#I'm trying not to get too overhyped about this bc. the more hyped you are the likelier it becomes for you to get disappointed

[memento-mariii]

Is it possible to get brain damage (affectionate) (positive) from a book you haven't even read yet?! Read a tumblr post about the book on my dash, did some digging around on it, it seemed right up my alley, and now it's been eating my brain for the last 4 days. Ough.

[booksandabeer]

I really like your blog and your fanfiction recs. You've read a lot of Stucky it seems. I'm still pretty new to the ship and it can get overwhelming so for now I'm sticking to the most popular ones. Do you think that I can skip any of the *legendary* fics? Are there any you think are overhyped and not really worth it? A lot of them are very long too. thanks. 🌟✨

Hello anon, thanks for your ask and your kind words. Welcome to the Stucky Experience™.

Now… *big sigh* This ask has been sitting in my inbox for a couple of days now and I have been debating with myself whether to answer it at all. Tbh, it feels a bit like I’m being tested on my willingness to be Messy on Main. But assuming that you asked this question in good faith, I will try to give the best answer I can here. However, if you expect me to name actual titles, I’m afraid you’ll be sorely disappointed.

First of all, 'overhyped' or 'not worth it' are a kinda strong words to be throwing around. Are there so-called “legendary” fics that are (seemingly) universally adored in the fandom that I personally think are only okay to quite good? Sure. Sometimes there are even very good ones, but I still fail to see what all the extreme fuss is about, or why this or that one in particular gets hyped up so excessively. But. Even if something isn’t the be-all and end-all of fics for me personally, I can almost always understand why other people like or even love them. Not everything needs to be for everyone. And if you’re a Stucky shipper, you’re not exactly hard-up for options. You don’t have to read stuff you already know you will most likely not enjoy even if the large majority of the fandom keeps yelling about its brilliance (that being said, try to branch out every once in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised!). I think by now I’ve read almost all the “Big Ones” that I wanted to, but there are a few super-popular fics left I will probably never read because they are simply not for me (bc of tropes, tone, certain ship dynamics, kinks, etc.). And again, that is fine.

I think I can only think of two stories where I truly, genuinely do not understand at all what people see in them. One I think is considered a fandom classic and my general response to it can be summed up as a dismayed “what the fuck, really?” and the nicest thing about the characterizations I can say is that, yes, there are two characters in it named Steve and Bucky. Make of that what you will.

The second one is more complicated. I’m not exactly sure if it qualifies as “legendary” but it is certainly very popular in apparently all corners of the fandom, which is a feat in itself, but even more so for a fic written after 2019, and I. Just. Don’t. Get. It. The thing is, it is very well-written, has an intricate and engaging plot, and it addresses some things that are often glossed over in other fics in a very smart and thoughtful way. And these are the very reasons why I kept reading until the (for me) bitter end. Usually, if something doesn't work for me at all, I just stop reading and move on. But in this case I kept thinking “surely this can’t be it; there must be a twist coming real soon, right?” But no, the central romance really is based on a premise and subsequently a relationship dynamic that to me is absolutely appalling, where Character A gets fucked over repeatedly, and is relegated to the role of glorified servant/caretaker for large parts of the story, while Character B gets to have it all twice over—and then some! And not once does this ever get addressed as even slightly problematic or imbalanced, but instead is celebrated as A Great Triumph of Enduring Love. ...and everybody went BONKERS for it. Meanwhile, I was standing on the sidelines, absolutely baffled, wondering if maybe I just didn’t get the same drugs as everybody else. But you know what? It's fine. Maybe I'm wrong and everybody else is right (sure seems like it!), and I'm certainly not the arbiter of Good Taste in Fanfic. So yeah, it all comes back to 'like what you like and let other people like what they like.' It will make your experience in fandom so much better, I promise.

Anyway, I hope you got something out of this anon, and enjoyed this edition of “J very vaguely rambles on about fanfiction.”