It’s been how many years??? This is still the background of my desktop back home. I just felt nostalgic and wanted to share, since I haven’t changed it all this time.
Reasons I love Tales of the Abyss: this entire fucking scene, start to finish, among others.
Super early in the game, there really aren’t any spoilers here. Enjoy some quality Jade trolling. I really do love the game dub. It’s a shame this was before skits got voiced in the localized versions, and this game is ALSO before the time when most scenes had voice acting. If you got to a scene with voices in Abyss, you paid attention because they weren’t incredibly common.
The above is a scene having to do with Luke starting to learn his way around fonons and (eventually) artes. Jade wants to instill a deep sense of care and caution to ensure Luke will never make the same mistakes he once did.
I’ll put the excerpt below a cut (though it’s not really an excerpt since there’s no larger, written story to go around this bit, for the time being) –
No matter what you think you know, this is the true face of imminent doom.
(this doodle is for a divergent timeline AU where Jade ends up in legal custody of our Luke when the truth behind the kidnapping comes to light much earlier than in canon. A detailed explanation/synopsis is HERE. Related posts are HERE.)
So I actually got this Jade a while back. However, my phone screen is a bit messed up right now (and details get muddied). I hadn’t paid him much mind until I saw a rip of this same portrait on the computer and uh. WOWZA.
1) it may just be the green lighting, but his eyes end up looking like they’ve been miscolored brown instead of red.
2) FFFFFFF That smirk. Slay me now. Jade consistently has such great portraits in Tales of Link.
So this is from the previous[ Winter Alchemist ] AU post. I figure I should provide some context:
Jade CAN walk (with assistance by cane/brace), but fuck stairs honestly. Peony’s home has stairs. Jade stays with Peony if Jade is in town. With Jade measuring 6′1″ and 163 lbs (official canon weight, which I find hard to believe), Peony opts to just carry him. This is the only concession Jade is willing to make, and generally the only thing upstairs that Jade would need to access is the bedroom. Jade only agreed to this after a heated argument about it years ago, but now it is routine.
In this setting Peony is from what used to be a wealthy and powerful family, but given that Amestris is a military-controlled country, it doesn’t mean as much anymore. Still, he’s managed to become a rather unorthodox mayor and Jade happens to be staying the next town over.
I will at some point put together a detailed post but tl;dr Guy knows to skedaddle when he shows up after making the trip all the way here when they’re both usually as busy as they are and have some catching up to do. Luke, on the other hand, hasn’t mastered the “taking a hint” skill.
[ Destiny Star ] concept for the Dreadnought Tartarus.
Okay, this is a rough scale comparison between the Dreadnought Tartarus, and the living ancient weapon ship, Swordian Dymlos. Dymlos is maaaybe around 180 ft long. The Tartarus is more like… 540 feet long?? Dymlos is by no means tiny, but the Dreadnought Tartarus is nearly thrice his length, and unlike Dymlos, isn’t really meant to operate in atmosphere. Dymlos can fly in atmosphere or the vacuum of space. He is much larger than a fighter, but smaller than most battleships. His wings retract tightly against the body for space flight. The Tartarus miiiiight be an experimental warship. Certainly, some of its components are highly classified, to say nothing of other military secrets on board. Seemingly might have some method of jumping that doesn’t require the use of an external Gate.
Also, I would imagine that this setting’s version of the Albiore to be only around 60 feet long, maybe a 90 foot wingspan. Unlike canon, it would actually have weapons. Space pirates and other threats still lurk out there, regardless of political alliances.
If you haven’t played Tales of the Abyss, The Land Dreadnought Tartarus –
So, I was struck by a thought. I don’t know how many of you have heard The Call, by Regina Spektor. It played at the end of Prince Caspian, I believe. Please consider this song, in the context of Tales of the Abyss.
Specifically, Luke, the ending, the epilogue, and the party’s feelings wrt Luke.
Emphasis mine, but here are the lyrics of the entire song:
If anyone assumes that a little thing like dying is going to stop Jade Curtiss, they clearly don’t know him well. Becoming a Vampire has its merits, but was it worth becoming a monster? Peony seems to think so.
Guy wants to set things right and start over, as much as they are able, and he seeks out Asch to express his commitment. Asch cannot easily trust him. When presented with the Jewel of Gardios and the words, “If I ever betray your trust again, please take this sword and run me through,” Asch draws the blade and turns it against his former servant to test the strength of that conviction. Guy is prepared to accept whatever judgment Asch may pass upon him.
A sketch of a conversation about the future. Somewhat came about because I’ve been having thinky thoughts (in between the working nearly 60 hours each week and classwork) because of a few things brought to light by Tales of the Rays.
TALES OF THE ABYSS SPOILERS AHOY!
Luke. Baby, it’s okay to form attachments even if you’re going to die someday. It’s okay to want to be happy.
Now, I’m just speculating because I’m just as confused by this line as Mileena. Unless it’s just a vague and generalized thought that anything is possible, I present another interpretation.
Instead of Jade saying that his own future might differ, consider:
Jade: “His future might differ here.”
Not Jade’s future. Luke’s future.
Jade doesn’t want Luke to disappear. That’s a canon fact, and the Abyss cast is explicitly confirmed to have been pulled from the Abyss timeline post- Tower of Rem, if not even later.
I could be wrong about who Jade meant and whether this is a translation error. It would be good to know what the original Japanese text was. But it’s some food for thought.
Jade leans forward to whisper, “This is my mess. Our mess, and it falls to us to clean it up, rather than leave it to these children.”
Van begins a low, ugly laugh, before leaning in and mirroring Jade to hiss, “Then I’ll be sure not to leave any trash lingering behind!”
And for emphasis, on the word ‘trash,’ he TWISTS the blade, wrenching it as he staggers backward. Van doesn’t go over the edge, though. Instead, he falls heavily onto his back, dislodging the spear.
Jade stumbles back and sinks to his knees. He won’t be walking away from this. Jade does manage to say “Did you… think I was joking when I said ‘over my dead body’?” Not that he’d planned this. More like “if that was what it would take to end this” But he’s too close to the edge, and before anyone can stop him, he falls.
AU in which Jade kills Van at the Absorption Gate, is mortally wounded, and falls into the core himself. The story doesn’t end there.
Jade and Peony are at a bar, looking for… someone.
If I were that someone, I might start running. Jade looking all considering and amused is generally never a good thing.
Perhaps he’s concocting elaborate revenge for that one time many years ago when Roy Mustang used a corny pick-up line because he mistook Jade for a woman.
Now, I wanna point out a few things: Jade on his own is bad enough, but Jade and Peony together are some kind of unholy combination and it doesn’t help that Peony delights in watching Jade do his worst.
His Jade. I think Peony might take a bit of pride in Jade’s terribleness tbh.
(If you’re wondering where the brace went, Jade has another one which is slimmer, less comfortable, and less durable, but it does fit under trousers. He just wouldn’t trust it to hold together under stress. It is reserved for social functions, generally. The metal bits are coated matte black so that there’s no eye-attracting metal glint visible below the pant cuff against his shoes.)
Colonel Jade Curtiss, Winter Alchemist, the demon from the north.
Alchemy without circles is all well and good, but Jade carefully keeps the ability secret. Always keep an ace up your sleeve, and plausible deniability is the best policy. Jade Curtiss does not clap, since doing so would be tantamount to painting a target on your head. “Shoot me! I’m about to do something threatening!”
Jade keeps two functional circles hidden on the cane- one to alter its shape, and one for use with his Ion Alchemy which gathers a powerful negative charge on the metal end of the cane. A recess in the foot of the cane conceals a piece of chalk/charcoal/graphite for quickly drawing circles on the ground, since Jade cannot easily crouch due to his condition. If circle-less alchemy is needed, Jade will generally stand in a less conspicuous manner with his hands overlapping and resting on the cane.
As mentioned previously, Jade became infamous for his appearances on the battlefield that were always accompanied by the frighteningly wrathful force of nature. Seemingly able to conjure violent lightning storms, he stood impassively (so it seemed to onlookers) as bolt after bolt struck down his enemies, and only his enemies.
In truth, of course, this tactic was accomplished by a great deal of secretive preparations to create the storm… as well as constant focus, using his alchemy to shift positive charge on the earth and create channels to guide the lightning. He cannot, in fact, summon a thunderstorm on a whim. No, Jade plans ahead.
Here is a very smug Jade without glasses. Also, it’s October! Which means Inktober! But that’s kind of boring on my end since 99% of my art is (digital) ink exclusively already.
~My Tumblr Back-Up And Stuffs~ 
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