I’m always thrilled to see rec lists that don’t list the Popular Fics. I mean there’s a difference between a list that’s “Fandom Classics Everyone Should Read” and “Hey, I just read these and think y’all should check them out!” and I try to do the latter just because I think newer fics need to be brought out from under the shadow of the fandom classics.

Absolutely agreed.
I do think it’s tricky sometimes, though, because I am a terrible judge of popularity and I never know how many kudos or hits a thing is before everyone and their mother (it seems) has read it. And, of course I don’t want to rec things that everyone has already read.