I'm definitely a shipper, but, like you, I generally prefer that it stays at the low level UST stage in canon, mainly because I don't trust most PTB to write established romance well. With ships I really like, I'm what they used to call back in X-Files fandom a finishipper. I like the idea of getting some on screen resolution, but I want it at the very end, when I know the PTB can't go and screw it up. ;)
Like most people, it depends on the show. Shows I get into tend to be about plot first, romance second and I like it that way. If I wanted Desperate Housewives, I'd watch Desperate Housewives. But sometimes the romance just makes sense. I liked that we got resolved Riker/Troi in the movies. I liked that they threw the D/V shippers a heck of a bone in Unending. And the John/Aeryn on Farscape just made sense. But it all depends on how it's handled and whether or not the ship clicks for me.
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Like most people, it depends on the show. Shows I get into tend to be about plot first, romance second and I like it that way. If I wanted Desperate Housewives, I'd watch Desperate Housewives. But sometimes the romance just makes sense. I liked that we got resolved Riker/Troi in the movies. I liked that they threw the D/V shippers a heck of a bone in Unending. And the John/Aeryn on Farscape just made sense. But it all depends on how it's handled and whether or not the ship clicks for me.