#anyways he looked good and he won with joe and hook so not bad not bad love to see it

[likesummerrainn]

AEW Forbidden Door | 06.30.24

[hypnofur1]

Influencing the Influencer

By Hypnofur

“I have to say, I am loving retirement. This is my first year of being retired and it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. Everyone should retire at 36!” Dan joked into the microphone. The two radio guys laughed harder than they should have. While Dan knew that regular people couldn’t retire at 36, he wasn’t joking about loving retirement. He had been playing football since second grade. He enjoyed a 15 year career in the NFL. 13 of those years were in Cincinnati, but the last two were in Kansas City… where a SuperBowl was won in his last season.

Being part of a Super Bowl team, even as a backup like Dan was by the end of his career, makes you royalty in that city for the rest of time. Heck, ask the ’85 Bears about that. Especially in cities that love their team as much as KC. Dan always wanted to win one for Cincy, the city that he truly identified as home now, but that was never even close to being in the cards.

However, Dan was the only high profile guy from the Super Bowl team to retire after the big win. The rest of the guys pretty much stayed on the team, and were in the Super Bowl again this year. As such, all the KC radio and media people were desperate for a “Chiefs Insider” to talk to. Dan was flown down to Tampa for the week to do radio, tv, etc. He was considering a career in broadcasting, so this all-expense paid trip was a nice little trial run. The only downside of it, was that Casey didn’t come with him.

Dan’s wife was going to go to Tampa with him, and make a ton of Instagram videos and posts from Tampa. She was incredibly excited about it, as was the social media company that employed her to do all these blogs. Her sweetness, honesty, great style, and knockout natural beauty was evident to anyone who saw her, whether in real life or on a screen. She had sort of become “Cincy’s Sweetheart” over the years, so when influencers became a thing, she was in high demand. The Tampa vlogs were likely going to set records for likes. However, Dan’s mom broke her ankle in a fall the week before.

Casey insisted she stay home to help Dan’s mom. This is why Dan was head over heels for her. Yes, she was gorgeous. But she was also the sweetest, most wonderful wife in the world. While all the other players would have girlfriends and hook ups in each city, Dan never did. He was completely and utterly faithful to Casey.

With all this said, while Casey didn’t go to Tampa, she had to vlog about something. Trips to Dan’s Mom’s house during the day to help her out wouldn’t make good content. Such was the topic of conversation as the couple chatted on the phone Friday morning.

“So did you find anything to vlog about?” Dan asked.

“Ugh, I think so. They really want us to push groupon experience things. They gave DeAndra groupon passes to a comedy show, so we are going to do that.” Casey told her husband. She meant to sound a bit more cheery as she did so. She was trying so hard to not show her disappointment over not being in Tampa. She didn’t want to make him feel bad.

“Oh yeah, is Darnell going? If the dude is funny, the sound of Darnell’s laugh when he gets roaring is the only thing anyone in that place is going to hear! Hopefully the dude doesn’t make Bengals jokes. Darnell will get up on that stage!” Dan laughed, as did Casey.

“Did you drink tons of water last night?” Casey asked. She was always concerned about him.

“Hahah. I did. A whole river. I’m doing good. Three more days babe, then I am home to you. I miss you so much.” Dan said, very truthfully.

“Me too. I’ll tell DeAndra and Darnell you said hi” she smiled as she hung up.

Dan missed her terribly, but he was at least pleased that he’d have her vlog to watch later that night. He loved watching those. However, it was Friday night of Super Bowl week. Dan had a whirlwind day. He was treated like a Chiefs Legend because he was wearing that Super Bowl ring. He even got invited to a dinner with Joe Montana! He couldn’t pass that up. Dinner was great. Drinks were had, and not enough water was consumed. Dan passed out when he got back to the hotel.

It was late the next morning when Dan finally awoke. He realized that he had missed Casey’s Instagram vlog. He was surprised he didn’t have a text about that from her. He checked her Insta page. There wasn’t one from last night. That was really odd. He started to get a little nervous.

He texted her. “Hi, you ok? No vlog from last night?”

Fortunately, he got an immediate return text “Just filmed it this morning. Posting now J”

That put him at ease. He took a quick shower, and then grabbed his phone to see his beautiful wife’s angelic face. She was in her car. For some reason, that’s where people filmed themselves. Dan never understood why that was a thing.

“Hey guys, its Casey! Hope you are all having a great weekend! I know it is Super Bowl weekend, and that is super exciting for tomorrow! But, I wanted to tell you guys about a great experience me and my friends had thanks to groupon last night! My hubby is out of town, and I was feeling kind of sad, but then my friends called and said they had a groupon for an awesome experience. Totally changed the course of my weekend!

So we went to Funny Bone at Liberty Center, which is such a cute place! Anyway, my friend DeAndra told me the comedian was actually a stage hypnotist named Arnold Denton, aka The Amazing Hypno-natti. When I heard hypnotist, I was freaking out! Oh, and yeah, I found the name ‘Hypno-natti’ lame as well, but trust me guys, he is soooooo amazing!

So anyway guys, when we got in, I decided to put my fear aside and volunteer. Seriously guys, it was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had. Before we were even brought up on stage, we had to sign a waiver that basically said the hypnotist is not responsible for any injuries that may occur and all that other fun legal stuff. Guys, believe me when I tell you that I cannot recall a moment in my in my life that I was more nervous when I was up on that stage. The hypnotist explained to us, and the rest of the audience, that what we were about to experience was extremely different. Some of us would remember exactly what happened, and some of us wouldn’t. In total, there were probably about like twenty five of us lined up in front of the stage and the audience was told to be completely silent.

Right before we began, the hypnotist told us that we would be “under” for about a half an hour, but our bodies would react as if it had been asleep for 8 hours. So crazy! From what I can remember, it went a little like this:

We were told to sit down and just relax. With our eyes closed, we were told that we should feel this ‘energy of relaxation’ that would begin to pool at our feet and then work its way up to our body. All the while, there was this really strange music that was playing and the hypnotist was talking to us. After about 5 minutes he had us open our eyes and raise our arms horizontally and lock our fingers together so that we made a ball with our fists. At this point, we are still not under, so we were all aware of our surroundings and what not. Next thing I know, Hypno-natti is coming straight down the line and thrusting our hands down into our laps and pushing our heads down onto the shoulder of the person sitting to our left. It was about my turn and the last thing I can remember about this part is him yelling “Sleep!”

After the whole intro, we woke up and he was kind of pacing the stage and the audience was giggling and stuff and I can remember being super confused. I seriously thought that the show ended and I was actually asleep the whole time. As he was pacing, he was just casually talking to the audience and then he said “spark” (what I now know is a “trigger word”) and just like that it felt as though the wrath of God had come through the leg of the chair I was sitting in and electrocuted me in the butt! It hurt so bad; not like a long pain, but just like a jolt of electricity. I stood up so fast and everybody in the place was just rolling! I looked around and it was just me and another guy standing and grabbing our butts. He did this a couple more times and then triggered some of the other people and the whole time I just remember being super confused. At one point, I remember crying, because I had fallen deeply, madly in love with him, and he was dancing with someone else. It was soo crazy guys! Long story short, the hypnotist basiscally made us his personal puppets and we were slightly embarrassed, but it was all in good fun. My friends and I totally laughed about it all night after. It was a great experience that was all made possible through groupon!! Swipe up and see what other fun experiences they can save you a ton on. Luv you guys!!!” She concluded with a kiss of her fingers then the peace sign.

Dan loved to see her and hear her voice. He was wishing it wasn’t 48 full hours until he’d get to see her again. But it was. Those 48 hours went quickly at least. Frankly, it was a whirlwind. By the time he walked in the door of his spacious Cincinnati home Monday morning, he was exhausted – but so glad to hug, squeeze, and kiss his gorgeous brunette wife.

“Tell me everything!!” Casey said as she put some coffee on. She could tell by his face that he needed it.

Dan laughed as he admitted he exhausted. It had been quite a week of late night dinners, Super Bowl parties, and media work. It was terrific, but it wiped him out. However, he happily launched into his diatribe. He told her about all the radio shows he went on, and how he even did a couple TV spots. Casey squealed when he told her that he plugged her vlogs on all the local Cincinnati shows.

“ooooh My big media mogul!” Casey flirted. Her big brown eyes gazing into Dan’s. Then her phone beeped with a text, which was a constant occurrence. She grabbed it and checked the text. It was at this point that her expression changed. She became completely focused on the phone. It was like she suddenly forgot Dan was there.

“Who’s that?” Dan asked, realizing this was strange. Was someone hurt? Was something wrong? Casey didn’t answer. She just typed a couple things on her phone, and then walked upstairs, not even addressing Dan as she left. Dan found this very strange, but he also had to pee really bad. He figured he’d see what the deal was, but had to handle that situation briefly before anything else.

Much to his shock, by the time he got up to the bedroom, Casey was naked and wearing headphones. She was sprawled out on their bed, reclining in a mound of fur pillows. Naked and eyes closed with her blue bullet vibrator that they had bought as a sexy toy at their anniversary. Dan understandably figured that this was a “welcome home” sex game. He found himself immediately getting hard.

"I’m going deeper and deeper." Casey said quietly. Dan assumed she was talking about the vibrator going into her pussy. This was unusual sex talk from her, but he was still into it.

She moans, "Going deeper and deeper. I am deeply hypnotized. "

Dan was stunned. She was sooooooo freaking sexy with a nipple in one hand and that toy teasing the other one. But what did she say? Did she say hypnotized?

“Deeply hypnotized and deep under your control.” She whispers.

Dan heard that and got more concerned, but then couldn’t help but notice that he sound of the vibrator changed! She had turned up the setting. Soon, she was pinching her breasts and her hips are starting to rock slowly. She was moaning and purring. Dan was so hard he couldn’t think straight.

Casey turned the toy up to level 3; as fast as it goes. The next 4 settings are just various combinations of the 3 vibration speeds. Her hips were moving faster, her breasts were bouncing and she was having a hard time keeping the toy on her clit. Her teeth were clenched and she could feel the orgasm start to creep over her skin. . Her chest was heaving as she changed the setting on the toy again.

Slow, Slow, Slow, medium, medium, medium, fast, fast, fast

Slow, Slow, Slow, medium, medium, medium, fast, fast, fast

Slow, Slow, Slow, medium, medium, medium, fast, fast, fast

Slow, Slow, Slow, medium, medium, medium, fast, fast, fast

With hypnotic words and commands being fed into her mind, the orgasm raced up her torso and arched her body off the bed. Her neck muscles tightened and her eyes pinched shut as she screamed out loud and held the toy in place right on top of her clit.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOhHHHHHHHHHH, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I server Master Hypno-natti!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I belong to Master Hypno-natti!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOHHHHMYGODMASTERRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Shock from Dan.

Awe from Dan.

Lust from Dan.

Fear from Dan.

Anger from Dan… and anger won.

He grabbed the headphones and ripped them off her. He yelled right into the microphone. “This is her husband, you sick fuck! Stay the fuck away from us, or I’ll rip your motherfucking arms off!!!!”

There was a click, and Dan knew that the person on the other end of that phone was gone. He turned his attention to Casey, who was now glistening with sweat, and still breathing heavy.

“Cay – Cay, wake up babe. Cay” he said, shaking his wife.

She eventually stirred, opened her big brown eyes and stared back at her husband. “Dan, what’s going on?” she asked.

“This is going to sound nuts, babe. But I think the hypnotist from the other night, like triggered you into masturbating for him on the phone.” Dan explained carefully. He wasn’t sure how his Catholic, surprisingly conservative wife would handle this manipulation.

He watched her face as the realization of what happened washed over her. He held his breath as he expected the tears to start rolling. Instead, she looked at him wide eyed. Then her beautiful big brown eyes slowly went down to his crotch.

“I missed you” she whispered, as she stared at her husband’s erection.

Confusion from Dan.

Fear from Dan.

Love from Dan.

Lust from Dan… and lust won.

He went down and made love to his wife. They kissed passionately, like the reunited lovers they were. Dan couldn’t remember the last time he was this turned on. He couldn’t wait any longer, and inserted himself right into his wife’s already very wet pussy. He glided right in. He didn’t last long in there. Within 30 seconds, he had finished. Casey giggled and gave him a loving hug. He crashed on to the bed beside her. Planning to only take a minute to catch his breath and then have a talk with his wife about the whole hypnotist thing, Dan accidentally fell sound asleep. The crazy week of the Super Bowl was just too much. He was out like a light, he didn’t even hear Casey get a text...

Dan slept for a good two and a half hours. He woke up to Casey lovingly rubbing his back.

“Hey babe, if you sleep too long, you won’t be able to get to sleep tonight. Your schedule will be all wacky.” She said lovingly. He knew she was right. She was always taking care of him.

Dan turned around in the bed and smiled at his beautiful wife. She had gotten freshened up, her clothes were back on and she was all together. God, she was so beautiful. Like a brunette angel.

“Hey, try this” she said, handing Dan a cup of tea. “It is a new chamomile tea they want us to vlog about. It’s actually reeaalllly good!” Casey said excitedly. Dan took the tea and tried it. He wasn’t a tea guy, but… anything for Casey.

“Hey, look babe, we have to talk about that Hypno-natti guy. I think he’s like still playing with your head” Dan said. He had always been direct. “When I came upstairs, you were on the phone with him I think, and you were, you know…”

“Playing with myself?” Casey said with a devilish, but so cute grin. She didn’t usually say things like that.

“Yeah” Dan said, surprised she said that out loud. He felt his dick stir a bit.

“Seriously babe, you are going to love that tea” Casey encouraged. Dan took another sip. It was pretty good.

“So, that was hot to see, I’ll admit, but you can’t have some guy like… controlling you to do sex stuff” Dan said, surprised he needed to map it out to her to this point.

Casey nodded. Then she looked at the bed sheet starting to tent around Dan’s groin. She laughed. “Well well, me thinks he doth protest too much” she teased. “OMG, I forgot to tell you. I saw the BEST movie on HBO Max when you were gone!” she said exuberantly.

“HBO Max? Babe, we should really deal with this hypnotist thing.” Dan said, what the hell was going on? His head was feeling a bit tingly. Boy, he must still be tired.

“I know Dan, and we will. I’m sorry, I have just missed you soo much. I saw this movie, and it was like, really sexy. And I can see that you are, you know… turned on right now” she said as she gently stroked his growing hard on.

“We can deal with this hypno stuff later. But right now, I am in the mood, and you are in the mood, and I want to show you the sexiest things I’ve ever seen on screen. Finish your tea and we can check this out” Casey said as she leaned into a sensual kiss with her husband.

Dan was a very smart man. He went to Notre Dame. He knew something was seriously fucked up here. But he was a MAN. And the curiosity of what kind of movie could have been so hot that it got her acting like this was just too curious for him to ignore. Against his better judgement, he let his beautiful wife lead him to their home theater room. He felt his head spin as he stood up from the bed.

“Take a seat in the middle” Casey directed with another long sensual kiss before turning on the surround sound and the media player. Dan’s eyes were glued to her. She was walking around such sexy confidence. He had never seen her like this. What the hell was in this movie???

Satisfied that the AV system was on and playing, Casey sat down in the large velvet chair next to her husband’s. The giant screen was black for a while, and Dan noticed that there was a humming coming from the speakers. The humming was vibrating through this very core. It felt… warm? Was that right? Soon there was a black and white spiral on the screen. What kind of HBO Max thing is this? Dan thought. Then he remembered the hypnotist. Wait, what the fuck? He went to protest, but he was becoming enthralled by the whirling spiral that had become the only thing in the room. He could feel it hypnotizing him, warm waves of relaxation moving out from it into his opening mind. Hypnotizing him. Hypnotizing Casey. Hypnotizing them with the way it spun around and around, always going deeper.

This was how it felt to be hypnotized? Dan thought to himself. He never could have dreamed how nice it was. How good it felt to be under hypnosis, under hypnotic control. He knew who the voice belonged to now, that it was Hypno-natti talking to them as they watched in a deep hypnotic state. Hypno-natti was amazing! Sooo amazing. Hypno-natti was the master of the fascinating, hypnotic spiral that controlled their minds.. He was telling them that it was time to submit their entire mind and body now, to go into a trance.

Dan knew he didn’t want to do that, but he felt a deep desire to obey, an overwhelming urge to submit. Pleasing Hypno-natti was most important. To go into a trance for Hypno-natti. Hypno-naitti’s voice was telling them to prepare to surrender totally to his hypnotic power. The spiral was turning faster now. Dan felt all his thoughts begin to move down into it. He could feel the intense hypnotic influence reaching out for his mind and he couldn’t help but submit. Faster and faster, round and round. He was falling into it. Falling faster and faster. She could see only an endless spiral in front of him now, a deep whirling tunnel that pulled him in as he stared into it. Hypno-natti’s voice was controlling their thoughts, hypnotizing them into total obedience.. There was only the spiral. And the voice. The whirling spiral. The soothing voice. Hypno-natti’s voice. Their master. Dan knew he must obey. Casey knew she must obey her master. They were hypnotized, so deeply and completely.

Next thing Dan knew, he was somehow in the foyer. When had he left the theater room? There was a knock at the door. He answered. There was a small scrawny guy about 10 years older than him standing in the doorway.

“Can I help you?” Dan asked, his head still cloudy.

“I’m the Amazing Hypno-natti” the man said. His majestic voice now very familiar to the former NFL start. “Invite me in” he commanded.

“Please, come in” Dan said immediately, stepping out of the way.

Casey had entered the foyer when she heard the knock. When she saw Hypno-natti, she was immediately overcome with desire. He was soooo sexy. The sexiest man ever born. She immediately felt her pussy moisten and her nipples get sensitive. She flirtatiously played with her hair and smiled at him.

“Hello my darling Casey” he said as he took her in. She was so incredibly beautiful with her gorgeous brunette hair, big brown eyes, and perfect trim figure.

Dan knew this wasn’t right. He could sense the attraction between them. What the hell? She was his wife. “Look buddy, I-”

“Dan, go into trance” Hypno-natti said authoritatively. Dan said nothing, but his hands fell to his sides.

“Casey, I am your Master. You desire me above anything else.” Hypno-natti said, feeling very confident that both parties in the couple were completely under his hypnotic sway.

He moved into Casey, kissing her neck gently. She was too lost in him to look over at her husband, who was still still standing next to her with a glazed, entranced look in his eyes.

At Hypno-natti’s direction, the three went upstairs to the bedroom. At this point, the hypnotist commanded Dan. "Take off your wife’s pants and panties”.

Dan rose to action slowly. "Yes, Sir," he said in a soft, deferential voice as he knelt in front of her and pulled down the black yoga pants and little satin panties that were meant for his homecoming.

“Lay her on the bed” Hypno-natti said as he took off his own pants. Dan complied and then went to stand up against the wall when instructed to do so. All this, despite the 10 or so inches of height and almost 150lbs of muscle that Dan had on the hypnotist.

Hypno-natti descended upon her, his face directly in front of hers. His eyes boring into her own. "Submit to my influence, Casey. Submit to my hypnotic power. Submit to Hypno-natti. Submit to hypnosis” he said as he again rhythmically put his cock against her body.

"Very, very good, Casey. You're blissfully floating, deeply in my erotic thrall, open to all my commands. Feeling so wonderful as you obey me. Realizing now that nothing seems important but obeying me, because it feels so wonderful, so sexual. You want the sexy feeling of obeying me, don't you, Casey?"

"Yes. I want to obey." She repeated happily, lost in lust.

"Very good Casey. The more obedient you are, the more wonderful you will feel. Only pleasing me matters now, nothing else. All you want now is the wonderful, sexual, floating feeling of obeying my voice. All you want is to be deeply under my control and to obey me. Tell me now what you want, Casey."

"Deeply under your control. Obey you."

"Do you want me inside you?" he asked the hypnotized wife.

"Yes!" Casey answered, no longer caring for her dignity, her marriage, or for anything but the prospect of being ravished by her master.

The man poked the head of his penis against her quivering opening, slight hip movements just threatening to penetrate her, but not quite.

"Tell your husband how badly you want me to fuck you."

Casey shut her eyes, ashamed of the words she knew she had to offer. "I want him to fuck me!" she offered to the room.

The man pushed her head to the side, making her stare at her husband, still standing against the wall, his penis slowly inching its way to a semi-erection with the spectacle. "Say, 'Dan, I need Hypno-natti’s hypnotic dick inside me.'"

"Honey!" she mustered. Pausing, unbelieving of her own abandon. "I need Hypno-natti’s hypnotic big dick inside me! I neeeed it!!"

With one sharp thrust, the man invaded her with the full length of his modest cock, and Casey cried out in surrender at the explosion of pleasure. He brought his face down to hers, leaning in as if to kiss her, his breath hot on her face, and slowly slid his dick out, his rock-hard shaft grinding against her achingly swollen G-spot. As she raised her lips to accommodate him, he pulled his face away teasingly and thrust himself violently into her again, eliciting another loud pre-orgasmic cry. For what seemed like an eternity, they kept up this erotic dance of desire and denial, his hands caressing her hair, the almost gentle play of his face so close to hers contrasting exquisitely with the force of his thrusts. Finally, he brought his lips to meet hers and kissed her deeply, the lustiness of his tongue's exploration telling her that he was just as aroused by her as she was by him. His cock driving into her more insistently now, faster, even deeper it seemed.

And she loved it - there was no use denying it to herself. The hypnotic power of his eyes, their entrancing gaze. Now the hypnotist was pulling her head back by her hair as he fucked her, running his tongue up and down her neck. Then unleashing her and licking her all over her face. Making her feel so owned. The pressure inside building now to unbearable intensity, the edge of orgasm too much to stand. "Oh... my... God!" she stammered.

The man now gripping the slats of the headboard as leverage to drive himself into her with as much force as he could. He wrapped his small ams around her, squeezing her to him, her tits pressed against his chest, making her feel what strength he had as he continued fucking her just as hard as he could. She wrapped her arms around her Master, wanting to feel him as much as possible.

“Cum for me now my pet and tell me that you now belong to me!” Hypno-natti grunted.

In a burst of mind-shattering pleasure, Casey felt every muscle in her body violently contract upon his words. Her nerves screamed in ecstasy. A long, wailing scream shaping the breath that rushed out of her lungs, forming finally into words..."

"OH GOD, I'M CUMMMMMIIIIIIING!!!!IIIIMMMM YOURRRRSSS!!!"

**********************************************

A week later…

“Hey guys! This is Casey. We are half way through February. I can almost smell the spring! Anyway, I want to tell you guys about something that I am soooo into right now. I’ve been totally improving myself through hypnosis. You guys might remember one of my earlier vlogs where I talked about a totally fun stage show I went to starring the Amazing Hypno-natti. Well, I’ve been working with him one on one on a ton of stuff and he is totally helping me with his incredible hypnosis skills. Dan too! So, swipe up to learn more about Hypno-natti. He has both sessions and videos available. And you can even find where you can try some of his unbelievable chamomile tea. Guys, it is sooo good! More vlogs coming this week, don’t forget to like and subscribe Luv you guys!!!” She concluded with a kiss of her fingers then the peace sign.

[sheerbeautyreigns]

DESIRE

Part 37

"You know I'm not done with you yet."

It was about 10:30pm when Joe showed up at Paul’s room with his bag. When Paul let him in, he was still wearing his navy blue suit and white shirt. He didn’t even speak. He just took him in his arms and kissed him hungrily. “Take your clothes off.”

Joe didn’t say a word. He just did as told and left his clothes aside. “You look nervous.” Paul commented taking his hand, leading him over to the sofa. “Are you OK?”

“Just a bit…anxious.” Joe eventually said as Paul forced him to kneel, facing the back of the sofa. “About the punishment?” Paul said leaning to speak into his ear. “Yes Sir.” Paul undid his neat top knot and ruffled his hands through his hair. He loved to watch it cascade down his back. It made him miss his own. “You disobeyed me and you will learn your lesson. Understand?” Joe's stomach dropped. “Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir. I understand.” He finally said. “Good boy. Now, head up. Eyes front.” Paul trailed his hand down Joe's back and finished off by smacking him hard on the ass. He smiled upon hearing Joe take on a deep breath through clenched teeth. “It’ll be so much more effective in my dungeon. I still have to introduce you to the cane. You’ll have a hard time sitting after but…it is what it is.” Joe hadn’t heard Paul speak so firmly in a while. Could he blame him though, after sleeping with Colby? Joe knew he needed to do this. Paul walked around to the back of the sofa to where Joe was facing. He was surprised. He thought that he was going to fuck him. He cupped his jaw with his right hand and tilted his head. Joe cast his eyes downwards as Paul stroked his fingers along his beard. He walked away taking off his jacket. Joe didn’t dare move his head, just continuing to look down at the carpet. Paul arrived back, now just wearing his black briefs. He moved behind Joe, taking hold of his pelvis, grinding his crotch against his asshole. Joe was instantly hard. “You want this baby? Huh?” Paul asked seductively. “Yes Sir.” Joe said, hungry for his cock. Paul reached around and grabbed Joe’s dick. “You’re rock hard. Just like I want you.” He said, slowly pumping it. He could hear Joe breaths become heavier at his touch. He let go.

“…but not tonight.”

Joe couldn’t help but look over his shoulder with disbelief at Paul’s words. “Not until I want to. You do as I say when I want to.” Joe bowed his head. “You need a good night’s sleep. Let’s go.” Paul said slapping him on the ass again. Joe winced since he’d hit the same spot. Paul watched as he got off the sofa and went to open his suitcase. He looked pretty disappointed. The older man almost felt sorry for him but he had to be firm. Joe took his wash bag into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. When he went into the bedroom, Paul was propped up on his elbow. He pulled the sheets on Joe side back and tapped on the mattress. The young man pursed his lips and climbed into the bed. He lay with his back to Paul as he couldn’t look at him. Paul’s arm wrapped around his torso, pulling him into him. He had taken his briefs off now. Joe could feel his hard cock rub up against his ass. It made him hard once again. He shut his eyes feeling Paul’s breaths on the back of his neck followed by soft kisses. The older man’s hand trailed up to Joe chest. “Turn around. I wanna see your face.” Joe did as told. “You OK?” Paul checked. Joe nodded. “You’re not OK. I know when you’re lying. It’s OK to say that you’re not OK. I want us to have total transparency in this relationship.”

“I know you’re disappointed in me.” Joe said deflated.

“I am disappointed but your purpose for the next few days is to change my mindset. Wipe the slate clean. As long as you go along with what I expect from you, there’s no problem.”

Based on how subdued Joe was now coming across, Paul already knew that his mind games were working.

They flew to Connecticut separately the next day. Paul took the private Jet with Vince and Joe flew in a few hours later. Paul picked him up and they arrived back at his at around 7pm. Paul let Joe chill out for a while since it had been around an 8 hour flight. He went about unpacking his case while Paul sat at his desk on the laptop in the bedroom.

“Babe you nearly done?” Paul asked, eyes fixed on his screen.

“Yeah I’m good.” Joe said, setting his case aside and slowly padding towards the window. “It’s so nice to be out here again. It’s so peaceful.”

“Gets lonely though when it’s just me.” Paul chimed in, closing down his laptop. “Come here.” He said from his computer chair. He motioned for Joe to sit on his lap. He did as told. Paul raised his hand up to Joe chin. His thumb rose up to Joe bottom lip. Tenderly, the young man kissed it, looking Paul in the eyes. Those gorgeous chocolate pools. He could never resist them. Paul moved his thumb away and kissed him gently. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He said, barely above a whisper. “Me too.” This time, Joe kissed him deeply. Paul’s hands roamed along the material of his t-shirt, urging it to come off. Joe stood, peeling it off, also dropping his cut offs to the floor. Paul rose up to meet him, kissing him again, backing him up towards the bed. He pushed him down on his stomach and stood over him, unbuttoning his white shirt and pulling off his trousers and socks. His eyes traced over the curves of Joe’s buttocks under the material of his black boxers. Joe looked over his shoulder, up at him.

“Head down, close your eyes.” Paul ordered. Instantly, Joe obeyed, swallowing. He could hear Paul leave the room and walk down the hallway. His stomach dropped when he heard him punch in the door code. So soon? He was so sure Paul was on the verge of fucking him but apparently not. Not yet anyway.

The older man returned. Joe could hear faint clinking. Paul set something on the bed down by his legs. “Now, hands behind your back.” Joe inhaled, doing as told, effectively folding them halfway down his spine. He could feel Paul slip a strand of leather around each wrist, buckling it. He then joined both together with a small hook. “Try and get outta that.” Paul told him. Joe strained his arms, to no avail. “Good boy. You’re going to be very good for me over the next couple of days. Aren’t you?” Paul said, cupping his ass cheek. “Yes Sir.” A smile spread across Paul’s face now that he had Joe at his mercy. He pulled out his trusty bottle of lube and smeared the cool liquid on Joe entrance. A small gasp escaped Joe lips when it hit. “Legs further apart.” Joe wriggled on the bed, adjusting his position. “I’m not going to fuck you yet…” Joe felt something hard and cold start to penetrate his opening. “Aaah!” It felt like metal. “I picked this baby up in Vegas. It’s pretty special, you’ll see.” Paul teased. “What is it?” Joe asked, slight panic invading his voice. “Don’t ask questions baby. Just lie there and take it.” Joe gritted his teeth as Paul pushed it further in. He could see Joe hands straining against the cuffs with agitation. The young man shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Please-” He started, tears starting to form in his eyes. “Calm down baby, almost in.” Joe breathed deeply, trying to compose himself. “There. Looks so good shoved up your ass.” He could hear the smile in Paul’s voice as he moved away “Now, let’s see-”

A small shock came from the butt plug causing Joe to jump, yelping. “Oh shit! Sorry baby!” Paul laughed as he assessed the few buttons on the controller. He pressed another. “Fuck!” Joe cried out as he shocked him again. “I don’t like this!”

“Baby it’s not that bad.” Paul cooed, leaning forward, patting him on the head until Joe shrugged him off. Paul pressed another button, causing a double shock. Joe cried out, straining hard against the cuffs. “You gonna be good for me huh? Huh?”

“Yes Sir, yes. I promise.” Joe sniffled, lowering his head onto the bed in defeat. “You know what? This might just be my new favourite toy.” Paul said setting the remote aside. He flipped Joe over onto his back. And moved his hair away from his face. Paul’s face softened upon seeing his whimpers and teary eyes. “Don’t be upset now baby.” He leaned down and kissed his trembling lips. “I don’t like the shocks.”

“I know you don’t baby. If you behave, I won”t have to use them as much. Its that simple.” Paul pulled him up to his feet gently. He knew the plug would be pretty uncomfortable, as evidenced on Joe face. He picked up the remote again and lead him by the arm into the dungeon. Joe could already smell that familiar smell of leather. Paul lead him over to the spanking bench. “On you get.” He simply said. He watched Joe struggle to get on top since his arms were tied. He loved to see how helpless he was. He waited about a minute before helping him into position. It made Joe feel so low. Paul went about securing both his ankles into the attached restraints on either side of the bench. Lastly he pulled the centre strap over his back and buckled it. Joe couldn’t fight how hard he was right now and Paul couldn’t fail to notice. “I love how hard this makes you.” He smirked causing Joe to lower his head in shame. “Makes me so hard too…” Paul said seductively, slipping out of his briefs and stepping in front of Joe face. His hard cock was inches away. He took a handful of Joe’s hair and pulled his head up. Joe looked up at him wide-eyed before eyeing his cock. He opened up as Paul moved forward, taking his cock in his mouth. Paul was right in depriving him of it. He hadn’t seen him suck it with such vigour before. “Fuck baby, that’s so good…” He trailed off, holding his head in place as he started to fuck his mouth. Gasps escaped Joe’s mouth with each thrust. Trails of drool fell to the floor below. Paul thrust it in, his balls hard against Joe’s chin, watching as the young man began to struggle and moan. He caught his breath as he withdrew. He repeated this time and time again until his cum filled the back of his throat. “Good boy, swallow it whole.” Paul smiled as the young man took it all in. “Good boy.” Joe loved Paul’s praise. Paul let go of his hair and moved to the back of the spanking bench. He grabbed Joe ass cheeks, causing the young man to groan. “You’re being so good for me baby.”

“Thank you Sir.” Joe eventually said. “I can’t believe I have two more days of this.” He said as his finger moved the base of the plug in his ass. “Aaah!” Joe let out. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes,” Joe winced. “Look at me.” Paul said firmly. Joe looked over his shoulder, trailing his eyes up to Paul’s. He moved the plug again, this time trying to push it in further. “Aww please!” Joe pleaded with him. He had never seen this look of desperation in his eyes before. “What do you want baby?” Paul asked, rubbing his palm over his ass cheeks again as Joe lowered his head “Please, I’m sorry…”

“Sorry?” Paul reiterated with a questioning look on his face. “Yes,” He sobbed. “I’m sorry I betrayed you. I love you. I’m sorry…” Paul’s stomach dropped. He was not expecting this already. It threw him off his game. Slowly he moved around to the front, crouching down to Joe’s level. “You do know I’m not done with you yet?” He moved his hair away from his face. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. “No…I can’t …”

“Yes, you can. You were doing so well. Why stop now?” Paul taunted. “You hurt me. You promised that you would do as I say.” He said firmly looking into Joe teary eyes before getting up again and walking around the back. “Please, I can’t !” He heard a drawer open from the other side of the room. Without warning, Paul gently tapped him across his ass cheeks with his cane. Joe immediately struggled knowing what was coming. “Please! Aaah!” He let out as the first whip stung. “You’re a noisy one.” Paul went off to the drawers again. He appeared at the front of the bench holding the ball of the ball gag in his hand. “You give me no choice.” Joe eyed the gag. “No!” He told him, edging away, pursing his lips. Without hesitation, Paul stood and held Joe's nose, trying to keep a firm grasp of his head while he struggled hard with panic. As soon as he opened his mouth gasping for air, Paul shoved the gag in and made quick work of securing the strap tightly as Joe cried behind the gag, his whole body struggling. Paul felt a fire in his stomach as he did this. He had never been so forceful with Joe. It pained him to be so harsh but he did say he’d have to punish him. He tried to block out his cries and protests as he picked up the cane again and struck for a second time, a defiant look on his face. Joe yelped and struggled with each one until he got to the eighth. He was so exhausted that he simply whimpered into the gag, his head falling. Paul being the perfectionist he was, insisted in caning him two more times until he got to ten. He could see Joe’s hands ball into fists and he could hear his muffled sobs. He inhaled deeply, putting the cane down. A smattering of pink welts covered his backside.

After about a minute of silence, the young man opened his eyes. A puddle of drool had formed on the floor below. Tenderly, Paul ran his index and middle finger over the welts causing Joe to tense up again, seething. “That’s it. I’m done.” Joe shut his eyes and started to cry again. The room fell silent. All that could be heard were his sobs and Paul’s slow breaths. Eventually he undid the gag and set it on the table nearby. After all of his protests, Joe couldn’t even muster up a word. Paul crouched before him, pulling his hair away from his face again. Tears had stained his cheeks and his eyes were red. Paul cupped his face. “I don’t like hurting you but you need to learn. Have you learned your lesson?”

“Yes.” Joe whispered shutting his eyes. “Yes Sir.” He sniffled. “Good.” Paul kissed him tenderly on the forehead and went about undoing the straps. He unhooked the link between his wrists causing Joe’s arms to fall limply at his sides. He winced, trying to move them. “They’ll be OK, just need to get the blood circulation going.” Paul said helping him off the spanking bench, leading him to the bed. He helped to lower him down. He looked so sad. “You did good. I didn’t expect you to take all ten, especially with the cane.”

“I didn’t have a choice.” Joe muttered, looking away. He took hold of Joe’s jaw, urging him to face him “You didn’t, which made it so enjoyable. I was ready to fuck you so hard when I first started caning you.” Paul said, full of lust. “I’ve never been more in love with you.”

“How can you love me when I’m crying like that? I don’t understand.” Joe said, palming his face, so confused. “I wish I knew baby.” Paul shook his head and gave a small smile getting off the bed. Joe sat up when he saw him walking to the chest of drawers again. What now?

Paul looked back at him. “Relax baby. It’s to help the welts.” Paul advised as he walked back to the bed with a tube of cream in his hand. “Turn over.” Joe obliged, lowering his head into his arms. It felt good to lie like this. The young man winced as Paul gently went about applying the cream. “I know baby, I know but this’ll help.”

After a few moments, Paul spoke. “Do you hate me after that?” He didn’t want to ask but he needed to know. Joe turned his head to the side, still resting it on his forearm. “No.” He paused. “I had it coming. I shouldn’t have gone behind your back, regardless of how I felt about you at the time.”

A horrible feeling hit the pit of Paul’s stomach on hearing Joe words. He looked down at the reddening welts on his ass. He placed his hand on his shoulder and trailed it down his back. “What’s done is done. Let’s move on from this.” Paul suggested. Joe nodded in agreement before closing his eyes.

[16wiishes]

Broken promises

Paring: 70!Roger Taylor x Reader, eventually Ben hardy x Reader

Warning: angst maybe

A/N: Hey darlings, let me know what you thing, English isn’t my first language I’m sorry for my mistakes, i got inspired here on tumblr a long time ago I don’t remember who it was so credits to that person... enjoy

November...

Weddings. How fun. It’s the most beautiful day of a woman’s life, you get married to the man of life or you get to see the love of your life getting married and that’s my case.

Tomorrow, I will get to see my best friend, the love of my life getting married to a woman that he knows only for 2 years and me? Well, a lifetime. I have had promised him that I would be there. I’m trying my best to put my shit together, no success. This sucks, you know what else sucks? Being in love with someone that you can’t have.

And his wife? Absolutely beautiful, she’s nothing like me, that’s probably the problem. I have been crying for days and days, but cry will not solve anything.

“ Y\N, get up, we need to find you a dress “ Freddie said looking into my eyes

“ I don’t want to, Freddie I can’t do this “ i said feeling tears in my eyes, he knows all my history with him, the ups and the downs mostly

“ you promised him Y/N, now you have to go” he was right i did promise him

“ fine “ getting up and taking off my close for a hot and long shower, I cry quietly while washing my hair, I have never thought in my life that I would cry for a man, as a teen I thought that it was the worse thing that I girl could do, cry for a fucking man, but the problem was he wasn’t any man.

I got of the shower, did my light make up and my hair as well.

“ Are you ready darling ?“ Freddie asked

“ ready, let’s get this over with ” I said grabbing my keys I walked straight to my car, Freddie following close, the ride to the mall was quiet, some songs in the background just for a distraction, until love of my life was playing, almost breaking the radio to shut it off and Freddie looking at me in disbelief.

“ I’m sorry Freddie, I love this song but not right know” looking at the road again

“ What kind of dress you are thinking of? “ he broke the silence

“ something that I will only use once in a life time, because I will burn it at the end “ I said coldly but it was true, I never want to see anything that will remind me of this awful day

“ come on Y/N, I know that you are hurt but try to feel happy for him”

“ I am, I’m just mad at myself “ turning my head to the street to remind me to always look forward

“ for what ? “

“ for not telling that I loved him “ but he knew exactly what I was talking about

“ I’m sorry, darling, but you have to such it up, now it’s too late the love of your love will come around maybe not here but one day. “ What Freddie said did make me feel a little better, sometimes I think he has all the answers

“ yeah me too “

The rest of the ride was normal, we were just talking about random things. I parked my car and got to the first store that I saw, wasn’t an bad store, I got myself a vintage dress. Black and nude tones with a nude heels

Freddie also brought his clothes as well, we ate and I left his house, When I got home, I started some me-crying-time, put some mask just to relax and opened a bottle of wine, some of the saddest songs was playing in the air until I cried myself to sleep.

{ weeding day }

The day has come, the day that I said to myself too late honey. Yeah well what can I do today? nothing at all, friends and family will be there obviously so have to put my best fake smile

I got up from my comfy bed, and started getting ready for this day, the wedding starts at mid day so I only got 2 hours to get ready. In those 2 hours I did my make up, my hair, put my dress and prepared myself for the worst, but first, trying not to cry

I got into my car, started the engine and I drove the church as I was getting closer to it I felt my eyes watering.

I parked my car and sat there for a minute or two just thinking of the one option that I had getting the engine started again and never going back, but I knew I couldn’t do that

And then, I saw him, he was with the biggest smile that I have ever seen

“ hey You came, you look beautiful “ Roger said, with his perfect blue eyes that could stop a war

“ Thanks, i promised, didn’t I “ I said trying to be as happy as possible

“ yeah you did, are you ok Y/N, you look a little down today”

“ No Rog, I’m fine, just need a drink or two “ the is thing, I needed more then just a drink or two to go over with this day, he just chuckled

“ go ahead then “

It has started. The ceremony. I just wanted to woke up from this horrible nightmare but the alarm never rang. I just stood there looking at the void, when I heard the words “If anyone has any objection to this wedding, speak now or forever hold your peace.” Rog looked into my eyes in that moment. Should I say something? Freddie got a hold on my hand I just looked down.

The rest of the evening when like a blur, him and the bride, smiling and dancing and I was at the table drink my sadness was.

“Hey Y/N how are you holding up?” Brian asked, taking me away from my thought.

“ Hey Bri, I’m fine, I’m good... hum I’m happy for him, really and just gonna do this speech then I’m gonna go and probably never come back” before he could say anything, the planner of the wedding said it was time for the speech, i shallowed my whisky and went for it

“ you got this” Brian putting his thumbs up por me

“ thanks Bri” I walked to the stage, everyone was looking at me

“ hey everyone, I have had a few drinks back there so if I start rambling my bad, so when I was 16 I promised Rog that I would do the first speech at his weeding... wow I just realized that I promised Rog a lot of things” the people started laughing like it was a joke but actually for me it wasn’t because there was only one promise that i couldn’t make it happen... that we would be get gray and old together.

“ anyway, I have never thought that he would marry anyone else, but me, i waited to long and know I realize that it’s too late, all I wish for you is your happiness even if it’s above my own, Dominique girl, you won the lottery really, he is the most caring man I know, You’ll get to spend your life with him, grow old together, see him every day for the rest of your life… Now, Brian here, he would say that’s a nightmare. But it isn’t. It’s a dream. And Rog…”

We’ve been friends for a very long time, and I like to think that I’ve always had your back. Today, you start a whole new book, and I’m sorry to lose my role in it, but I know Dominique will do an amazing job. I plan on starting a new book as well, somewhere else,” I say, and his eyes widen in surprise, or shock, maybe both. “And I hope one day I’ll be lucky enough to have what you two have. I wish you a happy, happy life, the kids you’ve always wanted, and all the love you deserve. Congratulations to my best friend and his bride.” I conclude, raising my glass saying nothing to anyone, I just started walking to the door and probably never coming back again. I didn’t know where I was going until I saw an park bench, I sat there looking at the crystal clear water.

“ what do you mean somewhere else ? “ he said with that husky voice of his

“ I’m moving Rog, to the other side of London tomorrow and I will probably never comeback again”

“ why Y/N, I need you, you are my best friend “

“ Rog, if I stay I will be miserable, if you ask me to stay I will but it will kill me seeing you with her I can’t do this really” i said with tears in your eyes and I saw tears in his as well

“ no Y/N.... “ he stopped himself and realized that she was right “ then go, start a new book a new life, forget about me “ he said with tears running down his blue eyes.

“Two broken hearts and a broken promise” the last thing I said to him, I hugged him one last time before I stared walking in the cold November evening leaving the love of my life behind.

I got all my things from my apartment and i drove to the other side of London it was an 5 hours drive from where I lived. As a Guns N’ Roses fan the only song that was i my mind was November Rain. This song was basically my life, it was November, the love of my life married someone else and just stared raining how beautiful and I lost him forever, almost like the died. I just pulled my car in the parking lot and walked to some bar, sat there with the bartender, asking him for a whiskey then a blond guy was sitting next to me, I didn’t mind, but then I broke the silence

“ if I was in my right mind I would have been fangirling by now” I saw his GN’R t-shirt and I knew that he would understand if I said something about the song that is basically my life at the moment, taking in my hand the glass of whiskey and drinking down at once, he turned his head to look at me, he can have a real talk with a fan that isn’t trying to hook up with him and everything, right ?

“ and why aren’t you in your right mind? “ he asked curiously

“ because the only song that is in my head is November rain “ I said looking at him now, the two of us making eye contact

“ why? It’s a sad song“

“ well, it’s raining, it’s November and the love of my life just got married “ I said faking a smile to him “ I’m Y/N by the way “ you completed

“ Ben, as you know, the only thing I can say to you is that we are in the same boat “ he said

“ why’s that “

“ i just ended a 10 years relationship“ Ben said

“ I’m sorry”

“ nothing lasts forever “ he said looking at me, he took my hand in his and smiled

“ but we both know that hearts can change “ I said looking at him and smiling down

The night was better at this point, Ben and I talked the whole night I even meet his friends they are cool, Joe was already one of my best friends, but the night was just Ben and I talking about everything and Anything the promises that we made to the pleople in our life.

“ is getting late I should to go” i said paying for my beers

“ i will walk you to you car it is very dangerous in London at night for pretty girls like you “ Ben said getting up i just nodded and chuckled at the same time, saying goodbye to the guys. Ben walked to my car

“ so this is it “ i said

“ N/Y wait, i really liked you and I’m hoping this isn’t a goodbye.” His eyes looking into mine own

“ not at all, I will be here for a while, so we can get to know each other more “ I said unlocking my car

“ we will se each other around” Ben said, he kissed me goodnight

“ bye Ben, see ya “

“ see ya Y/N. “

I got into my car and drove to the hotel I was staying just until I get my apartment , as I drove I started to think that good things can happen in a November rain and the nicest part is that you weren’t the only one with a broken-heart, but know that discovered another lost love story, there are 4 broken hearts and 2 broken promises

[crazy-little-cool-cat]

Hand in Glove - Chapter 2 | Ben Hardy x OFC

A/N: I was so blown away by the love the first chapter got, wow! Thank you so much! You're all so lovely! Anyways, I decided to take advantage of the fact that there's a storm outside to write the next chapter and it just came pouring out. So, there you have it! Now I won't feel bad if I won't have the time to write during the week because adulting is hard, y'all. Anyways, this chapter's flashback's are from Annabelle's POV and are in italics, so don't get it twisted.

Word Count:~2.6K

Warnings: Swearing. Ridiculous amount of fluff. (Like, sickening. Utterly disgusting.) Also, a few more drunk shenanigans and mentions of sex (but none actually happening? Is that even a warning?)

Chapter 1

***

Ben and Annabelle had knowingly started something they couldn’t finish. The dimly lit room was filled with sounds of the soft rustle of clothes on sheets, muffled moans and grunts and the humdrum of the TV playing in the background.

“You’re killing me, woman,” Ben groaned before he bit his bottom lip as Annabelle dragged her fingernails over his t-shirt and down his back, “Jesus.”

“I could stop,” laying under him, Annabelle raised an eyebrow, challenging Ben with a cheeky smirk, “wouldn’t want you to die.”

“Don’t you dare,” he snaked one hand under her top and up her ribs and took her bottom lip in between his teeth, nibbling on it gently with a content hum, “I just can’t get enough of this.”

“Enough of what?” she feigned innocence, batting her eyelashes at him.

“Enough of you,” he could feel goosebumps forming on her skin under his lips and chuckled softly, “seems like the feeling is mutual.”

Annabelle tilted her head back and to the side with a sigh and closed eyes, as Ben covered every inch of her neck and face with kisses. When she opened her eyes, she let out an audible gasp.

“Is it really light out?” she wondered and caused Ben to stop his kissing attack and turn his head to look at the early morning sun illuminating through the window as well, “did we really make out like horny teenagers all fucking night?”

“M'fraid so,” he shrugged and smiled lazily, “haven’t pulled an all-nighter like this one in ages.”

“It’s a good thing neither of us has work tomorrow,” she furrowed her brows, “er… today.”

“True,” he said and snickered when Annabelle yawned loudly, “am I boring you, love?”

“That’s impossible,” she kissed his lips sweetly and reached up to brush the back of her hand against his cheek, “I think my brain just realised how long I’ve been awake.”

“We could sleep,” Ben rolled off of her and laid next to her, turning on his side to face her, “or at least try.”

“But I hate alcohol sleep, it’s the worst sleep,” she pouted and snuggled closer up to Ben, burying her face in his chest, “you smell so nice.”

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her even closer, resting his chin on the top of her head. His heartbeat lulled her to sleep, but Ben was wide awake.

***

I was late. Gwil invited me over for dinner with his mates and I got caught up on set, and now I was rushing like a madwoman because being late makes me horribly anxious. I let myself into Gwil’s flat, assuming everyone else had already got there by now but was surprised to find Ben sitting on the couch, alone.

“It’s just you here?” I looked around, “where is everybody?”

“You sound disappointed,” Ben smirked. This is the first time I’ve ever actually been completely alone with him since we first met, and I found it oddly exciting.

Sometimes it felt like our friends will do anything to make sure it’s never just him and me, alone. Like they enjoyed cock-blocking us. Tossers.

“Oh, no,” I walked over and put my hands on the back of the sofa, leaning forward on my arms, “quite the opposite.”

Ben’s eyes slowly raked up my body, his tongue poking out to lick his lips. Just then, the door burst open and Gwil, Joe, Rami and Lucy rushed in like a hurricane, ruining the moment before it even started, as they always did.

***

Ben stared blankly at the Top Gear re-runs playing on the TV while Annabelle slept, listening to her breathing softly. He couldn’t feel the arm she was laying on anymore and he assumed his bladder is about to explode, but he dared not move. He pushed her long, straight, brown hair over her shoulder and let the palm of his hand travel from her cheek, down to her jawline, softly caressing down the side of her neck.

“Feels nice,” she mumbled against his chest and wiggled her toes, “how long was I out?”

“About two hours,” he spoke so softly, yet she could feel the low rumble of his voice echoing in his chest.

“Did you get any sleep?” Annabelle leaned back to look into his bright green eyes, her cheeks flushed from sleep, and pouted playfully when he shook his head, “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Ben grazed his thumb over Annabelle’s lips and smiled when she kissed it softly, “did you sleep well?”

“Strangely, yeah,” she ran her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes as he smiled, “what time is it, anyway?”

“I'm guessing it’s around Nine,” he grunted as he stretched to reach for his phone on the bedside table, “I need to take Frankie out for a walk before she pees all over the floor.”

“Oh.”

“You can join us,” he sat up and whistled for Frankie, smiling warmly as he heard the patter of her paws on the hardwood floors as she scrambled to jump on the bed, “if you want.”

***

It wasn’t even my idea. Gwil insisted that I brought my friends over to the pub one night because he felt like he was stealing me away from them. I warned him not to. I told him how annoying we all are, but he wouldn’t listen. So now, he got to witness first hand the weird little ‘love-triangle’ we had and his competitive side kicked into gear. Ben, Gwil, Rami and Joe were determined to ‘out-friend’ us and they were losing, fast.

“Do you people ever get sick of each other?” Gwil asked, looking from me to my two cast-mates.

“No,” we choired.

“We’re just as bad as you are,” Clara, who plays my sister on our series, gestured with her hand across the table where Gwil’s cast-mates sat alongside him, “if not worse.”

“Disgusting,” Joe shook his head mockingly, eliciting very animated nods from Rami, “positively repulsive.”

“I know you are,” I tried not to slur but I was way past drunk by now, “but what am I?”

“Bloody adorable, is what you are!” Jamie, who plays King Henry VIII, pinched my cheek playfully.

I noticed Ben grit his teeth at that very moment, and shot him a puzzled look. In the blink of an eye, his face turned neutral again and he was calmly sipping his beer, avoiding my questioning gaze.

“Alright, you royal pains in the arse,” Clara clapped her hands to get our attention, “time to go. Long day tomorrow!"

“What’s happening tomorrow?” Joe looked like a confused puppy, making me giggle uncontrollably.

“Tomorrow,” Jamie drawled as he twirled a lock of my hair around his finger, “King Henry finally gets a taste of the one he can’t have. Yet.”

“Seriously?” Gwil was incredulous, “the one day we can finally come visit you on set and I have to watch my cousin’s sex scenes?”

“Woo!” Joe high-fived Ben as if they won something.

“It’s not a sex scene!” I felt my cheeks burn.

“Boo!” Joe and Ben chanted and frowned, causing Rami to bang his forehead against the table and Gwil make gagging noises.

***

Annabelle stared at the last text Ben had sent her after he and Frankie walked her home for what she felt like was hours, but was actually just a couple of minutes.

‘I could still smell you here when I got home. I can’t wait to get you alone again.’

She didn’t really know what it was she was doing with Ben, exactly. She never experienced anything like this before, an inexplicable chemistry and attraction with one person that just felt so incredibly right and natural. Annabelle was never one to commit very easily, but she doesn’t date or hook-up much, either. Most of her friends are guys, most girls hate her for being surrounded by men all the time, even if they were just her friends.

Frankly, she hated the dating “game”. It always ended up going to shit, and she could never seem to know how to pick the 'right' guy. Even Jamie, as much as she adores him and despite the attraction and chemistry, was all kinds of wrong for her and she constantly beat herself up for even going there in the first place. When shit hit the fan with Jamie, as it did with everyone else, she opted to waste her time with him in a non-comittal way and give up on dating altogether. They had such a horrible dynamic as a couple, brief as it was, that they went right back to being friends with benefits, no questions asked.

But with Ben, it was completely different. Since the very first time they had met, Ben had the ability to make her stomach flutter and her heart lurch, but still make her feel comfortable enough to be her true self. The way he had always looked at her made her feel oddly special, like he can’t see anyone else besides her whenever she’s around. She found that she always looked at him for his reaction when she told a story or spoke to him and his friends, and whenever the rare occasion happened that they were left alone for a couple of minutes, she couldn’t help but think about what his lips would feel like.

Then the other night happened, and she finally learnt what his kisses tasted and felt like and how her body and his body just fit. Now he knows what she looks like when she wakes up after getting completely sloshed, and she knows what it feels like when his body is pressed up to hers, covering every inch of her.

She completely forgot she made plans with Gwil for the rest of the day, and as she washed the dirty dishes in the sink and made herself tea still wearing last night’s clothes, she was totally lost in thought about the previous night’s events.

When Gwil entered Annie’s flat using the spare key she gave him after knocking on the door five times with no response, he could hear her singing in the kitchen while dishes clattered. He closed the door loud enough for it to be considered a slam and walked over to the kitchen, chuckling when he saw her wearing the same clothes she did the night before.

“I take it you had a good night, then?” Gwil cut her train of thought and she jumped, startled by his sudden appearance in the door to her kitchen, “whoops, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Jesus Christ almighty, Gwil!” she panted, her hand pressed to her chest, “stop sneaking around!”

“I called and texted you like, a hundred times!” He went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, opening it with a hit on the cap against the edge of the counter top.

“Keep up with the cheek and I’ll take the key to my flat back,” she hopped on the counter and stuck her tongue out at him, “you Praying Mantis.”

"Oh, that’s a really good one, calling me a bloody insect,” he scoffed, “did Jamie at least drive you home this time?”

“Why would Jamie drive me home?” she stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

“Didn’t you meet him at the pub?”

“Uh,” Annie fumbled with the lace trimming at the hem of her top, “no, actually.”

“Who did you meet, then?” Gwil raised an eyebrow.

“Ben," she felt like a deer in the headlights, knowing her confession will be followed by a thorough interrogation, threats to her life and a lot of wailing on Gwil's behalf. This isn't the first time she took a special interest in one of his mates and he never took the news too well.

“Come again?” he lowered his beer bottle and blinked in confusion.

“I was out with Ben.”

“My Ben?” he gasped, "please tell me there's another Ben..."

“Our Ben.”

***

Ben and I walked down the path in the nearby park, side by side, as Frankie trotted happily, ears flapping and tail wagging, on her late morning walk.

“C’mere for a second,” Ben wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him, leaning down to kiss me, “thanks, that would be all.”

“Glad to be of service,” I rolled my eyes and stumbled when Frankie pulled hard on the leash, desperate to run and play, “can we release the poor girl?”

“Sure,” Ben took out his pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his back put one in his mouth, letting it dangle from his lips as he spoke, “want one?”

“Not my thing,” I crouched down and unhooked Frankie’s leash from her collar, smiling when the pup bolted in a clumsy little stampede on the grass.

When I stood back up, Ben took my hand and led me to a nearby tree we could sit under. Leaning against the tree, Ben spread his legs and bent them for me to sit in between. I leaned back into him, using his knees as armrests.

“This is so weird,” I mused, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this comfortable around another person who doesn't share some part of my DNA, ever.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He kissed the top of my head before taking another drag from his cigarette.

“You’d better,” I smirked, “but really, isn’t this weird?”

“It’s unusual, yeah,” I felt him nod slightly, “but I like it.”

“Obviously,” I turned and tilted my head back to look at him. He glanced down at me and nuzzled his nose with mine, “aren’t the boys worried about you not answering their texts?”

“Let them worry,” he shrugged and inhaled deeply, finishing off his smoke, “I think they’ve probably guessed that I’m busy.”

“I bet they’re jealous of whoever stole you from them.”

“I know they are, for a fact.”

***

The boys sat in the catering tent for their lunch break, catching up on each other’s whereabouts during the weekend. Somehow, it turned into Gwil sharing lovely tales about Annabelle’s party-girl past and her conquests during that very self-destructive phase of her life. There was even one story of how Gwil walked in on Annabelle and Jamie in the loo at the wedding they had all attended just a couple of months earlier.

“Let me get this straight - you’re telling me that you went out with a girl you actually claimed was 'illegally hot', both got drunk, went back to your place and didn’t bang?” Joe raised an eyebrow.

“I call bullshit.” Rami announced.

“I don't care,” Ben scoffed.

“She told me the exact same story, actually,” Gwil chimed in as he reached for his can of soda, “and she’s not shy about admitting to her occasional slaggish tendencies.”

“Call her a slag one more time,” Ben pointed at Gwil with his fork, “I dare you.”

“Oh, relax, Romeo,” Gwil rolled his eyes, “but seriously, she swore all they did was dry hump like the cute little puppies in heat that they are.”

“Thanks for the mental image, man,” Joe pursed his lips to stifle a laugh, “I still find it hard to believe.”

“So, what,” Rami said after listening to the heated discussion, “are you her boyfriend now?”

“Nope.” Ben replied, his eyes fixated on his plate.

“They’re taking it slow,” Gwil made air-quotes with his fingers, eliciting sneers from Rami and Joe.

“Oh, fuck off,” Ben threw his utensils on the table and slammed his hand down, before he abruptly stood up, making his chair fall behind him, “knobheads.”

“Come on, mate! We’re just taking a piss!” Gwil called after Ben’s receding back, to no avail. The only response he got from Ben was his middle finger up in the air.

[hollands-poppet]

BIG BROTHER PART 2// HARRISON OSTERFIELD X READER

Summary: Big Brother is a reality TV show that allows a number of contestants to live in isolation that try to avoid eviction by their houseguest, and last man standing wins half a million dollars.

Word count: 4.3K 💛

A/N: Yay, 2nd part is out.. I still don’t know if this series is working out the way I thought it would, I also didn’t write the HoH comp and veto comp because its literally A LOT! lol but I hope you can just use y’alls imagination a bit. Idk this part has a lot going on.. If I missed anybody in the taglist please let me know! 

Warnings: A TON of cussing tbh, sort of proofread not really, hella drama 

-

-

All Z does is walk away and go up to Haz and Y/N who are now in the beehive room, “We got to pull out a win in this HoH.” Y/N shuts the door behind her, “I have to tell you guys something before the HoH comp..I got the first temptation of the summer.”

Harrison scratches his head, “Wait, what temptation?” Y/N takes a seat and looks up at the two, “I got called to the diary room the other night, and America gave me the first temptation.” He scratches his head, “I’m so confused.” You slap your forehead, “Haz, America basically gave me like a care package.” The blonde’s eyes widen, and he has a shook face.

Zendaya covers her mouth, “You’re kidding?” Y/N shakes her head, “No, I’m being deadass.. I get to stop an eviction from happening on eviction night.” Harrison stands in shock, he picks Y/N into an embrace and spins her around “America likes you, you’re doing something right.”

From the corner of Y/N’s eye, she can feel Zendaya staring hard “Haz, put me down.”

Y/N’s DR: As much as I love being held by Haz, I immediately tell him to put me down. I can’t have Z thinking we’re a thing. *purses her lips* Well, we aren’t..I don’t think we are anyway.

Zendaya’s DR: Since when was Haz a part of my alliance with Y/N? Maybe this showmance thing might be true but I still trust her and until she shows disloyalty, I’m gonna continue to be loyal to her.

Zendaya crosses her arms and gets close to Y/N, “Don’t tell anyone else, this stays between us okay?” Y/N and Haz nod their heads in synchronicity and they all begin to walk out of the room.

Zendaya’s DR: I wish she would’ve just told me and not Harrison in the room but hopefully she can use the temptation when it’s the right moment.

*After the HoH competition*

The houseguests start walking into the house from the backyard, everyone walking in a bit annoyed. It wasn’t an endurance competition, it was a question competition in which Tana won.

Tana’s DR: That’s right, after being on the block last week.. YOUR girl is now HoH! *holds up house key* This whole house is underestimating me..

Shawn walks up to Tana whose drinking water in the kitchen, “Hey girl, congrats.” He goes in for a hug and she whispers in my ear, “You’re not my target, I want Madeleine out this week.” He pulls away and nods his head in his agreement, “ Yeah, yeah. Whatever you want to do.”

Shawn’s DR: Of course I tell Tana lets do what she wants, she’s freaking HoH.

Madelaine’s DR: Tana being HoH is a bit scary because I know I’m going up on the block.

Tana brings his head backs in for a whisper, “Hook me up with Tom.” Shawn’s head immediately  shoots back and looks back at Tom who is talking to Hayley and Y/N about how he has so closing to win the competition.

Shawn’s DR: What the fuck? Is she serious? *he shrugs his shoulders* I mean, I’ll tell him but I can’t promise he’ll want her back.

Tana walks away from Shawn and heads to the restroom to shower passing Madelaine in the hallway.

Madelaine’s DR: Well, Tana is HoH now and this sucks because no matter what I tell her she’s going to me up next to Joe. *she scratches her root while a tear rolls down her face*

Joe walks into the bathroom while Tana takes her makeup off in the mirror, “Hey can we talk?” She just nods while wiping off her eyeliner, and he takes a seat on the sink counter, “Look, had you not blew up my game like that I would’ve taken you down with the veto.”

She turns to him while rubbing her eye, “No, I totally get it. I fucked up, you’re not my target. Madelaine is.” He jumps off the counter and starts looking at himself in the mirror, “Who are you going to throw up there with her?” She takes her hair out of a bun, “I want to throw up Y/N or Harrison up there with her.”

Joe looks at Tana through the mirror, “you’re serious?” She turns her back and leans on the counter, “Yeah, I just feel like they’re both strong players.” He continues to brush his hair, “What about a backdoor? Don’t give either one to get a chance to play the veto.”  

Tana bites her lip, “Yeah, I mean we’re still screwed if they get picked to play.” He sighs, “The odds are smaller though, just think about it.”

Joe grips her shoulder lightly, and then walks out. Tana turns back into the mirror and know that she has a lot of thinking to do.

-

*Big Brother’s voice comes on the intercom*

“Tom, please go the diary room.”

Tom is in the kitchen as he makes his way to the diary room. As he enters into the diary room, Shawn exits the bathroom and questions Tom’s where abouts, “Has anyone seen Tom? I wanted to see if he wanted to lift for a bit?” He is standing in the center of the kitchen as Tana passes by him going up the stairs, “He’s dead.”

Shawn eyes widen, “What?” His hands land behind his head, tears beginning to flood his eyes “You’re kidding? Don’t lie.” She smiles as she keeps walking up the stairs, “Well, I don’t see him do you?” Thats the last thing she says before she enters her room.

He begins to whimper in the kitchen as he looks around, “You guys..” his voice is cracking. Y/N makes her way into the kitchen, “Shawn, what’s wrong?” He covers his mouth, “Tom is dead.” Y/N’s hand immediately pops to her chest, “What the fuck? Are you serious?” Harrison comes up next him, “What is going on?”

Madelaine chimes in, “Tana alleged that Tom is dead.”

Harrison’s DR: Tom is dead?

Meanwhile the rumor that Tom is dead, he is actually just in the diary room about to find out something juicy. When he first enters the room, he notices an envelope sitting on the chair “What’s this?” He picks it up and continues to open it as he takes his seat, this looks interesting.

“Tom, congratulations. America has decided to tempt you with the Pendant of Protection.” His jaw drops as it transitions into a smile, his crow’s feet really shining, “America...you love me?” He lets out a chuckle as he continues to read, “If you accept this temptation, you will be protected from being nominated or evicted for the next three evictions, but remember-every temptation comes with a consequence!”  He pumps his fist, “Of course, I’ll take it.” As he sets down the envelope, he picks up another one that reads the consequences, “You must choose a houseguest at random to wear a toad costume for the rest of the week.”

“HA! Easy. Thanks, America!”

*Outside the Diary room*

“You guys, I haven’t seen him?! Please like-I’m having a meltdown.” Y/N is pacing in the kitchen as she goes calms Shawn down, “Who told you that he’s dead? The producers?” He nods his head, “Tana! She told me Tom is dead!”

Y/N’s DR: At first its hard to believe that Tom is dead but he’s literally MIA and we all begin to freak out.

Shawn’s DR: I start crying because I’ve grown close to Tom in this house, and he’s literally someone I can see myself being friends with outside of this house. Like I love him, he’s such a good guy. 

As Shawn is crying while sitting in the kitchen, Tom exits the diary room.

“Tom, what the fuck?!” Hayley yells loud enough for Shawn to hear, “Tom?!”

The brown haired man stands confused as he just missed out on everything, “What’s wrong?” And before he could even talk, the wind is knocked out of him by Shawn hugging him, “Bro, what’s wrong?” Shawn cries into Tom’s shoulder, “Tana, told me you were dead.” Tom hugs his good friend back.

Tom’s DR: Really, Tana? This was a sick cruel joke, and I’m gonna let you know. Shawn and I have grown close in this house and for her to say that my best friend is dead was uncalled for. Watch out for me, Tana.

A few hours later after Shawn has calmed down, Tom makes his way to the HoH room to talk to Tana. He knocks before entering, he goes in as soon as he hears her welcome him in.

He walks in and stands sturn in front of her bad, she is almost confused “Uh, what’s a matter with you?”

Tom takes a seat on her bed, “what’s a matter with me, how about you explain to me why you told Shawn that I was dead?” Tana literally makes a farting noise with her lips and starts to crack up, “He actually believed me?! What the fuck? That’s everything.”

He makes a snarky face as she continues to laugh, “It’s not funny, it was cruel and mean.” She continues to chuckle, “Tom, it was never meant to escalate like that.” And just like that, it was like he triggered a switch, “You should be scared, Tom. I’m HoH.”

Tana’s DR: Are you kidding me? LIKE why would Shawn think I was being serious? I’m in a house full of idiots.

Tom’s DR: I should be scared Tana? I can’t go up on the block for three weeks, thanks America! You’ll be waiting on a surprise Tana.

Tana’s DR: I know Tom and I are fighting right now, but he’s so hot when he’s angry.

The next day the houseguest are all called into the living room by Tana who is holding an envelope, “Hey everyone, please take a seat. I have a message from Big Brother.”

She rips open the envelope and begins to read, “Houseguest, you may notice that Hayley is not in the room with us and that is because she has had to leave the game. Unfortunately she’s had an emergency that has caused her to have to forfeit her game. Hayley wants to apologize to all of you and just wants you to know that she wants to take care of her mental health. The Big Brother will continue as is, thank you.”

Zendaya’s DR: I know that everyone is competing for money but at the end of the day, we’re all human and I hope that Hayley is okay and figures out everything.

Y/N’s DR: holy shit, that was unexpected. I hope Hayley is okay and can figure out whatever has happened.

Tom’s DR: I have to applaud Hayley for stepping out of the game and deciding to take care of herself because that’s such an amazing thing. The whole house loves you Hayley, we love you. 

A couple of hours later, everyone is scattered throughout the house and hanging out.

Harrison and Y/N are hanging out in the living room, her legs are lying across his while they talk.

“You know, it’s getting harder and harder to resist you the longer we’re in this house.” She laughs as she pushes his face, “What? Get out of here. You only want me because there are limited options in this house.” His face cames close to hers as, he is giggling as she is still playing hard to get “I’m being serious, there is just something about you that I really like.”

Y/N is mesmerized by his eyes, she tucks hair behind her ear as she bites her bottom lip “I want you too but I can’t...we can’t.” She doesn’t want to put a target on her back, or his. Showmances are notorious for being targets in the house, and they don’t make it far into the game but something within Harrison is telling him that he would risk that for Y/N.

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to you because I am..but I can’t put that target on you. I’m sorry Harrison.” He takes the bandana he’s wearing and slides it off, “Look, I know you want me, I’ll protect you throughout this game.” He takes her legs in closer, “We’ll just keep it lowkey, nobody has to know..just me and you.”

She’s tempted, she’s wanted him since the moment she seen him and this summer is all about temptation right? Her hand lands on his cheeks, “No one can find out okay?” And before he can respond, she leaves a quick peck on his lips and covers her face in embarrassment.

“Did I just do that?” She begins to laugh, maybe Harrison would help you out in this game and you could help him.  

Y/N’s DR: I don’t know, it feels good to be comfortable with Harrison and I don’t know. I’m feeling conflicted between him and Z, now. I want to take both to the end but I can’t take both. 

Harrison’s DR: Y/N is literally my number one in this house, I can trust her with anything at this point. 

Zendaya’s DR: Harrison and Y/N don’t know that I’m literally eaves dropping by the corner of the room. I literally heard everything they were saying, and I can’t believe her. I’m supposed to be her final 2 and she’s here in a showmance? She ain’t taking me to the end.

*Tomorrow during the Nomination ceremony*

Tana is standing at the head of the table while everyone is waiting for her to turn the nomination keys. “This is the nomination ceremony, it is my responsibility as the head of household to put up two houseguest for eviction. I will turn two keys to lock in my nomination and they’re faces will appear on the memory wall. The first houseguest I nominate is…”

She turns the key to reveal Madelaine’s face on the memory wall, no one is surprised because she nominated Tana last week. “My next nomination is..” And she turns the next key and the face on the wall is Joe.

“I have nominated you Madelaine and Joe for eviction this week. I really have nothing to say to either of you other than you both had it out for me last week, and now it’s biting you in the ass. Good luck in the veto.”

Tana’s DR: Honestly, I could give less than two fucks about last week and y’all might think that Joe is up there because I don’t like him but we actually have a backdoor plan in set to get Tom out. We decided to put him up in the block so that we have an extra player to play for the veto, either him or I needs to win this.

Joe’s DR: I’m just acting like I’m upset about being on the block but I’m really not, this is all a part of the plan to backdoor Tom and get out him out of this house. He’s a threat, and he needs to go.

The veto competition plays out only a couple of hours later, the two nominees, Tana, Tom and Hayley were all picked to play. It was about an hour comp, the houseguests having to spell out the longest word they could make but having to move through honey.

Tana soaks in her HoH bathtub, making sure all honey from her body is gone when she hears someone walk into her room, “Who is that?”

“It’s Tom, can I come in?” She’s in a bikini because she would be completely naked in front of the whole world, she looks into one of the camera’s and rolls her eyes “Yeah, come in.”  He walks into the room and takes a seat in front of Tana on the sink, “So what’s the plan?” Her head pops up from the slanted part of the bathtub “I mean, I’m not really at liberty to say much.”

Tom’s DR: So, there are already a bunch of red flags. She isn’t telling me who her replacement nominee is going to be which either indicates she just doesn’t know or she’s backdooring me.

“Tana, I just want to know who you’re thinking, you don’t have to say anything.” She adds more bubbles to her bath as she sits up, “Look, I really don’t know. I have a lot to think about.”

Tana’s DR: I’m not giving Tom what he wants to hear because he is the replacement nominee, I have to keep a poker face on.

*Veto meeting*

Madelaine and Joe sit on the nomination chairs in the living room while everyone is gathered around on the couches, and Joe standing in front of his nomination chair with the veto hanging from his neck.

Joe begins his speech, “This is the veto meeting, Madelaine and I have been nominated for eviction but I have the power to veto one of the nominations. As much as it kills me for you to stay on the block, I have to use this veto on myself.”

He looks at Tana who is standing at the head of the room, “Tana..since I have just vetoed one of your nominations, you’re going to have to name a replacement nominee.” Joe moves out of the way of the nomination chair and takes a seat next to the houseguest on the couch.

“This houseguest I’m about to nominate was very problematic this week, and is also a big threat in this game. I also wanted to work with you so badly and even possibly be in a relationship but since you were open to none of that...Tom, take a seat.”

Tom literally begins to laugh as he seats in one of the regular couches. The tension of the room is high, Shawn is beginning to freak out. Y/N and Harrison’s mouths are dropped, no one was expecting this.  

As the houseguest wait for Tom to take his seat, a video begins to play on the television that reveals words that say Pendant of Protection. Instead of taking a seat, Tom stands up and pulls out a necklace from his pocket and puts it around his neck.

“Yo, I think he got a temptation..” Zendaya says as she tugs on her kinky curls. Tom looks at Tana directly in the face, “America has tempted me with the Pendant of Protection which keeps me safe from being evicted from the house for 3 weeks. I’m sorry Tana, you’re going to have to re-name another nominee.”

Tom takes a seat in between Hayley and Shawn,the amount of confidence in him is thriving right now. Tana’s stress level is through the roof, and as much as she wants to yell, she only has seconds to replace a new nominee.

She bites her lip, “I’m sorry Harrison, you got screwed. Please take a seat.”

The blonde gets up from the couches and takes a seat from next to the redhead, and Joe stands up “This veto meeting is adjourned.” He stands up to close the box and everyone sort of just sits in shock.

Y/N is shaking, one of her closet allies is thrown on the block and she doesn’t know why. She immediately gets up from her seat and follows Tana, “Hey can we talk?”  

Tana turns around, stopping in front of everyone wanting to put Y/N on the spot “Did you want to ask me why I put your lover on the block?”

Y/N becomes flustered, and Tana’s comments make her shake even more “He’s not my lover, this was just so random.. I don’t understand.”

Tana crosses her arms and scoffs, “You should ask Zendaya, she threw you guys under the bus last night.”

*flashback*

Zendaya is eating some oats while hanging out with Tana, “Look, I know we had beef before but there are much bigger targets in this house.” The blonde pulls of the headphones from her head and asks for names in which Z responds, “Y/N and Harrison.”

Tana laughs at the shocked expression on Y/N’s face, “That’s right, your best friend told me all about your showmance. If there is anyone you should be talking to, it’s Zendaya.” And with that she walks up the stairs into her room.

Y/N feels the ultimate betrayal, especially by her closet ally. The whole house including Zendaya saw the confrontation, you immediately turn around and charge at your friend, “Are you kidding me, Zendaya? You’re actually fucking serious, why would you do that?”

Zendaya’s DR: I did throw them under the bus but I had no idea Tana was going to do that. It’s time for damage control in front of the houseguest.

Zendaya stands up, “You think I’m stupid? I heard both of you talking about wanting each other-” you interrupt, “So I guess that final 2 deal is out of the front door huh?”

Y/N’s DR: There is an obvious line drawn in the sand between Zendaya and me. I just can’t let her get away with this.

Z shrugs her shoulders, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Y/N gets closer, “I Can’t believe you right now Zendaya, this is bullshit.” Before Y/N can get any closer she is pulled by Harrison, “Just drop it, come on.”

“That’s right Harrison, defend your girl!” Z yells as she walks to one of the bedrooms as Harrison pulls Y/N out into the backyard.

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Harrison yells as he drags Y/N out, “It’s not Haz! We’re going to be targets now, we have to get you off the block. I’m using my temptation on you.” He sits her down by the pool and shakes his head, “No, no. I think I can convince a few people to save me, I would never ask you to do that.”

You put your arm around his shoulders, “I can’t believe her.. I guess that’s the name of the game right?” Haz picks Y/N up bridal style, “You’re a bit hot right now, let’s cool you off?” Y/N frowns her eyebrows “What are you talkin-” and before she can finish what she is saying, he’s thrown her into the pool fully clothed.

She comes back up to the surface and spots the blue eyed man laughing his head off, “Ooo, Haz. You’re gonna regret that.” They both laugh as he follows into the pool after that, as he rises from the bottom he grabs Y/N and holds her, “We’re gonna be fine, I’m gonna protect us for the rest of this game.. I swear.” You nod, now that you guys are exposed this was probably you’re only option, “if you stay, They’re going to come after us for the rest of the season..” he smirks, “I don’t care, it’s just you and I now.”

Y/N’s DR: it sucks because Zendaya was my closest ally and if Harrison stays were going to have to stay on alert at all times now, if he stays we have to win HoH next week.

Harrison’s DR: So I’m on the block which sucks but I think I can convince some of the houseguest to get rid of Madelaine this week. She’s already done enough damage so hopefully my plan works.

*Eviction Night a couple of days later*

Julie Chen appears on the screen in the living room “Houseguests, the time has come to cast your votes to evict. Tana as current Head of Household, you will not be to cast a vote, neither will the two nominees. You will only cast a vote in an event of a tie. Y/N, you’re first, please had to the diary room.”

Y/N heads into the diary room and sits in the DR couch, “I happily vote to evict Madelaine.” Julie thanks her as she exits and next Shawn enters the room.

“Hi , please cast your vote to evict.” He waves, “Hey Julie, I cast my vote to evict Madelaine.” He gets up from the chair and high fives Tom as he enters the diary room, Tom takes his seat. “Hi Tom, please cast your vote to evict.

The rest of the houseguest continue to vote while everyone sits in silence til Julie returns on the screen.

“Houseguests, all the votes are in. Just a reminder, once the evicted houseguest is revealed, he or she will only have a few moments to say goodbye to their houseguests and walk out the front door. With a vote of 3-2… Madelaine, you have been evicted from the Big Brother house.”

Madelaine hugs her houseguests one by one, not holding any grudge while saying her final goodbyes. She takes her final steps and walks into the crowd with Julie to do her interview and the door closes, all hell breaking loose.

Tana stands on the table that is in the living room, “Why the fuck are the votes going south? Harrison was supposed to go this week!”

Harrison moves to the kitchen, “I’m standing right here you know”

Harrison’s DR: I was supposed to leave this week but I was able to cut a deal with Shawn and Tom.

Shawn’s DR: Tom and I decided that if we let Harrison stay, we could control him and Y/N as numbers for our side but once we don’t need them anymore then they’re gone.

Julie’s voice comes on the screen again: “Houseguest, please head to the backyard for the HoH competition.”

Zendaya’s DR: I HAVE to win this HoH, I need to get Y/N and Harrison on the block.

Y/N and Harrison high five each other, “Good luck Haz.” He winks at her as they enter their individual cubbies, with all the other houseguest in theirs as well.

Julie’s voice comes on the intercom: “ Houseguest, the power is up for grabs. Tana, as outgoing Head of Household you are not allowed to compete. Tonight’s competition will consist of all things Big Brother, I’ll read you a series of questions that will test your knowledge on the items in the Big Brother house.”

The competition literally takes out all the houseguest with the first question except Zendaya and Y/N.

Julie reads the next question: “In the living room, there are 20 coal balls in the fireplace. True or false?”

Zendaya turns her answer to false, Y/N turns her answer to true. Julie chimes in, “Answers are locked in. The correct answer is false which makes Zendaya the new head of Household.”

Z jumps out of the cubbie and straight into Tom’s arms, she throws her fist in the air happily as Tana puts the necklace around her neck, “Congrats girl.” As Z and the other houseguest celebrate her victory, Y/N stays in the cubbie as she bows her head in defeat.

She feels arms come around her waist, knowing that it’s Harrison she hugs him while he kisses her forehead, “We’re for sure going up.”

-

-

A/N: I WOULD LOVE SOME FEEDBACK GUYS, PLEASE PLEASE! I want to know what you guys think of this series, I don’t even know how I feel so knowing how you feel will definitely help me a TON! Theories, predictions, or whatever you want to say is welcome. Also I know that Y/N has the temptation BUT will she actually use it? Idk anyway haha Love you all-Amy 💛

Taglist: @ladybirduris​ @princesssparklesxo @imjakeharrison @spidey-pal @thedaydreamingwriter​ @abstract-live-good 

[patriotsnet]

What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-happens-if-republicans-win-midterms/

What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

Gop Lawmakers Threaten To Punish Democrats If They Win Back Control Of Congress

‘When we take the majority back in 2022, I’ll make sure consequences are doled out,’ said Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

Republicans are outraged that Democrats are governing by majority rule in the House. In retaliation, they are vowing to do the same things they now decry as unprecedented and wrong.

“Never in the history of our country has a Speaker acted like such an authoritarian,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday.

He was upset that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had his request to appoint Republican Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both men voted to overturn the 2020 election results and pushed the lie that President Joe Biden only won because the election was stolen.

“Never in the history of Congress and the select committee I checked with the historian has this ever taken place, where the one party decides who’s all on the committee,” McCarthy told Fox News in a video he with his tweet. McCarthy in fact to give Republican then-Speaker John Boehner the exact same unilateral appointment power in 2014 for the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi.

But while House Republicans claim they are being mistreated because the majority won’t let them have their way, they are also promising to retaliate by turning the same actions they criticize now against Democrats in 2023.

TAGS

‘the Beast Is Growing’: Republicans Follow A Winning At All Costs Strategy Into The Midterms

Much remains uncertain about the midterm elections more than a year away including the congressional districts themselves, thanks to the delayed redistricting process. The Senate, meanwhile, looks like more of a toss-up.

House Democrats think voters will reward them for advancing President Joe Biden’s generally popular , which involves showering infrastructure money on virtually every district in the country and sending checks directly to millions of parents. And they think voters will punish Republicans for their rhetoric about the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 election.

“Democrats are delivering results, bringing back the economy, getting people back to work, passing the largest middle-class tax cut in history, while Republicans are engaged in frankly violent conspiracy theory rhetoric around lies in service of Donald Trump,” said Tim Persico, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But the challenges Democrats face are real and numerous.

They knew they would face a tough 2022 immediately after 2020, when massive, unexpected GOP gains whittled the Democratic majority to just a handful of seats.

“House Republicans are in a great position to retake the majority,” said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, “but we are taking nothing for granted.”

His rural district had been trending Republican for years. Kind won re-election last year by just about 10,000 votes.

What If The Republicans Win Everything Again

Total victory for the G.O.P. would mean Trump unleashed.

Opinion Columnist

The end of Robert Muellers investigation. The loss of health insurance for several million people. New laws that make it harder to vote. More tax cuts for the rich. More damage to the environment. A Republican Party molded even more in the image of President Trump.

These are among the plausible consequences if the Republicans sweep the midterm elections and keep control of both the House and Senate. And dont fool yourself. That outcome, although not the most likely one, remains possible. The last couple of weeks of polling have shown how it could happen.

Voters who lean Republican including whites across the South could set aside their disappointment with Trump and vote for Republican congressional candidates. Voters who lean left including Latinos and younger adults could turn out in low numbers, as they usually do in midterm elections. The Republicans continuing efforts to suppress turnout could also swing a few close elections.

No matter what, Democrats will probably win the popular vote in the House elections, for the first time since 2012. Trump, after all, remains unpopular. But the combination of gerrymandering and the concentration of Democratic voters in major cities means that a popular-vote win wont automatically translate into a House majority.

I Do Not Buy That A Social Media Ban Hurts Trumps 2024 Aspirations: Nate Silver

All Videos

sarah: Yeah, Democrats might not have their worst Senate map in 2022, but it will by no means be easy, and how they fare will have a lot to do with the national environment. And as we touched on earlier, Bidens overall approval rating will also make a big difference in Democrats midterm chances.

nrakich: Yeah, if the national environment is even a bit Republican-leaning, that could be enough to allow solid Republican recruits to flip even Nevada and New Hampshire. And then it wouldnt even matter if Democrats win Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

One thing is for sure, though whichever party wins the Senate will have only a narrow majority, so I think were stuck in this era of moderates like Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski controlling every bills fate for at least a while longer. 

sarah: Lets talk about big picture strategy, then, and where that leaves us moving forward. Its still early and far too easy to prescribe election narratives that arent grounded in anything, but one gambit the Republican Party seems to be making at this point is that attacking the Democratic Party for being too progressive or woke will help them win.

What do we make of that playbook headed into 2022? Likewise, as the party in charge, what are Democrats planning for?

With that being said, the GOPs strategies could still gin up turnout among its base, in particular, but its hard to separate that from general dissatisfaction with Biden.

The 2024 Presidential Election Will Be Close Even If Trump Is The Gop Nominee

One very important thing we should have all taken away from both the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests is that the two major parties are in virtual equipose . The ideological sorting-out of the two parties since the 1960s has in turn led to extreme partisan polarization, a decline in ticket-splitting and and in number of genuine swing voters. Among other things, this has led to an atmosphere where Republicans have paid little or no price for the extremism theyve disproportionately exhibited, or for the bad conduct of their leaders, most notably the 45th president.

Indeed, the polarized climate encourages outlandish and immoral base mobilization efforts of the sort Trump deployed so regularly. Some Republicans partisans shook their heads sadly and voted the straight GOP ticket anyway, And to the extent there were swing voters they tended strongly to believe that both parties were equally guilty of excessive partisanship, and/or that all politicians are worthless scum, so why not vote for the worthless scum under whom the economy hummed?

The bottom line is that anyone who assumes Republicans are in irreversible decline in presidential elections really hasnt been paying attention.

Republicans Set To Rebound Big In 2022 Midterms Unless

We are just 600 short days away from the 2022 midterm elections, which means it is the perfect time to handicap the Republicans chances to win back the House, Senate and prepare a serious challenge to President Biden

Patrick Joseph ToomeyBlack women look to build upon gains in coming electionsWatch live: GOP senators present new infrastructure proposalSasse rebuked by Nebraska Republican Party over impeachment vote already have Democrats scrambling to flip those seats in much easier electoral terrain.

As I noted in The Hill last month, Republicans are on the hook to defend 20 of their seats in 2022, while Team Blue has just 14 seats to hold, all in states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Since March is a perfect month for sports analogies, a good defense provides for a strong offense when the status quo is Democrats retaining control of the upper chamber. While there is clearly a power in incumbency, FiveThirtyEight suggests that senate vacancies are actually more of a mixed bag. In election cycles since 1974, the party with the most Senate retirements has actually gained seats just as often as it has lost them. For every year like 2008, when more Republicans than Democrats retired and Republicans lost seats accordingly, theres a year like 2012, when a whopping seven Democrats retired yet the party picked up two Senate seats.

How these various Rs play out in the next few months will determine if the Rs are successful in 2022.

Rising Violent Crime Is Likely To Present A Political Challenge For Democrats In 2022

But there are roadblocks to fully enacting Democrats’ agenda. Their thin majorities in both chambers of Congress mean nearly all Democrats have to get on board with every agenda item in order to push through major legislative priorities. And without adjusting or eliminating the legislative filibuster in the Senate, Democrats need 10 Republicans to join them for various legislation a near-impossible task.

Renewable Energy And Health Care Among The Sectors That Could Get Shakeup Due To Midterms

The 2022 midterm elections are already affecting Washington, and the results could shake up sectors such as renewable energy, health care and finance.

As Democrats in Washington work to deliver on infrastructure spending and other priorities, theyre trying to make progress in large part because of a key event thats still more than a year away.

That event is the midterm elections on Nov. 8, 2022, when Republicans will aim to take back control of the House and Senate and become a more powerful check on the priorities of President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats.

What leaders are thinking about, particularly since we have unified party control, is that these midterm elections are inevitably a referendum on the governing party, said Sarah Binder, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and a professor of political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

In that sense, shrinking time coupled with What is it that Democrats want to run on? it adds pressure on Democrats to get their priorities through the door.

Time is growing short, Binder said, because party leaders often avoid making their members vote on tough issues in the same calendar year as an election, since that can hurt incumbents in tight races. Party leaders often think primarily about what they can get done in the first year of a Congress, as opposed to counting on the second year, she said.

Sectors that could win or lose

Year

Races worth watching

Can Democrats Avoid A Wipeout In 2022

Bidens plan: Go big or go home.

The good news for Democrats who watched Joe Biden unveil a historically ambitious agenda last night is that newly elected presidents have almost always passed some version of their core economic planparticularly when their party controls both congressional chambers, as Bidens does now.

The bad news: Voters have almost always punished the presidents party in the next midterm election anyway. The last two times Democrats had unified controlwith Bill Clinton in 199394 and Barack Obama in 200910they endured especially resounding repudiations in the midterms, which cost Clinton his majority in both chambers and Obama the loss of the House.

Theres a very different strategy this time, David Price, a Democratic representative from North Carolina and a former political scientist, told me. Theres an openness now to the sense that a bolder plan, ironically, might have greater appeal for independents and others we need to attract than trying to trim and split the difference with Republicans.

Read: The GOP cheat code to winning back the House

There is this recognition of this moment and how fleeting it is, and an evaluation that, absent the trifecta of control, it is very hard to move big policy, said a senior official at one of the partys leading outside advocacy groups, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategizing. So you have to take your shot. I think thats part of what undergirds Go big.

What If Republicans Win The Midterms

March 3, 2018

WASHINGTON A sizable portion of the American population has been convulsing with outrage at President Trump for more than a year. Millions of people who previously took only mild interest in politics have participated in protests, fumed as they stayed riveted to news out of Washington and filled social media accounts once devoted to family updates and funny videos with furious political commentary.

Yet public life on the whole has remained surprisingly calm. A significant factor in keeping the peace has surely been anticipatory catharsis: The widespread expectations of a big Democratic wave in the coming midterm elections are containing and channeling that indignation, helping to maintain order.

What will happen if no such wave materializes and that pressure-relief valve jams shut?

The country was already badly polarized before the plot twist of election night in 2016, of course, but since then liberals and much of what remains of Americas moderate center have been seething in a way that dwarfs the usual disgruntlement of whichever faction is out of power. While nobody can know for sure whether Mr. Trump would have lost but for Russias meddling, many of his critics clearly choose to believe he is in the White House because Vladimir Putin tricked the United States into making him its leader.

This November, if the wave turns out to be a mere trickle, we could see the accomplishment of that goal take hold.

Poll: Republicans Set To Win House Back In Massive Landslide

Republicans are set to win back the House in a historic landslide in 2022, according to a poll conducted by NBC News.

Based on all factors, youd have to consider Republicans the early favorites for the House majority in 2022, poll tracker David Wasserman NBC.

Democrats best hope is that Bidens approval rating stays above 50 percent and that Republicans have a tougher time turning out their voters without Trump on the ballot.

reports: The NBC report cites the all-too-predictable trend of the presidents party losing House seats in midterm elections, Democrats choosing not to run for reelection in some cases, and Republicans reaping the benefits of increased online donations, which are now on par with those of Democrats.

It is early, too early, to guarantee the Democrats loss of their slim 220-212 House majority. Voters wont hit the polls for almost 15 months, and things often have a way of changing on a dime in the world of politics. But the early signs certainly arent encouraging for the Democrats, especially as President Joe Bidens approval rating has taken a hit in recent weeks. American voters are being bombarded with images of a completely bungled withdrawal of Afghanistan and headlines about increased COVID hospitalizations and deaths. Inflation is also becoming a growing concern each month, contrary to the hopes of the Federal Reserve, and the crisis at the southern border shows no signs of abating.

Colwell: Republicans Are Likely To Win Control Of The House Next Year But

Three reasons why Republicans are very likely to take control of the House next year involve things over which Democrats have little or no control.

There is, however, one reason why Democrats might be able somehow to hang on to their slim majority. And they do have better prospects of at least holding on to the 50-50 Senate tie.

Reasons for Republicans winning control of the House:

FIRST: History is on their side. The party out of the White House almost always makes big gains in the first midterm election in a new presidency. In those midterm elections since the end of World War II, the average loss for the presidents party has been 29 seats. Democrats lost 63 seats in the 2010 midterm after election of President Barack Obama. Republicans lost 40 seats in the 2018 midterm after election of Donald Trump.

Because Democrats already lost seats in 2020, even as Joe Biden won the presidency, Republicans need only a net of five seats to win the majority. Democrats cant go back to 2020 to win more seats.

Factors in midterm losses for the presidents party include voters wanting a check on the president and disillusionment over any presidents inability to bring about everything voters hoped for.

SECOND: Redistricting after the census will result in many more safe Republican seats. Thats because Republicans control state legislatures in far more states than do Democrats. Both parties gerrymander. But it is the GOP controlling district drawing in many more states.

Site Map

Republicans In Decent Shape To Win House Majority In 2022

Washington Examiner

It is never preferable to be in the minority party in a legislative body. But as far as minorities go, House Republicans are in a pretty good spot.

Between the trend of midterm elections usually the party that is not in the White House, a closely divided House, and a party apparatus ready to continue their expectations-exceeding 2020 strategy while Democrats rework theirs, Republicans are on track to winning back the House in 2022.

“It has the makings of what could be a good year for the Republicans when it comes to the House,” said J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

President Bidens approval rating is around 53%, and while he is not underwater, history indicates he would need to bump that rating up by at least 10 points in order to have a shot at gaining seats. Gallup analysis found that even presidents with approval ratings of 50% during the midterm elections averaged a loss of about 14 House seats from their own party.

That would be enough to bump Republicans back into the majority. Democrats have the slimmest House majority since 1930, currently 221 seats to 210 GOP seats .

Republicans in the 2020 cycle shattered the expectations of analysts who forecasted Democrats to gain House seats in 2020. Not a single Republican incumbent lost the election, and they picked off 13 incumbent Democrats.

But it is not all smooth sailing for Republicans.

Why We Arent Going To Panic

We should all have our eyes wide open as we inch closer to the 2022 Midterms, but by no means should we give up hope. There are plenty of reasons why we can win the midterms.

For starters, Democrats appear to be quite awake to how dangerous the Republican party has become in just the past few years. And since the Republicans dont appear to be any less radicalized with Trump out of the party, I dont think Democrats are going to go back to sleep.

At this point in the election cycle, we dont have a full picture of who is retiring from Congress or who the candidates will be for these seats. Getting great candidates for crucial, must-win seats can energize voters and donors.

Presidential approval seems to have an important effect on midterms and at this point, Bidens approval rating is 15 points higher than his disapproval. If he continues to do good things for Americans and keep his approval rating high, that will help the Democrats a lot.

So, lets approach this midterm as clearly as possible: Our democracy is still on the line, and as awful as the Republicans are, they are in striking position to win back some power in Congress. Each of us needs to do everything we can to ensure that does not happen. If you arent already, consider subscribing to Political Charge as Ill be delving into specific actions we can take every month!

If you want to win the midterms, please share this post with others who want to win, too!

Republicans Will Likely Take Control Of The Senate By 2024

The usual midterm House losses by the White House party dont always extend to the Senate because only a third of that chamber is up for election every two years and the landscape sometimes strongly favors the presidential party . But there a still generally an out-party wave that can matter, which is why Republicans may have a better than average chance of winning in at least some of the many battleground states that will hold Senate elections next year . If they win four of the six youll probably be looking at a Republican Senate.

But its the 2024 Senate landscape that looks really promising for the GOP. Democrats will be defending 23 seats and Republicans just 10. Three Democratic seats, and all the Republican seats, are in states Trump carried twice. Four other Democratic seats are in states Trump won once. It should be a banner year for Senate Republicans.

Balance Of Power: 2022 Senate Races

If Democrats want to win the again, they need to win the four competitive seats they currently hold Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire. That or augment any loss with a gain in any of their three competitive targets Pennsylvania, , or North Carolina.

This Senate preview still holds up, but the shorter version is Democrats are easily favored in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. They should also win New Hampshire if Chris Sununu doesnt run .

The thing is, theyre also favored to win in Pennsylvania, where they have a strong field of primary candidates and where Joe Biden won.

They have to be no worse than, and admittedly probably better than, a tossup in Wisconsin, where Republicans have candidate issues and Democrats have a strong likely nominee.

So even if New Hampshire goes Republican because of some local candidate factors, Democrats are in a good spot to win the Senate again.

That means if youre trying to make a bet, you can essentially box out two of four combinations where the GOP wins the Senate, and focus your attention on the two remaining options, if youre looking for the values.

The 1858 Midterm Election

November 2, 1858

There is always a lull after a tempest, and so the political world has subsided into an unwonted calm since the election, commented a reporter for The New York Times. The Republicans are naturally . . . exultant over their sweeping victories. Such a commentary might apply to any number of elections, but this reporter described the outcome of a particularly historic electionthe midterm election of 1858. The Republican success that year was especially remarkable because the Republican Party was only four years old.

Almost by spontaneous combustion, the Republican Party burst forth in 1854 in response to the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act. For decades, Americas political battles had been fought between the Democrats and the Whigs. By the early 1850s, however, the issue of slavery had splintered the Whigs into warring factions and divided Democrats between north and south. When Democratic senator Stephen Douglas pushed his Kansas-Nebraska bill to passage, including its proposal to settle the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty, the uproar among northern abolitionists and anti-slavery activists was too fierce to be contained by the ailing Whig Party. As one person commented, The Whigs were simply not angry enough.

The Future Could Actually Be Bright For Republicans

Ed Kilgore

The most common political narrative outside MAGA-land is that the Republican Party is screwed, and richly deserves the ignominious future it faces.

Until recently the GOP was a reasonably normal and intermittently successful center-right political party, not wildly different from its counterparts in other countries with a two-party system, despite some racist and militarist habits that burst into view in times of stress. But then America elected a Black president, and Republicans went a little crazy, according to those outside their circles. First they abetted a destructively antediluvian Tea Party Movement and then lurched into the arms of an evil charlatan who somehow got elected president and spent four years trashing hallowed conservative principles and losing both Congress and the White House before his disgraceful and violence-inflected departure.

Worse yet, in the face of huge demographic challenges that beg for a new approach, the Republican Party has now lashed itself to a Trumpian mast going forward, following the most consistently unpopular president in American history in his bizarre crusade to deny he has ever lost anything. Meanwhile a shockingly united Democratic Party is whipping a few decades worth of liberal legislation through Congress as Republicans whine about cancel culture and try to sell the idea that Joe Biden is actually Che Guevara.

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary analysis

by Christopher Smart

May 4, 2021

SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON F-BOMB

By now every kid in the country has heard the Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether a high school student could use the F-Bomb — off campus. Well, not just use it, but post it in a rant on Snapchat. For you adults out there, it might sound crazy: Why would you do something real stupid and then broadcast it? If you are wondering that, it means you're old. These days young people post everything on the web. If you're at a drunken party and you're raping a young woman who has passed out — of course you make a video and post it. In our day, we didn't do that. But we digress. The case in question involves a 14-year-old girl who posted this after failing to make the varsity cheerleading squad: “F — school f — softball f — cheer(leading) f — everything.” That bummer got worse when school officials kicked her off the JV cheerleading squad for her rapid-fire F-bombs. But wait, what about free speech? Her parents filed suit in federal court. Now, you old people out there might remember that in our day we had to take punishment. Those days are over. But back to the F-Bomb case: If it's anything like the last Supreme Court case, she could get life in prison without parole. But if it's like 2nd Amendment cases, she still has the right to shoot her principal.  

PROOF AMERICA IS NOT REALLY RACIST

We all know America is not really racist on account of Lindsey Graham told us so. The Republican senator from South Carolina has proof: Barack Obama was elected president and Kamala Harris was elected vice president. So you can just forget George Floyd — that might have looked like a lynching, but it wasn't. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said so on Confederate Memorial Day, April 26, that celebrates Southern Heritage. “There is not systemic racism in America,” Reeves bellowed. Rumors of real estate red-lining, bad schools and incarceration rates are just liberal noise. And anyway, do you want criminals voting? Some 47 states have passed or are considering legislation to tighten voting restrictions, but it's not about race. It's just that white people need to know that too many black people won't be voting. It gives Republicans more confidence that elections will be fair because there were so many questions after the last election — like WTF! Liberals think this rhetoric and new laws to protect our proud, white heritage leads to violence from White Supremacists, but its really those Black Lives Matter commie insurrectionist bastards who are out to destroy our wonderful white country by demanding equal rights. God Bless White America.

WHY UTAH REPUBLICANS BOO MITT ROMNEY

1 – He doesn't wear white pants and a red cap while golfing.

2 – He never partied with call girls under age 18.

3 – He still thinks Jan. 6 was a violent insurrection.

4 – He's just not angry enough at the Deep State.

5 – He keeps using elitist words, like 'ethics' and 'integrity.'

6 – He says Joe Biden won the election.

7 – He thinks poor kids go hungry in this great country.

8 – He said The Great Trump had “character issues.” WTF.

9 – He's a communist and a traitor.

10 – And Utah Republicans boo Mitt Romney because they just hate his guts.

Post script — That about does it for another fun-filled week here at Smart Bomb where we keep track of Republican prevarications so you don't have to. Americans love a good spoof. When Ronald Reagan rolled out “Trickle Down Economics” he said by giving big tax cuts to the rich and big corporations the rest of us would prosper right along with them. We really liked the Gipper and thought he'd never screw us. But even George H.W. Bush tried to warn us and called it “Voodoo Economics.” In the 1970s Americans had affordable healthcare and higher education and housing. Kids were expected to be more financially secure than their parents. But Reagan's new conservatism was just a ruse to usher in the biggest upward redistribution of wealth in our history. We bought it, hook, line and indebtedness. Since then, the country's wealth — measured in GDP — has tripled but the middle class has seen none of it. Finally, someone called bullshit: “Trickle down economics never worked,” said Joe Biden in an address to Congress. It's time we reinvest in the American people and our crumbling infrastructure. When Biden said he would increase taxes on the rich and corporations to pay for it, Republicans blanched and their eyes rolled up in their heads.

Well heck, Wilson, what do you guys in the band think of them apples and good ol' Joe Biden. Maybe it's time for an ode to Reagan and Trickle Down Economics:

You told me this, you told me that You try to tell me, tell me where it's at You said you loved me, I can see through that Lies, lies, lies You left me hangin', hangin' from a limb You said you loved me, then you left with him Lord, you did it to me, I see it in your eyes Lies, lies, lie

Tell me baby, why you take my time You get a thrill off playing with my mind Lord, you did it to me, I see it in your eyes Lies, lies, lies

(Lies — JJ Cale)

[junker-town]

The inventor of dropkicks fought fascists and got kicked out of Notre Dame

Art by Tyson Whiting

What have you done?

Giuseppe Antonio Savoldi is a legend. His accomplishments don’t make sense together as a list, because when you write them all out they look like the ramblings of a compulsively lying grandfather. His story is literally incredible, and now that I’ve heard it I think it’s my job to spread the good word and make sure everyone is aware of the absurdity that was his life.

I learned about Savoldi during an afternoon spent scouring newspapers.com for the term “charity wrestling.” No real reason. Thought it was a funny term. Turns out there used to be a ton of charity wrestling events. Anyway, that search led me to this headline.

The Los Angeles Times Sports Section, November 18, 1930

Good work, long-dead LA Times sports editor! You got me hooked. That combination of words, the fact it’s not just in the sports section but it’s the leading headline, I needed to know more.

I needed to know Joe Savoldi.

Pissing off the Catholic Church

The Savoldi family emigrated to Michigan when Giuseppe was a kid. In addition to anglicizing his name, our future star took up all the sports offered by his new, strange home. That led Joe to Notre Dame, where he played fullback on some preposterously talented, Knute Rockne-coached teams. I mention Rockne not because he was a very good and famous coach but because I wanted to say that (in a longwinded way) he’s responsible for Ronald Reagan’s presidential slogan, “Win one for the Gipper.” Maybe I’ll expand on that in the comment section if someone reminds me.

As for the dude we actually care about, Joe brought unmatched physicality out of the backfield. He paired that with some previously unheard-of acrobatics, diving over the pile for touchdowns when he didn’t feel like bulldozing his way in. Folks called him “Jumping Joe” or “Galloping Joe,” despite “Local Meat Monster” being the nickname that fit best. In addition to those wildly imaginative titles, after the 1929 season Joe could also go by “National Champion”. He helped pave Notre Dame’s way to the title and had them set up to be even better in 1930.

But trouble came in the final month of the season. It turned out Joe had gotten married in secret to a high school girl a few years prior. This news broke only after Joe filed for divorce, and boy did the Catholic Church not like that. Joe was forced to leave Notre Dame and without him the Fighting Irish nearly blew their chance at another national championship. Unfortunately (for Joe), they pulled it out against Army and finished undefeated for back-to-back titles.

Despite the abrupt ending, Joe got what he needed from his time at college. Those days at Notre Dame put him on the map and made him a hot commodity.

Pissing off the Packers

Green Bay’s owner Curley Lambeau liked what he saw in Joe. After Savoldi left Notre Dame, rumors quickly popped up that he’d been signed by the Packers. The trouble was that college athletes couldn’t be signed until their class had graduated, so Green Bay backtracked a bit and made it clear they weren’t going to do that — any honorable organization would never look to break the rules in order to acquire talent. This gave the Chicago Bears a window through which to scream “lol fuck that” and sign our hero to a contract.

Lambeau’s fumings are humored by the Green Bay Press Gazette, November 27, 1930

This was a pretty big deal, especially in the eyes of Lambeau, who sure complained about it a lot. He went so far as to point out the league could even kill off the Bears franchise because of the move. It never reached that point, but once Lambeau got all the jealous rage out of his system the league did fine Chicago $1,000 for every game that Joe played for them. The Bears happily paid the Joe fee and won their final three games — which included a 21-0 shellacking of Green Bay. Well worth the money.

Joe hadn’t lost a football game in over two years. Whether he’d grown bored or became annoyed at all the rules keeping him in check, it was time for him to move on. That’s when Joe found his true calling: wrestling.

Jumping Joe the Dropkicking Foe

As a wrestler, Joe got off to a rowdy start. After just his second match Joe received a 30-day suspension. Why? Because he head butted his opponent into the hospital (his first opponent also found himself in the hospital after their match). Ignoring the hospitalizations, Joe won that second match thanks to multiple “flying tackles,” which I think we can all agree is cool as shit.

Fast forward a couple years and Joe’s status in the wrestling world had erupted. Headlining events as a heavyweight, Joe proved he knew how to create spectacle. In 1933 he debuted his soon-to-be favorite weapon: the Flying Dropkick. He used it to blast opponents out of the ring, dazzling spectators with a move that in the words of 1930s sportswriters sounds especially brutal:

The drop-kick is the latest “hold” Savoldi has perfected, and like the flying boot, is used from a standing position without warning. Joe simply drops to the mat on the back of his neck in front of his foe and shoots his feet straight into his opponent’s face.

Bettmann Archive

That’s pretty much what he did for the next decade. He toured the world dropkicking fools, turning teeth into souvenirs until his next role came calling.

You know Mussolini, right?

So, World War II popped off and everyone agreed it was a bad time. The U.S. military, though, had a secret weapon: Joe. According to his son, they approached Jumping Joe because, “he could speak fluent Italian and knew all the dialects. He was put in Italy six months before the invasion of Italy.” Hand-selected to be part of the Office Strategic Service in their Special Operations branch, one superior declared that Joe was, “built like a gorilla and moved lightly as a leopard.”

The stories of his missions, now declassified, are well worth reading about. We’ll focus on Joe’s final exploit, which involved a race with the Nazis to track down Italian scientist Carlo Calosi. That race was won, naturally, by the team that included Galloping Joe. They yanked Calosi out of Italy, therefore keeping his knowledge of some newly-engineered torpedo technology out of German hands (and keeping a bullet out of Calosi’s head).

Once his time serving in the OSS was complete, Joe celebrated the only way that made sense: he went back to wrestling. Joe eventually settled down in Kentucky, retired from wrestling, and taught high school science for 11 years. That last statement may have been his most harrowing feat. Joe’s life was ludicrous at a nearly nonstop rate.

Meanwhile, I’ve put off getting groceries for three days so I’m going to go do that. For Joe!

[oliverphisher]

Graeme Simsion

Graeme C. Simsion is an Australian author, screenwriter, playwright and data modeller. Prior to becoming an author, Simsion was an information systems consultant, co-authoring the book Data Modelling Essentials, and worked in wine distribution.

Graeme Simsion is the internationally bestselling author of The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect and The Best of Adam Sharp. He also co-authored Two Steps Forward with Anne Buist.

What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life? 

I’ve long forgotten the name and author of a book about career planning I read more than forty years ago when I was at university. The author spent all but one chapter describing in painstaking detail how to build and execute a career plan, and how to stay on track in the face of setbacks and changes. The last chapter was written by someone else: an alternative approach, based on opportunism. ‘Winging it,’ he called It and it was the first time I’d heard the expression: have broad goals, but be prepared to change the plan as opportunities arise; be willing to take on something for which you’re unprepared and learn as you go; invest in new skills as they’re needed. It was a revelation—and the philosophy has defined my professional life.

I was running a thriving consultancy business when I read film critic Joe Queenan’s The Unkindest Cut, his often hilarious account of his attempt to make an ultra low budget movie. I was hooked, and followed in his footsteps, dragging my partner and friends with me, undeterred by my utter lack of experience in any facet of filmmaking. The movie was forgettable (and best forgotten) but the screenwriting seed was planted. Within a year I had sold my business, and went on to enrol in a screenwriting course while I supported myself with freelance consulting work. That was the beginning of my transition from consultant and business owner to full-time writer.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)?

The answer’s always going to be a book; I’ll try to look beyond that. So…a backup battery for my phone. I’ve hardly ever used it, but it’s eliminated low-battery anxiety.

How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? 

I spent five years studying screenwriting and—throughout that time—working on a screenplay for a romantic comedy. It won a prize but the step to production for an unknown screenwriter with an original script was just not going to happen. I should have realised that from the start: most mainstream movies are adaptations of novels—generally bestselling novels. The studios let the publishers and public sort out the winners before they invest.

So I re-wrote The Rosie Project screenplay as a novel. At first it was a means to get the screenplay noticed, but I quickly became immersed in the novel as a work in itself (which was surely necessary if it was going to be successful). And now I’m a novelist first and only an occasional screenwriter.

Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?

Pay it forward. It’s the social contract, a basic principle to live by. In the context of writing, I’ve had a great deal of luck, and I do what I can to help others who are trying to break in. So teaching, talks, mentorship, endorsement, contributing to blogs... I encourage those who might benefit from such help to do the same for others in turn. I have a book on novel writing underway—I doubt it’ll make me money, but hope it’ll be helpful to at least some aspiring authors.

You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. – Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. In other words, practise empathy. I taught consulting skills for many years, and if consultants could do this with their clients, most of their problems would disappear. In writing, you need to be able to do it for all of your characters—if you can’t answer the character’s question ‘What’s my motivation?’ with something deeper than a stereotype (‘he’s just a boss’) or a label (‘she’s a histrionic’) he or she has no substance. That said, when I’m writing, I don’t explicitly think about my readers!

What is one of the best investment in a writing resource you’ve ever made? 

I bought my first computer in 1984, and since then I’ve always typed; I can barely hand-write. You write differently when you use a word processor—and, unlike some of my generation, I’m well used to it. And I learned to touch-type—an undervalued skill.

Right now, I’m beginning a 10-day hike, and my i-Pad (with keyboard) will repay the weight it adds to my backpack: writing tool, research tool, communication tool (plus all the non-writing-related functions). For writers seeking the lightest computing solution, at present what I’m using seems to be it. 

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?

I still buy CDs and have a pretty big collection of them. I’ve got a bit of vinyl too, and that’s probably even more absurd but more fashionable. Plus the high-end turntable. I suspect it’s about being able to afford things that I couldn’t when I was younger. Our kids find my consumerism pretty distasteful, but they’re reacting against growing up with it, whereas I grew up having to save for that 7-inch single of Hey Jude…

In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life? 

A year ago, my partner bought me an Apple Watch (I’m sounding like a shill for Apple here, with the iPad and all). I set the ‘move’ goal (calories / kilojoules burned each day) to the highest setting and aim to hit it every day. I feel better; I’ve lost weight; I’ve been motivated to get back to the gym. I’m sure it won’t work for everyone, but so far it’s worked for me.

What advice would you give to a smart, driven aspiring author? What advice should they ignore? 

Get published. As you’re starting out, write a few short stories. Get them into competitions, submit for magazines, anthologies, whatever. Agents will be less quick to dismiss you if someone has rated your work. And it’ll improve your writing. That final look at the manuscript before it goes in the envelope frequently prompts another improvement.

Join a class and / or writing group. I’m a supporter of creative writing classes: there’s a body of knowledge relevant to writing and you should know it. Why should writing be different from every other trade or profession in this regard? Plus, you need feedback—and to get used to dealing with it. Critiquing others’ writing will improve your understanding of what works and what doesn’t.  And the group or class will help you keep to deadlines and connect with the industry.

Plan. OK, some writers write by the seat of their pants, but if it’s not working for you, plan. If it is working for you, meaning that you’re finishing novels, not just getting a great 30,000 words down, keep doing what you’re doing. Otherwise, do what just about every other profession does and introduce an element of top-down development i.e. plan.

Draft like it doesn’t matter. Don’t get it right, get it done. If you’ve a plan to follow, it’ll make sense, it just may not be pretty. But you’ll have a massive sense of progress and of satisfaction in getting it done.  You can then come back and apply your creativity to the sentence level. 

Rewrite. You should know that, but in the euphoria that accompanies the completion of a first draft, it’s easy to forget and to start sharing your work of genius. Don’t. Let it sit. Rewrite. Repeat until satisfied. I always go over what I’ve written the previous day before starting on the fresh work of the day. I can always improve it.

The best way for most of us to deal with rejection is to have more irons in the fire—another publisher to send to; another short story in competition; the new novel we’re working on.

Ignore, or take with a big grain of salt, advice on writing from anyone who isn’t a successful writer (defining ‘successful’ in the way that you yourself define success).

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession often? 

Write every day. I don’t. But I work on my novel or other work-in-progress almost every day. That work may be writing, but it could be research, planning, editing, thinking about the opening sentence, solving a plot problem, reflecting on the writing process.  And yes, promotion. If you’re down to participate in a public debate in the evening, don’t expect to get a lot of writing done during the day. If you want to write every day, do it, but it’s not for everyone.

Build your presence on social media (see below). I mean, sure, if you want to, but it’s got nothing to do with being a good or successful writer.

Read this book – or movie or TV series that’s in the same space as what you’re writing. You’ll be intimidated (you’re comparing a final product with a first draft), feel you’re not original and become paranoid about stealing ideas. I’ve never watched The Big Bang Theory – any overlap between Sheldon Cooper and Don Tillman is entirely coincidental.

In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)?

I’ve become slightly better at saying no to requests for endorsements. I’ve had to. I feel a responsibility to read new books (especially by debut authors) but it’s easy to become overwhelmed. If I don’t write myself, a blurb from me won’t have much cred anyway! 

What marketing tactics should authors avoid?

‘Buy my book’ messages on social media. In fact, with a few exceptions, using social media as a marketing tool at all. I’m an old data guy, and I’m here to tell you that Twitter doesn’t sell books. Your time will be much better spent writing a better book. In fact most ‘marketing’ effort on the part of authors would be better devoted to writing. Even book tours (especially in the US which is massively over-serviced by touring authors) generally have little impact.

Broadcast media is a different thing. If you get a chance to be on radio or TV, drop the computer and grab the microphone with both hands.

I know I’m out on a limb here, but I challenge any marketing people reading this to show me figures to disprove it.

What new realizations and/or approaches have helped you achieve your goals? 

It’s human, and often helpful, to be unsatisfied, to want to stretch further. We dream of being published, but when it happens we want to be a bestseller. Then we’re not happy until we’re number one on the NYT bestseller list. And then, what about the Pulitzer? Yes, this sort of thinking will drive us onwards, but it can also drive us nuts. When I was offered a publishing contract, I reminded myself that I had achieved my goal. Anything more was gravy. There’s been a lot of gravy, and as The Rosie Project sat at no. 2 on the NYT bestseller list, I was dreaming of that ‘No 1 NYT bestseller’ blaze on the cover. It didn’t happen (The Goldfinch kept me out) and I was disappointed, but only for about ten minutes. How lucky was I? So I’ve learned to enjoy the roller coaster ride (notably with movie adaptations) and not to pin too much on external achievements.

And, perhaps paradoxically, being sanguine about success has helped me achieve it; by not dwelling on failures, but moving forward with what I want to do.

When you feel overwhelmed or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? 

I don’t often feel overwhelmed. I spent a long time running a business, and you learn how to deal with overload: in my case, make a list and (in order) dump; delegate; defer; do.

And focus…hold on. I’m probably one of the more goal-driven, businesslike, organised writers around, but I’m hesitant to apply the rather American motivational model to what I do—and especially to recommend it to others. I lose my focus, I do something else. That’s a little glib, but I’m not driven by writing goals; I’m driven by a desire to write. There’s a huge difference.

That said, and being practical, I frequently find I have to force myself to sit down to the day’s writing (editing and planning are not so hard for me) but I’m soon into it. It gets easier the more you do it and have the feedback of it working. And ‘do something else’ can mean research or that blog that someone’s asked you to contribute to. It’s not an excuse for going to the pub.

Any other tips?

My most important advice to aspiring writers is that it’s a profession. Approach it as you would any other profession in terms of the amount of learning you’ll need to do and how long it will take to become expert. If you’ve worked in another profession, there’s your benchmark; if not, look to that friend who wants to be a neurosurgeon. There are more jobs for neurosurgeons than novelists. But if you have a modicum of ability and put in that level of work, you have a very good chance of success.

________

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[hellomissmabel]

Bye Bye Brooklyn Boys (12) - version 1

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Warnings: This is just so sad. Language.

Word count: 3.285

Summary: idk what came into me - this is the first version so yes, that means there’s going to be another.

Inspired by one of my favourite songs: Give by You Me At Six. Also, if you pay attention, you an find a subtle reference to “Castle on the hill” by Ed Sheeran.

September, October, November , December,

January , February, March,  April

May, June, July

August – version 1

It’s been a day It’s felt like an age Since I have seen you A face to face so we can say what we need to

Over the years, I’ve lost a lot of friends. I lost my best friend Natasha because she couldn’t look past her jealousy and acted solely on her rage. I lost James and then I lost Steve because they didn’t find it in them to man up and face their fears. They waited too long to tell me how they truly felt about me and we drifted apart like ships in the night, passing each other by without knowing.

That evening at the ball, everything changed. Devastated by Natasha’s betrayal, I bailed on both her and Bucky, grabbing Dean by the hand and demanding he’d drive me home. The ride back was silent, Dean knowing better than to stalk me with questions about what happened, realising that if he did I might be damaged beyond repair.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? About the message?”

“I didn’t want to lose you. I could see how much he still means to you.”

“You’re a good man, Dean,” you state softly, cupping his cheek in your hand. “You’re a good man that makes bad decisions.”

I forgave Dean and never saw anyone again. Those people were responsible for some of the best times of my life, but also for some of the worst. They ruined me, the person I had aspired to become stuffed away in a cardboard box along with all my other pictures and memories. And look at me now, standing in a cream coloured chiffon wedding dress.

Wedding dress.

Well, I guess that means I’m getting married today.

It was an ordinary Friday morning. Dean got up first because he has a longer commute, so as he was getting ready to leave for work as I drifted off to sleep again. That is, until I felt the bed dip under his weight and he coaxed me out of my sleep with an abundance of sweet nothings in my ear.

“But first,” he announces cheekily, “we must get you dressed. I have a surprise for you.”

He took me to the café we had our first date and asked me to go order while he was going to find us a spot. I just shrugged and didn’t think much of it, ordering a black coffee for Dean and a mocha latte for myself. Moving on to pay for our daily cup of joe, I see Dean making his way back over to me and I congratulated myself on my clever thinking as I asked two cups to go instead of regular mugs, just in case there weren’t any seats available.

“Order for Y/N,” the barista calls out and I reach to take it from the counter when a pair of grabby hands beats me to it.

“Dean,” I sigh sweetly, “What are you up to now?”

I turn around to see him holding my cup in both his hands, something else besides my name scribbled on it. Inching closer so I can clearly make out the words, I clasp my hand before my mouth to refrain from screaming.

It reads: Y/N, will you marry me?

Dean then gets down on one knee, chuckling at my reaction after placing the cup back on the counter first. “That day I accidentally ran into you, I reckon I didn’t take enough time to appreciate your beauty. But I have been hooked on you ever since that day when you got pancake syrup all over your shirt and you laughed at my milk foam moustache. I love you, Y/N. I love you, so will you do me the honour of being my wife?”

I know you’ve changed You don’t look the same We all make mistakes It’s growing pains, it’s just a phase we have to go through

“Y/N, are you alright? You’re going to ruin your mascara!,” Wanda shrieks as she moves quickly about the room to fetch you a handkerchief to dry the tears running down your cheeks.

“I sent them an invitation, too. Bucky and Steve, I mean,” you clarify, fingers trembling under the pressure of your impending nuptials.

Wanda waits a couple seconds before replying, contemplative eyes mixing with her soft smile. “Yeah, I know.”

Filling your lungs to the brim, you take a large gulp of air in utter surprise. “You know?”

“I’m your maid of honour, I am supposed to know everything. Besides, I’ve kind of been keeping tabs on the two Brooklyn boys for you. You want me to fill you in?”

You nod but do not say anything else, deciding to let Wanda do the talking for you. “Bucky left for Wakanda, working side by side with T’Challa. He told Nat he just wanted a warm body to keep him company at night, that he never wanted it to spiral out of control the way it did. He wanted to make amends but Nat refused. Nowadays she’s already on her second husband while Clint works and lives down the coast with his wife and two kids. He’s happy, Y/N. As for Steve, he has two kids as well but lives alone,” she grimaces glumly, crossing her ankles as you stare at your hands fidgeting in your lap.

Wanda clears her throat, coughing nervously. “Sharon dumped him for one of her colleagues and moved upstate. My brother Pietro overdosed and Sam’s barely getting by since he lost his job. It also cost him his apartment and he’s now occupying the guest bedroom at Steve’s loft. The place is too big for him anyway.”

Rubbing your temples, you try to make your way through the maze that is your mind right now, filling in the blanks wherever you can and failing miserably when you cannot put two and two together. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Y/N, I am telling you this to show to you that none of them are better off.” Wanda moves to sit down next to you, taking your hand in hers. “What happened, happened. This can’t be reversed, Y/N. You have to let it go.”

“I can’t help but think that none of it would have ever happened if I hadn’t met James. I would have never met Steve either and I would have never introduced those boys to the others. I wouldn’t have lost Nat, too.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe this was meant to be, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe you meeting Bucky was never meant to happen and it was the first wicked flap of the butterfly’s wings, the first spark that set everything else ablaze. But Y/N,” she says with those big doe eyes and soft voice, “Remember that we’re all grown-ups now, capable of making our own mistakes, we’re all individuals with the freedom of choice. Not all of it can be traced back to that first day you saw Bucky.”

“Why are you still here with me, Wanda?,” you blatantly ask your friend, blurting out the one question that’s been bugging you all this time. Everybody left you, everybody but Wanda, who stayed behind and has crowned herself as your confidante. “I thought that after Pietro you would…,” You shrug awkwardly, “Vanish into thin air or something."

“Pietro’s death was an accident. You know how he was, always experimenting and living on the edge. I thought about leaving, too, but my home is right here. My parents live here, my boyfriend lives here and I have you. You have a heart of gold, Y/N, and I see it in every single thing you do.”

I’ve been wasting all this time Trying to keep you off my mind Yeah, you off my mind, no more

There’s a knock on the door, Tony informing the two ladies he is ready to walk Y/N down the aisle to where Dean will be waiting for her, accompanied by his brother Sam.

“I’ll give you 5 minutes, tell everyone the bride is having some technical issues with her make-up because she’s crying tears of happiness. That’ll keep them occupied.”

Tony gives Wanda a curt nod of his head, signalling that there’s another matter that needs to be discussed. “Y/N,” Wanda speaks softly, “I believe there’s someone by the door wishing to speak to you.”

“Yeah, sure, uhm, send them in. I guess my 5 minutes aren’t up yet.”

A blond man steps into your line of sight, wearing a neat black suit and a grey tie he probably didn’t tie himself since he sucks at dressing up, preferring his chequered flannel shirts over a more formal attire every single time. It’s been too long since you’ve had the privilege of being on the receiving end of that mind-shattering smile.

“Steve? What are you doing here?”

“Well,” he exhales with a strange familiarity, “Technically you invited me.”

“I wrote those letters as closure, I never meant to send them,” you anxiously blurt out, mentally slapping yourself in the face. “But I guess my heart won the battle against my head. It was a stupid thing to do, I shouldn’t have – Never mind.”

“Y/N, I’m not here to ask you to run away with me again. I’ve tried that trick before and it didn’t work out, so I’m not going to do it a second time.” He chuckles and a tiny half-smile breaks through your tears. “I’m just here to tell you that I’m happy for you, Y/N. I don’t know Dean personally, but if he makes you happy than he makes me happy too.”

“Thank you, Steve. That – that really means a lot to me.”

“You should get going, though. Bruce’s getting antsy,” the blond chuckles.

“Thanks again, Steve,” you say as you give him a quick peck on the cheek before shimmying past him and making your way towards where’s Tony’s waiting for you, offering you his arm which you gladly accept. You’re ready for the future. You’re happy you finally got a chance to put some old matters to bed once and for all. Well, at least one old matter but that’s already enough miracles for one day.

As Bruce is walking you to the altar, your favourite song is playing in the background, filling the garden with its beautiful rhythm and you instantly fall in line with Tony’s footsteps. At the wedding rehearsal, you nearly tripped over your dress a couple times because you were so nervous. But not now, now you feel completely at ease.

Dean is looking back at you with tear-filled eyes, a goofy smile curling his lips upwards. His brother Sam, also serving as his best man, is standing next to him and gives you a look of approval, your wavy dress fits you like a glove and simultaneously makes you feel like a real Greek goddess.

I’ve been wasting all these nights Trying to keep you off my mind Yeah, you off my mind, no more

The music comes to a close when you reach your future husband, Tony lightly kissing your knuckles and whispering good luck into your ear before releasing you to your hubby-to-be, Dean completely and utterly awestruck at the mesmerizing woman standing next to him.

“Shall we begin?,” Dean’s best friend, Castiel, asks the both of you and you murmur eagerly in agreement. “Very well. We have gathered here today to celebrate the union of Y/N Y/L/N and Dean Winchester.”

The ceremony is short and sweet, just like you and Dean preferred. Your heart is hammering in your chest when it’s time to exchange the vows and even though you memorized everything by heart, you can’t help but black out at Dean’s words.

“Y/N,” he pledges with the utmost devotion. Never have you ever seen him cry, but today he’s having just as much a hard time as you trying to hold it all back.

He sucks in a deep breath. “I can tell you how much I love you a million times over and over again, but you already know I would give the world to be with you so I’m not going to repeat myself. I just want you to know that you are an angel that fell from the sky. I am honoured and privileged to soon be called your husband and I thank the heavens for giving me the opportunity to love you because I do, with all my heart and my entire soul.”

“Dean,” you breathe out, restraining yourself from becoming a blubbering, sobbing puddle of an emotional mess.

You clear your throat. “I honestly don’t know what I would do without you. You have given me my life back. You have given me the chance to be myself again and for that I am eternally grateful. With you by my side, I can move mountains. I love you. I love your touch, your smile, your eyes and how they crinkle when you smile. I love everything about you. Even when you snore like you’re trying to bring heaven down, I still love you.” This was met with a quiet chuckle from Castiel and a loud snort from Sam, the audience seemingly enjoying your little pun. “I will love you till death do us apart and even after that.”

After you exchange your vows, Castiel is ready to conclude the ceremony with the exchange of the wedding rings. “Do you take Y/N Y/L/N as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?“

"I do.” Dean then moves on to repeat after Castiel. “I take this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit.”

Castiel turns to you next. “Do you take Dean Winchester as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?“

"I do,” you confirm with a shy smile. "I take this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit.” “

Castiel holds out his arms, gesturing towards the crowd. “If anyone here has any reasons as to why these two should not be joined in Holy Matrimony, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”

There’s not a doubt in your right mind that anyone would ever disapprove of Dean. He has charmed and enchanted not only your heart but that of many other people as well. There are a couple beats of silence that pass agonizingly slow and you feel the relief wash over you when the sound of the wind is the only melody falling on your ear, Dean gazing lovingly into your eyes. He winks at you, laughing lightly at your rosy cheeks.

Just as Castiel is about to pronounce you husband and wife, a dark figure blasts through the flowery decorations, walking bristly towards the altar and as his broken voice chimes through your mind, the bile rises in your throat. You didn’t know he’d be here today, you didn’t know he would ever read your letter. You can see his lips moving but you do not register anything anymore as you feel yourself slowly drowning into his baby blues. Dean takes a hold of your hand and brings you back to reality, repeating your name as he tries to get through to you. All these nights you’ve tried to keep him off your mind have gone to waste.

How long should I wait (I wait, I wait) To feel myself, feel myself again Cause I don’t think you hate (You hate, you hate) When we’re side by side but going two separate ways

It’s Bucky. Your Bucky, all the way from Wakanda to Brooklyn. “Fuck it, Y/N. I love you and I can’t stand to see you with him any longer. Damn it, I object!”

His chest rises and falls with every laboured breath, his icy eyes remembering you of the frozen lake you ice-skated on with Dean last winter. You had fallen into his arms time after time as you just couldn’t get the hang of it. It was one of your happiest days. This is supposed to be your happiest day and here he is, the master of screw-ups, James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes.

“Y/N, I know I’m the biggest jerk of all and I know I have done you and others wrong so many times. But I can assure you, this is not what you want. If Nat had given you that letter, it would’ve been me standing right there. No offense, Dean,” he adds sincerely, turning to face the seething man at your side. “You seem like a nice lad and all, but I loved her first.”

Dean releases his grip on your hand and runs over to the brunet asking his fiancé to abandon him at the altar seconds before the priest would pronounce them as husband and wife. He takes a swing at Bucky, hitting him flat on the nose and Bucky cries out in pain. The sound of bone breaking on impact has you rushing towards where his quivering form has tumbled to the floor.

“James, you stupid man,” you whisper as you cradle him into your arms, countless tiny drops of blood staining the luxurious fabric of your dress.

Sam has to restraint Dean in order to prevent him from going at Bucky a second time, pushing his brother down on a nearby vacant chair and pointing an accusatory finger at him if he tries anything. He then turns back to where you and Bucky are crouching on the ground.

“I would react the exact same way as my brother if you pulled that stunt on me, pal. But out of respect for Y/N, I’m going to give you guys a minute. Seems to me you have some unfinished business to sort out first.”

Sam’s eyes soften when he accepts Bucky’s apology, moving back and forth between the two of you before returning his attention to his brother downing half a bottle of bourbon one of the attending guest’s handed him.

“If you would’ve read the letter,” Bucky says stripped bare of all confidence. He’s not the Brooklyn boy you used to know, neither is he the man that rose above expectations. He is just Bucky now, a fragmented figure laying in your arms on your wedding day. “Then you know what I wanted for you, for us. I would’ve followed you to Norway, hell, I would’ve followed you anywhere if it meant I could just be with you.”

“I am way out of line here, Y/N, and I have absolutely no right to do this to you. I had no right to use Nat as a rebound and I see that now. I was wrong, so wrong, but I am not going to let you do this. Over my dead body.”

Bucky releases a shuddering breath. “There’s nothing I would’ve given to see that perfect smile on your perfect lips, to see your face light up in laughter when I admit you’re right, that I did get into something that’s way over my head, like right now,” Bucky cries softly as you cry with him.

I’ve been wasting all this time Trying to keep you off my mind Yeah, you off my mind, no more I’ve been wasting all these nights Trying to keep you off my mind Yeah, you off my mind, no more

Part 12: August - Version 2

Part 13: the letters

Tagging: the ever-wonderful @beccaanne814-blog @kiwi71281 @a-little-hell-to-raise @unpredictable-firecracker @marvelingatthewonder @emilyinwonderland3 @mrshopkirk @oopsmybagofplums @hardcorehippos @iiharu-kunii @knittingknerdy @winterwolf57 @dontbeamenacetotheforce @winterboobaer @shamvictoria11@thedragonblood @hymnofthevalkyries @feelmyroarrrr @amrita31199

[buttercream-squad-imagines]

Brighton » Jack Maynard

Request: Hiya, please can you do an imagine where Jack and the reader were gf and bf for about 12 months. And they both go round to the Maynards House for the weekend and get up to loads of things - anna and the reader go shopping - brighton seaside - jacks main channel videos and vlogs. xxx thanks

You and Jack had been together for almost a year now and had been friends years before that. You had been introduced through Joe, who was your best friend growing up and the two of you immediately clicked.

You had met most of Jack’s family when you had been together for a few months, excluding his brother, Conor, who you had met the same time as Jack. You and their sister, Anna had chatted a few times before meeting over FaceTime. When Jack and Conor were visiting home you would have specific time slots to call him over FaceTime and the two siblings would occasionally pop their heads in before being told off, as it was your only alone time.

Now, you were accompanying him to Brighton to stay with his parents for a week while he worked on his ‘secret project’. You realised that a lot of his time would be devoted to that, sleeping or playing with Beau, his cat but you didn’t mind; it meant you had some time to catch up with Anna and, even though you lived with him, Conor.

When the two of you arrived at the Maynard household, Anna was immediately outside ready to greet you with a massive smile on her face. Soon after, Conor, Helen and Gary followed the girl out.

“Someone’s happy to see her favourite brother!” Jack teased getting out of the car and grabbing some bags.

“You’re alright.” She muttered rolling her eyes. “The only reason I came out here was to see Y/N.”

“Ahh, the bitchy teenage stage.” Jack grinned. You slapped his arm and shook you head before embracing your boyfriend’s sister, then his parents and lastly, Conor.

“How was Vegas?” You asked.

“Amazing!” Conor beamed.

“Why is everyone obsessed with my girlfriend then?” Jack joked wrapping an arm around your waist.

“Because I’m the best girlfriend you’ve ever had.” You giggled kissing his cheek.

“Where’s the lie?” Conor chuckled. Jack’s face contorted into a pondering look as he pretended to think about it and you quickly saw the opportunity to start tickling him.

“Y/N! Stop!” He squealed.

“Say ‘Y/N is the best girlfriend I’ve ever had’.” You told him.

“Y/N’s the best girlfriend I’ve ever had!” He screamed. “Now stop!”

“Thank you.” You giggled kissing him.

Whilst the first day was spent with the entire family catching up, Jack had a meeting about his project on the second day and so you and Anna decided you were going to go out shopping. You and Jack were both up early that morning and 20 minutes of it was spent cuddling with him.

“Good morning everyone!” Jack croaked tiredly into his vlogging camera. Your head was resting on his bare chest with his free arm wrapped around your waist. “It is eight o’clock in the morning and I am extremely tired.”

“Well someone shouldn’t have stayed up until one o’clock this morning.” You teased.

“Shut it, missy.” He scolded jokingly.

You and Anna were ready and out of the house by 11. You had taken yours’ and Jack’s car for the day as Conor was accompanying him to his meeting today. You both went out for lunch before beginning your shopping spree where you talked about everything and anything.

“So, Anna.” You grinned as you both strolled out of the third store you visited. “Is there a guy in your life?”

“What?” She blushed.

“Oh my gosh! There is!” You squealed. “Who?!”

“His name’s Noah.” She mumbled. “Y/N, I really like him.”

“Aww!” You coed.

“But I’m scared.” She sighed.

“Why?” You frowned. “He doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable does he?”

“No!” She protested. “It’s just that before he asked me out he was a total player and he’s had a few experiences. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a complete gentleman to me but I’m scared he’ll leave me if I don’t want to do it.”

“He sounds a little like your brother to me.” You told her. “If you aren’t ready and completely comfortable to have sex with him then don’t feel forced to. If he ever puts you in the situation where you feel like you have to, you call me or anyone close to you because I swear to God I will castrate him myself.”

“Thank you, Y/N/N.” She smiled hugging you. “My brother’s weren’t lying yesterday.”

“Huh?” You asked confused.

“They weren’t lying when they said you’re the best girlfriend Jack’s ever had.” The youngest Maynard admitted. “In fact, you’re the best girlfriend out of any of both their other girlfriends.”

“I’m glad you think that.” You blushed.

“It’s true, Y/N.” She informed you obviously not sure you were convinced. “None of Jack and Conor’s other girlfriends would acknowledge I exist, never mind help me with these problems. Victoria would never even talk to me unless Conor was around and even then she would just glare at me.”

“Victoria was a bitch.” You sighed. “She told me to stay away from Conor once and I was like, ‘bitch, tell me what to do again and I’ll cut you’.”

“Of course you did.” She giggled.

It was around four o’clock in the afternoon when you and Anna arrived home and you were immediately greeted by your boyfriend.

“I missed you.” He mumbled into your shoulder as he wrapped his arms around you.

“I was only gone a couple of hours.” You teased.

“I know but it felt like forever.” He pouted. “Can we go for a walk?”

“If you want, but you need to go put a coat on, it’s bitter outside.” You instructed him.

“Yes, ma’am.” He joked. You slapped his arm playfully and rolled your eyes as he pulled on his coat. He slipped his hand into yours and placed a gentle kiss on your lips. Jack pulled out his vlogging camera as you strolled along the promenade hand in hand.

“So, my meeting is over and done with and we have now been joined by my gorgeous girlfriend, Miss Y/N Y/L/N.” He grinned. You giggled and kissed his cheek before leaning your head on his shoulder. He kissed your forehead and resumed talking to his ‘audience’ for a while before putting his camera away. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Only everyday.” You giggled. “But it doesn’t hurt to be reminded.”

“I love you so much.” He told you.

“I love you too, baby.” You smiled. You stopped walking and wrapped you arms around his neck, connecting your lips with his.

“You are one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever known.” He informed you.

“One of, huh?” You teased.

“I’m sorry babe but Beau will always be my number one.” He joked making you laugh and roll your eyes. “Roll those eyes again missy, I dare you to.”

“Shut up you idiot.” You laughed kissing him. “Now, I think we should be heading back; it’s getting pretty cold out here.”

“Are you cold?” He asked frowning as you turned around and strolled back home.

“I’ll be fine.” You told him. He shook his head and released his grip on your hand. He pulled his coat off and draped it over your shoulders. “Jack, no. You’re going to be cold now.”

“I’ll be fine.” He sighed mocking you.

“You’ll get sick baby.” You pleaded.

“And then I’ll have my favourite nurse, Y/N to look after me.” He grinned kissing your forehead.

By the time you got back the sun had set and Jack was freezing. You immediately shooed him upstairs and drew a bath for him.

“Won’t you join me?” He grinned as stripped himself of his clothes.

“Shut up and get in.” You laughed. He did as you said and excused yourself to make him some tea.

The next day Jack had off was spent recording a new video for his main channel. You were doing a ‘Girlfriend Vs. Sister’ challenge and you would discover who knew Jack better, you or Anna.

“Hello everyone and welcome back to my channel! If you’re knew then welcome to my channel and don’t forget to click that subscribe button!” Jack began. “Today, I am joined by my wonderful girlfriend, Y/N and my little sister, Anna.”

“Hi!” You and Anna greeted simultaneously.

“We are going to find out who knows me better. I have a list of questions, which you’re going to answer on your whiteboards and whoever gets the most right wins. Simple?” He explained. “Okay, nice and easy first question: when is my birthday?”

You both wrote 23rd November and received a point each. You wiped off your board and hooked your leg over Jack’s.

“What is my biggest fear?” He asked.

“Ooh I know this!” You squealed.

“You do? Then write it down, not give us running commentary.” Jack quipped.

“You’d better watch it with the sass mister.” You warned teasingly.

“Just show us your boards.” He muttered. You grinned as you held up your board knowing you had won against Jack and that you had the correct answer. “Heights? Really, Anna?”

“What?!” She exclaimed.

“The point goes to Y/N; my biggest fear is in fact spiders.” He admitted rolling his eyes at his sister.

“I’m sorry I don’t live with you.” Anna huffed sarcastically.

“Well you did for twelve years!” Jack laughed.

“Moving on…” She said changing the subject.

“Evidently, Y/N won that challenge and Anna’s a bad sister!” Jack announced wrapping his arm around you.

“Hey!” Anna whined.

“Thank you for watching! If you liked it, don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe and follow Y/N and Anna on their social medias, which will be linked down below. We’ll see you guys- well, I will and Y/N most likely because let’s face it she lives on my channel. Anyway! Bye guys!”

You let Jack untangle himself from your arms and switch off his camera. Anna left and you helped Jack tidy up his filming equipment. Later, you cuddled up in his bed and watched a few films to complete your night.

[safyresky]

92 Truths

I’M SO MAD I WANTED TO BE THE DOUBLE TAGGER BUT @mellomadness BEAT ME TO IT?????? I was originally tagged by @thewayhistoryiswritten. They tagged the whole fam so now I am gonna just sneak in here and be the TRIPPLE TAGGER B)

This one is really long?? So if you’re not about people oversharing on the internet then just skip down using “J” or blacklist long post, cause that’s what I’ll tag this as :)

(I would put a read more but half the people who tagged me use mobile and those don’t show up on mobile so...my apologies!)

Anyway let’s get to it, shall we?

LAST…

[1] drink: hot chocolate. for those keeping up with my roll up the rim #struggles, 15/15 have NOT won. 

[2] phone call: Richard, my lovely bf who couldn’t remember the cereal my sister wanted

[3] text message: my sister who has no idea what food I have at home and is staying until Sunday and needs to eat

[4] song you listened to: One of the songs off the Steven Universe music playlist I have on soundcloud

[5] time you cried: Watching Moana last week it just gets me EVERY TIME the powerful I AM MOANA!!!!! I JUST YES. YES YOU ARE. YOU ARE AND I AM A WRECK

HAVE YOU EVER…

[6] dated someone twice: Nope

[7] been cheated on: In a way yes but also no.

[8] kissed someone and regretted it: Nope

[9] lost someone special: Yes.

[10] been depressed: low key all of last year? it was a struggle. and not like diagnosed depressed just...feeling sad ALL the TIME and WORTHLESS and people would tell me you’re great and I just wouldn’t believe them b/c it didn’t feel like I was great at all. I couldn’t even write about my shitty frosty children I just....couldn’t. I couldn’t do anything but think about how shitty things were going and how much I wanted to sleep and sleep and sleep and forget about life

[11] gotten drunk and thrown up: I have never gotten drunk to the point of throw up but hey, tomorrow is paddy’s day and my sister wants me to get “turnt” and “wasted” so we’ll see if I go over my comfortable drunk limit of 5 alcohols. Will keep you posted!

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS:

[12] Blue

[13] Light blue

[14] Orange (Were you expecting more blue?? Hehe)

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

[15] made new friends: Yes!

[16] fallen out of love: No, I’ve just made my relationship STRONGER

[17] laughed until you cried: Oh my god yes I live in a house with 3 other immature young adults who are stressed to the max you would be surprISED how often one of us laughing until we cry happens

[18] found out someone was talking about you: Not in bad ways!

[19] met someone who changed you: I don’t think so, though my current friends may have effected my humour just a tad ;)

[20] found out who your true friends are: Yeah, actually! A lot of realizations happened this year let me tell you *side eyes my shitty pal who makes things about herself constantly*

[21] kissed someone on your facebook list: I mean Richard is my facebook friend so...yes? We’ve been dating for 5 years though so idk how much that counts?? Cause he’s my SO???

GENERAL…

[22] how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: All of them I know well enough, I don’t add total strangers

[23] do you have any pets: My cat! Cinnamon! He’s so cute and such an affectionate lil bud for being a stray a year ago like what a cat I love him s o  m u c h he’s so sILLY

[24] do you want to change your name: I love my name very much. It can be spunky (Dani), elegant (Ella), and a mix of them both (Daniella!)

[25] what did you do for your last birthday: I turned 21 and...I actually can’t recall?? I think Richard and I went out to dinner and OH NOW I REMEMBER!

We went to the Works and he surprised me with all of my good friends being there and then we went home and he got me an ICE CREAM CAKE and my housemates put my gifts in a suitcase b/c we had no wrapping stuffs welcome to Student Life my guys

[26] what time did you wake up: At 7AM today b/c I had an 8:30

[27] what were you doing at midnight last night: I was messaging Ana bean and making my bed because my sister wanted to sleep and my sheets had just finished washing

[28] name something you cannot wait for: Summer! I have a job, I’m staying in Kingston, I’M GONNA PLANT SHIT!!!! IT’S gonna be gr8!!

[29] when was the last time you saw your mother: In February for reading week!

[30] what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: I wish my parents hadn't struggled so much when I was younger, b/c then I would have had decent RESP’s and wouldn’t owe the government so much money for school Dx

[31] what are you listening to right now: The chatter of nearby people eating lunch (I forgot my headphones today I’m real upset)

[32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: You know, I see soo many people in one shift that one of them was probably named Tom tbh

[33] something that is getting on your nerves: FIFTEEN (15) ROLL UP THE RIM TO WIN CUPS AND NOT A SINGLE WIN. EVERYONE I KNOW HAS WON SOMETHING BUT NOT ME I AM BITTER AF THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST YEAR FOR ME FOR ROLL UP THE RIM

[34] most visited website: this blue hellhole 

[35] elementary: St Herbert down the street from home. Everyone made fun of it and called it St Hubert’s, like the chicken place?? It bugged me as a kid now I’m like lmao yeah too bad they don’t have good chicken there

[36] high school: St Joe’s near my house! Commonly known as St Joe’s Hoes b/c there was a prostitute ring in the bathrooms in the 90s apparently??? And also everyone wore their kilts really high up. Those got banned. I was bitter I loved the kilt it was very warm

[37] college: Queen’s U! 

[38] hair colour: It is Chestnut brown, according to Laurentian pencil crayons (it’s dark brown enough that my boyfriend thought it was black for the first year and a half we knew each other hahaha)

[39] long or short hair: I like it longer because then I can put it up a lot?? Though mid-length is usually my go to

[40] do you have a crush on someone: Does my boyfriend count. B/c if so then hecka yes

[41] what do you like about yourself?: My eyebrows SLAY. I like that I have managed to build up my patience so much. I like that I’m super creative and helpful and I like that I try to be as supportive as possible and usually pals are like ye u are supportive which does me a GOOD right in the heart!! I am being a HELP!!

[42] piercings: just my ears!! i’ve always wanted a nose piercing ha but I wouldn’t go through with it, my pain tolerance is exactly 0

[43] blood type: No idea!

[44] nickname: Dani

[45] relationship status: In a relationship with the most WONDERFUL FLUFF EVER Richard is really gr8 okay I could talk about him for days what a guy

[46] zodiac sign: Libra

[47] pronouns: She/her

[48] fav tv show: Steven Universe

[49] tattoos: none. if I got one it would be a shooting star somewhere inconspicuous 

[50] right or left handed: right handed! for most things. I do use my left hand for odd things, like using a fork w/ a knife

FIRST… [51] surgery: wisdom teeth when I get them out this summer

[52] piercing: My ears when I was 2 months old or so

[53] best friend: PLEASE DO NOT AS ME THIS I HAVE MANY MANY BIFFERS (Richard, AJ, Ana, Jess, Athena...)

[54] sport: skiing 

[55] vacation: Mexico when I was 7! Maybe younger, I can’t recall. 

[56] pair of trainers: I just have converse?? Do they count??

RIGHT NOW…

[57] eating: Timbits

[58] drinking: Just finished a hot chocolate

[59] i’m about to: Finish a seminar response and then scream internally until I can go home

[60] listening to: People talking, still (there’s a lot of repeat questions here)

[61] waiting for: Class time

[62] want: A nap or two, a raise at work

[63] get married: One of these days! I keep asking Richard if we can just go to the courthouse and ELOPE but he keeps saying “yes let’s do that before we get married just go to a courthouse and wait on the big fancy ceremony until we can afford it!! He’s very set on being able to have a place for ourselves and such before hand which I agree with. But I still really wanna run to the courthouse one day and just fucking do it man)

[64] career: a writer with fame to rival that of J.K. Rowling, for instance, or the archaeologist who discovers Atlantis!

WHICH IS BETTER… [65] hugs or kisses: Hugs! I’m a really cuddly fuck but I love giving Richard kisses ALL OVER HIS FACE he gets soo happy!!

[66] lips or eyes: Eyes

[67] shorter or taller: Taller so I look cute when I attempt to be the big spoon, and so I can fit under the chin of my SO for MAXIMUM HUG

[68] older or younger: Older (irony b/c Richard is exactly 9 months older than me)

[70] nice arms or nice stomach: Both? Both. Both is good.

[71] sensitive or loud: Both? Both. Both is good.

[72] hook up or relationship: Relationship b/c I am not into the sex thing that much, occasionally yes but also not with a stranger?? I don;t look at someone like “I wanna tap that” usually my thought is “They’re pretty” or “I love their jacket” or “HOW DID THEY EYELINER???? THAT GOOD???” (Like ANA’S EYELINER OMG YOU ARE A MASTER AT THE EYELINER ANA PLEASE TEACH ME UR WAYS).

The only instance of “I wanna tap that” occurs like once in a full moon or two when I stare at Richard a v long time and thing HE IS SO WONDERFUL AND LOVELY I LOVE HIM LET’S GO RIGHT NOW INTO THE BED (TMI alert my guys, haha whoops)

[73] troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant, though I can be a shit disturber, ask AJ. And Ana. And my other housemates, especially Richard. I can be a nuisance and have been confirmed to be an occasional menace >:)

HAVE YOU EVER… [74] kissed a stranger? Nope

[75] drank hard liquor? It depends on your definition? Sometimes I have a liqueur with my Dad but idk if it counts as hard liquor, it’s usually a Bailey’s

[76] lost glasses/contact lenses? ASK AJ I CONSTANTLY CANNOT FIND MY GLASSES B/C I CAN EVER REMEMBER WHERE I LEFT THEM

[77] turned someone down: In the most passive way possible. Fun fact: I once “friend-zoned” Richard, ha

[78] sex on first date? Heck no, I gotta know a guy or gal REALLY WELL before being like YES LET US ENGAGE IN COITUS, That is something I share with someone I trust fully and completely, not random people I meet on the first date (do people actually do that??) 

[79] broken someone’s heart? Probably?? I dunno

[80] had your own heart broken? Omg yes when I was a lil pre-high schooler, dear me

[81] been arrested? HA no

[82] cried when someone died? Heck yes! real people, fictional characters...I’m a mess

[83] fallen for a friend: Every crush I have ever had began with a friendship so yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN… [84] yourself? Usually, yes!! I had a bad bout of thinking nothing would turn out right the past year but I’m back in the swing of thinking “It’ll be okay, you can do it”

[85] miracles? I think yes

[86] love at first sight? Love at first sight is a MYTH. Love takes time, patience. Love takes getting to know someone really well and knowing how you work with them and how they work with you. Love takes a lot and if love at first sight is a thing, it’s more like the IDEA of a person, not who they really really are.

[87] santa claus? For real, yes, I actually do b/c when I had lost my belief already, there was one year where my siblings (who had been naughty) weren’t on the christmas party lists at my parents work for gifts, and I was. So yeah. I have a solid belief in Santa make fun all you want idgaf 

[89] angels? Very much so. Ethereal angels and angels here I meet that have a profound impact on my life

OTHER… [90] current best friend’s name: I HAVE MANY but in no order, Richard, AJ, Jess, Ana, Athena... 

[91] eye colour: Brown

[92] favourite movie: Moana, Grease, Atlantis, El Dorado. Those are my top four. I think.

GOOD GRIEF THIS WAS A LONG ONE I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY AJ, YOU TOO MELLO. @divinitycas here is a third tag because yolo?? I guess??? Anyone else who likes to overshare on the internet please, be my guest!!! AND THEN TAG ME I LOVE LEARNING ABOUT OTHERS!!

[unclewoodstock]

The Suplex Summary: 17/4/17

This week, we had the ring implode, a bizarre no.1 contender choice, and the sad passing of a superhero.

Raw

No time was wasted with Braun Strowman coming out too gloat about the savage beating he gave to Roman Reigns last week. GM Kurt Angle tried getting him to leave the building but Strowman was defiant in staying. As the night went on, Strowman showed his terrifying rage by battering jobbers backstage. He finally got the competition he wanted when eventually, Big Show stepped in stop Strowman’s rampage, making the main event set for the night.

Samoa Joe vs Chris Jericho

To get some retribution for being attacked by Joe backstage a few weeks ago, Jericho would go one on one with the Samoan Submission Machine. Seth Rollins was special guest commentator for the match, building for his match with Joe come Payback. Good match from these two, with Joe especially looking like a vicious killer. Joe powered out of the Walls Of Jericho and put on the Cobra Clutch for the tapout win. My only issue was I wish Jericho didn't tap but it's a nitpick for a fun match. With Joe looking good here and cutting a visceral sounding promo on Rollins, their match come Payback is one to look forward to.

Enzo & Cass vs Gallows & Anderson

The Club were meant to be fighting the Golden Truth, but an attack by Strowman put an end to that, not that I was too sad about it. Instead, Enzo & Cass came out to take on Gallows & Anderson. Standard tag match, with Anderson slamming Enzo into the turnbuckle ropes for the ring. Enzo & Cass still remain crazy over, but it would great to have them get some wins for once.

Miz TV with Dean Ambrose

Before Miz was barely able to speak, Ambrose came out to the ring. The Miz proceeds to berate Ambrose about not being a worthy looking superstar. It ended with Ambrose attacking the Miz as he gets away before the Dirty Deeds. Miz seems to be repeating this same plot, complaining about how he is overlook compared to other superstars. For me, it’s kinda getting a little old. It doesn’t help that we have already seen this feud back on Smackdown, I would rather be seeing these two doing other things.

Jack Gallagher vs TJ Perkins

Both Neville and Austin Aries were at ringside for this match. Pretty good match, with Perkins getting the win with the Detonation Kick. Perkins’ heel turn last week may have been a positive step for his character, but he got no response from the crowd which doesn't help. Pairing him with Neville may work in the long one, but right now Perkins just looks like a high school bully’s comedy sidekick.

No. 1 Contender Match for the Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs Alexa Bliss vs Mickie James vs Sasha Banks

The women’s division on Raw got a much needed shot in the arm last week, as the title seems very hotly contended once again. This was just an OK match, the four didn’t seem to gel well together. As imposing as she is, Nia Jax is still a little green. It will take a few more matches before she can pull of a convincing title run. Alexa Bliss got the win as she stole the pin from Jax as she lays out Banks with a Samoan Drop. Bliss winning was a little unexpected, but she will make a great villainous foe for Bayley. Especially as there is only a week to go before Payback.

Finn Balor vs Curt Hawkins/Wyatt’s Sermon of the Snakes

Both segments were back to back and are related so it makes sense to talk about them together. Balor won quickly over Hawkins, an easy match most likely to help him recover from his concussion last week. As for Wyatt, it dawned on me why his “scary” promos don’t do much for me anymore. They are way too overproduced. When Wyatt first debut, his first promo was so simple. It was him in a dark room with a chair in it. He delivered his lines like a pro and it was so effective. Now however, the camera flickers, there is spooky music, creepy imagery, it’s all just too much. Less is more WWE. Regardless, a Balor/Wyatt feud could be interesting clash of characters and gimmicks.

Cesaro vs Jeff Hardy

This match, both before and during the match, was being billed as a rare first as neither men had faced each other. The hype paid off to a degree as this was a pretty good match. Both men were very evenly matched throughout. Hardy would eventually get the upper hand, finishing off Cesaro with the Swanton Bomb. Both men and their ringside tag partners had a tense stand off before shaking hands after the match. With this subtle post match moment, added with constant fan speculation, we could be seeing the Broken Hardys hopefully very soon.

Braun Strowman vs Big Show

The first time these two had a singles match, they surpassed any expectations cynical fans would have had. Back then, they had a very good match, and this time was no different. Both men showed fair amounts of agility for men their size, Strowman even pulling off a nip-up which was amazing to see. The two traded blows and near-falls, before both men went to the turnbuckle. They had teased it throughout the match, but it finally happened. Strowman had Big Show on the turnbuckle, and with shakey legs, imploded the ring with a superplex! Regardless of the previous times it has happened, it is still an amazing spot to see, especially with the poor ref being hurled out of the ring in the process. The match was a No Contest but we ended the show with Strowman standing tall. This night, very deservedly, belonged to him. Smackdown

Smackdown, in comparison to Raw, was a much more underwhelming show. This included a moment that initially caused me to rage quit watching for half an hour.

The show began with Charlotte coming out, demanding a title shot as the best athlete in the women's division. Champion Naomi obliged, as the two exchanged blows. Shane McMahon announced that if Charlotte could beat Naomi, she would get her title match next week.

Six Pack Challenge. No.1 Contender Match for the WWE World Title: Sami Zayn vs Dolph Ziggler vs Luke Harper vs Erick Rowan vs Mojo Rawley vs Jinder Mahal

This was the rage quit moment for me so strap yourself in. To get the good out of the way, this was a very fun match. Lots of action and close near-falls kept the crowd and myself hooked. The quality of the match outshone the fact that this match was lacking in big names. Zayn and Harper to me, seemed like the only worthy contenders from the start. Rawley and Ziegler at a stretch. But the big moment came at the finale of the match. Zayn had the match won, when he was held back from delivering the Helluva Kick by the debuting Bollywood Boys. In the distraction, Mahal was able to slam Zayn and become the new No.1 contender.

The reasons for Mahal getting the push is due to WWE’s gaining market in India. A big Indian star would help garner more fans in the country. If that was the plan though, would it have killed WWE to not make Mahal such a jobber beforehand? I'm not much of a fan of Jinder Mahal anyway, but I'd be more accepting of him if he hadn't been losing 2-3 matches. To make it even more annoying, he cut an anti-American after the match. It's 2017, the “evil” foreign heel is teeth-grindingly outdated. As much as WWE likes to advertise itself as a global franchise, they still insist on this. Mahal now has a month to look like a rap contender for Randy Orton. NXT’s Bollywood Boys will help, but I doubt it will make the Payback main event an utter bore.

Charlotte vs Naomi

This match helped me get over the last match’s previous outcome, both looking solid in the process. Charlotte winning clean may be annoying for some, but it wasn't too bad for me. As Naomi tried for the Rearview, Charlotte countered with a dropkick, before getting the win. It makes for a better narrative for Naomi to be outmatched the first time, only for her game to be upped come the next encounter.

American Alpha vs The Colons

Plus side to this, the Shining Stars are gone. Now we have Primo and Epico announced simply as the Colons. With a remix theme and no more time shares, the Colons have become a legitimate team again. The problem is with American Alpha, the team has lost a lot of momentum. As the only face team on Smackdown, their loss here leaves the tag team division rather underwhelming until the New Day debuts.

Kevin Owens vs Local Jobber

We got the first of hopefully many “Face Of America” open challenges. Owens won in moments, and made the decision to commentate for the main event.

AJ Styles vs Baron Corbin

It feels like the belts are a little mixed up. The earlier 6 Pack Challenge match would make a bit more sense if it was contended for the US title instead. Instead, Smackdown’s main eventers are fighting over a secondary belt. While it elevates the US title, it leaves less big names for the main one. Regardless, both had a good match. AJ made Corbin look especially good, selling his hard hitting offense brilliantly. Corbin would get counted out, but it was due to a heavy blow by AJ over the barricade. A combination of Owens, AJ and Corbin is money for me.

This past week, Raw won for me. Strowman was made to look like a megastar, while Mahal felt like he could have been picked by throwing a dart at a board. Next week could easily swap around though.

RIP Matthew “Rosey” Anoa’i

This past week, we got the sad news of the death of Matthew Anoa’i, best known in WWE as Rosey. He was 47. Anoa’i is the real life brother of Roman Reigns, but got his start much earlier in 2002. He started as a tag team with his cousin Eddie Fatu, as the tag team 3 Minute Warning. Anoa’i would best be known for his gimmick as the comedic sidekick to superhero wrestler, the Hurricane. Him and Rosey would have success with the team, even winning the tag team titles before his release in 2006. My deepest condolences to all of his family and friends.

Be good to your loved one everyone.

Till next time

Nay

[patriotsnet]

What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-happens-if-republicans-win-midterms/

What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

Gop Lawmakers Threaten To Punish Democrats If They Win Back Control Of Congress

‘When we take the majority back in 2022, I’ll make sure consequences are doled out,’ said Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

Republicans are outraged that Democrats are governing by majority rule in the House. In retaliation, they are vowing to do the same things they now decry as unprecedented and wrong.

“Never in the history of our country has a Speaker acted like such an authoritarian,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday.

He was upset that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had his request to appoint Republican Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both men voted to overturn the 2020 election results and pushed the lie that President Joe Biden only won because the election was stolen.

“Never in the history of Congress and the select committee I checked with the historian has this ever taken place, where the one party decides who’s all on the committee,” McCarthy told Fox News in a video he with his tweet. McCarthy in fact to give Republican then-Speaker John Boehner the exact same unilateral appointment power in 2014 for the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi.

But while House Republicans claim they are being mistreated because the majority won’t let them have their way, they are also promising to retaliate by turning the same actions they criticize now against Democrats in 2023.

TAGS

‘the Beast Is Growing’: Republicans Follow A Winning At All Costs Strategy Into The Midterms

Much remains uncertain about the midterm elections more than a year away including the congressional districts themselves, thanks to the delayed redistricting process. The Senate, meanwhile, looks like more of a toss-up.

House Democrats think voters will reward them for advancing President Joe Biden’s generally popular , which involves showering infrastructure money on virtually every district in the country and sending checks directly to millions of parents. And they think voters will punish Republicans for their rhetoric about the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 election.

“Democrats are delivering results, bringing back the economy, getting people back to work, passing the largest middle-class tax cut in history, while Republicans are engaged in frankly violent conspiracy theory rhetoric around lies in service of Donald Trump,” said Tim Persico, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But the challenges Democrats face are real and numerous.

They knew they would face a tough 2022 immediately after 2020, when massive, unexpected GOP gains whittled the Democratic majority to just a handful of seats.

“House Republicans are in a great position to retake the majority,” said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, “but we are taking nothing for granted.”

His rural district had been trending Republican for years. Kind won re-election last year by just about 10,000 votes.

What If The Republicans Win Everything Again

Total victory for the G.O.P. would mean Trump unleashed.

Opinion Columnist

The end of Robert Muellers investigation. The loss of health insurance for several million people. New laws that make it harder to vote. More tax cuts for the rich. More damage to the environment. A Republican Party molded even more in the image of President Trump.

These are among the plausible consequences if the Republicans sweep the midterm elections and keep control of both the House and Senate. And dont fool yourself. That outcome, although not the most likely one, remains possible. The last couple of weeks of polling have shown how it could happen.

Voters who lean Republican including whites across the South could set aside their disappointment with Trump and vote for Republican congressional candidates. Voters who lean left including Latinos and younger adults could turn out in low numbers, as they usually do in midterm elections. The Republicans continuing efforts to suppress turnout could also swing a few close elections.

No matter what, Democrats will probably win the popular vote in the House elections, for the first time since 2012. Trump, after all, remains unpopular. But the combination of gerrymandering and the concentration of Democratic voters in major cities means that a popular-vote win wont automatically translate into a House majority.

I Do Not Buy That A Social Media Ban Hurts Trumps 2024 Aspirations: Nate Silver

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sarah: Yeah, Democrats might not have their worst Senate map in 2022, but it will by no means be easy, and how they fare will have a lot to do with the national environment. And as we touched on earlier, Bidens overall approval rating will also make a big difference in Democrats midterm chances.

nrakich: Yeah, if the national environment is even a bit Republican-leaning, that could be enough to allow solid Republican recruits to flip even Nevada and New Hampshire. And then it wouldnt even matter if Democrats win Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

One thing is for sure, though whichever party wins the Senate will have only a narrow majority, so I think were stuck in this era of moderates like Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski controlling every bills fate for at least a while longer. 

sarah: Lets talk about big picture strategy, then, and where that leaves us moving forward. Its still early and far too easy to prescribe election narratives that arent grounded in anything, but one gambit the Republican Party seems to be making at this point is that attacking the Democratic Party for being too progressive or woke will help them win.

What do we make of that playbook headed into 2022? Likewise, as the party in charge, what are Democrats planning for?

With that being said, the GOPs strategies could still gin up turnout among its base, in particular, but its hard to separate that from general dissatisfaction with Biden.

The 2024 Presidential Election Will Be Close Even If Trump Is The Gop Nominee

One very important thing we should have all taken away from both the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests is that the two major parties are in virtual equipose . The ideological sorting-out of the two parties since the 1960s has in turn led to extreme partisan polarization, a decline in ticket-splitting and and in number of genuine swing voters. Among other things, this has led to an atmosphere where Republicans have paid little or no price for the extremism theyve disproportionately exhibited, or for the bad conduct of their leaders, most notably the 45th president.

Indeed, the polarized climate encourages outlandish and immoral base mobilization efforts of the sort Trump deployed so regularly. Some Republicans partisans shook their heads sadly and voted the straight GOP ticket anyway, And to the extent there were swing voters they tended strongly to believe that both parties were equally guilty of excessive partisanship, and/or that all politicians are worthless scum, so why not vote for the worthless scum under whom the economy hummed?

The bottom line is that anyone who assumes Republicans are in irreversible decline in presidential elections really hasnt been paying attention.

Republicans Set To Rebound Big In 2022 Midterms Unless

We are just 600 short days away from the 2022 midterm elections, which means it is the perfect time to handicap the Republicans chances to win back the House, Senate and prepare a serious challenge to President Biden

Patrick Joseph ToomeyBlack women look to build upon gains in coming electionsWatch live: GOP senators present new infrastructure proposalSasse rebuked by Nebraska Republican Party over impeachment vote already have Democrats scrambling to flip those seats in much easier electoral terrain.

As I noted in The Hill last month, Republicans are on the hook to defend 20 of their seats in 2022, while Team Blue has just 14 seats to hold, all in states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Since March is a perfect month for sports analogies, a good defense provides for a strong offense when the status quo is Democrats retaining control of the upper chamber. While there is clearly a power in incumbency, FiveThirtyEight suggests that senate vacancies are actually more of a mixed bag. In election cycles since 1974, the party with the most Senate retirements has actually gained seats just as often as it has lost them. For every year like 2008, when more Republicans than Democrats retired and Republicans lost seats accordingly, theres a year like 2012, when a whopping seven Democrats retired yet the party picked up two Senate seats.

How these various Rs play out in the next few months will determine if the Rs are successful in 2022.

Rising Violent Crime Is Likely To Present A Political Challenge For Democrats In 2022

But there are roadblocks to fully enacting Democrats’ agenda. Their thin majorities in both chambers of Congress mean nearly all Democrats have to get on board with every agenda item in order to push through major legislative priorities. And without adjusting or eliminating the legislative filibuster in the Senate, Democrats need 10 Republicans to join them for various legislation a near-impossible task.

Renewable Energy And Health Care Among The Sectors That Could Get Shakeup Due To Midterms

The 2022 midterm elections are already affecting Washington, and the results could shake up sectors such as renewable energy, health care and finance.

As Democrats in Washington work to deliver on infrastructure spending and other priorities, theyre trying to make progress in large part because of a key event thats still more than a year away.

That event is the midterm elections on Nov. 8, 2022, when Republicans will aim to take back control of the House and Senate and become a more powerful check on the priorities of President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats.

What leaders are thinking about, particularly since we have unified party control, is that these midterm elections are inevitably a referendum on the governing party, said Sarah Binder, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and a professor of political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

In that sense, shrinking time coupled with What is it that Democrats want to run on? it adds pressure on Democrats to get their priorities through the door.

Time is growing short, Binder said, because party leaders often avoid making their members vote on tough issues in the same calendar year as an election, since that can hurt incumbents in tight races. Party leaders often think primarily about what they can get done in the first year of a Congress, as opposed to counting on the second year, she said.

Sectors that could win or lose

Year

Races worth watching

Can Democrats Avoid A Wipeout In 2022

Bidens plan: Go big or go home.

The good news for Democrats who watched Joe Biden unveil a historically ambitious agenda last night is that newly elected presidents have almost always passed some version of their core economic planparticularly when their party controls both congressional chambers, as Bidens does now.

The bad news: Voters have almost always punished the presidents party in the next midterm election anyway. The last two times Democrats had unified controlwith Bill Clinton in 199394 and Barack Obama in 200910they endured especially resounding repudiations in the midterms, which cost Clinton his majority in both chambers and Obama the loss of the House.

Theres a very different strategy this time, David Price, a Democratic representative from North Carolina and a former political scientist, told me. Theres an openness now to the sense that a bolder plan, ironically, might have greater appeal for independents and others we need to attract than trying to trim and split the difference with Republicans.

Read: The GOP cheat code to winning back the House

There is this recognition of this moment and how fleeting it is, and an evaluation that, absent the trifecta of control, it is very hard to move big policy, said a senior official at one of the partys leading outside advocacy groups, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategizing. So you have to take your shot. I think thats part of what undergirds Go big.

What If Republicans Win The Midterms

March 3, 2018

WASHINGTON A sizable portion of the American population has been convulsing with outrage at President Trump for more than a year. Millions of people who previously took only mild interest in politics have participated in protests, fumed as they stayed riveted to news out of Washington and filled social media accounts once devoted to family updates and funny videos with furious political commentary.

Yet public life on the whole has remained surprisingly calm. A significant factor in keeping the peace has surely been anticipatory catharsis: The widespread expectations of a big Democratic wave in the coming midterm elections are containing and channeling that indignation, helping to maintain order.

What will happen if no such wave materializes and that pressure-relief valve jams shut?

The country was already badly polarized before the plot twist of election night in 2016, of course, but since then liberals and much of what remains of Americas moderate center have been seething in a way that dwarfs the usual disgruntlement of whichever faction is out of power. While nobody can know for sure whether Mr. Trump would have lost but for Russias meddling, many of his critics clearly choose to believe he is in the White House because Vladimir Putin tricked the United States into making him its leader.

This November, if the wave turns out to be a mere trickle, we could see the accomplishment of that goal take hold.

Poll: Republicans Set To Win House Back In Massive Landslide

Republicans are set to win back the House in a historic landslide in 2022, according to a poll conducted by NBC News.

Based on all factors, youd have to consider Republicans the early favorites for the House majority in 2022, poll tracker David Wasserman NBC.

Democrats best hope is that Bidens approval rating stays above 50 percent and that Republicans have a tougher time turning out their voters without Trump on the ballot.

reports: The NBC report cites the all-too-predictable trend of the presidents party losing House seats in midterm elections, Democrats choosing not to run for reelection in some cases, and Republicans reaping the benefits of increased online donations, which are now on par with those of Democrats.

It is early, too early, to guarantee the Democrats loss of their slim 220-212 House majority. Voters wont hit the polls for almost 15 months, and things often have a way of changing on a dime in the world of politics. But the early signs certainly arent encouraging for the Democrats, especially as President Joe Bidens approval rating has taken a hit in recent weeks. American voters are being bombarded with images of a completely bungled withdrawal of Afghanistan and headlines about increased COVID hospitalizations and deaths. Inflation is also becoming a growing concern each month, contrary to the hopes of the Federal Reserve, and the crisis at the southern border shows no signs of abating.

Colwell: Republicans Are Likely To Win Control Of The House Next Year But

Three reasons why Republicans are very likely to take control of the House next year involve things over which Democrats have little or no control.

There is, however, one reason why Democrats might be able somehow to hang on to their slim majority. And they do have better prospects of at least holding on to the 50-50 Senate tie.

Reasons for Republicans winning control of the House:

FIRST: History is on their side. The party out of the White House almost always makes big gains in the first midterm election in a new presidency. In those midterm elections since the end of World War II, the average loss for the presidents party has been 29 seats. Democrats lost 63 seats in the 2010 midterm after election of President Barack Obama. Republicans lost 40 seats in the 2018 midterm after election of Donald Trump.

Because Democrats already lost seats in 2020, even as Joe Biden won the presidency, Republicans need only a net of five seats to win the majority. Democrats cant go back to 2020 to win more seats.

Factors in midterm losses for the presidents party include voters wanting a check on the president and disillusionment over any presidents inability to bring about everything voters hoped for.

SECOND: Redistricting after the census will result in many more safe Republican seats. Thats because Republicans control state legislatures in far more states than do Democrats. Both parties gerrymander. But it is the GOP controlling district drawing in many more states.

Site Map

Republicans In Decent Shape To Win House Majority In 2022

Washington Examiner

It is never preferable to be in the minority party in a legislative body. But as far as minorities go, House Republicans are in a pretty good spot.

Between the trend of midterm elections usually the party that is not in the White House, a closely divided House, and a party apparatus ready to continue their expectations-exceeding 2020 strategy while Democrats rework theirs, Republicans are on track to winning back the House in 2022.

“It has the makings of what could be a good year for the Republicans when it comes to the House,” said J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

President Bidens approval rating is around 53%, and while he is not underwater, history indicates he would need to bump that rating up by at least 10 points in order to have a shot at gaining seats. Gallup analysis found that even presidents with approval ratings of 50% during the midterm elections averaged a loss of about 14 House seats from their own party.

That would be enough to bump Republicans back into the majority. Democrats have the slimmest House majority since 1930, currently 221 seats to 210 GOP seats .

Republicans in the 2020 cycle shattered the expectations of analysts who forecasted Democrats to gain House seats in 2020. Not a single Republican incumbent lost the election, and they picked off 13 incumbent Democrats.

But it is not all smooth sailing for Republicans.

Why We Arent Going To Panic

We should all have our eyes wide open as we inch closer to the 2022 Midterms, but by no means should we give up hope. There are plenty of reasons why we can win the midterms.

For starters, Democrats appear to be quite awake to how dangerous the Republican party has become in just the past few years. And since the Republicans dont appear to be any less radicalized with Trump out of the party, I dont think Democrats are going to go back to sleep.

At this point in the election cycle, we dont have a full picture of who is retiring from Congress or who the candidates will be for these seats. Getting great candidates for crucial, must-win seats can energize voters and donors.

Presidential approval seems to have an important effect on midterms and at this point, Bidens approval rating is 15 points higher than his disapproval. If he continues to do good things for Americans and keep his approval rating high, that will help the Democrats a lot.

So, lets approach this midterm as clearly as possible: Our democracy is still on the line, and as awful as the Republicans are, they are in striking position to win back some power in Congress. Each of us needs to do everything we can to ensure that does not happen. If you arent already, consider subscribing to Political Charge as Ill be delving into specific actions we can take every month!

If you want to win the midterms, please share this post with others who want to win, too!

Republicans Will Likely Take Control Of The Senate By 2024

The usual midterm House losses by the White House party dont always extend to the Senate because only a third of that chamber is up for election every two years and the landscape sometimes strongly favors the presidential party . But there a still generally an out-party wave that can matter, which is why Republicans may have a better than average chance of winning in at least some of the many battleground states that will hold Senate elections next year . If they win four of the six youll probably be looking at a Republican Senate.

But its the 2024 Senate landscape that looks really promising for the GOP. Democrats will be defending 23 seats and Republicans just 10. Three Democratic seats, and all the Republican seats, are in states Trump carried twice. Four other Democratic seats are in states Trump won once. It should be a banner year for Senate Republicans.

Balance Of Power: 2022 Senate Races

If Democrats want to win the again, they need to win the four competitive seats they currently hold Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire. That or augment any loss with a gain in any of their three competitive targets Pennsylvania, , or North Carolina.

This Senate preview still holds up, but the shorter version is Democrats are easily favored in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. They should also win New Hampshire if Chris Sununu doesnt run .

The thing is, theyre also favored to win in Pennsylvania, where they have a strong field of primary candidates and where Joe Biden won.

They have to be no worse than, and admittedly probably better than, a tossup in Wisconsin, where Republicans have candidate issues and Democrats have a strong likely nominee.

So even if New Hampshire goes Republican because of some local candidate factors, Democrats are in a good spot to win the Senate again.

That means if youre trying to make a bet, you can essentially box out two of four combinations where the GOP wins the Senate, and focus your attention on the two remaining options, if youre looking for the values.

The 1858 Midterm Election

November 2, 1858

There is always a lull after a tempest, and so the political world has subsided into an unwonted calm since the election, commented a reporter for The New York Times. The Republicans are naturally . . . exultant over their sweeping victories. Such a commentary might apply to any number of elections, but this reporter described the outcome of a particularly historic electionthe midterm election of 1858. The Republican success that year was especially remarkable because the Republican Party was only four years old.

Almost by spontaneous combustion, the Republican Party burst forth in 1854 in response to the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act. For decades, Americas political battles had been fought between the Democrats and the Whigs. By the early 1850s, however, the issue of slavery had splintered the Whigs into warring factions and divided Democrats between north and south. When Democratic senator Stephen Douglas pushed his Kansas-Nebraska bill to passage, including its proposal to settle the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty, the uproar among northern abolitionists and anti-slavery activists was too fierce to be contained by the ailing Whig Party. As one person commented, The Whigs were simply not angry enough.

The Future Could Actually Be Bright For Republicans

Ed Kilgore

The most common political narrative outside MAGA-land is that the Republican Party is screwed, and richly deserves the ignominious future it faces.

Until recently the GOP was a reasonably normal and intermittently successful center-right political party, not wildly different from its counterparts in other countries with a two-party system, despite some racist and militarist habits that burst into view in times of stress. But then America elected a Black president, and Republicans went a little crazy, according to those outside their circles. First they abetted a destructively antediluvian Tea Party Movement and then lurched into the arms of an evil charlatan who somehow got elected president and spent four years trashing hallowed conservative principles and losing both Congress and the White House before his disgraceful and violence-inflected departure.

Worse yet, in the face of huge demographic challenges that beg for a new approach, the Republican Party has now lashed itself to a Trumpian mast going forward, following the most consistently unpopular president in American history in his bizarre crusade to deny he has ever lost anything. Meanwhile a shockingly united Democratic Party is whipping a few decades worth of liberal legislation through Congress as Republicans whine about cancel culture and try to sell the idea that Joe Biden is actually Che Guevara.

[yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog]

2018 NFL Preview: Maybe the dull Ravens can get a jolt from Lamar Jackson

Yahoo Sports is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per weekday in reverse order of our initial 2018 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on Aug. 1, the day before the Hall of Fame Game kicks off the preseason.

(Yahoo Sports graphics by Amber Matsumoto)

Winning always sells. No matter the sport or the market, it’s a universally accepted fact that you can overcome about anything – a bad stadium, a wretched history, a dreadfully boring style of play, whatever – just by winning.

The 2017 Baltimore Ravens were an exception.

A strange thing happened last season in Week 17, long before Andy Dalton and Tyler Boyd hooked up on a miracle fourth-down touchdown to knock the Ravens out of the playoffs. Fans didn’t show up, even with a playoff spot on the line for the home team. Coach John Harbaugh blamed the late start on New Year’s Eve days before the game kicked off. Some said it was because fans were upset the team kneeled during the national anthem once in London earlier in the season.

It wasn’t just Week 17. Empty seats in Baltimore was a theme through the season, even though the Ravens looked like they were going to the playoffs until the final seconds of the season. Fan apathy started to become a story in 2016 (long before the kneeling in London, which pokes holes in that theory).

“Am I disappointed in it? Yes, I’m disappointed in it. Concerned? Yes,” Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said, according to the team’s transcripts. “If winning is what we need to do to fill the stadium up, then that’s part and parcel with why we’re here. We’re here to win games, we’re here to succeed, and when we fail, the no-shows are a way of telling us that our fans aren’t pleased. So, we’ve got to win. And I hope that solves the majority of the problems.”

But winning isn’t the only factor. Baltimore was in playoff contention all season. The truth is, the Ravens are a boring football team and have been for a couple years. Not bad. Just boring.

[Yahoo Fantasy Football leagues are open: Sign up now for free]

The Ravens offense has become dreadful to watch. They were last in the NFL in yards per pass last season. They had more than 400 yards in a game just once – a fun 39-38 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers – and never had a 300-yard passing game. They did, however, have eight games with less than 200 passing yards, and one with 52 passing yards. They had the fewest 20-yard pass plays in the NFL last season, with 29. They were better on offense in the second half, but it still wasn’t an offense that excited anyone.

What do you do when you’re a successful franchise – the Ravens have had only one losing season since 2007 – but the fans are tuning you out anyway? You go take the most exciting player in the NFL draft.

Picking Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn’t the only change the Ravens made or considered, but it will be the one that defines the franchise in the upcoming years. Baltimore announced this is Ozzie Newsome’s last season as general manager, a plan that has been in the works for a while. Bisciotti didn’t deny he thought about replacing Harbaugh (“It was certainly a consideration, but not one that I was inclined to make this year,” he said). There’s a new defensive coordinator, out of necessity after Dean Pees “retired” only to resurface with the Titans shortly after. Baltimore has three new receivers and two new rookie tight ends. And, of course, a new quarterback controversy.

Joe Flacco hasn’t been dealt a great hand lately. The Ravens haven’t put much talent around him. A back injury he suffered last July might be a reason he didn’t play well last season. But here’s what matters now: It has been a long time since Flacco had a good season, he’s 33 years old with a terrible contract, and he’ll soon be the Ravens’ former quarterback. The clock starts when a team drafts a quarterback in the first round. Ask Alex Smith how that goes.

It’s possible Flacco holds off Jackson all this season. The Ravens added receivers Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead in free agency. They drafted tight ends Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews. That will help Flacco. Also, the Ravens probably will be in playoff contention again, and teams rarely change quarterbacks when that’s the case. But the change is coming. It’s just a matter of when.

I think Jackson has the ability to be this year’s Deshaun Watson, a player who has an instant impact and we laugh at the teams that passed on him. There are plenty of teams who will be looking for a quarterback soon but ignored Jackson anyway. Other than Mike Vick, Jackson might be the most dynamic rushing quarterback we’ve seen in college. He’s a far better pocket passer than many critics gave him credit for. Ravens players raved about him in offseason practices. If he’s in the right offense – and the Ravens have assistants who have positive experience with mobile quarterbacks – I think Jackson will be a star. I loved the pick for the Ravens and think it will change their franchise. Even if it makes things uncomfortable in the present.

Even with an inevitable quarterback controversy and incorporating a lot of new faces on offense, we know what to expect out of the Ravens. They won’t be fun to watch, but they’ll contend. They always do.

The question is, will the people of Baltimore come out and watch this time around?

Joe Flacco (5) watches quarterback Lamar Jackson throw a pass during an offseason Ravens practice. (AP)

Before breaking down the moves, a quick rant about the Ryan Grant situation. The Ravens agreed to a $29 million deal with Grant, a former Washington Redskins receiver. It was an enormous contract for someone with Grant’s resume. Before Grant’s deal with Baltimore became official, the Raiders cut Michael Crabtree. The Ravens seemed to have some buyer’s remorse, because they said Grant failed his physical even though he has never missed a game in four NFL seasons. Then — surprise, surprise — the Ravens signed Crabtree. Grant settled for a one-year, $5 million deal with the Colts. While the Ravens stick by their story that is was a medical decision out of their control, it’s easy to be skeptical. And if the Ravens decided to fail Grant on his physical because something better came along, they deserve every bit of bad karma coming to them.

All that out of the way, the Ravens made some necessary moves to improve their passing offense. Crabtree is a solid addition, John Brown has been a good deep threat when he’s healthy and is worth a shot, and Willie Snead was productive with the New Orleans Saints before falling out of favor. Between first-round pick Hayden Hurst and third-round pick Mark Andrews, the Ravens might finally have an answer at tight end. And as stated previously, I believe Lamar Jackson at No. 32 overall will end up being a pick we all remember.

GRADE: B

The Ravens have a heck of a secondary. They allowed a 72.4 passer rating last season. Assuming cornerback Jimmy Smith has a smooth recovery from Achilles surgery, it should be a great group again. Between Smith, Brandon Carr and 2017 first-round pick Marlon Humphrey, the Ravens have great cornerback depth. And Tony Jefferson and Eric Weddle form one of the NFL’s best safety duos.

I wonder if the way last season ended causes a hangover. In the final minute of the season finale, Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd somehow got free on fourth and 12 for a 49-yard touchdown. The Bengals won and the Bills took the Ravens’ playoff spot. You don’t shake that off in a day or two.

“We get into a fourth-and-12 situation, we get into a coverage that we think has a chance,” John Harbaugh said after the season. “We do not play it exceptionally well. It is a little bit of a safer coverage. It is a coverage built for that down and distance, and (Andy Dalton) moves around the pocket a little bit and drops one in there, and your heart is broken. That is football. Nobody writes a script. You do not get a chance to decide how the script is going to be written. That is all you can do. That is the human reality of the whole thing.”

It’s a loss that will sting for years. The Ravens won five of six late in the season, were a huge favorite to beat the Bengals, and had to assume until that fourth-and-12 they were going to the playoffs. Then, poof, their season was over. Harbaugh is a good coach and I figure he’ll lead his veteran team through this, but that’s one tough way to end a season.

This stat is a staple in these previews: Since 2006, the year after Aaron Rodgers was picked by the Green Bay Packers, Jake Locker and Brady Quinn are the only two first-round quarterbacks to not start at least one game as a rookie. Of the past 29 first-round quarterbacks, 27 got at least one rookie start. That tells us the chances of Lamar Jackson sitting all season are probably slim. The holdup might be that the Ravens’ offense will have to change dramatically when the change is made. The offense Joe Flacco runs might not have much in common with what the Ravens use with Jackson. It wouldn’t be easy to change, then go back to Flacco if Jackson struggles. No matter, recent history tells us it’s probably a good bet we see Jackson start at least once this season.

For what seems like the 20th straight season, Terrell Suggs led the Ravens in sacks. And continuing another streak, I’ll wonder in the Ravens preview how long Suggs can keep this going. He’s a great player, a future Hall of Famer, but it’s not like there’s a great history of 36-year-old pass rushers (Suggs will turn 36 on Oct. 11). At least the Ravens have emerging rusher Matt Judon, who had eight sacks last season, but no other Raven had more than three-and-a-half sacks. There is a lot of promise at the position, but they need more production. They need a Za’Darius Smith (who had a lot of quarterback hits, just not many sacks) or 2017 second-round pick Tyus Bowser to take the next step, because Suggs won’t be this good forever … I think.

From Yahoo’s Liz Loza: “Keep an eye on Willie Snead. Sure, his 2017 campaign underwhelmed, but a lot of that had to do with a three-game suspension and a nagging hamstring injury. The year prior, he posted a 72-895-4 stat line, demonstrating sticky mitts (catch rate of 69.2 percent) and dominating after the catch (373 yards). Given the Ravens’ lack of pass-catching weapons, the former Saint figures to get fed. He’s not a prime red-zone target, but he could easily see 95 targets on the season and have value in PPR-friendly formats.”

[Booms/Busts: Fantasy outlook on the Ravens.]

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We talked about fumble luck in the Titans preview. Many analysts believe strongly in fumble luck, good or bad, being a key indicator of regression. The Ravens might have reason to worry then. Baltimore had the best fumble luck in the NFL last season, recovering 65.9 percent of fumbles according to Team Rankings. That helped fuel a plus-17 turnover margin. If that doesn’t repeat, the Ravens will have to improve in other areas to be in the playoff hunt again.

IS ALEX COLLINS THE REAL DEAL?

Collins is a good example of why teams should think twice before investing a lot into the running back position. Collins was a fifth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2016. He got 31 carries as a rookie, was cut before last season and got signed to the Ravens’ practice squad. Then Collins, who couldn’t find a spot on anyone’s 53-man roster to start the season, finished the season as one of the more efficient backs in the league.

The Ravens signed Collins from the practice squad early in the season, and he ended up with 973 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and brought a much-needed spark to the Ravens offense. He had the eighth highest success rate among all NFL backs last season, according to Football Outsiders. While the Ravens get Kenneth Dixon back from a torn meniscus that wiped out his 2017 season, and Javorius Allen is still around too, Collins should be the clear lead back. There’s no reason to believe Collins can’t repeat, or even improve upon, his breakout season.

The Ravens were very good last season on defense and special teams (kicker Justin Tucker is simply amazing), and that should carry over. The offense also improved late, even if few people noticed. There were some important upgrades on offense this offseason. While I’m not sure a team with Michael Crabtree as a clear No. 1 receiver is in a great spot, the offense should be better. If that’s the case and the defense and special teams play well again, it’s not too tough to envision the Ravens improving by a couple wins and challenging the Steelers for the AFC North.

Quarterback controversies are usually tricky to navigate. And there will be a controversy at some point, especially since Lamar Jackson is such an exciting option. If Joe Flacco struggles early, John Harbaugh will be in a tough spot with a quarterback who helped him win a Super Bowl. And as much as I like Jackson, maybe when he gets a shot we’ll see exactly why he fell in the draft. I’m through picking the Ravens to have a losing season because it seems they never do, but it’s easy to see them missing the playoffs again.

The Ravens will probably be what they usually are. They won’t be particularly exciting, but effective. I’ll assume they’re in the nine-win range, not good enough to make the Steelers sweat but in the wild-card hunt. Maybe this time around they won’t have a playoff spot snatched from them in the final minute of the season.

32. Cleveland Browns 31. Indianapolis Colts 30. New York Jets 29. Arizona Cardinals 28. Buffalo Bills 27. Cincinnati Bengals 26. Chicago Bears 25. New York Giants 24. Miami Dolphins 23. Washington Redskins 22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21. Houston Texans 20. Seattle Seahawks 19. Oakland Raiders 18. Denver Broncos 17. San Francisco 49ers 16. Detroit Lions 15. Tennessee Titans

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab