when the author (and it's usually a non-slash author) has to insist that these character were DEFINITELY NOT EVER EVER LOVERS rather than just write a perfectly good friendship story without having to set boundaries

*nods* It annoys me even when it's a pairing I don't ship - thank you, author, for simultaneously telling me how I am and am not allowed to interpret your fic* and implying that gay people have cooties.


*I'm not the only reader who ends up wanting to mentally slash the characters out of spite despite the fact that I don't even ship them, right?