EUREKA!

So I was taking a bath and thinking about doing a meme and that led to thinking about why I like Shawn/Lassiter better than Shawn/Gus (and antagonist-pairings in general better than bff-pairings):

Most of my fandoms, I am in it primarily for one character, my Beloved; most pairings I read feature the Beloved.

I like antagonist-pairings because of something they have that bff-pairings just don't: the moneyshot epiphany of "I guess Beloved is awesome!" If you're someone's best friend, you like them! If you're their enemy/future love interest, you have to be convinced to like them! And then get to be convinced with you, and maybe the author likes my Beloved for totally different reasons than I do, which means I get an ever-expanding list of Reasons Jim Kirk/Harry Potter/Max Guevara Is Awesome.

IT IS AMAZINGLY SATISFYING AND I RECOMMEND IT.

Re: Transformers

Never before have I look at a fandom and said "Fuck your sprawling daily-life epics, just GIVE ME YOUR DEVIANT PORN!"

But, possbily relevant to your interests: How Transformers Have Sex by dunmurderin. Favorite quote? "Naturally, since Transformers was originally (and still is) a children's toyline/cartoon/comic series, we're probably never going to see anything more intimate than a kiss, but as with any other fandom, give fans an inch and we'll have people having sex on it."