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tricitymonsters · 2 years

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progress report 9/9

atlas is working on refining Akello’s face and body though the preview of his face that I posted here and on discord/pat*reon is going to be very close to final. We’re basically just kinda refining his hair and beard look at this point.

yes i’ve seen sketches of his body and YES i’m pretty sure yall are gonna go nuts. this man is so hot god.

speaking of pat*reon 🖕

nothing major, just incredibly frustrated with their website (as always). Uploading multiple files per post is not working and that was one of my goals this week so ugh.

Also I have come to learn that their security team has either walked or was fired yesterday so I’m not sure if their site/server capabilities are impacted on the customer end because of that.

but let me be clear, I use pat*reon because there’s very few alternatives and more power to the skilled workers who left what was probably a really shitty environment.

ANYWAY back to why this was an issue- i’m trying to migrate all of the perks for pat*rons into 1 area > ergo converting the drop box concept art galleries into gallery posts on patreon itself.

To go with this i whipped up a really simple directory for pat*rons that will look something like this

EDIT thanks tumblr for making this reasonably sized thumbnail look like that Do You Love The Color of the Sky Post. Very Cash Money Of You

The links will make you log in (where applicable) so all the right rewards will be accessible to the right ranks.

eventually both this and the character guide will be part of the tricitymonsters.com website but that requires a ton more coding/design work than carrd so I’m putting that slightly lower on the priority list for now.

Speaking of rewards I’m running behind on Galleria fills again but I’m hoping to get them polished off for yall this weekend. I had some inconvenient happenings the last two weeks that really ate into my writing time. so. Hoping to make up some lost ground this weekend.

the Amir 1.2 update is out for pat*rons! This has no new content but it does correct some typos and other bugs that were notated with the 1.1 release.

The 2022 Spooktober Visual Novel Jam is in full swing for the 4th year in a row! For those of you who knew me last year, you know that i sequestered myself in my house for 30 days straight to create the original Mori chapter of TCM as an entry! I’m not submitting again this year as TCM has gained enough traction to warrant spending more time on, you should ABSOLUTELY go and check out the entries! Game jams have some of the most innovative and novel gamedev you can find and its a great place to play something new or learn to make games yourself.

Starting October 1, you can play, rate, and vote on what games you like best. You can play most games without an itch.io account but making one will let you vote + comment for extra fun.

The Spooktober Jam is organized by a group of people called Devtalk They’re also probably the nucleus for indie visual novels on the internet, at least outside of japan, and they were incredibly supportive in helping me learn how to make my game and helped me network.

Another tidbit of indie news, VN Game Den is maybe the largest Visual Novel/Otome/Romance Game journalism site out there that pays a HUGE amount of attention to small time indie devs, even ones as small as me. They’ve been struggling to pull down sufficient funding for their writers and are on the verge of closing up shop for good. Right now they’re running a last ditch fundraising push to try and recoup server/hosting costs, artist and writer pay, plus social media costs. Running a website with tons of new content daily isn’t cheap and its a lot of hard work. If you have the means, consider donating or spreading the word. Indie Journalism is critical to cultivate in an industry dominated by corporate financial giants.

OKAY i’ve said my piece and done my indies supporting indies shill haha. Thanks for reading!

#progress report #tricitymonsters

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uniquecreations · 6 years

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“Workplace Lover” Pt. 1

I was working for this inventory company for a few months when I was promoted to inventory manager. I was assigned to certain stores and pretty much had my team together when they decided to hire a bunch of people. The downside to having new people on my team was the pace slowed down due to me training them. No matter in what company you may work for when you get promoted there are going to be haters and people just downright salty because they didn’t get the position. Either way, I was happy but my love life sucked monkey balls, I couldn’t find a man to save my life. I take part to blame in that because of the insecurities that I dealt with at the time.

I got up for work this particular morning feeling awful, I went out the night before, got in at around 2:30 am and had to get up at 6 am for work. (Wasn’t one of my best choices.) When I made it to the pick-up spot my team was looking defeated as well, so I knew this was going to be a long day. I went and got all the equipment together and loaded it into one of the vans to leave. The new people showed up shortly afterward and we were ready to hit the road. I had this one friend Ron (straight guy) that I always shot the shit with every day. He would always seem to make the day easy for me by doing stupid shit that just hyped up all of us.

We made to the job site and began working, I had about 5 out of the 8 new people that no matter what I did, they just couldn’t seem to catch on to add and subtract. In the ones that I was going to definitely keep, there was this one guy named Alton, he was brown skin, had dreads, a deep voice, and a gorgeous smile. He was the most impressive, not just because he was sexy but because he actually took direction well. Once I showed him what to do, it was only a few times he came to me for something after that.

On our lunch break, I was eating at a nearby food joint with my homie Ron when Alton and a few other people walked in. I was so engulfed in Alton’s looks and the way he walked that I was totally ignoring Ron.

“Nigga, did you hear me?” He said throwing a fry at me.

“No, my bad what did you say?” I said embarrassed.

“I said that since we off tomorrow we should go to the Daquiri Café and get fucked up.”

“I don’t know about that, I had enough to drink last night to last me the rest of the year.” I said laughing.

“Punk ass, come on man join ya boy and live a little.” He said pleading, and after a lil back and forth I finally agreed. He was right tho, he would ask me to go out with him and his girl all the time, but I always found an excuse not to go.

“Aye, can I join yall?” Alton said approaching us with his food on his tray.

“Sure,” I said looking at the food on his tray. “You sure you can eat all that before it’s time to go back?”

“Probably but if I can’t then I will just pack this shit up and take it home.” He said after sitting down, we all shared a laugh together and spent the rest of our break getting to know our new team member.

We finally got thru the day, to say I was beyond tired was an understatement. I already sent a van full of people home and the only people left was the audit team. We made sure all the counts were accounted for as well as correct any mistakes that were made. This process could take anywhere from 30 mins to 4 hours depending on the corrections that needed to be made. Ron and Alton stayed back to help with this process and that made it easier for me because they kept me laughing.

“So, Alton since you apart of our team now, and since we all have the same schedule…... I was thinking that you should join Jaye and me at the Daquiri Café tonight for some drinks and bitches.” Ron said.

“I don’t know about the bitches’ part because as you and I both know yo girl will kick both of us in the dick if she finds out.” I said laughing.

“I’m game, I wasn’t doing shit tonight anyway.” Alton said. I wasn’t too sure about this because even though Ron knew I was gay, I didn’t like to hang around new people who didn’t know about my lifestyle. That could turn out really bad or just make it awkward while working.

“Cool, they have two we can choose from but since Jaye is technically our boss I vote he choose which one we go to,” Ron said smirking.

“I can’t fucking stand you and I’m not your boss, I’m only your supervisor while we work in the stores, I can’t fire or hire nobody just write you up and make a recommendation for your termination that’s it.” I said laughing.

“Stop lying nigga, I looked at your computer earlier and I saw that you got rid of some of the people that came today.”

“Shut up, that’s private information and while in training and since I’m still the lead trainer I do get to say who stays and who goes but I had to get rid of them because they just…… I don’t know maybe someone else can help them, but I can’t anymore.”

“So, was I on that list of people? I mean just keep it real.” Alton said with a nervous look on his face and I smirked.

“No, you weren’t if that was the case you wouldn’t be here right now…… enough of all this bullshit talk I need yall to go look for these sections that haven’t come in yet.” I said hanging them the list of things I needed to be checked.

After making it home I was beyond tired, all I wanted to do was lay down in my bed and sleep until the following week. That was short lived because just when the sleep was getting good my phone started ringing. I grabbed it to see it was my boos calling.

“Hey, I need some information about the people you switched and the ones you wanna keep.” She said after I picked up the phone.

“The ones I wanna keep had absolutely no problem catching on to the work but the other five were just horrible at taking direction. I didn’t suggest that they should be fired I just wanted them to go to Bobbi or Angie team because they work in smaller stores and they can focus more on them than I could.”

“Ok, we can do that but just for future references…... don’t involve me in your crap, you have every right to assign whomever you want to any team if you feel like they would be an asset to that team. Oh, and you did an amazing job today, I got nothing but good reports from the district manager.”

“Tell me something new but I will talk to you later I have some things to take care of.”

“Ok see you on Monday.” She said hanging up the phone. I looked at the time and realized that it was almost time to go meet up with Ron and Alton down the street at the Daquiri Café. I went took a shower and pulled out some clothes, no sooner than I got dressed Ron called my phone.

“Damn can I put some draws on before you get to rushing me out the house?” I said laughing.

“Nigga you should have been had yo shit on……. I’m outside so bring yo ass and open the door.” He said hanging up, I threw on some socks and went to open the door before I had to kick his ass. “You never on time for nothing nigga, you were late for work this morning, and now you just now getting dressed.”

“If you going to be bitching all night then you can beat ya feet motherfucker.” I said walking back to my room, while walking I got hit in the back with a pillow off the couch. “You better stop before I whoop yo ass and put my shit back in the right spot too.”

I walked into my room tempted to just say fuck it and call it a night, but I made a promise and I was going to keep it. I walked out the room to find that this nigga took all my pillows off my couch and tossed them on the floor. This nigga always doing stupid shit when he come over here, like the last time he came over here he put dish soap in my fish tank which killed all my damn fish. He did buy me some more but it’s stupid shit like that that works my nerves with him. I didn’t say nothing to him, I just walked into the kitchen and filled up a pot with hot water and walked back into the living room.

“Yo you better not throw that shit on me.” He said holding up one of the pillows.

“You got 30 seconds to fix my couch you jackass.” I said still holding the pot, he quickly put all the pillows back on my couch and I started laughing.

“You never play fair tho Jaye, why would you wanna throw hot ass water on me before we go out that shit foul man.” He said laughing.

“Because you always doing stupid shit, that’s why I’ma stop you from coming over here.” I said walking to the door.

“Whatever let’s go that nigga probably already waiting on us.”

“Ok but you driving because I’m still tired.”

We made our way to the Daquiri Café in no time at all because as I said earlier it was literally down the street from my house. When we walked in I spotted Alton sitting at the bar, I thought he was sexy earlier but now that I see him in regular clothes…… this nigga is drop dead gorgeous. I had no idea how I was going to get thru this evening without staring at him the whole night. We walked up to the bar where he was sitting and sat down, Alton turned his head and looked in our direction.

“About time yall showed up, I thought yall flaked out on me.” He said laughing.

“No, but there is something you should know about our boss here……. His ass always late to everything. I got over to his house and his ass wasn’t even dressed yet.” Ron said laughing.

“Well unlike you two bastards I had more work to do when I got home and plus I was still tired from last night. Yall lucky I’m even here right now.” I said flagging down the bartender. We all placed our order and sat there just talking like we had been friends for ever.

“So how long you been doing Inventory?” Alton asked me.

“For about a year now, it wasn’t my first choice but when I was offered the job, they gave me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.” I said sipping from my cup. “Overall, it’s been good, but I don’t think I wanna make a career out of it like Doris and Linda, but it pays the bills and leave me with extra in my pocket.”

“Cool, this is new to me I’m used to working fast food or doing lil odd jobs from temp services.”

“You have great work ethics, unlike some people I know.” I said looking at Ron.

“Aye fuck you nigga I’m the best person you have on your team so miss me with the bullshit or I’ma have to beat yo ass.”

“The only thing you can beat is yo meat nigga, don’t start your bullshit.” I said and we all bust out laughing.

“How long yall been cool? It seems like yall brothers or something.” Alton asked and the way he said ‘something’ didn’t sit right with me but I wasn’t going to think on it too much.

“Before my promotion we worked a few jobs together, he has been a thorn in my side ever since.”

“Yea right nigga, but Jaye is a down right cool as dude, he will do whatever he can to help anyone just as long as they trying to do shit for themselves.”

“That’s what’s up, but let’s go get a game of pool in and get this shit crunk.”

We played pool, got some food, had more drinks than I wanted to have, and had a damn good time just shooting the shit. The night was going good until Ron got a call from his girl and what ever they talked about had him in a sour mood for a bit.

“What’s going on Ron?” I asked him.

“She pissed off at me because in her words she never gets to see me until I’m horny or whenever I make time but that’s a lie because I was with her before I came to get you and she knew that we were hanging tonight.”

“Ok well let’s cut this night short and you go fix things with your girl because I don’t have time for her kicking both our ass.”

“Man fuck that, she will be just fine, I’m not about to keep catering to her bullshit every time she gets in one her moods.” He said ordering another round of drinks.

“You not gone learn until that girl murder yo ass but its your shot.” I said picking up my pool cue.

The night went on and we cut the drinks off because Alton looked drunk as hell and Ron was getting there. I had an extra room at my house, but I wasn’t to sure about letting either one of them sleep over. Ron wasn’t going to stay any way if push came to shove, he was going to call his girl to come get him and I take his car home, but Alton I knew nothing about so that was a definite no on his part.

“If this bitch sends me one more text, I’ma go over there and throw her phone in the middle of the street.” Ron said showing me all the text messages between him and her. I scrolled up reading the messages, but I went to far up and saw some pictures they sent each other. Let’s just say I see why she so paranoid because Ron had some serious meat down there.

“Umm…... just drop me off at the house and you go be with your girl bruh.” I said reluctantly giving him his phone back.

“I’m not ready to go and if you don’t wanna leave right now I can bring you home and let this nigga go get his shit together.” Alton said catching me off guard.

“Jaye don’t like people knowing where he stays so we can just do this some other time.” Ron said drinking the last of his drink.

“Nah it’s cool bruh, you go take care of that and call me later.” I said dapping him up.

Ron left us at the Café while he went to go make sure his girl was good, no matter what I did I couldn’t shake the image of his dick out my head. It was the prettiest dick I had seen in a very long time, I know I shouldn’t have kept thinking about it, but I couldn’t help it.

“You ready to go.” Alton said bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Umm yea…... but can you drive because I don’t wanna spend the rest of my night laid up in a hospital room.” I said laughing.

“Yea I got you, I aint that messed up.” He said laughing.

We left out and made it to my house in one piece, I thought about it and there was no way I was going to let this dude drive home drunk. I told him that he could crash on the couch and leave in the morning when he woke up. I went into my room to get him an extra cover and some shorts to sleep in, when I went back into the living room this nigga had kicked off his shoes and was laying on the couch watching tv.

“I got you a cover and some shorts to sleep in, there is food and drinks in the fridge as well, just don’t touch my cokes.” I said placing the stuff on the couch.

“Or you can go get comfortable as well and pour us some more drinks, I know you got liquor in here.” He said smirking, against my better judgement I went and threw on some night clothes and walked back into the living room. He had changed into the shorts I gave him, but he didn’t have a shirt on, his body was on point and I was stuck in one spot staring at him. “What you looking at nigga?” he said laughing, I hung my down in embarrassment and walked into the kitchen. I poured us some drinks and walked in the living room.

“Umm you need a shirt to put on?” I asked after handing him his drink.

“Nah, I don’t like sleeping in shirts I feel like I’m being suffocated.” He said laughing.

We started drinking and watching tv for a while, I looked at the time and it was now 3 in the morning. I stood up and staggered a lil bit from the drinks I consumed. I shook off the feelings, looked at his body one last time and started to walk to my room before he stopped me.

“If you wanna look you don’t have sneak just look.” He said smiling. I was taken back by his comment, it caught me off guard to the point where I ran right into the wall.

“You aint all that nigga but goodnight I’m going to bed.”

“I guess weakling.” He said laughing.

“Unlike you, I didn’t get much rest last night or when I got off so excuse me if I’m tired, now go to bed before I punch you in the face.” I said laughing.

“Don’t get fucked up, but I hear ya take yo tired ass to bed.” I didn’t bother saying nothing back I just went to my room and laid across my bed.

The thoughts of Ron’s dick flashed back to my mind as well as the comment that Alton made. Maybe I was drunk and overthinking things, but it sounded like he was flirting with me. the more I thought about it the more I had to find out what he meant by that comment. I got up and walked back into the living room where he was still finishing off the last of his drink.

“What did you mean by the comment you made a few minutes ago?” I asked him standing in the door way.

“Man, what yo drunk ass talking about?” He said laughing.

“About me staring at your body.”

“Oh, I meant that I noticed you staring at me a few times but when you saw me you tried to act like you wasn’t, so I said that if you wanted to look at me then just do it.” He said still laughing.

“Whatever, I look at what I want and who I want so what’s it to you?”

“It’s nothing to me, but I thought you was going to bed?”

“I am why you wanna join me?” I said and almost slapped the hell out myself for saying that shit.

“You probably would like that wouldn’t you?” He said laughing.

“Whatever, goodnight Alton.” I said walking back to my room.

I turned on my tv and laid under the covers, I couldn’t believe that I actually said that stupid shit to this dude. He didn’t go off on me but still I never said nothing like that to a straight guy before so that alone made me feel dumb as hell. I closed my eyes and began to fall asleep, a few seconds afterwards I heard my door open. When I opened my eyes, Alton was walking towards me, he didn’t say anything, he just walked to my bed and climbed in. before I could ask him what the hell he was doing he pressed his lips to mine and all rationality went out the window. Was this really happening? What am I thinking right now? How would this affect us at work? All these things went thru my mind, but my body had another mind of it’s on.

©unique creations 2018

#bxb #lgbt #unique creations #workplace lover #part 1 #short story #gay #nonfiction

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hexiewrites · 7 years

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lightning

pairing: hermione granger / pansy parkinson setting: modern, muggle, non-magic AU word count: 2055 a/n: hi everyone!!! thank you all for being so patient and lovely with me these past ~2 months over the fact that I haven’t produced any content and have been mostly MIA. this fic probably isn’t very original or very good, but calvin harris’s this is what you came for is on our store playlist so i have listened to it a LOT in the past week or so and this idea got lodged in my brain and needed to be written (lol @ me for thinking it was going to be a “short drabble”). for everyone who voted for post-war pansmione, I’m hoping to write something for yall too in the next few days! anyways, please forgive any errors / rustiness on my part, and I’m hoping to have lots more content for you coming up in the next little while! hooray for spring and the recession of my seasonal depression!!! ps. can you guess any of the background couples??? ;)

“Can’t believe you talked me into this…” Hermione grumbled, tugging down the edges of her far too short golden mini dress and then glancing up to glare at the redhead in front of her. “I’ve told you how I feel about clubs, Gin.”

The redhead shrugged nonchalantly and tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Hermione,” she began, tone clearly placating. “You know that I love you, yeah? But you have been an absolute wreck for the last few months. I know you were gutted when you and Ron broke up-”

“It was the best thing for both of us,” Hermione managed to interject, though Ginny waved it off with a flick of her wrist.

“And you haven’t done anything fun in ages. And besides, this isn’t really like a normal club anyways.”

Hermione sighed and looked around again, wondering what she’d missed. “Looks pretty normal to me.” Between the pulsing music, flashing lights, and tangle of bodies in the middle of the floor, she still wasn’t sure what she was missing.

Ginny smirked and tugged her hand, pulling Hermione up against the edge of the bar, and then flashed down the handsome bartender with a little wave and a sultry grin. “Look a little closer.”

Doing her best not to roll her eyes, Hermione crossed her arms in an attempt to hide some of the cleavage that her borrowed dress provided. It took her another few minutes before she finally started focusing on the couples on the dance floor. The first two to catch her eye were two men – one tall and thin with sandy brown hair that flopped over his face, and behind him a shorter stockier man with dark hair and tanned skin. They were pressed closely together, with the blonde haired man’s back against the dark haired one’s chest, and the dark haired one was kissing the blonde’s neck and roaming his hands over the other man’s chest.

It wasn’t until Hermione looked next to them that she started to notice a pattern. Two girls, one with long dreadlocks and the other with blonde hair in a high pony, arms wrapped around each other and lips clearly fighting for dominance. And then another pair – a man with white blonde hair grinding against a man with deep black skin - and another, and another, and the dots all clicked in her mind and she swiveled back around to ask Ginny exactly where they were.

Except Ginny was distracted herself, with a short blonde woman who was holding one of her hands and whispering something in the redhead’s ear. And Hermione paused, for a second, and remembered that Ginny had a boyfriend and the blonde seemed to now be nibbling at Ginny’s earlobe, and she was pretty sure that Ginny’s hand was sneaking up the back of the other woman’s skirt…

Hermione cleared her throat and Ginny snapped out of whatever trance she had been in and flashed Hermione a brilliant grin. “Well? Figure it out?”

Hermione swallowed, and nodded. “Gay club,” she stated. “Gin… what about Harry?”

The blonde pulled her head back and glanced over at Hermione for the first time, and Hermione almost found herself drawn in by a pair of large unblinking blue eyes. “Oh! Is Harry here? I haven’t seen him…”

Hermione shook her head, stunned.

The woman shrugged, and reached her free hand out. “I’m Luna,” she stated simply.

“Hermione,” she mumbled in return and reached out to shake the proffered hand. “I still don’t understand?”

Ginny sighed and reached a hand out to pat Hermione’s shoulder consolingly. “Right, well, the thing is… You were always a little, erm, square, you see? So Harry and I… well, it wasn’t that weren’t going to tell you. Just… we were going to build you up to it.”

“Up to what?!” Hermione finally snapped out, her voice finally betraying how confused she really was.

“This is Luna. My girlfriend,” Ginny stated simply. Then she paused, clearly braced herself, and added, “our girlfriend.”

“Our?” Hermione pushed.

“As in, Harry and my. As in, there are three of us in our relationship. As in, we all f-”

“Don’t need to know specifics!” Hermione squeaked, and both Ginny and Luna burst out laughing. Luna’s laugh was pretty, almost fairy like, and it seemed to drift above the noise of the club. Hermione felt strangely comforted by this, though she was still trying to debate internally whether or not she should just leave.

Ginny had slung an arm around Luna’s shoulder and kissed the blonde’s forehead affectionately. “It’s still rather new, though. And, we’d really appreciate if you don’t tell Ron? Or my mum? We will, we just… need to figure out the best way.”

Still a little awestruck, Hermione nodded. “Okay. I, well. As long as you’re all happy?” Ginny nodded, her face breaking into a huge grin, and Hermione sighed. “I think though, I think I’m going to head home then, Gin.”

“We just got here!” The redhead protested. “You haven’t even danced with anyone yet!”

Hermione swallowed, eyes widening, as she looked back at Ginny. “Gin… I’m not… erm, gay. Not that, you know, it’s alright! Liking other women. I just… don’t.”

Ginny didn’t respond, and Hermione drew her eyebrows together tightly, crossing her arms a little more across her chest. “I dated Ron for six years, Ginny. I wouldn’t have done that if I were interested in women.”

“Me thinks the lady doth protest too much…” Ginny mumbled, and Luna reached a hand out to rest on Hermione’s cheek.

“You’re sure?” The blonde asked, raising her eyebrows inquisitively. “You’ve never thought about it before?”

Hermione’s face flushed hot under Luna’s pale hand, and she wondered if the colour would be visible against her dark skin in the poorly lit club. Hopefully not. “N-no!” And then she paused, and took a breath, and frowned more. “I mean. I’ve never thought…”

Luna’s face broke into a dazzling grin and she patted Hermione’s cheek. “I’m usually very good at these things, and it would have been a shame to break my streak,” and then she turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd.

“What?” Hermione mumbled, turning towards Ginny. She hated feeling stupid, hated not knowing exactly where she stood or what was going on around her. And now she felt like she was on the edge of a precipice, waiting for something major to happen. Waiting for something to push her in any direction at all.

And then she glanced up, and she couldn’t help but spot a woman alone in the middle of the dance floor. She had short cropped perfectly straight black hair that landed around her chin, and her lipstick was such a deep red it looked nearly black. Her eyes were shut as she danced to the rhythm of the song – something Hermione recognized from the radio, upbeat and loud and sexy – her hips swaying and her arms moving and Hermione found herself absolutely unable to look away.

When she did, she glanced down and trailed her eyes up from a pair of black platform heels, smooth creamy legs covered in fishnet stockings, and an impossibly short skirt. Her eyes caught on the gap of skin between the woman’s slightly too short top and her high waisted skirt, and when they made their way back up there was a pair of eyes watching her intently. Something jolted down through her stomach and hit her low in her belly and she had to swallow heavily to avoid gasping out loud.

Quickly, Hermione glanced away, only to realize she wasn’t the only person watching this stranger dance. She could see three or four other women who clearly had their eyes trained on the dark haired woman, and feeling foolish, Hermione looked back to Ginny.

“Like something you see?” Ginny asked, her grin widening as she did so.

“No!” Hermione blurted out, and felt her face heat even more. “I mean, um. She’s just… a good…. dancer….”

Ginny laughed now, tossed her head back and let the sound bubble out of her chest and through the air. Hermione glanced down at her hands and wished she had thought ahead to buy a drink so she would have something to do, something to look at, and then Ginny was tapping her shoulder and forcing her to look back up.

“Everybody may be watching her, but… she’s looking at you.”

Before Hermione could protest, Ginny placed a hand on her back and gave a small push and she stumbled for just a second before she caught herself. She was a step closer to the woman now and something inside of her spurred her on, and she walked another five steps before she realized what she was doing. The woman was still watching her, dark eyes locked on Hermione’s face and she swallowed, hard. What was she even doing here, fooling herself like this? She shut her eyes, tried to block out the thought of the dark haired girl but couldn’t, and when she opened them again she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Pansy,” the woman said simply, extending a hand. When Hermione didn’t immediately take it, she raised a brow and flicked her eyes down to her outstretched arm and then back to Hermione. “I don’t bite,” she drawled, and then paused and let out a short laugh. “Much.”

Hermione was in far over her head, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from catching the woman’s pale hand in her own dark one. “Hermione,” she managed to say. “I, um, I’m not really sure-”

“Hermione,” the woman said, letting it roll over her tongue. Hermione had never had strong feelings towards her name, and yet hearing it from the lips of this stranger almost changed her opinion of it entirely. “That’s a mouthful,” the woman teased, and her sultry smile cracked into something more like a grin. “Dance,” she instructed, and tugged Hermione’s hand, pulling their bodies together.

Hermione had never been a dancer, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from swaying to the music, letting it trickle down her spine and focusing entirely on what the woman in front of her was doing. The club around them seemed to fade away until all that was left were dark lips, small hands on her hips, and then a voice purring in her ear.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Without even thinking about what she was doing, Hermione caught one of Pansy’s hands and they were off towards the door. She briefly registered a laughing Ginny nodding at her, and Luna with a knowing grin on her face. They tumbled out and the cold air hit her face and she froze, realizing what was happening.

She was at a club. A gay club. She was at a gay club and she’d met a woman and she was leaving.

With that woman.

Pansy had stopped, but not let go of her hand, and she was searching Hermione’s face. Pansy raised a brow at her, and placed one hand on her hips in an almost fed up motion. “Your place, or mine?”

Her voice seemed to convey bored disinterest, and her face held the same sultry grin and stoic stare that it had all night. But there was something in her eyes that said concern, something that Hermione realized almost immediately was all she needed. Someone who wouldn’t push her beyond her boundaries, but who also wouldn’t let her get away with taking the easy road. Someone who was interested in discovering those boundaries, but not at the expense of her feelings. And there was something in Pansy’s eyes, that she was clearly trying to hide and not succeeding at, that reassured Hermione that she had made the exact right choice.

Hermione took a breath of cool night air, shut her eyes for a moment and let it wash over her. When she exhaled, she exhaled everything she had been locking up for a long time now – she exhaled Ron, and stress, she exhaled her worries about the loss of a perfect future, her fears about being alone forever, and her desire to please others at the expense of herself. Finally, she opened her eyes and met Pansy’s, and managed to pull a wicked grin of her own onto her lips.

“Yours.”

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Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor

Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor http://www.nature-business.com/business-how-upstart-groups-helped-andrew-gillums-quest-to-become-floridas-first-black-governor/

Business

Fredreka Schouten

USA TODAY

Published 11:00 p.m. UTC Aug 30, 2018

WASHINGTON – Stefanie Brown James first noticed Andrew Gillum 20 years ago when they served as student leaders at their colleges, and he hopped a Greyhound bus from Florida to get a firsthand view of student government operations at Howard University in the nation’s capital.

“I remember thinking: ‘Who is this dude?’ “James recalled this week. ” ‘How do you even have the resources as a college student to travel up to D.C. to check out the student government?’ ”

Now, everyone in the political world is paying attention to Gillum, after the 39-year-old mayor of Tallahassee stunned the party’s establishment Tuesday by beating former congresswoman Gwen Graham and capturing the Democratic nomination for Florida governor.

Should he prevail in November, Gillum would become the first black governor of Florida, a crucial swing state in the 2020 presidential election.

And behind the scenes of that success stands little-known but growing political organizations, such as the Collective PAC co-founded by James, that are plowing money into ads and get-out-the-vote efforts to propel Gillum and others like him – young, liberal and African-American – past their better-funded and better-known contenders.

In Florida, the 2-year-old Collective PAC spent just shy of $2 million to aid Gillum, much of it on radio and TV ads. Other groups also joined in, including one run by liberal billionaire Tom Steyer, who spent $1.4 million on Gillum’s behalf.

Vermont’s Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who emerged as a progressive force during his 2016 presidential candidacy, joined Gillum on the campaign trail earlier this month and sent fundraising appeals on his behalf. Another group, the Color of Change PAC, knocked on doors and hosted events from Miami to Jacksonville, such as “black women’s brunches,” to talk about the election’s importance.

New records

Candidates of color already are breaking records in this primary season.

In gubernatorial races alone, nine candidates from racial and ethnic minority groups now head into the fall campaign as major party nominees. Two of them, former Georgia state legislator Stacey Abrams and Paulette Jordan, a former member of the Idaho House of Representatives, would make history if elected as the first African-American female and first Native American governors in the country, respectively.

The United States has had only two black governors: Virginia’s Doug Wilder, elected in 1989, and Massachusetts’ Deval Patrick in 2006.

This year, Democrats have nominated three African-Americans to their state’s top political jobs: Abrams, Gillum and Ben Jealous, the progressive former head of the NAACP, who captured the nomination in Maryland.

The candidates of color face stiff headwinds in their quests. Deep-red Idaho, for instance, hasn’t elected a Democrat as chief executive in nearly 30 years and Georgia hasn’t done so in 20 years.

But the activists and donors supporting these candidates say the country’s fast-changing demographics – such as the growing populations of black, Latino and Asian-American voters that stand to make Georgia a majority-minority state within a decade – offer guideposts to victory for their party in November and in the years ahead.

“What this primary season has proved is that this idea that candidates of color are unelectable is a fallacy,” said Steve Phillips, a prominent African-American donor and strategist. His 2016 book, “Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority,” encourages Democrats to focus their energy on mobilizing voters of color and liberal, college-educated whites.

“This notion that we should chase the Trump voters in the Midwest is illogical. That focuses on a shrinking sector of the population,” he said. “The Obama formula – inspire people of color and progressive whites to turn out in large numbers – is how you win elections.”

Fall strategy

Phillips, who founded his own organization, Democracy in Color, is making big investments in voter mobilization.

Phillips-aligned groups are backing Abrams in Georgia and plan to spend $5 million to $10 million to help turn out 100,000 voters of color who do not regularly cast ballots in the state. He also plans to work on voter turnout in Florida and Arizona but still is developing those plans, he said.

Last year, Phillips and his wife, Susan Sandler, the heir to a California savings-and-loan fortune, helped direct $500,000 from Democratic donors around the country to Alabama in last year’s special election to elect Democrat Doug Jones to the Senate.

Exit polls showed 96 percent of black voters in the election backed Jones, helping him defeat Republican Roy Moore to become the first Democratic U.S. senator elected from the state in 25 years.

LaTosha Brown, who co-founded Black Voters Matter Fund to increase black political power in the South, helped turn out those voters in Alabama. She now plans a big push in Florida and Georgia this fall, she said in an interview Wednesday.

Brown said the group also plans to expand its “The South is Rising’’ bus tour, which stopped last week in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida, to include Maryland where Jealous is on the ballot.

Phillips said the fall election will serve as an important test for Democratic Party leaders and liberal donors. “They have candidates who have appeal and the potential to win,” he said, “but will those with the power to move resources move those resources” to minority candidates?

More: Andrew Gillum: The secret to a progressive Democrat’s stunning upset win in Florida’s governor’s race

Officials with Democratic Party committees on Wednesday said promoting candidates of color is a priority.

The Democratic National Committee has invested $20 million in state parties and campaigns nationally, an unprecedented amount for a non-presidential year, committee officials said. The total includes millions in grants to hire organizers in base communities. DNC Chair Tom Perez was in Georgia, campaigning for Abrams two weeks ago.

The Democratic Governors Association says it contributed $250,000 to the state party in Georgia and will make “significant investments” in Florida in the coming days.

Costly race

The Florida governors’ race promises to be hard-fought and expensive.

Gillum likely will face tough questions and attack ads about an FBI investigation into Tallahassee city government. DeSantis drew accusations of racism on Wednesday for saying that Florida needs to build on its success with Gov. Rick Scott and that voters shouldn’t “monkey this up” by electing Gillum in November.

More: Ron DeSantis, GOP nominee, warns Florida not to ‘monkey this up’ by electing Andrew Gillum as governor

The Collective PAC doesn’t yet have a budget for the fall campaign to back Gillum. But James, who oversaw African-American voter outreach for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, hopes the newfound fame for the guy she met as a college sophomore will translate into fresh financial resources for the general election.

Music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs recently endorsed Gillum. Actress Gabrielle Union, whose NBA star husband Dwyane Wade played for the Miami Heat, touted Gillum’s candidacy and exulted Tuesday night on Twitter after his big win.

“Yessssssss!! I told yall #WeVoteWeWin and we can bring in the change we want to see!!! Congrats #AndrewGillum let’s bring this home!” Union tweeted.

“I love that everyone is congratulating him on social media,” James said. “Now, write us a check.”

Contributing: Nicole Gaudiano and Deborah Barfield Berry

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/08/30/andrew-gillum-meet-upstarts-political-groups-behind-his-race-become-florida-first-black-governor/1132010002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Fredreka Schouten

Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor, in 2018-08-30 12:44:42

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Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor

Business

Fredreka Schouten

USA TODAY

Published 11:00 p.m. UTC Aug 30, 2018

Should he prevail in November, Gillum would become the first black governor of Florida, a crucial swing state in the 2020 presidential election.

New records

Candidates of color already are breaking records in this primary season.

The United States has had only two black governors: Virginia’s Doug Wilder, elected in 1989, and Massachusetts’ Deval Patrick in 2006.

The candidates of color face stiff headwinds in their quests. Deep-red Idaho, for instance, hasn’t elected a Democrat as chief executive in nearly 30 years and Georgia hasn’t done so in 20 years.

Fall strategy

Phillips, who founded his own organization, Democracy in Color, is making big investments in voter mobilization.

Exit polls showed 96 percent of black voters in the election backed Jones, helping him defeat Republican Roy Moore to become the first Democratic U.S. senator elected from the state in 25 years.

Brown said the group also plans to expand its “The South is Rising’’ bus tour, which stopped last week in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida, to include Maryland where Jealous is on the ballot.

More: Andrew Gillum: The secret to a progressive Democrat’s stunning upset win in Florida’s governor’s race

Officials with Democratic Party committees on Wednesday said promoting candidates of color is a priority.

The Democratic Governors Association says it contributed $250,000 to the state party in Georgia and will make “significant investments” in Florida in the coming days.

Costly race

The Florida governors’ race promises to be hard-fought and expensive.

More: Ron DeSantis, GOP nominee, warns Florida not to ‘monkey this up’ by electing Andrew Gillum as governor

“Yessssssss!! I told yall #WeVoteWeWin and we can bring in the change we want to see!!! Congrats #AndrewGillum let’s bring this home!” Union tweeted.

“I love that everyone is congratulating him on social media,” James said. “Now, write us a check.”

Contributing: Nicole Gaudiano and Deborah Barfield Berry

Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor, in 2018-08-30 12:44:42

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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blogparadiseisland · 6 years

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Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor

Business

Fredreka Schouten

USA TODAY

Published 11:00 p.m. UTC Aug 30, 2018

Should he prevail in November, Gillum would become the first black governor of Florida, a crucial swing state in the 2020 presidential election.

New records

Candidates of color already are breaking records in this primary season.

The United States has had only two black governors: Virginia’s Doug Wilder, elected in 1989, and Massachusetts’ Deval Patrick in 2006.

The candidates of color face stiff headwinds in their quests. Deep-red Idaho, for instance, hasn’t elected a Democrat as chief executive in nearly 30 years and Georgia hasn’t done so in 20 years.

Fall strategy

Phillips, who founded his own organization, Democracy in Color, is making big investments in voter mobilization.

Exit polls showed 96 percent of black voters in the election backed Jones, helping him defeat Republican Roy Moore to become the first Democratic U.S. senator elected from the state in 25 years.

Brown said the group also plans to expand its “The South is Rising’’ bus tour, which stopped last week in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida, to include Maryland where Jealous is on the ballot.

More: Andrew Gillum: The secret to a progressive Democrat’s stunning upset win in Florida’s governor’s race

Officials with Democratic Party committees on Wednesday said promoting candidates of color is a priority.

The Democratic Governors Association says it contributed $250,000 to the state party in Georgia and will make “significant investments” in Florida in the coming days.

Costly race

The Florida governors’ race promises to be hard-fought and expensive.

More: Ron DeSantis, GOP nominee, warns Florida not to ‘monkey this up’ by electing Andrew Gillum as governor

“Yessssssss!! I told yall #WeVoteWeWin and we can bring in the change we want to see!!! Congrats #AndrewGillum let’s bring this home!” Union tweeted.

“I love that everyone is congratulating him on social media,” James said. “Now, write us a check.”

Contributing: Nicole Gaudiano and Deborah Barfield Berry

Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor, in 2018-08-30 12:44:42

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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computacionalblog · 6 years

Text

Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor

Business

Fredreka Schouten

USA TODAY

Published 11:00 p.m. UTC Aug 30, 2018

Should he prevail in November, Gillum would become the first black governor of Florida, a crucial swing state in the 2020 presidential election.

New records

Candidates of color already are breaking records in this primary season.

The United States has had only two black governors: Virginia’s Doug Wilder, elected in 1989, and Massachusetts’ Deval Patrick in 2006.

The candidates of color face stiff headwinds in their quests. Deep-red Idaho, for instance, hasn’t elected a Democrat as chief executive in nearly 30 years and Georgia hasn’t done so in 20 years.

Fall strategy

Phillips, who founded his own organization, Democracy in Color, is making big investments in voter mobilization.

Exit polls showed 96 percent of black voters in the election backed Jones, helping him defeat Republican Roy Moore to become the first Democratic U.S. senator elected from the state in 25 years.

Brown said the group also plans to expand its “The South is Rising’’ bus tour, which stopped last week in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida, to include Maryland where Jealous is on the ballot.

More: Andrew Gillum: The secret to a progressive Democrat’s stunning upset win in Florida’s governor’s race

Officials with Democratic Party committees on Wednesday said promoting candidates of color is a priority.

The Democratic Governors Association says it contributed $250,000 to the state party in Georgia and will make “significant investments” in Florida in the coming days.

Costly race

The Florida governors’ race promises to be hard-fought and expensive.

More: Ron DeSantis, GOP nominee, warns Florida not to ‘monkey this up’ by electing Andrew Gillum as governor

“Yessssssss!! I told yall #WeVoteWeWin and we can bring in the change we want to see!!! Congrats #AndrewGillum let’s bring this home!” Union tweeted.

“I love that everyone is congratulating him on social media,” James said. “Now, write us a check.”

Contributing: Nicole Gaudiano and Deborah Barfield Berry

Business How upstart groups helped Andrew Gillum’s quest to become Florida’s first black governor, in 2018-08-30 12:44:42

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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