Really, I don't care for most of the "canon canon canon" that I see elsewhere myself, because it interprets can as "my pairing of choice" as opposed to the text as a whole.

Very good point.

If it makes sense, I fail to see the difference between shipping the canon pairing because it's the canon pairing, and shipping a fanon pairing

Actually, could you explain this a bit more? Because I know you don't watch/read a show if you don't like the main pairing.

(Also, no one ever admits to shipping it because it's canon. Frankly, I ship just about equally canon and fanon, so it's all character dynamics and potential to me. )