So you may have noticed a little bit of a difference in today’s Tuesday Top Ten…and that is…its a top Twelve. Mostly because I just couldn’t narrow it down to ten. I probably could have kept going until twenty and made it a Tuesday Top Twenty, but come on,that’s getting ridiculous.

In this boom of young adult literature has borne the term “Shipping”, where you root for two characters to be together, to have a relationship with it. Some of it is canon; where you want these two characters to end up together in the actual content of the book and some of its shipping in fan fiction.

For example, in Harry Potter, I shipped Ron and Hermione BIG time, but I also super ship Draco and Hermione. However, if J.K. Rowling had put Draco and Hermione together in the book, I’d probably have been a bit mad.

Shipping is fairly new, as a term, but its not new as far as the act of it. We’ve been shipping people together since the dawn of entertainment.

So now that I’ve babbled a lot. This week’s Tuesday Top Twelve counts down my favorite canon couples. It was really hard for me to do, and I honestly could keep going.

I’m gonna warn you though, if you haven’t seen the following movies or read the following books, there are SPOILERS. Of course there are. I am basically telling you that these couples end up together (or do they….) so yeah, there’s going to be spoilers ahead. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

12. Augustus and Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars

The thing that I love about this relationship is the authenticity about it. Its so brilliant and real. I don’t think a lot of people like the idea of teenagers falling in love but that’s usually when they fall in love for the first time. Sure, maybe it doesn’t last but its so real and so intense and so raw and new. That is exactly Hazel and Gus. So awkward and slow to begin and then it happens so fast, you’re falling in love with them. I love that they are attracted to each other but they also have real, intelligent conversations. One of the most genuine relationships I’ve seen in a book. But that’s John Green. He writes real teens and its why he’s so popular. I can’t wait to see Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort play the couple in the movie adaptation.

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, then all at once.” 

11. The Doctor and Rose from Doctor Who

When I first watched Doctor Who, I didn’t get the whole Doctor and Rose thing at all. Then I moved onto series two and David Tennant became the 10th Doctor and it all made sense. The chemistry between David Tennant and Billie Piper is SO there and I found myself shipping them so hard that I hated Martha Jones (the companion after Rose, who falls in love with the Doctor) for a very long time (okay, like six months). Rose really gave the Doctor his humanity. He was very ruthless and uncaring until she became his companion. It is so fun to watch the two of them fall in love so subtly and you don’t need it to be overly romantic to have a romance story. And I still believe in the Doctor and Rose way more than the Doctor and River Song.

“Does it need saying?” 

10. Tris and Four from Divergent 

Ah, the classic tale of a bad boy going soft and falling in love. I love Tris because she’s so unremarkable and so lacking of anything special, well, as far as we know because we are in her head and this is what she believes. You feel so similar to her, you can relate so much to her feeling like she doesn’t belong. Then the badass, good-looking irresistible Four falls in love with her, because she is so incredibly special. Four shows Tris how truly amazing she is and Tris is able to break down the walls that Four has built up. I love that Four loves Tris for her, and that she isn’t very pretty. I love that he saves her, then she saves him. I love how they trust each other and work together. I can’t wait to see Shailene Woodley as Tris and Theo James as Four and I especially cannot wait to see what happens to them in the last book, Allegiant.

“I might be in love with you.” He smiles a little. “I’m waiting until I’m sure to tell you though.” 

9. June and Day from Legend

The thing about the Legend trilogy is that it is NOT a love story and it is not meant to be and yet you find two very different people falling in love. June is a soldier, groomed and polished, and having every faith in the Republic. Day is a criminal, fighting every day to provide for his family. The dual point of views gives us both June and Day’s journey to falling in love. Day is an affectionate, loving person and he falls in love almost effortlessly. June is really only affectionate with her brother, Mattias, and so she’s slower to fall in love, slower to trust Day, and even when she does, its still a very cautious love until the end and then Day lets her go. Of course, those of who have read Prodigy, know why he did it. I am dying for the release of Champion in November to find out what happens to the Republic and to find out what happens with June and Day.

“You’re brilliant,”he says.”But you’re a fool to stay with someone like me.”
I close my eyes at the touch of his hand.”Then we are both fools.”

8. Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices

I know I already warned you before but seriously…epic spoilers. You have been warned. Again. Will and Tessa have such an epic love. Jem and Tessa had such a familiar and comfortable love. They probably have the more realistic love. But I love Will and Tessa together so much. They have such an epic love, a once in a lifetime type of love. Will is willing to do anything for Tessa and he does everything he can to lift the curse so he can show her how much he loves her. I love that he loves her so much that he won’t ruin her happiness with Jem. I love that they end up together and they have a beautiful life together, with children and LOVE. That epilogue in Clockwork Princess made ms sob at beautiful life they were able to spend together. I will say this though: I do love that Tessa was able to love Jem as well, and I hope they too get to spend a life together (I hope! Please City of Heavenly Fire, tell us that!)

“Jem told me what Ragnor Fell said about my father,” Will said. “That for my father, there was only ever one woman he loved, and it was her for him, or nothing. You are that for me. I love you, and I will only ever love you until I die —”

7. Scarlett and Rhett from Gone with the Wind 

Ah, a relationship gone so very, very wrong. Scarlett O’Hara spends her life chasing down a man that she loves but is so wrong for her (Ashley Wilkes) and marrying men she doesn’t love for gains (Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy), and she doesn’t see the perfection that Rhett Butler is for her until he is gone, until he’s given up on her and he leaves her. They are both incredibly spoiled, selfish, ambitious, fun, crazy, REAL people and if there was any a pair in that book that should end up together, it was those two. And they only get married because Scarlett needs the security and she is “fond of” him. But you keep hoping she’ll see what a wonderful man he turns out to be, how he takes care of her and dotes on her, and dotes on their beautiful daughter and her previous two children, Wade and Ella. You keep hoping and hoping, and despite the fact that I have read this book several times and have seen the movie even more times, I still cry at the end because Scarlett is just SO stupid, and she loses the one man that she’s meant to be with because she’s SO stupid. And I’m sorry, but I hate the sequel. I don’t think Scarlett and Rhett would ever end up back together. She lost him, plain and simple, because of her utter stupidity.

“No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.”

6. Alec and Magnus from The Mortal Instruments

One, I love this couple because its a gay couple and I seriously think a good percentage of my love of Cassandra Clare and her Shadowhunter Chronicles is because she creates these LGBT relationships like Alec and Magnus (and Aline and Helen as well). So there’s that. But I also like this relationship because of the utter adorableness to it: the way Alec is so hard to come to terms with being gay and how Magnus is so patient, who does so much for Alec and loves him so much but waits until he is ready, even though its SO hard. They work so well together: the centuries old, glamourous, confident, easygoing Magnus and the quiet, insecure, beautiful, intelligent Alec. They are such a realistic couple too; and I crack up when Alec shows his affections but also when he shows his insecurities because we all feel those in a relationship. I love that Magnus adores Alec, even though he’s so different and he’d rather wear a hoodie and jeans while Magnus bedazzles himself up. Straight up, if this couple doesn’t end up back together in City of Heavenly Fire, the fandom is going to blow a fuse, big time.

“No.” Magnus strode toward him. “I didn’t call you because I’m tired of you only wanting me around when you need something. I’m tired of watching you be in love with someone else – someone, incidentally, who will never love you back. Not the way I do.”
“You love me?” (Alec)
“You stupid Nephilim,” Magnus said patiently. “Why else am I here? Why else would I have spent the past few weeks patching up all your moronic friends every time they got hurt? And getting you out of every ridiculous situation you found yourself in? Not to mention helping you win a battle against Valentine. And all completely free of charge!”

5. Percy and Annabeth from Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus

It took us five books to get there, but it happened. The perfect Greek demi-god couple finally happened and they had the best underwater kiss ever. Then we get to the Heroes of Olympus and they are SEPARATED FOR TWO BOOKS! Not fair, Rick Riordan, not fair. But when they finally reunite in The Mark of Athena, their relationship is too perfect for life. Aw, Percabeth. One of my most favorite OTPs. The intelligent (blonde, but at least they fixed it for Sea of Monsters), logical, brave Annabeth, daughter of Athena, with the funny, sarcastic and loyal Percy, son of Poseidon. Shouldn’t work in the slightest and yet it totally and completely does. I like that they are both so independent and yet dependent on each other. They are each their own hero but they feed on each other to make each other better. Annabeth will save Percy as easily as Percy would save her. I really think Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario have a great chemistry as well, and I hope they continue to make the movies so we can agonize through all that build up and all that sexual tension all over again.

“Afterward, I had the last laugh. I made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Our friends kept waiting for us to come up, but hey-when you are the son of Poseidon, you don’t have to hurry. And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time.”

4. Raisa and Han from The Seven Realms Series 

I swear, Cinda Williams Chima had me worried for a long while there. I honestly thought that these two would NOT make it together. Raisa, the queen, in charge of a crumbling queendom, and Han, a wizard trying to make a name for himself that isn’t of criminal nature. It is LITERALLY against the law for them to be together and Raisa just seems to follow that rule for so long, and I honestly thought she would never see that she is the QUEEN (at least in the last book) and she can marry whomever the hell she wants to. Because Raisa and Han are so perfect for each other. They are both so passionate and brave and caring and ambitious. They feed off each other; they both want to be better for the other, and they both want to be better for themselves and the various people that are counting on them. And let’s face it, every single time there is a steamy scene with them, I couldn’t help but think “RAISA, THERE IS NO ONE ELSE WHO IS GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE THIS!!!!!” The sacrifices they make for each other, and for others, and the way they finally end up together, married, and so beautiful…agh, too much for this reader to handle. Such a fantastic couple.

So here’s the truth – I love you. I love everything about you – the way you stick up for people even when it costs you. The way you keep trying to do the right thing even when you’re not exactly sure what the right thing is. I love how you put words together. You’re as skilled with words as any knife fighter with a blade. You can put an enemy down on his back, or you can raise people up so they find what’s best in themselves. You’ve changed my life. You’ve given me the words I need to become whatever I want.

3. Jace and Clary from The Mortal Instruments

When I finished City of Bones, all I could think was…no way. No way on earth would Cassandra Clare actually do this to anyone. She couldn’t do that to anymore. She literally would not make the two main characters, who are OBVIOUSLY falling in love, SIBLINGS! Who on earth would do that? Good job, Cassandra Clare, you just got millions of girls (and some boys) to support incest, for a whole TWO books. Good job on that one. Thank the Angel Raziel that we find out in City of Glass that Valentine has an even crueler nature than we already knew and he lied to them, just to enjoy the pain that it caused the two of them. They are such a tragic couple, seriously, that sometimes it can be a bit much but they are still my favorite because I don’t know how anyone would handle falling madly in love with someone just to find out that he is your brother. And all their steamy scenes, especially that alley way scene in CoFA, are just too much, I feel like fanning myself after each one. This is a couple that just has to last, and I think Jamie Campbell Bower and Lily Collins are going to do an amazing job playing them, especially since they are a couple in real life. And they better stay together, and ALIVE, in City of Heavenly Fire. They better, please oh please, Cassandra.

“There is no pretending,” Jace said with absolute clarity. “I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I’ll love you then.”

2. Han and Leia from Star Wars

Easily my first ship haha. The rough, sarcastic scoundrel and the brave, intelligent, equally sarcastic princess. Has there ever been a love in all the galaxies, all the universes that was as awesome as the one between Princess Leia and Han Solo. I have, for most of my life, wanted to BE Princess Leia and I was determined to meet my Han Solo. The first time I said “I love you” to my boyfriend first (I always waited for him to say it), he immediately said “I know” back, with a silly grin on his face and I immediately knew that this guy was a keeper. (He also got me a bracelet with “Always” from Harry Potter on it…such a winner). That is literally one of the BEST scenes in a movie ever. I love this couple because they are both so badass, they are both fighters and they fight together and while they protect each other, they also trust that the other knows what they are doing and can take care of themselves. I LOVE that. There are too many fictional couples out there where the female character is WAY to reliant on the male counterpart. Leia loves Han, and needs him, but can fight her own battles and take care of herself.

“I love you.”
“I know.” 

1. Ron and Hermione from Harry Potter 

Easily the best fictional couple ever, and it only took 7 books and nearly 10 years to get there. I was 10 years old when I first picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and I was 19 when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out. I waited 9 years for this to finally happen, and even longer to see that kiss on screen. Some people hate this relationship and some people ship Hermione with Harry, but I think that would have been a too obvious couple, and you can’t always have two stars in a relationship. You have to have someone willing to hitch their wagon to the shooting star, and Ron does that with Hermione. And that’s not to say that Ron is not a special person, because he totally is. But Hermione is so one of a kind but she loves the silly, sarcastic, lovable and flawed Ronald Weasley, and for probably her whole life. I love that, in the end, Ron loves her for every single bit that she is, even though she is so much smarter than him and I love that Hermione never, not once, dumbs herself down for Ron and that she always shows her intelligence to the highest that it is. And that’s why I think they are absolutely perfect together.

“There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione’s arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.

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I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of the Tuesday Top Ten…erm, Twelve.

You can always look at previous lists here! SO many fun lists :)

And stay tuned for more!

Who are some of your favorite fictional couples? Are they on this list, or are there others? As always, share in the comments!