YWS Yearbook 2025

Spooot

The rambling has begun chat

I first want to say that I can't believe I've been a part of this site for two years now. It seems like I've been here forever, and through that time, I have gotten the tremendous blessing of an opportunity to meet so many of you wonderful people, I deem: chat

I loved the most this year that during my college studies, you guys joined me in being study buddies or even just being there, so I didn't study alone. You guys have helped give me so much advice when I didn't know who to ask. And gave so many wonderful song suggestions to me this year as well!! AH I LOVE THE SONG SUGGESTIONS!!!

I love how you guys support my art and some of you already love specific ocs of mine compared to others. I'm glad so many of your guys especially love my oc child Westwing ToT ugh my heart is so happy! I love how some of you guys this year came to me with art questions or seeking advice or feedback. It really makes me feel so honored and my heart feel so full of joy. I have tried so much to get my YouTube and Instagram to launch but you guys of YWS truly have never once failed me.

I want to tag some of the people who mean a lot to me on this site.
If you aren't named, please take no offense, because literally everyone on this site means a lot to me.

@Aresfig I don't know what I'd do with Fig. If you don't know who Fig is, you're missing out on a great person. We've had so many great conversations, and hanging out this year has been a blast. My favorite thing we did this year was doing art exchanges randomly and drawing Fig Red Murphy and Michael Clifford from 5sos

@Ravena who is a fantastic artist. I love seeing your art and you've improved so much this year! i love seeing that progress and I was so honored of you to ask me art questions. I LOVE art questionse. Ravena has helped me a lot this year also, and I am so thankful for your time!

@Quillfeather who is one of the most kindest souls on this site. Quill is a fantastic woman whom I had the privilege of joining at her 18th birthday party on the site! If you want inspiration to persevere and not give up, she is your person. I loved getting the chances to join her in a WFP and catch up and message her, with seemingly no time having passed between conversations.

@EllieMae who is also such a kind soul. I very much appreciated how she put time aside to answer my questions to help me when i needed it and needed advice! Though ellie has been busy I admire her drive to continue on with what she does!

@avimoon who i wish her school wasn't so weird with yws. I love how when you first joined the site my peoples tab would be utterly destroyed with your posts. Seeing you post every now and again is definitely nice to see. I'm glad you've stuck around yws even when the universe seems to try to stop you!

@Tikaya who just recently has joined this site but is such a lovely person! I cannot believe how many reviews you have been able to do in such little time and I've seen some of them in passing and I can tell you really put a lot of thought into each one. Tiki is such an amazing person and I hope you continue your time at YWS and find it fruitful, friend!

Other people I want to tag but don't have time to ramble about (im sorry TToTT guys pls dont come after me)

@ToastK -another amazing artist
@LadyMysterio -ANOTHER amazing artist
@Messenger - a great friend who has helped me a LOT
@Leya- the big sister of YWS
@TheRebel2007- an amazing songwriter!
@Spearmint - the one and only Mint!
@Snoink - the mom of YWS
@JazzicusMaximus - such an amazing person who ive had great convos with
@Ranger - a person with many great song recommendations
@theromanticchemist - the chemistry queen
@inksthewriter- another amazing artist with a style I've never seen before and yet admire and love seeing!
@Nate - the founding father of YWS who i am so thankful for bcs without him i would have never met all you amazing people

and of course everyone else i've met and interacted with this year <3

Thank you chat for yet another amazing year with YWS!!!

Whoeth pingeth? They who pingeth haveth summoneth mine wrath, and they shalleth telleth me whateth they wanteth. Oh, I seeth, thanketh thee for thine compliments. A prosperous and Happiest New Year to thee!

ALEX'S YEARBOOK 2025

I actually joined YWS mid year, so I don't have all the months to document. But boy, don't I have enough to say about my time here. Despite my short stay, this has been home. A static hope I cling to as the world shifts drastically. Not only did I advance forward on my poetic journey, but also found some wonderful people on the way. Please hang on to read the messages I've got for some of you, y'all mean everything to me! <3

Note: I'll be putting a spoiler for all my personal life developments.

MY EARLY MONTHS

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I started my year preparing for a specific competitive exam. Not an exciting beginning, huh? It was my drop year so at least I didn't have to worry about school. I had realised my grave mistake by not starting earlier. But I set on making it right. After spending the later half of 2024 in a grind, the curriculum was finally done with. There were a lot of insecurity, breakdowns and uncertainty along the way- but I had promised myself to give it my best. By January, I was finally getting a bit more confident in my test performances. I was finally beginning to see a spark of hope- something I had worked so hard towards.

But just then, my grandfather passed away. Thinking it'd impact me badly, my parents kept it from me. I couldn't even see him one last time. Such was the significance of this exam- it could make or break one's life. No diversions could be afforded. I wasn't much close with him in his final time, but death brings even the most distant family closer, I was still his grandson. The event didn't leave any noticeable scars, I had to be focussed for this exam that my parents had done so much for. Not to mention, it was a vital step for me to achieve my ambitions and establish a stable career.

As the exam grew close, my anxiety grew. I tried everything I could to supress the nerves and for sometime, it worked. May 4, the date for NEEY 2025 arrived. As I walked in the examination hall, I began to crumble. All the expectations came crashing down and I simply couldn't keep calm. The questions felt like an unseen language and I knew this was it- I would have to study another year. I still gave it my all, knowing it would be nowhere near enough. Defeated, I walked out. I cried hysterically that day, as if the world was over. Only if I knew..

With time, moving on felt more possible. Experts speculated this year's exam to be significantly harder and my calculated marks were predicted to exceed the qualifying one. Everyone comforting me finally had a small proof to point to. But until the results were officially published, nothing could be said for sure.

I entered a transition phase of nothing to do while I waited for the results to be out. My rank would soon decide my life and everything i knew would change. But until then, I was free to spend my boredom however I'd like. I painted, did coloring books, watched tv shoes and wrote some poetry.

June 14, 2025- the results were out. My rank wasn't that great, but it did guarantee a state college regardless. I was not really satisfied, but i had peace with it. The hunt for colleges began and we placed them on our priority list based on the determining factors.

My joining badge:

Days after my birthday, I decided to finally publish my writing online. That's when I found YWS, on July 6, 2025. The poetry space was overly crowded and so I didn't expect anything to really come out of it. Of the handful sites I published on, YWS is the only one from where I received some genuine response. On a poem I had written the very same midnight about a recent crush in an effort to keep it authentic, there had been a comment and a review in mere two days. I didn't know it then, but there was no going back after that day.

JULY 2025: GETTING TO KNOW YWS

By choosing a turtle avatar from the YWS gallery, I sealed my fate- the image that'd come to any user's mind upon hearing my name.

Wrote a couple of poetries on some difficult events I had recently gone through in life. The others involved my recurring themes of romance.
It was rather a new experience for me to write this often but honestly? Considering I nothing better to do, I wish I could write even more.

I got the hang of reviewing slowly. I could never see myself doing it. But to my surprise, I liked doing it and people appreciated what I had to say about their work. What started out from a desperation for points, became an unexpected liking. My very first month, I did about 20 reviews. Certainly not bad!

I got to know loads of people and for a while, I couldn't comprehend ever fitting in here. Nevertheless, I talked to a few users I saw around often and we became good friends. I'll be giving you guys a shout out separately, so do stick till the end.

On July 31, I made a hasty decision of entering in a contest for the first time. Keep in mind, this was the day of the deadline. I worked up a poem as quick as I could and barely got it in. The adrenaline rush was incredibly insane. Thank you @alliyah, for organising Fight Robots With Poetry! ... or Something! (Contest)!

AUGUST 2025: MY GOLDEN TIME

Switched my avatar to Yukimura from The Classroom of Elite. Couldn't help but feel I was betraying the famed turtle..

Despite not being sure how long the admission process shall take, I tried for Team Tortoise. Thankfully, I completed that goal. I had some tricky days, yet I managed to pull through.

This month, I wrote about fifty reviews! A lot of that is owing to the Review day on the thirtieth. Fighting for Team Cowfolk was my greatest honor, so was serving our captain @theromanticchemist. At the beginning, victory seemt impossible and yet I dragged on. I was deeply saddened thinking all my efforts shall go in vain. But over the later half of the day, our pace caught up and things started going smoothly. In the end, we emerged victories and were able to clear out the Green Room in the process. I ended up earning the most points from my team (writing a total of about twenty reviews), that really made me proud. A day to remember, for sure! Here's the post about it- Review Day Results! (August 2025)

I earned my second review star and it was heartwarming to see so many users congratulate me.

Having explored my fondness for contests, I entered Melting in the Summer Sun | August Poetry Event by @alliyah to help squeeze my poetic creativity, which was already drying out. I was the only one to complete the challenge but I'm still waiting for the official results *ahem*. Anyways, I had a blast participating! Also, I published about yet another one of my all-time crushes.

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Meanwhile, personal life began to pull me towards itself. I finally got alloted a college (in which I now sit!) and had to travel there for general verifications. I also toured a college I was hoping to get upgraded to and after that, we began to wait again for the results of the second allotments.

The Grandest of all: I got nominated FM!! It came completely out of the blue and I was speechless. Receiving the privilege after a mere month on the site meant so much to me. With it came popularity. A lot of the users who didn't know me already began to notice me and soon, I was talking casually with all the users I thought cool, admiring only from afar. This event solidified my standing in the community and felt like I was truly appreciated. The link to the announcement: Featured Member August 24 - September 7: AlexWrites!

SEPTEMBER 2025: WRAPPING UP

I earned my third review star and there's been no development ever since, no matter how many reviews I do XD. To be fair though, I did fall from the track. I did write another fifty reviews that month though.

RevMo was super cool, I believe the first month long event I took part in. I used Polo (Elite) for purple, Elio (Call me by your name) for pink and Cedric Diggory (Harry Potter) for golden. I couldn't complete turquoise, simply because it got too exhausting. I used an exclusive banner in every review I wrote that month, super addicting! I participated in the Banner contest and completed the checklist challenge as well.



September 13, I tried my hand at storywriting for once. Frankly, it was just a very good excuse to snatch the awesome badge being given out for participating in the Short Story Weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get to complete the project. Maybe same time, next year?



September 17, @CATSRULETHEWORLD387 forced me to sing, to which I did end up relenting. It's still on my wall lol.

September 18, @canopy enlisted the help of @ToastK to immortalise 'Hop is a cutie' in the QuoteGen, also enlisting me in this club against @thehoplessromantic

September 21, Cats actually drew me from how she pictured me. It may not be all accurate, but boy do I look good XD

September 24, I said my official goodbyes. The inflowing reaction was so overwhelming to witness. Everyone was sad to see me go, very emotionally endearing

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Due to my personal developments, September marked the end of my regular YWS presence. My previously alloted college was almost finalised. Soon, I started college and had barely any time to be so active anymore. Still, I tried to check in as much as I could.

There were a few holidays so I took some days off to visit home.. That was a new feeling altogether- being a guest within the walls you were raised.

OCTOBER 2025: LESS ACTIVE, BUT VERY MUCH HERE

October 2nd, I did a collaboration with @Ravena on the occasion of National Poetry Day.

October 3rd, I participated in the event Spooky Six-Word Story Contest

October 9th, I finalized another collective project with @Ravena, @Leya and @CATSRULETHEWORLD387 to work upon in my holidays later in the month. We did start working, but I'm afraid we left it unfinished, oops XD.
I think we might have some undone business, @Ravena. Excited to share it with YWS when we're done.

The idea actually came from a Spooktober idea @Ravena discarded. I didn't participate in the event much, except for the Spooky Six-Word Story Contest. I may not have won anything but participating was fun!

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A chaotic rumor actually made us return home a day early, it was so silly but fun XD

In my time back, I picked up NaPo week 2025. Here's my thread: eerie love
This event was particularly challenging as college had begun by the time it started. Writing a poem everyday wasn't easy, but I still somehow managed to do it. My poem phantom & me actually managed to bag the last #PCrewPick of the event! Here it is:

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Quillfeather wrote:Time for the very last #PCrewPick of our short little napo week! So many wonderful poets and poems. Thank you to everyone who participated in anyway.

Todays pick is Phantom and Me by @AlexWrites

I especially loved the stanza

I'm driven into madness
Because my lover is a ghost
Waltzing across oceans

Alex's whole thread is very unique concept that uses poetry in a way reminiscent of a story. Each line adds imagery until you get a sense of the whole story. The words used in these poems evoke such strong imagery and sensations it feels like reading a story. Go check out the rest of the poems here in their thread eerie love!

Link to original comment

October 25th, another review day! Not as busy as the previous one, still a great event to partake in. I wrote seven reviews and again became the user to score the maximum number of points. I'm on a streak! Here's a link to the post- Review Day Results! (October 2025)

NOVEMBER 2025: GOT BUSY

I completely disappeared this month, due to college. The peak time of my social circle, studying but not so eventful when it came to YWS, oops..

DECEMBER 2025: HOLIDAYS COMEBACK

Not really back for most of the month until the holiday events began. I participated in the following-

A Big Holiday Family Photo (Let’s break a record!) Picked out my best avatar for this
Trivia Night Pulled an all-nighter for this and still did not win XD
Secret Santa 2025: Sign-Ups Had loads of fun making a gift for my recipient!
The YWS Holiday Haiku Collection [2025] A little out of my usual style but great nevertheless
Best & Most Awards Got in my votes!
Gift-Giving Event 2025! All this gift giving was so endearing <3 Received a lot of gifts myself too..
Winter Vignettes Came second in this AHHH..
12 Days of Reviewing 2025 Tried my hand at reviewing again. Did about 9 reviews for this and I actually became a squire in the Knights of the Green Room Information
25-word Short Story This was interesting to the say the least!



Over the course of the past few months, I had made a collections of poems called 'Homesickness'. I added a December piece to it.

I also published a poem on a recent crush and wrote an expanded form of my entry in the 25-word Short Story

Finally - the user shoutouts!

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@Ravena- The person I looked upto from day one! I remember you being the first person I learnt about on here. We interacted on some your works and LOVED your warm energy. I left you a review when I wasn't much good in them and still your warm reply was everything I could ask for. You replied on one of my wall posts seeking advice, and your response really helped me find my flow again. Your prose writing skills are impeccable! hope to write as captivating as you someday. And your reviews, so incredibly helpful! Our collaboration was one of the best projects I've worked so far. You're very diligent and encouraging, the world needs more of you. It's no coincide you're the first on my list, I admire you more than anyone. I intended to leave this on your wall after my goodbye post but life happened and then I forgot about the entire thing. Glad to correct my mistake!

@Wolfi- The BEST mod ever!! From cheering me on every little mission and rushing when I needed help, you're been the most supportive. To the person who tagged Ravena when I didn't know the codes, I just wanted to say that I did indeed notice that.
You even announced my FM- such a happy coincidence! I wanted to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude, that I often times fail to say out loud. I'm glad to have you looking out for me <3

@CATSRULETHEWORLD387- You definitely earned your spot here. Making my wall your own with how much you post on there XD. Somehow, I don't seem to mind. Your goofy presence makes YWS a home, you and hop my adopted family. In a world of things that pull me down, you bring me some comfort. So please, don't ever dim this light down. Stay annoying if that's what it takes, but never kill your inner kid. Also, your novel was the only one I finished on here. Thank you for gifting me those wonderful characters- I remember Dylan like a friend I met yesterday. You make me come out of my comfort zone, your compliments making my papery insecurities burn away. For every way you've been involved in my life, a huge thank you.

@thehoplessromantic- How could I forget you, cutie? A great singer, a budding poet- you're sure talented! Teasing you has been my favorite pastime. We argue like little siblings calling each other things XD. I appreciate your presence on YWS, truly.

@Tikaya- Despite making your entry way after my active phase, you made yourself known rather quick. That reviewing speed almost puts me to shame. I'm glad that YWS found you and all the reviews you left on my works are truly appreciated! <3

@majuli- The first comment on my debut poem here, how could I forget! It was so beautifully phrased, I'm in awe to this day. You write such beautiful poems yourself, it's so very impressive. I'm glad you reach out to me, hoping we get to contact each other often!

@Nethmi- my first official reviewer, you hold a special place in my heart. You reflected my poem soooo gracefully, I read that review multiple times that day just because it was this good. Thank you for making that experience special.

@Lullavieve- Your faith and gentle nature is incredibly soothing. Your poems feel so intimate and endearing. Thank you for making YWS better with your kind energy.

@Messenger- All the discussions with you are a breath of fresh air. I appreciate your caring presence on YWS.

@canopy- My now moldy sister . You've been an incredibly awesome mod. I remember your poetries from before, I adore your unique writing style. Also, glad to join the cuties club you made. Thank you for making YWS more alive.

@Roxanne- To the person who first welcomed me here, a thank you! You literally set the stepping stone for my literary journey.

@redhood- My med school buddy! Hope you're doing alright. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I also loved your amazing poetry. I appreciate your role in my writing journey <3

So sorry to all the people I failed to mention. It doesn't make your role in my journey any less! @theromanticchemist @avimoon @JazzicusMaximus @ToastK @thetaostedwriter @wildflowers @Alwaysea @alliyah @Avian @KaavyaK @riprxnin @Plume @teriyakisushi @Spearmint @noperfectformula @Hkumar @yoshikrab @inksthewriter @EllieMae

Tikaya does a Yearbook entry

Having joined only in November, it feels almost callous to make a yearbook entry.
So let's see what I have accomplished in this time.
My first shoutout goes to @Carlito We've never interacted but you are the reason I am here. The Ultimate YWS Word Crawl shows up in search engine results and this is how I found the site. I did the crawl all by myself without real understanding what this site is all about. And uhm through it I found the Green Room.
And the rest is history =D

I cannot emphasise enough how much I like that there exists a place like the Green Room here. I like how it's trying to make sure every single work gets at least 2 additional pairs of eyes on it :3

I didn't really expect to post something of my own because I was seeing that there's not a lot of reviews to go around here anymore. I did so anyways eventually and even got a response :) It was a weird experience to know that my own stuff is in the Green Room now! Continue reviewing everyone! There's much yet to do!

Halfway through November I caught the flu, as it usually happens in autumn so I gave up on my nano goal. Very sad. But I got lots of reviews done instead! I think, one day I helped push the daily review count to the same number as has been achieved during the previous Review Day =D

@Ravena I am so happy you created Turtle Pope's Fortnight Review Sprint because it was my first real taste of a community event. I enjoyed the challenge (as I also enjoyed the 12 Days of Reviewing 2025) and you will always hold a special place in my memory. Also the ridiculous amount of points I got through that. What am I supposed to do with all this lol

I'm also quite enjoying the existence of WPF or whatever they are all called. I feel exceptionally old whenever I don't know something xd But it's been fun!

I read a few exceptionally good stories or works I feel deserve more attention. This is why I created Monthly Highlights which should go a bit beyond just the literay spotlight =D
I'm very frugal with likes on works, I guess =D

So basically, I came here to talk about writing first and foremost and that's what I'm going to continue to do :3

Have a great year!

Alright, let's also do some shoutouts!

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@Wolfi Thank you so much for being such a sunny presence and always helping me out! I think I wouldn't have posted here without your encouragement :3 I like your gif-avatars and your enthusiasm for roleplays, even if I cannot relate to that :)

@yoshikrab I still can't believe Nylon has been in the Green Room for that long. I like your writing style and I hope you can rekindle your love for the site and bring back more interesting stories :3 Thanks also for being my very first reviewer, exciting times! I'm also happy you participated in Ravena's event and for a bit in trivia night!

@Spearmint Oh recommender of the most wonderful story (why yes, I am still happy abt Loosely Lawful), that alone would have brought you my eternal gratitude =D But you're also fun to talk to AND you wrote so many helpful reviews for me! Thank you!! Hope you get to work on your own stories some more because I do want to read more :3

@AlexWrites I find it quite reassuring to read abt your journey on YWS. Something I can model my own future after xd Thanks for also being here :3 I appreciate your reviews too!

@Vonnegut On the off-chance you come back, I hope you get to read this. It was nice having another reviewer matching my pace for the time you've been here. Much appreciated! :3 I still hope to get to read something of yours eventually!

@Ventomology You gotta post more stuffff I need to read more and not things that are from 2013 haha Good luck with your stories :3

@thetaostedwriter Ach Tao, I'm just happy you're on the site and we got to talk :) Keep up the good good work! Thanks to you I found my way into these mysterious WPFs that are floating around!

@RatHat Another one who needs to keep up the good work :3 I hope you continue your story soon! Love the writing style!

@SanaPathan thanks for posting your lovely story here! I'm still curious what's behind that door and what's up with Max! Please continue as soon as you can :)

@NovemberCrow Not only a great nickname but also a great story. Hope you find it in you to do more translations :)

@Greyhound26 Well. We did talk for a bit. I hope you can defeat whatever is happening IRL and come back a true writer :)

@Snoink I find your number of reviews so inspriring! Especially since you're one of the people with over 1k reviews who are still actively writing them! It does keep me going too :3

@Kaia Please keep up the positive vibes in your wall posts :) I wish you the best of luck in writing that story in 26!!

@CrimsonTears Crim, I like your drawings :) Always pleasant to see them on the people's tab! Good luck on the job hunt and all the best for 26!

@TheRebel2007 This wouldn't be a complete shoutout list if I wouldn't mention the author of a chapter that took me almost 4 hrs to complete =D

@creeperfeverdreams Same goes to you, I think more than a third of my reviews went to your stories :)

@MothNBone I'm still happy that you took the assigment seriously and recommended me stories to read in the Monthly Hightlights :3 Thank you!

@LadyMysterio Here we go! Late entry to the list but important nonetheless. I like that we got to write together and that you're so fun to talk to :)

@RatHat This list also wouldn't be complete without you. The story might not be my genre in the slightest but it's still so beautifully written. You can find the energy to post the other chapters, I'm sure!

...and I realise that I'm still slipping into review-speak even in shoutouts @.@

Spot(if I can still claim?)