It’s a tale as old as time, possibly invented to make life easier for fan-fiction writers. Whenever you have a same sex couple, they must have different hair colours. This is not always true, but it’s so common that TV Tropes actually has a page dedicated to the Hair-Contrast Duo. So today we’re going to talk about my other favorite thing and bring you my top 7 blonde and brunette duos.
If you read my post about the top 7 Grumpy/Cheerful pairings, or even Tracy’s 8 Wall Make-out Scenes, you might have noticed a proliferation of this. The requirements to be listed are simple:
- You must be a canon ship (sorry Rizzles)
- You must be an actual relationship (sorry Alex/Sara)
- You must have a blonde and brunette (sorry Korrasami)
Honorable Mentions…
Before I give you the list, there are some shows and characters we love that I didn’t add because I had given myself an arbitrary limit.
- Gabrielle and Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess) – One of my personal favs, I know. There is an argument to be made that they’re not canon, but I will fight any one of you who makes it.
- Laura and Carmilla (Carmilla) – Depending on the season, Laura could be a blonde. I think she’s a brunette though.
- Alice and Dana (The L Word) – If I didn’t hate this show so much I’d probably add it, but even if I did like the show, I don’t know that they were game changers.
- Barbara and Tabitha (Gotham) – While I’m not a super fan of the show and it’s tendency towards torture porn, Babs and Tabs certainly do have something wild and evil going on.
- Piper and Alex (Orange is the New Black) – I’ve never watched the show. I don’t like prison shows. But at the same time, the entire plot is someone telling their fiancé “I once went to prison because of my girlfriend.”
- Talia and Susan – Babylon 5
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While their relationship was so short that you could have blinked and missed it, telepath Talia Winters and curmudgeon Russian Commander Susan Ivanova were a surprise pairing. Susan hated telepaths, but somehow Talia wormed her way into her cold, Russian, heart.
Seriously, you explain this scene in a heteronormative way… Talia was revealed to be a sleeper agent and eventually her brain was dissected so all we got was one beautiful night together.
- Brittany and Santana – Glee
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Did you know that this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the fans? While their pairing had a lot of weird missteps along the way, and their wedding was co-opted by the gay guys, Brittana had a happy ending after all and probably some gorgeous genius babies.
They’re just gals being pals, right? Without overthinking it, Brittany was just bisexual. And Santana actually got a complex coming out sequence. Plus she got to be on Broadway.
- Callie and Arizona – Grey’s Anatomy
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Doctors in love, Calzona may have gotten less screen time than their straight counterparts, they were still the best ship on that show by leaps and bounds.
Playing softball, like proper lesbians. At least until there was an accidental pregnancy, a lost leg, and a move to New York that didn’t make sense. Twice. I guess you could say that’s a happy ending.
- Lauren and Bo – Lost Girl
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Also kind of hitting the doc/cop pairing, our favourite succubus found her match in the smart doctor. How clever was Lauren? Well she made the Morrigan human via a cunnilingus applied poison.
They could be a little out there, but that’s what kind of fun you were in for on Lost Girl.
- Gail and Holly – Rookie Blue
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Look, I will ship these two until the day I die. Gail Peck, our grumpy cop who hates everyone, and Holly Stewart, our sweet medical examiner who totally got Gail to switch teams just by being awesome, are one of my favourite blonde/brunette pairings.
She threw the bat! I hold firm by my belief that they got back together.
- Petra and JR – Jane the Virgin
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I didn’t think this would even make the list, and then, when I rewatched Petramos (okay, fine, when I watched JTV for the first time), I realized just how awesome they were. Petra is one of the more nuanced and complicated characters on TV, and not just a one-note villain.
I love the hashtag so much I hope they get a happy ending, and I can’t wait to find who JR shot.
- Clarke and Lexa – The 100
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How could I not include a pair that got a convention named after them? Much like our B5 duo that started the list, we just did not get enough time with Clexa. People are unlikely to forget Clexa any time soon and with good reason. We got a Romeo & Juliet story for a modern age, and sadly it ended about as well as that tragedy.
Yu gonplei ste odon. Until we meet again, Lexa.
Whew! What about you? Who are your favourite blondes and brunettes?
