#then it can go back to sitting on the backburner until ive finished the EOTA trilogy

[erythristicbones]

okay i said i'd ramble about my original stories a bit, so let's jump into my changes to the Nameless

1. Aliens vs Myths

The original drafts all worked with the idea that the creatures brainwashing the town were aliens, as that was what happened in the dream that became this story. But since it exists in my Earth universe and all of my other creatures in said universe are based on actual mythical creatures/cryptids, it felt weird to throw in aliens. Like technically there are ways I could work aliens in and have them be lore accurate, it just didn't fit in a way that I liked.

So, my main thought now is that they are going to be based on a mythical creature(actually considering two different mythical species working in tandem), it's just that they aren't well-known ones yet. The idea will be that the protagonists don't know what they are and never do find out an actual name/species for them...but they reader can then extrapolate what they think the creatures are. If I do a good job of my descriptions/lore then it will, ideally, be relatively easy to figure our what they are.

2. Switching up OC species

The vast majority of the original cast was human, with a handful of them being werewolves/lycanthropes, like the dream I had. This time around I definitely want to make that vary a bit more, since this takes place in the time period of this universe where mythical humanoids are very prevalent in society and obvs no longer just myths/rare sightings. Even an isolated town like Hobbysfell should have a decent population of non-humans within it.

So, the notable changes will be: Cori's best friend and love interest(Brooke and Daley), her rival(Mallory) and maybe a couple supporting characters(Felix and/or Lilias). Brooke & Daley are being changed from werewolves/general lycanthropes to Kushtaka, or specifically otter-shifters(Daley will be based on the congo clawless otter, Brooke on the sea otter). Mallory will be a Dryad, although I haven't settled on which tree to base her plant characteristics on. I think it would be neat to make Felix a Cyclops, but that also hinges on me doing research and then figuring out how those will function in my lore. Alicia/Nat will remain werewolves and Cori will remain a human.

I have like...two more plot related things still ruminating in my mind, but these are the big changes that I've defs settled on 👀