014. a friend with weed is better
THIS IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE LIST AT ALL, BEWARE. Just mostly recent ones that came to mind while walking the cat:
Alicia Florrick + Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife). Mostly this is a functional bro-ship to me, but[myriam don't read this]considering their EPIC FALLOUT at the end of S2 I thought it'd qualify. And while I BOO @ a friendship being (temporarily) ruined because of PETER, OF ALL PEOPLE, I kind of love it just for (1) that scene where Kalinda completely breaks down in the elevator after Alicia "breaks up" with her (WHEN DO WE SEE KALINDA SHOWING THAT SHE CARES ABOUT PEOPLE? NEVER. ALICIA IS HER WEAKNESS. LET ME VOMIT.), and (2) their quiet reconciliation in S3.I also think this friendship is interesting because Alicia is The Good Wife and Kalinda is, presumably, the whore. And the show could have pit them against each other but instead it made them UNLIKELY BROS. REASONS WHY SHOW IS PERFECT.
Arya + Sansa Stark (ASOIAF). SISTERS DESERVE A TAG. NO FURTHER EXPLANATION NECESSARY. EVENTUAL REUNION OR STRONGLY WORDED LETTER.
Amy Pond + Eleventh Doctor (DW). Or: MUTUAL DESTRUCTION ON FAMILY TELEVISION. Destructive selfish myopic love is a virtually bulletproof shipping kink SO IMAGINE MY GLEE UPON SEEING SUCH A THING IN A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS NOT EVEN EXPLICITLY ROMANTIC. Fandom usually characterises these two as happy shiny kids-in-a-space-playbox but underneath the Peter & Wendy fairytale was some pretty toxic codependence. HE RUINED HER LIFE THE DAY THEY MET. SHE WAITED A LIFETIME FOR HIM TO KEEP HIS PROMISES. HE SPENT ALL HIS LIFE TRYING TO BE WORTH THE WAIT. IT WAS A FAILURE ALL ROUND. Peter Pan was always a rubbish excuse for a fairytale and the best stories are the ones with absolutely miserable endings, never let anyone tell you otherwise.
Sid Jenkins + Tony Stonem (Skins). I ALWAYS LOVED YOU THE BEST, SID. HOLD MY EMOTIONS. HOLD THEM. Truly, I think Tony's declaration in the S2 finale is totally consistent with him being a terrible friend before. Tony was a psychotic jackass who completely took Sid for granted and felt compelled to see how far he could test the limits of their friendship, but that's not actually antithetical to trust. One of my ~*fave*~ things in fictional relationships is when an imbalanced dynamic either balances out or swings the other way, Which is why the ending of S2 -- with Tony seeing Sid off at the airport and then privately being an absolute wreck upon realising that that's IT, they're going off to do different things with their lives now, and the chapter of their friendship may well be done and dusted, and HE is the one who doesn't know what to do without SID -- STABS ME WITH BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL AGONY.
Buffy Summers + Faith Lehane (BtVS). I seem to have a good girl/bad girl UNLIKELY LESBIANS BFFS kink. As Siken has wisely said: They are the same and they are not the same. They are the same and they hate each other for it. Indeed. Even when this relationship is not on screen it is secretly what the show is about. Faith beating up "herself" in "Who Are You" and screaming she's disgusting; Buffy beating up her shadow self Spike in "Dead Things" and screaming there's no good in him (/herself). And when Buffy completes her journey to ~self-acceptance in S7 she does it fighting alongside Faith. EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL. I hope they are still taking names together post-series. Also, obviously I ship this but there was regrettably no banging ON SCREEN so it still counts for this post.
ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS. I considered putting the Scoobies on this list too but ehhhh, while I enjoy the Scoobs they probably aren't fave material. And I think the "outsider" thing resonated way better with Angel/Cordelia/Fred/Gunn/Wesley, who were a totally motley crew of people and who would probably never have interacted were they not ~thrown together by circumstance~. The combination of their individual loser-ness was a delight to behold. Also, yes, what with all the various epic betrayals and fistfights and occasional stabbing with scalpels (*cough* Wesley *cough*), it was all plenty fucked up. (Though, the original S1-2 Angel/Cordy/Wes trio and S2-3 Angel/Gunn/Cordy/Wes quad have a special place in my empty soul for being the most functional and weirdly cheery versions of the gang.)
Jesse Pinkman + Walter White (Breaking Bad). What could I possibly add to this ginormous and terrifying manifesto for this relationship (that everyone should sit down with a cup of tea to read with a mop on hand for tears of blood)????? It is the fucked up workplace relationship all should aspire to be tbh. What actually really fascinates me about Jesse and Walt together is Walt's ambiguous love for Jesse, who is his surrogate son and the only person Walt can be honest with after the cancer diagnosis. (Forever fascinated by dynamics where one person desperately needs the other and chooses to cope by treating them horrendously, fml.) And maybe I have a more forgiving view of Walt's actions in the finale, but[spoils just in case]I really think his saving Jesse at the last minute and allowing him to go free was Walt's acknowledgment that he'd wrongfully manipulated and trapped Jesse in their relationship through its entirety -- and that he was finally sorry for it.PERFECTLY FUCKED UP RELATIONSHIP, PERFECT ENDING, PERFECT SHOW, THE END.
Abbie + Jenny Mills (Sleepy Hollow). SISTERS DESERVE A TAG. Okay, it is early days yet BUT I PREDICT GOOD THINGS. tbh these two should just be the entire show, when are we gonna do away with Gary Stu Ichabod's boring backstories. I genuinely think the Abbie/Jenny relationship has been the best developed and most fleshed out dynamic on the show in just a handful of episodes. And just. COMPLICATED SISTERS. ESTRANGED SISTERS RECONSTRUCTING THEIR FRACTURED RELATIONSHIP AND FIGHTING THE APOCALYPSE. SISTERS + COMPETENCE PORN. WHERE HAS THIS SHOW BEEN ALL MY LIFE? Minus Ichabod. Also, I think it was a GREAT narrative choice to reveal that it was Abbie, the "good" sister, who had betrayed Jenny and fucked up their relationship out of fear -- it made Abbie flawed in a really, really human way, and established that their relationship arc was/is going to be about her making it up to her sister. SHOW, YOU KNOW THE WAY TO MY DEFUNCT HEART.
Kim Tan + Choi Young Do (The Heirs). lol, yep, this one's going on the list because it is fresh in my mind. (Btw, SCREAM W/ME ABOUT THE FINALE PLS.) Even though my dream ending for the show would have been Tan being eaten by his horde of hideous sweaters... I could always understand Young Do's sad obsession/need for approval with the dick. Because Tan was so closely linked to Young Do's biggest trauma, the thing that TRULY fucked Young Do up, and Young Do hating Tan was proxy for hating himself over losing his mother. So yeah, it made 500% sense that although Tan pretty much compartmentalised their former friendship completely, Young Do was FOREVER STUCK on DEFEATING TAN, a.k.a. GETTING TAN'S ATTENTION. Ah, Young Do, forever doomed to care more than the other person. I liked that[finale spoils possibly]they did not just have them be BFFs again at the end, despite having forgiven each other -- sometimes things just aren't that clear cut. Though, the possibility was open, so I like to think they did grow close again some way along the road BECAUSE I'M A SAP, DEAL W/IT.
Also, yes, the homolust was palpable. Moments I would have fully endorsed LOVE IS THE MOMENT.
Klaus + Rebekah (TVD/The Originals). TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.
*
NOW HOLLER YOUR FAVES.
Alicia Florrick + Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife). Mostly this is a functional bro-ship to me, but[myriam don't read this]considering their EPIC FALLOUT at the end of S2 I thought it'd qualify. And while I BOO @ a friendship being (temporarily) ruined because of PETER, OF ALL PEOPLE, I kind of love it just for (1) that scene where Kalinda completely breaks down in the elevator after Alicia "breaks up" with her (WHEN DO WE SEE KALINDA SHOWING THAT SHE CARES ABOUT PEOPLE? NEVER. ALICIA IS HER WEAKNESS. LET ME VOMIT.), and (2) their quiet reconciliation in S3.I also think this friendship is interesting because Alicia is The Good Wife and Kalinda is, presumably, the whore. And the show could have pit them against each other but instead it made them UNLIKELY BROS. REASONS WHY SHOW IS PERFECT.
Arya + Sansa Stark (ASOIAF). SISTERS DESERVE A TAG. NO FURTHER EXPLANATION NECESSARY. EVENTUAL REUNION OR STRONGLY WORDED LETTER.
Amy Pond + Eleventh Doctor (DW). Or: MUTUAL DESTRUCTION ON FAMILY TELEVISION. Destructive selfish myopic love is a virtually bulletproof shipping kink SO IMAGINE MY GLEE UPON SEEING SUCH A THING IN A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS NOT EVEN EXPLICITLY ROMANTIC. Fandom usually characterises these two as happy shiny kids-in-a-space-playbox but underneath the Peter & Wendy fairytale was some pretty toxic codependence. HE RUINED HER LIFE THE DAY THEY MET. SHE WAITED A LIFETIME FOR HIM TO KEEP HIS PROMISES. HE SPENT ALL HIS LIFE TRYING TO BE WORTH THE WAIT. IT WAS A FAILURE ALL ROUND. Peter Pan was always a rubbish excuse for a fairytale and the best stories are the ones with absolutely miserable endings, never let anyone tell you otherwise.
Sid Jenkins + Tony Stonem (Skins). I ALWAYS LOVED YOU THE BEST, SID. HOLD MY EMOTIONS. HOLD THEM. Truly, I think Tony's declaration in the S2 finale is totally consistent with him being a terrible friend before. Tony was a psychotic jackass who completely took Sid for granted and felt compelled to see how far he could test the limits of their friendship, but that's not actually antithetical to trust. One of my ~*fave*~ things in fictional relationships is when an imbalanced dynamic either balances out or swings the other way, Which is why the ending of S2 -- with Tony seeing Sid off at the airport and then privately being an absolute wreck upon realising that that's IT, they're going off to do different things with their lives now, and the chapter of their friendship may well be done and dusted, and HE is the one who doesn't know what to do without SID -- STABS ME WITH BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL AGONY.
Buffy Summers + Faith Lehane (BtVS). I seem to have a good girl/bad girl UNLIKELY LESBIANS BFFS kink. As Siken has wisely said: They are the same and they are not the same. They are the same and they hate each other for it. Indeed. Even when this relationship is not on screen it is secretly what the show is about. Faith beating up "herself" in "Who Are You" and screaming she's disgusting; Buffy beating up her shadow self Spike in "Dead Things" and screaming there's no good in him (/herself). And when Buffy completes her journey to ~self-acceptance in S7 she does it fighting alongside Faith. EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL. I hope they are still taking names together post-series. Also, obviously I ship this but there was regrettably no banging ON SCREEN so it still counts for this post.
ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS. I considered putting the Scoobies on this list too but ehhhh, while I enjoy the Scoobs they probably aren't fave material. And I think the "outsider" thing resonated way better with Angel/Cordelia/Fred/Gunn/Wesley, who were a totally motley crew of people and who would probably never have interacted were they not ~thrown together by circumstance~. The combination of their individual loser-ness was a delight to behold. Also, yes, what with all the various epic betrayals and fistfights and occasional stabbing with scalpels (*cough* Wesley *cough*), it was all plenty fucked up. (Though, the original S1-2 Angel/Cordy/Wes trio and S2-3 Angel/Gunn/Cordy/Wes quad have a special place in my empty soul for being the most functional and weirdly cheery versions of the gang.)
Jesse Pinkman + Walter White (Breaking Bad). What could I possibly add to this ginormous and terrifying manifesto for this relationship (that everyone should sit down with a cup of tea to read with a mop on hand for tears of blood)????? It is the fucked up workplace relationship all should aspire to be tbh. What actually really fascinates me about Jesse and Walt together is Walt's ambiguous love for Jesse, who is his surrogate son and the only person Walt can be honest with after the cancer diagnosis. (Forever fascinated by dynamics where one person desperately needs the other and chooses to cope by treating them horrendously, fml.) And maybe I have a more forgiving view of Walt's actions in the finale, but[spoils just in case]I really think his saving Jesse at the last minute and allowing him to go free was Walt's acknowledgment that he'd wrongfully manipulated and trapped Jesse in their relationship through its entirety -- and that he was finally sorry for it.PERFECTLY FUCKED UP RELATIONSHIP, PERFECT ENDING, PERFECT SHOW, THE END.
Abbie + Jenny Mills (Sleepy Hollow). SISTERS DESERVE A TAG. Okay, it is early days yet BUT I PREDICT GOOD THINGS. tbh these two should just be the entire show, when are we gonna do away with Gary Stu Ichabod's boring backstories. I genuinely think the Abbie/Jenny relationship has been the best developed and most fleshed out dynamic on the show in just a handful of episodes. And just. COMPLICATED SISTERS. ESTRANGED SISTERS RECONSTRUCTING THEIR FRACTURED RELATIONSHIP AND FIGHTING THE APOCALYPSE. SISTERS + COMPETENCE PORN. WHERE HAS THIS SHOW BEEN ALL MY LIFE? Minus Ichabod. Also, I think it was a GREAT narrative choice to reveal that it was Abbie, the "good" sister, who had betrayed Jenny and fucked up their relationship out of fear -- it made Abbie flawed in a really, really human way, and established that their relationship arc was/is going to be about her making it up to her sister. SHOW, YOU KNOW THE WAY TO MY DEFUNCT HEART.
Kim Tan + Choi Young Do (The Heirs). lol, yep, this one's going on the list because it is fresh in my mind. (Btw, SCREAM W/ME ABOUT THE FINALE PLS.) Even though my dream ending for the show would have been Tan being eaten by his horde of hideous sweaters... I could always understand Young Do's sad obsession/need for approval with the dick. Because Tan was so closely linked to Young Do's biggest trauma, the thing that TRULY fucked Young Do up, and Young Do hating Tan was proxy for hating himself over losing his mother. So yeah, it made 500% sense that although Tan pretty much compartmentalised their former friendship completely, Young Do was FOREVER STUCK on DEFEATING TAN, a.k.a. GETTING TAN'S ATTENTION. Ah, Young Do, forever doomed to care more than the other person. I liked that[finale spoils possibly]they did not just have them be BFFs again at the end, despite having forgiven each other -- sometimes things just aren't that clear cut. Though, the possibility was open, so I like to think they did grow close again some way along the road BECAUSE I'M A SAP, DEAL W/IT.
Also, yes, the homolust was palpable. Moments I would have fully endorsed LOVE IS THE MOMENT.
Klaus + Rebekah (TVD/The Originals). TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.
*
NOW HOLLER YOUR FAVES.