Ah, I see. Yeah, I do that all the time. I don't tend to read 400,000 word stories (aside from a particular multimedia epistolary work, but I've definitely read many stories and books back-to-back that definitely add up to that and exceed it. I see. I've got this weird idea of anything over 50,000 words being long, despite the fact that I've read 120,000 in one sitting in the literal sense, which is utterly fucking baffling.

Oh, definitely. I think interest can also definitely change the reading pace--I've always been a lot faster reading something I really like, but I suppose that's a given. And certainly, given that it's based on a source material, 'fic can easily cut worldbuilding and introductions, though I've certainly seen 'fic that can be read without necessarily knowing the source material.