Young Writers Society

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory. ~ Dr. Seuss

You may post anything you like: shout-outs to specific people, stories or poems you really liked, what you read this year, pictures, favourite quotes, etc. However, you may make only one post! Although you can edit that one post as much as you like.

It's yearbook time of year again! Grab your spots, sit back, and enjoy the memories <3 Everyone's invited to make a post, even if you just joined the site this year - you'll look back at it next year and smile. And if you'd like to treat yourself to some nostalgia, all the old yearbooks are at your disposal below.

Oh my goodness have I succeeded in finally claiming the first spot in the YWS Yearbook for once??

YWS HIGHLIGHTS

COOP & Chickens
Two of my biggest highlights from YWS this year are both chicken related.

@Rook and I hatched this amazing idea to make a poetry and art zine totally dedicated to featuring chicken-works. With a lot of hard work, and wonderful submissions, in April the first edition of COOP: chickens of our poetry was released with all YWSer poems and art pieces. And then in October our second zine edition hatched, this one featuring works from people from all over the internet. I'm really proud of all the work that went into these and I honestly think they are pretty cool to have helped bring into the world.

Another chicken highlight this year of course, was my chicken fan club and also during Christmas in July when I gave out over 60 unique chicken doodles to users. I sent out some bird doodles throughout the year other than these, but these ones were especially fun to do.



NaPo

This year for NaPo my thread was, years lost to locusts, and my themes were bugs, ancestry, covid, nostalgia, religion, and somehow I think it all came together. It was tough to write, and I didn't manage 1 poem a day this year, but did finish with 30 and am really proud of the poems when I look back on them now. A few of my favorite poems were "Carved Tallies" and "Sea Full" which I ended up turning into songs a few months later, and I also really loved my final poem everything i carry home which encapsulated a lot of my ~feelings~ from the year. A last poem that's really special for me from that collection is "letters to our mothers" which is a bit experimental and I just love the results. It was a blast to be able to read what everyone was writing this year and to help organize NaPo along with the wonderful and talented people who were on poetry crew at the time @Seirre, @Liminality, @Meshugenah, & @starlitmind. <3

NaPo was so fun this year that people asked for another week of it! Here's the link to my NaPo Week thread called "to be unafraid {of river drowning}"



YWS Olympics
The YWS Olympics were back this year and they were just a real pleasure to participate in. I forgot how much I enjoy the variety of writing events! And I also was able to be a captain of Team Chickens. I was extremely proud to have won the gold this year. :3 And was really pleased with some of my writing which I'll link below! My favorite part about the Olympics was probably having the chance to run the YWS Scavenger Hunt.



Banner Contest Entry -> here (silver medal)
Finish the Story -> here (adorable parable about some ants)
Somonka Entry -> "homecoming | songs for rain" (bronze medal)
Serious Limericks -> here
Roleplay Challenge -> "siblings on the run" (gold medal)
Spoken Word Poetry -> "i like to see the flowers" (silver medal)
Six Word Story Entry -> here

RevMo | Reviewing
I found it really hard to review this year! But I did manage to do 17 reviews during RevMo and enjoyed helping run the Checklist Challenge.


Social Week + Birthday Week

Social Week and Birthday Week were so much fun! In Social Week I got so much cute poetry + chicken spam and even got to collab on a poem with my sister -> here. And YWS Birthday Week was also just generally a great event this year, and I was happy to have a chance to help organize some aspects of that as well as make some really nifty puzzles leading up to the week.

Art
Honestly a big positive part of my YWS experience this year was just casually sharing art - sometimes in the form of silly edits, sometimes bird doodles, sometimes chicken goblins etc. Art (outside of its use for poetic pursuits) is something I really enjoy, but don't necessarily aspire to improve in, it's really just for fun. But nonetheless I do think my different art skills have improved, and I've continued to do different experimental things with poetry+ art this year including submitting poetry/art hybrids to some poetry contests, and experimenting with poetry gifs and form too. I write a lot of what I'd call nonsense poetry, but sometimes this is just testing the waters for experimental pieces later too - and helps keep your mind open to creative possibilities.

Here's my My inktober thread from this year. I also really cherish all the art that people gave to me this year!



Poetry

One big highlight in my poetry this year was being able to write a collaborative interfaith poetry collection with @Arcticus in February, I'm really really happy how this turned out, and it was a total privilege to work with Arc on this. Hopefully we're able to do some more collaborating in 2022. You can read "Artistry of the Divine" right here.

IMPORTANT LINKS

* I really enjoyed running this Workshop about structured poetry with @Liminality and enjoyed participating in the Poetry Publication workshop that @BluesClues hosted link

* Squills - I didn't write as much for Squills this year! But still have some favorite articles that I contributed.
YWS Mysteries: Evil Potato This Month in History: July, Unclassified Report October

* Modversary Post -> January 30, 2021 I've been a moderator on YWS for Four Years! And made a cute little bird doodle to go with my sentimental post about it.


* On March 16 @TheEgg finally reached 100 likes proof

* Cake Day Post May 11, 2021

* Didn't participate, but did enjoy helping to organize the Great Team Tortoise Race this year.

* The RP Month Tagbook "Find Nate the Dragon" complete with Alliyah the Chicken Goblin doodle. link

WRITING UPDATES

I want to complete a chapbook draft that I am proud of. And I want to get said-chapbook draft published.

After almost 10 years on YWS, I think that this site has made me into some sort of poet. Only a few years ago, I had no desire at all to publish poetry, and only a mild desire to write poetry at all. However now that's something that really intrigues and interests me. Towards the end of 2020? I had a chapbook draft get very close to getting published (in the top 10 of a chapbook contest) and now I've caught the bug, there's also something very exciting and cumulative to see your poems arranged all together it's like composing a much larger poem, with a much larger narrative with all of your other poems as building pieces.

So thus, this year, my mind has really been geared more to chapbook drafting than individual poem writing - and that means I've spent more time editing and sorting than writing at some points. I also really had some writing burn-out combined with being much too busy at work for several months in the 2nd half of the year. That being said, I did write a lot overall. I believe I've gotten two poems accepted for publication this year I believe (one is still forthcoming and one is in print). Also this year, like last, I really got into turning my poems into songs (I think I actually wrote like a dozen songs this year but I didn't get around to posting very many of them) and shared a few readings of my poems too.

RECORDINGS

song - Sea Sick Text Link
reading - packing list Text link
reading - Space to Think Text Link
song - Carved Tallies ~ might add link later ~ Text link
song - When do the stars let go? ~ might add link later ~ somewhat based on this poem
song - it is unfortunate / hurricane 2 ~ might add link later ~ Text link

Topics important to my poetry this year? time passing, self-growth, water in every form, memory, family, moving, housefires, seasons, bugs + birds + chickens, stars, nostalgia, home-sickness, place, faith, death, rest-longing, fear, hindsight. I finished NaPo and NaPo Week and I have some progress on those chapbook drafts. Here's a quick summary of each of the poetry projects I'm currently working on:

WORKS IN PROGRESS

RIVERS
this was my first attempt at a chapbook / poetry collection, and is mostly about being leaving + returning home; it's now taking some new forms, and I'm making a new-edit that's going to be in a different direction than the first or second drafts with less relationship elements, and more stream-lined form. Right now I'm occasionally writing some poems that I could see going into this, but mostly I'm letting this project sit for the time being.

HERITAGE
family tree inspired poems -- have been organizing since Fall 2020? and it has no end in sight. Memoir & Photo Project components. More of a personal project than something I think is publishable at this point. Gave my update about the progress on this back in May -> link

LITURGY
prayerful poems that go with the liturgical calendar. I've got the major holidays down, but I want to broaden to lesser-festivals too. I actually think if I could ever dedicate some time to really seriously working on this, it would be publishable since a lot of people do read devotional style poetry.

YEAR
my project I'm currently putting the most effort into - gathering up all my "monthly musings" and filling in the gaps, it'll be arranged possibly in a two year cycle when complete.

LETTERS
i can't tell you much about this, but i'm doing a secret poetry project with my sister @tgirly and that is all.

~ LIFE REFLECTIONS ~

Lots of big things happened in my life in 2021, it was certainly a big year for me. Most of life revolved around the conclusion of my internship, securing and starting my job, and also moving across the country again. I'm really proud of what I'm doing now with work and am pretty content to live a little closer to family now too. I'm still working out what balance looks like with work; but I'm optimistic. This year certainly had some very low points that I would never want to repeat, but I would say overall this year was a really positive one. Here are just some miscelaneous updates I made about my life on YWS this year:

Had a big interview in March -> my life update about that

Walked at my graduation -> my life update about that

July 2 I finally returned home after not being home for 554 days -> life update about that

YWS SHOUTOUTS

These are brief and incomplete, but be assured there's lots of love! <3

@Liminality - thanks for being such a great friend and supporter; you are super wise and I love hearing your poetry insights and chatting.

@Seirre - it's such a privilege getting to co-lead PCrew with you! Your poetic voice is beautiful, and you're a really neat person!

@AvantCoffee - thanks for all the many many life-chats <3 I am wishing you all the best always; and am so grateful for all we've gotten to discuss!

@shatteredstones - so glad you made it back to YWS, the site is never the same without you. you have so much compassion and kindness; thanks for being you!

@starlitmind - what a shining star you are! Never stop shining bright! Thank you for bringing so much encouragement from the site and adding your voice <3 ALSO will always treasure the Nuvole Bianche piano recording you made for me! You are so sweet.

@Arcticus - definitely a treat and inspiration to read your poetry and insights into life. Thank you for being such a wise voice on YWS!

@Shady - We've been mods together for quite a bit now, and I am so thankful you are on the mod team with me. I very much appreciate your hard work, insights, and care for the site. Also your fish doodles are wonderous!

@Euphoria8 - miss you!

@mothbroth - enjoy all of our write-in talks and your poetry is a treat to read! thanks for being you!

@BluesClues - I'm seriously inspired by you; and also very proud of you! <3 Keep being amazing! YWS would not be the same without you.

@Rook - it's been such a blast working on COOP with you! You're so easy to work with and have great insights on all things poetry.

@Plume - I'm in love with that iguana poem still. You are a super talented poet; and YWS is lucky to have you!

@looseleaf - I so appreciate your enthusiasm for all things YWS! <3

@HarryHardy & @MailicedeNamedy - I've enjoyed working on RB stuff with you two!! You are both such powerhouses on the site and do a lot of things for YWS, glad you're a part of the site!
...

for now I will just say, it's been quite a year YWS, thanks for being a great community to be a part of!

It has been... another year! And so much that happened.

Right now, my job is to put it all in a post. I wait until the very last day of the year to write yearbook posts, so that I don't miss anything. Although there's plenty I'm forgetting right now that won't make it in as a result, this year has been more than memorable.



In January, I won first place in the January Reviewing Challenge. I've written like... six reviews since. One could say I got all my reviewing done for the year pretty fast.
I got involved in a lot of roleplays! Some new ones include The Chiaroscuro Technique with @Carina and Wandering Slumber with @Magebird, both sequels of a previous RP.
I participated in my very first NaPo, writing a poem every day for a grand total of thirty poems (thirty-one if you can find the hidden poem! hint: white text) under the title the unspoken words. It was very helpful for improving my poetry, and I'm already excited for the next one!
I got ~moldy~ on June 13th as part of the Roleplay Crew and I am thrilled!
July was an exciting time thanks to Roleplay Month. I ran a workshop on the different kinds of roleplays and wrote a lot. I'm looking forward to it next year!
I started a storybook with the wonderful @Stringbean and @AceassinOfTheMoon. We Live in the Ashes is a project that we're very excited to plan and we just want it to write itself.
NaPo Week in October was very fun. I had the theme i am not done talking to ghosts for some slight autumn/Halloween vibes and it's great to see what I can write whenever I'm trying to do something every day.
And of course, some poetry year-round.


I got a full score on my AP French test in June, and I have a different AP class this year that I'm enjoying so far.
I've started to read my poetry to other people! It's a fun thing to try.
I got out of an unhealthy relationship that was harming me, and I'll always be glad I did that. It hasn't been easy recovering from what happened during it, but no matter what, I know I'm better off and that I made the right choice.
As of this summer, I've been to 27 countries! (It was previously 26 and I added Monaco to the list.)
I've gotten a lot closer to some real friends who I'll always be grateful for, and I'm happy I got to use this year to do that.


Everyone on the Roleplay Crew! @Carina, @Omni, @winterwolf0100, @HarryHardy (and also @GrandWild and @Magebird, we miss you)
@starlitmind for being an amazing poet buddy for NaPo and year-round c:
And of course, @Stringbean and @AceassinOfTheMoon for being my amazing writer friends <3



I have some plans and things to look forward to for next year. Here’s hoping I can achieve them!

A new username? :eyes:
Poetry chapbook coming soon!
More roleplay madness that’s in the making, on the horizon, but I told you nothing
Possibly even novel/prose stuff? We’ll see!

And last but not least, I look forward to seeing you next year. Thanks for reading!

Claiming the third post Yay!

Lim's Yearbook Post

Past years

Poetry

The revamped Poetry Readers activities have been super interesting to run alongside @Seirre!
Hosted my first workshop in January, the 'Kiss Shakespeare Goodbye' workshop
Really enjoyed @starlitmind and @Seirre's music workshop
Highlight for NaPo this year was the back-and-forth feedbacking with my two NaPo buddies, @kattee and @atlast
The May Haiku Collection was a project I started in response to the need for some new haiku month activities, and it turned out fantabulously, if I do say so myself
My on-and-off Fireside Friday hashtag and poetry shoutout hashtags! I completely forgot about these towards the end of the year, and it's definitely a resolution for me to do them more consistently next year
Exquisite Corpse Poetry was one of my favourite poetry events from NaPoWeek, and this year in general
One of my favourite wall poems this year has to do with chickens.
My favourite poem that I've published as a literary work is beyond, the storms are fizzy dust It's the only one that I still go 'wow, I wrote that?' at.
My favourite NaPoWeek poem is Envisioning Pumpkin Pie, partly because my Mum loves it and partly because it was written over the course of a long morning PJam in a WFP, accompanied by coffee and a nice breeze. c:
I can't really pick a favourite from my April NaPo thread. The whole thread functions as a cohesive piece and is representative of one part of me from this year.
At the very end of the year I also finished my Supporting Characters chapbook, where I learnt more editing things and found unexpected cleaning imagery and orange hues in my poems.

Prose

I set new records for myself in RevMo (can't remember how many reviews, but maybe at least over 35?) and NaNo (slightly over 50,000 words!).
Out of everyone's NaNo threads, I was following @HarryHardy's and @MailicedeNamedy's the closest, and it was super inspiring to watch them tear through their wordcounts throughout the month.
My favourite bits of prose I've written this year include my horror story Indiscriminate Preferences, and the first scene of my Mutant Families draft. I probably like the second one because I hadn't expected my first draft to have moments that just seemed 'right' the way that one did.

Correspondence

The YWS Ice Cream hashtag was really fun! I loved seeing what ice creams people attributed to YWSers and the common themes. (I think for me, a lot of people went with some kind of fruit or berry swirl? And of course @starlitmind got lots of colourful, rainbow or unicorn-themed ice cream. :3)
Social Week was a hectic, chaotic and fun time. One thing I remember is getting to know everyone's music preferences because that was a question I kept asking for the #interviewmes.
Another highlight was all the nicknames people have given me: @alliyah - Liminoodle, @tweezers - Ytilanimil, @Arcticus - Limon, @Carina - Limloom, @BluesClues - Lim the Slim Shadier, @MaybeAndrew - Limb, @Liberty - Lamb, etc.)
I super appreciate everyone who helped me get through my research project by acting as a sounding board for any weird and wacky ideas I had through PMs!

\( o w o )/

I became a GM this year!
I used Canva for so many things @_@
I cycled through a bunch of profile and avvie themes, including cyberpunk, water and earthy hues. Here are some of my avvies in particular (I haven't completed the compilation, but this covers a LOT of ground already).
I really got into making Study Crawls (like word crawls but for studying) this year.

Shout-outs

Everyone on YWS was awesome this year. These are just some super short shoutouts to a few of the wonderful and chaotic minds I am very honoured to have encountered.

To @alliyah

You're an amazing friend! Talking to you about everything from poetry to geckos made from beads really made my year. You're an awesome poet, and your projects always inspire me. I admire how supportive and caring you are.

To @starlitmind

You're so sweet and wonderful! I adore your presence here that makes YWS a better place. Your quirky poetry topics like washing machines and potatoes are always super interesting and go in unexpected directions.

To @Seirre

You're both cool and chaotic, and I love that! Thanks for mentoring me through this GM thing, and thanks for chatting and letting me in on pad silliness. I've really enjoyed working with you on Poetry Readers.

To @Euphoria8

You're an awesome conversationalist with infectious enthusiasm. I still remember the collage you made me! I just love the feeling that someone gets my aesthetic, even when I sometimes don't get it myself xD

To @kattee

I'm still mind-blown by your super detailed reviews of poetry during NaPo this year, and by your beautiful dream-like poems that pack a punch. You're an amazing artist, poet and pal!

To @IcyFlame

My GM buddy! You're a super cool person and I enjoy chatting with you, hammering away at to-do lists with you in a pad and doing mouldy modliness around the site as a team.

To @Spearmint

You have awesome energy and I love chatting with you, whether it be on the pads or on each other's wall!

To @Plume

New PCrew bean! <3 I'm always impressed by your lovely poetry and creative ideas. I hope to get to know you better this coming year and maybe work on a collab poem!

To @Arcticus

Thank you for all the tipsiness and filosofy this year! Your poetry collections are super impressive and inspiring. It always makes my day to see Arc posting a picture of another treasured item in his collection or posting thoughts about life and things.

@AlyTheBookworm

I've really enjoyed chatting with you this year and would love to get to know you more! You've got some amazing stories to share and I always love checking your art thread.

@AvantCoffee

Thanks for teaching me so much about astrology! I think your poetry and your ideas are super neat, as well as your taste in music.

@Carlito

Keeping up with your novel progress is always an inspiration for me! I was super happy to word war with you in NaNo 2021. Your novel ideas are fresh and fun.

@rida

It's been great seeing your poetry grow over the year, and I look forward to seeing you at poetry activities on the site every time! c:

@HarryHardy

Thanks for being a solid companion throughout NaNo! I enjoyed seeing the meticulousness you put into crafting your novels and all of the chaotic typing and wordcounting that comes with it.

@MailicedeNamedy

A worldbuilding mastermind with a great sense of humour! I admire your detailed planning and your ability to depict dramatic scenes! Your reviews are #Goals and I've super enjoyed being 'novel mutuals' with you if that's the term for it.

@IamI

Another worldbuilding mastermind! I super appreciate every review you leave me, and I am in awe with how in-depth your reviews can get.

@InuYosha

You are a supremely fun person to talk to! Though I've yet to read your novels, I really enjoy your structured poetry.

@soundofmind

You're funny, cool and have great lyric/song skills! I love hanging out with you in pads.

Previous Years
2020

Seirre's 2021

YWS
This year on YWS was full of a lot of first for me! It was the first time I participated in the Writing Olympics, the first time I participated in (and completed) NaPo, the first time I joined a roleplay, and my first year as a Global Moderator.

Olympics
I hosted a Spoken Word Poetry Event in the Olympics this year and super enjoyed listening to peoples' entries. It was crazy how expressive everyone's recording was!

I also participated in several events, and came in 4th place overall~
* Event 1: Banner Contest (bronze medal)
* Event 3: Somonka (Tanka Pairs) (gold medal)
* Event 4: Serious Limericks
* Event 8: Six Word Stories


Roleplaying
I participated in a couple of RPs with some GM friends, neither of which we ended up finishing, sadly - but it was still a blast to try out, and was a fun way to dip my toes back into writing prose.
* Polar Oxymorons with @alliyah and @Carina
* And Kittens and Trouble with @ShadowVyper, which actually got up to 8 pages! The dynamic between Pratik and Lillian was so fun to write xD (And we had an audience of like five other people at one point?)

I also wrote myself into a couple of tagbooks this year: Finding Nate the Dragon organized by none other than the chaotic Carina herself and Walking in a YWS Wonderland organized by the fabulous @HarryHardy and @SilverNight. I made this flyer for Finding Nate the Dragon that I'm honestly quite proud of, and got a lovely badge as a result :3



Poetry
NaPo and NaPoWeek
* NaPo: these scattered lines might make a map -> I'm super proud of my NaPo thread this year! I completed NaPo (with 32 poems, which was more than I was expecting!) and I also wrote at least one poem every single day. I tried out a lot of forms, including an abecedarian, a sonnet, some haikus, a tanka, prose poems, list poems and a spoken word. One of my all-time favourites was 3. An empty message., which I wrote from the really neat poem prompt progression here.
* NaPoWeek: i followed the corn husks here -> I only wrote three poems for NaPoWeek, but it did help me get out of a bit of a poetry writing rut. I experimented quite a bit with tone and punctuation just within those three poems though, which was very fun!

Collabs
@starlitmind, @tweezers and I wrote a world-altering collab poem that shall hold a special place in my heart forever: genetically modified organisms. Genuinely, as silly as it was, writing that poem with you two is one of my favourite memories from the entire year :')

alliyah and I did a rewrite of a poem that we wrote all the way back in 2017 through an old Group Poetry club!
* The original: If I could
* The rewrite: somedays imaginings

And alliyah, star, tweezers, @Meshugenah and I all collaborated together during NaPo to write love letter to [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE], a sincerely heartfelt poem dedicated to our dear friend N0v*L sT4r.

Poetry Readers
It was really neat to revamp this with Lim this past year! We discussed a whopping 11 poems, including a lot of different structures and themes. I always find it so fascinating to see how other people interpret and experience poems differently from me, and I can't wait to discuss some more poems in the new year :3

Miscellaneous Poetry Stuff
* star and I hosted our "Music is Poetry with Personality" workshop in March. It was so. much. fun. And I loved to see how different people took inspiration from the same song/piece!
* star's Chair de lune was one of my favourite contests from the entire year, as well! I wrote a visual poem duo and I was quite happy with how it turned out.
* I started a poetry thread in May that dwindle out after a couple of months - but I wrote one alliteration poem for it in June that is just such a serotonin boost everytime I reread it :3



Miscellaneous YWS Stuff
* Social week -> this was so much fun! One of the memories that sticks with me best is the dare I got from @lillianna to only reply to posts with "what" for the next 24 hours; I'm pretty sure I failed that within like 10 minutes, trying to answer someone's question - but it was so silly and fun!

* April fools -> this was also hilarious. Carina's announcement post was the most ridiculous thing I've ever read (and I mean that in the best way possible). I got so many fabulous #freindshippoems, but one that I hold especially dear to my heart is the one @SpiritedWolfe wrote me. It's actually where the quote in my signature is from :')


* At one point I decided I wanted to add a "quote hall of fame" to my About Page, and I got so many incredibly lovely responses to my wall post announcement <3 here.

* @looseleaf's UnOfficial YWS Playlist was so neat to listen to!

* I became a GM along with @Liberty and Carina on February 23, 2021 <3 And I later became a crew leader of PCrew, as well! Words cannot express how incredibly thankful I am for everyone on the mod team.

* There were so many fabulous hashtag bandwagons this year, but one of my personal favourites was @Arcticus's #sendmeacolor hashtag.



In progress

Shout-outs <3[/spoiler

Roleplays

▶ Fateful Heart: At the end of 2020 and into 2021 @Carina and I obsessively wrote basically a million words in a several-part saga involving two of our characters hopping back and forth between each other's worlds and eventually falling in love. After diving in headfirst into our writing obsession together we've finally lost pace a bit but are still writing this ongoing story because we have simply embraced the chaos. It was one of the big highlights of roleplaying for my year!


▶ Part 1.1 | Part 1.2 | Part 2 | Part 3

▶ Aether's Heart: To date, probably the longest running and literal longest (by wordcount) storybook I've been in, but no regrets at all for jumping in to this masterpiece with such awesome writers. It's been a PLEASURE and I look forward to completing this story with everyone

▶ In The Wake of A Calamity: Happy almost two year anniversary to this bad boy! This one's been slow movin' but we've kept it kickin' and I'm so glad we have. A "prequel" of sorts, set in the same world as The Outlands and my novel The Lost Dragon I've loved getting to throw more characters into this world with such quality writers!

▶ An Unexpected Time: My third completed SB in the BAG boys!! B^) Forreal tho, what an honor to write this story and it was such a blast with very iconic characters. Love love love

▶ High Point University: What a high point in my roleplaying career... amiright? LMAO. But seriously, it's been a BLAST having so many of my rp-obsessed friends all in one roleplay... a dream, really. We just have FUN and go STUPID take nothing serious ya know?

▶ I Survived a Roleplay Gameshow: It was chaotic. It was wild. It was a jolly good old time. And we finished it, bois. We done did it.

Songwriting

▶ I successfully wrote a song that I still really love for napowrimo 2021. This was unlike previous years, where I'd written a poem a day for the month of April. I was facing burnout, and instead of trying to push myself, I wanted to simply write one song that was meaningful to me. And I succeeded :^)

▶ I wrote at least 26 songs in 2021, most of which are posted on my soundcloud.

Other Writing

▶ Finally started book two of The Lost Dragon series... we're calling it that for now but who knows lol.

▶ I also actually managed to write a few comic pages and actually finish them (only four in a row but hey) and I think that's something. The beginning of something... possibly. Who knows.

Overall... this year was a lot slower this year when it came to creating things, but I'm very grateful for it. I'm glad I've given myself the opportunity to recharge, to create not just to create but to have fun with it again. I feel like I'm starting to touch the joy of creating again without the stress added, and it's been nice. For me, writing, drawing, making music... it's always been about self-expression and creating for the joy of creating. Yes, I want to finish things, but I also want to enjoy doing them. It's a balance I'm still learning, but I feel like I'm discovering it more.

Art

Enspoilering some highlights so big pics don't clog your page and lengthen your scrolling more!

Life Things

▶ Started taking guitar lessons which is something I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm enjoying it!

▶ I've started adding more clothes and accessories to my wardrobe that I just think are fun and make me happy. I am dressing up like an anime protagonist and that is okay.

▶ Started building more friendships with people I work with and live around and it's been really nice.

▶ My little sister came to visit me this year and that was nice :^)

▶ My beta fish Benny is one year old now and I consider that a victory :^) He is a survivor he ain't gon' give up

▶ Finished (or rather paused at a good stopping point) a DND campaign w/hopes of starting it up again when 2 of the players are free again and started another campaign with the same DM and a new group. Am having much funsies :^)

Also shoutout to all my frens and people who have supported me, my music, my stories, and my art. Thank you to everyone who made my year a little better and a little brighter just by being yourselves and being in my life. Love you all dearly <3

Now uh...how do people end these things? Oh, that's right.

Last Year: 2020 (The Year of Endings)

This year, like the title says was a year of a lot of beginnings for me. It felt like I took off on so many separate little journeys, each one a step towards something someday, and there is just so much promise at the moment. It was also a year of transition where I spent quite a few months with nothing much to do and it just feels like a year where there was just a lot of foreshadowing, a lot of setup, and this coming year is set to be the boring grind that comes right after such things. In a way I like that, I don't think I want 2022 to have any plot twists, there has been enough of those in the past couple of years.



General Life Stuff

I kind of became an adult...*gasp* and turned 18.
I started university...and well I'm currently very far from home, all on my own for the first time. There's a strange sense of power that comes with it and a bit of barely continued fear, but we'll survive...I hope.
I started maybe talking my writing a tiny bit more seriously, actually looking for courses on creative writing in uni, actually finishing some drafts and looking at revising with publication in mind.
I started playing games...yes it was January of this year that I played my first video game...and now I've played two so far...well that's something...not exactly an epic increase. xD

YWS General

I became a moderator. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...that's still my reaction to this.
I reached my reviewing goal for this year which was to reach the lime green stars. In fact I kind of surpassed it by going completely nuts during RevMo. I'm a bit ahead on my grand plan to beat the star system.
I completed NaNo for the second time like I'd hoped, which was quite awesome.
I also officially clicked through every forum thread I could see, so that the forums page for me no longer shows me that I've got things that aren't read. That took way too much work for barely any reward but I feel ridiculously proud when I see none of the forums are highlighted anymore. (Yes...this also applies to the roleplay section)
I got to participate and actually won something in the olympics...which was an amazing moment.

Reviewing

I completed the Checklist Challenge faster than I did last time like I'd hoped.
I actually managed to sort out my free time enough to officially get the record for most reviews in a month.
I somehow managed to get one year of Team Tortoise.
I got all the lime green stars, something I didn't even think I'd pull off, technically yes, the last star was earned on the first of Jan but ehhh...I'm sure it was still the 31st somewhere in the world at that point

Writing

I went from having zero completed drafts [excluding that one embarrassing thing from wayy long ago] to two drafts as I finally finished The Sorcerers of Hisderat and properly polished up Survival: The Escape
I started writing the first installment of still unnamed series called An Anachronistic Aye. Its an idea I have been absolutely dying to write for quite some time and being able to finally do it was so much fun.
I officially figured out a rhythm to my writing and a way for me to keep writing at least a tiny bit every day so that it becomes a habit and I don't get stuck for too too long like I was on Sorcerers. Of course if writer's block strikes, there's isn't much to do, but I will no longer be taken out by just me being lazy.
I also started writing a few more silly short stories, and the craziest and least planned of them all actually got the most likes I've ever gotten on a work [until the first chapter of Sorcerers overtook it] but it was still a cool moment.

Roleplays

Sadly quite a few of the storybooks I was in died down a little, but...I joined enough new ones to balance that out and my own storybook A Voyage Among the Stars is just barely holding on by a thread.
I made my first actual roleplays...both of which have so far come along pretty nicely. The casts have been absolutely wonderful and so far its been very fun.
I also joined a lot of roleplays, at least two or three of which have taken off quite nicely, so I'm hopeful for those.
I started a couple of roleplay duos...a couple of which didn't last too long, but one I did manage to finish and a sequel is in fact already being written as well so I take this as a massive win. It has really been so much fun roleplaying with the wonderful people here.



Like I always do each year, I stood outside right at midnight, looking up at the sky and almost saying goodbye. It was a very different experience from what I'm used to. For starters, I was alone, looking up at a sky I'm far from familiar with, in a place I'm barely used to. The moment when the clock struck also felt different, the past two years felt like something was coming, but this year, it almost felt like it just barely arrived, something tells me this might be one of those boring years for me, with me just getting used to this new normal. Something tells me that maybe that's for the best this year. A bit of boring could do me some good.

To be honest, I don't know what to say about this year, but I can say with absolute certainty that whatever I come up with, it cannot possibly capture what 2021 has been for me. For one, I feel like I have sailed through most of the year, I have lived without realizing, and spent and wasted days without really considering. There were times when life would suddenly push too hard, and I would jerk awake to a reality I was not prepared for. I would run for a while, trying to catch up to the rest of the world. But then I would get lazy and just sit down where I was and decide that was enough for me. I am not especially proud of that, but that's what I have done most of the year.

It seemed at times that I was the only one stuck in neutral, the only one without a plan or any idea about what they are going to do with their life. But then I would talk to some of the people in my life, and I would realize how much worse they have it. I would feel guilty and helpless and I would trap myself in another negative cycle of my own creation.

But in retrospect, this year was still a respite from last year. At least, I did not have to attend any funerals this time. I don't think anything can be worse than that feeling of loss when it finally catches up with you.

Anyways, enough with these depressing talk. Let's focus a bit more on the positive.

YWS

I joined YWS back in March I think, and I have to say it was the best decision I have made this year. I remember searching for online sites to showcase my writing, and I remember stumbling upon this wonderful place in the net. I had never actually had anyone to go to with my stories, and this was a really big step for me. And till this day, I am thankful that I was smart enough to enter this wonderful community of fellow writers.

I became a member of Team Tortoise in August I think and I had been on the race till December.

I became Featured Member in August, and it truly was an honor.

I participated in YWS Olympics 2021 and even won first place in the second event. As pathetic as it may sound, I had never won anything before in my entire life!

I participated in RevMo, and had the time of my life reading and reviewing. It would be safe to say that my entire month revolved solely around that event and I read so many stories that taught me so much!

I also participated and was one of the first ones to complete the Checklist Challenge, and it was so much fun hunting down the particular stories within the mentioned guidelines. It was a big highlight of RevMo for me and I really miss the vigor with which I used to review back then.

I participated in RevMo Buddies and honestly it was such a pleasure to read and review my buddies' works. Not only did it teach me a lot about different writing styles, but it also taught me patterns that are almost always present in a particular person's works.

I also participated in NaNo WriMo and although this was my second venture for the month, I still haven't given up on this story and its going strong.

I became a member of Knights of the Green Room and this is my official log. I think I have won till jousting lance until now.

Writing:

I have written about fifteen short stories this year. Some of them ended up in the literary spotlight.

I also edited and posted the reworked version of my novella The Old Man And The Boy. I received some really positive and helpful feedback on it, so yes, I am quite proud of this story.

Near the end of the year, I did find myself some serious writer's blocks. NaNo helped me through them, but I feel like I have reached a dead end again. Because writing is the only way I have ever been able to express myself, I feel very desperate and helpless when I find myself in the middle of one of these blocks. I really hope I learn a healthy way to navigate myself out of these.

A friend of mine pointed out that I am great at portraying children's point of views, but I have hardly ever tried to pick on adults. Maybe its because I am not much of an adult myself, and I feel more comfortable on ground I have already crossed. But still I think I should try portraying other perspectives as well. I have done it once or twice before, but it is still something that makes me a little nervous.

This person also pointed out that people are always dying in my stories, or someone is dealing with death. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I do tend to focus more on grief than any other plot points. In fact, it has come to a point that a few people have asked me if I have lost someone in real life. While that is besides the point, I think I do need to write happier stories.

Important Developments:

To be very honest, nothing happened this year, but still here is 2021 in a nutshell.

Went to school for the first time in February, and realized I need to improve on my social skills when I spent an entire day without really talking to anyone.

I gave my Boards. Well not really, since they were cancelled. But I did give my pre boards. People assume that our batch have the dream life because we did not have to give the first big examination of our lives, but I think they forget to count in the turmoil and the confusion of those times, when the virus had first made itself known and no one had no idea what was going on.

I escaped from Math when I took up Humanities. I think that by itself should be counted as the biggest highlight.

I had my first sleepover in December. Not really the best experience, but a new experience, nevertheless.

I spent or rather wasted months obsessing over movies and tv series.

Considering it now, this list is not very long.

2022 Goals:

I have to work on my patience. I used to be known in my family for my patience and understanding, and honestly, I am a little afraid lose this too, I won't know who I am anymore.

I have got to improve my communication skills. And that applies in the family as well as with friends. A few days ago, my brother pointed out that I have a really pathetic non existent social life, and I can't have him feeling sorry for me now.

I have to accept the fact that people can't always be what you expect them to. Sometimes, they might not just understand or get it right, but its okay because they are human too.

I have to find some healthy cycles to replace my current very negative ones. And I have to understand that you can't compare your problems with anyone else's. In other words, its okay to reach out for help if you need it.

Read more. Once I turn 18, the first thing I am going to do is admit myself in the National Library.

Figure out what I am going to do with my life. Sadly, I won't have a way around this as after this year, I will have to start looking into colleges. And if by that point, I haven't decided what I want to do, then I am hopelessly screwed.

Enjoy the last year of school life and hopefully walk out with some less pathetic memories.

Well, that's it 2021! I am almost reluctant to say goodbye to you now!

Icy's 2021 Yearbook Post

Past years

This year will be much shorter, as it's been a tough one for many reasons. But I'm so happy to call this place home, and to have spent another year with you wonderful people <3

Personal Reflections:

2021 in many ways, has been harder for me than 2020. 2020 was a period of uncertainty for sure, but the big things in my life remained constant.

2021 has been a different game entirely. Having changed my job, and moved in to a home of my own, time is no longer a thing I have very much of at all. This job keeps me busy until all hours of the evening, with very little time to do the things that I love. It's exhausting, I'm drained, and any enjoyment I was getting from it at the start has quickly diminished. The people there are great, and the job itself would be fun, but there's just too much

I'm due to finish this job in February, so hopefully I'll be around in a much bigger and happier way as of March - stay tuned!


Writing:

Writing wise, I haven't accomplished much this year (see above for burnout reasons). I've toyed around with a few ideas, but not done much concrete. November was far too busy for NaNo this year and so I missed out on that. That's usually my favourite time of the year so I was definitely a little bummed about that.

YWS
On YWS, I've been a bit more successful, reviewing novels by wonderful users and becoming a Global Moderator right at the end of the year along with my partner in crime @Liminality! I'm still trying not to break the site every time I do something, but I'm loving this new level of mouldiness.

Shoutouts
As per usual, I will definitely miss out some people as you've all been wonderful this year but I'm going to keep it short and sweet!

@ShadowVyper - reading Before the Dragon during the year has been an absolute pleasure, and I've loved following Jer's journey! You've also been a wonderful crew leader and mentor, and I'm looking forward to picking up the mantle of gen lit <3

@BluesClues @bees @Atticus - it's been wonderful working on #21in21 with all of you, and I'm forever amazed by you three.
Special shout out to Blue because you write books that simultaneously bring me joy and move me to tears. Your writing consistently inspires me to write better, and I am always in awe. Please forever send me all your WIPs.

@Carlito - though I've been remiss in my duties towards the end of this year, beta-ing your novels and chatting with you brings me utter joy <3 I hope to have some things to share with you in 2022 (once this silly job goes away and my shiny new laptop arrives). I've loved seeing your first Gilmore Girls experience - maybe we should co-write a Lorelai/Rory relationship style book in 2022

@Magebird & @alliyah - as always, you keep YWS on track and I think you're both wonderful! It's a pleasure to work alongside you.

@Liminality my wonderful mouldy friend, I've loved being on this journey with you and can't wait to see what 2022 brings us!

And to everyone on YWS, you're the reason I stay on this site! Hope you had a wonderful 2021 and here's to 2022!

spot

Imma claim a spot lol

Writing:

Well, first is Unlucky 13, which I've mentioned like 5 million times everywhere but I have not started the second draft, but I'm still 100% proud of myself for having it under my belt. There's stories about space and black holes (that I figured out properly thanks to @Riverlight); weird corner shops and portals in basements; social media being a bad influence.

Other than novels, I write poems and short stories, but those stay in my Google Drive, unbeknownst to mankind (did I use the word right?).

Yws-related:

I became a global moderator (along with @Carina and @Seirre <3) AND a Squills editor? In the same year? Whaaat? Literally honored. But I'm a retired mod now. <3 But I do hope things cool down so I can be a part of the wonderful team once again!

Reviewing-wise, I earned my second blue star! Very proud of how much better my reviewing style has gotten. @JabberHut, my reviewing role model, I would like to thank you for inspiring me through the reviews you've blessed me with. :') They're so aH and so whee and y'know? Just, I was very inspired, and I was like, I wanna make people smile when they read my review just like Jabber made me smile with the reviews she's given me. c:

(Also also while I'm at it, @ShadowVyper I was inspired by your reviewing style as well, doing the commentary first and then the whole summary, y'know, I like that style, it's very neat organized and I can do things properly that way uwu)

(So basically if you ever get a review from me it's a combo of Vyper and Jabber's reviewing styles that I'm a fan of)

Personal Life:

Well, first of all, I got my Honor's certificate for grade 9, and I have a pin for it as well. Lowkey I wanted to wear it everyday to school because I was so happy about it, but then I over thought things and didn't but it prolly wouldn't have been a good thing to do anyway. Idk. Anywho, that was a fun day, getting that certificate. :')

I made a new friend who is now my best friend because she understands me and I understand her and we both understand each other and we talk to each other in pictures and it's very amusing and we can barely get by two seconds without laughing.

And then it was one of my other friends' 18th birthday, and I was about to cry when I was making her the present because I remember we threw a surprise party for her 16th when we lived in the same city, but now I live 5 hours away, and it wasn't possible, but it was okay because the internet exists, and I was able to make her a video of all of our memories from the past few years. We've been friends for 7 years and I'm so blessed to have such an amazing friend.

Okay well, school happened. I did so well for the first couple of months. But it's so difficult, omg. Gizzards and velocity and ganglia and oxidative phosphorylation and adenine triphosphate like what. Pls it's too much for my peasant ganglia to understand. It's IB what was I expecting, 2 + 2? Ganglia is such a fun word though.

Ganglia.

Ganglia.

Okay, anyways, in the beginning of the year, I was being forced to do the full IB diploma, and I... do not want to do that. Did not. Will not. Can not. It's physically and mentally impossible for me. I quite literally cried every day trying to understand passive and active transport and physics. But it was okay, and it is okay, because I have no sciences next semester! And also my parents kinda understood me a little more and they've realized the IB diploma is just not for me, and it's not the end of the world if I do IB certificates. So it's okay and I'm okay and I hope I have a wonderful semester next year. <3

This turned into more of a rant kinda thing, but it's fine.

Okay this is not organized at all, there's good then there's bad, then there's good then there's bad, but I have one last good and then I'm moving on I promise. xD

Annnd we've been traveling! Yes, in the middle of a pandemic! But we did it when it was pretty chill, not too bad. Anyway, we went to Pakistan (where my dad and I got food poisoned because street food and we ended up staying another two days) and Dubai (where we met cousins, one of whom is married now ahh!! We weren't there for the wedding tho :/) in October, and then we went to New York (we did lots of tourism, man, it was amazing, and I met my aunt, and she's the best ever and makes the best ribs) and Washington (where we attended a wedding, it was super fun and wholesome <3) in early December, so not too long ago!

Self Care:

I've gotten better at that. :') I take out like 15 minutes for myself before I go to bed and when I wake up. And my sleep schedule is normal! I sleep at a normal time, usually 11 or 12 at l a t e s t. But I wake up at 7 and I don't usually nap, but I have been napping over the winter break because I have nothing to do lol.

But! I'm taking care of myself, and I'm exercising, and I'm eating healthy foods (trying to, at least >.>), and I'm not breaking the wires on my braces, and I have a healthy skin care routine, and I'm not obsessed with looking perfect, and I'm doing good. c:

Although I do think I should cut down on the social media.

Bro that stuff is addicting.

Okay I think I'm done. Thank you so much for reading, and I do hope the rest of your year goes smoothly and you have a wonderful 2022! :] Also please do know that I love each and every one of you and some of your habits are part of me now, and I feel like I'd be a very bland and weird person if I hadn't been a part of this beautiful community. <3

(also ps: @LadyBug ilysm ty for being such a wonderful frister ;-;)

Claiming my spottttt