Pairing goggles. Interesting. That seems fairly close to how lwbush describes her experience above.
For me, certain relationships do need to be acknowledged in order for me to buy the plausibility of the story. For instance, in a post-NFA story, if Buffy and Angel are together, I need to see some mention or acknowledgement of Spike. Or if John and Rodney aren't dating (or USTing themselves up to dating LOL) then I find it super weird if they aren't friends without some damn good explanation. I don't like the handwavy--just pretend they never dated--although I will cop to doing that once or twice in the newbie days of writing.
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For me, certain relationships do need to be acknowledged in order for me to buy the plausibility of the story. For instance, in a post-NFA story, if Buffy and Angel are together, I need to see some mention or acknowledgement of Spike. Or if John and Rodney aren't dating (or USTing themselves up to dating LOL) then I find it super weird if they aren't friends without some damn good explanation. I don't like the handwavy--just pretend they never dated--although I will cop to doing that once or twice in the newbie days of writing.