INNOCENT BYSTANDERS DO NOT READ THIS COMMENT IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS!


I WARNED YOU XD


I apologize in advance for the LONG (most likely) comment I'm about to write. I read your description and I was like "OMG LET'S TALK ABOUT LUKE!!!"


I know exactly how you feel about hating Luke at first. I think everyone did. He was just such a little bitch. I really enjoyed watching him grow throughout the game though. I don't exactly agree 100% that the sheltered life isn't what caused his messed up attitude though. I'm sure there's things that happened during those 7 years that gave him bad habits. I can just picture in my head the maids giving him everything he wants and totally spoiling him because he's the duke's son. It can't all be blamed on Guy, either. Here are some things I cooked up in my head that could have lead to some of Luke's bad habits:

1) A maid walks into Luke's room and picks up a pair of his shoes. "These shoes are dirty, master Luke! Let me throw them away and get you a new pair." This would happen any time he got them dirty, and she would also probably scold him.
Effect: Tear gives the stagecoach driver her pendant, and Luke says "Hey you've got some nice stuff! Now I don't have to get my shoes all dirty." He doesn't realize the value of the item to Tear, and thinks he's giving her a compliment when he is actually insulting her. This probably fits with all other similar instances like sleeping on the ground, telling townsfolk that it's 'just food', etc. Everything came so easily to him that he doesn't realize how hard it is for 'normal' people to live.

2) Just about everyone around him aside from his parents and maybe Ramdas were servants. In other words he could boss them around probably as much as he wanted to all those years.
Effect: He tends to treat everyone like they're below him at first (because he's used to bossing around the servants) and says "you're dismissed!" to several people. He believes that everyone will take his orders because he's the 'duke's son', but he quickly finds out that this is not the case, especially with people in Malkuth. Losing this sense of.... 'dominance'.. I guess... has a negative effect on him. He doesn't know how to treat someone that won't do everything he wants them to do.

3) Master Van. The person who taught luke how to use the sword. Sure that doesn't seem like much, but he was there for Luke much
more than his own father was (from what I gathered...though not as much as Guy), and he gave Luke security. I'm sure Luke was afraid of being kidnapped again for a long time, and learning how to defend himself made him feel safe. Secure
Effect: Luke has a 'Master Van Complex' XD "master Van said--" "But, Master Van said!" Because it was Van who gave Luke all his fighting skills, as well as treated him so nicely all the time (even though it was fake)... Luke believes that he can do no wrong. Even after being completely betrayed by the man, Luke still calls him 'master' and still respects him. In Luke's eyes, before Akzeriuth, Van was the only person that really mattered, even though it was Guy who raised him and was his best friend. I was actually really pissed off at the scene where Luke tells Van that he's the only one who ever treated him kind. Most people were probably touched by that scene before they realized Van was who he was, but I despised it. If Guy had been there, it would have been like a kick to the face and stomach and crotch all at once T_T It made me sad...for Guy's sake

I'm sure there's plenty more I can say, but on to another subject. The one thing I really, really liked --no LOVED about pre-Akzeriuth Luke was how much he valued life. Not just human life, but all life. He was upset when they destroyed the liger nest, even though Tear and Ion had a valid reason for doing it. He didn't want to kill people. That made him seem so... HUMAN. Unlike all the other Tales main characters who just jump out and start thrashing bad guys, Luke said "Hey wait a minute! I don't want to kill these people!" ;__; I tell you...I would feel the same damn way. What was even worse was the fact that he was ripped out of his safe and 'secure' environment straight into one of death and battle. It was really great how he saved Mieu from the falling rocks, and treated Ion so kindly (even though he denied it). I think the only reason he started treating Ion badly right before Akzeriuth was because he had just recently found out that he was being trapped in his manor on purpose, and he probably felt like Van was the only person he could trust at that point. All he cared about was to go do what Van had planned for him to do. Become a hero and run away from Baticul forever!!!11one (of course all of it was a big fat lie) Back to the killing subject.

I almost cried at the scene when Luke first killed a person. The way he was shaking and looking at his hands and that expression on his face made it especially emotional. I could never imagine ever killing anyone, even in the military... so I can put myself in his shoes. On the other hand, I also agree with how Tear and Jade handled the situation. Even though they seemed cold, They told Luke he could sit back and let them handle things. They didn't force him to do anything, and allowed him to make decisions on his own. He didn't want to be a burden, or to be treated like one, so he made the decision to fight. I like that it was still a gradual process, and he didn't just become a killing machine over night. Even later on in the game, he still chose to only knock people out rather than take their life.


And that brings me to Akzeriuth. That was so depressing! Jeez! T_T To be the cause and blame for that much destruction and mass killing...especially for someone who cares so much about life. It had to be a really, really hard thing for Luke to accept. Not only had the person he respected the most betrayed him, but he had ordered him to destroy tens of thousands of people. If it were me, everything would just be a big blur... like "what the hell just happened!? Did this really just happen!?!" It probably took a while to even sink in. Then everyone immediately started blaming him and treating him coldly. I can understand how he felt, but he was wrong in trying to throw all the blame on Van. He was the one who chose to ignore Asch, and he was the one who destroyed the passage ring, not Van. The scene when he yells at Mieu and starts crying kinda pulls at my heart strings though. ^^ awww.

When they get to Yulia City he's faced with yet another truth he can't deal with. IMO it was probably worse than Akzeriuth... finding out that he wasn't the person he thought he was. All that time that he was the duke's son, then the ambassador, clinging to the hope of becoming a 'hero', and now he was none of those things. Now he wasn't even Luke Fon Fabre. He was no one... I really like the scene there if you defeat Asch, though. He says something along the lines of "No wonder I lost my family...my home. I'm so pathetic.." T^T You can really hear the sadness in his voice there. But Asch is another subject entirely. Moving on!! (though that reminds me..the voice acting in ToA was really really good compaired to a lot of other games I've played)


Anyways after all that happens and he chops his hair is when he becomes the Luke everyone loves XD He gets a lot more emo, but a lot less bratty. It's great how he starts thinking closely about the feelings of others, too. The scene where he buys back Tear's pendant = <3 <3 It made me sad how much he put himself down though. "I'm just a replica" "I'm not the real Luke" T__T And every time someone says something, he usually takes it in a negative way. like when Tear is talking about how Luke isn't in the score, he immediately says "I wasn't supposed to be born. I'm not even in the score" *sad emo voice* and Tear is like "Luke that's not what I meant! I merely meant that you're not shackled to the score like the rest of us." He wears his feelings right on his sleeve, and someone somehow always seems to hurt them without meaning to. Am I a jerk for finding that kind of cute though? XD *is kicked*

Just a quick thing about Ion. Luke was very close to him, and it was so tragic when Ion died. The way Luke held him in his arms like that. In my opinion, that was more like losing a brother than when Sync died and Ion cried over it. Anise had said "It's almost like losing a brother". Unlike Sync though, Luke had actually had time to bond with Ion, and cared about him. To have the body go limp in his arms and then just disappear like it never even existed must have been just horrible! I wonder if luke thought about that a lot. Since he was also a replica, he probably had thoughts about his body just disappearing...nothing left for people to bury or mourn over. *sigh* Depressing...

Towards the end of the game and the tower of Rem it just gets worse and worse. x_X OMG... all the people bashing replicas because they just don't understand what they are. Then Luke was hurt by everything they said, and felt like he was completely worthless. I didn't even have to wonder why luke chose to die at the tower. I knew exactly why, and it made me want to cry. No, I DID cry. When he finally realized he didn't want to die, and he was holding the key of lorelei out to neutralize the miasma, literally BEGGING to live. I cried like a baby. Then I cried even more after that, when he lived through it...only to hear from the doctor that he was still going to die! I thought "Damn! Give Luke a break ;_; He's only 7 years old, and he spent that entire time locked in a big house with only 1 friend (and one other that betrayed him). It's too cruel to take his life away when he's finally begun to actually 'live'!" The creators of this game really know how to make me cry. lol


Anyways, that's most of what I will say about Luke. There's probably a lot more but my fingers hurt. He is the #1 main Tales character to me (with Stahn as a close second. STAAHHHNNN! ^o^ ) His relationship with Tear is really great. So is his relationship with Guy. Actually I think that Guy and Luke make an even better couple (erm...yaoi fan, sorry There's just soooo much evidence to back it up! Also, I really like romance between childhood friends. I don't like Luke and Natalia as a couple though. She spends the entire game swooning over Asch, and still pretty much pretends that Luke doesn't exist) I was hoping he'd grab Tear up in his arms at the end and go kissy-kiss <3 or... I was secretly hoping that Guy would trample over everyone and just give him a huge bear hug! (and then go kissy-kiss *is shot repeatedly*) hehe. I really hope they make a sequel!!! It's kinda funny that ToS is getting ANOTHER sequel (Tales of Phantasia is actually a sequel to it, even though it came out years BEFORE it...Star Wars! LOLZ)


*Looks at comment* O__O I....am so sorry. I saw your big comment about Luke and just felt like I HAD to add in my own opinions too. I just really like to talk about this game. I would make comments like yours on my own art, but I don't think most of the people bother to read them...especially if it's kinda long. I hope I didn't annoy you, and you can just hide the comment by pressing the 'hide' button if you wanna get rid of it.


Now about your art XD I really like how the colored inks worked out. Where did you get colored ink at? Are they just normal ball point pens, or special art ones? I dunno why I bother asking though...I suck at traditional art. I just color my crap on computer :/ He looks good though. I think the blue tint to the pants is nifty! In fact I try to give them a blue tint when I draw him myself. I also like to make his hair more orange than it's supposed to be. *bad habits* I don't see the ' pink-ness' you talk about. Then again my friend says some of my colored pencil stuff looks pink when I used RED (maybe I'm colorblind?). I'm like... "Dude...it says RED on the friggin pencil >_> WANNA SEE?!?! BESIDES IT LOOKS RED TO ME!!!" and then he's like "Then you colored too
light! Fix it in photoshop!" haha...that's why I hate doing it with traditional mediums. Anyways, great work! Maybe you could draw Guy sometime? Even though I just typed all that adoration of Luke... Guy is actually my favorite character. LOL! (damn me for being a fangirl >_> I just have this thing for blondes with short, spiky hair...) What I mean is... draw more Abyss stuff ;D it builds strong muscles! *lies like Jade*

Wow, I really needed my time to read all that! lol

Yours is the longest comment I've received.

Well... where can I start from? We agree in most things about Luke. I really liked his care for other peoples life too. Eventhough I didn't like him in those moments, that made see that the character was at least very well thought.

His relationship with Tear is great, but if you ask me it feels a little bit forced. They should have put more scenes where they are seen more romantically involved, specially regarding Luke towards Tear. They could do that in a sequel, that I really hope they do eventually. Though maybe we'll have to wait a long time before Namco decide to do it.


As for the colored ink, I just bought some colored pens I found once in a paper store. I think they are suposed to be used in technical drawings (maps, squematics and stuff), but they can be used for art too. The trademark is Stabilo, but I don't know if they can be bought in the States. And about the pinkness I mean that it looks pinkier than it looks in the paper, not that it looks exactly like pink.



I would comment more things... but I don't have much more time today. -_- Maybey other day I will end commenting other things.


Thank you so much for taking your time to write that comment, I really apreciate it.

See ya.

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No more regrets.

_{Babykefka: I... I think I love you. <8D
But seriously. YOUR RANT = MY FEELINGS ON LUKE (short and long haired and everything else.), especially on the whole Tower of Rem bit. It's just... he had been so determined to not cause any deaths he could prevent (Asch's and basically all of Auldrant), especially after Akzeriuth, but when he was really on the spot, about to die, he wasn't a hero or anything. He was just a terrified 7-year-old, but wouldn't back down. And then when he realized that "hey, I'm alive!", life just had to go and say "LOL not for long~!"
Uh. But basically, I Luke because he's a DYNAMIC character. Unlike most RPG heroes, he doesn't have some set personality; he's probably the most human character I've come across.}

Sorry for ignoring you, Xander! D8>
Anyway, I think the shading is pretty accurate, especially the folds in the pants.
Also. I love your style on the eyes. They're so pretteh~~ <8DDDD
Skin color is pretty accurate, too, I think.

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