oh yeah it's perfectly fine to ask! i'm glad you like the way i write them even though i have mixed feelings about them. the thing is, i do like their relationship, but i guess partly because of what my fav leo ship is (eileo) and partly because i sometimes struggle to follow along the izlo dynamic i tend to get a little petty at the way they're written in canon, esp in !! era. The whole "Leo as Izumi's pet" thing is only funny for so long and i wish Izumi was less emotionally constipated in regards to that (delusional, i know) and stopped making a joke out of it in basically every story. this might be impopular, but i'm also of the opinion that Leo should just come back live in Japan already: izumi and him don't have the same goals and while, i guess, living with izumi helped leo out of the slump after Next Door, and alleviated Izumi's guilt at the fact Leo got taken advantage of by GFK, i think long-term it's just counterproductive. Their fight in Sudden Death really embodied that: Leo wanted to stay by Tsukasa's side and fight for him and the sake of Knights, while Izumi puts emphasis on his modeling career and not just his work as an idol. I haven't read the climax event safe for a few spoilery lines including the one that inspired my fic "is your heart thawing yet?" so i'm really hoping this event and future ones allow me to appreciate their relationship a little more. (don't get me wrong i'm not against Leo making random animal noises at Izumi, I just wish it wouldn't be brought up every time and become a core element of their relationship... like come on lol)

And also it might come off as hypocritical since I've definitely shipped pairings like this in the past, but since they're each other main relationship I just.... want them to live outside of each other too, and the surest way to achieve that is just to ensure they're not a couple on top of that lol.

I do like writing them and I'm not forcing myself to like the ship either, but idk, to me their relationship isn't ideal as is and so I want to work it into my ideas (the serious ones at least, I do write silly smut fics where I throw canon out the window as you surely know lol). I will admit I also get a bit defensive when I see the fics I write about them get so popular compared to my, frankly put, more thought-out and better written fics. I know it's just how fandom works and it's not a reflection either of my skills or lack thereof, but it does saddens me a bit when I think too long about it, and it makes me feel more conflicted about writing izuleo as opposed to other Leo ships.

I have a fairly long izlo fic in the works right now (still on planning stage but i've made decent progress recently) and I think writing that one will help me settle the score with the ship. They have some amazing moments in canon together so I do want to do them justice; I just can't squeal over them the way I do with other ships!