#as of december 1st 2023 this is Much Longer

[flippedorbit]

fuck it, pinned post time

names n pronouns

pfp was drawn by yours truly

commission sheet here!

i also have a ko-fi now!

this is my artfight account :3

tag me in pictures of squids (especially bobtail squids) and i will love you forever

tags :

Apollo’s Prophecies/Rasp Rambles (text posts)

Comet’s Creations (art tag)

Comet plays fnaf (self explanatory)

oc tag - Mercury/Polaris/Drip/Solaris/Aster/Orpheus/Helios/Octanis/Horizon (oc tags)

pet tag - da oickle (Pickles) / Eclipse / Scamper / Foxy / Sophie [tags for my three cats and two dogs (new as of Nov. 30, 2023)]

fresh tag/error tag/red tag/horror tag/reaper tag/etc (specific tags for different au sans fanart I reblog <-mostly for mutuals[cloudy] to look through) (and on occasion a fanart made by me)

____’s art (mutuals art tag [ex. “Snow’s art”])

Apowo’s Pwophecies (text post tag <-specifically for when my url is Fwippedowbit [“catboy” url])

____!! (asks sent by a mutual/follower)

anon (anon asks <-sometimes with a nickname/emoji in front)

Apollo answers (answered asks)

EllipticalTale Lore <-lore for my utau, consists of any new characters and their designs (this tag was created on 12/28/22 so there isn’t much in it at the moment, i’ll delete this when there’s more in the tag than the singular post in there)

sun tag/moon tag/eclipse tag - i feel like this one is probably self explanatory

[teamatsumu]

The End of NNN (gojo satoru x reader)

word count: 800-ish

warnings: fem!reader, pure smut, slight somno, multiple orgasms, mentions of anal, whiny!gojo

When the clock strikes midnight, making it 1st December 2023, Satoru immediately rips your clothes off (yes, he rips them off) before mounting you like a dog and bullying his weeping, rock hard cock into your unprepped pussy.

You gasp as the intrusion wakes you up with a jolt, blinking a few times to try and adjust, but Satoru gives you no time, drilling into you with quick, sloppy and rushed strokes. His resulting moan is pornographic, and he already sounds so wrecked that it makes you subconsciously tighten around him.

“Sh-shit, baby.” He chokes out, hooking his hands behind your knees and forcing your legs farther apart so he can watch your pretty pussy swallow his dick and make it wet. He feels insane. He can’t describe it. The glorious feeling of your warm, tight hole has him on the edge already, and he is almost angry at himself for holding out an entire month.

How Gojo Satoru managed to not nut for the entirety of November, you would never know. In fact, you had been so sure he would fail, you had promised him you would do anything he wanted in bed if he succeeded. Turns out Satoru had those lofty goals in mind when he managed to shut down all of your advances, refusing to let you anywhere near his dick, even going on long, difficult missions to make sure he was not tempted by your body. But he is here now, nearly whining at how fucking good your fluttering cunt feels, rutting into you rough and hard.

He doesn’t even fully thrust, unable to bear the thought of not being in your pussy for even a single second. His thrusts are shallow and choppy, head continuously pressing into your sweet spot, and that’s what puts you right on the edge.

Above you, your boyfriend is a sight. His hair is all over the place from when he tossed and turned restlessly as he waited for midnight. His pale skin is now flushed a pretty deep pink, sweat gathered on his hairline. His pupils are so blown that the brilliant blue of his eyes is reduced to a tiny ring right by the edges. And he is looking at you like you are his last meal on Earth.

“Satoru,” You whine, fisting the pillow under your head for any semblance of control. “‘M gonna cum.”

“Fuck.” Satoru sounded close to tears. “God, baby, your fucking cunt is so tight around me. How did I go without this shit for a month, huh? I’m a fucking idiot. Fuck, I missed your little whore body. Look at you, taking my cock like a champ. Fuck, I’m gonna cum in you baby, gonna fill you up-”

And then he is cumming with a long, low whine, nails digging into your hips and pelvis flush against yours, releasing ropes and ropes of cum into you. There’s so much of it that it leaks right past the base of his dick, traveling down from your pussy and through your asscrack. The feeling of it cooling on your skin has you shivering.

He had lasted barely 2 minutes.

Satoru is still moaning, one shaky arm holding him up, hips still not stopping. You gasp when a pleasurable jolt goes through your body, eyes widening when you realise your boyfriend is still rock hard. He is barely paying any attention to you, one hand holding the headboard above you while the other runs up your body until it is wrapping gently yet firmly around your throat to hold you in place. You moan at the feeling.

His thrusts this time around are longer and deeper, nearly pulling out to the tip before slamming hard into you. Every slam of his hips takes your breath away, pulling out a sweet cry every time from your lips. You feel ecstatic, having missed the way your boyfriend’s cock carves into you. Satoru was not the only one who suffered the effects of No Nut November. Your pussy had yearned for him just as much as his cock had missed you.

Satoru’s second orgasm is quick to come, thrusts speeding up and voice getting an octave higher as he dumps another load of his cum into you, biceps contracting with the effort of holding his trembling body up. His mere reactions can be enough to make you cum too. You had never seen him like this, so whiny, so desperate, such a huge mess of sweat and a slight film of tears coating his pretty eyes. He had always been the one in control, the one who reduces you to pathetic pleas and begs. Yet here he is, looking like he had run three hundred miles, sweaty and breathless and an absolute wreck.

He shows no signs of stopping though, now leaning down to wrap his arms around your waist and pull your body tight against his. He sets a fast pace, rutting into you like an animal in heat, this position placing his lips right next to your ear, so you can hear all of his little noises. They are almost contagious, making you moan and cry along with him. One shaky hand of his reaches down, fiddling roughly with your clit until the feeling of it all is too much and you are cumming hard on his cock, tears pooling in your lash line at the dizzying feeling. Satoru lasts longer this time around, managing to pull another mind numbing orgasm from you before his balls are contracting again, shooting more ropes of white into your already fully stuffed cunt.

He goes slack on top of you, resting his full weight on you as he tries to catch his breath. His thumb, still twirling leisurely around your sensitive little nub, now travels down to your hole, pulling his cock out to feel how much cum pours out now that he isn’t plugging it inside. He hums in approval when you jump a bit and giggle.

“You feeling better?” You ask, not at all surprised at how wrecked you sounded.

“Hm,” Is his only response, and his hand travels further down, before he pokes at a different hole.

You yelp and your eyes widen, body stiffening. You turn your head until you’re looking into Satoru’s eyes, now back to his normal magnificent blue, and shining with something devious.

“I want my reward now, sweetcheeks.” He smirks, and combining that with the deep flush on his cheeks and the sweat coating his forehead makes him look even more sinister. Your pussy throbs at the sight.

The tip of his thumb slips inside, aided by the cum that had dripped out of your pussy and down to there. You bite your lip in anticipation, and let Satoru use you how he wanted.

He had earned it, after all.

[theanimeroom]

Tbh I think that Barou, who literally forces himself to train every day with both a conditioning drill and a technique drill (multiple I think? Idk) would be able to last the month if you tried teasing him

BUT BAROU LOSING WITHOUT ANY (intentional) TEASING BC HIS ASS IS JUST SO WHIPPED???? Idk actually. Thoughts?

HMMMMM SO MANY THOUGHTS HOLD ON

NFSW UNDER THE CUT | MINORS DNI

DECEMBER 1ST, 2023 - 3:17PM

NNN CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

if there's one thing about barou shouei, it's that this man's self-control is impeccable. he was a man of great mental and physical strength, and if there was one thing that he would never let himself do, it's lose. it didn't matter what situation was at hand, he was going to come out on top, no matter what.

getting through the challenge was rather easy for the man, mostly because you were a copy and paste of him. that was his favorite thing about you, knowing that you seemingly shared the shame brain and therefore had many of the same thought processes.

the moment you found out that barou had been roped into no nut november, you knew that you would be participating also. the two of you were a package deal, so if he was going to suffer through the month, then you would be good and restrain yourself.

now, you weren't exactly like your boyfriend, so when the tension started to build up in you, it was a bit harder for you to manage. he distracted himself with strenuous workouts and soccer games, but the more he did that, the harder it was for you to control yourself. his body looked like it was sculpted to match that of a greek god, shining in the sunlight as he sprinted shirtless across the soccer fields. how were you supposed to survive that?

despite all of this, you still didn't dare bother your boyfriend, knowing that regardless of whether he won or lost, if you tried to sabotage him there would be dire repercussions because of it.

by the time the last week of november had come around, you had decided to push your limits a bit.

you were sitting in the passenger seat, arms crossed over your chest as your leg tapped against the floor of the car. your body was nearly buzzing at this point from want, your delicious boyfriend sitting next to you with his hand on your thigh not helping your mindset in the slightest. barou was managing just fine, at least that's how it appeared compared to you.

his eyes remained on the road, one hand grasping the steering wheel while the other was rubbing shapes into your thigh. his thumb was moving dangerously close to the inside of your thigh, the muscle tightening as you tried not to react. when barou still didn't seem to notice, you started to wiggle in your seat in hopes that his hand would slide closer to where you were now aching for him.

your gaze flitted to the side, staring at your boyfriend who was gnawing lightly on the skin of his lower lip, thumb still tracing circular motions on your upper thigh. he didn't look distressed at all, more so eerily calm as your not-so-subtle movements started to catch up to you.

your clothing had been a nuisance to you more than anything else since the knot in your stomach started to make itself known to you, but at the moment, it was giving you a great deal of help. the fabric of your shorts had hit you in the right spot, brushing your sensitive clit in the most delicious way. the moment a heavy sigh slipped past your lips, you could feel the heat coming from the man beside you.

peering back over at him you noticed the way he seemed to be a bit more tense, jaw locked and fingers turning white against the steering wheel. he didn't dare turn his head though, only huffing out a breath as he continued to watch the road ahead of you.

he was aware of what you were doing, but he wasn't going to give you the satisfaction of reacting to it. he could easily admit that you held out much longer than he thought you would have, but that doesn't mean that it gives you a free pass to be a brat. he was going to let you do what you wanted, not caring whether you were leaking and creaming in the seat of his car or not. he was going to win the challenge either way, with or without you.

but you just looked so fucking good grinding down in the seat, it had it almost seething when he felt a tent rising in the confines of his jeans. to say he was pissed off was a severe understatement, he'd been doing so well, yet you just had to come around and push his buttons. it was only when your sly fingers wrapped around his wrist, attempting to guide his fingers down to where you were soaking through your underwear that he decided to pull the plug on your little game. unluckily for you, a red light had impeded barou's ability to concentrate, the momentary pause in movement was just enough for the man to turn his head around, snatching his hand from your dirty grasp.

a gasp escaped you when his fingers and thumb pressed roughly into your cheeks, squeezing them together as he forced you to look him in the eye. your gaze was wide as he stared you down, dangerous and filled with something akin to primal lust.

"are you done?" his voice started to hit baritone levels, a curt nod leaving the now angry man humming quietly. the interaction only made you crave him more, your gaze flickering between his eyes and lips in hopes of him giving you what you needed. instead, you whined quietly when barou's fingers loosened their grip, thumb coming around to press at your bottom lip. you didn't think twice before wrapping your lips around the digit, moaning softly when the pad pressed heavily against your tongue. your eyes fluttered closed for a second, but the moment was short-lived as the man focused your attention once more. "good. now, you're going to sit there, and you're not going to move a muscle until we get back home, is that understood?"

when you nodded your head again, he watched you for another few seconds before deciding that you'd understood him well enough, finally letting you go just as the light turned green again.

now, what you did forget, was the fact that once you cross barou shouei, there will be consequences.

"i'm sorry! fuck i'm so sorry!" your voice was raw and cracking under the pressure of your boyfriend, who was using you like a rag doll. your face was pressed into the sheets barely able to breathe as barou shoved you back down, this being the third time you've spoken out of turn since you started.

"didn't i tell you to shut. the fuck. up?" he grunted, punctuating his words with deep thrusts. they didn't aid in his request for silence, but he'd rather hear you crying for him than another apology. "weren't sorry when you were trying to whore yourself out in my passenger seat, now were you?"

knowing better than to leave him without an answer at all, you shook your head into the mattress. a rough smack to your ass left you wailing into the covers, ass red and stinging from the constant abuse barou was inflicting upon it. "this what you wanted? wanted me to split you on my cock princess?"

shaking your head once again in confirmation, there was another sickening slap to your ass before his movements pitched up, hips slamming against your backside as your voice came out in tandem. barou held his balance with one foot against the mattress, the knee on the other leg digging into the space beside yours as you held your pretty little ass in the air for him.

the sight was one to behold, lower lips puckering and begging for his cock to fill it, to breed it. peering down at the way you clenched around him, desperate moans being muffled into the bed as his own grunts started to become more audible.

a rather tight squeeze from your cunt and barou was almost doubling over, balls tightening and bottoming out, stilling as he forced himself not to come in you quite yet.

the raven-haired male leaned down, your back and his front colliding with his heavy breath flowing into your ear. you were damn near brain-dead, moaning softly and pushing back against the male as he moved your damp hair away from your face. you whimpered as his breath fanned against the shell of your ear. "hmm, since we did so good this month... why don't we try to do no nut december also?"

all in all, never participate in no nut november with barou.

don't plagiarize, it's not nice <3

© theanimeroom

[soie-lux]

Looking Back at My 2022 Goals: Leveling Up Mentally and Spiritually in 2023

As 2022 comes to a close, take some time to reflect. Look back at the goals you set at the beginning of the year. How did you do? What are some things you wish you would've done differently?

My goals for this year were:

I honestly didn't look back too much at this list throughout the year, but I can thankfully say many of my goals have organically been incorporated in my routines and daily life bit by bit as the year went on.

It doesn't matter if you started working towards your goals January 1st or December 1st, all that matters is that you had the discipline to start. To implement every single one of your goal's January 1st can be overwhelming to some, and discouraging when you fail to keep up the habits, which is why so many people drop their New Year's resolutions in the first 2-3 weeks. You don't have to sprint towards the finish line the second the new year begins. Be gentle with yourself. By implementing your goals slowly and gradually into you daily life, you are more likely to keep up with them.

One of my goals for 2022 was to do some form of joyful movement at least 5 days out of the week. I found pilates, stretching, and daily walks worked best for me rather than going to a gym. I want to be able to enjoy life freely for as long as possible and that means taking care of myself and my body. During the summer months, my 5am morning walks and pilates were Godsend. It required serious discipline to get to wake up so early, but it was so worth it! I feel so much stronger and energized! This is a habit I definitely want to carry into 2023. I wasn't consistent with my daily joyful movement it until May, and that's okay! Starting later is better than not starting at all.

Setting limits on social apps has really helped decrease my screen time. I've definitely noticed the less I spent online, the better I felt mentally and my mindset regarding online/media spaces has shifted drastically. I don't feel the need to be in the loop when it comes to the latest trends of what's "in" vs what's "out." No longer am I caught up in the happenings of celebrity and internet culture (the less you check into trending topics and gossip blurbs, you'll find yourself caring less and less about them, trust me). I noticed the more time I spent obsessing over social media and trying to fit into a specific aesthetic, the less I was able to truly be myself. Get off the internet and learn about yourself!! Forget about trends, what do you like to wear? What do you like to do? Don't let the internet fool you into behaving in a way that makes you feel artificial. Since I've learned this, life has become so much richer and simpler.

Quality over quantity has been a big theme for me this year. I wanted to apply this to my closet as well and create a capsule wardrobe filled with high quality pieces rather than fast fashion items. I've always been drawn neutral tones and earthy tones, but recently have developed a soft-spot for navy and burgundy. I've slowly been swapping out my polyester and acrylic items for pieces made of pure silk, linen, cotton, cashmere, and wool. I'm at a place now where I'd rather spend my money on one high quality basic that will last me years and years than numerous fast fashion items of equal monetary value.

Cooking and baking has always been a hobby of mine, but after some mental/health challenges, I found it hard to enjoying being in the kitchen. I don't remember the moment it all clicked, but the autumn months really helped me fall back in love with cooking. All the things I was doing to physically keep my body moving made me want to ensure I was fueling my body properly as well. I spent less time in grocery stores and more time at farmers markets talking to the farmers/vendors and learning about where the food I'm eating is actually coming from!! Organic produce, free-range eggs, grass-fed meats, locally made bread and locally harvested honey as much as possible. Cooking and baking things from scratch instead of buying it processed from the super market. Eating with the seasons. Making my first sourdough starter. Beginning with a few basic ingredients and witnessing something beautiful come into fruition from oven to plate. I'm so thankful I was able to discover an all-new joy for being in the kitchen this year, and I plan to continue to harness these skills in 2023.

I thank God for the way He has helped me grow in my faith this year. Spending time in His word daily. Praying to Him not just as part of my morning and nightly routine, but sometimes multiple times throughout my day just to chat or ask for guidance. Learning to put His will for my life above my own. Learning to trust Him with everything in my life and giving Him full control. Learning to serve others rather than always looking to be served. In the beginning of the year, my goal was to become "that girl," but now my goal is to become the woman of God the Lord wants me to be. I want to be a woman after His own heart. To spreads God's love with the world by being gentle, kind, wise, graceful, poised, soft-spoken, and selfless. I am in no way perfect, but I'm thankful for the growth I've seen this year and I thank God in advance for the work He will do in me this coming year.

[tamapalace]

Bandai Releases Tamagotchi Uni 1.4.0 Big Autumn Update

The November update is here, and it’s a big one! Bandai has just announced that Tamagotchi Uni 1.4.0, aka the big autumn update is here. Some features were teased in recent social media posts, and now they’re available to all Tamagotchi Uni owners. The power of software!

So what’s new in 1.4.0? First, an option for “Information” has been added to the Tama Arena event menu, which will allow you to check what day you are on for the current event, and your current high score. This is a huge feature and is super helpful because with the timezone of the events being in JST, it’s easier to miss a day than you think. Also knowing your highest score is helpful.

Next are the features that Bandai teased on social media. You can now send hearts in the Tamaverse, add a Tama Name, and greeting for your character as well, which can all seen in the Tamaverse. You can set your nickname, greeting, and birthday from your profile.

Bandai has also added  mini game option to connection menu to play with other Tamagotchi Uni owners. It looks like you'll now be able to play the Fast Food mini game with others, and the first tor feed 10 burgers, wins.

Bandai has also mentioned that they have updated the conditions for participation rewards for the Tama Arena events. This helps you get better, and more rewards! For example, you can earn multiple prizes by playing a certain number of days, and the grand prize is given to those who participate either 6 or 7 days of the event. This is a big win!

It’s clear here that Bandai is listening to your feedback actively. There are a lot of features in this update that you’ve been asking for, and it’s making the Tamagotchi Uni experience so much better. Bandai has also made some adjustments to displays and effects, for a smoother gameplay experience. This also includes minor bug fixes.

Lastly is the new Tama Arena limited-time event, Nyanoe Dance! This event is hosted by Ano-Chan, a member of the Tama Family. The event was mentioned by Bandai last month, and now we have all the details, and it’s going to be so much fun! The event starts on Friday, November 24th 2023 at 14:00 JST and runs until Friday, December 1st, 2023, 13:59 JST.

Okay, so how do we play? Nyanoe has joined a fun-looking dance party at the Tama Arena! Remember,  Nyanoe is a character designed by Ano! Formerly a cute white cat, but turned gray from dirty. Nyanoe likes the taste of medicine, and eats anything Ano can’t eat.

Nyanoe is spewing up rainbows and music notes, kicking off a dance battle! Tamagotchi characters from around the world will choose between team cat (blue) and team mouse (yellow)! Groove along to the music by pushing the notes that come out of Nyanoe’s mouth. Be sure to participate every day and get a high score to help contribute to your team. Bandai discloses that the level of difficulty between practice and play is different, play is more difficult so make sure to practice beforehand (we wish we knew this earlier for the other events).

The “A” button allows you to grab the notes in the pink lane, “B” button the blue lane, and “C” button the yellow lane. This reminds us of Guitar Hero! Push the buttons at the right time as the notes flow down from Nyanoe’s mouth to the bottom of your Tamagotchi Uni’s screen. For longer notes, hold down the respective button. Let go of the button as the note reaches the end. There are two different types of notes, a normal note, and a long note, which features a face on it.

Time your buttons correctly and your Tamagotchi all groove to the rhythm. Nyanoe will tell you the color of the winning team by the color coming from Nyanoe’s mouth. Results will then be announced after each game and you’ll see how you place!

Results will be calculated from Friday, December 1st, 2023 14:00 JST through Monday, December 4th, 2023 13:59 JST. Rewards will be distributed from Monday, December 4th, 2023 14:00 JST through Monday, December 11th, 13:59 JST.

Per this latest update, the reward system has changed. Depending on how many days you participate, you will receive different, and potentially multiple awards.

The rewards are Music Aura (accessory) (reward A), Nyan Headband (accessory) (reward B), Sick Bag (accessory) (reward C). You can earn rewards A, B, and C is you play for 6 to 7 days, Rewards B & C if you play for 2 to 5 days, and lastly reward C if you play for 1 day. We really like that you can earn all three rewards, and fans have been asking for this!

Of course the winning team, either team cat (blue) or team mouse (yellow) will win the grand prize of 5,000 Gotchi Points!

Be sure to update your Tamagotchi Uni to version 1.4.0 to start the fun! Here’s how you can update: Main Menu -> Network Icon -> Update -> Check -> Check For Updates -> Yes. Enjoy the latest version of Tamagotchi Uni, it just keeps getting better.

[snowwhite-andtheknight]

Winter Event Interest Check!

We may have just finished our last winter challenge-- and are quickly heading into our much anticipated Madness-- but after our polling last summer, we found that many of you were looking for a longer-span, cooperative event similar to a Big Bang. However, we’re a tiny little fandom, and we trend towards being writer heavy with other medias thin on the ground, which makes for a poor match with a big bang’s rules!

But we wracked our brains, and finally came up with a whole new style of challenge: the Do-Si-Do!

What’s a Do-Si-Do?

Similar to a big bang challenge, people will sign up to make an initial creative work, and they will be paired with another participant who will make a work (or works) inspired by that one. Unlike a big bang, all types of media will be welcome for both works: fic, art, edits, playlists, etc-- as long as it’s made by you, anything goes! And there’s another twist as well: every participant will make two works! One will be the primary work they submit a summary for, and the other will be a work inspired by their partner’s creation!

When is this event happening?

All the way through the year! Just like any big bang, we’ll be doing periodic check ins after you’ve gotten your partners, making sure that everyone is working well and able to make the posting dates. Ultimately, the final post dates will be December 31, 2023 for the first work, and January 1st, 2024 for the inspired works.

What’s the rules to the Do-Si-Do?

That’s what we’re trying to figure out! Since this is a new challenge type, we’re looking for feedback from potential participants. From now until February 1st, fill out our interest check form and let us know what kind of guidelines you’d like to see for this challenge! As with any new event, there’s bound to be some kinks to iron out, so we’ll be working with participants to make sure everything feels balanced for both partners.

[codesecretsanta]

Code Secret Santa - Rules 2023

General rules

Once you have signed up, your match will be sent out by the 1st of December. Please reply to the email to let us know that you have received it.

Please meet the deadlines!

If something does come up and you can no longer participate, let us know as soon as possible, so we can arrange a new Santa for your recipient.

Seriously. If you can’t participate anymore, let us know! We’d much prefer to have people formally drop out than to never hear back from you.

If you change your username/URL during this event, please let us know. It can be difficult to figure out who you are and tag you in your gift if the information you provided us is no longer correct.

If you dropped out of the exchange in a previous year without notice, you are not allowed to participate this year.

This is one of only two reasons your application may be rejected. The organisers will not show any bias towards participants; this event is open to all Code Lyoko fans. The only other reason we’ll reject your application is if you haven’t read the rules. How are you supposed to prove that you’ve read them? Well, read on and find out!

If you need an extension please ask so we can notify the person about the delay.

If you ask for an extension and later find out you can’t finish your gift, please let us know. Otherwise, we’ll count you as having dropped out and you won’t be allowed to participate in future Secret Santas.

Please don’t put off making your gift until the last second. People are working hard for you and everyone else, so have fun and spend time on it.

We don’t like having to chase people up so again, please contact us as soon as possible if you need to drop out or get an extension.

Gift rules

On the sign-up form, there are four specified mediums and an “other” option.

Art refers to something that is hand-drawn (digitally or traditionally) and does not include graphic art. Art gifts should be completed and finished. If drawn traditionally, a scan is highly preferred but if this isn’t possible, please take a photo with good lighting.

Fanfiction should be 1000 words minimum. There’s no maximum. If you would like someone to proofread your fanfiction, mod @a-queenoffairys will be happy to do so (unless she’s your recipient, in which case you’ll need to ask elsewhere).

Video should be at least 45 seconds long and uploaded in good quality.

Graphic art is a work that uses official images from the show such as renders and screenshots, and/or other pre-existing images that can be found online. Examples of common graphic art gifts include mood boards, icon sets, forum packs, profile backgrounds, desktop backgrounds, blog headers, etc. If you’re going to be doing graphic art as a gift, we strongly suggest anonymously asking your recipient which of these they would be most interested in or find most useful so that they can get the most out of your gift to them.

The “Other" option can be used to put your own ideas for gift mediums. Examples include handmade crafts such as sewing or needle-felting.

If your gift is hand-crafted, your submission to us should be a photo of it.

This year we are allowing people to send physical gifts again, but please use caution. If there’s a risk of spreading the virus by mailing your gift to your recipient, don’t use this option. Shipping costs will be the responsibility of the Santa unless they discuss it with their recipient and reach an agreement.

There’s an option on the form asking if you’re willing to share your address so your Santa can mail a physical gift to you. We will only ask for your address if you have answered “Yes” to this question and if your Santa is making a gift that can be mailed to you. The information will only be visible to the moderators and your Santa.

If your gift does not meet the requirements we will ask you to fix it.

NSFW gifts are not an option. Please keep your gift SFW.

Your work must be new. 

Your work must be your own. Don’t steal from someone else.

How to turn in your gift

Your gift must be posted on the blog you specified in the sign-up sheet.

The tag #xana is automatically flagged as NSFW on Tumblr, meaning that any posts with that tag will not appear on search or tag pages. If you want to tag XANA in something, use #x.a.n.a. instead.

We’re tracking #code lyoko and #code secret santa on Tumblr. Please include one or both of these in the first five tags of your post and/or mention us with @codesecretsanta.

Once it’s posted, send us an email with the link (because some people might get a Secret Santa from someone on dA and vice versa) (email codesecretsanta@yahoo.com).

If you post your gift to a different website such as DeviantArt or Twitter, we will repost it to our blog here with full credit.

If you choose to send your gift via private message instead of posting it publicly, you still need to email us to let us know, or we’ll just assume that you’ve missed the deadline and will chase you up.

Please include I have to polish my flip-flops in the “Secret code” question of your sign-up form to let us know that you have read the rules.

Remember, this is a Secret Santa - don’t reveal yourself to your person until the 25th of December! If you want to ask them a question but don’t have a way of contacting them anonymously, let us know and we’ll pass the message on to them.

Post your gift on December 25th.

Got it? Sign up here!

[winterhawkwonderland]

FAQs 2023 - revised edition!

Hey there, Wonderland Participants! Here is your 2023 update of resource for dates, common questions, and rules for our event. Not much has changed over the years, but we like to keep all our info in one place for convenience.

Dates:

Monday, October 16th: Signups open - you will receive an automatic confirmation from Google Forms when you submit the form. All communication from the blog will be directed to the email you sign up with, so please use an email you check regularly. Also be sure to check your spam box! If you do not receive this email, please send us an Ask to confirm you have signed up.

Monday, October 23rd: Signups close

Wednesday, November 1st: Assignments will be emailed - these will arrive in the email inbox you provided when you signed up. If you do not have an assignment by November, 3rd, please check in with the Blog.

Friday, December 1st: Mandatory Check-In #1

Friday, December 15th: Mandatory Check-In #2; Posting Date Signups begin

December 24th-31st: Gifts Posted (by assigned date)

Sunday January 15th: Round-Up Posted

Rules:

This exchange is for good-hearted fun! Remember that you’re getting a gift, not ordering a commission.

Works submitted for this event have to be original works that haven’t yet been posted elsewhere in the fandom. Everybody deserves a new, unique gift!

Remember to keep your recipient a secret until gifts are revealed!

This event doesn’t allow any works involving the Big AO3 Four (Character Death, Underage, Rape/Non-con, Extreme Violence).

This event is open to all ages — with the caveat that participants under the age of 18 will not be allowed to create or receive sexual content.

This year we are allowing art and writing.

Fanart: Final pieces should be digitally consumable. This can include fanart, moodboards, and the like.

Fanfic: Absolute minimum 1000 words; no maximum; expectation between 1K-3K.

All works need to be complete before posting — this includes multi-chapter work.

All works should be submitted to the 2023 Winterhawk Wonderland AO3 Collection.

Have fun!

FAQs from past years:

If you have a question that is not answered here, please feel free to send an Ask! (Below a cut because it has gotten longer as the years go by.)

If we write a story best formatted as multiple chapters and finished by the deadline, can we post just chapter one on the day the story is due and each chapter on a new day thereafter or does an entire multi-chaptered work have to go up all at once?

The multi-chapter work must be complete by your posting date and must be completely posted by the end of posting. Basically, posting runs December 24th-31st - dates will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis by google form sign-up, and your entire work must be completely posted by December 31st. If you have many chapters, we recommend that you choose an earlier posting date so that you can post a chapter each day until complete and still be done by final posting date.

Will I get assigned to make either art or fic or do I get the prompts and choose which to make?

You will receive three prompts from your gift recipient and you may fulfill the request in whatever fashion you like as long as it respects the recipients DNWs. If you can make all three prompts into one art piece or one fic, go for it. You can focus on only one prompt. You can mash up two of the three! Whatever inspires you, we encourage you to get creative!

Are we allowed to combine our gift with a bingo fill if we can fit a bingo event prompt into the gift exchange prompt?

We are okay with this as long as the following conditions are met:

The work produced must prioritize the recipient’s request. If you can make werewolf den mothering and canon-compliant mission AU match up in a way that makes sense and that meets the recipient’s requests and DNWs, go for it.

The Bingo event is okay with prompts doing double-duty for our event and theirs.

The work created must meet the cumulative requirement for BOTH events. For example we are asking for 1000 words at minimum. If the Bingo requires 500 words, you would need to produce at least 1500 words to meet the guidelines for both events. It is hard to give an example of how that would apply to art, but the general idea is that you are creating a body of work which cumulatively meets the requirements for both events. Mood boards might need 6-8 images instead of 4, for example, or art might have a detailed background or full shading rather than a black and white sketch.Please use your good judgment with the idea that you are creating a gift for someone to enjoy in addition to filling a Bingo prompt rather than filling a Bingo prompt that you happen to gift someone.

Are threesome ships allowed for the exchange? As long as Clint and Bucky are prominently included? Can we put that as a request?

You can request an OT3 as part of your requests, but as this is a Winterhawk event your creator is under no obligation to fulfill any poly ships. Additionally, the focus should definitely be on the Winterhawk aspect of the relationship. Please do not create a polyship that the recipient has not asked for!

When we will receive our matches?

On or before November 1st, depending on the Mods’ schedules. We begin working on matches as soon as sign ups start!

How are matches made?

Matches are made through a very sophisticated system of: first we match up sensitive topic requests, such as ace/aro, trans, etc. with creators who are comfortable with those subjects and will treat them respectfully. Then we ensure that unusual DNWs (things that don’t fall under the Big 4 or that aren’t what most would consider ‘common’ DNWs such as abuse) are not matched with people who might accidentally include that DNW in a gift. For example, if you put werewolves on your DNW list, we aren’t going to match you with someone who has submitted three werewolf prompts. That person likes werewolves, and you don’t! It’s not a good match! Finally, we pray over the spreadsheet to the Random Number Generator Gods, and they spit out divinely reveal Random Numbers for us to match. Entry number 1 gets holy Russian Roulette matched to entry number 25! Unless one of those already has been matched, that’s the pairing that gets emailed out! This is the fairest way we have come up with to do the matchmaking, but if you receive a prompt you absolutely feel you cannot create for, please reach out to us and we will see what we can do about resolving the situation, whether that means we make a matching change, or we ask the gift recipient for new prompts.

How do posting dates work?

As part of the second Check In, the Google Form will ask you to choose a date on the form that you would like to post on, running the entire length of the posting period (December 24th-31st). There will be a limited number of slots per day (4-5 spots) and they will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Again, we recommend that if you have a multi-chapter work and would like to post a chapter per day/every other day that you sign up for an early posting date so that your work is completely posted before the event ends December 31st.

Artwork and AO3 - Do I have to post my art on AO3 for the exchange?

Unfortunately in past runs we have found that Tumblr often eats tags and notifications and we have unintentionally overlooked Gifts that were posted on Tumblr and tagged to the blog. Additionally, not every participant is on Tumblr, some people exist in that nebulous space where this hellsite isn’t their primary means of social media (weird, we know). So for those two reasons we do ask that all participants post their Gifts on AO3 and gift them to their assigned recipient. (AO3 pseuds were included in the original matching emails, but if you can’t find yours send us an ask or email and we’ll get your recipient’s AO3 name to you!) We then pull all the AO3 links to our Master Post after the event is complete and make a Masterpost on Tumblr.

Will you be reblogging Tumblr posts that are tagged to the blog?

We will not - similarly to art, when we’re tagged on Tumblr we don’t always get the notification because Tumblr is, well, Tumblr. This has led to issues where gifts are overlooked or don’t get reblogged which causes hurt feelings and confusion. For that reason, we ask that all participants post their Gifts to the AO3 collection, and we will collate a Master Post at the end of the event with everyone’s work, including their Tumblr handle if they have one.

What are the Check-Ins?

Just a way for the Mod Team to check in with participants to ensure things are running smoothly. We will ask you how your gift is coming along, if you’re having any trouble we can help with, and if you have any concerns you would like to voice.

The second check-in is going to ask you to be a little more specific about your progress towards completion, and it will give us as mods an opportunity to offer you help if you need it.

What if I need to drop out?

Please, please, please let us know as soon as possible. We have pinch-hitters on standby, very willing to step in if needed - we understand that things happen! We will not even ask you why you need to drop out, we will just say thank you for letting us know and then we will pass your recipient’s prompts on to a pinch hitter. No drama at all, and nothing to feel anxious about. No one will even know that you dropped out unless you tell them. Gifts are kept anonymous until posting day, and your recipient will still receive a gift regardless of whether you are able to provide it or not.

Beta Readers/Cheer Readers/Other forms of writing support:

In previous years we have done things like beta-matching and setting people up with that kind of support, but we have found that difficult given the unknown nature of what each writer is creating and what each volunteer beta can or will help with.

What we can do is this: If you are someone who would like to offer your services as writing support to another member of fandom please reach out to us either via blog Ask or email at winterhawkwonderland (at) gmail (dot) com. We will provide all those who ask for writing support with a list of fandom members they can reach out to for help! You do not need to be participating in the exchange to offer your help, you need only be willing to support another member of fandom as they create something for the event. We will ask that all writers who are looking for help please be upfront and honest with anyone who offers them help in terms of what they are specifically looking for (SPaG, a full beta, cheer-reading, idea-bouncing, etc.) and what sort of fic they’re writing, including all content warnings.

Pinch-Hitting

If you would like to volunteer to pinch-hit, there will be a space on the sign up form to indicate your willingness. If you do not want to sign up for the exchange but would still be willing to provide a pinch-hit, please email the blog at winterhawkwonderland (at) gmail (dot) com, or send an ask to the blog. In exchange, you will receive our undying love and devotion.

If for any reason someone needs to drop out, we will draw from this pool of wonderful volunteers who are willing to take on a last minute assignment and make a gift.

As always, we will never ask anyone why they need to drop or give anyone any grief about dropping, nor will anyone be banned from any future exchanges. We understand that sometimes life happens to people. All we ask is that you notify us as soon as possible if you need to drop. Please don’t wait until your posting date to tell us you aren’t going to make it! We can be flexible if something comes up, but if you know you’re not feeling the vibe, just reach out to us either via ask or email.

Please do not just ghost the Exchange if you cannot complete your gift assignment - we want to help, and we don’t want anyone to be left hanging at the end of the event.

Social Spaces

The Winterhawk Wonderland Exchange does not have an official Discord server, but if you are looking for a space to hang out, sprint, and make friends, there are several good Winterhawk/Marvel servers around! If we have any followers that would like to invite Exchange participants to their servers, please reach out to the blog via Ask and we will share the links.

[rajwillwrite]

World on Fire

By Raj Chauhan

According to the ACLED index, 50 Countries in the world are either currently at war or debilitated by ongoing violence at the beginning of 2024. 1 out of 6 humans is exposed to armed conflicts in one way or another and what's most concerning is the level of violence worldwide has been steadily increasing in the past few years. 2023 witnessed, a 12% increase in unrest over 2022, and a 20% increase over 2019. Most of us are acutely aware of two main conflicts going on at the moment the war between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

But the media doesn’t give much coverage to conflicts in many other parts of the globe. So much of the blood continues with little attention. The truth is much more is going on than you probably realize and diplomatic tensions international conflicts and civil wars have continued to heat up in the past few months.

In this piece of work, we will go over as many ongoing conflicts as possible and uncover many ill-known strategies of the world and as we move ahead we will discuss less and less known wars that the media fails to cover.

So, arguably the third most well-known conflict is between Armenia and Azerbaijan, over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, since the days of the Soviet Union, both countries were part of Russia has long acted as the mediator between these two small countries but Russia’s attention now elsewhere the delicate balance has been offended, despite US efforts to mediate in June last year, the self-proclaimed Republic of Asdac, ruled by the Armenian majority enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, since the 1990s which is surrounded by the Azerbaijan. Russia's peacekeepers have protected the Lachin Corridor a vital route for supplies like food and medicines flowing from Armenia but after they left Azerbaijan took advantage and blockaded the corridor in December 2022 causing severe shortages.

On September 19th, 2023 Azerbaijan sent as many as 1,00,000 troopers to invade the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 24 hours, Azerbaijan troopers completely took over it and Asdac officially seized to exist on January 1st, 2024 with Armenia weakened and threatened by neighbouring Turkey and abandoned by its international allies. Azerbaijan remains officially at war with the country, and fear that the situation could explode soon as Azerbaijan started demanding a corridor through Armenia to connect the exclave of Nakhchivan to the rest of the country.

However, a little farther to the east lies one of the longest ongoing border disputes in the recent history between the recent history between the ex-Soviet Republic of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The news surfaced worldwide in September 2022 when reputed media reported on lives lost in the conflict.

Kyrgyzstan-Tajiskistan border clashes claim nearly 100 lives.

                                                                                         -BBC

24 were Killed on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border in the latest fighting to hit the former Soviet Union.

                                                                                         -CNN

The new casualties along the border led to the fear of spiralling instability now that Russia, which is now distracted could no longer mediate the dispute the conflict continues to claim occasional victims with intermittent skirmishes but Turkey has stepped in to try and negotiate a border agreement deal between the two countries.

Now let us move to Africa where regional instability in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo threatens to become a regional conflict. Between 2022 and 2023, a dangerous political crisis spilled over the border into neighbouring Rwanda. Over the past decade, the ethnic Tutsi rebels in the east of the country formed a rebel military group against the national government in June. North Kivu region – M23 movement.

In June 2022, the Congolese government accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing rebels which was later confirmed true by UN experts. The situation has led to a border crisis between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in 2024 and the situation continues to deteriorate rapidly after Burundi accused Rwanda of actually training rebels of the same ‘Red Tobara Movement’ that tried to overthrow the Burundian government in 2015. Many fear the war will spread into the greater East African Region.

Another potential International war could break out between Venezuela and Guyana after Venezuelans voted to claim a huge chunk of Guyana's territory and send troops to the border war is not always a conflict between two nations, you see civil wars are happening in all different parts of the world. Yemen has been involved in a brutal civil war since 2014, between the Saudi-backed government coalition and Iran-backed Houthis rebels. The situation is already dire enough with as much as 75% of the population left in need of humanitarian aid and close to half of the Yemens population currently facing the risk of starvation due to the ongoing conflict. Right now the country is sparsely controlled by a handful of different factions beyond the Houthis rebels controlling the capital ‘Sanaa’ and all of the former North Yemen except the Eastern Marib Government, and the official government controlling much of the Eastern side of the country. Jihadist groups are taking advantage of local dire situations here and there. In addition to that the STC otherwise known as the Southern Transitional Council Movement is profiting from the support of UAE to seize control over to power the southern portion of the country to claim its independence pretty much like Yemen was split before it united in 1990. Yemen Civil war has yet again made news as ‘Houthis’ have been firing rockets across the Middle East against Israel in retaliation for the military operation against ‘Hamas’. This is contributing to the disruptions to global trade in the focal point of the ‘Bab el Mandeb Strait’ forcing cargo ships around Africa to deliver goods to Europe in Response, Western forces like the US and the UK have summoned attacks on the Houthi military targets.

Another civil war is carried on in Myanmar, where the military Junta returned to power in a Brutal Coup in 2021. The situation heated up in October 2023, when the different rebel factions brokered a deal to unite against the military government in a Joint offensive operation that has now displaced more than 3,50,000 people from their homes.

Moving back to Africa to a small country of Cameroon has also suffered a Civil War since 2016 when separatist from the Ambazonia Region declared their independence. If we look into Cameroon’s history it was once split into French and British colonies. The result is that the Amabazonia region is English-speaking while the rest of the country speaks French. This crisis is called the Anglophone War as the English-speaking minority fights against the wealthier and more powerful Francophone majority.

Elsewhere on the continent (Africa) Sudan is being torn apart by civil war, where military factions ripped open old wounds when they staged a coup in 2021. The United Nations is seriously concerned about the stability of the country as millions of people have been displaced to refugee camps and growing clashes threatened to spill over into South Sudan which gained its independence from Sudan in 2011.

Perhaps one of the worst situations in Africa is currently in Ethiopia's ‘Tigray’ region (North). Already one of the poorest areas of the country Tigray is scared by poor conflicts that led to the independence of the Eritrea region in the 1990s. The war with Eritrea left a strong Ethiopian military presence in the Tigray region which is home to the Tigrain people who have long enjoyed a degree of autonomy. However, the tide changed in 2021, when the current prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party gained a large majority in the European Parliament and called for more centralization of power. Tigray’s subsequent rebellion was severely repressed. Pushing three and a half million people or more than half of its population to the brink of starvation tension already came to a boiling point in November 2020 when the Ethiopian Federal force invaded the Tigray capital Nekelle. They installed an interim government after the previous administration authorized new parliamentary elections despite a ban by Prime Minister Abiy due to the pandemic. More recently Abiy Ahmed has decided to divert international attention from Tigray by threatening neighbour Eritrea to six years after the last standing peace deal between the two countries which had earned him a Nobel Peace Prize. The issue at hand is Eritrea’s independence which made Ethiopia a landlocked country denying it access to the global trade opportunities of the Red Sea. Ethiopia is now threatening to regain Red Sea access by force for the time being Ethiopia seeking to establish a port in the neighbouring Somaliland a de-facto independent region of Somalia. If this idea is successful war could spread to the entire ‘Horn of Africa’ and beyond as Ethiopia is promised to formally recognize and protect Somaliland in return for the deal has irritated neighbouring Egypt and Somalia.

The list of other Civil wars and unrest is unfortunately quite long so we will quickly mention the recent coupes in Niger, Gabon, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone. There is reasonable suspicion that Russia is behind some of these geo-political shifts of power in Africa or that they are at least taking advantage of ongoing tensions between several African countries and France. Western neglect and lack of involvement in the region have paved the way for terrorist on nationalist groups to overthrow pro-western governments or long-established dictatorships. The disappearance of the mercenary group has opened the doors to other influences in the Sahel region, as China expands its presence in the area. Lastly, central America’s Affliction of organized crime and cartels is getting out of the land as conflict develops into proper civil wars according to many analysts.

Cartel turf war rages in Mexico Chiapas as groups fight over territory.

                                                                                                       -France 24(2023)

Honduras Declares war against gangs and for Control of popular Narratives.

    -The Guardian

Honduras declares war against gangs that are causing rest on the national level.

Haiti’s government has lost control over public safety as gang conflict overwhelmed the capital Port-au-Prince- Prince causing more than 5,000 civilian deaths in 2023 alone. The UN has declared an emergency and will be sending troops to keep the peace. Similarly, Mexico’s long-standing problem with the drug cartel is reaching a point of no return which pushed President Joe Bidden to temporarily send 1,500 troops to patrol the US border and tackle the resulting migrant crisis. As a result, Mexico has been labelled as the fourth most violent country in the world, despite not being a part of any war.

On the other side of the region, drug cartels have reportedly been funding civil unrest and gang movement in Ecuador effectively crippling control of the government's ability and capacity to maintain order in some regions. The one bright spot of the region is El Salvador where President Nayib Bukele seems to have fixed the country. Unbelievable gang problems with Authoritarian measures like throwing anyone suspected of gang membership in jail. The country's homicide rate dropped from 1,147 to 556 in the past few years.

But giving up freedom for security is worth the price.

It is up to you to decide that. But we have more to worry about than ongoing conflicts and civil wars because many disputes threaten to become Tomorrow's wars.

The globe has become significantly more violent in recent years, conflict event rates grew by more than 40% between 2020 and 2023, and by 12% in 2023 compared to 2022 rates. However, 2020 was a less violent year than 2018-2019, when hostilities in Afghanistan and Syria raged. In comparison to prior years, the gain in 2023 remains large, at an average of 20%.

As of January 2024, 15 nations' Index rankings had improved over the five years from 2019 to 2023, while 16 had seen deteriorating levels of violence. Sixteen nations have constantly been classified as having 'severe' or 'high' conflict levels, with no change from 2019 to 2023. Overall, among the 50 nations at the top of the Index, more than half (42) are facing continuous or growing levels of violence compared to 2019. In the six months between the Index's mid-year update (July 2023) and the conclusion of the year, eight nations saw deteriorating levels of conflict, with three of those countries (Palestine, Haiti, and Sudan) falling into the 'severe' conflict category.

Source: ACLED index

Taiwan recently elected the most pro-independence leader (William Lai) as their president since it became a democracy and Chinese President Xi Jinping responded with a threat in his recent New Year speech, claiming that China will surely protect its territorial integrity. The threat in the Asia-Pacific region comes at an opportunity moment as the US and its allies are occupied with Ukraine and distracted by internal politics. Japan is preparing for the worst and plans to rearm itself to a level unseen since World War 2.

Moving on to the Mediterranean Island partially occupied by Turkey since 1974, Cyprus where recent incidents have pushed Turkey (Cypriots) to attack UN peacekeepers inside the buffer zone.

UN peacekeeper hurt in Cyprus buffer zone clash with Turkish Forces.

                                                                             -Reuter (2023) 

Splitting the Island in two. This attack has been condemned as a serious escalation pushing Cyprus's president to announce an increase in military spending by 2% of its GDP. Lastly, many are concerned about the potential spill over of the Israel-Gaza conflict, especially as Israel targets, Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters inside Lebanon territory all while Western allies target Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. Everybody is watching closely for Iran's response which has been surprisingly tempered as far except for a surprise ballistic attack in Erbil, Iraq. Erbil the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region is home to both a US consulate and an alleged Israeli spy base but the chance that major Middle-Eastern players like Iran will enter the conflict is heightened by the recent crisis at the eastern border. 2023 ended with Iranian Border forces skirmishing with Afghani Taliban over the border dispute. After New Year's Iran and Pakistan started attacking each other's border provinces with ballistic missiles in a sudden act of hostility the conflict seems to have been resolved for now as the aim on both sides was to attack groups acting in both countries towards independence of the cross-region of Baluchistan. Still, border tension remains high as neither Pakistan nor Iran wants to appear weak or accommodating in such a tense period for geo-political relations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for restraint from both Israel and Iran following a major escalation in tensions. Iran launched a large drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The Kremlin warned of "catastrophic consequences" for the Middle East if tensions escalate further.

Iran claims its attack was a limited response to the Israeli strike, which killed several Iranian military officials.

Both Russia and Iran agree on the need for a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders. However, the situation is complicated by Russia's recent purchase of Iranian weapons, which are being used in the war in Ukraine.

Renewed clashes along the northeastern border of Ukraine have triggered a fresh wave of displacement, with over 1,700 civilians forced to flee their homes. Russia's Ministry of Defence reported capturing five villages in a recent ground offensive. Ukrainian officials haven't confirmed these claims, but acknowledge ongoing fighting in some of the contested areas. The city of Vovchansk has borne the brunt of the attacks, with relentless airstrikes and rocket barrages causing widespread destruction.  Journalists witnessed numerous air attacks and documented damaged buildings, some ablaze. The Associated Press described a harrowing scene of deserted streets, smouldering buildings, and the constant threat of air raids.

A bitter dispute between Mexico and Ecuador has erupted after Ecuadorian police raided the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest a former vice president.  Mexico has severed diplomatic relations and is considering legal action against Ecuador. The incident has divided Latin America, with some countries condemning Ecuador's actions and others expressing support.  Colombia and Nicaragua have followed Mexico in severing ties with Ecuador.

[beringandwells13]

More on the Bering and Wells Big Bang!

Happy December, everyone! Now that it is no longer NaNoWriMo, as promised here is further information about the Big Bang we're planning for the 13th Anniversary of Bering and Wells in 2023!

(Please note that this Big Bang is not the same thing as the Bering and Wells Gift Exchange - two separate events, twice the fun! We're doing our best to set up this Big Bang in such a way that you can participate in both if you want!)

A few questions were already answered over here, such as What is a Big Bang and How much am I supposed to write for it? - Today, under the Readmore, we're gonna go a bit further into the event's timeline and organization!

Timeline for this Big Bang:

December 17th-26th: Sign-up period for artists, betas and writers. Writers should already have an idea that is hefty enough for a Big Bang and that hasn't previously been published or talked about (so that the summary will remain anonymous), and should state what kind of beta support they're looking for. Betas should state what kind of beta support they are able to provide. Artists should state what kind of content they are not willing to provide art for.

December 27th-31st: mods match up writers and betas, and inform them.

January: writers develop their draft with help of their betas.

February 1st: drafts due: writers send in their drafts/outline/WIP (whatever fits your writing process) with a summary, tags/rating and applicable CWs. The draft/outline/WIP should be solid at this point, with no major changes anticipated. Summaries and tags/rating/CWs are then published anonymously for artists.

February 2nd-4th: artists pick the WIP they want to create art for, in form of a ranked top 3 list. This will help ensure that every fic can be matched with an artist.

February 5th: mods inform artists and writers about their match-ups; writers subsequently make their WIP available to their matched artist.

February 6th-April 9th: working on fic and art together!

April 10th-16th: finalizing fics and art for publishing, picking a publishing date in the following week

April 17th-23rd: publishing period, staggered to let each individual collaboration shine!

The mods will check in with all participants every now and then to make sure things are still on track and collaboration is working smoothly. You can also always reach out to mods with any questions or problems that might arise!

What kind of content is allowed/expected?

It’s all Bering and Wells, babey! Please focus on the relationship between these two; so no Myka- or Helena-only fics please, and if there are other relationships in your story, they shouldn’t overshadow Bering and Wells! All ratings are allowed (just please tag and CW accordingly), crossovers and AUs are possible too – as long as the focus is still on Bering and Wells.

As stated above, the fic idea should be new/previously unpublished - if it can be traced to you, the artist pick will no longer be anonymous! And of course the art should be new and created for this fic specifically as well.

Reminder: in order to make this more approachable, we propose to not set a minimum word count. BUT we would ask that as a writer, you commit to a fic that is equal in the effort and time you put in it, as an artist might give their artwork, and vice versa.

Requirements for all participants:

You will need an active email address to sign up - an AO3 account and/or Tumblr account are optional but helpful for posting your fic and art. The mods have AO3 invite links if you want to create an account for this purpose!

You may sign up for more than one role, either in an either/or or in an and/or fashion; please state so when you sign up ("I'd like to be an author and beta, and potentially a pinch hitter artist") - but please consider your spoons, and only sign up for what you are certain you can deliver on.

You may sign up as a pinch hitter writer, beta or artist: someone who fills in if a writer, beta or artist has to drop out. In this case you will take over a part in a collaboration that has already progressed, and while you're not strictly bound to what's already been worked on, you should be willing to work within that framework!

Expectations of all participants:

We ask that you are ready and willing to devote your time and energy towards creating a long-form fic or substantial work of art, or providing continuous beta support to your collab writer. If you feel ready now/at sign-up, but realize during the Big Bang that it is too much for you, that's alright, that happens - just in that case reach out to your fellow collaborators so that they're aware, and let the mods know so that we can make accommodations that will help, or find a pinch hitter to fill in for you if necessary.

As this is a collaborative event, we expect you to be ready and willing to work with your collaborators and the mods. That entails giving and receiving feedback, and communicating in a timely, respectful and supportive manner, including responding to mod check-ins. Unresponsive participants (towards mods, but even more so towards their collaborators) will be warned first, and can be removed from the event entirely (two-strike system). This includes regularly checking your communications channels and spam filters!

And lastly, we expect you to keep details of your collab's fic and art secret from anyone outside your collaborators and mods - they're only to be revealed once they're published!

Is the Big Bang the only fan event you're organizing for the 13th anniversary?

No it's not! We have quite a few more things planned, from prompts for fics and art as well as a round-robin style collab fic, to a zoom get-together like we had last year with headcanon bingo and trivia quizzes; if you have something else you'd love to do, let us know! We'll get to all of this closer to the actual anniversary, though.

If you have any questions, please let us know! And please feel free to reblog this post to boost the signal!

[bitesize-astrology]

Power

Tuesday - December 19, 2023

Blunt talk on today's post.

Today Pluto moves to 29° Capricorn, a place where power and control can, and will be, tested. Power found in the very structures that uphold our society such as government, economics and finance, health care, academia, commerce, technology, communication and religion. Once Pluto moved full time into Capricorn in November 2008 it started working to expose the rot, corruption and corrosion these structures have become. To show they no longer promote the ideals they were created to protect and manage; that they have been compromised by the most life-negating energies humans can engage in.

There WILL BE POWER STRUGGLES during this run of Pluto at 29° Capricorn. Any structure that has "power" over you will be tempted to exercise more of that power. It could be an employer, association or financial institution. You will see governments challenge each other, as well as their own citizens. And there will be attempts to distract you (i.e. don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain), and out-and-out lie to you in order to keep you from seeing what's going on. Choose wisely whose "opinion" and "facts" you believe.

On January 20, 2024 Pluto will move into Aquarius where it will stay until September 1st. While Pluto is in Aquarius we will more fully see this corruption, and how controlled we have been. When Pluto moves back into Capricorn for one last ditch effort at control, it will be a tumultuous time until November 19th when Pluto fully moves into Aquarius, not to return to Capricorn for another 245 years.

Everything you have been fortifying since 2020 - your inner strength, belief systems, finances, faith and courage - are what will be needed during this time. If you have done this work then you will weather this storm much easier, and will probably gain (in honorable ways) financially and spiritually. If you did not prepare, this will be rougher for you.

We are bringing in a new time in human history unlike any other. A time that we won't fully begin to appreciate until 2026.

Hold tight to your inner power; your agency and sovereignty. For those are God given, and are your birthright.

[coffeedrgn87]

2023: Notes On Writing

It’s the 1st of December today, which means that 2023 is officially on its way out. 30 days left before 2024 takes over.

This post is me choosing to reflect on the writing I did throughout 2023, and it saddens me to realise that I didn’t do much writing at all. I had a quick glance at my AO3 stats and they tell me that my word count for the year stands at 96,633, spread out over six stories. One of those is an ongoing multi-chapter sequel to a series I’ve been writing on for a while.

While some may say that just under 97K is quite the achievement for 11 months, to me it feels like peanuts. Especially when I compare it to the nearly 518K words I wrote in 2022. This made me curious and interestingly, in 2021 I only wrote a little under 100K while I finished 2020 with 325K under my belt. 2019 was apparently my most prolific year with record-breaking 863K words. Even 2018, which marks the year I returned to writing (after an almost 7-year-long hiatus), beats 2023 by a whooping 50K (according to AO3 I published just under 149K in 2018).

Now, I know that numbers shouldn’t matter and that it should always be quality over quantity, but for someone who enjoys writing immensely, 97K feels like nothing. Granted, 2023 wasn’t the easiest year. A lot of big things happened for me this year and a lot of those things took a lot of time, required focus, and drained me mentally and physically.

Having said that, throughout the year there have been plenty of moments where I desperately wanted to write but didn’t have the energy to actually follow through. Those moments still hang about. I don’t really want them to, mainly because I do have a couple of good ideas, but also because the longer I feel this way, the harder it gets to give myself a good kick up the arse. I seem to be floating in a world between inspiration and writer’s block, and while I’m all for breaking the binary, I’d much rather stick around with my pals Inspiration and Muse.

If I’m being bluntly honest, when it comes to writing fanfiction the spark isn’t quite there any more. I wrote a lot of stories for the Harry Potter fandom, and I love the characters to bits (but also fuck you, JKR you absolute TERF!), but these days, I find it hard to write them. I’ve never felt part of the fandom, never even felt welcome, but I always carried on writing while simultaneously trying my hardest not to think too much about it. Not the easiest thing to do when you battle anxiety, are a complete hermit, get easily overwhelmed in group chats, and don’t have the best track record when it comes to confidence. Add to that that I’m far more likely to receive hate for my Harry Potter works, and what you’ve got is a slowly fraying rope.

Luckily, I was able to find solace in the Captive Prince fandom. Although, I did go into a tailspin just after finishing the trilogy. I questioned all my writing, was seconds away from deleting all my published works, and seriously considered never again using a keyboard for the express purpose of creating a fictional piece of writing.

That tailspin was short-lived though, and instead of following through on this mad idea of giving up writing altogether, I channelled all my fear, frustration, confusion, and anxiety into propelling my writing forward. I created a couple of works that gave me immense joy and propelled me forward, boosting my confidence. It wasn’t as though I was getting a ton of hits and a flood of comments, but there was something about those creations that drew me in in a way my older works never did and still don’t.

Personally, I feel like my writing has improved vastly over the last two years, and although it won’t ever be perfect (there’s no such thing!), I finally reached a stage where I am a different kind of proud. I want to nurture that pride, encourage it to grow, but I am seriously wondering whether writing fanfiction is going to give me that opportunity. I still enjoy penning the one or other short story, but the more I think about it, the fonder I become of the idea of devoting 2024 to the creation of a book. I want to write a queer, kinky, wholesome love story. I want to write something that represents the various parts that make me who I am. I’m still sceptical about the whole thing and my skills, but I feel like I’ve got to at least try. I mean, I don’t necessarily have to write the book with the intention of getting it published or self-publishing it, but I sense that this is the direction into which I’ve got to stretch my wings.

I’m not going to make it a resolution for the new year, that would be an idiotic idea, but I reckon it’s high tide for me to finally tick off an item that’s been sitting on my bucket list, catching dust, since I was an impressionable teen.

[starshippingweek]

What formats of gifts are accepted? There is no strict limitation on what format you can use for your gift - you can do anything from fanart/fanfic to AMVs. However, when deciding on a gift, make sure to take into account the amount of time you have (3-4 weeks from match assignment to posting period) to complete it. The only requirement is that it prominently features Starshipping (Fudo Yusei/Yuki Judai).

How does the matching process work? We will do our best to match giftees' preferences with the skills/themes that gifters have indicated in the form. However, we will always prioritize making sure nobody receives a gift they're uncomfortable with. In some cases, matchups may be done on a randomized basis so long as the prerequisites are met.

What are some important dates to keep in mind? This year, we have decided to launch the event earlier so that people will have more time to plan their schedule. The deadline to sign up is Thursday, November 30th at 11:59 PM PDT. Matches will be sent out on Sunday, December 3rd. There will be two rounds of check-in emails to help us keep track of everybody's progress. The first round will be sent out on Wednesday, December 14th and the second round on Wednesday, December 21st. You can start working on your gift at any point, and the posting period is from December 24th, 2023 to January 1st, 2024.

What happens if I signed up and was assigned a giftee, but can no longer work on it? If you feel that you may not be able to complete your gift, please contact us asap so that we can ensure everybody who signed up receives a gift.

What if I'm running behind on my gift? Upon receiving your assignment, you will be informed of your giftee's preferences, which includes whether or not they would be okay with waiting for their gifts. Please make sure, however, to inform us if you are going to be late and give an estimate of how much extra time you need.

I'm afraid my giftee won't like my gift/my gift is not good enough. That's not going to happen, we are all elated for any and all Starshipping content. Plus, your labour and thoughtfulness in giving a gift is always appreciated! 🌟

🌟🌟🌟

¿Qué formatos de regalo se aceptan? No hay una limitación estricta en cuanto al formato que puedes elegir para tu regalo, puedes hacer cualquier cosa desde fanart/fanfic hasta amv's. Sin embargo al decidir asegurate de tomar en cuenta la cantidad de tiempo disponible para realizarlo (3-4 semanas desde el sorteo hasta la fecha de entrega). El unico requisito es que tenga la temática starshipping (Fudo Yusei x Yuki Judai).

¿Cómo funciona el proceso de emparejamiento? Haremos nuestro mejor esfuerzo para emparejar a los participantes de acuerdo con sus preferencias, habilidades y temas que hayan indicado en el formulario. Nuestra prioridad es evitar que alguien pueda recibir un regalo con el que no se sienta cómodo. En algunos casos los emparejamientos serán hechos completamente al azar siempre y cuando los anteriores requisitos hayan sido cumplidos.

¿Qué fechas importantes debo tener en cuenta? Este año decidimos anunciar el evento mas temprano para darles tiempo de organizar sus horarios. La fecha límite paea registrarse es el el jueves 30 de noviembre de 2023 a las 11:59 pm UTC. Los emparejamientos serán enviados el domingo 3 de diciembre. A partir de ahí se haran dos rondas de emails de seguimiento para mantenernos al tanto del progreso de todos. La primera ronda sera enviada el miercoles 14 de diciembre y la segunda el jueves 21 de diciembre. Puedes comenzar a trabajar en tu regalo en cualquier momento, la fecha de entrega es desde el 24 de diciembre de 2023 hasta el 1 de enero de 2024.

¿Qué pasa si me registre y se me asigno un compañero pero ya no puedo trabajar en mi regalo? Si sientes que no podras completar tu regalo porfavor contactanos lo mas pronto posible para poder asegurarnos de que cada participante reciba un regalo.

¿Qué pasa si me estoy quedando sin tiempo? Al momento de ser asignado a un compañero se te informara de sus preferencias, incluyendo si estan de acuerdo con esperar por su regalo o no, de cualquier modo, si sientes que necesitarás más tiempo por favor informanos junto a la cantidad estimada de tiempo extra que crees necesitar.

Me preocupa que mi regalo no guste/no es lo suficientemente bueno. ¡No te preocupes! Todos estamos emocionados por contenido starshipping. Además, tu esfuerzo y consideración en dar un regalo siempre seran apreciadas.

[floatayy]

Wii U in 2023 - A neUfound Wii-nterest

1st December 2012, one full day after the launch of the Wii U across Europe. I was too young to understand that the 21st December 2012 was merely a conspiracy, too uncofused to follow a racing series closely as I do nowadays, and too much of a Nintendo fan for my own good but I did have a strong desire for a Wii U nearly all year long anyway. The day finally came and what a day that was, inserting that Nintendo Land disc in that shiny black Wii U, holding that shiny black Wii U GamePad... with a CRT TV right in front of me, only merely grasping the idea of what HDMI was.

Fast forward to January 2023, the desire for a Wii U had kicked in again after seven years of no longer having one... or a functioning unit, at least. This blog article goes over some of my Wii U experience for the first time in many years...

Press Start

I've had a complicated backstory with treating items back in my early days, but it didn't come across me until the past few recent years. Gone were the days where I would've abused any nearby electronics, as I've been building upon and upon in the past seven years while also growing some patience learning over my past. There are many consoles in my room between Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox, all with their games pertaining to my interests while also trying to open up to new boundaries. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Wii U from that special day in 2012 was one of those victims of my own past self, going from a defective disc drive, to the stick buttons no longer clicking on the GamePad, to the whole thing no longer working altogether. I fell off from the Nintendo loop for a couple of years before getting back onboard with a 2DS for my younger brother and a Switch for me, then it expanded with the Wii and the many opportunities that Homebrew had to offer there. Even now I can't have a grasp of what my anti-Nintendo phase was like.

...and with that, hey all, Floaty here! We come to today, my experience with a Wii U in 2023. As of writing, it's been nearth a month since I've had my unit delivered home and it's been rather mesmerising, a genuine throw back to the past, so I'm writing up this article to write down what it's been like. There are some things to tackle here and there regarding my gameplay experiences and how I've been with the console...

The first feU hours

12th January 2023, it could've been a Thursday like any other but I took the decision the week prior to spice up my console "collection" with a relic of my late childhood... a hit-or-miss at that time, but definitely one worth looking back to, but was it worth the 120€ that I've spent?

The packaging was underwhelming as everything in the box was loose and unprotected, but the goodies inside did travel safely from Southern Italy all the way up here in the North and deary me, what goodies. Boxed in were a 32GB black Wii U and a black Wii U GamePad, just like how I had them the first time around, their respective power adapters, a black Sensor Bar, a pretty short HDMI cable, and... a white stylus, a short one at that and completely unbranded. Huh.

On the outside, the console's glossy finish was quite scratched up on the top, though the other sides looked fine. The GamePad was definitely in better conditions, albeit a little dirty, but not nearly as bad as a used Wii I bought some years ago. The stickers that hid the screws were all missing, so I can only think that the original owner had gotten inside the GamePad at some point, unless the stickers went off on their own which... I think happened to me too? More importantly, the left and right sticks could've CLICKED, I genuinely missed that. Overall, I wasn't too worried over the cosmetic conditions as the console would've gone behind my TV on my desk anyway. Alas, the vertical stands had to be a separate purchase which I did for that sake at a later point.

In practice, things were off to a rocky start - let's be clear from the get-go, I don't mean it in a bad sense, but there were some surprises throughout my first day with the console from the very moment that it was connected to power. If you've never had a Wii U, the front of the console has two LED indicators, one for power and the other for when a disc is inserted... so I was surprised to see the latter being a solid white when I connected the console to power. Of course, the first thing that I did was ejecting the disc and what came out was Mario Kart 8.

The real test, however, could've started only upon startup. Upon starting up the console for the first time, the first thing that came across was that the previous owner had already wiped the system and configured a generic user themselves. While it does save a bunch of time on first-time configuration, I went to format the system myself. Not only did I want to experience the out-of-box setup again after many years, but I also wanted to start completely fresh to lay off ground for Homebrew and any eventual tinkering... I thought that it would've been a long way before I could've done truly anything, until it turned out that the console already had a payload loader installed due to an error that kept popping up on startup from the beginning. The payload loader is an essential part in getting to the installation of Tiramisu, a custom firmware for the console, and just like with the Mario Kart 8 disc, it being already installed wasn't mentioned in the listing. While I couldn't get into the Wii U modding experience from scratch, it did save me a bunch of time as I already had an SD card prepared for Tiramisu thanks to some research prior to this day - all it took in this case was to insert the SD card to the console, start it up, choose TIramisu and the Wii U Menu as default options for startup, launch the Mii Maker, and what do you know, I was already in the Homebrew Launcher! I didn't think that it would've worked, but it just did, so I could've already started getting into the dirty work. That'll be for later.

With a console now in an almost clean state with nothing but my Mii and Tiramisu in it, it was time to play games for a test drive. The disc drive of the console was functional, so the soonest thing I thought of was playing the "free" copy of Mario Kart 8 that came in the package. It required a bit of a hefty update, but after some time, things felt familiar with what I've already played in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the best-feeling and best-selling Mario Kart games, it's good for anyone who's new to the series and it's readily available on Switch. Mario Kart 8 almost feels like I'm at home, partly due to how I started playing 8 Deluxe in early 2018. Aside from the missing quality-of-life changes, none of the out-of-box DLC that Deluxe introduced, the Booster Course Pack tracks, and alas, no Dry Bones to play as, it does still make for a neat Wii U starter bundle. The only points here to mention are that a lot of stuff has to be unlocked gradually (just as in past Mario Kart games so I can't complain) and the unfortunate mistake that Battle Mode was in this time period, but other than that, Mario Kart 8 is the Mario Kart to play on the Wii U.

The Homebrew experience

Homebrew on Wii U is different from what I've been accustomed to from the Wii, yet some of it was familiar. Modding the console did not give you immediate access to the Homebrew Channel... or Homebrew Launcher as it should be on the Wii U side of things, as you have to load into the Mii Maker to access the Homebrew Launcher. It was weird, but on the other hand, I did see something like it before by modding a 2DS and having to use the Download Play application. I ended up getting an installable Homebrew Launcher anyway because I felt more comfortable that way. Other than that, Homebrew on the Wii U is barely any different from Wii, you simply go to the Homebrew Launcher to load your apps from your SD card to the console. Installing the Homebrew Channel on the virtual Wii ("vWii") was also rather straightforward thanks to a "compat_installer" provided by the Wii U Homebrew guide. Download the installer to your SD card, load it in the Homebrew Launcher, and there's the Homebrew Channel in the Wii Menu ready to be used. Getting it up and running was just like how it was on original hardware, and since I already had a hard disk drive with a bunch of games and an SD card with my own USB loader settings, it was relatively painless to get things up in vWii too, from Virtual Console, to Wii games, to even GameCube games. Of course, I was too lazy to get all my save data from my old Wii to the Wii U one by one, so I had to resort to an emulated NAND, something that was entirely new to me. I had to run into some hiccups and sometimes some games threw save data errors even when things were fine, but overall, it has been working to my favour. The only thing that I'm missing now is GameCube ports, but that's the least of issues at this minute.

Exploration

The matter then is about Wii U games. I wanted to go beyond Mario Kart 8 and the games I could've loaded from vWii, I wanted more for the Wii U in particular. I can't say where exactly to get said games, but to install them, there are Homebrew apps such as NUSspli and WUP Installer GX2. You can choose whether to install them on NAND (built-in storage) or a USB drive, and this is where a spare 32GB flash drive finally comes in handy. Effectively, I've got 32GB + 32GB for my console, plenty for a sufficient amount of games but there is still room for improvement down the line. There were games that I wanted to play for a long time, thus being but not limited to Splatoon after countless of hours with the Switch games, The Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD, Paper Mario Color Splash, Nintendo Land for the first time in many years, and potentially other smaller games here and there. I've downloaded some Virtual Console games between NES, SNES, N64, GBA, and even DS for the fun of it. I won't be talking about the games themselves here, but to make a summary:

Grinding through Octo Valley in Splatoon was something I didn't see myself doing back in 2015-2016 as I only played the Testfire then, yet it was fun

Twilight Princess HD so far grew on me more than I thought it would've, less so The Wind Waker but I only had just started there

I haven't played all of Nintendo Land yet, but the memories coming from Donkey Kong's Crash Course and Pikmin Adventure are fresh in mind and still very fun

Paper Mario Color Splash is an oddball as someone who played Paper Mario 64, The Thousand-Year Door, and Super Paper Mario for a long time, it's pretty good as an HD game but the cards mechanic for combat is strange

Wii Sports Club is just the original Wii Sports but in HD and with Wii MotionPlus support, which is still enough to make me want to play it alongside Wii Sports Resort

Except for Mario Kart 8, I couldn't get myself to try Wii U games that were then ported to Switch because first and foremost, I already have them on Switch, and secondly, they'd take up storage that could've been taken up by games I did not play before, hence Splatoon and Twilight Princess just to name two. I'm pretty sure that those games could've worked well with the Wii U GamePad, but their respective Switch versions are hands-down better in terms of playable content available... looking at you, New Super Mario Bros. U. ...oh, third, if I were to get Breath of the Wild any time in the future, I'd rather it be on Switch, but let me get through Twilight Princess first.

All aroUnd...

While the Wii U library isn't the most impressive without ignoring the Switch ports and the games released between 2015 and 2016, there are still some good offerings between Wii U games - which led to the subsequent Switch ports - and all the games between the NES and Wii eras, even going as far as the handhelds. For a time machine type of thing, the Wii U does the job quite well with modern and classic games, and thanks to the newfound Homebrew potential in recent years, it's been getting easier to mod the console and do just about anything with it. For 120€ for the console, GamePad, cables, Mario Kart 8, and the groundwork laid down for Homebrew right away for me to play with, I cannot be disappointed.

[jmaartenw]

The End of Landline Telephone Network - The BT landline switch off 2025 Are you ready for what has been dubbed the Great British Landline Switch Off? The good old days of BT landlines phones is coming to an end. For many years PSTN ( Public Switched Telephone Network ) was the way telephone calls were delivered to our homes and businesses.BT OpenReach announced a few years ago that PSTN was going to finish be the end of 2025. This change will affects every household and business which still has a traditional landline telephone or ISDN telephone line.  What's the history of Landline Telephones The PSTN  network is the analogue copper cable telephone network that has been in use for many decades, owned and managed by BT Openreach.But it's not just telephone lines that will disappear. As well as landline services, the PSTN also delivers traditional ADSL and fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband services via fibre optic cables.  So even if you're not using a landline telephone, you may still be affected if you have one of these internet services. You may be confused as to why your SuperFast Broadband may be affected by this, as you were probably told it is provided to you by fibre. The truth is that it is only partly delivered by fibre hence why it is called "Fibre To The Cabinet" the last section of your internet cabling is delivered over copper cabling from the cabinet to your house or business and requires an analogue telephone number to work. Hence when your Telephone number is switched off your internet will stop also. so don't delay and get in touch with us. we will convert your internet to a new SoGea line and save you money in the process.  Switch my Broadband Over Now! Why the old network is being replaced As confirmed by the .gov.uk website "Analogue networks have been in operation for decades and have reached the end of their serviceable life. The telecoms industry is finding it difficult to source the parts required to maintain or repair connections as suppliers are no longer manufacturing them.New digital phone lines will allow communications providers to offer consumers and businesses clearer and better quality phone calls, as well as new features such as anonymous caller rejection or three-way calling."See ref: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-transition-from-analogue-to-digital-landlines  When will my legacy Telephone lines be replaced the PSTN is expected to be completely switched off by end of December 2025. The exact dates of the switchover depend on where you are based.Here is the information from the BT Openreach Website:  Autumn/ Winter 2023 – London and the North West Spring 2024 – the South East, West Midlands, East Anglia and Wales Summer 2024 – the North East, South West and Scotland From 1st January 2026 onwards, all home calls will be hosted via the internet. What do I need to do about my Landline and Broadband. If you haven’t already been through the switchover, at some point before December 2025, you’ll need to move from PSTN to a digital, internet-based service. To ensure you don’t temporarily lose service, you should do this ahead of the switch-off.We recommend all businesses take the following steps: Check your contract - How much are you paying now for your landline, calls and broadband. Check your internet speeds - Go to https://www.speedtest.net and make a note of the speeds you're getting Check your services - How many lines, how many telephone extensions, other devices such as cash tills or card readers. Contact us for free independent advise. Ask us for a no obligation quote Contact us for a No Obligation Quote Need a VOIP Solution - We are an independent Service Provider If you need a VOIP solution then we have a range of options available. We are a Independent Service Provider of Voice Over IP telephone systems and Internet Services.  Find out more about our VOIP Telephone Options

[mariellaolden]

My favorite holiday

By: Mariella Angela H. Olden (December 17, 2023)

Growing up, I have always loved the cherished traditions that mark the Christmas season in our country. While other nations celebrate Thanksgiving at the onset of December, Filipinos, including myself, start to build our Christmas tree at home as soon as the "Ber months" commence. Christmas carols would be everywhere, and Christmas lights would light up every house in the streets. No place in the world could come close to the Christmas spirit here in the Philippines.

During my childhood, I have always believed in Santa Claus. Whenever it was the 1st day of December, I would write letters to Santa. Color it red and green, and draw it with symbols of Christmas. I used to be artistic as a kid. I loved writing and giving letters. My parents would tell me I had to finish it as soon as I could so they could send it to Santa through the post office. On Christmas Eve, I sleep early with excitement because I know Santa will come to our house along with his reindeers afterwards. Each morning of Christmas, I would wake up with joy, seeing my wish come to life. It goes on without fail every year. It was then that I came to the realization, just like in the movies, that Santa Claus was, in fact, not true but rather a legendary figure, a Christmas character who served as a charming tale that made children believe in the reward of their wishes if they behaved well to their parents throughout the year. Well, as for me, I found out when I was ten that the real Santa Claus in my life was my father and my mother, who made sure to give me the material gifts such as toys I wanted and written in my letter, all in the pursuit of my happiness. I am forever thankful and grateful for them.

Being the eldest in a Filipino household, I grew up celebrating Christmas together with my extended family. We would set up our Christmas trees and decorate our homes with lanterns and Christmas lights. Attending every Simbang Gabi and completing the nine-day masses have also become a tradition. After the mass, our evenings were sweetened with the delights of puto bumbong or bibingka as dessert after dinner. Each year, we plan a specific theme, pairing our attires with it, and the chosen best outfit is awarded a prize. By the night of Christmas, we would play different games for children and adults. Another segment of the program is the performances of every family, which they prepared days prior. The highlight of the night is whenever we exchange gifts together. Much of our memories were made up of the preparations, the holiday foods, and the shared stories. Our family makes time to celebrate together every Christmas. For most, this is just typical. But for mine, it is one of a kind. 

As the year passes and another Christmas season approaches, a faint but deep ache of sadness settles in. Memories of our previous celebrations flashback, marked by the presence of every family member – parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, children, and the inclusion of some close friends. There's a noticeable difference between those treasured times and now. Even while most are still with us to celebrate this holiday, the absence of others creates a shadow that highlights the hole left by those who are no longer here to join us in our seasonal gathering. I missed them, and I missed celebrating Christmas with them.

As the song goes, this is the season to be jolly. The season of joy and a time dedicated to celebrating the birth of Jesus. Beyond that, for us, it also serves as a period of reflection to look back on all the events and experiences we've had in that year. As we approach the end of the year, it becomes a powerful reminder that we have conquered the challenges, and we look forward to the promise of a new year: a fresh start and a new beginning.

Now, in my adulthood, I've come to recognize that the true essence of Christmas is still there. It never left. Despite the absence of some loved ones I wish were still here with us, their spirit and unwavering love remain in our hearts. If someone were to ask me what my favorite holiday is, without hesitation, I would still answer them with a smile on my face: it is Christmas. My sentiment extends beyond our traditions but lies in the joy of sharing this wonderful season with my favorite people.

If I were given the opportunity to make a wish to Santa again, my wish would not revolve around materialistic things anymore. Instead, my heartfelt wish would be providence, continuous good health of our family, and, most of all, to relive the magic of Christmas, not only this year but also in the years to come, just like the old times.

***

Mariella Angela H. Olden, 18, is a Biology freshman at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. She wishes to celebrate the holidays again with her family, just like the old times.