zemkzone

[zemkzone]

Puppy!

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[zemkzone]

It's the Winter Solstice today, and I just remembered---Happy Birthday, Leonard Snart! At least, it's your birthday in my timeline-bumped Sparks in the Ice 'verse.

//does a lil dance to counter SAD

[zemkzone]

Not that you’ve been the best judge of his needs in the past, but if you’re so concerned about him, what’re you doing down here with me?

— Leonard Snart to Iris West, Ch23 of That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm

Couldn't let the year end without one last post. Sliding this in juuuust before NYE, on December 27. ;)

[zemkzone]

If you are a fan fic writer and you're alright with people making fan art of your fic, reblog this 💚

[zemkzone]

Hey, I give comfort... after it is EARNED. 😈

Right, as @softboydepot said, whoever wants to play, have at it (at your own risk)!

which ao3 tag are you?

[zemkzone]

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[zemkzone]

I had a good meeting with my PhD supervisor today. Cool, great. Then when he asked, "how are you, really?" and I told him... *insert JUST November's incidents*

His response: "Writing is all about VICARIOUS experiences. Please don't come back to me in January with a cast, crutch, or iron lungs."

Dear 2024, I am GLAD you are nearly fucking over. Yo, 2025... I'm walking into you with a shield, sword, a set of knives, a bow and arrow, and a very suspicious glare.

[zemkzone]

👀 well, this was a lovely treat to see! Thaaank you~ and LoL, I never turn down fanart. 😉

been rereading one of my fave ever fics (tbh fic series) and couldn’t resist drawing a sweet moment from chapter 14 of TRAT ☺️

hope you don’t mind a little fanart @zemkzone 😋

[zemkzone]

So, it's Thanksgiving, and I'm spending it alone in a country where it isn't even a holiday. I'm in a mood because of a lot of things this month (not just the Terrible Awful Crappy 5th).

Buuuuuut I wanted to spread a lil cheer, and be thankful for this hellsite and all the ColdFlash creatures I've met while scrolling through here--@theroguesharlequin @hardwiredweird @notquiteinsane @hautecoldture @softboydepot @simpledontmeanpeachy to name a few (while I'm still vaguely sober). So here's a snippet of a scene I've been tinkering with for That Rare Arctic Thunderstorm, which is hilariously set on Thanksgiving 2015. Not the final version, of course, and yes, there are... redactions marked by brackets ([])... but hey, HAPPY TURKEY DAY, 'Murricah! And to the rest of you, early happy weekend!

“Right on time, Doc,” [Len] drawled, opening the front door for Henry Allen. “Len, good to see you, son,” Barry’s dad said, a genuinely pleased smile on his face as he handed over one of his two large, heavily stuffed tote bags. He was all bundled up in cozy fall colors. “Happy Thanksgiving! Mike and Avigail send their regards—along with fresh sweet potato latkes, jelly doughnuts, and something called… borekas?” “Huh, here I thought a pit-stop at the Birnbaums’ would take you longer.” Len turned to hit the elevator button, trying to ignore the funny way the endearment made him feel. “I wouldn’t be late for my first Thanksgiving as a free man,” Henry remarked as they stepped into the elevator car. “I’ve been looking forward to this all week.” “You and Scarlet both, Doc.” Len would have shrugged and smirked, but in the face of Henry’s warm smile, he couldn’t manage enough nonchalance. “I think we’ve known each other long enough for you to start calling me Henry.” Barry’s dad clapped his shoulder with his free hand. “I’m actually glad it was you who came down to get me. I wanted a moment alone with you, to thank you.” “For what?” The elevator doors slid open on the top floor, but Len’s feet refused to move. Henry seemed to notice his discomfort and let go of his shoulder. “Barry’s always been a kind boy, sometimes too kind. I know today—the original plan and the new one—was all his idea. You didn’t have to go along with it [...] but you did. So, thank you.” For one extended moment, Len couldn’t speak. [...] Len had agreed and been thanked by Barry repeatedly in several different ways already, but he hadn’t expected understanding or gratitude from anyone else. He got his mouth—and his feet—to work again right as the elevator doors started to close. He stopped them with his palm, gesturing for the older man to step out ahead of him. “Henry… Did Scarlet ever tell you my four rules?” Barry’s dad smiled and quirked his brow curiously. “No, he didn’t.” “Make the plan, execute the plan.” Len stepped out after him. “Expect the plan to go off the rails,” he opened the door to the apartment proper, “throw away the plan.” Henry laughed with delight as they stepped inside, again clapping a hand on his shoulder. “With rules like that, you two will be just fine.”

[zemkzone]

I finally did it!!! After about a million tries, I managed to get these plushes by @hautecoldture to kiss~

Just imagine it's like, night at a museum or expensive archive and this is how Barry stops Len from stealing shit tonight.

Damn, this just made my week!

[zemkzone]

In the newer editions of Office/Word (2024 onwards), the labels are a little different.

File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings > Under the header "Connected Experiences", go to All Connected Experiences > Uncheck box: “Turn on all connected experiences”

Note, this will also uncheck the boxes for Experiences that analyze your content and Experiences that download online content, but really, you do NOT want AI doing those things anyway.

As an additional and, I hope, helpful PSA for your writing projects, primarily fiction or creative non-fiction, here are some non-AI'd (fuck you, Grammarly) reference materials, available as physical books, eBooks, and audiobooks:

Elements of Style by Oliver Strunk. E. B. White - Colloquially known simply as Strunk & White in some circles, it's really short, quick and dirty reminder on the general rules of English grammar, at less than 200 words, I believe. It's on its 4th edition, has usage examples, and the illustrated version has an adorable basset hound on the cover.

Chicago Manual of Style - Printed by the University of Chicago, it's one of the most widely used formatting guides of the big 5 publishing houses in the USA (as far as I have been told by editor friends, so don't go hacking me to pieces if you've heard differently). This one's pricey and heavy as a brick but, on its 18th edition as of this year, it has been updated for 2020s pronouns and has more fiction-friendly sections than past editions have had. Even if you get the 17th and older generations, you're still getting a large chunk of the good stuff.

There are a LOT of other reliable references out there, whether you're here for research or just the fun of writing up a little prose. Remember, you gotta KNOW the rules before you go and break em. AI has some good uses, but not in this arena!

Microsoft Office, like many companies in recent months, has slyly turned on an “opt-out” feature that scrapes your Word and Excel documents to train its internal AI systems. This setting is turned on by default, and you have to manually uncheck a box in order to opt out.

If you are a writer who uses MS Word to write any proprietary content (blog posts, novels, or any work you intend to protect with copyright and/or sell), you’re going to want to turn this feature off immediately.How to Turn off Word’s AI Access To Your Content

I won’t beat around the bush. Microsoft Office doesn’t make it easy to opt out of this new AI privacy agreement, as the feature is hidden through a series of popup menus in your settings:On a Windows computer, follow these steps to turn off “Connected Experiences”:

File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings > Optional Connected Experiences > Uncheck box: “Turn on optional connected experiences”

[zemkzone]

Right, right, that was.... I forgot what else was going on, but I believe the Impala was there and Sara called Dean her hall pass. It just... seriously adds a different layer when you notice (possible) crossover intel in that network.

So, I've been watching episodes of Supernatural over my lunch break since... last week's apocalyptically shitty news. And I just thought of something. CW created both the Arrowverse and Supernatural. And in Supernatural, Dean tends to call Sam "bitch", to which Sam replies "jerk".

In season 2 of The Flash, Lisa Snart calls Len a jerk and his response is to call her a trainwreck. It's prolly coz it would have hit different to call your sister a bitch, but damn... does this mean the writers of Supernatural had a hand in some of the scripts for The Flash????

I think my brain bluescreened a lil, going in way too many directions today, lololol!

[zemkzone]

So, I've been watching episodes of Supernatural over my lunch break since... last week's apocalyptically shitty news. And I just thought of something. CW created both the Arrowverse and Supernatural. And in Supernatural, Dean tends to call Sam "bitch", to which Sam replies "jerk".

In season 2 of The Flash, Lisa Snart calls Len a jerk and his response is to call her a trainwreck. It's prolly coz it would have hit different to call your sister a bitch, but damn... does this mean the writers of Supernatural had a hand in some of the scripts for The Flash????

I think my brain bluescreened a lil, going in way too many directions today, lololol!

[zemkzone]

Still barely functional this week, but I've been TRYING to use fic-writing to ease my heart (despite the heart-related idiocy I write about, LOL), and damn, to make it sensible for the mid 2010s... I'm listening to a lot of decade-old songs now. And shit a theater-geek teen woulda listened to in the early 2000s, coz that's the music that would STICK. Or an early-twenties budding thief, while casing out hotel bars and other fancy places.

Today's discovery is "Paradise" by Sharif.

HALP. The cheesy love songs list is starting to actually grow in my head. HALP.

[zemkzone]

Welcome to the madness. I still can't understand it myself. That little angel was annoooooying to me the first day he appeared. And then, somehow, he grew on me. Maybe I should blame Dean.

Watching my first watch through of SPN ever. I’m on season 9 and as someone who has been on tumblr since ancient times but didn’t actually get in to it, I think everyone DOWNPLAYED how crazy Destiel is. How did veterans survive that….. It’s just. What. What am I watching. Why does Deans voice get SOFT when he talks to Cas particularly??? Why did Dean ditch Sam to watch Cas at the supermarket???? I think because of the meme I was convinced it was cas who was the one obviously in love but. No. It’s Dean. And it’s embarrassing for him. This is crazy but Destiel fans weren’t crazy y’all were on to something all this time…..

[zemkzone]

After an eternity in the Timestream that is life.... I'm BAAAACK. Barry and Len beware!

[zemkzone]

Dear Brits, I KNOW you mean well... but this is NOT the week to greet me with "You all right?"