Oh, not pretentious at all--that's a very good point and I think you're right. I think this is probably got a lot to do with what cesperanza was talking about with the aesthetic, that certain things are done with no apologies, and it's not always the point of the story. It's funny because in fanfic people often complain about things like that--any major change from canon some people feel must be dealt with as the point of the story when it's not always the point. Sometimes, of course, the criticism has a real point to it, though. It really can feel strange when people go on as if nothing is amiss when you don't know how to make this new dynamic make sense.

That paper sounds really really interesting btw!