I didn't say it was canon. I said it was obvious and therefore boring.

And I think it's rather-- I wouldn't have said obvious, but I would have said has a fairly fertile ground provided by canon (which is nearly what you mean, I think), which is what makes it particularly exciting for me.

Willow/Faith, for example. It's most exciting when I see the show providing premise: S4BTVS!Faith/Willow leapt off the screen, for me, and that's why I like it, and that's why I'm writing in. In fact.

Obviously, we look at, and prioritise, slash and 'shipping differently. Which is okay! Diversity being the spice of fandom.

But Buffy/Faith and Angel/Lindsey are pretty obvious -- does that make them inherently boring?

One, Angel/Lindsey is not obvious; two, yes, in some ways.

I'll still read Buffy/Faith if it's written by someone I know, who I'm sure can make the character interesting-- the writing can redeem the inherent obviousness of the pairing; but I don't 'ship them, I don't go out there looking for more fic about that pairing, whatever the quality.

This may be entirely my issue. I'm certain that not seeing Angel/Lindsey is.

And I think it's rather-- I wouldn't have said obvious, but I would have said has fairly fertile ground from canon (which is nearly what you mean, I think), which is what makes it exciting for me.

What I'm struggling with is that some pairings which have fertile canon ground-- say, Spike/Angel(us), or Willow/Fred-- are exciting to me, where Buffy/Willow isn't. It's... odd, and I'm trying to articulate why.

One, Angel/Lindsey is not obvious

"It's not me you want to screw."

"It's not me you really want to screw."

But I guess I'll accept the 'eye of the beholder' clause.

I think Angel/Lindsey is just as obvious as Buffy/Faith -- but that doesn't mean I find both of them inevitable (I see what points to B/F, I just don't feel it).

Any pairing in a good writer's hands can be magic. And I'm trying to only read good writers. There isn't a scenario (see Herself's and PMM's "badfic") that's broken, in my books. It's just the instantiations that may tend to be.

Heh. X-post.

But I do agree that the idea of Buffy/Willow leaves me totally flat. I haven't thought about why, though, as you obviously have.

One, Angel/Lindsey is not obvious

Am-Chau, I think YMdefinitelyV on this, because a whole hell of a LOT of people think it is.

"It's not me you want to screw."

So says Darla. Who is crazy, and untrustworthy, and generally... Darla. I don't see it, except in rare fic; I don't believe her, generally speaking.

Edit: Yes, Steph. I did conceed that at the end of my post. YMV. Enough.

Any pairing in a good writer's hands can be magic. And I'm trying to only read good writers.

You sane, sane person. I still occasionally get grabbed by a pairing and Google for it.

I don't find obvious boring in the slightest.

Buffy/Faith, while generally poorly written, has a ton of potential. Clark/Lex? Hell yeah.

Blair/Jim (cue theme music in the other room)? Give momma some sugar.

It all depends on the writing. I have to be able to believe it, and in that sense, wildly UC pairings have more to prove to me, the reader, than less wildly UC pairings do.

A writer would have to work *harder* to convince me of Buffy/Willow than of Buffy/Faith, because except for Faith, Buffy has never seemed attracted to another woman, and Buffy/Willow would seem creepy and incesty. (I'm going to ignore that I've written Buffy/Willow, because that was a remix, and it made sense at the time.)