It’s Valentine’s Day! In honor of all the lovey-dovey feelings going around today, we’re going to talk about ships — relationships, that is!
Romance crops up in all sorts of stories, and the speculative genre is no exception. We asked our contributors to share with us their favorite romantic couples, and we opened it up to both firmly established pairings as well as headcanons (because much of fan shipping is all about pairing couples who didn’t get their time to shine in the original work). So…who are our favorite duos? Whose love for each other makes our hearts beat faster? Take a look, and be wary of spoilers.
Erin S. Bales: For the record, I’m not much of a headcanon shipper, the one exception being Alex Kamal/Bobbie Draper in The Expanse series. While I realize that ship has long-since sailed (sunk?), I will forever be sad that nothing ever came of their early flirtations.
Anyway, I love a bit of romance in my spec fic, so this was a tricky post to write. In the end, though, I decided to go with the one that still gives me the feels, even after all these years.
At the start of this TV series — during the initial miniseries — humanity is brought to its knees by cyborgs. In a single, savage strike, these cyborgs destroy several planets and kill almost the entire population. But, through luck and skill, about 50,000 humans survive, among those are the Secretary of Education, who, through the deaths of everyone over her in the government, is elevated to the role of President in a scene reminiscent of Lyndon Johnson being sworn in after JFK’s assassination, and a salty old space dog.
Some of you may have already guessed, but I’m talking about Battlestar Galactica (2004) and the epic, galaxy-spanning love story of Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and William Adama (Edward James Olmos). They butt heads at first, both jockeying for power and position, but quickly come to respect one another, becoming steadfast allies. Then friends. Then lovers.
Theirs is a quiet and mature romance, one that takes a looooong time to develop, but that’s all the sweeter for the wait.
I will never forget Adama sitting alone in the shuttle, reading a book that he and Roslin shared, waiting for her return. And, once Roslin tells Adama she loves him (His response? “About time.”), there’s no doubt that they’re together forever. *sigh*
Top runners up:
- Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) and Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) from Dexter — In my headcanon, Deb turns Dexter in to the police the moment she discovers who/what he is. She then decides to join the FBI, where she discovers that Lundy had to fake his death in order to enter the Witness Protection Program. They’re reunited and live a long, happy life together.
- Philip J. Fry (Billy West) and Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal) from Futurama — For a sometimes very silly cartoon, this show really knew how to hit its viewers right in the feels. Take “Jurassic Bark” (aka The One With the Dog), “The Luck of the Fryrish,” or, the fantastic series finale, “Meanwhile.”
- Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) and Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper) from The Good Place — This show ended about five minutes ago, so no spoilers here. Except, I guess, for the spoiler that Eleanor and Chidi fall in love.
- Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) and Janet (D’Arcy Carden) from The Good Place — Same deal.
Kelly McCarty: My all-time favorite fictional romantic relationship is Claire Randall and James Fraser from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. The books are a genre-bending combination of historical fiction, romance, and science fiction. Fairly or not, I know that romance puts many people off, but the lush historical detail in these books make them more appropriate for history buffs than Harlequin fans. Claire and Jamie are the heart and soul of these books. When I read these books, I feel like I’m checking up on my friends Jamie and Claire.
Outlander, the first book in the series, is probably the most traditionally romantic. It’s 1946 and Claire Randall, a British World War II nurse, is in Scotland on a belated honeymoon with her husband, Frank. While gathering plants near the standing stones of Craigh na Dun, Claire touches a stone and falls back through time to 1743.
Claire is immediately almost attacked by Captain Jack Randall, her husband’s ancestor. She is rescued by a gang of Highland Scots from the Clan Mackenzie and taken to Castle Leoch. Claire develops a friendship with a young warrior named Jamie Fraser after she sets his dislocated shoulder. Everyone is suspicious that Claire is a spy because she can’t explain that she is actually from 1946. In order to keep her from being imprisoned by Jack Randall, the clans’ leaders force her to marry Jamie, making her a Scottish citizen.
Gabaldon subverts many of the traditional romance paradigms. Claire is several years older than Jamie. Jamie is a virgin; Claire is not. Claire is not madly in love with Jamie; she marries him to save herself. I have always liked that Claire and Jamie were friends first and fall in love gradually after they get married. Eventually, Claire tells Jamie the truth about being a time traveler and he gives her the chance to return to her own time. She chooses him.
Eight books into the series, and Jamie and Claire are still madly devoted to each other, in spite of war, tragic losses, and the difficulties of being from two different times. They’re both compelling characters. Claire is tough, intelligent, a skilled healer, and a completely modern woman. Jamie is brave, loyal, and complicated. I’m drawn to their love story because I’ve always found longing to be very romantic, much to my own detriment. Longing is an inherent part of a relationship in which one person is a time traveler. Jamie and Claire rescue each other many times and love each other endlessly through time and space. The only drawback of reading about their relationship is that it makes modern dating, with its swiping, ghosting, and even thoroughly average Joes juggling five sort-of-girlfriends, seem even worse.
Outlander is also a television series on Starz, which I regrettably don’t get. Featuring the gorgeous Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe as Jamie and Claire, it’s probably even more romantic than the books. This swoonworthy fan video by honeyplan2 featuring clips from the show is sure to break your heart and make you dissatisfied with your own romantic life.
Kendra Merritt: Aziraphale and Crowley. In case you’ve managed to miss everything about Good Omens over the years, Aziraphale and Crowley are an angel and a demon who get together to stop the apocalypse. Written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens is satire at its finest and since the book’s release in 1990, it has inspired a loyal cult following and the best screen adaptation of any book I’ve ever seen. I’ve loved Aziraphale and Crowley since I read the book in college, but the way Michael Sheen and David Tennant bring them to life turned it into an obsession. These two beings have been on Earth since the beginning. 6000 years they’ve had together and they’ve gotten used to the way things have been. They’d really rather the world stuck around and not go up in Armageddon. So when the Antichrist is born and the final war between Heaven and Hell approaches, the two of them hatch a plan to stop it, misplacing the baby Antichrist in the process.
It all goes downhill from there.
The thing is these two have been bumping into each other literally forever, and while Aziraphale would never admit to being friends with a demon (although you get the idea that Crowley certainly knows what’s up), he also can’t imagine a life without him. There’s something deeply satisfying about being known that well, even if it’s by the “enemy.” And I think even from that first moment on the wall of Eden, when Aziraphale raises his wing to shield Crowley from the first rain, they knew they were going to be so much more than enemies. While the word is never said in book or script — and as much as the angel might try to deny it — their love for each other and the world is written in every action and every choice. Even the bad ones.
And I love that even after 6,000 years there can still be so much conflict and redemption left in their story. Aziraphale, as always, is reluctant about interfering with Heaven’s plan and taking the steps that need to be taken. Just like Crowley is always there, waiting. Waiting for Aziraphale to take the step. Waiting for the angel to realize they only have each other. “We’re on our side,” the demon says on more than one occasion. And it’s that combination of dithering and patience that makes their relationship so much more meaningful in the end when they break the cycle and act, choosing each other over anything Heaven and Hell can dish out. And in a wonderfully appropriate turnaround, it’s that choice that protects them from the consequences of their actions. Alone they would fall, but together they become something neither Heaven nor Hell can touch.
In the end, I don’t actually care if they’re seen as a romantic couple or not, because I think they are perfect either way. I love the series as it is, with their choice standing on its own. And I love all the fanfiction, full of confessions and a 6000-year-old truth. I love it all. Their bond is one of soul-deep commitment, and that’s what love is, whether it’s called friendship or marriage. Although I don’t know what could possibly be more romantic than Crowley feeding Aziraphale every single time the angel gets peckish.
Kristina Elyse Butke: I never engaged in the world of fandom or any of its fun practices (like shipping) until I was in the Writing Popular Fiction Program at Seton Hill University, where we were encouraged to attend conventions to enhance our writer platform. Before 2010, I was just your average Jane wandering through the world of canon (and definitely not the otaku I am today), so my role models for romance in speculative fiction came from two movie classics from childhood.
My first introduction to a romance power couple: Westley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride. When it came out on home video in 1988, I was six years old and saw this movie countless times — probably because my little-girl heart first started fluttering for Westley, for two major reasons: that when he was saying “as you wish,” what he was really saying was “I love you,” and also, because of The Look. You know what I’m talking about — it’s the facial expression that conveys all the feelings of romantic love and devotion when a person looks at the object of their affection. I thought Westley and Buttercup’s relationship was the be-all-end all story of True Love™, so they were the first couple I celebrated as an ultimate pairing.
Then a couple years later, Ghost came out, and this was my introduction to another deep romance that made me swoon (and ahem, awakened some stirrings — yes, THAT scene).
We’ve got another hero, Sam Wheat, who is endlessly devoted to the love of his life, Molly Jensen. Even after he dies and becomes a ghost, he continues to do everything he possibly can to save her life, as she’s threatened by the very people who had a hand in his murder. To this day, the end of this movie makes me cry, and I will always have a warm spot for this couple.
While my current interests in pairings and shipping is only cursory (and tends to be relegated to yaoi nowadays), I can always come back to the couples from The Princess Bride and Ghost as some of the most enduring romances I enjoy.
S.J. Lyon: Ah, shipping. For a very long time, it was the bane of my fandom participation, because I just didn’t do it like everyone else. Why can’t characters have deep friendships without romance? Does character X have a love interest? No point shipping them with anyone else! Does character Y express an interest in a particular gender? Then why does everyone ship them with a different one? Characters A and B hate each other; WHY ARE YOU SHIPPING THEM?!
I’m far more open-minded about shipping now than in my early fandom days, but I still tend to shy away from such ships. They don’t resonate, don’t titillate, and just plain don’t interest me. I don’t ship much. Probably has something to do with my being demi and borderline ace.
That said…
I LIVE for the idea of Dragon Age‘s Nathaniel Howe with Elissa Cousland (the female human noble Warden). Yep, I ship Cousland/Howe. Yes, the son of the man who betrays and murders the human noble’s family, who she later kills in revenge or justice, depending how you play it. When Elissa meets Nathaniel in game (although their fathers were great friends, so OF COURSE they know each other from childhood, right? I’m not headcanoning at all…) he’s been thrown in a dungeon for breaking into the new Grey Warden headquarters — his family’s home — to assassinate the Hero of Ferelden (aka Elissa) for murdering his father.
Long story short, given my shipping reservations, there’s no earthly reason why I should have fallen for this pairing.
And yet.
There is a noble melancholy to Nathaniel that wrings my heart, and enough dry humor to keep him interesting. Over the course of the game his anger turns to grudging respect and, eventually, genuine camaraderie. The slow thaw really won me over, and his personality clicked perfectly with the way I played Elissa. The ship was inevitable. Imagining the two of them working together, love slowly blossoming within them, but still believing the other merely tolerated them at best, and maybe even still, deep down, wanted them dead? It was too delicious!
Artwork by Leupus.
Did it have something to do with feeling very personally connected to Elissa, and having a thing for archers and brooding and genuinely good men in bad situations? Probably. I’ve always had a habit of imagining myself into stories, long before I knew what a “self-insert” or Mary Sue was. Whatever set this ship afloat, it’s a-sailing, and the lack of any further word from the writers on the fates of either character just gives me worlds of room to work with. Elissa/Nathaniel is my favorite fanfiction subject. Unfortunately, it’s more of a canoe than a sizable vessel, and sometimes I feel like I’m the only one in it, paddling in circles.
*Sigh.* So many dreamy couples, so many possibilities. In fact, there are so many that of course we’d miss out on some key players in the game of love. Enlighten us below, and we’ll see you next month for another Speculative Chic Roundtable! And of course, happy Valentine’s Day! 💕
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