I love it when you go meta on fandom like this. :)

I'm with you I think - I mean we both know I'm a hardcore shipper when it comes to Daniel but I rarely if ever want to see it on the actual show. I prefer for ships to be left to fandom unless it's integral to the character's story like Daniel/Sha're or Sam/Jessica for Supernatural. Both of those ships are vital to Daniel or Sam's characters so I'm all for them. But I much prefer to see the non-canon pairings in fandom only. I don't like it when a character is forced into romance on the screen when it doesn't truly develop the character or help them in their journey. Clark/Lana helps Clark figure out how much he's willing to risk and just how human he wants to be - it was good to see on the screen for a season or two. After that I would've preferred it be a dead ship as far as screen time goes and leave it to fandom to play with after that.

That's a little rambly, but the basic message is - yeah, Character/Plot first, romance second...unless its in fandom not Cannon, then it's anybody's game. :)