I've written about this before, but it's really important for me to see friendship between two characters before I'll genuinely ship them. And while that friendship can be complicated, it has to involve obvious and canonical enjoyment of one another's company. What I really love to see, what many of the couples I have heavily shipped in the past prove, is that getting to see that friendship develop is what gets me, right there.
So, no, I didn't ship Shawn/Lassiter until they had both gone out of their way to help one another, and look at one another without pure antagonism, I can't ship Doctor/Master even though the reasoning behind the ship is so abundantly clear. This is the only reason I am not vehemently shipping Stiles/Derek at the moment. In the show they're not quite up to the acknowledged "I like looking at your face" level of not-hatred that I need. Meanwhile, because of alllll the other reasons, and the fact they're both quite good-looking guys, I am still somehow shipping them. (My fic is quite shamelessly "watch these two become friends. WATCH THEM. WATCH THEM.") With this in mind "becoming friends" was part of the Loz = shipping? criteria.
Next, "influencing each other in good and bad ways". I like this because it's realistic. I don't think being in a relationship with someone instantaneously makes you a better person. I think sometimes it's possible to take on their flaws. So I kind of love seeing that happen, even if it also makes me wail and gnash my teeth. Think Sam/Gene, John/Aeryn, Nicholas/Danny (which I always said I didn't ship... and then wrote nothing but shipfic for.)
Alongside the influence, I love characters who are "in need of one another, and/or are two loners against the world." Yes, they have to like each other, but I also enjoy characters who are thrown together due to circumstance. Getting to see how characters navigate that kind of situation makes me a happy fan. There's also just something really appealing about two characters who don't entirely fit into general society finding a niche with each other.
I wrote to
And now, I'm going to go on about something I didn't talk about with
With all of these there are various character traits I am drawn to: fishes out of water, snark, badinage, puns and word-play (my love of these is unhealthy), characters with EMOTIONS (but not necessarily the ability to express them), longing, quiet desperation, and, generally, a strong sense of duty.
Huh. I've never really thought of myself as a great romantic. I mean, I