Favorite Fiction Couples Part Four

Can it be?  Have we really reached the last post for this list?  Why yes! *and there was much rejoicing*  Since last February, I have been blogging about my Top 20 Favorite Fictional Couples, which was inspired by being single this past Valentine's Day.  (Fun Fact: I'm still single.)  From Mulder to Scully, to Kira and Odo, I've talked about why I love certain couples and probably revealed way more than I meant to, that I have no life.  But you know what I do have?  Um...Dignity! Yes, I have dignity.  (Fun Fact: No, I don't.  But I do have cats.)

HE'S SO FLUFFY!!!

Now we have reached the Top Five Couples.  Brace yourselves readers--these are all couples with many devoted fans--some more crazy than others. So without further ado, let's get to it...

# 5. Wesley and Fred
Show: Angel

Nope, not a gay couple.  Fred is a girl.  This is yet another couple from Joss Whedon.  So, as you probably should be aware of by now, it ends tragically with both Fred and Wesley dying.  What's particularly torturous about this relationship, is that after Fred dies, her body is used to host an ancient demon king, so Wesley gets to see her face every day to remind him of the woman he's lost.  

Wesley: Are you f**kin kidding me?!

Even more torturous?  They were literally together for less than one episode before Joss killed Fred.  They FINALLY hook up, after many, many episodes, nay, seasons even, of sending yearning looks, or being with someone else, before realizing that they're perfect for each other.  They kiss in one of the best and funniest episodes ever, and then in the next episode they're being super adorable and cute together and then this:

Excuse me, there's a gaping hole in my heart that I have to go take care of.

This, as you can imagine, sends Wesley spiraling into a depressing, kinda crazy place that he never fully recovers from.  Seriously, Joss Whedon loves to torture his characters. *shakes fist* CURSE YOU WHEDON!!

However, Wesley and Fred are both some of the best characters on the show.  Wesley went through tons of character development which was awesome.  He has a one-sided crush on Fred for a while, but Fred doesn't begin to return his feelings until the last season.  They went through ups and downs as friends, alas that we didn't really get to see any of their time together as a couple.

# 4: Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks
Book/Movie: Harry Potter series

This was a couple that I did not see coming in the books, and yet, once they happened, I absolutely fell in love with them.  Lupin is a werewolf and Tonks is a metamorphmagus--meaning she can change her appearance at will.  Lupin is initially hesitant to start a relationship with her, because he is worried that since he is a werewolf, Tonks will be hurt, or will be ostracized from society.  However, Tonks eventually convinces him that she doesn't care about those things, and they wind up getting married.  Aww... And in the seventh book, they have a baby.  Awww...

Seriously, tell me they're not adorable.

And then of course, also in the seventh book they both, (spoiler alert) FRIGGIN DIE!! (STILL MAD ABOUT THAT!) And not only do they both die, we don't even get a death scene for them.  Yup, they die off-page.  *NOOOOOOOOOOO*  In the movie, same thing, death off-screen.  The most we get is a shot of their bodies in the Great Hall.  I'm still upset at JK Rowling for this.  Yes, I get that war is a bad, bloody mess and people die in it, but don't you think the deaths of Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, Hedwig, Dobby, Mad-Eye Moody, Snape and Fred Wesley are enough to teach us that? I think they are.

Not cool JK Rowling, not cool.

Well, at least there's fanfiction to read about them, plus a really good one that actually reverses their deaths, but also makes it line up with cannon, so in my head, they never actually died.

#3. Westley and Buttercup
Book/Movie: The Princess Bride

In case you haven't seen The Princess Bride, first may I congratulate you on successfully living in a cave all your life, and second, may I say that you are definitely missing out on one of the best movies ever made. This movie is considered a classic, and for good reason.  It contains some of the most quoted dialogue of all time, and it contains one of the most epic romances ever put to screen.  Don't believe me?  I present to you Exhibit A:

What's that? He's cupping her cheek? Aww, so sweet.

Gazing into each other's eyes. Check.

Holding each other's arms at sunset, *swoon*

Silhouettes kissing, I told myself I wouldn't cry.

And that's all like in the first 15 minutes of the movie by the way...it only gets more intense from there...

I mean:

When you look up "Romance" in the dictionary, they have this pic.

just look:

Possibly the most romantic line in the history of the universe.

at them:

If saving someone from the Fireswamp isn't love, I don't know what is.

 seriously:

Excuse me, I have to go cry alone in my room.

 Basically, watch The Princess Bride.  You won't regret it.

#2: Han Solo and Princess Leia
Movie: Star Wars

Star Wars is another classic.  Do I even need to tell you why Han and Leia are so awesome?  Has anyone in the universe not seen this scene?

If you haven't seen Star Wars I don't think we can be friends. Han Solo is the lovable rouge charmer, and Leia is the responsible, stubborn, princess.  Of course they wind up together.  With an off the charts level of chemistry between them, disguised under all their bickering, they just fit perfectly together.  Also, I like that they save each other--it's not just Han coming to the rescue all the time.

They totally earn the number two spot on my list for being just so badass, awesome, sweet, and appearing in one of the coolest, funnest, awesomest, bestest movie trilogies ever made.

Han: Okay, so we're not #1 on the list, no big deal.
Leia: Do you not see the position of my hands?  It's a big deal, you nerfherder.

And now, finally, we have reached...

#1: Elizabeth and Darcy
Book/Movie/Mini-Series: Pride and Prejudice

Is there any fictitious romance more famous than that of Elizabeth's and Darcy's?  Elizabeth is smart, stubborn and jumps to conclusions.  Darcy is awkward, a bit proud, and also stubborn.  They are perhaps the most iconic example of the "slap, slap, kiss," relationship.  Elizabeth actively despises Mr. Darcy for more than half the novel, and his first proposal to her comes as a complete shock.

This kids, is what we call a plot twist.

She completely rejects him, which has the effect of him making an effort to be a better person, in order to win her love.  This is where both Elizabeth and the reader sees the sweeter, kinder side to Darcy, and realize that he's actually not all that bad as we once assumed he was.

The fact that he lives here has nothing to do with our attraction.
Nothing I say!

 Elizabeth's attitude towards him softens, and she spends some time with him while visiting her Aunt and Uncle.  Of course, Elizabeth loves to read, so one day, Darcy decides he wants to do something for her.   So from the advice of his talking candlestick he gives her the entire library at Pemberly...

Yeah, Beauty and the Beast is pretty much just an animated version of Pride and Prejudice.

In the end, after much angst from both sides, Darcy proposes again, and this time Elizabeth accepts.  What I love about them as a couple is that their relationship comes after much struggle on both of their parts.  They both change, and both admit that they were wrong about each other.  The fact is that they fit so well together, that Elizabeth, who has sworn to only marry for nothing but the deepest, truest love, agrees to marry Darcy.

You can just see their souls connecting in this gif.

Also, what I like about Elizabeth and Darcy, is they get to go live at Pemberly together, and be filthy rich and in love.  Darcy literally rides a white horse.  They are just such a perfect representation of what ideal happy endings are like that there is no way they would ever not make my number one spot of Favorite Fictional Couples.

So did I miss any of your favorites?  Let me know with a comment.  : )

Until next time readers, I leave you with a Fun Fact: Joe Wright (director of the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice) was not initially keen on Keira Knightley playing Elizabeth, believing her to be too attractive.  He changed his mind upon meeting her, deciding her tomboyish attitude would be perfect for the part.

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

Favorite Fictional Couples Part Three

This week's blog post is brought to you by two very special sponsors: Chocolate and Cats.  Thank you chocolate and cats for always supporting me as I write, and by support I mean, I eat chocolate while my cat lies on my keyboard as I try to type.

They don't even pretend they care.

For the past two posts I've been blogging about my favorite fictional couples--well, now we're finally getting down to the good stuff--the favorites of the favs.  The best of the best.  The top ten. (Do you have chills? Or is it just me?)  These are the couples that I spend hours searching for good fanfiction about them (alas, there is not a lot of good fanfiction), these are couples that cause fans to melt into puddles of goo every time they see them on screen.  Couples from shows and movies that you re-watch because they are so perfect together. 

Why can't you be real?!

So let's get to it, beginning with number...

10. Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky

Show: How I Met Your Mother

Why do I love Barney and Robin so much?  Because they're AWESOME!! 

And they know it.

Barney and Robin is an example of when the actors have such great chemistry that the course of the show changes so that the characters get together even though that wasn't the initial plan--to the point where a majority of fans care more about them, than they do about the main character Ted.

What I really like about Barney and Robin, (like Chandler and Monica) is that they start off as friends.  Their romance develops naturally between them, growing out of how well they sync together in just about everything.  This culminates in them kissing in the season four finale and deciding to be a couple.

Yeah, they're in the hospital.  It's a long story.  Just ask Ted's kids.

When the writers broke them up a couple of episodes into season five, they were unprepared for the level of backlash and outcry from the fans.  In fact, I stopped watching after they broke up, and refused to watch until I knew that they got back together ( also stopped watching because that I feel the humor of the show takes a steep drop after the first four seasons).  What followed after their breakup was a Ross and Rachel-esque of 'will they or won't they' over the course of the next couple of seasons, until finally the last season takes place entirely on the weekend of their (spoiler alert) wedding.

Barney and Robin have fun together.  It's fun to watch a couple that actually like to spend time together and want the same things out of life.  They're both commitment-phobes, so it's hilarious to watch them try to overcome that, (especially on Barney's part).  Everything about them just works.

If this isn't unrealistic expectations of romance, I don't know what is.

9. Buffy Summers and Spike (William Pratt)

Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Why yes!  It's another human/vampire relationship, and what makes this one especially ironic is the human woman is actually the Slayer-- in that it's her job to kill vampires like Spike.  In fact, they indeed start out as firm enemies, Buffy doing all in her power to try to bring Spike down.  But's that's what I love about shows by Joss Whedon--he let's characters grow and develop and change.  

Seriously they go from this...

to this.

The change starts to happen around season five--when Spike realizes that he's falling for her. Buffy doesn't buy it and spurns him at just about every opportunity.  The first sign of a real connection and the fact that Spike's feelings are sincere, is when he doesn't give up the location of Buffy's sister, even under horrendous torture.  It's visible evidence of how much he cares for Buffy and she sees it, and acknowledges it.

But then of course, Buffy has to go and die  (awkward).  When she is pulled out of heaven by her friends (more awkward), it is Spike she confides in.  Here is where their relationship takes a more dark tone into an abusive one.  Buffy basically uses Spike all season long, toying with his emotions in an effort to feel alive again.  Spike lets her, but by the end of the season he's had enough, and it culminates in him attacking Buffy, to his horror and disgust.  He leaves town, and goes off to make himself worthy of her--aka, he leaves on a quest to reclaim his soul (something vampires don't have in this universe).

This leads to season seven, where Buffy is a bit better adjusted to being back on Earth, and now it's Spike who's gone a bit crazy.  He has gotten his soul back, and his guilt from all the evil he had done with no remorse as a vampire overwhelms him and drives him to insanity.  So Buffy takes care of him.  When she realizes that he's going through all of this for her, you can see the shock and realization on her face.  She stands by him when others doubt him, and he does the same for her.  They've reached a more stable place in their relationship, and they depend on each other for strength.

What I really love about souled Spike, is that he makes no demands from Buffy.  He doesn't try to force anything to happen between them.  Just look at this speech he gives to her towards the end of the season, after Buffy has been abandoned by all of her friends:

It's scenes like that between them, that make them one of my favorite couples ever.  Unfortunately, Spike dies at the end of the season, believing that Buffy doesn't love him, which is typical for Joss Whedon show. *shakes fist* WHEDON!!!

8. Dimitri and Anastasia

Movie: Anastasia

An animated couple that's not Disney makes the number eight spot on my list. Dimitri and Anastasia are a classic example of 'fighting = unresolved sexual tension = love.'  (seriously, that's a legit formula for romance).  Dimitri is a con man, and Anastasia is the lost princess of Russia who has lost her memory and has grown up in an orphanage.  When Anastasia's grandmother offers a reward to anyone who can return Anastasia to her, Dimitri cooks up a con to hire someone to impersonate the princess so he can collect the reward money.  What he doesn't realize until almost the end of the movie, is that he's actually stumbled upon the real Anastasia. 

Both of them are stubborn people, with strong personalities that clash almost from the moment they meet. As Dimitri teaches Anya (as they call her in the movie) how to act like the princess they slowly start to grow closer. 

Psh, nobody ever fell in love while dancing...oh wait...

When Anya finds out about Dimitri's deception, she of course, feels betrayed, and they have the inevitable fight.  However, Dimitri refuses to accept the reward money because he's just happy that Anya has found her family.  Believing there's no chance for them, he goes to leave.  This, naturally, allows him to make a big damn hero entrance later on to help save the day, just when it seems Anastasia is going to die.  In the end, they elope, and we FINALLY get to see them kiss, and head off to their happily ever after.

I ship them as they kiss on a ship.

7. Zoe and Wash

Show: Firefly

Another Firefly couple makes it into the top 10.  (Yay!)  Zoe and Wash are the best couple in the show--they are happily married, and devoted to each other.

Pictured Above: Devotion

What I like about them, is that they are just a normal couple.  They support each other, make each other laugh, but they also have their occasional fights, and Wash tends to be jealous of Zoe's friendship with Mal. Their relationship is real, with its ups and downs, but when all bets are off, they know they can rely on each other.  

A warning, if you want to picture them together and happy for a long time, don't watch the movie, because, (spoiler alert) Wash dies.  (*ugly sobbing*) WHY JOSS?!  WHY MUST YOU KILL THE BEST CHARACTERS?! *deep breath* I'm okay, I'm okay.

6. Kira and Odo

Show: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Yet again, we have another love that grows out of friendship.  Kira and Odo are not only one the sweetest couples, but also one of the most badass.  Kira is an ex-resistance fighter who grew up on a war-torn planet all her life, and Odo is a shapeshifter, chief of security and all around gruff badass.  Together they make up one of the many power couples on Deep Space Nine, but their relationship is probably the most popular one on the show, (I know that because my gut tells me so).

Seriously, can I please get an 'Awww'

Odo has had feelings for the majority of the show, but Kira doesn't realize it until almost the end of the sixth season.  When the finally got together, the writers didn't let us down, delivering one of the best scenes in the entire series.

Really, you should just watch Deep Space Nine--it's an excellent show, that once again is so great because it allows its characters to develop.  In the end, Kira and Odo are key players in resolving the war with the Dominion, and Odo goes off to his homeworld in order to help his people recover after the war.  Kira stays on the station, but it's implied that their love isn't over and that they will see each other again. (whew!  I hate sad endings).

Well, there you have it, only five more couples to go!  Who will they be? Will your favorite couple make the list?  Will Batman escape from the Joker's trap?  Tune in next time to find out, same bat time, same bat channel! 

Fun Fact of the Day: James Marsters originally auditioned for Spike with a Texan accent.  This was quickly jettisoned in favor of a London accent instead.  Good call show executives!

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!