#and then theres church and do i spend enough time with my family or anyone i care abt

[insertdisc5]

Hi!! I wanted to ask, in celebration of Deltarune CH. 2, do you have any updated thoughts and head canons about the game?? Like, y'know, similar to a previous ask about Kris in your Deltarune tag? Thanks!

thoughts on kris part 2 i guess???? (part 1 from ch1 here lol)

spoilers for deltarune like woah. this wont be kris focused just random thoughts on everything. thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk

not that many thoughts for this chapter tbh! EDIT LOL: this was a lie i have a lot of thoughts

-just in general i feel like the player isn't the only one controlling kris... like yes the player forced kris to do what happened in the snowgrave route but AT THE SAME TIME idk it feels like there's someone else too. just because of the terrifying voice i suppose. and also the jerky movement kris does every time they get their soul out? unless there's another reason for it... maybe getting your soul out means you walk weird lol

-BUT ALSO i feel like kris is 100% in control when they create fountains. idk it just makes sense kris would create them. to create another world, a better world, A WORLD WHERE THEIR BROTHER IS HERE PERHAPS? i do wonder why they get their soul out then though. i'm all for it sweetie! do whatever! i support you!

-(i am and will be playing deltarune with only kris' best interests in mind. i will not hurt anyone unless kris wants me to. dont worry my little meow meow im on your side! talk to me! no? okay ill stay under the sink its fine)

-speaking of asriel. SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER VACATION COLLEGE WHEN? SUMMER (starts crying) V-VACATION COLLEGE WHEN

-kris misses their brother so much it's so sad. if you make kris steal 5$ from asriel they take it "reluctantly"? talking to asriel online so often even alphys knows?? the google search?? GOING INTO ASRIEL'S GOOGLE SEARCH ROOM WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED BECAUSE THEY'RE CONVINCED THEY ALREADY KNOW WHATS IN THERE? THAT ONE IS LESS OF A MISSING THING BUT IM LIKE OH MY GOD

-the city walk with susie at the end makes it clear to me that kris really values susie's friendship... kris even sits with her if you spend long enough near the lake like aaaaah ;_;

-and even in snowgrave you spend your last acts with the final boss calling for your friends like YES there's a way bigger creepy aspect to this (kris as more of a Leader who Commands and commands their subjects to come) but still :'0 (and then noelle answers oh my god noelle im so sorry for the trauma)

-berdly. listen. listen. listen. liste

-berdly sucks but [berdly hurts his arm in the battle against queen if you don't save him because he doesnt want to hurt you] [berdly realizing smg's wrong in snowgrave and immediately taking steps to save noelle] berdly is my little crumb nugget. i will protect him.

-noelle. noelle. girlboss!

-like ooooh listen. hearing about the genocide path for undertale. made me go "that is SO COOL. i HAVE to experience it myself this is great. hehehe killing time" and like no regrets. i was fully enjoying the experience knowing i was an awful person. SNOWGRAVE THOUGH. i will never try this myself its too fucked up. casually grooming your childhood friend to murder people <3 and also acting like a weird stalker towards her <3 stockholm syndrome speedrun i will get all the info i can about this but i will never do this myself

-people remarking the kris/player>noelle relationship is similar to the relationship between player>chara in genocide path is like yes. chefs kiss. don't worry we just are making you stronger and everything will be fine "you made me kill my friend? and for what?" this is fine sweetie don't worry about it!!!!!!

-like the amount of details added to snowgrave, like if you equip noelle's watch she notices later? and her battle animations change as time goes on, she gets an ice shield and stops sighing in relief after battle? oh my god? oh my god.

-(berdly is not awake.) JUST KILL ME RIGHT HERE I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT BERDLY NOT BEING AWAKE!!!!!

-also why didnt he turn into dust. so many possible reasons. is magic a thing in the normal world and perhaps no magic means no dust (theres graves). maybe he isnt dead. maybe hes braindead. maybe he'll come back. either way that boy is now in the closet big enough to put someone in

-also dess' name probably being december AND THATS WHY NOELLE LOST THE SPELLING BEE?!?!??! FUCK ME UP!!!!! JUST FUCK ME UP!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!

-also so many good pixel art this chapter. too many? i didnt need pixel art of cardboard noelle falling on the statue. like thank you but please. please it hurts my game artist brain.

-the expressions in this chapter were also top notch. all the unsettling noelle expressions like (i fall over face first)

-i threw away the ball of junk (which i already tried in ch1) and this time the game was like "ARE YOU SURE BC THIS IS A BAD IDEA" and kris felt bitter :'( (it deletes all your items in the dark world)

-i uh fucked up and skipped the susie+noelle scene bc listen last time ralsei mentionned seeing what susie is doing we missed some PRIMO LORE. turns out it just makes you skip the scene and you dont get anything new. welp

-speaking of ralsei well you know. he exists. but im stuck on him going "i just wonder what being ralsei-like even is...?" ralsei my dude there's so much i could say about this. do you feel like you can't be ralsei-like because you feel like you have to be asriel-like

-but also that makes no sense bc susie hasnt even mentioned ralsei looks like asriel. and i cant imagine asriel being so meek. so WHAT GIVES

-ralsei as kris’ “i wish i was a monster just like my bro and family and i’d look like asriel but with red horns [THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME] and my name would be something cool like ralsei instead of a boring human name like kris and im sweet and cute because thats how i act with asriel because ASRIEL MADE ME” theory because that would be cute.

-ASRIEL GOING TO THE CHURCH TO CONFESS HIS "SINS" WHEN "SINS" AREN'T A THING IN THE ANGEL BELIEF LIKE I KNOW THIS INTERACTION WAS TREATED AS A JOKE BUT WHAT THE FUCK ASRIEL?

-kris definitely has a connection with the big red door in the city, judging by what the kids say they probably went there... i feel like this place's dark world will be the Final Dungeon you KNOW some shit happened there. also the sounds you hear when you go there is the phone dark world call's sound slowed down? AND AFTER SNOWGRAVE APPARENTLY YOU CANT HEAR IT ANYMORE? HUWAH?

-speaking of songs the songs were all so good, My Castle Town rules, the berdly snowgrave music is stuck in my head, flashback is uwah wuahah, Until Next Time is so good, AND ALSO A FRIEND NOTICED THE DARK WORLD CITY THEME IS JUST tHE SONG 74 (MOST NOTICEABLE WITH THE SNOWGRAVE VERSION)?????? WHAT DOES IT MEAN????? it might be just "hey its just reuse" BUT MR FOX YOU KNOW WE'RE GONNA READ INTO THIS IS NOELLE THE ONE SINGING IDK BRO!!!!!!!!!!

-asgore dreemurr fired from the force what happun!!!!! game theory is that asgore is related to dess' death/disappearance but eh who knows

-you start the chapter at lvl2 and get to lvl3 after the final boss, a friend mentioned this is probably because we destroyed a world and im :0

-to go back to kris it's still so interesting to figure out who they are based on how they act/people mention them. like kris shaking the ferris wheel car? yeah makes sense i can imagine a pranking kid do this. kris' dance? yeah thats a little silly but i can buy it. doing cool anime poses? well i dunno this doesnt line up PERFECTLY but sure. BUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN SNOWGRAVE... especially >proceed like that is such a weird thing that i can't imagine them doing, but i can't completely see the "player" doing either (compare with going to sans -which kris doesnt know- and going "SANS!" because of course the player would know sans), like THATS one of the reasons i feel like there's someone else in there. the weird robotic merciless actions. if im going super meta it feels like there'd be someone else like writing the choices into existence for us to pick you know? gaster probably? god i need to read more gaster theories i completely sidestepped the gaster shit bc i wasnt interested. anyway just spitballing

-(looks at big shot guy) please dont make him the next tumblr guy i beg you

-obligatory "queen was great" mention if only because this part made me laugh a little bit too hard

that was a lot. thank you for letting me talk

#ask tag #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #snowgrave spoilers

[prof-peach]

Okay so, got any advice for creating an environment for happy and healthy Ghost Types? I know that Wild Ghost Types tend to flock towards graveyards, abandoned buildings, and other locales we humans like to call "scary", but I'm not really sure why that is...

It’s not so much scary places, more areas of energy. This can be residual or current. They flock to these locations to feed on said energy and sustain themselves.

Areas of residual energy are locations you and I would call abandoned, old forgotten churches, empty manor houses, forgotten relics. They not only feast on the energy that has seeped into the old derelict buildings for potentially tens or hundreds of years, but also many prefer the lack of humans, as ghost types tend to get a bad rep despite doing nothing unusual for their typing. To avoid ridicule or torment many choose to live in quieter areas, but those who have had no run-ins with unkind humans or Pokemon will tend to venture outside of their birthplace within old homes and the like, off to seek something more.

Areas of current energy like mosques, temples, even public monuments, all hum with the energy ghost Pokemon feed on, it is not old and deep within the fibres of the buildings and locations, but is in fact constantly generated by human and Pokemon activity. We find they take to areas of contemplation the best, so you can even set up a small prayer area, a place to do yoga, or even a little alter with your families photos on it, should you have a ghost type at home. this space where you spend time being thoughtful towards something will provide them with the nourishment they need, along side the occasional snack or meal, depending on what species you keep.  

There are of course both energy types in one location sometimes, graveyards come to mind, they hold the buried beloved humans and Pokemon, their bones radiating a very deep energy to feast upon, like an invisible carbon pocket being released slowly, they will sap from those departed. But also they can take a little energy from those who come to visit any lost friends or family. It’s said the two types have different sensations to eat, but that’s something you’d have to take up with a ghost Pokemon. I do not possess all the details I’m afraid.

We use to believe they fed from human directly but they need a between to eat, a medium area (no pun intended) where expended energy is awaiting its next use. energy never just disappears, it travels and changes, and during the travel ghost pokemon are able to sap a bit to exist healthily. vengeful or angry ghost pokemon can sap a human of all their energy but normally no one type can take enough from a person or pokemon to kill them. theres rumours of many species, but the litwick line comes to mind, damned by the pokedex to be feared because people think they drain their trainers. while its true they do gain energy from their partners, its never enough to damage anyone, unless they become heavily displeased or mistreated, they take a very small amount, that most find unnoticeable in the day to day hustle and bustle. 

This is my 2 cents, but I have not had as much experience with this typing as others, they aren't my area of study, and i’m sure theres more technical ways to explain some of this, I just tried to simplify it so everyone can understand the basic principals. 

#prof.peach #pokemon #peach talks

[dragqueenpentheus]

Okay no one has to read this but i DO have to write it:

PYROC VS FATHER PAUL

Ya bitch needs an art break bc im getting angry about voices existing as i try to keep myself entertained. Today is NOT a god one for sinking into repetitive line work and that’s just about all i have on the table atm

SO! Im gunna do a little thinking about my little meow meows all fucked up by religion. Just a comparison for my sanity and interests. Pyroc is my baby i wrote him for the first time years ago. Five?????????? Whadda hell. Going on six.

ANYWAY john joined religion because of his trauma. His sister died and he felt lost. He was unmoored in this fishing village and looking for reason looking for hope. Hed had his heart broken and trying to make sense of tragedy on his own was totally beyond him. Thats why his interactions with riley in AA are SO good like. He knows that confusion and he knows the rhetoric that’s supposed to combat it. Only it dooesnt work for riley.

The same sort of thing happens for pyrc, only inverted. Loss urns him away from god and religion because its SO strong in his family and not only is he loosing trust in god, but his kin as well. He’s suspicious there’s mre they arent telling him, at the point of his fathers death. And he agrees to, on the surface, absolutely wholly throw himself in to being the second the family and the village need. But he’s keeping his treachery under wraps.

That’s one of the coolest things about father paul imo is like. That slow unraveling of what is. Frankly. An awful half assed plan, driven by fear and loneliness and desperation and dementia and love. Even VERY obvious things like. Taking down the newspaper photo of his young self ‘slip’ by him. I think, on some level, its DEEPLY intentional. He wants people to CHOOSE this. He wants people like bev. He wants people who see him and are in aw of him beating god. Of killing death. He wants to be worshiped and adored and for people to come to him willingly, no tragedy driving them to his arms.

Pyroc also wnats to be worshipped, but he ALSO wants to do the worshipping. He really longs for an element of almost????? But not quite??? Subjection?? He wants to be shown something and for a Great Voice to tell him, unquestioningly and unerringly that it is GOOD. Full stop. And then he wants to spend his life worshipping it. But this booko is an exploration of how….. no such thing exists. And more importantly no great voice exists either. There is nothing wholly good, nothing wholy evil. His lack of faith in himself once he becomes god is him starting to understand that as well. Thats on purpose baked into the lore. The starting point was ‘what if god was a position and in order to get promoted you had to be a murderer. No matter what’. He understands things are not wholly good, at that point. I onder how long it will be for him to realize they are not fully evil as well?

Bc pruitt does hm hm hm an interesting move. Where he takes something the narritve is very sure to communicate is EVIL no wiggle room just fact. Even if its driven by animal instinct its. Evil. And he makes it, not just good, but HOLY. And god i LOVEEEE that for him i ADOREEE that what a MOVE. Driven by desperation and dementia and relief and ‘if god saved me than maybe i can be good despite loving and sinning and maybe if i defeat god then i will be Thee Good’. SO sexy of him. Im really fascinated by his morality. He seems to have an understanding of the shades of grey in some respects??? But if he had a BETTER one with more forgiveness in his heart i feel like hed have left the church anyway after sarah was born??? Even if millie didnt ask him??? That might just be my own sensibilities creeping in but ….. like he culd have seen her on the weekends. He can do other jobs. Hes straight (??? Not totally convinced of this) he could have just dated her that makes me crazy. LIKE OBV HE HAD LINES HE THOUGHT THAT WOULD CROSS AND HE HAD INTERNALIZED THE CHURCH AND THE RULES AND SHE WAS MARRIED AND ECT ECT i know he couldnt have really but. Thye were straight. They coulda.

Im not gunna do fantasy homophobia bc i think its …………….. Boring. But i think some element of??? The vindlegaurd line MUST be passed along and for that particular rules must be applied. But thats also boring as hell :/ maybe i can work in my parthenogenesis lore?????????? I bet pyroc would love building that spell in any universe. That’s the sequal when he goes to magic university in helsin. But yeah i do like the concept that. Anyone can have a baby thru magic its just a time and energy commitment. Just a matter of wanting it enough together. Every baby is so deeply wanted and its mere existence is proof. Thats dope i love that. HMMM to be decided at a later date when im deeper into the story i think. I still havent figured out fully how and where and why orion is going to be invovled and if???? Pyroc and orion are even going to be romantic??????? Im torn im TORn…….

Thikns about john bonding w sarah over science and learning and starts wEEPING…. Like theres some surity beloved. Its just a matter of uncovering. I think sarah felt that same thirst for answers and hunted them differently. Her faith is in logic and science. I loveeee her god. Every scene w her and her dad absolutely RUIN me like!!!!!! SHE DOESNT KNOW!!! SHE DOESNT KNOW HOW LOVED SHE IS!!!!!! I hope at hte very end she saw the blood as the gesture of love it SO clearly was and not him trying to poison her. God i love that she spat it out. GOD. Thats about being gay, btw. Spits the religious offering that could save you across the gasoline soaked church floor like BABE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think we as a collective should talk about the possibiites around sarah/erin more. Bc their defiance combined would be. Earth SHATTERING for crockett.

In the future pyroc gets a kid. Ever since that campaign where Enemy ended up playing his daughter im like. How did i NOT know this idiot wanted nothing more in the entire world than to travel it with his daughter. I dont care how or why hes getting a kid. Hed be so doting and awful abut it. He would need orion as a co-parent for the kids self esteem to be normal levels. thINKS ABOUT PAUL GETTING TO RAISE SARAH AND JUST ABSOLUTELY GASSING HER UPPPPPPPP HANGING EVERY DOODLE SHE EVER MADE ON TEH FRIDGE. BOASTING ABOUT HER SCEINECE PROJECT OT ANYONE WITHIN EYESIGHT EVEN THOUGH ‘WE K N O W JOHNWE WERE ALL AT THE SCEINCE FAIR’!!!!!!!!!!! Let these fuck ups be doting fathers im fucking begging. That scene where paul is like. You take ccare of everyone on the island sarah. Its more than being a doctor. You comfort them.

HM HM comfort is such a thing for Miss Bitch like!! He sees it as a Good Thing. He tries to bring it for riley by asking to hold the AA meetings on island ((also manipulation. Obvously also manipulation. I wouldnt have bene shocked if he was slipping the vampire blood into the coffee every meeting either. But thats just a theory. A game theory.)) ANYWAY he sees comfort as hly. The church gave it to him when he needed it. The angel gave it to him in the cave. Feeling safe and warm is HIGH on his list of priorities and what makes him hand over respect.

I think pyroc has lived a very comfortable life in SO many ways, but in none he. Activly recognizes. A key part of his character arc his him…. Opening his eyes to the world around them. Seeing the privilege he has and being like. Wait. This isnt Right. We have to change thi. And when no one agrees ti shifts to I have to change this. With Violence. A little revolutionary <3 it only costs the life of his whole ass family

Thats more fun comparison ground like…… paul is SO much about I know whats right and there is a cost but i AM ignoring it. Like HE KNOOOOWSSSS he knooooows he just doesnt want o See. I’m not sure if im going to surprise yroc with the ……megadeath of. His whole family. Or if it’s a choice he has to activly make. I think a choice makes it more compelling, more layerd. It has to be in the moment though, becaus ei think thats. A key difference between them. Pyroc wouldnt do it.. hed just leave hed peace out and do what he could in small ways. But he wouldnt do his big stand off with god. Hed shrink his goals in order to not hurt his family. Out of love?? Intimidation?? Some instinct wihtin him that balks at the idea of disobedience??? I think even he doesnt know. But i LOVE john becaue he jsut decides to lie. He closes his eyes and says i am being stupid on purpose. I think thats PERHAPS more compelling than good guy coward pyroc BUT!!!!! Thats who he is rip to ths little man. Cant change him now hes a whole ass child in my head. The PLOT i can change. Him….. not without massive character development <3

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MM set my brain on FIRE!!!! Im so glad nano is coming up. I love sharpening pyroc against the comparison of other AMAZING characters. Father paul hill my beloved millstone <3 anyway sorry to anyone who reads this its literally me unhinging my jaw and emptying my brain out. I had to write stuff that wasn’t novel or fic. A little character time down and dirty. I wil NOT be editing this love and light to future me trying to decode this

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #pyroc #midnight mass

[hellfirenacht]

Can’t Be Unseen Chapter 4

Sal Fisher x Reader

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

AO3

Chapter Summary: You attend a holiday party and you consider abandoning ship.

The week leading up to the party at Sal’s place wasn’t anything exciting. You spent most of it either catching up on your sleep or hanging out in the basement with Larry, Sal, and whoever else was around at the time. It wasn’t exciting, but it was normal which is all you could have hoped for after everything that happened. Sure, you still found yourself harboring feelings for your friend but it was more tolerable now. You still held yourself back from flirting too hard for him, but when anyone else was around it was a lot easier. 

“Hey, your dad need any decorations for the party?” you asked one evening as you all huddled around the tv, none of you paying much attention. “My parents have so many Christmas decorations they don’t have room to put out, I’m sure they’d be happy to lend it to someone else.” 

“I’ve never seen anyone act more like a cheesy holiday special like your parents.” Larry said, shoving some popcorn in his mouth. “It’s almost creepy how much they try to push the holiday spirit.” 

You just shrugged. “They met and fell in love during the holidays, so they really are the living embodiment of every bad holiday rom com.” 

“Got any decorations that aren’t strictly Christmas?” Sal asked. “Dad’s trying to be more inclusive.” 

“Oh yeah, we got tons of general winter stuff. Plus my uncle’s wife is Jewish, so we have an alarming number of dreidels and star of David’s for a house that doesn’t even go to church. Larry stop hogging the popcorn!” you scold, pulling the half-eaten bowl away from your friend. 

“Come on, I’m hungry!” he pouted. 

“You’re stoned.” Sal corrected. 

“Puff puff pass includes more than the joint, Larry. You gotta share the snacks, too.” you laughed at him and threw an unpopped kernel at him. 

“It’d actually be helpful if you could bring some decorations.” Sal said, pushing some popcorn under his mask. “I love my dad but he’s really bad at this kind of thing. I think it was actually Lisa’s idea.” 

“Yeah, my mom’s been doing the decorating for Addison Apartments for about 10 years now.” Larry chimed in. “Sometimes they give her a budget for it, but most of the time she’d had to reuse old stuff that’s fallen apart.” 

“My parents go wild for post-holiday sales so we should have some sturdy things lying around. I’ll see what I can dig up.”

...

LarryFace: who else is coming to the party?

SallyFace: us, Ashley and her new girlfriend, Todd, Neil, Chug, Maple, your mom uh...

LarryFace: that’s a lot of highschoolers for a holiday party your dad wants to throw

SallyFace: yeah but I think its cause he wants me to be a normal teen and have a normal party for once. I didn’t even start celebrating my birthday until I moved here

LarryFace: wait really? I had no idea. 

SallyFace: yeah theres also a chance hes using this as a way to fake a surprise party for me

LarryFace: SallyFace is gonna finally be 18, i’m so proud. No more having to lie on porn sites that youre an adult!

SallyFace: ha ha and did I mention ha? 

...

You spend most of Friday digging through the large tubs of old decorations that your parents hadn’t put out, picking out what would be the best and easiest to bring upstairs to Sal’s place. You couldn’t help but shake your head, when it came to winter decorations, your parents were borderline hoarders. Really, you were doing them a solid by going through all this stuff and throwing out broken decorations or unsafe looking Christmas lights. 

The past 3 years that you lived in the apartments, come winter time you always knew which window was yours when looking outside the building. Your parents always insisted on some sort of light up winter decoration, as they didn’t have a house to fully blow the power out on every December. It was one of the few things you humored them on. You didn’t want your own personal tree in your room, but you could live with a snowman waving out at anyone who happened to be on the street. 

After filling a small tub with enough decorations, you looked at the clock and cursed to yourself. It was already 4 pm and you told Sal that you’d be their early to help set up! That didn’t give you much time to get ready. 

You rushed through your routine of getting ready, changing into your favorite comfortable outfit and topping it with a Santa hat to keep it festive. Despite the rush job, you had to admit to yourself that you looked pretty damn good. It had been a while since you had dressed up for yourself, without worrying about wanting to impress anyone. This was you, and you liked it. 

Shoving keys in your pocket, you ran to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of apple cider that your parents had bought. 

Have fun at your party! We’ll be out late recreating the first night we met!

Which you decided to translate to “gone boning for the weekend, don’t die”. Gross, but at least you go the place to yourself for the next few days. 

With everything in hand, you finally made your way to the elevator and towards the Fisher apartment. Henry was the one to open the door and let you in, thanking you for lending him the decorations. 

“These are from my parents.” you added, handing over the bottles of cider. 

“Alright, now it’s a rager!” Larry laughed from the kitchen while his mom laughed. Looks like they came here early as well to help out. From where you stood, you could see that Larry was also wearing a Santa hat with the word ‘naughty’ on it. 

“Do you want to give me a hand with the decorations?” Lisa asked, still managing to be in work mode even on her day off. “I’m sure we can make this place look real special for tonight.” 

“Is anything special specifically happening?” Asked Sal, his head facing your direction. 

“Nope, it’s just a nice little holiday party for our sons and their friends.” Lisa replied. 

“So I should ignore the cake that my dad brought home and is hiding somewhere?” Sal asked with a small laugh. 

“You sure should if you don’t want to be smacked with a broom.” Lisa scolded playfully. 

“She’ll do it too, dude.” chimed in Larry. 

Sal held his hands up in defeat. “I understand, this is just a regular holiday party that just happens to fall very close to my actual birthday and the fact that you had me invite all of my friends and none of yours it just a coincidence.” 

“Now you’re getting it, son!” Henry laughed. 

With your decorations, Lisa’s eye for making things work, and Larry’s tallness, by the time 6 rolled around, the apartment looked awesome. There were strands of lights hanging all around, food on the counter and table, and Larry was setting up a tape deck to play music. From the corner of your eye you saw Larry remove a green and red tape and Sal putting in an older more beat up tape. They pressed play and you were a little surprised to hear generic holiday music play. Larry caught you eye and gave you a wink that made you feel like something was gonna happen later. 

Todd and Neil were the first to arrive, not surprising as Todd lived in the building as well. You and Neil had English together but had never really talked before, but Todd was really happy with him and that’s all that mattered. 

Ashley arrived next with her new girlfriend, Jamie. She was pretty cute and bubbly and excited to meet and talk to everyone. You swear that when it was your turn to talk that you went through five different topics in three minutes before the bounced to the next person. Jamie sure was energetic, but she’d always bounce back to Ashley to give her a kiss on the cheek or check on her. It was too damn adorable really. 

The arrival of Chug and Maple surprised everyone. They showed up late, citing that he’d been waiting for Maple to arrive, but that wasn’t what surprised everyone. What was surprising was him and Maple holding hands as they walked in. 

“We’ve been dating for a few weeks,” explained Maple. “I just didn’t wanna make it public until I thought it was solid.” 

You were happy for the two of them, but you were starting to see a pattern with the guest list. Was this a holiday party or a Valentines party? You found yourself glancing at Lisa who leaned over to give Henry a quick peck on the cheek before moving some chairs around. 

“They also made it official with us right after Thanksgiving.” Sal said, watching his dad and Lisa. “I’m really happy for them.” 

“Yeah, me and Sal have a master plan to make them get married so that we can be one big family.” Larry explained. “Total Parent Trap material.” 

“Seems more like an It Takes Two to me.” you offered up. 

“So Sal,” Larry said, looking around the party. “Why didn’t you tell me that this was a hook-up party? Looks like everyone brought a date but us.” 

Sal shrugged. “I didn’t really plan for it to be, looks like everyone just got together at once.” 

Larry suddenly slung his arm around your shoulder. “Well if that’s the case then I call dibs on this one.” 

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Do I get a say in this at all? Come on Larry, at least pretend to romance me.”

“You’re hot, lets date.” Larry replied, and you couldn’t help but fake a swoon. 

“I’m won over instantly. I’m changing all my relationship statuses to ‘taken’. You are clearly my soulmate.” The three of you couldn’t stop laughing. 

“Wait, that means I’m the only one here without a date at my own not-birthday party.” Sal suddenly realized. 

“Sounds like a bad song from the 50’s.” 

“At least I still have Gizmo?” Sal replied half-heartedly. 

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, dude.” Larry said looking over at Todd and Neil where Gizmo was enjoying the attention from the two of them. 

“He only loves you for your pets and food!” Sal called over to them in fake hurt. 

“Tough break, Sal.” you said. “But hes’ got the right idea. I’m also hungry and constantly wanting attention.”

“On it!” Larry said, removing his arm from around you and running off towards the kitchen. You were confused for a moment, looking at Sal questioningly. He just shrugged, and a moment later, Larry was back with a plate of food in one hand as his other draped back around your shoulder. 

“Food? Check. Attention? Check.” Larry said with a smile. “I’m totally nailing this boyfriend thing.”

You snorted. “Boyfriend already? It just seems like five minutes ago you asked me on our first date. Oh where has the time gone?” 

“It was more like three minutes ago.” Sal replied, stealing a cookie from the plate in Larry’s hand. You followed his lead and shoved one in your mouth as well. 

“Details, man, details.” 

As the night continued on, Larry didn’t let up on the whole ‘boyfriend’ act. It was a little confusing but you found yourself not completely minding the attention. He kept his arm around you, called you really stupid pet names and always made sure that there was food on your plate. You had to admit for a moment that it felt nice to have someone else putting in the effort for once. You were usually the one to pay attention to the little details, to move things forward, to think of things that you and a possible significant other to do together but to have someone do the same in return? It just felt nice. 

So nice that you continued playing along, and with you on board did Larry crank it up to eleven. It even started to feel more like a challenge- who could out-date the other one? He called you a pet name? You threw an over the top compliment back. Larry got you more food? You hand fed him from the plate. It was absolutely disgusting, and you were loving every minute of it. 

Of course, every relationship has its ups and downs. Larry complimented Sal on his ugly holiday sweater by calling it ‘the sexiest thing he’d ever seen’ and it was only logical that you faked offence and dumped him on the spot. Heartbroken, Larry had no choice but to try and rebound with Sal, who was having absolutely none of this nonsense. However, when you were done with your soda, you realized the error of your ways and begged him to take you back and also please get you another drink. 

Before the end of the night, you and Larry would have broken up 3 times, gotten engaged, called off a wedding, and had announced that you two were going to elope. It was all very stupid and very dramatic. 

But before that, it was time for the cake to be brought in. Lisa cut the lights and Henry walked in with a large cake with two candles that had 18 on them. 

“Happy birthday, Sal!” Henry said to his son, and Sal shook his head a bit. 

“Wow, what a surprise that I did not see coming. At all. I’m super surprised!” Sal said with a slight laugh in his voice. 

Larry was the first to start singing Happy Birthday, and it was only when everyone was done that everyone realized that maybe this wasn’t the most well thought-out plan. 

Sal, taking it in stride, took a deep breath and blew.

Of course, nothing happened as he was still wearing his prosthetic which blocked his mouth. 

“Oh, maybe we could-” started Lisa, when she was interrupted by a sudden change of music. The pleasant generic holiday songs suddenly swapped over to what you think was a heavy metal cover of Jingle Bell Rock. 

Larry jumped up and moved away starting to thrash his head back and forth. Sal took the moment of confusion to unstrap the bottom of his prosthetic and blow out the candles before strapping it back on. He was next to get up and run over to Larry and start headbanging. 

You suddenly remembered seeing Larry and Sal switch the tape earlier. You wondered if they planned on this during the cake or it if it was just a coincidence. It didn’t matter much though as Ashley and Chug also got up and joined the headbanging, Jamie was quick to follow. You looked over at Todd and Neil who shrugged, Todd setting his glasses carefully on the table and also joining in. 

There was no way that Lisa and Henry had intended a yuletide holiday mini-pit for Sal’s birthday, but there they were. It was quite the site to see all these high schoolers banging their heads in their ugly sweaters and Santa hats for three minutes straight. Lisa quickly pulled out a camera and took a snapshot of everyone which was bound to be blurry with all the movement but it was okay. 

At some point during the song your Santa hat flew off, but you didn’t care. The rush of adrenaline spending this moment with your friends was enough. When the song ended, it abruptly went back to the soothing holiday music from before. Larry and Sal were laughing hard and high fiving each other. 

“And how long had you been planning that?” asked Lisa. 

“Ab... about two days.” laughed Larry. 

“We didn’t plan on it happening during the cake, just kinda happened that way.” added Sal. “Couldn’t have picked a better time though.” 

“At least you guys didn’t knock anything over.” Henry said with an amused smile. “Was everyone in on it?” 

“Nope, just us. Having everyone join was just an added bonus.” Larry reached down and handed you back a Santa hat. You noticed that his had been flung off as well. 

Lisa cut the cake for everyone and Henry pulled out a gift for Sal- a vinyl copy of Sanitys Fall first single. You felt a little bad that you hadn’t brought anything for Sal, but considering no one else had known that this was a surprise party (well, except the birthday boy, ironically) it was okay. You mentally made a note to get him something or do something special for him later. 

Cake time was filled with small talk and a relaxed atmosphere. Larry fed you a bite of cake, but in typical fashion it looked like he was trying to shove half a slice in your mouth instead. It took you a good minute to finally chew it up, followed by a few huge gulps of your drink. The whole thing was dumb, but it was all in good fun. 

Once everyone had their fill of cake, Henry announced that it was movie time and everyone else wondered back to the sitting area. 

Larry sat next to you on the couch, his arm wrapping around your waist. Even though the night had been filled with playful teasing and flirting, there was something about having him so close in the dimly lit room that felt a little more... intimate. Every flirt and touch tonight had been something of a joke for everyone’s enjoyment, a good goof to make everyone else laugh. Not this though, in the light of the tv that Henry was setting up, it was a gesture for just the two of you. 

Your hips were pressed against Larry’s, and his arm was around your waist and it felt like something a real couple should be doing. You looked around to confirm it; Chug had his arm around Maples shoulders on the other side of the room and Todd was holding hands with Neil. Your heart was starting to beat faster and you felt your face heating up, suddenly glad that it was dark in the apartment. 

This really wasn’t like you, to get so flustered. You were used to being in control of situations like this, but Larry had suddenly thrown you off your game. He had created a tension between you two and you could tell that he was feeling it too, whatever it was. 

The best way to take back the situation, you decided, was to just lean into it. Enjoy the attention from your (admittedly) attractive friend and for the next 45 minutes, just pretend that this on-going gag between the two of you was real. Maybe it’d even distract you from your lingering feelings for-

Sal plopped next to you on the couch. Ah, yes, of course, why would anything be easy? Nope, you were going to ignore the blue haired boy next to you and watch this cheesy holiday special, and not think about how last week he held you while you cried. 

Ah, fuck. This was gonna be a very long hour, wasn’t it? 

The first few minutes were a slog to get through, as you mind wouldn’t let you focus on anything but the two boys who you were sitting between. It got easier as the plot picked up though, soon you found yourself able to focus all of your attention to the television. At least until you felt something heavy press against your shoulder. 

Prosthetic slightly askew, the side of Sal’s head was pressing limply against you. Sal was completely conked out against your shoulder and you had no idea what to do. As much as you had joked about wanting to be between these two boys, this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind. 

You glanced at Larry, hoping that he could help you out, but he was engrossed in the movie, not paying any attention to the fact that his best friend had fallen asleep on his fake-girlfriend. Looking at Sal, you considered nudging him awake, but remembering how hard it was for him to fall asleep most nights anyway stopped you. Who were you to prevent him from getting some much needed sleep? He was probably still messed up from some of the all-nighters during testing. 

The thumping in your chest felt so loud as if everyone should be able to hear it. Even worse, you couldn’t tell if your heart was pounding for Sal or Larry. You still liked Sal, that much was true. Getting over Sal was a slow process, some days you’d be okay with just his friendship but some days you still found yourself daydreaming about being more. Shutting down those feelings were never easy, but they were necessary. 

With Larry it was always an easy friendship, and you had to admit that you found the greasy stoner look more attractive than you should have. Plus the attention he had been giving you all night had been so nice. 

What did that really mean? Yes, the attention was nice but was it nice because it came from Larry or would you be feeling this way about anyone who paid attention to you right now? You tried to imagine someone else in Larry’s place. Chug? It didn’t feel right with Chug but that felt more because you didn’t feel comfortable daydreaming about anyone with a significant other. 

Damn, that was almost everyone in your friend group by this point. Why did this have to be so confusing? On top of all that, you didn’t even know what was going through Larry’s head right now. As far as you knew, this was still just part of the joke and you were now the punchline. 

Something warm snapped you back into reality, making your head spin. Larry’s thumb was rubbing small circles on your hip idly, sending small sparks up your spine. Now he was just playing dirty at a game you weren’t sure you knew all the rules to. 

Between the two boys who you found very attractive it was starting to get very warm in more ways than you wanted to admit. You were going to need a long shower after this, and you weren’t sure if it was going to be a warm or cold one at this point. 

Your mind continued to wrestle with itself for the rest of the movie until the end credits rolled. Larry got up without a beat and announced that he needed to use the bathroom, leaving you to deal with the still passed out birthday boy on your shoulder. A few months ago you would have been thrilled to be his pillow and let him sleep for as long as he wanted, but now it felt wrong to have him so close. 

“Sal, you’re drooling on me.” You said quietly, nudging him awake. Sal sat up, taking a moment to remember what was going on before adjusting his prosthetic. 

“Ah, sorry about that.” he said. 

“No worried, I’m gonna go help Lisa and Henry clean up.” you told him before quickly moving to the kitchen where the two adults were putting away food and taking down some of the decorations that you had lent. 

“Thanks again for the decorations and helping set up.” Henry said before waving goodbye to Chug and Maple who were headed out. 

“It’s no problem. Like I said, my parents love the holidays. Half this stuff wasn’t gonna get put up at our place anyway. 

As the rest of the guests filled out it was just you, the boys, and the adults left to clean up the party. It was quiet, but not uncomfortably so between the five of you. You were looking forward to going back to your place and having some quiet time away from boys. 

“I think that’s the last of your decorations.” Lisa said, setting the box on the counter. “Lar-bear we’re almost done here. Why don’t you help her carry those back to her apartment then you’re free to go.”

So much for having some time alone to think. You were about to protest and say that you could handle taking it back on your own, but Larry was already lifting the box. 

“Great party, Sally Face.” Larry said, giving his best friend a fist bump. 

“Glad you two could make it.” Sal replied, before leaning in and giving you a quick hug. 

These boys were so good at playing dirty it wasn’t even funny. 

“Thanks for the invite. See you all later!” you said with a smile and followed Larry out into the hallway. There was an awkward tension between the two of you still, he hadn’t said much to you since the beginning of the movie, and as much as you wanted to ask him about his arm around your waist earlier, you were worried that bringing it up would make things worse. 

“So where’d you find that Jingle Bell Rock cover?” you asked, trying to change the mood as you two got into the elevator. 

“I found the tape while looking through my dad’s old music collection.” Larry replied. “I was wondering why he had a tape of generic holiday music and just stumbled onto it.” 

“Ah, I see.” You wanted to smack your head. Way to accidentally bring up his disappeared dad. Good job. The awkward tension returned to full force for those few long moments between exiting the elevator and entering your apartment. You flipped on your light switch and the apartment lit up like a Christmas tree. In fact it lit up the actual Christmas tree in the middle of your living room, along with strings of lights all over the apartment. 

“What the fuck...?” Larry started.

“I know.”

“I knew your parents were into-”

“I know.”

“You weren’t kidding at all.”

“I knooooow.”

“Actually I think you downplayed it.”

“Yes Larry, as I have stated, I know.”

Larry set down the box of decorations next to the door and invited himself in to look around. The whole living room looked like something out of a Hallmark movie, with silver and gold decorations all over the place. Snowflakes were plastered over the walls, garland was draped over every window, and along the wall hanging over the tv were three hand-decorated stockings, each carefully customized for you and your parents. Larry was looking over them with a slightly confused expression. 

“It’s a tradition for my family.” you explained. “We’ve used the same stockings every year since I was born. Each year we get to pick a pin or a decoration or something to add on to the stocking that we feel defines our year. The only rule is that we have to keep it winter themed, so it can get pretty abstract.”

“That’s... kinda fuckin’ neat.” Larry said, looking over your stocking. “Care to share with the class?” 

You looked over the stocking and pointed to a very small present box that was hot glued on. “Okay, so I added that when I was about fifteen right? So when I was a kid I was a total space cadet and had a lot of trouble making and keeping friends because I was very introverted.”

“You? Introverted?” Larry said with a surprised tone. 

“We moved around a lot.” You shrugged. “I guess I got used to being by myself to the point where I stopped making an effort. But anyway, this was the year I moved here and met you and Sal and Ash. Between the three of you, I felt more grounded. Plus my parents promised that this was the last time we were moving so anyway, long story short, I glued that gift box on my stocking because I felt more... present.”

“That was terrible but also so fucking adorable I don’t even think I can be mad at it.” Larry said with a straight face. 

You shrugged. “You guys are the best friends I’ve ever had.” 

Larry moved away from the stockings and looked around the decorations more. You were more than happy to point out which ones held the most sentimental value and which were bargain bin decorations that your parents just had to have. 

“And what’s with the frog?” He asked suddenly, pointing up at a stuffed frog hanging above your head. It was green with a santa hat with thick red lips. Your heart suddenly sped up to sonic speeds as you realized where you two were standing. 

“It’s not a frog.” you said quietly. 

“I think I know a frog when I see one.” 

“It’s a toad.”

“What’s the diff-”

“A mistle-toad.”

Larry let out a groan at the pun. “Do all of your decorations have a terrible pun attached to them?”

“I don’t wanna hear that from you.” You laughed. “You’re like the king of terrible puns.” 

“Yeah but I don’t deserve this kind of punishment.”

“...Pun-ishment.” 

“Don’t start.” 

“I swear it was pun-intentional.” you continued. 

“Oh my god, shut up.”

“Make me.”

There are fewer words known to up any sexual tension between two people than the combination of ‘shut up’ followed by ‘make me’. Those two phrases alone can change the course of an entire relationship between two people. 

“Okay.” 

What?

Larry reached out and placed a hand on your lower back, pulling you closer to him. He stopped for a moment, as if to give you a chance to pull away or make any indication that you didn’t want what was about to happen to happen. You found yourself unable to move any way but forward into your friend, which he took as a sign to go ahead. 

‘He has enough nose for both him and Sal.’ you found yourself thinking.

His lips were warm and slightly chapped against yours but it was far from unpleasant. Warmth spread throughout your body and in the back of your head a small voice said that tonight's shower was gonna be a cold one. Your hands found his hips and you felt the cold metal of his wallet chain against your warm hands for a moment. The kiss was in a weird limbo where though it was more chaste, there was a hint of wanting more from both sides. 

You were about to give into the side of you that wanted more when Larry pulled back, his cheeks a bit red. 

“I gotta admit, I’ve kinda wanted to do that all night.” he said quietly, taking you by surprise. 

“Do... you like me?” you asked, hands still on his hips. 

“I don’t know.” he admitted. “I mean, you’re really funny and easy to talk to and you look really hot tonight. I’m gonna be completely honest, I’m definitely thinking with my dick right now more than anything.”

You found yourself smiling up at him, feeling a little relieved. If Larry had admitted to having any feelings for you right then, you weren’t sure if you could handle it, but if your close attractive friend was just wanting to kiss you, that was okay, right?

He took a step back. “I’m sorry. That was probably a bad idea. I know you’re still dealing with the whole Sally Face thing and this isn’t helping-” 

“Larry, do you wanna make-out?” you asked. He looked at you in surprise and you gave him a small smirk. “Best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, right?” 

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna complicate our friendship or make anything weird between us.”

“I won’t catch feelings if you don’t.” you said, lowering your voice a little. 

He stared at you for a moment before grabbing your hand and dragging you over to the couch. “Oh fuck yes.” were the last words he said before pulling you into another kiss.     

Next Chapter

Author Note: Sal x Reader is still end game. 

#sally face x reader #sal fisher x reader #sal fisher #sally face #cbu #nacht fic

[the-sanders-sides]

inidan american (desi) logan

a sequel to this post because people asked for more and i decided that they shall receive (and also i love writing these)

fair warning, logans a bitter kid, and this isnt as positive and happy as romans post. ive experienced two different ways of being desi, one where i lived in fully asian and indian community and didnt even think id ever feel alone, and another where i moved to a place where i havent met another desi in like 7 years of living here in a 3 hour driving radius. in romans post i played into my first experience and how at home i felt. in the second experience, the one im in right now, i am much more bitter about who i am and not really knowing anyone who gets it anymore. so i play into that A LOT in this. so keep that in mind. (and he will get happier in a future part. m planning on making this into a series)

ok so first off. his name is logan sanders. people (mostly other indians) dont believe him when he tells them. he tells them they dont know indian history. they say they do. he tells them that the british fucked around (quite literally) in india for four centuries so of course english names would stick with that precise wording

sometimes when he’s annoyed enough and doesnt want to explain this for the millionth he defends himself with this russel peters skit (watch it, it’s hilarious) because it describes his family. to a T. 

he grew up in a community with not very many asians, and knew no indians outside his family so he felt a sort of disconnect to his culture

while his grandparents and parents would teach him about indian culture, he felt so distant from it since he knew no one outside his family who was indian, and since he didnt have any siblings or any nearby cousins to hang around with

he had visited india once but he was too young to remember it properly or too remember his cousins

the closest mandir was an hour away so that also limited the amount of indian kids/people he knew

he barely knew hindi because everyone in his family spoke english, especially in public

he felt guilty over the disconnect he felt and would always try to bridge it but would never accomplish this because it he kept losing passion since he rarely saw other people like him in the real world and in the media and he didnt see the point of trying

this all changed in eight grade when he moved next door to the Kumar family in a north indian street of some south asian blocks in an asian community

when his family first moved, the Kumar family invited the Sanders over to welcome them

it turns out the Kumar’s had a son who was the same age as logan

“hi logan! im rohan kumar! but i like going by roman instead of rohan!” 

this introduction pissed logan off 

he was seething because why would this kid who got to have an indian first AND last name change his name to an english one! why didnt he see the value of his name!

he knew right away that such a difference meant they could never be friends 

“im logan sanders, but thats all youll get to know about me because i see no use associating myself with someone as... well, ignorant, as you”

roman decides to whip out one of the swears his cousins taught him and whisper shouts “who are you calling ignorant, bhenchod?” 

 it became clear to him that this was new turf, and people on this new turf must be speaking hindi. and that he was the ignorant one if he couldnt talk in hindi. he made a vow to learn it as fast as he could to make sure this roman kid wasnt better than him

but, logan grits his teeth and says “you, and i know it must be true because you were too dumb to understand me the first time”

this evidently struck a sore spot in roman because he didnt fight back but just stalked away. logan smiled slightly, happy to have won that argument

logan asks his grandpa to teach him hindi and his grandpa gets super excited

they start lessons immediately and despite barely hearing it growing up, it’s as if his brain was made for this because he picks the language up amazingly fast and in a months time, while not able to speak back yet, he can understand most casual conversation

his first diwali in basically little india is the most magical thing ever

diwali at his old home was very quiet because there wasnt anyone around to celebrate with

everyone is so happy in this new home however. everyone is dressed up and all the houses are lit up and there are diyas everywhere and he doesnt want to admit it but the kumar’s have the best rangoli on the street and it’s because of roman and he knows roman did it because sometimes he’d stare out of his bedroom window while doing homework and have a perfect view of roman delicately working on it for two weeks

(the kumar’s front porch had been covered with tarp waiting for diwali to make sure romans precious rangoli wasnt stepped on or ruined. when it’s finally let up, everywhere where there could be art, there is. it’s insane how good at colors roman is, logan thinks)

diwali morning: 

he fights his parents because he doesnt want to miss school for diwali because americans dont have a day off for it. his parents set the clocks in the house ahead to make him think he overslept so he would skip school. (logan didnt know that his parents had submitted an excused absence form for religious reasons and that the school was very understanding. he thought it would be like his old school where he wouldnteven bother trying since he wasnt christain and the school was lkinda discriminatory)

they spend the morning in mandir and it’s nice. for once he doesnt feel different from his peers because he goes to mandir and not church or synagogue. he feels at home.

diwali afternoon:

the afternoon is spent with frantic cleaning and cooking and digging around for the diya’s that were still in boxes, packed away from when they moved

logan offered to find them all to continue with a diya science experiment he started two years prior. his theory was that the diya’s were multiplying and there were more each year despite no one buying anymore

this held true, because even though he could only find half of their diya collection, it was somehow more than the entire diya collection of two years prior. 

diwali evening:

theres a big potluck and everyone in the neighborhood is out talking to each other, looking at the decorations at everyones houses, eating samosas, and playing with sparklers. 

logan feels content

he makes a new resolve to learn more about hinduism. if this is what ti was supposed to be, then he never wanted to be away from hinduism. 

he looked at the metaphors and symbolism in everything and finally understood what his dad meant he told logan that hinduism is just science written in poetry and that string theory is written in the ancient texts

middle school in this new town is so much better than middle school in his old home. why?

a. doesnt get bullied for being a nerd

b. doesnt get called gay slurs 

c. the classes are harder 

d. much less racism

e. all of the above

soon enough, logans asking his grandpa to teach him how to cook Indian food

Logan spends the day burning dosas and making lopsided rotis

(eventually he gets the hang of it, and a he'll be cooking food for an infuriating Indian boy ;) ;) psst it's roman)

Speaking of boys

Coming out isn't an option for logan

He knows that his parents arent really religious enough to really look into hinduism and see that no, gays are not bad

But they are traditional and conservative enough to be homophobic

not homophobic as in spewing hate with the westboro baptist church at a pride parade

But homophobic as in "the gays are fine as long as they don't do it in front of me" kinda thing

So Logan stays quiet

the closet kinda sucks but i mean what can he do

it’s safer inside, and he as illogical as wishing is, he wishes that people would use their brains and realize there’s nothing wrong with gay

anyway

in school logan makes his first desi friend, who was dubbed as anxiety years ago and cant seem to get rid of the nickname and now has a whole complex about his name so logan doesnt know his name

logan and anxiety meet in the school library: logan studying and anxiety hiding

people dont like anxiety

especially non-indian kids

surprise surprise it’s an old buddy called racism, but anxiety’s story is for another time

(but even though no one really likes anxiety, whenever racist shit goes down, it has to go through roman)

so logan and anxiety become fast friends

and they make fun of roman (a+ bonding)

logan claims that roman is a hypocrite for changing his name to an english one while being so immersed in indian culture

anxiety doesnt dispute this, but says he has a past with roman

a past that involved getting stuck with the name anxiety

again, another story for another time

one day, when logan and anxiety are eating lunch they see roman destroy some homophobes who throw around the word f*g and keep calling caitlyn jenner, bruce jenner

logans chest surges

he’s all like “what?? emotions?? pride at roman?? is he better than me for being so open and standing up for what he believes in??”

gay panic basically

but logan masked it well and pushed it away

the next day roman comes to school with a pride patch on his jean jacket

logan feels like he cant breathe

logan is supremely jealous of roman.

he can be gay in peace

he can pretend not to be indian in a way that benefits him

and he’s not affected by stereotypes in the same way?? like what does this kid not have

and by stereotypes i mean

roman is the complete opposite of all indian and desi stereotypes: loud, flamboyant, theatrical

logan’s personality is exactly how the stereotypes are. he’s nerdy and likes science and math and it seems like he cant escape the stereotypes. they follow him. and he feels guilty that he likes science and math and is nerdy. 

as illogical as it is, he wishes he was different from how he is

but logan later learns that there are more than just his perspective on being desi and that every desi kid growing up faces challenges about it that are different than his, causing them to experience being desi differently

and logan will accept that, in another story at another time

for now, he’s just bitter. and as illogical as it is, he wishes the world was better

and now, i shall tag some people who asked to be tagged and some other desi’s who loved this because i feel like you guys might appreciate this too. also i love u. desi famders squad up.

@sssixeyedrunt @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @caterpiller-tea @xxxbladeangelxxx @snufflesthegrim227 @cloudchaser7 @thelowlysatsuma 

#logan sanders #logince #virgil sanders #roman sanders #desi #desi headcanons #sanders sides #mine #please love this #r #l #v

[hogsteeth-archive]

alright then i answered one of them oc questions things for both versions of ira bc like. why wouldnt i. first answer is 1976 58y/o rhodesian ira, second answer is 201x 16y/o houstonian ira. i just wanted to figure out how different they really are. questions from here. if readmores still dont work on mobile im sorry lmao

what are some things they have strong opinions about?

he has sort of a cioranian attitude to the value of life, like, hes one of them “theres always reason to kill a man, theres no way to justify his living” types. he doesnt believe in nationalism per se but he does believe in war, hes literally a mercenary, and hed probably get along just fine with someone like mike hoare, but hes not one for unnecessary cruelty. hes kind to who he considers innocent. if he was alive today i can see him getting grouped w/ like, anti-natalists, right-wing “primitivists,” people who browse /fo/, people who think theyll thrive in the post-apocalypse even though they cant even spin yarn, people who dont understand fallout, you know, those types, but i like to think his attitude wrt civ is closer to perlmans or, well, mine. its a good thing he doesnt live in internet times. he thinks technology makes people complacent and weak and hes fallen into the trap of the “noble savage” myth; sign of the times. he could just as easily live off the grid in like, alberta, but he chose to stay in southern africa bc of his colonial attitudes & fetishization of the “less developed.” (sidenote, if youre like, new here n reading this for some reason, yea i write like really really bad characters were talking irredeemably evil here, just like, know that im aware of that.) also he detests hippies for both bad and good reasons ⸻ not much, really, hes an opportunist, a hedonist, hes selfish, goes w/ the flow. he thinks denying yourself pleasure for no reason is microfascism — not in those words — and while he doesnt think that selfishness leads to a bettering of overall society, hes no randian, he feels justified in what he does. hes uh, a mercenary in spirit and ive always intended to have him join the marines n later work for a pmc but were nowhere near there yet

what traits do they like in other people? what traits do they not like?

he likes people (men, that is) that are exactly like him. he likes Narrator bc hes just as quiet, as patient, as stubborn, as antisocial (using that the right way here, i like, know about psychology), as violent, as old-timey-ly masculine as he is. he can tolerate clade (his former accountant) bc she keeps to herself and shes loyal to a fault, but he doesnt go out of his way to like, actually talk to her. he likes will bc he reminds him of what he was like as a child living with his matabele mother. ⸻ he hates everything he perceives as weakness, but hes not all that open about that, i think hes not even 100% aware thats what it is. he needs to be talked back to. he lacks compassion, doesnt know how to deal w/ anyone whos less resilient and abrasive than himself.

do they have a significant other? if so, who?

i mean, theres Narrator — thats kinda what this whole thing is about. but theyll never think of each other that way. its complicated. theyre uh… closer to being marlow and kurtz than to being boyfriends. idk how to explain it. its bad. ⸻ hes fake-dating millah for appearances and secretly seeing jack, im not sure about the details either so im not getting into that, but hes eventually gonna meet will; ive written their first encounter like ten different ways and i still dont really know what i wanna do w/ them........ also Complicated

whats their friend group like? what role do they play (leader, mom friend, etc.)?

he lives in a hut he built w/ his bare hands on the edge of the kalahari. his friends are one horse and one vaalboskat. ⸻ he uses his friends but they use him too. hes reasonably popular bc hes athletic n wealthy, but i think the only one of his friends who really truly sees thru his act is millah, and bc he doesnt take her seriously as a threat, she has more control over him than he realizes.

do they care about their physical appearance? whats their routine like?

nah ⸻ not really. he showers too often and his hairs kinda dry but other than that hes like. Normal. idk i dont care about these things

do they have any physical or mental disabilities?

i dont think so ⸻ he has adhd

what would they die for? kill for?

oh hes not picky. he joined the military at 17, hes made peace w/ the prospect of dying. hes been more uncomfortable w/ the thought of growing old, actually. and again, hes literally a mercenary. not a big deal to him. ⸻ i dont think hes selfless enough to die for anyone. hed kill to protect the people he cares about, but thats more just bc hes possessive. im sure thats gonna come up eventually. i cant really write shit w/o weaving murder in somewhere.

do they have any magical powers or abilities? if its a realistic world, what religion do they follow?

absolutely the fuck not i hate magic. hes not religious, actually feels a little intimidated by religion. in one version of his story he spends his 50s on east nusa tenggara where he doesnt live far from a church, and he makes peace w/ the concept of god thanks to the influence of catholic-raised Narrator, but i doubt hell ever actually step foot into a church, or temple, or mosque, or what-have-you. hes internalized some things during his upbringing though that he doesnt classify as religious. little superstitions. he likes to keep objects that may be used for divination around his house, but he never touches them. ⸻ not religious, but if he had to pick, like to pretend, hed say baptist.

do they celebrate any holidays? how do they celebrate?

nah ⸻ like, the regular american ones. hell welcome any excuse to drink and to socialize, and id say his favorite holiday is the 4th of july, really just bc he likes warm weather and theres not a lot else you can celebrate in the middle of summer. hes not attached to the significance of any holidays. hes not crazy about christmas but he likes his family well enough and hell go along w/ it all, just to have sth to do. hes not good w/ time off.

if they were the protagonist in any book series, what series would they choose? alternatively: what would be their favorite book?

he doesnt really read but hed feel right at home inside heart of darkness or maybe the thin red line. or maybe sth by mccarthy ⸻ hes 16 he hasnt read jack shit. i wanna say deleuze would probably resonate w/ him bc hes a total self-insert but i really dont know. i try to keep the intertextuality way low bc i hate that shit in most fiction, so like, i try not to think too much about other books here

do they have any vices?

uh he drinks and he occasionally smokes opium but compared to most of my characters hes pretty okay wrt that ⸻ yea like… all of them. already said hes a hedonist make of that what u will

do they play any instruments?

nope ⸻ violin but he hasnt been practicing a lot lately

what would their favorite ride at an amusement park be?

hes never been to one ⸻ i feel like hed be into sth really lame… like you know that video by jenny nicholson, top ten lame things to do at disney world? sth like that. like hed go just to get a specific food item or to admire the infrastructure

what animal would they say best represents them?

hyena 100%. the spotted kind. id say tortoise also but hed find that insulting ⸻ id say hyena but hed be reluctant to answer that bc hes a Youth and he knows what a furry is

how do they act when theyre drunk?

vulnerable. little more talkative. he talks to himself (or the cat, rather) sometimes ⸻ more abrasive/tactless/impulsive. he talks w/ his whole body and feels like moving/running bc, again, self-insert

which era of history would they most like to live in?

the old west, like early to mid-19th century, maybe late 18th. that or like the really olden days, like mid-paleolithic ⸻ idk maybe like ten or twenty years earlier. i think he fits the 21st century pretty well. hes a curious person though and if he had a time machine hed go Everywhere at least once

whats their favorite food?

ah thats. complicated actually i have a whole list of foods that remind me of Narrator but ive never gotten around to making one for ira. hm. he likes poultry, like ostrich. white fish. dry/salty foods. sour fruit. breadfruit. fatty dark meats, blood sausage. hes not picky though, hell live on pap and water if he has to. ⸻ i genuinely dont know. im not used to the contemporary western setting yet like… pop tarts exist in the same world as he does and im not comfortable w/ that yet. like, branded food articles wrapped in plastic. thats so weird to me. i guess he likes (american) pizza w/ greens on it, like spinach? and seafood. sour candies, maybe, i dont think he has much of a sweet tooth. he puts salt n butter on potatoes and cottage cheese on pancakes.

what songs remind you of them?

conveniently theres a whole playlist rite here

whats their favorite season and why?

dry season. he doesnt like cloudy/foggy weather bc it makes him feel trapped when he cant see as far. ⸻ summer. i honest to god think people liking cold weather is a conspiracy like im not sure thats even biologically possible. like summer is the obvious answer here

which d&d class would they play as?

nah we dont do nerd shit round these parts

whats their favorite expletive?

he like, barely talks ⸻ nothin weird thats for sure, we campaign for simple straight-forward language in this house. having a Favorite is inherently at odds w/ that. bad question

whats their favorite candle scent?

no scented candles in the desert ⸻ sth fruity but not sweet, like mixed berries, sth red or purple

how do they feel about death?

he doesnt ⸻ hed feel cheated by life if he died young. he has a lot to see and do and itd like, bum him out not to get to do that but hes not afraid of death

do they collect anything? whats their most prized possession?

he lives pretty austerely but he does keep little rocks and gems and bones and pieces of wood n such. also coins from all the countries hes been to bc hes a simple old man. i wanna say his most prized possession is his hogs tooth bc he does value the marines a lot still. its where he first met Narrator :-) ⸻ he really appreciates gifts people give him, things that remind him of people. jack carved him an eagle once

do they play any sports?

no ⸻ nothing too organized. i dont think hes on any school teams bc idk if he has the time but that might change. he does run/hunt/fish/shoot

what one place do they really want to visit and why?

he likes deserts, wide open spaces. hes been to the kalahari n namib but not the gobi/sahara/simpson etc, so, those. no ice deserts though those scare him ⸻ polynesia/southeast asia, just tropical places in general. bc theyre nice what do you want me to tell you. tropics good

what languages do they speak?

northern ndebele, afrikaans, english (w/ various influences), some vietnamese ⸻ english, some cajun french, some spanish

what are some items they always carry? what weapon do they favor using if they exist in a world where weapons are necessary?

hes got his fal obviously and he does always carry a knife, just to be safe. more out of habit than actual necessity (not to imply rural areas were safe in the late 70s, but he lives in the literal wilderness, hes not much of a target. stays away from roads and all that.) ⸻ man hes really not as classy as i want him to be :/ he probably has like, a glock 17 w/ ten thousand pointless modifications n some uglyass stipling pattern. hes a little bit paranoid + irresponsible n carries all kinds of shit he doesnt need, mostly way too much cash

which emoji would they use the most?

no ⸻ he doesnt have a phone, hell maybe use a burner if he has to. this is an anti-phone household

what fantasy race would they be? if they already are one, pick a different one.

absolutely not

do they want to start a family? if they already have one, describe it.

no ⸻ no

what stereotypical high school clique would they fit into?

hed swing between the jrotc kids n the stoners honestly, but still mostly keep to himself ⸻ hes like, too much of a jock for the Delinquents, too much of a Delinquent for the jocks. hes really only popular bc hes rich-ish n blessed w/ good looks, and by association w/ millah

whats one thing that they dont need do they waste the most money on?

he doesnt ⸻ everything. hes really wasteful. he buys more food than he can eat, clothes he never wears, etc etc, hes terrible

what kind of shoes do they wear?

combat boots or just traditional sandals. the terrain around his house is mostly grass and flat boulders so he goes barefoot a lot ⸻ regular tennis shoes, nothin too fashionable bc he cant be bothered to keep up w/ trends, but usually clean n new. hiking boots when hes not w/ his regular friend group

do they believe in ghosts, aliens, and the occult in general?

really dont like how aliens are always grouped in w/ esoteric shit bc like, thats like asking if you believe in atoms honestly. no shit “aliens” exist thats like not up for debate. both iræ would agree w/ me here. 70s ira doesnt believe in like, Ghosts per se, but he has some vague concept of spirits that he got from his mother. he sees/feels them when hes half asleep. ⸻ 2010s ira doesnt believe in jack shit

which deadly sin do they most correspond to? which heavenly virtue?

nooo cardinal sins dont work that way theyre not hogwarts houses. its so much more complicated than that thats impossible

if you had to choose one tarot card to represent them, what would it be?

hmmm four of swords? knight of coins? eight of cups? this is hard ⸻ seven of swords? nine of cups? the devil? i dont know

what do they consider to be their best quality? what actually is their best quality?

his strength, which is really just his callousness and lack of convictions. and uh. i guess his independence ⸻ same here for the first part. and. maybe his loyalty? i dont consider loyalty a good thing personally idk

what do they consider to be their worst quality? what actually is their worst quality?

his lack of social skills maybe? he doesnt need them too often of course but like, the first time Narrator showed up at his doorstep he was genuinely nervous and that did fill him w/ some semblance of shame and in his eyes he should be good at everything, so like. that. really its his lack of conviction and his timidness/avoidance of the world ⸻ his dependence on others/lack of discipline. really its his lack of compassion, like, obviously

#ira #ricky pwease come online

[pennysweetsandpopcorn-blog]

ALL the emojis

mvW H A T

🚢:   does the idea of the sea provide you with a feeling of comfort or worry? Not something I’ve really thought about much but if I’m looking at it on land it’s pretty comforting. When I get on a boat I have that quick thought of this could sink and I can’t swim but it passes so on the water slight worry. 

🎡:   @ seven of your fave mutuals that you'd love to go to a fair with@statistical-cats @mistomyru @nirvanaisclose (mention on the other blog friendo ~@elsie0mk @all-alone-in-the-moonlight @mvngojerrie @pastel--sparkle Thats a good looking crew right there. 

🎢:   what's the best ride you've ever been on?Valhalla at Blackpool pleasure beach. A mega viking themed log flume ride. But I’m not a fan of roller coasters. 

🎠:   if you had to describe your aesthetic, what would you describe it as?Tired, musical, creative and with a hint of a coffee smell. 

🏗:   what's your preferred method of dealing with stress?I vent to those closest then watch something I love and I’m good again.

🌁:   what's your idea of horribleness?Putting someone down when they are passionate about something. Seriously there is nothing better to see than someones face light up when they talk about what they’re passionate about why would you want to destroy that??

🗼:   what's one thing you've learned to take as a warning sign in any type of relationship?When they start inviting someone else to come around when you’ve arranged to hang out with them. Like no this was our time to be together don’t bring your friend. (Yes experience talking.)

🏭:   would you consider yourself short tempered or even tempered?I can be pretty short tempered but working in retail has helped me develop the rage voice within until I can safely rage. 

⛲️:   what's your ideal dream date?Yo Sushi, theatre then home to play some video games. 

🎑:   city apartment or country house?Country house. Cities make me very nervous. I hate crowds and love being able to relax outside. 

⛰:   if you could go on a road trip with just one of your faves who would it be?Probably @nirvanaisclose they deserve an awesome road trip man. 

🏔:   long drives or long walks?Drives. I love it when I get to hang out with my friend in her car and we’re busting out soundtracks and disney songs. 

🗻:   what are your favourite genres of music?Apart from musicals? Classic rock, specifically The Beatles (though one of my favourite albums is the 3 disc hippie music compilation Magic Bus) and I love cheesy music from the 80s and 90s. 

🌋:   what's something that pisses you off as soon as you hear even a mention of it?Yoko Ono. Don;t get me started. Also...The terrible editing of the Cats video. I can go for hours. 

🗾:   a lone soldier? a social butterfly? or both?I am way too socially awkward to be a social butterfly. Don’t get me wrong I love sharing interests with others but I have practically no self esteem so I have to be approached I will hardly ever strike up a conversation. I tend to think nobody would be interested in what I have to say or laugh or think I’m a loser. (High school sucked.)

🏕:   if you were asked to go on a camping trip with whoever you want, would you?Yes! I love camping! I was part of the girl guides and the camp trips were the best. 

⛺️:   does being without wifi actually worry you?Kinda. My friends live so far away, some overseas and I wouldn’t be able to talk to them and that would upset me a lot. 

🏞:   what are your top six essentials you must carry with you at all times?So always in my handbag are: Purse, glasses, chewing gum, hand lotion, hand sanitizer and a pen.

🌅:   are you a morning bird or a night owl?Night owl. 

🌄:   are you a planner or a improviser?It depends. If it’s something that requires money or a costume (thinking conventions) I will plan that down to the last detail. But if it’s just hanging out with friends I’ll just make sure I have enough money and go with the flow. 

🏜:   if deserted, what's one thing you'd want to be with you more than anything?Depends where I’m deserted. Somewhere with electricity laptop or phone. Even if theres no internet I have my music and I can write. If it’s like a desert island somewhere idk a boat?

🏖:   do you believe in mermaids?The sea is so vast and so much is unexplored I wouldn’t be shocked if there were merpeople down there hidden. 

🏝:   how do you feel about islands?The only one I have to go on is the UK and it’s pretty cool. It doesn’t take a long time to get to the seaside or countryside for relaxation but I can easily get to cities should I need to. 

🌇:   what are your thoughts on 'city life'?I couldn’t handle it if it was a large city. Like I said earlier I cannot stand large crowds. I get panicky and need to leave as soon as possible. Thats why I hate shopping. 

🌆:   do you get homesick easily?I used to. So badly. But since I’ve been to university I’m much better. 

🏙:   what's the capital city of the country you're from?London. 

🌃:   how does politics make you feel?I tend to stay out of it. People lose their minds over it and it’s not worth losing friends over. However I can have general and brief debates. 

🌉:   in your opinion, what's the biggest obstacle one can face?Yourself. 

🌌:   how do you feel about god?I don’t believe in them but if you do thats cool too. I am baptised and used to be in the church choir but I stopped attending at about 14 years old. 

🌠:   if you were allowed three wishes, what would they be?To always have enough money at any time for anything (think about the good you could do with that), friends and family are happy, to go back a few years to be able to spend time with my Grandad one last time. 

🎇:   if you could create a day to be celebrated e.g. christmas or eid, what would it be and what would it be celebrating?I’d just make a do nothing day. However it would a a festival that lasted a few days so that emergency services would be able to take part in at least one day without endangering anyone. 

🎆:   do you admire spontaneity or does it annoy you?I think it’s creative and makes things much more interesting. I love it when things are mixed up. 

🌈:   what are your thoughts on 'love'?The word is tossed about a little too freely. Be careful with who you tell you love because it only takes on time for someone to throw the sentiment away like it’s nothing to make it difficult for you to say it again. 

🏘:   if you could, would you change your upbringing?No. It was fine. Just average but I’m very close with my family and I didn’t go without. 

🏰:   to you, what's the most magical place on earth?This might sound weird but the city of Liverpool, more specifically when I’m on the docks. I love it so much when I’m there I can just let go and relax. 

🏯:   if you could move to any country of your choice, which would it be?If it had to be somewhere other than the UK, maybe Germany or Denmark.

🏟:   if you could erase one person from your memory, would you?Can’t I erase the group at school that made my life hell and made me hate myself?

🗽:   who's your role model? or what qualities do you think are looking-up-to worthy?The closest I have to a role model is my older sister. I always wanted to do what she did. It’s a little sad. 

Thanks for asking!

[kittensdyke]

fuckin sundays

#god im so mad about everything and now that my boss heard me complain shes tryna bffsies me and like. just give me fucking ok hours girl #im autistic and suicidal babes xoxo #pauline gets 3 days in a row off!! like every other week!! im boutta fuckin kms!! #and then theres church and do i spend enough time with my family or anyone i care abt?? no im so apathetic towards shit im tired i dont want #to be around people im autistic dude

[jess-oh]

7.22.18

Today was honestly such a great day. I'm gonna be honest but I've been struggling with my body image a lot recently and my sexuality and ive been exploring that more and have been taking a lot of sexually explicit or provocative pictures and I want to keep them but the fear of someone seeing my phone and the shame that that would bring always makes me immediately delete them. Ive been exploring showing underboob, shots from underneath with just a thong on or a crop top with no bra so you can see my boobs underneath and how "naughty" and "sexy" they are. Ive been reading a lot of articles on the best angles, poses, and pictures to send your loved one and tried them out. I found wearing my stiletto heals made everything 10x sexier. Ive been looking into erect nipples, orgasms, being turned on, and even going so far as to ask some of my friends for their favorite physical features that turn them on sexually. Im so glad they weren't weirded about my question. It was actually really interesting to hear what they had to say though! I thought i would feel self conscious if my own body parts didn't match up but it evolved into a genuine curiosity! But yeah, even last night. I was trying to pleasure myself and experience an orgasm by caressing my own breasts and playing with my nipples and in the end, it didn't work. I think a part of me did still feel shame for trying it at all that i couldn't just let go and relax. But today during service, I felt kinda called out when p william mentioned how instead of going deeper into God we go deeper into our sin. And thats what i did last night and was fully aware of it! I knew that if I tried to give myself an orgasm, I was only going deeper into my sin. But I just had to know. I had to understand and fit in and pleasure myself in that way. And it didn't work anyway. But at church today, I got on my knees and prayed and reflected and honestly, i havent even been making an effort to read the Word of God daily. Not at all. And I should be especially bc my faith should be rooted in the Word! But I don't. I don't even try. I stopped making excuses that im too busy bc I know im not. I just don't even try anymore. I think theres a lot of things that I need to figure out right now. I think a part of me knew that what i was doing was wrong and there was definitely a shame that i felt and knew that i would have to confront and let go of if i did come to God with it. But even in just the past few days, I've been able to go deeper and learn so much about people within the church and it's been really amazing! And I think I'm really starting to see the value of Christ centered relationships. I've just been kinda letting my sister do her own thing recently and not making as much of an effort to incorporate God into it and i do think it's because my own relationship hasn't been very solid lately. Who am i to preach the gospel if i can't even do it myself? I think I've also been very quick to judge recently and I need to stop it and come back to God and be more understanding. I've been so quick go try and fit in or be cool and judge jenny for forcing people into positions for VBS or judge jeff and hennie for just seeing VBS as work instead of an opportunity to serve the kids. And I really have no right to judge, yknow? Like honestly. Who am i to make any negative opinion when I myself havent had the right heart as of late. im really not anyone that has any right to do so. I want to be more humble and honest with God and try harder to actively pursue Him and get away from my sin. I am sorry God. But man, when "From the Inside Out" started playing, I was just reminded of the weight and meaning behind the song. yknow? It starts with, "A thousand times I've failed still your mercy remains. And should I stumble again, I'm caught in your grace." And it's so true! And i think i have some repenting to do but more than that, i want to think about what I can do from here. I do want to be more intentional and honest and genuine with my relationships. I want to live my life out like Christ and be more active in bringing my friends to church and doing a better job at investing and sharing the gospel! I'm definitely so inspired by sam and how hes constantly trying to reach out to people and bring them out! I always think about when I had a similar revelation and how's so young but who am I to look down on him? Ive lost that hope and passion and I should be actively looking to regain it instead of looking down on him for actually doing something! But yeah, I also met jenny and spent some more time with ivan today and it was really great to spend time with them both! After that, I taught VBS and jiwoon was a huge help as always and I am hoping to grow closer to her as well. I know it's awkward between her and jason but I think they do both have good hearts and I want to take note of that. Then, i played volleyball and found out that I really do SUCK lol. I actually felt pretty bad bc i felt like I was weighing the team down but I'm sure with practice i'll get better. They made me into a meme LOL. I just cant be afraid to just go for the ball! I know it was my fault a lot and I dont blame my teammates at all. I just need to practice some more is all! I also got to talk to songbee again and chase some kids around the church which was really nice! I felt bad that I wasnt being more intentional with chelsea and jason and I was worried that they were judging me for not reaching out to the newcomers or making everyone feel welcome. And I wanted to defend myself but instead tried to bite my tongue and just accept it bc it was true. I couldve been doing a better job at reaching out instead of having fun and playing volleyball. But the question never arose anyay so it was fine. Then we joined everyone else at Jenny's place for the BBQ and it was really great! All the college kids got to sit and talk about different things at first and then slowly the adults joined as well and we got to learn more about them too! We talked a lot about different characteristics of generations and perspectives and explained the different values in social media and our future career goals. I got to learn so much about everyone and I feel super blessed! And finally, I asked the question. Finally. I was in the car with Chelsea and Jason and finally asked about their family and they were surprisingly open to sharing! I do really want to grow deeper in my relationships with them. And i hope that we can. Especially bc I'm running out of time with them both. I dont want to regret it when it's too late. I am hoping to share my experience with my family growing up as well in the near future but I also don't want to force the conversation. Im trying to stop bragging and telling people what I do and instead to just do it with a servant heart bc I genuinely care about them and only want the best for them. In conclusion, thank you so much for blessing me with such an awesome day today, Lord. I don't need to always be right or say something. Sometimes it's just enough to listen and let people know that youre there for them.

#reflection

[viralhottopics]

On the brink of Brexit, voters reflect: I feel more strongly now. Let’s get out

As article 50 is about to be triggered, how do people feel in Smethwick, a Midlands town that voted to leave?

I moved to Bearwood in Smethwick in the hot summer of 1976. We were moving up, leaving behind the sixth floor of a block on the sprawling Lee Bank council estate for a house and garden in a safer area with large parks and better schools, a few miles from Birmingham.

I grew up there in the 70s and 80s, when there was optimism about our future. The colour bar experienced by a first generation of immigrants in the 60s, in some shops and the bingo hall, had been replaced by our own Why would I want to go there anyway? self-induced bar. The days when a Conservative party candidate could run, and win (in 1964), on the slogan If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour seemed distant.

My mother is Jamaican and, like many of my generation, I failed the Norman Tebbit test completely. I didnt support any England team. I would rehearse long debates about how I might reject a call-up for the England rugby team, even if my ability meant that call would never come. Jamaica was great for holidays, but didnt feel like home: everyone there called me English.

So while I was always a Smethwick boy, I can still pinpoint the moment I first felt British: in 1992, when Linford Christie won the 100m at the Barcelona Olympics, this most Jamaican of men running around the track with the British flag. We had grown up hearing songs like There aint no black in the Union Jack; what Christies gesture said was, Im British: deal with it.

A mistrust of foreigners has been singled out as the driving force behind last years vote to leave Europe. But why did places where more than 50% of the population have recent origins outside the UK vote for a policy of exclusion? Smethwick is in many ways typical of the radical changes to Britains racial demographic since the second world war: in the 50s and 60s, Commonwealth citizens from the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean emigrated here to alleviate job shortages, particularly in the NHS and transport. A large number of Sikhs moved from the Punjab to work in Smethwicks foundries. Later waves of immigration brought asylum seekers, students and workers from around the world.

When I was growing up, my white British friends liked the same music, played the same games and ate the same food as we did. We knew people who joined far-right groups; but the various gangs were largely multiracial, affiliated to the area more than anything else a loose Smethwick posse. There would be running battles with skinheads from Quinton and beyond; I cant remember a Saturday night that was not punctuated by someone being glassed or having a pool cue wrapped around their head.

Today Smethwick is home to a more diverse range of communities. It is still a relatively cheap place to live, so new arrivals often start off here. You will see Eritrean church services in Victoria Park, eastern European supermarkets on Cape Hill, a Ghanaian wedding at the community centre, alongside the more established Sikh temples and African Caribbean churches.

Speaking to Smethwick friends from white British and second-generation immigrant backgrounds, you hear support for Brexit from a diverse range of perspectives: there is the Fortress Europe argument (people of Commonwealth origin not being able to move to the UK, because preference is given to EU citizens); British Asian shopkeepers who dont like the Polish shops stealing business; an objection to the Thatcherite capitalist structure enshrined in the EU. Underlying all these things is a powerful revolt against what is perceived to be a self-serving political elite.

None of the second- or third-generation immigrants I met on a recent visit to Smethwick thought Nigel Farage would deliver a harmonious society founded on principles of social justice. But the supposed social justice champions, Labour, today have far less connection to the people they seek to represent than they once did. Todays politicians speak relentlessly about engaging and understanding these alienated communities. But even their use of the word community is loaded often based on race or religion or class, as if there were no diversity of opinion among them.

What does the future hold for Smethwick in a post-Brexit Britain? My more pessimistic side worries that inequality will increase, as the fight for a share of an ever smaller pie is orchestrated by a privileged few who use alienation, fear and loathing to divide and rule. But a bigger part of me is optimistic: a younger generation has always found ways of creating new relationships with other like-minded people, be they Italian, Irish, Ghanaian, Nigerian or Indian. It might feel claustrophobic at this moment in time, and Smethwick will struggle with the macro issues. But there are enough people there with goodwill, who want to come together, who will want to get on with it. Hamish Crooks

Theresa Robinson, 51, volunteer

Theresa Robinson and her son, Jacob. Photograph: Diana Markosian

My little boy and I moved here from Birmingham in 2009. I had separated from his father, and when I got here we didnt know anybody.

Smethwick is an interesting area because the diversity works really well. Everyone seems to get on where we live. But there are some negative aspects of multiculturalism. For example, there is no non-halal butcher around here, and I dont want to eat halal meat because they dont always stun the animal before they kill it I feel its a bit cruel. Ive had a row a few times with shops advertising places to rent, with signs saying Indian family wanted. I said, You do know thats illegal, dont you? I remember when they used to have signs up saying No Irish, no blacks.

My little boy is the only white English kid in his class, and they dont celebrate any English things at all. They didnt do anything for the Queens jubilee or birthday. I dont mind him celebrating Jamaica Day or whatever; I just wish theyd also incorporate English things. On VE Day, I took him into Birmingham to see the celebrations, because he has to celebrate his history as well. But he is absolutely oblivious to the fact that other people are a different colour to him. I think children of his generation are integrating more.

A lot of immigrants here say they dont want any more immigrants, but I havent heard many white people say they voted Brexit because of immigration. I dont know whether its because theyre scared of being accused of being racist. I voted Brexit because of all the money thats wasted on the EU. I dont think it will stop free movement and I dont think it means we wont have any trade; I just think it means well have a bit more control.

A lot of people have had enough of MEPs making so much money and not doing anything. Who can name an MEP, really? We dont seem to be getting any more rights out of it. Why not trim off all that excess spending and use it on things we do need? Theres a crisis in social care, and health services are being cut; the schools are constantly fighting cuts.

When you read about Brexit in the paper, they say, The people who voted for Brexit didnt know what was going on. Its hugely insulting to assume that just because were poor, we dont read newspapers and were all thick. Theyve got no concept of what its like to be poor, and how miserable people really are. I think it was a good result, and I think it taught the government to be careful what they wish for, because they did all this with no plan whatsoever; they were so sure remain was going to win. It serves them right.

Daljeet Singh, 40, painter and decorator

Ive lived in Smethwick all my life. My parents came from north India so my dad could work in the foundry. They were invited over, just like the Europeans were. Ive never had an issue with anyone thinking Im less British than they are. But when Punjabi people came here, they couldnt speak English, so they were victimised. Once my dad took me for a drink in the local pub and this guy at the bar started talking to him inappropriately, saying, Butbut dingding. I asked my dad, Why does he do this? and he said, Hes been doing it for years, its not an issue. I took the guy aside and said, Have you been taking the piss out of my dad for 20 years? He said, What do you mean? He never said anything. To this day that guy still buys me a drink in the pub, because he remembers that chat. I changed the way he thought.

Everybody I know voted leave. I voted leave because of my daughters, who are 12 and 15. They go to a grammar school and they feel held back because the foreigners coming into the school dont speak English well; it makes the classes go slower. It was also because Polish people are cutting off my work. Im a painter and decorator, and Im not getting the rates I used to because the Polish people are undercutting us. Thats the case generally in the building trade.

But Im angry that my parents voted out. Im very bitter about that. Its the hypocrisy of it, because they came over from India and they had an opportunity to integrate and they havent: my mum still barely speaks English. Theyve made lives and families for people like me, they worked hard; everyone else is just trying to do the same as they did. I think the way the Sikh community voted was hypocritical.

Sometimes I regret voting Brexit. In hindsight, without a shadow of a doubt, we didnt have enough information; it was turned into an immigration issue, which it wasnt, and as a whole were going to lose out. Other times, I stick by my decision. I need to think about where my works coming from.

Derek Craft, 80, retired factory worker

Derek Craft. Photograph: Diana Markosian

I moved to Smethwick in 1976, looking for work. I also had a pen friend here. We belonged to different divorced and separated clubs; I was the vice-chairman of the one in Portsmouth where I lived, and they used to have a magazine and she advertised for a pen friend. We were writing for two years before I moved here. We married in 1977 and were together for 39 years. She ended up having two major strokes, one of which should have killed her, but the hospital brought her round; I got another nine months with her.

Smethwick has changed a lot much of the old industry has gone. There were dirty factories, steel works and car component workshops; now theyre all new factories or houses, so in that way its better. Weve got more immigrants than whites. The shops are virtually all Asian, and the well-known ones, like Woolworths and David Greigs, are gone.

Its less British, because Ive found, working with some of them, that half the Asians dont want to mix. A very nice lad used to sit with us during the tea break, and he came in one morning and told us that someone in the factory had told his dad he sat with us, and his father had said, You are not to sit with them, you are to sit with your own people. It makes you feel, whats wrong with us?

I voted for Brexit because I think the common market has got out of hand. I think they waste an awful lot of money moving their offices once a month from Brussels to Strasbourg and back again. What were paying them is unbelievable, billions a year, which would do our own health service and schools good. Id like to see free movement from Europe cancelled. This country cant keep on taking people; the services cant cope with the influx, and there are not enough houses. When we won, I thought, Great, lets get on with it. I feel more strongly now. Lets get out.

Mohammed Jalal Uddin, 40, manager at a local training centre

Mohammed Jalal Uddin and family. Photograph: Diana Markosian

Ive been living in Smethwick since 2002, when I migrated from Bangladesh to study for an MBA at Birmingham City University. After completing my MBA, I managed to secure a job. Now Im living here happily with my wife and two children; my son is nine and my daughter is seven.

Smethwick has become overpopulated and there are more new faces, with a slight increase in antisocial behaviour over the past few years; the demand for housing has increased.

I had heard about that campaign slogan [If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour from the 1964 local election], and that Malcolm X came to visit the year after, which is amazing. But to be honest, I dont think racial tension is a big issue now. From my experience, people do understand others their religions, their values, their cultural dimensions and characteristics. It could be an isolated judgment, but I havent seen the nasty side of community cohesion. People get along quite well, basically.

I felt Brexit was a protest vote, to show a lost trust in politics; traditional politicians are failing to deliver. People feel European migrants are putting unnecessary, undue pressure on public services, the NHS, school places, housing, and that if we come out of Europe that will ease the pressure. These are the day-to-day issues that people are fed up with.

I voted and actively campaigned to remain. I was really, really shattered by the result, because in the age of globalisation and connectivity, and at such a crucial time, this isnt the right decision. It is going backwards, and it was not an informed decision. The message were sending to the rest of the world is that were not open or collaborative. We dont want to work with other people: we are detaching ourselves.

Nine months on, I dont feel any more positive. Ive given up on trying to give reasons to remain because Im in the minority. But I know people who regret voting Brexit; they justify it by saying the politicians misled them.

Pat Peacock, 77, retired wages clerk

Pat Peacock. Photograph: Diana Markosian

Ive lived here my whole life. I was born in Hamble near Southampton, but my mother died having me, so I was brought here to live with my grandparents.

Smethwick has changed enormously. My road used to be full of bank managers and teachers, and there were no foreign people of any description. I remember seeing men wearing turbans for the first time when I was 10 or 11 and had taken my two cousins out for a walk. One of them said hello, and I said to my cousins, Run! because I had no idea: Id never seen Sikh people before.

My father was very racist but Im definitely not. The priest at my church is Nigerian and we have 22 other nationalities, people of all colours, shapes and sizes, and we all get on. The first foreigners who came were West Indians, and the others have come gradually. I consider them all friends. A lady down the road, Surinder, and I were once opposite each other in the hospital and weve been firm friends ever since. She called me when I came out, asked how I was and said, If you need anything at all, let me know and my family will get it for you. There are lots of kind people about.

I voted Brexit. I didnt vote for us to go into Brussels; I voted for the common market and I think we were cheated in that respect. We havent only got to trade with Europe, theres a whole world we can deal with. Im looking forward to getting back to how we were: running our own farms, being able to look after ourselves. Perhaps Im wrong but this is how I feel, that we werent told the full story back in 1975. We were just told it was good to be part of a common market; we werent told they would be ruling us. Im not really into politics, but the vote happened and I get cross when they try to reverse it. Now I think: lets just get on with it.

Taurai Chamoko, 44, salesman

Taurai and Catherine Chamoko with their children. Photograph: Diana Markosian

I was born in London. My parents were from Zimbabwe, although it was called Rhodesia at the time. We left the UK in 1977 to go to Nigeria. My dad was a civil engineer and had a job with the Nigerian government, building several highways. Towards the end of 1982, we went to live in Zimbabwe. In 1995 I moved to Brighton, where I met my wife Catherine, and in 2008 we moved to Smethwick with our month-old daughter.

I wanted to study mental health nursing at Birmingham City University, but changed my mind after three weeks. I didnt think it was something I would cope with emotionally. In 2009 I started a course in International Business and Economics at Aston University instead. We had three other children (they are now eight, seven, four and two) and they all settled in school, so we stayed. Ive spent the majority of my life in this country, and I am British.

The main change Ive seen here is the people coming from Poland. I dont think theres a lot of tension between the different communities everybody just gets on. What I worry about is the self-imposed segregation, these monocultural ghettos that are springing up: Pakistanis in one area, Polish people in another, white working class in another. It seems everybody is more comfortable with people who look the same as them, which is quite sad. Whether thats a conscious thing or if it just happens naturally, I dont know.

I was shocked by Brexit. I voted to remain. At university I learned to critically analyse things, and I was always arguing against the leave campaigns points of view. Usually when theres an election, I stay up late to find out who my MP is going to be, but this time I was confident we would remain. It was a big surprise. When I spoke to some of the parents at my childrens school, most had voted to leave. I was surprised and upset.

My point of view hasnt changed. It doesnt make sense to me that people want to leave the biggest market, then try to negotiate a good deal within that market. But I have accepted it. Its democracy, right?

This project was created in partnership with Magnum Photos. For more pictures go to Magnum Photos

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from On the brink of Brexit, voters reflect: I feel more strongly now. Let’s get out

#On the brink of Brexit #voters reflect: I feel more strongly now. Let’s get out

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Who Gets More Welfare Republicans Or Democrats

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Who Gets More Welfare Republicans Or Democrats

The Philosophy Behind Democratic Economic Policy

Democrats gear their economic policies to benefit low-income and middle-income families. They argue that reducing income inequality is the best way to foster economic growth. Low-income families are more likely to spend any extra money on necessities instead of saving or investing it. That directly increases demand and spurs economic growth. Democrats also support a Keynesian economic theory, which says that the government should spend its way out of a recession.

One dollar spent on increased food stamp benefits generates $1.73 in economic output.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt first outlined the Economic Bill of Rights in his 1944 State of the Union address. It included taxes on war profiteering and price controls on food costs. President Harry Trumans 1949 Fair Deal proposed an increase in the minimum wage, civil rights legislation, and national health care. President Barack Obama expanded Medicaid with the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Americans Are Mistaken About Who Gets Welfare

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress may soon embark on a racially-fraught policy battle over welfare.

We can lift our citizens from welfare, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity, Trump said in his State of the Union address last week, the latest signal that Republicans want welfare reform this year.

Trump has often pandered to racists among his supporters. He said Mexico sends rapists to the United States and that there were some fine people among the neo-Nazis who staged a deadly protest last year in Charlottesville, Virginia. When the president said Mexican heritage made it impossible for a judge to be fair, House Speaker Paul Ryan called it the textbook definition of racist.

The word welfare is different. Its a standard political term that Democrats, Republicans and journalists alike use though Republicans use it the most often. Theres nothing overtly racialized about welfare. You can even find it in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

And yet, the word is often loaded with racial meaning. As a new HuffPost/YouGovsurvey shows, much of the public has a distorted view of which groups receive the bulk of assistance from government programs. Fifty-nine percent of Americans say either that most welfare recipients are black, or that welfare recipiency is about the same among black and white people.

The Party Of Logic And Ideas

Government’s chief role should be to defend its people, and the great question of our time is what that means. The Democratic Party has the best platform in which to defend our economy and our freedoms. The Democratic Party is the party that defends us from powerful companies who are solely attracted to profits, rather than the welfare of average people. The democrats think there should be health care for everyone, a decent wage for everyone, help for those on the bottom, and rules for those on the top. We think that a regulated economy is a free economy because everyone has an equal playing field to live their lives The Republicans like to talk about how they defend freedom, but it”s really the democrats. The small government republicans like to tell you who to love, what god to fear, and that your rights are a necessary cost for your security. Democrats don’t believe that, We think you can choose who to love, choose what to write, and who to protest without fear of retribution. The political system has its flaws, but voting democratic is a much better alternative than voting for a hypocritical, wing of the rich party who governs by crisis and doesn’t care about us, because if you don’t care for the weakest amongst us, you don’t care for anyone

Regulating The Economy Republican Style

The Republican Party is generally considered business-friendly and in favor of limited government regulation of the economy. This means favoring policies that put business interests ahead of environmental concerns, labor union interests, healthcare benefits and retirement benefits. Given this more pro-business bias, Republicans tend to receive support from business owners and investment capitalists, as opposed to support from labor.

Democrat Because They Are The Best Of The Worst

Yeah! Republicans believe in less government intervention… Except gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia, adoption, church and state, ethnic minorities . You cant forget the “**** you its mine!” mentality republicans believe will create a utopia. I am not saying Democrats are better either. Their ideas are not bad but their execution are not the way a country should be run or how it should take care of the poor. I only vote democrats NOT because I think they are superior, but its you either have a far-right government or a center-right government. In my opinion both parties are both equally horrible in their own right and this country is guaranteeing us nothing but one hell of a roller coaster.

Democrats Republicans And Hate For The Poor

There is a popular narrative on the left that Republicans hate poor people.  Supposedly, we believe that when people are poor, it is their fault, and we believe poor people are moochers.

Before refuting this popular narrative about the political right, we need to make three distinctions.  The first distinction is the difference between being poor, and staying poor.  The second is the difference between alleviating poverty, and alleviating suffering.  The third distinction is the difference between receiving help, and mooching.

I was born the third child of relatively young teachers, who had not yet earned tenure.  My mother, with three young children, took a couple of years off of work.  My father, in the meantime, started working summer school, in addition to his normal job of teaching history in high school.  We were poor enough for those couple of years to be on food stamps.  Once my mother started working again , conditions improved.  By the time my parents retired , they lived comfortable, middle class lives, and were perhaps even a little bit upper middle class.  My parents are an American success story.

I, myself, was seventeen when I struck out on my own.  I worked for $3.35 an hour at McDonalds, and was by all accounts poor.  I was poor for a number of years before my life started to improve.

Being poor is not always a choice, but staying poor is.

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One Of The Worst Offenders Is Mitch Mcconnells Home State Of Kentucky According To This Wallethub Study

Jake Krupa colors in an electoral map at an election watching party as states are called in the 2016 election.

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BOSTON Hey, isnt it time all these so-called conservatives down in the red states actually started standing on their own two feet?

Were not trying to be mean. But, you know: Tough love.

A new report from WalletHub confirms what we already suspected: The states that depend the most on big gubmint are also the states that are are always whining the most about big gubmint.

And, wouldnt you know it, one of the worst offenders is Kentucky the state represented in the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican.

How about that? Do you think hes going to mention it any time soon?

Kentucky ranks fifth in terms of overall dependence on government, WalletHub determined using data on federal spending in each state, the share of households on welfare, the number of government workers and the total tax burden as a share of income.. No. 1 was Mississippi no surprises there followed by Alaska.

Conservative red states of the south and west make up eight of the 10 states with the highest dependency on government, and 19 of the top 25.

Oops.

Yes, isnt it time to roll back government spending? You show us the way, West Virginia . And you, Arizona and South Carolina .

Lets crack down on all those Cadillac queens. Except it turns out the real offenders are the Pickup princes in the South and West.

Regulating The Economy Democratic Style

The Democratic Party is generally considered more willing to intervene in the economy, subscribing to the belief that government power is needed to regulate businesses that ignore social interests in the pursuit of earning a return for shareholders. This intervention can come in the form of regulation or taxation to support social programs. Opponents often describe the Democratic approach to governing as “tax and spend.”

Democrats Think Many Republicans Sincere And Point To Policy

Democrats, however, were somewhat more generous in their answers.  More than four in ten Democratic voters   felt that most Republican voters had the countrys best interests at heart .  And many tried their best to answer from the others perspective. A 45-year-old male voter from Ohio imagined that as a Republican, he was motivated by Republicans harsh stance on immigration; standing up for the 2nd Amendment; promised tax cuts.  A 30-year-old woman from Colorado felt that Republican votes reflected the desires to stop abortion stop gay marriage from ruining our country and give us our coal jobs back.

Other Democrats felt that their opponents were mostly motivated by the GOPs opposition to Obamacare, lower taxes and to support a party that reduced unemployment. 

History Of The Republican Party

The Republican Party came into existence just prior to the Civil War due to their long-time stance in favor of abolition of slavery. They were a small third-party who nominated John C. Freemont for President in 1856. In 1860 they became an established political party when their nominee Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States. Lincolns Presidency throughout the war, including his policies to end slavery for good helped solidify the Republican Party as a major force in American politics. The elephant was chosen as their symbol in 1874 based on a cartoon in Harpers Weekly that depicted the new party as an elephant.

How Come We Are Red And Blue Instead Of Purple

Republicans to live outside of urban areas, while Democrats tend to prefer living inside of urban areas.

Rural areas are almost exclusively Republican well strong urban areas are almost exclusively democratic.

Republicans also tend to stress traditional family values, which may be why only 1 out of 4 GLBTQI individuals identify with the GOP.

63% of people who earn more than $200k per year vote for Republicans, while 63% of people who earn less than $15k per year vote for Democrats.

64% of Americans believe that labor unions are necessary to protect working people, but only 43% of GOP identified votes view labor unions in a favorable way.

The economics of the United States seem to have greatly influenced how people identify themselves when it comes to their preferred political party. People who are concerned about their quality of life and have a fair amount of money tend to vote Republican. Those who have fallen on hard times or work in union related jobs tend to vote for Democrats. From 2003 to today, almost all of demographic gaps have been shifting so that Republicans and Democrats are supported equally. The only true difference is on the extremes of the income scale. The one unique fact about Democrats is that they are as bothered by their standard of living as Republicans tend to be.

Americas Top 10 Richest Families

Walton Republican  The family owns the Walmart corporation. The Walton family fortune is estimated to be about $130 billion.

Koch Republican  Businessmen, owners of Koch Industries, a manufacturing company. Koch brothers have a net worth of about $41 billion each .

Mars Republican  Own the Mars candy company. The three children of founder Forrest Mars are worth about $78 billion together.

Cargill-MacMillan Republican  The Cargill-MacMillan family owns 90 percent of the largest privately-owned corporation in the U.S. The family, as a whole, is worth about $49 billion.

Cox Democrat  The Cox family owns a number of auto consumer sites and services . They have an estimated net worth of $41 billion.

Johnson  Republican  The Johnson family is known for their cleaning products and hygiene products. They are valued at $30 billion.

Pritzker Both  Founders of Hyatt. The family has a combined value of $29 billion in 2017.

Johnson  Republican  Overseers at Fidelity, ensuring the cash of millions of Americans. The family has a combined net worth of $28.5 billion.

Hearst Republican  The Hearst family owns one of Americas largest media companies. The family is valued at $28 billion.

Duncan Republican  The Duncan family works mostly with oil and pipelines. The family is valued at about $21.5 billion.

Do Red States Really Take The Most Welfare

Lately Ive seen a few liberals temporarily retire the narrative that Republicans are a bunch of old rich white men to try to argue the opposite, that were actually the real moochers.

Red States Are Welfare Queens reads one headline over at Business Insider. The article noted that of 20 States that receive more funding from the federal government than they pay in, 16 are Red States.

Residents of the 10 states Gallup ranks as most conservative received 21.2 percent of their income in government transfers, while the number for the 10 most liberal states was only 17.1 percent. says the economics Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman in the New York Times.

Certainly an economist like Krugman would realize that a State is not a person. For instance, the majority of violence in Red States occurs in Blue counties and cities within those States. Do Red States bear the responsibility for their Blue counties and cities?

Obviously not.

And a similar thing is happening here. Red States are taking more in government handouts but Republicans arent, as a Maxwell Poll on the voting patterns of those in public assistance has proven:

And thats not all.

A NPR study of the long-term unemployed found that 72 percent favor Democrats. It goes without saying that theyre likely to be receiving benefits.

So if its mostly Democrats receiving public assistance why the heck is it Red States receiving most of the benefits? A few possible thoughts:

And there goes that myth.

  The Reach Of Entitlement Programs

More than half of Americans have personally received benefits from at least one of the six major entitlement programs tested in the survey.

The survey finds that 16% of those who have not personally received benefits also say a member of their household has gotten help. Taken together, these results indicate that about seven-in-ten households contain at least one member who has benefited at some point in his or her life from an entitlement program.

If veteran benefits and federal college loans and grants are added to the mix, the proportion of Americans who personally have ever received entitlement benefits rises to 70% and the share of households with at least one recipient grows to 86%.

What Does The Democratic Party Believe In

The Democratic Party is generally associated with more progressive policies. It supports social and economic equality, favouring greater government intervention in the economy but opposing government involvement in the private noneconomic affairs of citizens. Democrats advocate for the civil rights of minorities, and they support a safety net for individuals, backing various social welfare programs, including Medicaid and food stamps. To fund these programs and other initiatives, Democrats often endorse a progressive tax. In addition, Democrats notably support environmental protection programs, gun control, less-strict immigration laws, and worker rights.

How Democrats And Republicans Differ On Matters Of Wealth And Equality

A protester wears a T-shirt in support of Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is part of … a group of Democrats looking to beat Trump in 2020. Photographer: John Taggart/Bloomberg

© 2016 Bloomberg Finance LP

If youre a rich Democrat, you wake up each day with self-loathing, wondering how you can make the world more egalitarian. Please tax me more, you say to your elected officials. Until then, the next thing you do is call your financial advisor to inquire about tax shelters.

If youre a poor Republican, however, you have more in common with the Democratic Party than the traditional Wall Street, big business base of the Republican Party, according to a survey by the Voter Study Group, a two-year-old consortium made up of academics and think tank scholars from across the political spectrum. That means the mostly conservative American Enterprise Institute and Cato were also on board with professors from Stanford and Georgetown universities when conducting this study, released this month.

The fact that lower-income Republicans, largely known as the basket of deplorables, support more social spending and taxing the rich was a key takeaway from this years report, says Lee Drutman, senior fellow on the political reform program at New America, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

J. Scott Applewhite/ASSOCIATED PRESS Evan Vucci/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Some 67% of Democrats said people are poor because the economic system is unfair. Only 17% of Republicans think so.

Who Is Richer Democrats Or Republicans The Answer Probably Wont Surprise You

Which of the two political parties has more money, Democrats or Republicans? Most would rush to say Republicans due to the partys ideas towards tax and money. In fact, polls have shown about 60 percent of the American people believe Republicans favor the rich. But how true is that? Assignment help can help you write about the issue but read our post first.

Democratic Views On Medicare

Democratic views on Medicare revolve around the goal of ensuring that quality and affordable healthcare is available for all citizens, as evidenced by President Obama signing the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law in March of 2010. About 16.4 million Americans gained health care coverage as a result of this act, including 2.3 million young adults in the workforce who were previously uninsured. The benefits of the Affordable Care Act also commonly referred to as Obamacareare many, and include allowing children to stay on their parents health care plans until they are 26 if they are not able to obtain their own through their employment. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions is also illegal, and insurance companies are not allowed to remove someone from a plan simply because they get sick. Insurance companies cannot place annual or lifetime limits on coverage, an act which puts individuals and families in compromising positions should they be unable to pay out-of-pocket.

The Politics And Demographics Of Food Stamp Recipients

Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to have received food stamps at some point in their livesa participation gap that echoes the deep partisan divide in the U.S. House of Representatives, which on Thursday produced a farm bill that did not include funding for the food stamp program.

Overall, a Pew Research Center survey conducted late last year found that about one-in-five Americans has participated in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. About a quarter lives in a household with a current or former food stamp recipient.

Of these, about one-in-five of Democrats say they had received food stamps compared with 10% of Republicans. About 17% of political independents say they have received food stamps.

The share of food stamp beneficiaries swells even further when respondents are asked if someone else living in their household had ever received food stamps. According to the survey, about three in ten Democrats and about half as many Republicans say they or someone in their household has benefitted from the food stamp program.

But when the political lens shifts from partisanship to ideology, the participation gap vanishes. Self-described political conservatives were no more likely than liberals or moderates to have received food stamps , according to the survey.

Among whites, the gender-race gap is smaller. Still, white women are about twice as likely as white men to receive food stamp assistance .

The Divided Welfare State Is A Partisan Phenomenon

Democrats and Republicans both have their preferred tax breaks and spending programs, but in my new book, , I demonstrate that there is a systematic partisan tendency to the evolution of the welfare state. When Republicans take control of the White House and Congress, there is a subsequent rise in the number and value of tax subsidies for private social welfare . These programs, while not as well-known as Social Security and Medicare, are still recognizable to most citizens as tax breaks.

Republicans have expanded tax deductions for individual retirement accounts , created health savings accounts , and extended exclusions for employment-based social benefits and services .

The current crop of Republican presidential candidates wants to continue this trend. Marco Rubio is offering tax credits for paid family leave, and both Rubio and Jeb Bush are proposing increased tax subsidies for health insurance. These new tax expenditures would add to more than 80 social welfare programs costing a total of $1.14 trillion already embedded in the tax code. The amount of tax expenditures that go toward things like health care and pensions is larger than the entire discretionary defense budget.

The Party Thats Actually Best For The Economy

Many analyses look at which party is best for the economy. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Democratic presidents since World War II have performed much better than Republicans. On average, Democratic presidents grew the economy 4.4% each year versus 2.5% for Republicans.

A study by Princeton University economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson found that the economy performs better when the president is a Democrat. They report that by many measures, the performance gap is startlingly large. Between Truman and Obama, growth was 1.8% higher under Democrats than Republicans.

A Hudson Institute study found that the six years with the best growth were evenly split between Republican and Democrat presidents.

Most of these evaluations measure growth during the presidents term in office. But no president has control over the growth added during his first year. The budget for that fiscal year was already set by the previous president, so you should compare the gross domestic product at the end of the presidents last budget to the end of his predecessors last budget.

For Obama, that would be the fiscal year from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2018. Thats FY 2010 through FY 2017. During that time, GDP increased from $15.6 trillion to $17.7 trillion, or by 14%. Thats 1.7% a year.

The chart below ranks the presidents since 1929 on the average annual increase in GDP.

President

1.4%

A president would have better growth if he had no recession.

No Ranking Like This Is Ever Going To Be Perfect

Obviously, no ranking like this is ever going to be perfect, Stan Veuger, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, told Yahoo Finance. Some things you can definitely say, like where the states that have the highest per capita income or pay the most in taxes.

But its not really true across the board, Veuger said. Virginia is a blue state and obviously has a lot of federal contractors and a lot of federal money It obviously relies heavily on what the federal government does.

According to WalletHubs analysis, Virginia receives the second-highest amount of federal contracts while ranking federal funding as a share of state revenue. And given that WalletHub weighted federal funding four times more than share of federal jobs, Virginia is one of the least-dependent states on the federal government.

Poor States Receive More Federal Funding Through Medicaid

WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez explained that federal funding as a percentage of state revenue was calculated as states intergovernmental revenue from the federal government divided by the states general revenue.

Intergovernmental revenue includes funding for Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families , child welfare services, and other low-income assistance programs. For TANF, Kentucky , Alaska , and Delaware use the most federal dollars.

Because the federal income tax is progressive, Veuger said, I think you can also generally say that poor states receive more federal funding through Medicaid, which is a huge part of states budgets.

In the 2017 fiscal year, Montana, the eighth-most dependent state overall in WalletHubs analysis, received the highest amount of at 80%. It was followed closely by West Virginia , Arkansas, Kentucky , New Mexico , and Arizona .

In terms of gross domestic product per capita, Massachusetts ranked first, followed by New York, Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi is the lowest, followed by Arkansas, West Virginia, Idaho, and Alabama.

Veuger noted that all the poor states are red. Mississippi and Louisiana get a lot of Medicaid money.

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