In honor of Valentine's Day week, my favorite fictional couples!

On Goodreads this month, because of Valentine’s Day, I received an author question asking me who my favorite fictional couple was. And since said holiday was this past Tuesday, I thought I’d make my post on Here Be Magic today an expanded version of my answer to that question!

So here you all go, in no particular order, my list of ten of my favorite fictional couples:

#1:

Heroine: Luthien Tinuviel

Hero: Beren

Source: The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Why I like them: Because they are a shining example of a romance in which both involved parties actively contribute to the story. In particular, I love that Luthien takes on no less than Morgoth himself, the biggest bad in Middle-Earth EVER, to save her man.

#2:

Heroine: Sira di Sarc

Hero: Jason Morgan

Source: A Thousand Words for Stranger, by Julie E. Czerneda

Why I like them: This was the Czerneda book that made me fall in love with this woman’s writing, and decide that she was the writer I wanted to write like when I grew up. The story starts with the “captain with a heart of gold takes on mysterious stowaway” trope and I’m a sucker for that. Once the truly staggering strength of Sira’s telepathic gifts is revealed, I adore how Jason does not flinch from standing at her side.

#3:

Heroine: Amelia P. Emerson

Hero: Emerson

Source: The entire Amelia Peabody series, by Elizabeth Peters

Why I like them: Because Amelia is a parasol-wielding force of nature, because Emerson is adorably gruff, and because I love how every scene-closing cry from Amelia of “Oh, Emerson!” is totally code for “and then sex was on”. ;D Plus I love their mutual proposal to one another at the end of Book 1, and Amelia’s assertion that “I embroider very badly. I think I would excavate very well.”

#4:

Heroine: Nefret

Hero: Ramses Emerson

Source: ALSO the entire Amelia Peabody series, by Elizabeth Peters

Why I like them: Because I adore how the series outlines the developing relationship between these two characters, from when they meet as children (and Nefret is established as the only living creature capable of making Ramses shut up) clear up to when they finally declare love for one another. He Shall Thunder in the Sky, when that climactic resolution finally happens, is one of my very favorite books in the entire series.

#5:

Heroine: Isabella, Lady Trent

Hero: Suhail

Source: The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, by Marie Brennan

Why I like them: The dynamic between these two had strong callbacks for me to the aforementioned Amelia and Emerson, in no small part because what draws them together is mutual interest in science. Also, their mutual interest in science is all about dragons! Which is awesome. +1 as well for Suhail coming from an Arabic-analogue culture, which makes him a hero of color.

#6:

Heroine: Marion Ravenwood

Hero: Indiana Jones

Source: The Indiana Jones movies, but in particular, Raiders of the Lost Ark

Why I like them: There are REASONS Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all time favorite movie. But the ones that are pertinent to this list is the crackling chemistry between Indy and Marion all throughout the movie, starting with how she greets him with a punch to the jaw. Also, Harrison Ford.

#7:

Heroine: Leia Organa

Hero: Han Solo

Source: The Star Wars movies, but in particular, The Empire Strikes Back

Why I like them: See previous commentary re: mmmmmm Harrison Ford mmmmmmm. Also every single one of their scenes together in Empire. <3 “I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee!” “I can arrange that!”

#8:

Heroine: Lois Lane

Hero: Clark Kent/Superman

Source: Multiple adaptations in TV and movies, but in particular, Christopher Reeves’ original Superman movie, the 90’s TV show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and the WB Superman, Batman, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited cartoons

Why I like them: Because all my favorite implementations of Lois stay true to her core as a fearless reporter, and all my favorite implementations of Clark/Supes uphold his inherent heroism. And when they’re thrown together, their feelings for one another are radiant. Of my three favorite Superman adaptations, I’m most partial to Lois and Clark, because Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain spent all of season 1 being adorable cinnamon rolls at each other. <3

#9:

Heroine: Buffy Summers

Hero: Angel

Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Why I like them: Because Buffy and Angel were delicious, delicious angst. “Ohnoez they can never actually be together” (for values of ‘be together’ meaning ‘actually have sex’) “because Angel will turn evil!” And, of course, they went there, which leads to one of Buffy’s most badass moments at the end of season 2 and arguably in the entire series.

#10:

Heroine: Dana Scully

Hero: Fox Mulder

Source: The X-Files

Why I like them: Because through so much of the early seasons of the show, they took the time to set up deep working trust between these two characters. So when we finally got signs that the relationship was turning romantic, it felt like a logical progression to me. I could argue for hours about how the relationship has played out since then—but for purposes of this post, I’ll simply say that Mulder and Scully: yep, I ship it.

How about the rest of you? Tell me about your favorite fictional couples in the comments!

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Angela may not be a romance writer, but she is absolutely a romantic sucker and has love stories in both her urban fantasy Free Court of Seattle series (written as Angela Korra'ti) and the high fantasy trilogy Rebels of Adalonia (written as Angela Highland). If you've read her books, come tell her which characters you ship at angelahighland.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter! And if you haven't read her books, she invites you to start. ;D

Do I Still Want to Believe?

Let me tell y'all about my relationship with The X-Files.

I was already an SF/F fangirl by the time Mulder and Scully first showed up on our screens in 1993, so I can't exactly say that it was the first show I ever fangirled. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, MacGyver, and Remington Steele all beat The X-Files to that particular punch. But that said, it was arguably the first show I fangirled as an adult out of college, doing double duty with Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman to seize our household's attention that year.

And boy howdy, did our household, the Murkworks, love us some X-Files. We'd happily sing the lyrics we discovered to the theme song ("the X-Files is a show / with music by Mark Snow"), and my housemate Mimi and I in particular totally swooned for Mulder. The first two seasons in particular were amazing, and to this day, a particular plot reveal in second season holds the record (along with a later plot reveal in Babylon 5) for how long a plot point on TV has ever reduced me to amazed, babbling incoherence.

(Season closer of season 2, "Anasazi". When the Smoking Man shows up on a certain doorstep. I boggled for twenty straight minutes over that. It was awesome.)

As we got further into the show, though, it became apparent that no matter how much we wanted there to be an overall plot arc, there wasn't really. The mytharc episodes kept dropping so many tantalizing hints that nevertheless failed to pull together into a cohesive narrative--particularly after the first movie, Fight the Future, which showed up between seasons 5 and 6. Once that movie happened, my household all felt as if the stakes had been upped considerably, and we looked anxiously forward to seeing what would happen next.

Problem was, the show fell back upon the "Monster of the Week" format that had seized its fanbase's attention in the first place. And once David Duchovny started phoning in his role (in some cases, literally, in episodes where Mulder's presence in the plot was only via phone calls to Scully), the show had to scramble again to figure out what the hell it was doing. Mimi and I in particular were very disappointed that Mulder stopped being a main character, and we were particularly annoyed that a major progression in Mulder and Scully's relationship happened off-camera.

Even though we tried to valiantly hang in there during season 8, we finally reluctantly stopped watching. For me, it just wasn't the same without Mulder and Scully as the leads. I don't think we saw any of season 9 at all, aside from coming back to give the finale a look out of a sense of obligation and of wanting closure.

When the second movie came out, Mimi and I went to go see it despite profound misgivings. We were still cranky at the handling of how Mulder and Scully's relationship had progressed, yet we were curious despite ourselves as to how the second movie would pick up with that--not to mention how it'd pick up from what had happened in the season 9 finale.

Suffice to say, that movie was a disappointment.

All of which brings me around to the new season 10 miniseries, which I finally finished watching as of last night. I came into that with much the same sense I approached the second movie: i.e., that I really wanted it to not suck, yet was deeply afraid that it would.

I've been following the recap/review posts put up by both The Mary Sue and Tor.com. And I've gotta say that I'm pretty much on board with what both of these sites have had to say about the miniseries: i.e., that there are moments in it that I've really liked, and that Scully should indeed be Queen of Everything. My favorite moments in these episodes have been followups to Mulder and Scully's established relationship. The scene in which Mulder acts out both sides of many a conversation the two of them have had over the years, while Scully doesn't get a word in and winds up just smiling wryly at him, was delightful.

Taken as a set, though, I have to find the season 10 episodes an incoherent mess. I don't feel like six episodes was enough to progress the mytharc properly. And the Monster of the Week episodes in between the mytharc bookends had too many hamfisted missteps in them for me to enjoy them, for the most part. Worst of all, and I'll say this right out for anyone who hasn't watched the miniseries yet and might want to: the last episode ends on a cliffhanger.

Seriously, Chris Carter? Seriously?

We don't even know whether there's going to be more X-Files at this point. So leaving viewers hanging like that can play as nothing but a cheap ploy to stoke interest and see if FOX can be pressured into letting there be more of the show.

Thing is, I'm not even sure I want more at this point.

In season 10, I've found myself appreciating how Scully has matured as a character. But Mulder has become almost a ridiculous parody of himself, and while this doesn't quite get into "trashing my childhood hero" territory, it does get pretty close. Couple this with season 10's terrible treatment of the transgender character in episode 3 and the Muslim characters in episode 5, and I'm having a hard time mustering any enthusiasm for finding out where this mytharc might go next.

Part of me still wants to believe. But the rest of me isn't sure it can.

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Angela writes as both Angela Korra'ti and Angela Highland, and even references The X-Files in Bone Walker, Book 2 of The Free Court of Seattle. Tell her your opinion of the show in the comments! Or come say hi to her at angelahighland.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

23 Years Later I Still Want to Believe

Note: A modified version of this post originally appeared on my publisher's blog in March 2015. Since the show will air this Sunday, I thought it appropriate to share my excitement with the readers of Here Be Magic. — Angela

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I can easily remember the night I watched the very first episode of THE X-FILES when it aired live on Fox Sept. 10, 1993. I was 18 and a couple of weeks into my freshman year of college. I happened to be home that night, so I cuddled up in my room, turned off the lights, and watched the pilot episode of a TV show that would have a profound effect on my life.

I know. It's silly to credit a TV show with having a profound effect on you, but it's the truth.

Then again, you only have to look at the type of books I write to understand this is THE X-FILES and it had a profound effect on me. I had just started college and was starting a new journey, one I was uncertain about, one that both terrified and excited me, and one that made me feel more like an outsider than I already did. I had always been a bit of a geek, interested in the paranormal and science fiction, quiet and kind of a loner, too. Suddenly, there was a guy named Mulder who had an “I Want to Believe” poster in his office who ran around investigating UFOs, monsters, ghosts, and conspiracy theories. He was smart, funny, and sexy. And there was a woman named Scully who was skeptical, but she was intelligent, witty, badass and was right there at Mulder’s side no matter how harrowing things got.

I look at THE X-FILES as the birth of the modern day cool nerds. I made friends in college because of Mulder and Scully. People who already seemed really cool loved THE X-FILES as much as I did and didn’t judge me for all of the geeky things I liked. It gave us something to talk about when ordinarily we wouldn’t have said a word to each other. We discussed the possibilities of Bigfoot, aliens and the Loch Ness Monster between classes. We all admired the heck out of Scully and wanted to date Mulder — or vice versa, depending on your orientation. I wasn’t such an outsider anymore.

Not to mention, THE X-FILES became a cult hit, and suddenly paranormal romance books became a thing. Like, a really big thing. Other paranormal-centric TV shows followed — SUPERNATURAL, FRINGE, LOST — but none have lived up to THE X-FILES in my eyes. When I met Gillian Anderson at DragonCon a few years ago, I could barely say a word to the woman because I was so nervous, and I don’t get nervous around celebrities. I remember simply saying “Thank you” because how do you express gratitude to an actress for bringing to life a character who feels like one of your best friends, who was there to help you through good times and bad without even realizing it? You know, without sounding like some whacko stalker? So I just said “Thank you” and probably mumbled some other nonsense that embarrassed me, but whatever. I MET SCULLY! Ha!

When Fox announced it was bringing THE X-FILES back with actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in their original roles for a six-episode run (scheduled to premiere this coming Sunday), I can't even explain how I felt.

The revived series might suck — you can’t be a true X-Phile without admitting some episodes were sloppy at best and the theatrical movies didn’t turn out too well and you either love or hate Chris Carter as a writer — but until I see it, I remain hopefully optimistic. And excited!

Regardless of how it turns out, there's one thing that hasn't changed in the 23 years since I first watched the pilot episode of THE X-FILES. I bought a replica poster of Mulder’s “I Want to Believe” poster at an X-FILES convention once, many, many years ago (Yes, I went to an X-Files Convention once. Shut up). It's in storage now — I think — but the sentiment hasn't changed. I still want to believe, even though I'm not quite sure I always do. 

It's a good thing, too, because as long as I still want to believe, I'll feel compelled to write stories that explore the paranormal, supernatural, and fantastic, conjuring up my own theories as to how those things actually exist.

What about you? Are you excited for Mulder and Scully's return this weekend? Share your love for THE X-FILES in the comments!

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Angela Campbell is the author of the psychic detectives series from Harper Impulse. Learn more about her and her books at www.AngelaCampbellOnline.com.