Sorey’s 5☆ and 6☆ images from the 3rd Anniversary gacha (March 31, 2017 to April 17, 2017)

Sormik week day 7 – Camlann— Family/Fate! And of course I’m here to potentially save the day and go entirely for “family” instead of “fate”. I hope y’all did the same *looks around*.

Sorry, only an uncoloured low-effort scribble for today, but at least it’s still fluffy, and it comes with subtle bonus Rosali. This one’s dedicated to @soymilkheaven, who at some point came up with ideas for a modern AU in which pretty much everyone is involved in a D&D/Pathfinder group. Let’s keep dedicating things to each other, hehe! You’ll notice that I didn’t stick to her ideas entirely, like Alisha being still around, and Dezel and Zaveid indeed being different people. But this scribble is totally in the same line of thought.

Muse shot the photo.

I listened mostly to Dragonforce’s Three Hammers while I scribbled this to get into cheesy D&D mood, honestly, the lyrics are so bad that they’re downright hilarious, if it doesn’t make you laugh you didn’t listen to enough Power Metal in your life Is this the right moment to admit that I love the song (in my defense, Three Hammers and The Game are pretty much the only Dragonforce songs I like)

Tales of Zestiria 6th Anniversary 12 Day Challenge

Day 2: Money Finding

Shamelessly promote yourself

Hello, I write Tales of Zestiria Sorey x Mikleo (Sormik) fics. I haven’t posted in a while but I’ve got finished works for your reading pleasure. You can find them in my Ao3 at: spectrum_sanctuary I also play Tales of Zestiria on PC with ridiculous costumes and currently setting up for NG+ Chaos Run slamming bosses with the power of Sormik Water Armatus by getting as high Grade as possible (NO Double Grade option, so it’s as raw score as it gets). This is still only the prep NG+ run however, the true fun will come on the next NG+ playthrough~ If you ever have difficulty playing the game or just want tips, feel free to chat with me. With 900+ hours of playtime put into this game and counting, I’d say there’s few stuff left about this game that I don’t know lol My top Grade highlights so far:

vs Symmone 2nd Illusion (my current highest Grade record as of 11/Jan/2021)

Want to see more screenshots? Check under the cut!

Come celebrate @tozanniversary​ with the challenge list.

vs Orc Kong

vs Dragon Warlock

And yes, you too can achieve the same thing if you want! All it takes is familiarity with the game control and mechanics and knowing how to gear up! It might take a little practice with playing but if you love Sormik the series and game like I do, you’ll never run out of motivation to play it! <3

Wearing nothing but a smile Ch 4

AO3 link

After a few days of planning, it was ultimately decided to have the meeting in the local park. At first, Hado had wanted to go to your home. An enthusiastic Togata jumped on board of the idea as well. Thankfully, Amajiki had voted against it with you, making it a tie. The four of you planned to meet on the weekend in the afternoon, allocating plenty of time to draw ideas. When you informed your parents of your outing, they were absolutely delighted. "You already made friends, I'm so proud" your mother praised you shamelessly. Your father nodded in agreement, handing you hero catalogs. "These are just lying around, take them for reference" he explained. By the time you left, you had a large bag of hero magazines and a box of homemade sweets. To add insult to injury, both parents pressured you into "dressing nicely".

You paced outside the park nervously, fingers playing with the loose bandages on your arms. Maybe you could come up with an excuse to not show? The stress of the situation made your stomach churn, go or leave? Could you even face them after that? You mind ran a mile a minute, distracting you from the airy Hado approaching. "Oh! There you are!" she waved to catch your attention. Hado's simple dress and heels made you feel relaxed, at least you weren't alone. "Did you get lost? The park is right there silly" she giggled taking your hand and dragging you in. You had to admit, Hado had some muscle to her lithe body...

As expected, Togata and Amajiki were already sitting under a tree conversing casually. As you and Hado approached, Togata looked up with a charming grin. "Fashionably late ladies?" he teased. Amajiki waved shyly, scooting closer to Togata so you could sit next to him. You sat across from Togata, Hado sat next to you across from Amajiki. Your little square of awkward glances and bright smiles held a suffocating silence. "So, what'cha got? Huh? Huh?" Hado broke the silence. She bounced in her seat excitedly looking over your large bag. "My dad gave me some old hero catalogs to use as reference" you explained as you pulled out the stack of magazines. "Woah! What does your dad do?" Togata took a share of the stack, handing Amajiki a portion as well. "He's an artist, he mostly does graphic design for Hero merchandise" you explained. "How interesting!" Hado bubbled with joy. She glanced in your bag and grabbed the container. "Oh, this smells yummy" she shook the container gently, listening to the sound from inside. "Hado, that's rude..." Amajiki weakly protested. "It's fine, my mom made some snacks for us" you shrugged off the situation with ease.

Without further permission, Hado opened the container and placed it in the center of the square. "Let's begin eating! Oh, and thinking!" she added quickly. Togata and Amajiki began scanning over the catalogs while Hado discussed color schemes with you. "Something that goes well with your hair color would be great, but also complimenting your complexion" she muttered aloud. "Can I request warm colors?" you offered. She tilted her head, looking you over. "Some dark and cool colors too, you're more of the mature type" she agreed. "Mature?" you repeated. "Yeah! I can see you being a mature hero, kind of like a big sister type or a dominatrix!" Hado explained. She began explaining the mature traits of Midnight and Ryukyu, two well known female heroes. As Hado began going into great "detail", the two boys became restless.

"And so! Something like-" Hado was cut off by Amajiki tearing a page. "My bad" he apologized folding the page back into the magazine. "I think we should avoid an 18+ costume" Togata suggested. For once, you were thankful for him. "I know, I know, I'm just spitballing here" Hado defended herself. Togata presented a page he had been staring at for a while. "How about this? It's kinda pretty" he smiled. The image advertised a former hero, 'Marionette'. The costume was designed in a gothic and elegant style. "That is a bit too much, I don't think I'd be able to maneuver in that" you explained. Togata looked it over again, processing your words. "Hmm, it might be easier if we knew more about you" he suddenly grinned. Amajiki knew that grin too well, another plan.

"That's a good idea! Let's hear it" Hado exclaimed. "Keep the questions appropriate Hado" Amajiki set up a precaution before Hado could speak. "Okay, okay" she laughed. "First thing first! Your quirk is?" Togata leaned forward expectantly. You shifted uncomfortably under their gaze, now that you thought of it, your quirk name was embarrassing. "Well, my quirk is called 'Gula Armatus', which literally means 'Arms of Gluttony'" you explained. All three of them blinked in confusion and awe. "M-my parents originally moved from Spain! The name was decided over there so it's a bit grandiose" you added quickly. "That sounds really cool! What can you do?!" Togata shouted. "Is that why you wear bandages? Can I see? Can I?" Hado leaned closer to you, her fingers tracing the bandages on your arms.

"Guys, I don't think it's fair to pry that much" Amajiki's outburst came as a surprise. Hado paused, sitting back with a frown. Togata also settled down. "I'll admit, I don't like my quirk that much so I'd rather not show it off" you explained. Amajiki nodded in understanding. "Remember, we're focusing on the costume" he scolded. "Wow, that is very shocking to hear from you Amajiki" Hado's blunt remark made Amajiki shudder. "Haha, well he's normally this way when he can get it out!" Togata laughed. "Guys...." Amajiki held his stomach, no doubt experiencing cramps from being put on the spot. "Before Amajiki passes out, let's continue" you shifted the attention off Amajiki. "Right, well you would want something without sleeves then..." Togata trailed off in thought. "Something stylish but easy to move in!" Hado clapped her hands together as she came up with an idea. She excitedly shifted through the magazines in search of a reference. "Here! Here!" Hado pointed to the page she held open.

There was a female hero in tactical wear. "We can change the color for now so you don't look so lethal" Hado explained. "I think you'd look in great in it!" Togata was in favor of the outfit as well. "It's up to her" Amajiki reminded the two. You looked over the outfit, it wasn't unappealing. "My midriff would be exposed, but I think I can deal with it" you nodded. The crop top would take some getting used to, but it met your standard of mobility. "Then it's settled, any suggestions for color?" Togata asked. You shrugged, still foreign to the making of a costume. "As I said, it should match with her looks" Hado pouted, annoyed that she had to repeat herself. "Sorry! Come to think of it, your arms are a different color than your skin" Togata turned to you with a curious look. "That is true" you didn't like the little glint in his eyes. "In that case, we'll need to see them" he continued.

And here you thought you would get away with it. Amajiki appeared exhausted, no longer coming to your aid. "You don't have to use your quirk, but just show us your arms" Hado joined in. Through her calm demeanor, you could see the child-like curiosity. "Fine, but don't scream" you warned. You slowly unwrapped your bandages, your fingers visibly shook as you removed coverage of your left arm. Togata, Hado, and even Amajiki had eyes glued onto your left arm. As splotches of garnet appeared, you heard a few gasps. "It's not an injury..." you threw that out to calm them. You finished unveiling your arm, displaying your monster-like arm. You drew your claws back into a tight fist on reflex, fighting the urge to bandage it back up. The silence was slowly killing you. "Say something already..." you muttered, shifting nervously.

"It's such a pretty color" Hado smiled. Her hands hovered over your arm. "Can I touch?" she asked this time. You nodded, watching her trace the top of your arm. "Don't touch that" you warned as she drew closer to the carmine color of your underarm. "Why?" she pulled her hands back slowly. "Well, I can destroy objects by 'eating' them so I am able to taste there" your voice became quiet as you began to recall your first encounter with Togata. Your cheeks burned red, you hoped he wouldn't be able to do the math with that one. "Ah ha! Now I get the gluttony part" Togata reached forward and placed his hand on top of your fist. "W-wait!" you felt him pull your hand open carefully. Your palm rested in him, causing shock to flow over you. It was a fear of yours that you would harm someone with your quirk, hence the bandages.

As time passed, you realized nothing was happening. you tilted your head in confusion. Togata, on the other hand, appeared over the moon. "Your hand is kinda cold but really soft," he said aloud. Hado was smiling knowingly, she leaned over to you. "What's Togata taste like?" she asked. You cleared your throat in surprise, choking on air. "L-like skin?" you managed to choke out. From the corner of your eye, you could see Amajiki in deep thought. Suddenly, he jolted upright. He stared at you, then to your hand joined with Togata, and then back to you. In a matter of seconds, his face exploded with redness. "Tamaki? Are you okay?" Togata glanced back at him worriedly. "I-I'm fine!" he squeaked out. He definitely caught on, you only hoped he wouldn't tell Togata. "Ah ha! You wanna hold her hand too! Don'tcha?!" Hado teased.

Somehow, it led to you holding hands with Hado and Amajiki as well. You felt your eyes sting with tears afterward. "Are you okay?" Togata's eyebrows furrowed in worry. His smile was replaced with a small frown. "Y-yeah...it's just that it's been a long time since I felt another person's hand" you explained as you wiped your eyes. Hado shared a glance with the others. Togata was the first to speak up. "Well, if you ever want to hold hands, you don't even need to ask" he shot you another charming smile. "How shameless!" you heard Hado giggle. Amajiki wore a small smile, not surprised by Togata's words. "I-I'll keep that in mind" you began to bandage your arm back up.

"Oh yeah, why not go with a black and dark red color?" Hado offered. She reminded you all about the costume. "That sounds good, let's write this down" Togata began making some quick notes for you. "Make sure to add the clipping for reference" Amajiki reminded him. Hado had already begun tearing out the page carefully. You watched in awe, they diligently put together a folder for you. "Make sure you submit that to Ectoplasm, it may take a while for your costume to arrive through" Hado hummed happily. You took the folder graciously. "I will" it felt heavy in your hands despite being mostly paper.

"It's getting late, we should call it a day" Amajiki announced, displaying the time on his phone. "Aww, just when things were getting good" Hado whined. Although, she appeared happy as ever. "Let's trade numbers, we can talk later" Togata suggested. Hado whipped her phone out in an instant before Amajiki could put his away. She began trading numbers with him, leaving you and Togata to do so. "Um, so how..." you hadn't exchanged numbers with anyone before. "Like this" Togata took your hand and opened your phone to the option to exchange numbers. "Then you shake it like this" he gently rocked your hand in his. The small beep told you that the deal was made. You watched a message bubble appear with a smiling emoji. "That 's me!" Togata laughed. You edited the name to match his, then repeated the action with Hado and Amajiki.

Now it was time to say goodbye. Hado waved goodbye excitedly, leaving with a skip in her step. You headed in the other direction, waving back awkwardly. "See you guys..." you tried to smile, managing a sheepish grin. Togata and Tamaki waved back, heading home together. "That was a lot" Amajiki sighed, he felt more spent than in hero training. "That was fun, we should all get together again," Togata said as he stared ahead. Amajiki watched his friend carefully, he really hadn't caught on. "Good job with getting closer to ____, you didn't fuzz up this time" Amajiki praised him. Togata glanced at his friend, a small blush on his cheeks. "Well, I gotta admit..."

"I really liked holding her hand"

ToZ anniversary ask game!

To get you excited, we made a little ask game; feel free to reblog, answer it all, or let people ask you questions, or just use it as a starting point to think about your prompts for our anniversary week! Don’t forget to check out our page and follow us here and on Twitter, too!

1. How did you get into ToZ?

2. Favourite character to PLAY as?

3. Favourite location in the game?

4. Favourite party setup?

5. Personal grade record?

6. And trophy %?

7. Favourite/most used armatus? EXCEPT water, we all know you’re gonna pick that.

8. Favourite attachment?

9. Favourite costumes for each character?

10. Favourite boss fight?

11. Do you run into enemies so you can windstep? Come on, you can admit it

12. How do you prefer to play? (eg “on the sofa with chocolate bars in my mouth and a cat in my lap”)

13. Who or what is most fun to draw/write if you’re a creator?

14. Anything you wish we could have learned more about?

15. The game’s theme is “passion”. What part of the game are you most passionate about?

16. Free prompt: just talk about your personal ties to the game, go go

Happy fourth @tozanniversary !

My contribution for today’s prompt will follow later, for the moment here’s my answers to the ask game.

How did you get into ToZ?

Exactly on the first day of 2015 because of this gif set.

Truth be told, I’m not a tales fan, I had only played Symphonia on gamecube (which is one of my favorite game btw) but had no interest for the rest of the franchise, and Zestiria didn’t make exception despite the few pictures I had stumbled upon while the game was still in development. Actually those pictures made me think it would be a generic jrpg with a dumb protagonist and an awful love triangle, there was absolutely no appeal there xD I coudn’t be more wrong.

And then I saw the gif set. The boys aesthetic was pleasing to look at so I watched the full oav, then I read about the game and then I learned there was dragons in it and everything was lost.

I’ve been living into the zesty pit ever since, and there’s no way out. Not that I want one, it’s all nice and comfy down here.

Favourite character to PLAY as?

Sorey, because he's the easiest to play with. Sometimes I switch for Lailah cause her fighting style is pretty, and I played the whole Alisha dlc as Rose.

Favourite location in the game?

Elysia, Lastonbell, Airfread's hunting grounds, Cambria caverns, all 4 elemental trial shrines.

Favourite party setup?

Sorey-Mikleo, Rose-Lailah, because though I adore the whole party those four are my faves. I tend to switch seraph whenever it feels appropriate though, like pairing Sorey with the seraph corresponding to the trial shrine.

Personal grade record?

Don’t be fooled, this is all because the NG+ grade shop makes chaos mode super easy to go through. I normally suck at video games, I can never dodge or guard to save my life so instead I went completey crazy on the equipment, like this no boss can resist me. Even the game called me out on it:

And trophy %?

100! Once again I’m not that good at games, but I love Zestiria so much I couldn’t get enough and needed to reach the 100%. Although it was only possible thanks to the lack of minigames from hell.

Favourite/most used armatus? EXCEPT water, we all know you’re gonna pick that.

WATER Favorite to play with after it is Fire, but though Wind is annoying to fight with, it's good looking with the blade wings and most importantly the artes mystic is really effective to farm equipment xD Before I started with the farming the order for most used was Water, Fire, Earth and Wind.

Favourite attachment?

Dezel isn't happy Zaveid took his place.

Favourite costumes for each character?

The delfaut ones + Alisha’s dlc outfit (though I wish she had pants instead of a mini skirt). Sometimes I switch for the school set so it looks like a school expedition gone wrong xD Here's a picture of Lailah just because.

Favourite boss fight?

Don't think I have one? Like I say I'm not really good at games, so I just wait for the party to finish talking and destroy everything as fast as possible. But I guess Tiamat and Eizen where nice with the music (no I didn’t enjoyed killing dragons, killing dragons is heartbreaking, even more in zesty) and beating up Landon and Lunarre was satisfying.

Do you run into enemies so you can windstep? Come on, you can admit it

Who doesn’t? The best combination is to run in circle while eavesdropping on townsfolks and keep it going by slaughtering everything on the way. It's rather funny to look at Sorey running at full speed, even more when paired with the lord of the land blessing that increase the speed.  

How do you prefer to play? (eg “on the sofa with chocolate bars in my mouth and a cat in my lap”)

This description sounds like the ideal way to play video games, unfortunatly my cat is way too distracting, between the random moment like “I’m gonna stand in the corner and meow until mom gives me full attention” and “let’s lie next to mom in the most ridiculous position ever so she will be too busy laughing and will lose her fight”, the best moment to play a game is to wait for him to be sound asleep, preferably with a safe distance between us so my eyes and hands don’t drift toward his soft looking fur… Add a nice cup of tea and it’s perfect.

Who or what is most fun to draw/write if you’re a creator?

I'm possesed by the spirit of Numin. She hijacks all my fics...

Anything you wish we could have learned more about?

Before Berseria I would have said Zaveid. Now I would love to learn about the ancient times, siegfried, the original Lady of the Lake, the first shepherd, stuff like that... A prequel to Berseria could be nice though I’m not sure I would trust bamco on this...

The game’s theme is “passion”. What part of the game are you most passionate about?

Very hard question. The characters. The story. The themes aborded. The Music. The aesthetic. The fact Natalie is looking toward the place Mason was killed. The cat on Sindra’s back. The dog that you all better have not let Lunarre kill. Everything. Here’s the game’s thoughts on the matter:

I’m very passionate about the whole game and will defend it against every injustified bashing I come across. …well, even against some justified stuff sometimes xD. Same goes with characters bashing, Zestiria is one of those rare game where I love every single party members, and hearing stuff like “Rose is a mary sue it’s impossible for her to be a killer and still be pure that’s shitty writing” make me lose it like have you even played the game ffs??

Free prompt: just talk about your personal ties to the game, go go

4, 8 :P, 10, 14 (Zaveid or Eizen not applicable answers for obvious reasons), 15, and 16

These got long so I’m gonna put them under a read more just so I’m not flooding people’s dashes.Thank you for them though. xD

4. Favourite party setup?Early game I think it was Sorey/Mikleo and Alisha/Lailah if I had her as a partner. Later game after picking up Rose I ended drifting a bit more to Dezel and ended up favoring Edna as Rose’s partner to exploit enemy weakness I believe. I stilled used Mikleo a fair bit when I need more ranged with the armatus though.So: Sorey/Mikleo & Alisha/Lailah early gameSorey/Dezel & Rose/Edna mid to late game

8.Favourite attachment?I didn’t actually use any attachments or costumes in my first playthrough so I don’t really have any favorites. Maybe second playthrough. xD Although if I had a certain dlc then Sorey would have a certain gosh darn whale on his back the whole time, clipping or silliness be darned.

10. Favourite boss fight?Ooooooo, this is a hard one. Mmmm. Probably the Sergei fight honestly, he beat me several times but I really enjoyed how I had to get creative and really read into his movements and patterns to beat him with just Sorey. And honestly I never really got frustrated with this fight, just more determined to actually beat him and honestly it was a really rewarding fight. Runner ups would probably be the Zaveid fights and also all the different battles against Heldalf at the very end of the game. There were some darn good fights in this game in my opinion.

14. Anything you wish we could have learned more about?Fiiiiiiiine. Honestly I’d loved to have seen more about Heldalf and Michael, either their connection or just them individually. Like they both had important parts in the history of why certain story events happen, but I don’t feel like we got more than just below surface level on either of them, and I feel like there would have been a lot of potential to explore who they were and tie into deeper into the story itself. Maybe that’s just me though.Also Dezel’s relationships with either Lafarga or Zavied. I want it darn it. Give me.

15. The game’s theme is “passion”. What part of the game are you most passionate about?Oh gosh, I don’t even know where to start with this one. I guess one of the biggest things is just the characters. Sorey in generally hit me really close to home as I find him incredibly relatable and through the whole game a lot of his struggles and also victories hit me really hard because of it. They might not be the most well written cast of a game and some of them are stagnate or a bit backtracking in the character development department at times, but none the less, and it’s hard to explain, but for me the cast had some kind of spark that stuck with me through it all and left me really in love with them in the end. Maybe it was skit interaction, or just the idea of the armatization stuff with trusting someone enough to be able to trust them with a true name and then pair up like that, and maybe a lot of it is just my interpretations of some things but I don’t care. And I love them. I don’t know if that made any sense honestly but hey that’s my answer.

16. Free prompt: just talk about your personal ties to the game, go goI could write a novel. I really could. But I’ll try not to. I mean I think I touched on a lot of the game elements that I really love already so I’ll go with something a little different.So I got my start in Tales with the Symphonia anime with a certain friend, :P  terrible idea or not that’s how I started and I don’t regret it in the slightest. I got hooked and ended up picking up both Symphonia and Zestiria for cheap in a steam sale at same friend’s suggestion, and to start I tried playing Symphonia. And I’ll admit I got burn out and a bit bored after a while for various reasons so I which I won’t discuss here because it’s not relevant to where I’m going with this and I kinda stopped playing. During this burnout was about the time the Zestiria anime was airing and I was seeing various harmless gif sets and images I had spoilers blocked across my dash and it got me kind of curious, so I said heck with it and started up Zestiria not entirely sure what to expect but hopeful that it wouldn’t be a drag like Symphonia had become.And let me tell you I fell in love immediately and just burned through it. I was dumping countless hours in on my weekends after not playing during weeks due to classes. I can’t count the number of nights I stayed up till like 2 or 4 in the morning just to get up the following more and dive in again. Again I can’t explain exactly what it was but something between me and the game just clicked and I poured my heart into it, just loving every minute. Even the frustrating boss fights weren’t enough to make me stop for longer than a couple hours at most to regain my head or make my hands stop shaking.I cried several times in this darn game Dezel had me going for at least a couple hours and then kinda hollow at times for days after I’ll be honest and have spent countless hours analyzing and headcanoning since. I haven’t really wrote much in the way of fic yet but that because I’m waiting to understand how Berseria plays into everything. But I guess what makes it stand out is that at the time about a year or so ago I think actually is that I don’t think I’d been so into a game with that much vigor in quite a while. I’d played a few other things off and on of course, but with school and other things eating up my time I just hadn’t let myself really get invested into much, nor found much that allowed me to. After beating the main game I walked away with feeling I hadn’t felt in quite a while and honestly it felt amazing.I’ve found the feeling again more recently with a few other games I’ve played, Abyss being one of them, but as silly as it sounds in some ways I like to think Zestiria was kinda a reminder to me that even with getting busy and having a dozen things to do for various things that sometimes its fun to just step back from the classes, creative writing, whatever and just let myself have a good time with someone else’s story and just enjoy myself. And honestly I think I’ve played more games and read more books since because of it.I ended up writing a short novel anyways but hey, it is what it is. If you’ve read all this then applause for you and I’m just gonna end this with saying no matter what anyone else thinks of the game whether it be good or bad I’ll always love it for what it is and what it brought me, and I’m grateful for all that is.

Tales of Ask Meme: 3, 8, 21 and 22

(For this ask meme! Already answered: 6, 17, 18, 27)

Man, you like the opinionated asks don’t you anon?  Due to the nature of questions 3, 21, and 22, those will be tucked behind a Read More.  Unpopular Opinions behind the cut, read at your own risk.

8. Favourite cut scene from any game?

The water armatus reveal cut scene in Galahad Ruins from Zestiria will always be one of my favorites, just for the sheer prettiness of it and the magical boy Sorey-ness of it.  Honestly, compare it to any magical girl transformation sequence and you’re bound to notice some similarities, lol.

21. Anycharacters you disliked at the beginning then grew to love them?

From a characterization/writing standpoint, Luke. It wasn’t until his Important Hair Cut that I started actually liking him a bit, but even then I was still hoping Akzeriuth wouldn’t happen as Van planned it (even though I was sure it would for story purposes). And in my case, “love” might be a bit strong, I’m more of a “yeah he’s okay” person when it comes to short haired Luke.  (Bless Rays for using him.)  Long haired Luke though . . . before you all start getting all in my inbox, yes, I’ve played enough of Abyss to know his backstory, and while it explains it, it still doesn’t make him any easier to tolerate for that first arc.  I have a really low tolerance for sort of character type, and honestly, if I weren’t playing with friends, I probably wouldn’t have made it all the way to that Important Hair Cut.

22. Anycharacters you liked at the beginning then grew to hate/dislike them?

Does “I saw the character announcement and they looked interesting and have a pretty costume design” and then I met the character in game and fell into a “love to dislike” situation with them count?  If so, Teresa.  I liked her design, but the minute I met her in Hellawes I was cracking my knuckles just waiting for that boss fight.  And even with the explanation of her backstory from the expanded materials . . . it’s mostly a “Okay, I get where this character is coming from.  I still don’t like them.”  Because at the end of the day, there was a choice presented to Teresa, and she took the one that left her treating her malakhim as disposable tools.  Because honestly, if Mogrim could remain untethered and have a personality while still in a pact with Shigure, would it really be that much of a stretch to think the Abbey had done something to Silva and Phi to strip them of their will and personalities?

Also, in a similar vein, Emeraude from Graces.  Cool character design . . .and then she goes all Kyoto laugh on your party and murders you.

And finally:

3. Which one is your least favourite game?

If I were to take the easy way out: Tempest.  It’s perhaps the one game I’ve spent the least time on, because I couldn’t get into any of the characters.  Caius and Rubia didn’t really endear themselves to me the way previous main characters had, and the story didn’t really engage me either.  It probably didn’t help Bamco scrapped development on it, but released it as an escort title anyway because it had been announced.  Innocence was definitely the better of the two at the time, and I think of the 3 DS titles, Hearts is my personal favorite.

But for the honest Unpopular Opinion pick: Abyss.  Long haired Luke is a large part of that (as explained above), as is the pacing for the story with large chunks of story followed by long chunks of dungeon.  We got badly bogged down in the middle of one of the mid-late game story chunks when I was playing it with friends, and then I think we dropped it in favor of PS2 Destiny remake.  I keep on wanting to try it again on my 3DS copy, but quite honestly, I have a hard time putting up with long haired Luke for more than an hour at a time, and this is even with the rest of the party there to balance him out. And there are other games I’d rather play.  Like my ongoing (re)play throughs for Graces, Zestiria, Berseria, Xillia, and Vesperia PS3.

soymilkheaven said: Honestly Tainted AU is the reason the alternate color costumes for Sorey and Mikleo grew on me.  I like Alisha’s, but in her case it’s more like her regular uniform but in Hyland’s colors?  Plus blue is one of my favorite colors so there’s that too.  XD

I… just… forgot… about Alisha’s… shit, I always keep that on her, too, because I hate pink, but love blue. SORRY ALISHA My excuse is that it has been a while since she was in my party, rofl

ALSO UNPOPULAR opinion, I’m actually not a fan of any tainted AUs AT ALL. I mean I give Sorey that the Darker and Edgier (TM) colours suit him, but it’s also just super hilarious because he’s about as edgy as a baby bunny. Go on and have fun y’all but I fail to see the appeal of tainted AUs…

soymilkheaven said: On the bright side: everything that makes that terrible excuse of an adaptation for Zestiria tolerable is thanks to you and your shitposting with Mino.  Especially all the Rainbow Armatus jokes.  Plus all the unintentional hilarity that is Cowboy Shepherd Sorey.  (Thanks Rays!  XD)

@laindir let me just say that I agree with Anzu. The anime sucks but at least we can make fun of it.

…I actually really enjoy Rays, cowboy jokes at all. My favourite running gag is Mileena the useless lesbian, tho.

Okay, so I wasn’t particularly excited about the current event in Tales of the Rays. Swimsuits again? With Alisha? No thanks. I was totally over Alisha after The X (episode 0 was great, but it just started petering out, and while I’m pretty okay with her Armatizing, her Armatus costume was an issue. But that’s a whole nother hill of beans).

But the opening skit is great! It reminds me of why I love Sorey and Mikleo and Raine and Edna, and why I wanted to like Alisha when I played the game~ Good job, Rays!

Alisha’s 5☆ and 6☆ images from the Tales of Zestiria the X Collaboration Gacha (November 30, 2017 to December 15, 2017)

So we (=my sister plays, I watch her and do other stuff besides) have finally marathoned through Tales of Berseria (only the post-game sidequests left). So here’s excerpts of my final verdict (mostly in contrast to Zesty because sorry but I can’t help it. Plus, it’s the prequel for Maotelus’ sake). Cut for massive length and very heavy spoilers, obviously! No reviews, though, just incoherent ramblings. Many, many incoherent ramblings.

-The plot is indeed kinda more exciting than Zestiria. Which isn’t particularly hard. I mean there are many reasons why I love Zestiria, but the plot (and the villains) sure aren’t one of them. The plot was kinda just… there and didn’t do any harm, but honestly I could just have watched a 200 episode show of plotless party banter and would have enjoyed it just the same. The plot in neither game makes particularly much sense, tho.

-I have a billion questions and somehow most of them concern Zaveid’s gun in both games. Like, how does it actually work? It separates fusings, but it’s the basis for the invention of the armatus? Apparently it also boosts magic? Idk. And where does it come from? Let me guess, there was that super advanced sci-fi-civilization that lived on the planet like 20 000 years ago and is now forgotten *insert dramatic music here*

-How on earth did Velvet get out of that volcano…? But as long as Morgrim is safe, I’m good.

-On that note, Velvet literally screaming WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!! at the volcano made me kinda happy

-whenever she has facepalm/I’m so done/I’m surrounded by idiots moments, I feel her very much

-Despite the headscratchers, I’m totally digging the Berseria/Zestiria worldbuilding, like hell

-Sue me but I still like the Zestiria characters lightyears better than the Berseria characters. Mostly because they’re funnier, more relatable, and also because I honestly don’t like the Darker and Edgier trope. But also because the costume designs are goddamn awful, Magilou is an obnoxious pest, and it takes Eleanor far too many hours of game play to get that other people than abbey members have human rights (I ended up liking her in the end but honestly getting there was a pain). BTW yes, Velvet, Phi and Eleanor probs have more dramatic changes in personality over the course of the game than the Zesty squad combined, but can anybody explain to me what kind of character development Eizen, Rokurou and Magilou display? …Thought so. Also, no, dramatic 180° turn character development is NOT a prerequisite for good character writing in my opinion, thank you very much. I also think that mental breakdowns aren’t a prerequisite, just in case you were wondering. I’m honestly not a big fan of the Heroic B.S.O.D. trope, although there might be some exceptions where I thought it was well done. I still prefer to do without.

-At least I can tolerate Magilou and Eleanor now that the former got a backstory and the latter finally learned how not to be a dick

-Phi’s constant complaints that he doesn’t want to be treated like a child (I’ve got bad news for you sweetie, you’re TEN) do horrible things to my headcanon that he simply stays physically 10 for eternity, but don’t think I’d give up too soon

-however, I guess we can establish that he plays splatter games with a burning passion

-I am very glad that the monster doggies and the monster bird are safe and sound in the epilogue

-WHERE IS FIRE MUM

-How on earth do people defend the opinion that Berseria was less of a button smasher game than Zestiria?? Because honestly in Zestiria I never managed to win battles by doing nothing but frantically smashing X/Square/Triangle/Circle without any plan or order.

-THE BATTLE CAMERA IS SO MUCH BETTER THO I can control it freely! Oh bless the new camera. I want that so hard in Zestiria. It would help a bunch.

-the equipment upgrade and drop system is also a billion times more effective in the sense that you don’t have to carefully plan your fusings (guess who’s always too lazy to do that) and fruitlessly try to farm the drops for that for hours (guess who’s too lazy for that as well, and also helplessly underlevelled because she’s so lazy and ends up with bosses one or two hitting an armatus even on normal mode *coughs*). Bless.

-I mean the new equipment system in Berseria is basically Final Fantasy IX but for lazy noobs. There’s ups and downs to that, I guess?

-Meirchio is so goddamn pretty, I didn’t even realise that in ToZX. Guess I was distracted by how bad the trainwreck is. Anyway I love everything about this town

-Aball and its surroundings incl. Taliesin also deserve awards

-the dungeons and field areas weren’t anymore interesting than Zestiria, tho

-btw Aball=Avalon? Magical apple island and stuff? Just asking because honestly some of the Arthurian references are pretty obscurely named (it took me quite a while to get the Lastonbell=Glastonbury reference, too, trollolol. Anyone else reminded of Good old Ah! My Goddess translation sins? I mean, come on… Verdandi to Belldandy? Apparently, correctly transcribing Roman letters into Japanese script is even more difficult than Ancient Avarost)

-Morgrim, let me love you, please take all my blessings, you are purrfectly pleasantly plump and I want to cuddle you and give you kisses

-why exactly was Shigure one of the bad guys?? It still escaped me after we cut him in half, sacrificed his soul to some ancient deity, and killed his deceased, reincarnated, dragonised mum

-speaking of which, is it really clever to use the souls of your mortal enemies to revive gods that you want to be on your side!?

-anyway, screw you, Melchior, in particular

-Bienfu is a strong contender for most annoying mascot ever and I still wanted to throw him into the ocean hours into the game. I swear if I have to hear him yell BIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN just once more in my life I’m gonna punch the screen.

-I’m with Jude on the pengyons. I mean I guess killing and eating them is preferable to killing them but not eating them, but still. Everyone speaks about representation, where’s my representation? Is there a single JRPG in which at least one of the playable characters is a vegetarian?

-I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Jude and Milla cameo, cracktastic as it was. Milla was actually my favourite in Xillia, although I had and still have severe problems with her character. But here I only saw of her what I love about her, and it made me happy. You go, Milla

-The skit writing with the constant “all males are perverts”, “all women are deceitful whores” and “men and women are fundamentally different and will never understand each other or be friends unless they’re incestuous siblings” is goddamn awful, period.

-apparently if your vessel becomes malevolent even the tiniest bit (no need to go full tainted), that physically hurts your malak/seraph. I’m glad that doesn’t happen in Zesty.

-Zaveid. Buddy. I feel sorry for you. But it also kinda shocks me how fast you get over your girlfriend’s death. I also have bad news: Eizen’s little sister will still look like a 12-year-old in a 1000 years from now. I actually hope you’re NOT into that.

-btw Zaveid and Eizen jump from mortal enemies to true name basis pretty fast holy shit

-I wouldn’t have minded more Aifread’s Pirates shenigans and nobody is surprised

-I want the cracktastic enemy book back

-I want my elemental powers back. Fuck this don’t ya try to talk down my beloved Magical Dragqueen mode IT’S THE POWER OF LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE y’ignorants

-dear malak NPCs, thank you for establishing that the abbey version armatus is a sucky beta version which will be replaced with the awesome real thing in a couple of centuries, and will eventually symbolise harmony between humans and malakhim. Bonus points for carrying along the motherfucking Galahad ruins bow to drive home the point

-I’m a little too amused by the fact that the ending credit cards are a “everyone’s happy, nobody ever died, and everybody’s friends with each other” AU

-uhm, guys? Did they give Artorius’ sword to Sorey’s gay pride armatus in the anime? I didn’t like it even back then but now I hate it even more, pls no

-I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want Sorey back I want

-I know there will never be a Zestiria sequel because it didn’t sell well enough for that, but just in case: the only premise I’ll accept is “Phi, Sorey and Mikleo free Velvet from her prison and finally tear Innominat apart for good”. I don’t know how that would work without killing Velvet and Phi, but hey, I’m sure we’re gonna find a solution because it’s as JRPG and all we need is the POWER OF LOVE *dundundundun*

Everyone is happy. Also what is this “reborn Malakhim aren’t the same people they died as anymore” crap, don’t give me this heartbreak material you assholes

-is it wrong if I wanna play Zestiria after finishing Berseria? Actually, we would have gotten there far sooner if I hadn’t insisted taking breaks so I could play a few hours of Zestiria in between. Whoops.

-my sister was worried that Phi would miss his auntie Velvet very much and suggested Sorey and Mikleo should adopt him once the sweet baby slumber party is over. At this point I’m wondering whether I should give her fanfic recs to brighten her days, or whether that will cause her to forever ban me from her Playstation and refuse to cook for me ever again

-after watching the Zesty DLC, she also told me: “I don’t know what was the point of it, but Rose and Alisha were very cute.” She’s on the path to righteousness.

50 Things that are more realistic than the rainbow armatus

I just wanted to make fun of the rainbow armatus due to the amount of salt and spite  in my soul. Have fun with this list!

1. Armatizing with Maotelus 2. Just fucking killing Heldalf 3. Somehow talking Heldalf out of Malevolence 4. Just punching Heldalf out of Malevolence 5. Becoming Innominat 6. Becoming a therion and absorbing Heldalf’s malevolence 7. Creating a satanic circle to summon an avatar of Velvet to absorb Heldalf’s Malevolence 8. Trash talking Michael out of malevolence 9. Sorey offering to take Heldalf’s malevolence becoming the Lord of Calamity 10. Having the volcano erupt and everyone die

11. Inviting Heldalf for Pizza 12. Go on a road trip on a goblin cart with Heldalf 13. Have Mikleo give him a blessing that will nullify the curse 14. Ending the universe right here and there and then recreating it so that Heldalf never became the Lord of Calamity 15. They play guitar hero 16. asshole heavenly seraphim come down and corrupt everybody and end the world 17. Zavied leaves the Earth’s surface on a motorcycle and joins a gay space commune 18. Sorey goes to medical school and becomes a chiropractor to snap a portion of Heldalf’s back the get rid of that weird malevolent bug in there 19. Sorey become a therapist 20. They break out into song with the whole musical number ending in a dab 21. An arch fey comes out of fucking nowhere and reveals that the whole thing is an illusion but the only way to break it is to make a pace with him. 22. Velvet wakes up revealing that the whole thing was a dream 23. The revelation that the anime is actually one of the layers of the Nine Hells of Baator and Alisha is the archduchess ruing the place. 24. Orcus just popping out of nowhere driving everyone mad and turning them into hellions 25. Frodo walking in and asking where to destroy the one ring to which everyone points to the area on the left that says “evil ring destroying area” 26. They reveal an ancient set of armor and the Raven Queen appears killing Mikleo but Sorey offers to be her champion in exchange for Mikleo’s life 27. Maotelus goes “oh fuck it” and kills everyone 28. TV executives come in and ask them to star on some weird new history channel show 29. Accidentally shoving Heldalf into a pit of lava 30. Getting a jump rope and practice for a jump rope competition. 31. They start a fucking flower garden in the middle of an active volcano 32. The thing is revealed to be a movie set and everyone gets out of costume. 33. They just start smoking weed 34. They go get drinks and get insanely drunk that they somehow ended up on the far continent naked and in a jail cell. Yes this includes Heldalf and Maotelus 35. They grab the giant mecha that was parked outside the volcano 36. They did the thing in the game 37. Sorey pulling a Velvet 38. Heldalf planeshifts everyone into the elemental plane of water and they get eaten by a Kraken. Yes this includes Heldalf and Maotelus. 39. Heldalf is actually a Rakshasa and kills everyone out of vengence for Michael, who killed him in a previous incarnation, the actual Heldalf is dead. 40. They all just somehow wake up on a field in the middle on nowhere. 41. Everything in the anime getting retconned and it winds up following the game/manga/my fanfiction/whatever 42. They bake a cherry pie with the fucking lava and feet it to Heldalf getting rid of his malevolence 43.They go fishing in fucking lava and they pull out a bunch or random shit and they pull out a trout and a lobster and have them for dinner. 44. Dezel comes back from the dead 45. Lailah starts acting like her game self along with Edna, Rose, and Alisha 46. Mikleo promoted back to dueteragonist 47. Zavied starts stripping with what little he has left and performs a pole dance while his clothes burn in lava which miraculously makes Heldalf snap out of it and while watching Zavied he starts to make it rain or rather hail as gald is more coin based than bill based. 48. They drag Heldalf to the “Lavly this place is always on fucking fire” strip club just a little bit further down the volcano and they pay for a lap dance from a succubus. 49. They drag him out and throw his ass into the Titania prison pit. 50. They summon captain planet.

Sorey’s 5☆ and 6☆ images from the Awakening Festival gacha (January 16, 2017 to January 31, 2017)

Sorey’s 5☆ and 6☆ images from the Awakening Festival gacha (September 16, 2016 to September 30, 2016)

Rose’s 5☆ and 6☆ images from the Platinum gacha (July 25, 2022 to August 8, 2022)