1. Ships that are actually canon. The couple is canonically together, I love that they're together, I love them, I ship them.
2. Ships that aren't canon but I REALLY wish they were. It feels like they should be. THEY SHOULD BE.
3. Ships that aren't canon and I like it that way. The fun of the ship is that it exists only for me and (very few) other people who are as weird and creative with shipping as me.
There is a secret 4th type called: ships that aren't canon, and I wouldn't really care whether or not they became canon, but most ships fall into one of the first 3.
(Spoiler for my next few posts: I'm gonna sort my ships into these categories. As of now, I plan to do first my empires smp ships, then my total drama ships)