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A lot more women than usual kissed each other on our teeves this year! Some of them even did so with the lights on! But those weren’t the only swoon-y things that we watched (over and over and over again) in 2017. There were songs and bike races and hot air balloon rides and promises of forever and allusions to some of the most romantic tropes and movies of all times. These were some of the 16 most romantic lesbian and bisexual things of the year.

Marceline sings a new song for Princess Bubblegum, Adventure Time

Heather: On the way to Marci’s house with her dad, Finn and Jake said “maybe” she has a girlfriend, and then when they showed up she was lounging around in Princess Bubblegum’s sweater from the “Stakes” mini-series. Off they went to Marceline’s solo concert where she sang her most — her only? — romantic song ever, “Slow Dance With You.” Quite a journey with PB from “I’m Just Your Problem.”

Niska and Astrid fall in love against all odds, Humans

Valerie: “Nika and Astrid’s issues weren’t what you would expect — it wasn’t a Synth/human scandal, it wasn’t a woman/woman scandal. It was Niska running away from her feelings (which had more to do with feelings being new than anything else) and Astrid not letting her. It was a surprising happy place amid the carnage, and even though so many people — humans and Synths alike — didn’t survive the season, our lady-loving ladies miraculously did.”

Alex and Maggie’s first morning after, Supergirl

Heather: After fighting their feelings for each other for months (and a lifetime of Alex fighting her feelings for girls), Maggie and Alex had sex for the first time and woke up the next morning dappled in sunlight, dressed in each other’s clothes, smooching contentment and disbelief. To be honest I kind of couldn’t believe it was happening either.

Tessa and Mariah’s first kiss, The Young and the Restless

Natalie: “The racing heart, the long conversations that are never, ever long enough, the regret of any day spent apart. Mariah feels all of that, she just doesn’t feel it for Devon. It is not a small thing for Y&R to cast Mariah’s love for Tessa in the same mold as one of the show’s great supercouples, Nick and Sharon. It’s a normalizing force for a conservative audience that might not view a same-sex story that way.”

Kat and Adena’s Before Sunrise escapades, The Bold Type

Heather: Kat and Adena are my favorite TV couple of 2017 and while they have plenty of swoon-y moments to choose from, their blanket fort escapades in the airport the night before Adena was deported were my favorite. Even the title of the episode was drawn from Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise, one of the most romantic movies of all time. I was willing to suspends all my disbelief for this episode, including Kat and Adena having uninterrupted sex in the airport lounge, a full night of sleep in each other’s arms, and Kat not giving Adena her first class ticket when she decided to stay in NYC.

Gail and Erica Get Married, The Last Man On Earth

Riese: Gail and Erica’s relationship was initially written off as a thing they did before realizing they weren’t the only human beings left on earth, but eventually after three seasons of other pursuits, their union revealed itself to be the truest and most honest thing either had ever known.

Paige and Emily’s last bike race, Pretty Little Liars

Heather: This was some hardcore Paily fanservice and, let me tell you, for suffering through the last few seasons of this show, we deserved it. Bikes? Check. Musical montage? Check. Camera swirling kissing? Check. It wasn’t going to last and everyone knew it, but for a shining moment everything was right in Rosewood again.

Odessa asks Tilda to run away with her, Into the Badlands

Valerie: “I’ve mentioned before that too often kisses between two women are cast entirely in shadow, or are a quick peck in the middle of a camera transition. But not here, not now. The camera loves them and the music swells lovingly and the light glows softly as they kiss and kiss and kiss. Meanwhile I am pressing my hands to my face so hard my eyeballs almost pop out of my head. Everything’s fine. EVERYTHING’S FINE.”

Tig and Stephanie’s whole storyline, One Mississippi

Heather: Look, do not fall in love with a straight girl. But if you do make sure it’s your soul mate. I know, I know, Stephanie’s not straight, but she sure thought she was for a long time, even though me and you and Tig knew she was very much in love with another woman and therefore was not straight. When she finally confessed it, Tig said, “…but?” And Stephanie said, “No, but. Just … and.” And I for one have still not recovered.

Zoë and Rasha’s first kiss, Degrassi: The Next Class

Riese: There were so many fraught elements to this union — Rasha, a Muslim Syrian refugee, was scared to come out to her host family, which included their classmate Goldie, and Zoe didn’t know if Rasha was gay or not, and they were both just generally young and nervous and insecure. When their first actual date gets so complicated it ends up ending before it begins, Rasha fears their union is doomed, telling Zoe it’s okay if she’d like to call it off, after all, Zoe is fearless and beautiful and can have any girl she wants! Zoe is like, wait, YOU ESCAPED ACTUAL WAR JUST TO BE ON “DEGRASSI THE NEXT CLASS” AND YOU’RE CALLING ME FEARLESS? Then Rasha kisses her. I didn’t want to be afraid anymore, she says, as melodic acoustic hipster music swelled and the light hits their faces just so. Young love, y’all. Sweet and against all odds and despite all closets and obstacles and fears, there we have it.

Cosima and Delphine’s clone-saving mission, Orphan Black

Heather: Delphine sacrificed everything for Cosima, and to keep her promise to keep Cosima’s sestras safe — and the whole time everyone kept expecting her to reveal that she the ultimate bad guy. Well, not only did that turn out to be untrue, we actually got to watch her and Cosima join forces and work together to save the day. The episode also included their sexiest makeout and Cosima in this tux.

Waverly and Nicole fall in love in a parallel dimension, Wynonna Earp

Heather: Two women falling in love in alternate universes where they’re with completely different people and don’t even know each other is what fan fiction dreams are made of. If Waverly and Nicole had had to take off their clothes to share their body heat to stay alive in this episode, it would have been the most romantic moment in all history on any space-time continuum.

Lyria asked Eretria to be her queen, The Shannara Chronicles

Heather: In another year one or both of them would be dead, but not now! And even better, when Lyria was asking Eretria to be her queen she said they deserved a happy ending. “People like us,” she said. (Like you and like me!) They’re not together yet because Eretria has to get a handle on her darkness, but their sweet, slow kiss goodbye felt more like a pause. And it didn’t end with anyone getting shot with a stray bullet.

Stef and Lena’s Notebook-style makeout, The Fosters

Heather: Stef and Lena have gotten married so many times now and every new time it’s better than the last. This most recent one, especially, because it started raining and all their million kids and their guests rushed inside but they just stood out in it open-mouthed kissing each other and promising forever.

Amelia and Violet’s second kiss, Harlots

Riese: Amelia had been raised by her evangelist mother to see sex itself as evil, let alone women having sex for money, let alone falling in love with a woman who has sex for money and then kissing her on the mouth! So when Violet kissed Amelia after a gradual sexual tension build, it wasn’t surprising that Amelia immediately freaked out — which made Amelia’s return to Violet, and her eager kiss, that much sweeter.

Nomi and Amanita get engaged, Sense 8

Sense8 was cancelled way too soon, but in the season two finale, Nomi and Amanita did get engaged! Jamie Clayton’s post-season interview with The Hollywood Reporter was almost as beautiful as the on-screen moment. “It’s just another testament to the strength of their relationship and how they’re on the same page. That’s the beauty of love. Even if you take two different roads, if you end up at the same place, that’s the most important part about love,” she said.

Honorable Mention Even Though They’re Not Technically Gay: Grace and Frankie take a hot air balloon ride, Grace & Frankie

This is the part where this is the part where Grace ends her date with a man only 15 minutes in to turn it into a date with Frankie.

Riese and Erin: “When Frankie tells Grace she might be moving to Santa Fe, everything gets much gayer very quickly. Everything gays right out of control. Every word spoken is a word unspoken, and also a word that could easily precede the words “you have to stay because I am in love with you.”

As always these are the individual opinions of our writers and editors and we’d love to hear your additions, preferably bolded and in all caps with as many exclamation points as possible!!!!

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