While I appreciate the fact that the creators of Slayers firmly established a relationship between Gourry and Lina in the first two seasons of Slayers (Try is a little iffy), I don't believe that automatically makes alternate relationships involving those two impossible (namely Gourry/Sylphiel, Lina/Zelgadiss). Yes, in the timeline of the actual anime, something like a L/Z pairing would be impossible because, well, it simply doesn't exist, but that's where we fans, especially fanfic writers come in.

I think that fanfic writers who write about alternate pairings in a continuim of where the anime left off at the end of Try shoudn't be discouraged from or attacked for writing about alternate pairings simply because "they didn't exist in the show" -- so long as they can make it convincing by backing it up with hints/scenes from the actual show and keeping the characters in character. That's part of what fanfiction is for. After all, people change over time, and people's preferences change with them. Who's not to say that if the Slayers had gone on for several more seasons, the producers may have gotten it in their minds to change the character's romantic preferences?

Anyway, I think that not just fanfiction writers, but fans in general shouldn't be attacked for supporting alternate pairings, as long as they realize, and make the distinction between what did happen and what's hypothetical. In other words, when it comes to alternate pairings, instead of saying things like "they make a good couple," a better way of putting it would be "they *would* make a good couple." Okay, end of rant!

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