What's so appealing about impossible ships?
by Margaret Daab
Here on Tumblr, we love our "ships." It's completely natural to appreciate the dynamics between two fictional characters, and it makes sense that fans seek out other people who appreciate the same on-screen dynamics that they do. By shipping publicly, we're able to celebrate these relationships on a grander scale. It's more fun than doing it alone.
However, we're constantly altering the dynamics that are presented to us in canon. We take platonic relationships and turn them into romantic ones. We mess with sexual orientation. We take throwaway moments between two characters and treat them as significant events. Although the characters maintain their fundamental traits in our fan fiction, the stories take place in a world completely outside the setting they were born into.
I've seen ships of this nature that are between a girl and a guy, two guys, two girls, a girl and a food item, a guy and the pillar in his basement... Everything. From Teen Wolf's "Sterek" to Rizzoli and Isles, these ships exist in every single fandom.
So, what does this say? It's possible that TV viewers have gotten restless with the same, predictable relationships that they've seen played out on screen over and over again for decades. These fan-created ships show that people can enjoy the concept of a show without agreeing with the dynamics the writers choose to portray. In order for writers to keep their audiences on their toes, they need to think outside the box. If their fandoms can do it, so can they.
