#last art of 2023 AND first art of 2024. let it be a year of multi-track drifting | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ravenstargames · 4 months

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✦ Lost in Limbo 2023 wrap-up

And finally, after the hectic period of Christmas and the New Year, we are here and ready for our wrap-up!

Warning: this devlog may include some typos. As per usual!

Honestly, I can't believe we are here. This year has been wild for so many reasons. We have made so much progress, perhaps not as much as we would have wanted, but we have come really far. I'm very proud of my team and thankful for the people we have met this year that have made this journey easier.

So...let's see what we have done this year and our plans for 2024!

✦ First of all, we made our itch.io page debut!

And this was perhaps the hugest milestone for us. It got a wonderful reception even if there's nothing to play yet, so we can't be grateful enough for that. This of course includes the key art and the screenshots we managed to get ready for the itchio page!

✦ We launched our official webpage!

Another amazing milestone for us! I remember tirelessly working with Raquel for weeks to get this done the way we wanted it to be.

✦ We welcomed our editor, Allie Vera, to our team!

They are not only a marvelous person but someone I'm having the privilege to learn from. Her editing skills are amazing and the script has done nothing but improve since we got it in her hands. We have started editing together and she has been working so, so hard, I'll be doing my best to keep up. Please send a lot of love their way, because they deserve it!

✦ We began working on the CGs!

Raquel has been working super hard and right now we have five CGs ready and one in process. The last one will likely be ready for next month, and with that the CGs for the demo will be finished!

✦ The UI was implemented and it's fully functional!

For someone who was a total stranger to programming, I think I've done a good job this past year! The game menus finally look like they should (with a bit of changes needed here and there) and everything is working well. I'm sure the code could be optimized greatly, but for now I'm happy with how it is (as my skills are, well, what they are!).

✦ We finished the demo script and have started the editing process!

That was a huge step for us as many changes were done to the script before we could consider it done. We sadly had to cut chunks of content because we felt like, for a demo, it was better to get to the juicy parts and meet the LI's as soon as possible. Some adaptations had to be made, some ideas had to be scratched, but here we are now, with a finished script ready to be coded, and being edited by Allie!

✦ We got some nice backgrounds done!

Work on backgrounds has been slower than we would have wanted to, but taking into consideration we were studying a master (that was pretty hard on us) and there's only four of us, I'd say it's a victory! There's still some backgrounds left, but as Astro and Raquel work on that, there's other areas of the game that keep moving forward.

✦ We opened a ko.fi page!

This was one of our 2023 goals, so high-five!

✦ We met amazing people, made new friends, and learned from a lot of fellow devs!

What a ride has it been! People I used to admire from a distance, enjoying their projects and gushing over them, are now part of my personal life. A lot of fellow devs have come forward in 2023 with new projects, new inspiring and incredible ideas, and we have been supported by all of them and welcomed as if we had always been a part of the Indie visual novel community.

Just to name a few of inspiring and amazing devs, the sweet folks at Foxglove Games (who have released Trouble Comes Twice!), Velvet Cupcake Games and their progress with Made Marion, Best Laid Plain Productions and their amazing work with Save the Villainness, and of course our beloved Crescence Studio with Alaris and Intertwine, which now has an Extended Edition!

As per usual, Lem (Crescence) has a special spot in this devlog because they have been the absolute highlight of this year. What a loving, sweet, amazing and creative individual. We all are very lucky to have them with us, but specially me; their friendship has meant so much for me this year, and I hope we can only grow closer with time! I LOVE YOU LEM!! 💜

✦ On a personal note...

On the personal side of things, I got diagnosed with OCD in late November. I had been suffering the symptoms since July, knowing something was wrong but thinking it would pass. It has changed my life and the way I see things and myself, and I'm on a long journey that has, unfortunately, affected my work on Lost in Limbo. I have not worked as much as I had planned, but I'm lucky to have my friends, my family and my partner, who are walking this path with me.

I'm sharing this because I think it's important. My experience will hopefully give someone who is reading this the push to seek help; I thought it was nothing and I ended up going through the hardest year of my life. Thankfully, I now have the help I need; I have been going to therapy since October, been diagnosed, and I'm now on my way to learn to live with OCD and heal from it. Some days are harder than others, but I'll get there! 💜

On a happier note, Astro and I will be adopting a cat from a shelter very very soon, if things go as planned! Raquel has taken the plunge and opened a sticker store! She has been doing great so far and is overworked but happy. We are so proud of her!

Also, we finally, FINALLY had the chance to get together for New Year's Eve and celebrate together after more than seven years of friendship! Sadly Kayden couldn't make it in the end because of COVID, but hopefully this is the beginning of a lot of years of celebrating together!

Mostly, the team and I have been doing fine, all things considered. Astro wants you all to now that even if he's not very active on social media, he appreciates your support a lot and will do his best to return that love! Thank you all for your support through the year, as always 💜

We had a bunch of goals set for 2023, and my God if they weren't ambitious. This year has taught us a lot about limits, about being realistic with our expectations and with the amount of work needed for a visual novel, and has overall humbled us.

There's one sprite remaining, the LI's expressions, plus one CG and finishing the backgrounds that need a bit more polishing. That and editing the script into its final state and code it accordingly.

With that being said, I want to be positive and say the demo may be ready for April - May, but I don't know if that'll be possible. We made the mistake of being too excited and too positive when it came to the work we would be able to do, and we apologize for that. We are still learning and we hope you can still support us and make this journey with us as you have been doing since we started.

Still, the demo WILL release this year. That is for sure. As we keep working —and the team has been working very, very hard— we'll decide when the demo will release, giving it time to be beta tested, sent to streamers who are interested, etc.

So the main objective of this year is...

✦ Release the demo!

Obvious, right? But with it comes some smaller goals!

✦ Code the script!

The editing process is going well —thanks to Allie who works tirelessly, honestly— so I hope I can step on the gas and get those corrections done as soon as possible!

✦ Finish all the assets!

As soon as Raquel is done with the CGs, we'll start working on the expressions together (I have already been toying with it) and the remaining sprite. Astro will finish the remaining backgrounds!

✦ Open a casting call for our LIs!

We want the demo to be at least partially voiced. When the whole script is done and more or less coded, we'll open a casting call to give our LIs what will be their official voices for the whole game. What an adventure!

✦ Open our steam page!

Pretty self-explanatory, but there it is!

What a year, huh? We have worked so much and so hard while studying, and that studies are now over. This year has been one of self-discovery, of new challenges, of some goodbyes and some new faces and friends. My only wish for 2024 is for it to be gentler to everyone. Hopefully we can all heal from whatever hurt us in 2023, laugh a lot with our loved ones, and learn more about ourselves and our lives in this 2024! 💜

With that being said, thank you for reading once more, and let us hope this year brings us a lot of amazing games and memories! 💜

#lost in limbo #visual novel #otome #indiedev #devlog

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choicesficwriterscreations · 4 months

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CFWC - New Year Announcements!

Hey everyone! Happy 2024! It's the start of the new year and the perfect time to share some news with you!

New Year, New Look!

We've rolled out new banners, PFPs, etc., to welcome the new year. If you notice, the 10 fics in the banner are different from the top 10 of 2023. That's because the banner is updated quarterly. Each quarter, the new top 10 will be reflected in order from first (top left) to tenth (bottom right) place. So these are your top ten for the 4th quarter of 2023. Check back in April to see how your favorites stack up!

Changes to Throwback Thursday

We're throwing the Thursday away... kind of. Effective immediately, you can post your throwback fics or art between Thursday and Sunday. Yep, art will now be included! They will be reblogged as soon as possible, and the masterlist will be posted on Monday. Throwbacks still need to be at least three months old, and you can find more information here. Tag #cfwc throwbacks

CFWC Fic of the Week -> Creation of the Week

Effective immediately, one creation (fic or art) from the prior week's CFWC Fics/Art of the Week List will be selected at random and shared three more times in the week ahead. We do this to help your work get more exposure and all the love it deserves! Remember! To be eligible, you must tag @choicesficwriterscreations in your post! Fics/Art that we find on our own will be shared and included on the weekly list, but they are not eligible to be Creation of the Week. For more information and last year's winners, see here. Tag #cfwc fics of the week #cfwc art of the week

2023 - The Year in Review:

The Top 10 Choices Stories of 2023 based on posts shared on CFWC can be found here. We also thought you might like to see the changes from 2022 and 2023

Open Heart and The Royal Romance remained in the top two spots, but Blades of Light and Shadow moved up one spot to third. There were three new fics, Crimes of Passion (4), Immortal Desires (8), and Bloodbound (10), that made their way to the top 10, but that meant Nightbound, Desire & Decorum and The Nanny Affair fell off. Where will your favorites be in 2024? That's all up to you!

We've got your lists!

Added to our archive:

2023 Fics and Art of the Week - by Date

2023 Fics and Art by Series

2023 Throwback Fics

And our first ever:

2023 LGBTQIA Fics & Art Archive

Speaking of lists...

Please take our poll and let us know how often you'd like to see the Fic/Art of the Week lists shared! It will be up for five more days!

Please remember to visit our All About CFWC post!

Here, you can find information on how to submit posts, ongoing blog events & policies, and frequently asked questions!

#choices fic writers creations #playchoices #choices stories you play #cfwc fics of the week #cfwc art of the week #blades of light and shadow #open heart #the royal romance #crimes of passion #it lives #immortal desires #nightbound #wake the dead #perfect match #the elementalists #choices #pixelberry choices

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gunsatthaphan · 8 months

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~ Monthly BL Breakdown: August 2023 ~

🕶️ Happy September!!! 🌻

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post!

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green = seen/currently watching)

🌟 Stay Still - August 1st (Hong Kong) 🌟 Sing My Crush - August 2nd (South Korea) 🌟 The New Employee (movie version) - August 3rd (South Korea) 🌟 Love in Translation - August 5th (Thailand) 🌟 My Personal Weatherman - August 11th (Japan) 🌟 Love Class Season 2 - August 11th (South Korea) 🌟 Only Friends - August 12th (Thailand) ✅ 🌟 Dangerous Romance - August 18th (Thailand) ✅ 🌟 I Feel You Linger in the Air - August 18th (Thailand) 🌟 Friend. Boy Friend - August 19th (Thailand) 🌟 Lucky Love - August 20th (Thailand) 🌟 Casanova Begins - August 20th (Thailand) 🌟 My Universe - August 20th (Thailand) 🌟 Kiseki: Dear to Me - August 22nd (Taiwan) 🌟 My Plantito - August 23rd (Philippines) 🌟 Why R U? Korean Remake - August 24th (South Korea) 🌟 Man Suang - August 25th (Thailand, cinema release) 🌟 Firstly "Like" You (movie) - August 27th (Thailand) 🌟 Crazy Handsome Rich - August 28th (Thailand)

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Only Friends - I mean. do I have to add anything lmao. that shit has me in a tight ass chokehold lmao. there are a few minor things that I wish were different but overall I'm obsessed and it's nice to have something that lives up to the hype. we don't get that very often. Thumbs in up.

👎🏻 Dangerous Romance - so far I don't like it, let's hope it gets better.

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Fermat Kitchen (manga adaption) - Date TBA (Japan)

🎥 Love Supremacy Zone - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Blossom Campus - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 A Secret Love (starring Kimmon W. & Kut T.) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Organize The Chaos - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Iridescent Love - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 The Hell Guards - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 Wheels and Axle (movie) - Coming November 17th (Japan)

🎥 Love For Love's Sake - Date TBA (South Korea)

🎥 Ambiguous (high school romance) - Coming early 2024 (South Korea)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ Actor Inn Sarin (The Miracle of Teddy Bear) joined GMMTV. ❗️ The upcoming Domundi BL Middleman's Love as well as the GMMTV adaption of Cherry Magic have commenced filming. Both shows will likely air towards the end of the year. ❗️ Over a year after its initial announcement, the upcoming BL Wish Me Luck (starring Na Naphat & Fiat Pattadon) is now in production. ❗️ The uncensored Chinese BL Stay With Me was renewed for a second season. Further details are unknown.

❗️The Korean BL manhwa The Art of Taming a Tiger is getting a Korean synchronization/dub. Mingyu (Boys Planet), Lee Minwook (My Magic Closet), OBON (BOYS24) & Han Gi Chan (Where Your Eyes Linger) were announced as the main voice actors.

❗️The 2014 Thai BL Love Sick is getting a remake that is scheduled for 2024, marking the 10 year anniversary of the production. The show was Thailand's first mainstream BL and is considered a classic and a milestone in the industry. The remake will be produced by the company Tia51. Further details are unknown.

❗️The GMMTV BLs The Eclipse and Moonlight Chicken won Best LGBTQ+ Programs Made in Asia at this year's Content Asia Awards. ❗️ The period BL Man Suang (starring Mile Phakphum and Apo Nattawin) has made history as the movie with the highest advance ticket sales in Thailand in the last 20 years, grossing over 10 million baht on its opening day alone.

❗️Actor Bright Vachirawit announced that he is leaving GMMTV to start his own entertainment company.

❗️ It was revealed that the GMMTV2024 event will take place in October this year. Every year the company hosts an event where they announce their new project lineup for the upcoming year, including a trailer + a short Q&A with the respective cast. The event usually takes place in November or December. A GeminiFourth BL has already been confirmed by the company a few months back; rumors for other BL mains include PondPhuwin and JoongDunk, as well as a new GL couple. Further details are unknown.

Upcoming series & movies for September

👉🏻 Senior Love Me? Season 2 - September 1st (Thailand)

👉🏻 Naughty Babe - September 2nd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Venus in the Sky - September 2nd (Thailand)

👉🏻 Marry Go Round - September 3rd (Thailand)

👉🏻 The Promise: Honeymoon Lost and Found - September 9th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Our Story - September 9th (Philippines)

👉🏻 You Are Mine - September 15th (Taiwan)

👉🏻 Bump Up Business - September 15th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Right Time, Right You - September 17th (Thailand)

👉🏻 Kimi ni wa Todokanai - September 27th (Japan)

👉🏻 Absolute Zero - September 27th (Thailand)

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zainmalik · 4 months

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2023 writing gif-making round up

Rules (adapted for fic, gifs, art, etc.): Share what you made this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you made or just the projects you're most excited about.

tagged by @victoriaspriing thank you!!!

2024 is just around the corner, so unbelievable to me. it feels like no time has passed since the beginning of 2023. i was thinking, hm it doesn’t feel like i’ve made many gifs this year, but then i went looking back at all my favorite gifsets i made and i was pleasantly surprised to see quite a significant amount. my goal for 2024 is to create more gifsets, to share with the fandom and most importantly to let the creativity flow. okay, but i’m here to reflect on my gifsets from this year, so let’s get into that shall we? i’ll share some fun statistics and then my top 5 gifsets from this year, and totally copying joana here but i’ll also give a shoutout to my favorite creators who not only inspire me but make this fandom wonderful with their creations <3

fun statistics

in total i made 188 gifsets in 2023

99 are about louis (*pretends to be shocked*)

50 are about harry

10 are larry

4 are ot5

1 about samia

1 about soyoon

the rest are 911 lone star, stranger things, only friends and first kill

28 (!!!) are elaborate gifsets

44 are or include purple

4 are about faith in the future

top 5 gifsets (in no particular order)

louis birthday gifset this has to be my favorite gifset i’ve made this year. i had so much fun making it, from trying a different color i’m not used to, to using new effects i hadn’t had the chance to try. everything came out as i had envisioned and it makes me so happy. i gotta say by the end of it i was tired. i think i spent a total of 10 hours on it, but it was so worth it

faith in the future anniversary gifset okay so this one was originally going to be blue and yellow, but the first gif (the one with the tv) wasn’t looking good, so i just did what i do best, make it purple and yellow. i’m glad i did, because not only do i love that combo, but i think it looks great. i had this vague concept of what i wanted to do. i knew i definitely wanted to include the spotify template. from there i just did what i felt in the moment. the edit with the tracklist was originally going to be in the form of a google search, but it looked so bad, so i just went for something more simple, which ended up looking so much better. the last edit was the second to last one. i was thinking, how can i include fitfwt into it? that’s when i realized i had a combination of one gifset, one edit, one gifset and one gifset, so i added one edit in the middle of the last two gifsets to create that pattern. i took my favorite louis picture from tour and just did a quick edit. with this one, less was better, and i’m very proud of how it came out

hlholidayexchange gifset i absolutely adore this one. the prompt was anything with 2014 larry. i had a very clear concept for this one. polaroids showing them together. while looking for videos i just gravitated towards their night changes performance, especially the prince and little one with the cheekbones, so that’s what i did. i was apprehensive about the blending, as it’s something i struggle with, but personally i think i did good. there’s always room for improvement, but i’m satisfied with it. the colors came to me right at the end, a combination of some of my favorite colors that are close together in the color wheel, so they look good together. it’s simple, but effective :)

louis tomlinson tinder this one was so fun to make. i especially loved coming up with hobbies and activities that describe louis. i knew i wanted to include numerology because this boy is obsessed with numbers and you can’t tell me he isn’t into numerology. as for the matches, i included his husband people who he’s potentially had a crush on based on interactions and interviews. i also love how the colors came out, i think it looks very pretty

harry’s house anniversary i love this one so much. i had a very clear concept of what i wanted to do. the cutout of the pictures plus the lyrics looked so much fun and i had a great time putting it together, and i just love the spotify template. i think everything about it is very pretty. the colors, the scenes, all of it. the only thing that makes me sad is how the video for daylight came out way later so i couldn’t include it, but other than that i love it so so much

bonus!!! this is louis tomlinson a very fun, very pleasant edit. i remember just wanting to do a gifset highlighting some aspects of louis and his career. i wanted something semi simple and visually appealing, so i did the google search overlay and from there just basic layouts. i had a lot of fun making it

shoutout to my faves!!!

@delicatepointofview @heroeddiemunson @wylanvannecks @505louis @anxiouspunk @ricky-olson @vinmauro @raypakorn @victoriaspriing @birthdaysentiment @robin-buckleys @perrieedwards @margarethcarter @neil-patrick @bobbiedebruyn @braverytattoos @justthinkingaboutlouis @loustyles @kiwikiwiandkiwi @finexbright @zourried @seatawinans @mcbride @jdeanmorgan @morgana-pendragon @niccolofares @sci-fi @benoitblanc @saw-x @binariesuns @oliviairodrigo @annacoleman @aliecenthightower @nelsonnicholas @curlyhairedprince @padme-amidala

sorry if i’m forgetting anyone. if you’re a gifmaker assume i love your gifs. tagging the people above and anyone else who happens to see this and wants to do it. no pressure!!!

#logan.txt #tag games

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thenightpool · 4 months

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rinharu wrapped 2023

We almost can't believe it's already time to bring out the kadomatsu again! 2023 just raced by, didn't it…?! Let's take a moment to look back on everything Rin & Haru (and their fans!) have achieved this year.

🌸 Archive of Our Own

The Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka tag on AO3 now holds 3,674 works!

That means 173 new fics were posted this year. (There might've been more than that, but it's hard to keep track of creators privatising their older fics!)

And the Night Pool's AO3 collection is up to 90 works!

🌸 The Night Pool

Here at TNP, we revived @sakurathon, a cherry blossom-centric event! This year, the event received 40 works by 19 lovely participants.

Since it was such a big success, we're bringing the event back on April 27th & 28th 2024.

°•. ✿ .•°

We also held the aquatic-themed Unleashed Blue, during which 20 participants created 51 (!!) otherworldly works for us.

With permission of the creators, we lovingly collected them in a 400+ page commemorative zine. You can download it on linktree

°•. ✿ .•°

Writers filled an impressive 35 prompts during our prompt meme Make a Splash! that we held in honor of Haru's birthday.

Read the fills on AO3

°•. ✿ .•°

Rin & Haru's Big Warm-Up, our monthly prompt event, received 16 new works on AO3 across the year & more on socials.

Check out our collection on AO3

°•. ✿ .•°

We also kicked off rinharu fandom's very first bang: MEDLEY!, a mini + reverse hybrid bang that will start posting in March!

(Psst. Sign ups are still open for a few roles!)

°•. ✿ .•°

We held 3 training camps – super fun writing retreat weekends – over on our Discord. We have 4 more retreats planned for 2024!

If you'd like to join us for the next one(s), here's the info

°•. ✿ .•°

We posted 33 new fanart translations!

Here's the link to our masterlist

°•. ✿ .•°

And finally, The Night Pool beat out Harurinralia to win our Ultimate Rinharu Moments Tournament that we held back in April on both Twitter and Tumblr!

🌸 Other Fandom Events

It's been a busy year!

In July, @starstarfairy hosted Wave Of Memory (@rinharumemories) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Free! The event ran in two wave on tumblr and Twitter and combined polls, fan memories, and all types of fanworks.

@sweetheavenfics helped us run the RH-friendly @soumako-week in September!

@ryu-outsider hosted the month-long daily prompt event Free!cember here on Tumblr. It welcomed the entire fandom. The event was promoted by eleanorenchanted and run via hashtag.

And @rinharuweek ran for a full 10 days this year in celebration of the show's anniversary! They are just wrapping up.

🌸 Official News

Free! turned 10 in 2023. Omedetou gozaimasu!

Free! The Final Stroke Part 2 broke all of the series' previous records in the box office, bringing in over 1 billion yen

It also finally made it to Crunchyroll.com for the US & select others

Miyano Mamoru & Shimazaki Nobunaga fed us (+ fanartists' inspiration) well by shouting "HARU!!" and "RIIIN!!" at each other before hugging passionately during the 10th anniversary event at the Saitama Super Arena

We got tons of amazing new art; including a cover illustration for Free! The Band Live's Ever Blue performance in Yokohama, Animedia's July W-cover, Sweets Paradise's promotional art, and Kyoani's 10th anniversary event's illustration

Rin's ripped jeans (+ THE ANKLETS) in the Matsukiyo & Cocokara's Top Of Summer collaboration launched a thousand fanworks

Matsuoka-senshu, Nanase-senshu, Kirishima-senshu & Yamazaki-senshu represented Mizuno at the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka

Spoon2Di recently restocked volume 78 & 85 on their webshop, and Akiba Pass Shop opened pre-orders for some gorgeous tapestries featuring said art

Karatz, Bikkuriman Choco, Iwami & DECOL all bumped Rin up to 2nd place in character listings (where he belongs!!)

Last but not least, KyoaniShop bankrupted us all by releasing amazing new merchandise (and also did not try to hide that Rin is the Free! series' 2nd protagonist, either…)

Thank you so much for being here with us in 2023. We hope it has been a wonderful & creative year for you. Here's wishing you an even more rinharu-filled 2024!

#MOD MUSE IS SO SORRY #SHE ACCIDENTALLY NUKED THE OG POST #she made up for it with new formatting and emojis and the event graphics #she apologizes for the deja vu #rinharu #harurin #rinharu wrapped 2023

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onlycosmere · 2 years

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STORMLIGHT 5 UPDATE

Concept Art by Randy Vargas

Brandon Sanderson: Hello, all! I know some of you may have been waiting for this. It’s time for the first in a series of updates about your book! I wanted to wait until I’d made good progress this month before I stopped to write one of these updates, and I do apologize for leaving you in the dark for so long. I probably should have written one of these back in January, but it’s been an odd year for me, full of unpredictable timing issues.

So, let’s get the obvious questions out of the way. Do I have a title yet? No. Still thinking. I’d like it to fit the format of KOWT or KOW, but I don’t like most of the options that have presented themselves. It requires more thought.

When will the book come out? I’m looking at fall 2024. I have tried to be very forthcoming about this one—warning people for a while that 2023 might be too optimistic. And, as I feared, I have been forced to let the date slide quite far into 2024 because of three issues. The first is that I set myself up for a TON of revisions this year, and they’ve been taking more time than expected. I still have two books to revise, though I’ve been spending all of August on Stormlight.

However, that isn’t the primary reason I’ve ended up pushing back the book. I’d planned for these revisions, and could have done those while working on Stormlight. The second reason I pushed the book back is that I knew this book, of all the ones in the sequence, deserved a little extra time and attention. It will likely be the longest of the series to date, and I have to be careful to juggle all the storylines properly. I didn’t want to be rushed on it, and—though it may shock you—an 18-month production cycle wasn’t going to cut it.

The third reason is one I haven’t been able to gauge as easily as the first two—something new to my life. Lately, I’ve needed to dedicated more and more of my time to running a company. I still reserve three days a week solely for writing, but that’s down from four days a week in previous years.

The meetings take two general forms. The first category is meetings with my team. Things like reviewing the production of the secret projects and leatherbounds to make sure things look and feel right. Others involve deep dives into concept art for characters and settings, so that when we create products like the upcoming Stormlight miniatures, they can fit with a canon version of the characters. This is something I resisted for a while, feeling like it was all right if different artists interpreted the singers (for example) differently. More and more, though, Isaac and I feel that we should have specific canon examples for continuity.

Other meetings are editorial related, or publicity related. Dragonsteel has kind of grown up the last few years, and I want to do it right. That means being involved, as long as it doesn’t impact my time TOO much. But all of that needs to be balanced with the numerous film and television meetings that have been happening lately. Again, I want to do this right—which means being deeply involved in the projects that are moving forward. (Announcements should be coming in the near future.) That takes time. So, the free time that I had during Covid to write secret projects is now being eaten up by a lot of these meetings.

I’m still finding the right balance, but this last month has seen a lot of good progress on Stormlight. I’m sitting at 65,000 words right now as of this writing. Roughly 16% if we assume a 400,000-word final book. (Though this one will, as I said, likely be longer than that—so that 16% might be more like 15%.)

Unfortunately, progress is going to slow again as I have a couple of other deadlines due. My goal right now is to do the last two revisions (Defiant and Secret Project Four) in rapid succession, in September and October, and be back to Stormlight in November.

For a teaser, though, here is what I’m working on: I’m going to write this book in phases, straight from beginning to end, through several character groupings. For example, the first sequence I’m writing is Szeth and Kaladin in Shinovar, including the Szeth flashbacks. I plan to write all of their plot, from start to finish, before moving on to the next sequence of characters.

All of that 65k so far, except the prologue, has been on this plotline—and I’m loving how it’s shaping up. I know the Szeth backstory has been a LONG time coming. I hope it lives up to your expectations. There are some interesting lore secrets here to reveal, and the climax is something I’ve been building to since book one—indeed, you’ll find death rattles from the first volume referencing the events here in this sequence.

I plotted this sequence at 100k. It’s looking a lot more like 150k now that I’m neck deep in it. The picture is related!

I know that four years is a long time to wait for a novel, and it’s been my goal in the past to keep that to 3 years. My intention is that once this is done, we’ll have another longer-than-normal gap as I turn my attention to Mistborn Era Three (and hopefully the Elantris sequels) before diving back in to do the back five Stormlight books. From there, I’m hoping to return to a 3-year gap between books until we push to the ending at book ten.

A long journey, I know! But you’ll almost certainly have television and film projects in the interim to keep you occupied alongside the other things I do. And I continue to feel that Stormlight works best in ultra-long-form novels, rather than the (far more profitable) option my publisher would prefer of one shorter 100k Stormlight book every year. The experience of the thick book full of interconnected plotlines and smaller interlude flourishes is part of what makes the artistic vision work for these volumes.

As always, thank you for your patience. My job is to make sure it’s all worth the wait, and I am striving each day to show respect for the trust you’ve put in me.

Next update should come around the end of the year, where I’ll let you know how my November/December went. With luck, I’ll have managed another 70k or so across the two months, and land us at around 130k, which MIGHT be the end of the first sequence.

#the stormlight archive #stormlight 5 #cosmere #cosmere future #cfsbf #brandon sanderson #kowt #root #wob #arts arcanum #szeth son son vallano #kaladin stormblessed

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talonabraxas · 4 months

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Venus in Sagittarius Dec 29 – Jan 23

Dec 29, 2023 – Jan 23, 2024

Venus: goddess of art, romance, pleasure, and beauty. Venus speaks to the heart. In Sagittarius, the heart can finally breathe, soar, run wild. Everything unfolds quickly in Sagittarius. This archetype invites space, freedom, adventure, and spontaneity.

This is all very welcome after swimming with Venus in Scorpio. With Venus in Scorpio, we often scramble to remain in control when things start to feel less than perfect in our relationships. Inevitably we learn that we cannot force or manipulate the path. Instead Scorpio teaches agency and self-empowerment. I hope you’re feeling stronger and sexier. We are learning to strike a balance between power and vulnerability.

That ferocious need we feel, the need to love another, to have them as our own, that hotblooded passion? It’s an addiction and obsession, this delicious desire which keeps us awake at night. And ultimately it begets more pain and chaos because it is channeled into other rather than Self. Turn it to gold inside you, let it fuel the metamorphosis. It is worth asking: what would happen if I “lost control”? What would that really look like? We need to look at our patterns, truly, and then break the fuck out of them. Venus in Scorpio is ultimately about self-discovery rather than sex or lust. The passion (complication/chaos!) we seek in interpersonal relationships is really intended for self-love.

Let the healing begin! It’s time to ascend with Venus to sparkling Sagittarian skies. This transit will carry us blissfully into the new year 2024. With Venus in Sagittarius, the heart glows like a joyful bonfire. This is an exuberant, festive cycle. Sagittarius the Centaur is spirited and vibrant, helping us move forward and close the scorpion chapter. No need to dwell in pain or resentment anymore. We can embrace the winter holiday season with inner warmth and optimism.

There are a few challenges waiting for us here, too. It is wise to remember that Sagittarius belongs to the fire element and shares the same traits as Aries and Leo: impatience, restlessness, impulsiveness. When life feels like too much, Sagittarius quickly boils over – or looks the other way.

Sagittarius enjoys being so light and carefree that dark or heavy things get overlooked on purpose. This is problematic when a situation calls for an assertive response or when something important needs to be finished. Sagittarius can be flighty and avoidant. He hates confrontation and discord. He just wants to dance in his rose-colored glasses all night long.

In our relationships we just need to slow down a little and inhale some fiery courage. Let’s dance in place for just a moment to see it all, acknowledge the whole. And then we can race off again into the rainbow disco star kingdom see you there! And happy new year!

Heads up: Mercury will still be retrograde for the first 4 days of this transit.

Jan 1: Last day of Mercury Retrograde + Venus square Saturn in Pisces. Though you might be feeling really amped to start the New Year 2024 off on the right foot, a square to Saturn makes us feel lazy and averse to routine. The key is to just go with it.

Jan 19: Venus square Neptune in Pisces + Mercury in Capricorn trine Jupiter in Taurus. Exhaustion & physical discomfort. Not a good time to socialize or go out. This Neptunian square may also coincide with natural disasters like floods or heavy rains. The trine between Mercury and Jupiter should bring some levity, however.

Jan 20: 1st day of Aquarius Season + Pluto returns to Aquarius! Craaaaazy day, expect the unexpected.

This transit is an especially favorable time for natal Sagittarians, as well as Aries, Libra, Leo, and Aquarius. If you were born with Venus in Sagittarius, this is your Venus Return.

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loki-is-my-kink-awakening · 5 months

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Fic Writing Review 2023

Words and fics

154,766 words written

55 fics worked on

32 fics published (one shots and finished multi-chapter)

1 wip multi-chapter updated.

My busiest writing month was April with 33,341 words.

Average words per month was 14,772.

Words written per Fandom

47,911—Loki

39,877—Stranger Things

24,343—Witcher

22,741—Our Flag Means Death

11,151—Midnight Mass

6,536—MCU (wider than Loki)

2,217—The Last of Us

Ao3 fics published

33 fics published or updated

89% one shots

11% multi-chapter

31 completed fics

2 unfinished WIPs.

110,863 words published in 2023.

I completed 2 multi-chapter fics this year, with Petals In A Storm being my first ever finished multi-chapter fic.

Published Fics by Fandom

15 (43%)—Loki

12 (34%)—Witcher

3 (8.5%)—Midnight Mass

2 (5.75%)—Stranger Things

2 (5.75%)—Our Flag Means Death

1 (3%)—The Last of Us

Top 10 Fics by Kudos

Praying for Salvation (Midnight Mass)

In Any Shape or Form (Loki)

One On The Way (Witcher)

A Barking Dog Seldom Bites (OFMD)

Let Time Pass (Loki)

Fighting To Get To You (Witcher)

Silky Heat (OFMD)

Dream of Me (Loki)

Jaskier Sandwich (Witcher)

What My Heart Just Yearns To Say (Witcher)

My fandom fic events in 2023

OFMD Reverse Big Bang—fic published in June

Steddie Big Bang—fic in progress, due January 2024

Fandom Trumps Hate—fics in progress, due December.

Notes and tags below the cut

I started counting my words written in March, so my figures from January and February are a rough calculation and I’m probably being too harsh on the final count.

I also had a really stressful few months during a team restructure, so I’ve not been great at keeping an accurate record the whole year, which I regret because it took a lot more time to pull this together because of that.

Read all this and have questions for me? Feel free to send me an ask.

Now I’ve bored you with all my stats, here's the deal for those I’ve tagged below.

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Now for the tags: @dancingwiththefae @ptork66 @artaxlivs @mojowitchcraft @mimisempai @rins-love-wins @insert-witty-user-name-here @lgwilt @dewdropreader @starport-seven-five @cha-melodius @dreamycloud @waterhorseyblues-ao3 @chaos-monkeyy @mirilyawrites @inwantofamuse @dapandapod @dapperwerewolf @gleamingsilence @flootzavut @flordefandom @kell-be-belle @limerental @iwillbringyouruin @flawney @karolincki @jayofolympus @naumaxia-art @rauchendesgnu @pherryt @bravelittlenippa

and anyone else who's read this and wants to do it.

#fic writing year in review #stranger things #loki #loki series #the witcher #ofmd #midnight mass #writblr #on writing #writers on tumblr

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gatheringfiki · 6 months

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PSA - GatheringFiKi - What's Next

Hello my favourite people,

First of all, thank you to those who reblogged and responded to our last post. I'm delighted to say that there is still a small, but interested community around. I think that's frankly incredible, 11 years after the first of the films came out! "We may be few in numbers, but we're fighters!" In fact, I think we have just as many Creators as Thorin had in his Company...

Creators who responded (big round of applause):

@lisstu69

@silvermoon-scrolls (edits only)

@metztlilua

@peneigh-dzredfohl

@silva-13

@alwaysfarawayeyes

@king-on-carven-throne (edits only)

@i-am-still-bb

@flow-it-show-it

@saucywenchwritingblog

@fortheloveofdeaddove

@starstruckcrossainteggslime

@2shuang

If I'm missing anyone, or if you'd like to be added to the list, please let me know. These folks are now gonna be getting notifications about any upcoming events. Because yes, we will go back to running some events in the future, but they will not be as frequent as pre-2022.

And so...

We will be running a Trick or Treat Event between 21 Oct and 31 Oct, similar to the one we ran in 2021. The announcement post will go up later today. ;)

There will be a 12 Days of Christmas 2023! It will likely include fewer photosets, although if our edits creators would like ot make some prompt photosets of their own - please contact @linane-art and I can talk you through their required standards (just to keep things consistent).

Before the end of 2023 (look out for it around or just after Christmas) we will run a survery for you to pick a couple of your favourite events, out of all the events we have ever ran, and set up 3-4 of those accross 2024.

So stay tuned and wish me luck photosetting :D

~gatheringfiki

#Fili/Kili #FiKi #Durincest #the Hobbit #Mitchers #Britchell #DarkHawk

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magic-is-something-we-create · 4 months

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2023 recap + 2024 plans

i wrote 261,200 words in 2023; 172,500 of those for Whispers, 88,700 for Goddess-Touched!

i read 16 books to completion, beta'd for an additional 2, am currently reading 3, and got partway through 5 others before having to put them down.

i maintained my streaming schedule with only a handful of emergency-related exceptions, and drew, uh, a shit ton over the course of the year!

writing goals for 2024:

fix Echoseers (full stylistic rewrite, along with some plot tweaks)

finish the first draft of Goddess-Touched (and edit it hardcore as well)

work on as-yet-unnamed book 4 of tms

fix up Whispers with the added feedback of beta readers

start querying Whispers (i'll look into self publishing down the road if i don't end up finding an agent. the way my brain functions i must cling to the hope of not having to market it myself tooth and nail for the time being)

POTENTIALLY. if my brain fixates on it. write the script for The Lost so that i actually have something to work with to make the comic happen

one of my offline friends is starting to get into writing, and im hoping to help them through some of the early rough patches and potentially co-write a thing with them!!

i completely dropped the ball on the weekly writing updates so im gonna try and get back to that on wednesday. and potentially get back into the weekly ask games!

non-writing goals for 2024:

youtube. i want to make speedpaints and worldbuilding videos and shit. ive already made the basic animation stuff to have a lil sona to do the gesturing for me and i know how to make videos i just havent done it in a While

twitch!! i want to stream a bit more often because its fun and if i let myself branch out into video games as well as art itll be easier to do that. u might see me streaming in the evenings sometime soon. (psst im not streaming this weekend as im still doing a shit ton of holiday/social stuff but the weekend of the 13th ill be back to both patreon and twitch baybee)

SPEAKING OF i want to get my shit together enough to do like. monthly short story releases for my patrons/ko-fi members. early access, that is, so if i post one in january, it'll be posted here a month or two later for all to see/read

i want to read as many books as i did in 2023, if not more! im also considering adding book reviews/thoughts to youtube or patreon/ko-fi perks

my weekend hiatuses aren't going anywhere. having time where im not actively engaging with tumblr + don't feel obligated to do Anything online has done wonders for my mental health and i highly recommend it. focus mode on my phone and leechblock on desktop has helped so so so much

and that's all i'm sharing here!! i hope 2024 is a better year for all than the last <3

#braindumps.txt #writing update #aboutthewarlord #2024 goals

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noa-nightingale · 4 months

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✨ Gay Oars Project 2024 ✨

I am bringing it back! :D

I started the Gay Oars Project in 2021, continued in 2022 and had to take a break in 2023 for mental health reasons. Now here is the updated version.

What is the Gay Oars Donation Project?

It used to be this: People requested fan art from me, and in exchange donated some money to one of two GoFundMes.

I like drawing but I am always and forever a word person first. So, this time, instead of art, there will be short stories and poems! <3

What do you write?

Anything Watcher and Buzzfeed Unsolved. I specialize in puppets and anthropomorphic foodstuff but I will accept other requests too. Keep it clean, though!

Where are the donations going to and how much do I donate?

Like last time, these are the options:

Tonya Kay’s GoFundMe

GoFundMe for @queerunsolved‘s mom

You decide how much you want to donate. I am okay with any amount and I won’t judge you for donating a small amount. This is completely up to you.

BUT! If you have another person or charity in mind, please tell me!

How will you know that I really donated?

I would like to think of this as a gentlemen’s agreement, so to speak. I don’t want to ask for excessive proof. When you get a confirmation email for your donation (or similar), a screenshot will be okay (with your personal info blocked out, of course). I really don’t want to make this more complicated than it needs to be.

Is there a minimum age I have to be?

Apologies in advance but you have to be at least 18.

Text first or donation first?

Please don’t donate right away! I probably won’t be able to tell you exactly how long I will take with writing your request - I don’t want anyone to donate and then have to wait for their text/poem.

I will let you know when it is is done, please don’t donate beforehand.

What happens with the text?

I will post it on my tumblr, and you will have permission to re-post it on your own social media (with credit!). Other people do not have permission to re-post it.

Why are you doing this?

I want to help people, and I can’t give a lot of money on my own. The idea here is that we come together to support others.

If you have questions, ask me! I want to keep this as barrier-free and informal as possible. I am not a professional and this is not meant to be a big scary thing, just a little project to help some people out.

Here are some examples of my work:

Gay Oars Poem

Gay Oars Haiku

We're Meant to Be

Gay Oars Fanfiction

But wait! There is more!

I have told Team Watcher about the Gay Oars Project via their p.o. box - I am fairly certain that at least Shane is aware of the project. At the end of the year, I will compile a list of people who participated and send it to the p.o. box again. So here's your chance to be on that list! (Or to tell me not to put you on that list because you don't want to be perceived lol.)

Thanks for reading. Reblogs are very appreciated! 💖

#watcher #shane madej #gay oars #puppet history #gay oars project #we are watcher #ryan bergara #hot daga #steven lim #gay oars project 2.0

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jsprnt · 4 months

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Healing Hearts PT. 17 | Virgil van Dijk

Would a fresh start bring you more than just a new job?

A/N: last post of 2023 🥺 happy new year babes! Wishing for 2024 to be your year! Thank you so much for all the love this year <3

WC: 3.136

Summary: Y/N L/N is a very skilled and praised physiotherapist. A certain event pushing her for a fresh start, as a physiotherapist for Liverpool FC. One question always being in the back of her mind: Will she be able to let go of her past and allow herself to experience new things?

"Do you want to go in the same car or?"

I shout from my room, getting ready for the day as Virgil is eating breakfast.

I myself didn't feel particularly hungry, more so because it was the first time we'd go into the training center as a 'known' couple. So, I figured I should at least look good, deciding to take my time on my make up.

"Yeah, we'll come home from the match together then." He answers, as hear I the dishwasher being pulled open. Then hearing his footsteps coming closer.

"What are you doing?" He asks, coming closer to me as I set my face with powder.

"Making sure my art stays in place." I joke, turning back to face him as he sits on the edge of my bed.

"I'm almost done I promise."

I finally grab my lip products, lining my lips meticulously and applying my gloss. Chucking both products into my bag as I stand up.

"Let's go."

I pull on my sneakers, checking myself out in the mirror for a split-second before we finally get into the elevator.

"Who's going to drive? You or me?"

I ask, watching the numbers on the elevator screen go down.

"I'll drive of course." He smiles, showing off his keys.

He holds my hand as we leave my apartment building, as we walk up to his car. Opening the door for me.

He walks around, as I put my seat belt on, getting in himself. Meanwhile, I grab my phone to check my notifications, now minimal since I deleted my social media apps.

"Here." I hear Virgil say, handing his phone to me.

I look at him confused, then looking at the phone screen. A playlist, titled 'red scrubs.'

"What's this?"

I ask, scrolling through, realizing it was full of all my favorite songs. Looking back up at him as he drives with one hand.

"A playlist I've made for you."

A smile forms on my face immediately, my mood getting brighter than earlier.

"You're so cute." I mumble, unable to stop cheesing at his cheesiness. It was very small and childish gesture, but the love it expressed was huge.

I watch him smirk, my hand coming up to squeeze his bicep playfully.

"How'd you even-"

"I wrote the song titles on my phone when you got excited about them."

I smile even harder, looking away for a moment to regain my composure. Then leaning slightly to kiss his cheek in appreciation.

"Let's see if you did a good job then hm?" I say, putting the playlist on shuffle.

"Why am I suddenly getting so nervous? Maybe separate cars was a better idea." I say, wiping my clammy hands on my thighs. My nerves getting the best of me.

I watch Virgil glance at me, his eyebrow raised as he drives up to the training center. Greeting the security nicely, as we drive into the parking lot.

Parking all the way in the back, this was either good or bad. We were about to do the walk of shame and pride at the same time.

He finally turns to me, his bigger hand grabbing mine. His thumb caressing my knuckles softly.

"You're going to be okay."

He assures, leaning to kiss the top of my head.

"It's like we're showing off or something-"

"So? I want to show you off. What is anyone going to do about that?" He asks, gazing into my eyes.

Right, what is anyone going to do?

"We'll go in just like usual okay? Want to hold my hand or no?" He asks, his eyes softening.

I nod only, trying to compose myself fully.

I grab onto Virgil's hand tightly, only squeezing it harder when we step into the building, his thumb still caressing the back of my hand in reassurance.

"Clara!" I exclaim, seeing her look up with a smile as we walk up to her.

She'd long known about us, we couldn't actually hide it from her as she and I hung out often.

"Finally showing your girl off huh?" She asks Virgil, as I give her a side hug.

She glances at me, probably seeing the nerves on my face.

"You'll be fine, I think the guys will love you two together. Be prepared though, you know how they are." She says, squeezing my shoulder.

We walk further into the building, stopping right in front of the stairs and I already hear a low whistle.

"Look! My new favorite lovebirds!" A very cheery Trent says, Dom walking along with him, towards us.

I dread every second it takes for them to walk up to us, frozen smile plastered on my face.

"Don't start." Virgil waves them off, greeting them both with a handshake. Then going in to hug me.

"Are we allowed to hug her now or?" Dom teases, glancing at Virgil before he hugs me.

"How did you guys learn about it?" I mutter, rolling my eyes humorously.

"My Instagram! We aren't going to be the only ones you know." Trent chimes in.

"Well thank you for the mental preparation. I'll leave to my office now. See you guys later?" I say, letting of Virgil's hand.

He looks at me, eyes definitely asking for a kiss. I groan internally, Trent and Dom looking at us like we're a pair of pandas in a zoo.

I plant a quick kiss on his cheekbone, stubble grazing my skin slightly as I make a run for it before I could hear the guys say anything.

Sadly, I do hear a very loud "You know Virg, you've got some pink lip stuff on your cheek."

I walk into the canteen during lunchtime, Clara glued to my hip. Only because I forced her to, for emotional support as I watch eyes linger on me as we both fill up our plates.

"Doctor! Clara here!" I hear, snapping my head to a table, a very enthusiastic Ibou, his hands motioning for us to come over. His laugh undeniably infectious as a smile creeps up to my own face.

"Good afternoon guys." I say, realizing they probably intentionally left a seat next and across from Virgil. I sit next to him as Clara sits across from me.

Virgil automatically looks at me, grabbing my plate out of my hands and putting it down. His arms coming behind me, around my back as he smiles at me.

"Hey." He says, shamelessly placing a kiss on my cheek. Followed by immediate commotion from the table.

Some "aww's" mixed with some "my eyes!" making me laugh.

"Come on guys calm down." Clara says, trying to level out the comments.

"It's not like we didn't know already." I hear Ryan say and I immediately look up at him.

"What do you mean?" I ask, glancing at Virgil for a moment. His hand coming to hold mine underneath the table, resting both our hands on his thigh.

"We've been suspecting you two for like... two weeks or something." Harvey says and I raise a brow at him.

"Someone elaborate, please." I urge, the suspense was killing me.

"We kind of knew something was going on when we heard you went to the Netherlands and Greece game." Cody explains, looking at me.

Really, It was that easy? I had been stressing and fretting for no reason? They kind of knew already? That early?

"Yeah, but we kind of knew since your first day." Trent explains.

"My first day?"

"Yeah, captain had been talking about you in the changing room, like every day from then on."

This slowly started to become my favorite conversation ever. A grin forms on my face, gently squeezing Virgil's hand.

"Really?" I ask Virgil, a caught off guard expression on his face. That was why the guys looked so- giggly and smiley that first week?

"He's going to start blushing now!" I hear, immediately laughing as he did look insanely flustered.

"Right, he said you were 'the most beautiful woman that he’d ever worked with' and 'your smile was-" Virgil puts his hand over Curtis' mouth, stopping him from speaking.

"That's enough. Isn't it?" He mumbles, embarrassed smile on his face.

I tap his thigh, motioning him to stop suffocating Curtis as I lean into his side. His arm reluctantly wrapping around my back again.

"I want to hear more." I beam, looking at Curtis as I finally dug into my food.

"We had bets and everything." Curtis says, smug grin on his face.

"About?"

"Like who said 'I love first' or when you guys got together." Trent explains.

"Ohh, must've been very entertaining for you guys." I say, covering my full mouth with my hand.

Yeah, but it gave me heart palpitations.

"Are you two going to reveal it then? I need to know if I won." Cody chimes in, as he takes a gulp of his water.

I glance at Virgil, smiling at him. The team definitely knew how to entertain themselves with gossip.

"That's for us to know and for you to wonder." He says, pulling me closer into his side.

"You know we've seen scratches on his back and hickies on his neck-"

"Okay- I don't want to hear more actually.”

"I do not like when we draw." I mutter, to no one in particular as I watch the match unfold right in front of my eyes.

So far it was 1-1 against Bournemouth, and at least we had no injuries. I adjust my position in my seat. I sat in the last seat of the first row, looking directly at the position of the ball on the pitch.

I glance at the players behind me, all packed in their black, green embroidered club puffer jackets like me. Virgil sitting in the seat right behind mine.

The rain had been pouring down ever since the start of the match, making me hope that the damn waterproof mascara did its job and stayed on properly. At least my puffer was warm enough.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, looking back to see Virgil. "You okay?" He asks, rubbing his hands on my jacket.

"Yeah, it's just the rain that's annoying and it's cold." I complain, adjusting my zipper.

He extends his hand, giving me his hot pack.

"Here it'll help a little."

"Thank you." I smile, trying to warm up my hands as his hands stay on my shoulders. It was probably the maximum PDA I would allow in front of cameras.

The match finally ends with a 2-1 win for Liverpool, after an absolute banger of a goal from Darwin. Making us the last eight competing for the Carabao Cup.

I immediately run inside, almost slipping due to my wet shoe soles. Trying to avoid any more rain. Then waiting for everyone to pile inside again, a very happy shouting Virgil rushing in.

"You're going to fall." I comment, watching the last few players walk in.

"I fell already." He says, coming closer to me.

"You did? Are you injured?" I say, looking over him concerned. His hands coming to hold my cheek, making me look at him.

"No, I fell for you."

I blank stare at him for a moment, wondering if he really just said the most cheesy, cliché line ever.

"I think I need a moment." I utter, avoiding him as I walk to stand next to Klopp.

"It was a joke, come on." He complains, coming to stand next to me again. Klopp glancing at us with a smile.

"Yeah, a really bad one. Like who says that?"

"Babe? Can you... pick us up?”

She giggles, phone pressed to her ear clumsily. Dim pub lights casting a minimal glow on her face, her earrings glistening as she moves her head.

"Are you drunk love?" He asks, standing up from her living room sofa, and grabbing his car keys.

"A little, got carried away."

She mumbles, laughing at her drunk friend's dance moves.

"Okay send me your location. Can you do that for me?" He asks, walking out of her apartment.

"I think... I can- hold on." she slurs, tapping some familiar buttons. Managing to send her location to him.

"Alright I'll be there in a few. Want to hang up or stay on the phone?" He asks, starting the engine of his car.

"Stay." She answers, drunkenly keeping an eye on Sofia and Clara.

"Okay, want to tell me something that happened?" He says, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Uhm... this girl was wearing like 15 centimeter heels, like how?" She mumbles, leaning forward onto the table tiredly.

"Hm really? How about yours? Do your ankles not hurt?" He asks, humming.

"I'm just sitting down now." She answers.

"Are your friends there? They're okay right?”

"Yeah... they're very happy." She replies, looking at them laugh and chat clumsily.

"That's good, I'm almost there. Don't come outside yeah?"

She hums, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

After a few short minutes the tall athlete arrives, peering around to find three girls sit next to each other. Though, his girlfriend seems totally exhausted while her friend are as cheery as ever.

"y/n." He says, running his hands on her back.

She looks up, recognizing him and standing up. Her body immediately leaning against his, molding against it.

"You're okay." He mumbles, barely audible due to music.

"Girls, let's go." He says, watching both Sofia and Clara grab their own bags. His hand going to grab his girlfriend's bag.

"Sofia, can you walk? Or should I call Noah down?" He asks, having dropped off Clara safely already.

"I'm good." She mumbles having sobered up a bit, reaching over to open the car door.

Virgil looks at his girlfriend in the passenger seat, half awake as her head is angled downwards.

He finally gets out of the car, picking up his girlfriend and walking alongside Sofia, up to their level.

He watches Noah open the door, bringing Clara in as he throws a thumbs up to Virgil.

"Thanks lad!" He says, closing the door as Virgil throws out a ‘no problem’.

Virgil finally opens the front door, bringing y/n onto the couch as he goes to wash his hands and grabs a cup of water.

"Here drink some water." He coaxes, bringing the cup to her lipstick smudged lips.

She complies, eyes open by a sliver as she gulps the entire cup down. He leans down, chucking the heels off her feet.

"Okay now let's get you cleaned up." He mumbles, picking her up again.

"I'm going to set you down on the counter. Alright?"

"Mhm."

"Okay this is your cleanser right?"

He says, showing her a white bottle.

He was right.

"No, I can do it myself." She mumbles, getting off the counter.

"Okay, I'll brush my teeth."

He does, stabilizing her when she stared clumsily moving again. Drunkenly applying all sorts of toners and serums.

"You look like glazed donut."

"That's... the point."

"I know. Let's go to bed."

He guides her by the shoulders, placing her on the edge of her bed as he grabs her pajamas.

"No, I can- do it myself." She exclaims, grabbing the change of clothes as she starts tugging on the zipper on her back.

"Let me- help you."

His hands go up to her zipper, zipping it down successfully as she pulls the dress down further.

He grabs the dress, placing it in the laundry basket and returning to her.

She grabs onto the pajama shirt, pulling it over her head easily, his minimal help needed. She grabs the pajama pants, looking up at him.

"See? I can do it all alone. Even when I’m drunk. I'm a genius-"

She tries to say, accidentally tripping, face-first into the bed when trying to step into the pants fully.

He tries to stifle his laughter, knowing she wouldn't appreciate it. Especially in her drunken state.

"Woah- let me help you."

After a struggle and battle with the pajamas they both finally lay down into the bed cozily. His hand cradling her closer.

"My ankles hurt." She complains, soft groan leaving her mouth.

"Want me to massage them?"

"Yes, please."

He shifts in the bed. Rolling the ends of her pants up as he starts to rub and massage her swollen looking ankles.

"Did you dance a lot?" He asks, a soft hum leaving her lips.

"I wish you didn't wear those high heels then."

"They looked good."

"I know, but still."

He looks closer at the back of her ankles, realizing the back of her heels were probably too rough and made her bleed.

"The back of your ankles are bleeding."

"Really?"

"Hold on."

He walks back and forth to the bathroom, grabbing the necessary disinfectant and band-aids.

She winces as the ointment makes contact with the small wound. He quickly places a band-aid on both ankles and patting her leg.

"I'm sorry love. It's over." He says, voice deep and thick with sleep.

"Let's sleep now."

I watch as Curtis and Virgil pretend to be Santa in front of the camera crew. It was the first week of November but I guess the PR team decided to film Christmas videos already.

I was having some food with Clara at the other table as they had walked in with the cameras on. I try to muffle my laughter as they kept pulling out ridiculous presents from their bags.

I finally see them nearing the end of filming, Trent, Robbo, Curtis and Virgil gathered around and flipping through the calendar full of images from different players.

"Doctor come see this, you'll love it."

I hear Robbo say, looking at me as I pop a strawberry into my mouth. I raise my brows, chewing the fruit as I stand up to see what he's talking about.

"What is it?" I ask putting my hands in my pocket, looking him with questioning look.

"Here see for yourself." He says handing me the calendar. I glance at the guys for a moment, opening the calendar to see every month having a new photo of Virgil.

"Oh-" I say, raising my brows as every photo becomes even more questionable.

"You can have it from Santa!" Curtis says, pushing the calendar further into my arms.

"Oh it's-"

"Aw you don't like it?" Trent chimes in, glancing at Virgil.

"Doesn't really fit with the interior of my apartment you know." I tease playing along, though unable to contain my laughter as Robbo bursts out in laughter.

"You're serious?" Virgil say, looking betrayed.

"You know you seem to love it more than me Andy. Besides, I've got the real deal already."

I joke, handing it to him. Winking at the camera for jokes. There's no way it would be used anyway.

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