy) --White, ice blue and light grey colours. Piercing ice blue eyes. Her hair is unnervingly, unnaturally icy white, almost glows. Wears only white, her flowing coat more fashionable, than warm. Always in the mini skirt outfit, even in the coldest weather as if she’s not cold at all. --Medium height, but the most terrifying of the Dark Riders next to Elise. --Rival of Linda, the only one, who can outsmart her. The only way to defeat her is with the truth. --No violin: while it is a nice aesthetic an all, in SSL, there was nothing about Katja being into music. That alone ofc wouldn’t mean she can’t have it, but the fact that Lisa is into music and Aideen was into music does. Magic through music seems to be connected to the good guys and it is generally a good guy trope, so I would stick with that. But she can absolutely keep her violin theme music, just not as her playing.

ELISE (Hateful) --Dark skin, long black hair in small braids, golden (almost sith) eyes. Violet and black colour scheme. --Rival of Lisa. While she is a healer and peace-mediator, Elise sows discord among people and destroys. --As tall as Jess and also muscular (Sabine’s new model’s body type basically) --Wears camo pants and combat boots, military type clothes, sleeveless tops. --Because Eleanor Nightwalker’s design of her is about as close to perfect as humanly possible.

Main Oppositions Table: attributes, that would guide the writing process

C, SECONDARY CHARACTERS

--HERMAN (Mentor): should be less of a goofball. More mysterious, always knows more than he tells us, but not out of malice or forgetfulness, but to protect MC from the grim truths.

--FRIPP (Mentor): is not an annoying rat in SSL. He is our main mentor and guide, alien and distant, but not because he’s bad, but because he has lived so long, raised so many generations of Soul Riders to fight Garnok and watched them all fall and die. Also kinda lost faith, that the druids can beat Garnok. Now, he’s trying not to get attached, to not get his heart broken again, when his students fall. Eventually he learns to open up again and gains back his faith in victory.

--MR SANDS (Redeemed Opponent): since he was manipulated to turn bad, he would eventually turn back to good, to our side, after realising all the damage he’s done, driven by his past love for Rosalind and recent one for Justin and the desire to correct his past mistakes. When he helps us and leaves the dark side, comes into conflict with Darko and is injured. In Winterdale, he is recovering in Pine Hill and is now kind of our ally and our greatest source of insight against Darko, who now leads the Dark Riders.

--DEREK (Ally): is not a postman. He is a badass spy, a secret government agent in SSL and he could get secret agent storylines like spying on GED, Dark Core and Mr. Sands’ enterprises. It would be first during his quests, while spying on Mr Sands, that we realize, Sands maybe wants to leave the bad side behind.

I was wondering, how do you feel about the evolution of SSO, minus the Soul Riders quests. Graphically-wise, the new regions, the new horses etc., things like that! I started the game in 2016-2017 and despite being a recent player compared to someone like you, I feel like the game has lost of "comfort" he used to have, but maybe it's just nostalgia. I remember how I loved galloping in the sunset in Silverglade back in the day (with its music!), it really doesn't have the same flavor anymore.

I’m going to be completely and utterly honest in this response.

I do not like the “new” look of Star Stable at all. I’m not saying that it’s completely changed and nothing is similar and the whole game has changed, but it has definitely strayed so far from what it used to be (and frankly; what i believe it really is).

I think the games environment lost its charm when the starter horse was upgraded for the second time and the character was updated to the one we have now. The biggest turning point was when they made the huge graphics change which got rid of blurring / fog and made new grass textures etc. Right after then, we lost old graphics, aesthetics, environment, everything. The fog and blurred environment made Jorvik what Jorvik really is.

I think this photo set by @starbridges captures it well with how magical the sunsets and forests used to be:

https://starbridges.tumblr.com/post/654712601568264192/i-found-more

I remember when Greendale was a little scary to wander into, and now it’s just too clear to have any mystery. I still get jumpscared by sound effects and the environment in SSL games especially running from Katja when you play as Alex. You just can’t get that same energy from the new environment anymore.

As for music; Sergent Tom still makes the soundtrack (I believe) and it’s nice to see how his composition skills are evolving with the progress of the game. Although the music doesn’t sound as mysterious as it used to be, it stays true to even the themes used in the SS games and the same music is being used for many areas like Silverglade and Dino Valley (which was used a lot in Winter Riders).

You cant blame the team for making these choices to move forward. All games graphics are becoming more crisp and clean, and those foggy, blurred, few polygon kind of characters just cant be used anymore. It’s just following the trend to be honest. There’s good things that come with this though - story development and characters are being worked on more and you get things like the mayalex conformation :D this incredible involvement with the community is something i would not change for the world. SSE has always listened to its players and i know that employees and game masters follow us (here, on twitter, instagram) and take inspiration from our head canons, artwork, and writing and incorporate them into the game. I definitely see lots of little hints of the character I’ve made from Anne be put into the storyline which i am grateful to see :)

I miss the old game because of the environment mostly, and how the soul riders were before. But they’re going in a good direction with the characters, keeping true to original aspects which isn’t something you can say of every game.

I will be honest that I play SSL and the SS games more than i do SSO now :) It makes my art flow much easier and i hope to tie that with new and old parts of the story in SSO.