Here is a sneak peak at the piece I wrote for the Infinite Horizons fanzine! I had a lot of fun writing it and was so honoured to be able to work alongside a ton of really talented people. You can read the full thing alongside many other incredible pieces in the zine!
Pre-orders are open until August 5th! https://infinitehorizonszine.bigcartel.com/
Also you didn't hear this from me but Symphonia fans might find also a little bonus from me in the Behind-the-scenes pdf. <3
Infinite Horizons is a Tales of fanzine put together with love by 50 passionate creators as a love letter to Tales and its many beloved characters 💌 Follow us as we explore the bonds and friendships created!
📆 Jul 5th – Aug 5th
🏕️ https://infinitehorizonszine.bigcartel.com 🏕️
— “I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee, who opens the gates of merch hell…”
For those who want to go all out! This ultimate bundle contains our book and ALL merch items available 😉
✦ This bundle is eligible for all stretch goals!
— “Majinken!”
Our half bundle is perfect for adventurers with fond memories of learning their very first artes! Who knows, perhaps you’ll be a genius like Zelos and learn a Double😉
✦ This bundle is eligible for Stretch Goal 1 & 2 only!
— “Holy power, come to me… First Aid!”
A basic healing arte for those starting out fresh on a new adventure! You know what they say, never leave town without an Apple Gel or a trusty healer by your side 🌿
✦ This bundle is eligible for Stretch Goal 1 only!
Exactly what it says on the title! For adventurers travelling light, this is our digital-only PDF copy of the zine!
… We believe no further explanation is required — gotta run before Barbatos gets us!
✦ This bundle is NOT eligible for stretch goals!
For those with speedy shopping carts (faster than Rutee searching for gald), the first 25 physical orders will include this FREE die-cut sticker by our merch artist, @ochako999!
… Surely you can’t miss out on Yuri and best boy Repede?!
Hold on…there’s more?!
— We’re giving away 1 Indignation bundle to celebrate POs on Twitter! To enter, simply:
✦ Follow + RT our opening post on Twitter (here’s a link!) ✦ Comment your favourite moment in any Tales game! ✦ No private or giveaway accounts!
Hello everyone!
I hope you’ve all been doing amazing and that you’ve been safe and healthy in these crazy times of ours!
Some of you may have already heard of the Infinite Horizons zine that is being worked on! Its a tribute to the many amazing bonds throughout the Tales series and I had the absolute honour of contributing a piece of writing to this project! There is a ton of stellar talent assembled here and you should absolutely check it out!
You can also look forward to a small teaser of my piece later this month! But I bet you can all already guess who it features! <3
“You can’t solve everything in life with friendship.”
“Is that a challenge?”
グレイセス １０周年イベント円盤買ったら心ほわほわになった
“For those kind of thoughts, you should try writing down your accomplishments as one all-encompassing list. My brother would tell me to do that whenever I felt I hadn’t accomplished much during training to put the little things into perspective.” It also helped Ludger not make mountains out of molehills when cleaning house.
“But even if the list’s shorter than you want, the year’s not over yet! You could still accomplish your yearly goals with what you’ve got left!”
“Perhaps.” Richard mulled over the idea. He could make such a list, but already he felt his thoughts debating what should or should not be included, which tasks should fall under mere routine and which stood out enough to be accomplishments. He skirted the edges of the darker months he had spent lost to madness but pushed those memories back down lest he dwell on them overlong.
“Yet what I have done myself is ultimately meaningless if it has not had the intended benefit upon Windor and her people. I imagine the only ones who could truly answer that question would be them, and not I.”
“I fear I’ve not many goals for myself.” Richard chuckled. “My duty is to my people, after all.” He had indulged far too much in his own selfishness, and had promised he would never do so again.
“Richard!” She was so happy to see him after so long. She ran right over to him and went right in for a hug. No shame. No embarrassment. Until she realized how that may seem. People could be watching. She quickly straightened up and adjusted her skirt. “H-hi. It’s just, been awhile.” /cheria
He caught a glimpse of her familiar pink dress a moment before the sound of her voice filled the air. There was always a chance that he would run into his friends during the course of his duties, but Richard did not often dare to hope. Seeing her approach immediately lit a smile upon his face.
“Cheria! I didn’t realize you were here as well. Are you with the relief network or-”
His words are cut off the moment her arms latch around him and for a moment he was stunned silent in surprise. So rare it was that anyone was willing to get this close. So many saw him as a king, and among those who recognized a person behind it, fewer still did not still see his crown first. That Cheria saw him first as a friend...
It meant more than he could say.
“It has been far too long.” Richard nodded in agreement, his features still aglow. “My own doing, like as not. The throne has kept me quite busy of late, you’ll have to forgive me. I hope you’ve been well.”
“Very much so.” Ah, she didn’t mean to be seem so down. Maybe she should lighten the mood. “Like right now! I’m enjoying this moment with you.”
“Yes, I am as well. I always enjoy a visit from a friend.” Richard returned her smile. “Oh, but forgive me, I was so caught up in my own thoughts I didn’t think to ask what brought you here today.”
“It does, but it makes it sweeter when we see old friend once more.”
“You’re quite right. Perhaps it is because it is so fleeting that those moments shared between friends are so valuable.”
“True, but there would be no sense of moving forward if time always stayed slow. Plus imagine trying to sleep if you had to experience every minute at a snail’s pace.” Ludger threw in a joke to lighten the mood.
“Are you feeling a little unsatisfied with something, Richard?”
“Yes, that is very true,” Richard agreed, the faint pull at his lips curving upwards. “Though were that the case, one’s moment of repose certainly would feel more like a chance to regather oneself rather than a fleeting moment between tasks.”
“No, not particularly.” A moment of hesitation. “To the contrary it feels as though it was not so long ago spring was only beginning, yet it is almost the end of the year already. I cannot help but wonder if I’ve accomplished as much as I ought to have in that time.”
“Time certainly has made a habit of slipping away on us, hasn’t it?”
“Who’s the real you? The person who did something awful, or the one who’s horrified by the awful thing you did? Is one part of you allowed to forgive the other?”
— Rebecca Stead, Goodbye Stranger
does richard ever miss colette? did they end on bad terms or good ones? and would he ever open his heart up to someone else like that again?
[This is actually a bit of a tricky question to answer simply because of how I generally handle my threads. I normally treat each muse that Richard interacts with in its own sort of separate universe or timeline. I will combine and reference them with each other if its ok with the other mun but in general I treat most of his bonds all as separate AUs of each other. This way his interactions with a character will not be coloured or biased by interactions he’s had with another version of that character or another character from the same game/canon (again unless its pre-discussed with the muns involved.)
So when it comes to unfinished threads or muses that disappear, I generally consider that universe/timeline as paused at the last interaction they had. This allows me to pick it up should they return in the future and honestly to me takes a lot of pressure off both sides since life and time/energy to write do not always sync up with how often a muse would be in contact with those dear to them. Unless I have written out an ending or parting between him and the other character I don’t generally frame things as them having been parted for long periods of time or any bond between them ended regardless of mun circumstances.
In that sense I wouldn’t consider Richard as heartbroken or having been in a relationship that ended. This, in turn, would not colour any future interactions he has since those would exist in a timeline separate from the one he shared with holysong’s Colette. Richard is slow to truly trust and slow to open up to others. Whether he would open up and get close to someone like he did with Colette would be something that would take a lot of time and writing, but wouldn’t be affected by his past threads.]
Tagged by: @convxction (thank you!) Tagging whoever wants to do this you are it gogo!
“ i’m fine, i’ve had worse. ” (Asbel)
Richard imagined that was meant as a comfort. It shouldn’t come as a surprise; Asbel always put the wellbeing of everyone around him before his own. Yet the knowledge that Asbel was hurt- hurt badly- and that it wasn’t the worst his best friend had ever suffered was enough to make his stomach turn in knots. Years of practice kept his expression even despite the manner the sight speared his chest.
“Even if that is the case-” Richard closed the distance between them, pulling the scarf from about his neck. There was a sharpness to his movements; anger, frustration... it welled up in his chest until it was all he could manage not to burst. It was his fault Asbel was hurt. Had he been quicker, stronger; Asbel might not have needed to cover for him. How many more times would he put Asbel in danger? How much more often would he ask someone so cherished to suffer on his behalf?
After all he had done to him by his own hand...
Richard hated it, he cursed his own weakness in the same breath that he wished Asbel need not suffer so.
“Just because it isn’t the worst, doesn’t mean it’s not significant, or in need of attention. It doesn’t make it any less painful.” The blood had already made a mess of Asbel’s pristine white coat. Richard carefully wrapped the grey fabric around the offending gash. Hardly the best of bandaging jobs, but it would need to suffice. His fingers linger as he ties it off, the words trapped somewhere between his heart and his lips.
“I’m sorry Asbel. You keep getting hurt because of me.”
She wasn’t really going anywhere in particular; she had no place to go in this yet new world. The Trial was over for her; this was nothing but an empty path for her to take, a non-existent mission. No doubt Milla looked as exhausted as she felt, and this was a winding, inclined road spotted with monsters, but that was no reason for someone she didn’t know to go out of his way to try to assist her, to tell her this wasn’t something she had to do alone–because what was she doing, really?
When had she never felt alone? (Perhaps those final, brief moments at the end, where she learned–or rather realized–just how at home she’d felt in that world, with those two.)
Milla’s insides writhed when he referred to her as Miss Maxwell. “Don’t call me that,” she immediately snapped. In a softer tone a second later, she added, “…Call me Milla.” It was just like back in her own village, where the villagers would hem and haw over their “Lord Maxwell” but never care about her, the woman she was outside of that. They would do anything for their Lord Maxwell–except talk to her, learn who she was as a person, befriend her. She’d been a mere idol, a remote statue, removed from the rest of them.
She stared at the offered hand for a moment, reluctant to take it. This was a human custom she’d never seen the point of, and she’d never been comfortable touching people in general, but… maybe she should start acting human–really, truly human–since she’d been used to bring the real Maxwell back. She’d long lost any right she’d had to the name Maxwell… and her immediate disavowal of the title showed how much she disliked it now.
She took the hand gingerly and gave it a shake, but pulled it back as soon as she could, crossing both her hands over her chest. “What even is a better circumstance?” she muttered in bitter irony.
“…I’d be fine if I had a sword.” She’d lost hers before falling into the abyss. She eyed his–Richard’s–sword briefly. It seemed of a similar style to her own, if of a heavier make. “–But if you want, I don’t care. Tch.” He was right about the monsters. It was as if her artes had no affect. Maybe he had a way to fend them off… though she would hardly admit such weakness, even now.
“Forgive me,” Richard briefly lowered his head. It seemed clear that he had somehow given offence, though he hadn’t meant to do so. He was all too familiar with the often complicated feelings that might arise from one’s family name, not that he had any intention of prying as to the reason for her near immediate rejection. “Milla.” He nodded and committed her name to memory.
Both her garb and her hair seemed to stand out compared to what he saw of most in this area. Farmers for the most part, and a local guard; she didn't seem to be of either, but so too were these roads open to all manner of traveler.
Her discomfort telegraphed as clearly in her posture as it had in her handshake, and Richard wondered if it stemmed from the stream of monster attacks she must have endured.
“I don’t consider myself particularly fussy, but I generally prefer situations that don’t involve having to fend for one’s life.” He offered a gentle smile, a hint of nostalgia in his expression as if that not the very way he’d met his dearest friends. “If I were to truly have my choice, I’m rather fond of over tea.”
“A sword...” Richard noticed she was without a weapon. “I do have a spare, though it’s not in the best of shape. If we can make it to the next village the local knights should be able to spare one for us. It isn’t too much further.” Richard holds out a worn rapier, despite the obvious wear on it, it was clear the sword expertly crafted and more than a mere soldier issued blade. “Would this suit you for the time being?”
“I see..” just like what happened to her friend’s father and his friends he has some rabbit bite injuries just from one bunny no one knows what happened to the creature after that.
“I agree I would too like to investigate even further on this a innocent creature shouldn’t be blamed for this.” she hear the little beaver make a sound of approval. “How cute..i’m sure you didn’t do this little one.”
“You’re right, this injustice cannot be permitted to stand. We should see about getting to the bottom of this. Both for the beavers’ sake as well as those whose food is being taken.” Richard nodded, regarding the all too appropriately timed sound that the beaver seemed to make. It almost seemed as though it understood what they were discussing. That couldn’t be possible... could it?
“I wonder...” Richard hummed thoughtfully a moment. “Do you perchance know the culprit, little one?”
