#which i am not placing the blame on Cruz

[daydreamdoodles]

I still need to finish the books, but I don't think I'm loving the framing of magic in the worldbuilding

It's lowkey obvious that magic ban is in part to avoid going over budget in the movies with cgi effects. But especially in the books, it feels a little "oh magic bad and corrupts." There's good and bad, yet all magic seems to cause issues. The good acts of magic get written off, like they're an exception to the rule.

There's like. attempted nuance to it, but I don't think the execution really works with how everything else reinforces that previous idea of magic is bad.

[voidstilesplease]

Yes, please lets talk more about Patrivan. I am so fond of them, I was more into Patrick since season 4 but Iván truly grew on me. He is so sweet and from the first meet you can see how Patrick‘s heart is involved. After all that mess with Cruz and Ari (🤬🤬🤬) he finally is where he belongs, has a loving loyal boyfriend and I hoped so much Patrick gets the chance to move forward and leave all the traumatic events behind. But as you said, it’s Élite and after the trailer I‘m so anxious, particularly that Patrick will die and then there’s that accident with Iván and what the fuck has Patrick done that makes Iván blame him. 😢

On the one hand I can’t wait for the new season, on the other I don’t want it to come if they break them up or have them/one die. 🥺

All true. Elite's editors obviously spent time trying to make the trailer as ominous as possible. But I gave it some thought and re-watched the previous seasons' trailers - particularly S5. And I think my hopes have risen - at least by some degree. Most of the relevant scenes of the last season weren't in the trailer, and the ones that were were vague at best. So, I'm assuming it's the same story with S6. I think Elite is doing a brilliant misdirect that it's hard not to fall for it.

But after all that, I am still anxious. And rightfully so. In the end, Elite is still evil and a ship breaker. They don't know what the heck 'endgame' is if it slapped them in the face. But I can't wait for the next season, too. There are threads from the previous season that still need stitching, and I am looking forward for them. Like Benjamin at prison, the sim card that possibly killed Samu, Patrick's guilt for breaking their family apart, the Blanco siblings facing criticisms at school, the aftermath of Benjamin's arrest to the school, the new Director and how he could be Nico's dad. Made that up just now, but yeah, we'll be seeing a new school director, so. They're definitely going to play a part in the whole thing. And so many more.

I guess the wisest thing for me to do is avoid Twitter because the Patrivans from that site fed me all this dread in the first place (I shouldn't have gone. I almost forgot I even had Twitter). Whether they break them up (which is highly likely) or kill Patrick (also possible and really fucked up), we'll just cross our fingers for now and hope, not for the best, but for the lesser of many evils. Then we'll see on the 18th.

[sephylicous]

To continue my story. This is the night that my bebe loves show different attitude to me. Even it is simple and small things. She immediately got mad at me that night.

Yes, at first I was late to our meeting place which is Baclaran but that was my best that I could that time because I’m from work. When I was near to Lrt Baclaran she chatted me that, she don’t want go to MOA anymore because I was late and she got dizzy daw. But I insisted that, we can go there on time. But she was very mad at me. I still insisted when we passed by the LRT EDSA station. Because I saw the bus lane, there were four buses and don’t have a long line and I said that we must go off the train. But she doesn’t want.

Until at Vito Cruz station, she agreed to go back and go to MOA. Then we went down to that station to go to other side so we can go back. She walk slowly that not thinking the time and have might have long line in bus stop.

We went at the bus and I’m right that the line was long and she blamed me that I was late that’s why the line was long. I said that, I hope we go down at EDSA station. She gave me an attitude and look. To the point that she wants to go home. I said wait for the bus and we will get there on time. She pinch me many times because she was mad. I don’t care about it even it’s hurtful 🥲 My main goal was to ride a bus.

She was cooled when we ride a bus but the heavy traffic hits her again. Unfortunately, we were still on the bus while Portugal’s performance but we saw it. When we arrived at MOA. We go straight to Conrad so we can watch full performance of China. But it’s getting late so even it is not yet finished we must go home. The right picture above.

Another attitude she gave me because I refuse the overpricing tricycle fee of 50 pesos per person to go LRT. She again blame me and scolded me inside the bus. We got off the bus before we arrived at DD mall so we can walk through the heavy traffic. Also the bus driver eavesdropped her so he gave a bad comment to us.

While walking she keep scolding me and she said that we can’t ride a jeep because a lot of passengers are waiting. I said we can, FTI jeep was coming but she said that it is not LRT. I said it will pass LRT and MRT let’s go. But she doesn’t want. Until the barker said LRT and MRT. She doesn’t trust me but the barker was. That time was around 9:10PM and the last trip of the train from Baclaran is 9:30PM. I didn’t say it to her because she might got mad again or overreacted for what happening. But when got near I said prepare to walk fast because we might not catch up the train. And yes she overreacted, we run that I only said walk fast only.

Thanks to G, that we catch up the train. At exactly, 9:26PM we were at the EDSA station going to Monumento. That was the left picture in train above. We decided to have dinner in the Tutuban Center that we are usually ordered. We have a dinner and yes she was in her cool mode. Then my previous post was the end of story that I was there first time in that time hahaha.

I want to tell the story to get her image ugly. I want only to tell my experience with her that God really trying us when we face different problems and flaws.

To my love, when you are reading this story. I want to say to you and prove to you that I really love you. Even you are like that and treating me badly, I still love you. I want you to realize that I’m your boyfriend not somebody else. Please don’t double standard(meaning that you can do anything that might you get mad but if I do it you immediately got very mad at me). Be considerate to my emotions and mental health. Even I am a man, my heart hurt too. Learn to control your anger, it’s not good for the heart and to your health. I’m here to gave you a peace of mind and a rest. I don’t want you to gave it back or reciprocate, just appreciate it and I’m very happy with it my love. Just an appreciation and I am very love with it. 🙂 I love you 💕 When I say I love you I mean I really love you.

[realcatalina]

Headwear called cofia

You might have read that Catherine of Aragon arrived in England, wearing italian hat/headwear. However, friend of mine pointed out it is possible somebody confused it, with spanish headwear which was extremely similiar. You be the judge:

On left Italian headwear, on right spanish. Both called cofia.

How many movies and tv shows are there with Queen Catherine wearing italian dress and headwear, and yet never it is the headwear which resembles closely that of her homeland. It’s always some ridiculously huge headwear.

Note:I found out that people who originally discribed Catherine’s headwear as italian in first place were Venetians, it is likely that they considered the headwear italian. Idk if originally headwear started in Italy or Spain, but by Catherine’s lifetime cofia had both italian and spanish subtypes. 

There are some notable difference between these two subptypes. Italian usually had the half traluscent/netted upper part, while Spanish had it non-traluscent, usually from white linen. 

There were exceptions, Italian examples of non-traluscent cofia:

Italian, Milanese, Female Members of a Confraternity, about 1500-National Gallery in London:

I think that was probably due to royals of Naples being branch of house of Trastamara(Aragon royal family), themselves being influenced towards Iberian style, and some people around them could wear it that way too.)

Supposedly Isabella of Aragon/Naples, Duchess of Milan:

Or perhaps we could say Italian cofias could be traluscent(netted) and non-traluscent, while Spanish appears to have been strictly non-traluscent. 

Term cofia means cap and I am surprised with how few people even know it existed. It was as important as henin, gable hood, french hood and other well-known headwear. Very prominent in Spain and in some parts of Italy.

I blame way potraits in 15th and 16th century are painted for it being ‘missed’.

One left from back/side        and how it typically shows on portrait:

You can barely see it!

Also, the part wrapped in fabric around hair wasn’t always there, just the cap.

(That was also refered to as cofia, at least in Italy, and though barely visible nowadays it is on Mona Lisa!)

I call that part wrapped around hair cloth braid(because it reminds you of braid, and in spanish I keep finding term cofia de tranzado(braided cap) as term for entire headwear(cap and cloth braid) and cap itself doesn’t remind you of braid, so perhaps tranzado is what i call cloth braid.) 

On other hand in Spain, sometimes just the cloth braid was worn without cofia. And I have no idea how to call it then-just tranzado?

I just know young Isabella and her daughters often wore hair that way.

Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal(detail from Virgin of Catholic Monarchs):

But how did proper spanish cofias look like? For you to get better idea I found several paintings(not necessarly in chronological order) with either good angle or with interesting detail. Enjoy.

Detail from Birth of Virgin by Juan de Borgoña, Cathedral of Toledo:

(woman on left and woman on right upper corner)

Detail from The Visitation by Maestro de Miraflores:

Detail from Retablo de la vida la Virgen, Francisco de Comontes, Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo:

(here it could be 2 caps, one with decorative black string attached, which is then weapped around the cloth ‘braid’), the string might have also helped to keep headwear in place.

Detail from Vicente Macip, Natividad de la Virgen, Museo Catedralicio Segorbe, Castellón:

(woman on left wears simple white cofia, woman on right has cloth braid wrapped around her her head)

Detail from The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Master of Miraflores, c.1490 - 1500, Museo del Prado:(It’s Salome hence her dress is ridiculously sumptous to show her greed etc.yet the structure of entire outfit is true to Spanish fashion at the time.)

Detail from Marriage Feast of Cana by Gerard David, supposedly c.1500-1504(but could be late 1490s imo), Louvre:

One of the best details of spanish cofia I could find. Imo it is unidentified Juana.

Detail from Marriage at Cana by Master of Catholic Monarchs,  c. 1495/1497 National Gallery of Art, USA:(here cloth braid is not visible(yet shape of hair suggest it is there), but you can see decorative embroidered edge of cap)

Portrait of girl by Ambrosius Holbein(supposedly c. 1518), Krannert Art Museum, USA: (this one imo is also Juana, check dress on her tomb! Could be copy of Juana’s potrait done in 1506-1507/9.)

Isabella’s portrait with cloth braid hiding under veil highlighted:

Highlighted details in potrait of Eleanor of Austria:, she too is wearing cofia, and didn’t have short hair.

Currently I am convinced there was both version with 2 caps(two cofias) such as the one Isabella worn by end of her life, and with just 1, as she wore for most of her life.

String or ribbon over the forehead was also optional, probably used to secure the cap on head(or to show off jewelry). In some examples the ribbon seems like it could be stiched upon the cap, and in some as if it is sewned into the edge of cap(like rubber band on sweat-pants) and in other examples, the ribbon only starts under the cap. 

Hence there were many way cofia could be build and worn, depending on season, current fashion, person’s status and many other variables. 

I will keep updating this when I find some more good examples.

[charaznablescanontoyota]

also just to mix it up philly pies of your choice + 5

5. squeezing the other's shoulder

"jeff," hank says solemnly, inserting itself into the line of three (now four) figures standing on the shoreline of the horizon, "i love you, but you are never, ever going to live this one down."

jeff de la cruz laughs. the way it gets stuck in his throat and the way his shoulders heave almost violently with the sound makes it feel more like a sob than anything. he's still in his pies uniform, but barefoot like everyone else, toes curling into the wet, obsidian sand. he swipes at his eyes with the backs of his fingers, and can't find the right words to reply.

"i wonder if this is where the crabs went," nerd murmurs, mostly to themself. their eyes are trained on the dark ocean water, one hand rubbing their chin thoughtfully as the other braces their elbow. "when they - you know -"

"you'd think there'd be more up here, then. carapace and shit, at least," case says. he chances a peek over his shoulder, back at the slightly crooked silhouette of the oven in the distance. "i mean, shit, none of our stuff made it over. except the stadium, i guess. haruta's pitching a bitch about losing the bar, man. i thought she hated that place, but -"

"it was her family's, wasn't it?" nerd asks.

"well, yeah. doesn't mean she didn't hate running it."

hank snorts. "you know, she'd probably hate it less if she didn't have to put up with a bunch of hockey assholes -"

"i'm sorry," jeff says.

it's the most he's said in hours. he's the only one in the line of four who isn't still crackling with a haze of instability around the edges, but he feels unstable nonetheless, a fist of panic squeezing at his chest. they are inside the black hole. the pies are past the event horizon. he may never see philadelphia again, and it's his fault, and everyone knows it.

"jeff -" hank starts, and stops short. "you know we know it's not really your fault. right? i mean, if it wasn't you, someone else woulda -"

"we don't have to talk about it," nerd suggests. it's a kind offer, but it's hard to avoid the subject when the black hole (black hole) is right there where the sun should be, hanging in the sky.

"nobody's mad at you, asshole," case says, and claps his shoulder, and it's that - a gesture he's been privy to hundreds of times before, the warm weight of his childhood friend's hand on his back - that snaps jeff out of it, some.

"okay," he mumbles, and wipes at his eyes again. it's embarrassing. he never wanted to play for the team to begin with, and now this. "i still did it, though."

"hey, you didn't know you were about to get us sucked through a black hole," case says. "unless you did. in which case, yeah, i am pissed about it, actually, but also nice going getting us out of practice tomorrow."

it startles another laugh out of jeff. he reaches up to touch case's hand just enough to keep it in place, fingers feather-light against the backs of case's knuckles.

"can't play hockey on the beach," he says, because it's the next thing that occurs to him just then. something else he's ruined, something else to feel sorry for. jeff senses that particular well will never quite run dry. even if no one here blames him for hitting that final run, he can still blame himself just fine.

case squeezes his shoulder. "hey, life finds a way. we'll figure it out."

[ethanesimp]

THE OAK TREE // TWO E.T.

Pairing: Ethan Torchio x GN! Reader

Summary: Everyone at the Oakes Academy is aware of the rivalry that exists between two of the school’s best students, Ethan Torchio and Y/N L/N. What nobody knows is what a brilliant team they are when they’re at risk of their reputations being damaged and a killer’s on the loose.

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of death and murder, mentions of blood, mentions of death and descriptions of it, mention of suicide (pls read with caution, ily <3).

Masterlist // Taglist link in bio

CHAPTER ONE

A/N: Again, I apologize for the delay, life has been a lil bit crazy this past week. I also wanted to apologize for any possible typos because I’m working on a project but decided to take a break to finish this for you guys! I promise I’ll proofread this as soon as I get some time. Also, in the part where they’re texting, I recommend you check the texts on the Google Drive for context. Otherwise you might get a bit lost.

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT TE AVAILABLE MATERIAL IN THE GOOGLE DRIVE WHICH YOU CAN FIND ON THE SERIES MASTERLIST

Taglist (strike means it won’t let me tag you):  @oro-e-diamanti @gretavanfleetlove @victoriadeangeliswifey @cheese-toastie-11 @selenophiliaxx @superchrystaldrug @petit-poussin @bidet-and-legolas @fallingforyou123 @ethaneskin @soft-boy-ethan @teenyweenynightghost @reputationdamiano @cantaraiilmionome @tabi-toast @queen-of-brokenhearts @geklutst-ei @juststalking @cruz-ata @ohtorchio @ethan-torchio-angelo @unitermoonshine @everythingisdefinitelynotfine @marriedwithmarktuan @its-afucking-mess @juststalking @goldenpeaxh​

LAST CHAPTER’S WINNING DECISION: They believe it is all real and go search for the body the finger might belong to. (The impact of this decision will be reflected next chapter).

Let the games begin. 

You had to read the last part once more, so consumed by the shock that barely any words had registered into your brain. Your hands were shaking as you held it closer to yourself. Maybe it was all part of the disbelief because you found yourself scanning the words over and over again until you had the first paragraph memorized. 

But then… then Ethan started laughing. 

Short, breathy laughs escaped past his lips, immediately followed by sharp inhales, as if he were desperate to get more air to reach his lungs. You brushed it off and went right back to reading the last few phrases that were on the very back, even said them under your breath to try and make them become real because everything seemed like nothing but a dream, no, a nightmare.

Then it slowly dawned on you after you finished reading the letter. All worry subsided and you had no doubt in your mind you would’ve started laughing too if you weren’t seeing red. Consumed by the sudden rage, you turned to Ethan and didn’t hesitate to tackle him into the ground.

In any normal instance, you wouldn’t have been able to do it, but you’d caught him off-guard, which was confirmed by the surprised yelp he let out as his back collided with the muddy floor and dry leaves crunched underneath his weight. You moved to straddle him the second you felt him shift beneath you, as if he wanted to get up. 

You looked at him for a split second. His face was illuminated by the soft glow of the red light. His distress was apparent. He was thrashing around to try and get you off him when you started hitting his chest over and over again. Your hits weren’t hard nor were they intended to cause any damage to him. In fact, he could have easily pushed you off him effortlessly if he wanted to, but Ethan didn’t even try. Instead, he let you continue hitting his chest.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you? You’re… a… fucking… psycho!” Each word was accompanied by another frustrated hit to his chest as tears slowly fell down your face and sobs rattled your body, “You were the only one who knew that. The only person in this goddamn school I ever—ever was stupid enough to tell it to. And you use it for one of your sick and twisted pranks? Fuck you. Fuck you!” 

Your head fell and rested on his chest as you kept on crying. However, your words seemed to pull him back to reality. Only after a few seconds of you speaking, Ethan had already rolled the two of you around until he was on top of you. 

You firmly held his stare as you tried to get him off you. For some strange reason, it sent shivers down your spine to see his eyes so full of fear. Ethan was always centered and glued firmly to the Earth. No matter the issue, he was always capable of keeping his cool, but now was far from being the case. His voice trembled as he tried to speak up, “Shut up Y/N! You’ve got no right to blame me for something that is clearly your doing. I have no fucking clue what your stupid letter said but mine said something that has me convinced it was you!”

His accusation was followed by him shoving his crumpled up letter into your face. You had to squint in order to see it better with only the aid of the red light. When you read the words placed at the very bottom, your eyes went wide and immediately looked for his in a desperate attempt to convince him it wasn’t you, but he had his head turned away. You firmly grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie so he’d look into your eyes, “I-I didn’t. Ethan I don’t like you one bit but I’d never. Not this.”

Ethan scoffed and shook his head. He got off you and turned around so his back was facing you, “You know what? I don’t give a shit what you did or didn’t do. I’m going to wash this disgusting stuff off me and report this in the morning.”

“What the hell? Are you crazy? Ethan, we're in the middle of a crime scene. We cannot leave it like this. I mean, look at you! You’re covered in blood because, let me refresh your mind, you fell into a fucking puddle of blood and found a finger!” You flailed your arms around furiously at his stupidity and started followed him the moment he started walking away, “What if this is real?”

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at you, “What is real? A threat that looks like it was written by a thirteen-year-old who just finished reading The Analyst? And the blood… it belongs to an animal for all I care,” He didn’t seem an ounce convinced by the way he took a second to come up with an excuse, and he couldn’t even look you in the eyes, “Besides, what do you want us to say, huh? Oh yeah, sorry. We’re out past curfew because of reasons we can’t tell you and we casually found a disembodied finger lying in a pool of blood. Ah! And I almost forgot the most important detail. We’re being threatened with things that are not only good enough to get us expelled but also get us thrown in jail. But everything is fantastic.”

You rolled your eyes, “Fine, do whatever the hell you please.”

Ethan nodded nonchalantly and walked away from you. A long and deep sigh escaped your lips at his stubbornness. You wanted to scream out in frustration at how stupid he was being, but decided it was pointless to stay behind, just in case someone arrived and found you standing there, with your clothes filled with blood. 

——— ☆ • ♧ • • ♧ • ☆ ———

When you arrived back at the dorms, the first thing you did was take a hot shower as you tried to assimilate everything that had happened. Despite the water being so hot it almost burnt your skin, you still spent the whole time shivering and hugging your arms to your body. 

You had washed the blood off the hoodie in one of the sinks and still threw it in the washing machine afterwards. You didn’t know what was going on and part of you was convinced you didn’t want to know. Either way, you weren’t going to risk being roped into a crime investigation as a suspect.

Afterwards, you collapsed into bed. Your whole body was aching and, if it weren’t for the fact that your phone had exploded with notifications after you connected it, you would’ve fallen asleep. You lazily felt around the small bedside table for your phone and picked it up. Most notifications were just memes Will kept sending to the group chat you had. However, you’d also received a message from Ethan.

Upon reading the first few words, you already felt the urge to throw the phone out the window. He was being annoying, not like that was a new thing at all. You responded to the text nonetheless and left the phone back on the bedside table. You turned around in your bed to try and find a spot that was comfortable and cuddled deeper into the sheets. Then, just when you were about to close your eyes, the phone vibrated again. You groaned and picked it up once more. After reading those texts, you were unable to sleep all night.

——— 

You spent the great majority of the night crying and shivering despite being covered by layers and layers of warm blankets. Those few hours before your alarm sounded extended into what seemed like an eternity and you didn’t want to leave the room, afraid you’d find something like what you’d just seen at the oak tree. 

You only managed to sleep for about half an hour before your alarm went off at exactly six AM. Any other day, you would’ve snuggled back into bed for a little longer, but on that particular day, you’d jumped out of bed and hadn’t wasted a second before getting ready. You’d run out of the building to meet your friends at the dining hall, where you were currently at.

Damiano, Rory, Vic, and Will were already sitting at your usual table in front of the large window when you arrived. The curly-haired boy was practicing for a presentation while your three friends listened and made a few comments here and there on things they thought he should change. 

“Good morning everyone,” You murmured, then took a seat in between Damiano and Will, who turned to look at you and frowned, “Are you feeling okay, Y/N?” You nodded and put on the best smile you could manage. Then you stole one of the berries from his plate even though you weren’t hungry at all. 

You turned to look at Rory and Damiano, “Hey Ro, has the new phone you ordered arrived yet?” You questioned. After your conversation with Ethan the previous night, you needed to make sure it wasn’t them who had sent the text. Just the thought alone made you shudder in disgust and fear, but you just took a deep breath in and kept a soft smile on your face as your best friend shook their head.

“Funny that you ask that because yesterday I got an email from the store saying the delivery was going to take longer than expected because of the weather issues, so I gotta survive with this piece of crap for a few more days,” They sighed and placed the cracked phone on the table. You wanted to stop holding back the tears right then and there. Rory’s words were the confirmation that someone else had sent the text and you doubted it was Emilia. As much as you didn’t want to, with each passing second you started to believe the threat was true and that someone had died or was terribly hurt somewhere, and you needed to find them before it was too late to save them. 

Then you remembered another one of Ethan’s texts and had to resist the urge to get up and go search for him because you needed to talk to him as soon as possible. Instead, you distracted yourself by listening to Will’s presentation practice.

You were close to nodding off at some point as he kept on speaking, “Back in earlier civilizations, it was believed that any type of illness was caused by demons and—Hey, Y/N!” You hummed softly as Will called your name. He poked you on the rib and you swatted his hand away, “Are you sure you’re alright? You look terrible.”

“Thank you,” You mumbled sarcastically, “I’m doing fine. I just stayed up working on a project and barely got a wink of sleep,” You let your head rest on Damiano’s shoulder and yawned.

“I wish I were that productive,” Victoria said as she played around with her food. Everyone had insisted on her eating at least a few bites even if she was still sick, “I never do shit.”

Thomas piped into the conversation, catching everyone by surprise as he took a seat next to Victoria, “To be fair, Y/N always complains about feeling half-dead from lack of sleep. I’ll never be crazy enough to sacrifice my sleep for a stupid assignment.”

“Yeah, and that’s why you’re one project away from failing Year 12,” Victoria laughed and Thomas rolled his eyes, “The other day I put him in charge of finishing this essay thing for philosophy and by the time I went back to check on him, he was already asleep. I honestly still wonder how we’re at this school. I would’ve thrown us out a long time ago.”

“Look who’s decided to join us today!” Damiano exclaimed with a large smile on his face as Emilia and Ethan took a seat right in front of you. It was an unusual occurrence for him to eat with you because, well, you were there and he couldn’t shut his mouth for half an hour while you ate, which usually ended in an argument that made the whole table annoyed. 

You frowned at his appearance. He was struggling to keep his dark eyes open and his hand wouldn’t stop shaking. It was very apparent that he hadn’t slept much either from the bags under his eyes and his slow steps. Ethan was almost like a zombie. 

He shook his head the moment his eyes met yours and your shoulders slumped. It hadn’t been Emilia either. You got up from your seat abruptly and walked away from the table without an explanation. You desperately needed a breath of fresh air before you went insane. So with quick steps, you moved down the hall until you reached one of the open windows next to a couch. You let yourself fall onto the couch and tightly shut your eyes as you breathed the fresh air in.

“You seriously need to calm down. Otherwise everyone will start to notice just how suspicious you’re acting,” You sighed at the sound of Ethan’s irritating voice and up straight on the couch. You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hands and looked up at him with an annoyed expression.

“You cannot ask me to calm down after what we saw last night. When will it get into your thick skull that whatever this shit is, it’s real. Those threats were real and if we don’t do something we’re both going to end up in jail, or worse, people are going to die. We don’t know who this psycho is nor what they’re capable of doing. We need to do something now before it’s too late,” The words rushed out of your mouth desperately. The urgency in your tone and your voice quivering as you spoke made his face fall. It wasn’t often that he took you seriously, but by the look in his eyes, you could tell he was just as scared as you were and that was enough to make him shut up and listen to all you had to say.

“Shit Y/N, can you lower your voice? We have no clue at all who could ev—” Before he could even finish the whole sentence, the Head Professor cleared her throat. But your heads snapped in her direction and you gulped in fear at the thought of her overhearing the conversation.

Your heart fell to your stomach the moment she spoke, “Just the two I was looking for. I need you in my office right now.”

Your eyes went wide as you turned to look at Ethan, who already had his head turned in your direction. He nudged his head in the professor’s direction and you both followed her as she walked to her office but stayed a few steps behind.

“This is it, we’re going to jail,” You mumbled loud enough so only Ethan could hear. He hushed you and pulled you along when you stopped walking. People were looking at you as you passed by and that only made you feel worse. You loosened the tie around your neck and gulped.

“We are not going to jail unless you don’t pull it together. Now breathe and keep on walking. I’m not your fucking babysitter,” He whisper-yelled and quickened his pace. You sighed and did the same thing. It surely couldn’t be that bad, could it? You were probably just overreacting and the events of the night before had nothing to do with this impromptu meeting. 

You kept those thoughts in mind as the professor opened the door to the small office and you took a seat on one of the two squeaky chairs. The room smelled clean in a comforting way and you let your shoulders relax as you played with your fingers nervously and looked around the place. 

Her office had always been your favorite out of all the professors’. The place was always warm and during the mornings, you could hear coffee brewing in her old coffee machine in the corner of the room. There were books scattered everywhere and piled in a way that didn’t look messy but inviting. During your first weeks at the academy, when you still hadn’t made any friends, you’d go into her office and read while you sat curled up on the couch and enjoyed the warm and calm atmosphere of the place.

Things used to be so much easier back then and you had no clue how things could’ve changed so fast. Back then your relationship with Ethan was decent and you had no trouble with anyone or anything, now you were being threatened into being framed for murder and being sent to jail.

“You totally forgot about our meeting today, didn’t you?” She asked calmly as she poured coffee into one of her cups, filling the room with the delicious and strong scent. The professor pushed her long dark hair out of her face and straightened out her uniform before sitting down opposite to you, “You looked quite shocked. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important.”

Ethan sat there, speechless, just like you. But then realization hit you and you realized you were just being paranoid and stupid. She’d told you about this meeting weeks in advance. It was supposed to have something to do with your chance to get the sought-after 100% scholarship to study your career at The Oakes. 

“Nothing important whatsoever,” You replied quickly and sat up straight as you placed both hands on your lap. Ethan copied your actions and tied up his long hair with the black elastic that had been on his wrist.

Your eyes followed the professor as she dumped a small spoonful of sugar and mixed it around with the dark liquid. You couldn’t help but notice her hand shaking as she poured the milk and even spilled a bit of it down the side of the cup. 

She cursed under her breath and apologized as she got up to search for a napkin. With furrowed eyebrows, you shared a look with Ethan, who shrugged. 

“I apologize. I’m afraid I’m quite distracted today, but let’s continue. Shall we?” She smiled sweetly and opened up one of the folders on her desk as she sat back down. She grabbed two papers from inside and placed one in front of each of you. 

You picked it up and examined its content. It seemed to be some sort of permission slip, “So, as I’m sure you both know, our academy offers a program for all our brightest students that gives them the opportunity to continue their college studies with everything paid. You two are the people with the highest grades amongst the whole generation. The semester is—.”

Her words were interrupted by a few quick knocks on the door before a professor pushed it wide open. He couldn’t stop fidgeting with his hands and playing around with his tie as he spoke, “The council wants to have a meeting, professor.”

“I cannot do it right now, I’m—”

“They want to have it now.” 

The professor turned to the two of you nervously and laughed awkwardly. She stood up from the chair after quickly pushing it back, “I’ll see you another day, okay? Meanwhile, please send a scan of that permission slip to your parents and have them sign it, as soon as possible.” 

Once both professors were out of sight and had closed the door, leaving the two of you alone, Ethan spoke, “Something’s wrong.”

“No shit. Neither one could stop shaking. I say we go and try to listen to what the council members are saying,” You suggested and stood up, but he grabbed your arm and pulled you to sit back down.

“We need to go back to the oak tree first. Y/N, if this is all real and there’s something going on, we need to find that body before they do,” He said firmly. Both his tone and stare were serious and you could tell that there was no way in hell he’d take no for an answer. Instead of arguing, you agreed and walked out of the office right behind him, but then you paused as his words registered into your brain, “Why do we have to find it before them?”

He didn’t stop walking to respond, so with a groan you started to walk faster until you were right next to him, “You weren’t even attending the school when it happened,” Ethan began to talk under his breath, so quietly you could barely make out the words he was trying to say, “It was years ago so I cannot remember exactly how the story went. You can ask Thomas though, he has better memory than I do,”

“Either way, there was this boy who’d just gotten into college and during the secret society’s initiation, he was told to climb the highest tower at that campus but he slipped and fell like ten stories. Like I said, it was a secret society that neither the public nor the parents knew about. If the story of what had really happened got out it’d ruin the school and some of the most important students would’ve been sent to jail, so they twisted it to look like a suicide and got away with it. The only reason we know about it is because one of Will’s cousins, the duke, was involved in it all and Will told us all about it.”

“I refuse to believe that’s true. C’mon, it’s Will,” You laughed, “The same guy who convinced everyone in class that your family secretly ran part of the Italian mafia.”

Ethan only shrugged and stopped walking to knock on the door of the greenhouse. You’d left yours at your dorm that morning from how distracted you were, so you had to wait for Mr. Murphy to open up and let you through.

When he finally opened the door, his eyebrows shot up in surprise as he looked at the two of you in confusion, “What in God’s name has happened to get you two in the same place without fighting?” He mocked. You rolled your eyes and shook your head as a smile appeared on your face.

“I assure you, we can both be perfectly civil. Besides, it’s for a homework we need to do. And believe me it’s the last thing I want to be doing,” You lied and walked into the greenhouse with Ethan following behind, “Anyways, we’re gonna go to the lake to get some water and—”

“I’m afraid you cannot go out there,” He interrupted. You frowned at his words and tilted your head to the side.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Nothing you should care about, kids. Just go to class, yeah? There’s someone coming and if you want to stay out of trouble you better leave before they arrive.”

YOU CAN VOTE ON THIS CHAPTER’S POLL RIGHT HERE. THIS POLL CLOSES AT 12:30 PM CDT ON TUESDAY.

[sophiewritesworld]

Don’t mess with her boyfriend | Montgomery de la Cruz

Requested by anon (a while ago) : You & your blog are both amazing I have so much love❤️ could u pretty pls do a Monty x reader, her ex comes back to Liberty and approaches her trying to get back together totally ignoring Monty’s presence, obviously Monty gets annoyed and tells him to get lost, her ex starts dissing Monty.. let’s just say she’s a feisty one and nobody messes with her baby EVER, so she starts defending him and maybe even throws in a slap lol but that’s your call to make.. xx

Word count : 1.1k words.

 As you walked inside the crowded hall of Liberty, you felt some students weirdly stare at you but you just ignored it and walked over to your locker to get your books out for the day. You had a lot to do this week including convincing your parents to let you go to Jessica’s party on Friday. You were so deep in your thoughts until somebody pulled you out of them.  “Hey babygirl” You smiled and leaned back until your back gently collided with your boyfriend’s chest as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “I missed you.” He whispered to your ear before kissing your cheek. You turned around, grabbing the front of his shirt to steady yourself and kissed him, soft and slow. 

“De la Cruz, (Y/L/N), lay it off!” Kevin Porter shouted from across the hall, dragging the attention of most students around on you. Nothing unusual. 

“I missed you too.” You whispered against his lips before moving away to close your locker. By the time you turned around, your eyes landed on somebody who shouldn’t have been in Liberty. “You have to be kidding me…” 

“And that’s what I wanted to tell you.” Montgomery sighed. 

Your mood went from extremely happy, even though nobody is extremely happy on a Monday morning, to extremely angry within the matter of seconds. Standing a few feet away from you, with the rest of the jocks, was your ex boyfriend, the person you hated the most on earth, Noah. 

Jessica introduced you to Noah at a party over the summer before sophomore year. It didn’t take long before you started dating. You spent the whole summer together. And you did that terrible mistake of trusting him and giving yourself to him. You were in love. Or so you thought. By the end of summer, Noah moved across the country with his parents. A decision he knew about for months but never told you about. You got the news on the first day of school when Zach and Justin asked you about how you were going to manage a long distance relationship. It didn’t hit you right away. It hit you when you saw a new guy on the field with Noah’s number. It hit you when you texted him and he simply told you that he didn’t think it was that big of a deal to tell you. It hit you when everybody at school was talking about you. You went through the first half of sophomore year secluding yourself in the Library, studying and keeping yourself from seeing anybody. You were ashamed of how naive you were to trust Noah like that.

One day, while you were busy finishing your Spanish paper, Montgomery pulled the chair next to yours and loudly crashed on it. “Shhhhh!” Someone angrily looked at him.

“The fuck you want nerd?”

He was about to stand up and fight that innocent soul for hushing him that way when you grabbed him hand to stop him. “Don’t.” And he didn’t. He just glared at the young boy and looked at you. You didn’t even stop what you were doing. “What are you doing here? I’ve never seen set a foot in here before.”

“Wanted the test the ambiance.”

You chuckled shaking your head. “What do you think about it so far?”

“Sucks.”

“And how about you tell me the real reason why you’re here?”

“I got an essay to finish.”

“Liar.”

“I am worried about you.” Your head shot up in surprise. His signature smirk was replaced by a rather concernes expression. “You never leave this place unless you go home or to class.” At least in the school library nobody judged you, too busy studying. 

“I wanna pass. Is there a problem with this?”

“You’re a straight A student, you don’t need to put efforts to get the highest grades.”

“Maybe I do now.”

“Liar.” 

“Get out if you have so much to tell each other. People are trying to study here.” Another student loudly whispered to you.   

And you got out. You didn’t need people to notice you there. Montgomery followed you until you suddenly stopped and turned around to face him. “I am fine Monty.”

“Are you gonna keep lying to my face like that all day?”

“People keep talking about me, Monty. I hear them.” You sighed. “All the time and trust me, they’re not gonna drop the hottest tea in town so easily.”

“Let’s give them another one.”

“What?” The bell started ringing right at that moment and students were rushing out of class, filling the once empty hall you were standing in. At that exact moment, when some of them spotted you probably for the first time in days -or weeks-, Montgomery did something unexpected. He quickly closed the distance between you and pressed his lips to yours in a gentle and slow kiss. It took you one second to realize Montgomery was kissing you and another second to realize you were kissing him back. That was it. That was right. And that was nearly two years ago.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” You asked your boyfriend without looking away from Noah’s tall figure that could be spotted from miles away. Your blood was boiling inside of you.

Before Montgomery could say anything to try and calm you down, Noah saw you and walked over to you. “Hey baby, missed me?” His hand went to touch your cheek but you stepped back avoiding it. “Come on, I know you did.”

“How about you leave my girlfriend alone Carter?” Montgomery came to stand between the two of you. 

“You replaced me with this poor latinx (Y/N/N)? You know you can do better.” He was completely ignoring Montgomery’s words and pushed him to the side to get closer to you. “We can start over beautiful.”

“Fuck off, Carter.” A crowd was slowly forming aroun the three of you and the boys came right away to hold Montgomery back. But he wasn’t the one who needed to be held back. 

Noah looked at Montgomery who was trying to free himself from Jeff’s hold and chuckled. ’“Look at this attack dog, he can’t do anything but get into fights. What kind of future do you think he can give you?” 

No one had the time to make a move that your knee collided with his crotch and as he bent down in pain, your forehead violently collided with his nose, making him fall in pain, blood flooding out of his nose. “Wanna say that again asshole?”

Next thing you knew, you were sitting in front of the honor board under the very disappointed gaze of Mr Porter. You didn’t speak, holding the icepack the school nurse gave you against your forehead on which a bump and a bruise were forming while Noah was sitting on the chair next to yours, blood still dripping out of his nose and on his white t-shirt. It didn’t take long for the honor board to come to the conclusion that you were the one to be blamed for everything and got you suspended for two days. 

[jaehyunfirstlove]

Highway to Heaven - Ch. 3

Your best friend Johnny wants to go on a road trip. The only catch? He wants to bring his roommate, Jeong Jaehyun, someone you just couldn’t stand.

Genre: e2l, fluff, angst, (eventual) smut

Warnings: alcohol use, shirtless Jaehyun ;)

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2

A/N: There are some drunken shenanigans (but not the smutty kind) so if this makes you feel uncomfortable please do not read.

The next morning you did not feel well rested at all, courtesy of your bed mate who moved constantly in his sleep. You’d be woken with either a knee in the back or a hand in the face, and at one point he even mumbled in his sleep, and you thought he was actually talking to you so you spent a good minute trying to figure out what he was saying.

Naturally you were crabby and since it was your shift to drive, your first stop was at Starbucks for a good strong coffee. Your companions had the good sense to stay out of your way, and the rest of the drive was blessedly quiet. You didn’t even turn on any music, feeling a migraine from lack of sleep coming on. By the time you reached the beach at Santa Cruz your head was pounding and all you wanted to do was lie on the beach and rethink your life choices.

Johnny and Jaehyun, however, were like two kids who’d been let out on the last day of school. Once you’d put the car in park they jumped out and bolted towards the water, hollering the entire time, shedding shoes, socks, and shirts as they went. You mentally prayed that they would stop there and thankfully they did, splashing in the ocean in just their shorts. You trailed behind, dragging a beach blanket and umbrella.

“Come into the water, Y/N, it’s so refreshing!” Johnny beckoned.

“No thanks, I know by ‘refreshing’ you mean ‘cold’,” you countered, setting up the blanket and umbrella in the sand, “you guys have fun, I’m going to pass out.” You put your sunglasses on and sat on the blanket, sparing them a glance before you planned to nap. Except that the sight of a shirtless Jaehyun made you pause.

You’d seen Johnny shirtless before so you were immune to it by now, and Jaehyun wasn’t as built as Johnny but again there was something about him that pulled you in. His shoulders were broad, something you hadn’t really noticed when he was wearing clothes, his chest defined, and the clear lines of his abs were evident as he played around with Johnny in the water. You tried to swallow but your throat was dry, willing yourself to look away but you couldn’t. He looked your way and smiled, the setting sun forming a halo effect around him. It felt like time stopped at that moment, but you just blamed it on your migraine giving you hallucinations. You shook your head at the same time Johnny grabbed Jaehyun and dunked him in the water.

---

That night was camping on the beach, and you and Jaehyun started the campfire while Johnny set up the tents.

“You’re good at this,” Jaehyun commented, as you deftly lit the tinder and fanned the small flames into a roaring fire.

“Did I tell you Y/N’s a pyro?” Johnny chuckled, fighting with the tent poles.

You just shrugged. “I was always in charge of the campfires when I went camping with my family. I guess I had the steadiest hands and I wasn’t afraid of fire. Johnny is, though.” You side-eyed your friend.

“Hey, don’t give away all my secrets,” Johnny wagged a finger at you, “besides, it’s perfectly normal to be afraid of fire.”

“Mm,” Jaehyun nodded, “is that why you’re setting up your tent thirty feet away?”

“That is NOT the reason, I have a new sleeping bag that’s rated for very cold temperatures that I wanted to test.” Johnny huffed.

You snickered, “Well, I’m telling you now that I am definitely not sleeping with you tonight, I still have bruises from the one-sided boxing match you engaged in with me last night.” You rolled your neck and Jaehyun laughed.

“Guess it’s you and me tonight, John,” he winked at Johnny, who winked back at him and blew him a kiss.

You made vomiting noises as you watched them. “Get a room!”

“We have a tent!” They said together, collapsing into laughter.

---

You roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner, and paired with a few beers you were starting to feel drowsy again. Johnny had already retired to his tent, and Jaehyun was quietly poking at the fire with a stick.

“Hey,” you started but just as soon stopped. Your tongue felt too big for your mouth, you were pretty sure you weren’t drunk, but sometimes when you looked over at Jaehyun there were two of him. That definitely would be trouble, you thought, then giggled.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, looking at you curiously.

“Oop! Was that out loud?” you were startled at the sound of your own voice, your eyes bulging, your hand clapping over your mouth. Jaehyun broke out into the widest smile you’d seen from him yet.

“Y/N, are you drunk?”

“Are you kidding?” you slurred, confused again as to why your voice sounded that way, “Absolutely not! And I am insulted that you would think that!” you went on. Your face felt hot, and it wasn’t from the fire.

“Sorry, you just sounded like it. And your face-” he began to point at you, his finger making a circle in the air around your face.

“Don’t!” you pointed right back at him, your blood boiling, “You don’t get to talk about my face! Who do you think you are anyway! Bad boy? Huh? Player!”

He flinched at your words, and even with your mind clouded you could feel the tension in the air. He went back to poking at the fire, and you were struck with the sudden urge to vomit.

“Jaehyun, I think I’m gonna throw up,” you managed to warn him, before you turned away and emptied the contents of your dinner into the sand. He jumped up from where he was sitting, cradling an arm around you and holding your hair back as you heaved. He held you like that until you were done, passing you some tissues and a bottle of water when you seemed to be better. You sat back, holding onto his arm to steady yourself.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern clear in his eyes. When you nodded a strand of hair fell into your face, and he reached over and tucked it behind your ear. That simple gesture made your heart flip in your chest, but before you could do anything about it, your world went black.

---

“Should we bring her to the hospital?”

“Nah, she’ll be fine, I’ve seen this before. One time in college, she got drunk at a party and barfed all over this guy she had a crush on.” Johnny snickered at the memory, “She just needs to sleep it off.”

“I don’t know, Johnny, she was all pale and then she passed out. I carried her to her tent but I felt bad about leaving her alone in there.”

You were slowly starting to regain consciousness, forcing your eyes open you recognized you were in your tent. You could hear Johnny and Jaehyun talking outside.

“Owww,” you moaned, clutching your head as you propped yourself up on your elbows. That simple motion made your entire body ache.

“Y/N?” you heard the tent unzip, Jaehyun’s worried face appearing in the opening. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been run over by a freight train,” you croaked, coughing as your throat felt like sandpaper. Jaehyun handed you a bottle of water. You almost chugged it in one go but Jaehyun stopped you, urging you to slow down.

“Slowly,” he touched your arm lightly with his hand, and even though the contact was brief, you felt warmth spread throughout your body.

“Thanks,” you said sincerely, looking him in the eye. He tilted his head slightly at you before he smiled, that beautiful dimpled smile that was starting to bewitch you.

“You’re fine, Y/N, stop milking this already! Let’s get going, we’re losing sunlight here!” Johnny was bellowing from behind Jaehyun.

“Give her a minute, Johnny,” Jaehyun turned to him, putting out his hand in a calming gesture. Johnny just shrugged.

“Alright but don’t take too long, I want to get to that diner before it gets too busy.” He disappeared, presumably to pack up his tent.

“What time is it, anyway?” you asked Jaehyun, rubbing your eyes.

“Almost eleven,” he answered.

“In the morning?” you yawned. The corners of Jaehyun’s mouth twitched, he was trying not to smile.

“Yes. We let you sleep in. Well, I let you sleep in. Johnny wanted to wake you at seven.”

“Oh god, thank you so much,” you were starting to feel more awake, but your body still ached, “He’s right though, that diner gets crazy around noon. Let’s go.” You tried to stand up but your limbs wouldn’t obey you.

“Do you need help?” you could tell he wanted to, his arms were already outstretched, but he still waited for your consent. You wanted to say no, you hated feeling like you needed help, but nothing was going to happen if you remained stubborn. You mentally cursed yourself for drinking that one extra beer that you knew you shouldn’t have.

“Yeah, thanks,” you nodded, and he leaned down and lifted you gently. You hated yourself for thinking it, but his arms around you felt good. You could feel the strength in them, but also the gentleness and care with which he handled you. Once you were on your feet you nodded at him, thinking you were okay, so he let go. You almost crumpled to the ground but he caught you, his reflexes undeniably fast.

“Whoops,” he said, arms enclosing you, his face just inches from yours. You were so close to him you could smell the mintiness of his breath, could see the reflection of yourself in his irises, could feel the heat radiating from his body. It was only a split second though, before he righted you, not letting go this time. “Just hold onto me, if you need to.”

This time, you did, clutching his elbow as he walked you back to the car. Johnny ended up packing everything else up, shaking his head and clicking his tongue at you as he passed.

“No more beer for you!” he rebuked. You stuck out your tongue at him, but even that motion made you woozy. Jaehyun placed you carefully in the backseat, making sure you were comfortable before getting into the driver’s seat.

“Don’t drive too crazy, okay?” you pleaded weakly.

He looked at you in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Promise.”

[artielu]

[Yes, this is long, but it is worth your time to read the whole thing.]

January 6, 2021 (Wednesday)

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

This morning, results from the Georgia senatorial runoff elections showed that Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff had beaten their Republican opponents—both incumbents—by more than the threshold that would require a recount. The Senate is now split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, so the position of majority leader goes to a Democrat. Mitch McConnell, who has bent the government to his will since he took over the position of majority leader in 2007, will be replaced.

With the Democrats in control of both Congress and the Executive Branch, it is reasonable to expect we will see voting rights legislation, which will doom the current-day Republican Party, depending as it has on voter suppression to stay in power.

Trump Republicans and McConnell Republicans had just begun to blame each other for the debacle when Congress began to count the certified electoral votes from the states to establish that Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. The election was not close—Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes and the Electoral College by 306 to 232—but Trump contends that he won the election in a landslide and “fraud” made Biden the winner.

Trump has never had a case. His campaign filed and either lost or had dismissed 62 out of 63 lawsuits because it could produce no evidence for any of its wild accusations. Nonetheless, radical lawmakers courted Trump’s base by echoing Trump’s charges, then tried to argue that the fact voters no longer trusted the vote was reason to contest the certified votes.

More than 100 members of the House announced they would object to counting the votes of certain states. About 13 senators, led by Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), agreed to join them. The move would slow down the count as each chamber would have to debate and take a separate vote on whether to accept the state votes, but the objectors never had anywhere near the votes they needed to make their objections stick.

So Trump turned to pressuring Vice President Mike Pence, who would preside over the counting, to throw out the Biden votes. On Monday, Trump tweeted that “the Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.” This would throw the blame for the loss onto Pence, but the vice president has no constitutional power to do any such thing, and this morning he made that clear in a statement. Trump then tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

It seemed clear that the voting would be heated, but it was also clear that most of the lawmakers opposing the count were posturing to court Trump’s base for future elections. Congress would count Biden’s win.

But Trump had urged his supporters for weeks to descend on Washington, D.C., to stop what he insisted was the stealing of the election. They did so and, this morning, began to congregate near the Capitol, where the counting would take place. As he passed them on the east side of the Capitol, Hawley raised a power fist.

In the middle of the day, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke to the crowd, telling them: “Let’s have trial by combat.” Trump followed, lying that he had won the election and saying “we are going to have to fight much harder.” He warned that Pence had better “come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country.” He warned that Chinese-driven socialists are taking over the country. And he told them to march on Congress to “save our democracy.”

As rioters took Trump at his word, Congress was counting the votes alphabetically by state. When they got to Arizona, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) stood up to echo the rhetoric radicals had been using to discredit the certified votes, saying that public distrust in the election—created out of thin air by Republicans—justified an investigation.

Within an hour, a violent mob stormed the Capitol and Cruz, along with the rest of the lawmakers, was rushed to safety (four quick-thinking staffers brought along the electoral ballots, in their ceremonial boxes). As the rioters broke in, police shot and killed one of them: Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, QAnon believer, and staunch Trump supporter. The insurrectionists broke into the Senate chamber, where one was photographed on the dais of the Senate, shirtless and wearing a bull costume that revealed a Ku Klux Klan tattoo on his abdomen. They roamed the Capitol looking for Pence and other lawmakers they considered enemies. Not finding them, they ransacked offices. One rioter photographed himself sitting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk with his feet on it.

They carried with them the Confederate flag.

Capitol police provided little obstruction, apparently eager to avoid confrontations that could be used as propaganda on social media. The intruders seemed a little surprised at their success, taking selfies and wandering around like tourists. One stole a lectern.

As the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security all remained silent, President-Elect Joe Biden spoke to cameras urging calm and calling on Trump to tell his supporters to go home. But CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins later reported that she spoke to White House officials who were “genuinely freaked… out” that Trump was “borderline enthusiastic” about the storming of the Capitol because “it meant the certification was being derailed.”

At 4:17, Trump issued his own video, reiterating his false claims that he had been cheated of victory. Only then did he conclude with: “Go home, we love you, you’re very special.” Twitter immediately took the video down. By nighttime Trump’s Twitter feed seemed to blame his enemies for the violence the president had incited (although the rhythm of the words did not sound to me like Trump’s own usual cadence): “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Twitter took down the tweet and banned the president for at least twelve hours for inciting violence; Facebook and Instagram followed suit.

As the afternoon wore on, police found two pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., as well as a truck full of weapons and ammunition, and mobs gathered at statehouses across the country, including in Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Georgia.

By 5:00, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller issued a statement saying he had conferred with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and had fully activated the D.C. National Guard.

He did not mention the president.

By late evening, Washington, D.C., police chief Robert J. Contee III announced that at least 52 people had been arrested and 14 law enforcement officers injured. A total of four people died, including one who died of a heart attack and one who tased themself.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged people to stay away from Trump to limit their chances of being prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. By midnight, four staffers had resigned, as well as Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, with other, higher level officials also talking about leaving. Even Trump adviser Stephen Miller admitted it was a bad day. Quickly, pro-Trump media began to insist that the attack was a false-flag operation of “Antifa,” despite the selfies and videos posted by known right-wing agitators, and the fact that Trump had invited, incited, and praised them.

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis laid the blame for today’s attack squarely at the feet of Trump himself: “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, and effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.”

The attempted coup drew condemnation from all but the radical Trump supporters in government. Former President George W. Bush issued a statement “on insurrection at the Capitol,” saying “it is a sickening and heartbreaking sight.” “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election,” he said, and accused such leaders of enflaming the rioters with lies and false hopes. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was more direct: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

Across the country tonight are calls for Trump’s removal through the 25th amendment, impeachment, or resignation. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have joined the chorus, writing to Pence urging him to invoke the 25th. Angry at Trump’s sabotaging of the Georgia elections in addition to the attack on our democracy, prominent Republicans are rumored to be doing the same.

At 8:00, heavily armed guards escorted the lawmakers back to the Capitol, thoroughly scrubbed by janitors, where the senators and representatives resumed their counting of the certified votes. The events of the afternoon had broken some of the Republicans away from their determination to challenge the votes. Fourteen Republican senators had announced they would object to counting the certified votes from Arizona; in the evening count the number dropped to six: Cruz (R-TX), Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

In the House, 121 Republicans, more than half the Republican caucus, voted to throw out Biden’s electors from Arizona. As in the Senate, they lost when 303 Representatives voted in favor.

Six senators and more than half of the House Republicans backed an attempt to overthrow our government, in favor of a man caught on tape just four days ago trying to strong-arm a state election official into falsifying the election results.

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

[Heather Cox Richardson is a Professor of History at Boston College. She has daily posts on Facebook that summarize the day's political events and puts them in historical context. The Facebook post link's first comment are her citations to sources.]

[theroseandthebeast]

Yuletide 2021 - Fic Recs Batch Five

19 fic recs for Ted Lasso, What We Do In The Shadows, Wuthering Heights

Holding Pattern, Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso 

“Ted,” Trent says, lingering on the consonants. “You cannot possibly be this dense.”

followed a feeling, Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso 

“So,” Ted says, hair plastered over his forehead, rain caught on every one of his eyelashes, “werewolf, huh?”

 “Oh God,” Trent says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I suppose you’d better come in.”

[Or: Trent’s used to the whole werewolf thing being hush-hush, in that typically British sort of way. Meanwhile, Ted is Very American™.]

nice boys don’t kiss like that, Colin Hughes/Jan Maas 

Five times Colin and Jan Maas accidentally reenacted classic romantic comedies, or, a strong and abiding belief in rom-communism.

i've got a feeling (everybody had a good year), Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso 

His daughter’s new primary school teacher is an American. And that’s only the start of Trent Crimm’s problems.

(not) an invitation., Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt 

Keeley voiced the suggestion in a roundabout sort of way, over takeaway and curled up on the sofa together a few months after Roy returned home from the trip to Spain which Jamie, Isaac, and Colin had so rudely interrupted.

The Alice House, Trent Crimm/Ted Lasso 

Ted and Trent stumble onto a crime scene.

I Know We're In The Long Game, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent, Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton 

Roy and Keeley do brunch. It’s not a double date with Ted and Rebecca, but it’s also not not that.

Jump the gun, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt 

“Roy?” Keeley says, frowning at him from the screen of his phone, “Did you marry my ex-boyfriend last night? Without me?”

For A Minute There I Lost Myself, gen, Nathan Shelley 

Nathan Shelley and the road to redemption.

if you could redirect my day, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tart, Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt 

Roy is alone in Marbella, and it's fine until he finds out that Jamie fucking Tartt is in Ibiza.

He gives the invitation to join him for a few days against his better judgment, but he still gives it.

Behind closed doors, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt

Jamie Tartt vs the combined forces of bisexuality and kink. 

The More Things Change, Roy Kent & Phoebe, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent, Roy Kent & Jamie Tartt 

"I am so fucking sorry," Roy says, for about the fifteenth time today.

out of office, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt 

The thing is, there's only so many entertainment options when you're at a fancy villa without your girlfriend, your knee is too fucked to even kick around a ball, you're avoiding anyone with a camera, and your ex-teammate is shirtless by the pool eating an entire seafood tower.

Not that the last one is enticing, necessarily - Roy just can't take it anymore. 

into touch, Keeley Jones/Roy KentKeeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt 

Jamie needs a place to stay. Things deteriorate very quickly after that.

The Off-Season, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt

Jamie rents the villa next door to Roy in Marbella and Keeley spends nearly the whole six weeks on FaceTime calls with her boys, waiting for them to come back to her.

this could be us, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt, Keeley Jones/Jamie Tartt 

There are a number of moments over the years that it could've happened.

This is one of them.

I've Got A Rainbow, It's In My Mouth, Keeley Jones/Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt

Jamie wasn't even supposed to come to Iceland. But here he is, and here Roy and Keeley are, and it's really not a bad time at all.

bite the feeding hand, Guillermo de la Cruz/Nandor the Relentless

“I’ve beat you once before, Master,” Guillermo said, shifting his weight onto his back foot, hand drifting to his side, where he had his favorite stake strapped. The fancy one with the silver hilt.

“I let you win,” Nandor scoffed. “I won’t go easy this time.”

Semi-Splendid, Catherine Earnshaw/Heathcliff

    Isn’t it you she seeks? And

    If you blame her, know that she blames you for choosing

    Not her, but me. Love is never fair. But do we — should we — care?

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

FAMILY.

Johnny “Coco” Cruz + Leticia Cruz x Marcus Alvarez daughter!Reader

Anon asked: would you write an imagine in which you have established relationship with coco and letti considers you as her mom and then you get pregnant but you think coco wouldn’t like that and would break up with so you decide to start avoiding and distancing yourself from coco and letti but like so angst at first but in the end real fluffiness

Thanks to my lovely beta reader @chibsytelford 💖

Word count: 2.2k

Author Comments: I hope you all enjoy. Gif credits: @thesewickedhands

Tag list: @starrynite7114 ​ @chibsytelford ​ @dazzledamazon ​ @mara-mpou ​ @sammskellington ​ @gemini0410 ​ @1-800-imagines ​ @briana-mishell24 ​ @sassymox @whyisgmora @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcrobae @jade770 @arveeee @witchy-wish ✨ (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)

“You can't leave me”.

You're ignoring him, with the suitcase over the unmade bed filling it with the clothes you have in his house. He grabs your wrists forcing you to look at his eyes.

“What I did? What I said to make ya' leave me, mami? I'm sorre', so sorre' for whateva' I said, did or I didn't say or I didn't do... Lemme make it up to you, please”.

You know he's falling into pieces. You've been the world to him, and you still are even if you're killing him painful and slowly. His dark orbs are reddened about to cry, producing you a knot in your throat. But you fucked up your relationship. He doesn't know, but you did.

“You ain't nothen' to say, ah? You're gonna gimme' the silent treatment after five years together?” His voice is starting to break too, while he lets you go nodding. “You save me from the same death you're condemning me to. You lied to me. You told me that you always be by my side. By Letti's. Are ya' gonna give her an explanation?”

Zipping the suitcase, containing all the tears in your eyes, you drag it above the floor through the hallway towards the main door. The one who gets opened by a feminine hand. The girl looks at you confused, turning her gaze to your stuff, and then to his father.

“Coco, what's'ap?”

“I don' know! She's just leven'”.

“(Y/N)?” She takes a step next to you. “Where you goen'?”

“Letti… I ca—can't. I'm sorry”. Giving her a kiss on a cheek, you pass the girl away. “I'll call you, mi niña, I promise. But now… I just need to go”.

It's all you say hearing the girl crying as long as walk downstairs, begging you to come back whilst Coco is holding her. You can't do it to them, that's what you think, taking the decision by your own risk. Your father is already waiting you in front of the house and, putting inside the trunk your things, you have a seat on the copilote one. He turns on the engine, raising his gaze up to you waiting for some words. But there's nothing. You don't have the strength to say anything, breaking in crying when you ride the street going back home.

┅┅ ┅ ┅ ┅┅

It's been two days locked in your old room, lying on bed with no moves more than necessary and your phone off. You know by Bishop that Coco is devastated and that he had to ask for some free days. He also came to your house some times, begging to your father to let him come in and talk to you. But he didn't let him. Holding the pregnancy test by two fingers, with your head resting on the wetted pillow because of your agonics tears, your eyes are on the two pink stripes confirming that you're pregnant.

You know Coco's past. You know how much he did suffer when he knew he was about to be father. Thrice. First Letti. Then Daniel. And after him, Rico. He doesn't have any touch with the two boys, and he also doesn't remember the face of their mothers. But with Letti he wanted to do the right thing. And you know, he doesn't want to have any other children. So, you fucked up. Of course you could go to a clinic and make like it never happened. But you want that baby, being the product of a relationship with the love of your life. You can't simply pretend that it has never existed.

Your father doesn't call to the door, coming in without expecting, and keeping the test under your pillow as soon as you can do it. But he's not stupid. He has seen it.

“Is that why you left him?”

He has always been a very prudent man with his words. Now, he can't. Walking close to you and sitting on the mattress, the man pulls away a bristle of hair behind your ear.

“Mija, talk to him… Don't be as the other women who were in his life”. Marcus says carefully, leaving a soft and gently caress on your cheek. “You're better than them. You're everything for him and his daughter”.

He's right. He's always right.

“You didn't ask him if he wants to have it. You don't know what it's inside his mind. No ones knows”.

“He said…”

“It doesn't matter what he said, mija. It's his child too. And if this happened it's because of both, not only you, not only Coco”.

Getting up to sit on the bed, with the test between your fingers, you look at your father licking your lips.

“And if he doesn't want it, we will take care of this baby”.

The hand of your father placed on your stomach gives you some chills, nodding with your head down straight to it. You hug him, being all that you have needed these days. His arms push you into him, comforting you as only your father can do, leaving some kisses all around your head.

“I love you, princesa, and that's never going to change”. He says with a dearly tone in his voice, before cleaning the tears almost dried on your cheeks. “Call Coco. Talk to him”.

┅┅ ┅ ┅ ┅┅

After two mental breakdowns, a shower and a coffee, you get dressed ready to drive. You take the long way to his house, with low velocity, trying to order the words inside your head by creating a monologue you will forget when he'll be in front of you.

Getting more nervous when you find his car and his motorcycle parked in the closest sidewalk, you swallow hardly and noisy, placing yours behind them. Grabbing your bag from the other seat, you step out of your Ford, straight to the door. You kept the keys for some reason you don't know, taking them off of the pocket to open it. And you can't even get surprised when you reach the house, coming in, finding a complete mess. The smell of tobacco has flooded the flat. There are empty beers wherever you look at. Pizza boxes above the table and a towel of dirty dishes in the kitchen.

Letti gets out of her room as soon as she heard the main door closing. She stares at you for a second, the enough time to know it's not a dream, nor an illusion, just to run like never before till she's able to hug you. The girl is crying as you are, holding her closer to your body, feeling how much you missed each other. It was a mistake. The worst one of all. Pulling her away some inches, you cup his cheek in your hands, kissing them so loud it almost makes an echo.

“Where's Coco?”

“I think he still drunk…” She tries to say, hugging you again for some seconds.

“Okay, lemme' see”.

Giving her your bag, you cross the only hallway to the room you have shared for the last years. Opening the door and seeing how dark is inside, you roll up the blind a little. Enough to watch him wearing the first shirt you gave him almost six years ago. His hair is a full mess scattered above the pillow, holding it with both arms and a leg above it too. There's some blood in the nearest wall to the window, raising your eyes to his raw knuckles. This is your fault and you can't help but feeling a tear falling down.

Sitting by his side, you try to think how's the best way to waking him up, pulling away some bristles of black hair. Leaning towards him, you leave a soft kiss on his temple with a hand caressing his bare arm.

“Coquito…” You mutter with a smooth tone, seeing how he stirs under your touch. “Lemme' take you to the shower, c'mon…”

He's drunk. Too much drunk, he can't even put up his body, having to push him into yours till his feet reaches the floor.

“C'mon, Coco”.

He's humming something you can't understand between sobs and growls. Making a gesture with your head to his daughter, to ask for some coffee, she nods without hesitating. You leave him sit on the toilet, taking some seconds to open the faucet with cold water. He's going to hate you more than he already does. Helping him to get undressed becomes a truly nightmare, until you manage to put it in the bathtub. He's awake in less than two seconds, cursing in spanish and killing you with his gaze.

“Have a shower, I'll find some clothes”.

He doesn't say anything, staring at you whilst leaving the bathroom. But the first thing you do it's open every window of the house and the door to the terrace. At least, the smell of fresh coffee is helping somewhat. When you come back to the bath', Coco is already sitting on the toilet with a towel covering half of his body and his eyes on his feet.

“Why are ya' here?”

“Wear'et. I'll be waiting you in the living'” Before he can complains because of your words, you lean next to him enough to kiss his forehead. He's shocked. You can see it and you can feel it. But he's going to need a coffee first.

“You're not leven'?” Noticing the worry in his voice, finally lifting up his gaze to yours, you shake your head firmly. He nods biting his inner lip.

Five minutes later, Letti and Coco are sitting in front of you, waiting for some words to come out of your mouth. But, as you knew, you forgot everything you were supposed to say. Grabbing you bag, you takes off the pregnancy test looking it for a second, before leaving it on the table.

“Leticia, go to your room”.

“Bu—”.

“Now”. He just say. You nod in agreement, looking how she's trying to hide her excitement. She does it in silence. “This is wha'... wha' you left me?”

You're astonished when he shows you how disappointed he is, taking the test with both hands and focusing on it.

“I… I just… don't know what to say. I don't blame you, but when you said to Letti you didn't want any child, I just… I just thought you would hate me”.

“How? How could I hate you? Who do ya' think I am? I lo—I love you, mami. More than anyone, you alreade' know'et”. He's desperate and confused, gesticulating with one hand whilst the other still holding the white stick.

“'Cause I'm pregnant, and you don' want it”.

“Who the fuck told ya I don' wan'et, ah? I didn't wan'et with a crazy bitch! You're ma' girl. You're ma' family, ma' life. And a mom to ma' daughter... I wan— I wanna… do all these bullshit tha' happens in tha' movies you and Letti like. You made me a bette' man, a bette' father. Why…? Why I wouldn' like to have a baby with ya'?”

You can't help but crying loudly, covering your face with both hands as you nail your elbows on the table. He's right. You didn't ask, you just took things for granted. Two strong arms surrounds your body, forcing you to rest your head on his chest.

“I'm so sorry, Coco… I was scared… I di— I didn't want to lose you”. Moarning without consolation, you hear some steps coming towards you too.

“Lemme' do'et, please”. He begs you, looking for your eyes. “I love you, mami. I truly do. And I also love that kid. Lemme do'et”.

You nod, feeling how Letti's arms wraps you and her father. You were wrong. So wrong. More than you thought. And now you know it but, at least, he didn't kick your ass for what you did.

“I always wanted to have a sister or a brother, if it helps…” Letti mutters, making you chuckle between some tears filling your eyes.

“I'm sorry for what I did”. You say then, pulling them away so you can clean your cry.

“Don' leve' us again, please”.

Coco leans towards you with both hands on your neck, taking you closer to kiss your lips, your cheeks, your temples… All your face. You nod again feeling how that heavy and painful weight is disappearing of your shoulders.

“We're a fam', rai?” He asks, raising his gaze to his daughter for a while. She nods too, before the girl hugs you again sitting on your lap.

“And maybe you're not my true mom, but you're the one I want”. She says making you cry again, regretting all the pain you made her.

“I'm sorry, Letti… I'm so sorry”.

“You don' have to. You're back at home”.

[nickgerlich]

Deal Or No Deal

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of bicycling. I was the terror of the south suburbs of Chicago when I was a kid (in my mind, at least). After putting on a little around the middle while at university (I’m blaming all those late-night runs to Burger Chef), I crawled back on in 1983 and now have about 400,000 miles in my legs.

And along the way, I got to know quite a bit about the bicycle industry and its highly fragmented network of independent bicycle dealers (IBDs). It is still the primary retail channel, in spite of recent trends toward small regional chains, corporately-owned stores, and online-only vendors and manufacturers. You can still count on going to your local shop and spending a few hours just shooting the breeze with the wrenches while they work.

Well, when the weather is too bad for riding, that is.

But there are some changes afoot that are causing fear and righteous indignation among IBDs. The biggest brands (like Trek, and the Dutch-owned Pon, which owns the Cervelo and Santa Cruz badges) are buying up more and more dealers. And now Specialized, one of the best-selling names in bicycling, is launching its Rider Direct program next month.

It will now be possible to completely circumvent the IBD, at a time when they are still trying to recover from stock-outs during COVID. Those same IBDs saw their sales skyrocket at the beginning of the lock down, as people turned to exercise to pass time. But they could not replenish their stocks.

The new program offers cyclists a variety of options. They can still peruse the fleet online, and then either go to their local IBD or use the website’s locator to find who has your chosen steed in stock.

But that’s where the IBD starts getting pushed out of the picture, at least in part. Shoppers can buy their bike and have it delivered straight to their home, with only minor assembly required. Or, if they lack basic mechanic skills, have it delivered to their local IBD, who will do the work and receive 50% of their normal margin. Finally, there’s a white glove option, whereby the IBD will do the assembly, fitting, and delivery to your door, and get 75% of the standard margin.

Before we move on, we should note that these are all pricey bikes. It takes about $2000 just to get into this sport, and you can drop $10K pretty fast if you’re not careful. IBDs have traditionally been able to get about a 35% profit margin on bikes. But accessory items normally have at least a 50% margin. They thus make a lot of add-on profit when the customer buys their bike in the shop, because they need extra tubes, bottle cages, bottles, seat post bag, pedals, etc. Oh yeah. Bikes these days don’t come with pedals, because there are too many varieties on the market, and every cyclist has their favorite.

I should also mention that the real money in this business, though, is not from selling bikes and accessories. It’s in repair work. I have a friend in New Jersey with a bike shop, and he reports that a full 60% of his revenues come from wrenching.

IBDs are indeed nervous about getting cut out of 50-100% of their margin with the new program. They depend on customers coming in to buy their bikes and accessories, as well as just hanging out and talking about biking. It’s part of the culture.

With COVID sliding more and more into the rear view, I suspect there will be a slew of lightly-used bikes on CraigsList, Facebook Marketplace, and elsewhere as people resume their old ways of life, meaning little or no exercise. And if Specialized is handling the transaction on new bikes, those blended options that still involve the IBD are zero risk for the local shop. They do not have to have money tied up in inventory. Sure, there’s a loss on potential revenue, but then again, there’s no cost of capital to stock a bike in the first place.

Given Specialized’s market power (they are in third place with 9.5% share), IBDs are not exactly in a place to complain. Brand exclusives are granted for specified territories, and Specialized is one you don’t want to let slip away. Specialized didn’t ask the IBDs last week what they thought about this. They simply told them it’s coming. As in take it or leave it.

I see a tidal shift coming in the bike biz. Local shops will implicitly be discouraged from holding much inventory, which is a very important function in the sales process. Far more important than trying on clothes or shoes, taking a bike for a test ride is critical. It’s the only way to find out if it’s for you. “Try before you buy” is not limited to just apparel and dating.

And I’ll stop right there with the comparisons.

Local shops will become the place you go for accessories and repairs, and of these, what’s to stop Specialized from just going consumer-direct on all the add-ons as well? Maybe Specialized will pay IBDs to become catalog showrooms. It would be a nice compromise.

All I know is I have a lot of fond memories from nearly 40 years in this sport, and hanging out at the shop on snowy days. I don’t want to see the IBDs go away. E-commerce may have killed the book stores, record stores, and the like, but please don’t do it to bikes. I still have a lot of miles left in my legs.

Dr “Ride On” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[victory-rose]

January 6, 2021 (Wednesday)

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

This morning, results from the Georgia senatorial runoff elections showed that Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff had beaten their Republican opponents—both incumbents—by more than the threshold that would require a recount. The Senate is now split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, so the position of majority leader goes to a Democrat. Mitch McConnell, who has bent the government to his will since he took over the position of majority leader in 2007, will be replaced.

With the Democrats in control of both Congress and the Executive Branch, it is reasonable to expect we will see voting rights legislation, which will doom the current-day Republican Party, depending as it has on voter suppression to stay in power.

Trump Republicans and McConnell Republicans had just begun to blame each other for the debacle when Congress began to count the certified electoral votes from the states to establish that Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. The election was not close—Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes and the Electoral College by 306 to 232—but Trump contends that he won the election in a landslide and “fraud” made Biden the winner.

Trump has never had a case. His campaign filed and either lost or had dismissed 62 out of 63 lawsuits because it could produce no evidence for any of its wild accusations. Nonetheless, radical lawmakers courted Trump’s base by echoing Trump’s charges, then tried to argue that the fact voters no longer trusted the vote was reason to contest the certified votes.

More than 100 members of the House announced they would object to counting the votes of certain states. About 13 senators, led by Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), agreed to join them. The move would slow down the count as each chamber would have to debate and take a separate vote on whether to accept the state votes, but the objectors never had anywhere near the votes they needed to make their objections stick.

So Trump turned to pressuring Vice President Mike Pence, who would preside over the counting, to throw out the Biden votes. On Monday, Trump tweeted that “the Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.” This would throw the blame for the loss onto Pence, but the vice president has no constitutional power to do any such thing, and this morning he made that clear in a statement. Trump then tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

It seemed clear that the voting would be heated, but it was also clear that most of the lawmakers opposing the count were posturing to court Trump’s base for future elections. Congress would count Biden’s win.

But Trump had urged his supporters for weeks to descend on Washington, D.C., to stop what he insisted was the stealing of the election. They did so and, this morning, began to congregate near the Capitol, where the counting would take place. As he passed them on the east side of the Capitol, Hawley raised a power fist.

In the middle of the day, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke to the crowd, telling them: “Let’s have trial by combat.” Trump followed, lying that he had won the election and saying “we are going to have to fight much harder.” He warned that Pence had better “come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country.” He warned that Chinese-driven socialists are taking over the country. And he told them to march on Congress to “save our democracy.”

As rioters took Trump at his word, Congress was counting the votes alphabetically by state. When they got to Arizona, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) stood up to echo the rhetoric radicals had been using to discredit the certified votes, saying that public distrust in the election—created out of thin air by Republicans—justified an investigation.

Within an hour, a violent mob stormed the Capitol and Cruz, along with the rest of the lawmakers, was rushed to safety (four quick-thinking staffers brought along the electoral ballots, in their ceremonial boxes). As the rioters broke in, police shot and killed one of them: Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, QAnon believer, and staunch Trump supporter. The insurrectionists broke into the Senate chamber, where one was photographed on the dais of the Senate, shirtless and wearing a bull costume that revealed a Ku Klux Klan tattoo on his abdomen. They roamed the Capitol looking for Pence and other lawmakers they considered enemies. Not finding them, they ransacked offices. One rioter photographed himself sitting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk with his feet on it.

They carried with them the Confederate flag.

Capitol police provided little obstruction, apparently eager to avoid confrontations that could be used as propaganda on social media. The intruders seemed a little surprised at their success, taking selfies and wandering around like tourists. One stole a lectern.

As the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security all remained silent, President-Elect Joe Biden spoke to cameras urging calm and calling on Trump to tell his supporters to go home. But CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins later reported that she spoke to White House officials who were “genuinely freaked… out” that Trump was “borderline enthusiastic” about the storming of the Capitol because “it meant the certification was being derailed.”

At 4:17, Trump issued his own video, reiterating his false claims that he had been cheated of victory. Only then did he conclude with: “Go home, we love you, you’re very special.” Twitter immediately took the video down. By nighttime Trump’s Twitter feed seemed to blame his enemies for the violence the president had incited (although the rhythm of the words did not sound to me like Trump’s own usual cadence): “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Twitter took down the tweet and banned the president for at least twelve hours for inciting violence; Facebook and Instagram followed suit.

As the afternoon wore on, police found two pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., as well as a truck full of weapons and ammunition, and mobs gathered at statehouses across the country, including in Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Georgia.

By 5:00, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller issued a statement saying he had conferred with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and had fully activated the D.C. National Guard.

He did not mention the president.

By late evening, Washington, D.C., police chief Robert J. Contee III announced that at least 52 people had been arrested and 14 law enforcement officers injured. A total of four people died, including one who died of a heart attack and one who tased themself.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged people to stay away from Trump to limit their chances of being prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. By midnight, four staffers had resigned, as well as Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, with other, higher level officials also talking about leaving. Even Trump adviser Stephen Miller admitted it was a bad day. Quickly, pro-Trump media began to insist that the attack was a false-flag operation of “Antifa,” despite the selfies and videos posted by known right-wing agitators, and the fact that Trump had invited, incited, and praised them.

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis laid the blame for today’s attack squarely at the feet of Trump himself: “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, and effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.”

The attempted coup drew condemnation from all but the radical Trump supporters in government. Former President George W. Bush issued a statement “on insurrection at the Capitol,” saying “it is a sickening and heartbreaking sight.” “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election,” he said, and accused such leaders of enflaming the rioters with lies and false hopes. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was more direct: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

Across the country tonight are calls for Trump’s removal through the 25th amendment, impeachment, or resignation. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have joined the chorus, writing to Pence urging him to invoke the 25th. Angry at Trump’s sabotaging of the Georgia elections in addition to the attack on our democracy, prominent Republicans are rumored to be doing the same.

At 8:00, heavily armed guards escorted the lawmakers back to the Capitol, thoroughly scrubbed by janitors, where the senators and representatives resumed their counting of the certified votes. The events of the afternoon had broken some of the Republicans away from their determination to challenge the votes. Fourteen Republican senators had announced they would object to counting the certified votes from Arizona; in the evening count the number dropped to six: Cruz (R-TX), Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

In the House, 121 Republicans, more than half the Republican caucus, voted to throw out Biden’s electors from Arizona. As in the Senate, they lost when 303 Representatives voted in favor.

Six senators and more than half of the House Republicans backed an attempt to overthrow our government, in favor of a man caught on tape just four days ago trying to strong-arm a state election official into falsifying the election results.

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

[phroyd]

(CNN)Sen. Ted Cruz and his family flew to Cancun, Mexico, he confirmed in a statement to CNN, as a winter disaster in his home state left millions without power or water.

Cruz, a Texas Republican, said in the statement he flew down for a night because his daughters "asked to take a trip with friends."

Sen. Ted Cruz is seen boarding a flight Wednesday at Houston IAH airport bound for Cancun, Mexico."With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon, he said in the statement. "My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas. We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe."

Cruz tested negative for Covid-19 before returning, an aide told CNN.His statement comes hours after multiple Twitter users posted photos showing Cruz and his family at Houston's airport and aboard a flight bound for Cancun, Mexico.

A source familiar with the situation told CNN that some of the senator's senior aides did not know he flew down to Mexico until the pictures appeared on social media and inquiries started to come into the office.

It is one of the reasons they weren't ready with an explanation for many hours.The trip was immediately criticized, including by Texas state Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat representing southwest Houston, who tweeted a photo of Cruz aboard a flight, saying Cruz was flying south "while the state was freezing to death and having to boil water."Cruz's office also requested that the Houston Police Department assist the senator during his departure from Bush Intercontinental Airport on Wednesday, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told CNN Thursday.The police request from Cruz's office is not unusual as members of Congress have been advised by law enforcement to seek police assistance as they travel by air.Congress is not in session this week following the President's Day holiday.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) carries his luggage at the Cancun International Airport before boarding his plane back to the U.S., in Cancun, Mexico February 18, 2021.Cruz, who was retweeting notices about electricity and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday, has been silent on social media Thursday.

In a radio interview Monday, Cruz told people to "stay home" and not "risk it. Keep your family safe and just stay home and hug your kids."As an official elected to federal office, Cruz doesn't have an on-the-ground role in the response to the storm, but natural disasters are often a time in which constituents often reach out to their elected officials for help and access to resources.

The blame for the outages has largely been placed on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).Abbott said Wednesday afternoon that he spoke with both the lieutenant governor and the state speaker and that an investigation of ERCOT is slated to begin next week.But in the meantime, millions of Texans were left without power or running water in the wake of the storm. Power is slowly being restored to homes.

Since last Thursday, 16 Texans have died due to the extreme weather, according to a CNN tally.This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN's Ali Zaslav and Dana Bash contributed to this report.

Phroyd

[stebeans]

She-Ra Inspired Actor AU - IV

Cast List (so far):

Taylor Cruz - Adora/She-Ra

Maya Sanchez - Catra

Jessica Cho - Glimmer

Marcus Patterson - Bow

Mei Lin - Frosta

Alexandria - Scorpia

Emmaline Lee-Scott - Queen Angela 

Jacqueline Emery Grey - Shadow Weaver

Taylor did not run. Ever. It was against her very nature. She never ran to catch a bus that was just departing, she used to stroll into class minutes after the late bell and she’d bet her past gym teachers were now probably grey in the hair from all the stress she had caused in gym class...

But now.

Now she was practically sprinting in a dead run across the studio lot towards the brick building one of the passing assistants had pointed out. Ha! If Mr. Brody, her seventh grade gym teacher, could see her now he’d probably be crying tears of joy seeing as he was always pushing her towards to join the track team. Something about her body build, lithe and toned, had made him believe she could be the next Usain Bolt. It was a pipe dream. No one could ever be the next Usain Bolt unless there was some sort of cloning device. And as if she would be caught dead wearing those gym shorts.

If only her damn alarm clock went off when it should have, Taylor wouldn’t be tearing like a bat out of hell. Apparently some time during the night she had knocked her phone charge loose from the flimsy wall outlet of her crappy apartment resulting a dead battery that never got charged. To make matters worse her beat-up Prius had chosen today of all days to finally break down forcing her to spring for an Uber she could barely afford. Taylor had sat in traffic on the I-105 for hours, her leg bouncing with anxiety and internally debating if she should just fuck it and continue on foot because anything was better than the painful crawl of the worst-known traffic in LA. She would know, being a born native and all.

Taylor cursed her string of bad luck that had resulted her in being late for the first cast meet/table read. She had spent endless nights and every waking second between shifts at the restaurant and a popular juice bar, studying the script front to back, since it had been dropped off at her door a few weeks back.  She had wanted to come prepared. To prove everyone that she wasn’t a risky choice. A mistake. A liability. Taylor was going to be the best damn She-Ra the world has ever known.

Her sneakers squeaked against the linoleum flooring as she skidded into the building, eyes squinting against the brightness of the fluorescent lights. Damn. Not only was she late but now she was sweaty. Ugh, Taylor could feel her damp t-shirt clinging to her back from underneath her signature leather jacket. She slowed to a stop just before the door, huffing and puffing, ignoring the nagging voice pointing out just how out of shape she was. She shot a glance down at her worn leather wristwatch, ten minutes late, not too bad but not great for a first impression. It took a minute to fix herself up as best as she could but at least she didn’t look like a hot mess. Grasping the door handle, Taylor could hear the muffled yet elated chatter beyond the door and without wasting another second she pulled the door open.

The view before her surprised her a little. The room was full of people, both cast and crew Taylor surmised with the handful of people staring intently at their clipboards as they made little notes in the margins. People hung out in little groups, making small conversations with shy smiles and nervous glances. Despite the awkward tension that hung in the air (typical for a first time cast meet) the room didn’t seem as stuffy and unwelcoming as the table reads she had attended in the past. It was usually full of pretentious lead actors already attempting to exert their dominance and one or two fellow male co-stars acting chummy with her.

Just as she was about to step forward to make her entrance a round of laughter erupted near the back of the room, rising above the idle chatter and garnering a few curious looks. Her gaze wandered over to the cheerful group, taking in the small group that somehow was making so much commotion. A short Asian girl had her head tilted back, roaring with laughter and it wasn’t until the taller black male had doubled over clutching his stomach, he was laughing so hard, did she catch the familiar wild mane of hair and wiry stature. Her mouth dropped open, her mind going blank and despite the distance she immediately— and inadvertently—caught Maya’s eyes from across the room. There was no mistake that Maya had recognized her the same time she did and it was quite unfortunate that Maya had been mid-sip when they had caught each other gazes because the girl had practically snorted water out of her nose in disbelief.

It would’ve been quite comical for Taylor had she not been internally panicking and all she could think about was Maya. And that she was here. At the cast meet for She-Ra. Maya. Here. With her. It had been a couple months since she last saw the girl and while she was banking on the shot she wouldn’t run into her again ever since the chemistry test from hell, Taylor knew better that while LA was a large city filled with hundreds of thousands of people, the chances of meeting one another in an audition was quite high. The Hollywood world wasn’t as large as everyone made it out to be.

Caught off guard and shocked beyond belief, Taylor stayed frozen at the doorway. Her mind just barely registering what was happening as Maya descended into a fit of forced hacks and haphazard coughs. Taylor winced slightly at the choking sounds and unwanted attention Maya was receiving. If people weren’t paying attention before, they were now as a few of them gathered around her, worry etching their faces. Yikes, that was one way to stand out at cast meet, Taylor supposed.

Taylor watched Maya wave off their concern with a watery smile and flimsy thumbs up before meeting her eyes once again, as if confirming she wasn’t just imagining things. Taylor didn’t blame her. She too had done a double-take because what were the freaking chances they would meet again? Especially during the table read for She-Ra considering their chemistry test from hell for said production?

Despite the shock, confusion and lingering guilt from how Taylor had last left things, she couldn’t pull her gaze away. It surprised how fast the incredulous look was wiped away from Maya’s face. Now Taylor couldn’t read her. She didn’t look happy because yeah, she was kind of a bitch the last time they talked but she didn’t seem un-happy. Sort of indifferent? Which honestly, Taylor could work with that. She squared her shoulders. She was going to woman-up, approach Maya and apologize. Maybe she’ll convince her to have a re-do introduction. A blank slate. It was of course for the best considering they would now be cast mates for the foreseeable future. It would be the professional thing to do.

She was going to rip off the band-aid and set aside her ego for once. Taylor inhaled deeply took a step forward only to be almost immediately deterred by an arm wrapping around her shoulders. “Taylor!” The Director greeted with a cheer. “So glad you made it! Now that our star is here we should get started, I bet everyone is excited to finally get the ball rolling, I know I am!” The Director clapped her hands until everyone’s attention was on her. “Okay everyone gather around, gather around!” She called out, corralling the occupants to the front of the room, where Taylor now noticed was clear of any furniture and spacious enough for the Director to instruct everyone to form a wide circle.

Oh no. If Taylor was right – and from the round object the Director was rolling in her hands – she was. Taylor felt a wave of dread fill her. She hated theatre games. Despised them actually. Some people thought it was a fun and brilliant way to break the ice between actors but Taylor hated it with a passion, almost as much as she hated running. She didn’t have the natural charisma or friendly disposition to easily befriend people. It would take more than some theatre game to warm her up to others and usually people didn’t have the patience or care to get to know her, already passing judgement in the first few minutes they meet her.

It shouldn’t surprise Taylor that Maya’s eyes lit up at the sight of the foam baseball, with how eager the Latina found everything. Unable to hold back the eye roll as Maya strolled towards the front of the room, hauling her new friends along with her with a cheery glint in her eyes. Apparently that was all it took because the rest of the room began to converge to the front, languidly following after Maya. Funnily, Taylor slipped through the crowd in the opposite direction towards the tables. “Looks like we got our first volunteer!” The Director announced joyfully and Taylor watched as Maya easily caught the ball in her hand, squeezing and examining the colourful foam ball.  

Taylor took her sweet time, randomly choosing one of the free seats left and slowly pulling her shoulder bag from where it hung limply at her side. It was obviously well-used, the weather so worn it was soft to the touch but despite it, it was Taylor’s most prized possession. The shoulder bag was a gift from her grandmother, her first true fan, a believer in her talents and pillar of support from anything from her floundering career in acting to her love life, or lack thereof in this case. Carefully placing the bag on the table, Taylor ran a hand over the flap for good luck. It wouldn’t compete against her grandmother’s unwavering tone as she wished her good luck or the following warmth of her loving embrace but it was the next best thing. Pretending her shoes needed re-tying, which actually wasn’t that far from the truth after nearly losing one on her jog over, Taylor took her sweet time in an attempt to prolong the inevitable.

The chatter within the room rose to an excitable level that had Taylor grimacing. After milking as much time as she could, Taylor straightened and glanced at the circle of her cast mates. She met Maya’s challenging gaze from across the room where the other actress was confidently tossing the ball in the air with a single hand, her eyes never once straying away from Taylor’s. Fine. If Maya wants to play, she’ll play. If that was how it was going to be. Taylor shrugged her leather jacket off with jerky movements, draping it across the back of the chair and strolling to the group where she planted herself directly across from Maya, meeting her challenging stare with one of her own.

As the ball was thrown at her with the speed and projection of a freaking rocket, Taylor barely had the time or reaction to bring her hands up before it whipped her in the face, her hands stinging despite the foam filling of the ball. So. Turns out she was wrong and Maya wasn’t feeling quite so indifferent after all. Feeling a dozen or so expectant eyes on her, Taylor nearly dropped the ball with how sweaty her palms had gotten. In front of a camera Taylor had no issues with her confidence. She could act the hell out of her character, she could play the dumb blonde, the air head cheerleader, the golden child of a popular tv series but when the cameras were put away and it was just her, no script, no fake persona, Taylor was as vulnerable as a baby bird. “Um, hi?” She gulped, feeling her throat dry up like the Sahara Desert.

The Director smiled encouragingly. “Why don’t you tell us who you are, something about yourself, who you will be playing in the show and a little fun fact if you will?”

“Right.” Taylor gulped. “Right. Well…I’m Taylor Cruz.” There was a chorus of friendly “hello Taylor’s” that helped ease her nervousness. “I will be playing Adora and I guess She-Ra by extension. I’m nineteen and a fun fact about me is uhh…” Taylor forced herself to think but with everyone’s focus on her she drew a blank. “I umm, I know all the words to ‘Baby Got Back’…”

Her “fun fact” was met with silence and Taylor could feel her cheeks warm up rapidly. A snort of laughter broke the quietness and Taylor’s eyes narrowed at Maya who grinned at her stupidly, waving off her uncontained laughter. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She apologized between pursed lips, failing to hold back her laugh. “It’s just…it was so unexpected.” The rest of the crew joined in a light chuckle and a towering woman beside her clapped her on the shoulder that nearly sent her flying.

Taylor could’ve sworn her cheeks were on fire and she wanted nothing more for the floor to swallow her whole. “It’s not something I’m proud of.” She added not wanting to give the room of strangers the wrong impression but nonetheless her comment elicited another round of good-natured laughter.

“Well I guess that means we will have to plan a karaoke night soon.” The man next to Maya said cheerfully, who Taylor would later learn to be Marcus.

Everyone nodded encouragingly and even Maya sent her a grin that looked less mocking and more in amusement. She glanced at the director, the obvious leader in this torture game, shooting her a what now?look, hoping that she would understand. “That’s great Taylor, I’m sure we’ll get you on stage soon enough. I bet everyone is looking forward to hearing you sing.” A whoop and a joyous ‘hell yeah!’ cut in that had everyone chuckling anew. “Why don’t you toss the ball to someone and they will repeat your name before they introduce themselves. We’ll continue the process until everyone has had a chance. Anyone who messes up a name will be severely punished.” The Director teased, giving Taylor the go ahead which Taylor was too happily relinquish the pressure to the next unfortunate person.

Taylor lifted the foam ball, all the ready to throw it back at Maya but she overlooked one crucial fact. She didn’t own one athletic bone in her body and while the intended target had been Maya, she nearly taken out the eye of another woman standing two person’s down from her mark. Taylor attempted to play it cool, as if that was who she was aiming for all along but by the raised eyebrow from Maya she could surmise she wasn’t as successful in the ruse. Thankfully everyone else seemed to have not noticed and was more than happy to get the theatre game started.

While Taylor had cursed her luck during her intro, she was relieved that she had gone first. A few people had jumbled up the order of the names or had outright gotten them wrong and were forced to do pushups while everyone booed and teased mercilessly. One pushup would already be…pushing the limit, pun not intended, for Taylor.

It was funny cause in the end the last person to be introduced was Maya, who caught the wavering ball before it smacked into Jessica – or Jess as she preferred – with relative ease. “Hi it’s nice meeting everyone.” She greeted the group shyly and of freaking course, repeated all the names in the room without issues. “My name is Maya Sanchez and I am seventeen years old. I just graduated high school and my fun fact is that my first love is softball and we have been going steady for ten years now.”

If Maya hadn’t surrendered the fact or if Taylor hadn’t seen her pick up the uniform from the floor the first time they met, it was obvious with the way Maya handled the ball with ease, tossing it up from hand to hand, adding spin so the rainbow coloured ball blurred in a magnitude of colours in the air. “Oh! That’s cool!” Marcus remarked. “Are you any good?”

Maya smiled sheepishly, raising one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “I’m alright.” She replied and Taylor had a feeling that she was being too modest for her own good.  

As anxious as she was at the beginning of the ice-breaker game, the ball tossing and questions did its intended job as Taylor could feel the tension release from her shoulders. Admittedly it had been a fun and efficient way to get to meet her new co-stars and the production team. It wasn’t as terrible as she had thought and she even chatted with Alexandria, the tall giant of a woman with long black hair that fell past her broad shoulders, who would be playing Scorpia. She also happened to be super kind which was highlighted when a few people had trouble completing their set of pushups as punishment, Alexandria had dropped to floor and had completed the penalties on their behalf without breaking a sweat that had Taylor slightly, just slightlyjealous.

If it weren’t for her easy smile and kindness, Taylor already knew she would like Alexandria. The woman was unapologetically herself. Where many actresses in Hollywood fought to be tall and skinny, Alexandra looked like she could easily out bench press the guys in the room. She was strong and she was kind, something that was quite rare in Hollywood and Taylor had already made a silent vow to start hitting the gym more regularly. She wasn’t going to cut it as She-Ra with her noodle arms. Maybe she would even ask Alexandria for some tips.

The team was now gathered around the tables. Finally they were going to get down to business and back into Taylor’s comfort zone. Plus she couldn’t wait to jump into her new role. Pulling her well-used copy of the script where all her lines were highlighted with little handwritten notes and questions that she had for the production team. She had made sure she had studied the script as best she could in preparation for the day. The first page was filled with notes, mostly about questions about the stunt work. This role as Adora was going to be Taylor’s most challenging and vigorous yet and to be honest she was more than a little nervous.

The opening scene was mostly action filled and of course being the title character, Taylor had first honor of opening the show.  It was tricky when you were the first person to read at the very first table-read. It all fell on the first reader to set the tone. Was she going to play it cool and comfortable and just read her lines normally? That may send the wrong idea as she didn’t want to come off as lazy or unexcited about her role. But if she went hard, she might look too enthused and everyone was going to be forced to match her intensity. She had internally struggled on how she was going to play her role today but after the ice-breaker game everyone seemingly eager and radiating with excitement, Taylor went with her gut feeling. “Hey Princess.” She growled, trying to make herself sound intimidating. “You lookin’ at me?”

Luckily Andrew (playing Kyle) and Brianna (playing Lonnie) were all too happy to play up their readings too and soon they had set the tone for the table read. The first act was flying by as they had skipped through the action scenes and the introduction of Catra came all too soon. Taylor could feel her palms clam up as she played with the edges of her script.

“Hey Adora…how’s it hanging?” Maya chirped in now, her voice deep and teasing.

Taylor was taken aback as soon as Maya read her first line and nearly missed her cue.  Was Maya’s voice always so raspy? Shaking her head clear, Taylor had forced her eyes up, dismissing her script. She had this part all memorized already. “Catra.” She grunted out in annoyance. “Do you really show up late and let us do all the hard parts? That is low.” Taylor admonished, eyes on Maya who stared back with an excited glint in her eyes. “Even for you.” Taylor finished off.

“Awwww.” Maya cooed lowly, her eyes not leaving Taylor’s. Apparently Taylor wasn’t the only one who had memorize her lines. “You know nothing’s too low for me.” She said before letting out a high pitched cackle that had the cast and crew sharing amused smiles. “Now come on. You look stupid hanging down there.” Maya said, adding a hint of reverence instead of admonishment that Taylor had been imagining on her solo read-throughs.

The two had disregarded their scripts and had ignored the rest of the room as they exchanged lines, playing off one another and Taylor could feel herself ease into her role as Adora. From the corner of Taylor’s eyes she could see the Director and Producer exchange a proud smile. They weren’t the only ones who felt the chemistry. It was quite ironic really given how they didn’t really get along in real life. If only the others knew what had truly happened before today.

Taylor couldn’t remember laughing so hard at a table-read before. When it had come to the confrontation between Queen Angela and her daughter Glimmer in the throne room. Jessica Cho, who Taylor had overheard was mostly in the voice-acting scene and the beautiful and revered actress Emmaline Lee-Scott who played the Brightmoon Queen, were just so natural with one another despite just meeting for the first time today. They had read their lines so perfectly with just the right amount of huffing, scolding and annoyance of a typical mother-daughter dispute that had the whole room in stitches. It was a welcomed follow up from her read-through with Jacqueline Emery Grey who would be playing the role of Shadow Weaver. Jacqueline was just as famous as Emmaline Lee-Scott and playing opposite of her, even for a short moment was enough to leave Taylor star struck. She was glad for the break so she could calm her racing heart and gather herself again.

It had taken nearly all day but the first table read was a success. By the end everyone had eased into their roles and it seemed the Casting Director was now fully committed to the cast. They had all played off one another and the energy in the room was high and full of potential. It was the first time in a long while that Taylor was genuinely excited to go to work. The department heads was thanking everyone for the day and were handing out the upcoming schedule while Taylor was shoving her belongings in her bag. She followed Maya’s movements, watching the other girl slip on her backpack and waving off her new friends Jess and Marcus. They were the last of the stragglers and Taylor decided that it was now or never.

“Hey! Umm Maya? Can I talk to you real quick?” Taylor approached hesitantly, shoving her hands into her pockets.

Maya looked uncertain but nonetheless she nodded. “Sure. I have time. My mom is a little late. Traffic, you know?”

Taylor nodded gravely, grasping onto the lifeline Maya was throwing. “Oh I know. Kind of one of the reasons I was late. So much for a good impression.” She shrugged.

“Eh, I think you did alright Cruz.” Maya said with a small smile.

“I umm… I thought you were pretty great today too.” Taylor praised. “We make a pretty good team.”

“Yeah, we do.” Maya agreed easily. “Near-death experience aside.” She joked with a wry grin. “I had a lot of fun today.”

Sucking in a deep breath Taylor turned to face Maya head on. “Listen. About before. I just…wanted to apologize. I was being rude and I took it out on you. You didn’t deserve any of that and…I’m sorry.”

Taylor fought the urge to fidget underneath Maya’s calculating gaze. After a moment that had Taylor sweating Maya seemed to recognize her sincerity cause she broke into a soft smile. “Thanks Taylor. It means a lot and I accept your apology. I also wanted to thank you.”

Puzzled, Taylor was taken aback. “Thank me? For what?”

“For the first time we met. In the audition room? You stood up for me when that other actress was giving me a hard time and I never got to properly thank you for that. I was super nervous if that wasn’t apparent.” Oh, it definitely was. “And I knew it was a long shot but it’s rare to see any roles for people of colour. I just took a chance, however slim it is.”

“Well I’m glad it paid off.” Taylor stated. “I’m looking forward to working with you Maya Sanchez.”

“Same here Cruz.” Maya replied with her easy-going grin.

An old sedan pulled up to the curb and Maya waved happily at her mother. “Well that’s my ride. My mom’s going to want to hear a play-by-play.”

“Your mom sounds pretty cool.”

“She has her moments.” Maya smiled warmly. “Hiya Mama.” She greeted as soon as she opened the passenger door.

“Maya! How was your day? You have to tell me everything. Is this a new friend? Mija don’t be rude, introduce us unless you are embarrassed of your mother?”

“Of course not Mama.” Maya replied with a teasing roll of her eyes. “Mama, this is my co-star Taylor Cruz. She will be playing She-Ra. Taylor this is my mom, Gabriella.”

Taylor stepped forward, hunching half-way through the passenger seat to offer Maya’s mom a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Sanchez.”

She could sense Maya’s mother analyzing her, her eyes were sharp just like her daughter. The critical scrutiny must’ve ran in the Sanchez family. Taylor sweated under her gaze, knowing she looked out of place with her multiple piercings. Never had she been so nervous meeting a mother before. After a moment that felt like forever Maya’s mother clasped her hand in a firm handshake. “It’s Gabriella, my dear but aren’t you a sweetheart. Do you need a ride home Taylor?”

It was then Taylor remembered her beat-up car sitting uselessly on the side street back home. She had been so caught up with the events of the day she had forgotten to call for an Uber. The ride home was probably going to eat a good chunk of her savings too. “I took an Uber this morning. I just need to track one down –”

“Oh that won’t do! Take a seat Taylor we can drop you off home.”

“Mrs. Cruz, I mean Gabriella,” Taylor corrected when the older woman shot her a look. “I appreciate the offer but –”

Maya laughed, cutting Taylor off again. “It’ll save us some time if you just give up now and get in the car. My mom won’t take no for an answer. It’s in our culture. It’s best if you don’t offend my mother by saying no to her hospitality.”

“Of course not!” Taylor stuttered, unable to wrap her head around what was happening. She was used to fending for herself and none of her co-stars had ever cared if she made it home or not before, let alone her mother when she had been her manager. “Thank you for offering. I guess I’ll take you up on it. But I can help pay for the gas? I’m just a little out of LA, it’ll be a drive.”

“Nonsense my dear. It’ll be nice getting to know one of Maya’s new friends.”

She stared helplessly at Maya who shrugged and motioned to the car. “Come on Cruz. Let’s get you home.”

The ride was a only a little bit awkward. Fortunately Gabriella was able to fill in the silence with questions about the day, sounding just as enthusiastic as if she was starring the show also. Taylor had sat mostly in silence, answering questions only when Gabriella had attempted to pull her into the conversation but the older Sanchez had quickly learned that Taylor was more content with just listening in. Taylor was leaning her head against the glass window, watching the city skyline pass by and thinking about the day and what was to come. Things were finally looking up. Her co-stars were pretty cool and friendly, the production team was proud of the show they were making and she was on friendlier terms with Maya. They weren’t buddy-buddy but at least she was able to clear the air. Maybe they would never be friends but they both knew that they were good for the show and Taylor couldn’t wait to get started.

[daybreak-dragon]

January 6, 2021

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

This morning, results from the Georgia senatorial runoff elections showed that Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff had beaten their Republican opponents—both incumbents—by more than the threshold that would require a recount. The Senate is now split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, so the position of majority leader goes to a Democrat. Mitch McConnell, who has bent the government to his will since he took over the position of majority leader in 2007, will be replaced.

 With the Democrats in control of both Congress and the Executive Branch, it is reasonable to expect we will see voting rights legislation, which will doom the current-day Republican Party, depending as it has on voter suppression to stay in power.

Trump Republicans and McConnell Republicans had just begun to blame each other for the debacle when Congress began to count the certified electoral votes from the states to establish that Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. The election was not close—Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes and the Electoral College by 306 to 232—but Trump contends that he won the election in a landslide and “fraud” made Biden the winner.

Trump has never had a case. His campaign filed and either lost or had dismissed 62 out of 63 lawsuits because it could produce no evidence for any of its wild accusations. Nonetheless, radical lawmakers courted Trump’s base by echoing Trump’s charges, then tried to argue that the fact voters no longer trusted the vote was reason to contest the certified votes.

More than 100 members of the House announced they would object to counting the votes of certain states. About 13 senators, led by Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), agreed to join them. The move would slow down the count as each chamber would have to debate and take a separate vote on whether to accept the state votes, but the objectors never had anywhere near the votes they needed to make their objections stick.

So Trump turned to pressuring Vice President Mike Pence, who would preside over the counting, to throw out the Biden votes. On Monday, Trump tweeted that “the Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.” This would throw the blame for the loss onto Pence, but the vice president has no constitutional power to do any such thing, and this morning he made that clear in a statement. Trump then tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

It seemed clear that the voting would be heated, but it was also clear that most of the lawmakers opposing the count were posturing to court Trump’s base for future elections. Congress would count Biden’s win.

But Trump had urged his supporters for weeks to descend on Washington, D.C., to stop what he insisted was the stealing of the election. They did so and, this morning, began to congregate near the Capitol, where the counting would take place. As he passed them on the east side of the Capitol, Hawley raised a power fist.

In the middle of the day, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke to the crowd, telling them: “Let’s have trial by combat.” Trump followed, lying that he had won the election and saying “we are going to have to fight much harder.” He warned that Pence had better “come through for us, and if he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country.” He warned that Chinese-driven socialists are taking over the country. And he told them to march on Congress to “save our democracy.”

As rioters took Trump at his word, Congress was counting the votes alphabetically by state. When they got to Arizona, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) stood up to echo the rhetoric radicals had been using to discredit the certified votes, saying that public distrust in the election—created out of thin air by Republicans—justified an investigation.

Within an hour, a violent mob stormed the Capitol and Cruz, along with the rest of the lawmakers, was rushed to safety (four quick-thinking staffers brought along the electoral ballots, in their ceremonial boxes). As the rioters broke in, police shot and killed one of them: Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, QAnon believer, and staunch Trump supporter. The insurrectionists broke into the Senate chamber, where one was photographed on the dais of the Senate, shirtless and wearing a bull costume that revealed a Ku Klux Klan tattoo on his abdomen. They roamed the Capitol looking for Pence and other lawmakers they considered enemies. Not finding them, they ransacked offices. One rioter photographed himself sitting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk with his feet on it.

They carried with them the Confederate flag.

Capitol police provided little obstruction, apparently eager to avoid confrontations that could be used as propaganda on social media. The intruders seemed a little surprised at their success, taking selfies and wandering around like tourists. One stole a lectern.

As the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the Department of Homeland Security all remained silent, President-Elect Joe Biden spoke to cameras urging calm and calling on Trump to tell his supporters to go home. But CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins later reported that she spoke to White House officials who were “genuinely freaked… out” that Trump was “borderline enthusiastic” about the storming of the Capitol because “it meant the certification was being derailed.”

At 4:17, Trump issued his own video, reiterating his false claims that he had been cheated of victory. Only then did he conclude with: “Go home, we love you, you’re very special.” Twitter immediately took the video down. By nighttime Trump’s Twitter feed seemed to blame his enemies for the violence the president had incited (although the rhythm of the words did not sound to me like Trump’s own usual cadence): “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

Twitter took down the tweet and banned the president for at least twelve hours for inciting violence; Facebook and Instagram followed suit.

As the afternoon wore on, police found two pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., as well as a truck full of weapons and ammunition, and mobs gathered at statehouses across the country, including in Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Georgia.

By 5:00, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller issued a statement saying he had conferred with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, Vice President Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and had fully activated the D.C. National Guard.

He did not mention the president.

By late evening, Washington, D.C., police chief Robert J. Contee III announced that at least 52 people had been arrested and 14 law enforcement officers injured. A total of four people died, including one who died of a heart attack and one who tased themself.

White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged people to stay away from Trump to limit their chances of being prosecuted for treason under the Sedition Act. By midnight, four staffers had resigned, as well as Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, with other, higher level officials also talking about leaving. Even Trump adviser Stephen Miller admitted it was a bad day. Quickly, pro-Trump media began to insist that the attack was a false-flag operation of “Antifa,” despite the selfies and videos posted by known right-wing agitators, and the fact that Trump had invited, incited, and praised them.

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis laid the blame for today’s attack squarely at the feet of Trump himself: “Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, and effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.”

The attempted coup drew condemnation from all but the radical Trump supporters in government. Former President George W. Bush issued a statement “on insurrection at the Capitol,” saying “it is a sickening and heartbreaking sight.” “I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election,” he said, and accused such leaders of enflaming the rioters with lies and false hopes. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was more direct: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

Across the country tonight are calls for Trump’s removal through the 25th amendment, impeachment, or resignation. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have joined the chorus, writing to Pence urging him to invoke the 25th. Angry at Trump’s sabotaging of the Georgia elections in addition to the attack on our democracy, prominent Republicans are rumored to be doing the same.

At 8:00, heavily armed guards escorted the lawmakers back to the Capitol, thoroughly scrubbed by janitors, where the senators and representatives resumed their counting of the certified votes. The events of the afternoon had broken some of the Republicans away from their determination to challenge the votes. Fourteen Republican senators had announced they would object to counting the certified votes from Arizona; in the evening count the number dropped to six: Cruz (R-TX), Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

In the House, 121 Republicans, more than half the Republican caucus, voted to throw out Biden’s electors from Arizona. As in the Senate, they lost when 303 Representatives voted in favor.

Six senators and more than half of the House Republicans backed an attempt to overthrow our government, in favor of a man caught on tape just four days ago trying to strong-arm a state election official into falsifying the election results.

Today the Confederate flag flew in the United States Capitol.

-Heather Cox Richardson

American historian and Professor of History at Boston College