shipping rules

Lol there aren't any, at least the ones that make sense. You can ship anyone, for whatever reason at all.
Canon doesn't matter even, so don't mind het shippers, so stubborn.
Homoerotic subtext has always been there, like shadows waiting to snatch unsuspecting victims until they've realized too late that they've switched to the dark side because cookies.
They can't deny a good pairing that has chemistry only because of gender.

Ah, fandom problems.
Just enjoy!

Gosh Ward, even Derek can raise his eyebrows.

Speaking of subtext, I've been thinking back to the old anime's from my childhood and I'm pleasantly surprised there were many. Some are shonen ai gags, some are in your face hints ,gender bender, from shows I watched age 16 below that I didn't get at all at the time.

Quatre and Trowa - Gundam W - didn't understand why I'd pick up something from the way Quatre treats Trowa but when yaoi conversion happened ..wow so that's what it is
Sendoh and Rukawa - Slam Dunk - Sendoh lol, such a creeeper, he's obsessed with Rukawa haha. now my SD OTP ♥
Marron Glace - Bakuretsu Hunters - he was so feminine, and I was so confused why Gateau was after him
Honjou Katamari - Rurouni Kenshin - loves Shishio, comprehension was all fine until I saw the flat bare chest wrapped only in bandages, I was like whuuuutt?? but now I embrace, look at Kazuki from Get Backers~ *w*
Joe and Mike - Ninja Robots - one scene, Joe was teaching Mike how to kiss looool. it was only just a gag tho, funny that I still remember that.
Kurama - YuYu Hakusho - in our dubbed version he had a woman's voice at first then got changed because he's called Dennis and he doesn't look nor sound like one. He later gets *paired* with bishounen Karasu as enemies and it's really HOMO UST overload. I love it. Also he gets mistaken for Kuwabara's girlfriend and I thought lol he's a boy no waiii, but then after epiphany, they were actually saying he's really that beautiful and effeminate. His arcs also always involve handsome men haha, Yomi, the one from the movie and Karasu. *happy sigh*
Fish Eye - Sailormoon SuperS - when *she* turns human on missions, clearly no boobies, yet is able to attract many male prey. now I love him.
Tokiya - Flame of Recca - well I never really forgot this scene, an old woman (was it?) mistakes Tokiya for a girl and Fuuko for a boy. because Tokiya's supposed to be pretty huh? another gender bender gag.
Haru and Yuki - Fruits Basket - Yuki forced to wear a dress, Haru in love with Yuki, Akito (he's a HE demmet!) obsessed with Yuki. EVERYONE x YUKI PLSSS
Omi - Weiis Kreuz - my ultimate uke Omi, gets to cross dress on missions. I really thought he was a girl at first.
Touya and Yukita - Card Captor Sakura - CANON COUPLE yet I was so stupid to realize. and Shaoran's crush on Yukito was so adorable but was clueless what it meant at the time.
Lyserg - Shaman King - they thought he was a girl as well, and he has a pixie :D
Kaworu - Neon Genesis Evangelion - hitting on Shinji, and I say waiiit wot r u doing mate? now I get it.

So many I know there are more. See, mostly subtext because you don't automatically shout GAY.
The subtext could be canon or not, but they were intentionally put there for the prying eyes of slashers like me -who knowingly laughs and smiles when I see one, and prefer to stay exclusive, quiet and underground, than try to fight with canon het couple and convince everyone my slash couple's love is real.
That happened years ago with Yunjae, which actually is believable when you look at how Jaejoong is now lol.