These are recommendations made by tropers for Tales of Symphonia, all of which have been signed. After a few samples, you will be able to judge whether you might be interested in the 'fic, based on who recommended it. No-name recommendations will be zapped. Nobody would back up the rec. Discussion of the recommendation is welcome on the discussion page. As such discussion is important, do remember to add the discussion page to the watchlist, if need be.
Do warn when a fanfic may head into non-canon territory. Some people just don't like it, and as we all know, Shipping is Serious Business.
Authors, and Websites
- Recommended by Airship Canon.
- Lil-Samuu is perhaps the greatest Fanfic Author for this game. Ever. However, She does write a lot about the Official Couple, so if you don't like Lloyd/Colette, you may not like her writing.
Add Review- Recommended by Crow T R0bot
- While freaky has quite a few shipping fics and doesn't dabble exclusively in To S fiction, she has a very broad and varied repertoire (though she has problems with starting new fics and procrastinating on others, getting so bad that she holds a monthly poll on which fic to continue recently), but the stuff she has written has only gotten better and better (though her earlier fics suffer a bit for not realizing how double-spacing can make them slightly tough to read).
- Recommended by gatekeeper827
- SMB 814 is the author of the "Whatever Will Be" series, a set of 7 stories focusing on the development of a romantic relationship between Zelos and Sheena, as well as an interesting character study of Zelos. She has a few (well done) OCs, and none of the canon characters seem OOC. All in all, she's one of the best Zelos/Sheena writers out there.
Z Skit Theater by Twilight Scribe
- Recommended by AkatsukiDaybreak
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: Z Skit Theater consists of humorous exchanges of dialogue between the party members, many of which point out Fridge Logic and Gameplay and Story Segregation elements of the game.
- Comments: While the skits are humorous and that's generally enough to keep you reading, the fact that the lines of each character are identified by a different text format (Bold, Italic, etcetera) is rather annoying, especially since the characters have a different format skit after skit and you have to keep checking the author's note in the event that you have a short memory of who's bolded and who's italicised. Can't have script format because it violates Fan Fiction.net's TOS.
Between Day and Night (An Everlasting Twilight)
by Suika Shoujo
- Recommended by zelosfricker69
- Status: In progress
- Synopsis: A character study of the events in the ten years between Zelos losing his family and finding a new one.
- Comments: An excellent piece that works to fill in the gaps that canon left regarding Zelos' backstory. The prose is both beautiful and hard-hitting.
Ice Palace by flambydelrabies
- Recommended by ageha_nacht
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Pedigree ( ped-i-gree ): an ancestral line; line of descent; lineage; ancestry.
- Comments: A stunning, provacative study of Zelos and the Wilder family. This piece sinks deep into concepts and ideas not usually seen in the fandom, and combined with the intense prose and styling makes it stand out beautifully.
Weltschmerz by flambydelrabies
- Recommended by ageha_nacht
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis:“Today is just another day, but it’s the one I’ve spent all my life dreading…”
Tethe’alla is in decline, and now chosen of mana Zelos Wilder must embark on the journey of regeneration to restore its prosperity. Meanwhile, Lloyd Aurion is sent by Cruxis to keep a distant watch over Zelos as he releases the seals, and the two of them begin to realize that nothing is what it seems.
- Comments: The first part in the "Weltschmerz" series, this is a unique take on the Chosen swap idea, showing a much darker Journey of Regeneration through the eyes of Zelos. One of the author's most notable pieces, it's a gorgeously written story that is definitely worth the read.
Prequel to a Restoration, Hope of Restoration, and Path of Restoration by Alaia Skyhawk
- Status: Complete
- Synopses:
- Prequel: Kratos of the Alurannai sets out to stop the Kharlan War with his childhood friend Vayla, befriending Yuan, Martel, and Mithos on the way. An excellent take on the War and Mithos' origin.
- Hope: Kratos flees Welgaia with Yuan and later meets Anna and fathers Lloyd, who is later lost while fleeing a Cruxis attack through the Sentinels, a network of giant trees that can transport alurannai great distances very quickly. Vayla's daughter Alysii is also lost, and the alurannai must search for them, for one of them is the chosen one to restore the Giant Tree.... Also has quite a bit on the Renegades and how they operate.
- Path: Lloyd sets out on his journey with the Chosen of Cruxis, Collette, and his father Kratos. Mostly a retelling of the game, only Lloyd is Alurannai.
- Comments:
- The alurannai are a race of near-immortal beings similar to Crystal Users but with many abilities unheard of by the other races, including but not limited to 'conjuring,' the ability to change one type of mana to another, and the ability to generate mana, much like the Giant Tree. Although Sue-ish, they do have a complex culture and an entire language, Sumaityr, invented by the author.
- There are also two OC Summon Spirits—Krishka, Summon Spirit of Life, and Dallinius, Summon Spirit of Unity. The Spirits are given a new hierarchy as well—Krishka is the leader, or 'First Sumara Lord,' followed by Dallinius (the Second Sumara Lord), then Verius (Third), then Origin, and Fifth is Maxwell. There are also Greater and Lesser Summon Spirits, the Greater being the elementals and the Sumara Lords, and the Lesser being little more than talking animals who can use simple magics. Also, only the Greater Spirits require a battle and a world-changing Pact; the Lesser only need to be found and given a simple promise such as a promise to always be friends or to play an instrument daily.
Tales of Cosplayers by Nightfoot
- Recommended by Deadcricket, tenatively Rogue 7
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Two cosplayers go to a con and are pushed through a mysterious door by some freak, taking the place of Lloyd and Colette to go on the Journey of Regeneration with the original characters (who have already completed their journey and know everything they know) in their Exspheres. Hilarity Ensues as the two cosplayers, Will and Ellie, are so Genre Savvy it becomes jarring to the other characters, Will's a Deadpan Snarker, Ellie's a Tsundere and both are far, far more intelligent then their dopplegangers. The story has been completed.
- Comments: This fic takes the original story, adds in twists, and manages to keep everyone in character through the new angst. The OCs have to convincingly be Lloyd and Colette with their help, but still retain enough personality to be their own people. Very funny, and includes multiple Earth references (such as Solid Snake and Batman) that most inserts either can't do or don't do well.
i n f i n i t y by Holy Spork
- Recommended by Keltena
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: Lloyd's mother is dead and his father has been missing for three years. On the Journey of Regeneration, he meets Yuan, a mercenary, who tells him some startling things about the world, and about his family...
- Comments: An Alternate Universe Fic that takes the plot of the game and inserts many interesting and unique twists. The writing is enjoyable and everyone is in character.
''New Reality by noa748
- Recommended by Tvtropesnoob
- Status: Ongoing
- ''Synopsis: Self insert, beginning after the main party is making its way towards asgard
- comments: A self insert fic that is done fantastically; the insert is portrayed both very realistically, yet remains useful and entertaining, and before long she's as much a protagonist as any of the others. The fic uses her foreknowledge to create drama, as her friends easily tell that she hides things from them and she's hurt by having to keep the secret, and she is far and away not immune from damage for it. The plot stays true to the game for the most part — though her efforts cause it to deviate occasionally in meaningful ways — and most of the time you'll keep reading because the OC, britanny, interacts hilariously with the rest of the cast and the character development and bonding creates intrigue regarding her station, what she knows, and ultimately what she is capable of doing. It's currently the second highest fic on fanfiction.net's TOS page, in terms of favorites, and it's not unexpected; it's full of heart, the writing does wonders at drawing you in and is not at all unprofessional, and it keeps you laughing and interested all the way through, though the author is obviously a little inexperienced at the very beginning.
- Now with its own trope page.
Guardian by VSSAKJ
- Recommended by zelosfricker69
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A "what if" fanfiction about potential interactions between Kratos and Zelos during Zelos' childhood.
- Comments: This troper always thought the possibility of Kratos and Zelos having known each other before the events of the game was both fascinating and plausible. This fic does an excellent job of building on this idea from Zelos' childhood all the way until the end of the game.
Requiem of Symphonia by Unfinished Song
- Recommended by Lockea
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: With the world finally saved, the group gathers around a campfire to hear the story of the Kharlan War and the Great Hero Mithos from those who travelled alongside him.
- Comments: Wonderfully written, with canon supported pairings. There's some justified out of character moments, mostly in the Kharlan characters, and there's quite a bit of artistic liscense taken, but it's also justifiable.
Shards of Regeneration by Kasan Soulblade
- Recommended by Darksidevoid
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: The author's reimagining of both the characters and story ToS, focusing heavily on character interaction. The characters are all very realistically portrayed, and the writing style is fluid and absorbing, with few spelling errors. Numerous concepts, places, and events are recognizable or newly introduced, and are delved into in-depth, including, but not limited to: Angelic Language, the Church of Martel Mythos, Constellations, the Fortuneteller in Triet, the Kharlan War, Kratos's past, Lloyd's Childhood, Summon Spirits, and so on.
- Comments: It seems to have been abandoned at 30 chapters, although the author has said that he may get back to it in time.
- Recommended by The Otaku Ninja
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A Regal musing fic that gives you a look at the game from how he saw it, and a better look at his past
- Comments: An interesting story that gives us an insight into Regal's mindset during the game, mainly in first-person, save for the occasional flashback (with one very big exception). It's a good read, however, the quality of the story sorta... drops towards the very end, but is otherwise an interesting look into his past.
Tales of the Departed by Canada Cowboy
- Recommended by The Otaku Ninja
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Modern, AU, crossover with The Departed. Lloyd Irving and his father, an undercover police officer, learn of a plot by half elf extremists to destroy the world. Along with friends and unlikely allies, they try to put an end to this act.
- Comments: The summary says it all, really. This is more or less based on The Departed, with plenty of refrences to the game, as well as the sequel. A very interesting read, worth checking out to see how it all fits together.
The Good Aurion by emif
- Recommended by Gatekeeper 827
- Status: Dead (Last Updated February 2014)
- Synopsis: AU Cruxis! Lloyd. Lloyd has been raised in Cruxis his entire life but it takes a trip to a Forcystus's human ranch to realize exactly what Cruxis is. Forcystus and Lloyd friendship fic.
- Comments: A well written "What if" fic. Lloyd manages to stay in character (read: believable) despite the role reversal and the fact that he has to put up with a lot of shit from all sides. The grammar isn't perfect, but still well worth a read.
A Wok of Infinite Light by Feonyx
- Recommended by tikkihikki
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A new threat has arisen in the form of the Dark Chef Alliance, who seek the power of the Wonder Chef's Ultimate Recipe to mastermind a culinary takeover of the world. Only one man can stop them, and his name? Regal Bryant.
- Comments: I hesitate to call this a crack fic because that might imply it's terrible, when it's not. Feonyx is an incredible writer who just one day decided to write a multi-chaptered fic with the most ridiculously amazing scenario imaginable.
- Recommended by zelosfricker69
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: From the author: "Everyone Zelos has ever allied himself with all have one thing in common." A one-shot fic about Zelos' relationship to Yuan, Kratos, Mithos, and Lloyd.
- Comments: The writing in this is gorgeous and the parallels are executed very well. Definitely worth a read, especially considering how short it is.
Ipseity by Year Of The Kitty
- Recommended by: Killing Curse Eyes
- Vanished from the internet. Please post a link if found.
- Synopsis: Lloyd Aurion isn't sure who he is anymore. A simple decision to help leads to a newfound family, and now caught up in a web of lies, his darkest secret is that much harder to keep. Is he really a monster... or an angel?
- Pairings: Zelos/Lloyd, Raine/Sheena, Genis/Presea They are not the focus of the fic.
- Comments: Diverges from canon in that experiments were also done on Noishe in addition to Anna, Dirk never found Lloyd, and Lloyd ended up with both exspheres. One of which is turning him into an Angel, the other... lets him turn into a wolf. Lots of angst and focuses on Lloyd's relationships with Kratos, Zelos, and Sheena, and the mistrust of the rest of the group.
Karma's Solution for Fangirls: Self Insert by Concinnity
- Recommended by banjo2E
- Status: Dead (Last Updated April 2011)
- Synopsis: When a girl playing her old Tales of Symphonia game encounters an odd mishap in her living room, she awakens a bit further from home than she thought possible... Now, how does one escape from an entirely new world?
- Comments: The fourth well-written self-insert ever. As of this writing, Chapter 3 has just been posted, and the main character has yet to show any combat ability whatsoever and has no idea what's going on; unusually for a self-insert, the starting point is Meltokio rather than Iselia, which itself is interesting enough for me. The author's shown themselves to be dedicated to making this realistic and has already dropped quite a few potential plot points. Also, Zelos' character is developed enough that he can actually befriend women.
A certain point of view by Sylvia Viridian
- Recommended by ChirpChirpChirp
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: A revisiting of the game, from the opposite perspective. Did you ever wonder what Lloyd and his friends looked like to everyone else?
- Comments: An extremely ambitious project that is showing great promise. This is a wonderful retelling of the game that changes perspectives from antagonists to non-playable characters. Worth a look!
Star's Vigil by TheStarsAreWatching
- Recommended by Alpha-Elrik 21
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: Star's Vigil is a Distant Sequel that is set a century and a half after the end of Tales of Symphonia, expanding on the lore within and surrounding the game. It begins in a port town, where a young dock worker and a descendant of Lloyd and Colette end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. After being chased out of their hometown, their efforts to escape and avoid detection lead them to stumble upon something greater than they would ever have expected. Acting on the words of one of the Summon Spirits, they set out on a quest following in the footsteps of the Heroes of Regeneration.
- Comments: This fic begins simply, but the plot quickly takes off. The author(s) have expanded a lot on the background provided in the game, and the world of the fic reflects that expansion. Because of that, the story makes very little direct mention of the game in the first few chapters, but it soon becomes clear that the events of the fic are tightly and intricately bound into the game's lore. The characters are likable and original, while containing echoes of the cast of the game.
Eternal Paradox by Mystic Yoshi
- Recommended by benenator
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Set post-Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World — well, during Talesof Symphonia — ugh, nevermind. Origin has contacted Lloyd and friends to warn them of an external contaminate in the time stream. To prevent the reunification of the worlds from being undone, Lloyd is sent back via the Eternal Sword to the beginning to the Journey of Regeneration with a clear warning: don't change anything. Attempting to conceal his "angelic" powers from his awakened Exsphere is the easy part, especially once events begin to be OffTheRails driven off the rails by the contaminate.
- Comments: This fic has several character deaths, but not simply for the sake of being a "dark fic". Grammar errors are mostly nonexistant, Lloyd is NOT overpowerful compared to other angel-power characters, and actively hides his power and tries (somewhat unsuccessfully) to appear to be the several-years-younger and less-mature self he has replaced. Hints of LloydxRaine, but nothing gets to come of it.
Skewed Destinies- The Flames of Origin by Keko-the-Hybrid
- Recommended by nujalix21
- Status: Dormant; last updated December 2017
- Synopsis: Join Colloyd the dual wielder, Kraine the teacher turned mysteriously talented swordsman, and Gesea the kendaxe magic user as they make their unique journey of regeneration. Soon accompanied by other friends, they will learn that their world is in more trouble than its declining mana. Is their reality really as normal as they originally thought?
- Comments: At first it seems like the 'typical' retelling of the journey of regeneration, with the twist of character fusions, however, the mixing of different back-stories and personalities creates its own intrigue and has us wonder if/how everything else may change.
Yar by Heart of Shou (Contains a male/male pairing)
- Recommended by Keltena
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Zelos/Lloyd
- Synopsis: Sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination.
- Comments: An absolutely epic one-shot that takes the time to thoroughly explore every facet of Zelos and Lloyd's relationship.
Idiot Seraphim by Meowzy-Chan (Contains a male/male pairing)
- Recommended by Timber!
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Focuses on Zelos/Lloyd, but contains others
- Synopsis: The Four Seraphim realize that they've technically been the Three Seraphim for far too long, and decide to hire Zelos as a replacement fourth. Zelos, in the mean time, is coming to terms with his relationship with Lloyd. All forms of Hilarity Ensues.
- Comments: At its core, it's a sitcom-esque portrayal of Mithos, Kratos, Yuan, and Zelos living together, with heaping helpings of Ho Yay, Out of Character, and just plain ridiculous writing. Parts 2-6 and the prequel "Idiot Renegade" are also worth a read.
Jealousy by skywolf666
- Recommended by Red Viking, sorta Rogue 7
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Mainly focuses on Lloyd/Sheena, but also has Regal/Raine, Genus/Presea, and Zelos/Colette
- Synopsis: Given one week to prepare for the battle against Kratos, Lloyd realizes who he really needs to stand by his side on that day. Confused by his rapidly changing feelings, he tries clumsily to reach out to Sheena, who's hiding things of her own...
- Comments: As we all know, Lloyd, being the Idiot Hero that he is, doesn't really 'get' the concept of love, so it's really amusing seeing his frustration and confusion over his feelings for Sheena. There's a lemon warning for the beginning of chapter 11, but it's nothing too explicit.
The Swordsman and the Summoner by Koinekid
- Recommended by The Tambourine Man
- Status: Dead
- Pairings: Lloyd/Sheena
- Summary: Lloyd and Sheena's journey encounters some interruptions.
- Comments: This story develops a lot of concurrent plots quickly. A pretty interesting read, but the author's given up on it.
Daystar by Windian (Contains a male/male pairing)Recommended by zelosfricker69
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: Genis/Mithos, mention of Lloyd/Genis
- Summary: Genis chooses Mithos.
- Comments: This fic is written in second person, which some are not partial to, but the writing and the exposition in this are very good.
Undiscovered Countries by Resmiranda
- Recommended by: The Lucky Cat
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: Zelos/Sheena, Sheena/Lloyd, Zelos/Sheena/Lloyd
- Summary: Strangers in a strange land.
- Comments: This is such a beautiful piece, focusing on the group trying to keep it together in the aftermath of the game's finale. Everyone is wonderfully in-character and it explores the relationships between Zelos and Sheena with a refreshing perspective.
