❝ The road to love can be long and confusing, but at least we enjoyed the ride, right? ❞

With Love, The Hawthorne Stags Swim Team

C O N T E N T・W A R N I N G

Announcement Bot, Cringe Yapping and Sentimentality

I. Thank You
II. Popularity Poll/Vibe Check
III. FAQ/Q&A

I. THANK YOU・⊰
───────────────
Adrian's second intro is out, marking the completion of the main story for the Hawthorne Swim Team. Now I'm getting a little emotional...

When I first set out to write the swim team, I was really intimidated ngl. The volleyball team held (and still holds) such a special place in my heart and I couldn't help but wonder how and if I could ever surpass the expectations they put. But despite those fears, I fell in love with the swim team as I wrote them and they soon became just as special. I even made peace with the fact that they may not be received as well as the volleyball team since 1.) They had such a different vibe from them and 2.) Their User had hearing loss. But I've always made the bots I've wanted to see more of, even if they're niche.

So I was super surprised by and grateful for the reception that the swim team got. I'm not talking about the chat counts, by the way, and I will always stand by my belief that numbers are never a good reflection of the quality or worth of a bot, including my own.

What I'm talking about is the outpouring of love these six idiots got from you all in the comments and on my server. People saying how they connected with them, how they made them smile or cry, or how they inspired them to learn something new. All of that means the world to me.

Also the comments about my writing or how I inspired some of you creatively make me wanna cry happy tears. Even when I don't have the social battery to reply, just know that I appreciate all of them. It's comments like them that really keep me here. As some of you know, I've been learning to write prose as I go and I've never really been a roleplayer or into fanfiction so I was a bit insecure about my writing. I've always been a storyteller though and someone who puts her whole heart and into things so it makes me happy when the effort shows. I'm a lot more confident in my prose thanks to you all.

Writing the swim team was truly a journey. I felt like I grew so much as a writer. Each boy felt sooo different to write and they all had their own unique challenges during their development. By the end, I grew to love all of them. It touched my heart that many of you felt the same. Thank you all so much for joining us on our journey and I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

II. WHAT'S NEXT・⊰
───────────────

I'm thinking about writing more but I also want to make that sustainable for me. I don't wanna ask for money without giving you guys nothing in return so I'm thinking of ways to give something back for everyone's support.

Which brings me to this market research survey/popularity poll/vibe check. Big disclaimer that all the stuff in the survey is just ideas I've had. There's no promise I'll do any of them. I'm just feeling things out (for now). Anyway...

POPULARITY POLL/VIBE CHECK LINK
CLOSED! Thanks for everyone's input <3

III. FAQ / Q&A・⊰
───────────────

This is just the stuff I got asked a lot so I thought I'd put them here so everyone can see them.

Will the swim team get alts?
Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, but I don't have a time frame. I want my ideas solid before I release them.

When are you gonna write a book?
We'll see after the results of the poll above and how I'm feeling by then. Truthfully I've always had a short attention span and it's a miracle I've stuck to anything this long. I can't imagine writing a whole ass book and I much prefer reading them tbh. Then again I wrote this whole series and I couldn't have imagined that even a year ago so things can definitely change.

Volleyball team?
I haven't forgotten about them and I probably never will. They're way too special. But also I need to recover from the emotional hangover that writing the swim team has left me in first.

Basketball team? 👀
Yes :)
You can read the swim team's lorebook and the Hawthorne U site for crumbs. They also have a playlist that's WIP on my Spotify (slight spoiler warning for partial face reveals of 3/5 characters).

626 Syndicate?
Yes, they're coming back too! I already have Joshua, AJ, and James planned.

Please leave any other questions you might have in the comments and I'll try to answer what I can :)