#dotnw | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aerypear · 10 months

Note

Hi hello? I heard you were the resident expert on Ratatosk :>

Any ideas/hcs on how he'd look in his true form squirrel coughhh anyway I am back to the DotNW fandom after 10 years and taking a swing at a fan design.

Your art is very beautiful 💜

Welcome to the Ginnungagap, how may I take your order? /lh

Your art is very beautiful 💜

Thankyou!

Any ideas/hcs on how he'd look in his true form squirrel coughhh anyway I am back to the DotNW fandom after 10 years and taking a swing at a fan design.

In the course of typing this out, this got very long, so it's under a read more for other's Dashboards sanity

I've drawn various versions in the past... oh god I'm old, this game needs to stop aging- 15 years. Imagined him in all sorts of ways. My favorite is personally the squirrel design another Artist made (I unfortunately don't have their username and nothing comes back when I reverse image search it so someone feel free to supplement that info if they know)

But we do know that on some level of Canon (Thanks to the manga), Ratatosk has a humanoid figure with a physique similar to Regal and Origin.

Isn't he sexy? /jk 🤣🤣

We also know, thanks to the manga, that the Sword Emil uses is not the same style blade Ratatosk is demonstrated as owning in the comics.

(Png Rendering I made ages ago for Cosplay referencing) Which leads to reason that Emil and Ratatosk developed a new fighting style over the course of the story and the only hints that the style Ratatosk knew are in Ain Soph Aur.

Emil likes to use the sword like an extra long fencing style sword, where Ratatosk winds up for the Ain Soph Aur attack like he's wielding a Back Handed Blade aka Reverse Grip sword. (which is just a sword with the grip handle that allows for it to be held backwards. You can see this technique in many Rogue type characters, and even in Naruto when they hold their knives backwards along their forearm) **Note that you can use backhanded blades forward like normal blades**

Richter mentioned (more like aqua but who's paying attention) that Ratatosk was very strong in whatever fighting technique he knew and that he had been injured going toe to toe with Ratatosk. And Before I go into my dissertation that Ratatosk would be an AMAZING volleyball player, I'll move on. >u>

Fortunately you won't have to labor too hard into imagining what Humanoid Summon Spirits look like as the First game gave us plenty of source material to work with.

As you'll see across the spread is that, except for Maxwell, Clothing is optional. Origin put on Boots and called it FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH. I also think it's interesting that Origin and Ratatosk have very similar looking blades.

Finally, I must Add that on the Centurions themselves (and I mean aqua and Tenebrae) you can See elements of their core on them. Color scheme, Markings bearing similar strokes etc. We also know that On Undine, Celsius, and Luna that they do have physical Markings.

We also Know what Tree Spirits look like thanks to Tales of Phantasia Narikiri dungeon.

Featuring Ratatosk's "Daughter" Norn. (She's made from the cuttings of his Tree)

So if you wanted to run off with a completely unique Idea, Here's a bunch of info that uses Canon source materials to help you along.

As for my Head canons... Cutie with red eyes, either Red or Raven Hair (but I like to draw him with white because that's fun too). Outfits I like to do a spin off of his Knight of Ratatosk attire that only the Darkness knows because I get the Sense Tenebrae fashioned it after something Ratatosk was comfortable wearing. Something that isn't super rough around the edges because Ratatosk's dissention into a harsh personality set was triggered by the death of his tree. Mithos (in Tales of the Rays) recalled him being a very Kind Summon Spirit, Seeing a lot of who Emil is in what he recalled of Ratatosk, but still sees that Kindness in Ratatosk. (That Ratty pants totally swears he doesn't have. And Nothing gets me more than Ratatosk having enough character growth to accept what happened and forgive his old Friend for what transpired. 😭I was expecting a hoe down drag out brawl and they gave me FEELS.)

I found One of the pieces where I based him more so off Norn's design elements. Old piece is old, made back in 2019. But I'm not seeing the other versions. I'll have to see if they are stored elsewhere.

#tales of symphonia dawn of the new world #tales of symphonia dawn #dotnw #ratatosk #emil castagnier #summon spirits #I cracked open my files like an ancient tomb of treasures which is only useful for art that isn't mine apparently #finding my own shit is like weeding through a sea of “1 2 3 4” “kajsdlfkjas” and “NameThatMeansNothingToAnyoneIncludingTheArist”#but also OMGAW blorbos #contains my art #but also contains not my art #the pear draws #tentative tag

26 notes · View notes

hungrydolphin91 · 2 months

Text

boy do I love wannabe knight characters whose aggressive personas inside them change their eye color while they protect their high-key feminine canonical love interests voiced by Laura Bailey but also have complicated gay chemistry with their games' main antagonist

#tales of graces f #dotnw #asbel lhant #ratatosk #if i had a nickel ig #is it any wonder that both of them were my blorbos at one point they're the same guy #replaying dotnw has only reminded me of that fact. and also how much i fucking love emil and ratatosk and marta and richter #these two were also both kicked out of their hometowns but that's a common enough trope

4 notes · View notes

deenyuuy · 1 year

Text

#Tales of #Tales of series #tales of symphonia #Tales of Symphonia dawn of the New World #dotnw #tos #tales of crestoria #Lloyd Irving #Aster Laker #Richter Abend #emil castagnier #Tenebrae #Orwin Granberg

43 notes · View notes

dany36 · 1 year

Text

#tales of symphonia #tales of #dotnw #junk #tos #Colette of all people would be so mad at Emil if she knew at this point what Emil is planning on doing #like…my girl did NOT go through all of that herself just to watch a friend go through the exact same thing #Lloyd too #the parallels here were interesting #Colette’s and Raine’s speeches before the final level were the best #like yeah don’t try to fool raine Emil!#see like sometimes the writers get it so right #and then other times they have presea mention Corrine’s paw pads as Sheena is recalling what she went through #with the loss of her best friend etc #like omg…?#why would they try to bring in humor DURING THAT

55 notes · View notes

richterbestwaifu · 1 year

Text

He gives me so much gender envy

#tales of symphonia dawn of the new world #dotnw #tos dotnw #richter abend #gender #dawn of the new world #I wanna look like him yet wanna breed him

39 notes · View notes

summerlycoris · 2 months

Note

Annon-Guy: As fellow Dawn of the New World fan, what do you think of the main characters introduced in that game?

Specifically Emil, Ratatosk, Marta, Tenebrae, Richter, Aqua, Alice and Decus.

Its been forever since ive played dotnw, so i might mess up small details. (I want to play it again- but am procrastinating playing symphonia orz)

Emil- the twist with him was so good. Kinda similar to Lukes twist in tota, except a bit more tragic because. The real Emil Castnagier is dead from the palmacosta fire. And Aster is dead because of Ratatosk.

But... he's still the real Emil. Even if his life was a lie. Even if his memories of his past were fake. The memories he made with Marta, Tenebrae, and everyone were real.

Ratatosk- I cant really remember a tonne about him individually tbh. Only that he improves over the course of the story, and becomes a much better teammate to Marta and Tenebrae.

Speaking of- Marta- shes a lot of fun honestly. The quips between her and tenebrae were perfect. And her character was also really cool- going up against her dad and the vanguard, all to try and save ratatosk. Shes cool.

Also, shes got tokunaga on her backpack. Any fan of Best Abyss Character, Anise Tatlin, is a friend of mine! (joke)(kinda)(i probably would like any Anise fan unless they were murderers or something like that.)

Tenebrae- brillient honestly. After playing tota, i can see the Jade influence loud and clear. And then you get to the twist and realise- he was in on it! He knew what was going on... owwie my heart. I see his reasoning for staying silent though. Just. Ow.

Richter- gay gay homosexual gay- sorry Richter, but its true!

On a serious note. God his situation is tragic. Seeing his dead best friend in Emil- and still seeing fit to be nice to Emil, and help him out? Despite knowing that this is really ratatosk? Amnesiatically piloting a copy of his best friends body? Ow owow ow ow. That got to me when i was sixteen (still kinda gets to me tbh) why? Because he believed in Emil being Emil.

Im sorry, I just need a minute.

Aqua- another one I dont remember a tonne about. She was really loyal to Richter- even above his own desires at times iirc.

And now, for my absolute blorbo from this game...

Alice- my silliest little meow meow who has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG EVER FIGHT ME ABOUT IT!

(She has done everything wrong and i love her for it.)

I went fucking loopy for this girl when i was sixteen. Like, if she told me to jump off a cliff i woulda done it. I wouldve fought Decus for her heart in a heartbeat if. Yknow. I couldve ever stood a chance at winning lmao.

I did all her sidequests in a second playthrough. (Missed some time sensative ones in my first playthrough nooooo) and felt so bad for her when her backstory was revealed. I loved that sidequest where she gives an old lady from tetha hella medicine (iirc) because. It showed me just what she couldve been if only the world had been better towards her.

Shit, i even tried brainstorming some timetravel au fanfic with her when i was a teen. Glad that never got out of my head- i wouldve written it SO badly. (My writing when i was sixteen was SO SHIT OMG-)

I felt so bad for that final battle with them, where we had to kill her and Decus. And she realises she really did love him... tear my heart out too why dont you?!

I really need to replay this game honestly.

Decus- hes pretty cool honestly. I cant remember the most about him. I liked hearing his backstory. And he had a interesting character- prioritising Alice above any allegence he had to the vanguard. And yet- he played the punch clock villian. It was never personal if he had to attack Emil or Marta- just his job.

This is all ive got for now. One day i will replay it again. One day. I hope that answers your question!

#should this be in the main tags? if not lmk #because it does contain some analysis of characters #dotnw #summerly talks

2 notes · View notes

razkovniche · 10 months

Text

Final boss!Richter/Ratatosk, PWP.

Sometimes you just want to see your fave get topped by their enemy.

#Richter Abend #Ratatosk #tales of symphonia #dawn of the new world #dotnw #writing prompt

7 notes · View notes

somacruising · 1 year

Text

TALES OF THE RAYS: THE GREAT COLISEUM REVIVAL (Final)

All right, guys~ I’m here with the last part of this! Again, thanks to izumi1ori on twitter for letting me use some of their translations to make this even better! I’d also like to thank the people who reblog this and comment for encouraging me to keep this up.

Seriously, it means a lot...

Anywho!

SCENE 7

Announcer: Thank you for your patience. 大変長らくお待たせ致しました。

Announcer: Before the tournament’s finals, we’d like to present to you the old and new champion’s performance—give it up for Tales of Stage. 闘技場決勝戦を前に、新旧チャンピオンの共演によります舞台——テイルズオブステージを上演致します。

Announcer: Please enjoy the show to the end. 皆様、最後までごゆっくりお楽しみ下さい。

Natalia: Oh… What am I to do? ああ……。私はどうしたらよいのでしょう。

Natalia: All this time, all I’ve ever dreamed of was restoring my lost Kingdom of Ispania. That’s why I started working as a phantom thief, the Star of Ispania. 今までは、ただ、失われたイスパニア王国復興だけを望み、盗賊イスパニアの星として暗躍してまいりました。

Natalia: It’s all I wanted, until now. Now, I cannot stop thinking about Abyss Silver, the man who saved my life in my hour of need. ですが、私の危機を救って下さったあの方アビスシルバー様のことが頭から離れないのです。

Asch: —May I join you? ——ご一緒してもよろしいですか。

Anise: Bzzt! You need to say “May I join you, señorita!” ちっがーう！『ご一緒してもよろしいですかセニョリータ』だよ！

Asch: …Tsk… S…señorita… ……くっ……せ……セニョリータ……。

Luke: *loud laugh* ぶほっ！？

Tear: D-don’t laugh at him…! Don’t…laugh. だ、駄目よ笑っちゃ……！笑っちゃ……だ……め……っ。

Natalia: My, aren’t you Prince Asch, from the Kingdom of Kimlasca…? まぁ、あなたはキムラスカ王国のアッシュ殿下……。

Asch: I know who you are, Your Highness Princess Natalia of the Kingdom of Ispania—no, the phantom thief, the Star of Ispania! 私はあなたの素性を知っています。イスパニア王国の王女ナタリア殿下——いえ、女盗賊イスパニアの星！

Natalia: H-how did you know that!? な……何故そのことをつ！？

Asch: I’ve come to you not as a prince of the enemy nation that destroyed your country, but as an emissary of justice, an Abyssman, who cares for this country. 私はあなたの国を滅ぼした敵国の王子ではなく、この国を憂う正義の使者アビスマンとして参上しました。

Natalia: You, it can’t be… You’re Abyss Silver!? まさか、あなたはアビスシルバーなのですか！？

Asch: I am. Princess Natalia, no, the Star of Ispania… I have fallen in l…l… そうです。ナタリア殿下。いえ、イスパニアの星よ。私はあなたをあ……あ……。

Anise: “I’ve fallen in love with you”! Honestly, what are you thinking? 『愛してしまった』でしょ！何今更意識してんの？

Asch: Y-You…! き、貴様……！

Natalia: You…? 貴様……？

Asch: Er, no… —I’ve fallen in l-love with you. あ、いや……。——あ、愛してしまった。

Natalia: My! You also have those feelings…? Is this a dream? When I would think about you, I… まぁ！あなたも私のことを……？これは夢なのでしょうか。あなたのことを思って、私は……——

Marta: “I couldn’t sleep at night, all I could do was cry!” 『私は夜も眠れずただ切なく涙していたのです』だよ！

Natalia: Ah, yes… I-I couldn’t sleep at night, all I could do was cry. あ、ええ……。わ、私は夜も眠れずただ切なく涙していたのです。

Asch: Star of Ispania… イスパニアの星……。

Anise: Yes! Now it’s time for Abyss Silver to embrace the Star of Ispania! はい、ここでイスパニアの星を抱き寄せるアビスシルバー！

Asch: !?

Marta: Then the Star of Ispania will close her eyes and say “Your sincerity to my lips”… Kyah! I’m so embarrassed! そしたらイスパニアの星は、目を閉じながら『あなたの誠をこの唇に』って……きゃー！照れるー！

Anise: And then Asch will give her a big smooch! Now kiss!! そしたらアッシュはここでぶっちゅーって！もうぶっちゅーって！！

Asch: D-Don’t be absurd!? How could I do something like that!? ふ、ふざけるな！？そんなことできるか！？

Natalia: “Something like that”…? そんなこと……？

Asch: Ah, no… that’s not what I meant… あ、いや……そういう意味じゃ……。

Natalia: So what did you mean…? ではどういう意味ですの……？

Guy: Go for it, Abyss Silver! よっ、アビスシルバー！

Jade: Put on a good show for us! いいさらし者ですよー！

Asch: You bastards! Stop making fun of me! てめぇら！人を馬鹿にするのもいい加減にしやがれっ！

Mileena: This is bad. The stage will break at this rate. Emil! Kocis! It’s time! まずい。舞台が壊れるわ。エミル！コーキス！出番よ！

Emil: Huh!? R-right!! え！？は、はい！！

Kocis: I’ll take care of it, Miss Mileena! 任せて下さい、ミリーナ様！

Kocis: Oh, Emil’s my big brother! You’re playing a young, flirtatious man! おっと、エミルの兄貴！チャラい若者がいちゃいちやしてやがりますぜ！

Emil: …I-I think Ratatosk would fill this role better… ……こ、こういうのはラタトスクの方が向いてると思うのに……。

Emil: —Hey! You there! ——はっ！見せつけてくれるじゃねえか！

Asch: Who are you people? なんだ、貴様らは。

Emil: You’ve got some nerve, not recognizing the great Emil of Ratatosk! このラタトスク党のエミル様を知らねえとはいい度胸じゃねぇか！

Emil: And even worse is that red hair. Just as well, we’ll be taking your hair and your woman! チャラチャラ赤毛を伸ばしゃがって。丁度いい、てめぇの髪とその女はいただいていくぜ！

Anise: Wow… Has Emil always been this good of an actor? え……。エミルってば、演技超上手くない？

Marta: I knew you could do it, Emil…! You’re so cool…! さすがエミル……格好いい……！

Asch: How amusing! Very well, try and see if you can! Let’s go, Natalia—the Star of Ispania! 面白い！やれるモンならやってみやがれ！行くぞ、ナタリア——じゃなかったイスパニアの星！

Natalia: Yes! Let’s crush Ratatosk! ええ、ラタトスク党など叩きつぶしてやりますわ！

Announcer: And so, the great battle between the Star of Ispania and Team Ratatosk will now begin! こうしてイスパニアの星とラタトスク党の戦いの火ぶたが今、切って落とされたのであります！

SCENE 8

Jade: The last part of the show was a bit of a mess, but it was very lively. いやー、最後の方はもうぐだぐだでしたが異様なほど盛り上がりましたねぇ。

Anise: It’s all thanks to the edits I made to the script! やっぱりアニスちゃんの台詞のアレンジが効いたんでしょ！

Jade: Your script modification was wonderful, Anise ♪ Thanks to you, we got to see something fun. 素晴らしい台本改変でしたよ、アニス ♪ おかげで非常に面白いものが見られました。

Guy: All right, all right, enough teasing. Asch looks like he’s down in the dumps. おいおい、それくらいにしておいてやれよ。アッシュの奴、あっちで落ち込んでるぜ。

Tear: In any case, I’m relieved we were able to pull it off. The audience seemed pleased. それにしても、お客様は喜んで下さったみたいだし、何とか成功してよかったわ。

Luke: I think Emil and Kocis did a great job! エミルもコーキスも上手かったぜ！

Kocis: Emil, you didn’t switch places with Ratatosk, did you? Your performance was powerful! そういや、エミル様、あれラタトスク様と入れ替わってたわけじゃないんだよな？すげぇ迫力だったぜ！

Emil: I-I don’t know… I was so absorbed in the performance that I don’t really remember what happened. そ、そうかな……。無我夢中だったからよく覚えてないんだけど……。

Marta: It was amazing. You performed so well. You’re the best! 凄いよ。迫真の演技だったもん。キミってやっぱり最高だね！

Asch: …*sigh*…What am I doing? ……はぁ……俺は何をしているんだ。

Natalia: Asch…please try and cheer up. アッシュ……。そんなに落ち込まないで下さいませ。

Natalia: Everyone seemed to be having a great time. 皆様、本当に楽しそうにしていらっしゃいましたわよ。

Natalia: And the Community Association was very enthusiastic about the idea of including a skit like this one before the finals from now on. それにこれからは、決勝の前に今回のような寸劇を入れる方針でいくと自治会の方々も張り切っておられました。

Natalia: Thanks to you, they forgave Marta and I for the food… It’s all thanks to you. おかげで私やマルタの料理の件も許して頂けましたし……。あなたのおかげですわ。

Asch: Natalia… What do you intend on doing after this? ナタリア……。この後、お前はどうする?

Natalia: What? え？

Asch: You heard me. In this world, we’re just manifestations of Auldrant’s presence. We’re mere shadows. 聞いただろう。少なくともこの世界の俺たちは、オールドラントの存在の現し身。単なる影だ。

Asch: There is no way back. All I can do is pray for the happiness you wished for Kimlasca. もう元の世界に戻ることはできない。お前が願ったキムラスカの幸せもここでは祈ることしかできないんだぞ。

Natalia: …I know. I…am not sure how I feel about it right now. ……そうですわね。今は……まだ実感が湧いておりませんの。

Natalia: But…I know I miss home, and I want to return. それでも……やはり帰りたいですし故郷が恋しいですわ。

Natalia: I also cannot stop worrying about Van and Eldrant… エルドラントのヴァンのことも心配ですし……。

Asch: …………Maybe here…maybe my body… …………。ここでなら……俺の体も……。

Natalia: Your…body? Is there something wrong with it!? あなたの……体？どこか悪いのですか！？

Asch: No… It’s nothing. It’s just that it seems like we have more time here. いや……。そうじゃない。ただ、ここには時間がある。

Asch: We were all rushing to try and overturn the Score and never had a moment to spare. Right? 俺たちは預言を覆らせるために必死で駆け抜けて立ち止まる余裕もなかった。違うか？

Natalia: …Yes. There was so much happening, all we had time for was dealing with what was directly in front of us. ……ええ。あまりに色々なことが起きてとにかく目の前の出来事に対処していくしかありませんでしたわ。

Asch: If there is truly no way back, we will have to live here. Things may change, but for now, we need to think about the future before us. 帰る方法がないならここで生きるしかない。いずれ状況は変わるかも知れないが、今はここで生きていくことを考える必要がある。

Asch: Just as you have always done. 今日までと同じようにな。

Natalia: —I understand. I’m going to leave this place. Not to another city, I want to go with Mileena and the others… ——わかりましたわ。場所を変えるのですわね。この街ではなく、ミリーナたちの元へ……。

Asch: …It’s better for you. You have friends. ……その方がお前のためにもなる。仲間がいるんだからな。

Natalia: You’re our friend, too. Even if you didn’t think so in our original world, you could come to feel that way here, right? あなたも仲間ですわよ。もし、元の世界ではそう思えなかったのだとしてもここではそう思って下さるでしょう？

Asch: …Luke! ……ルーク！

Luke: W-What is it…? な、何だよ……。

Asch: I’m calling a temporary truce. 一時休戦だ。

Luke: !?

Asch: Mileena, I want you to take Natalia and I with you. ミリーナ。俺とナタリアも連れていって欲しい。お前たちの元に。

Mileena: Of course. We’re glad to have you, Asch and Natalia. ええ。大歓迎よ。よろしくね、アッシュさん、ナタリア。

Natalia: I will do my best to be of service to you. …Unless you ask me to cook. 私、皆様のお役に立つよう頑張りますわ。……お料理以外で。

Mileena: Fufu, you’re adorable, Natalia. ふふ、ナタリアったら可愛いわ。

Luke: Asch, um…do you have a minute? アッシュ。あの……ちょっといいか？

Luke: It’s about what I am, about me being a replica… 俺の正体って言うかレプリカのことなんだけど……。

Asch: You haven’t brought it up to anyone, have you? Then, from now on, you’ll just be my younger twin brother… Does that work for you? どうせ何も話していないんだろう。とりあえずお前は、俺の双子の弟……ということでいいか。

Luke: …And you’re okay with that? ……それでいいのかよ。

Asch: I’m also nothing more than an imitation in this world. But I have no intention of disappearing quietly. どうせ俺も元の世界から見れば模造品だ。だが、大人しく消えるつもりはない。

Asch: If I can’t go back, I will live on here until I can. Even if I have to grovel. No matter what I am, I am an original. 戻れないなら、戻れるようになるまでここで生き抜く。這いつくばってでもな。俺が俺である限り、俺がオリジナルだ。

Luke: …You’re amazing, Asch. ……アッシュはすげえな。

Asch: You aren’t my replacement anymore. So wipe that idiotic grin off your face. お前はもう、俺の代替え品じゃないんだろうが。だったらそんなふぬけた顔をするな。

Luke: …Okay! Let’s do our best, big bro! ……おう！よろしくな、兄貴！

Asch: —D-Don’t push your luck! ——ちょ、調子に乗るな！

#tales of the rays #tales of the abyss #tota #asch the bloody #natalia luzu kimlasca lanvaldear #emil castagnier #marta lualdi #tales of symphonia #dotnw #luke fon fabre #all i have to say is ;-;

22 notes · View notes

actualaster · 10 months

Text

Thinking again about the title you get for completing the Richter side-quests and how its "destined partner"

#emil castagnier #richter abend #tos2 #dotnw #dawn of the new world #tales of symphonia

26 notes · View notes

goron-king-darunia · 10 months

Note

Anon-enthusiastic-about-Richter here (but no longer anon)

I should probably replay the game before deep diving on details like this, but there is something about Emil that confuses me -

So, as part of Rata, he took the body of Aster when Aster was 16, yeah? And in current times, Emil is said to be 16. Does that imply he cannot age? Essentially being frozen in time within another person's body, at the moment of their death :') talk about a ghost from the past.

Also, would you happen to have a link to where I could read the Aster + Richter manga in English? 👉👈

Sorry for the late reply! I figured it was you after seeing you digging through all the good Richter stuff on my blog!

To be honest, I should also replay the game soon too because I've gotten confused about some lore too. But as for Emil, I don't think that's the case. From what I know of the timeline, Richter and Aster met Ratatosk 2 years before the start of the game, when Richter was 18 and Aster was 16. Richter beat Ratatosk so hard he turned into a core and Tenebrae took that core. Richter and Aqua found Solum's core and used it to brainwash Brute and took over the Vanguard and militarized it, changing it from a charity to a major powerhouse faction. But this was mostly to get enough warm bodies out looking for Tenebrae so they could find Ratatosk's core. All of this apparently took 2 or so years. Maybe a year and a half. It seems like fairly soon after getting Ratatosk's core, Brute organized the Blood Purge to root out dissenters. So when Marta frees Tenebrae and wakes up Ratatosk, which leads to Emil being created and Aster's form being used.

The logic of the game lore. is that Ratatosk needed to blend in with humanity in order to recover, so he created his new form based on the last human he remembered seeing, which was Aster at age 16. Therefore, 2 years later, Emil's form is a recreation of that. Aster at age 16. The rest of the game where we start playing takes place about 6 months after the Blood Purge. So the youngest Emil could look is 16 and a half and the oldest he could look, assuming Aster was a day away from turning 17 when he died, would be 17 and a half. So the age range is really small. But the point is he would only look 6 months older than Aster himself would have looked if he had continued to age from age 16.

It's possible we're meant to interpret this as Emil/Ratatosk being unable to age or change form in a way that would resemble mortal aging. But I think the more likely explanation is that even if Ratatosk had considered trying to look older, it would be such a minor consideration to not even be worth the effort or, because Aster never reached age 18, it simply would not have been possible for him to predict what Aster would have looked like in 2 years.

The way I interpret it is that Ratatosk basically constructed a "mortal-looking" vessel so that he could blend in with humans and recover and to do that he just copied Aster's form. So he theoretically could age, he just doesn't get a chance to because he's only hiding in Luin for 6 months before Tenebrae and Richter and Marta show up.

So it isn't exactly that he's frozen in time, but he is picking a form that is an exact replica from Aster just before he died. So while Emil's journal in game suggests that Ratatosk picked the form at random because Aster just happened to be the last human he saw, I can definitely see Richter interpreting this as animosity on Ratatosk's part. We have no way of knowing because Ratatosk himself never explicitly says WHY he picked Aster's form. Maybe he really did want to give Richter maximum heartache. Maybe Emil is right and it was completely by chance. Maybe the only consideration was "pick a human that I can successfully impersonate" and Aster was the most recent dead person. Maybe Ratatosk knew he would be safer impersonating someone that Richter wouldn't want to hurt.

If we're meant to take the journal as canon and we want to believe Emil, it really was just happenstance. But there's interesting implications that can be explored in fanfic. But we never get an explanation if Ratatosk's form can age or change without him dying or changing it himself. The game never gives us a long enough canonical timeframe to see if Ratatosk and Emil are capable of aging. Or if they can grow facial hair. Or if Richter can. There's just game logic there of "we don't need to model that and no one will ask so..."

So as far as I know, it's free real-estate. Maybe he can age and the game just didn't give us enough time. Maybe he can't age and Richter's going to be stuck in the Ginnungagap for 900-1000 years with an ageless copy of Aster. Who knows? But it's juicy to think about.

As for the manga! It's called Onshuu no Richter. As far as I know, it's not hosted anywhere. But my partner @actualaster has a masterpost with links to download the chapters and the full work both raw and translated! Here's the link for ya!

It still breaks my heart to this day. I hope you enjoy!

Also I'm gonna tag the resident Ratatosk expert @aerypear just in case they know something about Ratatosk's ability or inability to age his form.

#lady-quen #DotNW #Onshuu no Richter #lore

23 notes · View notes