#most popular gift 2020

[mistimstar]

Savage Soaps : The Coolest Gifts of 2023

[ynnova]

𐙚⋆˚ BASiC iNFORMATiON ───── OH WHO IS SHE ?

NAME : Y/N

STAGE NAME : Y/N

NiCKNAMES : ATEEZ'S Supernova, ATEEZ'S Odd Fairy, K-Pop's It Girl to End All It Girls, Trinket Girl

BiRTHDAY : August 4, 1999

BiRTH PLACE : Misty Falls, South Carolina

HOMETOWN : Osaka, Japan

SPOKEN LANGUAGES : English (fluent), Japanese (fluent), Korean (mostly fluent)

𐙚⋆˚ CAREER iNFORMATiON ───── THE SUPERNOVA !

COMPANY : KQ Entertainment (2017 - present), SM Entertainment (2012-2016)

GROUP : ATEEZ (2018 - present), KQ FELLAZ (pre-debut), SM ROOKIES (pre-debut)

OCCUPATiON : Singer, Song-Writer, Producer, Model, Actress

DEBUT DATE : October 24, 2018

SOLO SONG : Cosmic

ANiTEEZ : YNNIEHANA

iNSTAGRAM : @/hauteyn

EMOJi : 🍓 / 🪱 (fans usually use the strawberry and y/n has used the worm in the past)

PERSONAL FANDOM NAME : YN-INATORS 🤖

SiGNATURE : writes her signature in a very fancy cursive print, usually signs her name in english when signing things for fans. along with her name she usually draws a small, cat-like doodle under the last letter of her name.

𐙚⋆˚ TRiViA ───── THE WORLD OF Y/N !

she's an only child.

she also has two cats named bebe and meow.

her and her parents moved from the states to japan when she was around five and has lived there for most of her life up until she became a trainee in 2012 and began living in korea. as of 2024, her parents are now back in the states.

was originally an smrookie trainee at sm entertainment, y/n was one of the first ones to be announced and quickly became one of their most popular trainees.

she was a cast member on the mickey mouse clubhouse along with other smrookies. she would eventually leave sm entertainment in 2016 after them continuously breaking promises on debuting.

she was very admired by some of her classmates and would often get letters and small gifts.

she is friends with several sm artists as she trained with a lot of them. those included are: red velvet's joy and yeri, nct dream, nct's yuta, and more recently aespa.

her first concert was hikaru utada and y/n often cites her as one of her main inspos for wanting to pursue a music career.

has a total of six tattoos which is currently the most out of any member.

she's a big fan of older survival horror games like siren, fatal frame, haunting grounds, clock tower, rule of rose.

some other games y/n is a fan of is no more hero, kingdom hearts, resident evil, and animal crossing.

the concept y/n wants ateez to try the most is either a barbie concept or a horror concept.

in 2023, it was announced that y/n and san were dating and had been in a relationship since 2020.

[cha-melodius]

2024 Fic Year in Review

My fifth fic year in review! It's always wild to go back and look at how far I've come. As always, feel free to grab this if you want to do your own; I've stitched it together over the years. And thank you to everyone who read my fics this year, whether it was one or all of them.

2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

AO3 Username: chamel My Page: Link Active Fandoms: Red, White & Royal Blue: 14 works Loki: 3 works The Man from UNCLE (2015): 1 work New Fandoms: The Pairing (CMQ novel; 1 work) Total Number Of Completed Works/Word Count This Year: 23 works, 303k words All Time: 135 works, 1.57 million words

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): This Year: Trying My Patience (Try Pink Carnations) (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 9.4k) All Time: Class(room) Warfare (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 7.8k words)

Most Popular Completed Multi-Chapter (by kudos):  This Year: False Dichotomy (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 62k) All Time: Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood  (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 20k words)

Events/Challenges: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gift Exchange 2024, A Royally Big Bang, Lokius Reverse Bang, idk do what you want exchange

More reflections, stats, and planned fics below the cut!

Additional Random AO3 Stats

By number of fics: 79% one shots, 21% multi-chaps

By word count: 69% multi-chaps (nice), 31% one shots

Ratings by number of fics: 48% E-rated, 26% M-rated, 26% T-rated

Musical artists contributing highest number of titles: spread out this year, but Wilco, Metric & Sufjan Stevens came in with 2 each

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?  I was wrong in my 2024 roundup post—I wrote 25k more words this year despite having 10 fewer fics. Which I did NOT expect. I figured I was trucking along to make my usual ~270k, but I forgot about The Secret Fics lol.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?  I think I have to go with Body and Soul(mate), which I'm just so so proud of. I love how it came out and I think it's really original.

Did you complete your writing goals from last year?  The Goal: My goal is to have a similar mix of fics as least year, and also to write my first collaboration with @cricketnationrise, which will be a long multichap. First part, pretty close. I wrote more multichaps (21% vs 15%) this year, which meant fewer fics in total. Second part, oops. Cricket and I have both been busy, but the hockey fic lives!! We'll get to it eventually!

Do you have any writing goals for the New Year? I can't believe I'm gonna say this but... write more original fiction. See below for more on that. Fanfic wise... finally finish some of the planned stories I've had kicking around for a while.

Did you take any writing risks this year? I submitted a pitch for an anthology, was accepted, and wrote my first original story! I had a lot of fun with it and I think I'll purse more next year. Idk if I'm ready for a whole novel and trying to get (more) published, but we'll see.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Even though it's numbers have come up since publishing, I'm still gonna go with The Impossible Soul, aka my Westworld-esque android/human AU.

Most fun story to write: Probably Body and Soul(mate). Figuring out all the body swaps and soulmate lore was a lot of fun and the whole thing just flowed so well.

Biggest disappointment: Why do I keep this question? I hate complaining publicly. 😂 My biggest disappointment is that I sometimes let fandom drama/trends/popularity make me feel bad. Being mad because a fandom loves X type of fic doesn't help anyone.

Biggest surprise: I'm not sure I really had any big surprises this year. Biggest surprise in my stats was that my percent of explicit works is way up—T used to be my most-used rating. Part of that is publishing fewer one-shots, since those tend to be T for me, whereas a long fic is more likely to be E.

Coming soon/planned for 2024: It's a little depressing how so many of these are the same as last year. Hence the resolution above, I guess.

Kissed Out (RWRB pro-pool players AU)

RWRB 1940s noir AU

RWRB conductor/piano soloist AU

RWRB Jurassic Park AU

RWRB rodeo rider/polo player AU

RWRB hockey AU (with cricket)

A shitload of prompts from my fandom fest

Extremely delinquent MTH fics

TMFU art thief/gallery owner AU

Thanks to folks who tagged me in their year in review posts, including @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @kiwiana-writes, and @porcelainmortal

[pedripics]

Pedri: The island boy with the world at his feet

(via The Athletic - December 2020)

“It is very easy to say it now but the people who know me know that it’s true,” Ruben Delgado tells The Athletic. “When Pedri was nine years old, he reminded me of Iniesta. I always say that the first time I saw him, I knew he had something special."

“His way of playing — everything very simple but very important at the same time. He was not looking to nutmeg people or do lots of stepovers: just the simple thing and the right thing. He was just different: the way he saw football, understood the game, found spaces nobody else could, the maturity he had compared to his team-mates. That is very difficult to find in the world of football but he does it. And it does remind you of Iniesta; looking for the simple thing. It’s a gift. Not very common in football.”

Delgado is a youth football coach with the team in Tegueste, a village on the island of Tenerife. When Pedro Gonzalez Lopez, known then as now as Pedri, turned nine, Andres Iniesta had scored Spain’s winning goal in the World Cup final the year before and later that season won the third of his eventual four Champions League trophies with Barcelona.

Iniesta was also then maybe the most popular footballer in Spain, winning over team-mates, opponents and neutrals with a becoming mix of quiet good manners off the pitch and unshowy genius as he decided games for club and country.

So it was quite something to say that this shy young kid was like Iniesta, but Delgado has not changed his mind over the eight years since he first started coaching a shy, unassuming boy with the gift for playing simple but special football who has settled naturally into the Barcelona midfield since his arrival last summer.

“Pedri just transmitted something different than the other kids of his age,” he says. “Not just how he played with the ball but the respect he showed to his teammates, rival players, the coaches, everyone. One game he scored a super goal, dribbling (past) many players and finishing it perfectly. All of us on the sideline — our fans, and the opposition too — all just had to applaud. At the end of the game, I asked him, ‘Pedri, how did you do that?’ and he just looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know. it just came out naturally’. And I told him, ‘No, no, Pedri — that is not natural’.”

Pedri was born in November 2002 — just a few weeks after Iniesta made his Barcelona first-team debut — in Tegueste, a small town in the northwest of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands.

He was also born into Barcelona — given that, eight years previously, his grandfather Fernando Rodriguez had established the Peña Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste, one of the first official Barcelona supporters clubs in the Canary Islands. Pedri’s father, also Fernando, still runs it, along with family friend Oscar Ledesma.

“Tegueste is a small town of around 10,000 people, with a healthy rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid supporters, and the Rodriguez family were always known as ‘the Catalans’ as they were all Barca fans,” Ledesma tells The Athletic. “His grandfather was president of the town’s football club (Union Deportiva Tegueste) for many years and also president of the ‘Lucha Canaria’ club (a local form of wrestling developed by the Guanches, the earliest known natives of the archipelago off the north west African coast). His father was a goalkeeper for many years and had some trials with Tenerife, although he never played for them. The family has a restaurant here in Tegueste, which was established by his grandfather. His grandmother worked there, now his parents, his uncles; they all work together.”

Naturally, Pedri and his older brother Fernando (the third generation) began to play for Tegueste’s youth teams, where Delgado was their coach. Although two years younger than his brother, Pedri’s displays soon started to draw attention in their hometown and elsewhere on the island.

“There were people who came to our games just to watch Pedri,” Delgado says. “There was admiration from the parents of the other kids, from the opposition teams. He did not stand out just for the way he played: his dribbling or finishing, like some kids of this age do. With him, it was his maturity and way of understanding football, knowing very quickly to take the correct decision in every moment. You do not see that very often in a kid of nine or ten years old. People could see the potential that he had but also how humble he was, how normal. Tegueste is a small place where everybody knows their neighbours and it’s a family club which transmits those values — respect for referees and opponents, friendliness, to enjoy yourself.”

Tenerife-born Pedro was an important player in Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona team of that time, while the Spain side which won Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 had David Silva, from the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria. Lionel Messi was by now the favourite player of most Barcelona-supporting kids the world over. However, the young Pedri and his father had a clear idea of who his model players should be.

“Pedri always says that Iniesta was his hero and his reference from when he used to go to the peña (supporters’ club) to watch the games with his father and grandfather,” says Ledesma. “He also spoke a lot about (Michael) Laudrup, even though he moved to Madrid and he never saw him play for Barca. His father used to show him videos.”

When the family realised that Pedri needed to be challenged more on the pitch, the two brothers joined Juventud Laguna, a bigger club in San Cristobal de La Laguna, still just a 10-minute drive from home.

“Pedri was the smallest on the team but every coach he had could see that they had a special talent,” Ledesma says. “He did not want to leave at first for Laguna as he was happy playing with his friends and there were also offers from stronger clubs, like Tenerife. The first time he made his debut on the Laguna juveniles (the under-18s, when he was 14), the senior side immediately called him and wanted him to play with them. His dad was worried that he would get broken up, with those little sticks of legs he had, but he just went with them and did amazing things. He is very special.”

By now, Pedri had also started to play for the Canary Islands’ representative side and scouts from some (but not all) Primera Division clubs had taken notice. Although there was still a reluctance to move and leave his friends and family behind, Las Palmas’ academy director Manuel Rodriguez made a persuasive case for him to move to another of the Canary Island clubs to progress his career.

“Offers kept coming and Las Palmas have a very good reputation in the Canaries for their youth system, and very good residences for the boys to live in,” Ledesma says. “It was tough for his parents to accept. He was moving to another island but they assured him about his studies too and they convinced the whole family with their ideas: where he would play, how they would help him to progress. He was very happy there.”

Delgado says that each step of the way, Pedri had help in keeping his career progressing forward at just the right pace.

“Good players always need new challenges and to move up,” he says. “The process has been ideal. He has overcome every challenge that came along each step of the way. He had various offers at different moments but they have known how to choose the right option. Not everybody has that good fortune and it has gone well for him. His father, his brother, his uncles, his friends; they have all kept his feet on the ground. They did not let him grow further than was best in every moment. That has helped him to get to where he is now.”

It was summer 2018 when Pedri moved into the Casa Amarilla youth academy of Las Palmas. After one year as the youngest player among the club’s under-18s, he was ready to move up the levels again.

Then-Las Palmas technical secretary Toni Otero picks up the story.

“I first saw him playing aged 15 and we decided to bring him up to the first team,” Otero tells The Athletic. “We just could not believe what we were seeing, that a player at that age could do what he was doing. We knew he had a lot of potential, could reach the very top. We were afraid that he was still too young but once we saw him train and then play for the first team, we realised he was an extraordinary player.”

Otero signed Pedri to his first professional contract in July last year but was still unsure whether the slight 16-year-old was ready to be pitched into a first team playing in Spain’s second tier.

“The only fear we had was that, physically, he was not ready for professional football with grown men, as he is not a big kid,” he says. “But from the first training session with the first team, we could see he would adapt very well. His first game with us was a pre-season friendly in Marbella against Almeria, after just two weeks of pre-season training with the first team — and he was the best player on the pitch. He did whatever he wanted: played comfortably, passed the ball, ran the game, dribbled past players. He was showing that, ‘I’m here now. I don’t care who you are but I am a proper football player’. That game told us that this kid has everything to reach the top.”

Las Palmas’ coach Pepe Mel was also convinced and Pedri started the first game of the season, doing well even though his team were beaten 1-0 by Huesca. A week later, he got the assist on veteran striker Ruben Castro’s goal in a 1-1 draw away to Malaga. The following month, his first goal in senior football brought Las Palmas’ first win of the season, at home to Sporting Gijon.

Except when called up for Spain’s age-group teams, including to play at the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil, Pedri played each week for Las Palmas. Opponents quickly realised their main creative threat was the tiny kid in midfield but he still finished last season with four goals and seven assists in 36 league games. Otero says that everyone in the dressing room automatically took to this quiet teenager who did his talking on the pitch.

“He was a young kid; skinny, very shy,” Otero says, “so the other players did not know what to expect, but that also helped them to take him into the dressing room. At Barcelona now, from Leo Messi to the groundsman, everyone naturally wants to look after him. And at Las Palmas, it was the same. We had to go along learning with him. I always think age is not important in football — some players of 40 seem like kids, others of 16 are already like men.”

Otero agrees with Ledesma and Delgado that Pedri had good people around him, including his agents Leaderbrock Sports, who also represent other younger Spanish talents including Manchester City’s Ferran Torres and Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Nunez.

“Pedri is very close to his family and they protect him,” Otero says. “His agents look after many young players and know how to protect these kids. Everything related to football and outside of football was looked after. He was playing in the Las Palmas first team and living in the residence at the training ground. We had to take the basketball hoop down as he just wanted to play it all the time, but he was not going out at night. He is not a party kid."

“He likes his PlayStation, his friends, going to the park. He is just such a quiet kid, which is helping him at the moment. It is very important that he is kept away from the parts of football which are not good.”

Given the family connection to Barcelona, it might have seemed obvious that Pedri would end up at the Nou Camp at some point but things could easily have turned out differently.

“Pedri was very close to joining Real Madrid,” says Ledesma. “When he was still playing for Laguna, and began to draw attention, various clubs came here — Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and also Real Madrid. The Barca scout here did not rate him. At that moment, they did not think he was an interesting player."

“Madrid took him for a trial. He was there for a week but there was tremendous snow, so he could only do a couple of training sessions. They told him they would be in touch but nothing came of it. It is very funny, as he said he did not recognise himself wearing a Madrid jersey when he was there on trial. All of us here in the peña, including myself, tried to make contact with Barcelona in some way to tell them that this kid is going on trial at Madrid, and he’s Barca to the core — but nobody took any notice.”

Barcelona then had another stroke of luck. Otero had spent two years working as a scout at the Camp Nou and personally knew those running their youth structures, including the club’s former midfielder Jose Mari Bakero.

“When I saw this player, after just 10 minutes, I called Barcelona to talk to Jose Mari and tell him to come and look at this kid,” Otero says, “as he is a Barca player — not 100 per cent but 1,000 per cent. ‘You have to come here, even though he is just 16 years old, but if you take him now, it will be a lot easier than if you wait another year as by then, he will already be a ‘crack’.’ And Jose Mari took me at my word, came here and he could see it too after just 10 minutes.”

So, in early September last year, when he had still only played three senior games for Las Palmas, it was agreed that Pedri would join Barcelona this past summer for an initial fee of €5 million plus add-ons, including 15 per cent of the profit in any future sale. The deal did not make huge headlines at the time but, more recently, Barcelona figures including current sporting director Ramon Planes and former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu have taken credit for their supposed foresight.

“I imagine that many people want to put medals on their chests as now we can see Pedri is going to be a world-class player,” Otero says. “I made the first call, to Jose Mari Barkero, as I had worked at Barca and I knew perfectly well what was the best to do.”

Ledesma says Pedri and his family also received offers from other big clubs at that time. However, the connection with Barcelona was too strong to consider going anywhere else.

“When he was at Las Palmas, the offers started to come, and Barca got involved then,” says Ledesma. “There were various offers on the table but he told his father that if it were possible, he only wanted to join Barca. I believe there were better offers from other teams but both he and his father were clear they wanted Barca.”

After completing the season with Las Palmas, Pedri formally arrived at Barcelona to start pre-season in early August — just as most of his new team-mates were in Lisbon, about to crash out of the Champions League with an 8-2 quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich.

When Ronald Koeman took over as coach a few weeks later, he spoke publicly about Pedri needing to be sent on loan as he was too young to be considered for the first team.

Koeman has a reputation for showing confidence in youth but had also spoken a lot about giving a chance to Philippe Coutinho, who was returning from a season on loan at Bayern. The competition for places in attacking midfield roles also included World Cup 2018 winner Antoine Griezmann, €130 million France international Ousmane Dembele, €30 million Portugal international Francisco Trincao, homegrown fan favourite Riqui Puig and a certain guy called Messi.

However, Pedri’s performances in training, and in the first few friendlies before all the senior players had returned to full fitness after their brief close-season break having played on into August, led to a quick change of plans.

“I imagine Koeman had the same experience we did,” Otero says. “I was fully sure that if he did pre-season with Barca, then he would stay (rather than being loaned out) — no doubts at all — because Koeman would have seen that he was ready. Even though he looks small, he is physically strong and he is just a Barca player. After seeing him train for 10 minutes, Koeman realised that he had a player who was going to be one of the best in the world, for sure.”

Ledesma says that even those closest to Pedri thought it most likely he would spend another year gaining experience and playing time on loan somewhere else, possibly in Germany.

“We thought that he would go and do pre-season at Barcelona but we were sure they would loan him to another team where he would be able to play every week,” Ledesma says. “He could not go to Barca B. That was in his contract. There were many teams interested, including Borussia Dortmund, and we thought he could be loaned back to Las Palmas. He was prepared for that but the circumstances at Barca, the time of transition there, have helped for younger players to get opportunities. And he has taken it, and settled in there, playing a lot more than we expected.”

Delgado says that Pedri himself was always convinced that if given a chance, he could show he was ready to play in Barcelona’s first team.

“I am only surprised by how fast it is happening; that he has earned his place in the XI at Barcelona so quickly,” Delgado says. “We all expected it to happen but to take a bit more time. I remember talking to him in the summer and he was convinced he wanted to stay at Barca this season, and when this kid decides to do something, he usually does it.”

Most new players who have come to Barcelona in recent years have needed time to adapt, including many who were much older and with a lot more experience than Pedri, with Coutinho and Griezmann being obvious examples. This year could have been extra difficult, given all the turmoil around the club, including Messi’s attempt to leave last summer and Bartomeu’s resignation as president in October. However, those around Pedri say he has settled in remarkably easily.

“He speaks wonderfully about the atmosphere in the dressing room: above all, about the older players who have taken to him and to the other younger players, like Trincao and Ansu Fati,” says Ledesma. “Even at the start, when the mood was a bit strange and the president resigned, and all that, he felt very comfortable. He has that character — that people warm to him quickly. He speaks very well about everybody: (Sergio) Busquets, (Gerard) Pique, Messi and all of them.”

Pedri came off the bench in the first three La Liga games of the season, then was given a first start at Getafe in week four, with Coutinho dropping out. Barcelona lost 1-0 but the 17-year-old was one of their best players, with a strong run and clever pass that was key to a move which saw Messi hit a post from the visitors’ best chance to equalise.

“Since the start, Koeman has treated him with a lot of care, given him lots of advice,” says Ledesma. “Above all, he has given him confidence. When he trains and plays, he keeps telling him he is doing very well, to keep going like this, to use his imagination and not be afraid to try things, to do what he knows he can do — and for a kid so young, that gives you a lot of confidence.”

Four days later, he came off the bench to make his Champions League debut and marked the occasion with his first Barcelona goal in a 5-1 victory over Ferencvaros  He was back in the XI for October’s Clasico at home to Real Madrid but did not have his best game and was taken off early in a 3-1 defeat. Koeman kept faith, though, and started him again four days later at Juventus — and Pedri produced a phenomenal performance, regularly skipping away from Juan Cuadrado and frustrating the Colombian by stealing the ball from him, too. A few weeks later came his first La Liga goal, another confident finish in a 5-2 victory over Real Betis.

“As a 17-year-old, you have to understand there will be ups and downs, and better and worse games,” Otero says. “Maybe he did not stand out so much against Madrid but then, a few days later, everybody saw what he did against Juventus. But if the coach keeps putting him in the team, it is because he is happy with his performances.”

While Pedri’s season has been progressing as well as anyone could have hoped, his team have stumbled along and mixed some decent performances with other horror-show displays. Many local pundits say it is no coincidence that they have been playing better in recent weeks because Pedri has more responsibility in the team, and €155 million Brazil international Coutinho is featuring less. Koeman has also been experimenting with the team’s shape, and Pedri played a deeper role in the recent 2-1 win over Real Sociedad, when he drew even more admiration for a brave last-ditch Javier Mascherano-style challenge on Alexander Isak which prevented an almost certain late equaliser.

“Pedri is a player who understands football,” Otero says. “It is not that he is focused on playing in one position or another, or that the coach has told him he must do this or that. No. He understands what he has to do before a coach or anybody can tell him. He has the game in his head and knows perfectly well what he needs to do. It is something great that he has.”

The most difficult challenge for many new Barcelona players is to get on the same wavelength as Messi, something neither Griezmann nor Coutinho have managed to do yet. However, Pedri has quickly struck up an understanding with the Argentinian. Against Real Sociedad, 10 of the 31 passes Pedri completed were to Messi, while Barca’s No 10 found him nine times in return. Their connection was again clear in the 3-0 win at Real Valladolid just before Christmas, especially with the back-heel assist from Pedri for Messi’s strike and the joyous goal celebration between the pair.

“At Las Palmas, the players who he connected best with on the pitch were the most technical: Jonathan Viera and Ruben Castro,” says Ledesma. “When Viera arrived on loan, he told Pedri, ‘You look for me on the pitch and you and me, we are going to understand each other’. Maybe with Messi, it is not the exact same words but something similar has happened."

“Messi knows that if you give him the ball, you will get it back in a better position, and that is important when you play with these technical players. Pedri is also bursting with pride that Messi talks with him, gives him advice, having been his hero almost since he was born. That, for him, is something incredible. Messi speaks more in the dressing room than in front of the cameras. From what I hear, he is more a leader inside the dressing room than it might seem from outside. He lifts the others, he supports them, and that is helping Pedri a lot.”

Otero says Pedri has not had to change anything about his personality or his style of play to fit in at Barcelona — and has not tried to show off with any special tricks or unnecessary demonstrations of skill, instead just continuing to play the same simple way he always has.

“He has that humility and simplicity and naturalness,” Otero says. “With this kid, everything he does is so natural. He just has that talent inside him. That is what talent is: knowing what to do in each moment and being able to do it. Not just heading off on a dribble to show off. Messi has that, and Pedri too. It is all natural talent. He was born with it. He is too young to have learned to play like this. I am convinced he will be a world-class star and mark an era in Spanish football.”

While the Clasico was maybe his quietest game for Barcelona so far, little seems to have fazed the teenager so far. He has even played some of his better games when the team were struggling: such as in that first start at Getafe or in the 1-1 draw at Alaves when far more experienced colleagues let their team down.

After their title hopes took a huge blow in the 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid on November 21, he did the post-match Spanish TV interview, admitting that Barcelona had not played well and would have to look at their mistakes and improve — all this from a supposedly shy kid, just four days before his 18th birthday, and only a few months after moving to Catalonia.

“He is a little bit introverted or shy when he does not know the people he is with,” says Ledesma. “But afterwards, when he gets to know you and feels confident, he loves to joke around. It is true that on the pitch he changes, and he always has. When he was playing, he always took it seriously. Every game was very important; even just a kickaround with his friends, he always wanted to win."

“He has a sense of calm, even when Pepe Mel called him to the Las Palmas first team just past his 16th birthday. They all said he had the character, a security in himself that it seemed he had always played there. We were all confident that if Barca gave him a sniff of a chance, he was going to take advantage of it. He gets nervous sometimes, like everyone, but he does not show it. And once he is playing, even in front of fans, he puts everything else to the side.”

Recent months have also seen Pedri make his debut for Spain Under-21s while it would be no surprise if senior side coach Luis Enrique takes both he and close friend Ansu Fati to next summer’s European Championship.

Meanwhile, he has just been getting on with his normal life. He lives in Barcelona with his big brother Fernando, who cooks and looks after the apartment. They play a lot of FIFA in the afternoons while Pedri is also a fan of strategy board game Catan. Their parents have visited when possible amid the pandemic and their own work commitments. The only headlines he has made so far off the pitch have been for using a simple supermarket plastic bag to bring his personal effects to the stadium instead of the designer gear favoured by most of his team-mates, and using taxis to get to and from training and games.

“Pedri will keep his feet on the ground. He is very well supported by his family,” says Ledesma. “His parents still have the restaurant — the mother runs the kitchen and his father runs the dining room — but they go there when they can. With the character he has, it would be strange if he changed.

“He was surprised at all the noise made about him taking a taxi or bringing his things in the plastic bag. He says everyone has a bag like that for their clothes, due to COVID. The only thing is he did not then put it inside a Dolce & Gabbana bag, he just carried it in his hand. And if he does not have a driving licence, and his brother also does not have it yet, then he needs to get a taxi. He just gets on with things. He is a very normal kid.”

Back on Tenerife, the locals have recovered from the strangeness of supporting usual rivals Las Palmas last season and the Pena Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste is packed for each Barcelona game.

“I don’t know what he can achieve. I can only say that if he aims for something, he will get it,” Delgado says. “I just hope he keeps going, keeps enjoying this moment and what is to come. I am convinced he will go very, very far. He is still the same kid I coached at nine years old, with the same friends and loved ones. He responds to your messages, shows respect, does not dominate the conversation, asks about you and your family. I am super proud to be able to say that.”

Nobody who knows Pedri thinks that he will plateau now and not aim to keep developing his game and become an even more important player for Barcelona over the next decade or more.

“He says that he wants to improve in everything,” says Ledesma. “Often, he speaks about scoring more goals, his finishing, shots from long range. He scored more for Las Palmas as he took more shots but he always says that he is happier to give an assist than score a goal. But he knows he is learning things every day, being with the best players in the world. It is an incredible opportunity for as long as it lasts at Barca, and I hope he retires there, to keep learning and improving.”

Such a strong confidence in one’s own ability, despite appearing shy and unassuming at first, also brings back the comparison with Pedri’s childhood hero.

“Hopefully they are similar in how they play, although Pedri still has a long way to go — achieving half of what Iniesta has would be marvellous,” says Ledesma. “Although he admires Iniesta a lot, he does not really like the comparisons. He knows he is Pedri and needs to play like Pedri.”

[covid-safer-hotties]

This holiday season, let's spread kindness, not COVID - Published Dec 5, 2024

By Emily Oelberg

We're not hearing much about the virus anymore, but it's the gift that keeps on giving — with long-term effects of notable concern.

The phrase “spirit of the holidays” tends to evoke feelings of benevolence, kindness and generosity. Christmas is the season of giving, after all. However, there’s an elephant in the room that no one seems to want to talk about: an unwanted — and sometimes deadly — gift that many are spreading without a second thought.

Bringing it up in family group chats is often met with awkward silence. In person, people shift nervously, mumble and change the subject. That dreaded thing-that-must-not-be-named: COVID.

Article content Many people seem to believe that the pandemic is over. Or, at least, they don’t hear about COVID-19 much anymore. Tests are difficult to find. Mask mandates are a thing of the past. “Surely if it was still a problem,” one might speculate, “then the government would say something, right?” And one might be forgiven for thinking so.

However, governments are political entities, and politicians seem to have learned that COVID-19 is not a popular subject. Yet, if one were to look at data from wastewater testing, hospitalization numbers, and test positivity rates, it would be obvious that COVID-19 is thriving in Quebec.

Because public health appears to have dropped the ball on public communication, volunteer organizations have had to fill that role. COVID-19 Resources Canada is one such entity, run by a team of volunteers with a broad range of skills and expertise, including researchers and health care professionals. They publish a weekly Canadian COVID Forecast in which they estimate the risk of COVID-19 in each province.

This week, the numbers for Quebec show that around one in 44 people are infected. This statistic is useful, as it allows us to estimate the risk of a COVID-19 exposure based on the number of people at a gathering. For example, the risk that someone is positive is 11 per cent for a gathering of five, 21 per cent for a gathering of 10, and 37 per cent for a gathering of 20.

Article content Anywhere you would share air with at least 130 people — such as for in-person Christmas shopping — the risk that you would encounter someone positive for COVID-19 is over 95 per cent. Clearly, COVID-19 has not gone anywhere.

“True,” one might say, “but COVID-19 is mild now, right?”

Again, one might be forgiven for thinking so, as we have indeed come a long way when it comes to treating the acute phase of COVID-19. However, COVID truly is the gift that keeps on giving, and research shows that “long COVID” is an ever-increasing and serious problem. It is neither rare nor mild.

A Statistics Canada study published last December shows that one in nine Canadian adults “have experienced long-term COVID-19 symptoms; most continue to experience symptoms.”

The study also shows that the risk of long-term symptoms increased with the number of infections. After one infection, the risk of long COVID was 14.6 per cent. This rose to 37.9 per cent by the third infection.

In October, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) published a report showing that six per cent of the province’s health care workers are suffering from long COVID. When did we stop caring about our “guardian angels,” whom we worked so hard to protect in 2020?

This holiday season, let’s embody the values of benevolence, kindness and generosity and do our best to avoid spreading a disabling virus to strangers and loved ones alike.

It can be surprisingly simple to protect our health and the health of others — by masking in public with high-quality masks (such as KN95 or N95), testing before gatherings, increasing ventilation, and staying home if sick. Not only will this help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but also all other respiratory illnesses of the season, like the flu and RSV.

This year, let’s become better versions of ourselves and spread kindness, not viruses.

[songsofadelaide]

Joined in a dream

cw/tw: no curses AU set in the 2020s, birthday fic, female reader, established relationship, fluff, slice of life, another marriage proposal, popular teacher!gojo x private kind of gf— gojo decides to gift himself... a wife. wc: 685

Satoru proposed to you in the quietest way possible— in the confines and comforts of your shared bedroom, away from people's peering eyes. It caught you off-guard, too, the way he presented you with the ring in a velvet box that seemed to have been opened and closed a lot. He must have rehearsed the whole thing so many times that the box was already worn out.

For someone so ostentatious, you'd expect him to propose in front of a crowd, or your friends, at least… But he did this in a way so intimate that you couldn't help but question his motives— and if you truly knew him at all.

Satoru was an unforgivably loud person. He was a teacher, after all. Your friends called him Mr. Congeniality. He was always the talk of the town and always the life of the party— He was expected to be everywhere even though he was busy with his job but his social battery was always fully charged.

On his 30th birthday, he decides to gift himself one of the most important things he could ever want and he could ever ask for.

When you were both tucked in bed and ready to turn in for the night, he fished out the box from his bedside drawer and held it out to you.

"I could have easily asked our friends for help with this," he chuckled in an attempt to mask the nervousness in his voice. "They could have helped me plan something grand, but I know that grandiosity really isn't your thing."

"S-Satoru?…"

"I know it's always a riot with me. We're never not surrounded by our friends and it gets pretty tiring at times," he said, finally lowering the ring box but raising his glassy blue gaze to hold your own. "But would you please do me the honour of being my hiding spot, my safe space, like always?"

Satoru took your hands in his, warmly and tenderly. Though always surrounded by people, he was never really an open book. There was still some reticence in his usual smile, and it gave you so much pleasure that it was only you he would open up to so willingly.

His lips curled up to a crooked smile. "Spare me from the loneliness of not having you by my side every morning. Spare me from the solitude of having dinner alone when we can share in each other's days while enjoying our meal. Release me from this uncertainty that one day, you'll just get up and leave because you can't handle all the commotion I bring…"

He ran his thumbs over your freezing knuckles, attempting to warm them up with his touch. "Marry me, won't you?"

And when you smiled right back at him, he knew just what you were about to say.

"We could have a party with our friends or a party for two. It doesn't matter to me at all. In the chaos or in the quiet, I will always choose to be with you, Satoru. I know that you'll always find ways to find the fun in our simple, mundane life together," you finally answered him, squeezing his hands right back. "So sure… Of course I'll marry you."

"You know I did this so I could savour the way your eyes lit up when you saw the ring," he said with another small laugh as he eventually slid the ring on your ring finger so you could finally marvel at it. "There are just some things I don't want others to see. That includes this, I guess…"

"You proposed at the most perfect time, too," you told him, scooting over to his side of the bed so he could embrace you. "You and I share a pillow, after all. There's no way we won't be joined in a dream tonight."

"The sweetest dream, guaranteed," Satoru stated with another laugh as he welcomed you into his arms. He was certain now that he was your hiding spot— a corner of the world just for the two of you— just as you were his.

Author's Notes: Happy birthday, Toru! 🥺🩵🍰 This is my second intimate proposal fic and I have so many feels about this one because I'm also not a grandiose kinda girl lol. 😆 I'm looking forward to reading a lot of Gojo fics later today (tomorrow), too! Hope you enjoy this simple one as well. 🩵

[notwiselybuttoowell]

The Natural History Museum in London has announced a major programme of transformation it says will mark “a step-change from being a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change” in response to the climate emergency.

The scheme to renovate the museum’s celebrated Victorian building and develop a new research and storage facility will build on its aim to turn visitors into “advocates for the planet"

Four existing galleries will be overhauled, including its enormously popular dinosaur gallery, while the museum plans to reopen two long-closed exhibition spaces, one of which, the Old General Herbarium, has not been accessible to the public since 1948.

One of them will house a new permanent exhibition that the museum’s director, Doug Gurr, said would include the most explicit climate messaging it had ever offered. The exhibition, Fixing Our Broken Planet, will have the express aim of “nudging” visitors to change their behaviour, he said.

The new exhibition spaces will be freed up by the creation of a purpose-built storage, research and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park near Reading, to which more than a third of the museum’s enormous natural history collection will be moved from its “unsuitable, unsustainable” current home.

The museum said this was “so we can take better care of it and more easily share its data with scientists all over the world who are finding solutions to problems like climate change, biodiversity loss and food security.”

Until recently, Gurr told the Guardian, the museum had seen itself as a “passive observer … our job was to collect, to conserve, to research, to display”.

“[Then] we stepped back a bit and said: ‘Well, hang on, if your subject matter is planet Earth and it’s under that much threat, you’ve got to do something about it. If you want the sporting analogy: how do you get off the sidelines and get on the pitch?”

In 2020 the museum declared a planetary emergency, and Gurr said the redevelopment was part of its continuing response. “The best contribution we can make is to create what we call ‘advocates for the planet’. And what that really means is: how do you inspire people at scale to care about nature and to care enough to want to do something about it?

“Of course, we still want people to have a brilliant, fun family day out. But if you can come out of that being a little bit more interested in nature and a little bit more aware of some of the challenges, you’re a bit more likely to want to do something about it.”

The overhaul of the South Kensington site is due to be completed in time for the museum’s 150th anniversary in 2031. The bulk of the funding will come from the government, which has already committed more than £200m to the new collections and research centre, while a further £155m will fund a museum-led programme to digitise natural science collections in the UK. In addition, the museum announced plans to raise £150m from philanthropic and commercial sponsors.

Gurr said the museum was happy to “talk to everybody” about potential sources of sponsorship but would not accept donations from firms it saw as unacceptable partners based on their climate record. “We are very, very clear that when we talk to [a potential sponsor], we’re going to look at the actual behaviour versus the statements,” he said.

Gurr said the museum had turned down “significant” sums in the past “where we just felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to accept at this point, because we’re acutely aware that you can’t go around asking people to change behaviour and save the planet if you’re then hypocritical in some of the gifts you accept”.

He would not be drawn on the position taken by other institutions such as the Science Museum and the British Museum, both of which have highly controversial funding relationships with energy firms, but he said: “It is factual that we have not accepted any funding from fossil fuel companies.”

The museum recently redeveloped its outdoor space into two new gardens focusing on evolution and biodiversity, and Gurr said it hoped to expand its education programme, encouraging schools to exploit their own outdoor space and enhance their climate and nature teaching.

[ofswanlake]

NARI FANSITES !

Nari doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to fansites, but here are a mix of the good and bad ones.

insp. @venusvity & @luvdzu

NUMBER ONE … IDOLL

IDOLL is Nari’s most popular fansite. IDOLL, also known as Joohyuk, has been a fan since Nari’s first teaser was posted. He’s well known for his attractive looks (after going viral on Twitter when his picture was posted) and gifting Nari expensive gifts, such as a custom made Cartier bracelet. She always recognizes him, and always makes sure to say hello. As of December 2023, he has not posted since Nari’s Nonsense in June. Many BLINKs worry about his whereabouts.

MOST FAMOUS SHOTS

NUMBER TWO … JADE

JADE is Nari’s second most popular fansite. JADE, also known as Hyerin, has been a fansite since 2014– originally an Irene fansite but quickly switched to Nari’s fansite in 2016. She is well known for managing to get into high security places and photographing Nari at closed schedules. In 2020, JADE posted a tweet saying she had information about Nari to tell, surprising many BLINKs. However, nothing was ‘exposed’, leading many BLINKs and netizens to think it was just for their five minutes of fame. Some do believe she has information on her, but was paid to keep silent. Unlike her other fansites, Nari never acknowledges her— not since 2020.

MOST FAMOUS SHOTS

NUMBER THREE … SWAN SONG

SWAN SONG is Nari’s third most popular fansite. SWAN SONG, also known as Ian, has been a fan since 2017. He is known for his funny and sweet interactions with Nari, as well as always being the loudest in a crowd. He’s gone viral on Twitter for it multiple times. As of December 2023, he is CLOSED due to the announcement of Nari’s relationship.

NUMBER FOUR … CUPID’S GIRL

CUPID’S GIRL is Nari’s fourth most popular fansite. CUPID’S GIRL, also known as Anthony, has been a fan since 2018 but has only been a fansite since 2021. He’s taken pictures since 2018 but only posted them after 2021. He is known for Nari calling him ‘hot’ and hyping him up at an airport. Fans consider his behavior questionable, as he’s said vulgar things to Nari online and in person— but it seems as she has no idea. As of December 2023, he is on hiatus because of personal reasons.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep1 Musings - Cezare Romulo: History through Visual Context in Ploiești, Romania (Pt2)

I am on the hunt for any and all information on AMC's OCs, The Vampire Daciana, and the Vampire Cezare Romulo.

In Part 1, I pointed out that Daciana was likely AMC's nod paying homage to the Dacians (aka Geto-Dacians or Daci, as the Greco-Romans knew them), the ancient Romanians of c. 10th century BC - 7th century AD, in the Transylvanian/Wallachian regions of the Carpathian Mountains.

In AR's TVC, vampires tend to reflect the era they lived/died in, preferring to wear their traditional clothes & surround themselves with antiques from their time period--like grave goods for the dead. However, from what I've found, there was nothing about Daciana's clothes/home indicating that she was an ancient Dacian (X).

(Granted, if she IS that old, then that definitely increases her odds of being an "Old God" that got caught in the Great Burning.... 👀)

Regardless, I wanna turn my attention to Cezare Romulo, cuz while I'm tentatively ruling out Daciana as being Dacian, I haven't dug into The Vampire Cezare yet. So here goes nothing!

Nomenclature

First thing that stood out to me is his name. Cezare's obvs Caesar, but I wonder if that's his name, or his title (like how the Latin caesar became kaiser in German & tsar in Russian).

In Oltenia (Wallachia) there are archaeological remains of a Roman-Dacian fort called Romula, dated to the 2nd century AD. I couldn't find much about it, so we'll just put a pin in that. Something way cooler is that according to Google Translate, Romulo means Romulus, in both Romanian & Italian. That's hella interesting, cuz Romulus was the founder of Rome (8th century BC), twin brother of Remus, whom he killed Cain vs Abel style to be the ruler. In some versions, Romulus "died" under VERY mysterious circumstances:

So for AMC's OC vampire to be named after two Romans (Caesar & Romulus) who were both incredibly violent & bloodthirsty rulers says a lot. Especially considering with how Daciana described him:

The Castle: Bears & Wolves (Totems & Crests)

Cezare killed a whole circus troupe traveling through Transylvania (Sibiu), and only spared their bear. I wondered why this was so noteworthy--vampires will kill anyone for food (or sport), esp. if they don't follow the creed about only killing Evil Doers (as Cezare obvs. didn't--unless he knew something about that troupe we don't...! 👀 Clowns ARE evil, after all 💀). Vamps don't tend to kill animals, unless they need to defend themselves--but aren't circus bears kept in cages or something? So why would it matter?

So I reckon that Daciana's point was actually that Cezare LIKED the bear, and probably KEPT it, as his pet.

Cuz look at his castle: the joint's filled with taxidermy.

I think some of these animals are bears and/or wolves (Romulus & Remus were raised by wolves in the woods....). And that tracks with what is known about the main Dacian animal, the wolf (or "Draco"/dragon), (X X X).

Sava, Cipriana. "Cultural heritage tourism--Dacian fortresses in the Orăştie area, Romania." MEFkon 2020 INNOVATION AS AN INITIATOR OF THE DEVELOPMENT. (2020): 290-311.

Strechie, Mădălina. "The Dacians, the Wolf Warriors." In International Conference Knowledge-Based Organization, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 367-373. 2017.

(ISTG when is AMC bringing AR's Wolf Gift books into the Immortals Universe--I need my werewolves already, gosh darnit!)

Cezare clearly felt a strong affinity for animals, especially bears.

Which isn't surprising, considering the life-death-rebirth symbolism of the bear in Romanian traditions like the Ursului (bear dances).

Trandafoiu, Ruxandra. "A Tale of Two (or# EverMore) Festivals: Electronic Music in a Transylvanian Town." Eastern European Popular Music in a Transnational Context: Beyond the Borders (2019): 213-237.

The Castle: Architecture

As for Cezare's castle ruins, I have no idea what's going on.

The most interesting thing was Cezare's final resting place in this catacomb-like structure, lying in a stone sarcophagus.

Like, there are Roman-era burials found across Romania, but Cezare having a STONE sarcophagus is interesting, cuz apparently Transylvania's Daco-Roman inhumations are more often brick:

As stone sarcophagi only became more popular around the 3rd-4th century AD

Cocis, Horatiu. "Some remarks on the Roman necropolises of Potaissa." Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 2, no. 2 (2015).

Before largely falling out of favor/use by the 5th-6th century AD, except for clergy & royalty:

Maggio, Ariane. "Burial Practices in Europe." Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (2018): 1-6.

So, does this possibly give us a date for him, approx 2nd-6th century AD? But how long was it until he died? (HOW did he even die?)

What about the rest of his castle? Like, the place is an utter ruin, and there's barely anything left of that dark AF exterior that I can use.

Is this a studio set, or was it filmed on location somewhere? IDFK. There's hundreds of Romanian archaeological sites--let alone Daco-Roman ones--it kinda reminds me of davas (fortresses/strongholds), (X X), if not for the masonry being different.

So yeah, I have no frikkin clue, y'all; this is all I've got, LOL. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Results? Inconclusive! Again! 😂😭

I don't know if AMC was deliberately implying that Cezare Romulo (or Daciana) had anything to do with the ancient Daco-Romans...but it's interesting to think about!

[xxvalkyriesxx]

Answer and then tag three or more creators to keep the game going!

Thank you @popjunkie42 @jsmelodies @whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk @moodymelanist @witch-and-her-witcher for tagging me <3 <3 Love you all <3

1. How many words did you publish on AO3 in 2024?

81,805 😳😊

2. How many fics did you complete this year?

So far only 6 one-shots! The rest of my multi-chapter fics are still ongoing.

3. How many in progress or ongoing fics did you start this year?

This is my first year writing ACOTAR fics so I started 4 ongoing fics!

4. What was your favorite thing you wrote?

This is like picking a favorite kid haha, but Flying Changes has definitely change my life for the better. It just started off from a simple idea I posted and the reaction I got was explosive in the best way possible.

I rode for eight years when I was younger before I had to give it up for a lot of reasons. One day I would love to return to it, but for right now I'm reconnecting to it through my favorite couple <3

5. What piece was your most experimental or different from your usual style?

So two pieces I think best fit this question which is The Joker and the Queen and Labyrinth of the Night.

The Joker and the Queen is a fluff rom-com piece for the Acotar Gift Exchange and it's different my usual smut and or angsty fics, but in the best ways! It's such a fun piece to write and make Nessian be idiots in love.

I also chose Labyrinth of the Night as it's my only feysand fic (for now 👀). I'm a Nessian writer so writing outside my main ship is always a bit hard. I haven't always been a fan of feysand but I've read a few feysand fics that I just loved that I wanted to take a swing.

6. Did any fics surprise you - either while writing or their reception?

Honestly, The Blood on your Hands. I was mad about HOFAS once again, so I wrote a small fic of Cassian beating the brakes off Rhys for his reaction to Nesta (don't worry, Rhys is fine. Maybe I'll write a sequel where Feyre plays doctor xD).

I wrote this fic getting out my feelings and before I knew it the reception was huge. It's my most popular one-shot to date.

7. Do you have a fic you wrote and loved that went under the radar? (This is your sign to reblog/repost it!)

Probably Keeping the Summer Nights Away. It's a small fluff piece for Nessian week, and it's just very simple, but I honestly just loved writing Nessian doing a self-care night together haha.

8. Who is an artist that inspired you?

Oh jeez so many but to name a few - @dustjacketdraws madschofield (instagram), llibiarts (instagram), @jmoonjones, @janearts, @vivictory-draws.

These artists amazing at what they do and their art always makes my jaw drop!

9. Who is an author that inspired you?

Oh my goodness, again a lot of people but to name the ones who really convinced me (literally just by their writing alone) to jump head first back into writing fanfcition - @c-e-d-dreamer @kale-theteaqueen @separatist-apologist @moodymelanist to name a few.

I read ACOTAR back in 2020 so a little a before it really blew up, and eventually I ended up on Tumblr again seeking actoar content when Twitter got too toxic for me.

I was fanfic reader for the longest time. I did write for other fandoms when I was younger, but I either deleted or orphaned my works as I grew out of said fandoms. So for about four years, I just read fanfiction from the ACOTAR fandom. It was too the point that I tried to read whatever new Nessian fic was uploaded daily haha.

I wanna shout out one of the first Nessian fics I read, A Favor. It was the first fanfic that really spoke to me that I wasn't alone in how I felt about Nesta and her treatment with Cassian/the IC and vise versa. Come to find out years later, it's a classic for a lot of Nessian stans.

10. Who is a new author you discovered?

Ahhh you gotta check them out - @jsmelodies @littedidyouknow @beesays @wishcamper @whyisaravenlike-awritingdesk @unhealthyfanobsession @foundress0fnothing

11. Did you do any collaborations? How did it start?

Not at the moment

12. What accomplishments are you proudest of?

Taking a chance at writing again <3

13. What did you learn about writing or creating this year?

That I should be kinder to myself, and it's probably best to start off small. I started a fic back in March/April of this year with Eris/OC and I think the concept was good, but there was so much thought I was putting into, that I just ended up bored. It was going to be a heavy plot story about Rhysand's daughter that he had with Amarantha that featured dragons and a ton of OCs, but it just honestly back fired lol.

It was way too complicated and I didn't have the spoons for it. And you know, it happens lol. I have since deleted the fic because I don't plan to work on it.

14. What is your advice?

It's the most basic writing advice, but write what you know. If you go too far out of your comfort zone, it may be more damning for you in the long run.

Also if you can, use a text-to-speech service to help hear your story before you post it. I use the immersive reader on Outlook (I don't send my fics anywhere lol, but immersive reader is available for drafts). It's not perfect, but it helps give me a second pair eyes when I'm tired of visually editing.

15. What are your creative goals for 2025?

Finish at least two if not three of my ongoing fics! Participate in more character and ship weeks/weekends. Maybe finally get enough money to get a commission done for one of my fics.

No pressure but @foundress0fnothing @beesays, @velarisdusk. If you've already done this, no worries <3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I find it so interesting that with in the twist universe, the boys write things out in English and not Japanese. For instance, the Valentines Day cards having been written in English as well as the contract in the Octavinelle commercial. It feels very deliberate. As if to indicate that they are foreign and don't necessarily speak the same language, but the writers also want us to still understand what's being written so they write it in English. Idk I just think it's a neat way of depicting this without having to go full Tolkien.

Mmm, that's definitely an interesting topic 🤔 Most fantasy media doesn't go out of its way to invent entirely new languages for its use (I only know of Devil is a Part Timer! doing it). It's actually difficult to come up with an entirely new language; you don't just come up with substitutions for words, but also new meaningful symbols, pronunciations, grammar and syntax which governs how the and sounds, words can be arranged, and social rules for the language's use. It's just easier to use a preexisting language and then to come up with some excuse for why we can understand them (typically because of magic doing the translating for us, or plain old suspension of disbelief). In the case of TWST, I think there's a number of reasons why they decided to utilize English for its writing system:

Firstly! The main setting for the game, Night Raven College, is modelled after a British boarding school and England's education system in general. With such English roots, it only "makes sense" for the characters to also write in English. If we consider that Yana herself is involved with TWST, "English" is also an aesthetic that is very suited to her skillset, especially considering her other very popular work, Black Butler. (She really was a perfect pick for the job, huh?) Secondly! If TWST's intention always was to go international someday (which it has), English is a safe bet to go since it's considered a "global" or "universal" language. Not everyone knows it of course, but it's the closest thing we have to a "common" tongue, as the most people in the world speak it! Thirdly (and this is the big one)! In Japan, TWST's country of origin, English is seen as (for lack of a better term) "aesthetic" and even as a status symbol. One 2020 poll found that less than 30% of the Japanese population speak English at any level, and 2-8% speak English fluently. In other words, most Japanese people would not understand the level of English being used in TWST, from Azul's contracts to the wording on the Great Seven statues and more. (You can sort of get a grasp for how few Japanese people are fluent in English from the Valentine's Day Gifts, which are all written in English; it's the one time of year when Japanese fans behave like EN fans and ask around for translations of the cards rather than the other way around for generalized TWST content.) Now, continuing off the point I made about English being seen as a status symbol... It's typically the highly educated and/or the privileged of Japan that learn English to a fluent degree. Considering that NRC is seen as an elite institution, the fact that its students can fully articulate (ie use full sentences in complex ways) in English only adds to that feeling of "being elite" (at least for the Japanese audience). English also has the effect of making the world of TWST come across as more "foreign" and helps to simulate the "other-worldliness" of the TWST characters in general (again, because of how rare fluent English is in Japan). The effect is somewhat lost in TWST EN, as most things are in English and the material is presented to predominantly English-speaking audiences in the USA and Canada, although I guess you could make the argument that the spoken dialogue staying in Japanese makes up for that lost feeling of the writing seeming foreign.

So!! There's actually many different reasons (or perhaps a combination of all of these, or unintended side-effects of one of them) as to why the general writing system in TWST is English rather than Japanese.

[feminist-space]

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-this-holiday-season-lets-spread-kindness-not-covid

"Many people seem to believe that the pandemic is over. Or, at least, they don’t hear about COVID-19 much anymore. Tests are difficult to find. Mask mandates are a thing of the past. “Surely if it was still a problem,” one might speculate, “then the government would say something, right?” And one might be forgiven for thinking so.

However, governments are political entities, and politicians seem to have learned that COVID-19 is not a popular subject. Yet, if one were to look at data from wastewater testing, hospitalization numbers, and test positivity rates, it would be obvious that COVID-19 is thriving in Quebec.

Because public health appears to have dropped the ball on public communication, volunteer organizations have had to fill that role. COVID-19 Resources Canada is one such entity, run by a team of volunteers with a broad range of skills and expertise, including researchers and health care professionals. They publish a weekly Canadian COVID Forecast in which they estimate the risk of COVID-19 in each province.

This week, the numbers for Quebec show that around one in 44 people are infected. This statistic is useful, as it allows us to estimate the risk of a COVID-19 exposure based on the number of people at a gathering. For example, the risk that someone is positive is 11 per cent for a gathering of five, 21 per cent for a gathering of 10, and 37 per cent for a gathering of 20.

Anywhere you would share air with at least 130 people — such as for in-person Christmas shopping — the risk that you would encounter someone positive for COVID-19 is over 95 per cent. Clearly, COVID-19 has not gone anywhere.

“True,” one might say, “but COVID-19 is mild now, right?”

Again, one might be forgiven for thinking so, as we have indeed come a long way when it comes to treating the acute phase of COVID-19. However, COVID truly is the gift that keeps on giving, and research shows that “long COVID” is an ever-increasing and serious problem. It is neither rare nor mild.

A Statistics Canada study published last December shows that one in nine Canadian adults “have experienced long-term COVID-19 symptoms; most continue to experience symptoms.”

The study also shows that the risk of long-term symptoms increased with the number of infections. After one infection, the risk of long COVID was 14.6 per cent. This rose to 37.9 per cent by the third infection.

In October, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) published a report showing that six per cent of the province’s health care workers are suffering from long COVID. When did we stop caring about our “guardian angels,” whom we worked so hard to protect in 2020?

This holiday season, let’s embody the values of benevolence, kindness and generosity and do our best to avoid spreading a disabling virus to strangers and loved ones alike.

It can be surprisingly simple to protect our health and the health of others — by masking in public with high-quality masks (such as KN95 or N95), testing before gatherings, increasing ventilation, and staying home if sick. Not only will this help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but also all other respiratory illnesses of the season, like the flu and RSV.

This year, let’s become better versions of ourselves and spread kindness, not viruses."

-Emily Oelberg holds a master’s degree in engineering from Concordia University and is a proponent of community care. She lives in Lachine.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-this-holiday-season-lets-spread-kindness-not-covid

[vulturesrottencorpse]

autism isn't silly

titles self explanatory. I just wanna rant BC recently tiktok has been making disabilities very much more known (since around 2020)

One of the most "popular" of these disabilities are autism and also ADHD. Of course theirs others ppl are idolizing (Tourette's, bpd, DID, ect) But I don't have any of those so I can't really speak on that.

What I do have (diagnosed at least,) is autism, ADHD, anxiety and depression, some of the most popular and idolised disabilities on tiktok.

No, autism isn't "silly sharks dinosaurs hyperfixations!! Super smart and silly and funny!!". ADHD isn't "haha silly can't focus so energetic!!" Depression isn't "omg I'm so emo and sad nobody gets me" and anxiety isn't "oh I don't like talking to people and I can't keep my hands still"

This should be obvious but it's so often out like this that it's making me pissed.

And then theres people who'll tell you "autism/adhd isn't a disability it's a super ability!" Which invalidates your struggles. Yeah, I know some niche facts about fish and dinosaurs, I also don't know how to socialise with anybody on my own, I lay in bed all day and do nothing as hours pass by no matter how much I want to get up I just can't. I can't focus on anything unless it interests me even if I know I have to. I am constantly excluded from social groups because people either find me annoying/weird or too quiet and boring. I'm constantly depressed because I'm so lonely yet I'm too terrified to actually reach out and make new connections so I can't *stop* being lonely. I'm self aware about all my problems so therapists can't do much other than say "well you're very self aware" or "have you tried setting Alarms?". It is a constant cycle that goes on and on. And then I get told that all of this is a "superpower?" It's a disability. It disables me from doing things neurotipical people can do. Just because I might be good at picking up rhythm or naming a few facts about animals doesn't mean my autism/ADHD is some gift from the heavens. It sucks. It's made my life so hard but every time I try to explain it to someone they don't understand. Or they think they do, but they don't. Because it's impossible to describe this to someone without autism without them going "oh, well that's normal" because they've experienced it from time to time, but when I tell them the way I experience it is 5x worse for me, they say I'm exaggerating, that I need to toughen up, that it's "just how the world works".

I'm honestly sick of being treated like I'm not human. Like I don't have feelings that get hurt, like I don't have bad experiences or things that can ruin my life. Because autism is treated as some silly little personality trait. It's not. It's a fucking disability

Btw acoustic isn't funny. Stop

[the-moon-devi]

🍨What Flavor Cookie are you based on the BAKER ASTEROID? PT.2 🍡

🧁BAKER ASTEROID◇◇ 《2549》🧁

🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮🥮

DESCRIPTION: The baker asteroid is said to be the bakers asteroid for baked goods and even bakers themselves.

🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁🧁

Baker in Libra/7th house: I just get a loving vibe from this placement, either baker in libra likes to bake for their partner or your partner bakes for you( especially if it's in the 7th house) you could sell baked foods because libra does rule over merchandise and businesses. Venus influencing this y'all could have very beautiful techniques when baking especially if you decorate your cakes, cookies,etc. this placement has the ability to get very creative as well. I feel like y'all baking can be very good but kinda on the healthier side as well. Also y'all could actually have a bakery store

Cookie: canestrelli cookies// madeleine cookies 

Baker in Scorpio//8th house: imma keep it real this could go 1 of 2 ways y'all might either be a good or bad baker that's just what I was called to say. Or you could be good but you guys might add some sort of knowledge that you have leared abou/ baking or edgy touch into your baking. This could be a hidden talent you have. Unless this is in a certain house or sign it could vary. In the 8th house, I would definitely say like a hidden talent. A gift you inherited from your ancestors this could get really spiritual or occultic. Also you could constantly be burning your baked goods. But don't get me wrong here y'all food definitely could be very good just a little over cooked . I have this placement in the 8th house and I like baked sweets soft but a tad burnt. Y'all cookie will be interesting to come up with. 

Cookie: white chocolate red velvet cookies/ brown butter Carmel cookie

Baker in Sagittarius/9th house: its kinda giving foreign baking vibes like y'all take recipes from foreign cultures. Very adventurous with your baking style. Exspansive flavourrrrrr 🤤, y'all give me professional chef/ baker vibes here . Blessed in baking, might even go to school for baking or travel to learn about baking. I feel like y'all can become experts in baking. My little alchemists got the perrrrfect recipes to make your tastebuds explode!

Not really a cookie but they're good asf : Galab jamun/Big Blue Monster stuffed cookie (he he he he 😉)

Baker in Capricorn/10th house : now if baker is in the SIGN Capricorn I feel like y'all baking can be good but very old school if you look at your cookie you'll see what I mean. If it's in the 10th house this could be your career or just something your known for. Baker here it may have taken you some time to master baking. But I feel like Capricorn/10th house could make some good bakers. Depending on aspects,degrees,house,signs it will vary. But like I said very old fashion but good. If it's badly aspected, I feel like the baking might be a little dry or brittle. But all in all you could be a professional baker.

Cookie: oatmeal raisins/loornadoone/ snicker doodle

Baker in Aquarius/11th house: Eccentric, creative, different. Aquarius can blow some minds away or may be horrible. (depending on aspects don't beat me up😓) . I feel like y'all a little spicy/tangy it's giving lemon meringue or like y'all the type to mix pb&j into a cookie or sum like that. This placement as well could make you very popular for your cooking online. Friends may know how to bake. Baking may even be a dream. You guys as well could have a bakers blog or just be popular on social media for that.

Cookie: churro chocolate stuffed cookies/ pb& j cookies

Baker in Pisces/12th house: it's either lost or it's found here, y'all have it all or nothing. You either can bake your a$$ off or not. If you happen to be a good one then I feel like your really good you definitely could have the ability to heal others through your baking. But also since Neptune is here and Neptune rules 🍷🍺🥃💊🚬 there's a possibility of **cough cough** (edib----🌿🌿) im just being mindful if there's any kids reading this. These bakers could make comfort foods. Maybe even holistic,chemical free baked foods. I feel like this placements food could taste good and take your your taste buds to outerspace. 🤗😇

Cookies: raspberry swirl cream cheese cookie/ cosmic brownie cookies

[centrally-unplanned]

was there a candidate in the 2020 D prez primary who could have won in 2024?

Buttigieg! He is a very gifted communicator, has his eye on the prize when it comes to electoral politics, and is a perfectly cromulent Sec of Transportation. I don't think being a part of the Biden admin would have hurt him - no one's complaints are about the roads right now.

I don't know what his odds would have been to win; I think he would have needed a more cohesive campaign identity to pull it off. Honestly this is the problem the Dems had in general - building a ~brand~ that seems authentic takes time, right? And since the default status was to just not have a primary and let Biden sleepwalk into it, no one spent 2023 really building that up. Thrust into that position in June 2024, Pete would have had his work cut out for him. But if there was a primary, he would have had the proper channel for building that and I think he would have been a strong contender.

(The 2020 field was generally not amazing, because Biden ate the electoral center lane and most people who would compete in that lane knew that so didn't run, and it was crowded with progressive candidates trying to ride the 2020 left wave which was clearly just a bubble. But it isn't like the right progressive candidate couldn't win either, lots of progressive ideas are popular - I think progressive circles should be questioning why their bench is filled with relatively unlikable people like Warren & Harris, and what that says about how they do politics)

[gleefullypolin]

I began my Colin Bridgerton x Female Original Story on Wattpad a few months ago, back in December 2023. Since then, the silence has been deafening—no comments, no votes. It's disheartening to watch as other Bridgerton stories garner the attention my own seems to lack. Each time I see their soaring reads and enthusiastic feedback, jealousy simmers beneath the surface, a bitter reminder of my own obscurity.

I send gentle reminders at the end of every chapter, hoping that a flicker of interest might ignite. Yet, it's as if my words vanish into a void, unheard and unacknowledged. The feelings of sadness and frustration wash over me like a relentless tide. I adore writing, yet the absence of validation feels like a weight pressing against my spirit. Is it possible I’m just not cut out for this? Are my books little more than a jumble of poorly strung sentences? My protagonist—a captivating vampire-witch hybrid, the granddaughter of Queen Charlotte and King George, raised under the watchful eye of the Bridgerton family—seems like a pitch so rich with potential, yet here I am, questioning everything.

I apologize for unloading this emotional turmoil onto you; I find myself isolated, yearning for someone to confide in. Choosing to share this anonymously feels like the only way to bare my soul without fear of judgment. My love for Bridgerton still burns fiercely. Each time I rewatch the series, my heart swells with inspiration, igniting a fierce urge to write. But with every passing day, seeing the dwindling reads, comments, and votes siphons that passion away, leaving me feeling adrift.

Perhaps I embarked on this journey too late—if only I had started back when the series first captivated audiences in 2020 or 2021. I might have ridden that wave of enthusiasm. But now, I can't help but wonder: has the Bridgerton fervor faded? Is it less popular than it once was, casting my story into the shadows? Each question spirals through my mind, a relentless echo of doubt. How can I reclaim my passion in the face of such uncertainty?

I am not exactly a revered writer in the Polin fanfiction forum. I garner attention from a few corners of the AO3 sections but I am not exactly one of the well known writers in our fandom either. Most of those exist out on twitter and are known to garner a following there. I do not exactly spend my time conversing or making friends easily there or on a discord server where they converse and chat (something I am not good at).

I don't really know much about wattpad, I exclusively post my work on AO3, I only used fanfiction.net prior to that so I'm not sure how often people read there as I have never used it myself. So I dont really know much about whether that drives readers or not.

My best advise would be to post your stories on twitter for advertisement. (or X if you call it that, I refuse). I use bluesky as well to advertise but again, I dont have a lot of friends out there in the Polin universe.

It can feel disheartening to write a story that you love and then not see it take off, I can understand that and have felt it. Mine do alright, even if they do not go mainstream or get that much attention, I write my stories for me, and I'm happy if someone comments once or twice that they enjoyed it. But I completely understand where you are coming from and sometimes it can feel very difficult to see others stories soar when you know that yours have just as much heart if only you could get others to read it.

Do not give up. Writing is a gift, even if only one other person receives it. And sometimes I get more joy just reading my story back the day it posts and working on improving myself each time I write. And once that joy wears off, I stop writing for a while and heal my soul doing something else.

But don't let it get you down. And if you ever need to vent or let it out again, please feel free to drop by again.