Best Friends Forever! Celebrating the (fictional) besties who’ve shaped our friendships

True Collaborators: Sam and Sadie, Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin (Penguin Random House)

One of the Peppermint team’s favourite ‘friendy’ reads, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow flips the usual focus from romantic partners to the rewards of friendship. Sam and Sadie’s relationship is anything but soft and easy. It’s spiky, competitive, and threaded through with misunderstandings that span years. But there is something in their bond that author Gabrielle Zevin captures more honestly than almost any other portrait of friendship in recent literary memory: the idea that truly seeing someone – their child self, their wounded self, their brilliant self, all at once – is one of the rarest and most intimate things we can do for another person. Sam and Sadie made games together. They made each other furious – and they made each other better. This one is for every friendship that has survived a falling out, a long silence, a creative ego, or tremendous grief – and come out the other side richer for it.

“Because true collaborators in life are rare.”

“This is what time travel is. It’s looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. And that mode of transport only worked with those one had known a significant time.”

“Why do you keep coming?” [Sadie] asked.
“Because,” [Sam] said. Click on this word, he thought, and you will find links to everything it means. Because you are my oldest friend. Because, once, when I was at my lowest, you saved me. Because I might have died without you or ended up in a children’s psychiatric hospital. Because I owe you. Because, selfishly, I see a future where we make fantastic games together, if you can manage to get out of bed. “Because,” he repeated.”

Bosom Friends: Anne Shirley and Diana Barry, Anne of Green Gables – Lucy Maud Montgomery

When Anne Shirley meets Diana Barry, she invents the concept of a soulmate on the spot. And she gives it a name – ‘bosom friend’: so sweetly naive and yet hopeful, given her emotionally impoverished life up until that point. It made this reader wish for a ‘bosom friend’ of her very own, for sure! What makes Anne and Diana so enduring isn’t just that sweetness; it’s Anne’s absolute, full-hearted commitment to loving Diana out loud. She doesn’t play it cool, but declares her devotion like it’s the most natural thing in the world – because to her, it is.
In an era when we’re often taught to hedge our emotional bets, Anne Shirley remains a radical. Love your friends loudly. Tell them they matter. There is nothing embarrassing about saying “you are my person”.

“I wonder if Diana is to be my bosom friend. I hope she will, and I shall love her very much.”

“I love you devotedly, Anne, and I always will, you may be sure of that.”

Imaginary Magic: Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin & Hobbes cartoon series – Bill Watterson

To the outside world, Hobbes is ‘just’ a plush tiger toy. To Calvin, he is his best friend, co-conspirator, debate opponent, and fellow explorer of every backyard, snowbank, and philosophical conundrum that life throws at a six-year-old. Bill Watterson never asked us to choose which version of Hobbes was ‘real’, and that was genius. Calvin & Hobbes teaches us that the most important thing about a friendship isn’t whether the world validates it, but whether you do. Their bond is built on shared imagination and the kind of kinship that turns ordinary afternoons into adventures. (After all, there is treasure everywhere!) The right friend makes the whole world bigger, even when other people don’t quite get it.

“Things are never quite as scary when you’ve got a best friend.”

“If your friends are contractual, you don’t have any.”

Kindred Spirits: Bill and Ted, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Bill and Ted aren’t cool, clever, or remotely equipped for the adventures they’re thrust into. And they’re, like, completely fine with that, because they have each other. Their friendship is built on a foundation of mutual delight: each thinks the other is brilliant, and that shared faith elevates everything. Their famous line ‘Be excellent to each other!’ (followed by, of course, ‘Party on, dudes!’) is one of the better distillations of what friendship requires: active kindness, daily, on purpose. Bill and Ted don’t compete or compare, but they keep showing up, side by side, and rooting for each other with everything they’ve got. Believing in your friends like that? We think it’s one of the greatest gifts you can give.

“Be excellent to each other.”

“That’s us, dude!”

Ride or Die: Thelma and Louise, Thelma & Louise

A road movie, a reckoning, a feminist landmark… Thelma & Louise is many things. But at heart, it’s a love story between two women who truly see each other. Thelma spends the first act of her life being underestimated, including by herself. Louise is carrying way more than she lets on. And then they get in the car together, and everything changes. What their friendship gives each person is permission to be braver, wilder, more themselves than they’ve ever been allowed to be. The ending doesn’t diminish that, either – they chose each other, right to the last. Some friends don’t just witness your life: they liberate it.

“Here’s to having great friends by your side for when you want to go wild, because going crazy alone is just not as much fun.”

“Louise, no matter what happens, I’m glad I came with you.”

Quiet Comfort: Snoopy and Woodstock, Peanuts cartoon series – Charles M. Schulz

Snoopy is a Beagle who thinks he’s a WWI flying ace. Woodstock is a tiny yellow bird who can barely fly in a straight line. They should have nothing in common, but their friendship might just be one of the sweetest things Charles M. Schulz drew. The duo don’t do grand gestures, preferring to roast marshmallows over a campfire or nap in the sun together. They have their quibbles, but they always seem to sort it out. Sometimes, comfort doesn’t come from having someone who fixes your problems, but from having a friend who just sits with you through them. (Even though one of our favourite strips shows Snoopy carrying Woodstock’s nest to the vet, little headachey bird inside!) Often, the most powerful thing you can do for a friend is simply stay.

“It’s not what you have, but who you have with you.”

Brotherly Bonds: Steve and Dustin, Stranger Things

Nobody saw Steve Harrington’s redemption arc coming – least of all Steve Harrington. (It’s the hair. Has to be.) Steve starts the series as a fairly standard high school king-of-the-castle type, and somewhere along the way, babysitting a group of nerdy middle schoolers turns him into something more interesting: a devoted (if slightly bewildered) big brother figure. His friendship with Dustin is the heart of it. Dustin is loyal, enthusiastic, super smart and completely unbothered by Steve’s apparent ‘coolness’. Steve, in turn, finds in Dustin something he didn’t know he was missing: someone who needs him, believes in him, and will cheerfully roast him in the same breath. It’s a joyful, bickering, found-family friendship, even when things got a bit more sad and complicated in the final two seasons. Sometimes, the bonds you stumble into shape you the most.

“I have shown nothing but concern for you since forever!” – Steve

“It’s okay, you put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up a good fight.” – Dustin, regarding Steve’s fight with Billy

Between the Lines: Idgie and Ruth, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café

True, the word ‘friend’ does a lot of heavy lifting in one of our favourite tearjerkers from the 90s… It’s the word the film uses to describe what Idgie and Ruth are to each other, but it’s not quite the right word. And everyone watching (or anyone who’s read the book!) has always known it. Author Fannie Flagg wrote a far more explicitly queer novel; the film softens it around the edges, but can’t deny the beautiful bond between our two heroines. Director Jon Avnet even called the food fight scene a ‘love scene’ and a pivotal moment for the two’s relationship. They share a home, raise a son, build a business, and protect each other with a ferocity that goes well beyond friendship. And at Ruth’s grave, decades later, someone leaves a fresh jar of honey. The card reads: “I’ll always love you. The Bee Charmer.” After all the sorrow and joy, Idgie still abides, and so does their wonderful, complicated ‘friendship’.

“Because she’s the best friend I ever had, and I love her.” – Ruth, while under oath

“You’re just a bee charmer, Idgie Threadgoode. That’s what you are, a bee charmer.”

“I’m as settled as I ever hope to be.” – Idgie

Thwarted Lovers to Friends: Jo March and Laurie, Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

Jo March turns down Laurie’s proposal of marriage, and Louisa May Alcott’s readers have been arguing about it ever since. But Jo knew something the romantics in the crowd (me!) didn’t want to admit: she and Laurie were better as friends and co-conspirators, and getting all romantical would have ruined it. Their bond at its best is great fun – two impulsive, inventive, rule-bending people who make each other more alive. As a married couple, that energy would likely have burned the house down (especially given the social conventions of the era in which the series was written). But as friends, their love sustains them across decades and some trying times. Jo gets that love between people can take many shapes, and that choosing the shape which lets you both remain most fully yourselves is not a consolation prize, but the truer wisdom.

“I’m not good for much, I know, but I’ll stand by you, Jo.” – Laurie

“I’m homely and awkward and odd and you’d be ashamed of me and we would quarrel – we can’t help it even now!” – Jo

“I love my liberty too well to be in any hurry to give it up.” – Jo

Evolving Worlds: Eloise Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, Bridgerton

Friendship isn’t fixed, shifting and changing and sometimes even breaking and having to be rebuilt. Eloise and Penelope’s falling out in the Bridgerton series was painful precisely because what they had was real: two sharp-minded women in a world that didn’t quite know what to do with either of them, finding refuge in each other. And then secrets surface, hurt gets in the way, and the person who knew you best feels like a stranger. The important bit is what happens after the breakdown: deciding whether the friendship is worth the repair, and doing the work. Thank goodness, Eloise and Penelope both realised that friendships don’t have to be perfect to be worth fighting for. Honesty and being held accountable made their bond stronger, and it’s great to see how they’ve matured.

“I cannot imagine not knowing you, Penelope.”

“You are the only person who makes this whole thing bearable.”

“I think in truth… I have been envious of you. Of your success. Of your bravery.”

Same but Different: Otis and Eric, Sex Education

If we take one lesson from Eric Effiong and Otis Milburn’s relationship, it’s that the best friendships don’t ignore our differences, but are often built on them. On paper, Eric and Otis have no business being besties. Eric is loud, fearless and flamboyant, Nigerian-Ghanaian, gay, and arrives at school in sequins. Otis is pale, awkward, chronically in his own head, and channels the emotional energy of a cardigan. (Sorry, Taylor.) They’ve been inseparable since the age of nine. They fall out, take each other for granted, and grow in directions that don’t always align. But they also hold each other accountable, show up for each other’s small and big moments, and love each other. Popular culture too often positions gay characters as sidekicks to a straight girl’s storyline, so seeing Eric as crucial to a rich, equal, unguarded male friendship is a win, if you ask us.

“It shouldn’t matter what anyone in the school thinks. You are who you are. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.” – Otis

“Your fear doesn’t help me, Dad. I’ll be hurt either way. Isn’t it better to be who I am?” – Eric

♡ This is a Better Together Peppermint Partnership, where we team up with brands we love. This story was created with support from our friends at Penguin Random House – the Australian home of the world’s best-known publishers.