#i've had “omg that's my fave fic!” about something with no comments or bookmarks that i thought nobody liked at all. so you never know.

[nostalgia-tblr]

you probably have.

given how "engagement" works combined with the anxiety readers often experience when commenting on AO3 then if you do write That Fic for someone they'll probably never tell you. They might leave kudos as a guest and never interact with you ever again but it's their fave fic of all time. often the last person to hear about your love for your fave fic (if they ever do) is the person who actually wrote it.

so since you most likely have no way of knowing if you do manage to write That Fic... may as well just go ahead and assume that you already did.

idk man, i just wanna write a fic that someone reads obsessively at 3am. a fic that someone loses sleep to finish because just one more chapter and tries to give multiple kudos. a fic that people will leave a comment on every chapter. i want to write a fic that people will recommend to others, that they think nails the characterization and relationship dynamic. i want to write someone’s comfort fic, someone’s favorite fic, or someone’s fic they read when they want to re-read something. i want to be that fic writer. i want to write that fic.