*aggressively sings "You Belong with Me"*

Featuring:  Eight Fictional Ships That Should Have Sailed and The Girl Who's Still Mad That They Didn't.  

(Which I guess means that you could consider this whole post one big SPOILER?  Idk.  It's your call.)

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You know what I'm talking about.  We all have those couples who needle at the back of our brains because they didn't get the ending we thought they deserved.  And sometimes the best way to cope with the injustices of a cruel team of creative directors fate is to just thrash it all out.

So here we are.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does cover the couples who've been most actively milling around in my mind lately.  And I gotta say, I've loved writing this post, delving back into all the reasons why I love them and why, in MY fictional universe, they all live happily ever after. ♡

(I defy you to watch some of these fanvids and not agree with me.)

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❀ Rey & Poe ❀

"You know what you are?"

"What?"

"You're difficult.  Really difficult."

"You ⎼ "

"You're a difficult man."

"You are ⎼ mmm."

I HAVE BOARDED THIS SHIP WITH MY HEART & SOUL IN TOW AND I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP EVEN IF IT CRASHES & BURNS & EXPLODES INTO MOONDUST.

But, like, whatever.  It's fine either way.  I'm not invested.

*coughs*

To be clear, I do appreciate & acknowledge the Finnrey and Reylo people out there.  Absolutely, I do.  I see what you see, boo.  But for me, personally?  

I'm Damerey all the way. 

Why?  

Well, for starters, there's the fact that their chemistry is off the freakin' charts, in my book.  (Y'all really wanna watch these two toddlers elegantly yelling at each other because they so badly want to be out Fightin' Intergalactic Crime together, AND see Rey pull that LiTeRaL AnGeL sMiLe while telling him that he's "difficult," AND see him bite his lip and splutter inarticulately in response, and then tell me that they're only ever supposed to be friends?  Yeah, sure, okay.)

But in addition to that, there's just something about the idea of them together that feels very Right.  Like it says in that collage up there:  "Stay close to people who feel like sunshine."  I have a Sense about these two, y'all.  An Inkling.  They would be a sunshine couple.  (And we already know, I love sunshine couples.)  The boy who's spent his life navigating the stars and the girl who's spent hers scavenging the sand would be a force to be reckoned with. 

I ship it, y'all.  I ship it like FedEx.

Another major factor, for me, is one that others have already pointed out: the disparity in the way Poe treats her compared to the way Kylo treats her.  Again, others put this into words, not me, but basically:  Kylo told her she was nothing.  Poe knew who she was before they even met, and he let her know that.  He gave her back a sense of significance.  He told her that she mattered, and that people saw her and appreciated her.  (Not that Rey needed Poe to do that ⎼ my girl is a Queen in her own right and it would be laughable to insinuate that her self-confidence is dependent on any man.  But the fact remains.)

They're both committed to effecting change and doing whatever it takes to make the world a better place.  They both exude this infectious, exuberant zest for life despite not having the absolute greatest experiences with it so far.  We also have verified intel that they would both ⎼ in a heartbeat, without question ⎼ die for 1) Finn, 2) BB-8, and 3) Leia, respectively.

In sum:  Scrappy little freedom fighters who are just similar enough and just different enough to make a certified Power Couple?  I stan, and I will stan forever.  (Unless, of course, someday I don't.  But I'm pretty sure I will stan forever.  Also, this music video is sASSY™ and it makes me happy.) 

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❀ Bella & Vernon ❀

"When's the last time you were hugged?"

"It's been a while."

Y'all already know my feelings about this one.  It was, in my opinion, a Creative Error to leave Bella with Billy at the end of the film.  I love Billy.  Billy's great.  I understand why he and Bella make a good couple.

But Vernon and Bella, y'all.  Vernon and Bella.  

In this instance, it's not so much that I think Bella is astronomically more congenial with Vernon than with Billy ⎼ because, again, I get why Bella/Billy 'works'.  But I do think that Bella/Vernon would work just as well, if not better.  And I ship them more because of the history & the sweetness & the coziness of their friendship.  I mean, come on:  Vernon and his twins come over to thank Bella for one helpful act, and then the four of them sort of just mutually decide, "Yeah, okay, we're adopting each other now."

They're adorable.  They're Very Wholesome.  And there is definitely romantic potential there.  (In case you were wondering, my alternate ending for the story is Bella and Billy splitting amicably and Bella and Vernon getting married some years later.  And having a baby boy ⎼ probably naming him Alfie ⎼ so the twins have a brother. 😛)

And, because this couple is cRIMINALLY underrepresented in fanart circles, here's a fanvid that I made myself.  (Nothing like a little self-promo, right? 😄)

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❀ Ruby & Whale ❀

"Maybe there's still some stuff you can fix."

IT HAS BEEN SEVERAL YEARS AND I AM STILL NOT OVER THIS.

This couple had so. much. freakin'. potential.  And what did Adam & Eddie do with that potential?  They SQUANDERED it, that's what.  Left it alone to rot, is what they did.  Such artistic irresponsibility.  Shaking my head.

(I wouldn't want you to get the idea that I'm, like, bitter over this.)

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE UNAWARE, let me give you a little bit of Once Upon a Time trivia, free of charge:  Ruby and Whale are the "real world," Storybrooke aliases of Red (Little Red Riding Hood) and Victor (Frankenstein).  

Except this version of Little Red Riding Hood happens to also be the wolf from the original tale.  She's both hunter and hunted in this scenario.  She's a werewolf, and she loses her "human" consciousness every time she morphs, so she doesn't know about the lives she's taken until she reverts to her human form ⎼ until it's too late.

And this version of Frankenstein wasn't just slapping together an undead human down in his laboratory because Hey, It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.  No, he's trying to revive his dead brother.  It's not so much that he wants to be able to create life; it's that he wants to be able to restore life.  Beloved, dearly missed life.

I presume that you already know that this all blows up in their faces.  But exactly how bad does it get, you ask?  

Red ⎼ again, in the "unconscious" werewolf form that she doesn't know how to control ⎼ kills and eats her boyfriend.

Victor succeeds in bringing his brother back to "life," but the form of life that is created in the process is agonizingly painful for the subject, grotesque, and dangerous to others.  Victor's already fractured family shatters, and both brother and father end up dead.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, when they "wake up" in Storybrooke after the curse is broken, they both experience some Difficulties in coming to a place of accepting themselves, or even of seeing themselves as worthy of life.  In fact, at one point Red has to crash Victor's suicide attempt.

And she does.  And she succeeds in talking him back to a place where he can recognize meaning and purpose in his life.  She convinces him that even though they've both unintentionally perpetuated terrible pain, they have a chance to reclaim their own lives.  She convinces him that his skill as a doctor is still valuable and necessary, that there are still people who need his help.

And he takes her advice.  He goes and helps those people.  And then we get this:

"Thank you . . . monster to monster."

EXCUSE ME WHILST I GO IMPLODE.

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❀ Tara & Ronin ❀

"There's that smile."

Did these two get all of, like, ten minutes of screen time together?  Yes.  Is the [DREADFUL & UNJUST] way their relationship played out still the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about this movie?  Yes.

IT WAS NOT OKAY, I TELL YOU.

And, worse, it was unnecessary.  In my opinion.  I'm not saying that everything always has to wrap up with a perfect fairytale bow at the end of every kid's movie.  It shouldn't, in fact.  But THAT?  That was a low blow.  A jerk move, if you will.  (You're telling me that despite all the other fantastical happenings in the show, it's suddenly "too much" to ask people to suspend their disbelief for a little resurrection trope?  Pssh.) 

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❀ Maleficent & Diaval ❀

"Well, thank you very much.  'I need you, Diaval.  I can't do this without you, Diaval.'"

"I can hear you."

THESE TWOOOOOOOO. ♡  I'm a fan of these two. 😁

From the very beginning, the only thing I ever wanted from a sequel to the first movie was Official Confirmation of this relationship moving to couple status.  Aaaaaaand, did I get that?

. . . No.

In Mistress of Evil, Disney never gave us any more romantic content between these two.  Nary a kiss, nary an "I love you."  Some would say that Disney never intended to even imply the possibility of a Maleval romance ⎼ that they're supposed to be friends and nothing else.  And perhaps that's true.  One can hardly speak for Disney's intentions. 😉  But one can speak for Disney's production, and Disney's production is a pair of people whose relationship is literally begging to become a romance.

And before you question me, keep in mind what my mother ⎼ who had seen the first film only once, years ago ⎼ said to me, unbidden, about ten minutes into the sequel:  

"Maybe they'll get married one day.  He loves her, and he understands her."

He loves her, and he understands her.  There aren't many people in Maleficent's life who do that.  And in contrast, she loves him, and she trusts him.  There aren't many people in her life of whom she could say that.

THEY ARE A COUPLE.  Okay?  Finito.  I have spoken. 

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❀ Liesel & Max ❀

"One was a book thief.  The other stole the sky."

BEFORE YOU COME AFTER ME for putting the relationship between a child and a man on this list, let me explain.

 I am not, in fact, a pedophile.   Nor am I in support of pedophilic relationships.  I would not want Liesel and Max to be anything CLOSE to "a thing" until Liesel was well into adulthood.

LET ME REPEAT:  I would not want Liesel and Max to be anything CLOSE to "a thing" until Liesel was well into adulthood.

All's I'm saying is, given their shared history and their commonalities and their deep love for each other, I COULD SEE them deciding to get married much later in life.

And . . . I think they'd make a pretty dang good couple, were they so inclined. 

That's all's I'm saying, that is. 😜

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❀ Jack & Liz ❀

"What a year, huh?"

"Lemon, it's February."

Probably the most Chaotic™ workplace relationship you will ever encounter in your life.  So chaotic and strange, in fact, that I fully respect the decision of the writers to keep the relationship consistently platonic.  These two never become romantically involved, though they and everyone else talk and joke about the weird possibility a lot. 

Nonetheless, there are just enough flirty moments between them to make me ship it.  And in addition to the [admittedly VERY odd 😂] chemistry, I love their friendship.  So dorky and symbiotic and no-holds-barred.  And how's about the adorable train-wreck that was Jack trying to tell Lemon he loves her (albeit as a friend) at the end of the finale? *grins*

I know I keep saying it, but potential, y'all.  Potential.   

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❀ Rory & Jess ❀

"But . . . you're over that, right?"

"Yep, long over."

I said just about everything I want to say about this couple in this post.  

Essentially:  There are many reasons why these two did not end up as a couple at the end of the series, and those reasons are healthy and valid.  There are many reasons why this couple shouldn't be Endgame™ right now; but there are also many reasons why I believe that going forward, they will be. 

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There's my pitch, dudettes.

Do you have similar feelings about any of these couples?

Did the fan videos give you emotions?

What are some couples you wish had ended up together?