Romantasy island: ‘I picked up the book, and I became feral! I read the first book in a day, then the second in a day, which is 700 pages. It was intense'
As the clock ticked towards midnight on January 21, crowds gathered outside bookstores around the world in fevered anticipation of the release of Onyx Storm, the third instalment in Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series about a military academy for dragon riders. The American author is at the forefront of the booming 'romantasy' genre, which combines elements of romance and fantasy, and has exploded in popularity in the past year thanks to BookTok, TikTok's reader community.
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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Healthcare worker reveals the 4 wildest baby names & you'll be baffled by how you're meant to pronounce them
FINDING the perfect name for your baby can be quite the challenge. Do you stick with something traditional, or take the risky route with something more unique. Advertisement 2 The healthcare worker shared some of the most unique names she's encountered Credit: Getty Images 2 The unique names left people scratching their heads Well, more people are opting for unusual names than you might think, at least according to this Australian healthcare worker. She recently took to TikTok to reveal some of the most bizarre names she's encounter as part of her job. In the viral clip, she explained she'll often discuss some more unusual names with her co-worker, especially those of young people. According to the healthcare worker, one strange yet popular names she came across was ABCDE, which is apparently pronounced 'Absidee'. Advertisement READ MORE ON BABY NAMES "We also had a young girl that we came across. I thought her name was pronounced Leah because it was spelled L E - A. "You actually pronounce the hyphen as a dash, so it was pronounced Ladasha," she shared in the video. And spelling is a whole other issue, she added, as she explained there was recently a girl who had the name "S, H, I, hyphen, T, H, E, A, D," "It was pronounced Shatheed, but they had essentially named their child S*******, and they thought it was hysterical," she claimed in the clip. Advertisement Most read in Fabulous But those aren't the only unusual names to cause a stir online, as one mum revealed she wanted to name her little one after a mode of transport. owever, one mum has opted to name her son after a mode of transport. Chelsea Farrell finds out gender of baby Taking to Reddit, the mum-to-be's concerned cousin revealed that she was desperate to talk her out of the unusual name. She said: "I just got invited to the shower for my cousin's baby, and she's naming the baby... Advertisement "Trucklyn. "No one is saying anything in the group chat about the fact that they're going to name this baby Trucklyn. "I think I have to go to the baby shower to try and get them to change it, or at least figure out why." The cousin added that she had tried to figure out if the name was a joke, but had so far been unsuccessful. Advertisement Reddit users flooded the comments section with their thoughts, with many critical of the unique moniker. One person said: "It is your duty to try to convince them to change the name. "Be like… 'oh for her first Halloween she can be a Monstertruck!', just to really let it settle in." A second person said: "Poor kid wont stand a chance." Advertisement A third person said: "Is that part of the naming your kid after the place where it was conceived trend, but for poor people who can't afford to go to Paris?" A fourth joked: "So when she gets sick, does she go to the doctor or the mechanic?" Banned Names in the UK The UK has no law restricting names, but names that contain obscenities, numerals, misleading titles, or are impossible to pronounce are likely to be rejected when registering a child. Hitler Monkey Cyanide Martian Akuma Chow Tow Rogue
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
The Simpsons secrets revealed as show hits huge milestone including special episode spoilers, predictions & best cameos
FURIOUSLY sketching a yellow family on the back of a piece of paper, cartoonist Matt Groening had just minutes to impress a room full of waiting TV executives. The small-time comic strip maker had been given a shot at coming up with the next big animated series to fill a slot on American sketch series The 12 The Simpsons is preparing to celebrate the show's 800th episode, 35 years after it first aired Credit: Alamy 12 The early sketches of The Simpsons make the famous characters almost unrecognisable Credit: Fox 12 Show creator Matt Groening (L), screenwriter Matt Selman and producer David Silverman have been behind The Simpsons' success Little did he know that the rushed doodle of a dad slumped on the sofa, a mother with towering hair and three kids — one loud, one weird and one mute — would soon take the world by storm. Now, more than 35 years on, The Simpsons is on the brink of celebrating its 800th episode. In a rare interview, While receiving an Honorary Cristal Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this week, he joked: 'It's a little-known fact that my parents' real names were . . . Itchy and Scratchy. 'No, seriously, I have a real father called Homer, a real mother called Marge, real siblings called Lisa and Maggie and a real grandfather called Abe.' Contrary to popular opinion , that does not mean that Matt based cheeky Instead, he thinks of himself more like Bart's nerdy and awkward best friend Milhouse. The idea for the cartoon may have been simple, but Matt has never run out of steam . Most read in News TV Now in its 36th series, The Simpsons is currently on episode 790, with the milestone instalment due to air soon. Actress Yeardley Smith, who has been the voice behind Lisa Simpson since the start, revealed that the cast had already gathered for a table read to test out the script for the 800th show, which is believed to be the finale of the current run. The Simpsons reveals new actor for iconic character – as original star quits after 35 years She was joined by Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Sabrina Carpenter's aunt Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Harry Shearer (Ned Flanders), Hank Azaria (Moe and Chief Wiggum) and Pamela Hayden (Milhouse). Matt teased: 'Our main motivation is to surprise ourselves. 'We figure that if we can surprise ourselves, we will probably surprise the audience as well. 'We have parodies of cinema and references to books, TV shows and personal autobiographical anecdotes. 'As it goes on, we become known for different kinds of jokes.' One constant that fans love though is the celebrity cameos. 12 The Simpsons has stood the test of time thanks to the show's combination of humour and creativity Credit: Alamy 12 Singer Billie Eilish was a recent guest star on the long-running show, appearing in a scene with Lisa Simpson 12 The Simpsons has had uncanny success at predicting future events on the world stage Huge names who have featured over the years include Ringo Starr , George Harrison and Paul McCartney, Gordon Ramsay, Elon Musk and former Prime Minister Tony Blair. And the writers also famously have a spooky knack for predicting the future . From Donald Trump becoming President to the creation of Apple's FaceTime, viewers heard it from Springfield first. But even with hundreds of episodes under his belt, Matt has no plans to shelve the series any time soon. In fact, he even hopes it lives on long enough to catch up with the timeline of another hit Groening production, Futurama. Matt joked: 'The Simpsons will still be on air in the year 3000! 'Unfortunately, critics will say the show has really been going downhill in the last one thousand years.' Here, we take a dive into The Simpsons' history books to look at its famous cameos and amazing predictions. The predictions 12 The Simpsons forecasted many technological advancements like video calling Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk IT'S not just the gags that have fans hooked , but the fact the hit series has long had an uncanny habit of predicting major future events. Through the show's 36 series, a number of storylines have been manifested into real life after first making their appearance in the form of cartoon animation. In 2000, Bart To The Future saw Lisa Simpson becoming US President, but a billboard in the background of one shot had a billboard ad for 'TRUMP 2024'. Another episode in 1993 predicted COVID-19, when a flu spread through Springfield residents, while the EBOLA outbreak was predicted in a 1997 scene. 12 The show featured Lady Gaga performing at the Super Bowl years before she took centre stage Credit: 20th Century Fox Elsewhere, the cartoon predicted the 2013 HORSE MEAT scandal, in its episode aired in 1994, which saw schoolkids unknowingly served horse meat for lunch. In a 1995 episode titled Lisa's Wedding, people were seen using SMART WATCH-like devices to communicate – an entire two decades before Apple launched their wearable gadget, while technology similar to FACETIME also featured. 12 Mr Burns attended an exclusive celeb gathering spookily similar to rapper P Diddy's infamous scandal-hit 'white parties' Credit: Fox And in 1998, Homer appeared to figure out the mathematical equation behind the HIGGS BOSON discovery, 14 years before particle physicists confirmed the concept. A 2012 episode, Lisa Goes Gaga, saw the young character watching singer LADY GAGA at the Super Bowl – suspended from the air in the same manner as the star's real-life 2017 show. And in 2019, Mr Burns attended an exclusive gathering for celebrities, which was spookily similar to rapper P Diddy's infamous scandal-hit 'white parties'. The celebrity cameos THE Simpsons is not short on memorable characters. But that hasn't stopped some of the world's most recognisable stars from wanting to have their moment being reimagined in yellow. The Beatles' RINGO STARR was the first of the group to make an appearance in 1991, where he appeared as himself to encourage family matriarch Marge to pursue a career in the arts. He was soon followed in series five's Homer's Barbershop Quartet by 12 The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is one of the famous celebrities to star on The Simpsons Credit: 20th Century Fox SIMON COWELL first appeared in the series in 2004 as a brutally honest telly talent judge, while Space X tycoon ELON MUSK landed in a spaceship in an episode in 2015 and TONY BLAIR met with Homer in a 2003 episode that featured an animated version of the Queen. Needless to say, Her Majesty did not guest star. While Coldplay's CHRIS MARTIN sang in an animated concert as part of the series in 2010, telly chef GORDON RAMSAY made his appearance in 2011. 12 Controversial billionaire Elon Musk had an appearance on the show - on a spaceship And comedian RICKY GERVAIS cropped up not once but twice, starring in 2006 episode This Is Your Wife, and lending his voice to Season 22's Angry Dad: The Movie in 2011. Read more on the Irish Sun There's been no shortage of pop stars either, with Other big chart names who have featured include TOM JONES, 12 Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy featured in The Simpsons' famous Monorail episode
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Florian Wirtz's TikTok star Wag is called ‘the prettiest woman I've ever seen' ahead of his £116m move to Liverpool
FLORIAN WIRTZ's Wag has been hailed as the "prettiest woman" ahead of his switch to Liverpool. The German midfielder is Advertisement 10 Aaliyah has been hailed as the 'prettiest woman' Credit: TIK TOK 10 She is dating Florian Wirtz Credit: TIK TOK 10 The midfielder is expected to join Liverpool in a record transfer Credit: Getty 10 She stunned in a Germany shirt at the Euros last summer Credit: Getty The TikTok star boasts a huge fanbase on social media with over 100,000 followers on the video platform. She was first pictured with Wirtz last year and was also present as Leverkusen wrapped up the 2023/24 Bundesliga title. Aaliyah joined Wirtz on the pitch during the celebrations at the BayArena. Advertisement READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS She was also pictured cheering on the German at the Euros last summer. She could be seen talking to On TikTok, Aaliyah regularly wows her followers with her outfits and style choices. Her fans often flock to the comment section to heap praise on her. Advertisement Most read in Football One has posted: "Probably the prettiest woman I've ever seen." A second wrote: "You are so pretty omg." Thousands of people line streets for Liverpool's Premier League title parade as iconic DJ drafted in as special guest 10 Aaliyah chatted with Sophia Weber at the tournament Credit: Getty 10 She is a popular figure on TikTok Credit: TIK TOK Advertisement 10 Aaliyah boasts over 100k followers on the platform Credit: TIK TOK 10 She regularly shows off her outfits on the platform Credit: TIK TOK A third commented: "Absolutely ethereal." A fourth said: "Stunned by your beauty." Advertisement Another added: "Angel straight from heaven." Aaliyah's glamorous looks have even seen Cologne photographer Jonas Herrlein picture her. The pictures produced jaw-dropping results as she wore a unique outfit of a denim top with white sleeves and a skirt. It has been reported that she and Wirtz started dating back in 2022. Advertisement Wirtz's mega-move to Liverpool will be a British record fee when it is completed. The Reds failed with two bids worth £109m and £113m until they found the breakthrough in negotiations. The transfer will not become official until June 16, when the window reopens. 10 Advertisement 10
