Hmmm. It's easier to say what I mean when I say "I don't ship it", which is "I find it hard to see these two as a couple". And consequently, I find stories which do "ship" those characters any of: unbelievable, disconcerting, irritating, disturbing (mildly or greatly), and/or I try to concentrate on the parts of the story which don't feature those characters being shippy (if the story has them as a minor ship). The most disconcerting instance of this is where I "don't ship" a canon ship: Ron/Hermione. Even though it's canon, I find it very difficult to believe that they would make a good couple.
Most of the time I don't particularly care, because I'm not in it for the shipping. I'm in it for the friendshipping. And friendshipping can happen whether there is romance or not. So I guess the thing I'm not that interested in is lust-at-first-sight. Sorry, boring. Sexual intimacy is not a substitute for emotional intimacy, and it's the emotional intimacy I want. Or even unrequited love, sometimes. (See Snape/Lily).
So... what do I mean when I say "I ship it"? I don't actually say that very often. I ship Snape/Hermione. Meaning, I love that ship and I want to read more and more of it, but that doesn't mean I have trouble reading stories where they aren't together. I ship Snape/Anya. Meaning, I invented that ship and I think it is delightful (and obviously, I'm going to be reading stories where they aren't a couple, because nobody but me has written any!). Do I ship Samantha/Jack? No, I don't particularly care if they're a couple or not (even though canon supports it). I ship Avon/Cally. Meaning, I like the idea of them together, and I enjoy stories where they get together.
Hmmm, so I guess what I mean by "I ship it" is "I think their relationship would be happy and healthy", "I enjoy imagining them together", and "I enjoy fanworks about their relationship". I don't particularly care if they get together in canon or not, probably because my two major ships (Snape/Hermione and Snape/Anya) are definitely not canonical and couldn't ever be canonical. I guess I'm just not that invested in romance; not enough that I'm desperately hoping that X and Y get together in canon. Probably because if any given pair of characters is close enough in canon for me to think of them as possible ship material, they're close enough in a friendship sense that I've already got what I want: a close friendship between them.
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Most of the time I don't particularly care, because I'm not in it for the shipping. I'm in it for the friendshipping. And friendshipping can happen whether there is romance or not. So I guess the thing I'm not that interested in is lust-at-first-sight. Sorry, boring. Sexual intimacy is not a substitute for emotional intimacy, and it's the emotional intimacy I want. Or even unrequited love, sometimes. (See Snape/Lily).
So... what do I mean when I say "I ship it"? I don't actually say that very often. I ship Snape/Hermione. Meaning, I love that ship and I want to read more and more of it, but that doesn't mean I have trouble reading stories where they aren't together. I ship Snape/Anya. Meaning, I invented that ship and I think it is delightful (and obviously, I'm going to be reading stories where they aren't a couple, because nobody but me has written any!). Do I ship Samantha/Jack? No, I don't particularly care if they're a couple or not (even though canon supports it). I ship Avon/Cally. Meaning, I like the idea of them together, and I enjoy stories where they get together.
Hmmm, so I guess what I mean by "I ship it" is "I think their relationship would be happy and healthy", "I enjoy imagining them together", and "I enjoy fanworks about their relationship". I don't particularly care if they get together in canon or not, probably because my two major ships (Snape/Hermione and Snape/Anya) are definitely not canonical and couldn't ever be canonical. I guess I'm just not that invested in romance; not enough that I'm desperately hoping that X and Y get together in canon. Probably because if any given pair of characters is close enough in canon for me to think of them as possible ship material, they're close enough in a friendship sense that I've already got what I want: a close friendship between them.