#dohalim... i want to see more of him. i want to TALK about him. and i want DESPERATELY for people to know who im talking about.

[orcelito]

Maybe. I could try to draw Dohalim

......later

[asoulofatlantis]

I feel so sorry for that guy...

No. She was totally out of line. I do not know why her character is so inconsistent. She switches from Friend to Hater within minutes and why her get where she is coming from, half of the time it doesn't make any sense for her to leash out at her friends and comrades like this. Not after everything they have been through together.

I think I've totally overlooked the Wedge Part in the Spoilers ^^' I can not remember reading anything about it. I though our next destination was Lenegis or whatever its called.

Its nice that someone finally came to Shionne and talk to her regardless or her demanor. I guess in a sense the girl took a different route than Alphen, which likely made it easier for Shionne to deal with them... without getting cold and mean, that is.

I get why she was trying to do this alone... but it was really egoistic on her part. Alphen wants to save Dahna and this is his only way to do that. Leaving alone, even if she would try to save Dahna first before using the big master core thingy, if anything happens to her, she would have doomed Aphen, her friends and Dahna. And all that for what? Her own piece of mind?

So at least we know now why she survived the arrow and the sword.

Makes sense. Before... her life wasn't worth living. Allways all alone and scared of hurting anyone. But she isn't alone anymore. And she even found someone willing to touch her, even if it hurts. Of course it suddenly felt like her life was finally worth living. Just that those Thorns are not just threatening to kill her and her alone.

It was really about time. She was sitting there crying, being desperate and he just stood there and the whole time I thought: "Why don't you embrace her? She needs it!"

And all on her own for that matter - which is entirely her fault, as she was given ample opportunity to tell him or the others of it. I get why she didn't in the beginning. But at this point, she had no reason to keep that to herself.

I wonder if now, just a teeny, tiny bit, she regrets being so mean and cold and cruel to him the whole time.

That was exhausting. But I am glad we FINALLY got that out. It ruined so much of what could make the main-characters relationship more appealing.

Who is cutting onions here, right next to me? XD

Yeah... that ungrateful Bi- I mean... brat. Yes, totally what I wanted to say XD

Took you long enough to figure that out...

As Game-Sins I would like to ask... if there is usually no ship coming from Dahna outside of certain times, why didn't they... I don't know, try to shoot them down? Or something? Dohalim said even they as Lords weren't free to come and go as they pleas, so... why is no one on Lenegis wondering about this?

But... with all I know... aren't all people on Rena or however the planet is called be dead? So... is it the will of the planet that they actually are following? Or is someone pulling the reins pretending... like they did with the humans in Nier: Automata?

So she actually didn't see it? And instead of telling her, he nut just allowed her to hate him forever like he was a true heartless murderer... but he even just offered her to kill him, as soon as he is done with what he needs to do. What an idiot. I mean, friendship and guilt and all that, I get that... but offering someone to kill you even if you weren't truly at fault? Thats stupid.

After running around and talking a lot for what seems like AGES I think that is enough for now. I would have loved to finish this game today, but I won't make it. So... we see each other next weekend once more it seems.

[talesofourworlds]

More BtD thoughts under the cut. Spoilers within, of course.

Nazamil continues to be adorable, and I love how Alphen and everyone make her feel so welcome. Rinwell especially?? I'm so proud of her growth and I never will stop thinking about it.

I also really like the return to Viscint. It's always felt like the most homey region to me and seeing it still flourishing and being a safe haven for Renans and Dahnans alike fills me with joy. Having there be issues in a different form is also nice, just with it being a food related issue since Viscint is being relied on for food in the other regions.

Y'ALL CAN WE TALK ABOUT DOHALIM BEING THE ONE TO CALL KISARA OUT FOR TRYING TO TAKE ON LAGILL'S REQUEST BY HERSELF? WE. 👏 LOVE. 👏 TO. 👏 SEE. 👏 IT. 👏 Everyone loves Kisara and doesn't want her to do the dumb thing of taking on too much by herself.

Law also was very cool! I love how he was the one able to notice that Nazamil was following the group before she revealed herself. Also his zeugle tracking skills? Very cool! I was about to start questioning Kisara not remembering Kelsalik's zeugle that everyone fought being similar to the one causing problems when she actually mentioned it not even a few minutes after I thought it. I also really appreciate Law asking her if she was okay after the fact. WE LOVE THE ARISE CREW SUPPORTING AND CARING FOR EACH OTHER.

Can we talk about Bogdel and Law, too?? It really seems like he cares about Law and appreciates Law helping around Pharia Ranch. It just was sweet that Law also appreciates how Bogdel always is kind to him, and I'm glad Nazamil saved him. Not because I particularly liked him as a character, but because it just gave Law further bonds and I love to see it.

But wow I wasn't expecting Nazamil's power to cause hollowing after she saved Bogdel. Or for her to just use her power to hollow all those zeugles in Niez. That escalated quickly.

And man, Alphen getting his berserk button hit when those people in Niez tried to shoot Nazamil was intense. Alphen's usually so calm and everything so seeing him go absolutely berserk was definitely a turn I wasn't expecting.

So yeah, things escalated quickly and I love these further developments. I can't wait to see how things progress from here.

[shuttershocky]

I was perfectly happy to play Tales of Arise with my brain turned off and just enjoy the combat and the fun party interactions, but the Earth realm arc actually wanted to be a bit more ideologically complex than the first two areas so I paid a bit more attention and what I saw was... Interesting.

So the gist of Tales of Arise is that there are two worlds, Rena and Danah, where the Renans are far more technologically advanced than the medieval Danahns. 300 years before the game is set, the Renans invaded Danah and enslaved the Danahns, subjecting them to three centuries of oppression where they're ruled over by 5 Renan lords that literally use the lives of their conquered Danahns to magically empower themselves, where the strongest gets to become the head of all Renans. The game takes place during a slave uprising, where a heroic but amnesiac guy called Alphen finds an outlaw Renan girl called Shionne with a personal vendetta against the 5 CEOs of racism, and they decide that since their goals are aligned, they might as well team up.

Apart from some minor cutscenes talking about the temptation to partake in revenge instead of justice or how the Renans purposely destroyed or hoarded artifacts of the Indigenous Danahn culture because it's easier to enslave a people without an identity (and the main guy is an amnesiac! ~symbolism!~), Tales of Arise's first half doesn't particularly attempt to say anything more complex than "racism bad", throwing outlandish settings and cartoonish villains at you for the first two areas. In both levels, you learn that the slaves' lives are shit beyond belief, make contact with the local outgunned resistance group, then even the odds with the power of your bitchin' Fire Sword while all the freed Danahns marvel at you for being the great liberator heroes and Danahns with actually distinctive character designs join your party.

But then you reach the third area, and Arise tries to do something other than "kill the local racist lord and you solve racism"

When they arrive at the Earth realm, Elde Menancia, the party sees a relatively prosperous city compared to the utter wastelands they came from. They are then told that Elde Menancia used to be a shithole until the current Renan lord came to power, who was something of a progressive. Called Dohalim, he outlawed slavery and abuse of the Danahns, paying Danahns for their labor and allowing them seats in government positions as well as his military so they'd be truly mingling with the Renans. Legally, the Danahns are still his slaves under the laws of wider Renan society, but the Danahns are actually happy with Dohalim and are quite against the idea of overthrowing him. The Danahns of Menancia have even put up an immigration office for Danahns fleeing other realms to move into their city, because it's so friendly.

The party soon argues among themselves about their next course of action. As a Renan herself, Shionne doesn't care about the city's state and wants to kill him anyway for her quest. Rinwell, formerly a slave in a society full of distrust, believes it's all an elaborate ruse to get them to leave quietly. Alphen firmly believes that years of subjugation had simply made the Menancian Danahns accept Dohalim's reign as the best they can get when they could be truly free, and yet he does not want to attack a lord that at least tried to fix society. Law, as the group's meathead, simply goes with the flow.

The setting is actually a fairly good take on what it looks like when a modestly progressive leader attempts to change a society's status quo for the better without actually uprooting the racist and imperialist foundations it is built on. Even among the random NPCs in the map, you get a whole slew of different thoughts among the populace. The Danahns are nearly all pleased with Dohalim and grateful for their "freedom" compared to their neighboring realms, but the Renans vary in what they think of Dohalim's rule. Some are resentful of the Danahns gaining more rights, some /appear/ to be taking a more progressive stance towards integrating with the Danahns but still see themselves as superior (such as one guy who says to treat the Danahns well as they are a "valuable resource"), and very few others that seem to genuinely embrace the new world order, such as one Renan soldier that muses on how they were taught Renan supremacy all their lives, but living and working with Danahns has them beginning to see how wrong that was.

I'm just kind of sad that how the Earth realm's plot actually plays out skirts around directly confronting Dohalim and these ideas (maybe by contrasting reform vs revolution by comparing it with the revolts of the other realms) in favor of a more video-gamey conflict that will involve lots of fighting. There's a secret plot by an obviously bad and racist Renan to overthrow Dohalim's rule, as well as a more personal conflict about how Dohalim's real motivation for establishing Danahn rights was simply because hearing the sounds of abuse was triggering to him, and thus the ideals behind his "equality" were actually the lies of someone who was after their own personal goals and was happy to have his moves be mistaken for altruism.

I can't help but feel the missed opportunity, especially when there are clues that Arise's writers were actually equipped to tackle that kind of storyline. One character even goes so far as to spell out the big problem behind Dohalim's equality: he's just a lord, a politician, and those can be replaced. Another lord would likely just be the same as all the others, and the fight for Danahn rights would go all the way back to square one. Even if a leader were to be a progressive, one person cannot hope to truly change a racist society without uprooting the foundations it is built on.

They even end the Earth realm arc as if they wrote a storyline that really did tackle those issues head on. After a Renan revolt to overthrow Dohalim sees some Renans still protecting their fellow Danahns, Dohalim leaves the throne behind because he believes one of the necessary steps in reaching a truly equal society would be to not have Renan lord at all. He also joins Alphen and Shionne on their quest to kill the other CEOs of racism because he realizes the only way for the Danahns of Menancia to truly be safe is to tear down the institution that subjugated them in the first place, and he feels guilty about his altruism being a lie and wishes to do it for real. But that's just a larger scale version of "uprooting the racist foundation your society is built on" anyway, I think they really could have gone for that kind of arc rather than what we ended up with.

But on the other hand, Arise does give you a hot lady knight and a fishing minigame for the trouble, so overall the Earth realm's still pretty good.

[eienias20]

TALES OF ARISE

As I stated before, I beat the game a few days back and just got the Platinum for it, so pretty much a 100%. First time ever doing that for a Tales game. Zestiria trophies are absurd and the game is mediocre at best, I have to play through Berseria one more time to complete it which is pretty doable considering how much I love that game.

BUT THIS IS ABOUT ARISE

Arise was a ton of fun, kept me guessing all across its story. Nearly all the theories I threw out there were wrong. I was right about one thing and right but also wrong about another, everything else was incorrect.

I really enjoyed the cast, the world, the gameplay. The battle system was very different from Berseria and Zestiria. Honestly more similar to older styles in that you had a standard attack in addition to artes while having what is essentially TP back but in a single pool for everyone and only healing draws from it. Which as far as I’m aware only half the party can heal. Shionne, Kisara and Dohalim

Gonna keep the more spoilery bits under the cut so keep reading at your own risk!

So about my theories, upon reaching Mahag Saar with the missing female Lord, I was under the assumption that it was Shionne. That she ran away from the place for some reason. Seeing how it was all bombed to heck you could see why. Not to mention she got pretty defensive about “Lords don’t run”

I thought the Zeugle research being done there was somehow tied to her wanting to get rid of her thorns. Of course it became obviously not once Almeidra was introduced.

I had theories that Alphen was a former Lord or even a previous Sovereign. At one point i thought he was the previous Water Lord given that Vholran’s rise to the position was commented on being strange. Wrong about the Water Lord. Right about the Sovereign tho at the time I believed the Sovereign was the Renan Leader as opposed to some puppet for a ritual.

The Red Woman bothered me so much, every time we fought a Lord she was there and yet no one commented on her. I thought she was like, a secretary for the Lords. It was odd there was no scene about her after Balseph and the point where it was clearly planned was when she appeared next to Vholran, then of course she came in to steal the Renas Alma.

My guess leading up to that was that the Red Woman was the main villain. Not so.

The whole “who is the main villain?” thing for this game reminded me of how Vesperia handled its final conflict. Duke didn’t really feel like a final villain to me. Heck you don’t even kill him. This time around the “final villain” was an entity, doing everything to continue living. A very strange final foe to be sure. Was nice to get one final duel with Vholran tho. That felt good.

As I reached the end of this game there was one thing I really really wanted. I wanted Alphen and Shionne to admit their feelings for each other and maybe even kiss. I doubted that’d happen but I wanted it.

When it happened, I cheered. We’ve gone what? 20 years of Tales games and yet no on screen kisses till now? SHAMEFUL! The main relationships in Tales titles I always thoroughly enjoy. Especially Luke and Tear. At the very least, there was no better time to get the damn kiss than with Alphen and Shionne. That felt good.

Lotta end game talk but yeah. I honestly thought after defeating Vholran and the Red Woman escaping, the game was ending. I thought credits were gonna roll and they were going to release a 2nd part thru like free dlc or something. But nope, whole nother section of the game was left with a second intro. They pulled a Radiation Gate on me that’s for sure XD

I played as Alphen the most followed by Kisara and Law, then Shionne then Rinwell and Dohalim. I enjoyed all their playstyles but I’m always about going in swords blazing rather than casting and/or healing.

Only things I can say i was negative about: i wish the Lenegis section was bigger, longer. Wish there was more to do there in terms of gameplay, a longer dungeon and such. And that the heavy narrative sections around there were more spread out. No joke, Lenegis and the space station with Hevrekt 35 had so. much. talking. obviously it was to explain the truth behind everything going on, i get that and it helped me a lot learning that everything was a lie or half truth. but one play session i had was like, a few fights, a boss then the entire space station talking before i stopped. it was a bit much. i’d say lose all the skits up there and just limit it to the cutscenes.

At the very least, at the end of all that talking they had the “night before the final battle” with the team breaking up into pairs and having heart to hearts. That was really nice. Made it all worth it.

Also the challenge was very well paced. Because EXP scales you are never overleveled. Enemy encounters feel great and bosses always felt tough. Especially the Lords, i really enjoyed that.

Spent a lot of time talking about plot twists and such but the gameplay was stellar. had a blast. Learned how to swap characters mid fight and was like YES! THEY KEPT THAT FROM BERSERIA!

Anyway, this has gone long enough. Anything more specific you wanna ask me about my time with the game, i’m open to hearing it :D

TALES RANKING

Abyss <3

Berseria <3

Symphonia <3

Arise <3

Vesperia <3

Zestiria -_-

Symphonia 2 >:(

[hinasaki]

okay i finished arise so here are some thoughts:

(non-spoiler thoughts first, spoilers below the cut)

combat is very fun. everybody is fun to play as. i am bad at game but i still had a ton of fun trying everyone out in the arena

boost artes and strikes are good and useful. mystic artes are real easy to trigger, even advanced ones. i’ve triggered some of the advanced ones by accident, that’s how easy they are

i was dubious about the skit style change at first but i got used to it, and it’s fine.

camping is good and i loved the little scenes you could get between party members

the world is gorgeous. the painting style they went with really just looks amazing.

okay, spoiler time

some specific thoughts on characters first:

alphen: he’s fine. i’ve been spoiled by velvet in all honesty because i love a protag who isn’t all Good and alphen is definitely Good. they did a good job keeping the mystery of his past going and he has a lot of very nice interactions with other party members. he’s fine.

shionne: my wife is a bitch and i like her so much. shionne has a good arc and the way her relationships with each of the party members grows feels really natural. saw the reveal about her thorns coming a mile away but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. i care her and want her to be happy. I especially like her very cute friendship with rinwell

rinwell: baby. rinwell also has a really good arc! the way her opinion on renans changes over the course of the story feels very natural - she doesn’t immediately stop hating renans after meeting shionne and dohalim and even after she grows to love them she still occasionally slips up. she’s good. i like her

law: baby #2. most of law’s story is front-loaded which had him feeling a bit detached as far as the story went in the later chapters but i still very much enjoyed having him around. he’s a sweet idiot. he’s absolutely a teenager.

dohalim: i love him. consistently good interactions with other party members, he has very good scenes with alphen, shionne, and rinwell. i was VERY pleased that he got a lot of focus during the lenegis part of the game. i loved his arc of learning to cope with his guilt and growing from a Ruler into a Leader.

kisara: i wanted to like kisara. i really did. i tried. i kept hoping for a magilou moment (aka a single moment late in the game where everything crystallised and i fell in love with them) but it never came. and i’m sad about that because there are some genuinely cool things about her! there are good bones! she has some really nice interactions with alphen! unfortunately a lot of her scenes end up being either her talking about her brother or her trying to mother everyone and i am just.... not here for that

overall i liked the party. they’re not my fave but i did like almost everyone quite a bit. i felt like their evolution from working together out of necessity to found family way very well done. it was natural. i keep saying “natural” because the arcs really did feel that way. they flowed nicely and almost never felt forced or hurried. it was nice!

now, because this game has basically attempted to pair up all of the party members.... the ship opinions....

alphen/shionne: holy shit tales did a het ship that didn’t feel forced! their relationship flows very nicely and they grow closer slowly over the course of the game. i don’t feel like it’s a luke/tear tier canon ship but it’s good. Them getting married in the end credits was very cute

law/rinwell: very very cute. not entirely sold on rinwell’s feelings but that’s fine, it reads pretty much entirely like law has a crush and has decided that saving the world isn’t really the time to bring that up. it’s cute.

dohalim/kisara: bad. bad. bad. i’m glad it’s just tease because i can pretend it’s not happening. they have some really good platonic moments! they have a nice dynamic as people learning to be equals! it’s extremely uncomfortable to throw romance into that mix! and i feel like it was a *huge* disservice to kisara for the writing to push her into this ship. it just felt bad. not to mention this alongside the haha she’s like his mum jokes just ughghghhghghghghgghhg NO.

as far as the plot goes, it was pretty good. we had a clear goal from the beginning which is always appreciated, only to have the rug pulled out from under us at the end in usual tales fashion. i saw somewhere someone said it had a plot structure sort of like legendia and LMAO TRUE with the one month time skip. the game as a whole reminded me quite a bit of tales of rebirth funnily enough - similar plot structure, themes regarding race dynamics, some nebulous force being the cause of a lot of suffering... it’s a tales plot. it’s not particularly groundbreaking but the characters really carried it and made it compelling. also i just loved the design of the final dungeon. the thorns are Aesthetic.

The main problems I had with the game were the amount of spelling mistakes in the subtitles, or where the subtitles didn't match the dialogue. It's most noticeable with the battle lines but happened in other places too. I didn't have a problem with CP because I kept an eye on it and I was playing easy mode but i can see it being more than a little bit of a pain. Like. Why? And also, just as a side note, did they ever mention how shionne got to dahna? Because I might have just missed it but HOW DID SHE GET HERE? did she come down for the crown contest and just chill for seven years? Did she steal a starship and come down by herself - in which case what happened to her ship that we couldn't use it to get to lenegis? This feels like an important piece of information that we just.... never find out.

speaking of reminding me of other tales: oh boy! there were a lot of times i felt reminded of older titles, which made me real glad i’ve played almost all of them now. i talked about legendia and rebirth vibes above but also MASSIVE graces nostalgia what with going to space. i know twin worlds could be referencing a number of games too but the specific dahna/lenegis/rena structure reminded me a lot of eternia with inferia/orbus barrier/celestia and it was just nice. i can’t remember where? maybe pelegion? but the general aesthetic gave me big xillia vibes. i’m not sure how many of these were deliberately intended to invoke nostalgia but i’m glad for it - it really felt like a love letter to older titles (like zesty was supposed to be) while also clearly moving towards a new future for the series.

I'm not sure how I felt about there not being much of a primary antagonist. I guess it helped push the theme of forgiveness because really how can you blame a sentient planet for everything wrong with the world when it has no concept of human morality. I guess it's just my personal preference since I prefer the conflict to be a clash of ideals or wills (again, I'm spoiled by berseria). The sidequest where you get tiny little bits about the lords felt tacked on too. The lords largely felt cartoonishly evil but I guess that's probably so we don't feel bad killing them lmao. Vholran needed a whole lot more build-up IMO as a foil to alphen because he ended up feeling like he was just... there. There wasn't much to him. I wanted to know more about why he was the way he was but I guess we'll just never know.

overall i wouldn’t say arise is one of my favourite games but it was definitely an enjoyable experience! i’d absolutely recommend playing it yourself if you get the chance!

[codex-archives-exe]

Tales of Arise Fanfiction, The Livestream AU, Chapter I: Celebrities of the Newfound Planet?

Writer's Note: It's been a long time, since 2015 since I wrote fanfiction about RWBY, which has been long past. I really, really love Tales of Arise and needed an excuse to practice writing in this format since I have so many fanfiction ideas in mind. So enjoy it if you can! Yes, this will have chapter story beats and all. I basically had this idea ruminating the back of my mind when I was working and I thought it would be: cute, clever, and fun, and kind of out there, while still keeping the normal universe somewhat intact.

[Preface]

(Daeq Fazol, after doing nearly everything on Dahna needed of Alphen, Shionne, Rinwell, Law, Kisara, and Dohalim)

(For contextual purposes, imagine this scenario past the point of doing every single Sub Quest available to the party, and perhaps 100%ing the game, post-planet merge.)

Alphen, Shionne, Rinwell, Law, Kisara, and Dohalim were all around the main lobby directly near the central elevator, second floor of Daeq Fazol aimlessly waiting, some sitting, some standing, in their usual pairings.

[...]

Shionne and Alphen were seated on some of the soft green, cushioned seats that could be seen in the lobby area, somewhat near some of the scientists researching.

Shionne: "Hey Alphen."

Shionne in her illustrious Maiden outfit as always, graciously looked up at Alphen to question him if there was and ever will be anything else to do on Dahna. Very well seeming like, they pretty much accomplished everything they intended to do.

Alphen: "What is it, Shionne?" as he always looked directly into her glowing bright blue eyes, knowing full well that he would do anything for her.

Before even initiating the conversation Shionne looks down at the ground slightly embarrassed, and a little red.

Shionne: "Do you- do you think- there is really anything else left for us to do on Dahna? I feel like we have pretty much done everything that has been asked of us in nearly every region." she was just holding out her hand as she usually does, in the princess-like manner she does with one hand on her hip.

Alphen: "That is a good question...I actually don't even know if I personally know any more people that would need some help as well."

"Maybe we should go ask the others if they know anyone."

Shionne smiles and responds: "Yeah, okay, let's do that."

[...]

Extremely reminiscent of when Alphen and Shionne, as a pairing, practically as a couple, questioned each pairing/couple about the quest of going to Rena to stop the Great Spirit.

First as a pair, they ask Kisara and Dohalim, who had been standing near some walls cornering the hallway to where the scientists had been doing their research.

"Ah, it's just my usual lovebirds." Dohalim quaintly remarks as both Alphen and Shionne approach together as usual.

Shionne gets flustered, and her cheeks glow a soft red, but she actually just smiles at Alphen contently, as Dohalim said this.

"Well, uhh, wait- aren't you two kind of the same thing as well?" Alphen points out almost immediately.

"I- Uh- Well- Uhm..." Kisara gets caught up in her own words.

"Anyway, what were you two wanting to see us for?" Dohalim finally circling his statement back to the original question at hand.

"We were wondering if you guys knew anybody else on Dahna personally that could use our help? Shionne pointed out that it seemed like we pretty much helped everyone we know of, in each region, with their respective towns." Alphen said confidently.

"A fascinating point, according to my observations, I think what Shionne pointed out could very well be true. I don't even know what remains on the rest of Dahna for us anymore at this point. Not implying that we should leave it behind. We have done great work out there. All of us. The entire planet should be thankful for us." in an almost 'lordly' remark as Shionne would probably say, as he makes this statement.

Coincidentally Rinwell and Law sees everyone talking and hurriedly runs up to everyone.

"Oh! Hey you guys! Care to chime us in on what you're all talking about? You better not be keeping anything secret!" Rinwell says with a bright smile enthusiastically.

"Don't count us out!" Law adds energetically.

"We were asking if anybody knew anybody else on Dahna that needed our help. I had previously told Alphen, that I think we pretty much did everything we could, that was needed of us." Shionne says to Law and Rinwell since they arrived late.

"Ohhh yeahhh, right. We have just been sitting out here...in outer space the entire time, haven't we?" Law jokingly says as he usually does.

"This is true, I don't even think I would know anyone either, and Cyslodia was way back then for us." Rinwell says in response to Shionne.

"Hoo." Hootle says in agreement.

[...]

Unbeknownst to the party, a scientist walks out from the central hallway and greets everyone.

"Ah, yes, I have actually been looking for you all." the scientist woman from the beginning of entering Daeq Fazol, says with confidence.

"Well good riddance- you got anymore super powered experimental Zeugles for us to destr-" Law says brimming with confidence.

"Law, no." Rinwell immediately cuts him off.

"Let her speak, Law. You always speak out of hand." Kisara says, with her usual 'motherly' remarks trying to hush him with her finger pointed up.

"I'm sorry..." Law apologizes and retracts his statements as he scratches the back of his head embarrassed.

"Thank you travelers, we found this fascinating technology that we have been tirelessly experimenting on that allows you to 'communicate' outside of your own world and the entire planet of Dahna as well." the scientist woman points out.

"Communicate...outside? Of our world? And the entire planet of Dahna!?!" Law says, completely confused.

"So like, am I going to be talking with the Helganquil or even... Zeugles?!?" Law progressively scares himself with his own overexaggeration.

"Haha - I think this device is something made for good, not evil, I'm sure, Law." Alphen reassures him with a smile. "We should probably just let her finish and see what she has to offer us."

"According to our developmental research - there has been an increasingly rapid growth of an 'audience' that specifically loves seeing all 6 of you." she proceeds to spawn a floating panel with a lot of scrolling information. "Shionne Vymer Imeris Daymore: 7 million fans, Alphen Imeris: 2 million fans, Rinwell and Law: 1 million fa-" she gets interrupted.

Everybody's eyes all individually widen with this news.

"Wait - fans!? You are telling me that we're like super famous outside of our own reality, this is insane, and it's in the millions!?" Law, proceeding to be rapidly shocked by the information.

Alphen looks at Shionne intimately, "A lot of people really like you, almost as much as I do."

"Alphen..." Shionne says sweetly in response and holds his hand softly with both of her own hands, both of them knowing, happily, her thorns are finally gone.

"To put it shortly, there is a rapidly growing fanbase out there, that we feel should see the 'beloved heroes' they love so much. So we fabricated this special area just for you guys to display your "talents"." as the holographic screen fades away and she ends her statement.

"You can just follow me to the elevator and we'll be on our way." [...]

[3 months later...]

In a room, in Viscint, you see various citizens, Renans and Dahnans alike, looking towards various holographic screens dispersed all throughout then blaring:

"D/R TV - Dahnan/Renan TV, always forging a connection." presenting a symbol showing two planets merging as one.

Across many different holographic screens far and wide on the planet, various TV shows are being shown: *static blare to a holographic screen in Calaglia*

-D/R TV Daily News-

"Welcome to the Dahnan/Renan Daily News - I'm your host, Alphen Imeris with my beautiful co-hostess and wife, Shionne Imeris! And we're here to tell you what's been going on with our planet lately!" Alphen says in a luxurious black suit looking straight into the camera. "Thank you Alphen!" she says and smiles with glee, the camera pans slightly more towards Shionne as she is standing further away at her own desk. "Lately, on Dahna...uhh - or Rena? Which is it now? The world wonders? Anyway, with the planet finally merged as one Dahnan and Renan relationships are slowly but surely becoming a reality!" Shionne was dressed in a beautiful, glowing white one piece, that was similarly designed to her Maiden outfit but the middle part was actually longer. Her shoulder was crested with this beautiful crystal henna design, covered in diamonds. She also had on some beautiful eyeliner and shadow that looked to be a light, matching silver tone.

"Thank you Shionne - we'll have more news tonight as the day goes on, thank you so much tuning in!"

*static blare to another screen in Elde Menancia*

"Need a beautiful place to fish, without bother???"

"Well I have a place for you!" Kisara confidently remarks as it camera shows her pulling a massive fish in front of a bunch of citizens and kids in the Elde Menancia region. "The Elde Menancia Lioness Fishing Pond is now publicly open to all citizens and fishermen and women alike who want to enjoy a beautiful massive open body of water to picnic nearby or fish along the open plains! Needed Gald rates to use do apply, see more details below." as the commercial reads its usual details

*static blare to another screen in Lenegis*

*cameras constantly flashing on screen*

*blur finally focuses its lense*

"There goes Miss Shionne Vymer Imeris Daymore, nicknamed "The Rose of Dahna" as she strides down the catwalk in her latest and greatest illustrious deep red sparkling gown and beautiful iconic red tiara! Alongside her husband, Alphen Imeris, dawned in a beautiful pure black suit with a deep blue tie - The Blazing Sword of Calaglia! Both of them are just so gorgeous together aren't they?" the newsreporter remarks.

"I'm sure Alphen got so many fashion tips from his wife!" the partnering female newsreporter says.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Miss Shionne, Miss Shionne! A question for you!" the equivalent of a paparazzi had been following Alphen and Shionne following Shionne's fashion shoot on the catwalk that had been highlighted.

"How have you felt lately since you garnered all this attention, after saving both Rena and Dahna?" the newsreporter who primarily wanted to ask a question first, finally said.

"It's all thanks to Alphen that I would have any of this at all." as she tightly grips his hand, smiles, and they both hurriedly run away from the crowd of newsreporters and cameramen. Then they boarded this jet black ship, that emulated the look of a limousine but resided in Lenegis.

*static blare to another screen in Cyslodia*

"Ah, you see this artifact has to be worth a fortune!" as citizens heard Dohalim make intelligent remarks about an artifact he was pointing at on the screen. A singular fragment of a Calaglian stone astral artes tablet had been put on a pedestal, as both Dohalim and Rinwell were primarily standing near and examining it. An estimated Gald pricing was shown in a window, on the screen. It generally, went up or down depending on either of their statements with red or blue arrows accordingly.

"Oh, this is a stone tablet from Calaglia, isn't it?" partnering Artifact extraordinaire Rinwell said, as they were somewhere in Elde Menancia, talking about and reviewing various Artifacts almost at like a museum road show or a pawn show.

*static blare to another screen somewhere on Daeq Fazol*

"Now, you see, what you need to do, is pull your arm back and fully, keep your shoulder locked in and then release!" as the holographic screen shows Law in something similar to a dojo, punching a dummy, showing a practice regiment. He punches the dummy, with such little momentum but the blowback creates such substantial force that you could see the wind being knocked out of it. "Let us do it together! And 1! 2! 3! Great! Hey! Make sure to catch us next time when I show how you to properly defend yourselves against Zeugles of any kind!" as Law ends and the show seemingly ends.

*static blare to another screen in Pelegion*

"Oh! Hi you guys!" as Shionne says, in a cute red apron, with her hair in a ponytail is accompanied by Kisara and Rinwell in a kitchen.

"Welcome back to Culinary Court! This was a super fun idea, Miss Shionne came up with since she's become so confident with cooking lately!" Rinwell says beaming and smiling.

"We all just wanted to share some heartfelt recipes we have learned over the years journeying, pretty much as a family." Kisara warmingly smiles addressing the camera.

"So what are we making? Let's make gnocchi! This, this is one of my favorites! Haha. It was one of the first dishes I showed everyone. I am just so glad they even liked it." Shionne embarrassingly admits as the party absolutely knows how she can effortlessly shovel down this dish when made and presented.

"I always enjoyed seeing you make this, Shionne. I am really looking forward to seeing you show us and the world how it is done, hope you can stay with us!" Kisara says as she looks back at the camera.

*static blare to another screen in Calaglia, back in Ulzebek*

"Now you see - when you do this spell...it requires you to do this chant and draw this magic circle as shown." as the screen appears to show Rinwell pointing to a chalkboard with a pointer.

"When I do the 'Ultimate Altar' Mystic Arte for a user, this actually uses three different elements of Astral Artes as it imbues another's weapons." as she moves the pointer down to three different crests of water, fire, and earth.

"Wow, those kids, definitely are doing a lot more than I could have ever imagined - I am so grateful for them." Doc said as he watching the screen at the wake of night. [FIN]

Writer's Note: Thank you so much for reading this first chapter of this idea that I had in the back of my mind as I was doing my day job. I really, really love this game and their characters so, so much! I always thought such a fun, clever AU would be so applicable! In the next chapter, it will be exploring how our beloved adventurers got used to broadcasting themselves, came up with the show ideas, etc. If you have any regards, comments, questions, or how you enjoyed it! Please feel free to message me on my Tumblr site! See you next chapter! Thanks for reading! If you do any fan art regarding this AU, feel free to use the #/livestream au!

[alteredphoenix]

Making some last-minute predictions before ToArise drops. I don’t care how wildly inaccurate they are, I want to see how many I get right:

- Law’s the traitor - And if it’s not him, then Dohalim will be the traitor - However, if the game is pulling the famous SUBVERTING EXPECTATIONS meme, then no one will be the traitor - But if the game wants to be cruel, then Hootle will be the traitor (this isn’t likely) - Basically I’m banking on Law - Probably gonna get some Christmas Cake/thicc memes on Kisara because this is somehow looking to be her legacy out of universe and ASS is the only thing that springs into most people’s minds when there’s a Reddit/Twitter post about her - Alphen won’t be secretly Renan like people are hoping - Also the rest of his face that’s covered by the helmet is fucked up and Bishounen Lite like the DLC costumes are making it out out be - Shionne stops being a frigid bitch after maybe 50% of the game but she has to Pay the Price for happiness - There’s a sci-fi experiment reason as to why Rinwell, a Danan, can use Renan magic - Either that or there’s some interracial consummation that went on with her ancestors so she’s a half-blood - When Law says that Shionne’s going to have to choose between her people and the Danan rebellion he’s really talking from EXPERIENCE because the dude sold out his own people to get in with Renan secret police; this will come back to bite him in the ass later because that’s Karma For You - If the game is pushing romance like people are hoping for, then Alphen needs to make a comment about Shionne being a ‘bright-eyes’ but it’s (affectionate) rather than (derogatory) - We’ll be able to ride shotgun on a spaceship we steal or get gifted one - AS IS TRADITION with Tales, everyone’s going to have some kind of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’ flavor of Tragic Backstory. I say it’s a toss-up between Rinwell, Shionne, and Alphen; I want say Kisara, too, because this chick’s too nice, she’s gotta be brimming with ANGST somewhere. - Bad guys die, idk who they are and don’t really care - But I don’t think the Water Sword Guy is related to Alphen - When Alphen gets his memories back it turns out he was legit a Bad Guy; getting his head knocked around makes him forget he was Bad and probably going off the traumatic deep end from whatever he was doing prior to the start of the story - There is no Tales superboss; instead it’s The Owl King - you didn’t get all those other little Hootles for nothin’, you HAVE TO PROVE YOUR WORTH TO HIM - But if there is a superboss, it’s Yuri because Popularity Sells - If it’s not Yuri, it’s probably Sorey and Mikleo/any of the seraph because he can bring a gun (Sigfried) to Alphen’s swordfight

ENDING PREDICTIONS! - We get some mish-mash of Symphonia where Dana and Rena or whatever their current homeworld is gets smashed into one uber-planet. Everybody lives. - We don’t get the uber-planet but Dana and Rena are cut off forever. Everybody lives but they might be sad because idk Alphen’s on one side and Shionne’s on the other so they don’t get to pal around for the rest of their lives, idk - Two-thirds of the cast die. Idk which ones, they just do - We get a Bad End a’la Xillia 2 where Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies - even Hootle - More realistically, AS IS ALSO TRADITION with Tales games, Alphen and Shionne get hit with the They Both Die At The End trope like that Adam Silvera book and I get to watch the salt flow on the forums - Or the game can mollywhop me over the head and surprise me where Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies and there is an actual Happy Ending. - But AS IS TRADITION I’m banking on that quintessential, controversial Bittersweet Ending where sacrifice is metaphorical to death