I feel a bit awkward jumping in this conversation, but I must admit I am an ardent reader of your stories, Essy
When I read fanfics, yes I do care a lot about which pairings are featured and my interest in a story may be piqued more simply because my favourite pairing(s) is/are featured, but I also look at the genre and story itself. Even if a story features my favourite pairing, if the setting isn't what I'm usually interested in (for example, I'm not a huge fan of fantasy or sci-fi), or if the plot loses its flow and the story falls apart altogether, I tend to stop reading.
But even if a story features a pairing I'm not usually so keen on, if it gets me hooked I would read it and appreciate the good writing, and then begrudge a thought why one of my pairings couldn't be involved in such an excellent storyline
Or even if it is set in a genre I would normally skip I could get hooked by one small detail to keep me going and find myself pleasantly surprised to be reading and enjoying a story I didn't expect. And that would be a reflection of how much I managed to enjoy the story, purely thanks to the strength of the writer's ability, and I would have found myself a writer to keep an eye out for regardless of pairing/genre etc, and trust the writing, so that I would be willing to give any story written by that writer a try.
It saddens me to see some of my 'favourite' writers, so to speak, stopped writing (mostly because their fandom drizzled away and their interests moved on, which is fair enough) and I often go back to read their old stories which brings back a sense of nostalgia.
I'm glad you continue to write, Essy (since you said it was ok for me to call you this
), even after a long break, and you even surprise us by adding a bonus chapter to fic which was considered to have been concluded. It's always refreshing to read your stories, and I look forward to your updates, and while I did say sci-fi isn't one of my favourite genres I do have a weakness for epics, so I can't wait till you're prepared to roll out what you're planning