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almost 72k works on AO3
Jun. 1st, 2026 06:05 pmThis is about the STUCKY TAGS.
Can you believe that?
The thing is, though... there are also a crap ton of fics for that pairing that are only including them as secondary or in the background, because authors love doing that stuff for reach.
I think back when I first started posting to AO3, there were close to 50k fics out there for them, right after the Winter Soldier film gained so much traction in 2014. I still write Stucky. My only gripe is that sometimes, those fics are the only ones that I have that get any real traction or reader engagement, even though I love different fandoms and pairings. SamSteve is my very favorite MCU pairing, but it has the same problem of most of the fics under those tags being either as a secondary pairing for Stucky or Stony, or they are All Caps fics where Steve/Bucky is still the dominant aspect of the relationship and Sam is just a bookend or a vague third.
It's hard being an MCU fan. Especially on Tumblr, where I see horrible takes every day. That's unfortunately the only worthwhile place to even promote your own fic, because in friendlier, calmer places like here, or on Mastodon, or on Pillowfort, or on Bluesky, fanfiction links languish in the dustballs and get zero traffic or engagement.
I wish I wasn't posting to crickets out here. Honestly.
Can you believe that?
The thing is, though... there are also a crap ton of fics for that pairing that are only including them as secondary or in the background, because authors love doing that stuff for reach.
I think back when I first started posting to AO3, there were close to 50k fics out there for them, right after the Winter Soldier film gained so much traction in 2014. I still write Stucky. My only gripe is that sometimes, those fics are the only ones that I have that get any real traction or reader engagement, even though I love different fandoms and pairings. SamSteve is my very favorite MCU pairing, but it has the same problem of most of the fics under those tags being either as a secondary pairing for Stucky or Stony, or they are All Caps fics where Steve/Bucky is still the dominant aspect of the relationship and Sam is just a bookend or a vague third.
It's hard being an MCU fan. Especially on Tumblr, where I see horrible takes every day. That's unfortunately the only worthwhile place to even promote your own fic, because in friendlier, calmer places like here, or on Mastodon, or on Pillowfort, or on Bluesky, fanfiction links languish in the dustballs and get zero traffic or engagement.
I wish I wasn't posting to crickets out here. Honestly.
