Here at LGG&F we like our romance with a side of geek, and this year we are bringing you a ship list to make any fangirl swoon! Yep, it’s Valentine’s Day, that sickeningly sweet holiday when our authors nominate and then vote on ships for our Top 20 Romantic Couples in Geekdom (10 Canon/10 Fanon) list. Many were nominated, but only a select few made the cut.

It is now my duty to present to you this year’s super cute and sexy ships!

Canon:

1. Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)

Saika: Ruby and Sapphire betrayed their Homeworld, joined a rebellion, and fought a brutal war against their own kind—and they did it out of love for each other. In fact, these two Crystal Gems care for each other so much that they broke taboo and fused together to form Garnet, the first Gem fusion between Gems of different varieties, and the first to be formed out of love rather than utility. My love of this pairing is only magnified by the fact that it’s one of the only canonical queer pairings on kids’ TV.

2. Morticia Addams/Gomez Addams (The Addams Family) 

Lady Geek Girl: I always wanted my love life to be modeled after Gomez and Morticia Addams. This lovely gothic couple would do anything for each other, including killing or dying for each other. Either way, what bliss. This is a couple who, after three babies, are still madly in love; the fire hasn’t ever gone out or even dimmed. They lament not having waltzed in hours, and Morticia can set Gomez off with just a few simple words in French. Who wouldn’t want to model their relationship after this beautiful couple.

3. Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura (Teen Wolf) 

Pisces: These mystical teens need a little more PR to become the power couple they deserve to be. Scott is the loyal leader of the pack with a heart of gold that we can’t help but love. Kira is one of the most interesting characters to appear on sci-fi/fantasy TV in recent years; showcasing the kitsune in Western media, Kira has the potential to be one of the most mighty warriors we’ve seen (if the writers can ever remember to actually have her use her powers). These heroes are often brought to awkward levels of adorkable-ness in their relationship, and that’s a big part of their charm. Not to mention a romance between a Latino and an Asian who are leads on a show is pretty awesome in the slow trek toward more diversity in TV.

4. Carmilla/Laura Hollis (Carmilla)

Noodle: Bad-boy vampire with a tragic past falling for an ordinary girl who can hold her own—except they’re both girls and their relationship is sweet and passionate. And they work together to save the world; what more can a girl want from a fictional love story?

5. Mal/Molly (Lumberjanes)

Mikely: My word, do I love these two little gumdrops. Crossing over from fanon to canon in the past year—although heavily hinted at beforehand—these two are just the cutest. Both characters are low-key: Molly is sweet-natured and inquisitive, Mal has a punky haircut and a brash demeanor to cover up her deeper shyness. But boy, are they fond of each other. And neither of them seems to quite have had someone this fond of her before. So far, their pairing hasn’t led to too much disruption in the tightly-knit group (as private relationships sometimes can), and the other scouts are squeeing along with the rest of us.

6. Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood (The Mortal Instruments, Shadowhunters)

Noodle: This freewheeling bisexual warlock and uptight gay Shadowhunter falling in non-tragical love is a thing that is canon, and thanks to the franchise’s reboot on the small screen, we can now watch it happen all over again. Magnus’s flirting growing in obviousness with every second is glorious and Alec’s baffled enjoyment of it is cute and hilarious. And all I want is for them both to be happy.

[TIE] 7. Evy Carnahan/Rick O’Connell (The Mummy series)

Luce: I’ve been rewatching The Mummy series a lot this year, and every time I watch it I’m like, damn, these two are so good together. Though Evy’s never been out in the field, she’s an Egyptologist whose bookish smarts end up saving everyone, and Rick is, well, her hot boyfriend. Together, they fight crime—I mean, mummies. And their chemistry is off the charts.

[TIE] 7. Delphine Cormier/Cosima Niehaus (Orphan Black)

Stinekey: At first it seemed like Orphan Black was giving us a perfect, gorgeous lesbian scientist romance. But of course, in a world with clones and conspiracies, relationships are never just that simple. The powers that be pulled them apart, but Cosima and Delphine didn’t stop loving each other. Their chemistry is undeniable, and gives “lab partners” a whole new meaning. Even when Delphine breaks up with Cosima to care for all her sisters, she still can’t deny her feelings for Cosima.

8. Alphys/Undyne (Undertale)

Rin: The internet has been just full of determination lately, and with Undertale warming the hearts of so many, it’s not difficult to see why. While petting dogs as a battle function and eating spaghetti with a skeleton have their own charm, Alphys/Undyne is the ship that players were hoping to happen, and actually did happen. Undyne is the fish woman who heads the Underground’s royal guard (and who believes that anime is totally real) while Alphys is the royal scientist and kind of a huge nerd. After Undyne reassures her and raises her up above her poor self-esteem, Alphys finally gets the courage to tell Undyne how she feels, and is elated to find out that Undyne feels the same way. With so many lesbian relationships in media ending in tragedy, it’s nice to see one that’s just as fluffy and silly (and a little serious, too) as the fandom would make it if left to their own devices.

9. Shikamaru/Temari (Naruto)

Syng: It’s been a year and a half since the Naruto manga ended and revealed the endgame ships for our main characters. Since then, subsequent media (like the Gaiden chapters, movies, and light novels) have made it clear that yeah, ShikaTema is still the best-developed ship in Naruto. This pair has gotten more mutual shippy moments (rather than the one-sided ones for most of the other ships) than any other major character ship. And unlike the others, I think it’s safe to say that Shikamaru and Temari are truly equals, according to the standards set by ninja society. They are both strong, smart ninjas. They have both saved each other’s butts—neither one has been forever delegated to a “damsel” role. They both go on to work in politics, to keep the peace between nations. And they’ve got one heckuva cute kid! Look, we can’t all have god-like powers like Naruto and Sasuke do. ShikaTema reminds us that sometimes it’s better—and easier to be equals—when you don’t.

10. Rick/Unity (Rick and Morty)

Dom: The universe’s smartest jerkass and an ever-growing hivemind: the perfect combination. Rick Sanchez is potentially the greatest mind in the universe, the greatest alcoholic, and possibly the loneliest. Unity, despite being a hivemind that possess entire races, needs someone in their life as well. They cut it off with Rick due to his ironically absorbing and destructive nature. This relationship is a queer one, being between a canonically pansexual man and a genderless entity; very cool. But the breakup was oh-so-sad.

Fanon:

1. Jedistormpilot (Star Wars: Episode VII)

Saika: The breakout OT3 of 2016 really showed up in the last two weeks of 2015, but who’s counting? After seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fans briefly grappled with the issue of who they shipped Finn with more, Rey or Poe. And because all good shippers solve love triangle problems like the little girl from the salsa commercials, everyone pretty much shrugged and said “why not both?” The golden trio of Episode VII is clearly destined to be together, no matter what geometry you use to connect them. Is Finn dating Rey and Poe separately? Are they all doing the do in beautiful and sexy space threesomes? Is Rey super ace but loves to cuddle with her favorite boys and geek out with Poe over pilot stuff? The upside of its fanon-ness is that it is whatever you want it to be. All we know for sure is that three-way jacket-sharing is definitely already canon.

2. Kylo Ren/A Swift Kick in the Rear (Star Wars: Episode VII) 

Syng: While the Star Shipping Wars rage on, no matter where your preferences fall, I think we can all agree on this one: someone needs to kick this whiny trashcan child’s butt back to the light side—or at least make him pay for what he’s done. And make him apologize to his poor mother, while we’re at it!! His wannabe-Sith antics deserve nothing less, and I’m sure we would all deliver the ass-kicking ourselves, if we could. In fact, yeah, let’s all go do that. We’ll be first in line!

3. Finn/Rey (Star Wars: Episode VII) 

Luce: He needs someone to hold his hand, you guys. One First Order defector and one abandoned scavenger team up to take down an emo kid in a mask, and every second of it is awesome. At the start of the movie, Finn’s only thought is to get as far away from the First Order as he can, but he slowly realizes that Rey is worth sticking around for. For her part, all Rey’s ever wanted is someone to come back for her and stand by her side, and Finn does all that and more. If this is where the new movies are going, I’m totally on board.

4. Trish Walker/Jessica Jones (Jessica Jones)

Luce: They were friends and foster-sisters growing up, but from the very first episode of the incredible Marvel show, Trish and Jess were practically presented as ex-lovers. Despite everything in their past, they’ve always been there for each other: Jessica protects Trish from her abusive mother, and Trish believes in Jess even (and especially) when Jess can’t believe in herself. Their relationship is the true emotional heart of the show.

5. Peggy Carter/Dottie Underwood (Agent Carter) 

Mikely: Sometimes, my ships are good for me, and good for the characters. That was last year on Agent Carter, when Peggy was making eyes at a delightful waitress with Broadway dreams. But with Angie stuck in New York as the show moves out West, I’ve been drowning my sorrows in a ship that is nothin’ but Trouble with a capital “T”. Dottie has one small edge over Angie: she’s actually locked lips with our favorite Agent. Of course, it was because she had put on Peggy’s knockout lipstick, but you could just… tell. Dottie remains fascinated with her British counterpart in Season 2—perhaps dangerously so.

6. Deadpool/Spider-Man (Marvel Comics)

Lady Geek Girl: It’s no secret that the Merc with the Mouth has a slight obsession with Spider-Man, and by slight obsession I mean a huge obsession. Spider-Man, on the other hand, seems to not know what to do with Deadpool, who often seems to be very amorous toward him. But we know that their relationship is meant to be. Eventually these two are going to hook up—especially if the new Spider-Man/Deadpool comic is to be believed. Fingers crossed that it’s canon soon.

7. Isabelle Lightwood/Clary Fairchild (The Mortal Instruments, Shadowhunters)

Noodle: I never knew I needed them in my life until Shadowhunters started and made the pair just so shippable! Upon meeting Clary, Izzy immediately starts warming up to her; with the flirting and then with the support and encouragement, you can see she immediately likes Clary. Clary, for her part, may not be as flirty to start with, but a few episodes in, she’s definitely flirting back. You can’t convince me otherwise and I just want them to kiss already.

[TIE] 8.Mason and Brett (Teen Wolf) 

Pisces: Mason has proved himself to be one of the most interesting and certainly most likeable members of Teen Wolf: The Next Generation. It’s about high time he had a steady boyfriend, and my pick is Brett Talbot. This werewolf from another school has been the apple of Mason’s eye for a while, and once Brett was shown to be bisexual, my hopes were up. They even shared a very nice scene together in the episode after said revelation, and that’s when they were sealed as one of my OTPs. However, Brett has been nowhere to be found, although Mason has an apparent new love interest in the chimera pack this season. Mason would bring some much needed diversity to any couple he was in on the great white world of American teen dramas, and Brett would have been a great chance for some more bi representation, which we so desperately need. Come on, writers: make Brason happen!!

[TIE] 8. Kanan/Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)

Ace: Kanan and Hera are the dynamic duo in charge of the Ghost and they run their own rebel cell. Even though Kanan was a former Padawan who escaped Order 66 and now has some reservations about fighting in another war, he follows Hera’s lead in their battle against the Empire. While Kanan and Hera are not officially a couple yet in canon, they are already totally in love. The two of them look out for each other, understand one another’s wants and needs, and refer to the other members on their crew as “the children”. Hera is the space mom of the family, and Kanan is the space dad.

9. Flynn Scifo/Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia)

Rin: I adore Tales of Vesperia and its characters—it may be my favorite Tales game. One of the things I appreciate about it the most is that the typical formula of “male protagonist falls in love with the main supporting female character” isn’t a thing. Protagonist Yuri spends a lot of time with Estelle, but they have their own lives to live and are pleased being each other’s friends. And, well, given Yuri’s relationship with Flynn, it just wouldn’t make sense. Yuri (former member of imperial knights of Zaphias, current lone wolf who is terrible at being a lone wolf) grew up with his childhood friend Flynn, and while they’ve gone their separate ways—Flynn is still a member of the imperial knights—their friendship remains strong. Despite finding themselves on the opposite sides of the major conflict of the game, they worry for each other and want nothing more than for the other to stay safe. Even if that means having that cliched “I will fight you so you understand my feelings” battle—it totally works here, trust me. Out of everyone in the game, Flynn and Yuri’s relationship is the one that is fleshed out the most, and even though it’s not canon, saying that their relationship may be romantic is like saying that Finn may have a thing for Poe in Star Wars.

10. Clara/Twelve (Doctor Who)

Stinekey: It’s no secret that Clara’s characterization has been all over the place since she began her run on Doctor Who, but this was her final year, and we finally know what kind of person she is. Clara’s the one person the Twelfth Doctor can’t live without. While Twelve is much colder, more detached, and a little scarier than any of the New Who Doctors, Clara’s warm heart demands that he keep a hold of his conscience. Her devotion is rewarded, when the Doctor smashes the laws of time and space (over billions of years) just to have a chance at saving her life. How else does a godlike alien say, “I love you”?

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Did your favorite ship make the cut? Who do you love on our list and who do you wish was on our list? Let us know in the comments!

Need more ships in your life? Check out our lists from 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 or dig into our fanfiction recs for a good story or three. And as always, have a happy Valentine’s Day!

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