That's interesting to know -- I came to the MCU in 2012 and got started by reading a variety of recs which is how I ended up in Tony/Loki's area (I had been looking for longform gen fic which remains thin on the ground). So if they were a prominent ship then it explains a lot.

And you're right, I'm subscribed to the AO3 feed and there's stuff coming through every day which is not a rare pair sort of thing.