Femslash Friday: Choose Your Own Adventure

by Mallory Ortberg · January 24, 2014

dariaHere is a Femslash Friday poll for you; please tell me what girl-on-girl pairing we have not yet included in this series that you are yearning to see. I do not yet know how to make quizzes in WordPress. Maria has promised she will teach me but I didn’t feel like waiting until I learned how, so you’ll just have to sit still and not complain about it. Just, I guess, tell me in the comments which ones you like the most.

Right out: characters who should by rights be lesbians but have no in-universe potential love interests (Jo in Little Women, Monica in Love & Basketball, Hermione in Harry Potter [THAT’S RIGHT]), literary characters whose canonical relationships have been downgraded to “just good friends” in the movie adaptation (Shug and Celie in The Color Purple, Ruth and Idgie in Fried Green Tomatoes), any character from The L Word. And I won’t do crossovers, no matter how perfect; that’s too confusing. And I don’t want to watch Rizzoli & Isles, so I guess don’t suggest that either. Okay, that’s all the rules I have.

Missy/Torrance, Bring It On

Nancy Drew/George, Nancy Drew

Tank Girl/Jet Girl, Tank Girl

Sheik (Zelda)/Impa, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Bella/Alice, Twilight

Juno/Sarah, The Descent

Katniss/Johanna, The Hunger Games

Anyone/Anyone, A League of Their Own

Donna/Jackie, That ’70s Show

Sam/Brooke, Popular

Emma/Regina, Once Upon A Time

Daria/Jane, Daria

Calamity Jane/Katie, Calamity Jane

Chloe/Beca, Pitch Perfect

The Bride/O-Ren, Kill Bill 

The Bride/Elle, Kill Bill

Galinda/Elphaba, Wicked

Kim/Shego, Kim Possible

Thelma/Louise, Thelma & Louise 

Meredith/Cristina, Grey’s Anatomy

Jane Eyre/Helen Burns; Lucy Snowe/Ginevra Fanshawe; Agnes Grey/Rosalie Murray, Jane Eyre/Villette/Agnes Grey

Jo/Blair, The Facts of Life

Mary/Rhoda, The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Starbuck/Six, Battlestar Galactica

Oh my God, that’s it; that’s all the (putative, fictional) lesbians in the world I can think of. Please don’t add any more in the comments, unless I guess you feel you must.

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194 Comments

  1. tekkah +37

    ELPHABA/GALINDA PLEASE AND THANKS

    I would also fall all over myself to read Emma/Regina all day long just because they’re set up as sort of reluctantly-cooperating enemies (at least they were when I quit watching that show, anyway) and that tension is great.

    Daria/Jane is perfection.

    I feel like Missy/Torrance in Bring it On is almost canon, same with Chloe/Beca in Pitch Perfect so I’d love to see those two as well.

    STARBUCK/SIX OMG.

    I also always kind of wished Bella would get over Edward and realize Alice was right there because that would probably have taken Twilight from “ugh this shit” to “yessssss this is good shit” real fast.

  2. Lyzz13 +11

    Dammit Mallory, these are all too good. Limiting myself to 3, in order of importance:

    Daria/Jane
    Tank Girl/Jet Girl
    Katniss/Johanna

  3. anninyn +43

    JANE EYRE/HELEN BURNS victorian romantic two-girl friendship and it is SO BELIEVABLE if Helen had lived they’d have sent each other passionate letters full of longing during the times they were working for other people until they had enough money to set up a little school where they taught together and lived together and discussed religion in vaugely erotic tones.

    2. Catherella +9

      If we’re going the Brontë route, I would like to see an alternative version of Jane Eyre where Miss Temple doesn’t get married and stays to have sexy times with Jane and to transform Lowood into a progressive girls boarding school.

  4. JocastaCarr +14

    Yes to all of them, but these in particular:

    Missy/Torrance
    Bella/Alice
    Katniss/Johanna
    Emma/Regina (helloooo Lana Parilla’s lesbian voice)
    Chloe/Beca
    Starbuck/Six

    2. cella13 +2

      tbh Lana Parilla’s lesbian voice is all that is keeping me tied to the show. That and every time she and Emma look at each other. UGH!

  5. anachronistique +10

    I was actually planning to submit a Chloe/Beca one! I’m just lazy and haven’t actually done so. Maybe I should just write the Bliss/Pash Whip it one instead?

    1. anachronistique +10

      but I would vote for, in order:
      Nancy Drew/George, Nancy Drew
      Missy/Torrance, Bring It On
      Galinda/Elphaba, Wicked
      A Lesbian Separatist League of Their Own

      1. tekkah +25

        “A lesbian separatist league of their own” <3 <3 <3 <3 my eyes have become hearts that are pounding in and out of their sockets like in cartoons

    4. effableobject +10

      Chloe/Beca is canon and nothing will ever convince me otherwise.

      *hums entire Pitch Perfect soundtrack loudly to drown out naysayers*

  6. large_marge +25

    Babysitters Club, anyone?

    Kristy/Shannon
    Kristy/Mary Anne
    Kristy/Anyone
    Claudia/Stacy
    Stacy/Lane
    Claudia/Lane
    Lane/Cokie Mason
    Mallory/Jessi
    Mallory/Her mean boarding school roommate
    Jeanine/Mary Anne (mostly for the schoolgirl outfit possibilities)

    1. MalloryOrtberg +24

      I feel weird about that because they are always pre-teens in the books, but yes, definitely and for sure Kristy and Mary-Anne grew up and paired off.

  7. elsamac +17

    Mary/Rhoda, The Mary Tyler Moore Show

    As much as I enjoy Rhoda and Mary, I’d rather see some hot Georgette action. Georgette was an interesting blend: she acted like (and was treated as) a flake, but when she bothered to speak at any length, she had pretty piercing insight into other people, a clear understanding of her effect on people, and a saucy mouth.

    I also think Georgette would be less hampered by conventional expectations of her sexual identity than many of her generation… and you know Ted Baxter isn’t delivering like a partner ought to.

    1. donkeywork +5

      Georgette/Sue Ellen would be pretty hot in a BDSM kinda way, with G totally topping from below.

  8. EPWordsnatcher +27

    KATNISS/JOHANNA please and thank you.
    Also anything having to go do with Bring It On would be perfect and lovely.

  9. elsamac +20

    Laura/Nellie, Little House. You know you want Laura to pull on those ringlets a little bit.

    2. nicoledieker +8

      If I didn’t read Laura as outrageously hetero (remember in The First Four Years where she’s married and pregnant and this non-Almanzo dude shows up with a stack of smutty romance novels?) I would pair her with Ida Brown. Those sweet, button-brown eyes, and Laura clearly adored and admired her.

    3. whittingly +3

      I just, like, shuddered. All over my body. And not in a good way! Ugggggh hateNellie hateNellie hate (But I’ve only read the books? Please don’t make me watch the TV show looking for femslash.)

  10. Orla +7

    Oh gawsh, I am going to be so annoyingly comic book nerdy here. Please understand that Tanky has been my jam for over 20 years and do not judge me too harshly! TG did have a girlfriend (of sorts) in the comics – Barney, there was a single page strip called “F**king my friend” and a few other references. And comic version Jet Girl is a big ole doofus. Sub Girl wasn’t in the movie (we got weird Rain Lady instead) but she’d be my femslash pick any day of the week.

    But really, anything Tank Girl would be awesome and please pay no mind to my reflexive nit-pickery.

  12. automaticdoor +40

    Katniss/Johanna.
    Missy/Torrance.

    Also, if I may write one in, Britta/Annie, Community. I’LL WRITE IT MYSELF.

  15. thatgrrl13 +12

    I don’t know who most of these folks are. That said, Starbuck/ Kat is the pairing that I always wonder about…

  16. logicbutton +18

    Wait, I don’t understand, is there some reason we can’t have all of these? Or is this just priority sorting?

  17. 900ccs +27

    I feel very strongly that a true, genuine case can and should be made for The Bride/O-ren. I do not feel this way about The Bride/Elle.

      1. 900ccs +13

        Yes! Plus, she cries after she kills O-ren, which she doesn’t do for anyone else except Bill. CASE CLOSED.

  19. lyetteann +37

    You might get to revisit Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy as canon in a few months since this just happened:

    2. KelizN +3

      Wow – I might have to start reading the Harley Quinn series. I’ve been avoiding it because New 52, but for that… Harley/Ivy!

  20. PonyAlong +7

    Jo/Blair because I am a 70/80’s child. As an Old, I also love the Mary/Rhoda pairing suggested by Elsa.

  22. rallisaurus +42

    Veronica/Mac! They’d be a crime-fighting super couple!

    (I had to add them, don’t hate me!)

    Ed: Also obvs Meredith/Christina

    1. cella13 +2

      YES. ABSOLUTELY. THEY LIVED TOGETHER AND JANE IS EXTREMELY BUTCH BUT ALSO LOOKS GREAT IN A DRESS. YOU JUST KNOW THEY WERE ON EACH OTHERS’ DANCE CARDS (in the bedroom).

  24. queenofbithynia +14

    ARAVIS/LASARALEEN

    I am super sick so sorry if that was already mentioned like twelve times already.

    I suppose crossovers are not allowed [edit: oh yes, you did say that. but I am sick] or I would bring up Buffy/Susan Pevensie and introduce as evidence all the arty vignettes I wrote for it back in my younger and more reckless days.

    & ok, to the choices at hand, Katniss/Johanna but only if the main argument is all about how Katniss is so much not good enough for her.

      1. queenofbithynia +17

        ahem


        WILLOW: My book report. This summer I, I read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
        XANDER: (loudly, to ceiling) Oh, who cares?
        WILLOW: This book ha-has many themes…

        –“Restless”

        oh, listen. ok.

        — Buffy was cast out of heaven. Susan was not good enough for heaven. They know what it is like to be kicked out of the place they thought they had earned for a place well-meaning friends thought was better suited to them.

        — Susan has the instant fascination for Buffy that all violent sullen brunettes do these days, while Susan has a whole bunch of miserable, complicated feelings about valiant, laughing-eyed blondes who condescend to be kind to her, especially ones who are dead or who have at least died a time or two.

        — They both have the fatal flaw of pity. Susan was a stunningly good archer, a better fighter than Lucy any day, but she was not a good soldier because she had a soft heart and did not wish to cause pain or even shame to her opponents. Buffy is also bad at slaughtering the innocent and this leads to the same kind of mutual incomprehension between her and Giles that Susan has with Aslan. Both Aslan and Giles think they understand this difference very well, but they are mistaken.

      1. queenofbithynia +5

        oh but surely those cannot be frowny faces. besides I bet Aravis’s frowny faces are one of Lasaraleen’s favorite things about her, whatever she says.

        “Oh, darling, I am so frightened. I’m shaking all over. Feel me.” is not something you say to someone you are not a little more than casual friends with but it definitely is something you say to somebody you like to bathe and undress and dress up in rich fabrics and then undress again (CANONICALLY WHAT HAPPENS). also, Lasaraleen only wants Aravis to get married off and stay in Calormen because “you’d see such a lot of me.“

        1. aravisthequeen +1

          But Aravis doesn’t even like Lasareleen all that much! And pretty much just uses her. I feel like this would be Unrequited Love or possibly Aravis Is A Big User. 🙁

          1. queenofbithynia +5

            that is true, it would be a bit unbalanced but Aravis also represses her feelings to the point where Aslan literally flays the flesh off her back just to make her cry, like the mean old Fightin’ Jesus he is, so my thinking is, yes, Aravis would always be pretty standoffish and cold the morning after and would refuse to define the relationship. but Las is pretty tough, she wouldn’t be destroyed or anything. and I mean the whole reason Aravis marries Cor is cause she likes to argue with him cause he is wrong all the time, so I think she is OK with taking irritating lovers.

      1. queenofbithynia +11

        See above for a start, but then also, ever since THAT S6 episode, Buffy has at the back of her mind the dark patch of fear, never talked about, that everything she loves is a lie and a dream. Her philosophical outlook is pretty much word-for-word Puddleglum fighting the green lady’s spell, right? Maybe this is all a dream, maybe I made it all up because I couldn’t face reality, but even if that’s true, my dream is so much better than your reality that I will be loyal to it in the face of death. And Susan — no one now living can confirm that Narnia was real. (That she slid through a dimensional time portal into 2000s California certainly suggests something about other worlds, but it is not conclusive.) It is harder for her than for Buffy because if Buffy is deluded, her delusions still love her back. and are still alive. But they understand each other in this way.

        plus: Susan carries heavy burdens, and she does not know it but all her life she has waited to meet someone who can say e.g. “I may be dead, but I’m still pretty” without looking over her shoulder for a lion’s dreadful open mouth descending upon her. Susan can’t do that; Susan feels the hateful hungry breath of Aslan every time she paints her mouth or puts on a jazz record, which she does anyway because she is brave. Buffy is not ashamed of the thing that she is, and that is what is what Susan wants more than anything in the world except one thing, and can’t have.

        [tl; dr; they love each other]

  25. actualmeg +14

    Missy/Torrance. I just watched Bring it On again the other night, and if you do not feel like writing this yourself, I volunteer as tribute. (But if you do choose this one, I want to point out that you would be remiss in not mentioning Whitney/Courtney as a background pairing.)

  27. kkg +9

    This is not in the list (ugh I am the worst) but my little queer heart longs for some Last Airbender/Legend of Korra femslash. Lin/Kya is my OTP, for being sexy older (for a cartoon) ladies and also so we can get rid of this Pema/Lin competition story line that bugs me so much.

    Is that out of line?

    Katniss/Johanna is a good choice too. All the choices are good choices.

  28. kkg +1

    This is not in the list (ugh I am the worst) but my little queer heart longs for some Last Airbender/Legend of Korra femslash. Lin/Kya is my OTP, for being sexy older (for a cartoon) ladies and also so we can get rid of this Pema/Lin competition story line that bugs me so much.

    Is that out ouf line?

    Otherwise Katniss/Johanna is a good choice. All the choices are good choices.

  29. bustedsneakers +16

    I brought them for YOU!!(one1!!)

    Katniss/Johanna
    Jet/Tank (but isn’t that practically canon anyway)
    Emma/Regina because coparenting with your ex is tough.


    I’ma just leave that here for the Starbuck/Sixers.

  30. deleted7410012 +6

    yesss, sam/brooke from popular. or mary cherry/lily. you know it was happening.

    pssst or bel/lix from the hour.

  31. jfruh +13

    why would anyone suggest Starbuck/Six when Starbuck/THREE is clearly where it’s at, are you INSANE

    1. Suzan Eraslan +2

      Oh. My. GOD. I second, third, and fourth this. And it will make you watch the best new show on television, Malory. Hell, I’ll write it. They are adorable together and now I am going to go back and watch all of them to list the TONS of support for this OTP.

  33. KelizN +10

    Ok, I’ve been lurking since The Toast started, and I finally had to create an account to comment on this (because FEELINGS!).

    Pitch Perfect Chloe/Beca so much – the forced romance in that movie is such garbage. Every time that guy is on screen you can see her rolling her eyes at him and hating him and Chloe/Becca is clearly what should have happened!

    Also, Galinda/Elphaba from Wicked – so, so perfect.

    And, hi!

    1. ThatOtherWench +1

      The first time I saw that movie, I didn’t know what to think.

      The second time I saw it, I realized it was perfect in every way except all the ways it is terrible. But I was still working out which ways were the terrible ones.

      I feel like in one more watching, I’ll puzzle out whether it’s because both the romantic leads annoy me, or just him. I definitely feel like Beca’s redeemable with a better character arc, but she is kinda super-annoying in a super-redundant way for most of the movie, which makes me annoyed at how much screen time they give her. And, yes, that guy (name doesn’t remotely matter) probably just needed to be written out.

      1. nicoledieker +1

        Thanks 🙂 Am trying to remember in which literary deconstructionist setting I read “And did you know Bess and George represent lesbians, because la femme and la butch?” It was pretty heavy-handed. I like your answer better.

    2. whittingly +7

      I was going to comment on this too, because when I read the books (and at such a tender age, too), I just assumed George and Bess were “cousins” like Haruka and Mikaru on Sailor Moon were “cousins” in the US version. I will not be disabused of this notion.

  35. gracefruits +19

    Starbuck/Six!

    Disagree on Hermione having no possible love interests — who hasn’t thought that Hermione/Ginny would leave both of them WAY happier than their canon “relationships”? (Apparently a lot of people, but once you start, you can’t stop.)

    From a book that I’m not sure anyone else has ever read: Robin McKinley’s Spindle’s End, Rosie/Peony.

    See “Rosie began to feel that neither she nor Peony alone was quite real. … She felt as if her flesh, her self, were thinning, dissolving, like honey stirred into water, dissolving into the strange air of Woodwold, and into the passionate awareness of the presence of the princess in the people round the two of them,” or “The only time she and Peony could breathe to their own rhythm, these last few weeks, was when they slept. Rosie knew this from the many dark hours she sat awake in the window embrasure, listening to the slower sound of Peony’s sleeping.”

        1. thelaureno

          oh, that’s a great book! McKinley has an uneven record, but Spindle’s End is a good ‘un

        2. Kerowyn +1

          I’ve read Spindle’s End! Lovelovelove Robin McKinley, although I’m not if I get where her new Pegasus series is going….

  36. Es_Petal +5

    I watched Thelma and Louise the other day so I’m going for them. And I have a deep and abiding love for a league of their own, so them too!

  37. Ashely +10

    I would like to suggest Melanie/Cosette from Bunheads. Also, anyone/anyone from A League of Their Own.

    1. enorquest +5

      Oh my god, yes! I seriously thought that they were going to make Melanie gay in the second batch of episodes.

      Melanie/Cosette from BUNHEADS, please!

    3. idrathernot +3

      This makes me so happy.

      1. Other Bunheads fans.

      2. I thought she was and WANTED Melanie to be super queer. Cosette would’ve been an amazing choice.

    1. unshored +2

      This needs to be more than a Femslash Friday, it needs to be a fullblown fanfic mystery novel

  39. Dancing Narwhal +10

    AERYN SUN AND CHIANA!!!!!!!!!!

    ahem

    I would also accept a piece about feminism in the world of Farscape that includes a discussion of Aeryn and Chiana and Jools and all the fantastically written female characters in that show, if the above is not possible.

    Also, great would be Mulan and Sleeping Beauty from Once Upon a Time (*SPOILERS* but omg the look on Mulan’s face when she is about to confess her love and Sleeping Beauty is like ‘lol prince charming and I are having a baby” broke my heart into a million pieces and I have yet to recover)

    1. Dancing Narwhal +1

      Also can I say how excited I am to see this? Because last night I stayed up way too late trying to think of how much of a shame it is that I have such terrible writing skills that I cannot submit things to the toast because I have so many thoughts on an Aeryn/Chiana femslash friday.

    2. Dancing Narwhal +1

      Oh god I’m terrible I got so excited that I didn’t read that last line about not adding more in the comments. Feel free to delete this, I guess it’s a good thing that I can’t sign in properly to my account on my work computer.

        1. Dancing Narwhal +1

          Ah I’m so glad, I just saw the first line of this article and immediately leapt to the comments to express my intense feelings for this pairing.

  40. nicoledieker +12

    Also: characters who should by rights be lesbians but have no canonical love interest: Di Blythe.

    * All of her Anne of Ingleside PoV chapters were about girl crushes

    * She was always going off with Walter to have “secret chats” in Rainbow Valley about which they would never reveal the contents

    * She’s the only character who ends the series without a romantic pairing (even an unrequited one, poor Una, although I contend Walter would have married her for all kinds of reasons and they would have worked out some kind of open relationship)

    1. aravisthequeen +4

      THAT IS SO TRUE. I believe there is one single throwaway line somewhere where Di gets teased about “some boy,” but that’s it.

  41. rauzi +13

    so you’re telling me Thelma and Louise aren’t canonically in love with each other

    why the fuck did I blind-bought this movie then

  43. emily

    buffy/willow
    rory/lane or rory/paris or rory/lorelei= gilmore girls
    bones/angela
    teeny/sam and roberta/chrissy= now and then
    vivian/rita= slums of beverly hills
    elaine/cordelia= cat’s eye

  44. annacperl +4

    Can I suggest Bess/George as an alternate for the Nancy Drew ‘verse? Their being cousins just makes it MORE FORBIDDEN. (Oh Lord, except that my sister was Bess to my George when we’d play Nancy Drew Mysteries at recess in elementary school. Now I feel weird.)

    Also, I’ve got a friend who desperately wants to see Tyra/Julie from Friday Night Lights.

  45. AshleyLange

    “Sheik (Zelda)/Impa, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”

    This is confusing, exciting, thrilling, and…incest-y? I’d need to see this play out.

    1. kimberlyraye20 +1

      As much as I LOVE Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, I feel like this is too incesty for my taste. What about a Zelda-Sheik/Anju pairing. Wouldn’t the Sheik be infinitely more satisfying the Kafei and all those Cuccos? Plus, Zelda could finally save a lady of her own instead of needing to be saved. Awesome.

      (I fully realize that I’m conflating my Ocarina/Majora’s Mask universes, but there’s such crossover.)

    2. custardsnake +1

      I came here to say the same thing. Didn’t even know I needed this, but…I NEED IT. (Impa!)

  46. walkingthecow +10

    Emma/Regina x1000000. I will do all the research for you. I will send you all the hilarious “subtext” gifs which aren’t even really subtext, just weirdly sexual statements and looks that we’re supposed to ignore because they’re “straight”. I will send you all the great essays about how them ending up together makes sense thematically, both based on their personal histories and the fact that THEY SHARE A SON. I will send you some of the amazing fanfiction based around this pairing, which seems to inspire a particularly large percentage of talented writers. C’mon Mallory, you know you want to — Tumblr has done all the work for you already!

    That being said, all these choices are wonderful.

      1. walkingthecow +9

        Ah, but character development! Also, to be honest, I think the show’s completely failed in terms of making their “good guys” sympathetic, and I’d rather root for Regina and Rumple. And she loves Henry, which means deep down she has to be a generous and loving person, because the writers seem determined to make him the most horrible child on television.

    2. SwagHorse +1

      OH MY GOD YES I support this 100000%

      Emma/Regina are endgame in my mind because they do make so much sense. Not so much good and evil as yin and yang, survivors and shades of gray.

      PS I can’t describe how much I need the Swan Mills family to *be* a family ugh I NEED IT

  47. Brunhildenburg +6

    Starbuck/Six, Battlestar Galactica

    Being reminded that they made Starbuck a girl in the new version of BSG always invokes a childish mean-sibling glee in me since my brother was named after the original. And now his name is a *girl’s name*.

  48. Jennifer

    I’m sorry but Monica and Sidra!!!!!!!!! They start out nemeses but then over dinner and wine while playing professional basketball in Spain THEY FALL IN LOVE. Don’t you remember the dinner scene?

    Also Daria/Jane 5ever.

  49. spacevalkyrie +9

    Definitely Lucy Snowe/Ginevra Fanshawe, please.

    And in a similar (and unasked for) vein…

    Sailor Moon & Sailor Mars

    *hides*

    1. lilychick +2

      May I also present for consideration, Sailors Mercury and Jupiter. (This is partly because I was just reading about that SuperS episode where they dance together at the formal thingy and EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL OH MY GOD.)

    2. KEHealey +2

      DO NOT HIDE MOON/MARS SHOULD BE TOGETHER AND FIGHTING OVER WHO ATE THE LAST OF THE ICRECREAM FOREVER.

  51. Kate +1

    Super important question: where are the video game babes??? Am I the only Toast reader who plays video games? Impossible.

    1. Abanthis +4

      Liara/Shepard are the correct endgame option and I will brook no opposition (well, the shooting date with Garrus is pretty cute, but still).

      1. Kate

        except the correct endgame is actually Tali/Kasumi/Shepard I WON’T HEAR OF ANYTHING ELSE THANK YOU

    2. logicbutton +2

      Probably more like Mallory doesn’t play video games – but I sure hope they’d accept pitches for game character Femslash Friday posts, because I will totally write (and/or comment feverishly on) an Ace Attorney one about Franziska von Karma, who I mention here at every available opportunity because she could be the official Toast mascot basically.

      1. lilychick +1

        YES. Franziska/Adrian is endgame.
        I only checked the video game replies in the mild hope that someone would mention Ace Attorney. You have greatly improved my day.

        (Also, Mia/Lana, y/y? Diego nonwithstanding.)

        1. logicbutton +2

          GLAD TO BE OF SERVICE. Yeah, I keep forgetting that Franziska/Adrian isn’t canon already.

          Mia/Lana is pure and true. Not that Mia couldn’t be bi, but I have a theory that she was never actually with Diego – that his love for her was one-sided and Grossberg was mistaken about their relationship. She didn’t even want to talk to him after the last trial; what was that about? I would think that if they had actually been together, she would at least want to say hi. Anyway, in conclusion, Mia/Lana.

  52. MrsTeacherFace +10

    Katniss/Joanna – not having read the books, my husband thought that was the intention when we saw the movie.

    Elphaba/Galinda

    Daria/Jane

  55. Kate +8

    Emma/Regina is my current obsession (and holy GOD Lana Parrilla. I mean, wow)
    Kim/Shego was probably my first femslash ship ever
    and Tank Girl/Jet Girl is just amazing.

    I am much more invested in Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer’s motorcycle-riding, incredibly handsy friendship than I am in Six/Starbuck, tbh

    1. vine fruit +3

      Also, female Commander Shepard and Tali, the lack of which in Mass Effect may be the most egregious error of any game.

  59. Liz Zaretsky +10

    Meredith/Cristina is very important to me, please make it a three part series with one part focusing solely on Addison Montgomery’s sexual energy

    1. yasaman +1

      Whhhhyyyy won’t they just get married and run away together, no man is good enough for my best beloved Cristina. MEREDITH/CRISTINA 4 LYFE.

  60. PhoenixFalls +6

    Voting from that list, I’d say Jane Eyre/Helen Burns and the lesbian separatist A League of Their Own mentioned above somewhere.

    But I have to add Bering & Wells! (That is, Helena/Myka from SyFy’s otherwise kind of terrible Warehouse 13.) I can pretty much guarantee there is no other couple on that list that has had as many heartrending break-ups for never having gotten together!

      1. cella13 +3

        The actors themselves have testified to this subtext being deliberately played! The producers wouldn’t hear of it, but the ladies did it anyway.

        Performance Studies Me is faintly obsessed with the question/discussion of ownership/authorship this brings up. Academia!

  61. Rosie +17

    OK so excited!
    My votes:
    Katniss/Johanna, The Hunger Games. Peeta and Gale are OK, I guess, but nothing compared to Johanna. There’s so much…tension between Katniss & Johanna.
    Anyone/Anyone, A League of Their Own
    Emma/Regina, Once Upon a Time. What is up with that show’s writers – “oh they’re straight, let’s shove them into ‘romance’ with boring/awful men.” Seriously, that’s ridiculous.
    Jane/Helen, Jane Eyre. Yes, as others have said, their emotional, romantic friendship could have grown into something else.

    May I also suggest Ginny/Luna from Harry Potter? You said no on Hermione but didn’t mention them so here goes! They’re close friends – along with Neville, they’re the “silver trio” (Harry, Hermione and Ron being the “golden trio”) and led the rebellion within the walls of Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows. Ginny was one of the few students who didn’t make fun of Luna during the early years. And they have values in common and care about each other but also quite different – Ginny’s earthy and athletic, Luna’s a bit dotty but also smart and perceptive. And Ginny’s relationship with Harry – well, I never really believed it. I saw why she had a crush on him sure, but never could see them in a long-term relationship.

    Anyway, this is the best column ever, thanks for asking for our input!

    1. Rosie +5

      Oh and if you were to perhaps maybe kindly consider Ginny/Luna, I want to help! As you can see, I feel strongly about this ship 🙂

  62. AMX +4

    I absolutely 100% ship Emma and Regina, but since I seem to be one of two people, I will vote for Six/Starbuck.

  63. Suzan Eraslan +10

    I’ll limit myself to 3 since I totally overstepped and encouraged someone making another suggestion.

    Donna/Jackie, That ’70s Show — SO MUCH LESBIAN JAWLINE!

    Sam/Brooke, Popular — Come to think of it, there’s some good Lesbian Jawline here, too…

    Missy/Torrance, Bring it On — I have a suggestion… Can this be Missy/Isis, because I would watch that explosively hot first hate fuck. I AM SORRY. But also because Eliza Dushku AGAIN?

    1. Jessi +4

      I was about to suggest the same thing re: Torrance/Isis, for almost the exact same reasons!!! The hate sex would be magnificent! And also Gabrielle Union has never looked better than in that movie!

      1. lightle +4

        Yesss, Torrence/Isis. They totally experimented in college… remember when they walked off together at the end??

  64. mmm_cheese +1

    God damnit, I wrote my suggestion this morning on my phone and for some reason it’s not here and now no one will see it and Mallory will never do it and things will be the worst forever!

    Anyone with Carmen Sandiego! Carmen Sandiego and…the chief (Oooh intrigue!) Carmen Sandiego and…Miss Scarlet (Oooh hats!) Carmen Sandiego and…I don’t know…Eve Harrington from All About Eve (I’m just seeing what sticks).

  65. brigidkeely +2

    Well, I mean, I’d love to see Jo March and Laura Ingalls.
    They both came from similar backgrounds (Boston gentry) and both had shifty dads, but their lives took wildly divergent paths.
    I’ve always thought both would have been happier if they’d been born boys, or been born in the 1980s or later.

  67. whittingly +8

    I’m a little upset now that I’ve been confronted with how many of these pairings I’ve been happily regarding as canon in my own fictive universe.

    But that having been said, PLEASE Katniss/Johanna and the Bride/O-Ren, PRETTY PLEASE.

  68. eln +5

    I know that approximately twelve people watched it, but I honestly think Cara/Kahlan from the TV version of Legend of the Seeker is a femslash pairing for the ages. AO3 should be filled to the brim with it! Alas.

    1. eln

      Oh, I only just noticed Calamity Jane/Katie from your list, AKA my pubescent, confusing dream couple. I watched that film every time it was on from about the age of 9 to 16, and this was terrestrial television in 1990s UK – it was on EVERY WEEK. I completely blanked all the bits that involved their love interests and never knew why.

    2. highjump +4

      LEGEND OF THE SKEEKER Oh my gawwwwwd. Three of the twelve are me and my two friends. That is such a kinky and awesome and hilarious show. I think Mallory would enjoy some of the more misandrist themes.

      1. eln +1

        OMG, the catsuits. I love that even when they reformed Cara, they kept her catsuit of evil and just changed the neckline. So brilliant, the commitment to skintight leather that show had.

  69. robonyong +7

    George/Nancy, good lord, think of the [former] children [of a certain age] who read every book thinking that THIS one would be the one with George’s big gay reveal, where she’d procure a motorcycle to rescue Nancy from nefarious yet incompetent kidnappers and then Nancy, weak from chloroform/trying to break out of captivity swoons in George’s arms and her eyelashes flutter and then she leans up just a little, and it was never that book WON’T YOU THINK OF THE CHILDREN

    1. robonyong +4

      fuck I forgot to add Beca/Chloe. But there’s so much fanfiction for them that canon is easy to disregard. Nancy Drew runs deeper

  70. Loony_Lovegood

    OMG OMG OMG….please please can we have Scully/Reyes from the X-Files? We all know how amazing that would be. Barring that, I’ve always thought that Helen Burns/Jane Eyre would be spectacular, and Donnie/Jackie would be spicy I’m sure.

  71. avocadopenguin

    All of the pairings on this list are very fine, but I would particularly love to see Chloe/Beca from Pitch Perfect. The way it is so nearly (but not QUITE) canon breaks my big gay Anna Kendrick-loving heart.

  72. fray +2

    Yes , from Once Upon a Time:

    Milan/Aurora
    Ruby/Belle

    Ruby is Belle’s true beast!! You could discuss these along with Emma/Regina in a single post.

  74. Ash +5

    Emma/Regina! They already refer to that awful, whiny little boy as “their” son! Lesbian co-parenting ftw! Besides, I’ve had enough of that show forcing those two gorgeous women to pine over the most random and unimpressive dudes just for the sake of ROMANCE. Just…no. (I won’t suggest Mulan/Aurora because it’s basically canon already.)

    Also Dolores/All the Way Mae from A League of Their Own! Dolores was the BOUNCER at Mae’s strip club (or whatever it was) for Christ’s sake! It’s the best meet-cute ever!

    1. cerebella +1

      This! Kit obviously stands out as the biggest “shoulda-been” lesbian in that movie as she’s one of the main characters, but she lacks a built in love interest. Dolores and Mae, however, are so in sync they’re practically the same person! They bicker like an old married couple! They were MADE for each other!

  77. lightle +2

    Katniss/Johanna

    And I agree that Missy/Torrence is close to canon but what about Whitney and Courtney? (also I have a theory that Missy and Cliff are actually like 40 and keep pretending to be high school students, seriously, where are their parents) but also Chloe/Beca is a good one.

    And also my younger “questioning/curious” self got hours of pleasure from watching League of their own. I mean, Rosie and Madonna?! Ughhhhh. And I was EVER SO PLEASED that Geena didn’t run off with Tom Hanks in the end, although I didn’t want her with boring Bill Pullman either, so… And how much should Lori Petty have hooked up with one of the teammates from whatever team she got traded to? What were they? The Racine Rockets, or something??

  78. Rose +5

    Please forgive the write-in!

    I don’t know if you watch Mad Men, but would you ever consider Joan/Peggy? BECAUSE I HAVE.

  79. TheEvilGiraffe +3

    All my votes for Lucy Snowe/Ginevra Fanshawe! I’m reading Villette for the first time, and oh my god, it needs less Dr John and wayyy more Ginevra leaning on Lucy’s arm & Lucy feeling annoyed and happy and confused and sooooo gay. Please do this one!

  80. occhiblu

    I can’t even read past comments I am too excited to say

    Missy/Torrance!
    Nancy/George!
    Meredith/Cristina! (and does “Cristina” really not have an H?)

  81. Anslara +5

    Aww, no Rayanne/Angela? I guess they do have an awfully similar dynamic to Kim/Lindsay, so…I get it. But as long as we’re slashing classic high school dramas, Sam/Brooke from Popular is a great way to go! (So is Daria/Jane!)

    Don’t hate me, but I do have a couple of write in candidates:

    Big Bang Theory: Amy/Penny (I hate the show, but their bond is undeniable)
    Glee (first couple of seasons only): Rachel/Quinn (see above)
    The Office: Pam/Karen
    Legally Blonde: Elle/Vivian

  83. sharkweek +3

    Katniss/Johanna! The recent movie only furthered my belief that something was up! Also Daria/Jane would be great as well.

  85. Christine O

    All of them, eventually, but my vote is for “Anyone/Anyone, A League of Their Own” and “Daria/Jane, Daria.”

  86. wrestlethethistles +2

    Late to the party, but seconding “all of them but these first:”
    – Chloe/Beca
    – The Bride/O-Ren
    – Literally anyone and Starbuck, I’m not picky

  88. CleverManka +1

    So so SO late, but if anyone’s still reading comments to this post, I just found this Tumblr post about thirty movies and miniseries about women loving women that have happy endings.

  89. agreenballoon +1

    Yay! Also late. Fourth-ing or fifth-ing Tank/Jet and Daria/Jane.

    Also… Maggie/Hopey??? I know it’s sort of also cannon but I thought if Tank Girl was on this list we could wheel & deal.

  90. Jess Davis

    Yay! Also late. Fourth-ing or fifth-ing Tank/Jet and Daria/Jane.

    Also… Maggie/Hopey??? I know it's sort of also cannon but I thought if Tank Girl was on this list we could wheel & deal.

  93. Anna +1

    Katniss/Johanna all the way!
    And I definitely think Hermione/Ginny would be an amazing power couple.

  94. E

    I love that Elphaba and Glinda/ Chloe and Beca made the list

    I’d like to add Columbia and Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and on the topic of incest, Elsa and Anna from Frozen. n_n

  95. Tachi

    Me too. I still like to think that it was a “gay except for you” thing on both of their parts, though.

  96. Simone

    Fleur and hermione (I know against the rules but the most amazing fanfic ever has been written re these two)
    Beca and Chloe
    Katniss and Johanna
    Kahlan and cara from legend of the seeker
    Emily and spencer PLL?

    1. Zuri

      … 37 weeks later with little hope for a reply I have to ask if you have a link to this fanfic, because Fleur and Hermione sounds like it could be so amazing.