The year 2023 gave fans an outstanding year full of steamy romance. Baldur’s Gate 3 allowed players to fall in love – and then love – with the sexy and eclectic band of misfits. The Resident Evil 4 The remake gave Leon Kennedy a complete makeover and turned him into a real internet baby. Outside of the games, longtime fan favorite Satoru Gojo made his long-awaited reappearance Jujutsu Kaisen Anime.
I love everything, but sometimes the source material isn’t enough. It never hurts to add a little spice to the stories. We just want the characters to kiss! Sometimes… shipping is just a little more fun.
Whether it’s a steamy slow-burn fanfiction or sharing perfectly edited snippets of characters online, sending characters helps build our favorite worlds in exciting ways. Ships and all the romance provide the fuel to fire up the roaring engine of the fandom. That’s why we decided to round up our favorite ships and romantic pairings from 2023.
Shadowheart and Lae’zel from Baldur’s Gate 3
If I had a dime for every sprawling RPG with romance options that had a wildly compelling enemies-to-lovers sapphic ship that was so good that I couldn’t find the heart to choose between pairing up with my player character, I would have two nickels. That’s not much, but it’s strange that it happened twice.
Anyway, Shadowheart and Lae’zel from Baldur’s Gate 3 have earned a place in my shipper’s heart right alongside Miranda Lawson and Jack from Mass Effect. They have such a delicious chemistry, the kind of antagonism that comes from actually being in very similar positions but refusing to acknowledge it because that would mean acknowledging your own flaws and shortcomings. I also love a spicy scene with a knife in the throat!!!!!! —Petrana Radulovic
Zelda and Link from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Justice for Link and Prince Sidon shippers!!!!! Nintendo really did dirty the romance between Prince Sidon and Link upon release this year Tears of the Kingdom. Apparently Sidon is not only straight, but also engaged to a lady named Yona? Link didn’t ride Sidon at all. Buuuuh! Regardless, I really love this game because it portrays such a beautiful and never-ending love between Link and Zelda. It was the first time I felt like I really understood Zelink shippers and why I would now consider myself one of them. —Ana Diaz
Leon and Luis from Resident Evil 4
Most people play Resident Evil 4 – either the original 2005 game or the current remake – gives its dream protagonist Leon S. Kennedy either the barely legal-looking but actually 20-year-old Ashley Graham or the mysterious femme fatale Ada Wong. These two women fit the typical Madonna/whore dichotomy, and what’s more boring than that? Additionally, Leon always seems so awkward as a person that I always saw him as a semi-closeted queer guy swiping through Grindr on the DL. (Okay, in 2005 it was Craigslist and not Grindr, but you still follow.) For all of these reasons, I see this as Leon’s true love RE4 as Luis, the flamboyant Spanish babe who even gets a few lines of dialogue in the remake. The only problem is that their relationship is getting more serious (because only I can). assume They joined) is that they don’t have enough space in any normal-sized bathroom for each of their respective hair products. —Maddy Myers
Janine and Gregory from Abbott Elementary
It’s no secret that Janine and Gregory are meant for each other Abbott Elementary School. Sure, this ship is predictable and maybe not that exciting! But also consider this: Both characters fucking rule.
Like so many other sitcom couples, they’ve long been my end goal – just as we all knew Nick and Jesse were destined to be New girland that Chidi and Eleanor would end up together in every life The good place. Since these shows had completed their runs, I had been waiting for another slow romance to hit the stage. AbbottThe slow burn is refreshing because it doesn’t rely on pure intrigue or intrigue to keep the main cast apart. Janine and Gregory are both full of heart, carry so much (appropriate) baggage, and do their best to be there for their students every day. They’re just so awkward that it’s hard for them to read each other’s signals, and yet they keep trying – because their relationship is built on a foundation of friendship and trust.
This friendship also means that they are excellent scene partners, whose conversations range very fluently from flirty banter to serious and momentous conversations. Gregory helps Janine step back from her naive improvement projects while she helps him gain confidence. I often think of the scene where Janine gently calls out the decorative classroom posters from Gregory’s office supply store. Gregory then shares all the drawings his students have made of him; It becomes clear to viewers that he has no idea how popular he is. Janine – who already knows this – helps him see it, and maybe he starts to believe it a little himself. –Nicole Clark
Literally all of Owl House’s ships (Luz and Amity, Hunter and Willow, Eda and Raine)
I just can’t decide on one! Do I want a rival-to-friends-to-lover video where a mean girl goes from rude to in love with the brave hero? Or for a prickly guy who’s secretly super soft and a soft girl who’s secretly a badass, both of whom are outsiders in their own way but find comfort in each other? Or a decades-long life of friends to lovers to exes to estranged acquaintances to reconciled allies as they long for each other after their relationship fell apart all those years ago? The Owl House filled us up. —PR
Bronya and Soul from Honkai: Star Rail
I haven’t even played the other Honkai games, but apparently Seele and Bronya are lesbians in every universe. I literally adore these two. One is a tough punk leader of an underground organization that helps the poor, and the other is a world ruler originally raised to be ignorant of the cruelty of the state. It’s a match made in heaven! —ADVERTISEMENT
Haymitch Abernathy and Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games
After I saw The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I enjoyed The Hunger Games a little bit and re-read the original trilogy. And let me tell you, if you read these books as an adult, you’ll notice Haymitch as the hottest character. The film trilogy had already brought some Effie and Haymitch to mind in my mind, but re-reading it made me want to write a fic from Haymitch and Effie’s point of view where everything is mostly the same except for that they were secretly together the whole time. —PR
The player and Rusty from Armored Core 6
You just have to have respect for a ship where almost every single part was completely invented by the fans. Rusty and the player character in Armored core 6 The chemistry is there, don’t get me wrong – but in the game you don’t even see this character’s face! In the mercenary hellscape of AC6However, in America’s post-apocalyptic, corporate-controlled gig economy, any friendly voice in your ear is enough to make you fall in love. Every single piece of fan art I’ve seen of Rusty portrays him as awesome. But who cares about its literal physical form! Turns out it didn’t actually take a player to believe that Rusty believed in us. —MM
Geto and Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen
Have you ever loved your brother so much that you allowed yourself to be radicalized into hating all of humanity? NO? Well, that’s kind of not what’s happening with SatoSugu, a popular pairing that pairs the infamous Satoru Gojo with Suguru Geto in the anime and manga Jujutsu Kaisen. Their love story is about a failed teenage relationship. I’m still sad that they broke up, but hey, at least Mappa is great at giving us hot characters. -ADVERTISEMENT
Keefe and Kelvin from The Righteous Gemstones
The best ships sneak up on you, and none are worse than Kelvin and Keefe The Righteous Gems. Every character in this series is such a weirdo, not just because the Gemstone family is rich (yes, rich people are weird, I said it), but because the family business is televangelism. Kelvin is one of three adult siblings vying to inherit his family’s mega-mantle, but he’s so hidden that my gaydar readings were messed up throughout the first season. Very closed Christian adults are like that in real life, and it’s not that funny though The Righteous Gems manages to make it funny and even heartwarming as Kelvin’s trust in his former satanic best friend Keefe grows stronger and stranger. Will God forgive them? In my opinion an agnostic: Yes!! —MM
Kaveh and Alhaitham from Genshin Impact
Sometimes the best ship is one that feels the most real. That’s why I love Alhaitham and Kaveh Genshin Impact. Together the two look like an old arguing couple. Kaveh will make snide remarks about the facility and Alhaitham will groan like an old bear. It’s not exactly steamy or hot, but it feels stupidly domestic and is entirely possible. It’s basically canon, right? —ADVERTISEMENT
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