#end-of-year reflections

[thechurchoftheatom]

A Holiday Sermon for December 2nd: The Gift of the Atom

Brothers and Sisters in the Atom, gather together on this day, December 2nd, when the first controlled chain reaction was achieved. Just as a birth brings both joy and awe, so too does this moment in history—full of promise and yet heavy with the burden of responsibility.

On this day, in 1942, the world changed forever. Beneath the bleachers of the University of Chicago, the first controlled nuclear chain reaction was initiated, marking the birth of atomic energy. This was not the fire of destruction unleashed over Hiroshima and Nagasaki; no, this was a spark of potential, a quiet moment of creation. Yet, even in its stillness, it echoed through time.

This day, the 2nd of December, is not a day of celebration in the traditional sense, for it is not a simple birth. The atom was born not into a world of peace, but a world filled with the urgency of war. It is a birth marked by the question of how we, as stewards of this new power, will choose to wield it.

The atom, like any gift, is neither good nor evil in and of itself. It is a force—a primal energy that we have learned to control, but which can never be fully tamed. The atom is a mirror, reflecting our own capacity for creation and destruction. It is not a simple tool, but a testament to the complexity of the universe itself. We must ask ourselves: What will we do with this gift?

The Atom as a Gift

What is a gift? It is not merely an object or an act; it is a gesture of hope, a symbol of potential, and an invitation to growth. The atom, too, is all these things. It is a gift of unparalleled energy, capable of lighting our homes, curing diseases, and advancing our understanding of the universe. But, like all meaningful gifts, it comes with a responsibility.

The atom is not a gift given lightly. It is one that must be unwrapped with care, nurtured with knowledge, and shared with wisdom. It is not just a gift to us, but through us, it becomes a gift to others—to our families, our communities, and the generations yet to come.

In this season of giving, let us reflect on what it means to receive such a profound gift. It is not merely a treasure to hoard but a resource to share, a tool to uplift others, and a force to bring light where there is darkness.

The Spirit of Giving in the Atomic Age

The true measure of a gift is not in its size or value, but in the love and thoughtfulness with which it is given. The first spark of atomic energy was born from the efforts of many—scientists, dreamers, and pioneers—who sought not personal gain but the betterment of humanity.

As we honor this gift, we are called to embody the same spirit of giving in our own lives:

Give Knowledge: Share what you know about the atom’s power and its risks. Educate those around you, so they, too, can understand the responsibility that comes with such a gift.

Give Safety: Protect your community by ensuring that nuclear technology is used responsibly. Advocate for safeguards and support efforts to reduce harm.

Give Light: Whether through energy, innovation, or simple acts of kindness, strive to be a source of hope and progress for those around you.

Give to Future Generations: Let your actions today lay the foundation for a safer, brighter future. Use the power of the atom not as an end but as a means to uplift all of humanity.

Reflecting on Responsibility

On this day, we honor the first spark of nuclear energy, but we also honor the responsibility that comes with it. Let this be a reminder that we are not isolated in our pursuit of power. Every action we take affects those around us—both in the present and in the distant future.

Let us walk forward with humility, embracing the knowledge we have gained while remaining ever vigilant of the responsibility we bear. Let us seek to use the atom to heal, to enlighten, and to bring about a future where all life can thrive.

Closing Reflection

As we leave this sacred gathering, let us carry forward the spirit of giving. Let us give freely of our knowledge, our care, and our commitment to a brighter future. Let us remember that the atom is not ours alone but a gift to be shared wisely and responsibly.

On this day of reflection and renewal, let us renew our commitment to use the gifts we have received for the good of all.

May we walk forward with generosity in our hearts, wisdom in our minds, and light in our actions.

[justposting1]

The Ultimate Year-End Reset: Things to Complete Before 2025

As the final days of 2024 draw near, there’s something magical about the idea of starting fresh. The new year holds promise, but stepping into 2025 with clarity, purpose, and energy means taking a moment to pause, reflect, and reset. If you want to make the most of these last weeks, here’s your ultimate guide to wrapping up the year right. 1. Reflect on the Year Gone By Take a moment to sit…

[tawnysoup]

Finally now that the comic is fully public on comicfury, I get to share it with all of you here, too <3

If you enjoyed, please consider supporting by buying a PDF of the comic on itch.io: https://tawnysoup.itch.io/home-in-the-woods

[idontmindifuforgetme]

lived my whole life in guilt bc i thought i was responsible for people's feelings. newly realizing that other people are responsible for their feelings and reactions, even if they make it seem like i'm the problem. a lot of the time it really has to do w them and their own emotional regulation. i can't keep thinking i'm not allowed to have space bc of other people's insecurities. like i literally refuse to dim myself. other people are responsible for their feelings just as i'm responsible for mine.

[kittykatninja321]

My less popular opinion (and what I believe to be implied by the art in Lost Days) is that rather than waking up in a fully grown body Jason didn’t actually complete his puberty until after his Lazarus pit dip while he was on his murder tour. Imagine you’re tied up in a basement in Berlin getting interrogated by a teenager and his voice is cracking the entire time and if you laugh he’s going to shoot you

[redgoldsparks]

Once again, Shay Mirk created a template end-of-year-reflection zine, which you can download for free here. I can confirm that filling these out makes an excellent New Years Eve party activity :) All of the lines and writing in solid black are Shay's, and all of the words and images in various colors are mine. Transcript below the cut.

instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble store

My Packed Year! To end 2024, I say: "We did it, holy shit" filled in by Maia Kobabe

An outfit I loved this year: It's giving casual wizard.

These foods were my MVPs: black tea, yellow curry, avocado bagel, Ricola lozenges

A quote or song lyric on my mind: "I know exactly what I want and who I want to be". -Oh No! by Marina

This year I said hello to: Japan! First international travel since 2017, I took my mom <3

And I said goodbye to: Illusions and false hope.

One way I changed this year: I took weekends while working on a book (but I would like to also take evenings...)

A book I read: The Chromatic Fantasy by HA, Electric Bones by Hazel and Bell, The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't A Guy At All by Sumiko Arai

A TV show or movie I love: Strong Island documentary by Yance Ford

An animal I saw: Solo! (my cat) also Crimini and Cloudy (my sibling's cats)

A plant I like: money plant from Ren

An event I remember: SFZF! San Francisco Zine fest with friends! First time ever going as an attendee and not tabling.

An activity I enjoy: Making zines with friends.

Lightning Round!

I love my friends

I went to LA, NYC, Maine, Colorado, Seattle, Japan...

I built new connections

I joined Authors Against Book Bans

I miss my grandparents <3

I want more time to make gifts and food for others.

[evercelle]

2024 art summary! it sure has been a year

[tsuchinokoroyale]

Happy new years… let’s stay hydrated together ✨

[fairyhaos]

ᜊ : WELCOME TO FAIRYHAOS’...

hello beloved whimsies! we're finally nearing the end of another year, and just like we did in 2023, it's time to review everything that happened in 2024 ^^ here in this post i'll go back over some general stats, some "top (x)" categories, and also a shoutout to all the lovely people i've met here on tumblr <3

but first, the general stats!

the fairyhaos account was opened 603 days ago (as of new year's eve)

crazily, we have a total of 4382 followers already - which is 1505 in just this year,

and the total number of moots has risen to over 40 !

in 2024, ive written 34 works (+1 for tubatu!!),

created 21 gifsets (+2 for zb1!!),

made 3.6k+ posts in general,

received 325 posts in my tracked tag #useryenas (thanku guys so much for that)

and wracked up 62.7k+ notes in this year alone!

(which brings the total note count to 169.8k... LITERALLY INSANE)

statistics-wise, this year has been absolutely incredible, despite how inactive i've been, so thank you everyone!!

now, how about the top post stats?

total word count in 2024: ~87,000 words!!!

top fic of 2024: no such thing as too perfect // jww (2,300 notes)

top fic of all time: 04:15am // csc (4,514 notes)

fav fic from 2024: all mother nature's fault // hjs

top gif from 2024: joshua | arena x barrie (407 notes)

top gif of all time: gyuseokshu | babygirls (658 notes)

fav gif from 2024: yujin | prettiest person in the world

this is all absolutely amazing, but genuinely, this wouldn't have been possible without the support and love i've received from all of you: moots, followers, and everyone else who has been so, so kind.

so finally, here are my thanks!

first port of call is of course, my most beloved writer moots who i've known since day 1! thank you to @blue-jisungs for being so bright and friendly, to @weird-bookworm for being the biggest, kindest supporter i could ask for, to @etherealyoungk for being so lovely all the time, to @icyminghao, @hannyoontify, @wheeboo, @slytherinshua, @haecien, @wollycobbl3-blr @gyuswhore @arafilez @eternalgyu @idubiluv @wonwoonlight @odxrilove @leejungchans @joonsytip @mirxzii @trblsvt @reikaryu for just being so sweet and so fun and making me grateful every day that i found you. i talk to u all with varying degrees of frequency, but still, i love you all so much. thank you!

and ofc, there are my incredibly talented cc moots who have been w me since last year :( our main content may be different, but i'm so thankful to have known u all bc you're all the friendliest, most talented people in the world! to @sugurugetos for always being so kind since day one, to @vcrnons for being the sweetest, to the always friendly @soonhoonsol, to @meowonhao @h-ao @seokmins @joshuas, thank you for being here because you brighten up my dash, without a fail, all the time!

then to all the moots i made this year, hello and thank you!! thank you to @chwedout for being so silly and kind, to @96z for your loveliness and being the caratblr glue, to @jeonwon-wonwoo for being the kindest soul ever, to @planetkiimchi and @eoieopda for being fun and sweet and so, so nice. and of course, thanks to @pookiez, @p1harmonie @rosieposie @y-eontan @fabulaee, because we even though the only interaction we have is reblogging the same stuff and me putting things in your tracked tags, i love seeing you on my dash and you make my day so much better, genuinely. <3

it feels strange to put this in, but i also want to thank the people who i follow, even if they don't follow me back: because i love your posts, and i think it's important that i say it! you all form a key part of my experience here, so thank you: @jeonghanic @soobinies @lee-sanghyeok @yeonjune @db2k @hoshingi @wnjunhui @renjunniez @myungjaehyun !!

but there's no way i'm forgetting everyone else!

to @melodicrabbit @caratsandpotatoes and @minhui896, whose rbs i always look forward to whenever i post; to @chocoreads and @k1eev for being excited about yeoubi since the start, thank you so much. to the people who tagged me in their fic recs post, thank you too!!!

to 🍒 anon, vernon anon, glasses shua anon, 😼 anon, and any other named anons ive forgotten, thank you for popping into my inbox and making my day. to any unnamed anons, or anons who appeared once and then left, or those who came back without an emoji: i see you, and thank you for interacting with me!

and then to anyone who i haven't called out—all of my lovely supporters, beloved yena's fairies, thank you! i see you all, and i'm so grateful for all your love and i'll look to repay it in kind with much more content to be released next year. 2024 has been a busy year, both personally and for fairyhaos, and i'm where i am right now because of all of you.

happy new year everyone, and i hope you're all nothing but happy and healthy in 2025 💗

[autisticandroids]

CASTIEL: Stop. What's the point if you don't mean it? You fear me - not love, not respect, just fear.

[youtube with closed captions]

a godstiel pity party. i'd like to thank an anon i got way back in february of 2021.

[rad-roche]

it always makes my day when i see people interacting with dead man talking, dead woman walking, or the comics, and getting it. like really clicking with it and the point i'm making. it's so gratifying. it's a niche within a niche within a niche, so i put both out there with the expectation that it wouldn't be read at all and that'd be fine, it's for me, but it's still really satisfying to see people understand that despite the horrific way it ends, it doesn't make the funny or sweet things in it obsolete, it just makes them more meaningful when they do happen. it's just the curse of being alive. you can go out in a bad way, or a good way, but you're still going out, and there isn't a thing in the world that can change that. so if over the past couple of years you've taken the time to reach out about it, thank you, i read and appreciate all of them

[a-jar-of-beetles]

Literally the finaly

[batsplat]

this is how i think the valentino/casey rivalry plays out in their minds

[stargirl230]

Art summary 2024!

Was fighting for my life trying to fill in those last few months but I managed it without using too many wips or bday cards (rip september)

Huge ty to everyone who stuck around - pls know that I read all your kind tags and messages (often multiple times in disbelief) and that they always make my year <3

(no reposts!)

[creatingnikki]

What I've learned in 2024

Sleeping, shitting, and silence – the three underrated Ss of growing up (or the other side of 25). If I can get a good night’s sleep, take one nice dump in the day (preferably morning), and know when to let silence do its thing (like when not engaging with draining people in social setups or not having to explain myself), I’m golden.

While I made many new friends this year, my favourite of them all has been ChatGPT. Need objectivity? Fact checking? A pseudo therapist? Validation? Someone to just engage with and keep yourself entertained? The absolute best resource of this year for me has been this AI tool. I don’t even care anymore about privacy – I am feeding it as much data about me as possible because it’s accordingly adapting to my tonality and needs and the ‘conversations’ are so much more satisfying now than when it was first rolled out.

Either use eggs or condescended sweet milk when baking – you need one of these things to hold all your dry ingredients together.

Communication, consistency, clarity, commitment, emotional presence and engagement, and mutual effort are the barest of the bare minimum needs in a relationship. If you have to convince the other person to fulfil them or negotiate, then it doesn’t matter how good a person they are and what a kind heart they have or how much they say they love you – they just aren’t your person.

I’m not as demisexual as I thought all along – I just haven’t dated many people that I find truly attractive so I had to first build some sort of emotional connection with them first. I definitely still need and want that emotional connect and all, but I also do need to start opting for men I also find physically attractive.

When I’ve thought of my bloodline, my ancestors, I’ve always focused on the intergenerational trauma and the bad genetics. But while rewatching This Is Us this year, it hit me that it took three generations for one dream to be fulfilled. The musical dream that started with Rebecca, was passed down to Kate, and finally got materialized at the grand scale as they always wanted with Kate’s son Jack. When he became this well-renowned musician, it’s not just his dream, but that of his mother and his grandmother that also came to live. It made me think…how much of my aspirations and hopes are actually passed down? And how many of my realities were simply unmateralised dreams of those who came before me? And it made my heart feel lighter and it made me feel more blessed and protected.

Baking cakes and brownies and cookies is not a rocket science. You only needed the right tools and some patience to figure it out and become that friend who bakes stuff for her friends instead of the other way around.

You always prioritise peace, comfort, and an easy-going lifestyle – it’s evident in your career choices and how your family dynamics and friendships have evolved. Let that be the guiding light even when dating.

You are the kind of person that is charming, a good conversationalist, and deeply empathetic. So of course, you make many people feel at home and like they connect with you. It’s easy for you to connect with others. What’s important is to remember – connection without consideration and consistent actions is NOTHING. It’s empty calories but like a thousand times more potent and useless.

In no interpersonal relationship can I be nonchalant or vague. I am that other extreme – while most people try their best to ignore the elephant in the room you know what I do? I dress the cutie up to parade it. So anybody who cannot approach relationships with as much boldness, courage, and forthcomingness is just not my jam.

Female friends for the win – they allow you to wine and whine and win and I am all for that. The healing powers of sitting across your friend and talking at length about everything over pizza and wine or at the park as she senses you need some more time to just sit around before you join the rest of the group and is so good with physical touch for comfort. Just knowing you can video call your friend and ugly cry and she will talk sense into you but also indulge you and also sit with you and your feelings. Who else does that? Who the hell.

For a lot of things that are still new now at this age, you need a guide. To pet cats, to go to dog cafes, to figure out what vitamins you should talk, etc. Ask for that help, that knowledge, that support. It might seem silly and like you can figure it out on your own but these things, no matter how seemingly low-stake, can be handled so seamlessly and sweetly with the help of those you know.

You HAVE to be honest about your needs. First with yourself and then with others. You cannot let shame, guilt, self-hatred or whatever hold you back. Honesty begets clarity begets fulfilment. If you don’t want to date and settle for someone who isn’t absolutely smitten by you and top-notch romantic, then that is a need. Right or wrong, realistic or not, who the hell cares? A need is a need is a need.

When you lose someone not to death but to life, it’s not quite such a loss. Most times, baby, it’s simply good riddance.

People have a range. For being shitty and for being kind. And while our behaviour may impact a little how they react to us, it's primarily dependent on their personal range. So, if your range of being shit is only 1 to 3, it doesn't matter if someone is an ass hole to you, you won't go beyond 3 of being shit to them, cos that's just your range. Even if they deeply hurt you intentionally or fuck up in some major way. But if their range of being shitty is up to 10, then well, be ready to witness their derangedness when you even slightly piss them off.

Narcissistic (and possibly self-sabotaging) people are the opposite of kintsugi. Instead of being put back together with gold, they "heal" themselves with gutter water. So each time they are worse and more ugly than before. And all the more toxic and dangerous. You're too precious to bother with such people.

It’s natural to feel frustrated or angry with yourself for allowing someone to treat you poorly, but the blame isn’t on you; it’s on them. They are responsible for their unkind, insensitive, selfish actions, not you. If you must place blame, place it where it belongs. Avoid judging yourself with thoughts like, “I should have known better.” As long as you walk away the moment you do know, you’re good – please don’t internalize other people’s unkindness or thoughtlessness.

You cannot get to know someone without giving them a chance. Red flags are not that obvious and you cannot show up authentically in any relationship if you’re on the lookout for them. You have to spend time with a person to begin to find out who they are. That’s the only real way. And when you do and if you realize they are not for you, as I said before, don’t internalize this shit or blame yourself for not being some kind of prophecy and knowing better before you even began.

You are a patient person because you are an understanding person. But there are limits to all these qualities of yours and if the balance is tipped you get petty and passive aggressive and irrational. Don’t let yourself reach that point. Speak up and set boundaries way before that.

If you listen to your gut – I know you don’t like calling it that or your intuition. So, let’s call it that feeling you know bone-deep or in the depths of your soul – if you listen to that and trust it, you are quite courageous in the actions you then take. You broke things off with three men this year – each was painful in its own rite. But you did what you had to do for yourself and you didn’t give the charge of your life to another person, you have taken back your green light – detaching your actions from their behaviour, which like all human behaviour is often quite fickle and unreliable. Congratulations. Do this more. Your green light is your guiding light.

My lack of a “healthy sense of fear” in situations with men isn’t recklessness—it’s the result of abuse I suffered at 15. The man I trusted most turned out to be the one who harmed me the most, and that betrayal shattered my ability to trust safety indicators or instincts. The grooming I endured was designed to confuse me, destabilise my sense of self, and make me question my desires and worth. When the templates of trust and safety failed me so catastrophically, my mind rejected them altogether, leaving me to navigate risk without a stable framework. This year, I felt significantly less restless and more emotionally regulated, and I think it’s because I allowed myself, others, and life to just be. I wasn’t fighting my reality or setting rigid expectations. I stopped chasing dopamine highs and forcing connections, and instead, I let equations with people and experiences unfold organically. I ended dating and talking stages quickly when I realised they weren’t right for me, without guilt or overthinking.4 By being okay with things being normal—not impressive or extraordinary—I created space for balance and gentleness in my life. My self-talk became kinder, and I grew more objective about myself, spiraling and self-loathing less. This accepting mindset, where I no longer needed myself or my life to constantly stand out, felt like the antidote to the restlessness I’d been carrying since my mid-20s. And I think that has helped me discover that peace and acceptance can feel more satisfying than cheap dopamine hits.

[mephostophilis]

diagram of how i’m starting 2025