#tales of symphonia ova

[charaito]

My friend Startales and I are big fans of the Tales of series. Every couple of years, we would participate in a group medley featuring other Tales fans and singers. This year, we decided to collaborate for the 21st anniversary of Tales of Symphonia and do a cover of Negai, the first ED of the anime OVA.

Star has such a gentle and warm voice, and I am so stoked I got to sing with her!

We've been planning this since late June of this year, hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for the memories, Tales of Symphonia! Happy 21st Anniversary!!  

Original Singer: Kaori Hikita

Video & Mixing: @charaito

Singers: Startales, @charaito

Lyrics taken from: https://www.animelyrics.com/jpop/hikitakaori/negai.htm

Art from:

[baronaliswritingcorner]

Discotek's Tales of Symphonia The Animation Blu-Ray is Rather...

So in preparation for next month's Colloyd Week, I rewatched the Tales of Symphonia OVAs to catalogue ideas/references. As it happens, it's been well over a decade since I last saw it, and what better way to celebrate my original OTP by finally fishing out that Discotek Blu-Ray I've had lying around?

And folks, now that the two worlds've been reunited and my original OTP's riding off into the sunset, I gotta ask...

Holy cow, did they have any budget on this thing or what?!

No, seriously, what happened here? The translated script's all well and good, but, come on: the absent omakes? The garish yellow subtitles? The untranslated credits? The mistranslated names?! Really, I'm convinced they had some half-complete style guide because while "Raine", "Genis", and Colette's angel symptoms are left intact, we're left to juggle the following silliness:

"Barraclough Temple" (Balacruf Mausoleum)

"Rewin" (Luin)

"Ascard" (Asgard)

"Haimah" (Hima)

"Techbirds" (Rheairds)

"Gaorakia Forest" (Gaoracchia Forest)

"Artesta" (Altessa)

"Cybac" (Sybak)

"Taiga" ("Tiga")

"Kuciak" (Kuchinawa -- HOW DO YOU MESS THIS UP THIS IS PLAIN JAPANESE)

"Trent Forest" (Torent Forest)

Now, us eagle-eyed Tales of Symphonia fans might pick up how a couple of these are indeed the original Japanese names (for instance, I can buy Ascard slipping through since it's on the opening map), but while localization discrepancies across multimedia are hardly anything new (VIZ Media's Dragon Ball/One Piece manga releases being prime examples), some of these display a shocking lack of professionalism -- you hear Sheena pronouncing "Kuchinawa" plain as day and "Techbirds" is the Tales of Phantasia name for the Rheairds! How did these happen?!

Look, I get it: licensing anime's expensive and sometimes things fall through -- these releases were mighty pricy over in Japan and if excising the bonuses meant an affordable $40 set, so be it -- but sheesh, if you're gonna treat us to a barebones release, at least show some care and consistency in the actual main course. This is a fan's-first work, after all -- us Tales of Symphonia faithful have been through the wringer with those dreadful remasters alone, and we'll take whatever respite we can get.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off for a retreat into the Trent Forest. Full of Trents, I imagine. Maybe they'll help me write my fic

(The actual OVA itself? Again, a fan's-first product -- I can't say it's especially welcoming to newcomers with how a 40+ hour game's divided into 11 half-hour episode, but hey, could be way worse. The animation and overall look's gorgeous, Almateria's a hauntingly beautiful opening, the cast chemistry is genuinely endearing, the drama and messaging land as well as ever (I felt emotions on that last episode), and that sickingly-sweet Colloyd goodness drowns you in mushy, soppy fluff -- like being cuddled by ten Noishes at once. Mmm.)

[kimberriez]

ToS OVA Thoughts

It took me over ten years, but I finally finished the ToS OVA. I couldn’t handle the changes then, not even just to watch it.

Quick Thoughts:

Noishe was done dirty.

The Kvar scene was.... not as meaningful as the game or in the manga. Kratos and Lloyd killing him together is just so *chef’s kiss*

All the exsphere changes really makes the story less meaningful, in a way. I get why they did it, but man.

Taking away Lloyd’s mistakes (Iselia and Palmacosta) kind of cheapens his character growth.

It’s about learning from your mistakes. You guys. That’s the point. That’s what Kratos was trying to teach him, really.  Captain Mistakes wanted to make sure his son was better than him.

The animation is really well done and pretty.

Wow, I really don’t care about Regal.

Presea, you’re cool though.

The sword fight choreography is really cool.

Kratos, that’s your son, please stop beating him up.

Yuan. Calm. Down.

Yuan’s hair flip. OH MY GOD

Wow, Nana Mizuki’s voice is gorgeous singing Tenkuu No Canaria

They changed so much it’s almost hard to follow, and I’ve beaten the game seven times.

The Colloyd emphasis is super cute!!

The changes to to the Mithos/Yggy reveal were disappointing. 

Kratos’ hair color is changing every “season”.

Moving the Origin duel was a bad choice. Almost dead Kratos (and everyone, really) standing up for Lloyd to Origin was such a nice thing that got totally axed.

Not nearly enough unhinged Mithos. I missed “Son of Kratos!!” especially.

Lloyd’s wings were also done dirty. Loved that whole scene in the game.

THE HUG. GUYS. THE HUG.

NO LOCKET THO. Show the boy what his mom looked like!!!

Botta???? BOTTA????

Mostly I pine for what it could’ve been if they made a whole show instead of an OVA. The manga did a good job shortening the story without taking out too much.

[sakuraswordly]

Source:  テイルズチャンネル＋@tales_ch

[b4nanko]

Redraw of my 2021 drawing

[dany36]

Man, Fighting of the Spirit is like one of THE best battle themes I’ve ever heard in a video game. The first time you hear it in Symphonia is when fighting Undine, but hearing it right after Sheena finds the courage to face Volt, KNOWING all the pain and deaths her earlier failure caused, ON TOP OF having just lost her best friend, just hits so differently. Like, here is Sheena facing her biggest fear, for which she was ostracized by everyone in her village, but this time she is not alone!!! She is fighting alongside her friends, and she succeeds!!! Just ughhhhh I love this part of the game so damn much 😭😭❤️❤️

[ickyrainbows3245]

im normal [lie]

[machine-stitching]

Me, all throughout college, with guess who

Source: chronicfandombrain apparently (via reddit)

[dinobot]

Beebo: 5, 12, 13, 23

BEEBO BEBO BEBO BEBOOOOO (sheena from tales of symphonia for people who dont speak Lea)

5. Never Quite Free - The Mountain Goats songs for people who are continuing onward even though you are so fucking scared and it is always sneaking up on you But you gotta. Do it.

12. i have so many sheena headcanons. 1. He's dyslexic 2. She's bigender 3. She loves tokusatsu- i just remembered this isnt a headcanon everyone say thank you rodeo ride tour thank you

13. shooting star+cowboy+bell+there should be a kamen rider emoji. henshin pose. The transforming justicemaxxer. sorry im on desktop i dont have emojis

23. WAHGHGHHHH I HAVE OS MANY GOOD BEBOS but stop motion bebo from the ova ed's cannot be overstated..............<3

i also like this one bc its like a tails gets trolled level emotion to me. Animal hostility

[supreme-sauteer]

three random facts about yourself!

tagged by some nerd named @snorlaxlovesme

rules: if you get this, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs! anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog <3

about 9 years ago i found a recipe for sea salt ice cream. and i made the most dogshit ice cream you could've ever tasted lmfao it was salty as fuck (stupid statement i know but it was TOO MUCH SALT). since then i've gotten WAAAAAAAAY BETTER at it and i can make you the best strawberry sea salt ice cream you've ever tasted

while literally everyone under the sun knows of my love of yu yu hakusho and my pfp has been OVA Yusuke probably since the All Or Nothing OVA came out, my favorite character ever is actually Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia

this is the dumbest motherfucker alive and i love him with all my heart and soul

3. if for some reason you saw the Vote For Bolbi 2012 meme way back then, i'm the one who gave the guy who posted it the idea lmao

i'll tag @bohshi @aggressively-crying @fritzwilhelm @princessmyu @skeletits @thesmolcryptid and @spadenoace!

[lespicybrocoli]

10 fandoms / 10 characters / 10 tags ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ

Gracias a @rainy-days-and-nights por el tag!

Cloud Strife/ Final Fantasy 7

The original blorbo, my first love (the one you never forget), my first wet and sad man, the one hero who had mental illness before it was cool (jk, however It was the first I got to know), for him I downloaded the anime OVA in a process that took 3 days and 5 hrs per day on my local internet shop and i bought the original Advent Children movie and the extended. He defined my taste in fictional men.

Uriko/ Bloody Roar 2

My first crush, she made me a furry before I even knew what a furry was, she awoke in me my taste for fighting women and catgirls. Silly little weapon of mass destruction, best girl, best playable character in Bloody Roar (yes, Im biased, no I don't look to be corrected)

Raine Sage/Tales of Symphonia

I wanted to be her when i grew up, now older I come to undestand that maybe I wanted to fu--*gets kicked*

Best archealogist, best sister, takes no ones bullshit. What the world of research needs.

Roxas/ Kingdom Hearts

Righ in my teenager era, thought it was Cloud so I looked, stayed because of the tragic existencialism, best angry boy, he has never done anything wrong on his life, kicked Riku's ass like a pro, fave resident in Sora's Heart hotel. A little gremling out for blood.

Maka Albarn/ Soul Eater

My irrevocable call that I was, in fact, not straight. The most cool female character I had ever seen, fuck the perfect stereotype (even thou she was the academic sterotype of perfect student) she was a messy bitch with angry issues and it was so fucking healing to see her being that way. Made me realice you can have a boyfriend and a nonbinary partner at the same time.

Aqua/ Kingdom Hearts

My wife, she carries the whole BBS game on her back, not because something arbitrary like most powerful keyblade wilder (which she is) nor because she is the only one who becomes master of her group (wich she does) but because she, literally, pass the whole game,pulling together the shit her idiotic himbo crush and her best friend do during all the game. Her movements while fighting are top 1000 of sexy things

Riku/ Kingdom Hearts

He is the representation of the queer journey made game character, the ironic fact that he is the closest to the mascot of all that represents capitalism is incredible good for social study. Seeing him growing on the story resonated with my growing into a lgbta+ person and now we are both happy with who we are.

Dante/ Devil May Cry

I literally buyed the whole tri-pack of the DMC saga back in 2013 when I didn't even had a PS2, just to play it in a console a friend let me borrow. All the bro dudes buying his bad boy persona when he is a fucking depressed man that only knows happiness when he has his brother back, looked for the sexyness and irreverent style, stayed for the tragic sibling drama.

Dream/ The Sandman

The blorbo that pretty much brough me back to Tumblr. Goth, sad, twink, depressed, divorced dad of one poor soul with the most toxic family ever. Neil Gaiman saw that one comic about giving robot feelings and decided to do the same with concepts. No Neil, you didn’t give it feelings, you fucked up a concept.

Loki/ Marvel MCU

Sad wet snake, with queer tendencys ignored by most of marvel who is made justice on fanart/fanfic. My favourite "redemption" trope. Mama's boy. HE USES MAGIC, CAN SHAPESHIFT AND FIGHTS WITH KNIVES. May hate the world but loves his brother, that gets me every time. I just want them to be happy

I tag @umi-umita @agent-bee @seiya-starsniper

[goldentigerfestival]

The 30 day Tales challenge... in one post or else it would never get done!

Favorite Tales game: Legendia

Favorite Main Male Hero: Yuri and Senel

Favorite Main Female Hero: Kohaku

Favorite Side Male Character: Moses

Favorite Side Female Character: Stella

Favorite Canon Pairing: Senel/Stella + Shing/Kohaku

Favorite Non-Canon Pairing: how official is stahn/leon at this point i wonder

Favorite Opening Song: Destiny

Favorite Location: ??? idfk the entire Legacy??? I'll go with Werites Beacon for simplicity I guess. feels like home

Favorite Mascot: Giet. don't tell me he's not a mascot, I'm not listening. (and if you want to try having that discussion my answer is still the Oresoren so we're not getting far, are we)

Favorite Monster: ??? also dfk, probably something cute except i don't like hurting cute so i guess we're stuck

Favorite Boss Battle: UHHHH listen it hurts to say but Vicious; bc the raw emotion that went into that entire storyline ate me whole

Favorite Villain: since I'm avoiding antagonists here (such as Duke who aren't explicitly villains) and prefer to go full villain, Creed.

Least Liked Character: not opening THAT can of worms!!! :D

Your First Tales Game: boooo boriiiing. Symphonia like the other half of the western population. no fancy answer here

Your Favorite Scene: ??? I mean, there's... a lot I guess??? Stahn pleading with Leon moments before disaster??? Kanata crying that Vicious was okay and came back to them??? Moses saying literally anything ever in any scene ever??? the end of Innocence but when you choose Spada as your soulmate bc I'm a bias little fuck??? anything with Yuri and Flynn being happy together??? the entirety of Legendia???

Funniest Scene: idk but it either had Moses in it, Vicious in it, or it was Spada's "I can't believe you mixed up Frosty the Snowman with the Abominable Snowman"

Saddest Scene: Moses' Character Quest cutscene (if not the whole fucking CQ), moments during disaster with Leon, moments during disaster with Asch

Favorite Quote: a lot of stuff Vicious said ngl. can't think of nor pick one off the top of my head but every time he Gets Serious it's one of those and I fall in love further every single time. but if we wanna be REEEALLY simple? "Yeehaw". thanks, Moses. maybe Yuri has said something cool enough to get on the top list, but I'm not sure anything is trumping "yeehaw", and maybe that's equal to something Vicious said

Favorite Piece of Gameplay Music: Scutum - Decisive Battle. Pour one out for Rebirth having the fucking BEST battle theme ever.

Most Shocking Reveal: ??? I'm... not sure at this point. Giet??? was it Senel??? maybe Mathias and Ruca??? Ratatosk and Emil??? I kind of want to say Ratatosk and Emil because I remember being very impressed with the direction of the plot, in that the main protagonist/player character was actually the villain the whole time that the antagonist was trying to kill the whole time. definitely not a plot direction you usually get in JRPGs. Giet's story still hit like an entire brick building 100 storeys high falling on me though

Favorite One on One Fight: that was actually FUN??? uhhh idk Vicious against Kasque. what did you expect me to say???

Favorite Skit: way too many skits to have even a semblance of an idea. I'm going to assume it was either something related to Yuri and Flynn, Moses, Vicious, Spada or Stahn. that's about the closest I can pinpoint

Favorite Tales Spell: I don't... think I have one...

Favorite Tales Weapon: -bangs fist on desk and gets really obvious really fast- BLOOD SINS, BLOOD SINS, BLOOD SINS. after that the Swordians

Tales World You Want to Live In: honestly Legendia's and Graces' seem the most reasonably normal compared to the rest, but also shiny fingertips and Moses is a pretty solid Legendia

Favorite Animated Tales Series/OVA: (don't say rays don't say rays don't say rays don't say stahn/leon) probably First Strike if only because it focuses on Yuri and Flynn who I love, but Abyss' anime was very solid compared to the other Tales animated series that were just heavily condensed versions (or worse in Eternia's case, not even being relevant to the main story). like, I would not recommend the animated series to anyone prior to playing the game except for Abyss, which is the full major story and I have inarguably rewatched that anime more than I've played the game. I guess in terms of general animated, FS, but in terms of actual consistency to the game it came from and dedication it had in retelling the story faithfully without skipping 80 percent of it, Abyss

Favorite Tales Outfit: RICHARD??? HEEEELLO??? not arc F though that shit is too fruity for me. also Leon has VERY enjoyably bright colors that make him stand out and as a Very Deeply Definitely Not Obsessive Leon Enjoyer, I very much love that. Aegis also has a really nice outfit. Asbel's is pretty but definitely not Richard level of I'm obsessed with this look

Favorite Game Plot: -breaks everything in your room and your neighbor's room for good measure- TURN IT BACK ON NAMCO I'M PAST MY LIMIT SO I'M PROBABLY IN OVERLIMIT (Crestoria. it's that or I'm saying Legendia again. Innocence and Hearts both are really close runner ups tho!!! definitely the most unique in the franchise imo out of the mainline games and sadly confined to "nobody fucking cares about them and never did")

Favorite Game Ending: so that's got... layers. it really depends on the sub topic. I guess in terms of a happy ending, Graces (the Wii version specifically, getting Richard back. don't really care for the ending of arc F and lean more toward disliking it). in terms of a depressing fucking ending that makes me Very Upsetti, Destiny. there is literally nothing happy about Destiny's ending for me. like yeah we saved the world, but at a LOT of cost and it's just depressing. I've wanted to make a post about that anyway, but basically it's a type of ending they don't really make anymore (especially in Tales), and the emotional impact for me was a lot heavier than the other games, with Destiny 2 lingering right behind it. both Destiny games were just DEPRESSING, and no matter how bittersweet Destiny 2's ending was, it's still DEPRESSING. Vesperia at least had a more outright happy ending (that wasn't completely changed by a post game ending arc with a totally different ending) and I finally at that point didn't lose my favorite character to Certain Final Boss Death or Recurring Side Character I Came To Love Dying Unceremoniously and Undeserved. only a couple of top favorites actually came out of their games alive for me by Vesperia in terms of games I know + release timeline (to put it into perspective, by the time of Vesperia in release order (so not the order I played in bc I don't really remember the whole actual order at this point), out of all the games I know, my favorite character death toll was five to three survivors not counting Vesperia. still haven't played Eternia so I'm not counting that one). so I guess like, my answer is a whacky combination of Graces for the Wii, Destiny and Vesperia. maybe if Hearts hadn't killed my mans off then it could've had it all. 😔

[mannatea]

The World Could Be Beautiful, a Tales of Symphonia ‘fic (Chapter 10)

Word Count: 55,229 Summary: After a chance encounter in Izoold, Raine and Regal both get a lot more than they bargained for. (A one-night stand 'fic with consequences.) Chapter Summary: Raine asks a theoretical question of Regal; Lloyd and Colette discuss their exsphere journey with Raine. Pairing/Characters: Regal/Raine, Genis, George, Lloyd, Colette, and assorted OCs as the story requires. Zelos shows up later. Warnings: Blanket warnings for the entire fic: pregnancy (and all that comes with it), discussion/mention of abortion, power imbalance, fantasy racism. Rating: Explicit. (No sex in this chapter.) Genre: Romance/angst/friendship vibes.

The title is the link to Ao3 for Chapter 10! (This is the halfway point in the story!)

Notes (to be read after the chapter) under a cut:

I've always been a bit fascinated with Raine's relationship with Iselia. I feel like it's a place Genis could call home, despite the turbulence of the game, but with Raine's long history of being unwanted and unwelcome it's hard for me to imagine she ever truly feels like she can go back there. I think logically she knows it would be okay, but she can't untangle the way she feels about it.

There's something to be dissected here about how she stayed there way longer than she intended to, and cannot separate that she lived her life there was a lie and any goodwill or comfort received while she was there was sort of...based on the lie and not the reality.

That said, it was the safest she was ever allowed to feel, so it's not hard to think she's sometimes a bit homesick for it, or at least for the kind of life she wished she could have led there.

In this "thought experiment" she posits, Regal mentions that he would have known immediately she was not an elf, and I stole that from the OVA because I love it (and for no other reason). I really liked that detail—that he would know and respect that it was a secret she kept to protect herself and her brother.

--

Lloyd and Colette's journey to find the exspheres and destroy them/render them unusable comes with some interesting conundrums: what do they do when they come across someone who needs their exsphere? When should they shift their focus from mass exsphere sales/production issues to The Individual, and how do you convince other people to give up their exsphere when you yourself are wearing one?

Raine's understanding of the old man Lloyd and Colette talk about comes from a short period in her life where she and young Genis happened upon an abandoned little farmstead and lived there for some months. There was a garden and, in similar fashion to the old man, she tried to protect it so that she and Genis would have food...but she was 14 and there wasn't much she could do against grown adults (who were probably also hungry and wanted that food).

She didn't die but she knows it wasn't because she picked herself up by the bootstraps or anything; she just got lucky.

She never had a lot of opportunity to be kind to others, having never had much excess, but I like the idea of her being able to see Lloyd and Colette try to make the world kinder.

--

LLOYD'S POEM. Shut up don't touch me don't look at me. I crafted this idea so carefully. I imagine Lloyd was a bit of a goof in class, trying to "not take assignments seriously" but this almost always backfired on him because Raine could still see the potential there.

And I think Lloyd is best at art and expression through art forms! ;)

Anyway when I was in middle school we had to do a writing assignment where the story had to start with "Almost" (and then an event), and I tried to be cheeky about it and wrote a story called "Almost Mowed Over" (about a blade of grass who narrowly avoids being mowed over LOL) because I thought the assignment was so dumb. Then my ass got picked to compete in Power of the Pen? So. I was channeling that energy here. LOL

But in a more wholesome way!

--

COLETTE AND REGAL. COLETTE AND REGAL. I love their friendship! Sometimes Colette can be a bit silly and goofy but I love the idea of her getting to live for herself and growing and maturing because of that.

I don't know what people expected from a girl who thought she was going to die at 16. If she took things too seriously she'd just be depressed all the time. I love her silly side. But I also wanted to explore how she and Lloyd might struggle sometimes with nightmares and other problems. Normally they talk to one another about these things, but I firmly believe everyone needs friends who exist outside of their romantic relationship, so Colette leans a little on Regal here...and finds the knowledge that he also struggles with this to some degree to be cathartic. Like, oh, it's not just us! We're not alone!

[sakuraswordly]

If there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of man.” - Edward D. Morrison (Tales of Phantasia)

If you see in ova, Dhaos already tried to tell them and warn them but humans always thought they know better and if you did not side with them, you were enemies. Dhaos choice to use force and change to evil even if he needs to take blood in his hand.

True that defeating Dhaos was wrong at the end of the game but if we don't defeat Dhaos, he will destroy every human. Dhaos also tried to listen that humans can change like what Chronos thought in Tales of Xillia 2 and Mithos in Tales of Symphonia. So Cless chose to continue to defeat Dhaos because Dhaos's judgement was wrong. There were good humans. If you just wide out everything, that's not going to be better. The same way for Lloyd Irving did in Tales of Symphonia. He knew what he tried to change Colette back to live normal life is wrong but she became like this because Cruxis Crystals or Mithos tried to resurrect Martel. This is wrong even if Mithos planned works and saves the future, this is nothing different from what Dhaos did too. So Lloyd's choice is right to defeat Mithos for the same reason as Cless.

[likes-words-and-shrimp]

Any Tales of - game for the fandom ask :D

going with Symphonia! My first and fave Tales game <3

the first character i ever fell in love with:

It's hard to narrow it down but I did really love Lloyd when I first played! I love my dumb protagonists but he's also just such a good character with really good growth. I think after is Dirk because DWARF DAD and I always wanted to have more with him. We need more dwarves in media!

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not:

I guess the best answer here is Zelos lol. I think I used to like him plenty and found him funny but, well, a lot of that has tempered down over the years or maybe I just got very tired of seeing him as a focus in fandom and am bored of it. I played the remaster to remember his good points as a character and I came out of my replay loving Regal more oops.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

Hm, nothing here really applies. When I first played I actually didn't have many ships at all, even Lloyd and Colette wasn't a full on ship for me! (But I did like them interacting a lot haha). All other ships I eventually liked I still like now.

my ultimate favorite character™:

It has to be said: it's Colette! I do switch back and forth with loving both her and Lloyd together as my pair of faves! But I think Colette ultimately wins out, especially as I've grown older. Much of her story and her struggles just hits for me in ways no other character's background really does in Symphonia. Also religious conflict/guilt of a character is also delicious to me when done well.

prettiest character:

Ohh there's a lot! So it's hard for me to pick. Ofc I think Colette is pretty but so is Lloyd, he's my pretty boy. :D But! I think after watching the OVA, I remember Regal looking so pretty in a way that his in-game model could never do. Regal it is. Also we love a beefy man who cooks, it ups that prettiness.

my most hated character:

Hmm, probably one of the Grand Cardinals, so maybe I'll go with Kvar! HE AWFUL. But fun to write though when I did that one time haha.

my OTP:

*falls on floor* if my blog title isn't obvious, colloyd is my ultimate of ships, the best of my otps. Lloyd and Colette together is food for my soul. I love every aspect of them and they have completely devoured me that I didn't even realize how much I was already shipping them until years later. I emphatically believe Symphonia is their story and about their relationship. The way they understand each other better than anyone, the way they're silly with each other, the way they just love each other?? They do love each other, that's canon. Platonic or romantic (but it's romantic in my eyes) and I am so invested in their dynamic and want to explore every possibility with them. I have apparently written half a million words about them help me.

my NOTP:

:) Sorry but I legit dislike Lloyd with the z-man lmao. I used to be indifferent (I just found it so boring) but now I'm honestly very uncomfortable with it (fandom hasn't helped). Oh well!

favorite episode scene:

I'm going with scene here and it's a tie between the coffee scene and the reveal of Colette's crystallization. Of course both have to do with Colette and how things keep being awful for her :') But I love the coffee scene for Lloyd and how he reaches to hold her, and also how Lloyd assures Colette is not disgusting at all when she has a breakdown of her reveal. Him walking to her to be NEAR HER even as she tries to hide away her sickness gets to me.

Another favorite is the ending: We got big trees, we got beautiful music, we got COLLOYD WINGS. This lives in my heart.

saddest death:

The closest is Corrine! I think what makes it sad more though is Sheena's reaction to it. Also just such a good performance of the voice actress too.

favorite season plot/arc:

Going with plots and arcs in the game, but I think from discovering Colette losing her humanity and seeing this play out throughout the Sylvarant arc of the game is so good and it does make you genuinely wonder what will happen. And when we get to the Tower of Salvation and fight Remiel and KRATOS. I was stoked playing through that when I was younger.

least favorite season plot/arc:

Hm, probably when we're doing the Tethe'alla temples and such. Pacing gets a little off and also with more characters we start to lose the focus on other people. I think it picks back up once the group focuses on curing Colette's sickness.

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

Lol hate is a strong word, I'm more just fatigued of him but heyyy it's Zelos! I am just uninterested. Also Kratos to a lesser extent, but oddly my opinion of him has actually raised a bit more over the years. So he's like, middle. gj, kratos.

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

Maybe Mithos? I like Mithos. This boy can fit so much messed up trauma and manipulation. Combined with the uncomfortable idolization of his sister to the point he no longer sees her as an actual person (if he ever did?). And the fact he can genuinely be creepy?? Still my fave Tales villain.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

Colette. ;_; She deserves so much more. Also, Dirk is a close second, he deserves more attention! The dad that stayed!

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

So fun fact, I started shipping Lloyd/Mithos a bit purely because of some jp fanartists, and now I'm very intrigued. (I own two doujins of them now haha). I think there can be so much fun interactions between them, and none of it would be good for Lloyd. But it's fun. One day I will write something with them and no one will have a good time.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship:

I think this would be Kratos/Anna for me, and I've written several fics of them too. I get the appeal in a way, but ultimately Anna is a character with... no established character lol. Even Kratos barely ever talks about her as what she was like as an actual person? I know plenty of people love this ship and I've seen interesting things done with it, but my investment isn't much for them. I honestly mostly like this ship for the baby Lloyd fluff you'll get from it lol.

[feluka]

the tales sexyman poll just reminded me that during the entirety of my symphonia playthrough, because of the way yuan's upper lip was drawn as a thick black line, i always thought he had a mustache. and i don't mean this in a 'haha if you squint and look at him a certain way it kinda look like he has a mustache' kind of way. i mean that it literally never occurred to me that it was just his upper lip. it 100% registered as a mustache in my brain and i always took it as a matter of canon and never questioned it. that combined with the fact that his english VA gave him a gruff voice made yuan in my head a middle aged man. then i watched the OVA and i was like. who in the FUCK is this Young Smooth Androgynous Pretty Elven Boy™ calling himself yuan