Whenever I'm feeling particularly morose about my own love life (or lack thereof), I like to pick up a Meg Cabot book and remind myself that there are successful relationships in the world. See, sometimes I find myself wondering if there is such a thing as true love, or if people are simply responding to biological impulses (to, you know, procreate). Then I have to laugh, because there's nothing I enjoy more than following relationship development in a piece of fiction. So, romantic love is one of the many Aida paradoxes; I'm not sure if it exists, but I like experiencing it vicariously.
Case in point: one of my favorite aspects of the Harry Potter series is the Ron/Hermione relationship. Obviously I read the books first for the amazing story and worldbuilding. The thing I probably cared about second most, however, was when Ron and Hermione were going to get together. It's kind of a silly thing to be so focused on, but there you have it. I have an embarrassing amount of Ron/Hermione fanart saved on my computer, which can make showing my friends my iPod pictures awkward, and they are pretty much my number one fictional couple, ever.
Then there's The West Wing, with the Josh/Donna storyline drawn out over seven seasons, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, the only piece of fiction I can think of where I didn't like the established canon relationship (by which I mean Kataang, as I liked all the others, even Maiko) and preferred another (Zutara). Anne/Gilbert, Elizabeth/Darcy, Han/Leia, Chandler/Monica, Lorelai/Luke (and Lorelai/Max while that lasted), Michael/Mia, I could go on and on. Romantic relationships are pretty much the first thing I latch onto when I'm starting a new series, and I love to recognize the tropes and predict the prolonged issues the characters will have to work out before finally riding happily off into the sunset.
I don't know why this is. I just wish my own love life would turn out as happily as any of my favorite fictional couples.
