Writer's Note: This is an essay that is made entirely out of my opinions. It is not meant to offend or sway people into liking the Valgarv/Filia coupledom at all. (Well maybe a little or at the very least to educate some) If you do not agree with the possibility of this couple or are just very set in your couple preferences then I ask you to please leave now and just save yourself from becoming irritated by this essay. The purpose of this written work is to bring light on a very sensitive subject among the Slayers fan community and perhaps give courage to those who do like Val/Filia to (for lack of a better phrase) "come out of the closet." __________________________________________________________________________________________ Destined Dragons- A Pro-Val/Filia Essay by Tara-hime __________________________________________________________________________________________ To start this essay off let me say to you, the fans of Slayers, a little fact about myself. All my life I have never gone along with the crowd! No matter what it was, I always went with what I liked even if it went against the majority of the masses. Now the same thing goes with my choices of romantic pairings in some of my favorite anime series. I do not like to go with the largest fandom because in actuality everything concerning the fandom has been done. I feel that there is nothing new I can contribute that hasn't been done already. Most of the fics I read of X/F have the same basic plot that is so tired and used all the time. Not to mention the fact that the endings are way too predictable as well. (I'm not picking on only the X/F fans I'm just giving an example). So I would go with another pairing that lacks in an extreme amount of supporters that I am intrigued by. Valgarv and Filia of Slayers Try is one and my favorite out of all the Slayers couplings. Having said that I do know and acknowledge the fact that Valgarv and Filia do not actually have a romantic involvement in Slayers Try whatsoever and after much speculation of what happens "after" Try I reluctantly agree that Filia will most likely become the mother figure in Val's life after he is reborn. However none of that misleads me from my love of these two dragons and the possibility for romance between them. It made me quite fonder of it actually. Some frequent "evidence" that disproves the possibility of Valgarv and Filia… 4.) Canon or Non-Canon? That is the question! Although Slayers is initially not a romantic anime series there are suggestive hints strewn about to show who belongs with who. Canon, as defined by the anime community, is when the couple's creator intends to pair the two individuals together. (For example Miaka and Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi.) The only "canon" couple from Slayers is Lina and Gourry but where do Filia and Valgarv stand in this? That is left to be seen because they do not ride off into the sunset as a couple but they do end up together per se' in the form of a mother-son relationship. For the sake of argument it is safe to say they could be non-canon because, while I do not know Araizumi Kanzaka's take on the coupling, it is to be considered the fans that saw the likelihood of romance between them created the coupling. So in short Val/Filia could be canon or non-canon, since it is undetermined it just depends on a person's preference. I say this because I become agitated when people say that V/F are not canon but non-canon because the canon couple is X/F when they can't say it for the mere fact she doesn't end up with either romantically. So both pairings cannot be considered canon or non-canon. They are just pairings. 3.) The Xelloss factor! This is an extremely touchy subject when concerning who is the best match for Filia. Neither can be considered canon in my opinion because she does not end up with either of them romantically but that still does not clarify what happens after Try. Does she or doesn't she love Xelloss? IMHO with all biases aside I really do not think so. Throughout the majority of Try Filia has shown on more than one occasion her detest towards Xelloss and vice versa. I am sorry but I have never believed in love-hate relationships and this is no exception. There is no actual love or romantic interest shown between them the same way there is none with Val and Filia. Another big factor is the theory that mazokus cannot feel love. I feel it is safe to say that is correct and Xelloss is no exception to the rule. Xelloss lives off of the negative emotions humans (or dragons) give off and for him to feel love would probably kill him. But if he were able to feel love I think he would take it out of the perspective it's meant to be seen as. Instead of the warm fuzzy feeling normal people would experience, Xelloss with his sadistic ways would turn into a possessive stalker of sorts. Simply put "If I cannot have her no one else can" would be his mantra (Just a little note but I like this notion for Xelloss' idea of love). Among the Canon Slayers community the rule of "opposites attract" has been overused quite enough especially as a form of evidence with the Xel/Fil fandom. I would have to discredit this since the only coupling I notice that is completely opposite from each other is Zel/Ame. Zel is the quiet, reserved, if not moody type and Amelia is outgoing and hyper. While Filia and Xelloss are opposites they are also alike but do not balance each other out. Instead they clash together like two positively charged ions. Even without Valgarv I do not see Xel and Filia winding up together. Nuff said on that. Out of all the so-called "reasons" Xelloss and Filia are supposed to be together the one that really irks the hell out of me is the infamous "That's the dragon I love" scene. I do not consider this to be concrete evidence because this line is said in the English dubbed version not in the original Japanese version. I am one to go with what is said in the Japanese versions and this is a big reason as to why. In the Japanese version the line is translated as "That's Filia right?" but it is to be meant along the lines of "That's the Filia I know!" Xelloss meant it to be a cute way to tease her not a declaration of love. Blame freakin Software Sculptors for the bad misleading translation. While I have nothing against the Xel/Fil fandom I cannot consider that as concrete proof. 2.) Sympathy and Hate do not Mix. I must say that this is more irritating to me than any other reason against Val and Filia. Yes Filia does feel a great amount of sympathy towards Valgarv but should this doubt the possibility of love between them? I don't think so! The phrase "sympathy does not = love" can go the same way with the hate = love theory. Just because one hates another does not mean they are relationship material let alone they love one another. I can see Filia's sympathy turning into something more with Valgarv whereas her hate relationship with Xelloss would progress no further than acquaintances that tolerate each other's presence. To me love/hate relationships will end the same way they started. Oh but what's that you say? Doesn't Valgarv hate Filia? The majority of the V/F community take this to offense because nowhere in Try does Valgarv verbally say, "I hate Filia!" He hates the Golden Dragons as a whole but not Filia as a single person. At first it appears that he is a bit hostile towards her but throughout the rest of Try he changes his attitude around her. For example when Filia first learns of Valgarv's Ancient Dragon heritage the Supreme Elder bashes his race to Filia but Valgarv interrupts him telling Filia it was not true then he goes off on the Supreme Elder. He did not want Filia to have the wrong impression because I suppose he sensed that Filia was different from the other Golden Dragons. When Xelloss was calling Filia a hypocrite in Valgarv's lair he stood up for her. Filia was the only one of Lina's group he could have a civil conversation with that did not end with an explosion. And just for the record if he hated Filia so much then why didn't he just kill her and get it over with? I mean he had no problem killing the Supreme Elder why not her? I'm sorry but if I hated someone like Valgarv supposedly "hates" Filia I would not treat her like that. 1.) Future Oedipus Complex? Oh god here we go! This is probably the number one reason why people do not like Val/Fil even without the Xelloss factor. Before I continue let me make this point perfectly clear… I DO NOT support actual real life incest!! I do not mind nor take offense if people practice it but I do not agree with it mainly because of the biological consequences most of the children are born with. That said I do not mind some incest pairings in anime. For example I love Setsuna X Sara from Angel Sanctuary, whereas I hate Anthy X Akio from Utena. (:screams: "DIE AKIO!" ) Now that I clarified that let's move on to Val and Fil. Yes it is possibly so that she will more than likely be a mother figure to Val and raise him once he is hatched from his egg. But we are not entirely sure how fast Val will age into an adult. I say this because in Try we see him as a young child during the massacre of his race then it goes forward to him as an adult being chased by Golden dragons when he meets Garv. Now either he reached his adult age rather rapidly or many years passed through both events. It's not explained how it happened so you'll have to make your own call on that one, either possibility could happen. Would it still be considered incest if she only takes care of him for a few days then he becomes an adult? I don't think it would. Which brings me to another point with the whole age business. If it takes a lot longer for him to age than normal humans, then the pairings of him with the other Slayers girls couldn't happen. I mean come on!! If it takes several years for him to age do you actually think that Lina and the other girls are going to just sit around and wait till he can play with the big girls? Hell no!! They will probably all be married off not to mention be too old for Val. At least Filia ages slowly. Moving along my dear friend and partner in crime Suten brought up a good point that I will dwell into. If the roles were reversed and Val had to raise Filia (pleas bear with me on this) he would probably take care of her just not raise her like a daughter and wait until she is ready and old enough to become his mate. Who's to say that this couldn't go the same way with Filia? I've seen this done in other anime pairings such as Rin and Sesshoumauru from InuYasha. And hey if Xelloss can be paired up with Zelas, who created him and technically is his mother, then why is it not ok for Val and Fil who aren't even blood related? Well I hope you have enjoyed my rambles and maybe see the prospect of Val and Filia in a new light. If you'd like to discuss this with your own views whether they be pro or con please feel free to e-mail me. Thank you!!