Small things usually don't bother me either; in the story I was thinking about while posting it was the wrong detail on top of the other annoying OOC moments and general not-good-ness overall that killed it. It was one of those stories where I was engaged enough to keep going with it to see what happened, but had it been shorter I'd've backed out.

What seasons are the SV fics you're referring to from? I think that sort of characterization is okay for season 1 or 2 (granted it's been a while since I've seen them) but yeah, later on he becomes pretty horrible to his friends.

And yep, AUs are great, when you're expecting them!