Taifood said:
I get where you're coming from. I hate shippers too, but Fairy Tail has been so bad for so long that the only thing I came to find enjoyment in the series was the relationship between its characters. That's why it's a 3 instead of a 1 for me.
For Mashima to not only deliver shit on a plate in terms of plot but also in terms of wrapping up character connections is basically spitting on all of us.
Boy, there is a difference in experience in media between us two.
I didn´t mean to say that shipping is bad.
Level 1-5 is perfectly fine. Level one being a casual that likes one of them because the story dictates it. e.g Goku and Chichi and level 5 being a shipper that writes fanfiction. But there is a problem when you verbally assault people over your preferences in fictional couples, a level 10 shipper.
I myself had my one pairing I actively rooted for and got it, but I only rooted for it because it was the logical choice the story had hinted upon.
That pairing was Naruto and Hinata and for me started 12 years ago and ended 2014. On the other hand the only Harem I ever enjoyed to which I was introduced 15 years ago Ranma 1/2 made it pretty clear from the getgo which girl would win and Akane won. I prefered Shampoo because all the girls were insane, but she was the hottest one so she was the one I´d pick. Didn´t got it, didn´t care, knew it was gonna happen.
On the topic Fairy Tail. Gotta agree the show is garbage and the pairings were the only last "mistery" left. However even if Mashima didn´t gave the fanservice fans wanted, he gave them a huuuge blank page they can fill out with all the implications he put into it throughout the story?
Lazy? Maybe, but it´s nothing worse than anything he did before.
TL:DR gotta know which battles to fight and detect a lost cause when it´s screaming in your face. Mashima got bored with Fairy Tail, it´s nothing new, no poiint in getting mad now.