My Favourite Gay Ships in Television Shows

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about Doctor Who and Once Upon a Time.*

Hey Nerds,

Once in a while, people will watch a tv show or movie and wish with all their might that two of their favourite characters end up dating. This is called shipping and the pair of characters is known as a ship. Someone’s absolute favourite ship is known as their OTP (One True Pairing). If the characters actually do end up together in the show or movie, the ship is then referred to as “canon.” Now that I’ve filled you in on the terminology of shipping, let me tell you about a few of my gay ships and how one of them will never come to be.

Let's begin with the Mad Archer (a.k.a. Nobin) and Tower Girl. This canon ship has to be one of the only reasons I actually finished watching Once Upon a Time. The show was starting to get a little too repetitive for my taste, but seeing an actual gay couple as part of the main story kept me interested in the show as I wanted to see them happy. There have previously been other queer representation in the show - Red and Dorothy ended up together and Mulan was gay - but, unlike the Mad Archer and Tower Girl, they never got much screen time. Furthermore, these two actually got their “happily ever after,” so I couldn’t have asked for better! 😊

My second favourite fictional couple is River Song (my “bae”)  and the female Doctor. As there have yet to be any episodes with the new Doctor, there is very little content to go with this ship, yet fans have still found a way to create some great content! There is a ton of fan art, fan fictions, and so much more already. Plus, this couple isn’t far fetched as the Doctor and River are already technically married, though this happened when he was in one of his many male regenerations. Moreover, many characters in Doctor Who aren’t straight, so why not these two? Also, there is a quote in the movie The Husbands of River Song where River says: “You know who you remind me of? My second wife.” Hence, we already know that River is okay with dating women. There’s no reason this shouldn’t happen. I can't wait to see what the writers will do!

Finally, I want to talk about my OTP, la crème de la crème, my one reason to live (Okay, I’m definitely exaggerating, but you get my point.): SwanQueen! The idea of Snow White's stepmother a.k.a. the Evil Queen a.k.a Regina (my other “bae”) dating Emma Swan, Snow White's daughter, is just the most hilarious thing in my opinion. Plus, they raise a son together. It would have been so easy for the writers to make this ship happen instead of queerbaiting* us through subtext and sexual tension. No, instead they brought in Captain Guyliner (as Regina nicknamed Captain Hook) and decided that he and Emma would get married and have a child. So, as you can guess, the show ended without SwanQueen actually becoming canon. It makes me so sad, but they will forever hold a special place in my heart, and on my Tumblr page.Thank the world for SwanQueen fans who make tons of fan art and little jokes using moments in the show. Here is one of my favorite fan made SwanQueen crack videos. It was actually the first SwanQueen thing I ever saw and is basically the reason I fell in love with the ship. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

What about you guys: Have any of you been queerbaited by a show before? Or do you have a ship that you really wish would come true? If so, let me know in the comments. 

Until next Wednesday!

Love,

Bi Nerd

​*Queerbaiting: When a movie or television show suggests that there may be a queer relationship between characters, often to attract LGBTQ+ viewers, but never actually follow through.