#torai

[spellweavr]

Thank you Tales of the Rays - My favorite Artes collected over the years Part 1 of 3

[somacruising]

TALES OF THE RAYS: VAN'S 2ND SKIT (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

MASTERPOST

For some reason, I was captivated by everyone's favorite Commandant yesterday. So instead of a story update, I've decided to post a random skit of his that made me feel very soft. btw for people who don't know Rays Lore, this skit is about Van talking to Mercuria, who is the 12-year-old princess of a nation that got obliterated into nothing by a weapon. Her mom died in front of her and all she has left is her older brother. Her goal is that she wants to revive everyone who died using a technology similar to replicas. For completely unknown reasons, Van seems to resonate with this and joins her. Who knows why. It is a mystery.

For Sleepless Nights

Mercuria: *huff, huff* I’m no use to anyone if an arte like this tires me out so much. I have to train more… はぁ……はぁ……。これしきの術で息が切れるようでは役に立てぬ。もっと鍛錬を……。

[ Van enters ]

Van: It’s going to take more than that to improve your accuracy. がむしゃらに続けても精度はあがらぬぞ。

Mercuria: Van…!? Were you watching me? ヴァン……！ 見ていたのか。

Van: No, I was simply passing by. I apologize for disturbing your practice. Please get to bed soon, Princess, it’s very late now. いや、今しがた通りがかっただけだ。邪魔をした。夜も遅い、皇女殿も早く眠りなさい。

Mercuria: Ah, wait a moment. How exactly does someone improve accuracy? あっ、待ってくれ。精度を上げるとは、どうすればよいのじゃ？

Van: Let’s see… You should start with breathing techniques and martial artes. Even a caster such as yourself needs a solid foundation. そうだな……まずは呼吸法と体術を学ぶといい。術者とはいえ、ある程度の基礎は必要だ。

Mercuria: I see. I need to improve my physical strength. I was only focused on improving my mirristry skills. なるほど。体力も必要か。わらわは魔鏡術を磨くことばかりを考えておった。

Van: If you would like advice on that, you should seek out Legretta. It would benefit you to ask her. 教えを乞うの��あればリグレットが適任だろう。頼んでみるといい。

Mercuria: I will. However, the fact that you picked out my shortcomings at just a glance… I think that you would be a wonderful teacher. 承知した。しかし、あれだけでわらわの至らぬ点を見抜くとはのう……。そなたは良き師となること間違いなしじゃ。

Van: Well now… you think so? Putting that aside, why are you training at such an hour? さて……どうだろうな。それよりも、何故このような時間に鍛錬をしている。

Mercuria: I woke up because I had a bad dream… I dreamed that I lost my older brother. 夢見が悪くて目が覚めてしまった。……兄上様を失う夢じゃった。

Mercuria: My brother is with me now, no matter what form he’s in. But so much is changing, I have no idea what might happen to him. My heart hurts when I think about it… どんな形であれ、今、兄上様はそばにいる。しかしこれから先はどうなるかわからぬ。そう考えると胸が苦しくて……。

Van: So you were training to try and dispel your anxiety. あれは不安を打ち消すための鍛錬だったか。

Mercuria: Anxiety… Yes, that’s it. I suppose that I’m anxious right now because I don’t know what will happen to my brother. 不安……、そうじゃな。わらわは不安なのであろう。兄上様の身に何が起こるかわからぬゆえ。

Mercuria: If only we could see the future, my dreams wouldn’t bother me so. 未来が見えればこのような夢に惑わされぬものを。

Van: No, it is precisely because we can’t see what fate has in store that we can have hope. It makes us want to do everything we can. いや、先が見えぬからこそ希望を持つことができる。手を尽くそうとも思えるのだ。

Van: Listen closely, Mercuria. Even if your training doesn’t improve your skill as much as you like, it is still a step forward to gaining the power to help your brother. 聞きなさい、メルクリア。たとえ今夜の鍛錬の成果が微々たるものだとしてもそれはいつか兄を助ける力となるだろう。

Van: Perhaps you had that nightmare in order to encourage you to gain that power. その力を身につけるために悪夢を見たのだ、と思ってはどうだ。

Mercuria: …I think you’re right. I’ll try to start thinking like that. But even so, I don’t know how I’m going to fall back asleep. ……そうじゃな。そのように考えるよう努力する。そうは言うても、簡単には寝つけぬだろうな。

Van: …My sister came to me often when she would have scary dreams and struggled to sleep. She would ask me to sing lullabies for her. ……妹も、よく怖い夢を見て眠れなくなると私のところへ来ていたな。その度に子守歌をせがまれたものだ。

Mercuria: Really, you singing a lullaby? Um…could you sing one for me, too? なんと、ヴァンが子守歌を？あの……よければ聴かせてくれぬか？

Mercuria: No one has sung a lullaby to me since my mother passed away. I’d really like to hear one again… 母上様が亡くなられてからわらわに子守歌を歌ってくれる者など誰一人いなかった。また聴けるものなら……。

Van: I… それは……。

Mercuria: I-I’m sorry… That was selfish of me. I didn’t mean to trouble you… す、すまぬ……。甘えであったな。困らせるつもりはなかったのじゃ……。

Van: ………………。

Van: Now, Princess, I want you to promise me one thing first. Keep it a secret between us that I sang for you. では皇女殿、一つ約束して欲しい。私が歌を歌ったことは私と皇女殿、二人だけの秘密にすると。

Mercuria: O-Okay! I promise! I’m really grateful, Van! わ、わかった！約束する！感謝するぞ、ヴァン！

[pinenappo]

Some 2022 Tales (DotNW) Doodles

[kon-kon-kon-kon]

[bloombird]

Silica Spiral the glass dip pen and Aquarine Toray the water brush

[kresnikcest]

Mercuria in Tales of Asteria (credit+dl)

[greyfalter]

ow :(

[lowtarei]

how about... kocis+ix? (or anything from rays really!)

[insert usual disclaimer about my extremely patchwork understanding of the actual rays plot] BUT THAT ASIDE, i love their dynamic a lot so far!! gonna put this one under a cut just in case anyone wants to avoid Rays spoilers

Kocis in general is Best Boy, an excellent balance of cute/sweet & loyal/devoted & also a Complete Nerd (still not over him pulling out the Most Tragic Kicked Puppy Face just to complain about having to spend twice as long maintaining his double-bladed weapon lolololol)....  I do wish I had a better handle of Ix's canon feelings (beyond caring for Kocis in general + of course missing him while he was off working with Team Beefrest Nazar &co); Kocis's feelings are very on his sleeve, but my terrible JP reading skills aren't as up to parsing Ix to the same extent..... BUT I feel like Ix probably worries about Kocis a lot when they're not together & inwardly blames himself for Kocis feeling he had to leave in the first place (bc he's just a Big Worrier in general ahaha) and also is very grateful to Kocis for keeping Mileena company & helping her while he was stuck in the crystal prison and couldn't do anything himself (and probably also a lot of Guilt there too, since his absence clearly hit them both very hard)... 

...and then, their reunion at the end was EXTREMELY CUTE!! & post-main-story, they'll finally have the chance to unpack all their feelings & get to properly spend time together without the next big threat hanging over their heads (which they definitely need) and whether or not it's shown or hinted in the epilogues, it's something I look forward to exploring for myself (and i've still got my fingers crossed for more fancontent lol, even tho eng fandom is basically nonexistent at this point)

for a little headcanon... I noticed in the cooking menu that they both love seafood, which has a lot of cute potential, especially since Ix had worked as a fisherman prior to the main story-- so we could have Ix+Kocis go on a fishing trip together & Ix teaches him the ropes (both the fishing itself and how to handle a boat?) or maybe cooking lessons with Ix sharing some of the unique recipes from Odanse (since an island town would naturally have a lot of seafood in their local cuisine)... or maybe Kocis asks Mileena to teach him the recipes first, so he can surprise Ix by making his favourite foods on a Special Date~

(i don't yet have a suuuper strong preference for shippy vs gen.... tho i def enjoyed their dynamic in the one singular Ix/Kocis fic on AO3, and the intense respect that Kocis feels towards Ix is a fantastic jumping-off point for shippy feels, and there aren't really any other potential pairings i've considered much either... at the very least i'd be happy to see more)

[feathersnek]

Feather's Tales of the Rays Nostalgia Journey

We finished arc 1 of full voice! To celebrate, I made a highlight video of our journey! (Major Spoiler warning. We do talk about the other arcs)

Rays means a lot to me, and I love the characters and story with all my heart. We've been doing live sub/TL streams starting from arc 1 to experience full voice and take a look at the story again from the beginning!

I'm an amateur with the language, so I was very nervous and still am, but it's been a blast going through the story again with friends. The script changes and voicing made arc 1 so much stronger too!

Soon we'll be starting Mirrage Prison! I'll have subs for the first few videos, with many thanks to the Tales of Rays English Project team for letting me use their subtitles! But after that I'm on my own.

Feel free to come hang out! My schedule is right over here: https://www.twitch.tv/feathersnek/schedule

If you're unfamiliar with the story, but are interested in checking it out, there are a lot of translations out there, including my summaries of Arc 4 on my own Discord!

[nkdk-kelp]

My son and his husband (materialised)

[somacruising]

TALES OF THE RAYS: VAN'S 3RD SKIT (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

MASTERPOST

Van's last skit! I'm not entirely sure of the context behind why Van and Alexei are meeting. It's probably because they're both cool Commandants in their respective games.

Anyway, here is Van's side of the two skits they got with their dual mirrage arte.

Charismatic Leader

Alexei: That’s all I have for today. If you learn anything new, please contact us via the mirrage communicator. 今回の情報提供は以上だ。また何か情報を掴んだ際には魔鏡通信などで連絡しよう。

Van: Thank you for the information, Commandant. I didn’t expect you to deliver it personally. 感謝します、団長殿。まさか、直々に出向いて下さるとは思いませんでした。

Alexei: I had to attend to some personal business. It just happened to be nearby. 野暮用があったのでな。偶然立ち寄ったに過ぎん。

Alexei: Since our exchange has concluded without incident, could you please tell your subordinates to relax? 無事交渉は終わったのだから部下たちに警戒を解くように指示してもらえないか？

Van: As expected, you noticed them. やはり、気付かれていましたか。

Alexei: Masking their presence so skillfully is to be expected of a Commandant’s subordinates, but it won’t work on me. 上手く気配を消しているのはさすが謡将の部下といったところだが残念ながら私には通用せん。

Van: I apologize for the discourtesy. You all may come out now. これは失礼しました。お前たち、もう出てきてよいぞ。

[ Legretta and Arietta emerge ]

Legretta: I’m sorry for the trouble, Alexei. 申し訳ありません、アレクセイ殿。

Legretta: However, I would like to correct your misconception. We made the decision to observe ourselves, we were not under Commandant Van’s orders. ですが、一つ訂正を。この場で待機していたのは、閣下の命令ではなく私たち自らの判断です。

Arietta: If anything happened to the Commandant, everyone would be in trouble. 総長に何かあったら、アリエッタたちも困る、です。

Alexei: I see, those are some admirable subordinates you have there. If only mine could learn from them. なるほど、随分と殊勝な部下をお持ちのようだ。私も見習いたいものだよ。

Van: Your compliment honors me. Still, I would like to apologize if their presence caused you any discomfort. お褒めに預かり光栄です。ですが、彼女たちの同行を不快に思わせてしまったらお詫びを申し上げましょう。

Alexei: Well now, it seems you’re quite popular. Unlike mine, your subordinates care about you a great deal. I envy you. なに、改めて謡将の人望を思い知らされた。私と違って、部下たちから慕われているようで羨ましい限りだ。

Van: That’s quite an insecure statement for someone who had led an entire country’s military, isn’t it? 一国の軍を率いていた人物としては少々弱気な発言と取れますが？

Alexei: That was in my previous life. Now I’m just a small man leading a small army. それもここに来るまでの話だ。今は小規模な軍隊を率いている矮小な人間だ。

Alexei: That’s why I have high hopes for a man such as yourself. And why I hope that you will come to me in due time. だからこそ、貴殿のような男には期待しているのだ。いずれ私のところへやって来てくれることを楽しみにさせてもらおう。

[ Alexei leaves ]

Arietta: Commandant, my friends are chasing that man, now. 総長。さっきの人、アリエッタのお友達に追いかけてもらってる。

Van: There’s no need for that. That man isn’t a threat to us. いや、その必要はない。こちらに害のある人物ではないからな。

Legretta: Still, that man believes he can entice you into his service. Didn’t those mirrists say he’s a man we should be wary of? しかし、あの者は閣下を仲間に引き入れようとしています。鏡士たちの話では警戒すべき要注意人物だということですが？

Van: They’re not wrong. However, he is still a useful man. It would behoove us to build a friendly relationship with him…for now. 確かにな。だが、それなりに利用価値はある。今は友好な関係を築いておくのが得策だろう。

Legretta: Understood. But, I would still appreciate it if you allowed us to accompany you the next time you decide to meet with that man. 承知しました。ですが、あの者との交渉の場には出来れば今回のように我々の同行を許可して頂けると助かります。

Legretta: I would never be able to look Tear in the eyes if anything happened to you. 閣下に何かあっては、私もティアに顔向けが出来ません。

Van: Very well. But, understand that if he becomes our enemy, we won’t get off lightly. よかろう。だが、もしあの御仁を敵に回すことになればこちらも只では済まないだろうな。

Legretta: Does he have some sort of power? あの者にどのような力が？

Van: He’s very skilled, but above that, he has a powerful ability to manipulate people. 腕も確かだが、何よりあの御仁は人を掌握する力に長けている。

Van: The fact that he was able to captivate so many people in the short time before he was turned into a Living Doll is proof of that. リビングドール化されるまでのわずかな時間で多くの帝国兵を心酔させたのが、その証拠だ。

Legretta: I’m surprised to hear you speak so highly of him… In that case, we will remain vigilant. 閣下がそれほどまでに評価するとは……。では、私たちも引き続き警戒しておきます。

Van: I entrust you with that. Still, to think he would try to make me one of his pawns. 任せたぞ。それにしても、この私さえ手駒に収めようとするとはな。

Van: Unfortunately, I’m no obedient pawn. He will learn that I am willing to abandon my humanity if need be. だが、生憎私は従順な駒ではない。時には背信棄義も厭わない人間だという事を知っておいてもらわねばな。

[pinenappo]

The Tales of the Rays x Scarlet Nexus collab was so much fun! But I’m still sad Kasane made it to playable but not Yuito, so I made a fake MA for Yuito to ease my pain haha

[lastthroes]

[li-esonthefloor]

fun fact i still havent finished dling offline rays

it's so fucking slow i open it up every now and then for half an hour and, well. 20gb left still