Representation of queer women on TV has felt a little bit like a rollercoaster lately, with the cancellation of Faking It and the upcoming season of Orange is the New Black both making headlines. Although it can be kind of a bummer, one thing that’s for sure is that fans have never stopped shipping their favorite female/female couples, regardless of canon or the show’s current status. Here are our top five favorite female/female ships right now!
1. Karma & Amy (MTV’s Faking It)
Karmy: the ship everyone loves to hate (and secretly loves to love)! We’re pretty sure that most queer women have gone through the pain of falling for their straight bestie at least once in their lives, and the way Karma leads Amy on season after season breaks our hearts every episode. It easy–and literally SO justifiable, to be completely honest!– to hate Karma and want her to get as far away from Amy as possible. But at the same time, we can’t help but quietly hope that Karma and Amy will end up together in the end. After all, isn’t that what Amy wanted all along? With Faking It’s recent cancellation, it seems like we’re out of luck with this one completely. You’ll always be headcanon in our hearts, Karmy!
2. Carmilla & Laura (Carmilla)
Will they or won’t they?! The popular webseries based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novel of the same name has been stringing viewers along for the whole last season trying to get us to guess whether Carmilla and Laura will get back together again or not. After being left on a cliffhanger last season, shippers have been on the edges of their seats trying to figure out if the beloved duo will ever be canon again. We’re desperate for Carmilla to be the hero Laura wants her to be, but also a little bit stuck on whether it’s okay for Laura to put that expectation on Carmilla. After all that Carmilla’s already sacrificed for Laura, it’s hard to imagine that that could really call it quits for good. The next season comes out soon, and we’re beyond ready to find out what the next steps are for Hollstein.
3. Alex & Piper (Orange is the New Black)
On again, off again, Vauseman never stops. Both Alex and Piper have done a lot to hurt each other, but for some reason they can’t help that they’re so drawn to each other. Regardless of whether we think their relationship is right for them or not, we think most of us can agree that anything is better than Piper and Larry. Plus, Vauseman has probably shared some of the steamiest scenes between queer women ever. Orange is the New Black comes back this week, and we’re absolutely dying to see what happens between these Lichfield ladies.
4. Marceline & Bubblegum (Adventure Time)
Adventure Time is a cartoon that a whole lot of older kids (as in, high schoolers and college students!) can’t get enough of. As much as we want to shrug off cartoons as a thing of our childhoods, it was nearly impossible when new episodes of Adventure Time were still coming out. Finn and Ice King hinted heavily at Marceline’s possible bisexuality or pansexuality throughout the series (Remember when Ice King told Marceline he’d take all the princesses, and she could have all the… “Whatever it is you’re into?”), and Pendleton Ward confirmed Bubbline’s past relationship at a convention. He also stated that Cartoon Network has been unable to canonize the pair on-air because of possible issues with homosexuality in other countries. Bubbline’s polar opposite personalities meld together so perfectly that it’s impossible not to ship them.
5. Alison & Emily (Pretty Little Liars)
Emily has seen a pretty big handful of short-lived romances throughout Pretty Little Liars’ run so far. None of them have worked out so far, but could Emison be endgame? Emily and Alison have been friends for a long time, and although the two have seen the end of their relationship in the past, that hasn’t stopped fans from wanting them to get back together. After five seasons and countless failed relationships for both of them, not to mention murder and kidnapping mysteries, it’s only natural to want to see them end up happy, right?
Shippers can revel in the fact that the next seasons of a lot of these shows are on their way, and we don’t have to wait much longer to see if we’ll finally get our favorite couples canonized or not. Fingers crossed!