swan_tower explains my feelings about romantic fiction.

[snick_backup]

Or rather she explains her feelings, which are (mostly) my feelings. Some quoteable quotes which extend to fanfic very nicely:

I do not, for example, have much interest in the hornypants model of romance, where the connection between the hero and heroine (or hero and hero, heroine and heroine, or other combinations -- this isn't only a heterosexual or even monogamous thing) manifests first and foremost through their hormones.

THE HORNYPANTS MODEL! Yes. Fie on the hornypants model of romance!

And,

My ideal of romance grows out of friendship and partnership, which both fare better when they're given lots of context.

And finally,

I used to say that I like romance when it's the B plot of a novel, rather than the A plot, but lately I've come to realize that's a symptom of my personal inclinations, not the cause. The truth is that when the romance is the B plot, I find it more romantic. [emphasis hers]

The A plot, you see, gives me context and meaning for the romance. It shows me different sides of the characters, so that when they come together I have a better sense of who they are and why they matter to each other.

Clearly I don't need all of these things going on in every Spuffy fic I read; one of the joys of fic is that the context is already clear to a large extent. But I do dearly love Spuffy set a bit earlier than we see in canon, anytime post-chip through S5, and in that time frame we do pretty much have to start from scratch in terms of how these two people are ending up in a relationship. I have such a time finding fic set in S4-S5 that uses some approach other than, heh, the hornypants model.