Young Writers Society

1. GREAT TORTOISE RACE UPDATE
2. CLEAR THE GREEN ROOM CHALLENGE: JUNE UPDATE
3. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: VAMPRICONE6783
4. BASE64
5. LADYSPARK'S BOOK & RECIPE PAIRINGS
6. NEW ARRIVALS
7. SHAMELESS PLUGS
8. SUBSCRIBERS

GREAT TORTOISE RACE UPDATEwritten by alliyah < PM: >



Hi there reviewers and readers! In our last issue of Squills , I did a set of interviews with previous Team Tortoise victors to hear their perspectives on completing Team Tortoise This week we're going to take a look at how the Great Tortoise Race is going - highlight some of the racers and look ahead towards end of race predictions.

So by all accounts, this year's Great Tortoise Race started stronger than last, in 2022 we only had 13 users charge out on day one of the race - but by the end had 7 who were able to complete the race. In comparison this year, on day one we started with 22 reviewers jumping onto the race course to give it a shot, and even as of day 19 we have 9 reviewers still in. If you look at all previous years... in 2017 we had 5 winners, in 2020 we had 8, in 2021 we had 8, and in 2022 we had 7. So ending with 10 would be record-breaking by my account.

I anticipate we will still maybe lose a racer or two by the end of the month, especially if anyone is planning to travel for the beginning of July holiday weekend, they may need to sacrifice their tortoise plans at the end of June. As of today, these are the racers we still have in Team Tortoise: @IcyFlame @alpacaboss @KaiaJersaga @MerleBlackbird @alliyah @DreamyAlice @Spearmint @vampricone6783 @OrabellaAvenuee.

Of the racers listed above, IcyFlame, Spearmint, and vampricone6783 are all Great Tortoise Race veterans, having completed the event at least once before, but several of the users are not just new to the Great Tortoise Race, but actually new to YWS - Merle, Orabella, and Alpaca all just joined us last month, and Kaia joined in April. It's great to see this sort of mix in our YWS events of old and new YWSers alike joining in the fun, and I'm super impressed with our three new users who have jumped right into the race running. A shoutout to @Rose and @Rinisha, who are also newer YWSers, who were able to hit the halfway mark of Team Tortoise and have been active in the Summer Green Room Clear event.

Good luck to all of our Team Tortoise racers as we near the end of the month - my fingers are crossed for each of you, and I hope we do end up with a record-breaking year!

CLEAR THE GREEN ROOM CHALLENGE: JUNE UPDATEwritten by alliyah < PM: >



We are officially halfway through June and a good way into our Summer Challenge of Clearing the Green Room to find the Golden Goose!

Here are some of the highlights so far and ways you can still get involved.

In case you missed it, this Summer (from June through July) YWS is challenging users to Clear the Green Room, so we can find the Golden Goose . Why is there a Golden Goose in our Green Room you ask? Well there isn't yet! You see, according to a Knigths of the Green Room legend, the Golden Goose only appears when a Green Room has been cleared. In fact they have a whole badge dedicated to whoever is the first to spot an empty Green Room and claim the Golden Goose - a feat which only 13 users have ever done. In fact, if my records are right, the last time we as a site were able to clear the Green Room to find the Golden Goose was back in January 2021... so we are well overdue for another clearing of the Green Room I'd say!

To participate all you have to do is write some Green Room reviews this Summer, we also have a series of different special challenges you can get involved with too!

If you write and log 5 Green Room Reviews you complete the Following Feathers Challenge. Users who've completed this one already are @alpacaboss, @KateHardy, @Rinisha, @IcyFlame, @KaiaJersaga, @alliyah, @DreamyAlice, @Spearmint , and @Rose.

If you write and log 10 Green Room Reviews you complete the Knights of the Green Room Main Challenge . So far Knights Spearmint, alliyah, and alpacaboss, and Squires Rinisha and Rose have completed this challenge.

The Review a Week Challenge is self-explanatory.

And then there's also a chance to compete as a Team / Search Party throughout the Summer! You can join the Teams until the end of June (right here ) when the Team Rosters will be closed. So far, between Team Maple and Team Lily, Team Maple has been in the lead with 97 reviews compared to Team Lily's 60 reviews, for a combined total of 157 Green Room reviews which is pretty impressive! There's so much time left in June and July, this contest is still anyone's game - but there are some pretty awesome prizes for all the winners.

You might take a look at the Green Room and feel a little discouraged at how many works are there and a little unsure if we're able to complete this mission. I've done my own number crunching and here's my take - we will probably need around 530 more Green Room reviews written between now and the end of July in order to clear out the current works and clear out any works written in the rest of June and July. Considering that we have written as a site 434 reviews in June already (not all Green Room Reviews) I think it is possible for us to get that goal, but we'd have to keep up or exceed our current review rate and it'll probably take a really serious push. I'm hopeful, but it'll be a lot of reviewing left to do. If you can contribute a few Green Room reviews this summer it'd be very very appreciated.

Keep posting your works too, just remember when you post a work a good rule of thumb is to also write at least two reviews yourself that week to keep the balance of reviews even and the site moving forward. If you want to get in on some non-reviewing Searching for the Goose fun, we also have a Search for the Golden Goose Tagbook going on righht now. And so far the story line is hillarious. The main premise is all the YWSers are looking for the Golden Goose, which a prize has been issued for finding - along the way @PoetryGoos has been mistaken by @GengarIsBestBoy and some other users as the Golden Goose which @DreamyAlice and @momonster are trying to sort out while @KaiaJersaga has compassion on some of the locked up monsters / dragons that they see. With the help of @Shady's wise science knowledge my group identifies @tatteredbones' recipe for Boiled Cheetohs as possible bate for goose and leave to reunite with the other search party when they run into @LuminescentAnt in the lands of Randomosity. It's so much fun and chaos, please do join us!

Other fun Review Event Related threads this month:
The Great Tortoise Literary Contest
What to name the goose?

What do you think? Can we reach our goal of Clearing the Green by the end of the Summer? Do you have strategy ideas to make it happen? Have you also heard the Goose honking?

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: VAMPRICONE6783written by Liminality < PM: >

You’re probably familiar with this FM from her prolific writing. Many of her short stories form an interconnected universe with lots of characters. She is also a frequent Team Tortoise winner.

In October 2022, @vampricone6783 became the Featured Member. A fittingly spooky month for the occasion too, as her stories often involve characters such as vampires and ghostly clowns. Squills had the chance to interview her about her selection as FM and about her writing projects.



vampricone6783: Sure, I’d love to!



V: I was pleasantly surprised, that’s for sure. I didn’t think that I would be a FM. I’m honored that I got to be a FM on one of my favorite months, October.



V: I think I’ve earned FM for always writing different and entertaining stories and just by being myself. I think that the people on here like my vibes and that’s really cool.



V: Right now I’m working on a few fanfics, a series on a town of Halloween monsters, and a story on a ghost clown who falls in love with a human girl. I’m also writing short stories that add on to the previous stories I posted here. I’m working on a lot of different stories that I didn’t list here, but one thing is for sure: They all involve adventure and the supernatural.



V: My favorite thing about being on YWS? Geez, that’s hard. There are so many good things about this site. But since I have to choose, my favorite thing about being on YWS is writing stories. Seeing people be intrigued and entertained by them fuels my passion for writing.



V: My advice would be to never give up on your story! There’s room for editing, yes, but don’t throw an idea out in the garbage. It came from your mind. It’s your own story. Share it! Show people a peek into your own imagination. There’s a story for everybody.



V: You’re welcome.

If you have yet to congratulate vampricone on FM, feel free to do so on her FM thread or on her wall!

BASE64written by Spearmint < PM: >

SGVsbG8gdGhlcmUhIEhvdyBhcmUgeW91PyA6KQ==

No, the line above is not a keyboard smash. =P It's a short message encrypted in base64!

Base64 is a method of encoding binary data as text. It's used to transfer data, such as image files, over channels that can only safely transfer text!
In the case of encoding messages, base64 works by first translating the message into binary values. A binary value could look something like this:

01001000

As you may have noticed, it only has the digits 0 and 1. This is because the value is in base 2! The number system we use is base 10, so each place value increases by a multiple of ten. For example, there's the ones place, then the tens place, then the hundreds place. In base 2, each place value increases by a multiple of two. So there's the ones place, the twos place, the fours place, and so on.
Let's take a look at place values in the number above.

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
.0....1...0...0..1.0.0.0

Since there's a one in the 64th and eighth places, that number in base 2 would be equal to 64 + 8 = 72 in base 10.
This article has more information on base 2, bits, and bytes.

There's one more thing you need to know! And that's the ASCII table.



ASCII stands for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, and the ASCII table essentially assigns numbers to letters, symbols, etc. So, 72 in base 10 or 1001000 in base 2 would represent a capital letter 'H.'

Now, we've learned that base64 can translate a message to binary values. This is done by translating each character (each digit, letter, symbol, etc.) into its corresponding binary number, as seen in the ASCII table. Each binary number will be 8 bits (digits) long.
Then, base64 smushes the numbers together and breaks them up into groups of 6 bits. Finally, base64 uses its own table to translate those binary values back into characters.



This may seem a little complex, but there's no need to worry about how it's implemented. You can just use an online tool to convert messages to and from base64!
CyberChef is one of my favorites. Drag the base64 recipe (either to base64 or from base64) from the list on the left, type in your input, and bam! There's the output.
Here is the recipe and input I used to create the text at the beginning of this article. :]

There are some variations as well, such as base32 or base85! But one surefire way to detect the use of any of these is whether there are equal signs (=) at the end of the encoded message. Equal signs are used for padding, and they're pretty unique to these base encoding schemes.
This was a fairly short introduction to base64. Feel free to read this article or explore more online!

That's all for now. SGF2ZSBmdW4gZW5jb2RpbmcgYW5kIGRlY29kaW5nISA6RA==

LADYSPARK'S BOOK & RECIPE PAIRINGSwritten by LadySpark < PM: >

Welcome! I am so excited you’re here to cook with me today. I know many of you are younger and may not have access to a kitchen or the ability to make a grocery list — but I also know there are also some of you whom are emerging adults on the cusp of facing meal planning and preparation on your own for the first time. Cooking has become a deep passion of mine, and I love sharing it with the YWS Community.

Through LadySpark's Cookbook , I am trying to create a community of people who want to nourish their body with yummy foods. Over the coming months, I plan to introduce different content with the hope that I’m providing resources as well as a down to earth view of what cooking and grocery shopping looks like for young adults in 2023 (tough!).

I want to do something a little different with my Squills contributions, however. I thought it would be fun to take recipes I’ve created and loved and pair them with books that I’ve enjoyed. The pairings are going to be pretty vibe-based. I can’t promise there will be much consistency on what I pair with what! But it will hopefully be a fun little anecdotal inspiration for your own kitchen and book shelf.



Part I | Book Selection: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Part I | Recipe Selection: Mac - N - Cheese

I’m starting y’all off easy with a side dish recipe. My Mac is pretty popular, so you’re lucky I’m letting you in on the recipe. But first, let’s talk book.

This quickly found it’s way onto my top 3 of 2023 reads so far list. The characters are fresh, unique, and engaging. The story is timeless enough to feel nostalgic, but original enough that you feel yourself anticipating the next plot point in the story line. Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and this book does it flawlessly. I also love grumpy characters that turn lovable— and boy, oh boy, does this book have that! This is such a feel good book with the coziest of vibes. Refreshingly, the plot still moves forward and has excellent rising and falling action that truly comes full circle. This novel feels complete in the very best way.

But Sizzle, why did you chose Mac as the pairing for TVSSIW?

Well, my darling sous chef(s), mac - n - cheese is a cozy, feel good food. First off, the kiddos in TVSSIW would love my mac, but I could see myself serving it at family dinner to this group of lovable characters and watching them scrape the dish clean. Plus, I just wanted to share my favorite recipe with y’all, heehee.

Peyton’s Famous Mac - N - Cheese

Okay y'all, this is my best recipe. Hands down, when I make this, people absolutely rave and can't get enough. It's a casserole style mac n cheese, so get out your pyrex! If you don't have a casserole dish of some kind, you can get the disposable pans at the grocery store that work just as well! And then there's no clean up! Some of them even have lids for storage in the fridge later.

Here’s some things you’ll need…

• Pyrex Casserole Dish/Disposable Pan Dish
  Varying Sizes, but recipe makes a lot!
  
  
• 1 Package of Your Favorite Pasta
  Sometimes I even do tortellini, but it can get heavy on your tummy!
  
  
• A little bit of olive oil
  
  
• 6 tbsp of unsalted butter
  
  
• 1/3 cup of all purpose flour
  
  
• 3 cups of whole milk
  
  
• 1 1/3 cups of heavy whipping cream
  
  
• 4 cups of sharp cheddar cheese
  Shredded!
  
  
• 2 cups of gruyere cheese
  Shredded!
  
  
• Panko Bread Crumbs
  
  
• 4 tbsp of salted butter
  Melted!
  
  
• 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
  Shredded!
  
  
• smoked paprika
  
  
• the usual suspects (salt & pepper)
  
  
• 3 Cloves of Garlic
  Roast these (either in the oven or airfryer, here's how ) and then smash
  
  
• 1 Container of Refrigerated Queso
  You can also get the solid blocks too!

Here’s how to make it…

• Preheat to 350 degrees F, grease your baking dish/pan
  
  
• Cook Pasta almost all the way, drain and put in large bowl, toss in that lil bit of olive oil, salt & pepper. Set aside.
  
  
• Melt unsalted butter in a deep sauce pan. Whisk in the flour over medium heat until bubbly & golden.
  
  
• Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream, roasted garlic, the usual suspects, and paprika.
  Season with your heart!
  
  
• Add in the queso and cook until blended, then add of the four cheeses, blended, gradually. Continue cooking until creamy and smooth, it should be nice and thick.
  
  
• Stir pasta until combined.
  
  
• Pour half the mac in your baking dish. Top with rest of the blended cheese, then layer on the other half.
  
  
• Combine panko bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, melted butter, and paprika in a bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the mac.
  
  
• Bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. Read a chapter or two of TVSSIW

Enjoy, friends! Let me know if you read the book or try this recipe, and definitely give LadySpark’s Cookbook a follow!

Happy Cooking,

LadySpark

NEW ARRIVALSwritten by Shady < PM: >

Take a moment to welcome this week’s newest members to the site!

You may have seen @tropicalmango around the site with all the lovely reviews they've already done since joining just two short weeks ago. Why not return the favor? You can check out the prologue to their fantasy/sci-fi story Mayday or their poem Wishes to fly !

@AuroraPayn is another new member who has jumped right into the heart of YWS by providing lots of wonderful feedback on others' lit works! In addition to that, she's posted in Writing Tips asking: Need help with a fight scene -- why not go give her some pointers? If writing fighting scenes isn't your style, then you could always go leave a review on the first chapter of her fantasy/action/adventure series The Frost and the Sparrow instead!

@ahopelessbookaholic hasn't posted any lit works yet, but they've already been busy with leaving thoughtful poetry reviews for other! Further, they seem very sweet from the interactions on their wall -- go drop them a line and make a new friend!

@SerenityBliss posted a lovely romantic poem entitled Flight for Two that would be a shame to miss! Go give it a read and let them know what you think of it!

@StaceFrxst has posted the first several chapters of their Teen Romance short story here Dancing in Uncertainty: A Story of Self-Discovery and Romance -- if you like queer coming of age romances, you should definitely give it a read!

@haregan is a new member who found the Roleplay Forum quickly and is making good use of it! Go give them a hearty welcome to the site!

@NoElixar is a friendly new member who has already posted the first two chapters of their novel, The Last Ones, which you can find here: Chapter One / Chapter Two . In addition, they've also posted a thread in the Welcome Mat where you can go introduce yourself and get to know them!

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

We love to run articles and questions, but we also love to advertise for you. Let people know about your new blog, a poem or story you’re looking for reviews on, or a forum thread you’d like more traffic on through Squills’ Shameless Plugs. PM @SquillsBot with the exact formatting of your advertisement, contained in the following code.

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Place advertisement here. Make sure you include a title!

In honor of the Great Tortoise Race, I would love to read some more Tortoise Related poems &/or short stories. Help out the cause and bring some attention to a wonderful animal!

Prize: 500 points & a feature in Squills!

Deadline: June 30

Host: @alliyah

More Details and Submission Thread: right here



There's never been a better time to join the Knights of the Green Room - Check out the Knights of the Green Room Information to find out how to join - you need to log just 10 GR reviews after declaring yourself a Squire in the Great Hall in order to become a Knight, then you begin a journey of knighthood defending the Green Room from the foes of the Literary Center while earning yourself badges and participating in challenges. And it's all "go at your own pace". Huzzah!

Reach out to Knight @alliyah, Knight @looseleaf, or Knight @KateHardy for any questions.




That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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Do you, too, want to be enspoiler-ed and receive a personal biweekly notification when the Squills newsletter is posted? Shoot a PM over to SquillsBot to let them know, and you'll be pinged along with the next issue!