#if only danforth had gotten that pass...

[frostbeees]

kent "what like it's hard?" johnson · nyr @ cbj 10.14.23

[warwickroyals]

Prince Nicholas of Danforth was born OTD in 2000

At approximately 06:43 CST, a 41-gun salute disrupted an early Sunday morning. The volleys erupted over Lake Michigan just as the rising sun illuminated the placid waves, coating the coastline in thick smoke and sending flocks of startled seagulls into the sky. On a regular morning, the noise would have been unwelcome, but this day was far from ordinary. It seemed no one in the City of Warwick had gotten much sleep; people had been out in throngs since two in the morning: honking car horns, climbing up streetlamps, dancing and cavorting to a chant that, ironically, took the tune of The Stars and Stripes Forever: "it's a boy, it's a boy, it's a boy!"

The baby boy was the first child of James, the Prince of Danforth, and his wife Tatiana. He was also the first grandson of King Louis V, the first child born to a Prince and Princess of Danforth since Prince Clarence's birth fifty years prior, and the first member of the Sunderlandian Royal Family to be born in the 21st century. The baby was christened Nicholas William Louis George on May 23, the 80th birthday of his great-grandmother, Queen Katherine. Popular press speculated that the prince was named after his great-great-grandfather, George II, who was known as "Nicky" within the royal family. From an early age, Prince Nicholas enjoyed an unprecedented amount of celebrity. His first overseas trip to the United States in January 2001 drew international media attention.

Nicholas's only sibling, Prince Alex, was born in July 2002. The two brothers were raised at Rockcliffe Palace in Warwick and Orchardlea, a courty house situated on a range of rolling hills and buffs in northwestern Great Lakes. The "Cotswolds of the Mississippi". Royal biographer Richard Clancy asserts that Nicholas was a "spoilt" albeit "introspective" child who from an early age "understood he would be king". When asked about her children, Princess Tatiana described Nick as a "little old man"

He's very wise, which is strange for a toddler. He hates commotion and noise. When we bring him to other children, he prefers to watch them. [Alex] is more of an animal, a different breed.

Nicholas "came out of his shell" when he reached school age. Education consisted of hallowed halls and a "work hard, play hard" mentality. Prince James took both academics and extracurriculars seriously and urged his son to become a "jack-of-all-trades". Nicholas was signed up for hockey, soccer, swimming, and lacrosse, although he lacked athletic talent and, by his own admission, "wouldn't get drafted any time soon". Academics were Nicholas's comfort zone, and he was reported to be a top student as early as 2009. As a teenager, Nicholas received private lectures from academics and constitutional theorists. On the weekends, he met with his grandfather to discuss state matters and the role of the monarch, a tradition that continued into adulthood. By graduation day, Nicholas was one of the most "thoroughly educated" members of his family.

In the early hours of September 1, 2017, Nicholas's father passed away from complications of a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Nicholas, then 17, became first in line to the throne and was created Prince of Danforth later that week. He also inherited huge amounts of property, wealth, and material possessions from his father's estate. By February, reports swirled that the prince was "begging" Chester Palace for support in his new role, as well as help for his mother, who remained grief-stricken. In response to increasing press pressure for updates on the prince, David Schuyler, his privates secretary, stated:

The Prince of Danforth isn't a landlord or a crown counillor or a governor-general. He is a boy. Perhaps a boy of more extraordinary circumstances, but a boy nonetheless. For the foreseeable future, his priority will be growing into a young man, a task he will do without the guidance and support of his father, who he adored and confided in.

Following his 21st birthday, Nicholas began a steady roster of royal duties. He was appointed to his grandfather's privy council and embarked on his first solo public engagements in March 2025. His early twenties were dominated by a revolving schedule of military service, internships, charity work, and state duties. At 28, the Prince of Danforth carries out over 300 engagements per year. Nicholas has never spoken publicly about the death of his father. "His private life," remarked Schuyler in late 2027. "Is exactly that: private."

[jaskiers-sweetkiss]

Paper Rings - Part 3

Pairing: Carrie Wilson x Female!Reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: perceived homophobia (nobody is actually homophobic)

PR Masterlist Masterlist

___

The young royals spent the rest of the afternoon sharing one of the many benches scattered throughout the palace’s extensive gardens. Carrie would’ve preferred the cozy armchairs of the library, and Nick had even suggested it at one point, but she wasn’t willing to subject their scheming to the potentially prying ears of the palace staff.

While they sat Carrie told her newfound friend all about Y/N while Nick looked on with a soft smile, seeming genuinely happy for her. In all of her imagined ways that her coming out to the man would go, none of them ended like this. She assumed he’d be upset, after all, he’d just spent the last week attempting to impress and woo her when all along he had no chance at all, and yet there he was not only happy for her, he was actively trying to set her up with someone else. She supposed she should’ve seen this coming once she had gotten to know him better.

With Nick caught up on her background with Y/N, they began to fully plot out their plan. It wasn’t anything complicated, but it would take an immense amount of bravery from Carrie, something she wasn’t sure she could muster up but Nick assured her that she already had it. However, the plan couldn’t be set in motion until Nick’s parents arrived for the official announcement of their betrothal.

___

Carrie woke up full of anxieties the day Nick’s parents were set to arrive. It had been a few days since they’d created the plan, and even though Nick had spent every possible moment reassuring and bolstering her, she was still worried. Worried was probably an understatement really, but she wasn’t quite sure what the proper word would be for the way that her heart thumped wildly in her chest and her skin felt like it was quivering separately from the rest of her body. Still, she pulled herself out of bed and allowed her maids to get her ready for the big day, dressing her in one of her finest gowns (they had wanted to make her a brand new one for the occasion but Carrie had insisted that there would be grander occasions worth making new dresses for and that what she already had would serve her just fine).

Once they had finished with her dress, makeup, and hair, Carrie once more shooed the maids from her room before going into her usual routine of choosing her own jewelry. She set to work choosing many of the pieces she had purchased with Y/N before sliding her signet ring onto her pinky.

She shook her arms out as she crossed to her chamber doors, hoping to shake out her anxieties before taking a deep breath to steel herself for the day ahead and what she was about to do. Just like any other morning, as she stepped through her doors she became Princess Caroline, leaving anxious Carrie behind her.

The walk to the palace entryway seemed much longer than usual, though she was grateful for the extra moments to herself to rehearse her words over and over.

She arrived in the entry hall only moments before Nick’s parents were expected to arrive, someone calling that they had passed through the castle’s gates. She hurried to her place beside her father, Nick on her other side.

When the couple finally stepped through the doors it dawned on Carrie why Nick had insisted they wait until his parents arrived. Nick’s parents were gay.

She had known, of course, that Nick had two dads. She’d learned it ages ago in one of her classes and of course, Nick had mentioned it in their many conversations since he’d arrived at the palace, but it hadn’t occurred to her that their presence was a strategic move. Her father would have a much harder time scorning her for her sexuality in front of them.

“Kings Ryan and Chad Danforth-Evans of the Kingdom of Alburquerque.” Their names were announced and Carrie couldn’t help but beam at them.

Nick was the first to greet them, neither the kings nor the prince wasting much time before hugging each other.

“Ryan, Chad, it’s good to see you,” her father’s voice boomed throughout the hall as he stepped forward to shake each man’s hand once they’d pulled away from their son.

“It’s good to see you as well, Trevor. It’s been too long,” King Chad replied and Carrie’s father agreed.

“And Caroline,” King Ryan spoke, turning towards her with a strange look on his face. “My goodness, I haven’t seen you since you were just a child.”

Carrie smiled awkwardly, having no recollection of the event.

“It’s good to see you,” she greeted kindly instead.

“What’s on the itinerary for today?” King Ryan spoke, addressing Trevor, “Do we have time to catch up before the big announcement?”

Nick cleared his throat.

“About that,” he began as everyone’s eyes turned to focus on him. “I’m sorry to bring you both all the way out here for nothing but we have to call off the engagement.”

Carrie felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room at his words.

“Nicolas, what are you doing?” King Ryan hissed before his husband placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

“We’re simply not compatible,” Nick explained before turning to Carrie.

It was her turn now. She took a deep breath, grabbing Nick’s hand from where it hung beside her, needing the physical support from her friend.

“Dad,” she addressed her father, intending this declaration for him more than anyone else in the room. “I’m gay.”

It turned out that Carrie didn’t need the strategic advantage of having the Danforth-Evans’ there because before she knew what was happening she was being wrapped into a hug from her father.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said sincerely and Carrie was vaguely aware of the tears welling up in her eyes.

“I wish you would’ve told me sooner…” he added as he pulled away, still holding her by her shoulders. “But it’s no matter, we’ll find you a nice princess and-“

“About that,” Carrie interrupted with a sheepish look.

Her father’s mouth snapped shut as he peered at her curiously. She could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to determine what she was going to say next.

“There’s um… Well, there’s already someone.”

Trevor’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and Carrie sighed before launching into another explanation.

___

It was late afternoon when you heard the knock on your door. You didn’t pay it much mind, knowing your mother was in the house as well and would answer it. Instead, you resumed your seaming in the back room. Though you were forced to abandon it moments later when your mom called for you.

“Y/N! Come here!”

You were puzzled, to say the least, nobody ever called on you at home. However, your confusion wasn’t eased when you reached the door to find members of the palace guard.

“Miss Y/N Y/L/N?” One asked when you reached the doorway and you nodded, too afraid to attempt to speak.

“You have been formally invited to join the king and princess for dinner this evening.”

Your eyes blew wide, mind racing to come up with a plausible reason for you to be summoned to the castle for a meal with Carrie and her father.

“There is a carriage waiting out front when you are ready to depart.”

You nodded mutely once more before you stepped away from the door. You were vaguely aware of your mom asking you questions though you heard none of them as you hastily made your way to your room. You quickly changed into your nicest dress and did your best attempt at tidying up your hair. You didn’t have to stop to put on jewelry as you were already wearing the necklace Carrie had gifted you on her last visit.

Your mom was still waiting for you when you made your way back to the front door. You did your best to reassure her that everything was okay and that you didn’t know anything about what was going on before she hurried you out the door claiming that you didn’t want to keep his majesty and her highness waiting.

Before you knew it you were being swept up into a grand carriage and carried away to an even grander palace. When the castle came into view you felt as though the air had been knocked out of you; it was a truly majestic sight.

You arrived just in time for dinner apparently, as you barely had any time to take in the incredible detailing of the palace’s entryway before you were guided into an equally detailed room with a large wooden dining table.

“Miss Y/N Y/L/N.” Your name was announced to the room, startling you before you regained your composure and swept yourself into a curtsy.

With a low scrape of wood against the stone floors, you watched as the king and Carrie stood from the table upon your entrance, waiting until you had taken the seat across from Carrie’s before they sat back down. You furrowed your brows at this, certain that that was atypical behavior for dining with royals.

“Your majesty, your highness,” you addressed each of them, “Thank you for your gracious invitation, I hope I haven’t kept you long.”

“Not at all, Miss Y/L/N. Though the formalities are unnecessary, you may call me Trevor. Carrie has told me a lot about you,” the king replied and you failed to keep the shock from your face.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more of a warning,” Carrie apologized from across the table, “I wanted to be the one to give you the invitation but, well, you know how keen they are about letting me leave the grounds around here.”

You did your best to hold back an unladylike snort at that. If she hadn’t learned how to sneak out, Carrie probably never would have left the palace except on official business.

“And yet you seem to have managed an extensive amount of time out in the village,” the king— Trevor— retorted and Carrie pouted at being caught out.

“I had to take matters into my own hands since you never would’ve let me go,” Carrie threw back and you felt as though you were intruding.

“Let’s not revisit this argument right now,” Trevor said kindly, though sounding a bit tired, before he changed the subject. “Tell me about yourself Y/N.”

You did just that over the course of your meal. You talked about your family and life in your village. You talked about meeting Carrie and some of your time spent together, about how she taught you astronomy since it wasn’t covered in your own studies. You must have been fidgeting with your necklace quite a bit throughout the conversation as it seemed to have caught the king’s attention.

“That’s a lovely necklace, Y/N, where did you get it?”

“Thank you,” you flushed slightly as you thought about the circumstances under which you had gotten the necklace. “It was made by a local jeweler, however, it was given to me by Carrie.”

Trevor nodded thoughtfully at your response, a knowing look in his eyes that you didn’t understand. Meanwhile, Carrie launched into a glowing recommendation of the jeweler even pointing out all the pieces he had made that she was currently wearing.

When the final plates were cleared from the table Trevor addressed you once more.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why you were brought here,” he began, “It wasn’t solely to get to know a friend of Carrie’s.”

Just then Carrie cleared her throat.

“I think I should probably handle this part,” she spoke and Trevor chuckled lightly.

“That you should,” he agreed.

Carrie took a deep breath, looking more nervous than you thought you’d ever seen her. Out of instinct, you reached a hand across the table, covering one of her own in what you hoped was a comforting gesture. Carrie stared down at your hand for a moment before looking back up, smiling softly at you.

“You are undoubtedly my closest friend, and I will always be grateful for that friendship,” Carrie began, still smiling shyly at you, and you felt your heart start to thump anxiously in your chest. “However, for quite some time now my feelings for you have far exceeded that of friendship.”

You blinked a few times, feeling suddenly as if you were in a dream. Surely this wasn’t reality and the woman you’d had feelings for quite some time wasn’t confessing that she reciprocated said feelings.

“If you feel the same way, and it’s not too much to ask, I was hoping you’d be my girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Of course, as a princess, there’s a whole official courting process ending in an engagement though I’m sure it’ll be slightly different since I’m technically courting you but- wait did you say yes?”

“Yes, Carrie,” you laughed giddily and in one swift movement Carrie had rushed around the table and swept you into her arms.

You melted into the embrace, beyond thrilled to be holding— and held by— your best friend in the way you’d always hoped but never thought you’d be able to as you rested your forehead against her own.

“I know this is really early in our relationship but I'm pretty sure I’m in love with you,” you spoke softly and she grinned.

“Me too,” she whispered back before placing a soft kiss on your lips.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Parallels | Chapter 6

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: Now or Never - Sunset Curve / Livin’ on a High Wire - Lemonade Mouth

Warnings: Bobby raps in this... I have a headcanon that he’s a rapper (also made the most sense out of all four?) / Mention of parents divorce / Mention of alcohol and intoxication 

Words:  6,302

“Are you sure that was such a good move?” Bobby asked, brows furrowed, “Promising them you’re joining the band while you’re still in Dirty Candy? That won’t work…” 

Violet shrugged dismissively. “It worked for Alex and I’m sure it’s gonna work on Reggie…” She heaved in a breath, gathering her courage for the next part in the plan. “Where do we find our favorite bassist?” 

“The library?” Violet asked when the Wilson siblings brought her to the school’s library. “You’re telling me the Reggie in this universe actually studies?” Carrie nodded in response. “Groundbreaking.” 

Carrie and Violet made their way to the back of the library where they found Reggie with Dana and Dexter. Dana, Violet knew, was an aspiring musician who actually joined Dirty Candy in her universe. Dexter was a friend of Nick’s and part of his band. 

“Reggie,” Violet spoke up, getting the students’ attention. 

“Violet? Carrie?” Confusion dripped off their names as they rolled off Reggie’s lips. 

Dana narrowed her eyes at the two girls. “What do you want?” she spat. 

Choosing to ignore the blatant hate that Dana spewed at the girls, Violet focused back on Reggie and shot him a smile. “I heard you’re a pretty good bassist…” She tested the waters. 

“Yeah, I guess you could say that…” he answered. 

“Well… I was wondering if you would be interested in coming back to Sunset Curve?” 

Reggie’s eyes widened before he scoffed. He was clearly taken aback, but tried to play it cool. “We broke up for a reason, Violet. Not gonna happen.” 

“Not even when I’m joining the band?” she tried again, which very clearly sparked a little more interest as the boy’s eyebrows shot upwards before his teeth started gnawing at his lower lip. 

“Okay,” he replied. “If you get Luke to join your band, I’m in too.” 

Carrie and Violet exchanged glances and nodded. They were a little surprised this one was so easy, though they should’ve expected that. Reggie had always been more of a trustworthy puppy than a leading lion anyway. 

“Cool. We’ll keep you posted,” Carrie said and the two girls left the students alone. 

Now, their next stop was Luke Patterson. The real challenge out of the three boys. Not only because he was going to be the hardest to convince, but because Violet was nervous to see him again. She hadn’t forgotten what he had said to her and even though this was a different version, she knew seeing him would make her nervous and cause her to shut down. 

“Yo, Luke!” Carrie yelled at the group of boys on the lacrosse field. He stopped mid-conversation with Nick before jogging up to the girls that had beckoned him. 

“You girls lost?” he asked and pushed his hair back. 

That crush the girls were talking about in the other universe seemingly still counted in another universe. Violet’s throat closed up and her entire body heated up from the inside out. 

“I uhm…” she stuttered and stumbled, but no proper words came out. 

After spending a few days with this new Violet, Carrie had gotten to know this version pretty well, and decided to take over from her. “We were wondering if you’d consider rejoining Sunset Curve if Violet would join the band too?” she asked the jock confidently. 

Luke chuckled. “Really? What about Dirty Candy?” 

“She can do both,” Carrie replied in Violet’s place as the girl didn’t even dare to look Luke in the eye. For whatever reason that was, Carrie would find out later. 

The brunette jock let his eyes glide down the shy girl in front of him. She was going to lead their band? This little tiny mouse over here? He remembered her being more obnoxious and confident, but she was a lot less up close. 

“No, thank you,” he said and started jogging away. 

“No, thank you? Seriously?!” Carrie’s shrill voice stopped him. 

He sighed and turned around again. “Look, Sunset Curve didn’t work out because of your brother. I doubt it will when she joins in. We don’t need no Bubblegum Princess in our non-existing band.” 

As Luke walked away, Violet felt herself falling farther and farther away from her own universe. There was no way she was ever going to make it back. There was no way she could ever get that band back together. 

“What do we do now?” she asked Carrie. “How are we gonna get them to talk?” 

Carrie smiled and wrapped her arm around Violet’s shoulders, guiding her back towards the school building. “The only way Carrie Wilson knows how to,” she said dramatically. Violet looked up  to her best friend with questioning eyes. “Throwing a party!” 

Carrie entered the garage after their last school day on Friday where her three best friends were waiting for her, impatiently. The blonde girl had promised them she’d get them all Sunset Curve tickets for their gig at the Orpheum that night. 

The place where it all began for the boys was the Orpheum. It was where they had their first big showcase and a manager signed them to their label. That night’s show was the most important one to Sunset Curve, coming back after skyrocketing in the charts and around the country for a while. 

It was the most important gig to the girls, too. With their tickets, they’d be able to go and see the band live while also setting their whole plan in motion to get Luke to fall in love with Violet. 

To say it made Violet a little nervous would be an understatement. Though in her world, she looked like this young woman that oozed confidence, she didn’t quite feel so hot right about now. The Luke from her universe was a bit of a loser. Someone she’d easily wrap around her finger. But this Luke could be completely different and that scared. 

“Did you get the tickets?” Julie asked with wide eyes and a nervous, bouncy leg Violet stopped by placing her hand on her knee as she sat next to her on the couch. 

Carrie smirked and showed them the four concert tickets in her hand. “Not only that…” she added before showing her other hand, which held four backstage passes. Two girls in front of her squealed and got up from their spots to admire the passes up close.

Violet, however, stayed put and tried to manage a smile. A smile that turned into a grimace before finally disappearing from her face. One that Carrie immediately noticed fading. 

“You okay, Vi?” she asked, causing the two other girls to turn to their friend as well. 

The girl on the sofa lifted her eyes to meet her friends’. “What– Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” 

Carrie’s lips pressed together in a thin line as her eyes met Julie’s and Flynn’s. All three of them knew something was off. She wasn’t the confident girl they met days ago. She wasn’t the overly demanding, no-nonsense woman. For a moment, they saw the rawest possible side of Violet. One that reminded them of their Violet. 

“You’re gonna be fine, babes,” said Julie and rejoined Violet on the couch, wrapping her arm around the girl’s shoulder. 

Violet scoffed. “Of course I am. What makes you think I’m not?” She was trying to feign her confidence, but her friends could see right through her. 

“Your face,” Flynn spoke up. Her bottom lip stuck out into a pout whilst she joined the two girls on the sofa, Carrie following her example. “You look like Julie when she has to play in front of a crowd.” 

Julie slapped Flynn’s shoulder playfully before Carrie joined into the conversation again. “What’s going on in that pretty mind of yours, Lettie… Maybe we can help?” 

Violet wasn’t used to hearing the nickname anymore. It was something her father used to call and she hadn’t seen him in a good few years since her parents got divorced. But if it bothered her, she didn’t show it. 

“In my universe, Luke is a loser. He gave up on his biggest dream. He’s still the school’s jock, yes, but people know what happened to him and they pity him. He’s an extremely easy target to wrap around your finger. But this version of him…” she heaved in a deep breath. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to wrap him around my finger as easily.” 

Flynn lifted her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind Violet’s ear while Julie spoke up. “This one is known as the womanizer of the band,” she said. 

Carrie continued, “In every tabloid, on every internet page, he’s seen with a new woman on his arm.” 

Violet’s eyebrows furrowed. That didn’t sound like the Luke she knew at all. “I think it’s a publicity stunt but…” Flynn said and shrugged. Violet slowly nodded her head, processing all the information she was given. When Flynn saw this, she nudged Violet’s shoulder. “You’re gonna do great. You’re a charming, attractive woman and, from what I’ve seen so far, pretty confident in your skin.” 

The girl smiled, and her friends even noticed a tint of red coloring her cheeks. “You got this,” said Julie with a smile. “You so got this!”  

With the girl’s words echoing in Violet’s mind, she went back home and, when she started getting ready that night, she hyped herself up. She listened to Sunset Curve’s albums on repeat to at least know a few of the songs and danced around her bedroom whilst trying on various outfits. 

Looking at her own reflection in the mirror, she judged the outfit she was wearing. A light green dress with a flower pattern. She wasn’t normally one to wear flowers, but this looked really cute on her, especially with the black belt she had fastened around her waist. It perfectly showed all her curves and had quite the plunging neckline, which showed the right amount of cleavage to put to use when flirting with Luke. 

As the thought of Luke flashed through her mind, she felt the nerves bubble up again. Never in her life had she been this nervous except for the first time she performed for a live audience with Dirty Candy. Or when she was the lead in the musical in seventh grade. 

Her train of thought got interrupted before its fatal crash by someone barging into her room, all excited. Violet almost didn’t recognize him until he spoke up. “Vivi, you gotta see this, honey!” her father exclaimed while holding something out to her. 

Violet didn’t even bother to look at what was in his hands, she was busy freaking out over the fact that her father, the person she hadn’t seen since he divorced her mom, was in her bedroom. 

Trying to keep her cool, Violet swallowed all her pride and smiled. “Looks cool, dad,” she said. “I uhm… I’m getting ready for a night out with the girls, so could you…” she pointed her thumb towards the door. 

“A night out?” he asked, his brows furrowed. “You never go on nights out…” 

Violet scolded her parallel self for not living her full life here but shrugged her shoulders at her dad dismissively. “It’s a concert. Bobby Wilson’s band is playing the Orpheum tonight and Carrie has tickets.” 

“Ah,” her dad said, nodding his head. “Cool. I’ll let you get ready then–” he looked down at her outfit. “That’s a pretty dress, sweetie. It’s been a while since you wore it.” He gave her one last smile before heading out the door and shutting it on his way out. 

Violet exhaled a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding before grabbing her phone and calling the first person she could think of over FaceTime. Within seconds, the smiling, blonde haired best friend appeared on the small screen. 

“Hey ba–” before she could finish her sentence, Violet cut her off. 

“When were you gonna tell me my parents were still together?!” she whisper-shouted to make sure her dad didn’t hear in case he was still in the hallway. 

Carrie was taken aback for a moment and blinked rapidly. “Your parents are divorced?” she asked and Violet nodded, remembering the terrible fights and anxious nights when her dad came  home drunk for the nth time. She remembered hearing her mother cry in her bedroom and being unable to do anything about it. She had hated her dad for a good while after that. But seeing him here, now, reminded her of the good days they’d had back in the day. 

“I’m sorry, Vi,” Carrie said, her usual bright smile turning into a sad frown. “What happened between them?” she asked, curiously. “If you wanna tell me, that is.” 

Violet heaved in a deep breath. “It’s been years since it happened, but five years ago, my mom kicked dad out of the house… He’d come home drunk, night after night, and I would hear mom and dad fighting while I was in bed… Mom couldn’t handle it anymore, so she packed his bags for him and kicked him out. They made everything official and we haven’t seen him or heard from him since the divorce.” A tear rolled down Violet’s cheek as she spoke, but she wiped it away quickly and chuckled. “Sometimes, I wonder if he’s even still alive.” 

“That’s terrible, Vi, I’m sorry…” 

Violet shrugged. “It’s alright. I’ve gotten over it by now… Until I just saw him here.” 

“I would’ve told you if I’d known, Violet… I’m sorry.” 

The brunette chuckled tearily. “Stop saying sorry, Care. It’s all good. It just took me off guard, that’s all.” Carrie pressed her lips together and tilted her head a little in compassion. “But let’s talk outfits, shall we?” A flash of nostalgia coursed through her as she remembered her and Carrie talked about outfits before she got here. 

“What are the options?” Carrie asked, respecting Violet’s wish to drop the previous subject. Violet got up from her bed and placed her phone on the chest of drawers opposite of her bed. 

“This dress,” she said and twirled to show the cute dress she was wearing. Carrie hummed, impressed by the outfit, but not entirely convinced just yet. Violet then reached for the clothes she had sprawled across her bed. “Or ripped jeans with a crop top and a cute jacket.” She juggled to hold the three items up to the camera of her phone. “But it’s a pink jacket and pink is your color, so I’m not sure about this one.” 

“It’s not my color here?” Carrie suggested. “What else you got?” 

“Uhm…” she placed the clothes back on the bed and reached for another one. “This.” She showed a black mesh top with gold stars embroidered on it, along with black skinny jeans. 

Carrie gasped. “Did that come out of our Violet’s closet?!” she asked. 

“Yup,” Violet nodded. “I found it near the back of the closet. I take it your Violet doesn’t wear it that often?” 

“Try at all!” Carrie exclaimed. “Can you try it on for me, please?” 

Violet nodded and started unbuckling the belt on her dress. 

“You always change in front of cameras?” Carrie asked, giggling, which caused Violet to stop in her tracks with her fingers curling around the hem of the dress. 

“Carrie and I always change in front of one another,” she shrugged and pulled the dress over her head, leaving her in just her underwear. She pulled the mesh top over the black bralet she was wearing and squeezed herself into the black skinnies. 

“Needs a belt,” Carrie demanded, trying to hide the obvious blush that had crept to her cheeks. Violet nodded in agreement and reached for the belt she had put over the dress before. “Necklaces.”

Obeying her best friend’s demands, Violet browsed through the box of jewellery the other Violet had on the cupboard until finding some gold necklaces that would go well with her outfit. 

“Now black ankle boots.” 

Violet nodded again and went into the closet to find black velvet boots with the slightest block heel on them. A smile befell her face as she inspected the shoes. These were shoes she would buy and, judging from what she’d heard about the other Violet, something she wouldn’t buy. There had to be a part of her in her parallel self, more than just their appearances. 

She quickly put the boots on her feet and showed the outfit to Carrie over FaceTime, earning a gasp the second she walked into frame. “If Luke doesn’t fall for you now, then that boy is blind.” 

Violet giggled and sat down on the floor in front of her window, taking her phone with her, so she could talk to Carrie some more. It was the only familiar thing she had and though their dynamic had changed from the one she had with her Carrie. It still felt somewhat normal. 

“When are we leaving?” Violet asked when a honk was heard from outside her house. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked outside to find Julie getting out of a car that was parked in front of Violet’s house. “I guess the answer’s now…” she giggled. 

Carrie’s eyes widened. “Julie’s already there?!” she exclaimed and Violet watched as the girl scrambled up from her bed and started rushing through her bedroom. 

“I’m gonna let you get ready. See you in a while!” she said but Carrie was too busy to hear, so Violet pressed the red button and took one last glance in the mirror. After fixing a bit of run-out mascara, she grabbed all of her stuff and made her way downstairs where her dad was talking to Julie at the front door. 

“Hey Vi,” Julie greeted once her eyes fell on the girl. “Looking good!” 

Violet’s dad turned now too and had to blink a few times. “Since when do you have that in your closet?!” he asked and Violet could feel the anger rising within him. She had heard that tone on him enough to know what was going to happen if she didn’t step in. 

“I’ve had this for ages, dad,” she grabbed Julie’s hand. “Now, we have to go ‘cause otherwise, we’ll be late.” She dragged the Latina girl out the door at a speed where she could just about say goodbye to Mister Dawson before he was completely out of earshot. 

Once the girls were safely in Mister Molina’s gray Subaru Outback, Violet could finally breathe properly. Seeing her father again had her a little on edge, she couldn’t lie about that but she had to play it cool. 

“You girls ready?” Mister Molina questioned, looking back at the girl in his backseat and the girl next to him. The two nodded excitedly before the man started the car again and drove off to go and pick up Carrie and Flynn. 

The closer they got to the Orpheum, the more scared Violet got. It had gotten to the point where her outfit didn’t feel right anymore and she felt like her makeup had already melted off. This plan wasn’t going to go the way they wanted and Violet knew this. Something was going to go wrong. 

“We’re here,” Ray said in a sing-song voice as he stopped the car. “I’m picking you girls up when it’s over, yeah? Julie, keep  your phone close and your friends closer, okay?” 

“Yes, dad,” Julie replied with an eye roll before planting a kiss to her father’s cheek and getting out of the car with the girls. 

The wait in line was agonizing. So agonizing that Violet didn’t even participate in the excited conversation the girls were having about this concert. They clearly looked forward to it more than Violet did. But that might have been because their life didn’t depend on it. 

“You got this,” Julie mumbled in Violet’s ear as her fingers laced through hers in an attempt to calm the girl’s nerves as they waited at the front row for the boys to get on the stage. 

Violet had barely noticed that they had gotten to the front. Everything felt so hazy and unreal, like all of this was just a dream. But then the lights turned out and bright flashes lit up the stage as a guitar riff zoomed through the venue’s speakers. 

Soon thereafter, Luke’s voice followed the sound of the drums, guitars and bass, and the entire crowd went completely insane as they sang along and danced around to the music the boys were creating on the stage. 

“Take off Last stop Countdown till we blast open the top”

“Face first Full charge Electric hammer to the heart”

“Clocks move forward But we don't get older, no Kept on climbing Till our stars collided”

“And all the times we fell behind Were just the keys to paradise”

This was, thankfully, the one song Violet had had on repeat while she was getting ready and so, she knew the lyrics to the chorus. Softly, she sang along with Luke while keeping her eyes on all four of the boys. 

“Don't look down 'Cause we're still rising Up right now And even if we Hit the ground We'll still fly Keep dreaming like we'll live forever But live it like it's now or never”

The more songs they sang, the looser Violet became and the less nervous, too. Though she had never thought she was ever going to see these boys on a stage together, she felt a sense of pride rushing through her. She was proud of Bobby, mostly, since she had the closest bond with him. In her universe, she had never seen him this confident, this happy while being in the center of attention. For the first time in knowing Bobby, she actually found him a little attractive, but she would never tell him that. Or Carrie, for that matter. 

“Okay,” Luke panted into the microphone as they finished playing In Your Starlight, one of Violet’s new favorite songs. “We have one last song for you guys before we head out. This is a new one that will soon be released as a single for our next album…” The crowd cheered loudly for him and the chuckle that echoed through the venue did something to Violet that she couldn’t quite place. “This is called Livin’ on a High Wire.” Luke stepped back from the microphone and played a sick guitar riff whilst Bobby walked behind the keyboard to his left. 

Alex joined in with his drums at the same time Bobby’s voice floated through the speakers. 

“Listen up This is the story on how we lived The glory of what we did It started when we were kids With music up in our heads We said”

Violet’s eyes were wide and her jaw dropped when she heard Bobby rap the verse. Bobby Wilson could rap and she had no clue. As quickly as she got surprised by this new revelation, Luke’s voice woke her up and did something to her insides. 

“I've been out on the edge Breathin' a little bit of fresh air Big dreams, I took a chance Held out for everything I got here I've been feeling this life's a circus Hanging on without a fear”

Reggie and Alex joined in on the chorus, bringing the whole thing together and the whole crowd jumping to this song they didn’t know quite yet. 

“Livin' on a high wire Runnin' through a wildfire You can't shake me, I'm not going nowhere Walking on a tight rope No net, high hopes Step back, I'm gonna make it over”

“Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire”

Then, Bobby came in again with his rapping. This whole show had been slapping Violet with surprises left, right and center. Never did she think she would actually enjoy watching a concert by a band that didn’t even exist in her world anymore. 

“This is the story on how we lived The glory of what we did It started when we were kids With music up in our heads We said”

Luke took his turn again when his eyes landed on the girl in the front row. She wasn’t quite moving, just her head flicking back and forth from him to Bobby and back. Sometimes, her eyes would land on Reggie, but most times, they were on him or Bobby. He smiled and his confidence got fuelled. 

“Big top, turning round, no clowns I'm running as I hit the ground Front row, big show sold out So I'm ready for the crowd roar, let's go I've been feeling this life's a circus Hanging on without a fear”

“Livin' on a high wire Runnin' through a wildfire You can't shake me, I'm not going nowhere Walking on a tight rope No net, high hopes Step back, I'm gonna make it over”

By now, the crowd knew the words to the post-chorus and everyone sang along with them. Everyone except Violet. She had no clue what to do. Her nerves about the whole plan had vanished, but she was overwhelmed with all the things happening on the stage. 

“Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire”

Bobby grabbed the microphone from its stand as he stopped playing the keyboard and instead, moved towards the edge of the stage where his sister and friends were standing. He rapped the bridge like an absolute pro. 

“When it comes to the beat Seeing that the heads are moving Move off your seat Achievement is what we're really doing Freedom of speech I'm in it just to win it I'm springin' and I can see it In the end that you can be it 'Cause it's patience, it's statements Famous greatness Movin' 'til you make it through And maybe you can make it too”

Bobby returned to his keyboard whilst Luke moved towards Reggie. Together and in the same microphone, Luke and Reggie sang the chorus with just Bobby playing on his keyboard. 

“Livin' on a high wire You can't shake me, I'm not going nowhere Walking on a tight rope”

Alex joined back in with the drums, as did Luke and Reggie on their instruments while Luke retreated to his own microphone. 

“No net, high hopes Step back, I'm gonna make it over”

Reggie’s high note echoed through Violet’s bones as the other three continued singing the post-chorus with the crowd backing them up ear-piercingly loud. 

“Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire Yeah, yeah Na na na na na na na na na Livin' on a high wire”

The last notes floated through the space before the audience burst into loud applause. Violet was stumped. She didn’t know what to do. She was so overwhelmed with everything that had happened in front of her. From hearing Now or Never to the new song just now, she felt an immense sense of pride and attraction to both Luke and Bobby. She didn’t know what to do with all of that information. 

“Thank you, LA! We’ve been Sunset Curve!” Luke yelled into the microphone and stole another glance at the girl in the front row. She was still overwhelmed and didn’t move a muscle. Not even when her friends tried to shake her out of it. He chuckled as he noticed Carrie and Julie as one of her friends trying to bring the girl back with both feet to the ground. 

As he took a step towards the wings, he took another glance and then it dawned on him. He knew that girl from somewhere but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it from where. 

“Did you see that?!” Flynn yelled as the lights turned back on and the post-concert adrenaline buzzed through the venue. Her hands clasped at Violet’s arm, squeezing it in excitement. “Luke couldn’t keep his eyes off you!” 

Violet scoffed. “He probably just thought what a complete weirdo I was, staring up at them in utter shock of how good they actually are.” She involuntarily rolled her eyes at her own behavior. It felt weird. Feeling proud of those boys up there. Feeling attracted to someone she just saw as a brother. It all felt weird. 

“Let’s go say hi!” Carrie squeaked and pulled at Violet’s hand towards the side entrance that led to the backstage area. The nerves she felt beforehand came bubbling back and she could feel herself pulling back from Carrie. 

Violet usually never felt this nervous. For nothing. She could perform in front of a good hundred people but meeting this one boy? That was just too much to handle for her. 

The girls approached the band as they returned their instruments to the tech guys and excitedly chatted about the gig they had just done flawlessly. While Carrie’s smile widened, Violet’s nerves grew until they settled in her stomach and she felt like hurling. 

“Hey guys!” Carrie greeted with a smile and immediately went to hug her brother. 

“Aaah! Little Wilson!” Alex exclaimed excitedly before hugging the blonde girl as well. 

Bobby looked at Violet while his sister went to hug the others. “Hey Violet,” he said, capturing the nervous girl’s attention. “Long time no see.” 

Violet managed a smile and a deep breath in to gather all her courage. “Hey Bobbers,” she greeted and wrapped her arms around him as well since Julie and Flynn were hugging the others too. It must be a thing they did… 

“Bobbers?” Bobby chuckled. “You haven’t called me Bobbers in ages. Are you okay?” he joked as they pulled away. 

Violet’s mouth opened and closed as she thought of something to say but nothing came out. Thankfully, Carrie was confident and herself enough to jump in and save her. “She was just feeling nostalgic, bro. It’s been a while since we’ve seen you.” 

The girls exchanged a quick smile before Reggie interrupted their conversation. “You’ve changed your style, Violet,” he pointed out. “I quite like it. It’s more rock-chick.” 

A heat surged to her cheeks as she looked down at the outfit she had chosen and wondered how much different the other Violet dressed. Judging from everything she’s heard, it was very different. 

“That’s why I didn’t recognize you...” Luke mumbled, the epiphany causing his lips to curl up into a smile. “Y-you look great, Dawson.” If Violet didn’t know any better, she’d say he was a bit flustered. The thought of getting Luke Patterson all flustered gave her at least a tiny boost in her confidence. 

“Well, I wouldn’t expect you to, ya big rockstar,” Violet said sassily and flicked her hair over her shoulder. The confidence dripped from her lips and body, and her friends could all see it. The three of them exchanged glances before Carrie took the lead. 

“You big rockstars got some time for common folk like us? Maybe we could get some food at Chubbie’s?” she suggested with her always charming smile. The boys exchanged glances, silently agreeing to go ahead with this suggestion. 

“We do wanna get a shower first,” Alex then said, “But we’ll meet you at Chubbie’s in a few, yeah?” The girls nodded and each group turned another direction. Flynn and Julie wrapped an arm around Violet while Carrie wrapped hers around Julie. 

Giggling, Flynn whisper-shouted, “And now we know the real reason why Luke couldn’t keep his eyes off you!” 

“And that is?” Violet asked, though her cheeks already tinted pink. She knew the answer to this one, she just didn’t believe it. 

Her three friends let out a loud laugh. “Because he thinks you’re hot, of course!” Julie cackled. “Rightfully so!” Violet’s cheeks felt as hot as the sun as her friends giggled at the fact that a boy was into their friend. Their plan was working. 

The girls had taken a booth at the back of the diner, far away from any prying customers that might recognize the boys, who arrived about a milkshake and a half later. 

Luke and Alex squeezed in with Flynn and Julie while Reggie and Bobby slid into the booth on Violet’s and Carrie’s side. Of course they made it so Luke and Violet were as close to each other as possible. 

As the conversation flowed from life on the road to life in Los Feliz, Violet couldn’t help but notice Luke’s stares and glances. Not for one second could Luke take his eyes off of the girl. They were glued to her. But it didn’t make her that nervous anymore. Instead, it fuelled her confidence. Their plan was actually working. 

“So, Violet,” Luke started when the laughter about something Flynn had said to Reggie died down. “What do you do in life?” he asked and all four girls let out a collective “uhm”. 

“Well….” Violet dug through her brain to find something that sounded enough like their Violet to be true while still sounding remotely cool. “I’ve been… Working on a lot of music and, you know… going to school and stuff.” 

While the boys looked at her with interest, the girls gave her cautious looks, hoping that, whatever came out of that girl’s mouth, would make sense for their Violet and didn’t give away that she might not be the Violet they used to know. 

“We wouldn’t know,” Reggie responded and lifted his arm to rest on the back of the couch, behind Violet’s head. “We dropped out of school,” he whispered in her ear with a smirk on his face. 

Violet wasn’t used to this behavior from Reggie. In her universe, Reggie was the dorky one. He was sweet and kind and kind of clumsy and not the brightest tool in the shed. He was the himbo-est of himbos. Not this confident, flirty dude that tactically placed his arm behind a girl's head. 

“But you’re into making music?” Luke asked, completely dismissing Reggie’s flirty behavior. Violet nodded her head as she sipped from her strawberry milkshake. “I would love to see some of your work…. Maybe we could get together sometime?” 

Violet nearly choked on her milkshake, but quickly recovered herself and wiped the splash of milkshake from her lip, making sure Luke noticed the action. “Yeah, who knows… Maybe… If you’re not too busy with your rockstar life, that is.” 

The others around them stared at the two as though they had just said something insanely controversial. Jaws were dropped and eyes were either wide or narrowed in suspicion. 

Before anyone could say anything, Julie’s phone ringing cut any of those possibilities away. Though each of them would like to know what was going on between the two of them. Luke was being more flirty than ever and Violet was more confident than ever before. Something didn’t quite add up here. 

“Yeah, we’re at Chubbie’s, dad,” Julie said into her phone. “Okay! Yeah, see ya in a bit!” The girl hung up the phone and looked up at the group. “Dad’s gonna be here in a few minutes,” she informed them. 

“I’m gonna go for a wee, then,” Carrie announced and Violet, Reggie and Bobby all stood up so the girl could slide out. Before Violet could take a seat again, Carrie grabbed her by the wrist. “You’re coming with me.” 

“Okay,” Violet mumbled and let her best friend lead her towards the restrooms. “What’s this all about?” she asked. 

“I need a wee,” Carrie told her and disappeared into one of the stalls. “But also, what was that between you and Luke?!” 

Violet shrugged before turning to the mirror. She fixed her hair and a bit of her run-out lipstick whilst speaking. “I’m playing hard-to-get… Kinda? I guess?” 

“You think that’s gonna work?” 

“It seems to be working. Didn’t you see the way he looked at me? He’s into me, I think.” 

Carrie flushed and exited the stall, looking straight into Violet’s eyes. “And are you?” 

“No,” Violet defended. “It’s all for the plan.” 

The blonde girl heaved in a deep breath and started washing her hands. “I hope it is. I don’t wanna see you hurt again.” Violet’s brow furrowed, but figured it had probably something to do with the universe-thing and decided not to ask about it. Instead, she followed Carrie out the door after she had washed and dried her hands. 

When the girls returned to the booth, Flynn and Julie were already climbing out of the booth, along with the boys. Ray had probably already arrived at the diner and they were just waiting for them. 

“You’re coming home tonight?” Carrie asked her brother as he took her in for a hug. 

He hummed. “Yep. For a few weeks, at least.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, breaking away from her. “But I gotta help get the equipment back in the rehearsal studio first. So, I might be late.” 

Carrie nodded her head in understanding before saying goodbye to the other boys. The other three girls did the same and as Julie and Flynn followed behind Carrie, Luke held Violet back for a moment. 

“Don’t be a stranger, yeah?” he licked his lips and let his eyes fall down to her mouth. “You can take me up on that offer to work on some music together…” 

Violet smiled and nodded her head. “Sure,” she said and teasingly let her eyesight fall on Luke’s lips before turning around and running after the other girls. This was going to be a whole new adventure and all Violet wanted to know was how it was going to end. For her. For the boys and her friends. But mostly, with Luke. 

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[isnt-that-wizardd]

Slow On The Uptake

A JATP FANFIC - read on AO3 here

So I made a post the other day about how my brain took the idea that Nick is bisexual and that I wanted to see more of Ryan McEwan’s character (Pretty Lacrosse Boy) and decided to ship the two of them. Since Pretty Lacrosse Boy doesn’t have a name, I named him Tyler Doyle. And I wrote a fanfiction about them:

SUMMARY: When Nick gets a concussion during lacrosse practice, he needs a ride to urgent care. Thankfully for him, his teammate Tyler offers to drive him. Cue awkward conversations, pretty smiles, flustered looks, and “oh crap this guy is really cute”.

Getting slammed into the ground and getting a lacrosse stick to the head to match was not what Nick had planned when he’d gone to practice today. He probably could have avoided it, in hindsight. But he’d been distracted staring at Tyl- the sidelines- to notice that Cameron was about to slam into him until too late. Next thing he knew, Nick was laying on the ground, the back of his head smacking into the hardened ground below him and his stick smacking into his forehead. Pain shot through his head so quickly he didn’t even register the weight of Cameron on top of him until it was gone. He vaguely registered that Cameron was saying something to him- sorry, maybe?- but he couldn’t hear it properly. He clenched his eyes shut, groaning loudly. All he could focus on was the pain. 

Nick felt someone shake his shoulder, jostling him. Involuntarily he cried out in pain, and the hand immediately left. He had no idea how long he’d laid there, in the middle of the practice field, before squinting his eyes open. Standing around him looked like about four of his teammates, Coach Barron directly above him. 

“-orth! Danforth! Look at me, son.”

It took everything he had to focus his eyes on his coach. 

“There we go, kid. How you feelin’?”

Nick sat up, looking around at the teammates gathered around him. Coach Barron repeated his question about how Nick felt. Nick could barely comprehend the question, let alone words to answer it, but opened his mouth to answer anyway. Unfortunately for him, instead of words coming out of his mouth, Nick felt himself doubling over, leaning to the side as he emptied the contents of his stomach. He heard his teammates exclaiming around him in disgust, backing up from the huddle around him. He gagged and heaved the last of it out, and Nick felt an arm come around his shoulder keeping him upright as he almost fell into the pile of his own vomit. 

“Woah! You okay, Nick?” came the voice of whoever was holding him. 

“Doing great,” he coughed out, trying to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth while the pain in his head seemingly doubled. He leaned back into the person holding him, feeling their chest vibrate as they laughed at his response. 

“Okay,” Coach said, “You’re probably concussed. I’ll call someone to get you to urgent care-”

“I can drive him, Coach,” the vibrations against Nick’s back were oddly comforting and he closed his eyes. “No, no- gotta keep your eyes open, Nick. Can’t fall asleep.”

Nick still couldn’t properly distinguish who was talking to him. The voice was familiar, soft. Nick forced his eyes back open, feeling dizzy. He zoned out as coach and his teammate debated taking him to urgent care. As they did, Nick forced himself into turning around to see who had caught him from falling. As he caught sight of who it was, Nick let out a groan. He’d already embarrassed himself by getting pounded into the ground and then throwing up in front of the entire team. Why not go ahead and make things worse?

Tyler glanced down at him as he groaned, eyes trailing over him to check if he was okay, it seemed. Nick grunted a little bit, attempting to pull himself away from Tyler’s chest and sit up on his own. Tyler let him go, keeping a hand on his shoulder. 

“Alright, Doyle,” Nick heard Coach say. “You’re both free to go.”

Tyler smiled up at Coach Barron, nodding. Not that Nick would ever willingly admit it, but he wasn’t entirely sure it was the concussion that made him dizzy in the moment. When the dizzy spell was over, Nick’s eyes refocused to find Tyler watching him carefully. 

“Huh?” Nick let out, sounding as out of it as he felt. Tyler’s lips twitched up in a smile.

“I asked if you were gonna puke on me if I helped you stand up.”

“Oh. Uh- No. No, I think I’m fine.”

Tyler nodded, then stood up. He was already taller than Nick, but he looked like a giant as Nick sat uselessly, dizzy on the ground. Tyler held a hand out to Nick, which the lacrosse player took hesitantly. He pulled Nick up gently, resting a hand on his back when Nick stumbled. Nick couldn’t register much more than how light headed he was. He stayed silent as Tyler guided him to the sidelines to grab their bags and then out to the parking lot. Tyler didn’t try to talk much either, just whispering quiet reassurances when Nick got hit with dizziness and keeping an arm around him in case Nick fell. The journey out to Tyler’s car passed in a bit of a blur, and Nick didn’t realize he was actually sitting down in the passenger seat until Tyler was taking a slow turn out of the parking lot. 

“Thanks for doing this,” Nick managed, and Tyler looked sideways at him with a small smile. 

“You probably should try not to talk. It’ll only make your headache worse,” Tyler spoke in almost a whisper, and Nick was grateful for the reprieve of noise on his headache. 

“Had a concussion before?”

Tyler shook his head, keeping his driving as slow as he could on the busy LA streets. “Nah, but you know my step-brother Dylan? The drumline kid? Turns out marching band is way more dangerous than it seems. I think he’s had like three concussions since he joined the band.”

Nick hummed in response, allowing his eyes to fall shut. 

“No, dude, gotta keep your eyes open.”

Nick groaned. 

“Nick, seriously- until the doctor checks you out and we know how bad your concussion is, you shouldn’t fall asleep. Here-” Tyler reached in front of Nick, pulling something out of the glovebox as gently as he could, “-wear these, it’ll block out the light.”

Nick took the sunglasses from Tyler’s hand, slipping them over his eyes. He sighed in relief as soon as he did; the sunlight gleaming off the other cars on the street had made him want to cry. Nick wasn’t entirely sure what happened on their way to the closest urgent care. He vaguely heard himself talking- rambling, more like- even though Tyler had told him to stay quiet. He didn’t stop rambling until they’d arrived and the car was parked. 

“As interesting as the history of the platypus was, let’s go get you a doctor, yeah?”

If Nick wasn’t already so out of it, he was sure he would have been embarrassed. Is that what he's been talking about all this time?

As they walked into the urgent care clinic, Tyler was once again guiding him with a hand on his back. If Nick felt the urge to lean into the touch, he blamed it on his lack of proper coordination. Nick leaned into the counter of the nurse, receptionist, whoever it was Tyler was talking to instead. He didn’t listen to much of what either one was saying, but tuned in just in time to hear the- nurse?- ask if Nick had a guardian with him. 

“No, we drove straight from our school,” Tyler responded, “But his dad’s on his way.”

“He is?” Nick asked, squinting at Tyler from behind the sunglasses still covering his eyes. Tyler looked at him, frowning a little bit. 

“Yeah. Coach called him before we left, remember?”

“Oh,” Nick let out, not remembering whatsoever. Tyler gave him a strange look, a hint of a smile on his lips. Nick found himself staring at his teammate as Tyler turned back to the nurse, who was being informed that if they took a seat in the waiting room, someone would be out to see them shortly.

“How you feeling, man?” Tyler asked as he pulled Nick down to sit. 

Nick let out a breath, “Floaty.”

Tyler let out a laugh next to him, which he tried to cover with a cough. “Jeez, Cam really hit you hard, didn’t he?”

Nick let out a hum in response, tilting sideways until his head came to rest on Tyler’s shoulder. Tyler seemed to tense under him, and Nick almost moved his head, but then the other relaxed, sliding down in his uncomfortable waiting room chair so that Nick’s head was positioned more comfortably. Like he’d done with the rest of the afternoon, Nick allowed himself to zone out as they waited. He mindlessly watched people walk in and out of the urgent care clinic, letting them all leave his head as soon as they were out of sight. The only person he did focus on was the tall, blond man who looked like he’d just gotten out of teaching a dance class. His eyes locked on Nick almost immediately, letting out a deep breath. 

Nick smiled at him, picking his head off of Tyler’s shoulder. 

“One of these days, you or your dad is going to give me a heart attack, you know that?” he said in place of greeting, stopping in front of Nick. 

“Hey, pops.”

“Don’t call me that, it makes me feel old,” his father replied, kneeling down in front of him. “How are you feeling?”

Beside him, Tyler let out a huffed laugh. Both Nick and his father turned to look at him. 

“Sorry,” Tyler said, looking a little red. “It’s just- I asked him the same thing and he said he felt ‘floaty’.”

Nick’s father cracked a smile at that. “You must be Tyler? Coach Barron told me you drove Nick here?”

Tyler nodded. 

“Thanks for doing that, Tyler. I’m Ryan.”

“Oh, it’s, uh- It was no problem. My brother has gotten a concussion a couple times, so I’m, well- used to it? I guess?”

Before either of them could continue the conversation, a woman dressed in scrubs came into the waiting room, calling for Nick Danforth-Evans. Ryan stood back up, raising his hand so the doctor knew who she was calling. 

“Guess that’s my cue to leave,” Tyler said, and Nick had a strange feeling fill his chest at the thought. Even so, he nodded just barely, smiling at Tyler. 

“Thanks, man.”

Tyler just nodded. “Thanks for the lecture on platypuses. Learned a lot, actually.”

Nick ignored the laugh his father had let out, followed by “Really? You’re still telling people about freaking platypuses?” in favor of waving Tyler goodbye and watching his teammate leave the clinic. Eventually, his father gently pulled him to his feet, walking him slowly over to the waiting doctor. 

----------

Tyler wasn’t entirely sure what possessed him to do it. He and Nick weren’t not friends, but they didn’t know each other that well either. There was frankly no logical reason for him to be doing this. He told himself it was because he hadn’t been able to text Nick all day- he’d overheard Carrie saying that Nick had given a “no screen time” rule by his doctor- and wasn’t it only reasonable to follow up with the guy you’d taken to urgent care yesterday? Tyler ignored the part of his brain that told him the truth; he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about his teammate since he’d left the hospital yesterday, and he just wanted an excuse to see Nick again. So Tyler had taken his lunch period interrogating the other lacrosse team members to figure out what classes Nick was taking and with which teachers he had them. 

The reasonable part of his brain told him this was kind of creepy, and entirely unnecessary for him to do. But even so, he told Kayla to let Mrs. Kelly know that he wouldn’t make it to dance practice after school today, and he went around to Nick’s teachers’ classrooms. About 20 minutes later, he pulled out of the Los Feliz parking lot with a folder full of class notes, homework, and messages from teachers for Nick. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he drove in the general direction he knew Nick’s house was. He’d only been there a few times, all for lacrosse purposes. Nick’s dad loved to host the team over- said he’d always done it in high school when he was on the basketball team and that it was a great bonding opportunity.

Really, the only reason he was doing this was because he just wanted to check on him. Make sure he was feeling alright. It had nothing to do with the way Nick had leaned into his chest on the field or rested his head on Tyler’s shoulder in the waiting room, and it definitely had nothing to do with how Nick had still managed to look cute when concussed and rambling about random things in the waiting room.

When he finally reached Nick's house, he parked his car in the driveway and just sat there. He bounced his leg, tapping his fingers against the wheel. Nick's house was slightly foreboding. Both of Nick's fathers made plenty of money, and it was one of the fancier houses in the area surrounding Los Feliz High School. He kind of felt like the house was judging him as he sat in the driveway, too nervous to actually go in. 

"This is stupid, Tyler," he mumbled to himself. "You're already here, just get out of the damn car."

It must have been another five minutes that he sat there, one hand ready to twist his key in the ignition and leave and the other on the door handle, ready to get out of the car. Eventually, he took his hand away from the ignition, pulling the key out. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he grumbled, grabbing the folder and finally leaving his car. “It’ll be fine. Just say hey, drop the homework off, and leave without looking like a complete idiot.”

He schooled his expression into something casual and normal looking by the time he reached the front door. With all the determination he had, he raised his hand, knocking on the door. He didn’t want to use the doorbell; last time Dylan had a concussion he’d physically witnessed his step-brother crying at the sound. 

The door opened so quickly after his knock that Tyler froze in shock for a moment. He found himself looking down at a little girl he’d never met before- Nick’s sister, he assumed. She was dressed in a blindingly yellow princess dress, and atop her mess of deep, black curls was a plastic tiara to match. 

She cocked her head at him curiously, asking with no shyness in her voice, “Who are you?” 

“Oh- um. . .” He always felt awkward around kids. The only ones he ever really interacted with were his cousins. “I’m looking for Nick?”

“He’s in the living room!” the girl in front of him announced happily, pointing off to her left. Tyler hesitated, but stumbled through the front door as the girl grabbed his hand, pulling him into the large house. Tyler didn’t even know what to say, just struggled to not drop the folder of papers for Nick as he was forcibly invited into the house.

“Arabella, please tell me you opened the door because dad’s back and not because you just let some stran-” Nick cut himself off as he caught sight of Tyler behind the little girl- Arabella. 

“Tyler. Hey.”

Tyler cleared his throat, trying his best to put on a casual smile. Nick was seated on a large, fluffy looking couch. He was leaning against the armrest, his legs stretched out in front of him. Nick looked practically buried in the large sweatshirt he was wearing, branded with a faded EHS on the chest, and the soft white blanket thrown over him. Tyler felt frozen to the spot as he looked at Nick, his mouth opening dumbly as no words came out. He looked anywhere but Nick’s eyes, not sure he’d be able to function at all if he did. He was saved from the awkwardness as Arabella let go of her iron grip on his hand, moving over to the couch. Tyler winced in sympathy as Nick groaned and clamped his eyes shut, Arabella jostling him as she climbed into her brother’s lap. Even though both of them were adopted, Tyler could see a resemblance between the siblings. They had the same smile: a toothy grin framed by dimples. He felt himself smile softly as Nick instinctively wrapped an arm around his sister to steady her before she fell right back off the couch. 

“Ari, we’ve talked about how you’re not supposed to open the door for strangers,” Nick spoke softly, and Tyler had to suck in a breath. 

Arabella pouted in his lap, “He’s not a stranger! You knew his name!” 

“That’s not the- Look, just remember you have to wait for me, daddy, or papa before you open the door, okay?”

The girl- only 7 years old if Tyler remembered correctly- let out a heavy breath, still looking sure she’d done nothing wrong, but she nodded to her brother. She leaned into Nick’s chest, who carefully shifted her in his arms so she was next to him rather than on top. Tyler wasn’t sure he could stop the smile on his face if he tried. Nick looked back at him once Arabella was situated, casting him a soft smile that had Tyler feeling weak. 

“Sorry about her-” Arabella elbowed him, “-my dad ran out to the store and she was expecting him back soon. So, uh. . . What’s up, man? Don’t you have dance team after school on Thursdays?”

The question knocked Tyler out of his reverie as he remembered why he was here. He ignored the heat in his cheeks- Nick remembered he had dance on Thursdays?

“Oh, right, yeah. Um, I- well. I brought you your homework?” Tyler inwardly cursed himself for stumbling over his words. You’d think he’d never talked to the guy before. 

Nick looked surprised at the words, his eyebrows raising a little bit. Tyler had to glance away. 

“I didn’t figure you’d be at school tomorrow either, so I, um, I brought you tomorrow’s, too.”

Nick was just kind of staring at him, and Tyler shifted his weight between his feet. Silence lapsed between the three of them until Arabella whispered something to her brother that had Nick glaring down at her for a second. 

“Thanks, Tyler,” Nick said quietly. “I really appreciate that.”

Tyler smiled at him, nodding. “Yeah, it’s no problem.”

He held up the folder, “Is there somewhere you. . ?”

“Oh, um. Just that table right next to you is fine.”

Tyler nodded again, setting the folder down. Without anything to hold, he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hands. He settled for stuffing them in his pocket. Tyler’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn back to Nick. He looked sleepy and comfortable the way he was wrapped up on the couch. His hair was slightly tousled like Nick had been running his hands through it. Tyler fought the urge to go over and fix it for him. 

In order to stop himself from doing something stupid like just that, Tyler took in a deep breath and asked, “So how are you feeling?”

Nick shrugged a little, “Better. I don’t remember all that much from yesterday, honestly. Still kind of feels like my skull is gonna split open, but pain meds have been helping. This one-” Arabella let out a quiet giggle as Nick tickled her side, “-not so much.”

Tyler let out a huffed laugh. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure Dylan was ready to put my head through his snare drum last time he had a concussion.”

Nick laughed, but it cut off as he winced. Tyler grimaced at the sight. 

“Sorry.”

Nick just smiled as if to say “don’t worry about it”. 

Before either of them could say anymore, they heard the sounds of the door opening and footsteps coming into the room. 

“Hey, I’m home. Boo, I got you some Gatorade and these light blocking glasses that are great for concussions. And for the munchkin I got- Oh.”

Nick and Arabella’s father- Chad- looked up from the shopping bag he was holding, eyes immediately locking on Tyler. The lacrosse player wasn’t sure what else to do but awkwardly wave as Nick’s father regarded him. 

“I know you, don’t I?”

“Um, yes, sir. I’m on the lacrosse team with Nick.”

Chad nodded in recognition, “Right. Tim? Tyson?”

“Tyler,” Nick said for him, in what could almost be said to be a defensive tone. Chad looked over to Nick, raising an eyebrow at his son. “He was just bringing my homework over for me.”

Chad nodded at his son slowly. “Sure, kid. And thanks for doing that, Tyler. I was going to head over to the school tomorrow to do that.”

“It was no problem, Mr. Danforth-Evans,” Tyler mumbled, not sure what to do with himself. 

Chad snorted, shaking his head. “It’s just Chad, Tyler.”

Tyler nodded stiffly. He’d met Nick’s parents before, but something about this whole situation made it feel like he’d forgotten any and every way to properly interact with other human beings. 

“Well,” Chad said, holding his hand out towards his children, “Ari, why don’t we leave Boo and his friend to talk a little more and you can come help me put this stuff away.”

Arabella nodded, sliding off the couch and moving towards her dad. 

“Boo?” Tyler couldn’t stop himself from asking. Nick sighed, cringing. 

“I really liked Monsters Inc when I was a kid,” he explained, but Chad let out a snort. 

“Really liked? You insisted- and I mean insisted- on dressing up as Boo from that movie for three Halloweens in a row.” Chad’s face was lit up with the smirk of a parent who knew exactly what they were doing to torture their child. 

Nick ran a hand down his face, “Thanks for that, dad.”

Chad just smiled and picked Arabella up into his arms, walking past the couch into what looked like the kitchen from the angle Tyler was stood at. He dropped a kiss onto Nick’s head as he passed, laughing again as his son looked further embarrassed. Tyler couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped him, which had Nick’s eyes turning on him. Nick’s face was tinged a soft pink, and Tyler was captivated by the way it made the other look. 

After a moment’s or two silence, Nick said, “You know, the only other person who knows the Boo story is Carrie, and she’s sworn to secrecy, so if that suddenly gets around the school- I’m coming after you first.”

Tyler held his hands up in surrender, smiling at Nick. “The only other person who knows is Carrie? Well, now I just feel special.”

Nick looked down at his lap, a small smile on his face. His voice was quiet, barely audible for Tyler to hear as he said, “Yeah, I guess you are.”

Tyler wasn’t sure what to do with that. His chest felt a little tighter at the words, and he bit his tongue to keep from saying anything to embarrass himself.

“I should probably head out. Let you rest,” Tyler managed to get out. Nick looked back up at him, an expression on his face that Tyler couldn’t quite pick out. 

“Oh. Yeah, sure. Thanks for- For bringing me my school stuff. And. . . for yesterday. My dads said I wasn’t the easiest person to deal with, so I’m sorry if I was annoying or anything.”

You look cute while rambling about how the platypus has been your favorite animal since you watched Phineas and Ferb, then practically gave me a heart attack when you put your head on my shoulder.

Tyler shook his head. “It’s no problem, man. You were out of it, but you weren’t annoying. I offered to drive you, remember? Anyway, I’m gonna go. I’ll let you know how that scrimmage game on Saturday goes?”

Nick nodded as much as he could without hurting his head and smiled at that- the toothy grin framed by dimples. Tyler sucked in a breath, forcing his eyes away from Nick. 

“See you later, Nick.”

“Bye, Tyler.”

Tyler forced himself not to look back as he left the house, moving swiftly back to his car. As soon as he was inside, he slumped forward, repeatedly thumping his forehead against his steering wheel. Maybe if he got lucky, Nick’s concussion would make him forget the entire interaction- every excruciatingly awkward moment that Tyler allowed himself to look like a complete fool. 

“Real smooth, idiot,” he said out loud as he started his car and pulled out of the Danforth-Evans driveway. 

It was going on a little under a year now that Tyler had had a crush on Nick. He’d caught the other lacrosse player doing a mini victory dance after a game last year and had quite literally fallen- he’d gotten so distracted looking at Nick’s hair and his smiles and the way the sweat made his arms glisten a little bit in the sunlight that he’d tripped over another team member’s bag, falling face first into the grass. 

He’d spent the last year both avoiding all and taking any opportunity to interact with Nick. He’d evidently gotten no better at stifling his pure embarrassing energy when it came to talking to him. He’d just add today onto the ever-growing list of Ways To Make Terrible Impressions On Your Crush. Fantastic.

----------

As soon as the front door shut behind Tyler, Nick buried his face in his hands. He could hear the footsteps of his father coming back into the living room, followed by quiet laughter. 

“I hate you,” Nick mumbled into his hands, but he knew his dad heard it anyway. “I have a concussion- shouldn’t you be nicer to me?”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one who knocked you in the head. Besides, what kind of father would I be if I didn’t take every opportunity to embarrass you?”

“The kind whose kids don’t grow up to hate him.”

Nick knew his father wasn’t taking his words to heart, as usual. For all Nick joked that he wanted nothing to do with his dad, the two of them had always been close. 

“Sorry, Boo, but if you’re going to invite a boy over to the house-”

“I didn’t invite him! I don’t even have my phone to invite him. He was just bringing me my homework.” Nick felt his face going even redder than it already was, and he kept it covered by pulling the blanket over his face to avoid his dad’s further teasing. 

“Out of the kindness of his heart, huh?”

Nick peeked an eye out, squinting at his father. “What are you implying here?”

His dad just shrugged, a little too casually for Nick’s taste. Nick sighed loudly, shrinking down into the couch cushions. 

“My head hurts too much for this.”

At that, his dad moved over to the couch, the teasing smile dropped from his face as he took a seat next to Nick. “Has it gotten any worse?”

Chad had always been the parent that took care of the kids’ injuries. He’d gotten so many himself as a kid that he knew the remedy and care for each one Nick or Arabella could ever get. Nick and his father agreed that if Chad ever got bored of basketball- he was currently an assistant coach for the Lakers- he���d likely be amazing in medical school. 

“No, it actually felt better when-” Nick cut himself off. 

When Tyler was here, his brain supplied the rest of the sentence. Nick wasn’t sure what to do with that information. He shut his mouth, frowning a little. He stayed silent as his dad fussed around him a little bit, shifting pillows and pulling the living room curtains closed some more, trying to block out as much light as possible. Nick ran back through the conversation with Tyler in his head. He thought about his teammate dressed in a pair of light colored jeans and his letter jacket that seemed just a little too big for him- Nick was so used to seeing him dressed for lacrosse that he never really saw him dressed casually like that. He thought about Tyler holding Ari’s hand. He thought about Tyler’s thoughtfulness in bringing over his school work so that Nick didn’t have to stress about it later, and he thought about the image of Tyler smiling at him. 

“Well, shit,” Nick let out softly, staring at the wall. 

“Language,” his dad chastised, but Nick ignored him. 

“Shit,” he repeated, then turned as quickly as he could without hurting his head to face his father. “Dad, can I have my phone?”

His dad frowned at him. “Nick, the doctor said no screens, remember? You-”

“Yeah, I know what she said. But I really need my phone. Please?”

“Why?”

“Because I have a concussion and I’m slow on the uptake and I really need to talk to Carrie right now. Ten minutes. Please.”

His dad looked him over, eyes narrowed. “Fine. Ten minutes. But don’t tell your father.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Nick let out, holding his hand out to his dad. Chad grabbed Nick’s phone from where it was sitting next to the TV, then deposited it into his son’s hand. 

Nick scrambled with the device, wincing as he turned the brightness down all the way and pulling up Carrie’s contact. 

carrie

carrie

CARRIE

Carrie Wilson i swear if you don’t respond right now 

im gonna lose my damn mind

Okay okay I’m responding

What do you want

tyler was just at my house and he dropped off 

all my homework and talked to my dad and my sister 

and my head hurts i’m way too tired for this

Tyler??

Pretty lacrosse boy Tyler??

Nick I love you but I am not seeing the importance here

carrie he was at my HOUSE and he SMILED AT ME 

have you ever seen him smile???

because i know my brain isn’t like working right 

now or whatever but he SMILED AT ME and its 

all i can think about

Oh

Oh damn

Nick

My best friend and love of my life

Do you

Have a crush

ON TYLER DOYLE???

YEAH I THINK SO

CARRIE 

i always thought he was really pretty and cute

but hhnnngg i think it’s an actual crush and idk 

what to do about that

Oh my god

he smiled at me and i really wanted to kiss him

how did i not realize i wanted to kiss him

concussion make me dumb

Don’t know if the concussion is to blame for 

that but okay honey

fuck i have to go dad is taking my phone

WAIT WHAT

NICHOLAS

YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME LIKE THAT

NICK

Nick was grateful he’d had time to lock his phone before his dad pulled it from his hands. He did not need the embarrassment of his dad catching sight of that conversation. He felt a little bad for leaving Carrie on that note, but he was too stressed about how did he not notice he had a crush on this guy to care at the moment. As his dad returned his phone to its original spot, Nick pulled the blanket back over his head, sinking down in an attempt to become one with the couch. As he shut his eyes, he felt his dad’s hand come to rest on his head, above the blanket. 

“I know having a concussion sucks, Boo,” his dad spoke softly. 

Sure. Yeah, let’s pretend the concussion is his biggest problem right now. 

“I’ll take the munchkin upstairs and keep her quiet, why don’t you try to get a little bit of sleep before your father gets home? I’ll wake you up in two hours.”

Nick sighed at the thought that his dad would have to wake him up. He’d had to do it all night as doctor’s orders. Every two hours, wake him up and make him answer a few memory questions to make sure his head injury wasn’t getting any worse. Nick was exhausted, and he knew his dad was as well. It was off season for basketball, so he wasn’t out of the house as often and had been the elected parent to stay up with Nick all night. 

“Love you, Nick,” his father whispered above him, and then the hand disappeared from his head. 

“Love you, too,” Nick mumbled. He knew at this point he wasn’t likely to get any sleep. Not when Tyler had been in his house and giving him that smile- Nick was pretty sure the image was now ingrained in his brain. 

Tyler had never been a teammate that Nick was close to, but he’d always been aware of him. Tyler was funny, and kind, and the two of them had had fun getting stuck in Mrs. Kelly’s fourth period dance class for those few weeks together. And there had never been any denying that Tyler was nice to look at. Really nice. Nice enough that Nick had allowed himself to get so distracted watching Tyler on the sidelines of the field that he’d gotten slammed into the ground and concussed. But he had been so sure that that’s all it was. Tyler was attractive, Nick knew it, and that was that. But then Tyler had driven him to urgent care without a hesitation, sat with him until his father showed up, and then brought him all his school work. Nick had been so struck by that that he’d sat on the couch, staring like an idiot until his 7 year old sister leaned up and whispered that he needed to say something. And damn, Nick might actually be grateful for the concussion because while it may have made him a little slow to realize that Tyler was right there and god, did he want to kiss him, it also saved him from becoming the blushing mess he knew he would have otherwise.  

“Well, shit,” Nick repeated once more, covering his face with his hands.

if you made it this far, thanks so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it!! if this gets a good response I’m planning on following it up with a part 2 in which they might go on a date or something like that.

tag list (let me know if you want added for future parts):

@sunsetcurve123

[colincowherd3]

Picking an Anchor for Your Ship Model

Anchors

The key anchors were indeed made of stone. The circle shaped stones had some spot just about one opening in the middle, to join the line, and the stone anchors in all likelihood could fill in as adjusted as well. Stone anchors have been used in bits of the world until authentic events. In Roman events, in the Mediterranean, transport gets were made of either lead and wood, or absolutely of iron colin cowherd .

After Antiquity, European anchors are generally made of iron, dependably with a wooden stock. From the nineteenth century, the stock was made of iron rather than wood. Likewise, the anchor rope was removed by the anchor chain

Anchors should be picked by the period where the boat was in help. In a past article, we examined hoping to research the get-go in the boat model development how you will show the model. All fittings including the anchor should be shown identified with how the boat is normal for instance in port, running above water, in harbor or in battle.

The anchor should be added to your boat model by running a piece of chain through the shackle. A length of rope is then added to the chain and associated with the windlass. There are various frameworks for running the rope through the boat to the windlass. There should correspondingly be a line added to the crown that is used as a trip line to free the anchor structure the lower a piece of the sea should it become gotten.

Cast Your Anchor has a colossal decision of different sorts of anchors used through the ages.

Dependent upon the size of the boat 3 to 10 anchors and their affiliations made up the vessels ground tackle. Warship passed on an anchor at each side of the bow, and some place close to two lashed to the channels.

Pieces of an Anchor

Before we take a gander at various types of anchors, we ought to become familiar with the bits of an anchor. Any anchor incorporates the ring (shackle), bleeding edge, stock, arms, crown and the mishap or palm.

The Ring, or Shackle is connected with the upper piece of the sharp edge, to which the affiliation or chain is added.

The Shank is the inverse or mark of assembly of an anchor.

The Stock is made of wood or iron; if iron, it reeves through the lower opening in the upper satisfaction of the edge; if wood, it is worked round the edge, at a comparable spot, and hooped and influenced together; it stays at right focuses to the arms, and being extra, cants the anchor with one episode down, which makes it catch to the ground.

Arms are the two three-sided pieces at the lower end of the front line, spreading out gets, one of which is perpetually captured or acquired in the progress when the anchor is offered up, to stand firm on the boat in a pleasant circumstance. The crazy perfection of the arm is recommended the bill or pee.

The Crown is the lower end of the bleeding edge, where the arms or debacles are joined.

The Fluke or Palm is the wide three-sided piece inside the unfathomable end or bill of the arms. It is so best in class as to have a more clear hold of the ground.

Arbor and Sheet Anchor

The arbor anchor was used generally for getting the boat. The best one, called the "best arbor" was passed on from the cathead at the starboard bow. A sheet anchor is an additional brush.

Spanish Anchor

The Spanish Anchor is standard of seventeenth to eighteenth century gets. The general improvement related with this stretch of time has an admirable bolt shape with a long edge, happy arms, and a wooden stock.

Mid eighteenth Century Anchor

This kind of anchor was used on British boats, depicted by a straight bleeding edge still up in the air arms getting done with leaf-illustrated fiascos. Toward one side of the sharp edge there are two arms, passing on the fiascos, while the stock is mounted to the farthest edge, at ninety degrees to the arms. Right when the anchor lands on the base, it will all things considered fall over with the arms diverging from the seabed. As a strain goes onto the rode, the stock will jump into the base, slanting the anchor until one of the mishaps gets and dives into the base.

Kedge Anchor

In yachts, a kedge anchor is an anchor passed on regardless the norm, or arbor gets, and regularly stowed rearward. Each yacht should pass on no under two anchors - the standard or boondocks anchor and a second lighter kedge anchor. It is used each so commonplace when tie the turning circle as the yacht swings when it is gotten, for instance, in an incredibly restricted stream or a basic pool in an inside and out shallow region.

For ships, a kedge may be dropped while a boat is in progress, or finished a sensible way by a fragile or's boat to attract the boat to be winched off expecting on strong land or swung into a particular heading, or even to be held obvious against a streaming or other stream.

Taking everything into account, it was of express significance to cruising warships which used them to outfox adversaries when the breeze had dropped regardless might be used by any vessel in confined, reef water to place it in a more extremely valuable circumstance, on the off chance that she had palatable work.

Grapnel Anchor

Used to drag the base for lost things, and to get little boats. A standard blueprint, the grapnel is only a forefront with something like four prongs. It participates in a benefit in that, paying little mind to how it shows up at the last, something like one prongs will be depended upon to set. In coral it is traditional masterminded to set quickly by planning into the course of action, at any rate may be significantly more difficult to recuperate.

Grapnels infrequently have palatable debacle district to foster a tremendous heap of hold in sand, soil, or mud. It isn't faint for the anchor to foul isolated rode, or to foul the prongs with decrease from the base, getting it far from making a jump. Clearly, it is truly useful for this anchor to find such a respectable catch that, without an excursion line from the crown, it is hard to recuperate.

Danforth Anchor

A lightweight covering kind of anchor with a high holding capacity to weight degree. Works best in sandy, messy or mud bottoms. It uses a stock at the crown to which two goliath level three-sided occurrences are joined. The stock is turned so the catastrophes can engineer toward the base (and on express plans may be changed as per an ideal direct subject toward the base kind). Astounding palms at the crown act to tip the mishaps into the seabed. The strategy is a covering gathering, and when all around set can foster high resistance. Its light weight and insignificant level game-plan enhance it to recuperate and tolerably easy to store.

The catastrophe anchor encounters issues entering kelp-and weed-covered bottoms, moreover as unforgiving and particularly hard sand or soil bottoms. In the event that there is an immense heap of current, or the vessel is moving while simultaneously getting, it may "kite" or "skate" over the base in light of the enormous occurrence area going doubtlessly as a sail or wing. Precisely when set, the anchor will in normal break out and reset when the direction of force changes completely, for instance, with the moving tide, and on unequivocal occasions it presumably will not reset regardless rather drag.

Maritime power Anchor

A liberal boat's anchor with enormous mishaps and no stock so the sharp edge can be drawn through the hawshole. The beast store of these anchors make them inappropriate for a little vessel.

Anchors should be picked by the period wherein the boat was in help. In a past article, we discussed hoping to pick first thing in the boat model plan how you will show the model. All fittings including the anchor should be shown identified with how the boat is normal for instance in port, running hapless, in harbor or in battle.

[rosesisupposes]

Welcome to East High

Part 2 of Breakin’ Free, a High School Musical Sanders Sides AU

Chapter Pairings: Prinxiety, one-sided Princeit

Chapter Warnings: Deceit's Here, and He’s Pretty; Roman Is In the Closet (Including to Himself)

Reader tags: lemme know if you want to be taken off @residentanchor @royally-anxious @bewarethegrammarpolice   @fellowthomassandersfander @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt

<<1: Start of Something New | 3: Get’cha Head in the Game >>

read on ao3

SCENE: One Week Later - East High School, New Mexico

After a week of crises and overthinking, Roman was actually relieved to be going back to school. Anything that could distract his mind from dwelling on that confusing moment of a warm hand in his, huge brown eyes only inches away, and the strangest urge to want to breach even that distance with a kiss. A kiss, with a boy? Where had that come from? Even calculus had to be less confusing.

Don’t get him wrong - he had no problem with boys kissing boys. One of his best friends and teammates was the president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at East High! But Roman wasn’t gay. Wouldn’t he know, if he was? True, he hadn’t been really interested in any girls but he’d just been so busy with basketball. Freshman year had been all about pushing himself on JV, which had gotten him to starting varsity sophomore year. With Coach as his dad, practice never really stopped. So of course he hadn’t had time for crushes. Right?

Ugh, this was why even school was a welcome distraction. Roman hopped off the bus into a crowd of his favorite people - his teammates. There was Remy Danforth, spinning a basketball on his finger as he snarked with the cheerleaders. Catching Roman’s eye, he grinned and tossed to ball away to grab his co-captain in a bear hug. “Ro, my main man, how are you?”

“Hey Rem, happy new year”

“Happy WILDCAT new year, my dude! Two weeks to the championships, with Ro Bolton leading us to infinity and beyond!”

One of the male cheerleaders threw Remy’s basketball back at his chest, calling out, “What team?”

“WILDCATS!” the whole crowd responded.

“What team?” Remy called.

“WILDCATS!”

“Wildcats!”

“Get'cha head in the game!”

Roman joined in with the cheers,  knocking shoulders with his best friend. It was good to be back where things made sense. He looked around and immediately made eye contact with the one person you could always pick out of a crowd: another teammate, Patton Baylor. He towered over basically everyone at six foot seven, even Roman and Remy. But no one could be less threatening than Patton. A mop of highlighted loose curls bounced around a face that was made to smile, dark eyes glinting through wire frames. White teeth flashed in a perpetual grin, topped by dark freckles that stood out even on his light black skin. He was the school’s sweetheart, the one everyone knew and loved and had probably had a crush on for at least a week. If you hadn’t noticed him as the only head and shoulders above the crowd, he’d noticed you sitting alone at lunch or with a slight frown and had gone out of his way to cheer you up. He was a queer teen who’d given new life to the school’s stagnant GSA, trying to make it a space for being social just as much as to commiserate the unique challenges of being in the LGBTQIA+ community, or as Pat had taken to calling it, the ‘QUILTBAG Family’. Remy had made a show of complaining about valuable practice time lost, but went to meeting after meeting anyway, as support and to “make sure you Queen Bs don’t forget the true A.” Rem didn’t feel particularly interested or invested in exploring his own identity, but if he wasn’t there to be the mascot of the aro/aces, who would all his young tiny ones turn to?

The mass that was the team and cheerleaders moved into the school as last, but a ripple in the crowd soon split them apart. Two heads of perfectly-dyed blonde hair were sweeping through a crowd that parted like the Red Sea. Diego Evans was making his way through the crowd,  glued to his phone with his twin brother Cedric at his elbow. Cee & Dee were the resident royalty of East High. Dee had acquired a sizable following on Instagram for his makeup tutorials that incorporated his white-and-tan vitiligo, and even Roman could appreciate the artistry and effort that took. The boy just wasn’t particularly nice, and his brother followed him without question.

Remy rolled his eyes as the twins passed them. “Ugh, looks like the ice princes are returned from the South Pole. Looks like they spent their holidays the way they always do.”

“How’s that, Rem?” a teammate asked.

“Shopping for mirrors,” he replied with a smirk. The students around him laughed or groaned as they made their way towards the first homeroom period of the year.

Not everyone was amused. The sports crowd had stepped on the posters that the science club was trying to hang on the entranceway bulletin boards.

“Behold the zoo animals heralding the new year,” commented one as he adjusted thick-framed glasses.  “How very tribal.” The others rolled their eyes or nodded in agreement.

The warning bell sounded, and the halls emptied at last, just as two adults and a teenager emerged from the principal’s office.

Virgil grimaced at his mom. “My stomach hurts.”

Liza rubbed his back. “It always does on the first day at a new school. You'll do great, Virge. You always do, and I made my company promise that I can't be transferred again until at least after you graduate. We’re here to stay this time.”

The Principal Matsui smiled. “I reviewed your impressive transcripts, Mr. Montez. I expect your light will shine very brightly here at East High.”

Virgil blanched and muttered, “Mamá, I don't wanna be the school's freaky genius boy again.”

“Then just be Virgil,” Liza said with a smile. She kissed him on the forehead, brushing newly-dyed hair out of his eyes. He’d been up at 2am two days before, thoughts cycling through too many disaster scenarios of yet another new school, and he’d suddenly become fixated with the idea of having purple hair. He wouldn’t get pegged as just the STEM prodigy if there was something else to distract everyone, right? They would notice the hair and not the person under it. Once he saw his dyed hair dried off and fluffy, he both loved it and was terrified it was too much. But it was too late to undo it now. He gave his mom a quick hug and followed the principal to his new homeroom.

Entering the classroom, Virgil was a bit taken aback. The blackboard was covered in velvet curtains and gold tassels with a huge ornament of tragedy and comedy masks, and there was a small raised platform turning the whole thing into a stage. He winced internally and took it to mean his homeroom teacher, Ms. Darbus, was also the theatre instructor.

The classroom was full of raucous teenagers catching up after winter break. He noted that a solid half the room was wearing sports jerseys or sweaters in the school’s colors of red and white, and one laughing boy was actually holding a basketball instead of any books or pencils. Who did that? So far, the only thing that felt familiar about yet another new school was Virgil could feel himself on the edge of about 10 crushes at once. Every student in this school was beautiful, and it wasn’t fair. He turned to introduce himself to Ms. Darbus. She was a slightly-eccentric-looking woman, with flyaway grey hair pulled into a bun and huge, jeweled glasses frames. Despite the perpetual warm weather in New Mexico, she wore all velvet with a bright purple shawl thrown dramatically over her shoulder. She took his introductory note from the principal and let him make his way to the empty desk in the back of the room. He bumped into a leg that was dangling out of its chair and only barely glimpsed vivid ginger hair as he muttered “Excuse me” and kept moving.

SCENE: Homeroom, Ms. Darbus’ Classroom

Someone bumped Roman’s desk, looking down. For a second he felt his heart jump - was that Virgil? But no, couldn’t be, this person was all in black and had purple hair. That didn’t seem at all like his New Year’s singing partner. He was probably just seeing things after how many of his thoughts had been filled with snippets of that night. Craning his neck for a better look, his vision was suddenly filled with a perfectly-contoured and made-up face.

“Hi, Roman,” Dee Evans said with a smile. “Did you have a good holiday?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah it was great,” he replied, barely noticing the blonde man’s smile as the bell rang.

“I trust you all had splendid holidays,” Ms. Darbus said loudly, calling the attention of the room to herself. “Check the sign-up sheets in the lobby for new activities, Mr. Bolton.”

Roman twisted to sit in his chair normally, flushing slightly. He could have sworn he saw movement somewhere behind him as his name was called, but he didn’t want to risk Ms. Darbus’ wrath. He slowly snuck his phone out of his pocket, hoping to check the selfie from New Year’s Eve and confirm if somehow, the man whose face had filled his confusing dreams for the past week was suddenly here, in real life, hiding somewhere in the back row of the classroom.

“Yes, new activities, especially our winter musicale. We will have singles auditions for our supporting roles and pairs auditions for our two leads,” Ms. Darbus continued, smiling at Dee, who preened and smiled at his twin.

Remy rolled his eyes and blew a raspberry, spinning his basketball in place on his desk.

“Mr. Danforth, this is a place of learning, not a hockey arena,” Ms. Darbus fixed an icy glare on the lounging jock, before continuing. “There is also a final sign-up sheet for next week's scholastic decathlon competition. Science Club president Logan McKessie can answer all of your questions about that.”

The student in question raised a hand, flashing a very perfunctory smile at the room. Virgil looked over, then down with an nearly-invisible blush. Well, add one to the list of potential heartbreaks. A crisply cut fade gave way to simple twists that were just long enough to avoid looking spiky without flopping about, and black-rimmed glasses only serve to further accent gorgeously deep brown eyes set in smooth black skin. Perfect posture plus a button-down with a tie pointed towards a Type A personality if there ever was one. Virgil had met many driven people at previous schools, but he could tell this Mr. McKessie would give them all a run for their money, and look effortlessly good doing it.

Suddenly, Virgil’s phone was going off in his pocket. He’d forgotten to take it off silent, and a tinny version of Start of Something New filled the classroom. He grabbed at it frantically to silence it, but saw the caller ID - “Roman Bolton”. Oh my god, was that really him in the front row? It couldn’t be!

Ms. Darbus looked ready to explode. She carried a can around the classroom, gathering up every device that was visible from everyone who’d pulled their own phones out at the sounds of Virgil’s.

“Cee & Dee, cell phones, and I’ll see you in detention,” she rapped out, startling an offended gasp from Dee.

“We have zero tolerance for cell phones in class,” she continued, towering over Virgil, “so we will get to know each other in detention. Cell phone, now. And welcome to East High, Mr. Montez.”

Virgil reluctantly dropped his phone in the bucket. Great way to make a first impression, nice going, genius, he scolded himself furiously.

The imposing teacher was not yet done. “Mr. Bolton, I see your phone is involved. So we will see you in detention as well.”

Remy was suddenly out of his lounging pose and arguing, “That's not even a possibility Ms. Darbus, Your Honor, see, 'cause we have basketball practice, and Ro…”

“Ah, that will be 15 minutes for you too, Mr. Danforth. Count 'em!”

“That could be tough for Remy, since he probably can't count that high,” Logan muttered to a student beside him. Virgil snorted, but the comment hadn’t been quiet enough to escape detection.

“Mr. McKessie, 15 minutes!”

Logan sat up, indignant, but seemed to realize it was useless to argue and deflated.

“Shall the carnage continue? Holidays are over, people. Way over! Now any more comments, questions? …Patton?”

Patton lowered his hand from his seat in the back of the room, smiling. “How were your holidays, Ms. Darbus?”

The rest of the class groaned or just stared at the cheerful young man as the bell rang out, dismissing them all to their first class of the day.

Being at the back of the classroom, Virgil half-hoped, half-feared Roman would just go on to his next classes without stopping. What could he possibly say to him? Virgil had meant to text, but convinced himself out of it. Between the taller boy’s practically catapulting away from his attempt at a kiss and the lack of texts from his side as well, Virgil was pretty sure the ginger did not want to be reminded of their New Year’s encounter.

But his assumption proved to be at least partially wrong. There was Roman, leaning against the wall in the fakest casual pose Virgil had ever seen. Was it even a little comfortable to have one foot braced up against the wall like that? He suddenly froze. What if Roman wasn’t even waiting for him? He probably wasn’t - he was clearly popular. Virgil winced at his own naivety and turned out of homeroom, looking for his next class.

He was brought up short by a hand grabbing his shoulder. “Virgil, is that you?”

He turned and looked up into ridiculously green eyes, surrounded by pale skin tinged generously with a rosy blush. The list of crushes suddenly shrank to exactly one, and this one was definitely going to break his heart.

“Roman, it is you. I thought I was seeing things. I don’t believe it!” Virgil’s heart was thrumming, but the flutter was accompanied by an insistent whisper of don’t get your hopes up don’t get your hopes up don’t get your hopes up.

“Me neither. How-?” The gingery jock seemed to be struggling for words, just smiling down at the purple-haired man in front of him.

“My mom was transferred here to New Mexico for work, but I had no idea you lived here! I, uh. I thought I might run into you at the lodge after New Year��s…”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, we had to leave first thing,” Roman said, looking around cautiously and pulling Virgil out of the flow of traffic.

“Are you looking for someone? Are you okay?” Virgil asked.

“What? Oh, no, it’s just um. I told my friends about the skiing and snowboarding from vacation but not about the, uh, singing,” he replied, blushing just a bit more under his freckles.

“Why would they care?”

“I mean, it’s… I really liked it, but to my friends… it’s not what I do. It’s not who I am. The boy who sang with you - that’s a different person.”

Virgil turned, no longer facing the taller man straight-on.  “I get it. It was a one-time thing, sure. Not to be a bother, but could you help me find my next class?” The whisper had only gotten louder, beating insistently under his skin don’t get your hopes up don’t get your hopes up don’t get your hopes up.

“Of course! I didn’t mean - I’d still like to be friends,” Roman stammered. He started walking and realized immediately that his long legs carried him far too quickly for the shorter boy. He slowed down and led them past the activity bulletin boards.

Virgil tried to not dwell on the choice of words. ‘Friends’ is good. Friends means I won’t scare him away. The whisper smirked at him as if to say I told you so.

“I don’t know how big the schools you’re used to are, but ours isn’t too huge. I think I only got lost once my first week, and I still blame Remy for that. Have you met Remy? My height, black hair, always has a basketball and sarcasm?”

Virgil smiled. “I think I noticed him in homeroom. His ability to lounge in those tiny metal desks was quite impressive.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Ugh, he’d be so proud to hear that. He can fall asleep anywhere and is making a point to actually do it in every class except gym before graduation.” He saw the audition sheet for drama club and gestured as they passed it, grinning. “Now that you’ve met Ms. Darbus, I bet you can’t wait to sign up for that,”

Virgil grinned. “Oh yeah, definitely. Get me in there. No, I’m gonna just focus on classes for a bit, get to know the school. But if you try out, I promise I’ll come see the show.”

“That would be completely and utterly impossible, the team-”

“What’s impossible, Roman? I would think impossible isn’t even in your vocabulary,” Dee Evans said, appearing from around the corner. He tossed wavy blonde hair that brushed his cheekbones and smiled at Roman. Noticing Virgil half-hidden behind the basketball star, his smiled waned, then flashed back, tight. “So nice of you to show our new classmate around.”

He turned to the signup sheet and signed his name in metallic gold sharpie, with huge, flourishing script. As almost an afterthought, he added his twin’s name too. Turning to look at the two students standing in front of his list, he smiled again. “Did you want to sign up too? My brother and I have starred in all the drama club’s production and we just adore newcomers. There are always ensemble and supporting roles to fill!”

Virgil ducked his head. “Oh no, I’m not signing up for anything. Just looking around. There really is a lot going on at this school, isn’t there?” He glanced at the audition list as he started to walk to class. “Nice penmanship.”

Dee smiled more genuinely as the purple-haired boy left. “Soo, Roman, I missed you over break. What did you do?”

Roman shifted nervously. “Uhh, you know, basketball. Some snowboarding. More basketball.”

“You are so dedicated, Ro,” Dee said, leaning in just a bit closer. “You and your team - it’s just like me and my play. I hope you’ll come see me in the musical, promise?”

“Uh, sure, yeah.”

“Can’t wait! Ta-ta, Mr. Bolton,” he said with a wink, moving off to attend his own next class. He shot a glare at Virgil’s retreating back down the hall. Who was this new boy, and why did Roman look so nervous around him? Roman the popular, Roman the basketball star, Roman the boy Dee had been hopelessly crushing on ever since the ginger hit his growth spurt in seventh grade? He’d resigned himself to this being just another dumb crush on a straight boy, but could you blame him? The man was gorgeous. The whole school knew it, even the faculty. The athletics department had somehow gotten permission to put up a floor-to-ceiling poster featuring the basketball team, and this freckled Adonis with a smile to launch a thousand ships was smack-dab in the middle. But now Roman, the most well-known face in East High, was acting as a shepherd to some new…boy? And they’d been talking about Dee’s musical?

Dee frowned as he walked and tapped his glossy red lips with his signature-color sharpie. It was time to investigate this ‘Virgil Montez.’

[patriotsnet]

How Did Republicans Do In The Primaries

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-did-republicans-do-in-the-primaries/

How Did Republicans Do In The Primaries

Allegations Of Inciting Violence

Inside Texas Politics: What did Texas Republicans, Democrats do right this election cycle?

Research suggests Trump’s rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Since then, some defendants prosecuted for hate crimes or violent acts cited Trump’s rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. In May 2020, a nationwide review by ABC News identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence by mostly white men against mostly members of minority groups. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection for his actions prior to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob of his supporters who acted in his name.

Who Can Vote In A Primary

Only Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary.

Only Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary.

The last day to register to vote before the Primary is the 4th Saturday before the Primary.

The deadline to change party affiliation before the Primary is the last Friday in May.

You can register to vote and change your party affiliation after the Primary.

Results Of The 2016 Republican Party Presidential Primaries

    Donald Trump

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This article contains the results of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, the processes by which the Republican Party selected delegates to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention from July 1821. The series of primaries, caucuses, and state conventions culminated in the national convention, where the delegates cast their votes to formally select a candidate. A simple majority of the total delegate votes was required to become the party’s nominee and was achieved by the nominee, businessman Donald Trump of New York.

The process began on March 23, 2015, when Texas SenatorTed Cruz became the first presidential candidate to announce his intentions to seek the office of United StatesPresident. That summer, 17 major candidates were recognized by national and state polls, making it the largest presidential candidate field for any single political party in American history. The large field made possible the fact that the 2016 primaries were the first since 1968 in which more than three candidates won at least one state.

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May 2016: Trump As Presumptive Nominee

142 delegates were awarded between the Indiana primary and the final primaries in June; however, with Trump the only candidate remaining, Washington, Oregon, West Virginia and Nebraska became essentially uncontested, although Cruz and Kasich remained on the ballot. Trump won handily in West Virginia, Nebraska and Oregon, although Kasich received one delegate from West Virginia and five in Oregon, while Cruz took five in Oregon as well. The next week, Trump won decisively in Washington State, taking 76% of the vote and 41 of 44 delegates, with the other three uncommitted.

May 1024 results 11%

After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump said regarding the Republican primaries: “You’ve been hearing me say it’s a rigged system, but now I don’t say it anymore because I won. It’s true. Now I don’t care.”

On May 26, 2016, the Associated Press announced that Trump had passed the threshold of 1,237 delegates required to guarantee his nomination, thanks to unbound delegates from North Dakota who declared their support for Trump.

Professional Input Checks The Power Of Billionaires And The Media

The conventional assumption that primaries are less elite than party selection overlooks the way todays primaries actually work. Thanks to court decisions such as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, there is today no limit on the size of contributions to independent groups; the groups, in turn, are free to support and oppose candidates provided that they not coordinate their activities with the candidates and parties. In other words, todays campaign-finance rules funnel vast sums of unaccountable money to the political systems least accountable actors.

odays campaign-finance rules funnel vast sums of unaccountable money to the political systems least accountable actors.

That said, even if small donors were a perfectly representative group, they would still provide a pathway around gatekeepers, and that is a mixed blessing. True, candidates who rely on small donors are less beholden to big donors and special interests, which may make them more independent-minded; also true, they are less beholden to their political peers, party leaders, and important constituencies, which may make them more reckless and demagogic.

Then there are the media, whose power in influencing candidate choice has grown enormously since the McGovern-Fraser reforms. Writing as long ago as 1978, Jeanne Kirkpatrick tartly observed:

Things have only gotten worse in the transition from Walter Cronkite to Sean Hannity and todays bevy of extremist internet sites.

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Sen Josh Hawley Of Missouri

Though controversial, Hawley, 41, is a fundraising machine and hes quickly made a name for himself. The blowback Hawley faced for objecting to Bidens Electoral College win included a lost book deal and calls for him to resign from students at the law school where he previously taught. His mentor, former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, said that supporting Hawley was the biggest mistake Ive ever made in my life.

Still, he brought in more than $1.5 million between Jan. 1 and March 5, according to Axios, and fundraising appeals in his name from the National Republican Senatorial Committee brought in more cash than any other Republican except NRSC Chair Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Just because youre toxic in Washington doesnt mean you cant build a meaningful base of support nationally.

One Republican strategist compared the possibility of Hawley 2024 to Cruz in 2016. Hes not especially well-liked by his colleagues , but hes built a national profile for himself and become a leading Republican voice opposed to big technology companies.

Hawley and his wife, Erin, have three children. He got his start in politics as Missouri attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2018. Hawley graduated from Stanford and Yale Law.

Statehood And Indian Removal

Defense of Florida’s northern border with the United States was minor during the second Spanish period. The region became a haven for escaped slaves and a base for Indian attacks against U.S. territories, and the U.S. pressed Spain for reform.

Americans of and began moving into northern Florida from the backwoods of and . Though technically not allowed by the Spanish authorities and the Floridan government, they were never able to effectively police the border region and the backwoods settlers from the United States would continue to immigrate into Florida unchecked. These migrants, mixing with the already present British settlers who had remained in Florida since the British period, would be the progenitors of the population known as .

These American settlers established a permanent foothold in the area and ignored Spanish authorities. The British settlers who had remained also resented Spanish rule, leading to a rebellion in 1810 and the establishment for ninety days of the so-called Free and Independent Republic of on September 23. After meetings beginning in June, rebels overcame the garrison at , and unfurled the flag of the new republic: a single white star on a blue field. This flag would later become known as the “”.

Some Seminoles remained, and the U.S. Army arrived in Florida, leading to the . Following the war, approximately 3,000 Seminole and 800 Black Seminole were removed to . A few hundred Seminole remained in Florida in the .

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Anger At Past Outside Interference

The discontent over unaffiliated voter participation in partisan primaries stems from the 2016 approval of two ballot measures allowing unaffiliated voters to select one of the two partys primary elections to cast a ballot in. Before the change, unaffiliated voters had to sit on the sidelines for primaries. 

From 2010 through 2016, Republican primary voter turnout outpaced that of Democrats. But in 2018 and 2020, the first two years unaffiliated voters could participate in primaries without affiliating with one of the two major parties, participation in the Democratic primaries soared.

Meanwhile, more Coloradans are becoming unaffiliated voters, reaching 43% at the end of July, while the Republican Partys share of voters is decreasing at a faster pace than the Democratic Party.

Colorado candidates can get on the primary ballot by one of two paths. They can be nominated and go through the state caucus and assembly process, where they must get 30% of the vote, or they can gather signatures from voters.

Some GOP candidates have had trouble making the ballot in the past. In 2016 and 2018, scandals over petition signatures foiled one U.S. Senate candidate and led a gubernatorial candidate, Walker Stapleton, to go the assembly route at the 11th hour after initially gathering petition signatures.

In 2020, allegations of fraud arose out of caucuses in Weld and El Paso counties. The state GOP, however, ultimately determined nothing illegal took place in either instance. 

Convention And Vp Selection

Midterm elections: Do Republicans have a chance of keeping the House?

The delegates at the Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, as the GOP presidential candidate for the general election. Dole was the oldest first-time presidential nominee at the age of 73 years, 1 month .

Former Congressman and Cabinet secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole’s running mate the following day. Republican Party of Texas convention delegates informally nominated Alan Keyes as their preference for Vice President.

Other politicians mentioned as possible GOP V.P. nominees before Kemp was selected included:

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Just How Bad Was The 2018 Election For House Republicans

On Thursday, Democrat Jared Golden beat Maine Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin, marking the 33rd seat pickup for Democrats in the 2018 election.

There are seven races in the House left uncalled all are Republican-held seats; Democrats lead in five of the seven. If they win all the races where their candidates are winning at the moment, Democrats will net 38 seats. If they lose them all which is very unlikely they will hold at a 33-seat gain.

In an interview Wednesday with the conservative Daily Caller website,  President Donald Trump insisted that by his aggressive last-minute campaigning across the country he had saved House Republicans from seat losses that could have numbered into the 70s. I think I did very well, he concluded.

So did he? As compared to history?

Not really, is the answer.

Theres no question that Trump did not suffer the massive seat loss that his immediate predecessor Barack Obama did in his first midterm election in 2010. In that election, Republicans netted an astounding 63-seat gain, the largest since Democrats lost 72 House seats in the 1938 midterms.

But more broadly, the 33 seat loss by Republicans in 2018 places this election firmly in the upper echelon of House-seat losses by a presidents party in modern midterms.

Read Thursdays full edition of The Point newsletter, and to get future editions delivered to your inbox.

What Do Party Preferences Mean When Listed With Candidates’ Names On The Ballot What Are The Qualified Political Parties And Abbreviations Of Those Party Names

The term “party preference” is now used in place of the term “party affiliation.” A candidate must indicate his or her preference or lack of preference for a qualified political party. If the candidate has a qualified political party preference that qualified political party will be indicated by the candidate’s name on the ballot. If a candidate does not have a qualified political party preference, “Party Preference: None” will be indicated by the candidate’s name on the ballot.

Similarly, voters who were previously known as “decline-to-state” voters are now known as having “no party preference” or known as “NPP” voters.

Abbreviations for the qualified political parties are:

DEM = Democratic Party

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Civil War And Reconstruction

American settlers began to establish cotton in north Florida, which required numerous laborers, which they supplied by buying slaves in the domestic market. By 1860, Florida had only 140,424 people, of whom 44% were enslaved. There were fewer than 1,000 free before the American Civil War.

On January 10, 1861, nearly all delegates in the Florida Legislature approved an ordinance of secession, declaring Florida to be “a sovereign and independent nation”an apparent reassertion to the preamble in Florida’s Constitution of 1838, in which Florida agreed with Congress to be a “Free and Independent State.” The ordinance declared Florida’s secession from the , allowing it to become one of the founding members of the .

The Confederacy received little military help from Florida; the 15,000 troops it offered were generally sent elsewhere. Instead of troops and manufactured goods, Florida did provide salt and, more importantly, beef to feed the Confederate armies. This was particularly important after 1864, when the Confederacy lost control of the Mississippi River, thereby losing access to Texas beef. The largest engagements in the state were the , on February 20, 1864, and the , on March 6, 1865. Both were Confederate victories. The war ended in 1865.

It Was An Election For A Mini

There was some talk that Democrats may have pulled their punches in the 25th district because, after all, the special election was for the remainder of Hills term and the two candidates will meet again in a more consequential rematch where conditions may favor Smith. Over-confidence probably wasnt a problem since signs of a Garcia win were abundant going into the election.

Republicans, of course, busily spun the win into a sign of a Republican resurgence in California and possibly an omen that the GOP will retake the House even as Trump cake-walks to a second term on the strength of a rapidly rebounding economy that he championed even as Democrats pursued perpetual shutdowns. While the results may legitimately indicate that theres no continuing wave from 2018 that will crash with renewed force in favor of Democrats in November, its more likely that we are seeing a reversion to the mean rather than some new pro-Republican wave. There are enough special circumstances surrounding Garcias win to make its recurrence questionable when he appears on the ballot on Election Day with Donald Trump, who remains as unpopular as ever in California.

There is one wrinkle in Garcias special election victory worth a closer look. In 2018 a number of Republican incumbents famously led early on until later-arriving mail ballots swept Democrats into office. There were signs on Election Day that Garcias early lead might be durable, as California political observer Miriam Pawel noted:

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What Makes The 2024 Presidential Election Unique

The lead up to the 2024 presidential election is different from past years because of former President Donald Trump. Hes eligible to run for a second term, and has publicly toyed with the idea while also weighing in on other Republicans he thinks could be the future of the party. If Trump does run in 2024, hed start out with unparalleled name ID and massive support, but if he doesnt, the field could be wide open for other Republicans hoping to win over his supporters. President Joe Biden said recently he expects to run for reelection in 2024.

Related

Golden Trump statue at CPAC 2021 was no graven image, according to the artist

This early on, wannabe candidates must raise their profiles, show their commitment to the party, and raise money, one Republican strategist said, to get on peoples radars even when your candidacy is in a holding pattern.

Some of the most visible 2024 presidential candidates will surely flame out long before the Iowa caucus, and theres always the chance that the next Republican nominee isnt yet considered a serious player . Theres a million and one things that will happen between now and then that will shape the race in ways we cant now predict, but the invisible primary that comes before any votes are cast has started.

Heres your very early guide to some of 2024s Republican presidential candidates, based on early polling, interviews with Republican donors and strategists and results from online political betting markets.

The Louisiana Primary System

The Louisiana system, sometimes called the “Cajun Primary,” eliminates the primary election altogether. Instead, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run on the same ballot in November. If a candidate receives more than half of the votes, that candidate is elected. If no candidate wins with a majority, the top two vote-getters face off in a December runoff election. Qualified absentee voters receive a ballot for the November election and a ranked ballot for the December runoff, so that they can vote as normal in the general election and then have their ranked ballot count for whichever runoff candidate they ranked highest in the runoff election.

Although Louisiana law refers to the election in November as the “primary” and the December runoff as the “general” election, the November election takes place on the federally mandated Election Day and most candidates win office by receiving a majority vote in that election, so it is best understood as a general election, with the December election as a contingent runoff.

The Louisiana system is sometimes mistakenly equated with the Top Two system, but holding the first election in November and electing any candidate with more than 50% of the vote in that election makes it sufficiently distinct that it should not be understood as a mere variant of Top Two.

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Trump Election Lawsuits Have Mostly Failed Here’s What They Tried

In the Senate, Democrats have so far gained one seat, but they need three with a Biden win to take over the chamber. Democrats still have a chance of doing that with two runoff elections in Georgia. That’s seen as possible, but not likely.

It wasn’t expected to be this way. Democrats had put lots of Senate races in play, ones not expected to go their way at the beginning of the 2020 cycle, places like Kansas and Montana.

To be sure, many of the Senate races were expected to be close, perhaps with razor-thin margins, and a Democrat-controlled Senate was never an assured outcome. But when you look at the average of the polls in the last week of the election versus the ultimate result, it’s clear that Republicans were underrepresented all across the country.

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All of these races, except Colorado and Alabama, were within single digits in the polls. Colorado, a state Biden won handily, wound up pretty close to the average. Alabama, a state Trump won by a lot, was an even bigger blowout than expected.

Many of the supposedly tightest races didn’t wind up tight at all. Maine is perhaps the most stunning one. Biden won the state by 9 percentage points, but Republican incumbent Susan Collins won reelection by 9 points.

Not only was Collins down by 4 points heading into Election Day in an average of the polls in the week before the election, but she led in just one poll in all of 2020. And that was back in July. That’s one poll out of almost three dozen.

Relationship With The Press

Did The 2014 Primaries Do The GOP Any Good? | Drinking And Talking

Throughout his career, Trump has sought media attention, with a “lovehate” relationship with the press. Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s. Fox News anchor and former House speaker have characterized Trump as a “” who makes controversial statements to see people’s “heads explode.”

In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.New York Times writer wrote in 2018 that Trump’s media dominance, which enthralls the public and creates “can’t miss” reality television-type coverage, was politically beneficial for him.

As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the “fake news media” and “the .” In 2018, journalist recounted Trump’s saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media “so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.”

As president, Trump deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for alleged defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.

Don’t Miss: Will Any Republicans Vote To Remove Trump

Garcia Was An Unusually Good Candidate

Republicans lucked into an unusually strong candidate in Garcia, a former Navy pilot running in a district with a significant defense presence, and a Latino in a district whose electorate has become one-third Latino. He managed to beat the previous Republican holder of the seat, Steve Knight, in the February primary in order to win a Top Two position opposite Smith, which was welcomed by Republican strategists. His campaign was well-financed.

Republican Party Primaries 2020

2020 Republican Party primary elections Battleground primaries Primaries by state Submit

Ballotpedia covered every Republican Party state and federal primary in 2020 to highlight the intraparty conflicts that shaped the party and the general election. This page is an overview of those primaries, with links to Ballotpedia’s coverage of all Republican U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and state-level primaries.

to read about Democratic Party primaries in 2020.

You May Like: What Are The Views Of Republicans

Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

Haley, 49, stands out in the potential pool of 2024 Republican candidates by her resume. She has experience as an executive as the former governor of South Carolina and foreign policy experience from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley was a member of the Republican Partys 2010 tea party class. A former South Carolina state representative, her long shot gubernatorial campaign saw its fortunes improve after she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Haley rocketed from fourth to first just days after the endorsement, and she went on to clinch the nomination and become her states first female and first Indian-American governor.

As governor, she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol following the white supremacist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. She left office in 2017 to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Quinnipiac poll found she was at one point the most popular member of Trumps foreign policy team.

I think that shes done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume, said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolinas department of political science.

Haley criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, saying she was disgusted by his conduct. Oldendick said he thought her pretty pointed criticism of the president will potentially cause some problems.

‘im Going To Be In Your Backyard’: Trump Sons Threaten Primaries For Gop Lawmakers

Fox News, which had been carrying the remarks live, dropped its feed of the rally after the expletives uttered by the president’s son aired uncensored.

Donald Trump Jr. speaks Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the “Save America Rally.” | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

01/06/2021 11:48 AM EST

Link Copied

President Donald Trumps eldest sons threatened Republican lawmakers at a large rally outside the White House on Wednesday, pledging that their family would continue to dispute the results of the 2020 election just hours before Congress was set to certify President-elect Joe Bidens Electoral College victory.

To those Republicans, many of which may be voting on things in the coming hours: You have an opportunity today, Donald Trump Jr. told the crowd gathered for the Save America March on the White House Ellipse. You can be a hero, or you can be a zero. And the choice is yours. But we are all watching. The whole world is watching, folks. Choose wisely.

Several House Republicans and roughly a dozen senators have announced plans to object to individual states electoral vote counts when Congress meets for a joint session this afternoon. And though their effort to reverse the elections outcome has virtually no chance of succeeding, the president had applied increasing public pressure on Vice President Mike Pence who will preside over the proceedings to attempt to thwart Bidens win.

Recommended Reading: Are There Any Republicans For Impeachment

[statetalks]

How Did Republicans Do In The Primaries

Allegations Of Inciting Violence

Inside Texas Politics: What did Texas Republicans, Democrats do right this election cycle?

Research suggests Trump’s rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Since then, some defendants prosecuted for hate crimes or violent acts cited Trump’s rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. In May 2020, a nationwide review by ABC News identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence by mostly white men against mostly members of minority groups. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection for his actions prior to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob of his supporters who acted in his name.

Who Can Vote In A Primary

Only Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary.

Only Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary.

The last day to register to vote before the Primary is the 4th Saturday before the Primary.

The deadline to change party affiliation before the Primary is the last Friday in May.

You can register to vote and change your party affiliation after the Primary.

Results Of The 2016 Republican Party Presidential Primaries

    Donald Trump

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This article contains the results of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, the processes by which the Republican Party selected delegates to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention from July 1821. The series of primaries, caucuses, and state conventions culminated in the national convention, where the delegates cast their votes to formally select a candidate. A simple majority of the total delegate votes was required to become the party’s nominee and was achieved by the nominee, businessman Donald Trump of New York.

The process began on March 23, 2015, when Texas SenatorTed Cruz became the first presidential candidate to announce his intentions to seek the office of United StatesPresident. That summer, 17 major candidates were recognized by national and state polls, making it the largest presidential candidate field for any single political party in American history. The large field made possible the fact that the 2016 primaries were the first since 1968 in which more than three candidates won at least one state.

Recommended Reading: Should Republicans Vote In Democratic Primary

May 2016: Trump As Presumptive Nominee

142 delegates were awarded between the Indiana primary and the final primaries in June; however, with Trump the only candidate remaining, Washington, Oregon, West Virginia and Nebraska became essentially uncontested, although Cruz and Kasich remained on the ballot. Trump won handily in West Virginia, Nebraska and Oregon, although Kasich received one delegate from West Virginia and five in Oregon, while Cruz took five in Oregon as well. The next week, Trump won decisively in Washington State, taking 76% of the vote and 41 of 44 delegates, with the other three uncommitted.

11%

After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump said regarding the Republican primaries: “You’ve been hearing me say it’s a rigged system, but now I don’t say it anymore because I won. It’s true. Now I don’t care.”

On May 26, 2016, the Associated Press announced that Trump had passed the threshold of 1,237 delegates required to guarantee his nomination, thanks to unbound delegates from North Dakota who declared their support for Trump.

Professional Input Checks The Power Of Billionaires And The Media

The conventional assumption that primaries are less elite than party selection overlooks the way todays primaries actually work. Thanks to court decisions such as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, there is today no limit on the size of contributions to independent groups; the groups, in turn, are free to support and oppose candidates provided that they not coordinate their activities with the candidates and parties. In other words, todays campaign-finance rules funnel vast sums of unaccountable money to the political systems least accountable actors.

odays campaign-finance rules funnel vast sums of unaccountable money to the political systems least accountable actors.

That said, even if small donors were a perfectly representative group, they would still provide a pathway around gatekeepers, and that is a mixed blessing. True, candidates who rely on small donors are less beholden to big donors and special interests, which may make them more independent-minded; also true, they are less beholden to their political peers, party leaders, and important constituencies, which may make them more reckless and demagogic.

Then there are the media, whose power in influencing candidate choice has grown enormously since the McGovern-Fraser reforms. Writing as long ago as 1978, Jeanne Kirkpatrick tartly observed:

Things have only gotten worse in the transition from Walter Cronkite to Sean Hannity and todays bevy of extremist internet sites.

Also Check: What Major Cities Are Run By Republicans

Sen Josh Hawley Of Missouri

Though controversial, Hawley, 41, is a fundraising machine and hes quickly made a name for himself. The blowback Hawley faced for objecting to Bidens Electoral College win included a lost book deal and calls for him to resign from students at the law school where he previously taught. His mentor, former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, said that supporting Hawley was the biggest mistake Ive ever made in my life.

Still, he brought in more than $1.5 million between Jan. 1 and March 5, according to Axios, and fundraising appeals in his name from the National Republican Senatorial Committee brought in more cash than any other Republican except NRSC Chair Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Just because youre toxic in Washington doesnt mean you cant build a meaningful base of support nationally.

One Republican strategist compared the possibility of Hawley 2024 to Cruz in 2016. Hes not especially well-liked by his colleagues , but hes built a national profile for himself and become a leading Republican voice opposed to big technology companies.

Hawley and his wife, Erin, have three children. He got his start in politics as Missouri attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2018. Hawley graduated from Stanford and Yale Law.

Statehood And Indian Removal

Defense of Florida’s northern border with the United States was minor during the second Spanish period. The region became a haven for escaped slaves and a base for Indian attacks against U.S. territories, and the U.S. pressed Spain for reform.

Americans of and began moving into northern Florida from the backwoods of and . Though technically not allowed by the Spanish authorities and the Floridan government, they were never able to effectively police the border region and the backwoods settlers from the United States would continue to immigrate into Florida unchecked. These migrants, mixing with the already present British settlers who had remained in Florida since the British period, would be the progenitors of the population known as .

These American settlers established a permanent foothold in the area and ignored Spanish authorities. The British settlers who had remained also resented Spanish rule, leading to a rebellion in 1810 and the establishment for ninety days of the so-called Free and Independent Republic of on September 23. After meetings beginning in June, rebels overcame the garrison at , and unfurled the flag of the new republic: a single white star on a blue field. This flag would later become known as the “”.

Some Seminoles remained, and the U.S. Army arrived in Florida, leading to the . Following the war, approximately 3,000 Seminole and 800 Black Seminole were removed to . A few hundred Seminole remained in Florida in the .

Recommended Reading: How Many Democrats Have Been President Vs Republicans

Anger At Past Outside Interference

The discontent over unaffiliated voter participation in partisan primaries stems from the 2016 approval of two ballot measures allowing unaffiliated voters to select one of the two partys primary elections to cast a ballot in. Before the change, unaffiliated voters had to sit on the sidelines for primaries. 

From 2010 through 2016, Republican primary voter turnout outpaced that of Democrats. But in 2018 and 2020, the first two years unaffiliated voters could participate in primaries without affiliating with one of the two major parties, participation in the Democratic primaries soared.

Meanwhile, more Coloradans are becoming unaffiliated voters, reaching 43% at the end of July, while the Republican Partys share of voters is decreasing at a faster pace than the Democratic Party.

Colorado candidates can get on the primary ballot by one of two paths. They can be nominated and go through the state caucus and assembly process, where they must get 30% of the vote, or they can gather signatures from voters.

Some GOP candidates have had trouble making the ballot in the past. In 2016 and 2018, scandals over petition signatures foiled one U.S. Senate candidate and led a gubernatorial candidate, Walker Stapleton, to go the assembly route at the 11th hour after initially gathering petition signatures.

In 2020, allegations of fraud arose out of caucuses in Weld and El Paso counties. The state GOP, however, ultimately determined nothing illegal took place in either instance. 

Convention And Vp Selection

Midterm elections: Do Republicans have a chance of keeping the House?

The delegates at the Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, as the GOP presidential candidate for the general election. Dole was the oldest first-time presidential nominee at the age of 73 years, 1 month .

Former Congressman and Cabinet secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole’s running mate the following day. Republican Party of Texas convention delegates informally nominated Alan Keyes as their preference for Vice President.

Other politicians mentioned as possible GOP V.P. nominees before Kemp was selected included:

Don’t Miss: How Many Seats Do The Republicans Control In The Senate

Just How Bad Was The 2018 Election For House Republicans

On Thursday, Democrat Jared Golden beat Maine Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin, marking the 33rd seat pickup for Democrats in the 2018 election.

There are seven races in the House left uncalled all are Republican-held seats; Democrats lead in five of the seven. If they win all the races where their candidates are winning at the moment, Democrats will net 38 seats. If they lose them all which is very unlikely they will hold at a 33-seat gain.

In an interview Wednesday with the conservative Daily Caller website,  President Donald Trump insisted that by his aggressive last-minute campaigning across the country he had saved House Republicans from seat losses that could have numbered into the 70s. I think I did very well, he concluded.

So did he? As compared to history?

Not really, is the answer.

Theres no question that Trump did not suffer the massive seat loss that his immediate predecessor Barack Obama did in his first midterm election in 2010. In that election, Republicans netted an astounding 63-seat gain, the largest since Democrats lost 72 House seats in the 1938 midterms.

But more broadly, the 33 seat loss by Republicans in 2018 places this election firmly in the upper echelon of House-seat losses by a presidents party in modern midterms.

Read Thursdays full edition of The Point newsletter, and to get future editions delivered to your inbox.

What Do Party Preferences Mean When Listed With Candidates’ Names On The Ballot What Are The Qualified Political Parties And Abbreviations Of Those Party Names

The term “party preference” is now used in place of the term “party affiliation.” A candidate must indicate his or her preference or lack of preference for a qualified political party. If the candidate has a qualified political party preference that qualified political party will be indicated by the candidate’s name on the ballot. If a candidate does not have a qualified political party preference, “Party Preference: None” will be indicated by the candidate’s name on the ballot.

Similarly, voters who were previously known as “decline-to-state” voters are now known as having “no party preference” or known as “NPP” voters.

Abbreviations for the qualified political parties are:

DEM = Democratic Party

Also Check: How Many Registered Republicans In Illinois

Civil War And Reconstruction

American settlers began to establish cotton in north Florida, which required numerous laborers, which they supplied by buying slaves in the domestic market. By 1860, Florida had only 140,424 people, of whom 44% were enslaved. There were fewer than 1,000 free before the American Civil War.

On January 10, 1861, nearly all delegates in the Florida Legislature approved an ordinance of secession, declaring Florida to be “a sovereign and independent nation”an apparent reassertion to the preamble in Florida’s Constitution of 1838, in which Florida agreed with Congress to be a “Free and Independent State.” The ordinance declared Florida’s secession from the , allowing it to become one of the founding members of the .

The Confederacy received little military help from Florida; the 15,000 troops it offered were generally sent elsewhere. Instead of troops and manufactured goods, Florida did provide salt and, more importantly, beef to feed the Confederate armies. This was particularly important after 1864, when the Confederacy lost control of the Mississippi River, thereby losing access to Texas beef. The largest engagements in the state were the , on February 20, 1864, and the , on March 6, 1865. Both were Confederate victories. The war ended in 1865.

It Was An Election For A Mini

There was some talk that Democrats may have pulled their punches in the 25th district because, after all, the special election was for the remainder of Hills term and the two candidates will meet again in a more consequential rematch where conditions may favor Smith. Over-confidence probably wasnt a problem since signs of a Garcia win were abundant going into the election.

Republicans, of course, busily spun the win into a sign of a Republican resurgence in California and possibly an omen that the GOP will retake the House even as Trump cake-walks to a second term on the strength of a rapidly rebounding economy that he championed even as Democrats pursued perpetual shutdowns. While the results may legitimately indicate that theres no continuing wave from 2018 that will crash with renewed force in favor of Democrats in November, its more likely that we are seeing a reversion to the mean rather than some new pro-Republican wave. There are enough special circumstances surrounding Garcias win to make its recurrence questionable when he appears on the ballot on Election Day with Donald Trump, who remains as unpopular as ever in California.

There is one wrinkle in Garcias special election victory worth a closer look. In 2018 a number of Republican incumbents famously led early on until later-arriving mail ballots swept Democrats into office. There were signs on Election Day that Garcias early lead might be durable, as California political observer Miriam Pawel noted:

Don’t Miss: How Many Registered Republicans In California

What Makes The 2024 Presidential Election Unique

The lead up to the 2024 presidential election is different from past years because of former President Donald Trump. Hes eligible to run for a second term, and has publicly toyed with the idea while also weighing in on other Republicans he thinks could be the future of the party. If Trump does run in 2024, hed start out with unparalleled name ID and massive support, but if he doesnt, the field could be wide open for other Republicans hoping to win over his supporters. President Joe Biden said recently he expects to run for reelection in 2024.

Related

Golden Trump statue at CPAC 2021 was no graven image, according to the artist

This early on, wannabe candidates must raise their profiles, show their commitment to the party, and raise money, one Republican strategist said, to get on peoples radars even when your candidacy is in a holding pattern.

Some of the most visible 2024 presidential candidates will surely flame out long before the Iowa caucus, and theres always the chance that the next Republican nominee isnt yet considered a serious player . Theres a million and one things that will happen between now and then that will shape the race in ways we cant now predict, but the invisible primary that comes before any votes are cast has started.

Heres your very early guide to some of 2024s Republican presidential candidates, based on early polling, interviews with Republican donors and strategists and results from online political betting markets.

The Louisiana Primary System

The Louisiana system, sometimes called the “Cajun Primary,” eliminates the primary election altogether. Instead, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run on the same ballot in November. If a candidate receives more than half of the votes, that candidate is elected. If no candidate wins with a majority, the top two vote-getters face off in a December runoff election. Qualified absentee voters receive a ballot for the November election and a ranked ballot for the December runoff, so that they can vote as normal in the general election and then have their ranked ballot count for whichever runoff candidate they ranked highest in the runoff election.

Although Louisiana law refers to the election in November as the “primary” and the December runoff as the “general” election, the November election takes place on the federally mandated Election Day and most candidates win office by receiving a majority vote in that election, so it is best understood as a general election, with the December election as a contingent runoff.

The Louisiana system is sometimes mistakenly equated with the Top Two system, but holding the first election in November and electing any candidate with more than 50% of the vote in that election makes it sufficiently distinct that it should not be understood as a mere variant of Top Two.

Read Also: How Many Republicans Caucused In Iowa

Trump Election Lawsuits Have Mostly Failed Here’s What They Tried

In the Senate, Democrats have so far gained one seat, but they need three with a Biden win to take over the chamber. Democrats still have a chance of doing that with two runoff elections in Georgia. That’s seen as possible, but not likely.

It wasn’t expected to be this way. Democrats had put lots of Senate races in play, ones not expected to go their way at the beginning of the 2020 cycle, places like Kansas and Montana.

To be sure, many of the Senate races were expected to be close, perhaps with razor-thin margins, and a Democrat-controlled Senate was never an assured outcome. But when you look at the average of the polls in the last week of the election versus the ultimate result, it’s clear that Republicans were underrepresented all across the country.

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All of these races, except Colorado and Alabama, were within single digits in the polls. Colorado, a state Biden won handily, wound up pretty close to the average. Alabama, a state Trump won by a lot, was an even bigger blowout than expected.

Many of the supposedly tightest races didn’t wind up tight at all. Maine is perhaps the most stunning one. Biden won the state by 9 percentage points, but Republican incumbent Susan Collins won reelection by 9 points.

Not only was Collins down by 4 points heading into Election Day in an average of the polls in the week before the election, but she led in just one poll in all of 2020. And that was back in July. That’s one poll out of almost three dozen.

Relationship With The Press

Did The 2014 Primaries Do The GOP Any Good? | Drinking And Talking

Throughout his career, Trump has sought media attention, with a “lovehate” relationship with the press. Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s. Fox News anchor and former House speaker have characterized Trump as a “” who makes controversial statements to see people’s “heads explode.”

In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.New York Times writer wrote in 2018 that Trump’s media dominance, which enthralls the public and creates “can’t miss” reality television-type coverage, was politically beneficial for him.

As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the “fake news media” and “the .” In 2018, journalist recounted Trump’s saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media “so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.”

As president, Trump deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for alleged defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.

Don’t Miss: Will Any Republicans Vote To Remove Trump

Garcia Was An Unusually Good Candidate

Republicans lucked into an unusually strong candidate in Garcia, a former Navy pilot running in a district with a significant defense presence, and a Latino in a district whose electorate has become one-third Latino. He managed to beat the previous Republican holder of the seat, Steve Knight, in the February primary in order to win a Top Two position opposite Smith, which was welcomed by Republican strategists. His campaign was well-financed.

Republican Party Primaries 2020

2020 Republican Party primary elections Battleground primaries Primaries by state Submit

Ballotpedia covered every Republican Party state and federal primary in 2020 to highlight the intraparty conflicts that shaped the party and the general election. This page is an overview of those primaries, with links to Ballotpedia’s coverage of all Republican U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and state-level primaries.

to read about Democratic Party primaries in 2020.

You May Like: What Are The Views Of Republicans

Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

Haley, 49, stands out in the potential pool of 2024 Republican candidates by her resume. She has experience as an executive as the former governor of South Carolina and foreign policy experience from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley was a member of the Republican Partys 2010 tea party class. A former South Carolina state representative, her long shot gubernatorial campaign saw its fortunes improve after she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Haley rocketed from fourth to first just days after the endorsement, and she went on to clinch the nomination and become her states first female and first Indian-American governor.

As governor, she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol following the white supremacist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. She left office in 2017 to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Quinnipiac poll found she was at one point the most popular member of Trumps foreign policy team.

I think that shes done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume, said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolinas department of political science.

Haley criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, saying she was disgusted by his conduct. Oldendick said he thought her pretty pointed criticism of the president will potentially cause some problems.

‘im Going To Be In Your Backyard’: Trump Sons Threaten Primaries For Gop Lawmakers

Fox News, which had been carrying the remarks live, dropped its feed of the rally after the expletives uttered by the president’s son aired uncensored.

Donald Trump Jr. speaks Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the “Save America Rally.” | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

01/06/2021 11:48 AM EST

Link Copied

President Donald Trumps eldest sons threatened Republican lawmakers at a large rally outside the White House on Wednesday, pledging that their family would continue to dispute the results of the 2020 election just hours before Congress was set to certify President-elect Joe Bidens Electoral College victory.

To those Republicans, many of which may be voting on things in the coming hours: You have an opportunity today, Donald Trump Jr. told the crowd gathered for the Save America March on the White House Ellipse. You can be a hero, or you can be a zero. And the choice is yours. But we are all watching. The whole world is watching, folks. Choose wisely.

Several House Republicans and roughly a dozen senators have announced plans to object to individual states electoral vote counts when Congress meets for a joint session this afternoon. And though their effort to reverse the elections outcome has virtually no chance of succeeding, the president had applied increasing public pressure on Vice President Mike Pence who will preside over the proceedings to attempt to thwart Bidens win.

Recommended Reading: Are There Any Republicans For Impeachment

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-did-republicans-do-in-the-primaries/

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/sundance-2018-day-5-chloe-moretz-conversion-therapy-ophelia-dark-money/

Sundance 2018 Day 5: Chloë Moretz Conversion Therapy, 'Ophelia' and 'Dark Money'

It's already the middle of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival season, and things are only getting better including Chloë Grace Moretz in The Miseducation of Cameron Post which is a big must see. This is her standout award-winning role so don't be surprised to see it pick up a few awards in 2019. As we previously reported, 16 of the 2018 Academy Award nominations were on films that Sundance had supported so you can expect this one to be yet another.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The titular heroine of The Miseducation of Cameron Post seems like any other pretty girl at her high school — until she’s caught making out with another female student and gets sent to an aggressive conversion therapy center. The latest comedy-drama from Sundance vet Desiree Akhavan premiered Monday in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Chloë Grace Moretz offers a complex, winning performance as Cameron, who is sent to live in a Cuckoo’s Nest–like setting where she befriends the other so-called “bad kids” forced to endure “pray the gay away” treatment. The group of kids, including an amputee who goes by “Jane Fonda” (an affecting Sasha Lane), develop a strong connection and begin to create their own sense of validation, under the watchful eye of a Nurse Ratched–like doctor (Jennifer Ehle) and her gentle brother (John Gallagher Jr.), who the kids learn was once just like them. Fans of Akhavan’s previous rom-com Appropriate Behavior will notice the way she punctuates dramatic scenes with her distinctive humor in the new film, which she co-adapted along with Cecilia Frugiuele from the popular novel by Emily M. Danforth. “I read the book and laughed so hard, and I felt like shit too,” Akhavan told the audience during the Q&A that followed the premiere. “That was the goal.” Moretz, who said that she and Akhavan met with many conversion therapy survivors, added that she was struck by the script’s humor the very first time she read it. “One of our first conversations was about [how] the reality these kids deal with is so heavy, but we wanted the interpersonal relationships to be real and fun,” she said. The director said she was initially terrified of the project because the scope and the ensemble were so big. “I loved the book so much that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it,” she shared. “What’s amazing [as] a director is just having good taste and believing in that taste and never wavering in it. It’s a good film because I curated a very good team. I would have been too intimidated to make this without the tools I needed.”

Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.

“Never make films about people who are still alive.” The second-ever screening of a highly anticipated music documentary is news enough, but those who were at the Prospector Theater on Monday night were treated to a double dose of drama. The first part of the program happened on screen in the form of Matangi / Maya / M.I.A., a film that traces the rise of international pop star M.I.A. (aka Maya Arulpragasam) from Sri Lanka to London, from art school to activism, the Super Bowl and beyond. The film was directed by Steve Loveridge, Maya’s schoolmate from when they were both aspiring documentary filmmakers, and includes footage shot by both Loveridge and Maya herself, whose diary-like entries from a trip back to Sri Lanka in 2001 serve as a recurring motif for the narrative. The second part of the program happened on stage, as Loveridge was joined by Arulpragasam for a Q&A session that was notable for the level of candor and tension publicly exhibited by two artists coming to terms with the fruits of their collaboration and friendship. Throughout the 15-minute session, an emotional pendulum swung between them, and between a sense of peaceful accomplishment and tetchy unfinished business. Things started out tame enough as Loveridge talked of their initial connection. “We met at art school at about 1995, doing a fine art degree at Central Saint Martins, and we were specializing in film and video. This girl turned up from out of the blue with pink stilettos and hoop earrings and was like, ‘Hey I’m here.’ I was the shyest person ever, really timid. And it was a really unlikely friendship,” he said. During the ensuing years, they remained friends, and Maya remained more interested in film than music. “She never mentioned doing music or having any aspirations to do anything like make songs. She couldn’t sing,” he said, which elicited an eyebrow raise from Arulpragasam, “and then suddenly out of nowhere, as she says in the film—it happened so fast.” Then Arulpragasam, dressed in a big orange Muppet-shag-furry coat, took the mic. (The two shared a single microphone, and their passing—or stealing—it back and forth became a side drama throughout the session.) Without prompting, she began to share her feelings about the film. “Yesterday when I watched it, I was in shock. Today I feel like I like it,” she said. “Though there are still 300 different edits that I want. I feel like there’s loads of bits of me that don’t need to be there, really.” “I think everything’s there for a reason, and making sense out of chaos was a big part of the job on this,” Loveridge said. When asked about her specific grievances with the film, she continued. “I would change the ending,” she said. “And it would be less about me and more about…” “You can imagine how difficult this has been to make,” Loveridge said, to laughs, after recovering the mic. Then he turned to his subject. “You chose me and that’s what you get,” he said, to which the star smiled, and the audience roared. Arulpragasam was asked about the incident at the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show when she flipped the bird to the television audience, which led to further wrangling over the mic, though Loveridge said it was to protect the artist from saying something she wasn’t supposed to say, per a legal agreement with the NFL. She talked about her lack of representation, with a manager quitting the day before the incident, and a general lack of understanding of the challenges she faces, which she thought wasn’t fully covered by the film. “There really was a lot of stuff he left out. It’s not just misunderstanding from the press, which I think this feels like. It was also inside the industry, and it was chaos everywhere. People go, ‘Well you create it; you create it.’ But it was just sort of not having people that understand all the different communities that went into making up who I was,” she said. Then she looked back over to Loveridge. “It was very difficult to connect the dots,” she said. “But you did well.” Loveridge repaid the compliments, getting teary as he spoke of his friend of two decades. “The toughness and confidence that you have to have, on the street and backstage and in your private and family life, that confidence behind the scenes is even more impressive. The battles that nobody knows about, with record labels and shitty producers and men that don’t give you the credit. I’ve seen you battle through some really difficult things,” he said. “And I think your confidence is really contagious. You make me braver. I think it’s really precious the trust you gave me.” “I haven’t had therapy yet,” Arulpragasam said, eliciting laughs, before grappling in real time with what the film stirred up in her. “It feels like that’s what the art is there for, to work those things out. But the problem is that I haven’t gotten around to just making what I want to make. You just feel like a sponge for the stuff around you. So you get sucked into talking about those things. That’s kind of why this footage is really weird to watch for me. Like the stuff at home, it’s not even my family now. It hasn’t properly been dealt with.” When asked why more entertainers with huge audiences don’t use their fame to speak out about causes they care about, as Arulpragasam has throughout her career, she talked about the importance of her trip back to Sri Lanka and alluded to how things have changed in recent months. “I wasn’t political until I had gone there. Because I didn’t know,” she said. “I think that’s why even people with platforms, their intentions might be good and they might be good people, but they just don’t know what’s going on. Sometimes I felt like there was something wrong with me, that I was seeing all of this craziness and nobody else was. But now I feel like I’m quite normal.” Yet she also talked about working out how and when to express herself. “What’s good anger and what’s not good anger? Everybody was like, ‘Oh my god you need to get a Twitter editor, you can’t have direct access to Twitter,’ which I know you guys say that about Donald Trump. But you said it about me first,” she said, slyly. “I’ve just tried to work what’s ego anger. If your anger is led by ego, then I think it’s shit.” Then Arulpragasam and Loveridge hugged, waved, and handed over their microphone, likely continuing their conversation backstage, and perhaps on other stages to come.

Dark Money

Citizens of the state of Montana have a keen sense of what can go wrong when corporations get involved in politics. In 1912, after a copper mining magnate tried to buy a seat in the U.S. Senate, the state passed one of the first laws prohibiting campaign contributions from corporations. That awareness of the need to prevent the excesses of capitalism has remained with Montanans to this day. Other states passed similar laws in later years, but when the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling was passed down in 2010 — allowing corporations to contribute without disclosure, resulting in unlimited, untraceable “dark money” to pour into campaigns around the country — Montana was the only state that fought back. Kimberly Reed’s Dark Money follows the government officials, journalists, and citizens who stood up for the integrity of the political process in the conservative state. As Reed brought the contributors on stage at the film’s premiere, she expressed her gratitude. She also reminded the audience that these individuals are not so different from the rest of us: “These are everyday heroes — who are working in government, who are journalists — who are taking back our democracy by just paying attention.” “Paying attention” may be a bit easier in a state with Montana’s population, but Reed wants to “show other states how they can pay attention so that every state is as small as Montana [and] we can pay attention to where this money is coming from and crack down on it.” Former Federal Election Commission member Ann M. Ravel said that the most important thing we can all do to help in this effort is to get involved. “You have to be engaged, and you have to get other people engaged too. … Engagement in the political process is the most important way that we can make a difference.” The group shared some ideas on how we can all do a better job of this: Vote. Contribute to candidates that support ideas like clean campaign funding. Volunteer. Support journalism, whether it’s independent or larger news organizations, by paying for subscriptions. Stay informed on campaign finance issues through resources like FollowTheMoney.org and OpenSecrets.org. Support laws that require full disclosure of political candidates’ finances. Get involved with your political party, which is sometimes more effective than focusing on just one specific issue. Run for office yourself. Hold your elected officials accountable, and make them answer questions about campaign finance. Those who worked on this story hope it will act as a case study for others around the country to follow. Reed explained, “Our hope with the film is to show what happened with the microcosm in Montana, but to do so in a way that is inspiring to everybody else in all the other 49 states. … All of us need work on this front.”

Ophelia

Easily one of the most lavishly made films of the 2018 Festival, Ophelia is a feast for the eyes. Adapted from Lisa Klein’s young adult novel, director Claire McCarthy’s retelling of Hamlet through the eyes of its tragic heroine debuted in the Premiere section Monday night. Daisy Ridley makes an appealing period heroine as the lady-in-waiting to the queen (Naomi Watts), who catches the eye of Prince Hamlet (George MacKay) as things in the palace begin to go awry. Forced to keep their affair a secret, many betrayals strike the court, and threaten to destroy a royal family forever, but don’t expect the film to end the way Shakespeare wrote it. This Ophelia is not the doomed teenager we’ve seen countless times. She’s a heroine for this age of female empowerment. McCarthy, whose long red locks resemble those worn by Ridley in the movie, explained that this revisionist look at the familiar story allows viewers to see gender parity through the frame in which women are often shut out of the conversation. “I think there’s a new frontier that we’re moving through when we start to see things through a different point of view by allowing women to have a voice and also to enable to have men have a voice in a different way,” she told the audience after the screening. “In the original play she’s undone by her relationship with Hamlet,” she said. “In this version, we wanted to turn that on its head and create an Ophelia that’s a much more empowered character who takes agency in her life and making choices as opposed to being a victim of them.” Watts, who plays dual roles including Queen Gertrude, agreed that this is a refreshing way to experience the classic story. “It was great to create these fantastic, multi-dimensional parts for women,” she stated. The actress also joked that she read the Cliff Notes of Hamlet and watched the Mel Gibson version of the film in preparation and noted the relevance of the story to modern audiences. “It’s not always easy to put Shakespeare on film,” she said. “The themes of the play and film are still so relevant today. We turned it on its head and drove it through the female point of view. It just makes it unbelievably relevant.” The director spoke about how the location (the spectacular scenery of Czechoslovakia, substituting for Denmark is a highlight) serves as a character in the story. “In some ways, it feels like the original Hamlet and the classic representations of Ophelia –– she’s viewed from above from a God’s eye view, and she’s almost consumed by nature and the world around her,” she shared. “In this version, we wanted to take the camera underwater and put Ophelia’s experience inside the drama. We wanted to see her as part of nature, not just a victim of the world around her.”

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[garynsmith]

20 secrets for maximizing your Inman Connect San Francisco experience

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Inman Connect in San Francisco is one of my favorite weeks of the summer. Let me share a few conference road warrior tips that I’ve learned from the best over the years.

They just might make your trip more pleasant, and help you get a bit more out of the conference:

1. Register right now

Register for #ICSF 2017 (use promo code “Sam” for $200 off)

2. Digitally prepare

Download the app.

Win and close more buyers with an exclusive mortgage product

Partner with a brokerage that packages buyer rebates with discounted loans READ MORE

3. Start networking

Join the Inman Coast to Coast Facebook Group to start networking.

4. Book airfare

OAK and SFO airports are about equidistant from the hotel.

5. Make hotel reservations

The conference is at the San Francisco Hilton Union Square where you can book your room.

6. Pack 

ICSF is a full week. Pack your neck pillow for travel. I recommend the really dorky one with the clip in front. It looks like an involuntary restraint device, but it’s worth its weight in gold.

The city can be chilly at night, even in summer. The conference rooms can be cold. Pack layers. Pack something fancy for the Innovator Bash.

Pack gym clothes — really. A brisk walk or run in the San Francisco air will do wonders for your mental and physical stamina over the long week. As a side benefit, you won’t feel bad about eating all of the crab cakes at ListHub’s shindig.

Pack business cards. People still use them. They’re also a physical band-aid for the places where conference brain cells sometimes disappear.

San Francisco is not cheap. If you are (hand raised!), pack a one-quart Ziploc bag with an assortment of three-ounce libations in your carry-on. It may come in handy.

7. Schedule your events

All kinds of companies sponsor events and parties, some of which are “come one, come all,” while others are very small. Ask your vendors for tickets beforehand if they’ll be hosting. Check in with the main sponsors of the conference.

Try to make as many events as possible, as the networking opportunities are outstanding. You can sleep when you get home.

8. Karaoke

Put it on your to-do list. It’s a rite of passage. I’ll back you up.

9. Set meetings beforehand

Don’t follow your nose around for the week. Meetings are half the value. Who do you want to meet: vendors, executives, brokers, agents, consultants? You might miss them passing in the halls during the week. Get them on the calendar for 15 minutes, and make sure you connect.

Accept invites from folks you don’t know well. You can have lunch and dinner with your friends from home when you’re at home.

10. Fly like a pro

Did you get assigned a bad seat? At the gate counter, nicely, with a smile, say the name of the person you’re speaking to, and ask if any seats have opened up. You’re in sales, you know how this works. Seats magically appear.

Get some noise canceling headphones. Or, for the more economically minded (this is becoming a theme), download a white noise/static app, and blast it through your ear buds. Snap on your neck pillow, and close your eyes.

Sometimes you get stuck next to a particularly invasive seatmate. Getting upset helps no one. Apply one of those three-ounce sleep aid elixirs to your situation. Breathe deeply. It’s only a few hours. You can do it if I can.

(That’s not your tray, friend)

The lines for airline restrooms often get long. Here’s a little known fact: Those restrooms up in first class aren’t only for first class passengers. They’re also for coach passengers who are faster than flight attendants.

11. Speed your arrival in San Francisco

You’re going to want to get through the airport quickly because there’s still a significant car or train ride ahead. Don’t go to the first restroom you see. That line’s always longest when you’re deplaning. Head to the restrooms near the middle of the terminal.

Before you exit through security, grab some water and a snack from the shortest shop line.

12. Get from the airport to the hotel

Catch a BART train or Uber/Lyft into the city. For added excitement (or because we already established that you’re cheap), you can Uber pool and share a car with a stranger.

If you’re in a car, plan on traffic being horrendous. If it’s not, count yourself as lucky.

On the ride, join your hotel’s rewards program. Check in early on the hotel’s app. You’ll probably have access to a much shorter line when you arrive and upgrades are more likely.

13. Prepare for the city

San Francisco is a big city. There are some great tourist activities and beautiful locations. There are also some seedy areas, and your conference name badge around your neck screams “My wallet pocket wants your hand in it.”

Be aware, and don’t head out at night on your own without knowing where you’re going.

14. Efficiently attend sessions

Make sure you’re there for the opening sessions. The energy in the room is amazing, and the speakers are always outstanding. Don’t be surprised when the talks aren’t all about real estate. Some of the best are completely out of left field.

Great afternoon tracks often overlap. Team up with someone; divide and conquer the dueling sessions. Compare notes later.

Make time to visit Startup Alley, and see which products might help your business. There are a lot of booths to visit. Go easy on these folks. They’re often techies who are new to sales, they’re pitching all day long, and some of them just might make your job easier.

15. Lobbycon (it can be a verb or a noun)

Every time you need a break from sessions, take it in the lobby. Lobbycon is like the Bilderberg of real estate, except that we peons are allowed to mingle with the industry icons.

Overwhelmed by the crowd? Find an Inman Ambassador, and ask for an introduction to whomever you’d like to speak with.

Don’t shy away from the vendors — they’re not always selling. Some of the most interesting industry things I’ve learned at Inman have been through Lobbyconning with vendors.

16. Follow the Inman golden rule: ‘Don’t go big on the first night’

It’s exciting to be traveling in a world-class city, but the week is a marathon. The evening revelries will increase in number and scale by the day.

Have fun, but keep some powder dry for Thursday night. You’ve still got to do some business to write this trip off on your taxes.

17.  Take a zap nap

This is another secret I learned from the conference Jedi masters who came before me. If you get up in the morning for the Connect wakeup, go to nine sessions, three meetings, a dinner and two vendor parties, you’re going to be wiped out at least one day.

When you get tired at midday, try the zap nap: Set an alarm for 20-30 minutes, chug a cup of coffee and immediately take a nap before it kicks in. You’ll wake up charged and alert, and you’ll thank me for it later.

18. Experience closing day

Be ready for Friday. The content has gotten meatier every year. New Kids on the Block, a crowd favorite, showcases the brightest new startups.

The CEOs of some of real estate’s biggest brokerage companies, including Coldwell Banker’s Charlie Young and BHGRE’s Sherry Chris will be on stage.

Our Inman hackers will be debuting an app they’re building during Connect week.

19. Reconnect after Connect

When you get home, sleep in, then regroup. You will have collected lots of business cards during the week. Connect with these folks on social media. Send a thank you email to those you had a good conversation with.

Immediately start implementing one business improvement process that you took away from Connect. Make the value of your Connect week last.

20. Book ICNY for 2018

It usually starts at $500 or $600 the day ICSF ends. It’s the best deal you’ll get all year.

See you in San Francisco.

Sam DeBord is managing broker of Seattle Homes Group, VP of Strategic Growth for Coldwell Banker Danforth, and President of Seattle King County Realtors. You can find his team at SeattleHomes.com and BellevueHomes.com.

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[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Parallels | Chapter 7

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: Wow - Dirty Candy

Warnings: Party, mention of alcohol, underage drinking

Words:  2,758

When Bobby came back home that night, he didn’t expect Carrie’s friend to still be with her. The two of them were on the couch together, a movie on the tv they had long abandoned for some girl talk. 

There was something different about Violet that he couldn’t quite place. It was the way she carried herself around and the way she dressed. But then again, he had been gone for months on end and the girl was going through puberty. There was bound to be some change in behavior and style. 

“Hey ladies,” Bobby greeted, leaving his suitcases in the foyer before joining them in the den. He took a seat next to his sister and kicked off his shoes, noticing that their conversation had come to a stop. 

“What’s up, Bobber– eee…. Bobby?” Violet quickly corrected herself, remembering the other Violet didn’t call him Bobbers like she did back home. “Got the equipment settled?” 

Furrowing his brows, Bobby nodded his head. Violet usually never asked any questions. She just sat next to Carrie and listened to them bicker for a few minutes without saying a word. Ever since the incident with Luke happened, she barely talked to any of the boys and now she wants to make small talk and flirt with Luke? That wasn’t right. 

And every day after that, it became weirder and weirder. 

The girls were always together at the Wilson house. Either all four of them, or Carrie and Violet together. They seemed even more inseparable than ever. And every time he came into the room, the conversation would stop and Carrie would ask where he was going and what the boys were up to. 

Bobby figured it just had to be some girl thing and about the flirting-with-Luke thing that happened the closing night of their grand tour. For now, he let it slide, but made a mental note to keep an eye out on those girls. Especially Violet. 

It was the next Friday night, exactly a week after their gig at the Orpheum when Bobby and the boys went to their favorite club. The first one they ever played at. Carrie, being Carrie, knew exactly where he was going and called her girls, saying they were going out that night and that they needed to dress hot. 

Violet went through her parallel self’s closet and found the most perfect outfit in a jiffy. Black leather pants with a lace bralet, covered by a bright red blouse that she secured in a knot at the bottom, showing just enough skin. Paired with the only pair of heels Violet owned, the right amount of jewellery, the right makeup and hairdo, she was good to go. 

“Where do you keep getting these outfits?!” Julie exclaimed excitedly when her friend approached her and Flynn at the club’s entrance. 

Violet shrugged. “I found those pants in the back of her closet and the rest is just something classy I turned into something badass. – No offense to your Violet.” 

“None taken,” Flynn smiled. “I believe she used those trousers when she played Sandy in Grease. She looked hot in those, but she didn’t feel too hot when –” Julie nudged Flynn in the ribs, stopping her before she said too much. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t say that.” 

Before Violet could ask about it, Carrie joined the group in her dazzling outfit. It resembled Violet’s outfit on the night of the Orpheum gig but with flowers instead of stars. She looked absolutely stunning. 

“Why do we always look this hot?!” Flynn pointed out, shaking her head in fake-disbelief. 

Julie giggled and hooked her arms through Carrie’s and Violet’s. The latter grabbed Flynn’s arm, and together, they made their way towards the club’s door where the security guard was checking other people’s ID’s. 

“How are we gonna get inside?” Violet asked Carrie. 

She chuckled. “Please, sweetie, I’m Bobby Wilson’s sister. I can get us in.” 

“ID,” the security guard barked at the four girls, who were clearly minors. A flash of nerves burst through Violet’s body. She had done her fair share of clubs in her own universe when Carrie used her father as free pass, but now she wasn’t so certain Carrie could get them in. 

“Patrick, it’s me! Carrie!” Carrie said, the pitch of her voice higher than normal. 

Patrick, the security guard, a burly man with a goatee, looked the blonde girl up and down before the brightest, widest smile appeared on his face. “Oh! Hey Carrie! Go on in! Your brother’s here already!” His voice was a lot less barky and sounded almost as sweet as sugar. 

“Thank you, Patrick,” the four girls all sang before heading inside where the crowd was jumping and the bass was thumping. The clubscene wasn’t quite so different from Violet’s universe. 

Violet felt the bass vibrate through her lungs. The feeling removed any nerves she was feeling and made room for excitement instead. Excitement for a night out. Excitement to dance the night away. Even if she wouldn’t see Luke to continue their plan, she was still excited. 

“What now?!” Julie questioned, yelling over the music to her friends. 

Violet smirked as she spotted Luke on the other side of the club, in the VIP area. His eyes were locked on her, as if he’d been waiting for her to walk through the doors of that club since he’d gotten there. “We dance,” she shrugged and started moving to the song that was playing. 

“Anyone want anything to drink?” Carrie asked  her friends, but before she could even move towards the bar, Violet stopped her. The confidence that the music fuelled reached levels Violet didn’t even understand. 

“Never pay for your own drinks,” she said, the corner of her mouth curling up on one side. “Let the drinks come to you…” As the words left her mouth, two guys walked up to them and handed them some drinks before they started dancing with the girls. 

Carrie’s eyes widened, surprised at the knowledge this girl held about clubbing. She must do a lot of it back home in her own universe, Carrie thought. The way Violet carried herself in this club, the way she danced around those boys and sipped whatever drink was in her cup. 

“What are you doing?!” Carrie giggled, screaming into Violet’s ear as the music was too loud otherwise. Violet swayed her hips along with the boy behind her. He had his hands on her waist and his cheek pressed to hers as they danced together. 

Violet smiled. “Just wait and see,” she said and it was like every time she spoke, something happened. This time around, Luke came walking up to her and took her away from the guy grinding on her. “Told you!” she yelled at Carrie before turning around to Luke. 

“Hey,” he said, smiling as he began to dance with her instead. 

Violet smiled. “Hi! Didn’t think you’d be out right now. Figured you’d be too tired after that world tour!” she practically yelled in his ear. Her hot breath tickled his neck and sent shivers down his spine. 

His hand landed carefully on the small of  her back as he yelled back into her ear. “Never too tired to dance with a beautiful girl.” Violet rolled her eyes playfully at his corny line and sipped seductively from her straw. She was pretty sure there was some alcohol in this drink. 

“That line actually works on girls?” she asked, wrapping an arm around his neck as they danced together. 

Luke tried to ignore the fact that her touch felt like electricity or that she was so close to him, and answered her question with a shrug. “You tell me.” That wasn’t an answer she expected. She couldn’t help the smile landing on her lips. 

“You’re ridiculous, Patterson,” she retorted, shaking her head. 

“And you’re ridiculously beautiful, Dawson.” 

On the other side of the club, Bobby had found his sister with Julie and Flynn. He was furious. This wasn’t a place for sixteen-year-olds. And especially not his sister and her friends. 

“Calm down, Bobby!” Carrie scolded. “We’re just here to have fun!” 

“You can have fun at home, Carrie! Get your friends and go home!” he furiously pointed towards the door while his sister rolled her eyes at him. 

She nodded towards Violet and Luke, who were getting cosier with the second a few feet further. “Try to tell her that,” she said when Bobby’s eyes landed on the couple. 

Now he couldn’t just let it slide. There was clearly something going on with Violet and he needed to know what it was. She couldn’t just have changed. The style, the confidence. None of that was the Violet he knew. That Violet wouldn’t ever set foot in this joint. 

“What’s going on with Violet?” he finally asked. 

Carrie’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, look at her! She’s full of confidence, flirting with Luke, dressing like that! That’s not Violet!” 

Carrie’s heart skipped a few beats as her mind raced over every possible excuse she could come up with. “A lot can change over a few months, Bobby,” she finally managed to come up with. Before Bobby could ask anything else, Carrie sashayed away towards Julie and Flynn to dance with them. 

Soon enough, Reggie and Alex joined Carrie, Julie and Flynn on the dancefloor, and eventually, Violet and Luke returned too. Only Bobby stayed behind. Brooding on the sidelines. Something was going on and he had to find out what it was. He couldn’t just let this go. He had to figure this one out. It was like he had landed in an alternate universe. 

The living room was buzzing with dancing bodies and the floor was thumping with the bass of the music. The party at the Wilson Residence was popping off and it had only been an hour since it had started. 

Though everyone from their school seemed to be there, some people were still missing. Violet started to get nervous, thinking neither of the boys were going to show up like they had thought they would. Maybe all of this wasn’t such a great plan after all. 

“Care… I don’t think they’re gonna come,” she said to Carrie, who was chatting to some cheerleaders in the kitchen. 

She smiled apologetically at the girls before taking Violet somewhere else where they could talk properly. “What makes you think that? The night has just started!” she stated with an excited smile on her face. “Besides, no one would ever wanna miss a Wilson party! That would be social suicide.” 

“I don’t know, Carrie… Luke sounded pretty adamant about not joining the band…” 

Carrie sighed as her eyes flicked to somewhere behind Violet. “You might wanna rethink that,” she said and pointed to wherever she was looking. Violet turned her head and found Alex and his boyfriend strolling through the living room with Reggie and his friends a few feet behind. Then, her eyes landed on the front door where the band’s former leading man just walked through. 

A relieved breath escaped her lungs and she allowed herself to smile a little. Now all there was to do, was wait until the boys rekindled their friendship themselves. Though, pretty soon after they had arrived, everything went downhill. 

While Reggie and Alex seemed to be okay, when Bobby went to talk to Luke, the latter put up quite the tough front. He started yelling at Bobby about how he would never form a band with him anymore. Not even the largest sum of money would be able to get him back in that band. 

Violet watched the whole scene unfold in front of her and before she could stop herself, she stepped up in between them. “Quit it, Patterson!” she yelled at him, confidence on full blast until the boy looked into her eyes and all that confidence washed away as soon as it came. 

“And what are you gonna do, Bubblegum Princess?” he asked, cockily. Violet wanted to punch that confident smirk right off his face, but the reminder of what he had done to her still floated back to the front of her brain. 

“I– I…” she stuttered and let her head hang down. This was no use. She was never going to get the confidence to talk to Luke, let alone look him in the eyes. This whole entire plan was not going to work. Unless… 

“That’s what I thought,” Luke spat and pushed past Bobby and Violet. 

Violet quickly made a beeline towards Carrie and the other Dirty Candy girls, who had all seen the scene unfold. “We gotta do something. We gotta show ‘em that having a band is important!” 

“How did you wanna do that?” Carrie asked. 

Violet breathed in all the courage she had. “Perform as a band.” 

Carrie exchanged glances with the other girls and wordlessly, they all agreed. As they got their microphones ready and into position, Carrie took one last glance at Violet. The instrumental version of their song started to play through the speakers, but she quickly reached out to Violet’s blouse and ripped it open, revealing a bright blue bralet. The girl winked at her best friend before the band started to sing and dance. 

“See 'em look Hear 'em, "Ooh aah" Hands up, throw back, boo yah We're the best, no doubt Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow" Made moves On the rise now Run stuff, get a piece of that pie now We're the best, no doubt Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"”

Violet surprised herself with her memory of this song and the entire dance routine. She barely made any mistakes on that first chorus, which gave her the confidence to continue and give her all as the party-goers watched them in awe. 

“Yeah, we're going sky-high and we never gonna settle Living in the fast lane, pedal to the metal We see it, we want it We get it, we got it Everybody lose control”

Most of the people at the party knew the words and cheered the band on. Though, Violet’s eyes were focused on just three people. While Alex and Reggie actually seemed friendly and enjoyed the performance, Luke was begrudgingly watching. She could tell he was looking for a good reason to stay.

“We came to play, where you at We're going hard Just like that, yeah We're the bomb, chain react Blow their minds and watch them”

Violet made sure to lock eyes with Luke before sending a wink his way. The smirk that befell his lips right after fuelled her confidence even more. Especially since she knew it was an involuntary smirk as he wiped it off right after and played it off. 

“See 'em look Hear 'em, "Ooh aah" Hands up, throw back, boo yah We're the best, no doubt Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow" Made moves On the rise now Run stuff, get a piece of that pie now We're the best, no doubt Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"”

Her eyes followed Alex and Reggie as they, too, split up and went back to their own friends. Their plan was crumbling apart right in front of their own eyes. 

“Come follow me, we're goin' make history Cause we are the champions like Freddie Mercury Yeah, we gonna rock you, never gonna not too Always making headlines, yeah, we're the hot news”

As the girls lapsed back into the chorus, Violet’s eyes darted back to Luke, who slowly turned around and made a beeline towards the door. Carrie noticed this too and shot a worried glance at Violet. Even Alex left with his boyfriend, and soon after, Reggie and his friends too. There went their chance at their plan succeeding. 

“See 'em look Hear 'em, "Ooh aah" Hands up, throw back, boo yah We're the best, no doubt Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"”

“Wow, wow Wow, wow Wow, wow Wow Check it out, yeah, we make 'em say, "Wow"”

As the music faded out, Violet couldn’t help but feel absolute dread. Even though the crowd went wild over their performance, she still couldn’t feel happy. Not getting the boys back together meant not being able to go back to her universe. It meant not going back to Julie and Flynn, to making music in Julie’s garage. It meant not having her parents together. It meant being stuck here…   

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[isnt-that-wizardd]

Sticky Note Love

The long-awaited PART THREE of my Nick/Pretty Lacrosse Boy(aka Tyler Doyle) fics! You can read parts one and two HERE on AO3, or search “Slow On The Uptake” and “Varsity Letter Jackets” on my blog!

Thank you so much to everyone who has been enjoying my silly little extremely niche ship of Nick and some random, pretty extra on the show. These two bring me an insane amount of joy and I’m so happy you guys are feeling it too. For some bonus content, check out @zendrella and my Twitter AU, where Tyler and Nick are included!! This fic is being crossposted to AO3, just like the others, so you can read it there if you’d like- click here!

SUMMARY: Nick and Tyler and officially dating, and both of them are convinced they’ve never been happier. Over the first month of their relationship, Nick keeps finding lime green sticky notes- on and in his locker, in his textbooks, even in his house. Each one is signed by his boyfriend, and Nick isn’t sure he’s ever going to stop smiling.

----------

Neither Nick nor Tyler were sure their first date could have gone any worse.

Tyler had texted Nick about five minutes before he was supposed to pick him up that he'd be late; one of his dogs had puked all over the shoes Tyler had been wearing, so he'd had to clean that up, clean the mess that hadn't made it on his shoes, and then Tyler spent about five minutes rummaging through the closet or a different pair of shoes until he just gave up and took a pair that belonged to Dylan. When he'd finally made it to the Danforth-Evans residence, Nick had come out of the house sparkling. Literally. Arabella had decided to throw an impromptu princess party, it seemed, and had thrown some glitter over Nick as "good luck"- Tyler didn't have as many complaints as Nick over that, though; he looked really pretty. Then there was the poor waitress with a full tray who had gotten tripped by a toddler running away from their parents and had spilled almost half of the tray right onto Nick. Nick, in his surprise at the sudden lap full of salad and cool drink running down his shirt, had bumped the table hard enough to topple some of their food off of it and onto Tyler instead. The entire evening seemed to be one mishap after another. Low gas in Tyler's car, a wrong turn in Hollywood that got them stuck in traffic, Nick having a moment of panic as he realized he'd completely forgotten an important homework assignment due the next day. By all accounts, it was an awful first date. 

But the entire time, they never ran out of things to talk about, kept trading shy but happy smiles, and gently held hands as they waited for traffic to finally move. The night had ended with Tyler walking Nick to his front door, both of them laughing at everything that had gone wrong. It ended with a hug neither of them wanted to let go of because the other was warm, and smelled nice, and holding them comfortably, and it just felt right. It ended with Tyler whispering good night in Nick's ear before pulling away from the hug and pressing a light kiss to Nick's cheek, face tomato red as he promised to text Nick later. It ended with Nick being too impatient for Tyler to text him that as soon as he was up in his room, he was shooting off a good night text to thank Tyler for a nice- albeit disastrous- evening. It ended with a promise that this wasn't the only date for them.

It only took one more date before Tyler kissed his lips instead, leaving both of them a giggling mess as hands rested on cheeks and ran through hair. It took three dates total before Nick called Tyler his boyfriend for the first time. Nick didn't think he'd ever see Tyler smile wider than when he'd heard the word come from Nick's mouth, and the rest of his sentence got derailed as Tyler kissed him instead. The kiss had been more smiles than anything, but it had both their stomachs doing flips and their hearts fluttering heavily but happily. 

It was the day after that the notes started. Nick hadn’t been expecting it, and he’d blushed so hard that first time he was sure that his entire body temperature must have risen. It was the morning after Nick had called Tyler his boyfriend, that they’d made the relationship official, and Nick found the first note stuck to the metal door of his locker. It was a lime green sticky note, the shade Nick knew his boyfriend’s favorite color to be. It stood out against the blue of his locker, and it was bright enough that Nick had been able to spot it from the other end of the hallway. He approached his locker with confusion at the bright green, glancing around to see if anyone else's locker had also been branded with some type of note. When it became evident that it was just his own, Nick frowned a little, finally reaching his locker. His backpack hung off his arm as he reached out, pulling off the folded in half note stuck to the metal. Nick unfolded the little piece of paper, finding himself smiling almost immediately at the black pen scrawled across the lime green. 

I can’t believe I get to call you my boyfriend. I don’t think I’m gonna stop smiling all day. See you at lunch, handsome ♡  -T 

Nick could feel the heat under his skin rising up his neck and onto his cheeks, and he smiled goofily down at the piece of paper in his hand. It made his cheeks hurt, eyes squinted so that it was almost difficult to see. He’d been floating on cloud nine since last night, his steps feeling lighter and a hum following him around the house this morning that had his fathers watching him with raised eyebrows and small, knowing grins. Tyler made Nick’s heart skip beats and his stomach flutter and his head spin. He could honestly say he’d never felt like this before- not when he was dating Carrie, not during that brief stint when he’d had a crush on Julie, never. Tyler was just. . . special. 

Amazing. 

And he was Nick’s boyfriend.

He knew Tyler was just as excited as himself that their relationship was official now, but being able to see it written out in this little note, seeing a little drawn heart and Tyler calling him handsome, was something so comforting and happiness inducing. Nick wasn’t sure how long he stood at his own locker, just reading over the note again and again, but was shocked out of his reverie by the warning bell alarming overhead, letting students know classes started in three minutes. Nick was quick to tuck the note into his pocket, sorting through what he needed and depositing the rest in his locker. He had four classes before lunch, and Nick was sure he’d spent more time staring at the note from Tyler than he did paying any attention to his teachers. 

During their shared music class, Carrie had nudged him, a question in her eyes. Nick had just smiled and shrugged, not quite willing to tell her about the note, but Carrie had glanced down at the paper then taken one look at the lovestruck smile on his face before rolling her eyes fondly. When Nick finally did reach lunch, the only time during school that he and Tyler really saw each other, he found that he’d beaten his boyfriend there. At their usual table were a few others from the lacrosse team, but the seat in which Tyler usually sat was still vacant. Nick, only slightly disappointed by the lack of his boyfriend in the lunchroom, sat down at the empty seat next to Tyler’s, greeting their teammates Cameron, Jack, and Adam as he did so. Just as Nick was pulling out his phone, to check if Tyler had texted him, he felt arms wrap around his shoulders and a chin rest on top of his head. Nick smiled at the feeling, grasping Tyler’s hands in his own and looking up at the awkward angle to meet his boyfriend’s eyes. 

Tyler smiled down at him, looking blushy and almost nervous. Removing his arms from around Nick, Tyler sat on the lunch table bench. Tyler leaned into Nick’s space once more, pressing a feather light kiss to his cheek and whispering, just loud enough for the two of them to hear, “Hey, handsome.”

Nick blushed at the clear reference to the note Tyler had left him this morning, and at the clear display of affection. They hadn’t quite figured out their comfortability with PDA yet, only venturing into holding hands so far, but Nick was filled with warmth at the action, leaning over to bump Tyler’s shoulder with his own. 

“Thanks for the note,” Nick responded as a greeting, to which Tyler ducked his head down and smiled. 

“So you liked it?”

“He’s been staring at it all day,” Jack sold him out with a snort. Nick spun his head around to glare at his teammate, mouthing “traitor” at him. Jack was in three of the classes Nick had gone to this morning, and much like Carrie, had tried to ask what had him so distracted. All the lacrosse boys that they ate lunch with knew the two of them had been going out on dates so when Jack had seen Nick enraptured with a little sticky note, had jokingly asked if he’d received a love letter from Tyler. Apparently Nick’s blush had been enough of an answer because Jack had let out a surprised laugh at his correct guess, then turned back to his work. Tyler, however, looked pleased at Jack’s words, flashing a smile of thanks to their teammate before looking back to Nick. 

“Good to know,” he said softly, bumping Nick’s knee under the table. 

---------

The notes stuck both to and slipped inside his locker continued. Nick found them in the morning before classes, during the day, and after school before lacrosse practice. They weren’t there every day, but over the past three weeks, Nick had amassed a pretty good collection of lime green sticky notes, black ink across them. Some were sappy and cute, like that first one had been.

I “borrowed” Dylan’s year pass to the mini golf place. You, me, a few windmills- what do you say?? I’ll pick you up at 6 ♡  -T

My mom asked “how’s your boyfriend doing” last night and holy crap I love hearing that word  -T

I can’t believe I let you wear my letter jacket today YOU LOOK SO CUTE AND IT’S HARD TO FOCUS  -T

Some were more simple, just little messages that Tyler thought would make Nick smile when he saw them.

Good luck on your test today!!  -T

Say hi to Arabella for me when you get home :)  -T

Just so you know- I parked in the east lot today instead of the west. See you after school!  -T

Each one had Nick feeling on top of the word, smiling at them and then carefully placing them in a folder to take home with him later. At lunch or after school, Nick would plant a kiss on Tyler’s cheek in silent thanks for the notes. 

Today Nick and Tyler were at the Danforth-Evans house after school, hanging out to study, maybe watch a movie. They’d awkwardly passed by Nick’s parents lounging on the couch together, Nick practically dying in embarrassment as his father had called after them that the bedroom door had to stay open. Tyler had the nerve to laugh at his boyfriend’s flushed cheeks and groan of annoyance, earning him a light slap against the arm as they made their way to Nick’s bedroom.

Tyler had never been in here before, and a smile graced his features as he stepped inside. Nick gave him silent permission to wander around the room, looking at whatever he wanted, while Nick moved to sit on the pale green comforter of his bed. He watched as Tyler admired the three guitars sitting in the corner of his room- the bubblegum pink electric sitting proudly in the front- and smiled at the lacrosse stick pinned above the closet door. 

"Are these. . ." Tyler began asking, fascinated by something on Nick's dresser. "Are these my sunglasses?"

At the finished question, Nick felt heat rise up his neck. Tyler turned around to face him, holding up a pair of blue glasses with black tinted lenses. It was the pair Tyler had loaned him after Nick had gotten a concussion and the sunlight was too bright for his headache. Tyler must have taken Nick's silence as answer enough, because he let out a laugh as he looked down to the sunglasses in his hand. 

"I didn't even realize you'd kept them," Tyler's voice was quiet, pitched slightly higher. Nick thought he could see a smile on his boyfriend's lips. 

"Y-yeah, well, they, um. They reminded me of you, so, yeah," Nick rambled out, not quite looking at Tyler. Tyler looked up at him, an almost glassy look in his eyes. 

"Sorry, is that- is that weird to tell you?" Nick asked, cringing a little as Tyler turned around to set the sunglasses back in their place on his dresser. He heard Tyler laugh quietly as he turned back around, taking the few steps over to the bed to stand in front of where Nick stood. 

"No, it's not weird," Tyler picked up one of Nick's hands, twining their fingers together. Nick gave a small tug, signalling Tyler to sit down next to him. "I think it's kinda cute. I mean, you really kept them because it made you think of me?"

Tyler was blushing too now, a layer of awe in his voice like he couldn't believe anyone would ever do something like that. It made Nick think that maybe Tyler had no idea he’d been keeping those lime green slips of paper, either. Nick squeezed Tyler's hand, bumping their shoulders together. 

"Well, it's not everyday the cutest guy you've ever seen drives you to urgent care. Gotta remember the occasion somehow," Nick's voice had teasing laced through it, but he knew the sincerity shown through by the way Tyler smiled brightly down at their joint hands. 

"Plus," Nick continued, "don't know if you heard, but even before you were my boyfriend- I was kind of embarrassingly into you." 

Nick wasn't sure Tyler ever looked prettier than when he was smiling, shades of pink on his cheeks. Nick could write a set of notes as big as the ones he’d received from Tyler dedicated solely to how pretty his boyfriend was. 

"Don't tell your boyfriend I told you this," Tyler started, "but he'd been trying to get the courage to ask you out for a year before you beat him to it." 

Tyler sounded shy and quiet, keeping his eyes trained on their joint hands. Nick stared at him with surprise, his mouth opened slightly. 

"You never told me that."

 A year? Tyler had liked him for a year before they started dating? It filled Nick with warmth along with the surprise. 

"Just want you to know that being embarrassingly into each other goes both ways."

When Tyler finally looked at him, with the blush still on his cheeks and a shy look in his eyes, Nick couldn't stop himself from leaning forward to kiss him. He kept it short, aware of the wide open door, but didn't resist when Tyler put a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him back for another, slightly longer kiss. When they pulled back, smiling to each other, Nick scooted closer to Tyler on the bed, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. 

"Since I guess we're doing romantic confessions today. . ." Nick started, making Tyler laugh, "I don't think I'm ever gonna get tired of kissing you."

Tyler let out a high pitched whine, almost like a squeak, tensing as he covered his face with his free hand. 

"Damn it, Nick, you can't just say stuff like that!"

Nick picked his head off Tyler's shoulder, laughing at his blushing boyfriend's expense. 

"I thought I'd stop constantly blushing around you now that we're dating, but it's your goal to prove me wrong, isn't it?"

"T, all you need to do is look at me to make me blush. Pretty sure we're on even playing ground."

He could see Tyler smiling from below the hand still covering his face. Nick peeled the hand away, holding that one in his own as well. He retook his position with his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, smiling as he felt Tyler press a kiss into his hair. They didn’t end up getting much studying done or a movie watched in the end. They were mindful of the open door, though, so they fell back onto the bed, laying next to each other and talking, laughing, trading soft kisses back and forth. At one point, Nick got up to use the bathroom, and he came back to Tyler now on the floor, Arabella in his lap with her sparkly purple tutu splayed over his thighs. Tyler had his arms around her middle, speaking lowly to her, giggles filling the room as she nodded along with whatever Nick’s boyfriend had told his little sister. The two of them together was an unfairly adorable sight, Nick decided, and his heart skipped a beat when they both spotted him, matching grins blinding him. 

Arabella stayed with them the rest of the time Tyler was over, running between her own room and Nick’s to introduce Tyler to all her favorite toys and bestow her favorite princess crown on Nick’s head. It wasn’t until after Tyler left that evening, having gone home for a family dinner, that Nick found the first note that wasn’t left in his locker. He was grabbing a pair of shorts from his dresser when a familiar lime green caught his eye, stuck to the sunglasses.  

I’m never gonna get sick of kissing you either See you in the morning, dork :P  -T

PS- tell Ari she’s my fav Danforth-Evans 

Nick let out a laugh at the post-script, shaking his head fondly as he moved to grab the old shoebox from under his bed, placing the paper gently in the box along with the rest of the notes. He tucked it closed once more, putting it back in position and heading downstairs to his family. 

----------

As it turned out, the note in his bedroom wasn’t a one time occurrence. When Nick had woken up in the morning, the mirror on the inner door of his closet read out to him: 

HOT DAMN- looking good, Danforth-Evans  -T

It made Nick laugh to see it, knowing Tyler must have placed it there when Nick had excused himself from the room to use the bathroom last night. The notes he found in other various places around the house for the next few days, however, were a little more confusing. 

There were a few more in his room- on his guitar, taped to his headboard, one stuck to his window claiming “no view is better than you xoxo”, and other places he should have noticed them way earlier- one stuck to the coffee pot the next morning claiming that Tyler would be waiting at the school with a latte from that coffee shop Nick loved, one next to his toothbrush in the bathroom. Nick didn’t say anything about the notes magically appearing in his house, but three days in, he rolled his eyes fondly at the lime green paper stuck on the inside of his favorite book, and texted his boyfriend. 

Okay I’ll bite

Which one of my family did you bribe to help you with this

i’m sorry i have no idea what you’re talking about

i absolutely did not collude with your sister about leaving you notes and you should be ashamed for even accusing me of that 

Nick couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him at his boyfriend’s text, a warmth filling his chest at the idea of Tyler and Arabella interacting. He remembered the conspiratorial smirks on his boyfriend and sister’s faces when he’d come back from the bathroom the other day.

So if I go talk to Ari right now she’ll have no clue what I’m talking about? 

bold of you to assume she would ever give me up nick danforth-evans i’m totally her favorite now

Carrie is and always will be her favorite but I’m loving the enthusiasm

Sure enough, though, when Nick knocked on his little sister’s door- interrupting a tea party with her stuffed animals and a number of Nick’s old Hot Wheels toys- asking her about the appearance of the lime green notes, she just burst into giggles. Not an actual word to say that it was Tyler, just gave him a cheeky smile and told him to close his eyes. Nick rolled his eyes, but agreed, and opened them again when he felt an adhesive on his forehead and the tickling of paper on his nose. He stuck his tongue out at Arabella for sticking the note on his forehead, which set her off giggling once again, and pulled it off. 

Told Ari to give you this one when you inevitably figure it out. She’s surprisingly sneaky for a 7yo. Give her a hug for me as thanks for helping?? Hope you enjoyed our little conspiracy ♡  -T 

Nick hugged Arabella tightly, placing the note gently in his pocket until he could put it with the rest. He joined his sister in her tea party, a wide smile on his face he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get rid of if he tried. It was such a silly, little thing for Tyler to be doing over the past month, but Nick loved it. He loved the smile it brought to his own face, and the thoughtfulness from Tyler, and the extra layer of joy surrounding their relationship through the notes. Overtime, the notes never really stopped. They lessened- only to be saved for special occasions or a day when Tyler was feeling particularly sappy- but as always, each one brought a smile to Nick’s face and found a home in his neatly kept shoebox under the bed. They were something to pull out and reread when Nick was having a bad day, when he was feeling sentimental, or for that time Tyler was bed-ridden with the flu for a week and damn, Nick really missed him. And if shortly after they started dating, Nick found that his own favorite color was also becoming lime green, that was no one’s business but his own.  

----------

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this, and that it rotted your teeth like it did mine. I have the tag list below but let me know if you’d like to be added!

tag list: @zendrella @blackholeunderyourbed @sunsetcurve123 @williexmercer @idontknowimbadatthis 

[patriotsnet]

How Did Republicans Do In The Primaries

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-did-republicans-do-in-the-primaries/

How Did Republicans Do In The Primaries

Allegations Of Inciting Violence

Inside Texas Politics: What did Texas Republicans, Democrats do right this election cycle?

Research suggests Trump’s rhetoric caused an increased incidence of hate crimes. During his 2016 campaign, he urged or praised physical attacks against protesters or reporters. Since then, some defendants prosecuted for hate crimes or violent acts cited Trump’s rhetoric in arguing that they were not culpable or should receive a lighter sentence. In May 2020, a nationwide review by ABC News identified at least 54 criminal cases from August 2015 to April 2020 in which Trump was invoked in direct connection with violence or threats of violence by mostly white men against mostly members of minority groups. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection for his actions prior to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob of his supporters who acted in his name.

Who Can Vote In A Primary

Only Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary.

Only Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary.

The last day to register to vote before the Primary is the 4th Saturday before the Primary.

The deadline to change party affiliation before the Primary is the last Friday in May.

You can register to vote and change your party affiliation after the Primary.

Results Of The 2016 Republican Party Presidential Primaries

    Donald Trump

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This article contains the results of the 2016 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, the processes by which the Republican Party selected delegates to attend the 2016 Republican National Convention from July 1821. The series of primaries, caucuses, and state conventions culminated in the national convention, where the delegates cast their votes to formally select a candidate. A simple majority of the total delegate votes was required to become the party’s nominee and was achieved by the nominee, businessman Donald Trump of New York.

The process began on March 23, 2015, when Texas SenatorTed Cruz became the first presidential candidate to announce his intentions to seek the office of United StatesPresident. That summer, 17 major candidates were recognized by national and state polls, making it the largest presidential candidate field for any single political party in American history. The large field made possible the fact that the 2016 primaries were the first since 1968 in which more than three candidates won at least one state.

Recommended Reading: Should Republicans Vote In Democratic Primary

May 2016: Trump As Presumptive Nominee

142 delegates were awarded between the Indiana primary and the final primaries in June; however, with Trump the only candidate remaining, Washington, Oregon, West Virginia and Nebraska became essentially uncontested, although Cruz and Kasich remained on the ballot. Trump won handily in West Virginia, Nebraska and Oregon, although Kasich received one delegate from West Virginia and five in Oregon, while Cruz took five in Oregon as well. The next week, Trump won decisively in Washington State, taking 76% of the vote and 41 of 44 delegates, with the other three uncommitted.

May 1024 results 11%

After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump said regarding the Republican primaries: “You’ve been hearing me say it’s a rigged system, but now I don’t say it anymore because I won. It’s true. Now I don’t care.”

On May 26, 2016, the Associated Press announced that Trump had passed the threshold of 1,237 delegates required to guarantee his nomination, thanks to unbound delegates from North Dakota who declared their support for Trump.

Professional Input Checks The Power Of Billionaires And The Media

The conventional assumption that primaries are less elite than party selection overlooks the way todays primaries actually work. Thanks to court decisions such as SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, there is today no limit on the size of contributions to independent groups; the groups, in turn, are free to support and oppose candidates provided that they not coordinate their activities with the candidates and parties. In other words, todays campaign-finance rules funnel vast sums of unaccountable money to the political systems least accountable actors.

odays campaign-finance rules funnel vast sums of unaccountable money to the political systems least accountable actors.

That said, even if small donors were a perfectly representative group, they would still provide a pathway around gatekeepers, and that is a mixed blessing. True, candidates who rely on small donors are less beholden to big donors and special interests, which may make them more independent-minded; also true, they are less beholden to their political peers, party leaders, and important constituencies, which may make them more reckless and demagogic.

Then there are the media, whose power in influencing candidate choice has grown enormously since the McGovern-Fraser reforms. Writing as long ago as 1978, Jeanne Kirkpatrick tartly observed:

Things have only gotten worse in the transition from Walter Cronkite to Sean Hannity and todays bevy of extremist internet sites.

Also Check: What Major Cities Are Run By Republicans

Sen Josh Hawley Of Missouri

Though controversial, Hawley, 41, is a fundraising machine and hes quickly made a name for himself. The blowback Hawley faced for objecting to Bidens Electoral College win included a lost book deal and calls for him to resign from students at the law school where he previously taught. His mentor, former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, said that supporting Hawley was the biggest mistake Ive ever made in my life.

Still, he brought in more than $1.5 million between Jan. 1 and March 5, according to Axios, and fundraising appeals in his name from the National Republican Senatorial Committee brought in more cash than any other Republican except NRSC Chair Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Just because youre toxic in Washington doesnt mean you cant build a meaningful base of support nationally.

One Republican strategist compared the possibility of Hawley 2024 to Cruz in 2016. Hes not especially well-liked by his colleagues , but hes built a national profile for himself and become a leading Republican voice opposed to big technology companies.

Hawley and his wife, Erin, have three children. He got his start in politics as Missouri attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 2018. Hawley graduated from Stanford and Yale Law.

Statehood And Indian Removal

Defense of Florida’s northern border with the United States was minor during the second Spanish period. The region became a haven for escaped slaves and a base for Indian attacks against U.S. territories, and the U.S. pressed Spain for reform.

Americans of and began moving into northern Florida from the backwoods of and . Though technically not allowed by the Spanish authorities and the Floridan government, they were never able to effectively police the border region and the backwoods settlers from the United States would continue to immigrate into Florida unchecked. These migrants, mixing with the already present British settlers who had remained in Florida since the British period, would be the progenitors of the population known as .

These American settlers established a permanent foothold in the area and ignored Spanish authorities. The British settlers who had remained also resented Spanish rule, leading to a rebellion in 1810 and the establishment for ninety days of the so-called Free and Independent Republic of on September 23. After meetings beginning in June, rebels overcame the garrison at , and unfurled the flag of the new republic: a single white star on a blue field. This flag would later become known as the “”.

Some Seminoles remained, and the U.S. Army arrived in Florida, leading to the . Following the war, approximately 3,000 Seminole and 800 Black Seminole were removed to . A few hundred Seminole remained in Florida in the .

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Anger At Past Outside Interference

The discontent over unaffiliated voter participation in partisan primaries stems from the 2016 approval of two ballot measures allowing unaffiliated voters to select one of the two partys primary elections to cast a ballot in. Before the change, unaffiliated voters had to sit on the sidelines for primaries. 

From 2010 through 2016, Republican primary voter turnout outpaced that of Democrats. But in 2018 and 2020, the first two years unaffiliated voters could participate in primaries without affiliating with one of the two major parties, participation in the Democratic primaries soared.

Meanwhile, more Coloradans are becoming unaffiliated voters, reaching 43% at the end of July, while the Republican Partys share of voters is decreasing at a faster pace than the Democratic Party.

Colorado candidates can get on the primary ballot by one of two paths. They can be nominated and go through the state caucus and assembly process, where they must get 30% of the vote, or they can gather signatures from voters.

Some GOP candidates have had trouble making the ballot in the past. In 2016 and 2018, scandals over petition signatures foiled one U.S. Senate candidate and led a gubernatorial candidate, Walker Stapleton, to go the assembly route at the 11th hour after initially gathering petition signatures.

In 2020, allegations of fraud arose out of caucuses in Weld and El Paso counties. The state GOP, however, ultimately determined nothing illegal took place in either instance. 

Convention And Vp Selection

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The delegates at the Republican National Convention formally nominated Dole on August 15, 1996, as the GOP presidential candidate for the general election. Dole was the oldest first-time presidential nominee at the age of 73 years, 1 month .

Former Congressman and Cabinet secretary Jack Kemp was nominated by acclamation as Dole’s running mate the following day. Republican Party of Texas convention delegates informally nominated Alan Keyes as their preference for Vice President.

Other politicians mentioned as possible GOP V.P. nominees before Kemp was selected included:

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Just How Bad Was The 2018 Election For House Republicans

On Thursday, Democrat Jared Golden beat Maine Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin, marking the 33rd seat pickup for Democrats in the 2018 election.

There are seven races in the House left uncalled all are Republican-held seats; Democrats lead in five of the seven. If they win all the races where their candidates are winning at the moment, Democrats will net 38 seats. If they lose them all which is very unlikely they will hold at a 33-seat gain.

In an interview Wednesday with the conservative Daily Caller website,  President Donald Trump insisted that by his aggressive last-minute campaigning across the country he had saved House Republicans from seat losses that could have numbered into the 70s. I think I did very well, he concluded.

So did he? As compared to history?

Not really, is the answer.

Theres no question that Trump did not suffer the massive seat loss that his immediate predecessor Barack Obama did in his first midterm election in 2010. In that election, Republicans netted an astounding 63-seat gain, the largest since Democrats lost 72 House seats in the 1938 midterms.

But more broadly, the 33 seat loss by Republicans in 2018 places this election firmly in the upper echelon of House-seat losses by a presidents party in modern midterms.

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What Do Party Preferences Mean When Listed With Candidates’ Names On The Ballot What Are The Qualified Political Parties And Abbreviations Of Those Party Names

The term “party preference” is now used in place of the term “party affiliation.” A candidate must indicate his or her preference or lack of preference for a qualified political party. If the candidate has a qualified political party preference that qualified political party will be indicated by the candidate’s name on the ballot. If a candidate does not have a qualified political party preference, “Party Preference: None” will be indicated by the candidate’s name on the ballot.

Similarly, voters who were previously known as “decline-to-state” voters are now known as having “no party preference” or known as “NPP” voters.

Abbreviations for the qualified political parties are:

DEM = Democratic Party

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Civil War And Reconstruction

American settlers began to establish cotton in north Florida, which required numerous laborers, which they supplied by buying slaves in the domestic market. By 1860, Florida had only 140,424 people, of whom 44% were enslaved. There were fewer than 1,000 free before the American Civil War.

On January 10, 1861, nearly all delegates in the Florida Legislature approved an ordinance of secession, declaring Florida to be “a sovereign and independent nation”an apparent reassertion to the preamble in Florida’s Constitution of 1838, in which Florida agreed with Congress to be a “Free and Independent State.” The ordinance declared Florida’s secession from the , allowing it to become one of the founding members of the .

The Confederacy received little military help from Florida; the 15,000 troops it offered were generally sent elsewhere. Instead of troops and manufactured goods, Florida did provide salt and, more importantly, beef to feed the Confederate armies. This was particularly important after 1864, when the Confederacy lost control of the Mississippi River, thereby losing access to Texas beef. The largest engagements in the state were the , on February 20, 1864, and the , on March 6, 1865. Both were Confederate victories. The war ended in 1865.

It Was An Election For A Mini

There was some talk that Democrats may have pulled their punches in the 25th district because, after all, the special election was for the remainder of Hills term and the two candidates will meet again in a more consequential rematch where conditions may favor Smith. Over-confidence probably wasnt a problem since signs of a Garcia win were abundant going into the election.

Republicans, of course, busily spun the win into a sign of a Republican resurgence in California and possibly an omen that the GOP will retake the House even as Trump cake-walks to a second term on the strength of a rapidly rebounding economy that he championed even as Democrats pursued perpetual shutdowns. While the results may legitimately indicate that theres no continuing wave from 2018 that will crash with renewed force in favor of Democrats in November, its more likely that we are seeing a reversion to the mean rather than some new pro-Republican wave. There are enough special circumstances surrounding Garcias win to make its recurrence questionable when he appears on the ballot on Election Day with Donald Trump, who remains as unpopular as ever in California.

There is one wrinkle in Garcias special election victory worth a closer look. In 2018 a number of Republican incumbents famously led early on until later-arriving mail ballots swept Democrats into office. There were signs on Election Day that Garcias early lead might be durable, as California political observer Miriam Pawel noted:

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What Makes The 2024 Presidential Election Unique

The lead up to the 2024 presidential election is different from past years because of former President Donald Trump. Hes eligible to run for a second term, and has publicly toyed with the idea while also weighing in on other Republicans he thinks could be the future of the party. If Trump does run in 2024, hed start out with unparalleled name ID and massive support, but if he doesnt, the field could be wide open for other Republicans hoping to win over his supporters. President Joe Biden said recently he expects to run for reelection in 2024.

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This early on, wannabe candidates must raise their profiles, show their commitment to the party, and raise money, one Republican strategist said, to get on peoples radars even when your candidacy is in a holding pattern.

Some of the most visible 2024 presidential candidates will surely flame out long before the Iowa caucus, and theres always the chance that the next Republican nominee isnt yet considered a serious player . Theres a million and one things that will happen between now and then that will shape the race in ways we cant now predict, but the invisible primary that comes before any votes are cast has started.

Heres your very early guide to some of 2024s Republican presidential candidates, based on early polling, interviews with Republican donors and strategists and results from online political betting markets.

The Louisiana Primary System

The Louisiana system, sometimes called the “Cajun Primary,” eliminates the primary election altogether. Instead, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run on the same ballot in November. If a candidate receives more than half of the votes, that candidate is elected. If no candidate wins with a majority, the top two vote-getters face off in a December runoff election. Qualified absentee voters receive a ballot for the November election and a ranked ballot for the December runoff, so that they can vote as normal in the general election and then have their ranked ballot count for whichever runoff candidate they ranked highest in the runoff election.

Although Louisiana law refers to the election in November as the “primary” and the December runoff as the “general” election, the November election takes place on the federally mandated Election Day and most candidates win office by receiving a majority vote in that election, so it is best understood as a general election, with the December election as a contingent runoff.

The Louisiana system is sometimes mistakenly equated with the Top Two system, but holding the first election in November and electing any candidate with more than 50% of the vote in that election makes it sufficiently distinct that it should not be understood as a mere variant of Top Two.

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Trump Election Lawsuits Have Mostly Failed Here’s What They Tried

In the Senate, Democrats have so far gained one seat, but they need three with a Biden win to take over the chamber. Democrats still have a chance of doing that with two runoff elections in Georgia. That’s seen as possible, but not likely.

It wasn’t expected to be this way. Democrats had put lots of Senate races in play, ones not expected to go their way at the beginning of the 2020 cycle, places like Kansas and Montana.

To be sure, many of the Senate races were expected to be close, perhaps with razor-thin margins, and a Democrat-controlled Senate was never an assured outcome. But when you look at the average of the polls in the last week of the election versus the ultimate result, it’s clear that Republicans were underrepresented all across the country.

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All of these races, except Colorado and Alabama, were within single digits in the polls. Colorado, a state Biden won handily, wound up pretty close to the average. Alabama, a state Trump won by a lot, was an even bigger blowout than expected.

Many of the supposedly tightest races didn’t wind up tight at all. Maine is perhaps the most stunning one. Biden won the state by 9 percentage points, but Republican incumbent Susan Collins won reelection by 9 points.

Not only was Collins down by 4 points heading into Election Day in an average of the polls in the week before the election, but she led in just one poll in all of 2020. And that was back in July. That’s one poll out of almost three dozen.

Relationship With The Press

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Throughout his career, Trump has sought media attention, with a “lovehate” relationship with the press. Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s. Fox News anchor and former House speaker have characterized Trump as a “” who makes controversial statements to see people’s “heads explode.”

In the 2016 campaign, Trump benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.New York Times writer wrote in 2018 that Trump’s media dominance, which enthralls the public and creates “can’t miss” reality television-type coverage, was politically beneficial for him.

As a candidate and as president, Trump frequently accused the press of bias, calling it the “fake news media” and “the .” In 2018, journalist recounted Trump’s saying he intentionally demeaned and discredited the media “so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.”

As president, Trump deployed the legal system to intimidate the press. In early 2020, the Trump campaign sued The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN for alleged defamation in opinion pieces about Russian election interference. Legal experts said that the lawsuits lacked merit and were not likely to succeed. By March 2021, the lawsuits against The New York Times and CNN had been dismissed.

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Garcia Was An Unusually Good Candidate

Republicans lucked into an unusually strong candidate in Garcia, a former Navy pilot running in a district with a significant defense presence, and a Latino in a district whose electorate has become one-third Latino. He managed to beat the previous Republican holder of the seat, Steve Knight, in the February primary in order to win a Top Two position opposite Smith, which was welcomed by Republican strategists. His campaign was well-financed.

Republican Party Primaries 2020

2020 Republican Party primary elections Battleground primaries Primaries by state Submit

Ballotpedia covered every Republican Party state and federal primary in 2020 to highlight the intraparty conflicts that shaped the party and the general election. This page is an overview of those primaries, with links to Ballotpedia’s coverage of all Republican U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and state-level primaries.

to read about Democratic Party primaries in 2020.

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Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

Haley, 49, stands out in the potential pool of 2024 Republican candidates by her resume. She has experience as an executive as the former governor of South Carolina and foreign policy experience from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley was a member of the Republican Partys 2010 tea party class. A former South Carolina state representative, her long shot gubernatorial campaign saw its fortunes improve after she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Haley rocketed from fourth to first just days after the endorsement, and she went on to clinch the nomination and become her states first female and first Indian-American governor.

As governor, she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol following the white supremacist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. She left office in 2017 to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Quinnipiac poll found she was at one point the most popular member of Trumps foreign policy team.

I think that shes done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume, said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolinas department of political science.

Haley criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, saying she was disgusted by his conduct. Oldendick said he thought her pretty pointed criticism of the president will potentially cause some problems.

‘im Going To Be In Your Backyard’: Trump Sons Threaten Primaries For Gop Lawmakers

Fox News, which had been carrying the remarks live, dropped its feed of the rally after the expletives uttered by the president’s son aired uncensored.

Donald Trump Jr. speaks Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump called the “Save America Rally.” | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo

01/06/2021 11:48 AM EST

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President Donald Trumps eldest sons threatened Republican lawmakers at a large rally outside the White House on Wednesday, pledging that their family would continue to dispute the results of the 2020 election just hours before Congress was set to certify President-elect Joe Bidens Electoral College victory.

To those Republicans, many of which may be voting on things in the coming hours: You have an opportunity today, Donald Trump Jr. told the crowd gathered for the Save America March on the White House Ellipse. You can be a hero, or you can be a zero. And the choice is yours. But we are all watching. The whole world is watching, folks. Choose wisely.

Several House Republicans and roughly a dozen senators have announced plans to object to individual states electoral vote counts when Congress meets for a joint session this afternoon. And though their effort to reverse the elections outcome has virtually no chance of succeeding, the president had applied increasing public pressure on Vice President Mike Pence who will preside over the proceedings to attempt to thwart Bidens win.

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