#Osvald Vanstein

[roaldseth]

Being out of SP doesn't mean you're out of options.

[meeko-orda]

Sharing my fancast for my proposed Octopath Traveler II TV adaptation.

Cast list:

Ochette: Ariana Greenblatt

Castti Florenz: Felicity Jones

Temenos Mistral: Freddie Fox

Osvald V. Vanstein: Antony Starr

Partitio Yellowil: Austin Butler

Agnea Bristarni: Margaret Qualley

Throne Anguis: Isabelle Fuhrman

Hikari Ku: Sen Mitsuji

Notes:

Ariana Greenblatt. She's had hit and misses in recent turns like Borderlands and Barbie as well as Ahsoka but she's a solid actress who delivers not to mention, you'd need a childlike wonder and humanity for that part, and she can bring both to Ochette.

I've seen The Substance and for some odd reason, Margaret Qualley's performance has that vibrant energy that fits Agnea.

Honestly, Felicity Jones and Freddie Fox past acting work embodied so much of Castti and Temenos, respectively that they wouldn't need to change their accent, making the characters sound British would be so cool.

Antony Starr's performances in The Boys and Banshee speaks for itself that would make him an excellent pick for Osvald, he can pull off frightening and towering presence.

Austin Butler is technically an A-lister but a role like Partitio would attract him but he's got so much charm and the type of actor of his caliber who'd bring a lot to the role. Him being an A-list actor would sell that idea of a merchant slowly being a celebrity.

Isabelle Fuhrman, IMO has been really overlooked as an actress and roles in Oprhan movies and The Novice, especially the latter display that formidability and inhibited those roles in such a dark and vulnerable spaces.

Sen Mitsuji radiates so much royalty and at the same time his strong and quiet presence has a lot of Hikari in him.

[asha-mage]

[auncyen]

Osvald watches Elena peer out the window at the sunset, momentarily distracted from his tome. She's been watching the sunsets often the past few days. At first he thought it was for aesthetical enjoyment, but the small frown on her face contradicts that notion. "Is something bothering you, dear?"

He expects something is, even if he does not know what yet. Their lives have both been turbulent for the past few years. She did not remember him after she was first saved from Harvey's twisted experiment, and he was too afraid trying to coax her memory back might harm her--he would never forget how distressed the normally calm Castti had been upon recovering her memories in Healeaks. Even now that she has remembered, he worries prison has left him inadequate as a father. His caretaking skills, the stability of their lives as they are still lodging with Lady Clarissa: there are any number of things Elena could find fault with.

He isn't expecting what she says.

"The sun's setting sooner." Elena glances away from the window to look at him, and his puzzlement must show on his face because she keeps going: "The nights are getting so long."

"Yes. It's nearly winter." He knows Harvey left various gaps in her education, whether out of neglect or to control her, but he thought...surely she understood the seasons? He could have sworn he had discussed the subject with her before, when she was little.

Elena flushes and looks down. "I know it's stupid."

"It's not stupid," Osvald responds. She shouldn't be embarrassed about making an observation, even if he doesn't yet understand why it's significant to her. "I appreciate hearing your thoughts."

He's told her that a few times. The first time she seemed so doubtful, but repetition seems to have helped reassure her that he means it honestly, because she only takes a few seconds to gather her words together. "It's...only winter, right Papa? It's not going to be the long night again?"

The long night. When there was no day at all, and unnatural monsters were roaming the land. When the whole world was on the brink of destruction. The nights lengthened before that, too. Of course she's concerned. Now that she's pointed out the possibility, he feels he's been obliviously complacent to not even think of it, and he thinks for a few seconds before responding. "Before that happened, the nights were growing long out of step with the season. If my recollection is accurate, night fell around this time previous years too," he says, pointing to the gentle dusk outside, where a little light still lingers, "so everything should be fine. But I'll consult my friends to make sure."

"Really?"

"Yes. That unnatural night came about because of a ritual which doused the Sacred Flames. My friends will know if three of them still burn. I may need to check the fourth myself."

He discusses the matter with Lady Clarissa that night, asking her patience as he once again leaves Elena to her care, even if he expects to be back in about a week. The next day Osvald sends word to Temenos, Hikari, and Ochette before setting out north to Crackridge. He's surprised by just how lonely he feels by the second day, despite having always preferred a degree of solitude at home. He became too used to having seven companions on the road, and now that Elena remembers him he doesn't want to miss any time with her. But he also wants her future safe and secure. He wants her to know she's safe and secure. And that makes a little time away from her worth it, if it means he can tell her with the utmost certainty that the nights are only growing darker for a little while, that there will always be a dawn for her.

In the vicinity of Oresrush, he decides to stop in town and see if Partitio is there. His company wouldn't be unwelcome, and the trip to the ruins would be safer with at least one other. But the only Yellowil home is Papp. Disappointing, but not surprising, given Partitio is now president of a large company. Osvald accepts Papp's offer--almost an insistence really--of a free supper, expecting to eat and be on his way. But Partitio certainly inherited his conversational knack from his father as Papp coaxes Osvald's reason for traveling out of him. Osvald doesn't doubt that he should check on the flame for Elena's peace of mind, but there is a moment, as he's saying it aloud, he thinks Papp will find it foolish.

Instead, the older father smiles at him. "Partitio said you'd shake down the heavens for your girl," he says, his tone warm and approving. "Well, Partitio's out o' town for a few more weeks, but I could stretch my legs."

"I'm not sure that's wise," Osvald says, after he's parsed that Papp is planning to accompany him. Papp has a broad build and a way of moving that says he knows how to brawl. He also has a history of illness and a son who would be quite upset if he were to get hurt.

Papp isn't the slightest bit deterred. Unsurprising, considering he's Partitio's father. "Look, I get you're doing this for your daughter, and I think that's right admirable of you. But people in town have been really down about the seasons changing. Didn't make a lick o' sense to me before. Our winters are real mild. But maybe your daughter's not the only one worried the night'll get too long. So I wouldn't mind helping you check."

When he puts it that way, Osvald finds it a little harder to refuse the man. It is dangerous, yes, but he's doing it for his own reasons as well--

"Plus, Partitio left behind some real interesting gadgets. I've been meaning to give them a try sometime."

--and this is clearly Partitio's fault anyway for leaving Arkar's inventions around as temptations for his father. Osvald resolves to make sure Papp knows how to use them properly as soon as they have an open space for demonstrations.

While Papp needs breaks sooner than Osvald, his endurance is still good, and talking to the man makes it clear to see how Partitio became the man he is, and what sort of man he might be as he gets older. The additional company over the next days is more welcome than Osvald expected, a buffer against the slight worry as the days are getting ever shorter, the darkness creeping over the land earlier.

It's just the seasons. They find the flame by Crackridge burning strong, and after returning to Oresrush, Osvald parts ways with Papp with a promise to forward what news he receives of the other flames and not rat the elder Yellowil out to his son (though he would not be surprised if Partitio figures out how adventurous his father still is anyway).

He returns to Conning Creek to letters from his other friends. Temenos reports that the cathedral's Sacred Flame is unchanging, that he has not found evidence of any new plots within the church, even if that does not rule them out, and the Darkblood Staff recovered upon Arcanette's death is still hidden away. Hikari reports similarly that the Sacred Flame near Ku still burns, the Darkblood Blade is secure in the castle, and the kingdom is still peaceful. Ochette reports "all good Pops!" and seems to have drawn the hiding place for the Darkblood Bow before she realized that may not be wise to put in a letter and scribbled it out; the only remaining legible part is of an ocean, which would not have particularly helped any malicious parties even if the letter had been intercepted, as water completely surrounds Toto'haha. That last letter he freely shares with Elena so she can enjoy Ochette's other enthusiastic drawings while reading her the most relevant bits from Temenos' and Hikari's letters.

Elena is smiling, and perhaps it's because of Ochette's attempt to draw him from memory (he does not look like that), but all that matters is that she's smiling. "Thank you, Papa," she says. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble."

"Any amount of trouble is worth it, to make sure you're safe," he says. "You are the reason I helped bring back the dawn."

She blinks quickly and then darts forward, burying her face in his coat as she hugs him. He wraps one arm around her, using the other hand to pat her head. And when that night falls, she only glances briefly at the window. Then she goes about settling in for her evening reading, and once she is tired, sleeps soundly through the night.

[mogai-headcanons]

Osvald Vanstein from Octopath Traveler II is bisexual!

He's good friends with Temenos Mistral, a gay trans man!

dni link

[danaterrace]

Other fanart I've done recently.

Crossposting is annoying but the resolution on Insta images will never not bother me. Hope Bluesky app works out (@danaterrace there as well).

[timolech]

Eight more travelers. Eight more adventures. Octopath Traveler II Fire Emblem GBA-styled Portraits.

[fulgurbugs]

Crossover pairs for today

[phlavours]

doodled the octopath 2 cast from memory 🐙

[drainbangle]

dance of deduction or something like that 🎶

[auncyen]

This is very a tangent but your second-to-last bullet makes me think of the Castti-Hikari-Temenos tavern banter where Hikari asks them if they ever feel like there's more than one of them and Castti mentions that she feels like there's a divide between her and herself before the incident and just. the bullet point makes me wish they'd included osvald because not only does he have the mental symposium but yeah he probably feels similarly to her like. His mindset was just so different before the fire and prison, he really might have been better with emotions then and just. can't even really remember that because it's something he hasn't had reason to think about for so long.

my thoughts about Osvald Octopath Traveler 2, the guy of all time

his entire character is the most tragic and hysterical thing to me. what if there was a guy so autistic about math and magic he equations his way into harnessing the fundamental forces of the universe or whatever. also he's a dilf and loves his family.

oh yeah also his story starts with him MUZZLED and FALSELY IMPRISONED for the murder of his own wife and child. the first thing you do with this epitome of academia is MUG AND ROB A MAN, and its one of his MAIN MECHANICS as a characters

if you start the story with Throné the way i did you find him passed out in the bushes after he escapes by making a friend and then having that friend immediately SACRIFICE HIMSELF for him.

he only drinks black coffee and is pretentious about it canonically

SPOILER SHIT BELOW

i feel like the horrors he endures are so insanely next level compared to the average party member? like they have their problems (Hikari fights a full out war???) but there is a certain depth and horror embedded in "hey Osvald I framed you for the murder of your wife and child and got you sent to prison for it so I could steal your life's work and respected position as a professor. Also your daughter's still alive but I've brainwashed her to believe that I'm her father instead of you. Also your wife? Yeah I took her FUCKING SOUL AND PUT INTO THIS GOLEM THAT IVE COMMANDED TO KILL YOU. toodles i'm off to sacrifice your daughter to achieve forbidden power." that cannot be matched.

like i genuinely had to stop playing for a while and just put my switch down in complete shock as I realized what was happening. the writing in octopath 2 wasn't always great with all of the stories but oh my god when it hit it fucking HIT

he wears a rope as a belt, which at a certain point in his journey is something he could definitely fix, but i believe chooses not to

maybe he can't see it when he looks down because of his massive fucking naturals metal collar and chain. which he also chooses to keep on.

i utterly detest the stereotype of 'autistic and good at math/comparable things but struggles with emotions' that burdens so many characters esp because he has a full. wife and child and i would also hit that but like there's no way he was as emotionally closed off before the events of the story as he is when we encounter him so i choose to believe his regression in emotion maturity to how he considers the world and people around him is purely a trauma response and survival tactic in prison, hence how it is through meeting the party and traveling with them that he unravels his defenses and relearns how crucial love is to True Magic and he does it all for his family oh my god

what a nerd ass loser i love him

[roaldseth]

So the fellows not over on the other site don't miss out. Everyone's up in arms about no Octopath Traveler II, so it's fashionable to get around to finally upload cosplay photos.

Photography : @ falling_cat_media (Instagram)

Editing : @roaldseth

[satsuha]

🎉 happy anniversary 🐙Ⅱ!! 🍻

can't believe it's been a year already!! i love this game to bits

[hanpaopaoo]

I tried imagining them in modern outfits, I have no fashion sense though so this is the best I can do 🤣

[thanksvideogames]

happy first anniversary to Octopath Traveler 2!

[lucdrawsthings]

Dr. Ochettestein??? Vanstein's Monster????? Regardless, Ochette's having a blast