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Artist's Pixiv: http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=3309496
Artist's Twitter: https://twitter.com/intheWhiteRoom

https://www.doujinshi.org/book/674890/

In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose. In this case I will address your general argument rather than whether any specific relationship is canon.

Any and all relationships are based on the shared experiences of the parties involved. If those experiences are different, the relationship will inevitably be different as well. In such circumstances, the fact that particular experiences are had in canon is irrelevant. If character A fell for character B as a result of X, Y, and Z happening then it inherently follows that they would not have done so if X, Y, and Z did not occur. Under AU settings, one must instead consider how well the characters in their current circumstances match up to what the canon characters would do in those circumstances. Should the base personalities of the characters be well reflected, the work can be deemed as high quality regardless of what pairings, if any, are involved. To argue that the work is low quality, then, requires an analysis of how exactly the characters fail to reflect their canon selves. Furthermore, you must keep in mind that others may not share your interpretation of a character, and their interpretation may be equally valid to yours.

This applies mainly to serious works. Gag works can play off the fact that the canon characters would not react in a particular manner in order to create a sense of dissonance.

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To refute pondering what a character would do when faced with a particular situation is to refute all fan works entirely. You are, of course, free to do so if you like, but others may not agree with you.

Also, removing something from an object can, in fact, increase its value. You brought up gold as an example, but gold may have other substances mixed in and still be considered gold. Removing these will increase the purity, which may be more or less desirable depending on the intended purpose. Objects have exactly as much value as they're given, and they may be more or less valuable depending on the observer.

Furthermore, although we may have the data that a character reacted to a particular situation in a particular way, we may not have data that indicates why they reacted that way. This is where interpretation comes in, and unless there has been a definitive canon statement on the subject no interpretation is inherently more valid than another. This would be changing the character by adding data rather then removing it. If removing data fundamentally lowers the value of the character, does adding data fundamentally raise it? Although you may consider the characters to be static objects, others may invest more in them. In fact, the value of a character to a particular person is often reflected by how much they personally invest. Look at Kancolle, for example. The actual character settings are quite minimal, but the fan base adds more data and, in doing so, makes the characters more valuable to themselves.

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@8055
Should scan the artist's Sayaka doujin too.

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@Gizzardfan

The one with Kyousuke in it? I'll keep it in mind if I ever get a copy, I suppose.

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@8055
That'd be the one. Preciate it.

Base +2, TheGreyPanther -40, DoctorDove +11, Mantama -9