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What are some of your favorite shipping dynamics?
Let's see if I can limit this to 2...
First involves a crafter + caregiver. For example, my couple Julius and Daisy. (Julius is crafter and Daisy is caregiver.)
So crafter has "Gift-Giving" as a love language, but he/she HAS to be the one Making the gifts. In this case, Julius is a smith and is spending his time crafting jewelry for his wife Daisy.
In comes caregiver Daisy with some food and water because you bet Julius skipped a meal to work on Daisy's present. And she stays, watching him. No, she is not watching what his hands are making, she is watching HIS HANDs, his determined face, how the sweat falls from his brow as he labors because this gift has to be perfect darn it! There are times that Daisy doesn't even realize that Julius is making her a present because she is too busy watching the man she loves.
And that is the shipping dynamic, the love eyes the two make. The caregiver just sitting there in love while the crafter labors in love. And Daisy still gets surprised with her presents because she might have been distracted by her husband's face. 🤣
Second shipping dynamic is when the butler ships it.
Okay, the butler is not in the ship, but the captain of the ship. This dynamic is so fun as it invites the readers into the story by having a character cheering with them for the main couple.
What I also noticed, when the butler ships it, is that the butler points out other details about the relationship that you might miss if you are surface level-reading. The butler often points out how the two are quite compatible or cover each other's flaws. (This really is delicious to read when the author already wrote this into the story, but the butler is highlighting it for you {basically gently nudging you to see the relationship instead of telling. I have read of a story where the butler told you to love the main couple, instead of revealing. Yeah, I don't trust the butler in that tale.} )
Also, the butler going out of his way to help out the main couple get together and/or build friendships with both members is so fun to read as the butler is thinking about the relationship long term, of the family and house that the couple will build. The butler isn't just thinking about securing his job but sustaining the life that the couple will have after marriage. Personally, I think this does the readers more good than the constant "Will they, won't they?"
Oh! This applies to the Head Stewardess as well! Though it has it's own flavor as the butler often gets a father/grandfather/uncle role to one of the characters while the Stewardess gets her motherly/grandmotherly/auntie role. Or best friend looking out for the other if the butler/stewardess grew up with the head of household.