Oh, yes indeedy. Well, since I write for different fandoms, I suppose it goes without saying that I read in different fandoms as well. However, I read in more fandoms than I write for - more than I could possibly list or even remember, in fact - and I try now not to focus so exclusively on one fandom that I wind up getting sick of it. (I learned this lesson the hard way with Harry Potter. I was so sick of HP that I didn't even much enjoy the last book and still can't work up any interest or enthusiasm for the end of the series - which is kind of sad, given how much I loved it at one point.) I read somewhere that the average time people remain intensely interested in a fandom is about two years, and then they tend to drift away in search of other things. That's been about right for me, though I've noted that a number of people responding to these what do you write/read threads have sustained interest in L&C for much longer than that.
Anyway, I'm off-track. (I tend to ramble on in the morning while I drink my coffee...feel free to just ignore me.) The first fandom I ever read in was, I'm pretty sure, X-Files. That was where I had that, "People actually do this?" moment. I never wrote any XF fic, but I did read quite a bit back when the show was still airing, Mulder was still on it, etc. The thing about XF is that I never completely understood the canon (I'm not convinced Chris Carter did either, actually) so really plotty stories tended to lose me. I'd see "black-oil" or something else that made no sense to me and just go running in the other direction. But I liked the relationship stories, and to this day, those are the stories I enjoy best in most fandoms.
Pretty much any book/tv show/movie I enjoy I try to take a peek and see if there is a body of fan fiction. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised (i.e., sucked in...) as I was with the L&C fandom, and sometimes I'm disappointed. My husband and I loved the TV show "Ed", which only ran for a few seasons. I really wanted to find some smart, funny "Ed" stories out there but was mostly unimpressed with the few I was able to find. I don't watch much TV at all, actually, but I do like "House M.D.", and there are some excellent "House" stories out there and will certainly be more, since the fan base for that show seems to be growing.
I have two "comfort fandoms" - places where I go when I want to read quality stories that make me feel good - and those are L&C and Jane Austen, which is 99% P&P fic. I realized reading some of the comments in the writers' thread that despite the obvious differences in source material, there are some real similarities between the two fandoms, and that these similarities are probably why I'm attracted to both of them. You think L&C is limited? Try a whole fandom devoted to a single novel. This is not to say that there's no variety in the stories there, but still, there's something relaxing about knowing that whatever happens in the story, E&D are going to wind up together, darn it, because that's just the way it's meant to be. (There are, of course, exceptions, just as there are exceptions with L&C here, but it's something you can mostly count on.) The limited settings mean that authors don't have to spend a lot of time describing every tree, shrub, and stone at Pemberley - or every battered desk in the Daily Planet - and can just get on with the shippy stuff, which, I'll be honest, is why I'm there. I've always been a "re-reader" - books I enjoy I'm really happy to enjoy again and again - and I don't mind having the same basic story told to me in different ways. There's something soothing about it, in fact.
Sheesh...have run on endlessly, haven't I? "But I must write no more. The children have been wanting me this half-hour."
Caroline
