#i also want to read house of leaves but that might be a 2024 project because im trying to reach my reading goal for this year

[wekillitwithfire]

almost done reading frankenstein ^^

[writing-for-life]

2024 Roundup

Thank you all for being here!

It’s that time of year again—the recaps are flooding in. Ruuuuuun! 🤣

First of all: Thank you everyone who connected this year—you are all so appreciated, no matter if we are mutuals or not 🖤

I’ll give you a little selection of the posts that people loved most in 2024, plus a few related thoughts about what happened during the fandom year (I always do, so if that’s not your thing, you know what to do 😉)

And what a year it’s been for the Sandman fandom—lots of complicated feelings. For me, they start straight off the bat with this (I’ll get to why later)…

So let’s have a little look at:

Art

Here are the art posts you enjoyed most in 2024:

1. Dream by Vince Locke

2. Dream by Frank Quitely

3. Dream and Death by Mindy Lee

March Mania

My partner in crime @tickldpnk8 and I ran our first fandom event: March Mania. In a Tumblr fandom mostly interested in the show and shipping, it was so much fun to reconnect with the source material and feature the amazing original artists, and I still want to send the biggest “Thank You” to everyone who took part—you know who you are! 🖤

If that’s still not enough art for you:

You can find all my art curation posts via the #sandman art (all art, including my own somewhere) and #sandman x art (official artists only) tags on my blog.

[Speaking of art: I post art for all Sandman characters. However, if you look at the top posts squares on my blog, you’d think it’s only Dream. It’s both funny and a bit sad. You can use my character library to get started, but please, please support all the amazing artists and writers on here who create for more characters than just “the two” by checking character tags on main. You’ll only find the underappreciated characters if you go into the weeds yourself].

Fics & Poetry

I’m a professional writer. However, I’d never written fanfic before 2022. But I had a Sandman idea that wouldn’t leave me alone, and I clobbered it all together during NaNo ‘22 and published on a weekly schedule in 2023. It was a slow start (people on Tumblr are apparently a bit weird about OCs), but it’s really picked up since. I’m grateful for the little community I built around The Light of Stars, and writing its sequel “The Pillars of Creation” also kept me busy in 2024. It still has me in a tight grip right now (if all goes well, I’ll finally start publishing in January/February, yay!). But my writing in 2024 mostly belonged to canon characters, and these fics/poems were what you liked most:

1. Lupē (short vignette, Calliope x Morpheus)

2. Requiem (poem, Death & Dream)

3. Ode to Death (poem, Death)

Honorary mention: Dream’s Therapist [a fun little project I started just because I honestly think he needs one. Many of you seemed to agree, because you liked it more than all the other fics and poems of ‘24. This is the episode you liked most, but I personally don’t think it’s the best one—it’s just the first 🙈]

And again, if you’d like to read more, you can find all my fics and poetry here.

[Another annoying side note 🤣: The work of fic-writers gets shared so much less than that of artists and meta-writers. Even less if you don’t write reader fics, smut or for one of the big ships. I had this conversation with many other writers, and it’s the same for most of us, to the degree that people will ask us for the next chapter and tell us how much they like our fics, but never, ever share them. So maybe that’s something we can all improve on in 2025: If we like something, we’ll share it?]

Meta-Analysis

The Sandman is one of the few stories that hasn’t left me alone since my teenage years, despite having books and bookshelves clogging up literally every available space of my house. I find something new in this work all the time, and I just love taking the fine tooth comb to it.

And the next one is tricky for me, because in 2024, three of my metas took off a bit for certain reasons:

1. The Endless are not their Opposite—they only define it

2. The Truth of Mankind is also Dream’s

3. Only Hope calls you out like that

And at the time, the creator reading and acknowledging my thoughts meant something, simply because the story always meant so much to me—I’m not particularly susceptible to parasocial relationships or putting people on pedestals. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel a sense of anger and disgust on…

July 3rd

The Tumblr Sandman fandom has been limping for some time now because it’s mostly a show fandom. After such a long time with hardly any news, many people simply move on and get their shipping needs met somewhere else. As someone who is mostly interested in the source material/comics and literary/meta-analysis, it never worked like that for me because neither characters nor stories are replaceable for me. But NG turning out to be a piece of shit was definitely the death knell for an already dying fandom—I could actually show you stats to make a point, but I won’t because I want to keep the demarcation lines clean here: None of this should ever be mostly about fans being disappointed or “losing their comfort show”, or whatever. We didn’t lose anything. Those women did. And I personally think every new fan should know about what he did so it doesn’t happen again. Plus, the structures that enable the abuse of power and, more importantly, keep people like this in power, will never be brought down if we pretend they don’t exist. But whether someone can separate the art from the artist is entirely up to them, and no one owes anyone an explanation. Emotional processing is hard, not every personal thought needs to be aired publicly, and our actions matter far more than our words. That’s all I’m going to say about it—my first post on the matter still stands.

Community: The Sandman Book Club

The news awkwardly coincided with having just founded the meanwhile biggest Sandman community on here. And despite everything: I love what my co-admin @tickldpnk8 and I have put together to reconnect people with the source material. We’re always happy if new people join and participate (it’s a community, not a blog 😉).

Fandom Thoughts

There was a lot of stuff in between (we got a S2 sneak peak!)—the same old fandom discourse is one of them. But if I have one goal for 2025, it’s that I want to maintain creating the space I’d like to see.

So in that vein, I’ll be honest and tell you what I lament most: It’s the transition of fandom into a consumer space. As someone who is more of a creator and sharer, I want to keep doing my bit because I love doing it. But I’d lie if I didn’t admit that my well felt fairly empty at times, and that my energy is a bit drained at this point. Investing energy into a limping fandom while others openly stated they would “only come back when S2 starts because there’ll be more engagement” felt strange, and I freely admit it annoyed me at times. It’s just a way of thinking I don’t get—are we primarily fans, or are we primarily chasing clout?

And speaking of engagement:

I often see beautiful art and wonderful poetry that has under 10, or even 0, notes. And it breaks my heart a little that so many people don’t share/reblog anymore. Because every time I reblog someone’s underappreciated art, I see the notes of those posts go up because my blog is connected enough to kick off a chain of engagement, even if it’s not always earth-shattering. You can do that, too. But it won’t happen if you only like. Reblogging is not for social clout—I personally believe that’s a fundamental misunderstanding when it comes to fandom. I see it more as saying Thank You for a gift someone gave us, and to make sure that more people also receive that gift.

Because artists/writers give their gift to fandom. Making others happy and connecting over it is the whole point!

And I’d love to see fandom turning into more of a gifting culture again. These pockets exist, so I’m not saying it’s not a thing anymore. But I also see a growing culture in which people only consume and at best engage in a TikTok/Insta-type manner by giving a like that holds no real thought. I get not everyone is a creator. But if you’re not, your gift could be to share and engage more thoughtfully. It doesn’t have to be with everything—it already makes a difference if it’s only the stuff you’d like to see more of. That’s my fandom wish for 2025…

I’ll see you all on the other side—much love to you, and may only the best come your way 🖤

[sabraeal]

Minimum Distance, Chapter 2

[Read on AO3]

Obiyuki Trope Madness 2024, Championship: Undercover as Lovers

Feathers might settle on silk, but Obi’s heart is still taking flight, pounding in triple time as Doc takes her eyes off him, tipping back her chin to show off the spray of freckles beneath her jaw, right where the most delicate part of her skin stretches to cover her pulse. There’s a part of him that knows he should be worried about the man at the door, that he should already be composing a plan to get not only her but Ryuu out of this house, global lockdown or not, but—

But there’s another, louder part that sees an invitation. That got the fucking Save-the-Date from Doc anteing up that whole dance across the carpet and has some real opinions about just how well her skin would hold a mark. Who is really stumping for him to test some hypotheses about how freckles taste.

Telling it to shut up isn’t hard. Just another Tuesday here in paradise.

“Well…” Her neck stretches just a fit further, straining the limits of her voice, but she finally gets the door in her sight. Takes a minute one she’s got it to worry at her lip, leaving the barest, babiest dints behind, the kind he’d love to feel against his— “I guess I should go get that.”

Obi sits back on his knees, staring. She’s real confident for a girl who wanted to switch rooms one shower ago. “Doc, shouldn’t you— hngh?”

She wriggles, hips not just worming but also squirming right beneath him, and it’s doing something both wonderful and terrible to the wiring up and his brain. Real light show right where his lizard ancestors party down.

Doesn’t mean he was born her bodyguard yesterday though. Grandpa Gator might be personally projecting the world’s sexiest powerpoint presentation, but Obi’s already shifting, one of his thighs catching under hers, trapping it up between his knee and elbow. Gets her wrists for good measure too, both of them bound up in one hand, ignoring her surprised little whine when he pins them to the mattress.

That’s Bodyguarding 101 when it comes to Doc: can’t trust any of those little interested noises when he’s got his hands on her. Her interest in manhandling is purely academic; with only two geriatrics to keep an eye on her as a kid, anything more physical than a side hug registers as a novel experience. A real Only Child Problem.

Imagine that, being the only kid in the house. Absolutely buckwild.

“Wasn’t the whole point of swapping rooms so that you wouldn’t be getting any midnight rendezvous from that creep?” he growls, frustration itching just beneath his skin, deep enough he can’t scratch.

“Well, yes,” she allows, back flat against the mattress. She couldn’t be more thoroughly bed-bound if he tied her to it— which, god, he should really not be thinking about right now. Not when he’s got his knee between her legs and all that’s between him and skin is some skimpy teddy. It’s got the same sort of effect on him as a whole bottle of tequila: absolutely devastating for the parts of his brain involving high function, excellent for his circulatory health. “But there’s no problem now, if you’re here.”

There’s actually a bunch of problems— most of which start and end with his body’s sudden interest in showing off what sort of improvements this new three mile jog habit has made on his dick game— but there’s still the overhanging stuck in this dude’s smart house for the foreseeable future and we don’t know what his long game is. Short game, though, seems pretty fucking clear.

“Doc,” he hisses, leaning close enough everything but her eyes blurs, like that guy who painted haystacks for a living. “That doesn’t mean he won’t try to—”

“Um, hello?” There’s another knock, more insistent this time, and god, this guy might be some…pharmaceutical savant or whatever, but it doesn’t seem like anyone ever bothered to teach him how to read a damn room. “Are you there, or…?”

Doc’s mouth thins, her jaw getting that stubborn set it does when she’s about to haul off and jump out a window, but she doesn’t move. Doesn’t even squirm under him, just lays there, staring up at the ceiling, brow all furrowed and—

And that’s why he doesn’t even see the pillow coming. He barely has time to register she’s slipped a wrist free— right through the gap between his thumb and fingers, the minx— before a pound of down feathers takes him right out. He keeps his grip, fingers locked around the only wrist he’s got left, but all his air being replaced with eiderdown doesn’t do much for his stability— a fact Doc’s all too ready to exploit, using their momentum to put him right on his back.

Damn. Probably should have seen it coming. Taught her that one himself right after that whole clusterfuck with Umihebi, along with a few of the less brutal takedowns in his repertoire.

Instead he’s left breathless, trying to win a wrestling match with the pillow over his windpipe— a fight he could win, if she wasn’t clambering down him the whole time, rubbing bits of her over parts of him primed to pay attention. A solid toss knocks the thing back— right in time to catch a flash of strawberry-print cotton as she dismounts, scurrying toward the door.

It shouldn’t do anything. Not when he could write his own dissertation on the classification of every shade and shape of bush. But apparently his dick hasn’t gotten the memo on that one, stretching both his credulity and his waistband before he slams the pillow over his crotch, adding a new shade of blue to his vocabulary.

By the time he’s got any mind to stop her, Doc’s already peeking her head through the door, telling number twelve of the Forbes Fifty Under Fifty, “Excuse me…it’s really late?”

“O-oh, Shirayuki. Yes, of course. It is late. Very late. It’s just, you see…” From this angle he can’t see the guy’s face, just the nervous fluttering of his hands, like two drunk birds trying to fuck their way out of chimney. “I think there may be some…misunderstanding? Are you, er…?”

Alone, that’s what this asshole is trying to say. Because that’s how he wants her: vulnerable. How all these rich jackasses seem to think she should be. And here he is, trapped on this bed as thoroughly as if Doc were holding him down, debating whether she’s in enough trouble to saunter up and risk showing off just what sort of heat he’s packing.

He stifles a groan. This is how it’s always gonna be, isn’t it? Finding some new way to live his life on the edge, no matter how cushy the gig is; as strung out on her as anything that came in a little plastic baggy.

“Am I…?” Doc leans out the door, her weight shifted over her feet-- the perfect way to be snatched off them-- and that’s enough to get him off the bed.

Big Pharma’s prodigal son had seen fit to provide every room with one of those cushy bathrobes, even nicer than the ones he steals from every hotel where the Big Boss sets them up, each one monogrammed with their initials in the nicest, curliest cursive. Obi doesn’t know just how this guy decided which of his aliases to use, but he’s glad to have something on hand that might do a better job of obscuring what gray cotton won’t.

There’s not enough time for him to be strategic about it— he just strings it across his shoulders and knots the belt over his waist, hoping velvet is heavy enough for even his circulatory system to struggle against. By the glance Rugilia gives him when he leans behind Doc in the doorway, all casual menace, before his eyes drop straight to his crotch—

It isn’t. But that guy still looks away first, flushed right past the collar of his stupid robe, so at least his dick’s overactive imagination has gone and paid off for once. Oh boy, just wait until Kiki hears about this one. Princess would put that shit right in the company newsletter.

“Want to explain what you’re doing here?” Obi hardly needs to fake the gravel in his voice. Doc might not have ridden him hard or put him away wet or anything, but it’s the closest he’s come in almost three years. “Standing around Doc’s door at the witching hour?”

“B-but…” Obi’s got a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to these people with more zeroes in their bank account than brain cells in their head, but when Rugilia’s eyes widen, jaw going so slack he can see all the way back to his tonsils— well, he’s gotta say, it’s convincing. “But it’s supposed to be your room.”

Now it’s Doc’s turn to stare at him, and, well, that throws are few things about this night into perspective. Damn, too bad Master’s not still hanging around in the closet— he could use a reminder that Obi’s still a hot commodity. “So, you’re here for me?”

It’s flattering, even if this stick figure isn’t his type. Certainly the most aggressive come-on he’s had in a while. He might even think about it, if he wasn’t on the job. Sometimes a boy likes to be chased, after all.

“N-no, wait, that’s— that’s not what I meant.” Rugilia might be huffing and puffing now, glaring at the both of them like it’s their fault they found him caterwauling outside their door like a hard-up tom, but Obi doesn’t miss the way his eyes keep drifting south of his equator. “Oh, honestly, if you two want to— to! You could have just said you wanted a room together.”

Doc clears her throat, guilty. “We were, um…trying to, ah…be discreet?”

“Discreet? Whatever for?” He crosses his arms, flushed. “At least then I would have known to check the cameras before I came down to—”

“Cameras?” Obi asks, but it’s too late, Doc’s already barreling ahead with, “We haven’t told the company we’re dating!”

Rugilia blinks, eyebrows bumping blindly over his nose. “Do your departments really work closely enough that you have to?”

Doc’s looking at him, like he’s got his finger on the pulse of these fraternization regs for some reason, but he’s still stuck on— this guy really thinks he’s a lawyer. This guy looks at the scar cutting across his naked chest and the other riding high by his hairline and sees four year college. Sees another three years post-grad at least, internships, sees passing the goddamn bar—

“Anyway, I wasn’t coming here to be a…er…pest,” Rugilia continues, suddenly as confident in his bathrobe as he would be in a three-piece suit. “I had a favor to ask.”

Right, this guy came here for a reason. Even if it wasn’t to take advantage of the California King situation past this door, this guy is up to something. Something that involves Doc. “Listen, Doctor Lyon doesn’t—”

“Oh, ha! I didn’t mean Shirayuki!” Rugilia waves his hand, utterly disarming— until he fixes his stare on Obi. “I’m here for you, Mr Won.”

Well, he didn’t have that on his eccentric billionaire bingo card tonight. “Uh.” He steps back, making space. “Then come in, I guess.”

[butterscotch-goat]

The OC post

Last update: October 6, 2024

This is gonna be a long one, folks!

This post contains pretty much everything you'll need to know about my OCs. Character profiles, references, plot summaries and timelines.

I'm not the best at words, which is why I usually draw, but I hope this post is relatively comprehensible. I want to save the actual good stuff for the projects when they're finished, so most of the details will be described without much of the mood or tone (if that makes sense,, I don't know).

If anything changes about my OCs, I'll update this post, it just might take me a while to do so.

Friendly reminder that: I love fan art, I love headcanons, I love people kinning my OCs, all that good stuff! My asks are always open if you have questions.

Escapism

Escapism is my fantasy-horror project that I plan to make into a comic/graphic novel. It takes place in 1880s-1890s England.

Vibe-wise I want it to be like a mix between Camp Here And There and The Glass Scientists.

Warnings for; brief discussion of homophobia, medical malpractice, mentions of death via natural causes + suicide + public execution

See #buttersketch escapism for art, and #butterstalk escapism for text posts or rambles! You can also look at the characters on toyhouse to find specific characters easier and have a tad more info on side characters. It's more organized in general.

Some of the character descriptions might repeat parts of other descriptions. (Obviously) All their stories intertwine but I still want to have a relative idea of each character on their own if you were only looking at a specific one.

Summary

Escapism follows Aster Jones, a magician in an era in which any expression of magic is against the law. She stumbles upon two pseudo-scientist med-school dropouts who have dedicated their lives to secretly studying magic. She begins to live with the two, Beatrice Pho and Charles Taylor, and agrees to take part in their experiments and research, but they keep asking more and more of her. Charles is espescially zealous, while Beatrice is doing her best to keep Aster and Charles happy and relatively sane.

Main Characters

Aster David Jones - The Sacrifice

MTF, she/they • demiromantic demisexual lesbian • symbol: lamb

Aster's playlist - Aster & Beatrice's playlist - Aster & Charles' playlist - Manor Trio's playlist

Basics

Aster is very shy and prefers to stay quiet and reserved, only speaking when she finds it necessary. She's rather sheltered and doesn't trust easily, and though she's blunt and intimidating to some, once you get to know her she's a compassionate and gentle person who cares deeply about those close to her (unless your name is Charles Taylor).

She enjoys reading and writing, her journals often being her only solace. She used to be a tailor and still makes her own clothes.

She has botanokinesis, the ability to control plants. She doesn't know the specifics of how her magic works, and doesn't necessarily care to know; it feels natural to her to use it, whether that entails sprouting flowers, shooting vines up from the ground in subconscious self-defense, restoring a withered garden, etc. It seems to be somewhat tied to her emotional state.

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Backstory

Aster was forbidden from leaving the house as a child, her parents not wanting the town to find out that she's magic, and was therefore incredibly lonely. One day when she was fifteen she left the house while her parents were at work to explore the town. She was unable to contain herself and unknowingly caused flowers to sprout wherever she went, leading the townspeople to realize she was magic. They immediately tried to detain her, intending on getting her in jail or on the gallows. In the panic of it all, plants surrounding Aster went wild, one particularly prickly vine even dislodging her left eye, permanently replacing it with "magical residue," some sort of roots stuck in her eye socket. When Aster's mother Elizabeth emerged from the crowd, making her way home from work, Aster thought her mother was going to help her, but instead she told Aster not to come home and walked away. Aster had to fend for herself with the crowd, trying not to hurt anyone, refusing to use her magic to harm anyone in fear that it would make her the monster they were all convinced she was. She managed to get away and ran as fast as she could until the crowd stopped chasing her.

She made her way into the next town over, Amberfield, as inconspicuously as she could. She managed to sprout some leaves that she could transform to function as bandages to cover her left eye with and come up with the lie that she'd gotten an injury in an oven fire accident. She was found by Eleanor Robins, a local tailor, who took her in and gave her a job. Aster worked as a tailor's apprentice (and evenutally tailor) for four more years. She did her best to stay hidden, but was friendly to customers (for her own safety) and generally well-liked. Some time during that period she started wondering what she might look like wearing the dresses she was always making for other women. 

In 1889, Robins discovered Aster's magical nature, having walked in on her changing the bandages. Robins immediately went looking for the police after locking Aster inside her room. Aster, without any time to gather her belongings, escaped through a window and ran away into the woods.

After a month or so of wandering aimlessly, surviving only on what fruits and vegetables she had the energy to grow herself, she saw a light between the trees on a rainy night. She ran toward it and found a secluded manor, in excellent condition, if not maybe a little neglected. She approached the door without even thinking, forgetting about the flowers growing out of her skull, but she didn't care. She had found shelter. She knocked, and a young man in grieving clothes and a cheerful girl his age answered, ecstatic at the sight of a magician, happy to offer Aster a home. 

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Story

Throughout the plot, Aster is put through various grueling medical trials and experiments, Charles obsessed with finding the "cause" of magic, Beatrice being his accomplice despite Aster and Beatrice's relationship. Aster has to fight for her humanity while facing betrayal, emotional manipulation, guilt over her past actions, and her autonomy being ripped from her over and over again, whether that means being treated like a specimen or like an idol. But despite all that, she will continue to live. She will thrive, even if she has to wilt on the floor for a while. She makes sure of it.

Beatrice Pho - The Traitor

Intersex, female, she/her • bisexual lesbian • symbol: mourning dove (or birds in general)

Beatrice's playlist - Beatrice & Aster's playlist - Beatrice & Charles' playlist - Manor Trio playlist

Basics

Beatrice is charming, witty, and gregarious, but also very unsure of herself. She's a big people pleaser and has a savior complex, putting others before her even in the most unnecessary situations. 

She grew up without many friends, outcast for her behaviors and interests, until she and Charles met when they were both ten. They became instant best friends and have been close ever since.

She has undiagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, as she never wanted to make a big deal out of her pain (despite how unbearable it got). She wraps her hands and feet in bandages to help with the swelling and blood flow, and she used a crutch as a child before getting a sturdier cane as an adult.

She likes to stay busy and one of her favorite past times is cooking, despite being a bit of a picky eater. She also enjoys reading plays and poetry; her and Charlie would act out scenes and poems together as children. And despite her insecurities about her skill, she loves to sing, and often does so around the house while completing other tasks.

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Backstory

Beatrice was quite the trouble-maker as a teen, often sneaking out to see Charlie and take him to theaters or fairs, him always anxious about getting in trouble. 

The two both had a fondness for science, and while exploring the back rooms of a library she definitely wasn't supposed to be in, Beatrice came across an old, ridiculously illegal book on magic. The information was almost guaranteed to be outdated and inaccurate, but she thought it was interesting. She showed it to Charles after sneaking into his room at the dead of night, and while he protested at looking at illegal material, once he did he became absolutely enthralled. The two decided to become surgeons and use their knowledge to secretly study magic on the side. 

Beatrice and Charles went to the same university, but it was very far from home, it being the closest that would allow both men and women to attend. And even then, Beatrice cross-dressed once or twice to get into watching some live procedures (once again causing Charlie to worry about getting in trouble, but they never did). 

The two studied at school for two years until Charlie got a letter informing him that his mother had passed away from illness. Beatrice was devastated along with Charlie, as the Taylors had become a second family to her. The two got on a train back home as soon as they could, but when they arrived they found the house eerily empty. No groundskeepers, housekeepers, cooks, etc to be found. The two searched around the house for Charlie's father, only to find that he'd hung himself in his bedroom. Beatrice took Charles to his room (after he had promptly thrown up on the carpet) while she went out to find Winston, a groundskeeper and a trusted friend. He took care of most of the matters, wanting to spare Beatrice and Charles any more misery, but the two still had to organize and show up to the funeral.

 Charles dragged his feet the whole way, resentful towards his father and angry at the whole situation. He was usually good at putting up a respectable-young-gentleman face while at social events, but he didn't have it in him to do so during the funeral. Beatrice was doing her best to keep him happy, to encourage him, to give him time to breathe and mourn, but he refused. He insisted they moved to the secluded Taylor Manor to study magic in private, unable to wait until finished with medical school anymore. Wanting to support her best friend, of course, Beatrice agreed.

A few months into their new home, a stranger in blue, drenched in rain and mud, knocks at their door. To their delight, it's a magician. Beatrice and Charles offer the magician, Aster Jones, a home at the manor, ecstatic at a new potential friend and resource.

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Story

Beatrice is, first and foremost, Charles' best friend. She's been with him for everything and separating from him sounds completely implausible. Because of this, when Aster arrives and Charles gradually treats her worse and worse, Beatrice can rarely ever bring herself to interfere. Beatrice resorts to just comforting Aster, stitching up her wounds, replacing her bandages, etc. Beatrice genuinely does love Aster, and the two eventually forming a romantic relationship, but that doesn't stop Beatrice from betraying Aster's trust per Charles' request for an experiment. It completely destroys Beatrice to do so, but again, it doesn't stop her. She can't disappoint her best friend. She's the only one he has. After six or so months of Aster refusing to see her because of the betrayal (that period of time I have dubbed Aster's hermit arc) and Beatrice becoming somewhat of a test subject herself, she slowly, very slowly, starts lowering her support of Charles. She she still loves him, she still thinks he's a good person at heart, but over time she stops being as active as she once was in their research. Beatrice and Aster make up and become good friends again, eventually restoring their romantic relationship as well, as Beatrice does her best to break old habits.

Charles Simon Taylor

Male, he/him • grayromantic graysexual bi • symbol: bee

Charles' playlist - Charles & Beatrice's playlist - Charles & Aster's playlist - Manor Trio's playlist

Basics

Charles is a friendly and personable gentleman. To most. Charles is a bit eccentric and not the best at regulating his emotions, but he is a master at repression, so unless your name is Beatrice Pho, you might not know how ruthlessly driven and dedicated of a person Charles is. His greatest passion in life is human anatomy and physiology, or more specifically, magician anatomy and physiology.

Aside from his interest in science, Charles is also an incredibly gifted pianist, and dabbled in organ playing as a teenager. He refuses to play in front of anyone, save for his parents and maybe performing for guests when they could convince him to.

He grew up in a wealthy and loving family and though there were plenty of other kids his age around fairly often for social gatherings, he never felt himself truly connecting with anyone until he and Beatrice met when they were both ten and became instant best friends.

-----------------------------------

Backstory

Charles was a rather reserved child and in his free time would read for hours in his backyard, which is how he and Beatrice met; she had gotten lost while exploring some woodland and stumbled into Charles, and the two connected near-instantly over their shared interests.

The two both had a fondness for science, and one night Charles was awoken by Beatrice breaking into his room to show him a long-since outlawed book on "Faustian Anatomy" that she stole from the back rooms of a library. While at first Charles was horrified at the illegally-attained illegal book, after flipping through the pages his heart was set on the topic and he became obsessed with finding out as much as he could about magic. 

Charles and Beatrice went to the same university, but it was very far from home, it being the closest that would allow both men and women to attend. Charles would often overwork himself and Beatrice would have to make him go to bed. He would learn to appreciate it.

The two studied at school for two years until Charles got a letter informing him that his mother had passed away from illness. The two were devastated, Charles practically frozen at the spot where he first read the news. Beatrice packed up most of their things and the two got on a train back home as soon as they could. When they arrived they found the house eerily empty. No groundskeepers, housekeepers, cooks, etc. to be found. The two searched around the house for Charles' father, only to find that he'd hung himself in his bedroom. Beatrice took Charles to his room (after he had promptly thrown up on the carpet) while she went out to find Winston, a groundskeeper and a trusted friend. He took care of most of the matters, wanting to spare Charles and Beatrice but the two still had to organize and show up to the funeral.

 Charles did not want to attend the funeral and told Beatrice it was a waste of time. She got him to though, eventually. He didn't have it in him to put up his gentleman persona this time, though. He refused to talk to anyone unless necessary and clung to Beatrice the entire time, his hand never leaving hers. 

After the event was over, the two went back home. Beatrice laid down on a couch in the living room while Charles sat down at the piano. Beatrice was only a room away, so she could probably hear him, but this time, he didn't care. He played for hours, violently almost; the piano was practically out of tune once he was done.

When Beatrice heard the playing stop she approached Charles and asked what their next move would be. Charles had decided not to return to university, but instead to move to the secluded Taylor Manor so they could study magic privately; he didn't want to wait until they were done with med school anymore, now more aware that he had a time limit. Beatrice agreed and they set off for the manor. 

A few months into their new home, a stranger in blue, drenched in rain and mud, knocks at their door. To their delight, it's a magician. Beatrice and Charles offer the magician, Aster Jones, a home at the manor, ecstatic at a new potential friend and resource.

-----------------------------------

Story

Charles is obsessed with doing something of notoriety with his studies. His passion for science is genuine, his love for how the human body works and behaves is real, but ultimately all of his actions are done hoping that they'll amount to something that will ensure his name will be regarded highly after his own death. He pushes not only himself, but Aster and Beatrice to doing more experiments, more intense procedures, he's desperate to find out anything about magic and he keeps hitting dead ends. Over the course of the story this desperation drives him further and further down the drain and into madness. But he never stops. He never admits to himself that he might be doing something wrong, even if he knows deep down, he keeps it deep down. And he does until his last breath, which comes sooner than he'd so desperately wanted.

Grace Mary Williams - The Victim

female, she/her • bi-spec, a-spec • symbol: white-tailed deer

Grace's playlist - Grace & Martha's playlist - City Trio's playlist

Basics

Grace is a quiet but kind girl. She's a bit of a wallflower; people don't really know her, but everyone agrees that she's "nice". She has pretty intense mood swings and forces herself to repress her feelings until she's at home or in another relatively private place, leaving her sort of mellow otherwise. She's grateful for her friends, Martha and Eli, as she struggles to believe she's worth anyone's time.

Grace possesses healing magic; she doesn't know the specifics of it, but it seems to only be effective on other people, and the worse the injury the more it takes out of Grace to heal. She often gets a sort of euphoria from performing her magic, though.

-----------------------------------

Backstory

Grace's brother Georgie died at fourteen when Grace was only four, and her mother Aria has been inconsolable ever since. Grace's father Daryl is struggling trying to support his wife and child both emotionally and financially, Aria unable to work. This leaves Grace feeling inadequate no matter what she does, along with giving her a debilitating fear of death, intrusive thoughts about what lies beyond plaguing her near constantly. 

Grace sees a lot of herself in her mother and tries not to think about it.

Grace and Eli met when they were younger, maybe seven or so, and could connect over not fitting in with their peers, Eli being bullied (for various reasons) and Grace feeling sort of...stuck where she is. The two befriend Martha soon after, as she works at the same cannery Grace does, and was also alienated by the other kids. Martha can be a lot for Grace sometimes, but she can't help but admire Martha's compassion and pride. Slowly, Grace and Martha fall in love, Grace somehow more worried about it than Martha's hyper-religious self. Eli and Martha were always happy to distract Grace from whatever thought had pierced her mind at the time.

Despite Eli and Martha's good company, Grace can't help but feel lonely and unfulfilled. That changes when one day, Martha's finger get caught in a piece of machinery and mangled terribly. Grace pulls her outside to a hidden alleyway and heals it. Grace had only fully realized that she was magic recently (she was thirteen at the time) and Martha was in awe at Grace's gift. She was convinced that God had blessed Grace, and was beyond thankful. Martha encouraged Grace to heal the next person who got into a factory accident, still keeping it secret, of course. While Grace was wary, she did the next time someone got hurt, and the praise felt so fulfilling. Grace was loved. She did something worthwhile. 

So she continued. In secret, she would heal people. It spread beyond just the cannery, eventually complete strangers with ailments who had heard of "a little girl in a mourning shawl" that could fix them. Grace was happy to help, of course. People shared Martha's sentiment that Grace had been gifted by the Lord, and Grace started to listen. She was at an all-time high, helping people and receiving so much love and affection in return. 

Over time, more and more people started to approach Grace. Lines formed, and the crowds became larger, more difficult to hide in the alleyways and behind the factories. Martha saw this as a wonderful thing; all the people that Grace could save. Eli didn't speak up much, but he didn't seem happy. Grace, once again, felt stuck. It was becoming too much for her, but how could she deny these people the help they need? 

She became irritable and started to feel that mellowness take over again. She wasn't even sure if the person all the crowds was praising was even her. 

One day, she couldn't take it anymore and snapped, refusing to heal any more people for the day. One unknown person took offense to that and turned Grace into the police, Grace being arrested in her front yard the next day.

Daryl brought Grace her nicest dress to wear to the court hearing, hoping there was some sort of chance for Grace to make a good impression and be spared.

The trial and sentencing was quick; Grace would be hanged for her Faustian nature and action on Wednesday morning.

Grace was kept in a crowded cell with various other children, but she was the only one who was set to die. Eli and Martha would stack on top of each other to reach the small barred window and visit Grace the days before her execution. Martha knew she couldn't stomach to attend the execution, so she offered instead to play piano at the church across the way from the gallows; give Grace something nice to listen to, something to distract her. Grace accepted the offer, unsure whether it'd matter much. 

The morning of her execution, the other kids in the cell tried to protect Grace, but she was frozen and unable to fight back herself. She was detained, dragged outside, and led to the gallows. Eli was in the crowd watching the execution and tried to get Grace to focus on him, and told her to listen for the piano. As Grace mounted the steps, she managed to hear Martha's playing over the people. As the sack was put over her head she recognized the tune; "Amazing Grace". Of course Martha chose to play "Amazing Grace" for her. Grace laughed. It was stupid and ridiculous, but she laughed. She was happy for that last moment.

-----------------------------------

Story

Grace is already on the steps to the gallows when Aster (the POV character) first sees her, but she has a great impact on the rest of the story. When Charles gets Aster to steal Grace's corpse with him (for research purposes), Aster is as careful as she can be, making sure Charles is handling the body gently, wanting to protect Grace even then. Martha glorifies Grace after her death and because of that Aster feels connected to Grace and grows a disdain for Martha. It doesn't last long, as Martha learns the error of her ways, but Aster still feel like she owes Grace something, in some way. When Martha is able to return home Aster is the one to suggest she take a piece of Grace's dissected back, for some sort of remembrance. When they arrive in Martha's hometown, Aster gives Grace some daffodils at her empty grave.

Martha Virginia Burke - The Heretic

demigirl, she/her • lesbian • symbol: praying mantis

Martha's playlist - Martha & Grace's playlist - City Trio's playlist

Basics

Martha is extremely outgoing and loves talking to people. However, she struggles to make friends for a handful of reasons; she gets really loud sometimes, she's really into her "weird" interests, and she has an optimistic outlook on life, which people interpret as naivete, when in fact, she's incredibly responsible and rather mature. She's forgetful and scatter-brained, sure, but she takes care of her five younger brothers and is a hard worker both at home and at the cannery. But still, people can't see her as anything but a childish, bug-obsessed weirdo.

Despite missing an index finger, Martha enjoys playing piano, and often does for church services. All she knows how to play are hymns, but that's fine by her.

-----------------------------------

Backstory

Martha is the oldest child in a family of eight; two parents, six children. Both of Martha's parents worked, so Martha often had to help with her brothers, and she was happy to do so. It could overwhelm her easily, though, so the second-oldest (Archie) got used to helping around too.

Martha was raised in an extremely Christian household, and she has a good relationship with her faith that doesn't falter all that much, even though her interpretation of her religion doesn't always line up with her peers'. She never understood why her partner, Grace, was so worried about their relationship conflicting with the church. Martha couldn't imagine her God hating anyone for loving someone, especially someone as wonderful as Grace, and her mind wasn't budging on that fact. Of course, that didn't stop Martha from feeling awful about how people used her religion to justify hate, but it was more confusion than anything.

Martha has two friends (the other kids unwilling to even feign an acquaintance with her), Eli and Grace, and they're all extremely close, sharing everything with each other and spending every free minute they have exploring the city. 

When Grace revealed to Martha she was magic via healing Martha's mangled index, Martha told her that it was a blessing from God. She thought it was wondrous, and encouraged Grace to share her gift with the other kids in need. Martha helped to keep Grace's magic a secret and would always find secluded spots for Grace to heal people at. Martha was ecstatic to see Grace happy and fulfilled, it being a rare occurrence in Grace's life. Martha was so caught up in her admiration and love for Grace that she hardly saw a problem when the crowds of people wanting to be healed started growing bigger. It came as a complete shock to Martha when Grace blew up that fateful day and refused to heal any more people. Martha wanted so desperately to console her, to apologize for unwittingly pushing her to the brink, but Grace had fled from the scene before Martha had the chance.

A day later, Grace was arrested. Martha hardly got to see her before the whole ordeal went down, having to return to work with this unprocessed knowledge of Grace's detainment weighing on her mind.

Martha and Eli snuck out every night to visit Grace at the jail, checking up on her, getting updates. The night that Grace's death sentence had been announced, Martha could barely speak, but she offered to play the piano at the church across the way from the gallows to give Grace something to distract herself with as she walked towards her doom. Grace accepted.

The night before Grace's execution, Martha could only apologize. Over and over again, sobbing, apologizing for doing this to Grace. Grace didn't know how to respond.

When Eli and Martha were walking home after that night, Eli suddenly started shouting at Martha about how it was all her fault and how Grace would be dead by tomorrow because of her. Martha internalized it, she'd practically already admitted guilt herself, but that didn't stop her from breaking into tears again. She felt awful that Eli was the one comforting Martha once he felt bad for yelling. She didn't deserve his mercy.

The morning of Grace's death, Eli walked Martha to the church and told her to pick something good to play before walking off to attend the execution. Martha had already picked the song; "Amazing Grace". She knew it by heart, and hoped it might make Grace laugh.

Eli returned later that morning to tell Martha it was done. The two huddled on the floor of the empty church, unsure of what to do next.

That night, Martha couldn't sleep, of course. Her house was close to the church, and she could see the gallows out her window if she wanted to, but Eli made her promise she wouldn't look. He said Grace's body was being temporarily left up as an example. Martha obeyed his request until she heard something coming from where the gallows would be; poorly hushed arguing, the creaks of the wooden stairs. Martha, almost impulsively, looked to see who was there. She saw two silhouettes; a cloaked man and woman, stealing Grace's corpse. Without thinking, Martha dashed out the window and ran as fast as she could to the gallows to stop them. When Martha accidentally let it slip that she was close with Grace, the man grew excited and insisted Martha go with him, one Charles Taylor, and his companion Aster Jones, back to their manor so Martha could give them information on Grace. Martha was, strangely calmly and gently, blackmailed and threatened into agreeing.

-----------------------------------

Story

Martha first appears to Aster (the POV character) when she stops her and Charles at the gallows. When she's taken back to the manor, Martha glorifies Grace after her death and because of that Aster feels connected to Grace and grows a disdain for Martha. It doesn't last long, as Martha learns the error of her ways as she gets to know Aster and Beatrice. 

Martha immediately felt a connection to Beatrice upon first seeing her in the manor; she wore masculine clothes, she liked girls, she would talk a lot and was sort of scrambled like Martha was, but no one was upset at her for it. Aster intimidated Martha a bit, if not because she was part of her passive-kidnapping, but Aster manages to connect with Martha over time, the two sharing their experiences and traumas with each other.

 Beatrice homeschools Martha to the best of her ability, and Martha is ecstatic to finally be able to read about bugs and the Bible. She's not a fan of math, but everything else is very fun for her.

As part of an experiment, Charles (who at this point is rarely seen outside his study or the lab) dismembers Martha's other index as well as his own to compare how they each heal, as Martha's first lost index was healed with magic, Charles theorizing the magic may still have an influence on her and affect the healing process of the second lost index, and his own finger functions as a control sample.

While Martha is terrified of Charles, he seems to want her respect and thinks his "accomplishments" are impressive. He shares some traits with Martha, both of them even playing piano, but she's determined to not end up like him, which is another factor in her learning not to idolize Grace as Charles idolizes Aster.

Elijah "Eli" Abrams

male, they/he • aromantic gay • symbol: crow

Eli's playlist - City Trio's playlist

Basics

Eli is very snarky and confident in himself and has pride in his tough skin. He grew up on the streets, orphaned as a child, and has worked as a newsie all his life. As much as the other boys picking on him for his club foot or his lack of interest in the opposite sex, they're the closest thing he has to a family and is grateful for them. They all have each other's backs when it comes down to it, but again, that doesn't spare Eli from some vicious bullying.

Eli doesn't have the time or money for any real hobbies, but he is a natural-born performer, which makes him a great newsie. He likes sneaking into theaters and vaudeville shows when he can. 

-----------------------------------

Backstory

Eli doesn't remember much of his parents and doesn't care to all that much. He's got a steady enough living now.

Eli met Grace when they were both seven or so, and as they grew Eli felt like he had a responsibility to take her under his wing; god knows her parents weren't taking enough care of her. But, he still needed to keep up his snarky and uncaring front, so he avoided getting too clingy. The two befriended Martha later on and they all became extremely close.

Eli was the most worried about Grace when she started performing magic for people other than Eli and Martha. He knew more than anyone how quickly someone's life can be cut short; he can't count the amount of lifeless bodies he's walked past, and he's woken up to a dead newsie slumped next to him more than once. He just wants to keep him and his friends under the radar long enough to make it to adulthood. But when he saw how happy it made Grace to help people and to be loved in return- he couldn't take that away from her. So he stood by the sidelines as the crowds got bigger and more demanding. Martha noticed he was starting to keep his distance, but she didn't know what that meant, so she continued to encourage Grace to use her gift to help people.

When Grace finally broke and refused to heal any more people, Eli was shocked, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't relish it. He was excited that Grace was finally standing up for herself, but of course, that triumph didn't last long.

When Grace was arrested and sentenced to death for her magic, Eli was furious. The night before Grace's death Eli blew up at Martha, shouting at her that it was all her fault. Partially because she was the only person around, but a big part of him really did blame Martha. He knew it wasn't her intention. He knew she just wanted the world to see the beauty that she saw in Grace, but did her intention really matter? Grace was dead all the same. Eli didn't know. He hugged and consoled Martha when she started crying after his outburst. He walked her home and promised to walk her to church tomorrow morning before Grace's death.

-----------------------------------

Story

Eli is absent for most of the remaining plot, after Martha was taken away to the manor to be used as a resource for information on Grace. Eli didn't know that, though. All he knows now is that both of his only friends were gone. He mourns as much as he can without looking "weak." He visits Grace's family and gets to know them a little better. He tries to do so with Martha's family, but her mother doesn't like him very much, so the most he can do is greet Martha's brothers in the morning and offer to help tie their shoes or straighten their vests.

Eventually, when Martha does return however many months later, Eli is of course overjoyed and postpones any work he had for the day, instead celebrating with her and filling her in on what's happened, even introducing Aster to Martha and Grace's respective families. He and Martha talk a lot about what happened in the time they were separated, and he thinks Martha having her own dismembered finger in a jar is pretty rad. He visits Martha a lot more, whether her mother wants him there or not, and always greets the jar with Grace's heart on it resting in a hidden corner of Martha's room.

Side Characters

George "Georgie" Williams

Grace's dead older brother. He died when Grace was very young, so she doesn't remember much about him, but she thinks about him a lot.

Elizabeth & Clarence Jones

Aster's parents. Not the worst, but not the best. They keep their child hidden away at all costs.

Jeanette & Walter Pho

Beatrice's parents. Supportive and loving, if a bit ignorant. They are each other's best friend.

Morgan & Henry Taylor

Charles' parents. They are hopelessly in love with each other. Morgan was an intellectual and had a special love for astronomy. Her love for science rubbed off a bit on Charles. Henry is much more business-minded, keeping up finances to support his wife and child's endeavors. Morgan died of illness when Charles was 18, and Henry took his own life a few weeks later while Charles and Beatrice were still making their way back home.

Aria & Daryl Williams

Grace's parents. They can't seem to get past Georgie's death and often neglect Grace because of their grief. Neither of them get out much.

Ella & Samuel "Sam" Burke

Martha's parents. Ella is rather close-minded while Samuel is much more lighthearted and accepting. The two love each other very much, though they quarrel every now and again.

Winston

Winston was formerly a groundskeeper at the Taylor's house before Henry temporarily dismissed the entire staff after Morgan's death, and Charles permanently dismissing them so he may study in private. Winston is a gruff old man, but a hard worker and loves getting to know people. He would consider himself a friend of the Taylors and Phos.

Zachary

Zachary is a newsie in the same group as Eli. He has a nasty attitude and enjoys picking on others. He's incredibly insecure.

thanks for reading this far! i know it was a lot

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn

Dawn (working title) is my urban fantasy-thriller project that I plan to make into either a comic/graphic novel or game. It takes place in late 1950s America and follows Dawn and Frappe as Frappe drags Dawn along to various horrific misadventures.

Vibe-wise I want it to be like a mix between Good Omens and Malevolent.

This project has a LOT of work left to do, even more so than Escapism, so take the info with a grain of salt. I will update this post as details are changed/added.

See #buttersketch dawn for more art and sometimes writing, some may be outdated though!

Main Characters

Dawn Yoon

they/she/he│ agender│ aroace 

-----------------------------------

-works (too much) at a mall in Ohio with Chigs

-really into theater and film

-Is dragged into various misadventures likely involving violence and attempted and/or successful murder by Frappe

-Is terrified of Frappe

-Is also best friends with Frappe, unfortunately

-Everyone besides Chigs and Frappe wants them dead. Ron wants them alive for a little bit but mostly dead.

Chigs Miller

they/them│ intersex & non-binary

-----------------------------------

-works at a mall in Ohio with Dawn

-very kind and sweet, but also tough as nails should you push them

-they really REALLY care about their friends. and they will make everyone their friend. this is a threat

-sometimes hangs out at Dawn's place and tries on dresses they got super secretly for themself

Frappe

she/her│ ETM (entity to female)│ biromantic asexual

-----------------------------------

-very very uncanny to be around. she's pretty good at being human but the world doesn't quite make sense when you're around her

-she's confident and funny, pretty likeable if you can ignore the uncanniness

-really really likes her blue hair and fangs. gets mad at Dawn when they make her get rid of them to blend in

-HATES dresses and skirts. most masculine transfem in the world

-likes annoying Dawn. she annoys them a lot more than she realizes

-very infamous to the other entities. Ronnette looks up to her, Lucy doesn't want her ruining the entities' covers, she and Juno are divorce coded, and Gene is just. doin his job. and Frappe makes that difficult a lot

Ronnette Theodosia Mintz

she/they│genderfluid│lesbian

-----------------------------------

-gave herself a really intricate name because she thinks it sounds cool and impressive

-likes torturing humans but doesn't like it when they die. where's the fighting spirit!! come on!! she wants an inspirational tale to tell!!!!!

-probably a radio host of some sort. on the evil radio. or something

-thinks Frappe is soooo cool. until she started hanging out with humans. thinks Frappe is pretty lame for that

-bothers Gene a lot. but she likes being his friend (he does not consider her a friend)

-thinks Juno is stupid but likes Phillip

Gene

no pronoun preference│unlabelled│likes men

-----------------------------------

-he's just trying to do his job, man

-he is so tired and gets pissed off a lot, but is pretty good at Acting Pleasant as a human

-divorced. ex husband is Lucy. Lucy is not over it and makes it Gene's problem

-Ronnette will NOT LEAVE HIM ALONE EITHER. GIVE HIM A BREAK

-can and will kill you. probably wields a shotgun. he's like the butcher from malevolent but without the irishness and daddy issues and more depressed

Lucy

he/they│demi-boy│gay

-----------------------------------

-loserguy. pathetic. wet cat of a man. a weasel.

-used to be REALLY respected but no one takes him seriously anymore

-divorced as fuck. he is still pining. very bad.

-SO VERY DESPERATE for people to like him and respect him again. it's not going well

-thinks they're very good at blending in as human. he is not.

-has faint lines on his joints because reasons i am still working out the details of, but they're there and very important to me

-doesn't remember when or how he lost his shirt sleeve. he says he'll get a new shirt soon. it's been at least fifty years

Juno

she/he│bigender│aromantic sapphic

-----------------------------------

-she sucks. what else do you want me to say

-looks down on humans. to an insane degree.

-really really really likes bugs. her house (that she has for status/ego reasons) is covered in every inch with bugs whether you notice or not. has a lot of giant prehistoric bugs also

-Phillip is one of said giant prehistoric bugs, he is her favorite and the two are almost never apart

-smokes because she likes ruining the air for humans

-smokes because she found out that Dawn is sensitive to smells

-wants Dawn DEAD.

-HAS A TRANSATLANTIC ACCENT

-her and frappe are divorce coded. i haven't posted any of the art or concepts but just know.

Plot

nothing is set in stone enough to post at the moment! sorry!

That's about everything!

Thank you so very much for reading all the way to the end, it means the world to me. Reminder again I'm always happy to answer questions. Have a good day!

-bett

Updates

2024

September 14 - Edited Jeanette and Walter's profile, edited Martha's profile

August 17 - added playlists

August 16 - updated Escapism plot, updated all playlists, added to Frappe's profile

July 24 - update Dawn & Chigs' names; added their respective middle names

July 17 - updated Charles & Beatrice's playlist, updated Elijah's playlist, updated Grace's playlist, removed Ellis.

October 6 - edited text color

December 1 - edited Dawn info

December 22 - edited Aster & Beatrice info

December 29 - edited all Escapism info

December 29 - edited dawn images, edited Charles, Martha and Eli images, uploaded Georgie image

2025

January 3 - edited all dawn info

[decimadragonoid]

Here's some more Dragonball Z fanart featuring some of my favorite characters: Guldo, Chiaotzu, and Gohan. However, this art piece isn't exactly a happy one. You probably might get the hint as to why I say this already, but I'll give you some details.

As a lifelong fan of Dragonball, I was shocked to hear that the creator of the series, Akira Toriyama, had passed away roughly over a week ago. It was like reading news articles about how Toriyama-san was about to announce some new projects and spinoff works he was working on; then, suddenly, the next day, I found out that he was gone. According to official reports, Toriyama-san's cause of death was acute subdural hematoma.  Basically, this is a form of severe head injury in which bleeding fills up the brain area and causes brain tissue to compress. I will leave a hyperlink in case anyone wants to know more about it, but anyway, back to Toriyama...

When I was much younger, I would watch Dragonball and Dragonball Z on Cartoon Network's Toonami and Miguzi segments. Sometimes I would find myself hurrying back home or to my grandma's house from school and my afterschool program to catch the latest episode. I would watch Goku's adventures religiously and see what kind of friends, rivals, and enemies he'd make along the way. I was also a big fan of the Dragonball Z video games, including DBZ: Budokai, The Legacy of Goku, Dragonball FighterZ, Super Dragonball Heroes: World Mission, and DBZ: Kakarot. I would play DBZ: Budokai 3 non-stop with my cousin whenever I went to his house to play his PS2 with him. I still wish I had my PS2 so I could relive my DBZ gaming memories, but I still have Dragonball FighterZ, Super Dragonball Heroes, and DBZ: Kakarot. Matter of fact, I want to return to Dragonball FighterZ at some point since the online modes have been overhauled with rollback netcode. I also want to go back to DBZ: Kakarot at some point to finish playing the game and DLCs!

Fast-forward several years later, I remember not too long ago that during the COVID pandemic, I would binge-watch the original Dragonball series and a portion of the Dragonball Z series while exercising on a machine in the comfort of my home. It was my favorite pastime and a great way for me to lose weight while doing so. In fact, I plan on continuing to binge-watch the original Dragonball Z series with the Kikuchi musical score real soon.

I'm still very shocked and saddened by the fact that Toriyama-san is no longer with us, but as a Dragonball fan and appreciator of his works, I will always keep his stories close to my heart. Dragonball is a series that has given me a reason to never give up on life and everything that I do. It's something that helps me get pumped to exercise, become a better person, and never stop improving myself in the long run. So, to give Toriyama-san a proper sendoff, I'm going to refrain from trying to collect the Dragon Balls to bring him back to life, salute him for all his hard work and his efforts to make my childhood the best childhood I've ever had, and keep his memories and works alive!

Thank you so much for the memories, Toriyama-san. May you rest in peace.

========

Akira Toriyama:

April 5th, 1955-March 1st, 2024

========

Please leave your thoughts and critique in the comment section, as it really helps me think about and improve my style! Be sure to reblog this and spread this around to your fellow Dragonball fans too!

Also, feel free to share some of your fondest memories of Akira Toriyama's works, whether it be Dragonball Z or anything else that comes to mind. I'd love to hear your fondest memories!

========

Dragonball Z © Akira Toriyama

Fanart by DecimaDragonoid

[patriotsnet]

Do The Republicans Have The House

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/do-the-republicans-have-the-house/

Do The Republicans Have The House

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

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

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.

Many Republicans Mobilizing Against Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

The bipartisan group of senators who crafted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is preparing to take a victory lap as the Senate moves toward passing the bill in the coming days.

But a large number of Republicans are mobilizing against the bill that includes $1.2 trillion of spending and $550 billion in new spending on hard infrastructure projects, such as rail, ports, electric vehicle charging stations, and broadband.

Right after the group of bipartisan senators introduced the bills text on Sunday night, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee gave a long floor speech in opposition to the legislation, arguing that the Constitution does not give Congress to go out and spend money on anything that we deem appropriate and that the price tag is too high.

Shame on us for making poor and middle-class Americans poorer so that we can bring praise and adulation to ourselves and more money to a small handful of wealthy, well-connected interests in America, Lee said.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said that he would vote against the bill, sharing an article that called it an epic binge of green subsidies and more handouts for states and localities.

Several Republicans in the House are also stating their opposition to the bill.

No one should support something that will serve as a trojan horse for the Democrats reconciliation package, which the White House wants to use to pass massive amnesty, the RSC memo read.

Washington Examiner Videos

Is A Dream A Lie If It Dont Come True

Americas various disproportional representations are the result of winner-takes-all voting and a two-party system where party allegiance and geography have become surprisingly highly correlated. Places where people live close together vote Democratic, places where they live farther apart vote Republican . Under some electoral systems this would not matter very much. Under Americas it has come to matter a lot, in part because of an anti-party constitution.

Americas founders wanted power to be hard to concentrate, and for people who held some powers to be structurally at odds with those who held others. To this end they created a system in which distinct branches and levels of government provided checks and balances on each other. They hoped these arrangements would be sufficient to hobble any factions which sought to co-ordinate their actions across various levels and branches of government. The first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, both warned that a two-party system, in particular, would be anathema to the model of government they were trying to build.

Take the Senate. To make sure the largest states do not dominate the rest, the constitution provides equal representation for all the states, large and small alike. This builds in an over-representation for people in small or sparsely populated places.

Don’t Miss: How Many Republicans Caucused In Iowa

Key Points From This Article

Single-member districts, natural sorting, and gerrymandering are the origins of bias in the House of Representatives.

One form of bias consistently helps House Republicans, vindicating liberal concerns of a structural imbalance. Another form of bias reliably benefits the party that wins control of the House, disrupting claims of a Democratic disadvantage.

If Democrats keep their current 7.6% lead in the two-party Generic Ballot through November 2020, they will probably hold the House and win more than the proportionate 53.8% of House seats .

Redistricting Is The Next Step On A Path To One

The redistricting process kicked off this week in Washington. The Census Bureau released initial data from the 2020 census Monday afternoon, , which means that congressional district boundaries will soon be redrawn to account for changes in population.

These changes will probably tend to benefit the Republican Party, as conservative states will get more seats for instance, Texas will gain two seats, while New York, California, and Illinois will all lose one. Republicans are also certain to use the process to try to gerrymander themselves as many additional congressional seats as possible by leveraging their control of a majority of state legislatures. And that is just the opening tactic in a long-term strategy to abolish American democracy and set up one-party rule.

Today in Michigan, gerrymandering means Republicans enjoy a 3.4-point handicap in the state House and a 10.7-point handicap in the state Senate; in Pennsylvania, it’s a 3.1-point handicap in the House and a 5.9-point handicap in the Senate; and in Wisconsin, a 7.1-point handicap in the House and a 10.1-point handicap in the Senate.

It’s impossible to gerrymander the Senate, of course, but luckily for Republicans that chamber is inherently gerrymandered due to the large number of disproportionately white, low-population rural states that lean conservative. The swing seat in the Senate is biased something like 7 points to the right.

Also Check: What Do Democrats Believe Vs Republicans

Are Senators Chosen By Popular Vote

Beginning with the 1914 general election, all U.S. senators have been chosen by direct popular election. The Seventeenth Amendment also provided for the appointment of senators to fill vacancies. There have been many landmark contests, such as the election of Hiram Revels, the first African American senator, in 1870.

Ernst Promises To Make Washington Squeal After Senate Win

In Louisiana, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu was forced into a December runoff with Republican Bill Cassidy. In Georgia, Republican David Perdue cleared the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.

Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas beat independent Greg Orman, who had refused to say which party he would vote with. For a time, it appeared he alone might determine the Senate majority. It ultimately didnt matter.

Obama, with a new Congress to deal with, invited leaders of both parties and both chambers to the White House on Friday for a post-election meeting, a White House official told NBC News. The presidents approval rating has bounced around the low 40s all year 42 percent in the final reading before Election Day.

Almost across the board, Republicans sought to tie their Democratic opponents to the president throughout the campaign. And the president mostly stayed away from states with close races, knowing his presence could hinder vulnerable Democrats seeking to distance themselves from the leader of their party.

The Republican takeover of the Senate will force Obama to use his veto power more often he has wielded it only twice in six years and could complicate his efforts to make judicial appointments, including to the Supreme Court.

Incumbent republican Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania was ousted by Democrat Tom Wolf. In Texas, Republican Greg Abbott beat Democrat Wendy Davis, who gained national fame last year by filibustering an abortion bill.

Also Check: What Is The Number Of Republicans And Democrats In Congress

Republicans Control Both Houses Of Congress; Democrats The Presidency: So What Does The Future Hold

After the 2008 election, Republicans vowed to do everything to obstruct President Obama and keep anything he supported from passing. When they lost again in 2012, they doubled down on this philosophy. Unfortunately for the country, this strategy, coupled with falsehoods about Democratic programs and the Democrats cowardly showing in 2014, Republicans now control both the House and the Senate.

The question facing Republicans now is what to do with this power. If they continue their obstruction and do nothing, they will not be able to shift the blame to Obama and the Democrats. If they yield to their conservative base, Obama will veto whatever they propose and two more years will pass with nothing being accomplished. If they work with Obama, their conservative base will rebel causing internal turmoil and damage to their brand going into the 2016 election.

On the other hand, the Democrats have to prove to their once loyal base, that they still stand for middle class values, job creation and strong financial reform. Their quietness in 2014 and lack of support for their president was a huge tactical error. As Obama angers the Republicans by passing immigration reform, opening diplomatic relations with Cuba and maybe vetoing the Keystone Pipeline, the Republicans have to prove they have workable ideas that will create jobs, improve the economy for everyone and that they can govern and get things done.

Explaining The Seat Bonus Bias

Republicans maintain control of the House and the Senate

To explain the seat bonus, we need to know what dynamics boost a partys share of House seats relative to its share of the national popular vote. Such explanations revolve around overperformance in swing seats. This is because small improvements in close races could push a party over the top to win these districts while barely registering in the national popular vote. Imagine that Democrats got a 3% boost in their 10 closest losses of 2018. They would have won each of those districts, increasing their House representation by 2% while boosting their national popular vote total less than 0.1% : a seat bonus of 2.9%. So, what could cause this kind of overperformance in swing seats?

One lies in the sheer number of swing seats, defined here as those won by either party by less than 10%. This range from +10% Democratic to +10% Republican covers a scope of 20%. There were 88 such districts in 2018. Election margins on the whole can range from 100% Democratic to 100% Republican, a scope of 200%. Our definition of swing seats accounts for 10% of all possible results. The 88 swing seats of 2018, though, make up 20% of all 435 House seats. This overrepresentation of competitive districts means that a small increase of a partys national popular vote could flip a disproportionate number of close races.

Each of these factors the incumbency advantage, the overrepresentation of swing seats and elasticity and more contribute to the Seat Bonus Bias.

Recommended Reading: How Many Republicans In Congress Support Trump

Four Flips For Democrats One For Republicans

Going into the election, the Democrats held 47 seats in the U.S. Senate while the Republicans held 53.

The Democrats have succeeded in flipping four seats: in Colorado, where former Governor John Hickenlooper easily ousted incumbent Cory Gardner, in Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly defeated incumbent Martha McSally, and in Georgia, where Raphael Warnock defeated incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent David Perdue.

The Republicans have wrested back one previously Democratic seat in Alabama, where one-term incumbent Doug Jones was emphatically denied a second term by Tommy Tuberville, a former college head football coach, most recently at the University of Cincinnati.

Outgoing freshman Sens. Jones and Gardner were both considered vulnerable, as each was elected with less than 50% of the vote in 2018.

Republican Thom Tilliss victory over Cal Cunningham in North Carolinaby less than 2 percentage points according to the North Carolina Secretary of States latest tallyis one of several close Senate races that were not called until after election night. In addition to the seats from Georgia, close races also include the victories of incumbent senators Gary Peters and Susan Collins , which were not called until Nov. 4.

Republicans Win Fewer Votes But More Seats Than Democrats

Republicans controlled the post2010 redistricting process in the four states, and drew new lines that helped the GOP win the bulk of the House delegation in each. Republicans captured 13 of 18 seats in Pennsylvania, 12 of 16 in Ohio, nine of 14 in Michigan, and five of eight in Wisconsin. Added together, that was 39 seats for the Republicans and 17 seats for the Democrats in the four proObama states.

The key to GOP congressional success was to cluster the Democratic vote into a handful of districts, while spreading out the Republican vote elsewhere. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republicans won nine of their 13 House seats with less than 60% of the vote, while Democrats carried three of their five with more than 75%.

One of the latter was the Philadelphiabased 2nd District, where 356,386 votes for Congress were tallied. Not only was it the highest number of ballots cast in any district in the state, but Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah won 318,176 of the votes. It was the largest number received by any House candidate in the country in 2012, Democrat or Republican. If some of these Democratic votes had been unclustered and distributed to other districts nearby, the party might have won a couple more seats in the Philadelphia area alone.

The Closest House Races of 2012

NARROW DEMOCRATIC WINNERS

Recommended Reading: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

Democrats Got Millions More Votes So How Did Republicans Win The Senate

Senate electoral process means although Democrats received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, that does not translate to more seats

Follow live updates on US politics

The 2018 midterm elections brought significant gains for Democrats, who retook the House of Representatives and snatched several governorships from the grip of Republicans.

But some were left questioning why Democrats suffered a series of setbacks that prevented the party from picking up even more seats and, perhaps most consequentially, left the US Senate in Republican hands.

Among the most eye-catching was a statistic showing Democrats led Republicans by more than 12 million votes in Senate races, and yet still suffered losses on the night and failed to win a majority of seats in the chamber.

Constitutional experts said the discrepancy between votes cast and seats won was the result of misplaced ire that ignored the Senate electoral process.

Because each state gets two senators, irrespective of population, states such as Wyoming have as many seats as California, despite the latter having more than 60 times the population. The smaller states also tend to be the more rural, and rural areas traditionally favor Republicans.

This year, because Democrats were defending more seats, including California, they received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, but that does not translate to more seats.

The rise of minority rule in America is now unmistakable

The Fossil Fuel Industrys Funding Of Denial

CAPs analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics shows that these 139 climate science deniers have accepted more than $61 million in lifetime direct contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industries, which comes out to an average of $442,293 per elected official of Congress that denies climate change. This figure includes all contributions above the Federal Election Commissions mandated reporting threshold of $200 from management, employees, and political action committees in the fossil fuel industries. Not included in this data are the many other avenues available to fossil fuel interests to influence campaigns and elected officials. For example, oil, gas, and coal companies spent heavily during the 2020 election cycle to keep the Senate under the control of former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a known climate denierwith major oil companies like Valero, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips contributing more than $1 million each to the conservative Senate Leadership Fund.

This analysis only shows direct, publicly disclosed contributions to federal candidates. The fossil fuel industry regularly spends millions of dollars of dark money advertising to the public; shaping corporate decisions; lobbying members of Congress; and otherwise funding the infrastructure that makes climate denial politically feasible and even profitable.

Read Also: How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach Trump In The House

Also Check: How Many Republicans Are Against Trump

What The Midterms Mean For President Obama And 2016

Only one in three voters in exit polls said the country was on the right track, and one in five said the government in Washington could never be trusted to do whats right. Two-thirds said the economic system is unfair.

The Republican swing fit a historical pattern: The last three two-term presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all served their last two years with the opposing party controlling both houses of Congress.

And the party controlling the White House has lost seats in the House in the midterm election every time but twice since World War II.

In the Senate, Democrat Mark Pryor of Arkansas was ousted by Rep. Tom Cotton, and Mark Udall of Colorado was bounced by Rep. Cory Gardner. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan lost her seat to Thom Tillis.

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire held off a furious challenge by ex-Sen. Scott Brown.

Republicans Joni Ernst in Iowa, Steve Daines in Montana, Mike Rounds in South Dakota and Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia all captured seats held by retiring Democrats.

[preciousmetals0]

Sometimes, It’s Lupus; Sage’s Depressing Results

Sometimes, It’s Lupus; Sage’s Depressing Results:

The Right Prescription for Massive Returns

Today, dear readers, we’re going to cover a topic I just know you all love and adore: biotechnology.

I can hear the groans already … and I get it. All those big scary words that have no real meaning to you at all. It’s like they’re talking about some surreal, otherworldly threat that will never — ever — impact you. So, why would you invest in them?

And that’s really the crux of the problem when it comes to investing in biotech stocks. You invest in what you know and can understand. It’s one of the axioms of investing, after all.

But, let’s be honest … does anyone outside of the industry really know what 7-nanometer microchips are? Or what it means to be able to achieve real-time HD ray-tracing graphics? I’m betting the answer is no, and yet we still invest in Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD) and Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA).

Getting back to the point, I’m bringing up biotech stocks today because the sector is on a tear. For instance, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSE: XBI) is up more than 22% in the past month. By comparison, the S&P 500 Index is up a mere 7.7%.

There are two reasons for this sudden outperformance in biotech stocks:

Increased merger and buyout activity.

A flood of clinical trial data.

We talked about buyouts on Tuesday when Astellas Pharma Inc. (OTC: ALPMY) bought Audentes Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BOLD) for a whopping $60 per share in cash. It was just the latest blockbuster biotech deal in a long string of buyouts from Big Pharma looking to get into gene therapy and cutting-edge biotech treatments.

Clinical trials are building to a head this week. We have trial data on everything from lupus (sometimes, it is lupus) and depression to Alzheimer’s and heart disease. We’re covering some of that trial data today — and the winners and losers that came out of it a bit later.

So, keep reading.

The Takeaway:

If you’re not convinced yet that you should consider investing in biotech stocks, there’s a couple of other really good reasons to seriously consider the sector.

The first is health care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projects that the U.S. will spend nearly $6 trillion on health care costs by 2027. Of that $6 trillion market, biotech spending is expected to grow to more than $775 billion by 2024.

This is a massive market.

Bigger than semiconductors.

Bigger than the cloud.

Bigger than pretty much every popular technology investment you’ve ever been pitched. (So absolutely huge. Gosh, we’re all really impressed down here, I can tell you.)

Keeping with our tech comparison, you don���t need a few extra million pixels on your iPhone display. Is it nice and pretty to look at? Sure. Does it make you go “Ooooh!” and “Aaaaah!” when you look at Great Stuff memes on your phone? Definitely.

But you don’t need it.

However, people truly need biotech solutions. Some diseases don’t respond to current drug treatments. That’s where things like gene therapy come in: specially tailored solutions to very specific health problems. And these problems affect millions and millions of people around the world.

That’s why this is a multitrillion-dollar market. And that should be more than enough incentive for you to start your journey into biotech investing today.

Now, you didn’t think I was just going to leave it at that and throw you to the biotech wolves, did you?

You need a guide. Someone who can help you cut through all the medical jargon and weird drug names. Someone who can identify a real opportunity before the Big Pharma guys move in and start buying everything up.

That someone is Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine.

Jeff has all the details on a $450 million biotech company that’s set to soar. And if you act quickly, you can get in on the ground floor … before the Big Pharma firms take notice.

Start your journey into the world of biotech on the right foot.

Click here now for all the details!

The Good: Sometimes, It Is Lupus

Dr. House might have taken issue with today’s shining star in the biotech sector. (Man, I miss House.)

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: AUPH) released phase-3 trial results for its experimental lupus medication. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes your body’s defense system to attack its own tissues. (It’s the ultimate “stop hitting yourself” disease.)

The results were very good, with Aurinia’s voclosporin returning statistically significant results in treating lupus. (Breathe. Those were some potentially scary words, but it’s all good. Just think of things like this as anti-virus software for the human body. There. All better, right?)

Aurinia believes that if this treatment gets regulatory approval, its patents will be extended in the U.S., Europe and other key markets through 2027. In other words, Aurinia could get protection from generic versions for quite some time. And that means more revenue.

AUPH shares are up more than 100% today.

The Bad: Depressing Results

One of the problems with investing in biotech and pharmaceutical companies is the volatility that surrounds clinical trial data. Not every pipeline drug or treatment pans out, and there’s no way to confirm which will work without rigorous testing.

Sage Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SAGE) is a prime example. The biotech’s experimental depression treatment, SAGE-217, missed its key goal in a phase-3 study. In short, the medication did not perform better at treating major depressive disorder than a placebo.

According to Sage, however, SAGE-217 did reduce depression in patients after three, eight and 12 days. The company also noted that about 9% of the trial patients might not have taken the drug.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for SAGE-217. The company still believes in the drug, but it’s going to have some work to do in order to get back to phase-3 testing.

SAGE shares fell more than 60% following the data.

Here we have a prime example of why investors are skittish when it comes to investing in biotech. This is also an excellent example of why you need someone like Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine to help guide you.

If you didn’t click the link above to find out more on Jeff’s biotech research, here it is again.

The Ugly: Cut Slack Some Slack

OK, you’re probably burned out on biotech by now. So, here’s some more comfortable tech news for you.

Business tech firm Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue after the close last night. The company swung from a loss of $0.30 per share a year ago to a loss of just $0.02 in the third quarter. Analysts expected a loss of $0.08 per share.

Revenue topped expectations by more than $12 million.

Slack also put fourth-quarter guidance in line with expectations and boosted full-year results well above the consensus estimate.

Things are clearly looking good for Slack, but the stock is down more than 3% following the report.

In this case, Slack is a victim of this year’s overhyped initial public offering (IPO) market. You know, the one that WeWork broke? It also doesn’t help that other big-name IPOs, like Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER), continue to post billions in losses.

So, when investors see losses like Slack’s, their knee-jerk reaction is now to sell. In Slack’s case, however, the company shows solid growth for a recent IPO — more in line with traditional growth of newly public companies. As such, investors might want to cut Slack a little slack as it continues to ramp up.

You know the drill.

You write in, and I respond. You Marco, I Polo.

It’s Reader Feedback time!

On Tuesday, I posed several questions to get you guys started, and I must say that your collective takes on Peloton Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: PTON) were a hoot! (Hoot? Just how old is this guy?!)

Great Stuff reader Dan G. had my sides hurting after this reply:

I was watching TV with my 17- and 15-year-old granddaughters. A Peloton ad came on, and I offered a life lesson about gift-giving to a spouse. “Giving fitness equipment as a gift is equal to saying, ‘Honey, you’ve got a fat ass.’” The girls about blew a gasket laughing. Competitors offer similar equipment and services for half the money. Not a workable long-term business plan, no matter how pretty the model and how fancy the workout room. 

Tim P. had this to say about Peloton:

No Peloton for my wife! Worst idea ever! I use the YMCA. Very handy and great value.

You know, not many people think about the YMCA. It’s not only fun to stay there — they also have everything for you to enjoy.

Moving on from Peloton, Jim L. shared his thoughts on the Great Stuff Trade War Cycle chart:

The tariff cycle you have reduced to a pictograph is painful but enriching. Long, then short, then long, then short, and on and on.

My take is that Trump learned last night or today that the U.S.’s veto-proof Hong Kong support and the inevitability of impeachment have together motivated the Chinese to stop answering calls and emails. He knows they’ve left the table and won’t be back. His war is unwinnable for him. He’ll be gone one way or the other before it resolves. In the meantime, he’s picking on smaller victims in South America and Europe. No? Prove me wrong. 

Carry on, please, your letter is enlightening and light every day. I love it.

It certainly doesn’t look good right at the moment, does it, Jim? As for proving you wrong … let’s throw this out to the Great Stuff comments section.

What do you all think about the current U.S.-China trade situation?

Click here to join the conversation!

Finally, we have David C. with a little praise for Great Stuff:

I don’t have a rant … today … but I always look forward to Joseph’s illustrious, illuminating and lighthearted take on the day’s investor-oriented news.

Thank you, David! I’m glad my illustrious, lighthearted take can illuminate your day.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[goldira01]

The Right Prescription for Massive Returns

Today, dear readers, we’re going to cover a topic I just know you all love and adore: biotechnology.

I can hear the groans already … and I get it. All those big scary words that have no real meaning to you at all. It’s like they’re talking about some surreal, otherworldly threat that will never — ever — impact you. So, why would you invest in them?

And that’s really the crux of the problem when it comes to investing in biotech stocks. You invest in what you know and can understand. It’s one of the axioms of investing, after all.

But, let’s be honest … does anyone outside of the industry really know what 7-nanometer microchips are? Or what it means to be able to achieve real-time HD ray-tracing graphics? I’m betting the answer is no, and yet we still invest in Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: AMD) and Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA).

Getting back to the point, I’m bringing up biotech stocks today because the sector is on a tear. For instance, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSE: XBI) is up more than 22% in the past month. By comparison, the S&P 500 Index is up a mere 7.7%.

There are two reasons for this sudden outperformance in biotech stocks:

Increased merger and buyout activity.

A flood of clinical trial data.

We talked about buyouts on Tuesday when Astellas Pharma Inc. (OTC: ALPMY) bought Audentes Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BOLD) for a whopping $60 per share in cash. It was just the latest blockbuster biotech deal in a long string of buyouts from Big Pharma looking to get into gene therapy and cutting-edge biotech treatments.

Clinical trials are building to a head this week. We have trial data on everything from lupus (sometimes, it is lupus) and depression to Alzheimer’s and heart disease. We’re covering some of that trial data today — and the winners and losers that came out of it a bit later.

So, keep reading.

The Takeaway:

If you’re not convinced yet that you should consider investing in biotech stocks, there’s a couple of other really good reasons to seriously consider the sector.

The first is health care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projects that the U.S. will spend nearly $6 trillion on health care costs by 2027. Of that $6 trillion market, biotech spending is expected to grow to more than $775 billion by 2024.

This is a massive market.

Bigger than semiconductors.

Bigger than the cloud.

Bigger than pretty much every popular technology investment you’ve ever been pitched. (So absolutely huge. Gosh, we’re all really impressed down here, I can tell you.)

Keeping with our tech comparison, you don’t need a few extra million pixels on your iPhone display. Is it nice and pretty to look at? Sure. Does it make you go “Ooooh!” and “Aaaaah!” when you look at Great Stuff memes on your phone? Definitely.

But you don’t need it.

However, people truly need biotech solutions. Some diseases don’t respond to current drug treatments. That’s where things like gene therapy come in: specially tailored solutions to very specific health problems. And these problems affect millions and millions of people around the world.

That’s why this is a multitrillion-dollar market. And that should be more than enough incentive for you to start your journey into biotech investing today.

Now, you didn’t think I was just going to leave it at that and throw you to the biotech wolves, did you?

You need a guide. Someone who can help you cut through all the medical jargon and weird drug names. Someone who can identify a real opportunity before the Big Pharma guys move in and start buying everything up.

That someone is Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine.

Jeff has all the details on a $450 million biotech company that’s set to soar. And if you act quickly, you can get in on the ground floor … before the Big Pharma firms take notice.

Start your journey into the world of biotech on the right foot.

Click here now for all the details!

The Good: Sometimes, It Is Lupus

Dr. House might have taken issue with today’s shining star in the biotech sector. (Man, I miss House.)

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: AUPH) released phase-3 trial results for its experimental lupus medication. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes your body’s defense system to attack its own tissues. (It’s the ultimate “stop hitting yourself” disease.)

The results were very good, with Aurinia’s voclosporin returning statistically significant results in treating lupus. (Breathe. Those were some potentially scary words, but it’s all good. Just think of things like this as anti-virus software for the human body. There. All better, right?)

Aurinia believes that if this treatment gets regulatory approval, its patents will be extended in the U.S., Europe and other key markets through 2027. In other words, Aurinia could get protection from generic versions for quite some time. And that means more revenue.

AUPH shares are up more than 100% today.

The Bad: Depressing Results

One of the problems with investing in biotech and pharmaceutical companies is the volatility that surrounds clinical trial data. Not every pipeline drug or treatment pans out, and there’s no way to confirm which will work without rigorous testing.

Sage Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: SAGE) is a prime example. The biotech’s experimental depression treatment, SAGE-217, missed its key goal in a phase-3 study. In short, the medication did not perform better at treating major depressive disorder than a placebo.

According to Sage, however, SAGE-217 did reduce depression in patients after three, eight and 12 days. The company also noted that about 9% of the trial patients might not have taken the drug.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for SAGE-217. The company still believes in the drug, but it’s going to have some work to do in order to get back to phase-3 testing.

SAGE shares fell more than 60% following the data.

Here we have a prime example of why investors are skittish when it comes to investing in biotech. This is also an excellent example of why you need someone like Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine to help guide you.

If you didn’t click the link above to find out more on Jeff’s biotech research, here it is again.

The Ugly: Cut Slack Some Slack

OK, you’re probably burned out on biotech by now. So, here’s some more comfortable tech news for you.

Business tech firm Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue after the close last night. The company swung from a loss of $0.30 per share a year ago to a loss of just $0.02 in the third quarter. Analysts expected a loss of $0.08 per share.

Revenue topped expectations by more than $12 million.

Slack also put fourth-quarter guidance in line with expectations and boosted full-year results well above the consensus estimate.

Things are clearly looking good for Slack, but the stock is down more than 3% following the report.

In this case, Slack is a victim of this year’s overhyped initial public offering (IPO) market. You know, the one that WeWork broke? It also doesn’t help that other big-name IPOs, like Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER), continue to post billions in losses.

So, when investors see losses like Slack’s, their knee-jerk reaction is now to sell. In Slack’s case, however, the company shows solid growth for a recent IPO — more in line with traditional growth of newly public companies. As such, investors might want to cut Slack a little slack as it continues to ramp up.

You know the drill.

You write in, and I respond. You Marco, I Polo.

It’s Reader Feedback time!

On Tuesday, I posed several questions to get you guys started, and I must say that your collective takes on Peloton Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: PTON) were a hoot! (Hoot? Just how old is this guy?!)

Great Stuff reader Dan G. had my sides hurting after this reply:

I was watching TV with my 17- and 15-year-old granddaughters. A Peloton ad came on, and I offered a life lesson about gift-giving to a spouse. “Giving fitness equipment as a gift is equal to saying, ‘Honey, you’ve got a fat ass.’” The girls about blew a gasket laughing. Competitors offer similar equipment and services for half the money. Not a workable long-term business plan, no matter how pretty the model and how fancy the workout room. 

Tim P. had this to say about Peloton:

No Peloton for my wife! Worst idea ever! I use the YMCA. Very handy and great value.

You know, not many people think about the YMCA. It’s not only fun to stay there — they also have everything for you to enjoy.

Moving on from Peloton, Jim L. shared his thoughts on the Great Stuff Trade War Cycle chart:

The tariff cycle you have reduced to a pictograph is painful but enriching. Long, then short, then long, then short, and on and on.

My take is that Trump learned last night or today that the U.S.’s veto-proof Hong Kong support and the inevitability of impeachment have together motivated the Chinese to stop answering calls and emails. He knows they’ve left the table and won’t be back. His war is unwinnable for him. He’ll be gone one way or the other before it resolves. In the meantime, he’s picking on smaller victims in South America and Europe. No? Prove me wrong. 

Carry on, please, your letter is enlightening and light every day. I love it.

It certainly doesn’t look good right at the moment, does it, Jim? As for proving you wrong … let’s throw this out to the Great Stuff comments section.

What do you all think about the current U.S.-China trade situation?

Click here to join the conversation!

Finally, we have David C. with a little praise for Great Stuff:

I don’t have a rant … today … but I always look forward to Joseph’s illustrious, illuminating and lighthearted take on the day’s investor-oriented news.

Thank you, David! I’m glad my illustrious, lighthearted take can illuminate your day.

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing

[patriotsnet]

What Republicans Are Running For President

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-republicans-are-running-for-president/

What Republicans Are Running For President

How Mitt Romney Could Wind Up Running The United States 6 Years After Losing The Presidential Election

If, as expected, Mitt Romney wins his race for a Senate seat from Utah he may become the most powerful man in the United States Senate. As many of us remember, Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, ran for president in 2012 and lost to Barack Obama. It wasn’t one of those totally humiliating losses—the map did not turn blue—but we assumed Mitt Romney would fade into history.

Well, maybe not.

Here’s how. Just a few months ago, conventional wisdom was that while the Democrats had a good chance of taking control of the House of Representatives, the Senate was out of reach. In 2018 there will be at least 35 Senate seats up—of which 26 are held by Democrats. Democrats need a net gain of 2 seats to take control of the Senate. In an ordinary year this would be tough for two reasons. One is that incumbents usually win, and secondly, 10 of those Democratic senators represent states that went for Trump in 2016—so a somewhat popular president might be able to use his clout to win a Senate seat back from the Democrats. But this is no ordinary year as poll after poll and special election after special election indicate a “blue wave” for Democrats.

EKamarckrecent pollspolling aheadpolling close

Us Election 2024: Who Are The Likely Republican Candidates To Run For President Against Joe Biden

Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump and Ted Cruz are among the rumoured candidates to become Donald Trump’s successor

The 2020 presidential race has only just finished, but the Republican candidates for 2024 are already preparing themselves for their shot at the White House.

We take a look at who may be looking to get themselves in to the race.

Nj Primary Elections 2020: The Five Republicans Who Want To Take Over As Us Senator

Colleen O’Dea, Senior Writer and Projects EditorNJ Decides 2020Politics

Five Republicans are vying for the chance to try to do something no one else has been able to do in almost a half-century: Convince New Jersey voters to elect a Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate, where Democrat Cory Booker now sits.

It has been 48 years since New Jersey voters have sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly a million. In 2018, Republican and former pharmaceuticals executive Bob Hugin spent more than $39 million, including $36 million of his own money, and lost by 11 percentage points to incumbent Bob Menendez, who had been considered vulnerable after his trial on political corruption charges ended in a hung jury.

“Statewide races are the toughest ones of all for a GOP outnumbered by a million more registered Democrats in the state,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “But even before party registrations were so lopsided, Republican Senate candidates have fared more poorly here than almost anywhere else in the nation.” Since New Jersey last sent a Republican to the Senate in 1972, “the GOP has lost a staggering 15 Senate races in a row,” he said.

Thoughts On New Poll: Most Republicans Want Trump To Run For President In 2024

John Fletcher Jrsays:

May 29, 2021 at 11:48 am

There may not be an American Presidential Office to run for when Joe Biden is done. I still believe Joe Biden is a Counterfeit President. One thing is certain, Barack Hussein Obama is happy that Joe Biden now reigns as worst American President. America get yourself ready for HYPERINFLATION, it’s coming.

May 29, 2021 at 3:43 pm

I have hats of Trump that read ” make America Great Again”, Trump 2020?,and “KEEP AMERICA GREAT”,I also have flags of him ” TRUMP ON THE TANK”, “TRUMP 2020, NO MORE BULLSHIT”. and I just got a new one,“TRUMP 2024” and then I have a MASK that reads, “TRUMP 2024 and has 2 AMERICAN FLAGS .So I really hope he runs, otherwise all of this means nothing ! TRUMP 2024 and TRUE FIGHTING REPUBLICANSIN 2022 !! NO RINOS NEEDED ! STAND UP OR SHUT UP !

May 29, 2021 at 5:19 pm

IT is more than if he runs or not. YOU are sending a message that you stand for freedoms and still support that hard work he did while still in office. Trump stands for AMERICA FIRST and that is also part of your message to the leftists.You are sending a great message no matter what he decides….You know as well as I do that he is all about what is best for the AMERICA and All Americans….SO IF he supports someone else to run then we know that person is worthy of what we all need as AMERICANS.Don;t loose hope and wear your attire with pride knowing there are many others still hoping for another win.

Yes we want Donald Trunp be our presidentin 2024.

Republican Lawmakers Are Terrified Of Trump Running For President Again

A new report by Politico cites multiple unnamed Republican lawmakers – even those who publicly praise Trump – who say that they REALLY don’t want Donald Trump running for President again in 2024. They would much rather see Trump working “behind the scenes” to help shore up support for the Party as a whole, and they insist that the Party is stronger now than it was five years ago. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Recently, Politico interviewed several Republican lawmakers, who of course all chose to remain nameless. But Politico says that these were Trump supporting lawmakers, still are Trump supporting lawmakers, by the way. And each one of them said that they do not want Donald Trump to be the Republican party’s nominee in 2024. In fact, they don’t want Trump to run for president ever again. I’ll read a couple quotes from some of these lawmakers here. Here’s what one of them said, he’s one of the best presidents we’ve had in terms of policies. But having said that if it were up to me, I would never have Trump on any ballot ever again, because it’s such a distraction. I would love for him to play a behind the scenes role and not be on the ballot. Another one said, I’d like to see a fresh face. I think we have a lot of them.

Eight Republican 2024 Candidates Speak In Texas Next Week But Not Trump

Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, April 30 – A Republican Party event in Texas next week will hear from eight potential candidates for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024, without former President Donald Trump, a source involved in the planning said on Friday.

The May 7 event at a hotel in Austin is being co-hosted by U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, to thank donors who helped fund a voter registration drive and get-out-the-vote efforts in the state.

High-profile Republican politicians who are considering whether to seek the party’s nomination in 2024 are expected to speak to the crowd of about 200 donors.

They include former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and U.S. senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott and Rick Scott, the source said.

The event comes as Republicans wrestle with whether to try to move past Trump in the next election cycle or fall in line behind him. Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that he was “100%” considering another run after losing in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump was not invited to Texas, the source said. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was invited but was unable to attend, the source said.

Many Republican insiders doubt Trump will follow through on his musings about running for president in 2024, leaving a void that other party leaders will seek to fill.

Fact Check: Trump Did Not Call Republicans The Dumbest Group Of Voters

5 Min Read

An old quote falsely attributed to Donald Trump has recently resurfaced online. The viral meme alleges Trump told People magazine in 1998 that Republicans are “the dumbest group of voters in the country”. This is false.

While the quote has been debunked several times since it apparently surfaced in 2015, users have recently been resharing it on social media. Examples can be seen here , here , here , here

The meme reads: “If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific. – Donald Trump, People Magazine, 1998”

Snopes first wrote about the false quote here in October 2015 . Since then, the quote has been debunked multiple times .

People magazine has confirmed in the past that its archive has no register of this alleged exchange.

“People looked into this exhaustively when it first surfaced back in Oct. . We combed through every Trump story in our archive. We couldn’t find anything remotely like this quote–and no interview at all in 1998.”, a magazine spokesperson told Factcheck.org that year .

In December 1987, People published a profile on Donald Trump titled “Too Darn Rich”. The article quoted him saying he was too busy to run for president .

The Long Race For The 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination Begins

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — In the past week alone, Nikki Haley regaled activists in Iowa, Mike Pence courted donors in California and Donald Trump returned to the rally stage, teasing a third campaign for the White House.

The midterms are more than a year away, and there are 1,225 days until the next presidential election. But Republicans eyeing a White House run are wasting no time in jockeying for a strong position in what could emerge as an extremely crowded field of contenders.

The politicking will only intensify in the coming weeks, particularly in Iowa, home to the nation’s leadoff presidential caucuses and a state where conservative evangelicals play a significant role in steering the direction of the GOP. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas is slated to visit on Tuesday, and others, including Pence, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are expected to appear in July.

The flurry of activity is a sign that there is no clear frontrunner to lead the GOP if Trump opts against a 2024 campaign.

“It definitely feels early, but it doesn’t feel like it’s a bad idea based on the situation,” said Mike DuHaime, a longtime Republican strategist. “The party has changed, the voters are changing and I think the process has changed. And I think many of the candidates have realized that.”

“We won the election twice,” he said. “And it’s possible we’ll have to win it a third time.”

As for Trump?

Are You Ready For Republican Tim Scott To Run For President In 2024

The Senate’s lone Black Republican member, Tim Scott, is opening eyes and creating conversation about his 2024 political prospects.According to Fox News, Scott has brought in $14.4 million in campaign fundraising, after posting $9.6 million during April-June. The total amount in his campaign coffers has led many to believe that Scott is eying higher office than just the U.S. Senate.Scott has kept his name ringing in the political arena during his tenure in the Senate, especially after delivering a GOP response to President Biden’s primetime address to a joint session of Congress earlier this year. Scott has also led his party in negotiations with congressional Democrats on a major police reform bill.

While Scott has downplayed the hype surrounding his political aspirations, people on the Hill and talking heads on camera are noting that he could possibly be a 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

“Tim Scott is a force,” Jim Merrill, a New Hampshire-based Republican consultant said to Fox News. “His strong numbers reflect how he has inspired activists and business leaders alike, good for both his reelection next year and for a potential presidential campaign in 2024.”

Fear of a Black Landowner

With Scott previously downplaying the notion of running for president and his recent declaration that he won’t run for Senate after 2022, Black America will just have to see if Tim Scott will lean-in to the dollars raised to bankroll a potential campaign for the White House.

Reaction

New Poll: Most Republicans Want Trump To Run For President In 2024

A new Quinnipiac University national poll released this week revealed that two-thirds of Republicans want former President Donald Trump to run for president in 2024.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,316 U.S. adults nationwide from May 18-24. The poll’s margin of error was +/- 2.7 percentage points.

Three key Republican findings of the survey included:

66% of Republicans want to see Trump run in 2024

66% of Republicans do not think Biden’s victory was legitimate

85% of Republicans want candidates that mostly agree with Trump

“The numbers fly in the face of any predictions that Donald Trump’s political future is in decline. By a substantial majority, Republicans: believe the election was stolen from him, want Trump to run again, and , if they can’t vote for Trump, prefer someone who agrees with him,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.

Malloy is right. The poll reveals what many American already know — Trump still serves as a top conservative leader.

But is Trump still up for another run? And if he does, can he win?

The first question looks like a yes. Trump recently told radio host Dan Bongino people will be very happy with his answer. However, Trump has also previously said he would not announce whether he is running until after the 2022 midterm elections.

The more important question is can he win? If two-thirds of Republicans already support Trump, how many more will be required, especially in key battleground states, to reach the needed electoral votes?

Native American Voting Rights Are Under Attack In Republican

Paul Blumenthal

After turning out to vote in record numbers in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Native Americans are now one of the biggest targets of Republican-backed voter suppression efforts in states where their votes mattered the most.

Republicans in states with significant Native populations like Arizona, Kansas, Montana and more have enacted new laws that limit voter access in ways that disproportionately impact Native voters. Imposing strict time limits on correcting a mail-in ballot, prohibiting third-party ballot collection, implementing strict voter identification requirements and making it harder to pay for election resources all negatively impact Native Americans in these states, largely due to specific circumstances on reservations where many of them live.

“The laws the state legislatures are passing are lethal to every Native American living in those states,” said OJ Semans, the founder of the Native voting rights group Four Directions and an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Such legislation, he said, “is going to knock us back 10 years” after “what we’ve been working through for the last 18 to 20 years to get more and more Native Americans to participate in elections.” 

It wasn’t until 1962 when New Mexico’s laws blocking Native voting fell. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also provided important protections for Native voting rights.

Trumps Role As Republican Party Leader Is Becoming Stronger

This weekend’s CPAC straw poll results showed that Trump’s popularity — along with DeSantis’ — in the Republican Party has grown in the last six months, according to Forbes.

In February, only 55% of attendees of a similar CPAC event in Orlando, Florida, said they wanted Trump to lead the ticket in 2024, Forbes reported.

If Trump stayed in political retirement, or at least stayed off the presidential primary ballot in 2024, DeSantis lead the poll with 43% attending Republicans choosing him in February’s hypothetical presidential primary.

Related

Inside the newsroom: Words matter, including the hateful ‘Murder the media’

When Presidential Primaries Started They Weren’t Decisive

Woodrow Wilson.

The Progressive Era at the beginning of the 20th century saw a backlash against local party machines and their bosses dominating American politics. This backlash was especially pronounced in Western states, where reformers implemented ideas like legislating via ballot initiative at the polls.

Progressive reformers also invented the presidential primary. In 1910, Oregon became the first to use a popular election to pick its delegates for national conventions, with the delegates pledged to support specific candidates.

But these primaries lacked the efficacy and decisiveness of those we have today, in part because most states didn’t have them and in part because the ultimate nomination decision was still made via a multi-ballot process at a national convention.

In 1912, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt decided to challenge his successor William Howard Taft for the GOP nomination. He crushed Taft in the primaries, carrying nine of the 12 states that held primaries, while Robert La Follette won two and Taft just one.

But that still left 36 other states, which mostly sent pro-Taft delegates to the convention, securing him the nomination. And that led Roosevelt to bolt the party and launch an independent bid for the general election.

But while McAdoo didn’t have enough support to win, he did have enough to block the party bosses’ favorite, New York Gov. Al Smith, a Catholic.

Why Donald Trump Is Republicans’ Worst Nightmare In 2024

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Earlier this week, amid a rambling attack on the validity of the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump said this: “Interesting that today a poll came out indicating I’m far in the lead for the Republican Presidential Primary and the General Election in 2024.”

this on Trump’s future political ambitions from Politico“Trump is confiding in allies that he intends to run again in 2024 with one contingency: that he still has a good bill of health, according to two sources close to the former president. That means Trump is going to hang over the Republican Party despite its attempts to rebrand during his exile and its blockade of a Trump-centric investigation into January’s insurrection.”new Quinnipiac University national pollhis growing legal and financial entanglementsAs CNN reported on Wednesday night“Manhattan prosecutors pursuing a criminal case against former President Donald Trump, his company and its executives have told at least one witness to prepare for grand jury testimony, according to a person familiar with the matter — a signal that the lengthy investigation is moving into an advanced stage.”

The Contenders Who Competed To Run Against Donald Trump

Tom MurseTom Murse

Within weeks of Donald Trump taking the oath of office as the nation’s 45th president, challengers began lining up to see who would attempt to unseat him in the 2020 presidential election. The controversial president faced early challenges from within his own party, but by and large, the focus remained on the candidates put forth by the opposing Democratic Party.

During one of the most crowded primary seasons in recent memory, several high-profile Democrats, including multiple sitting senators and rising stars in the party, competed for the party’s nomination. Ultimately, it was former vice president Joe Biden who won the party’s nomination. He selected Senator Kamala Harris, another primary candidate, as his running mate, and the ticket won the 2020 general election with 51.3% of the vote and 306 electoral votes to 46.9% and 232 electoral votes for the incumbent Trump/Pence ticket.

Here’s a look at the Democrats, and even members of Trump’s own Republican Party, who ran campaigns looking to unseat the controversial commander-in-chief.

Democratic Challengers

February 7, 2020

Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

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

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

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

“I think that she’s done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume,” said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolina’s department of political science.

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

Republican Candidates Running For The Us 2020 Election

Bill Weld was married twice and has five children.

Weld ran for vice-president as a Libertarian on the Gary Johnson ticket in the 2016 presidential election.

As a conservative, Weld is strongly pro-choice on abortion issues.

The presidential race is on and the candidates are being whittled down to the very few. Who is running on the Republican side? Current President Donald Trump is going for re-election, and the only candidate now challenging him for election as president of the US this coming November 3rd, 2020 is Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor.

The 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Wild Cards

The first Democratic debate back in 2019 had 20 — TWENTY! — candidates, so don’t be surprised if the Republican field is just as large or larger. We could have some more governors or representatives run, or even other nontraditional candidates, like a Trump family member, a Fox News host or a celebrity, like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who’s said he’s “seriously considering” a run. Stranger things have happened.

Who Wants To Run For Governor As A Republican In 2022

Pennsylvania Republicans have been battling with Gov. Tom Wolf since he unseated incumbent Tom Corbett in 2014. Many of them are eager to take Wolf’s place, but there is no clear frontrunner this early in the race. Several Republicans have already announced their bid, and a few others have hinted or shown interest in joining what is expected to be a crowded primary. Thus far, it’s hard to find a Republican candidate without some sort of ties to former President Donald Trump. 

With a heated race to fill U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat next year, the GOP will have to be strategic about what candidates it wants to back for the Senate and for governor. Potential candidates will also have to weigh their options and decide where they fit best and can compete.

There are plenty of names that could be added to this list in the coming months, but here is our second iteration of potential Republican candidates for 2022. A couple of candidates have been added since the last edition.

Running

Former U.S. Rep Lou Barletta

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale

Gale was the first Republican to formally announce his candidacy for governor back in February. An avid Trump supporter, he has criticized the Pennsylvania GOP and pledged to be a conservative populist. He’s also caught attention for and saying Trump’s presidency was sabotaged. 

Former Corry Mayor Jason Monn

Pittsburgh attorney Jason Richey

Dr. Nche Zama

Charlie Gerow

John Ventre

For These Republicans 2024 Is Just Around The Corner

Mike Pence. Mike Pompeo. Rick Scott. They share big ambitions, but one name hovers above them all …

President Biden told reporters last month that his “plan is to run for re-election,” despite already being the oldest person to have won a presidential election. So, for now at least, the question of who will lead the Democratic ticket in 2024 has been put to rest.

On the Republican side, however, certainty is in short supply. It’s beyond early to be talking about the next presidential election — but that’s only if you aren’t planning to run. Some Republican candidates have already made trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, and others are laying plans to go, in what often represents the first step in building out a campaign operation in those early-voting states.

And on Wednesday, in a conspicuously forward-looking move, former Vice President Mike Pence announced the formation of a new political organization, Advancing American Freedom, whose advisory board is stacked high with former Trump administration officials and allies. The news came on the same day Simon & Schuster announced that it would publish Pence’s autobiography as part of a two-book deal.

The G.O.P. is badly fractured, trying to hold together a dominant base of those loyal to former President Donald Trump and a stubborn minority of pro-decorum, anti-Trump conservatives. Anyone looking to grab the Republican mantle will have to find some way of satisfying both camps — and maybe even expanding upon them.

Rivera Another Candidate Who Is Trying A Second Time

Another candidate making her second Senate attempt is Natalie Lynn Rivera. A social services coordinator from Sicklerville, Rivera ran as an independent under the slogan “For the People” in 2018, garnering about 0.6% of the vote.

Rivera, 44, said she wants to give typical New Jersey residents a voice in Congress. On her Facebook campaign site she calls herself a conservative. Among her priorities are restoring Second Amendment rights that she says are “under seige” in the state and outlawing abortion.

What sets her apart from the other candidates, she said, is that she “will be a servant to the people … I think I am authentic and will serve from the heart to put their best interests at the forefront.”

Another candidate running a shoestring campaign is Eugene Tom Anagnos, a retired middle school teacher who taught in Newark and Elizabeth schools. A Greek immigrant who now lives in East Hanover, Anagnos is an Army veteran who holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Indiana University.

General Election Candidates On Five Or More Ballots

In addition to Biden, Hawkins, Jorgensen, and Trump, the following candidates have qualified to appear on five or more ballots:

Roque De La Fuente   Gloria La Riva   Jade Simmons   Jesse Ventura/Cynthia McKinney   Sheila Tittle   Kyle Kenley Kopitke   Ricki Sue King/Dayna Chandler  

Incumbents are bolded and underlined The results have been certified.

Total votes: 158,379,904

0 states have not been called.

Here Are The Republicans To Keep An Eye On For 2024

Bradley Devlin

Republicans are paying extra attention to a number of Republican governors, senators, and former officials that might consider making a run for president in 2024.

The contenders come from various contingents of right-leaning thought, and will be fighting to capture parts of former President Donald Trump’s base. Whichever Republican hopeful prevails will not only become the Republican Party’s nominee, but also help determine the ideological trajectory of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era.

Vice President Mike Pence

It’s not uncommon for vice presidents to follow up their stint as second-in-command with a run for president. Former President John Adams, the nation’s second president, was America’s first vice president under President George Washington. More recently, President Joe Biden became the 46th president four years after he ended his eight-year tenure as former President Barack Obama’s vice president.

Vice President Mike Pence might decide to do the same, but Pence’s relationship with Trump seems to be severely tarnished after Pence did not contest the certification of the Electoral College results, as reported by The Hill.

Senator Ted Cruz

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz could run for president again come 2024 after he defended his senate seat in 2018 from Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. Cruz’s bid for the presidency in 2016 ended in failure as Trump captured the Republican Party’s nomination.

Senator Josh Hawley

Governor Ron DeSantis

Poll Results Are Fake Unless Theyre Good Trump Says

During his speech at the Dallas convention Sunday night, Trump said he only would have believed the results of CPAC’s straw poll if they were his favor, Business Insider reported.

“Now, if it’s bad, I just say it’s fake,” the former president told the crowd, reported Insider. “If it’s good, I say that’s the most accurate poll, perhaps ever.”

In the past, Trump has decried similar things he doesn’t like as false, like referring to unfavorable media coverage as “fake news.”

Early Nomination Contests Didn’t Involve Primaries

Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.

Intraparty disputes over who should be nominated for the presidency are as old as the republic itself. But the modern system of determining nominees through a series of state primary elections is essentially an innovation of the 1970s. Before that, parties deployed a wide range of methods.

The Democratic-Republicans, the dominant political party of the early 19th century, used to select candidates via a vote of the party’s members in Congress.That method let it control the White House for 20 years, and lasted until the rivalry between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson made the party splinter into the Democrats and the Whigs in the aftermath of the 1824 election.

Back in 1836, in the early days of Whig versus Democrat competition, the Whig Party even tried nominating several candidates simultaneously in their bid to block Martin Van Buren from succeeding Jackson in the White House.

In most Northern states, William Henry Harrison appeared on the general election ballot, while Hugh White got the nod in most Southern ones. And Massachusetts Whigs went with Daniel Webster , while Willie Magnum was nominated in South Carolina.

But it did not work. Van Buren won the election, and in subsequent contests the Whigs emulated the Democrats, picking a single nominee at a broad national convention with representatives from all states.