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5 favourite unrequited love stories
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fannish5: List your 5 favorite unrequited love stories.
(Note: I may be taking a somewhat liberal interpretation of the prompt here. Basically, these are my favourite pairings that are, or were, some version of unrequited.)
Michael/Lindsay, Arrested Development: SHE PROPOSED MARRIAGE, OKAY, SO I'M TOTALLY COUNTING IT. And he brutally shot her down, so that takes care of the "unrequited" bit.
So, basically, it goes like this. Get adopted by a family (reason: spite) with a son three years younger than you, and grow up believing you're his twin sister. You even finish each other's sandwiches. Maybe harbour a secret crush on him, but instead marry a barely closeted doctor-cum-(unemployed) actor. Find out you're adopted. Propose to your formerly twin brother immediately.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, HOW ARE YOU SO AWESOME?
If the Arrested Development movie ever actually eventuates, there had better be more Michael/Lindsay, is all I'm saying.
Xander/Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Okay, so usually I'm not so much a fan of the secretly pining best friend. Only, Xander's pining isn't so much secret pining as it is really obvious, in-your-face pining. He asked her out. She shot him down. A couple of intermittently-souled boyfriends, a vengeance demon fiancee, commando guys and Cordelia Chase and lesbian hijinks later, they're getting some serious UST on in the comics. I am so desperately behind (I haven't actually reached Buffy/Satsu yet, which should tell you something), but I'm loving season eight, and I'm even more loving Buffy's (delayed much?) appreciation of Xander. In the not-quite-just-a-friend, very-much-a-man-with-whom-I-might-like-to-have-sexy-times, sort of way. If you know what I'm saying.
Adam/Kate, Miss Match: I love Michael/Kate, I do, but ... NATHAN FILLION. NATHAN FILLION BEING KIND OF A DOUCHE. This is a thing I cannot avoid.
So, when I was watching the end of the series for the first time, I kept going on to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
talumin about how OMG ADAM LOVES KATE HE LOVES HER OMG, which ... I was a little bit kidding. I mean, he was obviously pursuing her, and he obviously liked her, but I still was not quite expecting him to actually BE IN LOVE WITH HER. And yet.
I really, really want any and all kinds of fic for this fandom (which is, sadly, probably never going to happen), but what I think I want most is post-series fic where Adam keeps pursuing Kate, and where she maybe, eventually, gives in. Because he's persistent like that. And also Nathan Fillion.
Ryan/Taylor, The O.C.: So, this is maybe cheating, because Ryan/Taylor actually did happen and stuff. But I really, really love the way it played out in the beginning, with Taylor sort of unashamedly just being really into him, and pursuing him, and then, inevitably, because TAYLOR TOWNSEND = AWESOME, he gives in and loves her back. And they are awesomely dysfunctional together.
Also, a special shoutout goes to Spencer/Kaitlin (because Taylor and Kaitlin are two of my favourite characters ever), which I would totally ship if I didn't already ship Spencer/Julie.
Andy/Nancy, Weeds: Again, this may not exactly be a fair addition to the list. The unrequited half of the pairing wasn't revealed (canonically) until the season finale, so it hasn't actually been a major theme of the series or anything, plus the unrequited-ness is sort of maybe up in the air. She hasn't actually been given the chance to, like, learn about how he's TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH HER, or to respond in any way, so I'M STILL HOLDING OUT HOPE. ANDY/NANCY. IT COULD HAPPEN.
Honourable mention: Ryan/Kelly (The Office), disqualified on account of how he totally loves her back, even if not in quite the same way she loves him, and even if he won't admit it to anyone, least of all himself. I LOVE THOSE CRAZY KIDS.
So, basically, unrequited love stories are, like, a pretty big thing in television, but I had to stretch the prompt fairly liberally in order to answer it. Because, really, I'm not so much a fan of unrequited love. I mean, pairings where one person is really into the other, and then they pursue them and stuff? I'm all over. But pining is just ... really very much not for me, which is why I didn't include most of the major unrequited love whatevers in my fandoms. And I'm probably forgetting a bunch of pairings I really love, but I can live with that.
fannish5: List your 5 favorite unrequited love stories. (Note: I may be taking a somewhat liberal interpretation of the prompt here. Basically, these are my favourite pairings that are, or were, some version of unrequited.)
Michael/Lindsay, Arrested Development: SHE PROPOSED MARRIAGE, OKAY, SO I'M TOTALLY COUNTING IT. And he brutally shot her down, so that takes care of the "unrequited" bit.
So, basically, it goes like this. Get adopted by a family (reason: spite) with a son three years younger than you, and grow up believing you're his twin sister. You even finish each other's sandwiches. Maybe harbour a secret crush on him, but instead marry a barely closeted doctor-cum-(unemployed) actor. Find out you're adopted. Propose to your formerly twin brother immediately.
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, HOW ARE YOU SO AWESOME?
If the Arrested Development movie ever actually eventuates, there had better be more Michael/Lindsay, is all I'm saying.
Xander/Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Okay, so usually I'm not so much a fan of the secretly pining best friend. Only, Xander's pining isn't so much secret pining as it is really obvious, in-your-face pining. He asked her out. She shot him down. A couple of intermittently-souled boyfriends, a vengeance demon fiancee, commando guys and Cordelia Chase and lesbian hijinks later, they're getting some serious UST on in the comics. I am so desperately behind (I haven't actually reached Buffy/Satsu yet, which should tell you something), but I'm loving season eight, and I'm even more loving Buffy's (delayed much?) appreciation of Xander. In the not-quite-just-a-friend, very-much-a-man-with-whom-I-might-like-to-have-sexy-times, sort of way. If you know what I'm saying.
Adam/Kate, Miss Match: I love Michael/Kate, I do, but ... NATHAN FILLION. NATHAN FILLION BEING KIND OF A DOUCHE. This is a thing I cannot avoid.
So, when I was watching the end of the series for the first time, I kept going on to
talumin about how OMG ADAM LOVES KATE HE LOVES HER OMG, which ... I was a little bit kidding. I mean, he was obviously pursuing her, and he obviously liked her, but I still was not quite expecting him to actually BE IN LOVE WITH HER. And yet. I really, really want any and all kinds of fic for this fandom (which is, sadly, probably never going to happen), but what I think I want most is post-series fic where Adam keeps pursuing Kate, and where she maybe, eventually, gives in. Because he's persistent like that. And also Nathan Fillion.
Ryan/Taylor, The O.C.: So, this is maybe cheating, because Ryan/Taylor actually did happen and stuff. But I really, really love the way it played out in the beginning, with Taylor sort of unashamedly just being really into him, and pursuing him, and then, inevitably, because TAYLOR TOWNSEND = AWESOME, he gives in and loves her back. And they are awesomely dysfunctional together.
Also, a special shoutout goes to Spencer/Kaitlin (because Taylor and Kaitlin are two of my favourite characters ever), which I would totally ship if I didn't already ship Spencer/Julie.
Andy/Nancy, Weeds: Again, this may not exactly be a fair addition to the list. The unrequited half of the pairing wasn't revealed (canonically) until the season finale, so it hasn't actually been a major theme of the series or anything, plus the unrequited-ness is sort of maybe up in the air. She hasn't actually been given the chance to, like, learn about how he's TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH HER, or to respond in any way, so I'M STILL HOLDING OUT HOPE. ANDY/NANCY. IT COULD HAPPEN.
Honourable mention: Ryan/Kelly (The Office), disqualified on account of how he totally loves her back, even if not in quite the same way she loves him, and even if he won't admit it to anyone, least of all himself. I LOVE THOSE CRAZY KIDS.
So, basically, unrequited love stories are, like, a pretty big thing in television, but I had to stretch the prompt fairly liberally in order to answer it. Because, really, I'm not so much a fan of unrequited love. I mean, pairings where one person is really into the other, and then they pursue them and stuff? I'm all over. But pining is just ... really very much not for me, which is why I didn't include most of the major unrequited love whatevers in my fandoms. And I'm probably forgetting a bunch of pairings I really love, but I can live with that.