Alright, pairings! As much as I try to pretend otherwise, I'll always be a shipping sort of person. I certainly don't need shipping to enjoy something, but it's definitely an aspect I always look for and enjoy.
My most long-running Tales related pairing is Zelos/Lloyd. I'm not really as actively engaged with it as I used to be, for various reasons, but it's absolutely a pairing I am always going to have a tremendous amount of tender feeling toward. Lloyd did such a huge amount for Zelos just by being such a dopey sincere idealistic fool, and whether you go for a happy or a sad ending with that storyline doesn't make a great deal of difference to me - it's just gorgeous to engage with. I can't help it, no matter how much time passes, I just love them together. They can be adorable dorks or they can be arguing and misunderstanding and clashing, and none of it is wrong. There's just so much to work with when it comes to them, so many scenarios to explore, and I just don't think I'll ever exhaust it.
I love other relationships in Symphonia as well. I think I mentioned Zelos and Colette in passing on the first post, the relationship between the two Chosen. I can ship that, or I can see it platonic, or they can OT3 with Lloyd that is fine too I will not say no to that. But gosh, they just have such a special unique relationship and the game doesn't shine a huge amount of light on it but what we get is just so fascinating. I also do ship the absolute mess that is Kratos/Zelos GET OUT ZELOS YOU'RE IN ALL OF THESE, but damn it magic swordsmen are such destructive mirrors of one another and how is that not brilliant? They both have such reasons to hate themselves (sigh, idiots), and they see so much of that reflected in one another and refracted by one another, and it's just such a toxic relationship? But there's also that very vague father/son aspect, where Kratos has undoubtedly seen Zelos grow up and Zelos has been so deprived of parental figures, and AHHH layers, all the damaged layers. It's probably a bit inappropriate to be like 'it has familial tones and damaged tones and sexy tones' to which I say, oops...
I probably shouldn't keep typing much longer, this answer is already long enough, oops. For Xillia I didn't ship a great deal, although I do seem to have adopted something of a soft spot for Leia and Agria together, haha. For Tales of Destiny I ship Stahn and Rutee like nothing else, for reasons that often are quite similar to Lloyd and Zelos except with slightly less severe stakes I suppose! But darn it, I love seeing these cynical types won over by idiot country boys, apparently. Rutee is my darling, goodness me, I am looking forward to her deck, hahaha.
What else, ahhh, well I love Malik/Hubert, I can't even believe the fact it doesn't seem to be hugely popular. They have great comedy together, they mesh well together, they just have. fantastic chemistry all round, really. I love seeing them as two of the more cautious, cynical party members, the two to become suspicious of Emeraude and such, the two who are just generally more susceptible to that harsher kind of thinking. But then Malik is such a troll, and Hubert is such a great straight man to that, hahaha, so easily abused by it, and they're just. so fun! They're such fun, haha. I think Hubert can't help but respect and admire Malik, is a bit taken with Malik, and Malik sees that and kind of teases around that and sees this too-serious young man who'll probably grow up well, and that mentor side of him can't help but pluck at that and nurture it all at once. And when it comes down to it, when things fall out badly with Kurt and such, Hubert's words in particular pull Malik back to himself and what he needs to do next. They are just! Really good for each other! They are such a sweet match, such a comedic match, and I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE FANDOM IS, I DON'T GET IT. Wow I never talk about this pairing, don't start blathering on self.
Richard is hilarious with both of them as well! I mean, I ship Malik/Hubert most, but throwing Richard into that in any combination is pretty excellent, hahaha, OT3 or trolling with Malik or being a huge huge nerd with Hubert, it is all good for me. I also love CHERIAAAA and that actually makes me kind of inclined to ship Asbel/Cheria a little, hahaha. All in all I think Asbel does come through in that regard in the end, and darn it there is nothing in this world I ship more than Cheria/Happiness and if Asbel is named Happiness then DARN IT, THAT IS WHAT IT'LL BE.
I ship Anise with Ion, Jade, Luke, Sync, Peony... oops......
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My most long-running Tales related pairing is Zelos/Lloyd. I'm not really as actively engaged with it as I used to be, for various reasons, but it's absolutely a pairing I am always going to have a tremendous amount of tender feeling toward. Lloyd did such a huge amount for Zelos just by being such a dopey sincere idealistic fool, and whether you go for a happy or a sad ending with that storyline doesn't make a great deal of difference to me - it's just gorgeous to engage with. I can't help it, no matter how much time passes, I just love them together. They can be adorable dorks or they can be arguing and misunderstanding and clashing, and none of it is wrong. There's just so much to work with when it comes to them, so many scenarios to explore, and I just don't think I'll ever exhaust it.
Besides all of which, they are just adorable (light NSFW I guess), adorable is always good right.
I love other relationships in Symphonia as well. I think I mentioned Zelos and Colette in passing on the first post, the relationship between the two Chosen. I can ship that, or I can see it platonic, or they can OT3 with Lloyd that is fine too I will not say no to that. But gosh, they just have such a special unique relationship and the game doesn't shine a huge amount of light on it but what we get is just so fascinating. I also do ship the absolute mess that is Kratos/Zelos GET OUT ZELOS YOU'RE IN ALL OF THESE, but damn it magic swordsmen are such destructive mirrors of one another and how is that not brilliant? They both have such reasons to hate themselves (sigh, idiots), and they see so much of that reflected in one another and refracted by one another, and it's just such a toxic relationship? But there's also that very vague father/son aspect, where Kratos has undoubtedly seen Zelos grow up and Zelos has been so deprived of parental figures, and AHHH layers, all the damaged layers. It's probably a bit inappropriate to be like 'it has familial tones and damaged tones and sexy tones' to which I say, oops...
I probably shouldn't keep typing much longer, this answer is already long enough, oops. For Xillia I didn't ship a great deal, although I do seem to have adopted something of a soft spot for Leia and Agria together, haha. For Tales of Destiny I ship Stahn and Rutee like nothing else, for reasons that often are quite similar to Lloyd and Zelos except with slightly less severe stakes I suppose! But darn it, I love seeing these cynical types won over by idiot country boys, apparently. Rutee is my darling, goodness me, I am looking forward to her deck, hahaha.
What else, ahhh, well I love Malik/Hubert, I can't even believe the fact it doesn't seem to be hugely popular. They have great comedy together, they mesh well together, they just have. fantastic chemistry all round, really. I love seeing them as two of the more cautious, cynical party members, the two to become suspicious of Emeraude and such, the two who are just generally more susceptible to that harsher kind of thinking. But then Malik is such a troll, and Hubert is such a great straight man to that, hahaha, so easily abused by it, and they're just. so fun! They're such fun, haha. I think Hubert can't help but respect and admire Malik, is a bit taken with Malik, and Malik sees that and kind of teases around that and sees this too-serious young man who'll probably grow up well, and that mentor side of him can't help but pluck at that and nurture it all at once. And when it comes down to it, when things fall out badly with Kurt and such, Hubert's words in particular pull Malik back to himself and what he needs to do next. They are just! Really good for each other! They are such a sweet match, such a comedic match, and I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE FANDOM IS, I DON'T GET IT. Wow I never talk about this pairing, don't start blathering on self.
Richard is hilarious with both of them as well! I mean, I ship Malik/Hubert most, but throwing Richard into that in any combination is pretty excellent, hahaha, OT3 or trolling with Malik or being a huge huge nerd with Hubert, it is all good for me. I also love CHERIAAAA and that actually makes me kind of inclined to ship Asbel/Cheria a little, hahaha. All in all I think Asbel does come through in that regard in the end, and darn it there is nothing in this world I ship more than Cheria/Happiness and if Asbel is named Happiness then DARN IT, THAT IS WHAT IT'LL BE.
I ship Anise with Ion, Jade, Luke, Sync, Peony... oops......
THAT IS ENOUGH OF THIS, I'LL GO AWAY NOW....