Thinking about it, I feel like Asch opting to steal a sword from one of the Oracle Knights in his final stand on Eldrant while Luke goes on ahead with the Sword of Lorelei actually makes a weird kind of sense??

Hear me out. Asch knows he's going to die sometime soon regardless. He's running out of time. Him choosing to just brute force it at first and steal a sword from his enemy after giving Luke his own just shows he's focused on how he doesn't have much time, and he has to do something with it while Luke goes on to fulfill his duty.

Idk, I was thinking about this earlier and it just... kind of clicked?

seven minutes ~ Asch

11: Needy Hungry Kiss

To say he wasn’t excited when he ended up in the closet with Asch would be lying. He only played this foolish game out of morbid curiosity. Those around his physical age seemed to like playing these sorts of games, he couldn’t help but wonder. His ending up with Asch was just a very happy coincidence. 

As the door closed, engulfing them into darkness, the green-haired teen quickly pulled his mask off. Gloved fingers latched quickly onto Asch’s tabard and yanking the swordsman close. Seven minutes wasn’t a whole lot of time, but Sync prided himself on time management and didn’t waste any time in pushing Asch against the wall and connecting their lips. He hadn’t realized until their lips were pressed together, how much he had been hoping this would happen. How much he craved the attention only Asch gave him. The way Asch’s arms wrapped around him, one hand moving up the back of his neck and curling into his hair and the other holding his close, it was almost too much. 

Almost.

Lips curled playfully as he pulled back, still close enough to feel the other’s breath on his lips. One hand reached upwards, taking hold of the crimson locks that rested against the other’s chest and gave them a rough albeit playful yank. 

“What’s wrong, Asch?” A snicker as he pressed their foreheads together. Fingers curled the red hair carefully, twirling it around his fingers before giving it another yank. And before Asch could yell at him for messing around, he pressed their lips together once more. 

(ooc: So many good expressions in the Asch manga, but so far this is my favorite.)

(ooc: Everyone stop what you’re doing and appreciate baby Asch.)

@ervaurem Spring festitales starter, do your thing Law!

Truth be told, Asch felt like he was a little bit at a loss when it came to finding something to do around the festival. Spring Rise had plenty of things to do, sure, but nothing immediately was standing out to him. He wound up just wandering in the direction of the petting zoo. An odd place for someone like Asch, sure, but that just happened to be where he walked.

When he reached it, he was able to pick out a few of the people working there. Tear was one of them, and she was presently occupied with making sure various creatures were getting their fair share of pets. He wasn't about to talk to her, so Asch turned his attention to others working at the petting zoo. That was when he spotted Law. Truth be told, Law looked right at home among the animals there. The animals in turn seemed really interested in him. It was almost kind of amusing.

Sure. Why not, Asch finally decided. Maybe he needed to give some creatures some pets. So he walked closer.

"Room for one more in the petting zoo?" He almost felt weird asking, but that was the whole point. People were supposed to come in and pet the creatures. He wasn't expecting anything else out of it apart from maybe conversation with Law.

2. In the Rain

Day two!

I tried making this prompt in particular more open ended because hey, there's a lot of scenes that happen in the rain. But my Abyss bias brain said 'Luke and Asch's clash after the Jade Gang leaves the abandoned factory.' And so that's what I did. I've always loved this scene in the game. Something about the way the fight is animated and the realization in Luke's eyes when he sees just how similar he and Asch look, I guess.

@originalion continued!

"Well, I wouldn't have done it like that." It was odd to see Ion doing any sort of training. Asch hadn't intended to stay long, but there he was anyway.

"Your balance is all wrong if you stand like that," he huffed. Maybe snarky, but as much as he hated to think of it he remembered Van commenting much the same thing when he was younger. He'd taken it to heart. He hated that he had.

"Or were you hoping to get knocked off your feet if someone tried to attack?" Asch reasoned someone would have to be stupid to attack the Fon Master, especially if he had guardians with him. Still. Points for trying to offer advice?

@divinitysheart​ Asch starter for Rex!

First, there had been pain. Being stabbed from the back, front, and all around by Oracle Knight replicas had been about the worst way that Asch could think to go. Pain had been followed by acceptance. Asch knew that he was going to die one way or the other. He just happened to go out being unable to get to Van himself, and had needed to tell Luke that everything was up to him. In those final moments, he’d accepted Luke. That was what counted in the end, he supposed.

Finally, darkness.

...And then, light again. Asch could feel the warmth of the sun shining upon him, and confusion began to fill his clouded mind. How...?

“Ugh...” Asch had opened his eyes for just a moment, only to be blinded by the light of the world around him the moment he did. Pain was quick to follow from his body as well as he tried to get his bearings. Minutes passed, and he started to adjust to the light. When he did he finally was able to take a look around. He seemed to have been propped up against a tree on the outskirts of some kind of village. A quaint little place from the look of it. But... it didn’t look like anywhere in Auldrant.

Had Lorelei done this? Was it Yulia’s will that he be given another chance, or... was it something else? Because Asch was terribly certain that he had passed away.

“What... is this place?” He tried to stand, but pain took hold of him anew and he was forced to stay still again. It seemed a majority of his stab wounds had been erased somehow, but the first one he’d endured still seemed to remain in some capacity. Okay, so he was still wounded and he had no idea where he was. But it certainly wasn’t Eldrant.

The thoughts drifted away quickly when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. A village resident, perhaps? Or someone coming to check if he was okay? Either way, Asch wasn’t about to stay quiet.

“H-Hey...” Asch lifted his head a bit and looked in the newcomer’s direction. He looked like he was a couple years younger than Asch, wearing blue and gold clothing too. Though Asch didn’t know who he was, he didn’t have a lot of choice in who to ask for help.

“Can you tell me where I am?” And maybe help me get some assistance? The second question remained unspoken. Though Asch knew he needed help, he was still a bit too proud to openly admit it. Yet, anyway.

Talestober day twenty-six!

26. Star-crossed

"Asch is... Asch is dead..."

"NO! It can't be! Luke! Say it's not true!!"

Happy therapy Thursday, here's some Aschtalia feels! Everything was fine until I started coloring Natalia, and then my everything broke. I definitely got hit in the feelings rewatching the cutscene but coloring her just hit me all over again. The poor thing...

[ src. ] ship bias for asch, tear, and/or guy? :3c

Send ‘Ship Bias’ and I will share up to 5 Ships I have a bias for for my muse!

Asch/Natalia

That's it, that's the list. I am open to other ships, but Aschtalia is the OTP for him.

Luke/Tear

That's honestly it. Like with Asch, I am open to the idea of other ships with Tear! But for now Lutear is it.

Guy/Natalia

Guy/Noelle

Gasp, the truth come out I'm not just Aschtalia trash. I'm Guytalia trash too. 😱 Listen. Listen. That scene in Inista Marsh completely sold me on them together. But Guyelle is adorable too. I haven't done it in a while but I know there's that one sidequest where Guy asks her to teach him how to fly the Albiore and he gets that cool costume. It's cute and I like it.

Revisiting the scene in Abyss where the party is fleeing Baticul when the truth of Natalia's origins (sans being related to Largo) is revealed, I noticed something I never really gave much thought to before. When Asch comes in to help protect Natalia from Goldberg, after he reminds Natalia of his and her promise, he turns the conversation to Luke. And he says something very specific.

"Luke! One mistake and I will kill you."

Not dreck. Not replica. Not reject. Luke. In this one moment, when keeping Natalia safe above all else is Asch's priority, he chooses to acknowledge Luke as Luke. And this is one of the only times he calls Luke by name in the entire game. I've checked the transcript. He only ever calls Luke by name five times total in game, and it's always when things are serious. In this moment he's entrusting Luke with the task to protect Natalia.

I choose to believe this particular instance of that is entirely because he's focused on keeping Natalia safe, even if he insists later he came to rescue them because Ion asked him to. There's no time to default to his usual insults because the person he cares about most is in danger. She could be killed if they don't get the hell out of Baticul. So he conveys that seriousness to Luke the only way he can.

...And happy seventeenth anniversary, Tales of the Abyss!

I've been planning on drawing the God-Generals for this year's anniversary all year, basically. I only ever really draw one or two or three of them, and that's just not right considering how much these six mean to me. I know Asch is technically a protagonist rather than an antagonist, but as a whole the Six God-Generals (and Van, but there wasn't room for him here) are my favorite set of Tales antagonists in a game as a whole bar none. The writing for these six is just... chef's kiss. We really come to understand why they are the way that they are throughout the game, and why they all have a stake in what Van's trying to do. You come to understand just why they basically have nothing left to lose and why they uphold Van's beliefs. Not only that, but they really feel like they're a unit that's able to work together. Except for none of them respecting Dist, because he's Dist, they're able to do what they need to do without much issue.

They feel like a viable threat to the protagonists. Sure they can be defeated in combat, but they're dead set on fulfilling their goal and will keep getting back up no matter how many times the protagonists knock them down. And I love that!

I can't say there's a set of antagonists in any of the games that came after Abyss that have the same feel as the God-Generals. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe one day I'll find another game that captures my heart with their antagonists the way Abyss did. But for now, they will always be my favorite antagonists in the series.

"I've been looking at those big birds in the petting zoo, and... is it just me, or does Asch's hair kind of look like a chocobo's tail feathers-"

"I DO NOT HAVE CHOCOBO HAIR!"

"Hey, Asch. If today is about Lorelei's fonon frequency, doesn't that technically make it DNA day for you and that replica?"

"I guess??"

I forgot I got a picture of the one singular time Asch and Luke are in the party at the same time when I did my playthrough with my boyfriend last summer. But behold! The one singular time the two redheads are in the party together! And it's only for a very short period of time. xD

What does your heart look like?

a compass that doesn’t waver

You are someone who is certain of what you want. Maybe you always have been, or maybe you made a discovery that you haven’t been able to tear your eyes away from. Your heart is set and certain. You fight endlessly for your goals. Above all else, you know who you are and what you are trying to achieve. Just be careful not to tear yourself or others apart in pursuit of your ideals.

Tagged by: @akashicmuses

Tagging: Whoever!