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I haven't been active here in about 3 months but I return for the sake of bringing you this.

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Will you give her a high-five?

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only two

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This is my first playthough, too. There are party combinations I've literally never used lol. Who knows what they get up to?

Tales of Vesperia NG+ is missing out on 90% of the victory quotes cause you won’t stop using your fave characters.

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I think you might be on to something with Krityans not having surnames and Hermes picking one up for practical purposes. It fits with a long history of minority groups who don't have the same surname practices of the majority culture being forced to adopt them for legal reasons.

Krityans might use a patronymic naming system instead, so Judith would give her name to other Krityans as something like Judith Hermesdottir, Judith Nic Hermes, or Judith bat Hermes.

I've previously seen the theory that 'Mordio' was not Rita's surname by birth, but one she adopted after moving into the cottage and finding that name there. It would be funny if both of these are true, in which case, is there some other person with the name Hermes took it from?

(What if... in the Krityan language 'Mordio' is a joke. A dirty word. Hermes made it up because he was annoyed at having to use one. When Judith later hears Rita's name she has to fight to remain straight-faced).

Anyway, I agree with the bit about book dedications not working that way though. I know I've talked about this before, but the idea that "it's dedicated to 'his daughter', therefore he intends for that daughter to be the one to continue his research!" is very funny next to scientists who dedicate their papers on advanced physics to their cats.

Was "Mordio" really Hermes' last name?

There's a sidequest in Act 2 where Judith wants to go to Aspio to find something, which turns out to be a book called "Discourses on Aer." Immediately, Rita recognizes the title and the author, much to Judith's surprise, and she mentions that the book is written entirely in code and I quote: "[It] used to be in my house. I think it may've belonged to the person who lived there before me."

If you continue to follow this side event, you eventually learn that "Discourses on Aer"'s author, Ifsanft Napsejap, is jumbled code (Caesar shift, to be exact) for Hermes Mordio. (Or Helmes Mzordioslsd-whatever).

This was interpreted two ways by fandom:

It meant that Hermes Mordio was Rita's father either by blood or adoption, meaning that Rita and Judith were sisters.

It meant that Hermes used to live in the house that Rita now resides in, but doesn't explicitly mean that Hermes raised Rita as his daughter. Meaning that Rita and Judith were not sisters.

But with all the speculating, I don't think this was ever brought up:

Do Krityans even have family names?

We know Judith doesn't. If she did, it'd probably be "Judith Mordio." We know the Elder (named Cepat, according to the Judith light novels) doesn't. We know Tort doesn't.

If we go a step further, Ryuutsukai no Chinmoku/Silence of the Dragon Rider, dives deeper into the Krityan lore that the game never touched on. These Krityans (obviously) have names, but only their first names. Even when Hermes is addressed by the knights, they never refer to him by a family name. (like Mr. Mordio or smth).

So, what if it's not that Rita took Hermes' last name (ie: Mordio), but that he took hers, or rather her mother's? We have enough support from Ryuutsukai, Rita's light novel (Blue Sky), and the cut Negative Gate skit to know that Hermes was in Aspio on more than one occasion. The implication that Hermes knew Rita's mom is well, kind of obvious.

Strangely enough, we only see "Hermes Mordio" pop up when it's on official "documents" (Hermes' Notes key item/Discourses on Aer). What if Hermes needed a last name for his work to be published?

This gets touched on a little bit more in Rita's light novel. Someone plagiarized Rita's work and signed it with their initials, which happened to be the same as Rita's initials. But she wasn't signing it with "R". That's not specific enough and "R" could be anyone. But "R. M." Is a little more specific. Just like "Hermes Mordio" is more specific than "Hermes".

((And yes, if you are wondering, this explains the skit where Rita writes "Rita Mordio" on all her belongings. She doesn't use initials because of the whole plagiarism incident. She just puts her entire name on her belongings.))

While I do like the idea of Judith having a full name, I'm starting to question (overthink, lol) how Krityan names work. Because there's no Krityan in the entire game or even the light novels that use family names the same way humans do.

Ergo, Hermes slapping "Mordio" at the end of his name for a book is rather peculiar, if you think about it.

"But the book says 'I dedicate this to my daughter', and Judith can't use magic!"

I see this being used as reason 31455687 why Hermes is Rita's father. But book dedications don't really... work the way this is implying. Judith even lampshades this by saying "Oh? And what if that daughter can't use magic? Or maybe..." So, a lot of people took this as 'that must mean Judith thinks it's for Rita', including people in the Japanese side of fandom.

I don't think the book was strictly for Rita so much as it was a solution to fix the aer issue in Act 3. In his final days, Hermes desperately looked for ways to stop the damage his inventions were causing. It's never stated when he wrote Discourses on Aer, but all Rita really does is translate the code into something readable. And frankly, that's a job that anyone can do if they know what tools to use/have the brain for it.

So I do think the book was for Judith as a challenge. Even if she seems reluctant to think that herself. Also, it's... idk, kinda rotten if you put it into perspective. If the book was meant for Rita, then wtf does Judith get? It just makes it look like Hermes is playing favorites.

I see Discourses on Aer's dedication not strictly for Rita, but he probably knew that Judith and Rita would meet, and that if Judith would ever read it, she'd need help from someone else that Hermes held dear, in this case, Rita.

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i would never take an inconsequential game mechanic thing that is never even actually mentioned in the script and turn it into a character's entire personality for no reason

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my hand slipped and drew a normal amount of Luke

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I remembered first strike and thought Flynn prolly did wake Yuri up all those times🙈😆

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Teepo still wants to stick his face in Judy's bazongas though.

The thing about Yuri being paired with Teepo is that, like... as much as "Teepo" has a distinct personality in Tales of Xillia, Teepo is also like, not actually his own person? The Teepo we know is a manifestation of Elize's inner thoughts. So if Yuri was paired with a teepo, the actual personality would be based on Yuri's inner thoughts and feelings.

Yuri doesn't keep his mouth shut when he's bitter/making fun of someone/annoyed. What he does keep locked up are his vulnerabilities and affection. So imagine instead of acting like a hormonal pre-teen, while Yuri shrugs and says Estelle can go back to the castle if she wants, it's her decision, Teepo hovers by his shoulder and wails, "But we'll miss you so muuuuch!!!"

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The thing about Yuri being paired with Teepo is that, like... as much as "Teepo" has a distinct personality in Tales of Xillia, Teepo is also like, not actually his own person? The Teepo we know is a manifestation of Elize's inner thoughts. So if Yuri was paired with a teepo, the actual personality would be based on Yuri's inner thoughts and feelings.

Yuri doesn't keep his mouth shut when he's bitter/making fun of someone/annoyed. What he does keep locked up are his vulnerabilities and affection. So imagine instead of acting like a hormonal pre-teen, while Yuri shrugs and says Estelle can go back to the castle if she wants, it's her decision, Teepo hovers by his shoulder and wails, "But we'll miss you so muuuuch!!!"

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For the doodle/drawing requests; maybe Zelos? I remember you drawing him ALL the time in school, and my roommate just played through the whole first game with me watching- and I now understand WHY you drew him all the time lol

okay well you activated my “Loving Zelos So Much mode” and I had to do a little painting about it so. c: The beautiful specialest most wonderful boy!

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Mascot tribute illustration for the 30th anniversary art collection

Source: https://x.com/talesof_evinfo/status/1888120582379880593

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i heard it was Natalia's birthday the other day