I played FFX (and X-2) when they were new but didn't get into fandom until years later, so I get that for sure.
My resistance to Fran/Balthier is probably a manifestation of my resistance to buddy pairings in general, and particularly male/female friendships. I had the same issue with Harry/Hermione in the Harry Potter fandom: the dynamic feels so much like friendship/partnership to me, and the urge to turn it sexual and/or romantic strikes me as devaluing friendship, falling back on the canard that men and women can never be "only" friends, as if there is anything "only" about the bond of friendship.
Oops, triggered a rant there. >.> And I fully accept that some of the pairings I like can also be read as friendship (Penelo/Vaan comes to mind, and apparently Paine/Nooj to some people, although I can't see that one any other way now), so maybe I'm a hypocrite ;) but it still gets to me.
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My resistance to Fran/Balthier is probably a manifestation of my resistance to buddy pairings in general, and particularly male/female friendships. I had the same issue with Harry/Hermione in the Harry Potter fandom: the dynamic feels so much like friendship/partnership to me, and the urge to turn it sexual and/or romantic strikes me as devaluing friendship, falling back on the canard that men and women can never be "only" friends, as if there is anything "only" about the bond of friendship.
Oops, triggered a rant there. >.> And I fully accept that some of the pairings I like can also be read as friendship (Penelo/Vaan comes to mind, and apparently Paine/Nooj to some people, although I can't see that one any other way now), so maybe I'm a hypocrite ;) but it still gets to me.