#And now Asbel and Sophie are Protecting him :)

[windor-truffle]

I remembered Major Victoria not really playing much of a role in the story but I thought I had just forgotten some of her dialogue... nope, she only has 5 lines of very generic dialogue during the coup at Barona Castle 😭 canon did you so dirty girl imma try to give you some relevancy okay???

[goldentigerfestival]

no listen i am SO serious about this.

context plus additional information:

perhaps less important, but notable due to the similarities: both were in the hands of KLab.

Crestoria based:

the worst event we were ever given, a very stupid Katz event, dropped major lore that would return in the main story and was part of a plotline that was a huge deal.

this event is directly connected to the main story (something events don't usually do) via the Great Trees. we're informed "within the area protected by the Four Great Trees" is the "inner world". Flynn says to Tear that contact with "this side" is forbidden, indicating they're from the "outer world". Flynn was born in the "inner world", but he is now evidently living in the "outer world".

we learn in chapter ten that apparently the area outside the Trees' protection was uninhabitable and in ruin because of the Dreadfang. the event is there to tell us this isn't the case and that are still people living out there. that would be the "outer world".

Kasque is the one destroying the Trees... but Milla thinks she might be being manipulated. rewind to the event. Tear and Flynn mention a man who wants to threaten/bring ruin to the land. is said man the one manipulating her? is he at least in contact with her somehow? Tear makes whatever is at risk of happening sound absolutely horrific - the exact same thing Milla is saying about Kasque destroying the Trees. in fact, why would the event even bring the Trees up to begin with if Tear wasn't implying the dangerous situation was related to them? why all this talk about the "inner world" and the Trees if it's not relevant to her warning?

Flynn mentions a "friend" in this event. Crestoria is an AU, but it typically has certain characters retain their important home game relationships (Stahn and Leon, and Rutee and Mary, etc) or meet each other during the course of the game (Asbel and Sophie, and Senel and Norma, etc). safe to assume he's referring to Yuri. (EDIT: 3/7/2015, the writer confirmed it was Yuri in a Twitter Space. this also means it's confirmed that Yuri is from the outer world.)

said Yuri shows up in... the very next event. most likely, if he's the friend Flynn was talking about, he's also from the "outer world". why he's here then, we'll never know, but he is. he also seems to be somewhat quiet during the event, as if observing the people on this side...?

right now, Yuri is just Yuri. he's not a transgressor at this point... but there's plenty of time between his event and chapter ten.

so, who is the guy Tear is warning about? probably Van. why Van? because it lines up with his home game story, which is also his Asteria story... and this arc seems to have an eerie amount of similarities with Asteria arc 4. more on that later. Tear's story would naturally be most likely to be connected to Van, and the potential ruin follows his home game story. Van also had an in game model that was almost a finished model found in the beta files, meaning he was a planned in-battle character, which means he would've had to have had story leading up to a battle with him. The story up to where we'd gotten to hadn't used Van yet at all, and most of the beta files had been used by chapter ten. so... Van was on the way, and given Tear's event plotline and chapter ten's plotline being the exact same plotline, if we assume Tear was referring to Van... Van was probably planned for main story for that same plotline.

Kasque thinks Vision Orbs have ruined humans and wants to fix things somehow. she makes the claim she'll make the world into a beautiful place. Assid and Forte in chapter ten explain a situation quite similar to Van's reaction to the Score in his home game. in fact, the entire plotline of the Trees being destroyed, causing ruin, the Vision Orbs (like the Score) basically controlling people's lives. Assid and Forte play a similar role as the God Generals to Van, assisting him in this "better world" he wants to create in Abyss. worth noting, Crestoria reeeeally likes making nods to home games, so this is probably intentional... especially if Van is involved (or was supposed to be, if the story had continued).

now for the Asteria part!

Tear is running from the knights (her exact story in Crestoria, except it's only one knight, i.e. Flynn). she's in trouble for essentially breaking the law, but she can't allow herself to side with Van (what am I going to guess was also her story in Crestoria, because it at least half is right there already with the law breaking part).

in arc 4, Van is the Prime Minister. he's also aware that they're all living in a "fake dream world" of sorts, where basically everyone's memories were tampered with. they believe this is the real world, with only a handful of people having gotten their memories back and trying to save everyone else. Van was directly responsible for this world happening. he's manipulating the situation to be like this (Crestoria has Milla wonder if Kasque is being manipulated, who seems to closely shares Van's views in both Abyss and Asteria - that the world needs fixing and this just ain't it).

the main knights in arc 4 are Claw, Roar and Fang - brainwashed Yuri, Milla and Lloyd, who all genuinely believe in their roles and current life and have fully embraced their identities as the White Lions' generals (the... exact people who just so happen to have all showed up in Crestoria chapter ten. Lloyd's side story also relates to these same trees, so him being at one when the Pasca tree was destroyed makes sense. and... they put Lloyd right where Yuri was? sus).

less important but worth noting is that Velvet is heavily connected to Milla in Crestoria, and the relationship is not a good one. similarly, they're enemies as Velvet and Roar in Asteria arc 4. also in arc 4, we have Colette as Lloyd's main connection as Fang... who is with his group in Crestoria and is present in chapter ten. the only one missing is Raven, who could have perhaps been replaced by Flynn for this plot (which is likely, if we assume Flynn's mentioned friend is Yuri).

so, if we assume all this, we can go back to Crestoria's trees and their names. they're all named after Radiant Mythology's Kanonno trio. only one doesn't have a name, or at least not that Milla knows of. in both Asteria and Rays, the fourth RM representative is... Lazaris. so, in my conclusion, the fourth tree was going to be named Lazaris.

so we have all the major Asteria arc 4 characters with relevance: Milla, Tear, Yuri and Lloyd. if we go by the theme naming of the trees and assume Lazaris is the fourth, who are we missing from the Asteria arc 4 group? only Van, the Prime Minister in his dream world. the whole set is complete in Crestoria if you consider that he's proooobably the man Tear is talking about...

do we know what Yuri's exact role was in Crestoria chapter ten? nup. nuh. neh. we never will unless Bamco decides to take pity on us (or at least me). we just know that some time between his event and chapter ten, he became a transgressor, which meant he was believed to have committed a crime and was judged by the masses for it as being guilty (which would fit in with Yuri's home game storyline).

I have theories on Yuri's specific role, but that's for another time.

for image reading purposes and for addiiiitional information!!!

here, Tear says she "imagines not", that Flynn would have known he was in the "inner world" while living there. this is reflected in Yuna's question and Aegis' answer to her later.

this could be a callback to Tear saying she imagines not, that Flynn would've known he was in the "inner world" while he was. he knows now, because he's living in the "outer world". also, contact with people in the "inner world" is forbidden, so that's even more reason they wouldn't know that's what people call their area of land, or that there are even people outside of it.

sounds like, uh, Van stuff... right down to the sinkholes...

I've seen some people suggest maybe the transgressor at the end of chapter ten wasn't Yuri, but frankly, let's be honest, that's Yuri's eyes and hair. also, the style of his clothing is very Japanese, and Yuri has a fair amount of Japanese style clothing across media that uses him. his original design for his home game was also given the sash he wears to give him a bit of Japanese to his appearance (this is something mentioned in Yuri's actual character design notes).

appearance aside, it fits his home game storyline to be a transgressor in this universe very perfectly. again, Crestoria likes to stick really close to legacy characters' home game storylines, and often relationships (usually one of, if not the primarily focused on in a specific game, relationship of a specific character). it simply fits them in with Crestoria's specific universe and alters them as necessary, but keeps them as close as possible (as an example, Luke's storyline is nearly identical to his Abyss storyline. Asbel meets Sophie for the first time in Crestoria, but that could easily be seen as reminiscent of Graces itself - especially since Cheria is his childhood friend in Crestoria, which is also true in Graces).

also worth mentioning is that Repede had MA sound files added into the game's files around the time of the upgraded Blood Sin releases of Kanata, Misella and Vicious (Repede was an SR character, and SRs didn't have an MA, only SSRs did). this to me would imply Repede was planned to have an SSR release, or else there wouldn't be much use for MA sound files.

the Blood Sin upgrades were in chapter eight, and the following chapter was Orwin's chapter. chapter ten got back into the main plot unrelated to a new character joining the main group. so, Repede's files were added in before Orwin's chapter, and there would be no need for him to appear as a character in the main story here, or to have an SSR release. chapter ten ended with the Lloyd and Yuri scene. so, a Yuri looking character shows up, and Repede specifically got MA sound files ahead of the appearance of the Yuri looking person.

maybe Repede was with him? but either way... unless Bamco is gonna come out and say otherwise, I'm going with the assumption that that is Yuri.

what would've happened after? that's a whole other concept, just like Yuri's story (and I believe the side stories covered the characters shown in the opening movie, which could mean they were gonna start venturing into side stories of other characters. I'd say it's not unlikely we might have had a Yuri or Flynn side story on the way. I'd say Tear as a possibility too, though since we had Luke for Abyss, I'm not sure if they'd wanna branch out more and go for another game's characters. most likely though, Flynn or Tear getting one would've had the other in it anyway. Yuri might've gotten one to cover his transgressor story, and Flynn and Tear might've shown up in the main story instead), but this is just for the connections of where the story was going.

anyway, this is my chapter ten story theory that has been brewing endlessly in my brain since the game ended and is tormenting me constantly. until Bamco gives me actual answers, this is what I'm going with, cemented in my brain. since Bamco is not likely to give me actual answers, this is my canon now so I can have some form of closure LOL.

as far as Van's relevance in regard to the Asch-got-kidnapped-and-was-never-found-in-Crestoria storyline, we have nothing on that to indicate Van was involved for Crestoria's version, but it's another plot thread to consider... lol... especially given that if it was were the case, Asch would probably get grouped into this storyline too... but yeah... lots of plot threads to consider...

[kresnikcest]

My house arrest Lhantcest fic turned into a weird semi-rewrite where Richard goes through the entire reclaiming the throne thing with just Lambda (he meets Pascal long enough to go through the Amarcian portal, and to tell her that he recognises the Sophie hologram, which eventually leads Pascal to Lhant Hill to try and find Sophie) while Asbel tries desperately to get Hubert to interact with him and all. Then Asbel freaks out over the coup thing and wants to go to Windor to help Richard and Hubert is like. do you really think you can just leave whenever you want. And then Malik shows up explaining that Barona is going to invade to reclaim Lhant bc of secession rumours and Asbel supposedly handing over the region to Strahta. Asbel is not happy about this ofc bc he didn’t really have a choice, but maybe he did… but then Richard shows up anyway and is like. This can all be resolved if you just kill your brother so Lhant will stay in your hands. Btw while you think on that I’m going to try and kill Sophie now that I know she’s alive.

Obviously, Asbel does not kill Hubert, protects Sophie, upsets Richard even more (who was, low key, maybe ready to swoop in to save Asbel from his own Cedric, but sadly given Asbel wasn’t there to save him in the catacombs he’s also kind of even worse off than canon).

I don’t see the plot changing that much more besides delaying a lot of Pascal and Malik’s character beats, but I think it would still end the same way.

That and now Malik is the one who’s side-eyeing the hell out of Hubert/Asbel bc wtf did Hubert do to get Asbel to stay put for once in his life.

[kohakhearts]

hewwo this is an ask to ask you for your list of lhantcest-y moments 👀

thank you!! fair warning...i'm reaching with a lot of these LOL. also this is in no particular order and is non-exhaustive bc i'm sure i'm forgetting things :p

the first one for me is more of a general thing but i personally think it's a. Fascinating writing choice for hubert's love interest to call him little bro/弟くん...how am i supposed to read that other than hubert having a Complex for his brother??? i know he says in the f arc he wants her to call him something else, but he is also so tsun and half the time he's saying the opposite of what he feels anyway lmao

which brings me to a fave skit, this one. where cheria....forces him to admit he still likes omelettes. and he also still likes asbel [jp | en ] the title alone is very cute to me, "favourite things" (they could've translated it as favourite food but i think it's more fun this way so i'm glad they didn't). this game is constantly making references to characters' favourite foods, probably because it ties in deeply with the themes of Home and Family, so it's cute to have hubert's love for his favourite food put on the level as his love for asbel lol

another fave skit is the one where you get the 1v1 hubert-asbel fight! the whole "hubert trying to win back asbel's pride for him" thing gets me [ couldn't find the skits alone but here's a jp lp that shows it and 1, 2, 3, 4 in en ]

the skit where asbel asks hubert to spar with him but then refuses when hubert suggests bringing sophie into it [ can't find it in jp sorry | en ] this one actually reminds me of a conversation they have in rays where hubert wonders if asbel is feeling homesick and asbel tells him he's actually thinking about how he can protect everyone and how his station as lord made him realize how big that responsibility was because like...he has so many people to protect now, which hubert empathizes with because he feels the same way as a soldier. and then asbel says how he's relieved to hear hubert say that because it's a reminder that he's not the only one who can protect people - hubert can too! i like it because it feels like such a flipped script from asbel's dynamics with other characters, mostly richard and sophie. he doesn't feel anymore like hubert needs HIS protection, but he trusts hubert like 110% to protect the people he loves. it's very sweet <3

this victory quote...idk if it's just the delivery on malik's line or the general like double entendre that often exists when characters talk about having Large or Impressive weapons but...this sounds so sexual to me lmao. this is arguably more malik/hubert coded but it's the fact that asbel's in the background like 🤨 and then makes that comment about hubert being flustered LMAO.

the little brothers day dlc skit...cute aggression. literally. asbel saying "your reaction was just so cute i couldn't help myself" about pinching hubert's cheeks gets me. (he says fun in the english loc but cute in japanese!) [ jp | en ]

our favourite yu liberté npc who says the rumours about hubert are a) hes Bad With Girls and b) hes a brocon LMFAO

in english this says that he's always trying to best his brother, which...is just as good to me honestly. i love their dynamic of hubert trying to get one up on asbel, who doesn't even really...register it because he just thinks hubert is really cool and impressive

side note, there's also a cute interaction they have in rays where asbel comes because he wants to see hubert studying when he's getting a lecture on something from raine. and asbel's like well you've always been so studious but we didn't get to go to school together when were apart so i just want to see you studying, essentially. ...and then sophie, malik, and pascal decide to join him 😂 but asbel really does just think hubert is...so talented and cool and he still has all those mushy prideful feelings, even though he can tell hubert doesn't want him to express them jkdfgjk

anyway, i'm blanking on others and again...there's no real bait (aside from the brocon comment imo lmao), but i am nothing if not a master of extrapolation for the sake of my own shipping agendas, so...lhantcest real <3

[talesofourworlds]

Loose notes on the Graces AU my rewatch of RotK inspired.

So in this AU, Asbel doesn’t try to become a knight. He doesn’t like the idea of becoming lord any more than he does in canon but Aston *really* favors Asbel over Hubert and eventually Asbel just decides to begrudgingly go along with what his dad wants. He hates that Aston doesn’t treat Hubert well and tries to get their dad to ease up, but even agreeing to accept his birthright doesn’t do Asbel any favors in buttering up their dad. He becomes a skilled fighter, his style influenced by his old desire to become a knight, and the people of Lhant really love him.

Hubert, because Asbel accepts his birthright, doesn’t end up being adopted out to the Oswells. He knows it isn’t what Asbel wanted deep down, but fully supports his big brother as Aston trains him to take over as lord one day. He becomes all the more interested in sailing and also longs to fight alongside Asbel. He develops his own fighting style influenced by a comic he loved as a child and grows into a skilled fighter too. But nothing Hubert does ever pleases Aston. And he knows it. But the people of Lhant love Hubert and his accomplishments.

Hubert often accompanies Asbel on trips and helps him in battles they face with the Fendel forces. However, when they reach their respective ages in Graces canon Asbel gets sent alone to Windor to seek aid from the king as Fendel attacks on Lhant get worse. Hubert remains and takes a group to try and reclaim territory further out that was lost. When he does make it back home, though, Hubert is met with tragedy.

Asbel was unable to get aid from the king of Windor (undecided on if Richard takes the throne in this AU or if it’s Cedric in the throne.) Not only that, but Asbel was able to get home much sooner and was present for a battle that took place not far from Lhant Hill. He was slain in the battle while trying to protect some of their allies. (Sophie? Cheria? Undecided as of now) Hubert of course is devastated by the loss of his older brother, but still tries to be there for Aston. Aston, however, does not receive Hubert well. Hubert was only partly successful in reclaiming land, and of course he isn’t Asbel. He isn’t his father’s perfect son.

And as attacks from Fendel get worse, Hubert continues to do what he can for his homeland. But it still isn’t good enough for Aston. And Hubert even speaks with Aston on this point at some point. Asking if Aston wishes Hubert had died instead of Asbel.

And Aston says yes. He does wish this.

Hubert throws himself into doing all he can for Lhant after this. Risking life and limb for a father that will never see him as anything more than the lesser of his two sons. Because he loves his country, even if his father doesn’t love him.

[itfitsitshipsart]

Hey, look at what I totally definitely found from the official Fandom wiki of this totally legit character

And definitely not me just wanting to write her stuff like this. Heheh.

Evelyn (Tales of Graces)

Evelyn is the elder sister of Richard, and princess of Windor. She is a sort of mentor to Asbel Lhant, alongside Malik Caesar, a close friend and ally.

History

Early childhood

Evelyn was born the first child of the king and queen of Windor. Being a girl, however, she was not meant to be the next in line for the throne. In her youth she was tutored in many subjects, including using a bow, and magic. When she was 9, and Richard was born, she was basically set aside, now a princess just to be married off one day. She did not resent her brother for this fate, instead caring deeply for him and being very close the times they were actually together.

Eventually, Evelyn was sent off to Gralesyde, a nobleman found for her to be married. She doesn't reveal anything about this man, but it's clear she wanted nothing to do with him, and begged to do anything with her life rather than marry him. She returned to Barona a month later and, at the age of 18, went to the Knight's Academy.

She proved to be a promising knight, trained under and with Malik Ceasar, and seemed to adjust well to this new life.

Game Prologue 

Asbel meets Evelyn when he runs away to the Knight's Academy. She often assists Malik in training students, and he often sees her alongside him.

War for Windor

Seven years later (she is now 28) Evelyn and Richard's father, the King of Windor, is murdered by their uncle, Cedric. Cedric, taking command of the knights, attempts to murder Richard as well, and Evelyn defects to protect her brother. She escapes with him into the Barona Catacombs, meeting Asbel and Sophie there. They all flee to Gralesyde to gain more allies and begin reclaiming the kingdom from their uncle.

She shows concern for Richard as the party infiltrates Wallbridge fortress and Windor Castle, questioning his sudden and extreme brutality towards the knights simply following orders

After the War

Evelyn requests to go with Asbel and the party to Lhant, and proceeds to stay with them as they travel.

Lineages and Legacies (6 months after the main story)

Evelyn is found to be engaged to Malik, traveling with him with his new job as Fendel's Ambassador. She is happy and quick to join the party as they find the reason for more monster attacks.

Appearance and Personality 

Evelyn is a seemingly elegant and put together young woman. She has long golden hair that falls to her lower back, but keeps it up in a bun held by a hair stick. She's average height, but still the tallest female in the party. her eyes are bright blue grey. She wears a light grey dress with purple and blue details similar in fashion to Richard's garb. The dress has one flowing sleeve and one tighter, and a slit along the side of the skirt. Underneath she wears dark teal leggings and black thigh high boots. She also wears a golden collar necklace, embellished with a bright green gem.

She usually acts calm and relaxed, letting this “what will be will be” personality calm others as well. Occasionally however, this slips, showing an anxious and highly emotional nature. In various quests and skits, shown to be very protective, especially towards children. She also shows a passion for bad jokes and puns, many which garner little laughter from the party.

Evelyn clearly shows romantic feelings towards Malik, but their relationship status is hazy for most of the game. She openly flirts with him, and seems the most expressive when talking to him. It's safe to assume however, that by the 3rd act of the game, the two are romantically involved.

Fighting Style

Evelyn is an all out ranged fighter and support character, utilizing a bow for her Assault Artes, and a wide variety of elemental magic and buffs for Burst Artes. Her magic is powerful, but deals damage to single or extremely close together targets, making her suited for long distance sniping and fleeing. She has extremely low defenses, but moves quickly, able to cast with extreme speed as well.

In Tales of Graces F, Evelyn's Accelerate Mode is called “Royal blessing”. The party receives a heal for 25% health, and her Burst Artes (both offensive and support) gain a larger range for damage until her Accelerate Mode wears down. This makes her more useful in a pinch when more damage needs to be done, or if the party is falling low on health and buffs.

[somacruising]

Tales of the Rays: Advent of Final Form Dhaos (English Translation)

This is a short event in which Dhaos’s final form was available in the gacha. The story event is about Asbel and Sophie going to the World Tree and helping him out. Asbel, in particular, is interested in Dhaos—though Dhaos doesn’t care much. 

As always, this is machine translation with small tweaks on my end to try and capture their voices better. Screenshots were taken from TimeFactor’s YT channel.

Let’s begin~

     SCENE 1

     [ Dhaos is in front of the Great Tree ]

Dhaos: …It seems nothing is amiss.

Dhaos: But I must remain vigilant.  I have no interest in any empire, but if they’ve begun to use technology from other worlds, they might become interested in magitech and influence this World Tree.

Dhaos: Even if this world is false and I am nothing more than a shadow, I cannot afford to miss a chance to obtain the 'Great Fruit'.  For that reason, I…

      [ Asbel and Sophie appear ]

Sophie: Asbel, someone is here.

Asbel: Aren’t you…

Dhaos: ……………

Sophie: Asbel, do you know him?

Asbel: Kind of… But it's the first time we've met like this.

Dhaos: What are you doing here?

Sophie: We're here to see the World Tree. What about you?

Dhaos: I'm the one asking the question.

Sophie: Well… I'm here to explode it artistically.

Dhaos: Explode?

Asbel: Ah! No! We really only came to look at the World Tree.

Sophie: Everyone at the hideout is drawing now. So I want to paint different places.

Asbel: Apparently, kids enjoy this. Anyway, I’m Sophie's chaperone.

Sophie: Mint told me that the forest with the World Tree is full of life, so I decided to come here and paint.

Asbel: That's why we're going to stay around here for a while. Is that alright with you?

Dhaos: …Do what as you wish.

     [ Dhaos Exit Stage Right ]

Sophie: …Did we bother him?

Asbel: No, I don't think so… By the way, what were you saying just now? About making something explode?

Sophie: Beryl taught me. In order to become good at drawing, you have to make your art explode.

Asbel: Well, I don't know what that means, but don't do anything too dangerous.

Asbel: (By the way, was he…that Dhaos? The Salvation Army seems to be getting in touch with him every now and then…)

Asbel: Wasn’t Dhaos an enemy of Cress and his friends?

Sophie: Asbel? Did you say something?

Asbel: Hmm? No, nothing. Well then, I'm going to keep an eye on things around here, so if you need anything, call me right away.

Sophie: Yeah, I will.

     SCENE 2

     [ Sophie and Asbel are still in front of the Great Tree ]

Sophie: I’ve finished.

     [ Dhaos is around, not speaking ]

Asbel: (Dhaos is…still hanging around the World Tree. Is there something on his mind?)

Sophie: Hey, Asbel, how does it look?

Asbel: (Come to think of it, I heard from Cress that, for Dhaos, the World Tree is…)

Sophie: Asbel? Hey, I’m talking to you Asbel.

Asbel: Huh? Oh, sorry, Sophie. What is it?

Sophie: I finished my picture. Is it good?

Asbel: Oh, it’s very good. I love burdock.

Sophie: It’s the World Tree…

     [ The sound of an explosion!! ]

Asbel: Whoa! What was that sound!?

      [ Dhaos walks over ]

Dhaos: Again…

Asbel: Dhaos! Where are you going?

Dhaos: …That's none of your business.

Sophie: Dhaos, do you know what that sound was?

Dhaos: A petty conflict between the Imperials and the Resistance. Their battle has been raging around here as of late.

Asbel: What!?

Dhaos: I have no interest in the futile squabbles of humans. However, since Yggdrasil is here, I can't ignore it.

Dhaos: You all should leave here immediately if you don't want to get involved.

Sophie: …Then we will fight with you.

Dhaos: What?

Sophie: You want to protect the World Tree, right? Then we can help you.

Sophie: And if it's against the Imperial Army, we're already involved. Right, Asbel?

Asbel: Yeah, you’re right! Dhaos, let us fight with you.

Dhaos: …As long as you don't get in my way, do as you please.

Sophie: Asbel, let's go!

Asbel: Right!

     SCENE 3

     [ Dhaos is walking away, after the fight ]

Dhaos: ……………

Sophie: Dhaos! Wait please!

Dhaos: What? The Imperial soldiers have been driven off. There is no more reason for me to linger.

Asbel: Maybe so, but the members of the Resistance you helped wanted me to give you their thanks.

Sophie: They say you saved their lives.

Dhaos: I didn't intend to help. Do not assume that I wished to aid in your vulgar warring.

Asbel: Dhaos, we understand that you probably didn't do it in order to help these people.

Asbel: But in the end, you saved many lives. You can take that gratitude in stride, can't you?

Dhaos: …It matters not. I don't need it.

Dhaos: But give them this warning. I will show no mercy to anyone who causes more conflict in this area.

Asbel: Does that mean you're going to fight the Resistance as well?

Dhaos: That depends on their actions.

     [ Dhaos leaves ]

Asbel: Dhaos...he's…

Sophie: What's the matter, Asbel?

Asbel: Nothing... It’s just that until now, I thought that Dhaos was nothing more than Cress’ group’s enemy.

Asbel: But, after fighting alongside Dhaos, I can’t shake the feeling that Dhaos is bearing some kind of weight...

Sophie: Yeah... I also get a strange feeling when I look at him.

Asbel: Strange? Sophie, what kind of strange feeling?

Sophie: Well, it felt like he didn't see us at the beginning.

Sophie: But when he was in front of the World Tree, he felt a little warmer.

Asbel: …Yeah. Looks like we both got the same impression.

Sophie: You do?

Asbel: Oh. So I wanted to talk to him for a bit, but I'll save that for another time. Cheria and the others will probably be worried if we get home too late.

Sophie: Yeah, okay.

Sophie: …Asbel, I hope we can talk to Dhaos more when we meet him again.

Asbel: Me too.

     SCENE 4

     [ It is night time, Dhaos is alone on a path ]

Dhaos: …It's a quiet night. Those people have left—

Dhaos: …Come out. I know you are there.

     [ Asbel walks over ]

Asbel: You noticed me? I was waiting for the right time to call out, but…

Dhaos: What do you want from me?

Asbel: The Salvation Army asked me to “Please deliver this melon to Dhaos.”

Dhaos: ……………

Asbel: Actually, I contacted Mark and got him to send me with it.

Dhaos: Then put it down and leave. Also, tell him I don't need any more presents.

Dhaos: …You still have something to say, don’t you?

Asbel: …Dhaos, just tell me one thing. In your original world, is it really possible that such a grand World Tree could actually wither?

Dhaos: …Yes. Due to the foolish actions of humans, mana disappeared from the world, and the World Tree withered.

Dhaos: The technology that once destroyed the World Tree may be used in this world. If that were to happen, this World Tree, too, would—

Dhaos: That's why I vowed never to repeat the same mistake again.

Asbel: Are you doing this…to save your home?

Dhaos: …If you already know that much, I have nothing more to say.

Asbel: I thought so… I could feel your desire to protect the World Tree when we fought together.

Asbel: Besides, I can painfully understand your desire to protect your home…

Dhaos: Human, are you pitying me?

Asbel: No, I’m not. The empire is abusing technology from various worlds. Our fears aren’t so different. I will definitely help you to prevent the World Tree from dying.

Dhaos: …You alone will not be able to change anything.

Asbel: I know. But, I’m not alone. I have friends who are with me, who are struggling with me, who are there for me.

Asbel: So, please believe in us humans. That's why I came to see you today. We are all living together, rooted in the same world.

Dhaos: …Human nonsense.

     [ Lamba speaks up ]

Lambda: I thought the same thing as you: that the words of this person are nothing more than empty ideals unworthy of my time.

Dhaos: You…? I thought he had a strange presence, but I did not realize he was host to a parasitic life-form.

Lambda: Parasitic, huh… I'm not going to talk about that right now.

Lambda: I am with you to see the path this one takes. If you say that this person's words are lies, then it won't be too late even after seeing them through.

Asbel: Lambda…

Dhaos: I will never believe in humans. However…I don't care what you do. At best, you will simply keep helping until you’ve satisfied yourself.

Asbel: Dhaos…! I definitely won't let you down. I promise.

     BONUS DAILY LOGIN CONVOS

DAY 1 Dhaos: It looks like the Imperials brought out a Magi Cannon. It seems that it works differently from magitech, but I mustn’t let my guard down. Perhaps I should take care of it before it's too late. For the sake of my planet...the mother star, Derris-Kharlan...

DAY 2 Sophie: There are a lot of other students in the drawing class at my hideaway. So this time, I want to go out and paint with everyone, not just Asbel.

DAY 3 Sophie: When you see it up close, the World Tree is huge. Asbel: Yeah, that's a really amazing tree. Sophie: Yes. And the flowers blooming around it are very healthy, too. Asbel: I'm sure that's because of the power of the World Tree.

DAY 4  MIA :(

DAY 5 Sophie: Hey… Dhaos: Do you have something you want to say to me? Sophie: I was drawing a portrait of you. What do you think? Dhaos: …This is meant to be me?

DAY 6 MIA :(

DAY 7

Dhaos: I fight to protect the World Tree. I don't expect you to understand that. I do not ask for your understanding, nor do I take the side of the humans. To thank me would be an act of gross misconception.

DAY 8

Sophie: Asbel, that person was really strong. Asbel: Ah, so that's Dhaos’ power… Sophie: I felt a little sad watching him… Why?

DAY 9

Mark: Did you get the melon I sent you? Dhaos: I don't need it. Mark: Our world is safer because of you. Please, just let me do something. That's all.

DAY 10

Dhaos: Why do you choose to walk with humans? Lambda: I simply chose to live. Dhaos: This may result in people betraying you again. Lambda: Should that happen…I will destroy them.

[artpharos]

Sophie!

How I feel about this character: *deep breath* I... have to admit when Graces was first announced I was shifty eyed staring at her because her entire thing seemed to scream warning signs but then now... after I've played the game so many times and spent way too much thinking about her character arc???? I love Sophie so much I can't even begin to describe-- Like I've always been a sucker for the whole 'someone learning to be human' and then toss in the fact that she grows from the party, that her bonds with them are so important that it becomes more than her programming, and how she goes from being a tool to being someone with her own feelings and her own hopes and dreams... and how she would happily die and sacrifice it all to protect the people who loved and protected her... and how she learns ultimately to forgive, to learn, to try to be a better person- TO BE A PERSON AT ALL- and help others the way Asbel and the party did for her... god I love her so much 10/10 amazing character arc adorable character i love her she is my daughter i will mamoru

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Lambda because he's like her reverse in a way?? like they have the same backstory but he went dark until the man who saved her saved him as well and then they realize that they're both similar to one another and united to protect one (1) Asbel Lhant and THEY GO FROM ENEMIES TO UNWILLING ALLIES AND THEN HE CALLS HER HIS FRIEND!!!! AND then one of the graces drama cds completely wrecks me where it looks like she returns his feelings and THEY WANT TO GET ALONG??? HOLY SHIT MY CHILDREN SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER AND OVERCOMING THE PAIN THEY CAUSED ONE ANOTHER AAAAAAA Other people I could ship with Sophie are like Psi probably. Or Richard if I reaaaaally have to.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Asbel hands down because HAVE YOU SEEN THE GAME. HE PROTECTS HER HE CARES FOR HER HE TEACHES HER WHAT'S A SMILE AND WHAT'S RIGHT AND WRONG AND SHE WANTS TO BE HIS DAUGHTER AND HE ADOPTS HER AND HE HELPS HER PLANT FLOWERS AND ENTRUSTS HIS DREAMS TO HER AND HE TEACHES HER HOW TO BE A FUNCTIONAL HUMAN BEING AND SHE MAKES HIM A BETTER PERSON AND THEY ARE ALL I EVER WANTED FROM A TALES GAME AND I NEVER KNEW THIS---

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't really think I have one??? Other than maybe she and Lambda are a perfect couple??????????

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That her and Lambda's relationship development got a lot more emphasis on F arc ;) LIKE WHAT THE HECK MY DUDES SHE IS UPSET THAT HE IS POSSESSING HER DAD AND HE HATES HER AND THEY BOTH WANTED TO KILL ONE ANOTHER BUT LIKE AFTER MAYBE ONE CONVERSATION THEY'RE LIKE FRIENDS??? i mean yes i wrote an entire fic to fix this already BUT STILL

my OTP: if it isn't obvious by now i don't know what to say

my cross over ship: I'm horrified you'd even suggest-- SophiexLuke LIKE I THINK THEY WOULD BE CUTE and it was the first thing that popped into my mind so we are going with that

a headcanon fact: I HEADCANON THAT WAY IN THE FUTURE SHE BECOMES LAMBDA'S HOST AND THAT'S WHY WE DON'T SEE HER EYES IN THE EPILOGUE SHOT AND IT MAKES THEMATIC SENSE THAT THEY'D BE UNITED TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE FUTURE ASBEL FOUGHT FOR--

[richea]

I'll someday reach you

Taken from Cheria’s page in the 20th anniversary encyclopedia.

I was always watching his back.

There was a boy that was full of life who lived to his heart’s desires. He would run below the high sky, crossing the summer mountains that swarmed with warm grass, and over small hills that overlooked a windswept cape. He was dazzling. He possessed this type of power that let him do anything. He would confidently take stride, and I always struggled to keep up with him. I was frustrated with my frail body that would seem to undo itself over the most trivial things. Even the most mundane and normal tasks were simply impossible. I would cry myself to sleep at night, wracked with fever, at the thought that I may one day be abandoned.

If I couldn’t keep up with him, I could at least cling to the small things I did have. When we lost Sophie and Hubert and our lives got turned upside down, all I could do was pray. I prayed that Asbel would never abandon me. I prayed that, at the very least, he wouldn’t disappear too. But my prayers fell on deaf ears. He left without a care in the world. Out of fear of being a bother, I couldn’t even bring myself to write to him.

You're terrible. The worst. Why? How could you leave without so much as an apology? What do you take for other people's feelings for? Everyone was waiting for you. I was waiting for you!

A fateful reunion happened after seven long years, and after many, many tears cried in loneliness and anger, my worries changed to relief, my sorrow to hope, and my love to mere affection. With the rebirth of a certain flower girl, I finally gained the strength to at least catch up to him, and decided to be of help to him.

But just being able to catch up to him isn’t good enough. It won’t grant me strength to simply wish he would look back. What I really need to do in order to make sure we’re on the same page―and to ensure that I don’t lose sight of him once again―is to grab his hand and never let go. I need to find my own path, and carve a will as strong as his so we can stand on the same ground. To watch over those who at times have a will so strong they forget to think about themselves. And then… I granted the wishes of the entire world. As a child, I would pray to the small light my toys would give off, but now, I’m able to give off my own light, and with that, I’ve vowed to protect my strong yet kind daughter, sealed with a pinky promise.

[tales-of-sweets]

Tales of Graces F Playthrough Thoughts Pt.2

Under the cut, as usual!

-Firstly, I love and adore Malik and would give my life for him, he's totally precious. Dumb, soft, dad vibes.

-Asbel is so ridiculously emo, like I feel bad for him but I kinda wanna pick on him too (affectionate). Also like everyone hates this dude. Like I get what he did hurt a lot of people and they don't have to forgive him but Cheria has been so insensitive and Hubert is so cruel now that it's almost a little comical.

-Sophie is precious as always, I wanna give her a big hug. She continues to be my favorite, I want nothing but love and support and happiness for her.

-I really love how much Asbel has been treating Sophie like she's his child or little sister or something. The dynamic is definitely different than all those years ago but it's clear he still cares about her very much, even if he's uncertain if she's really the same Sophie. -And on that note... seriously guys? Like, I know it was years ago so maybe they can't picture her perfectly but how many other girls with purple pigtails, amnesia, super strength, and clothes that make her look like she came from space are hanging around the meadow? Who else could it possibly be? (now watch me be wrong somehow lol) -Despite how she treats Asbel rn I still like Cheria. I heard they get married eventually?? I think they're a little bit cute, I'm rooting for them!

-Richard.... good lord, I am so in love with this man. His appearance, his personality, his voice. But he, on the other hand, seems to be in in love with (or at least quite obsessed with) Asbel, especially since he has now saved his life twice. He won't stop telling him how happy he is to see him, how he's the only person in the world that he trusts, how Asbel was able to make him laugh for the first time in a long time, how when he was in danger again this time he wished Asbel would somehow show up to rescue him again (despite not seeing him for 7 years), and saying things like "I know you, you [would/wouldn't] do something like that" as though the two of them hadn't only hung out for a collective few hours 7 years ago lol. He seems like a very lonely and untrusting man so I can understand how their brief friendship really impacted him all this time.

-Pascal... DO NOT LIKE. The way she treats Sophie makes me very uncomfortable, especially when Sophie is always cowering behind Asbel because she's so scared of being touched by her. I know she's just excited about her research (though she also implied that she thought Sophie had a crush on Richard and that that made Richard her rival so idk...) but I still feel really bad for Sophie. I really wish I could like her because her personality reminds me of Magilou who I love and adore but ehhhh 😬 I dunno, maybe I'm too sensitive or maybe I love Sophie too much or something but I don't find this running gag to be funny or charming. If they don't keep this going the whole game and she eventually drops it I'll probably like her a lot more since I think she's funny in the very few moments where she's not doing that and her design is my favorite so far.

-Now on to the big thing... what the FUCK is going on with Sophie?? Her image in that weird machine??? Richard acting strange/afraid when he's around her? The black smoke things that happened when he touched his hand before? Both of their chests hurting in those catacombs? And then of course... her coming back to life in the same place she was originally found and at the same age she was when she died but... somehow with amnesia again??? I don't really care much about the main plot with the war and all that, I'm just dying to know what the heck is going on with these two. -And lastly, if one more person (Asbel... we know I mean Asbel...) says something about protecting someone or the words "7 years ago" I think I might go berserk and trash the city.

[memorydragon]

Tales of Graces

So I definitely did not vibe with this game, sadly. It was enjoyable, because it's tales, but it just had... too many things that irked me, I suppose? Still, at times, it was very soft.

To start off with, Asbel’s father.  Like, I really hate the “But he was a good man” bit.  Like, I don’t fucking care?  He’s a good man, great, but that doesn’t excuse him being an absolutely awful father who couldn’t bother to try/learn to talk to or learn about his sons?  I’d be fine if they like, actually addressed the latter bits as well as the ‘good man’ thing, because mixed feelings would definitely be a thing, but they never bother with his faults, of course.  I dunno, the trope just really bothered me in this game, and Asbel just completely giving up his dream to become the Lord of Lhant didn’t sit right with me either. 

The sheer amount of hetero-normality in this game was off the charts too.  Normally a het main couple doesn’t bother me, but this one did, mostly because I felt like many of the characters were very... underdeveloped in this game.  Or entirely subtexted.  I dunno, Cheria I felt deserved much better than the game writers gave her.  And I’m still not sure how someone can look at Pascal and not realize she’s 100% disaster lesbian.  Then the whole oh, Sophie’s going to be Asbel’s adoptive daughter now thing was just... seriously fucked up.  I don’t even know where to begin with that one. 

It was like, oh, we didn’t push Asbel/Cheria enough in the original game and so we have to no-romo Sophie and Asbel for whatever reason? 

The game was really, really soft when it focused on the Asbel/Richard/Sophie friendship.  Like, I would seriously die to protect that friendship.  It really should have been more of the main focus (which it was and it wasn’t at various times).  Honestly, the game focusing on bonds of friendship over pushing romance would have been much, much better.  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve really shipped a het canon couple in Tales since Eternia I’ve generally liked the games that just, subtexted that entirely better. 

As for the characters, Asbel doesn’t really smile much, for a protag, and they don’t give him a general reason to be unsmile-y all the time?  Like, I think they tried to make him just more serious as an adult, but the Tales silliness was still there and clashed with that.  Sophie, on the other hand, was Smol and Will Protect.  I love her.  Drama King was fun as well, and Captain Malik ended up being a fave just because he meddled in fucking everything.  If only the game hadn’t gone so completely het, it’d have been great.   And just Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa at the end, saying Sophie was his friend.  I needed so much more of that.

The fighting system was also... not my fave.  Like later games I guess more stream lined it (it might be my same problem with the fighting system of Symphonia, that I just got used to later versions and going back to the first attempt at the system didn’t mesh well).  There were times I had absolutely no idea where my playable character was, which kind of detracted from game play.  Like, is he right next to the boss?  Some where off to the side?  Fuck if I know.  Actually having to search for yourself on the battle field was not a good thing for me.

The humor of it was also not quite my cup of tea, not going to lie, so that probably didn’t help.  I dunno.  Graces just didn’t vibe with me very well, though I enjoyed playing it.  Usually I’ll jump into a new game plus with Tales, but I was kind of just like... FINISH NOW, XILLIA SOON towards the end, so I’ll probably start of Xillia.  I was more looking forward to that one anyway, starting with Graces mostly because it came first. 

Over all, I enjoyed the game, but it’s definitely joining Symphonia at the bottom of my list of Tales titles, sadly.  I’ll give it ten years or so and come back to it like I plan to with Symphonia, and maybe then I’ll like it better.  For now though, I think I might just jump into Xillia.

[windor-truffle]

MY COLLECTOR'S EDITION ITEMS ARRIVED 🎉🎉🎉 Ngl I almost forgot they were coming since I placed this order back in November 😅 huge thanks to @lildoodlecat and @v0eu for directing me to Zenmarket, it was a very friendly and easy to use proxy service!

Everything came in a very pretty (albeit flimsy) box. (bean!asbel not included I just let him watch my unboxing bc he was already on the desk 😁)

The posters were an Asobi-store exclusive pre-order item so I'm glad I got ahold them!! Too bad I'm not the type of fan to preserve limited edition items, I'm gonna wear that shit down with all my love 😤 so they were hung up immediately with mounting squares. Please ignore how horribly asymmetrical they are, I couldn't find a ruler 😅 (fun fact about me, I stole a ruler from the art room when i graduated college and was cursed for my evil deed and now i can never EVER find a ruler when I need one)

The pins are very cute ^^ I put them on my laptop case with all my other fandomly enamel pins :) I have vague plans to display the stickers and cards in a Graces themed binder (that I also will be hopefully printing fanfic for) but I may have to slap an Asbel sticker on my laptop too for everyday enjoyment :)

And lastly, the item I was most excited for!!!!! The acryllic standee is SO CUTE IT'S THE TITLE SCREEN AAAA 💜💜💜 I can hear the music every time I look at it 💜 Honestly it's the perfect art for a diorama display 💜💜

Super happy to have more Graces stuff lining my room!! Though I'm putting myself on a merch purchasing hiatus for now, I really oughta save my money for a while 😅

[the-honey-bear]

Children of Lhant

Part one of my new longfic, written for Tales of Whump Week day one: wounds, because oof, there’s going to be a lot of whump and a lot of wounds.

Summary: "I care not for his reasons. If King Richard does not put a stop to his current behavior, then I will be left with no choice but to kill him myself."

Hubert follows through on his threat, and the fate of a kingdom is left hanging in the balance.

Rating: M

Pairings: gen, some future Richard/Asbel and Hubert/Asbel

You can also read here on ao3.

Part one: Sins of the Brother

It takes only a moment for an entire world to change.

So it had been when Hubert had decided to follow Asbel up to Lhant hill, and again, when his father told him of his adoption into the Oswell family.

That heavy weight sits on Hubert’s chest again: the knowledge that things have irrevocably changed, and can never return to how they were.

King Richard is dead, his head haloed by a pool of his own blood, the evidence of the deed on Hubert’s own blade.

There’s a silence ringing in Hubert’s ears: he told himself he must be prepared for this eventuality, but now it’s done, he can’t think. He can’t concentrate. His mouth has gone dry.

“Richard’s not moving,” Sophie says. She stares down at the body, her face blank, uncomprehending.

The Captain puts his arm around her, tries to steer her away. “You don’t need to see this, Sophie.”

She pulls away. “But why?”

“He’s…” the Captain’s voice deepens, “gone to the same place Kurt went, Sophie. He won’t be coming back.”

Cheria lets her healing light fade from her fingers and sits back. The Fendelian delegation are there too, as well as Chancellor Eigen, Pascal going to head them off. Poisson is with her, although he never noticed her arrive. But Hubert can’t think about that right now.

They’d only just managed to avert the crisis with the valkines before Richard arrived and tried to drain it of its eleth. Sophie engaged him, but it wasn’t enough. Asbel wrung his hands uselessly. For all his training, he was soft and weak, and could never hurt a friend. Hubert had no choice; he’d take the burden upon himself. Richard swung at him, wild and crazed, no trace of the boy he knew as a child left inside him. Something had overtaken Richard, and it mattered not  what , only that he was stopped.

He fought only to disable, but Richard left an opening, and Hubert took it. Even in his dying breath, collapsing to his knees, Richard found no peace against his madness. He cursed Hubert, cursed Asbel for his betrayal, spitting blood and phlemn.

“You’ll pay for this. You’ll pay!” he rasped. “Don’t think you have defeated me!”

The words left an eerie chill upon Hubert’s skin, raising goosebumps. Was King Richard so mad he thought he could best death itself?

“Hubert, how could you?” the cry is wrenched out of Asbel, his hands scooping up fistfuls of his brother’s jacket. “You didn’t have to do that. We could have still talked sense into him— we could have—”

Hubert swallows down the dry feeling. An unnatural calm overtakes him. None of this seems quite real. “Talked sense into him? Perhaps, pray tell, you could explain how. Since it worked so well in Lhant and in—”

Asbel strikes him so hard his knocks his glasses askew, the force of his fist breaking bone. Hubert feels the delicate cartilage in his nose  snap . He reaches a hand up, to stifle the flow of gushing blood.

“Enough,” calls the Captain in a roar, putting his body between the two brothers. His face is fierce, nostrils flared. “Do you think this is the time or place for this?”

“Please,” says Sophie, her voice soft, “no more fighting. I can’t stand it.”

Asbel’s face falls, hands dropping limply by his side. He steals a swift, guilty glance at his brother. Hubert doesn’t look at him. Cheria gently eases his face out of the protective cradle of his bloodied fingers.

“Oh, Hubert…” she says, and warmth flows from her fingers, muting the excruciating pain from his nose.

“Thank you,” he says, stiff, the words deep and nasal.

With the anger goes the life in Asbel’s eyes. “It’s okay, Sophie,” he says, sinking down by her side beside Richard. He reaches over to close Richard’s eyes. No touch of madness in him now. He could merely be sleeping. There’s a heaviness in Asbel’s voice that doesn’t belong in an eighteen year old boy: “Everything’s over, now.”

In the frozen heart of the glacier, the king of Windor lays dead, and silence reigns across the ice.

Black flags hang lifeless in Barona.

Kings seem in short supply these days, for the people of Windor have lost three in just one year.

Whispers abound in the city.

They say King Richard went mad and drained the valkines of its eleth, and that’s why the wind has stopped, and the flags no longer fly.

They say he was killed in Fendel, murdered.

They say it was a soldier of Strahta that did it.

They say ill tidings come in threes, so perhaps they’ll have a king now that lasts more than a single season.

Although the populace of Barona care little who sits in a gilded chair as long as there is bread on the table, there are rumblings from the city’s underbelly: its aristocracy.

Ladies and lords, pray sharpen you knives, for the game is to begin again, and the stakes are as high as you can make them.

The wind has dropped, and unease has slipped like a chill sea-mist into the heart of Barona.

With the leverage of Poisson and the Amarcian enclave, they secure passage back to Barona. Pascal and the Captain stay in Fendel, Pascal to scour the library of knowledge, and Captain Malik to bury his friend. Asbel entreats Cheria and Sophie to return to the manor at Lhant, but they follow him to Barona, anyway. Asbel expected no less.

They can find no direct boat to Strahta, so Hubert travels with them His nose bandaged and glasses set an angle, sometimes Asbel feels him stealing a glance at him. He can’t bear to look at him. He sets his teeth together so hard his jaw aches, and looks straight ahead as the ship ploughs through the waves. If he had, he’d see the bags underneath Hubert’s eyes, proof neither of them have been sleeping. Asbel’s never suffered from seasickness, but now his stomach roils. He sees Richard’s blond hair, sprawled across the ice. So much  blood  . What could they have done differently? What could  he have done? The ship rocks, and sleepless, Asbel watches the stars cartwheel across the sky through the porthole in his cabin as the night aches on.

The rumours of King Richard’s death travel fast, faster than the ferry-ship. By time time it docks in Barona port, they’re met by Duke Dalen and the knights.

“Lord Asbel,” he says, “we have heard rumours, of King Richard.”

The grim look on Asbel’s face says it all. “Richard—  the body — is on the ship. We packed it with ice to stop it from— from going off. Will you help me bring him back to the castle?”

Dalen’s face falls. For all the man has seemed to have distrusted Asbel, he truly cared for Richard. Perhaps, he was one of the few living who did. “I will need a full report.”

“And you’ll get one. But first I want to bring Richard home.”

“I understand.”

Citizens turn to look as the knights carry an unmarked wooden crate through the city towards the castle. Asbel insists on taking one corner, hefting the heavy weight up upon his shoulder. In another life, he would have been one of them, and this would have been his burden. Perhaps he still is, for even in the deepest grip of his madness Asbel had still longed to return his King’s side.

There is no heir apparent. Neither Richard nor Cedric left note of their successor, and the late King Ferdinand had left the throne to his son. If Richard was too young to rule in his own name, Lord Aston of Lhant was to rule as regent until he came of age. This is good news to the king’s retainers, until it comes to light that Aston, too, is dead.

“So what does this mean?” Asbel asks. “Will you rule as regent?”

He asked out of curiosity, but his heart already called to return to Lhant. He’d spent so many years running from the place of his birth, but now so much had been lost. He felt the need to gather together everything and everyone he had left. To grieve. To grow something, perhaps, and think of flowers and rain.

But even Lhant had been lost. Did the Strahtan military still hold power? And would the people of Lhant even  want  him back, besides?

What purpose did he have left?

“As much as I’m loathe to admit it,” Dalen says, and the manner of his speech is pained, “by process of elimination, the regency will fall to  you , young Lord. King Ferdinand never amended the frustrating little piece of law that would see your father look after the throne while Richard was unable. He trusted Lord Aston a great deal.”

The look Dalen gives him makes Asbel very sure he does  not  feel the same way about his son.

“Wait— me?” Asbel sits up straight, ram-rod in his chair. “But surely, I’m… I mean, you’ve been ruling as regent until now, surely you’re the best candidate…” he opens his palms out, helplessly. What does he know about ruling? He hadn’t even been able to hold Lhant from his own brother.

“Well, be that as it may, we must bend to King Ferdinand’s wishes.” If Dalen is disgruntled to see the regency swept out from under his feet, he shows only a trace of it.

“I— I didn’t know King Ferdinand trusted my father so much.”

“Indeed. They were very close, for a time. I’m surprised you’re unaware, considering the sword you carry.”

Asbel wilts into his seat. What  had he known about his father?

“I really don’t know the slightest thing about running a country.”

“I am aware,” Dalen says, rather dryly. “You needn’t concern yourself, Lord Asbel. This is just a temporary formality while the next true successor is chosen— which may admittedly take some time. I shall be here to advise you.”

“Oh… right,” says Asbel, unhappily.

“We will hold a short ceremony tomorrow, then, if that’s acceptable to you. We’ll need to think of a suitable title. Lord Protectorate of the realm, perhaps.”

“Right. Yeah, of course,” Asbel says, a sick sinking feeling in his stomach.

“There’s much we must discuss tomorrow, but it’s been a long day. I believe the maids will have finished preparing your chambers by now.”

With that, Asbel is dismissed.

Asbel has never visited Richard’s chambers, but it doesn’t take too long to realise whose room he now finds himself in. Richard’s old practice swords hang on the wall, the leather on the handles worn down by hour of sparring. His old shirts still hang in the closet. Richard is everywhere, and he’s nowhere at all. The realisation hits Asbel hard in the chest: he’ll never see his friend again.

Alone, Asbel lets his knees buckle, grabbing fistfuls of the King’s coverlets. Even then, he can’t escape Richard, for his scent has crept into the bedsheets. Even: into his own skin.

Rat-atat-tat. There’s a knock at the door.

“Asbel, can I come in?”

It’s Sophie.

Quickly as he can, Asbel puts himself back together. Even if all the pieces don’t quite fit. By the time she’d poked her head around the door, Asbel is sat up on the bed, managing a weak smile.

“Hey.”

“Asbel.” She stands in the doorway in her nightdress, peering about. “Is this Richard’s room?”

Asbel nods, throat tight. “Yeah.”

She takes a few steps in. “Does that mean you’re the new king now, Asbel?”

He chuckles. He has no choice: the situation is too absurd to do anything  but .

Lord Protectorate. What a joke. He hadn’t been able to protect anything.

“No, I’m just going to be looking after Barona while they choose the next king. It’s kinda complicated.”

Sophie perches up next to him on the bed. “Couldn’t you just draw straws? Like you and Hubert and the Captain did?”

“That was about a jam tart though, Sophie. Not a kingdom.”

She stares at him.

“I’ll, uh, put it to them.”

She nods, satisfied. “Cheria is staying in my room, but I couldn’t find Hubert. Where is he?”

“Who knows?” Asbel says. “High tailed it back to Strahta, probably.” Anger twists his words into something ugly, and he regrets it as soon as they leave his lips.

“Asbel…”

He can’t think of Hubert now, not about what he’d done, and the sickening crunch of bones as Asbel had struck him. He’d wanted never to exchange blows with his brother again. It was all too raw to think of: the blood hadn’t yet dried. He wanted to sleep.

“Was there anything you needed, Sophie?” he asks, a strain in his voice. “Couldn’t sleep? These rooms are kinda crazy big, huh?”

“I had a dream. But it wasn’t a nice one,” she says.

“Your first nightmare, huh?”

“The Captain told me dreams aren’t real. Is that the same for nightmares?” Something fearful flickers on Sophie’s face, and for her, Asbel pushes his own nightmares aside.

“That’s right.” He puts a hand on her head. “They’re just your brain, trying to keep itself busy while it’s asleep. They don’t mean anything. So don’t worry, okay?”

Sophie nods, but she doesn’t look entirely convinced.

“Did you want to stay here with me tonight?” Asbel asks instead.

“I can?”

“I mean, I could probably fit half a dozen people in this bed, so.”

She leans into his touch. “Thanks, Asbel.”

Even if he’d failed at everything else, he still had Sophie. She needed him, even if no one else did. He vowed to protect her, even from nightmares.

[kikaromi]

The Remaining HC -- Asbel the Saboteur

By pure chance, Asbel ends up tossed in The World That Never Was after Ephinea falls to darkness, which happens to be Isa’s home base. Though initially thinking to eliminate him, Asbel’s cluelessness to the situation presents Isa an opportunity to recruit another pawn in his corner. Isa spins a tale of a boy named Sora traveling to different worlds and consuming them in darkness; Ephinea likely suffered by his hands. He stresses his group is trying to pacify Sora, however he’s gained allies and it’s not a simple matter to even get close. What they need is a saboteur to weasel in and update their group on Sora’s next course of action before it’s already in motion. 

Now why Asbel? Sora’s group will suspect hearts mainly of darkness, so a person of pure light heart like Asbel (which is achieved thanks to Lambda constantly absorbing the darkness Asbel’s heart naturally produces as all people do) would immediately be trustworthy. And given his kind and upstanding nature, skeptics ought to at most question him at first and then give him a pass. 

Asbel puts faith in Isa’s story only to a degree, as his time as lord has taught him to be skeptical. However, if he wants to ascertain Sora’s true intentions, he opts to cooperate for now. Isa gives Asbel an outfit which makes him immune to Corridors of Darkness’ adverse effects and sends him on his merry way. Sora is pretty quick to give Asbel the green light to join their group as Isa predicted. Asbel reports Sora’s plan to travel to Neverland to lure Isa’s group and possibly defeat them, but (un)luckily Sora and his friends are able to mount a defense. Noticing the world’s still standing, Asbel is more sure of Isa’s deception. 

To confirm for himself if Sora is the good guy, Asbel requests Sora to meet with his privately and then challenges him to a fight, as crossing swords can reveal a person’s true nature. After Sora briefly corners Asbel, Lambda takes over and turns the tides thanks to his overwhelming dark powers. Before Lambda takes it too far though, Asbel demands he stop as he doesn’t sense malice behind Sora at all. Asbel apologizes for Lambda’s intrusion and tells Sora he seems like a good guy. Sora wonders where all that darkness came from, and Asbel explains his body mate Lambda can both absorb and wield energy as he sees fit; he keeps his heart darkness free to make sure their promise doesn’t end prematurely. 

Now sure of Isa’s deceit, Asbel requests he give Isa his next report in person as he worries his companions might listen in around a corner. He’s given the okay, and Asbel gives a half-true report so Isa doesn’t lose trust in him. During this talk, Asbel meets his “allies” with one odd duck out of place: a little girl named Ari who reminds him of Sophie. For now he notes everyone present and returns to Sora’s group immediately. 

Upon returning, Asbel writes a message detailing he’s been sent as a spy by a man named Isa, who his current allies are, and where the place they’re stationed at looks like. Isa doesn’t suspect he’s turned traitor yet and asks Sora to give him plans to report so they can still accomplish their goals while letting their enemy know exactly what they’re doing. Sora thanks Asbel for assuring him his sister Ari is alive and greenlights Asbel’s request. With that, Sora gains his own inside man who will protect his new friends till his last breath (although Lambda will insist he not). 

[aurantia-ignis]

Lambda or Gladion for the character ask :3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3

Lambda

First impression

Well um he was like a minor monster boss thing in the prologue that we kind of assume Sophie killed with her special powers so I honestly didn’t think much of him HAHAHAHAHA

Impression now

You’re amazing but an idiot but still amazing can you not Why couldn’t Namdai have put all your amazing together properly and given you much better execution in your writing ughhhhh

Favorite moment

Paraphrased, butAsbel: “Can you absorb Fodra?”Lambda: “Sure, but you will suffer very much”Asbel: “Ok let’s do it”Lambda: “Did you hear what I just said? Fool, I told you, it’s a bad idea, don’t do it” He cares so much that he was going “stop trusting me with this thing you’re an idiot!!!” at his host XD

Idea for a story

I GOT NOTHING BUT I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE FOR HIM 

Unpopular opinion

What even is a popular opinion about him? Does anyone even care about him? ;___; 

Favorite relationship

Him and Sophie, no thanks to you. And him and Asbel, also no thanks to you!! 

Favorite headcanon

Lonely Walk. 

Gladion

First impression

What is that hair lmao. He looks like the ‘bad guy’ but I bet he’s actually the good guy. If not, I hope he gets a redemption arc….

Impression now

*deep breath* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPROTECT HIM I LOVE HIM HE’S WONDERFUL

Favorite moment

When he charged up to Nihilego and said that he and Null would take on the UB, asking Hau and Player to take on Guzma and Lusamine. Considering how he didn’t originally trust anyone, because of his past, I love that he’s trusting Hau and Player to fight alongside him now. 

Idea for a story

I HAVE SO MANY. I WILL GET TO THEM. SOON. ;___; One of them is definitely the lonashipping Rapunzel fairytale AU I owe you ;w; 

Unpopular opinion

No romantic ship with Hau, because honestly, what I see in canon is nothing like romance. I also dislike the idea of him as a full fledged typical edgelord, because it’s obvious that he’s actually a kind-hearted child who loves all his Pokemon and that chuuni outlook is simply a mask.

Favorite relationship

With Silvally! Also with Lillie. And from what little interactions they do have in the limited constraints of a silent protagonist, I like the relationship he could have with the Player character.

Favorite headcanon

I like to think that years later, he would hand the presidency of Aether to his sister. After so many years, Lillie’s learnt enough to handle it, and she loves doing it. Gladion continues to work for Aether, but instead of staying behind a desk doing paperwork, he spends time outside, helping to save Pokemon who have been abandoned or hurt. 

[tumblunni]

OKAY WOW I just started reading a lets play of Tales of Graces and HOLY SHIT I love Sophia! I think I was amoung the majority of people who got umm.. Really Put Off by her character design prior to actually learning more about the game. Cos seriously, prelease stuff was like a fuckin minefield of ‘loli’ trope red flags, it looked like she was gonna somehow be pushed into a romance route with the protagonist despite being 14. And her design is just kinda boring and doesnt really say anything about her ACTUAL plot role and personality which were HOLY SHIT so unexpected and amazing and life affirming and jesus christ she is already my favourite tales character in all of history and I’m barely two hours into the damn game!! seriously I had to go look up spoils just to be ABSOLUTELY SURE I wasnt gonna be surprised with creepy fanservice of a young child, like in some of the older goddamn games in this series, and instead i found FUCKING AMAZING EVERYTHING FOREVER and like.. ACTIVE SUBVERSION OF LOLI TROPES but lol i cant really talk about it without kinda spoilering?? So UMM YEAH rest of my thoughts under the cut:

okay seriously its LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ALL EXPECTED, HOLY FUCK nobody had ANY CLUE before the game came out that she’d be introduced as the twice-your-age figure to the protagonist instead of the other way around! getting to play a flashback prologue of everyone as kids was a really unique awesome feature that I wish we could get in other tales games its SO COOL to see the design and personality changes for everyone between their flashback selves and the ones you actually play as later on plus its a playable flashback! very short section of getting to see the kiddos actually have unique battle animations even! also it is REALLY EMOTIONALLY DESTRUCTIVE HOLY SHIT it explains everything about everyone’s personality forever why did these poor children have to suffer AAAAA

so umm yeah ANYWAY BACK ON TOPIC Sophie is introduced as this mysterious older teen while everyone is tiny babies, and takes on a kind of simultaneous big sis lil sis role cos of her amnesia and unfamiliarity with the world and like THANK YOU we dont get any weird fetishization of that as a concept! (look up the ‘born sexy yesterday’ trope for how this kind of plot tends to go down... yikes...) And like, even tho she’s comically oblivious about basic emotion concepts and stuff, she’s also A MASSIVE BADASS who’d have thought that such a cliche pinky pretty loli design would have a stoic badass superweapon personality??? THANK YOU. I feel so bad for assuming things, but seriously THANK YOU for being like THE ONE GAME where that kind of character appearance isnt given just One Same Plot Again And Again And It Is Gross and seriously man I WILL NOT STOP BEING HAPPY THAT THERE IS NO LOLICON HERE HOLY FUCKIN SHIT (well.. except some of her dlc costumes seem to be the actual lolicon characters from earlier games, which is Annoying.) but yeah seriously she’s fuckin like CONSTANTLY PUNCHING DOWN DOORS AND SHIT and I’M LOVE HER and like her earliest establishing moment is her oblivious of human culture norms actually leading to her being like.. the wise one in the conversation her cutting off asbel’s ‘wah but I should be the one protecting you cos I’m a boy, even though you’re like eight years older than me and i can barely lift my sword’ and her making this declaration of protection to him is the moment that shapes her entire character and becomes like the emotional core of the whole plot and she gets THE MOST BADASS scene of (seemingly) sacrificing herself to save his life, ending this cute kiddie flashback on a super somber note and then Asbel dedicates his goddamn life to becoming a knight in her memory after she fuckin SUPLEXED A GODDAMN DRAGON WOLF THING WITH ITS CLAW STABBED THROUGH HER STOMACH and just... I REALLY LOVE SOPHIE!!! seriously kid asbel literally said ‘i’m embarassed to be protected by you cos you’re a girl’, like HOLY SHIT DUDE and this is ACTUALLY SHOWN AS WRONG and he CHARACTER DEVELOPS OUT OF IT and HER PROTECTING HIM IS LIKE THE WHOLE FUCKIN GAME and just THANK YOU seriously tales of beseria had a bunch of weird sexism issues despite being the most recent game, its so annoying how the series has such inconsistant quality on this stuff, so im just REALLLLLLL FUCKIN GLAD to see this, thankz

oh and like... they even do... LITERALLY the ‘but she’s really 700 years old’ excuse for ‘loli’ characters BUT NOT AS AN EXCUSE FOR LOLI CHARACTERS she’s a thousands of years old magic soldier homunculus thing that will forever look like a young girl, but NOBODY USES THAT AS AN EXCUSE TO FUCK A YOUNG GIRL THANK YOU GEEZUS CHRIST cos like.. goddd... being super immortal and eternally a child is A COOL PLOT that has SO MANY OTHER DIRECTIONS it could be developed in, instead of just fuckin pervy lazyness and this game ACTUALLY DOES THOSE DEVELOPMENTS aaaaaUUUUAUAAAUUUUA god its SUCH A RELIEF we start the game off with the intriguing wonder of how everyone changed post time skip yet she still looks the same age (plus of course ‘how on earth did she survive that apparant death’) And it just keeps having even more cool meta discussion of being so ageless?? and really sad philosophicalness about outliving all your friends?? and all the plots these dumb loli excuse things always ignore and just SERIOUSLY THANK YOU

hell she doesnt even ever really have any romantic plot with anyone ever, except kinda Pascal? tho that’s just a weird ‘lol gay as joke’ thing where its supposed to be funny that Pascal doesnt take no for an answer and like.. seriously why is Sophie even instantly repulsed by Pascal anyway? ‘hey i have no concept of any human social norms except heterosexuality apparantly’. It Is Weird. So yeah lol the game isnt absolutely flawless but I mean geez AT LEAST THEY DIDNT SHIP THE FUCKIN KID WITH ADULTS seriously she has NO ROMANCE PLOT and protagonist man ends up with someone completely different and its just NEVER EVEN DISCUSSED AS AN OPTION like fuckin CHRIST thank yooooou god, just, HOW TERRIFYING it was to see her listed as ‘the heroine’ of this game next to a guy way older than her usually whichever female character has the biggest plot role is automatically the love interest I cant believe i fuckin DIDNT PLAY THE GAME FOR ALL THIS TIME because of that!!!

oh and OH AND the endgame!! the endgame final relationship of her and protagonist? DAD. He not only doesn’t romance her, he ends up adopting her as his daughter by the end of the story its so surreal and interesting tho, cos she was like an older sister to him when he was younger, and now they’ve met again they ended up having such a vastly different relationship and like... well, they’re still like family, just in a different way! i’m so happy seriously DEAR GOD for once a ‘immortal child’ plot actually ended well and no grossness ever and ALSO SHE IS A REALLY ENDEARING BADASS HOMUNCULUS WARRIOR PERSON and aaaa

ok this has been bunni’s rambling post ok back to watchin lets play im SO HAPPY i got spoiled for that thing of the ending like seriously HOW RARE is that???