schneefink

A(o3)lphabet

2025-10-27T20:06:09Z

The alphabet meme from lots of places (title stolen from dhampyresa.)

Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for starting a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.

A: Assuming Shape, Young Avengers, 4k Sarah Altmann gen
B: Building for the Future, Castlevania (TV), 2k Hector & Isaac post-canon
C: Claw Out Your Eyes and Devour You, Hades 2, 1.4k ~Scylla/Melinoe
D: Drawn To You, Hockey RPF, 7.4k Robert Bortuzzo/Beau Bennett soulmate&prostitute AU
E: Etho's Escort Service From Hell, Hermitcraft, 1.5k Etho & Cleo
F: Forget-Me(-Not), The Gardener's Hand, 0.8k Alizhan & Thiyo missing scene
G: Go About Your Business, Act As If You're Free, Phoenotopia: Awakening, 2.1k Lisa & Bart post-canon
H:
I: In the Dream Grove, Dice Disasters, 1.9k Jasmin & Cody
J:
K: Kadavo, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, 1.8k Rex missing scene
L: Loop One Alliance, Life Series, 8k Impulse-centric Double Life time loop
M: Memories Of a Life Not Lived, Life Series/Hermitcraft, 1.5k, Cleo & Etho
N: Next Time Bring Candles, Food, 5.2k, SGA, Teyla&team gen
O: Only a little, The Bright Sessions, 6.6k, Adam & Damien canon divergence AU
P: Potato Blossom Magic, Dream SMP, 0.4k Techno&Phil sex pollen
Q:
R: Ritual of Cooperation, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, 14.1k Johannes & Zangetsu missing scene
S: Sitting by the Tree, Killjoys, Dutch & Johnny gen
T: Things That Make You Think Different, Steerswoman, 2.7k Steffie gen
U: Uncut Gems, The Fire's Stone, 3.8k ~Darvish/Aaron time travel
V: Various Ways to Victory, Life Series/Hermitcraft, 1.8k Pearl & Scar post-Secret Life gen
W: What Needs to Be Done (To Make a Difference, Hermitcraft/Hotguy Comics Zine, Pearl missing scenes
X:
Y:
Z:

20/26 with 126 works.

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AO3 stats update

2025-07-08T18:52:37Z

Last year at the end of May, so just a little over a year ago, I made an AO3 stats post, and I thought it would be fun to look at it again and compare.

( Numbers )

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Supervillain levels pet peeve

2025-06-05T07:34:40Z

Pet peeve of mine: Superhero/supervillain AUs that aren't clear on the degree of villainy involved. Is this the kind of supervillain who commits elaborate art heists, or the kind of supervillain who blows up a hospital? Just showing them fighting superheroes doesn't make that clear. I want to assume it's the former in e.g. a civilian/supervillain romance but how am I meant to judge just how careless the civilian is acting if the fic doesn't say one way or the other.

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AO3 stats

2024-05-30T12:43:42Z

For months I've wanted to make a post about my AO3 stats but I always told myself to wait until I hit a specific number, and then another one, and then another one, and then I told myself I would wait until 100 fanworks except I'm having a hard time writing recently so now I'm just doing it.

( Numbers )

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Snowflake challenge #3

2024-01-05T23:23:16Z

Time for snowflake_challenge again.

Challenge #3:
Create a wish list of fandom things (podfic, graphics, playlists, canon recs translations, research help, vids, sky's the limit!) that you'd like to receive.

I think in every other year I might have wished for fanfic comments, but actually recently I have felt very lucky with the amount of fanfic comments I got. So while I would of course always love some more, I thought of something else I would especially love: feedback on rec posts.

I made regular rec posts last year, mostly fanfic but also some art and vids, and for those and future recs I would love to know if they made people interested in checking the fanworks out and if they enjoyed them if they did. I know that many of them are probably for fandoms most of you are unfamiliar with, but I try to note whenever I think a fanwork can be enjoyed without knowing canon (and if that turns out to be incorrect for you that would be useful to know as well.) And if there is something you would be interested in seeing recs for that you think I might be familiar with, please let me know as well!

…speaking of fandoms most of you are unfamiliar with. Please let me know if you would be willing to check out some Minecraft roleplay videos if I wrote an intro/primer (and if yes, maybe what kind of tropes/characters/stories you are currently most interested in) because I would happily write intros/primers for my current shiny things for any audience greater than zero.

And, as a bonus, some Hermitcraft/Life series icons, especially for Scar/Cleo/Etho, would be very nice.

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Shipping thoughts

2023-06-27T22:31:43Z

snickfic asked a question to answer on one's own journal - What's one of your favorite shippy moments for your ship? Why do you love it? - and I struggled to answer it so I'm asking in return, does "ship" exclusively/mostly refer to romantic relationships for you and if so what's a non-romantic equivalent? I like the expression "rotating them in my mind" I found iirc on Tumblr but it's long. There's so many characters especially in MCYT fandoms that I don't ship in a romantic sense but either as friends and/or in a "I really enjoy the ways in which they are deeply weird about each other" kind of way. (Which often means that I can also enjoy fanworks about them in a romantic relationship but that's not a main aspect for me.) (I hope this makes sense I am tired rn and procrastinating on several things including going to bed.)

Second reason why it's a hard question is that currently my favorite relationships change every week or so and of the last couple that come to mind picking favorite moments is hard, but if I had to, Grian building multiple Mumbo shrines during an escape room challenge with Impulse and Joel, each creepier than the last, is up there. Also the summoning circles and the cinematic reunion on Hermitcraft. And that's just the recent stuff, not including things like the time they had a robot son together. One and a half times, technically.

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Originally human-created fic please

2023-04-10T20:41:25Z

I've stumbled across "this fic was written by Chat GPT" on AO3 for the first time and I hate that this is apparently a thing now. I also found a post with replies on Tumblr that articulated some of the reasons for that. It feels a bit like, hm, regurgitated writing mush: no thought behind it, no ideas. I think Chat GPT could be useful as a tool for writing sometimes, for prompt generation or brainstorming or something like that, but I don't want to read stories written by an AI. I know that probably at some point soon an AI will be able to read a story that I can't say for sure is written by a real person or not but that's not the point. I want fandom and the fanworks in it to be in conversation with other fans, not translated through a machine copying from other writing.

I also think that out society is woefully underprepared for the current challenges posed by the use of AI but that's entire topics on top of that.

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MCYT exciting things

2023-02-08T18:58:47Z

There's a new Minecraft speedrunning world record (random seed glitchless) by Zylenox and it's 7:45. Under eight minutes. What the hell. I'm glad I've learned enough about MCSR by now to know what most of the tactics he's using even are, otherwise it'd look like magic. Okay it still basically looks like magic. (Here is a reaction vid by Couriway with some explanations of what Zylenox is doing.)

In other MCYT news, I'm really invested in the currently ongoing MCYT Tumblr Sexyman Tournament over at mcytblrsexymen, currently in round three of seven: current bracket. It features 96 characters - or, well, sort of characters: it's explicitly about characters and not creators, but they also combined all of each creators' characters under one name so it's kind of a borderline case (as so often with MCYT.) There's a lot of campaign art and other fanworks already, aand unsurprisingly MCYT creators have discovered it and many are now actively campaigning for themselves, including attempted bribery and trash-talking their opponents. It's very silly but also very exciting, it's very well run, and it also worked to promote some less popular creators that made it into early rounds. (By now I think the only one still in the running who's not from either Hermitcraft, DSMP, or Empires is CaptainSparklez.)

It's a seeded competition, to make it as fair as possible, but it does mean that there were some very difficult match-ups already. GTWScar is the big favorite after nominations, but he does go up against Techno next round (I assume - CaptainSparklez probably could have made it much farther from a different corner.) Nobody seems to be able to agree on criteria anyway so it's a popularity contest to a significant degree, but I don't care, I'm having fun :D

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Snowflake challenge #12 & #8

2023-01-23T17:48:35Z

Snowflake challenge #12:
In your own space, set yourself some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.

I already did that, but I want to add one fannish goal: rec something at least once a month. For a few months last year I managed to rec something fairly regularly on the community recs post on recthething but then I fell off again. To my own surprise I've realized how worried I sometimes am about being, hm, ~judged for the stories I like - which is stupid, and something I've made progress with when it comes to fandoms themselves but apparently not fic. Huh. Weird, and I don't like it; I'll try to work on it.

I already recced things in January thanks to the snowflake challenge (MCYT emduo, 4 fanart + 7 fic recs), but maybe I will manage a few more, and if not then next month.

Hey, I can combine that:

Snowflake challenge #8:
In your own space, create a quiz or a poll (or tell us your thoughts about answering quizzes/polls)

View Poll: fic rec interest

No guarantees but it might give me a starting point.

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How is it time for four candles already

2022-12-18T18:11:26Z

I posted my Yuletide fic yesterday. It still needs a better title, and it has an ending but I think I want to write a better one, so I will definitely still work on it during the next week. That, and get IRL Christmas presents for my family... I can barely believe Christmas is in a week!

Some "fortune telling" fun: here is a random generator that will give you four AO3 tags for 2023. I hope it is wrong though, because I got "Aggression, Dubcon Kissing, Fast Food, Assassination," no thank you. (My second try gave me "Crash Landing, Smart Is The New Sexy, Soup, Romeo and Juliet References," slightly better.)

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Apparently it is tradition to draw all MCYT ccs on Tumblr in maid dresses

2022-11-07T19:22:06Z

In my head for a while I have been idly drafting a post about "fandom spaces" in fandoms like MCYT where interactions with the content creators are in some ways completely normal but also platform-dependent and how that clearly influenced some parts of these fandoms having "rules" that seemed completely alien to me. What do you mean I'm not supposed to create fanworks a content creator said they don't want to see, as long as everything is appropriately tagged, they're adults who are responsible for their own internet experience. Also, do not link content creators to fic especially not someone else's, WTF.

And then today as one of the results of *gestures at Twitter*, TommyInnit joined Tumblr and I'm still laughing. His username is "tubbosfriend," his first (and so far only) post is a terrible selfie tagged "ranboo mcyt", and his first liked post is a screenshot of tumblr RTing a DSMP joke xDD This could either be hilarious or terrible and I can hardly wait to find out.
(Yes other MCYT streamers have been on Tumblr for a while but, uh, Tommy is a different potential level of chaos. Plus, if more fans come to Tumblr from Twitter and are unfamiliar with how fandom there "works" then conflicts seems likely. But I'm hoping for the best.)

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VIECC day 2

2022-10-02T19:02:38Z

Second day of Vienna Comic-Con, I had a great time again. I was proud of myself that I resisted the urge to buy all the things, but I did buy one book (half because it sounded interesting and half because the author was very nice) and a Minecraft heat change mug and a coaster and a pretty bookmark with spooky eyeball art to hang on our kitchen wall and a ring. I don't usually wear rings but this one looks like a tiny sleeping blue and gold glittery dragon and I couldn't resist.

So much great cosplay again. Like yesterday there were many people in fairly simple store-bought costumes, especially in Akatsuki cloaks, and several Trafalgar Laws. I also saw a great Molly and Yasha (and I got a few compliments for my Gilmore's Glorious Goods shirt.) And three people in NHL merch for some reason? And while yesterday I didn't see anything for my shiny new fandom, this time I saw three people in Techno merch and also a Ranboo, an Alivebur, a great Quackity with yellow wings, and a whole group consisting of Tommy, Techno, Quackity, Ranboo, Dream, and Ghostbur. (And maybe Hannah? She was sitting with the others but I didn't recognize her outfit, not sure if she was even in costume, but she was wearing a flower dress and a tiara.)

I already look forward to the next one! And then Worldcon in Glasgow 2024 :)
~~And now I will stop procrastinating on studying, self.~~

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VIECC day 1

2022-10-01T20:42:51Z

I almost forgot about Vienna Comic-Con this weekend, which would have been a lot more annoying than usual because this time I have tickets! I bought them before they had to postpone the event, that's my excuse for why it wasn't on my radar anymore, but fortunately someone I'd told about it way back then reminded me.

It was a lot of fun today. I mostly walked around looking at all the art and stuff, played some game demos, went to a panel about voice acting in video games, and then to the cosplay contest at the end. So many cosplayers, and so many of them looked fantastic. A lot of Genshin Impact, I noticed that even though I barely know the game (LB was into it for a short while, which is the only reason I even recognized anyone.) Quite a few very cool Star Wars and A:tla cosplayers too, a great Jester&Fjord couple, and a wonderful Obelix. I only saw one Hades cosplay, a Hypnos, but unfortunately that was at the very end and they'd already taken half of it off.

I managed to resist buying anything because I knew I'd be back tomorrow, so tomorrow the challenge will be not to spend too much money, on books (that I am skeptical I will find time to read, my to-read pile next to my bed just keeps growing) and other stuff (I know I don't need a Minecraft mystery bag but. I kinda wants it.) I was looking for some art for our kitchen but sadly didn't see anything that speaks to me yet. Lots of very cool "I'd want this if it was one of my fandoms" art.

Right now I'm too tired to do anything but not tired enough to go to bed yet. Tomorrow I'll try to go earlier than today, and I'll take a break for lunch with my parents, who conveniently live not too far away. I look forward to seeing hopefully even more great cosplays tomorrow :)

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ESL fandom moment

2022-08-04T09:54:28Z

Recently, me: DSMP fandom taught me a new word! A group of pigs is called a "sounder," that's what fanon has decided Techno considers his found family and friends.
DD: Ah yes, I know that word from Hannibal fandom, that's what he calls the people he kills.

Fandom is very educational.

(We agreed that Hannibal would most likely eat TommyInnit first, unless he meets him at the right/wrong time and decides to offer him therapy instead.)

Do you have any fun "I learned this word from fandom" stories?

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Fandom bracket challenge

2022-07-15T15:57:37Z

Over on fictional_fans, melannen is holding a fandom bracket challenge and the first three rounds are already open for voting: 1a, 1b, 1c. Worth checking out for the poll questions alone.
There are absolutely no criteria. I'm surprised by just how much Naruto and One Piece are losing, though considering the fandoms popular on DW I probably shouldn't be.

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The adventures of Jonathan Harker

2022-05-06T17:53:23Z

I got the first three entries from Dracula Daily and I already enjoy it a lot. I read the novel once about twenty years ago and I remember very little, and for a long time I'd played with the idea of rereading it, but this format is a great idea.

Possibly my favorite part is the surprising amount of reaction posts on Tumblr. It's a large communal read-along, which is fun. I very much look forward to even more memes in the future.

I do think it's unfair how much people make fun of Jonathan Harker for being oblivious: it's completely natural that he comes to the conclusion "these people have weird superstitions" rather than "the supernatural is real." And it's his first job as a solicitor, of course he wants to do a good job instead of returning home saying "I turned back because these people seemed a little odd for some reason." The first parts also already did a great job selling me on his relationship with Mina solely from how and how often he thinks of her. I will resist the urge to look up spoilers and (not-so-)patiently wait for future updates.

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Sunflower Auction offer

2022-04-27T19:51:59Z

I want to sign up for sunflower_auction, an charity auction for Ukraine, but am not sure what to offer. I've never done this before, and the stupid part of my brain keeps asking who would even be interested anyway. So, a poll. Please ticky if you think that someone might be interested if I offer this.

View Poll: Sunflower auction

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Anticipating games (in various ways)

2022-02-23T21:00:10Z

To distract myself from both news and work today I browsed through the Steam Next Fest and downloaded about a dozen game demos. No idea how many I will actually play though.

The other thing that cheered me up today were /r/HollowKnightMeme's plans to sacrifice lore expert and BNF mossbag to TeamCherry to speed up the release of Silksong, the "Moss Defenders" that mobilized in response, and the neutral "what the fuck is going on o.o *facepalm*" faction. This is even more fun than when half the subreddit agreed to pretend that Silksong had already been released. (alignment chart.)

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Lemon chicken, part II

2022-02-04T20:06:47Z

Thanks for the responses to my poll about lemon chicken fic! I got curious after I read their days are darker by always-a-slut-for-hc, a Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fox-centric lemon chicken fic, and the author didn't understand what my comment meant.

For some background, there are two Fanlore articles (Lemon Chicken, The Post-Trinity phenomenon), but even for people unfamiliar with SGA I would recommend reading the original list that gave post-"Trinity" fics lemon chicken ratings. It gives background, explains the trope, and is funny. Post-Trinity stories are like drag queens, they're just not dealing with reality. But they are fabulous!

For me, "lemon chicken fic" generally has the following elements:

- A does something that their friend(s) consider in some way bad or wrong.
It could be a mistake, it could be something done on purpose, it could be the consequence of inaction etc.
- As a consequence, A's friend(s) shun, exclude and/or punish them.
Blame, shunning and disdain is the classic. The trope name comes from fics in which to showcase all of this, the mess hall serves lemon chicken, which Rodney is allergic to.
- A is hurt by this.
A can either feel that they deserve the punishment or not, they can be resigned or angry etc., as long as they care.
- At some point, A's friend(s) realize that they wronged A.
Either because A didn't do what they thought, or for different reasons, or simply because A's friend(s) realize that they went too far in their punishment.
- Common but optional: A's friend(s) regret what they did and apologize.
Often includes abject groveling, and usually A forgives them. But sometimes A has left and/or has found better friend(s) and/or does not forgive their old friend(s).

Agree/disagree? I think some might also count fics without point 4, where A simply leaves and decides not to care about their friend(s) anymore, but I usually find those less satisfying. In addition from the classic post-Trinity fic I've also seen the trope in many other fandoms and in many variations, so having a term for it is nice. (I assume other fandoms/fandom corners might have different terms for it?) Lemon chicken fic can often be OTT or even OOC, but like with idfic in general, sometimes it's exactly what I'm in the mood for.

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Snowflake Day #9: Fandom Wrap

2022-01-17T22:32:21Z

Finally doing a snowflake_challenge on day 9:
In your own space, list your Fandom Wrap categories.
( Fandom Wrap 2021 )

I might go back to the other days eventually, or maybe not, idk.

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At least it was a nice comment

2021-08-29T10:57:33Z

I got my first fic comment in a different language. I'm somewhat baffled - either your English is good enough to read my fic or you know how to use a translator - but it kinda feels like I reached a milestone.
(I would have understood German, a little, because of my username, but Spanish? Huh, okay.)

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VIECC

2021-07-13T20:38:15Z

Worldcon 2019 was my first time attending a convention like that. Which is strange, especially considering that Vienna Comic Con exists. Somehow I always managed to hear about it the weekend after it had happened. But not this year! This year I was reminded of it half a year early! Tbh I only have a vague idea what it will look like, but there will be an artist alley and cosplayers and a game zone etc., so I definitely want to check it out. I just bought a ticket and look forward to it, should be fun.
(If it takes place. Who knows what will happen until November. I also have a vacation including travel planned - not booked yet - for September, but my initial optimism that it would be possible has started to decline.)

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Even titles for posts are hard

2021-06-06T17:02:05Z

I stumbled upon Some nights I stay up (reading AO3 fic) on Tumblr, and shortly afterwards found an entire article: The Archive of Our Own lyric trend brings a Tumblr meme to Twitter. Fun! I wonder for how many other songs this could be done without too much difficulty. Maybe next time I have trouble coming up with fic titles I should listen to music.

Today is a meh day and in theory I have exams in two weeks and pretty much no studying is happening and I hate it. (I know that PMS is a factor and that I did not go running this weekend because last time my knees hurt but still, bäh.) At least I bought fruit yesterday. They didn't have strawberries but the apricots and cherries are very good.

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What does "slow burn" mean?

2021-05-02T16:32:36Z

In the last posted chapter of DD's MDZS WIP, the main characters (spoiler!) finally kiss! After more than 100k, but less than a month actually passed in the story. So we talked about the term "slow burn" and decided that similar to game speedrunning categories, there should be categories for "slow burn."

View Poll: Slow burn

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There is no escape

2020-12-10T19:36:16Z

It's 2020 and time has no meaning, but nevertheless, mostly because it might be fun to look back on one day, a brief timeline of how I absolutely did not mean to get interested in Hades. Oops.

August: eglantiere posts about this game she really enjoys. Sounds like fun but I don't play computer games. (Video games? Not sure what the difference is.)

~ 2 months ago: This guy I see art of on Tumblr sometimes does kinda look like AU Karkat ^^

~ 6 weeks ago: Yeah, no idea why a game about trying to escape from the underworld would possibly appeal to people right now.

~ 4 weeks ago: Apparently many people enjoy this game a lot. The art is pretty, and the romance options sound like fun.

~ 2.5 weeks ago: Youtube recommended me a Hades speedrunning video for some reason and I'm bored, might as well watch it. It is pretty, and a fun distraction. I could watch a few more.

~ 2 weeks ago: I'm watching scene compilations now. Good thing I don't play computer games, otherwise I'd be tempted. But I probably wouldn't enjoy actually playing it and anyway I don't have time for this.

~ 10 days ago: Hm, no inspiration for my daily writing practice, why not write a Hades snippet.

~ 7 days ago: Somehow I'm watching a 5-part documentary about the making of Hades now. And game reviews. I wonder if there's fic. (There is.)

A few days ago: I don't play computer games but I can complain to my flatmate D about finding this one so interesting even though I have so many other things to read/watch/listen to, and also Yuletide fic to write.

Two days ago: I've talked about it enough that D is mad at me for getting her interested in the game. ~~Success.~~

Yesterday: Hey, I could watch a Let's Play from the beginning, then I'll get all the narrative content without actually having to play it and probably lose interest.

Yesterday, two hours later: I now have many thoughts and theories about builds and tactics. Uh-oh.

Today: …okay let's at least wait until January.

(I might lose all interest by January, or I might get impatient and start playing next week, who knows.)

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