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esther-ti-designs · 4 years

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Hey everyone, uhh so I have some tea for you all.

So I met this guy (I’ll refer to him as J) during the last meeting of the quarter for the graphic design club last fall. Here’s everything that happened between December 5 through February 22.

December 5

Honestly, I haven’t noticed J at any of the previous meetings, but that one night, he just came up to me out of the blue and complimented me on my cozy winter gear.

So J and I happened to be taking Intro to Design that quarter and we talked about our group projects for the class, which we just turned in earlier that day (I had just pulled two consecutive all-nighters and had just taken a 3-hour nap prior to the meeting, so I was very sleep deprived at this point). We continued our conversation while walking down some stairs and outside the building, and he asked me about other clubs that I’m involved in, to which I told him that I’m the secretary and Head of Hufflepuff for the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) and that I’m also in the ballroom dance club. He seemed very interested in HPA. He mentioned that he played second violin in the video game orchestra (VGO) and that they were having a quarterly concert that weekend. A friend in HPA had promoed the VGO concert the night before, but I wasn’t really interested, as I had no knowledge of video game music. J and I exchanged Instagram handles and later that night, I answered all of his questions about HPA. Then on Sunday, sort of at the last minute, I found out that a few friends from HPA were going to the VGO concert and I went along because $5 for a concert is not bad, and I haven’t been to an orchestra performance in a while. The concert was so much better than I expected!

December 9

Finals week just started and J randomly asked if I was studying on campus 👀

December 11

We met up at a boba shop near my apartment to study for the Intro to Design final (it was raining pretty hard and J refused to have me bike out to campus in the rain). We studied off a Quizlet set for about 3 hours until my laptop’s battery was running low, and then we talked for another couple hours! It turns out we have a lot in common! We’re both only children, 22 years old, left-handed, design majors (J is actually a design and managerial economics double major), and we play the violin (I used to play violin and cello, but I digress). Oh and we both have an iNTeResTinG injury story haha. Then, before we went our separate ways, he gave me a one-armed hug, which I couldn’t reciprocate because I had my arms full with a cup of boba and my umbrella.

December 12

J DM’ed me out of the blue asking for my Spotify wrapped up. I normally don’t give in to trends easily, and this was something I wasn’t really interested in sharing with the entire world, but I shared it with him anyways (Spoiler: It’s mostly Game of Thrones soundtracks, Taylor Swift, and BTS). Despite being an orchestra nerd, I find it really difficult keeping up with popular music, and my musical taste stays fairly consistent even several years later. I was kind of expecting him to laugh at my musical taste, but he actually complimented me for liking dramatic tv/film soundtracks. And then we arranged another study session right before the design final.

December 13

The Intro to Design final was supposed to be 50 questions, all multiple-choice, no trick questions. It was supposed to be really easy, and I thought we got almost everything down at the previous study session. So why were we having another study session right before the exam? I thought either he really wanted an A in the class, or he wanted to see me again before we went on winter break. Right before going in for the exam, he asked if I wanted to meet up again for a “post-final celebration” when we were done with the exam. Okay, now I was really starting to think he wanted to spend some more time with me before winter break 👀

So after the design final, we walked down to one of two boba shops on the edge of campus and downtown. We both ordered our drinks, he got some popcorn chicken, and we talked for four hours! I can’t remember everything we talked about, but time really flew by. And then, before we went home, he gave me a one-armed hug again.

December 14

I had plans to fly home to LA today. I had spent the previous night cleaning my apartment and packing stuff (I managed to forget to bring a pair of sneakers because, for some reason, dumbass me decided to wear heeled boots to the airport because ~fashion~). I was sitting in the airport, about to board the plane, when I got a message from J. He remembered that I was flying that day and was asking if I got home safely. Aww he actually cares. I told him that I would be boarding soon and will be offline for the next couple hours. And then I updated him when I got off the plane, when my parents picked me up at LAX, while we sat in the typical LA traffic, until we all made it home.

December 15 - January 5

Over the next few weeks of winter break, we messaged each other a couple times every day. We shared pictures of the holiday decorations in our home, and I shared pictures and video clips of my pet bunny too. On Chistmas Eve, he asked if I had any plans, to which I told him we were going out for dinner to celebrate my mom’s birthday. He wished my mom happy birthday and I passed the birthday wishes to my mom. “Hey mom, my friend says happy birthday.” “Thank you — who???” And I had to tell my mom about J (whoops). Her judgmental ass was not exactly happy to hear that J is a Caucasian dude from yeehaw country, and after showing her J’s Instagram feed, she was not a fan of his art style smh. Anyways, the day I was coming back to Davis, J was like AHHHH you’re back!!!!!!! Just pure excitement 💖

January 9 - 16

We met up at yet another boba shop after the first week of classes. Our meeting was shorter than all our previous meetings, because I had to bike back to give an apartment tour later that afternoon. Two weeks into the winter quarter, we met after our design studio classes and walked to an HPA meeting together. We also went to a graphic design club meeting together, after which he offered to drive me home so that I wouldn’t have to bike with the cold wind on my face. I trusted J at this point, so I gratefully accepted. I think my trust in him went up at least 10 times in this moment, because J managed to secure my small and heavy bike to the bike rack on the back of his car, which already had his bike strapped in. After dropping me off at my apartment, he invited me out for dinner that weekend (it was also MLK weekend).

January 18

J picked me up at 7. The restaurant he chose was hella ~ f a n c y ~. It was an Italian restaurant downtown with dim lighting and pasta priced at $13 - $16. He said he didn’t know the place would be that fancy and that he trusted Yelp’s description of “casual Italian.” I told a friend about our sort-of-date night and she thinks J picked a date-y restaurant on purpose 👀 Oh and my mom went the extra mile of writing down J’s name, the place we were going to, and I was to call home at 10 PM (I ended up getting back and called an hour early).

February 14 - Valentine’s Day ❤️

Unfortunately, J never came to another HPA meeting because the campus radio station, KDVS, holds meetings at the same time, and he’s trying to get a job with them. And we don’t really see each other very often because design classes are usually 3-hours long and J is really busy with 5 classes. But J has been super excited about Yule Ball ever since he met me. J came over while I was tabling for ticket sales. He mentioned that VGO was going to see Sonic that night, and invited me to hang with VGO. Let me tell you, it was quite an experience and definitely not the typical Valentine’s Day date.

We pulled into a Sonic drive-in for dinner (because gotta get in that Sonic mood lol). A girl introduced herself as D (name altered to protect identity, of course). She clearly has some sort of leadership role in the group because everyone pays attention to her, but she constantly makes jokes about being everyone’s daddy. The jokes are so vulgar and obscene. It was like weirdest video game nerd and band kid hybrid (J later tells me she’s a violinist. What?! Orchestra people are usually super chill lol). After dinner, we get in our cars and head down the street to the movie theater. The VGO had reserved seats in Row J. J and I had just booked our tickets several hours earlier and we were in Row F. Throughout the movie, someone in the theater yelled at every pivotal moment (including, yes, that Tails reveal in the post credits). J thoroughly enjoyed the movie and laughed along with whomever was yelling behind us, while I knew absolutely nothing going into it, except that Sonic is a blue hedgehog that can run super fast. J also gave one additional bit of info before the movie: Sonic really likes chili corn dogs for some strange reason???

So that’s how my Valentine’s Day went lol

February 18

J came by around 3 in the afternoon, right before we were going to pack up for the day, and purchased a Yule Ball ticket. He’s obviously very excited to go to Yule Ball with me but he says he doesn’t know how to dance. I told him we have a waltz lesson planned. He’s like aww and says he wants me to personally teach him (my heart 💕). And as always, he gave me a hug before leaving to go to class. Recently, I noticed that J has been giving full hugs instead of his usual one-armed hugs, though it depends on the situation.

February 22

✨❄️ Y u l e B a l l ❄️✨

J and I arrived separately at Yule Ball because I had to help set up the venue for the event and I had spent the entire day working on an Azkaban wanted poster prop and literally finished it two hours before our meeting time for setting up the venue. The dance was supposed to start at 7 PM and J got there early enough to help me out with last-minute decorations. I had signed up to be in charge of the photobooth from 7 to 7:30, but no one came for pictures during that 30-minute period, so I was free for the rest of the night. J and I had a fantastic time admiring the detailwork in the decorations around the venue and laughing and dancing to the weird selection of 2000s music. J did pretty okay with learning waltz basics and I gave him tips here and there on standing in closed frame, balance, the slight tension in the left hand, etc.

Sometime towards the end of the night, my ballroom friend pulled me aside for a bathroom chat and asked if we’re dating. I don’t know??? We haven’t decided to call it official so ??

After helping clean up everything at the end of the night, J dropped off a friend and right before turning to drop me off (I live across the street from that friend), he remembered that I hadn’t had actual food all day prior to Yule Ball (aww he actually cares, and he probably wanted some extra time with me even though my apartment was right there). So we went downtown for (a very late) dinner. While we chatted over food and boba, our conversation drifted towards soundtrack music and I mentioned The Theory of Everything soundtrack, my favorite soundtrack besides Game of Thrones. J immediately searched up The Theory of Everything soundtrack album and streamed it on the way home (that’s some serious dedication right there), and he liked it!

Oh and I forgot to mention that J forgot to bring a jacket and I had a very warm scarf and coat, so we held onto each other with a one-armed hug while we walked to his car. I really love his hugs, one-armed or full hugs.

I usually post a picture from Yule Ball every year so here’s this year’s! Yep, that’s J. And we’re both Ravenclaws :)

I’ll end this post here, so I don’t end up with a romance novel in a single post lol

#i've told some discord friends and their reactions were like omg pls get married already #i'm dYinG from all the cute reactions #harry potter #harry potter alliance #yule ball #yule ball 2020 #uc davis #j #wow look esther actually talks

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artificialqueens · 5 years

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You're beautiful, no matter what I used to say - (Nina/Brooke) - multifandomgeek

Summary: To Brooke, beauty is everything. So when she starts getting feelings for a girl completely outside her type, she just tries to ignore it.

A lesbian, college AU

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20606846

–

Brooke lived for beauty. She loved every aspect of it, and it was part of all of her favorite subjects: makeup, fashion, design. She had a good eye for it too, be it in art or in people, and she was proud of that. In her first year of college, she already knew it would be an important aspect of her life, no matter if she decided to design clothes or graphic material (she was still thinking about it).

To her, It was extremely important to look her best at all times. It only made sense, and she would rather spend less on food than go without her trusted brands of makeup, even if with her clothes she could be a little more creative to fit her budget.

Beauty was everything, and when she found herself attracted to someone, appearance was always on the top of the list. Some people might call it shallow, but for her it was just a clear sign that that girl had something in common with her. Even when she was a young teen, it had seemed so obvious that she would be a lesbian because women were just the most beautiful creatures on earth. It was simple.

She liked girls with softly smoked eyes paired with red lips, or colorfully blended eyeshadow with a bold personality. She liked voluptuous hair that she could tell was fancy just from looking at it, or maybe short, well-kept styles that exposed a long neck and big, stylish earrings. But most of all, she liked girls’ curves. A lean body, round just in the right places, that she would pull closer to her with a hand strategically placed on their lower backs.

She could never see herself with a less than perfect girl. It was just who she was. Some people valued romance, others valued loyalty, and Brooke valued beauty. To each their own.

“Why are we doing this again?” Brooke asked Detox, her best friend, who had dragged her to a LGBTQ event one afternoon.

“Because we’re queer, and we should give back to the community,” said Detox, fixing her lipstick in a small mirror while they waited for the thing to begin. It was supposed to be an auction, or was it a bingo? Brooke didn’t really care.

“Give back for what?” mumbled Brooke, looking around as they sat down, seeing if she could at least score a good lay from this, but everybody seemed a little… weird.

Detox elbowed her. “Aren’t you out, you ungrateful cunt? Don’t take that for granted.”

Brooke rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything else. She looked at her nails and accepted her fate, if only for Detox’s sake. She knew her friend had another relationship entirely with being gay, and even if Brooke didn’t get it, she wasn’t that big of an asshole to not be able to stand a few hours in a boring lecture (what even was this event?) to support her best friend.

The room they were in was relatively small, with a few rows of plastic chairs pointing to a raised platform on one of its extremities, where a podium with a microphone was set. It reminded Brooke of the church her mother used to go to when she was little, if with a lower ceiling. The chairs were about half full, and she supposed this kind of thing wasn’t very popular. It wasn’t difficult to understand why, considering Brooke herself didn’t want to come in the first place.

She and Detox were sitting at one of the last rows. They usually found themselves in that position, often because they wanted the option to leave in the middle of things, but maybe it was just a habit that came from being popular and not caring much about school. There were all kinds of people scattered around, a lot of them clearly alone, and Brooke couldn’t help but pity them. Maybe this organization (was it a club?) was important for some people after all.

“Okay, guys, sorry for the delay,” said a girl taking the podium with a hurried demeanor and a giant smile. She didn’t talk on the mic, but her presence was enough to make the low chatter that had filled the room stop all at once. “We’ll begin in a minute, but while we don’t, Josh will pass a list for you to fill in with your contact info. It’s completely optional, and we’ll use it to keep you updated with our activities.”

A guy with bright blue hair waved two clipboards with pens tied to them, so everybody could see, before handing them to people sitting on opposite sides of the room. Brooke dismissed it completely, turning her gaze back to the girl at the podium, who was now going through a stack of papers with an air of confident professionalism, a soft smile still playing on her lips.

She was a big girl, probably as tall as Brooke and who knows how much heavier. She had her dark blonde hair brushed back and kept in place by a headband, with a few strands dyed pink, almost randomly and already quite faded. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a logo that was probably that of the LGBTQ association. There was no makeup on her face apart for a nude lipstick. Maybe a little concealer, if that, not that Brooke could notice at that distance. She caught herself thinking she could be sort of pretty, if she put some effort into it.

“Is this working?” said the girl, grabbing the mic, that was, indeed, working. “Okay, it is, haha,” she laughed, and Brooke smiled with her. What? “Hello everyone, and welcome. My name is Nina West, I’m the head of our LGBTQIA+ Association. I want to thank everyone for coming, it means a lot for us, and know that you’re always welcome here, no matter what.” Nina’s smile was so genuine Brooke couldn’t help but believe her, even though it was probably a speech she had delivered a hundred times.

Nina went on to list the weekly activities held by the association, that included game and movie nights, soccer practice, singing lessons, support groups, activism meetings, and so many other things that Brooke was genuinely surprised. The clipboard for the contact info reached her and she almost filled it in before remembering she didn’t actually want to be there. She passed it over to Detox, not looking if she was filling it herself in favor of keeping watching Nina. “We’ve had sewing and fashion design workshops for the last few months, and everyone was so good we decided it would be fun to show it off!” said Nina excitedly. “Tonight, our models are all LGBTQIA students who attended the workshops and made or embellished the clothes they’re wearing. So please give it up for our first artist, Trevor!”

Brooke was smiling and clapping with the crowd before she could think about it. A lanky boy wearing a short sequined dress appeared from behind her to parade through the center of the room, between the rows of chairs. The dress was not very remarkable, but Trevor was smiling so much, strutting like he truly believed he was on a runway, that it seemed more beautiful than it actually was. He went up to the stage and made a few poses while people cheered and clapped.

Nina walked to him, smiling so proudly you’d think she was his mom. “Hi Trevor, how are you?” she pointed the mic to him so he could answer.

“I’m fabulous!” said Trevor.

Nina laughed wholeheartedly and Brooke’s heart did something weird. “You are!” said Nina. “Did you make this from scratch?”

“Yes,” said Trevor, a little more shyly. “Sasha helped a lot, but yeah.”

“It’s amazing!” said Nina. “Isn’t it, you guys?” she turned to the small audience, who whistled and cheered. “You’re incredible, Trev! And fabulous.” She pointed at him, while kindly leading him to stand on the corner while she announced the next model, this time a girl in a big puffy jacket.

The fashion show went on, and while some of the garments were… well, questionable, a couple were really well made and tasteful. The last person to walk the make-shift runway was Sasha, the person who most people mentioned as their mentor. Brooke couldn’t really tell if they were a boy or a girl, and it was fascinating. They were absolutely beautiful, despite the bald head, which was so bizarre in Brooke’s mind. Sasha was wearing a long red gown that was so gorgeous it should be on a red carpet. Brooke wanted to meet them.

In fact, now that she thought about it, a workshop might be just what she needed to decide on what major she should pursue. She could have a taste of the real thing and see if it seemed like something she wanted to do for the rest of her life, then go for the fashion career. If not, then graphic design could be the right choice after all. It was at least worth a try.

She explained it to Detox once the event was over. To say she looked surprised was an understatement, the other girl surely expecting Brooke to want to leave as soon as possible. People were talking and mingling around the room. Brooke noticed nobody was alone anymore, and it gave her a weirdly nice feeling. She felt nervous as she approached Nina, which was even weirder. She never had problems talking to people before, but this girl was something else.

“Hi,” said Brooke once Nina was free from a conversation with one of the students who had modeled.

“Hi!” said Nina with a gentle smile. She was just as tall as Brooke, and her eyes were so pretty.

“I’m Brooke,” she said, extending her hand.

“I’m Nina, nice to meet you.” Nina’s handshake was firm yet comforting.

She must give the best hugs, Brooke thought. What was going on with her today? “I was wondering if those sewing workshops are still going on?”

“Yes, of course!” said Nina, letting go of Brooke’s hand, that suddenly felt cold. “It happens on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Did you put your email on the contact sheet?”

“Oh. No, I, hm…” Brooke trailed off, not knowing what she could say.

“It’s fine,” said Nina without missing a beat. “Just show up a few minutes earlier and we’ll set you up.” She touched Brooke’s arm, smiling.

Brooke just wanted to be her friend so bad. “Okay, then. I will. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” said Nina. “See you then.”

Brooke made her way back to Detox, who was watching her with a weird smile on her face.

“I think you have a crush on pink girl,” said Detox.

“What? Of course not, she’s-” Fat, Brooke wanted to say, but refrained. Detox just chuckled and shook her head, not looking like she believed Brooke at all. Brooke looked back at Nina, who was now talking to Sasha. One of the pink strands of her hair had fallen down her face, brushing her cheek, and Brooke wanted to pull it back for her. “She’s so nice, though.”

–

When Wednesday came around, Brooke found her way back to the Association room all by herself. She was very excited, the prospect of doing something passion-oriented so refreshing after so many weeks of exhausting classes. She had dressed sensibly professional, changing after her classes just to feel more confident going in. She had even applied a new nail-polish just the day before, predicting she would get there barely knowing how to thread a needle and wanting to be at the top of her game to cope with her anxiety.

She was 15 minutes early. The chairs were all piled in one corner, making space for a few long tables that were scattered in the center of the room. Sasha was there, taking pieces of fabric out of a suitcase and organizing them on the tables. Near the door, there was a desk where another girl sat, working on a laptop. She looked up when Brooke approached.

“Can I help you?” she asked. She wasn’t rude, but Brooke was expecting Nina. Of course, Nina couldn’t be there all the time, and the disappointment pooling in Brooke’s stomach made absolutely no sense. She didn’t come here for the other girl, she came for the sewing. Right?

“Hi, I came for the sewing workshop? Nina told me to come early because I’m new.”

“Oh, welcome,” the girl smiled. She had curly brown hair and warm eyes, but it just didn’t hit quite as good. “I’m Meatball.”

“I’m- what?”

The girl laughed, pleased at Brooke’s reaction. “Meatball. It’s not my real name, don’t worry, my parents weren’t that mean,” she said, opening a drawer and rummaging in it for a moment before finding a piece of paper that she handled to Brooke. “Fill this out and you’re good to go.”

It was a form for Brooke’s basic information, with a few unusual boxes like “pronouns” and a line saying you could use whatever name you’d like, it didn’t have to be your official one. For a split second, Brooke thought about how unnecessary that seemed, but then it hit her where she was, and she wondered how much of a difference a detail like that made in making people feel welcome there. A lot, she supposed.

“HI, DIVA,” Meatball suddenly shouted, startling Brooke, who looked up to see Nina at the door. Her heart started beating faster, inexplicably.

“HI, DIVA,” Nina yelled back, leaning over the desk to… wiggle her tongue at Meatball? It was like they were having an open-mouthed, exaggerated kiss, but without actually touching. It was ridiculous, kind of disgusting, and Brooke wanted Nina to do it to her too.

Nina turned to Brooke. “You came!” she said, and Brooke didn’t even know when she started smiling.

“Hi,” she said. Nina had her hair up in a ponytail today, and was wearing a more delicate top than the t-shirt that Brooke saw her in last time. It had a nicely cut cleavage, and wow, those were nice tits. Brooke snapped out of it before she ogled for too long, swiftly finishing her form and handling it to Meatball.

“Have you met Sasha yet?” asked Nina, placing a hand on Brooke’s back.

“Not really, no,” said Brooke, being guided to the tables, not taking her eyes off Nina.

“Hey, beauties,” said Sasha as they approached, and their voice was just enthralling.

“Hi, gorgeous,” said Nina, kissing Sasha’s cheek. “I have a new student for you, this is- oh, I’m so sorry, I forgot your name,” said Nina apologetically.

“Brooke,” she said, extending her hand to Sasha, who shook it. “Nice to meet you.” Nina forgot her name. That was cool, it was fine. They had talked for what, 10 seconds? At least she remembered her. Brooke was not at all saddened by it, that would be ridiculous.

Sasha asked Brooke what did she expect from the workshop and they started talking about the Fashion Design program, Sasha being a junior and a great source of information on the matter. Brooke should be more interested, really, and not fighting to pay attention as Nina slipped out of the conversation to talk to Meatball again.

But Sasha was their own kind of creature, and Brooke was genuinely mesmerized by them, even if her mind was playing tricks on her. Soon, she found herself hanging on every word as Sasha talked about beauty, in a completely different way than Brooke ever heard someone talk about the subject before. Soon, a few more people arrived, and Sasha had to cut the conversation short to start the class, leaving Brooke wanting more and at the same time with too much to think about.

There were about a dozen people in the room, and they were separated accordingly to what they wanted to learn. A few people were making clothes from scratch while others were decorating. Brooke was placed at a corner with a boy who taught her how to turn on the only sewing machine they had and how to make it work. It took a moment, but she got the hang of it, feeling immensely proud when she finally got the thing to whirl into motion, threading a line on a small piece of fabric, just for practice.

Once Brooke learned how to do the bare minimum on the machine, Sasha asked Nina to show her how to thread a needle and stitch something by hand, while someone else used the machine. Brooke was so happy to have an opportunity to talk to Nina again that she didn’t even feel when the needle punctured her finger as she tried to put a thread through its impossibly small hole.

“I didn’t think you were going to be in the class,” said Brooke, putting her finger in her mouth and sucking on it. Nina’s gaze zeroed on her lips for a moment and Brooke felt like smirking.

“Oh, I love it,” said Nina, quickly finding something to do on the table. “I’m not very good at it, but Sasha is such a great teacher, I can’t help but keep coming back.” She was avoiding looking at Brooke’s face; it was adorable and made something sparkle in Brooke’s chest.

“I think I want to be a fashion designer too,” said Brooke, going back to trying to thread the needle.

“That’s great! I’m a theater major, so it’s really useful for costumes and such, but I could never create things like you guys,” said Nina, relaxing a bit once she noticed Brooke’s finger wasn’t in her mouth anymore.

“This is frustrating. I might as well just give up on that dream,” said Brooke, lowering the needle with a huff.

Nina laughed. “You can practice that later. Here, have mine.”

Brooke was still hung up on the fact that she made Nina laugh, taking the needle with a thread already in it from her hand. Nina showed her how to make a simple stitch, and let her practice while she worked on her own project, a hoodie with a small hole in the seam that she was trying to fix.

They kept talking while doing it, and Brooke found out Nina was two years her senior, but had been in the queer association since day one, and for her, it was the most important part of her college life. She told Brooke a few stories about students that found there a true beacon of hope, and how she was so very proud of helping to build a safe space for the community in campus, even if that proved risky sometimes.

“What do you mean, risky?” asked Brooke.

“Oh, you know, just your regular bigot professor, sometimes a group of students who think they can just throw slurs at us and we’ll stay quiet. Oh, and of course, every time there are some cost issues, we are the first thing to pop up on the administration’s mind. It’s been fine nowadays, I just have to pay attention, it’s not like when-” She interrupted herself, looking away before she looked at Brooke again. “Hey, you’re almost finished. I have to show you how to tie a knot in the end now.”

“I want to help,” said Brooke all of a sudden. She didn’t know where that came from, this was supposed to be something she was doing for her own sake, selfish in every sense of the word. Brooke was not the kind of person who volunteered, and she was certainly not the kind of person who did things impulsively just to impress some pretty girl.

Wait, what?

“I’d really appreciate that, Brooke,” said Nina, looking into Brooke’s eyes.

Oh, what the hell.

“I have to look at my schedule, but I can free some time for you- for the association, I mean. I’m pretty good with time-management, I can help with whatever you need.” Her heart was pounding. She wondered if she could become familiar enough to have Nina kiss her cheek when she said hello to her too.

“Thank you,” said Nina, smiling in a way that felt like a reward in itself. She quickly walked to Meatball’s desk and took a slip of paper from the drawer, coming back to give it to Brooke. “Send me an email, we always need more people.”

It wasn’t like getting her number, but it was something. Not that Brooke liked her that way.

“I will.”

–

Volunteering, as it turned out, was work. A lot of work, especially if you just couldn’t find the heart to say no to the person in charge, even if there was an exam coming up or an essay due.

“You know, if you just boned her your life would be so much easier,” said Detox one day, roughly two months after Brooke started volunteering at the association. She was sitting at Brooke’s bed, watching the blonde apply concealer under her eyes to hide the signs of her tiredness.

“Fuck off,” said Brooke, focusing on her makeup and trying not to think about just how much she wished she could take that advice.

Becoming friends with Nina was easy. She was a very friendly person. In fact, she had a lot of friends, and Brooke was absolutely not jealous of any of them, nuh-uh, especially not the gay boys who kissed her on the mouth to say hello. Not at all.

Being friends with her was even easier, Nina was kind, sensitive, a great listener, but perhaps her greatest quality was her sense of humor. It just matched Brooke’s, in a way that sometimes left both of them with tears in their eyes. She just liked being with her, everything seemed so much better when Nina was around. Brooke smiled more, did more things that she was proud of, Nina just made her a point-blank better person, and happier too.

Brooke was so in love with her it was dizzying.

“Why haven’t you made a move yet?” said Detox. “Didn’t you say you could have, and I quote, ‘any fucking girl you wanted’?”

“Did I actually say that? God, I’m obnoxious,” said Brooke, scrunching her face at herself.

Detox laughed. “That’s not the point. What’s the deal with this girl?”

“I’m ready,” said Brooke, finishing touching up her lipstick and capping it, completely ignoring the question. “Come on, let’s go.”

Detox rolled her eyes, following Brooke outside so they could walk to class together.

–

Later that week, Brooke found herself at Nina’s place, together with half a dozen people as they did a task force to organize a bunch of paper-related tasks, including cutting up hundreds of flyers for upcoming events, which was what Brooke was doing. Her thumb was sore already, and so were her cheeks from all the laughing.

“Look at this bitch,” said Meatball with her phone pointing at Brooke’s face, probably filming an Instagram story. “Who puts on that much makeup to get paper cuts?”

“That reminds me, I got something for you,” said Brooke, reaching in her jeans pocket and bringing out her middle finger.

Meatball laughed, putting her phone down. “She’s growing on me,” she said to Nina, who was behind a laptop, trying to fix some finance sheets with Josh. Nina looked at her fondly. Brooke had been trying to stare less at her, but sometimes it was just impossible.

They kept working, the conversation switching back an forth between the most stupid things and important matters regarding the association. As the night progressed, people started to leave, but Brooke stayed put. There were still too many flyers to cut up, and besides, she had nowhere else she’d rather be.

“Look at this,” said Nina at some point, sitting beside her on the couch to show a video on her phone. It was of a couple dancing at their wedding. The camera only focused on the couple for one second, however, before zooming in on a little girl standing with the crowd wearing a hulk mask and a cute, flowery dress. It was so funny, and they watched it too many times.

“Every time I come to your house I have to put on waterproof mascara,” said Brooke, dabbing at the corner of her eyes.

Nina chuckled. “You could not put mascara at all, you know.” Brooke gasped, overdramatically, making Nina laugh even harder. “I don’t get it, honestly. You’re so pretty, why do you do all that?”

“You think I’m all that pretty precisely because I do all that,” said Brooke, trying to play down how flustered the comment actually made her. She noticed they were alone in the apartment now, not knowing how she could’ve missed it. Her heart went crazy.

“Yeah, right,” said Nina, leaning her elbow on the back of the couch. “I’m sure you’re just a monster without lipstick on.”

Brooke shook her head, not knowing what to say. She liked wearing makeup, but lately she had been thinking maybe she relied too heavily on it. It was a work in progress. In any case, she couldn’t just not try to look her best whenever she was seeing Nina. Because if she wasn’t beautiful, then what was she?

“Beauty is all I have,” said Brooke, focused on the paper she was working on.

“What are you talking about?” said Nina. “Brooke you’re not just beautiful, you’re so much more than that.”

“I know.” Brooke smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thanks,” she completed, hoping that would be the end of it.

“Hey,” said Nina softly, taking the scissors and paper from Brooke’s hand and putting it away. “Talk to me.”

There were tears in the corner of Brooke’s eyes. Fuck. “It’s nothing, I’m fine. I just used to be so obsessed with standards, you know? Thought it was so important, and it’s not. But it’s what I am, right?” she shrugged. “I’m pretty. I’m not particularly smart, or kind, or-” Nina looked so beautiful today, her hair let down and her pink strands recently retouched. Her eyes were searching Brooke’s so kindly it was overwhelming.

“Who let you believe that? That’s not true, Brooke. You’re all of those things.”

It was so hard not to believe Nina. “I sort of like this girl, and I’ve never felt like this before. It’s like I didn’t know my heart was frozen until she took it in her hands and warmed it up, and now I’m so much better because of her.” Brooke sighed. She didn’t know what she was doing, but now she was talking and she couldn’t stop. “But she’s so amazing, she just deserves better than me. Way better.”

“Brooke,” said Nina, kindly, taking her hand. God, Brooke liked her so much. “Don’t tell me you don’t know the effect you have on people, I’m sure whoever this girl is she’d be so lucky to have you.”

“No, you don’t get it,” said Brooke, getting up, suddenly frustrated. “It’s not just about sex, okay? Yeah, I want her, but it’s not just that.”

“That’s good, it’s great! So tell her! Wait, is she straight?”

“No,” Brooke chuckled at the absurdity of it.

“Oh, good. So tell her! Brooke, you’re an amazing person, you deserve love.”

Brooke looked at her. She was up now too, looking like it didn’t even cross her mind that this girl could be herself. If it did, maybe she wouldn’t be saying these things.

“Yeah, maybe I will,” lied Brooke. “Thanks, Nina.”

Nina hugged her. Brooke closed her eyes, resisting the urge to bury her nose in her neck.

“Who is it?” asked Nina, pulling back. “Do I know her?”

Brooke shook her head, panicking.

“If we ever cross by her you have to tell me!” she was holding both of Brooke’s hands now, smiling at her. “Who could’ve gotten you so hard? I’m so curious!”

She looked so happy for her, so excited that Brooke had told her this. She probably wouldn’t let this go, would keep encouraging Brooke and being the wonderful friend she usually was. How painful would that be, watch Nina give her pep talk after pep talk while Brooke kept lying to her? Brooke didn’t think she could stand it.

“It’s you,” Brooke blurted out, watching as Nina’s smile faltered. She pulled her hands back, regretting it, regretting it so much.

“Huh? Oh, you’re just messing with me,” said Nina with a weird half-smile, swatting at Brooke’s arm.

Brooke smiled weakly. “I wish.” She looked away, trying to locate her bag. “Maybe it’s better if I just leave. Yeah, I can take some of these flyers and finish them at home,” she was already in motion to pick things up when Nina’s arm on hers stopped her.

“I don’t get it. You’re serious?” Nina sounded so confused. Brooke couldn’t look at her.

“Yes,” she said it looking down, daring to turn back to Nina only after a beat, meeting her frown and her beautiful eyes with a curtain of doubt in front of them.

“But I’m-” she didn’t finish, but Brooke could see the insecurities in her expression. She was confused, wary, and thinking things that did not belong in her head.

“You’re beautiful. So beautiful. And I don’t mean just on the inside.” Brooke took a step closer, against her better judgment. Nina was the same height as her, but suddenly it felt like she was shorter, smaller. “The way I feel about you, it’s-” she took a deep breath, lost for a moment in Nina’s eyes.

“Don’t play with me. This isn’t funny.”

“You don’t have to like me back, Nina, it’s okay. Really, I promise you. But please, don’t doubt that I do.” Brooke’s emotions were all over the place. She kind of wanted to hide, but at the same time, she couldn’t move.

“Have you been listening to me?” Nina’s voice was low, and she took a step closer, making Brooke’s breath hitch in her throat. Her hand went up to touch Brooke’s jaw, shakingly. Brooke’s eyes closed in their own accord, and she could feel Nina getting even closer. “Look at me.”

Brooke did, and she was so close. She almost couldn’t believe this was happening. Nina’s eyes focused down on her lips and suddenly Brooke’s mind was too cloudy to think anymore. She just reached up, framing Nina’s face before she closed the gap and brought their lips together.

Nina immediately pulled her closer, pressing their bodies against each other’s, and Brooke felt a shiver run down her spine. She heard a faint moan escaping her throat as her hands slid down Nina’s face to reach her neck, the kiss deepening as their tongues found one another’s, Nina’s hand moving to tangle in Brooke’s hair, her blunt nails raking her scalp deliciously.

Brooke arched against her, wanting to get closer, closer, so much so that Nina stepped back. It made their bodies be too far apart, and Brooke stepped closer again. They were so lost in it that they didn’t realize they were right next to the couch, and as Nina tried to walk back one more time, this time keeping a hand firm on Brooke’s back, her leg hit the couch and she stumbled down, taking Brooke with her.

They fell gracelessly on the cushions, Brooke on top of Nina, her face so close to her breasts that she felt dizzy. Nina started to laugh, her hand still in Brooke’s hair. Brooke laughed too, sitting up and taking in Nina’s swollen lips, faintly stained by Brooke’s lipstick. She couldn’t even fathom how she could have ever thought that Nina was less than gorgeous.

Brooke probably wasn’t smiling anymore, too entranced, and Nina sat up straight too. She looked insecure again, but Brooke didn’t even want to entertain it, and just leaned in to kiss her again. It was softer this time, and Nina sighed into it. Brooke moved to kiss her neck, sucking lightly at the skin and relishing in her smell. God, she’d pictured this so many times.

Nina’s hand was in her hair again, and Brooke was getting too hot. But this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “I want to take you on a date,” said Brooke, leaning back to look at her face, not without some effort.

Nina smiled. “Yeah,” she nodded, capturing Brooke’s lips again. Her hand slid down Brooke’s side, slipping into Brooke’s shirt to grip her waist. Brooke thought she was going to combust.

“Wait,” said Brooke, breathless. “I don’t wanna rush into anything, I was serious when I said this wasn’t just about sex, Nina, I want to do this right.”

She was interrupted by Nina’s chuckle. “I’m sorry,” said Nina, covering her mouth. “You’re just so cute, protecting my honor.” She caressed Brooke’s cheek. She called Brooke cute. No big deal. “Let’s go slow then. But just to be clear, it’s not on my account.”

Nina wanted her. Brooke’s vagina was screaming at her right now, begging her to listen to reason. “So, if we, hm… You wouldn’t think I was using you?”

Nina looked a little taken aback. “This is fucking surreal,” she mumbled. “No, of course not.”

“Alright then.” Brooke was back on Nina’s neck in an instant, drawing a half-laughter, half-moan from her. Brooke could feel her clit practically setting off fireworks. She let her hands wander to cup Nina’s breasts over her clothes and God, she was so gay.

“Bed,” breathed Nina, and they scrambled to get up.

Nina pressed Brooke against a wall for a few minutes before they could reach her bedroom, kissing her silly while groping her ass, and Brooke couldn’t do anything but hold on.

–

Brooke loved curves, and Nina’s were the best she ever saw, let alone touch. Her breasts were a heavenly gift, and Brooke was sure she would never get tired of putting her mouth on them, nuzzling them, making them home. But Nina was soon squirming too much, and she moved on, kissing down her soft stomach, letting her hands trails down the curve of her waist and hips, massaging her thighs as her tongue worked past her belly button.

She groped Nina’s inner thighs, and the girl opened her legs for her. Brooke looked up as she let her thumbs graze the juncture between Nina’s thighs and her crotch, watching her breath hitch and her hands grip the sheets. Brooke stroked Nina’s folds teasingly, letting her eyes roam over her body as she did so. She dipped her fingers between them, finding wetness and heat, and kept stroking as she watched Nina’s hooded eyes close and her heavy breathing become tiny moans as her body waved against Brooke’s hand.

Brooke surged up to kiss her, straddling her thigh as her hand kept going, now drawing wide circles around her clit. Nina pulled her close, trying to kiss back and grope Brooke but getting sided-tracked by her own pleasure, letting out huffs of breath and stopping her hands mid-movement as she just felt.

Brooke was rutting against her leg, holding back her own moans as her fingers worked with increased precision on Nina’s clit. It was getting harder and harder for Nina to keep from making any noise, and Brooke never felt prouder of herself. She moved to suck on Nina’s neck, her own rutting growing more intense.

“Don’t stop,” whispered Nina with a sinful, delicious moan, tugging on Brooke’s hair. It was so hot Brooke thought she would end up coming first, but Nina kept moaning and with a few more strokes she came, arching out of the bed and opening her mouth in a perfect “o,” a guttural sound escaping her throat.

Brooke touched her through it, keeping it firm and slow, watching her face as she rode her orgasm. Once Nina opened her eyes again, Brooke retrieved her hand and kissed her, feeling Nina’s hand snake down her body to slot in between her legs, stroking Brooke hard and fast while they kissed. It didn’t take long at all for Brooke to come too, biting Nina’s lip and convulsing over her body, one hand holding Nina’s juicy tit in a deadly grip.

Brooke collapsed down on the bed, a smile planted on her lips that she was sure was never going away. Nina snuggled against her, resting her head on her chest and throwing an arm over her waist. Brooke started combing through her hair, sleep creeping up on her. Nina’s smell was intoxicating, and she closed her eyes, dozing off while thinking that she definitely could get used to this.

–

“HI, DIVA.”

Brooke was already working on the sewing machine when Nina arrived for the workshop. She stopped pressing down the pedal to watch her and Meatball doing their tongue thing, that Brooke still didn’t get, but chuckled at every time. Then, Nina went to Sasha, kissing their cheek and exchanging a few words with them before finally walking towards Brooke.

“Hey, baby,” said Nina, giving Brooke a peck.

“Hi,” said Brooke, smiling. That’s right, she’s my girlfriend, she felt like stating, even though it was just their friends in the room with them. It had been a month, and Brooke still wasn’t over it.

Meatball made a puking sound in the background, and Nina giggled.

“Jealous much?” said Brooke, turning back to her sewing.

“Suck my dick,” said Meatball, not even bothering to look away from her computer.

“Don’t mind if I do,” said Detox, coming in the room at exactly the right time, surprising Brooke into laughter and making Meatball flush red.

#rpdr fanfiction #nina west #brooke lynn hytes #brooke x nina #lesbian au #college au #fluff #smut #youre beautiful no matter what I used to say #multifandomgeek #s11 #tw body shaming

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squirenonny · 6 years

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For fic ask: 14, 22 & 25!

@space-mouse said: “13, 14, and 21 for the ask thing?? :D”

anonymous said: “1, 11, 14, 21, 25″

anonymous said: “Hi! #3, #21 and #25 please :)”

@yellowmagicalgirl said: “13″

(Doing these all in one post because there were a couple of popular questions haha. The full list is here. You can still send me questions if you’re curious about one that’s not in this post!)

1. favorite fic you wrote this year

It’s so hard to pick just one omg. I had a lot of fun with a lot of things this year. If I can say Duality as a whole, that’s my answer, because I’ve put so much into that series and I love so much about it. Honorable mention goes to “Sorry, Who Are You?” my childhood friends Klance AU featuring Keith with prosopagnosia (face-blindness). I projected like hell onto Keith and I still really love it

3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year

The entirety of the Someplace Like Home finale, but (spoilers) specifically chapter 26, either Akira’s “Hollywood lied to me” line or Meri’s “Get your quiznaking hands off her!” I’d been building to all those reunions for so long, and it was so damn satisfying to finally get there.

11. shortest wip of the year

Shortest WIP that has at least one chapter published? That would be “Dungeons & Dwarf Stars,” the Duality side story where the cast plays various tabletop RPGs. It’s about 7.5k right now, and while I haven’t started the next chapter yet, I recently DM’d for the first time ever (hello, new special interest) and if that becomes a regular thing, I have a feeling I’ll suddenly find myself in possession of a bunch of new inspiration for that story.

In terms of unpublished WIPs, my shortest currently at 2.5k is A Genealogy of Demons, the sequel to Handbook of Demonology. I had been working on Genealogy for the Supernova Bang, but I dropped that bang because of... well, life in general conspiring against me. I’m sill working on the fic, but at my own pace. Don’t have a definite date yet for when it’ll start going up, but probably in the first half of 2018.

13. favorite writing song/artist/album of this year

For 90% of the year, I defaulted to my video game & movie scores Pandora station, but just recently I’ve switched over to The Black Piper’s Kaladin album. (Holy shit) and the Leverage soundtrack. Kaladin is simply the best for epic scenes, and Leverage is so full of energy and nostalgia.

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write

The Monster in the Mirror. I mean, I knew I was going to do something for Shatt Week, but then season 3 dropped and.... Yeah, I wrote 42k in, like, 10 days? Granted, I had no other projects going on at the time, but still. That idea came out of nowhere and swept me right off my feet.

21. most memorable comment/review

There have been a lot of great comments. I save some of them in my inbox on AO3 for when I’m having a crisis of self-confidence. The ones that really stick with me, though, are from people who comment because something in the fic resonated with them on a personal level. Keith’s face-blindness in “Sorry, Who Are You?”; Keith’s touch-aversion in my Heith Week fic, “You’re the Reason I Believe in Something I Don’t Know”; and so many on Duality, be it about neurotype, disability, gender/pronouns, orientation, ect. Comments like that are the best, because in all honesty, that’s a big part of the reason I write. So much of my fic is me projecting (especially re: identity/representation that I don’t see anywhere else, or not often enough) and it means a lot to hear that I’ve filled that hole for other people, at least a little.

22. events you participated in this year

Starting from the beginning: I had a couple of pinch hits for last year’s Voltron: Legendary December! event, along with the two fics I did for Fandom Tr*mps Hate. Then I did Heith Week and Shatt Week in the summer, followed by a Zethrid/Narti fic for the Lunar Ladies Exchange. That’s everything that’s been posted so far.

Events I worked on this year that will post in 2018:

Horror Bang: (gen) Hunk- and Pidge-centric suspense/thriller fic that should be up sometime in February (I don’t have the specific posting date yet.)

Galra Bang: (lowkey Antolivan) Kolivan-centric fic that also features the rest of the Blade, including Keith. December was brutal on a lot of people in the bang, so the posting is getting pushed back some, but I’d expect it’ll still be sometime in February or early March.

(Supernova Bang - ended up dropping it for various reasons)

Lancito! Zine: I turn in my final piece in a couple weeks, and then preorders will open. Stay tuned for more info and a preview as we get closer to the preorder window!

25. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read

Just one? Nope, you know what? Three people asked for this one, so have 3:

The Last Aspect by Spazzcat (@vldaspect) - Ongoing. Time-travel fix-it AU. So good. Klance and Shatt. This fic has great action, lots of emotional impact, and a couple of great twists to keep things interesting. Honestly, if you like epic Voltron AUs (and if you read my stuff, you probably do) you’ll love this fic, so go check it out!

Stardust, Silk and Steel by CalicoTomcat - Ongoing. Hasn’t been updated in a while, so may remain incomplete, but what is out is so worth reading. Canon divergence where the wormhole at the end of season 1 dumps Pidge out near Earth. Lots of great worldbuilding (and a kickass Mama Holt, which you know I love.) Intense and somewhat graphic violence at times, so mind the tags, but a great ride. Gen with a few small hints of a potential future Hidge in the latest chapters. Very much Pidge-centric.

The Lost Paladin by prettyshiroic (AnalystProductions) - Complete, long oneshot. After the war, Keith leaves before another family leaves him. Years later, he runs into Lance and starts to wonder if he made a mistake. This fic. Goddamn. Incredibly emotional, literally made me cry. Finished reading it in my car after work because I couldn’t make myself drive home without getting to the resolution. Gen.

#ask meme #end of the year ask meme #about me #voltron #space-mouse #yellowmagicalgirl #seamarmot #answers

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tumblunni · 6 years

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WHOOPS A DOODLE

Okay I tried to attempt making my first lets play video and somehow i forgot to enable game sound, lol! Just hearing my voice over gaping silence would be boring as hell, but especially bad because Ciel Fledge has an absolutely AWESOME soundtrack and at several times I just plain stopped and jammed out, haha! I was so excited for it and it was even better than I expected!!!!

But also I made a few flubs here and there and i was nervous and awkward so its probably best that i rerecord it. Cos I was dumb and decided to name the characters after my ocs and then halfway thru i was like OH WAIT people first discovering me on youtube would have no clue who those people are, lol! Plus I got super hyper attatched to Ciel immediately and felt like I couldnt really roleplay as grumpy Gremory. I immediately started talking to the damn screen already I REALLY CHERISH MY VIRTUAL CHILLLLLD

and AAAA the worldbuilding already has me hooked!! it isnt just a shoddy sci fi setting in name only like one of the Weird Android Games i’m gonna post about soon. like there is SO MUCH deep effort put into how the logistics of the government work in this post apocolyptic world, and loads of optional lil details you could miss! like for example you start the game with one expected intro tutorial mail in your inbox, but also three extra ones in the opened section. And they’re in-progress news updates on the currently unspecified ‘disaster’ that happened to sector 5. All dated several weeks apart and being like ‘praise to our glorious leaders! the battle is going great! don’t question anything!’, ‘never forget the losses we had at this battle today, we will rise like the phoenix and defeat our enemies!’ It raises even more curiosity about what happened, and gives a lil nugget of extra info-now we know the disaster was a battle with an enemy of some sort, or at least that’s how the news team is framing it... hmm...

and AAA ATHE BOSSA NOVA MUSIC I think thats the term for it?? and the really huge resolution awesome graphics??? and the sheer amount of detail to everything??? and holy shit THE FEATURES ALSO AAA THE FEATURES!! you can pick gender neutral pronouns or other titles for your protagonist! and even though they’re a faceless self insert like in the Princess Maker games you actually get to choose stuff to make them be like you! you can pick a bunch of backstory choices that give you different stat boosts to the child you’re raising, and apparantly there will be more choices during the game to change your parent’s stats and thus unlock more boost traits?? they’re a big presence in the game?? in this parenting game?? your parent actually has a stats??? aaaaa just as a person who’s a big fan of this genre i am just SO APPRECIATIVE of the changes they made to the formula! it really shows that the creators know A LOT about the genre and about common player complaints and wishes! like there’s a sort option on the list of jobs and classes and you can do alphabetical and by cost and stuff!!! AND YOU CAN DRESS YOUR KIDDIE UP IN EVEN MORE COSTUMES THAN USUAL!! YOU CAN PICK OUTFIT PARTS SEPARATELY!! ITS SO EXCITING!!!

and AAAA I’m so excited for all the new features that’ve never been in this genre before!! there’s this cool fully animated system for showing your adventure battle things, and a unique match-3 puzzle game battle instead of turn based or top down fighting. And you get ‘battles’ as milestones in your different aspirations too! this unique fight style can work in different ways for stuff like a swimming class test or cooking a cake! and also there’s a way bigger focus on story and worldbuilding and awesomeness!! and you can make friends and your kid can make friends and you can take them as party members together into adventures instead of only as romantic interests to get special endings. And that means there’s also lots of platonic friend choices and even stuff like friend values with her school teacher who will come and fight post apocolypse mutants together, yo! O_O and you can unlock bonus multiplier trait things and equip them to help at training your different stats! you get two of them at the start from your mom/dad/parent’s backstory choices, and then can get more from.. mystery things?? milestones I assume! cos there’s this system of achievements being framed as milestones set by the adoption company, so the government sends you rewards for being an exemplary citizen. There’s so much worldbuilding even in the lil gameplay chocies aaa!!! And you can talk to your lil kiddo and i love her and you can talk to her and do so many more bonding activities than expected and TALK TO HER AAA!! I actually have a form of direct interaction instead of just ordering her to do stuff. And the tutorial seemed to imply that she’ll develop like.. personality values?? And get goals and like or dislike certain jobs?? I’m so excited?? Aaaa???

god this game looks SO GOOD and lol i spent like a whole hour just going SQUEEEEEE at all the cool lookin things and rambling forever and then i lost the footage :P but i’m realizing that maybe a lot of my WOWWWW moments wouldn’t make sense without the context of having played other stuff in the genre like Princess Maker? so maybe i might do a short vid on that after the first episode of ciel fledge or something. not a full LP but just a summary of the goods and bads of that series and why i’m SOOOOOOO relieved to have a new entry in the genre that’s lacking all the.. grossness. cos seriously no matter how addictive the gameplay is, PM has a stupid gainax anime thing of sexualizing the daughter and treating it more like a waifu raising simulator T_T Ciel actually looks like a child and acts like a child and you act like a proper parent!! and its wholesome!! well its got dark stuff but the dark is ‘post apocolypse’ not INCEST! aaaaa im just so happy and i love my virtual daughter and i havent even really started playing yet haha!!!

#bunni plays ciel fledge #aaaaaaaaa

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junker-town · 6 years

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Sony Open in Hawaii 2018: Results, scores, TV/live stream info for Jan. 11-14

A low-key Sony Open got a little zany on Sunday and it had little to do with the actual golf, which Patton Kizzire played best to win in an interminable playoff.

The PGA Tour hops from Maui to Oahu this week for the first full-field event of the year: the Sony Open.

The annual stop at Waialae may tumble to the furthest recesses of your mind by the end of the season, but it has become a highlight of the early-season schedule for the hardcore golf fans. There are stops on the upcoming West Coast swing that will get much more love, but the Sony is a great combination of rookies and vets grinding for solidified PGA Tour card status on a course with a ton of history.

It’s also an opportunity for more prime-time golf following up last week’s little 34-man party that was the Tournament of Champions. I thought the ToC fizzled a bit on the weekend, despite the fireworks from the eventual winner and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson. It was great to watch PGA Tour golf again, and Kapalua was as beautiful as ever. But it ran out of juice in my very subjective opinion.

With a full field and a course that can yield some crazy low numbers, maybe we get a better show this week. Here are some reasons to watch as well as the nuts and bolts for the Sony. We’ll update this as a hub of sorts as the tournament progresses.

Results

It was a weird, interminable final round Sunday at the Sony Open. Perhaps the biggest news of the day came when it was still dark out in Honolulu and most were still sleeping. A little after 10:30 a.m. ET, news of a labor dispute between Golf Channel and its live tournament technicians surfaced. We got word that camera operators, audio techs, and others involved in the production of their tournament coverage, had walked out and we’re not going to work on Sunday. It dramatically impacted the Web Tour coverage at 11 a.m. ET and while we didn’t know what to expect hours later at the Sony, we knew it would be odd and completely different than what we were used to from GC.

This is not a good situation for all parties involved. These technicians grind their ass off to bring a broadcast each week, and are legitimately great at what they do. Golf Channel obviously works to try and bring the best, most golf to the people who want it. I know little of the origins of the dispute, but obviously everyone would like to see it resolved as soon as possible.

So with no real crew working at Waialae, the broadcast was obviously thrown into a bit of chaos. What Golf Channel put out was impressive, all things considered. George Savaricas called the entire final round from back in their Orlando studios, with analysts Billy Kratzert and Jim Gallagher at the desk. They patchworked together a few people to operate cameras, many of whom were obviously not the pros that do this. One was even Jerry Foltz, the former PGA Tour player turned on-course reporter. He was up in a tower behind the 16th hole.

Haha, Jerry Foltz is running one of the tower cameras. What a time to be alive. http://pic.twitter.com/OsKhGI2TcA

— D.J. Piehowski (@DJPie) January 15, 2018

The camera work was, as you might expect, not particularly strong. They were set up on only the last few holes at Waialae. There was no audio from the course. Graphics were minimal. There were blimp shots — lots and lots and lots of blimp shots. The whole thing was just surreal. It was an admirable effort given the circumstances, but also made you appreciate what we get each week and what those who were on strike actually provide.

As for the actual golf, well, the GC crew back in Orlando didn’t exactly get a quick and tidy one to call on Sunday night. A playoff between Patton Kizzire and James Hahn went a slogging six holes, going almost to 11 p.m. ET. It finished as sunset in Honolulu was minutes away, with Hahn bogeying the par-3 redan 17th hole. Neither played particularly well, but Kizzire emerges with what is already his second win of the season. He won the Mayakoba back in November during the “wraparound” portion of the schedule.

So it’s just the second week of January and Kizzire is almost locked up for a spot in the final 30 at the Tour Championship in Atlanta about 9 months from now. He’s No. 1 in the FedExCup Standings, which doesn’t mean much, but means something — he should stay in the top 10 for the next several months barring a total collapse.

Kizzire is a horse, a player who can go on streaks, as evidenced by his lights-out season on the Web Tour. The big Auburn product could be an outside contender for a Ryder Cup spot too if he keeps the pedal down and accrues enough points early in the season (he doesn’t get anything for his win in the fall). Despite the weirdness of the day, we got a good winner at the end of it. Here are your final results from Waialae:

Why Watch

1) It’s pretty. This is simple. I won’t try to expound much beyond telling you that this Waialae Country Club layout is easy to look at. The media center is basically on the beach — not that I know from experience; one day, perhaps.

The course runs right up and almost onto the beach — so close that a couple of certain pros going out for a kayak ride in the ocean were easily caught by the golf course cameras and documented in a suffocating barrage of content last year. And you mayyyy see a shot or two of the infamous “W” shaped palms lording over the 18th green.

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

2) Raynor. I will never pretend to be a golf course architecture expert, although I appreciate those who are and love following the topic. It’s a topic that’s taken on increased interest and debate, thanks to a handful of intelligent voices in social and digital media shining new light.

Waialae is one of a too-small handful of PGA Tour courses with Golden Age roots as it was one of Seth Raynor’s last projects in the 1920s. Raynor has been a poster boy for the increased discussion and appreciation from the aforementioned group on social media. He’s a cult hero for many.

Now, the Waialae of 2018 is different from Raynor’s original intent but there are still elements that make this worth watching, especially with Tom Doak, a modern day architecture cult hero, slowly putting some restorative efforts into the historic course. The redan 17th hole should be the most noticeable change and throwback this year.

I think this is a fascinating topic worth diving into and for more, go to the actual experts. Andy Johnson at The Fried Egg, one of those ascendant golf architecture experts I mentioned, hosted Doak on his podcast this week. They went through some of the original Raynor intent, the restoration efforts, and how the course plays for the best pros in the world on a week like this.

3) #58Watch. Breaking 60 has become somewhat passé, but it’s still an accomplishment that gets you to change the channel to golf once murmurs of a pro going super deep start rumbling on Twitter and elsewhere. Waialae is one of the better opportunities for a pro to break 60 and maybe even match Jim Furyk’s ridiculous 58 from the Travelers a few years ago.

It’s a par 70, and the present day big hitters are taking some ridiculous lines off the tees — nothing that Raynor could have imagined back when it was originally designed. We saw this from Justin Thomas last year when he torched the place for a 59 en route to his second win in the first two weeks of the 2017 season. It’s likely we’re back on #59Watch or maybe even #58Watch again this week.

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4) Rookies. With this being our first full-field event of the new year, it’s also a great opportunity to get a good look at this year’s rookie class. Of course, those rookies get some much-needed starts during the wraparound schedule in the fall. But some of these early year events are major chances for them to make hay and solidify their status for the rest of the year, or at least before the priority rankings reshuffle. The Sony Open is one of their best chances to accrue some FedExCup points, with some of the upcoming West Coast swing events having smaller fields that don’t provide starts for rookies with lower priority.

We’ve seen a rookie win this event recently, with Russell Henley going low in 2013 to win the Sony in his PGA Tour debut. There’s a boatload of rookies playing this week — they’re all worth watching but some of the bigger names that may get some love are Peter Uihlein, Tom Lovelady, Aaron Wise, Stephan Jaeger, and Austin Cook, who already won during the wraparound schedule.

You’re going to get plenty of chances to watch the top players in the world rankings in the coming months. This is a good opportunity to see some of the best young up-and-comers — the players who aren’t household names but are worth rooting for and could become one soon.

How to Watch

This is really the last opportunity to watch prime-time PGA Tour golf until the fall, when the Asian swing returns during the wraparound portion of the schedule. The upcoming West Coast swing does allow for some golf to go past dinner time on the East Coast, but not by much given the limited daylight hours this time of year.

The only real options for prime-time golf would be a West Coast venue at either the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship. The USGA is fond of getting the national championship on the West Coast during the longest days of the year, allowing for finishes as late as 11 p.m. ET. But this year, we’re about as far away from the West Coast as possible with the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. So this is it really. Take it in because from here on out, your weekend finishes on the PGA Tour will all slot in during daylight hours.

Like last week on Maui, Golf Channel will have exclusive coverage of the entire tournament over the next four days. It’s that time of year when CBS is still occupied with football on the weekends, and these events aren’t necessarily big enough to get the bump up to NBC. And Golf Channel is plenty capable of just running with the coverage throughout, as we see during the fall series too.

It will, however, be down a man at times this week. Jim “Bones” Mackay (Phil Mickelson’s former longtime caddie, if you’re completely golf ignorant) has become one of the best parts of the Golf Channel/NBC coverage. But this week, he’s picking up the bag again and looping for Justin Thomas, whose regular caddie has to take a few weeks off due to plantar fasciitis.

Bones is going to do double duty, putting on the headset and working as a walking reporter when Thomas is not playing. But given that the defending champ tore this course up last year and will likely play well again, Bones could be on the course as a caddie and not a TV reporter during the late weekend broadcast times.

Here’s your media schedule for Sunday:

Sunday’s final round coverage

Television:

6 to 10 p.m. — Golf Channel

Online streams:

6 to 10 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Radio:

5 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM (Ch. 92/208 and streamed here)

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Jordan Spieth is back for the second straight year at the Sony.

Tee Times

This is the first full field event of the year. That little party on Maui last week featured just 34 players and was obviously easy to schedule over four days with a ton of flexibility. Now we’re back to the grind of sending two waves off split tees for the first 36 holes.

The original 144-man field has been cut down at the customary 36-hole mark, but that doesn’t mean they will now send them off in twosomes all rolling off No. 1. They could do that, starting at about 8 a.m. local time. But, as the AP’s Doug Ferguson explains, this is a solid for the volunteers who have been grinding through the first two sun-up to sun-down days.

We often see the Tour put them off two tees in groups of three on a weekend when severe weather threatens the schedule. This allows them to condense the entire field down into about a two-hour window. It’s exactly two hours this week in Oahu, where the first group on Sunday will not go until after 9 a.m. local. That’s about two hours earlier than Saturday’s schedule, but still gives the volunteers and tourney staff some extra cushion on Sunday morning.

The TV coverage runs until 10 p.m., but the final group should be putting out on the 18th green well before that — sometime around 9 p.m. unless there’s a dramatic pace of play issue.

UPDATE: It turns out the tee times for Sunday were moved up because of Golf Channel technicians’ strike. Unionized employees, such as camera operators, went on strike and walked out on Sunday morning, leaving Golf Channel scrambling to put together makeshift crews of contractors to broadcast their Sunday events on the Web.com Tour, PGA Tour, and Champions Tour.

Earlier start today at the Sony is because of a strike. No, not a missile. Camera/audio techs that do GC events walked out today over contract negotiations.

— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) January 14, 2018

It’s a very odd situation, which we went through here with comments from one camera operator who walked out at the Web Tour event.

Here’s your full tee sheet for the third round.

Sunday’s tee sheet (all times ET!)

Off No 1 tee:

2:20 p.m.: Lanto Griffin, Kevin Kisner, Austin Cook

2:30 p.m.: Jason Dufner, Stewart Cink, Jordan Spieth

2:40 p.m.: Matt Jones, Nicholas Lindheim, Xinjun Zhang

2:50 p.m.: Corey Conners, Keith Mitchell, Jonathan Byrd

3 p.m.: Daisuke Kataoka, Gary Woodland, Jerry Kelly

3:10 p.m.: Chez Reavie, Emiliano Grillo, Ryan Blaum

3:20 p.m.: Ryan Armour, Zach Johnson, Scott Brown

3:30 p.m.: Ben Martin, James Hahn, Nate Lashley

3:40 p.m.: Talor Gooch, Scott Piercy, Rory Sabbatini

3:50 p.m.: Sam Saunders, Webb Simpson, Brian Stuard

4 p.m.: Ollie Schniederjans, Cameron Smith, Justin Thomas

4:10 p.m.: Kyle Stanley, Chris Kirk, Russell Knox

4:20 p.m.: Tom Hoge, Patton Kizzire, Brian Harman

Off No. 10 tee:

2:20 p.m.: Brandon Harkins, Adam Schenk, Charles Howell III

2:30 p.m.: Daniel Berger, Dominic Bozzelli, Tony Finau

2:40 p.m.: Wesley Bryan, Harris English, Xander Schauffele

2:50 p.m.: John Peterson, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Marc Leishman

3 p.m.: Jason Kokrak, Keegan Bradley, Brian Gay

3:10 p.m.: Conrad Shindler, Ryan Palmer, Jonathan Randolph

3:20 p.m.: Sam Ryder, Matt Every, Seamus Power

3:30 p.m.: J.J. Spaun, Hudson Swafford, Roberto Diaz

3:40 p.m.: John Oda, Kevin Tway, Andrew Putnam

3:50 p.m.: Si Woo Kim, Shugo Imahira, Stephan Jaegar

4 p.m.: Blayne Barber, Vaughn Taylor, Steve Allan

4:10 p.m.: William McGirt, D.A. Points

4:20 p.m.: Colt Knost, Joel Dahmen

Scores

Round 1 scores

The wind was down a bit in the first round, and while we got a couple low scores, it was not the birdiefest you might be accustomed to at the Sony Open. And we sure didn’t get anything approaching the 59 that Thomas posted in the opening round last year at Waialae. Your leaders are Chris Kirk and Zach Johnson, who was all over the flag with his irons in the afternoon wave. This is a classic setup that should, traditionally, favor the ZJ game and he opened his year with an impressive 63.

Jordan Spieth somehow finished in the red despite posting a snowman 8 on his penultimate hole of the day, which included four shots hitting four trees en route to the green. Not good! But Spieth piled up a bunch of birdies elsewhere and is still in okay shape at 1-under.

I think the most fascinating thing to watch in these early rounds is how some of the classic and restored holes are holding up in a pro event. The redan hole at the 17th, this year’s most dramatic change for the Sony, was worth watching all evening on the Golf Channel broadcast. The Fried Egg picked up on the new challenge.

This year vs last year on the redan hole. Today the tour played the tees up 15 yards and there was little to no wind. The hole played tougher with a larger shot dispersion than last year when the green was flat. Proof that the best way to test players is with quality architecture http://pic.twitter.com/AdUwy1ngha

— the fried egg (@the_fried_egg) January 12, 2018

Spieth will be out in the afternoon wave and in the TV window on Friday. This is a really cool early-season test and I thought Thursday’s opening round was more entertaining than any day last week at Kapalua.

Round 2 Scores:

Brian Harman, perhaps the hottest player on the PGA Tour, backed up his opening round 64 with a 63 early on Friday morning in Honolulu. Harman has been a stud since his junior golf days, but may be settling in now for a sustained run on the PGA Tour. He beat out Dustin Johnson last year at the always tough Wells Fargo Championship for his second career win. He contended on Sunday at the U.S. Open. He finished the the year with seven top 10s.

Harman began 2018 playing in the final Sunday pairing alongside DJ in Maui. People are jumping on the trendy Harman bandwagon and a win this week will only make it more crowded. This Waialae course is perfectly suited for his precision game but he’ll need to keep the pedal down and keep posting rounds in the mid-60s to stay on top of the leaderboard.

That’s because there’s always a mega-low round available out here. We’ve seen players come from way down the board with a 9-under round of 61. We know Justin Thomas can go low after his 59 last year. JT is still well within striking distance, tied for 17th at the midpoint. Jordan Spieth is probably too far gone at just 3-under but he can at least play his way into a late Sunday tee time.

Round 3 Scores:

There were low numbers available out there again on Saturday, but we still have yet to see the one player go crazy low and push 60. The round of the day belonged to Webb Simpson, who matched the round of the week with a 7-under 63. Simpson jumped 39 spots up the leaderboard and into the top 10 for the final round. He doesn’t have much of a great chance of winning, sitting still six shots behind the leading number. But it shows, as always, that big jumps can be made from deep down the leaderboard and I still think we could get a 61 before this Sony Open is over.

The man sitting atop the board with that leading number is now Tom Hoge, who was a shot shy of Simpson’s mark with a 6-under 64 on Saturday. Hoge has never won on the PGA Tour, but has seven top 10 finishes in a youngish career. Now he’s one ahead of Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman, two studs, who are in form, and won last year. It’s likely Hoge will need yet another mid-60s round on Sunday to stay on top and clinch that first career victory. He’s stayed in the range all week with a 65-65-64 run at Waialae, but the odds aren’t exactly on his side with just a one-shot cushion at a place that has seen some leaderboard volatility.

Tom Hoge takes a 1-shot lead into the final round in Honolulu. Since 2013 season began, players with a 1-shot lead through 54 holes win 25% of the time on the PGA Tour (17-for-67).

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) January 14, 2018

The biggest name within striking distance is probably defending Sony Open champ and reigning player of the year Justin Thomas. He’s also six shots back at 10-under but certainly has the firepower to go low and chase them down. We’re set up for a strong Sunday at the Sony.

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