I think a big trouble I have with shipping canon ships is precisely that they are supposed to be in love and I'm supposed to root for them. Which means that I expect them to *act* like they are in love. Which means that I'm allergic to characters treating each other insensitively. And therefore the reason why I'm allergic to most UST couplings (except Mulder and Scully). If the characters are kept apart I have to *believe* the reason. If the only thing keeping them apart is their own stupidity and immature misunderstandings (again, I was traumtatized by soap operas growing up in that regard), I'm just gonna assume that apparently their love isn't strong enough and they don't really care for/respect each other and why should I ship them then?

With characters who don't love each other (or not that deeply) at least I don't expect them to be nice to each other and understand each other.

That's why I always thought that Max/Liz were in many ways a carbon copy how to write a ship right. They hooked up quickly instead of drawing out the UST part forever, they weren't stale and did have obstacles but the obstacles were appropriately huge and therefore realistic, the kind you could buy into.