Tales (series)/Ho Yay
- Tales of Symphonia has some subtext between Lloyd and Zelos, despite the latter's womanizing.
- In the Japanese version, Zelos calls Lloyd "hunny," a term he otherwise reserves for females. In the English version, it's changed to "bud" except in two obscure scenes the censorship squad apparently missed. (Yes, his butler also calls Lloyd Sir Hunny.) There was also a world map skit that was apparently too gay for America.
- And where might one find this skit?
- Japan?
- You could also say Zelos is hiding behind a Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today? facade and Lloyd never shows much interest towards the female sex in THAT way... due to being a Chaste Hero or something else? The game has pretty much given you everything you need to ship it.
- One good example of a specific scene is when the party is in the sewers trying to sneak their way back into Meltokyo. Just as they're almost through, Regal makes his entrance by taking Zelos hostage. Presea chases Regal off of him and the first thing he does once he's up is to go to hide behind Lloyd, latching onto him from behind. That's not the last time he glomps Lloyd either.
- It's even more blatant and serious if you make Zelos Lloyd's most important person and get the bonding scenes with him - of course, you get romantic subtext with anyone you decide to pair up with Lloyd, but in Zelos' case Lloyd becomes basically the only reason he bothers keeping alive.
- Well not exactly, Zelos only commits Suicide by Cop in the path where you re-recruit Kratos, since that's the only path where Lloyd doesn't insist that he still trusts Zelos even after he betrays the party. So this basically holds true even when he's not Lloyd's most important person.
- And then there's the cutscene where Lloyd finds out that Kratos is his father. Normally it's Collete who delivers the Get a Hold of Yourself, Man! speech to Lloyd to snap him out of his Heroic BSOD, but if you manage to get Zelos' Relationship Values high enough before this point in the game Zelos does it instead. He's the only one who can do this other than Collete.
- Also with Zelos's relationship values maxed out, when entering the coliseum as Lloyd, Zelos will demand you "put on a show that will make me fall in love."
- And more between Kratos and Yuan, the latter of whom winds up cradling the former in his arms at one point.
- This troper saw more Yuan and Botta.. So, so much Ho Yay.
- Can't forget Mithos and Genis, either - they even get a sidequest together for bonding.
- And in the sequel, after Emil learns that Regal was forced to kill someone he loved, there's a skit where Emil wonders if he'd be able to fight Richter if the time came. Followed by the fact that he doesn't like Richter "like that". In his own internal monologue.
- The way Emil babbles on about how much he admires Richter despite the latter declaring himself to be Emil's enemy sure makes it sound like somebody has a man-crush. Not to mention, they're practically pitch-perfect for the Seme and Uke roles.
- Emil also has slightly less blatant but still noticeable moments with Regal and Lloyd. Also he thinks Zelos worships Lloyd, and if you get Genis's conversation with Lloyd in Flanoir you'll see he still hasn't got over Mithos.
- On top of Emil's obvious man-crush on Richter, even Richter and Aster have prime shipping opportunities as well. Man, Namco. So much Ho Yay, so little time. They certainly know how to please the fans.
- In Flanoir where you first meet Decus, with his whole "You must have a crush on me too!" thing. He basically called dibs on Emil if things didn't work out with Alice...
- Some people have started shipping Kratos and Lloyd only to find out Kratos is Lloyd's daddy.
- And some still ship them, regardless of incestual complications.
- In the Japanese version, Zelos calls Lloyd "hunny," a term he otherwise reserves for females. In the English version, it's changed to "bud" except in two obscure scenes the censorship squad apparently missed. (Yes, his butler also calls Lloyd Sir Hunny.) There was also a world map skit that was apparently too gay for America.
- Tales of Vesperia: If, after some twenty hours at least, you haven't done some serious thinking about how much Rita is concerned about Estelle's well-being, then, friend, you're not paying any attention. Makes one wonder just what it is she finds in Rita's drawer not long after they meet.
- The Play Station 3 version even adds some new scenes where Rita and Estelle pledge their eternal friendship and raise a baby together.
- As soon as you enter the first dungeon with Rita, she is caught by the main character, staring at Estelle with little blush marks. She doesn't continue to stare, but will get very flustered when the other characters tease her for being close to Estelle.
- Adding to the Les Yay, Judith frequently tells the other girls "you look cute when you're X." To say nothing of Yuri and Flynn's could-be-interpreted-either-way friendship since childhood.
- Or of Zagi's violent obsession with Yuri.
- On the Flynn and Yuri thing, in the Play Station 3 version they have a dual Mystic Arte together, which may draw comparisons to previous Official Couple Emil and Marta's team-up attack in Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and the team-up attack used by later Official Couple Jude and Milla in Tales of Xillia.
- And just like Rita and Estelle, this is not lost on the characters in the game itself. Sodia is fully aware that Yuri is her main competition for Flynn's affections, which puts her attempt to kill Yuri on top of Zaude in a whole new light.
- One can't forget Duke and Elucifer. The latter's murder leaves Duke so bitter, he's prepared to sacrifice all of humanity as a means of saving the planet.
- Given what the other Entelexeia look like, it's safe to say that this one crosses over with Improbable Species Compatibility.
- Not necessarily. We've seen that at least one of them can take on human form.
- Tales of Legendia has, on the Ho Yay side, Jay and Moses, who eventually become quite close - Jay (who's generally emotionally distant) even hugs Moses in the end. It also has quite a bit of Les Yay, especially between Grune and Norma; Norma seems to quite enjoy cuddling up against Grune's chest.
- Shirley and Fenimore. Fenimore's death is even the thing that pushes Shirley into a world-destroying rage.
- And then there's Elsa. At one point, you encounter her walking around town with Chloe, and she insists they're on a date, to Chloe's embarrassment. In a later scene, Elsa falls asleep on Chloe's lap and repeatedly says her name in her sleep, then, upon waking, proclaims Chloe to be "the best".
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Norma: It's love! True love! |
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- Pick two characters in Legendia. Any two. Oh look, you have found a couple with a lot of subtext!
- He's not just being sarcastic. Take, for example, the scenes Shirley and Chloe get together following the latter's day in the limelight episode (especially once Norma gets in on the fun, claiming Chloe is "hogging Shirl". Girl even has a segment where she starts fawning over Chloe's breast size.) And of course:
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Senel: Moses! |
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- More from the Tales (series): Stahn and Leon in Tales of Destiny, at least in the remake. Leon starts out as a Jerkass who becomes a Defrosting Ice King after spending time around Stahn eventually admitting they are "friends" right before he makes a Heroic Sacrifice for him... well, okay, and the rest of the party. Stahn really loves to say Leon's name, and eventually he marries Leon's sister. Did I mention there's a strong family resemblance?
- This adds a very interesting piece of subtext to a skit in Tales of Destiny 2 where Kyle asks about a possible love triangle between Stahn, Rutee, and Leon.
- Tales of the Abyss. Hoo, boy, where to start...Luke and anyone else, pretty much.
- Guy is terrified of women, and acknowledged in one sidequest to have basically raised Luke as they were growing up together. As a result, Luke depends on him emotionally to a great degree. Add to that the fact that Guy is Luke's servant and therefore technically has to follow his orders.
- Luke and Asch have a great deal of aggressive tension between them, plus Luke's struggle to have Asch acknowledge his right to exist, and Asch's Tsundere way of looking after him.
- Ion is the first person in the game that Luke is openly nice to, and they have some shared angst over being replicas.
- Some of their dialouge in the Cheagle Woods (particularly on Ion's side) comes across as shameless flirting.
- Master Badtouch.
- Not to mention Jade, Emperor Peony, and Dist.
- Dist is openly obsessed with Jade, only avoids Camp Gay because his sexuality never actually comes up, and generally acts like a Stalker with a Crush. Meanwhile, Jade tries to ignore him, but they were childhood friends, and the party actually speculates that Jade likes Dist more than he lets on. The interrogation scene with Jade and Dist was particularly...questionable. Dist also hates Peony and basically treats him like a rival love interest, which leads to the next point...
- Peony refers to Jade as "his", and gives him privileges well above his rank and station purely because they're so close, and since he's the Emperor he can do that sort of thing. While Jade trolls everyone in the game, Peony is the only one who can get Jade back just as well, or even better. Jade is The Stoic, so he doesn't show as much affection as Peony does, but he does undertake dangerous missions as Peony's most trusted advisor, which speaks volumes.
- Tales of Graces.....oh boy. Richard's crush on Asbel seems to have started when they were kids, 7 years ago. And not to mention that in the demo for Tales of Graces F, when Asbel jumps for the ship it's Richard that catches him. First scene. Then there's Pascal and Sophie, and Hubert who seems to be some sort of backwards tsundere for his brother. And then Lambda. Lambda is....well, let's just say he spends most of his time residing in either Richard or Asbel and has yandere tendencies.
- Not to mention, him giving Richard some yandere-ness as well. Just listen to the voice clips of him screaming Asbel's name like a betrayed lover.
- An Eldritch Abomination is "inside" Richard? I'm sorry, when did this series get a High Octane Nightmare Fuel page?
- What about the Future arc ending, and how Cheria and Sophie were practically dancing with each other?
- And for some Crossover Ship, Emil and Ruca are now shipped together, thanks to a scene in Radiant Mythology 3's opening where they HUG each other. Yeah, REAL subtle, Namco.
- Tales of Theater gives us more crossover fun with Yuri and Guy, seen here at 2:06
- Tales of Xillia subtly combines this with a Precocious Crush. At one point, Elise's living doll, Tipo, latches onto Milla and starts moterboating her. It's revealed later in the game that the things Tipo says and does are really Elise's innermost thoughts.