In a word: Yep.
In a long, rambling post: Yep, I read in other fandoms. Most of the time it's an on-again, off-again relationship. Not so much this year, as I've been pretty busy with uni and work, but generally I like to read in at least two or three at a time and then switch them up.
The only fandom I've been fairly constant in is this one, if that counts for anything, and okay, only for two years, but that's four times as long as normal! <g> I don't think it's a matter of what those fandoms have that this one doesn't, as I've always been a bit of an eclectic reader. It's what does this fandom has that's kept me here that others haven't. The thing I
really love about this fandom is, like Jen mentioned, the community. I love reading a story by someone I know. More than that, I love being able to discuss a story with the author - being comfortable enough to leave more than one or two lines saying I liked the story or didn't. A lot of the time you don't hear back from authors and it's off putting.
Now, themes... I find that I usually go for different themes in different fandoms. I'll read pretty much anything (baring OT3
), but for some reason I find that certain themes work better for me in some fandoms than in others.
For LnC I love a good romance. Angst always goes down well, but generally I enjoy the stories that focus on the B plot. In TXF it's case files that really do it for me. It's always nice when my 'ship is acknowledged, but I don't really want to read about it. I still like the guy getting the girl, but it's not as important as being freaked out by the FOTW/serial killer/random scary dude. In another fandom, aptly dubbed 'the gay mountie fandom' (and no, don't ask) what I enjoy are the short, reflective introspections. And in my last fandom-of-the-moment, Doctor Who (yes, I've succumbed), it's the tragic stories that really, really do it for me. I like the happy stories, I like the waffy stories, I like the angsty stories, but I *love* the tragic stories. Nothing does it for me in that fandom like an unhappy ending.
And I think that's enough from me.
Dave
