An Early Valentines Day Special: My OTP's

If you know me well, you would know that I used to identify as asexual, meaning that I wasn't attracted to other people for the longest time. Though now, I think I'm finding myself falling more along the lines of demisexual, which is a whole other can of worms I'll touch on another day. Bottom line: that’s just who I am. But just because I used cringe at the thought of myself being in a relationship does not necessarily mean that I don’t enjoy a good romance between other people every once in a while. What can I say? Love can be beautiful. So in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m going to be listing off thirty of my OTP’s, cannon or not, in just about anything: anime, cartoons, games, movies, books, etc. And none of this is in any particular order. Enjoy.

Also, as you may expect, there's likely to be spoilers in quite a few of these. Just, you know, so you know.

1:

The Legend of Zelda

Link and Zelda

These two are an obvious pair, of course, having Link rescue Zelda almost every single game (at least in the ones I’ve played). What really appeals to me about these two, however, is how, despite how many times they are reborn into another life to face the evil of Ganon/Demise, they always managed to find each other and keep that strong bond between Goddess and Hero.

2:

Kill La Kill

Ira Gamagoori and Mako Mankanshoku

This is a silly pairing with a not quite-so-silly reason for liking them. When you really think about it, Mako and Gamagoori, despite being complete opposites in appearance, are almost exactly alike. They are both extremely loyal to their friends and have completely over-the-top intense personalities. The only real difference is that one happens to be a giant, intimidating behemoth of a human, and the other one is... well, Mako.

3:

Codename: Kids Next Door

Wally and Kuki

Here’s one from my childhood. Wally and Kuki, to me, were always the unspoken official couple in Kids Next Door, what with Wally’s way-too-obvious crush and Kuki’s constant attention-whore-ing, especially when Wally is involved. Wally is the dumb kid that likes to act tough and Kuki is the bossy upbeat girly-girl, and those kinds of pairings were always charming to me. Not to mention, Codename Kids Next Door was one of my favorite childhood shows, and for that, these two will always hold a special place in my heart.

4:

Fate Series

Almost Everyone with Saber

Frankly, I thought that there was a lot of wasted potential in the Fate series for romance with Arturia, especially considering the fact that in one version, she ends up in a relationship with the one person I wish she hadn’t. I had been under the impression that Arturia was aromantic due to wasted opportunities until I got half-way through the Fate route of Fate/Stay Night and bashed my head against walls because the romance in Fate/Stay Night was total crap.

That said, here are some of the better options. Your welcome.

Diarmuid. Lancer. Honey. We all know you were in love with her. Hell, you admitted to it in the Einzbern Consultation Room.We all know that your battle banter was really flirting. And who can blame you? First woman that isn't totally enamored by the mole under your eye. I get it. But, please, you should have spoken up before it was too late! D':

Their relationship in a nutshell: Like a knight and his king. Only gayer.

Wait.

Gilgamesh. Where do I even begin with you? You're an egotistical maniac, and god knows Arturia deserved leagues better than you, but you at the very least understand her and have no qualms with letting her know how you feel the desire to own her: mind, body, and soul. You've got that going for you at the very least.
Their relationship in a nutshell: He proposed to her. She basically told him to screw off.

But, OK. OK. Let's say that maybe she's just gay. After all, Artuaia did marry a woman in life.Well, there's Irisviel. I mean, yeah, she's technically married, but so is Arturia. Iri is cute, she's nice, she seems to have a really good relationship with 'Turia. They just kind of got each other, you know?
Damn you, Kirei!
Their relationship in a nutshell: Like a princess and her knight and shining armor. Precious and must be protected at all costs.
 This may throw you off a bit, since Lancelot did sleep with her wife, but, really, I imagine that he was one of the very few people in her court that knew Arthur was really Arturia. I propose that he may have been in love with her at one point or another, but felt guilty about it since she was his king. Just a thought.
Their relationship in a nutshell: Really, really bad. Like, she basically drove him to the brink of insanity, their friendship went so far south.
 And Sasaki Kojiro. We all know you were flirting. I don't think even you tried to hide it, you handsome bastard, you.
Their relationship in a nutshell: He just wanted some of that kingly booty.

5:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Kyoko Sakura and Sayaka Miki

It’s a little harder for me to describe just why this pairing appeals to me, although it probably has to do with Kyoko’s understanding exactly what it is that Sayaka is going through, and how that understanding makes her care for Sayaka and change back from the ruthless person she became after losing her family to an ill-chosen wish. I also love how, in Rebellion, we see that Sayaka also realizes what she had done to Kyoko and regrets going out the way she did because of how it affected Kyoko. And they’re just so gosh-darn cute!! I mean, look at this hand-holding!!

6:

Fullmetal Alchemist

Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye

I’m still not sure if Roy and Riza are considered cannon or not, but it is pretty obvious that they care very deeply for one another, perhaps a little too much, considering their rankings and positions in the military. I think the best part about these two’s relationship, however, is how much they trust one another. I mean, when he goes blind at the end of the series, Roy trusts Riza enough to be his eyes for him. You have to admit that between the sniping and fiery explosions, these two make a pretty bad ass combination.

7:

Baccano!

Claire Stanfield and Chane Laforet

These two just kind of jumped out at me out of the blue towards the end of the anime, but I suppose that's what was aimed for; Claire proposed to Chane the first day they met because he's simply an impulsive person and was infatuated with her from the beginning. Normally, I wouldn't like this sort of couple, but they seem to handle it very maturely, mentioning that, yes, Claire did kind of jump the gun, and he worried so much about his proposal methods that it lead to my absolute favorite scene in the entire anime, in which he finds a girl he almost killed and sits down at a cafe with her to ask for relationship advice. There's just something so charming about this awful self-centered psychopath putting this much time and effort into wooing over the girl of his dreams. And his overall giving and concerned nature (at least towards her) is exactly what Chane needs after living a life being used by the one man she ever loved: her father. As Jacuzzi noted on the last episode, "She looks happy." And I suppose that's all that really matters in the end.

8

Teen Titans:

Beast Boy and Raven

Teen Titans always was different and special to me as a kid, and it still is. There were a lot of dark themes for a kids' show, like obsession, loss, acceptance. And as a kid I was able to really identify with Raven. She wasn't like the other kids on her team: she liked to simply sit to the side and read a book, but you could tell that, although she tried to hide it, she really did care about what her friends thought of her. And I really think that Beast Boy, her opposite in a lot of senses, was the perfect person to help bring her out of her shell. Sure, he may have been a bit insensitive at times (joking at inappropriate times, getting understandably frustrated and snapping), but that's because, just as Raven is learning to be a part of a team, BB is learning how to treat people with the level of respect that they need. They both care about one another. They just don't know how to express it.

9:

Sky High

Warren and Layla

Will, I have nothing against you. Really. You're a nice guy. But Warren is such an unexpected sweetheart. I'm tired of the childhood-friends-falling-in-love story. Maybe for once, just once, I wanted the girl to try and find a way to attract her guy's attention only to find out that, yeah, maybe she didn't need to. Maybe, if Will was stupid enough to go about chasing secret-villain booty, Layla deserved someone better, someone that was nice enough to try pretending to be her boyfriend so that she could get the boy of her dreams. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, THEY could have fallen in love along the way, and they could have made it into the yearbook as "Oddest, Most Unexpectedly Cute Couple."

Was Sky High a great movie? Hell yeah!

Am I still a little salty about Warren Peace not getting the girl? Damn right I am.

10:

Angel Beats

Hinata and Yui

Episode 10 of Angel Beats hit me really hard, maybe not as hard as episode 3 did for me, but it still hit. Nowadays I may have a slight issue with the “Every girl wants to get married” statement that Yui makes, but the ending to her arc was heartwarming and it was really satisfying and sweet to see how much Hinata cared for her, even though they bickered constantly throughout the show.

11:

Pokemon

Ferisswheelshipping

Here's the source for this super-cute fanart of these cuties

Though it was a close call with the recent arrival of Sun and Moon, Black and White are still my favorite Pokemon games. I mean, yeah, part of it is that I absolutely love the Pokemon in that generation (fite me), and another huge part is the story, but another part that I found truly fascinating was N's relationship with the protagonist. And, since I am and therefore play as the female character (White/Hilda/Touko/ whateveryouwannacallher), I've always projected Hilda in my mind as being the person interacting with him. He's slightly older than Hilda, tall and lanky, very intense and passionate about his ideals, and socially inept. On the other side of the coin, there's Hilda, who I imagine to be short as all hell, spunky, probably a pretty social gal (since up until that point, literally none of the other protagonists started out with more than one friend, if any at all), and probably just as idealistic. 

They butt heads all the time because of the fact that they both love Pokemon so much, and because as much as he trusts her Pokemon's words, N finds it hard to believe that there's really such thing as a human that is that kind to their Pokemon. But he sees it, really sees all that love in her eyes, and as hard as it is for him to see through his narrow mindset and his awful, traumatizing childhood, he eventually accepts it. He accepts the truth that there are humans that care so much about Pokemon that they are willing to fight for the right to stay with them.

Ah... Black and White... What good times...

12:

Lovely Complex

Otani and Risa

Are you sick and tired of every single hero in every single anime being at least a foot taller that his heroine? Well, look for further than Lovely Complex, the anime that shoves a tall girl and short guy together for all our viewing (and shipping) pleasure. Yeah, they don't always get along, and they may, themselves, admit that there's a reason guys don't typically like dating girls taller than them and vice versa, but Otani and Risa are still pretty darn cute.

13:

My Little Monster

Haru and Shizuku

Shizuku obviously wanted nothing to do with Haru at first, and for very understandable reasons. He's a weird, clingy guy who truly adores her, and she feels very uncomfortable because of it. Still, she cares about him and sticks up for him when Haru's "friends" start talking bad about him. She knows he's a good kid at heart, and though his feeling are unreciprocated for a long while, she eventually falls for him. 

Plus, Haru's confession scene is just full of lolz.

14:

Hyouka

Houtarou and Chitanda

Houtarou is really good at solving mysteries and putting puzzles together. Like, really good. His only problem is that he lacks motivation in almost everything, which is where Chitanda comes in. She's overbearingly curious about everything, dragging Houtarou along for the ride whenever she wants to figure something out, and he can't exactly say no, since she gives him no room to. It's like he's enchanted by the sheer amount of curiosity held inside this one girl, and who can blame him? It's kind of incredible how infuriatingly curious she is. And I guess that this is what makes them work so well: Houtarou's like a lightbulb. He has all the components to shine a light but won't until someone flips the switch. Chitanda is the one who always flips the switch, and Houtarou is absolutely amazed by the fact that she's able to give him enough forced motivation to get stuff done.

15:

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun

Nozaki and Mikorin

This is more of a crack ship of mine, but I’ll be 100% with you: I was absolutely convinced throughout the entire show that Nozaki was gay and that he was in love with Mikorin. I mean, have you seen how the guy dotes over him? He even bases the heroine from his manga after Mikorin!

I was a little disappointed at the end of the show when it was hinted he had feelings for Sakura. They could’ve been cute, just playing dating sims and cuddling all day.

16:

Once Upon a Time

Graham and Emma

I'm not exactly up-to-date on Once Upon a Time, but I know that Emma is with Captain Hook now, apparently. Not that that's bad or anything. I'm happy she was able to find someone again. But I really miss Graham. From what I can remember, he wasn't a 100% good guy, but he really did care for Emma, and I found the idea of the Huntsman and Snow White's daughter together to be a kind of cute irony.

17:

Nana

Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu (Hachi)

I-

I have no excuse.

They’re cute.

That’s it.

           

18:

Assassination Classroom

Karma Akabane and Nagisa Shiota

I think this one is my first ever yaoi pair. Interesting, since I seem pretty big on shipping yuri, and Nagisa already has a clear love interest in a girl. Maybe it has to do with the fact that Nagisa looks like a girl? *Shrug* Either way, I love the dynamic that these two have going for them. Nagisa is calm and composed and can slide his way into a crowd with ease while Karma is, well, Karma. He speaks his mind and looks down on everyone, and he knows how to be in command. I don’t use this word very often, but Karma is, quite frankly, just a little shit. And yet these two respect each other better than probably anybody else. I think that the two of them can definitely bring out the best in each other.

19:

Yuri on Ice

Yuri and Vicktor

Karma and Nagisa and Nozaki and Mikorin were my only yoai OTPs for a long while. 

Then I watched Yaoi on Ice.

20: 

Gurren Lagann

Yoko and Kamina

I loved the dynamic between these two from the very beginning. Kamina, the embodiment of manliness itself, had a thing for Yoko from the first episode; even when his and Simon's village was under attack from a giant robot, he decided to hit on this badass chick that dropped down from the surface as they fought. Now, Yoko is obviously Best Girl in Gurren Lagann (fite me, Nia fans), and Kamina is undoubtedly Best Guy, so putting them together was just obviously the right choice.

If only Yoko were able to keep her lips to herself.

21:

Book of Life

Xibalba and La Muerte

Good God, I love these two! I’ve always loved it when two great opposing forces- opposites in every sense of the word- find themselves attracted to one another, and these two are most certainly opposites. La Muerte’s constant teasing doesn’t help lessen my love for these two, either.

22:

Steven Universe

Garnet

Ah, Garnet. The literal walking, talking, bad-ass ship. Garnet is the fusion of two very small lesbian space rocks, Ruby and Sapphire, who have such extreme personalities that it’s a wonder that they would even get along, let alone fall in love. And yet they did, and I’m glad they did because their relationship is just adorable and I relish every moment that Garnet is unfused so that I can see these two cuties flirt.

Tl;dr

Garnet is made of love.

23:

The Lunar Chronicles

Wolf (Ze’ev Kesley) and Scarlet Benoit

Little Red Riding Hood has always been one of my favorite fairytales, though I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it has to do with the fact that, aside from our local psychopaths of the sea (dolphins), wolves are my favorite animals? Whatever it is, it’s probably not the original story that gets me excited so much as seeing more modern renditions of this classic tale. Which is why I was extremely excited when I finished Cinder, a really cool dystopian sci-fi Cinderella story and moved on to the next book in the Lunar Chronicles, Scarlet. I guess I’m a sap from romances that start out with well-placed mistrust and ulterior motives but later quickly spiral out of control into a very genuine and sweet relationship, because after going through only a quarter of the book, I knew these two would be my Lunar Chronicles OTP.

This cute af fanart can be found here

 24:

The Legend of Korra

Korra and Asami Sato

I'll admit that I didn't see this couple coming when the series finale for Korra came out, but holy hell, when I looked back from season two onwards, their relationship was so well constructed and thought out. They spend so much time together, building up a close friendship (not something you'd expect from two girls that dated the same guy), and even when Korra leaves for a while to see Katara, Asami is the only person she feels comfortable writing with. Not to mention, Asami is the one taking care of Korra when she's depressed and in a wheelchair.

I heard there's a Korra comic featuring these two cuties and their adventures in the spirit world, and if it's true, then I seriously need to track that thing down because they are a seriously unexpected OTP that I just can't get enough of now.

25:

Durarara!!

Aoba and Mairu and Kururi

Now, I don’t really like these three in that typical OT3 fashion; in fact, they’re not what I call an OT3, really, since I don’t ship Mairu and Kururi together. That’d just be kinda… gross. They’re twins. That’s incest. That’s not what I want. Ew. But I do ship Aoba with Mairu at the same time that I ship him with Kururi. Which seems a little strange to me if not for the fact that I think all three of them seem like they’d be pretty straightforward, both with each other and themselves in terms of their relationships. Both of the girls have kissed Aoba, and he seems to have a bit of a soft spot for them, going as far as to tell his groupies not to mess with them when he’s clearly out to kill their older brother. Which probably isn't a problem to them, anyway, since their brother Izaya is kind of sociopathic, and they don't seem to have too good a relationship with him.

26:

Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea

Tatsumiya and Idate

Screw me. Screw this pairing. Screw freaking Mogeko for making me love this pairing so freaking much. Don’t even ask me why. Something about the cute-goody-two-shoes-girl-has-a-crush-on-the-bad-boy/serial-killer/whatever-the-hell-you-consider-the-orca thing is just really, really charming and cute to me. Hell, I think I’ll throw Rocma in there and make it an OT3, because Idate likes moms that could kick his ass, Rocma is probably bisexual with a big preference towards women- if not just a lesbian-, and Tatsumiya is the glue that holds the relationship together.

Here's this adorable fanart >

Aaaand this adorable fanart v

EDIT:

Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea/Ice Scream

Tatsumiya, Rocma, and Idate

Yes, they are the only OT3 I ever had, and the only actual OT3 I am ever likely to have. I blame the fact that orcas are polygamists, which only consecrated this head cannon of mine. Just imagine: Normal End 2 of Wadanohara. Heart-broken, Tatsumiya follows Idate back up north to live with him on Iceberg Isle, where she catches the eye of Rocma. Together, shirokuma-chan and mister orca must assist one another in making Tatsumiya a less sad person, and in the process, Rocma sees a better side to Idate, too.

... Yeah, I may already be writing a fanfiction on this. And?

27:

A Song of Ice and Fire

Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo

OK, first: I HAVE ONLY READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS AND WATCHED THE FIRST SEASON OF THE TV SHOW PLEASE DON’T SPOIL ANYTHING FOR ME.

Dany’s relationship with Drogo was nearly perfect from a writing perspective, as it gave her character room to grow and develop. Dany could have been royalty at one point or another if not for Robert Baratheon taking the throne from Aerys and effectively running the Targaryens out of Westeros, during which flee she was born on a ship sailing across a storming ocean, thus her name: Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen. Because of this, despite being royalty, she never really knew what power tasted like, and she was constantly put down and belittled by her brother Viserys.  After her brother arranges a marriage for her with a Dothraki warlord (who pretty much everyone in their society viewed as being savages), she thinks that her life is just about over.

Being Khaleesi, however, granted her a much greater power than anyone could have ever imagined. While I liked the relationship between her and Drogo better in the book because he was rapey at the beginning of the TV series, both versions ended up the same: this tiny little girl made the man who never lost a single battle in his entire life her bitch, and they became so incredibly passionate about each other that Dany braided his hair for him, and they called each other pet names, and Dany named her favorite dragon after him, and Drogo declared a goddamn war across the seas that his people feared so much because some asshole decided to try killing his waifu.

If that isn’t a power couple, then I don’t know what is.

28:

Zootopia

Nick and Jody

Call me a weirdo for shipping two animals together. I don't care. If you think I'm weird for this, then you obviously haven't watched the movie.

29:

Lost

Charlie and Claire

These two are super charming to me for a couple of reasons, one of which being that you can tell just how much Charlie absolutely adores Claire from the first episode. After their plane crashes, he sees this very obviously very pregnant woman and instantly jumps in to help her out. The sheer amount of crap he's willing to go through to get her a simple jar of peanut butter is amazing. And keep in mind that Charlie is a rock star currently going through heroine addiction, but he still does so much for her out of simple care and adoration, like watching her baby and treating "turnip-head" like his own kid. Even more believable is that Charlie's feelings are one-sided for quite a while. I'm pretty sure Claire knew he had a crush on her for a while but it took her time to love him as anything more than just a supportive friend. 

30:

The Gray Garden

Etihw and Kcalb

…It’s God and the Devil. Instant power couple. Instant OTP. They win.

            The End.

And, hey, that’s my list! But I made sure to leave one thing off that I’m going to post in a few more days, on Valentine’s Day. It’s a bit more of a personal topic but one that I think is important, nonetheless, and I would really appreciate it if the kind people reading this right now would check it out.

And that's all for today! For now, feel free to share some of your OTP's with me down in the comments! I’ll see you beautiful people later!