Young Writers Society

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

It's time for the 2022 edition of the YWS Yearbook! Grab your spot and share your favorite moments and memories from the year! Everyone is invited to make a post regardless of how long you've been a member -- even if you only joined this year, you'll look back on your post next year with a smile ^-^ So claim your spot below!

Snagging a spot!

General:

The YWS Best and Most Awards 2021 Edition dubbed me the best prose writer and also gave me best novel and best short story and it legit made me tear up a bit <3

And then January 19th, 2022 I set out to #JumpTheLeaderboards, starting at #32 on the All-Time Review Leaderboard with 887 reviews and #23 on the All-Time Forum Post Leaderboard with 4,922 posts. My goal was to get to #30 on reviewers (28 reviews) and #15 forum posters (1,459) by the end of March.

As of now, 12/12/22 I am only up to #31 on the review leaderboard at 896 reviews (was not a hopping review year xD) but! I am now up to #3 on the forum leaderboard at 28,002 posts! That is a whopping 23,080 posts in the past 11 months. Whew! I'm actually really proud of that xD

On a related note, January was when I first hit quadruple digits on the monthly forum post leaderboard. It was organically by RPing and felt really nice c: I decided to push it in the last little bit of the month and got up to 1,917 posts and created the record in the The YWS Big Book of Records for the most number of forum posts in a single month! @GrandWild and I also broke the record for the fastest duo to ever reach 99 pages in just 11 days! From Jan 20-31, 2022 on our 3rd duo thread of our OG RP.

Went wild with Social Month~

Also went absolutely wild with @MailicedeNamedy in February with our absolute madhouse of a Randomosity binge. That was also the month that my evil twin @Vypy was born :triumph:

February 27th I officially had made up 1% of all posts on YWS

And then on February 28th Mailice and I set this absolutely wild record that I am insanely proud of:



Then March marked my 10 year anniversary on the site : oOOO

March is also when I re-launched my novel Among the Dragons!

Then of course the Goos took over the site and made me Limiberty for a day for April Fool's, which was a load of fun.

[left off on page 15 of my wall i will come back to this]


Real Life:

My first scientific paper ever got published! It felt so good! <3

I also got my first federal job! I was a fisheries tech working in Maryland from March-August.

Then from September until now (and onwards) I am a much-better-paid fisheries tech working in Illinois and loving the transition away from grad school!



Roleplays:



Shout outs:

chi's 2022 recap!

Writing

→ this napo was a complete failure for me! i aimed for 30 poems, but went halfsies instead. i'm proud of myself though; my style is always changing, but i'm fine with that. it's become such a part of me that i've grown to enjoy.

→ my favourite part of the napo season is april madness. i am not a very competitive person, but it drives me to write to the best of my ability. for the second year in a row, i made it to the last round. i haven't won and i probably won't, but it's not about winning; it's about writing poetry, which is what i am here to do.

→ speaking of poetry, this has been a year of writing a lot of it! i've had periods of no inspiration, but i genuinely feel like i wrote more this year than the last. i have my good moments sometimes. over the course of this 2022, i've gotten two poems published! it's not a lot in the scheme of things, but my poetry is finally starting to go somewhere other than this little corner of the internet.

→ later on in the year, i attempted to write a few novels, which didn't go well. i've also attempted to roleplay (*cough* anyone remember rptweez2022? *cough*), which didn't go well. i am nothing of a prose writer, nor am i a roleplayer. i will end up coming back to it again, but for now i will stick to musing my poetic ghosts.

Personal Life

→ this year has been rough for me, socially and physically. but i am okay; i am living, i am learning, and i am growing. i moved a few times. i live with my housemate, who is one of my dearest friends. sappy relationship things have happened in the realm of romance. it's nice to connect with people after years of pushing them away.

→ my health is a complicated thing. i try to keep personal details off of yws since i know it's a complex subject for many people, but this year has not been good to my body. people who are closer to me may know certain things, but that's as far as it goes. i expect next year will treat me better, but i don't mind either way.

→ as some people know, i dropped my phd program. it wasn't a good fit for my lifestyle, which is completely fine. i didn't feel connected to what i was learning, and i think it would've been useless anyway. however, i did take up a master's program for my boredom/to continue my education/because i want to suffer.

→ lastly, my career is starting to shape into what i want it to be. i spent a few months teaching at a middle school, which is honestly far from where i thought i would be. it changed me; i hated kids with a passion before that, but i'm soft and mushy now. i watched them graduate. i wondered if they would remember me in ten years or so. i cried ugly tears. maybe i'm not meant to be a teacher, but i'll keep trying.

→ life is good, even when it isn't. i'm glad. last year, i didn't know if i would've even made it to 2022, and the years before were filled with the same kind of dread. now, i sit here and i wait for 2023 to come; i wait for napo, i wait for my cake day and my birthday, and i wait for new friendships along the way.

YWS Things

→ it's been two years already! compared to other people on here, that is like nothing. it feels impressive though; like how did i manage to keep coming back? how did i not forget my password or something like that? here i am still kinda active, which is strange to me. i've made so many friends, but i've also lost so many as well. i am a different person now, and yws is a different site.

→ a big highlight of my yws year was social month! it was an interesting time for me creatively. here are a few of my favourite things from that month ~


→ also i am a mod now?? it's pretty recent, but still counts for important 2022 things. i have to be responsible, which is a little weird. it doesn't bother me though; i love yws with all of my heart, and i can't wait to see what this brings me. being able to get to know such wonderful people has been amazing, especially poetry crew!

Shoutouts

@BluesClues

GRANDMA HELLO !! i don't even know how we started getting close, but i think it had a little to do with my thirstiness for red (the actual loml <3) or something. i actually see you as a parental figure of sorts, which sounds strange but shh. i look up to you a lot, and i am so proud of you. thank you for the bowtie support as well! <333

@Seirre

ah ouyja my favourite person to give dumb nicknames! beetle, false strawberries, sierra, etc. it's all out of love and respect, of course. but on a serious note, beetle, i'm so glad i know you! seeing you grow into a better version of yourself has been so incredible, and you have changed the way i see certain life things. if i could find that shade of horrendous brown, i would make the text that colour for you! <333

@lliyah

anchovies! our random little wfp conversations are always a blast! i really admire you, especially your work ethic and dedication to what you believe in. you always inspire me to be the best person i can be, which is impressive. i also think about the dancing wario gif often, so remind me soon to change it back to that! <333

@starlitmind

FALAFEL! i miss you so much, and i hope you are doing well! we haven't talked in forever, but i think about our little fedex jokes whenever i need cheered up! you have been a huge part of so many people's lives on yws, and i smile when i think about you. it's about time for another dishwasher collab poem as well i think! <333

@shatteredstones

gem! you were one of the first people i interacted with on yws i think, and i am forever grateful! you are such a welcoming presence, and even from our first conversation, i felt like we were friends. you are so sweet, and thank you for all of your advice along the way! also leikin and jashir deserve to be together <333

@Omni

omni! i see no poetry here, but that's okay i guess. i respect you so much, and you have influenced a lot of my roleplaying/prose writing attempts. your ability to get ideas across in your writing is something i envy! thank you for listening to my constant worries and roleplay hate speech! poetry is way better though >:( <333

@ literally anyone else that i have interacted with

i have such a bad memory, so i am probably forgetting so many people! i just want to say thank you for being with me during these crazy times. i love you all.

I just finished my 2021 yearbook post last month, so it seems like a perfect time to get started on this as it takes me roughly 11 months to complete.

YWS HIGHLIGHTS

NaPo - anchors tied to paperboats

My NaPo collection this year followed themes of origami, boats, water, memories and anchors and was probably my most artsy and cohesive thread yet - it really came together well (especially my final poem which has a special place in my heart)and there are some poems that I really really liked how they turned out. I also completed my goal of writing 50+ comments for poets during NaPo! Also a big YWS bucket list item - I actually won April Madness this year! Overall I was really happy with the participation and my own poetry this April.


Last Man Standing - Participated in LMS to my own suprise was able to last several weeks and wrote quite a bit of poetry that I'm very pleased with for my "Sorting Heirlooms" Collection. I hope to continue this. how to weave a basket is my favorite poem from the collection.


Social Month - I had a lot of fun with social month this year! Special Highlights were the "Imitate Me Poems" and "Freindship Poems" and many chicken doodles exchanged. Also got to help make these cool "Certified Chicken Poet Badges" ... speaking of chickens at the end of 2022 @Nate decided to make "Chickens" an official YWS Literary Genre option!


Christmas in July - I made around 40 generic animal avvie doodles for YWSers for Christmas in July and I really loved how they turned out.



Reviewing -
I had a ton of fun co-hosting LRS (Last Reviewer Standing) with @HarryHardy & @MailicedeNamedy. I made a little progress on my reviewing goals this year too, got a red username for RevMo and another Red Star and am now in the All Time top 21 Reviewers!

LINK COLLECTION

5 Year-Modversary: reflection post

Collaborative Poem: through the lens of an absurdist iguana (with @Plume @Shady & @Seirre)

2022 Cake Day Post: profile.php?u=28954&c=1574093

Hosted May Haiku Collection: YWS Community Haiku Collection [2022]

Co-hosted a fun summer poetry contest: with @LizzyTyler Summer Themed Poetry Contest! and actually wrote a summer poetry series myself!
(summer's last breath
attempting the futile task to cross 800+ miles on land, &amp; then on sea, &amp; then by poetry
If the entire sun burned out of the sky (when) would you know?
Summer Bucket List)

Birthday Week Scavenger Hunt: link I really enjoyed hosting another scavenger hunt this year for Birthday Week!

Tagbook Fun: I had fun participating in the Christmas in July / SB Month tagbook too - which was set in space this year. A Pig, Space, and a Lot of Chaos

Some drawings from people for my "saved file"

WRITING STUFF

I sort of finished my "monthly musings" collection that I've been working on the last few years. I made progress on a "100 alliyah haikus" collection. And have been working through different ideas of sorting my ancestry poetry. I'm hoping to continue to work on my "sorting heirlooms" collection in the year to come and maybe create a slightly less personal version of it for a wider audience. I don't think I successfully got anything new published this year poetry-wise, but I also didn't submit very many things. I did however write a newspaper article that got published - so you can see my Squills skills going to work out there in the non-online world which is pretty cool! I also continued to be a co-editor with @Rook for "COOP" and we successfully released Editions 3 & 4 this year! Excited to see what writing accomplishments and journeys next year brings.

SHOUTOUTS

To some of my fave DMs <3 @Elinor @Carina @BluesClues @Rook @JustPerks - I am proud of all of you and always love to see your updates on the people tab. You each are really such prominent parts of YWS and I am grateful for each of you and want you to know I am rooting for you always. <333

@Liminality - you are a true friend and so kind and wise! Thank you for your listening ear, your calm mod presence, and your poetry feedback throughout the year. I've very much enjoyed getting to discuss different poems with you throughout the year with Poetry Readers!

@Seirre - I couldn't ask for a better poetry co-crew-lead and I'm looking forward to what 2023 brings! Thanks for sharing your poetic perspective with YWS!

@Spatula - really appreciate all of our poetry exchanges and chats over this last year!

PCrew Folks - @starlitmind @Plume @LizzyTyler @spatula @Meshugenah Hey! Each of you have such wonderful (& needed) poetic voices and I'm happy to be on PCrew with you! We ran an amazing NaPo experience in 2022 for users and I'm excited for our poetry projects in the year to come. Thank you for sharing your poetry with the site!

@LizzyTyler - had a blast running that poetry contest with you! Thanks for your poetry energy that you bring to the site! <3

@Shady - You keep so many of the gears going on YWS and we are very lucky to have you. You bring a lightness, joy, and passion to the site, and you often come up with just the right idea or perspective needed. Thanks for your heart for YWS - I've enjoyed doing some Res Crew things with you this year and I'm glad we are on the mod team together.

@IcyFlame @Omni - in addition to Seirre, Lim, and the other GMs & DMs who've been part of 2022 I am grateful for you, your ideas, your creativity, work, and calm presence. You're both hard workers and have been fabulous to work with on the mod side. Special thanks to Omni for re-launching LMS this year too!

@looseleaf - You have been such a fantastic addition to the mod squad and I've enjoyed getting to work with you a bit on KotGR too! I've enjoyed getting to read bits of your writing here and there and wish you luck on your many passions and interests in the new year! Keep going for it!

Res Crew - @looseleaf @FireEyes @scatteredscones - looking forward to what we'll be able to accomplish in 2023! Thanks for your hard work in 2022!!

@scatteredscones - Hey friend! We have had ??? countless??? conversations over 2022 - and I so appreciate your compassionate heart and how you are kind to everyone you interact with. I know I have so appreciated so many of our chats in the last year on pads and I sincerely wish you the absolute best. You are valuable and talented and a great freind!

@Euphory - I am SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK! <3 YWS will save a spot for you, so please don't be a stranger and always feel free to pop in here and there!

@Quillfeather - we've had many wonderful convos in this last year in pads too! And I'm grateful for each one!

@HarryHardy - you are impressive and inspiring. I appreciate you.

@Spearmint - you always bring such a very positive attitude to modding! <3

@MailicedeNamedy - Have enjoyed all of our convos, in randomosity and here and there! You are such a neat person and it's been fun working with you for LRS and Team Tortoise especially. Wishing you well.

@Rook - I couldn't have a better co-editor with COOP! And I'm so very proud of our accomplishments in 2022! Let's keep rolling!

@soundofmind - u are very sweet and talented and i believe in u and everything you set out to do!

@Carlito - always appreciate our YWS interactions and wish you all the very best! <3

@Mageheart - you bring so much love and joy to YWS and please know it is always very appreciated. Thanks for being a light! <3

@starlitmind - what a shining star you are! Never stop shining bright! Thankful for you! <3 ALSO will always treasure the Nuvole Bianche piano recording you made for me! Never stop being you!

@Arcticus - our site is definitely blessed by your presence and I am hoping your 2023 is gentler than 2022. It's been fun getting to chat with you and continuing to get to know you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your writing. All the best friend.

@Brigadier - We haven't had a chance to chat for a while, but I think of your poetry often, appreciate our history of conversations, and am wishing you well in this next year. Hope our roads on YWS end up crossing again, but thank you for your support throughout the years.

@winterwolf0100 @SilverNight -it's been fun to get to know you a bit more from modding this year! And looking forward to 2023 mod-adventures! <3

@Que @LadyBug @niteowl @figmoon @Arcticus @SilverNight @Liminality @Seirre @Spatula @Plume - Wanted to say I very much appreciate each of your poetic voices; especially during NaPo and hope you keep sharing your work!

@starchild314, @moonglade, @Stringbean, @QueenMadrose @PaigeFantasy @momonster @Lael - You all seem very sweet! And I just wanted to give you a shoutout for our interactions from this last year and some well wishes for 2023! <3


The whole yws modsquad - thank you for your hard work and heart for the site; we've accomplished a lot in this last year and you are each individually so amazing, creative, and wonderful! It's been fun to work alongside you.

Anyone else whose commented on my poetry, commented on my wall, or encouraged me this year THANK YOU! <3

Have a great summer~

SIGNED

alliyah

Life Updates

2022 felt like a year stuck in time for me in real life. Medical problems and mental problems really set me back, and I feel like I'm still trying to regain ground from 2020. If you've kept up with my wall, you'll know that I really feel stuck in real life.

YWS Accomplishments

I'd like to think 2022 was a large year for me and a year where I really was able to cement my style at running events. I also believe 2022 was one of my most continuously active years as a mod, which topped off with me becoming a GM!

• LSS Round II
  
  January is usually a lull month for events as much of YWS' staff recuperates from Holiday activities, both on site and in real life. So, I decided to take advantage of the lull and started LSS Round II! I truly think LSS came into its own with its second round, as the event went through rounds and rounds of discussion and refinement to be simpler and more easily accessible. LSS was really fun and lasted a good 20 weeks which was twice as long as the first round. Large success!
• Roleplay Month
  
  Roleplay Month this year was, dare I say, even better than last year's Roleplay Month! As always, RP Month is a huge group effort, but I am super proud of myself for my personal accomplishments with the event. Specifically, DM's Daily Bounties was a huge success, and it was my brainchild. I think I finally found some kind of equivalent to the daily goals of Nano and Napo, but with a twist unique to YWS and its roleplay community.
• LMS Round VI
  
  LMS, or Last Man Standing, is not my event. It was originally an event run by Tenyo and it was given their blessing to continue even if they were not active. When 2022 started, I knew I wanted to run LSS and I knew I wanted another round of LMS to happen. So, after Roleplay Month ended, I figured August would be a great time to launch LMS Round VI, with hopes that it'll help add lit works for RevMo. Round VI has had its bumps, but it's still going strong and looks to be one of the most successful rounds with the most amount of writers lasting long.
• Becoming a Global Moderator
  
  To end the year, I received an offer to become a Global Moderator, which made my year. I can't quite put my thoughts into words, but I am so thankful for the opportunity, and it gives me a refreshed feeling for 2023.
• And More!
  
  I helped run 22in22 and I've created a long list of badges and banners and even a roleplay or two. There's so much to talk about and so much to remember that I don't really have time or energy to talk about it all but, overall, I'm very happy with what I've done for YWS in 2022.

Writing Accomplishments

I've always struggled with writing, even in roleplays, but I'm proud of my progess in 2022 so I wanted to share it here!

• Aether's Heart
  
  Unfortunately, Aether's Heart has seen a lull in 2022, with only a handful of posts and nothing written on since February. Nonetheless, it is a story that is still always on my mind and I'm happy with what's been written on it no matter how long it's been sitting and settling. I also started posting Aether's Heart as a novellized version, but I've since stopped. While it is something I wish to continue, both writing and publishing, it is a project I'm a bit hesitant to tackle because I'm happy writing other projects at the moment!
• Lux Academy
  
  Liiike Lux Academy! This is my newest roleplay, one I started for Roleplay Month, and I am very happy with how much it's progressed! Here's hoping we get even further in 2023! The cast is very large which makes it a bit difficult to juggle everything but the writing is amazing and the characters are super fun to interact with.
• Silver and Silk
  
  This is my LMS writing project, and my first solo writing project in four years. Can you believe it? As of the end of 2022, I'm super happy to say I'm still in the competition myself and I've written 20,000 words. This makes it my second longest solo writing project ever, and five thousands words away from being my longest writing project ever. Silver and Silk is going to be a large project for me in 2023.

And there was more writing beyond that! I got an e-ink tablet for an early Christmas present in 2022 and since I've gotten it I've already fallen in love with it and it's making my writing much easier and much more consistent. I cannot wait to see how I use it in 2023, but I know for a fact it'll be a majority of my writing, that's for sure.

YWS Shoutouts

• To the KK Gang
  
  yeet c:
• @Shady
• @winterwolf0100
• @WeepingWisteria
• @SilverNight
• @HarryHardy
• @Spearmint
• Cast of Aether's Heart
• Cast of Lux Academy
• and more

I want to say more, and I wish I could say more, but energy is low. Just know I love and appreciate you all. Perhaps I shall have more to say when I'm less busy, stressed, or tired, but for now, thank you all, each and every one of you.

I didn't spend 2022 making as many new friends and reconnecting with old friends as I would have liked, but I'm thankful for each and every conversation and encounter I've had with everyone here on YWS. <3 thank you all.



2022 drained me. I think I've been running on fumes for awhile now, so while I'm happy with how much I did in 2022, I'm still unsure with what I'm going to do on YWS in 2023. A part of me feels like I've done most of what I've wanted to do event-wise and mod-wise, but I'm excited to make new memories for myself and foster new memories for all of you on YWS. Haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do this, but I want to enter 2023 with positivity and creativity! Perhaps it's wise to keep an eye on YWU this year...

Finished Creations

▶ The Fool's Quest: Together with the mighty collaborative powers of @Carina and @Shady, we successfully travers the Last Storybook Sailing waters and came out victorious as the gold medal winners. Proud of what we can accomplish when we all bs together. Tis the power of binge-writing.

Spoiler! :


▶ High Point University: I guess you could say it was a h... a high... a h... a hIGH POINT of my year when this roleplay I was running with @veeren @Carina @Shady and @Mageheart finished out after about a year or so running. It was wild. It was chaotic. Our characters are insane and cringy and funny and I love it. I love you all. XOXOXO Gossip girl

▶ Wayfarers: Amazing. We did it folks. Another legendary completed roleplay in the books, and Kazimir had a gunshot wound for all of it. Amazing. You, too, can conquer your golems.

▶ Songwriting: I have written 22 songs this year :^) not all of them are posted on my soundcloud but I am happy I hit past the 20 mark for this year again huhu.

Writing

▶ The Last Lap: In the two storybooks I'm running, In the Wake of a Calamity (happy 3rd bday you 3-yr-old SB) and The Pheligian Falcon: Prison Break we've entered into the last chapters. We're only 10-12 posts away from wrapping both of them up. Here's to hoping we can accomplish that this next year, haha.

▶ Roleplaying Highlights: I've been writing a lot with @urbanhart on a new duo we started this year called When Two Lone Wolves Meet that has been super fun and enjoyable :^) and also have been continuing the Fate's Hand saga with @Carina hehe. It has been fun to explore characters and stuff. Also I cant forget How to Start Over with @Lael which has also been super enjoyable :^)

▶ The Lost Dragon: I started writing it again :^) this time for LMS. I kind of hopped in last minute, but I think this time around I'm actually quite enjoying writing it thus far which is more than can be said of the last draft that I had to muscle through to reach the end.

▶ NAPO 2022: For like, five years in a row, I relentlessly persevered and wrote 30 poems every April. These last two years were different. I was tired. I rested. This year I wrote 9 poems. That was good enough for me!

Learning

▶ Guitar: I've been taking guitar lessons for almost a year and a half now and I've been able to see significant improvement which I'm proud of :^). Even if I'm not super far I've made progress and that is good!

▶ Art: Later this year I entered a group for artists where you do studies every week, and thought I've missed a week here and there, I feel like it's been slowly helping me improve in my artwork which has been nice to see. It's also given me something to draw when I'm out of ideas, haha.

▶ Work: I feel like I'm finally beginning to get into a rhythm with my current role at work, which is nice. It's still stretching and challenging sometimes but also rewarding. I feel more confident even if I'm not always comfortable.

▶ Life: I did a lot of "adult" things this year. A lot of doing things on my own, and learning about balance. When to rest, when to push through. I think it's something I'll always be learning in every season, as the seasons change.

Love, Change, and Loss

▶ I lost Benny, my betta fish of two years, on November 25th. RIP Benny, you were a good fish. I don't really have any good pictures of him because he was always a fast little guy, and he was dark blue against a black background. So they're all just blue-ish blurs. But you can imagine. He was just a little guy.

▶ I moved into a new apartment with my apartment-mate and it's been nice being in a new space, having more space, and getting to make it our own. It's nice having our own rooms, too. Was weird leaving the place I'd lived for about 5 years though. Lots of memories there, but this is good. Wild to think it'd already been five years.

▶ I visited a good friend of mine in person for the first time in a few years. It was nice to drive up and see her and her family. It was good to catch up too. It was my first time going on a road trip by myself, which was actually really enjoyable (apart from the 2 hour stretch on the way back that happened to be in torrential rain, but it's fine, it made memories).

▶ I went on an even longer road trip back to see my immediate family, and though it was quite tiring, it was fruitful. I had a lot of hard but needed (and good) conversations with family, and I feel like I landed in a good spot, especially with my parents, which I believe really was only by God's grace and kindness. It felt like redemption, too (I say cryptically, hoping future me looking back understands).

Just Nice Things

▶ In my current DND campaign (of which I'm a player, playing a goblin rogue) we've had lots of fun. I love our DM and all of the guys in our group and it's been super fun. I've also had a chance to hang out with some of them outside it, going to things like comic stores, comic cons, and the renaissance festival. All of which were simply fun, nerdy things to do.

▶ My best friend and I have done a few fun things together this year :^) like spa nights and going to ballets together.

▶ I picked up biking in the summertime, which I loved. I can't wait to do it again in the warm weather. It was good for my body but also my heart :^)

People

▶ @Carina Thank you for being a good friend and for all the goofy funtimes <3 you are a master at poking
▶ @Shady I love your chill demeanor and gentle kindness <3
▶ @veeren u are literally the sweetest and most wholesome
▶ @Lael u r so smart and cool and i love writing with you and i love your love for Jesus
▶ @urbanhart what a gem. so happy to have met u and had the pleasure of getting to know u moar. u are super creative and cool and very down to earth and i like getting excited about ocs with u
▶ @Omni <3 <3 <3 <3 you are amazing and i hope u know that. i appreciate u and everything u do and you are seen and loved
▶ @Mageheart u know how some people just feel comfy. thas u. we have been thru the roleplay trenches of war together. we have persevered. u are a great fren and i love writing with u
▶ @ScarlettFire you are the OG. the best pad lurker there ever was. xoxo
▶ @lliyah mad respekt
▶ @Chaser absolutely solid amazing writer my guy. love ur sense of humor and happy ur around
▶ @SilverNight u r literally so nice
▶ @Benji *looks down at you* THOR THOR THOR. also you're worth a benillion

And in the words of the man (carina's fren) who said it best:

roses are red
violets are blue
you make my heart go
peepeepoopoo

Signing off with love,

This year was a brief one for my activity on YWS, so I’ll keep it short. I didn’t win NaPo but I did win NaNo which was a major surprise for me, but I was quite happy about getting in 50,000 words. I am just glad that when I log back into this website, it’s still active with reviews and stories and people chatting about writing. Thank you all again c:

At the risk of being boring for my intro, you know what-- this was a year! I did some new stuff, both for writing and my personal life, and I didn't expect where this year would lead me, but I'm pretty happy with where I ended up. I'm hoping 2023 holds some new surprises, and as I look back on 2022 now, I hope I can remember it for years to come.

Writing

What was I going to do, not include a writing section?

I started the year off with LSS, which was how I really fell in love with storybooks. Death From the Depths was a great experience full of pirate fun, chaos, and had a cast of characters (and writers! <3 @AceassinOfTheMoon @Omni @SoullessGinger @Corvid) that was amazing to work with. We ultimately got second place in the competition, but I'll always be proud of us for writing 47k words in one week and 103k overall.

I participated in my second NaPo with our unrealistic standards for stars, and went halfway this time for 15 poems. The theme of unhealthy idealization of a person/in relationships (plus a bunch of space imagery) was important to me, and writing about it helped me process some stuff as well as develop my style. I'm hoping to better organize the collection sometime!

Poetry banner:

The project that surprised me most this year was LMS, because I didn't see myself writing a book. I've had a world and characters for a story living in the back of my head for a while, but no plot, and so I never wrote anything for them. 1000 words a week seemed a decent goal, even though I hadn't done novel writing in ages since getting into roleplays and poetry, so I came up with a plot/storyline over the summer. I ended up really latching onto it, and it's now in progress as The Last Spell! If anyone reading this is curious, my LMS thread has some more details for it. I'm super excited to keep writing it in 2023!

Book cover:


Another poetry collection I did this year was all the things i hold one-handed. This one was written across all of 2022, with no specific poem goal, and was completed with 10 poems. I liked this one because it let me do something with poetry that I didn't need published, but thought should go somewhere, and also gave me a reason to write something every once in a while. I'll probably do something similar for this next year!

There was lots of storybooking, especially in July for Roleplay Month, which I helped run! Some storybooks that I joined this year or wrote for, besides LSS, include We Live in the Ashes, Behind Closed Curtains, and Lux Academy, and there were more roleplays I've participated in as well.

Personal

This year had some fun travels for me! I went to the east coast of the United States for the first time, which was a neat experience. There were also some hiking and skiing trips, some in my state and some in neighboring locations. My longest trip was five weeks in France and Spain over the summer, which was fun, though I was feeling a little homesick by the end of it.

I did some hurricane and disaster relief work in the Gulf of Mexico in July, which was challenging and tiring, but it was a really interesting and useful experience to have. There was a lot of hard work in the hot, humid summer doing construction, repairs, and supplies packaging, but I learned a lot from it and I'm looking into doing similar types of service again.

I got involved in theater this year! This was really exciting for me because I've had an interest in plays for a while, but never actually participated in anything very serious until recently. I played Antonio in a Wild West adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which was an incredibly fun part as well as a great production with a cast I liked. Hopefully I'll continue with this hobby in 2023!

It hasn't been an easy year, with personal struggles and my physical health getting worse. But I've done some healing this year, which I'm really proud of myself for. Recovering from an unhealthy and harmful relationship of last year has been difficult, but I'm getting closer to processing it (often through poetry) and it's not the end.

Shoutouts

And now for an incomplete list of the people on here who make me smile :]

All of RP Crew--> @Omni @Shady @WeepingWisteria @winterwolf0100 @HarryHardy you all make roleplays and event planning the best! I'm so grateful for the chance to work with you all and getting to know you better c:

@Stringbean @AceassinOfTheMoon you are both so amazing that I can't even put it all in a shoutout or I'd never get done with this post ahhhhhh. I hope we'll have a long and lasting friendship and I'm sending you all the love and virtual hugs for 2023! <3

@Shady I gotta give you an extra shoutout for being an awesome regular reviewer of TLS! I appreciate the appreciation for my story and I hope that you continue to enjoy it ^^

Everyone I've written in an RP with--> it's been so fun! Thank you for helping to create stories with me and I hope there will be many more to come!

And... 2023?

I remember making a part like this in my last yearbook post for future plans for 2022 where 75% of them did end up happening (I did not, in fact, change my username and I likely won't), which was interesting to reflect on-- so here are my goals for 2023!

Finishing The Last Spell and persevering with LMS (!!!)

Write some more poetry, for NaPo and have another side poetry collection

More roleplaying madness and fun that is also a secret plan for now, just like last time (and remember, you didn't hear anything from me either time)

Create and/or join some new Storybooks, and have some fun next Roleplay Month (which I will help plan!)

And most of all, I'm hoping to have YWS in my life in 2023. Happy New Year!

The wake behind the boat told of the past while the open sea for told life in the unknown future.

Spot spot spot!

=D

mint's 2022

~colors + formatting incoming~

YWS

LMS

Roleplays

Other

Just a short one from me since I'm rather busy this time of year! Here's a list of fun/memorable moments from this year for me:

- Social Month: #imitateme hashtag
- Working on various prose projects during Camp NaNos and NaNos (Both Miscreants and Mutant Families have moved slightly closer to first draft completion; I also drafted a bunch of Squills articles during NaNo)
- Finishing this enormous PTA article and quiz
- The article also appeared in KB: Some Twentieth-Century Poetic Movements
- Co-hosting the Poetry Remix Workshop with @Plume (A fun idea for a doing-focused workshop!)
- Joining KotGR (you can find my Knight log here: The Log of Knight Lim)
- @Spearmint's #addatopping hashtag during YWS Birthday Week
- Earning my first blue star

Here is a list of favourite things I've written this year:

- Zombie Summer - written during @lliyah and @LizzyTyler's poetry series contest (Plants vs Zombies was a game my family and I loved when I was a kid, so it was nice to cover sympathetic zombie characters in a series of poems! I liked how each of these turned out different yet unified and it was fun coming up with zombie-related takes on each prompt. It was definitely a 'weird' idea, but I can't imagine many other ways I could have approached the prompts and have the results be *this* Lim-tastic xD)
- Favourite Poem in Lit Center: Carpe Diem
- Favourite Prose Piece in Lit Center: The Mind and the External World: an Oversimplified Peek into Locke’s Account

The first of these is a favourite because the process of writing it was really interesting. I drafted it, then re-drafted it and finally edited and re-wrote the whole thing over the course of almost a month. It was also a time where I really remember consciously trying to use an idea I got by reading people's reviews of my poems and trying to improve. I was trying to make sure each line break made sense, both sound and meaning-wise, and also avoid any weird 'jumps' into some unrelated topic. I also took the time to make a graphic that matched the poem, which turned out pretty great if I do say so myself.

The second of these is a favourite because basically I worked really hard to write it and make it the way it is xD I also like the discussion and thoughts it generated in the reviews. I like it as an extension of all the essay writing I've been doing for uni and my increased interest in Philosophy this year.

My favourite Squills articles I've written are actually not published yet, but they are both Community Reports on recent site-wide events

All in all, writing-wise I was experimenting quite a bit this year and I'm hoping to continue experimenting next year. NaPo 2022 for me was really about trying to break out of a certain pattern of subjects and images but I ended up fixing on another pattern that lasted for most of the thread (with notable exceptions, like my list poem). Other poetry experiments throughout the year have been more successful in shaking things up. As for Poetry Throughout the Ages I hope to cover more individual poets rather than trying to do a large article - I find I enjoy writing those articles about individuals more.

It's been another wonderful year of writing and reading with all of you YWSers!

Casually remembering this exists at the last minute...