#i dont even care if its not like a big expanded universe thing like my griffon knights n clown troupe

[swearyshera]

I want to say I really respect how you're handling Glimmer's arc, her interactions with Bow in particular. Them dealing with the emotional fallout of this in a harsh and awkward but earnest way is really gratifying. I feels like pulling teeth in the best way possible. Glimmer's arc still rings amazingly to me and somehow hasn't diminished since the apology bit.

Is it weird that I "respect" Glimmer's redemption more than Catra's? I guess I always thought Glimmer's heart was in the right place despite like... everything she had going on. I never once felt Glimmer couldn't be redeemed and frankly my opinion on if Catra really "deserved" redemption still flips every time I think about it. If i thought I had a way to annihilate the people who took my family away, I don't know if I'd hesitate to top-rope elbow drop the Big Red Button even as much as Glimmer did. I guess that was Catra's rationale too on a deeper level, but at least Glimmer wasn't fine with the world dying once confronted with that reality, as sad a step up as that is. I feel like the fact I don't feel much sorrier for Catra reflects very poorly on me.

The series had a bad habit of Catra's choices having their more catastrophic potential consequences avoided so her redemption could go down smoother, my most prominent example being the corrupt shera virus. I'd pay damn good money to see how the story could even begin to salvage Adora and Catra's relationship if Adora killed someone like Glimmer or Bow under the effects of that. (not to mention the portal only kills one, albeit very important, person, Adora just happening to survive falling a pit, the story conspicuously forgetting about Angella etc) This sort of thing makes me think the author is cheating or working backwards from the ending they already want. Other characters were involved in some of those choices but that only expands the problem imo.

Glimmer's doesn't kill the universe either, but there's still disastrous consequences for Etheria and people she cares about, pretty much all of s5, and her story is all about understanding what she brought on them, and becoming a more responsible person to her friends/people. I really liked that. The only person Catra is really held accountable to is Adora, and maybe Perfuma on Scorpia's behalf. There's Entrapta but I dont think she operates in terms of blame/forgiveness, at least in canon. I know she literally forgave Catra explicitly, I guess I'm too mean to believe people could let go of stuff that "easily' and write it off like it doesnt count.

I know Catra's arc wanted a more intimate scale and they didn't have time to litigate all this, but my deep gut reaction is "tough shit, you shouldn't have had Catra do all that if you weren't gonna make her face what she'd done", especially since Adora makes a point that Catra is afraid to face people she hurt, then Mermista, Micah and Scorpia are conveniently chipped until the last minutes of the damn show. HP really did Catra a solid there. Glimmer's arc felt more willing to make her culpable in dire shit and not pull punches about it, even less so here, so sincere gratitude from me there. Not that Adora and Catra weren't put through hell but their s5 relationship seems to happen in its own little bubble safe from outside responsibility apart from Adora's martyrdom pathology.

Anyway, very excited to see how the Catra reunion will be handled given everything so far, and for Glimmer and Bow stuff. You've never done wrong by us yet. Sorry for this fucking thesis. Please feel free to point all the ways I'm being a myopic dumbass.

I always see Catra and Glimmer as two sides of the same coin - the same person but treated very differently by those around them. Glimmer had love and forgiveness from the people she grew up with, particularly her mother, whereas Catra had none of that outside of Adora.

But I think the end of season 4, start of season 5, we see a little bit of a flipside of that, and that's what starts making both of them wiser, more mature, etc. Up until then, Glimmer had never really had to deal with consequences for her actions - her mother, outside of grounding her, didn't appear to really punish her when she did things wrong. Even Bow, at least until Fractures, felt he always had to support and agree with her (and his own arc played into that). But when Glimmer decided to plough ahead with her plan to activate the Heart and ignore her friends, she actually had serious consequences for once. She had to deal with losing friendships, attracting Prime. And that wasn't something she'd really had to deal with.

Catra, by contrast, always had negative consequences to even the slightest of actions. Usually by Shadow Weaver, and then by Hordak, she was punished for her mistakes. But in season 5, she gets shown kindness and forgiveness despite her actions, and it too, becomes a turning point for her.

I also don't really see the story as 'redemption'. It's not about Catra or Glimmer redeeming themselves, it's about accepting you've done wrong and making the choice to be better. Yes, they do have apologies to make, wrongs to right, and we don't see a lot of that in the show. But we don't need to. What we see is Glimmer becoming more levelheaded and choosing to use that in place of recklessness. We see Catra choosing to return to Adora in Heart not for herself, but for Etheria. Both these young women have done things that have had a huge negative impact on other people, but they both end up trying to do better, to be better.

Redemption is based on how other people treat you. This is a story about how you treat yourself. Both are important.

[southieparkie]

i love bunny bc theyre two kids that dont feel seen or heard getting together to see and hear each other. i saw a post from someone saying that kenny would only hang out with butters because he pitties him and its been sitting with my soul for so long.

expanding on that idea, what if kenny would one day realize that he’s treating butters the same way everyone else does because he doesn’t truly care about what leo has to say, even though they hang out often. so to fix that, one day he’ll just decide to tune in on one of his rambles. and he sees a twinkle in leo’s eyes when he talks about what he loves, and kenny just gravitates towards that joy.

so he decides to chime in with the things that he loves, and leo listens with no judgement. nascar, halloween, they even get into a lengthy conversation about playboy and kenny’ll show off his collection. leo will be impressed and enamored, and soon they’ll spend an entire afternoon looking at boobies.

then they’ll grow up, doing the same thing they always have: rambling about their interests to each other and listening to what they have to say.

one day, kenny’ll have a breakdown at school over his curse and how nobody will believe that he’s immortal, and butters’ll comfort him, saying that this whole time he’s known. just not in this world, in this universe. he’d have dreams where kenny would die in the most gruesome ways, and they would petrify him. so he understands. he understands the pain he’s going through, and he cries with kenny because kenny is so hurt. he’s in so much pain, and he cant make it disappear at the snap of his fingers. all he can do is be present, which he is. at this moment, with leo nurturing him, making him feel like a kid being protected by a competent adult, a feeling he’s never gotten the pleasure of having much growing up, he falls in love.

but leo doesn’t. he still sees ken as a confidante, a pal, a broken soul to heal, but never a partner. he sees other people, looks at other people, because he’s finally earned the confidence to be such a social butterfly. he’s blossomed, everybody loves him, especially the boys.

kenny is pissed, even getting overly protective at times, because he and leo are supposed to be together. doesnt leo love him? he would’ve walked away when kenny barked for him to on the day of his breakdown if he didnt, right?

still, he cant help but be happy for his lil buddy, because he’s finally becoming the “leopold” that “butters” never was. he has so many friends, and stephen and linda are out of the picture now. he’s free. sure, kenny’s still stuck in hell on earth, with only karen and leo (and he supposes stan and the guys) to keep him completely sane. but he doesn’t care. his heart is being fed by leo’s happiness. if leo wasn’t happy, he’d feel so empty. his heart would be so hungry.

leo would come around after a night at a party with viciously spiked punch. kenny would hold his hair back as he vomited on the stevens’ sidewalk, his vision blurred and his body shaking. kenny would lead him all the way home, and beg for miss nellie and her brand new husband to not ground butters, because he’s had enough groundings in his life. leo overhears the encounter, kenny politely yet frantically asking that they take it easy on the trashed blond and offering to take him back to his bedroom to tuck him in, and it clicks

no one else was ever going to treat him this way. no one was going to be this good to him or treat him like something other than a failure. he knows kenny will protect him the same way he wants to protect kenny, which is a key aspect in a relationship that his parents never seemed to have. he confesses his newly aquired infatuation once he and kenny are upstairs, still a bit buzzed off of the alcohol, and kenny immediately accepts and reciprocates, perhaps being a little tipsy off of the punch himself.

of course, they would build their “going steady relationship first before the big “i love you,” which they shared at leo’s last cheerleading compotition as a sophomore, the juniors and seniors going wild that their little sunshine blond flyer has finally found his perfect match

(YALL I WANNA WRITE THIS FIC SO BAD BUT I JUST…I CANY. I. I HAVE BIG FEELINGS RN. I AM CRYING AS IM TYPING THIS.)

[the-spacecoffee-pearl89]

stoner thoughts maybe?

so the scheme of things

gender and all doesn’t really matter to me. it all comes down to doctors really. I don’t think gender should matter in love or life really. personally i prefer masculine pronouns but i so am not lookin as androg as i used to lol. i seriously think it comes down to self on a public spectrum and i hate others dont feel that way. 

like, we really just need to care about eachother. times are getting rough and about to get worse. and although i try to avoid it all i see on any news or broadcasts is people vs people. gay vs straight, black vs white, this that. 

um.... the world is old as fuck in a universe that is ever expanding and the plant is new in an already old area of our portion of the expansion. we have been searching outward since we decided to explore and only now have we realized that. we are seeing the death of something we don’t know and we think that fighting and hating some one because of something as small as how they see themselves while walking on the same dying planet? 

the sun is showing signs of fucking with us more and its a ticking time bomb literally. 2029 isn’t too far and there is a pretty huge rock we fear has a pretty good chance of taking out a few satellites if it passes up. hoping for it to curve. 

we are also making it hard for eachother to survive. have you noticed how stocked places are? is it as stocked as it used to be? notice what they are out of?  i work in a tourist town where for the past few months we havent had medicine. literally bare! and we are not the only ones. Part of mine and others jobs are making the shelves look stocked when they aren’t. we have to go back to trade and barter. sharing is caring now. home made goods as well as just doing stuff the old way. 

we will struggle and there is going to be something big coming. thing is we will be dead by then and the next generations need to learn that it’s not the labels but the person that matters. how you exist on this earth and use the earth to help others. 

i know its hippie ideas, but if we stop thinking about gender and treat eachother as equals i think it would change things a lot. the next generations need the future to be the focus and not the past and things that used to divide humans. focus on connecting instead. 

i mean i get laughed at for saying if we start in early gym and instead of having things like “female workout” make it just the “male work out” things for kids as young as kindergarten and then keep doing that for that class for the following years and so on. but keep doing it like that (since the classes prior would have surpassed the timing ya know) then they would see eachother as equals and they would learn to train their muscles the same. girls wouldnt be starting at a ‘weaker’ state. also i cant do female pushups now since i broke my leg lol. it was hard before and some teachers didnt really enforce that. however for runs and most others it was weirdly boy girl and even in sports it’s like that. if you train all little humans to do the same pace and as they grow you will literally see a generation difference and see if women are really weaker or are all humans just the same. i’d like to think we are. if we try this maybe we can see eachother as equals. i may be dead but at least the people living in that kind of future can actually look more into themselves as individuals wanting to help other individuals around them physically not online. 

the earth is burning and it isn’t even at the worst point yet, the next generations may deal with even worse food shortages and no more room for them. land is a fighting ground and so are homes. roe v. wade is over turned so theres going to be more and more people on this earth that will be eventually out in the world looking for a home some where. we are running out of room. it’s scary to think of us not trying now to have a society of caring and helping eachother. 

the earth is going to stop giving and we won’t have food. we will starve and burn to death. maybe no one reading this but the future generations are looking at the end of the life cycle of a planet orbiting around a dying star. we need to live in peace and start helping eachother because greed in hard times is scary. instead of ripping eachother apart we need to help. trade isn’t that bad and farmers markets are amazing. that might be life again and that is not a bad thing. going out to your community around you isn’t as scary as some make it out to be. and if it is then yes fight back, but by showing kindness and calm not agression. it’s scary where i live but even a small mixed ace chick like me has had to learn how to behave around crazies, lol i’m bpd and behavior is a big focus for me and shit. although it’s scary sometimes just being a cool calm head when some one is screaming in my face helps me settle a situation.

i don’t know maybe i’m just a stoner that looks too into space and thinks weirdly of our meaning of acknowledging our existance as one of many different beings on our planet that we are no diffrent than at this point with our need for sex and violence just in weirder ways

[hometownrockstar]

since i was reminded of the game magician's quest mysterious times i want to make a blatant copy - i mean heavily inspired by - oc story verse based on it, basically if u havent heard of that game its just animal crossing where ur the human mc in a town of animal villagers except u also go to wizard school to learn magic and theyre also ur classmates, i used to play it as a kid but i dont remember much abt it aside from the concept. anyways i just want to make a little group of animal kids who are friends and do magic together and maybe have a quest and theres one human in there, like deltarune too since im remembering that game as well lately ok its a human with animal friends on a magic quest with maybe wizard school in it, deltarune and magician's quest mysterious times combined

[hamphobicbasil]

different anon, as someone who technically is still a dsmp fan (although at this point i consider myself more a fan of some specific streamers who happen to be on the smp, and haven't watched a dsmp storyline stream since january), everything you said makes complete and total sense. i don't fully agree with every point made, but i agree with most of them, and honestly that -- combined with. y'know. actual person dream being revealed to be... Like That -- are probably main reasons behind my growing disinterest in the server itself. i still really like some of the creators, but. the story's degradation combined with some of the creators i don't like getting steadily worse... i really don't care about the server anymore.

but as someone who has kept up with the more current stuff, i can just say that. basically everyone is cheating off of wilbur's storyline homework in some way or another. quackity's current thing with las nevadas is being regarded as him "drawing parallels" between him and wilbur's character arc, and with wilbur being revived it's being seen as him being a character foil -- i do not think these people know what a narrative foil is, because it's not just a carbon copy -- but in all honesty he's just doing pogtopia wilbur v2. the egg arc has been "resolved" technically, but it less got resolved and more just petered out and died pathetically after a genuinely really good stream (red banquet) where they set up interesting things. it's just. done now.

techno seems to be incapable of allowing his character to develop whatsoever. he never lets his character suffer, never lets him hurt, and even outside of the monotone acting his character never loses anything. he's invincible and that doesn't seem set to change. even now, when he got tricked into being trapped in the prison, he made it clear that his character isn't even remotely bothered by this. does he have a plan to escape? maybe, although if he does it's gonna read as a shoddy deus ex machina because he didn't set anything up aside from "press this button and i teleport out." did he know he was being trapped? it's not clear, he might've known or he might've been just incredibly stupid. it's boring. he's less a character and more a brick wall with a rocket launcher.

and i feel bad for tommy The Person, because he's clearly gotten stuck in a bit of a content mentality. he got a big reaction from his character suffering in pogtopia, so he did the exile arc. the exile arc got a big reaction, so he did more similar things. it feels like he's gotten stuck in the mindset of "the fans like angst, so i need to continue to just endlessly torment my character with no purpose or goal." his "death" had even LESS permanence than wilbur's, because he got full on revived two days later just so his character could be traumatized some more.

the server is somehow simultaneously too ironclad in its story (not leaving room for others to jump in with ideas like a rp should, such as eret wanting to return in the pogtopia arc, or the egg plot being just ignored) and way too open ended (no clear rules or laws, lack of communication between people -- the "villain" team on the january doomsday showed up a whole 30 minutes earlier than the scheduled time without telling anyone, seemingly because "war isn't fair." those streams are an absolute disaster.) it's a little disappointing because some of the people involved are clearly talented; wilbur is a decent writer, although clearly more suited to a dungeons and dragons DM type of medium, many of the streamers are pretty good actors and not horrible writers / could be better with practice, and some of the newcomers, like ranboo, clearly have experience with roleplay character-driven storytelling and are very good when they're actually given the chance to do things. the whole thing is really disappointing, all in all.

sorry for rambling so much. tl;dr, you're absolutely right, it's disappointing as hell.

sORRY for not replying to this sooner- i read it earlier and completely forgot to respond

added a read more just in case this was a bit too long!

BUT UR ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON ALL OF THIS- and speaking of "drawing parallels" with characters, i feel like its become a MAJOR crutch for the writers lately. its not only in universe with c!tubbo being compared to c!schlatt or c!quackity being compared to c!wilbur, it extends to myths too. i find the whole c!tommy = Theseus thing and whenever techno starts writing to be sorta a "get out of jail free card" yknow? they don't actually have to write their own plots or characters, just mimic that from myths and legends and i dont think it gels well with wilbur's somewhat original plot [i understand it was just minecraft hamilton, but it had some charming stuff in there yknow?]

and god yes you put my problems with c!techno into words beyond his voice acting, i don't want to imply that he's written his character to be invincible [or the olden term, a "gary sue"] but god it certainly comes off that way. i get so confused when i see people say "oh c!techno has been hurt over and over again!! why are things so terrible for him?" when he got "betrayed" once and that's it, its just so stupid and i cant understand the love for his character

and speaking of tommy, i totally agree. i dont mean to speculate on the kid's mental health since that's mega weirdchamp but combined with the constant angst his character is in plus his recent bad run ins with twitter, i hope he's doing okay. and on a side note, i hope his character gets to have the happy ending he deserves because man. Man.

BUT I HAD NO IDEA ABT THE EGG ARC KINDA BEING WRAPPED UP?? thats so disappointing oh my god. i'll read into it more since im curious about how it ended but god the fact that it sounds like it didnt have a bigger ending is just. wow. the annoying green man villain with no real motives and less of a stage presence gets all this hype and a bigger "ending" [yknow, him being sent to jail] than the eldritch creature that was growing throughout the smp?? wack.

i think one of the bigger problems of the dsmp story is just that. wilbur introduced some basic ideas and basic world stuff and instead of expanding on it gradually in a satisfying way, the new writers just went ham and didn't know what made the original so enjoyable, even tho it was, again, minecraft hamilton. i've seen some people claim that the new writers are better at precise intense moments but i heavily disagree with that, but thats probably because a lot of them involve dream yelling for his acting and i cant take that man seriously even in character.

but yeah, youre absolutely right on everything you've said here. they basically went "hey can i copy your homework?" with wilbur and somehow made things worse

[thequeenb]

"Goodbye Poppy" Angst Pleaseee! Thank you

you asked for it anon

Poppy x MC

Never in a million years i would thought that i would actually have to leave my dream University but here i am packing my bags because reality hits harder than untouchable dreams. Zoe couldn't handle the sight of me packing, she is in her room crying, i mean who wouldn't? We have been through so much together

I can still hear her stupid laugh, i can still see her sarcastic smile, the hideous yet amused look she gave me when i lost, her words still ringing through my ears

"Have fun back in pig town Hughes" everyone laughed, everyone clapped except a few, within the large crowd i could spot some sad faces knowing well i have to leave

What's the point? This year has been hell, i was so focused on winning a stupid crown instead of expanding my academic knowledges and in the end all i am left with is nothing

I suddenly feel the walls consuming me, the T shirt i was folding is long forgotten as i grip tight at it. Flashbacks of each semester come crushing down like a thunderstorm on my mind. The Kick-off day, the halftime show, the frat parties, the endless nights i spent with Zoe and of course all these wasted hours i sat alone thinking about Poppy.

Tears form in my eyes and i try to blink them away. I have a lot of things to pack because my father will come pick me up soon. Gathering all my strength i finish packing and i decide to go for a walk and get some steam off of my body

The night air hits my face as i wrap my arms around my body protectively. What the fuck am i even doing? Its just a stupid university, except its not. I have so many memories here. I walk past the Zeta building and a shiver runs through my body

In my surprise i see Poppy sitting alone on a bench nearby and i turn around wanting to run for my life but i freeze when i hear her shaky voice call for me

"H-Hughes?" I sigh as i turn around walking towards her

"What do you want Poppy? rub your victory on my face? Its all over the T everyone knows no need to put on a show"

"I read on The T that you are leaving" she says returning back to her usual bitchy tone

"Yes i am going back to pig town, i hope your one braincell is satisfied" i scoff folding my arms as i feel my cheeks go red from anger

"Gosh you are annoying stop talking" she now buries her face in her hands. Wow wont your expensive make up get ruined Miss Min-Rich?

"I don't understand your frustration, you got what you wanted since day one and here you are being a bitch about it. If you honestly think i will feel bad--"

"Agh shut up! You don't understand!" Her tone now changed, but she looks at me in the eyes and i can see them shine under the moonlight

"Are you crying?" Without hesitation i approach closer tilting her chin up so she can meet my eyes, she doesn't pull away as i run my fingers across her face, yes she is crying

Poppy Min-Sinclair. The person who wanted to destroy me since she first laid eyes on me, the same person who wanted to murder me too many times during this year. Am i dreaming?

"Oh wow at least you have some humanity left in you" she pulls away from my grip and i sigh sitting next to her. I am so tired, i was packing for hours, confronting Zoe, reading all the hideous comments people left under T's update

"Something got in my eyes dont get so--"

Oh hell no. She made your life a living hell and you will sit here confronting her when she should be the one doing so? I dont think so Bea

"Ha! Do you think i actually care? I am leaving damnit! This was my dream University, a way to change my whole life and now what? I have to leave because of you!" These words come out of my mouth without realising and now i stand up running looking at the sky hopelessly

"Dont raise your vo--" she tries to speak but i cut her off again

"You don't get to talk. You tortured me, you made everyone turn their back on me and you have the audacity to cry?"

I pace in circles as i feel my anger flow through my veins. This is it, this is my reaching point. One more second and i will explode, Tic tac tic tac..

"You weren't crying when you were trying to humiliate me Infront of the whole university" i now pause sitting next to her. Her bittersweet perfume is filling my lungs and for a moment all i can do is stare at her messy hair and her weak posture. Maybe it doesn't sounds like something big but seeing Poppy like this? It kind of worries me

"When you were telling me how worthless i am, how i need to go back to my town, how i dont belong here..you never ever cried" i throw my hands in the air frustrated

"So why now huh? Or are these happy tears? If yes then Excuse me for interrupting your stupid celebration"

Taking a deep breath i can sense how tense she is just by looking at her body and hearing her shaky breaths, maybe she is the one on the verge of a meltdown

"I like you..i really do Hughes" she doesn't dare to look at me in the eyes, instead she stare at the night sky and time seems to stop

She likes me? Since when? All i can remember is all the awful situations she has put me through and BOOM, I can't handle my pain anymore. I stand up again looking at her with fury

"Oh you like me, yea awesome that makes so much sense!! If i knew fighting and bullying turns you on i would have made my move earlier"

"That's why i didn't want--" but once again she is cut off

"Oh don't you dare even say a word. Since i got here all you ever did was to manipulate me and every god damn student and do you know what i did?" I raise my voice intently, and before i can stop myself i continue

"I kept thinking..why is Poppy behaving like this? Who hurt her? Where did it all go wrong? I even felt bad for you, for who? For the most awful person that exists!!" Wow maybe i am going off way to hard but its either now or never

"And do you know what's the funniest thing of all? I like you too Poppy, i really do even after everything you have done"

This is the first time that she meets my eyes tonight and i can see fresh tears running down her face. Vulnerable Poppy is something rare, so i take a deep breath trying to calm myself down

"Why did you have to be so cruel?" My voice breaks as tears take over me. How could we let this escalate to something so terrible? How could we both hide our feelings so perfectly masking them behind hatred?

"You don't have to leave Bea" this is the first time she ever said my name. She always referred to me with my last name or other nasty nicknames her and her circle were thinking about

"The Dean already reached out, seems like your charm worked as always" i sigh wiping away my tears

I look at the sky again, noticing that it slowly changing colours. I am leaving today, i leave everything i have ever felt passionate about behind me, all because i lost at her game and got burned

"I should really get going, my father will be here 7 am sharp, I don't want the whole university watching me leave while cheering"

Poppy stands up with me adjusting her clothes. She might have not spoken a lot but her silence is actually enough for me to understand that this bothers her. I expected her to jump from happiness or throw a giant party to celebrate my absence but instead she looks like a mess

Before i can turn around and walk she stares at me for one brief second before crushing her lips against mine. Her strawberry flavour lip gloss mixed with her bittersweet perfume make my senses dizzy and i get lost in the sensation.

She pushes me away and i see now her mascara running "no waterproof mascara Miss Perfect?" I tease and i earn a little laugh off of her

"Shut up jerk" she leans in again giving me a soft peck on my lips and i melt against her. How can i possibly leave her behind?

So i lean in again giving her one last breathless kiss and once we part i whisper against her lips "Goodbye Poppy". My breath ghost her face and with all my willpower i push her slowly walking away.

Before i can turn my back on her i stop to take her in. Part of me will miss her attitude, her comebacks, the little fights. I scan her from head to toe making sure i will never forget such an enemy.

And then i turn around and i can feel the tears dropping uncontrollably. What happened to me? I was so mad and now look at me i am a mess for her. Despite the urge to turn around i can feel her eyes burning my back and i try pull myself together.

Walking away i let the memories brush away. I will never forget how much fun and adventure i have been through this university. Everything will now be a memory and i know fully that right now i am not just leaving a building behind, but friendships, a great future and do you know what else i leave behind? Poppy. I will miss you, but i hope you know that you are unforgettable.

Tag list: @lolimugly @origmansello @greatestflirt-hero @mvalentine @otakufangirl-12 @sugarplumpnhoneybun @princessstellaris @coldbatfriendroad @indecisive-choices @i-loveeveryone @kiara-36 @ognenniyvolk @somewillwin @it-lives-in-braidwood-manor @ghalind @dumb-jock-lesbian @sergeant-pepper-loves-choices @dibberdipper @justastranger-passing

[dahniwitchoflight]

fucking, god, he called his ship Theseus. Oh god im not ready to face this epilogue stuff in actual visual form oh jeesus

Dirk, Dirk pls. no one can take you seriously now that we can actually SEE your Villain-Sona. 

oh god, the second hand embarassment is real.

Alright so there seems to be like, a tinge of Rose existing as her own person, doing things that Dirk dislikes, but its in conversation only, so it seems facetious.

The other true thing though is the narrative is entirely Dirk’s perspective, and Dirk is exactly the kind of person who would absolutely love and believe he was capable of subsuming another person’s soul and idealogy entirely, but we went through this deceit in the epilogues with John and Roxy as well, with John’s unquetionaing hold on reality and what is canon also seeming to have an unconcious warping effect to whatever John thought was important, but Roxy gave a good point of how do you even know you did this and i didn’t choose it or wouldnt have chose it? you dont

So we could see that being repeated here, either as a parallel of that or a subversion, remains to be seen

“ Speaking of which, I think it's time I started undoing some of the more egregious mistakes this story has been subjected to over the years. Yes, I'm talking about that guy. The other orange one. Remember him? Vriska got stalked by him a bit and it was uncomfortable for everyone concerned. Anyway, the point is that he fucked up big time, and I'm here to clean up the horseshit. It's time to get this story back on the rails, back to what it was always supposed to be. I know it, and you've somehow always known it too. There was something else, some other route that Homestuck was meant to take but then didn't, a way that wouldn't've spent so much time dicking around with stuff nobody cares about. Like seriously, why did we all have to sit through talking about everyone's most intimate and private feelings for two hundred thousand fucking words. That would never have happened in Act 1. Where did it all go wrong? “

lol the andrew hussie is peeking through a bit here, so Homestuck2 is gonna be the exact thing I figured a sequel would be, its going to be a sort of retelling of the story, but its gonna flip the importance for certain things in the opposite directions, so right here its saying Homestuck is a story with a layer of importance on the characters themselves and their mindsets and how they lived in the environment they found themselves in, with the lore and the conceit of the story being a huge creation story more of a backdrop than the focus

so Homestuck2 is going to be a more "creation story” focused more on the sburb lore, buts its going to have less of a focus on the characters (perhaps even to the detrimnet? maybe characters will seem strange and out of character? but he kinda already made that feeling i the audience with the epilogues, thats what that intended effect was)

and neither one i think will turn out to better or worse than the others, theres definitely going to be benefit and downsides for both, but its not hard to see that Homestuck1 is the story that Hussie wanted to Tell, and Homestuck2 is how he’s changing it and telling a different story than he originally would have in the first place

not that hes changing Homestucks orignal story at all, but now hes telling a decidedly different one

Thus far, even though I understand Dirk’s basic mindset being “Hussie’s story sucks im gonna tell a BETTER one” and deciding that he alones gets to decide others will is unquestionably villainous train of thought, like why cant we let the characters just decide for themselves what kind of story they wanted to have and be genuine..

I AM dying of curiosity to see what sort of lore and information were going to get out of this, especially with the twist of that sort of focus being brought more into view, it’s a tantalizing glimpse of something very sexy that im into...

WORLDBUILDING :p

The World of Homestuck to me, HAS always been more infinitely exciting and interesting to me than the characters themselves, even though i liked them fine, they werent the reason why i kept reading the story for sure

Anything little thing we get about sburb or the world system out of this im happy with, regardless of what happens to the characters

(Would that be considered a villainous mindset if I was in canon? maybe ^^; good thing im not lol it does give off very “evil mad scientist morally corrupt experiments” kind of vibe lolol)

“ Look, I know what you're all really craving. I've been studying canon—or rather, what's left of it—and I think I've found it. The critical moment, in the wake of which everything started to take a nosedive into the protracted, endless slog of sheer insufferability we got saddled with near the end. This was the single most crucial error in the process that led to the present situation. The day when the story was wrested screaming from the arms of its readers like a bawling infant and carried helplessly away, from then on to be raised according to the whims of a masochistic menace with no thought for you, the common fan. “

I do have to laugh at this though, because your not wrong??? but also, it was inevitable that a story that started out like homestuck and was written like homestuck and ended like homestuck would inevitably turn out the way it did

it was a communal product of the screaming masses that turned into a singular mans story, it was unfortunately going to lose something to everyone, because everyones ideas couldnt all coexist in one canon at the same time (thats what outside of canon is for)

and then Dirk does something I DIDNT expect him to do

“Channelling my full potential as an ascended player of Heart, I expand my consciousness to commune with the boundless force of collective willpower that is the internet. My mind floods with its divine potency, a million formless cries coalescing into a sequence of discrete, formal instructions. It is a maelstrom as chaotic as it is deafening. And yet from this formless, uninterrupted spate of hard, unembellished data, a single suggestion takes form, as if bubbling up from a vast, infinite ocean of possibility. It is a whispered prayer to a compassionate god whose ear attends faithfully the will of his believers.Ok, let's see what you chucklefucks came up with.“

instead of entirely subsuming other’s will like a villain would, he has instead opened up his heart and conciousness to absorb the ideas, suggestions and wills of the masses, he is literally trying to bring back the act1 flavor of homestuck by taking suggestions, be he is ironically doing something no different than hussie did by curating and choosing which one to respond to

hah! he really does think he is the hero of this universe with Hussie as some sort of villain. 

So Hussie has probably intentionally curated this idea of himself as “Author Villain” who drives the story seemingly into mud by seeming to reject and upend the audiences expectation rather than curate them and bringing forth the best out, 

this happens with the epilogues undoubtedly, 

and this environment has gown a character from inside the story to step out and try to “oust” him from this position and instead tell a “good” story one that “everyone” wants, but is in fact detrimental to the story and world that the characters inside it themselves wants, which is was Hussie curated the whims to in the epilogues instead of the audience

So maybe this will be a “good” story, and hit all the marks for what the audience wanted originally, but there is no benevolent force to make sure a happy ending exists for any of the characters inside of it, because what the characters want doesnt matter anymore, only the lore does

[dumbdancemomssideblog]

S1E1: The Competition Begins

okie dokie first ever episode of dance moms rewatch starts now :0 i actually remember watching this the very first time it aired on lifetime because i was channel surfing and saw a commercial for it earlier that day. that was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. ah memories... i didnt know what to expect because i did dance when i was a kid but not on a competition team and it was mostly ballet so i was pretty unfamiliar with this whole world. 

anyway lets begin. this is probably gonna be a longer post than what i’ll end up writing for the other episodes in season 1 bc the first episode introduces so much info, just a heads up

Act 1: (aside: yes its insufferable to divide this into “acts” when its really just like “segments separated by commercial breaks” but thats how they’re called in actual tv scripts so im just going with that cuz i cant think of a better/easier way uwu)

god this is so fucking early 2010s lmao

i miss these days where they were just talented nobodies from pittsburgh on a low budget reality tv show that nobody even knew would be successful. and the bad hair and makeup but idk if that was also just a 2011 thing lol

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES GREEN SCREEN INTROS IM DYING

the chalkboard !!!! they werent doing the pyramid on the mirror yet 

(apparently abby never did anything similar to the pyramid thing but the producers made her and it became a whole Thing on the show and thats why the moms were like wtf is this bullshit the first week)

mackenzie looks like a toddler. chloe is so tiny. theyre the 2 who changed the most physically over the course of the show

i remember watching this for the first time being used to ballet lyrical and jazz but never having done or really seen acro/gymnastics in dance choreo and being SO flabbergasted. i was thinking “a chin stand is not dancing what the actual hell” and yknow what? i was right

melissa: “my boyfriend knows how much i spend on dance because he signs the checks...............hermehhemrherrmehermh” (the most awkward laugh omg)

maddie is wearing a fucking bumpit in her hair i cannot

melissa deadass just said out loud “im here for my daughter im not here to make friends” ok everybody mark that one off on your catty women’s reality tv show bingo card!

camera man accidentally getting in the shot filming right in front of the huge wall-mirror.... what is this, amateur hour? i’ll let it slide since its the first day of filming rehearsal but step it up, boys

aw i forgot about maddie getting sick and crying :/ poor kid

melissa saying “i cant stand a chid that’s sick” sounds so edited like the intonation made it seem to me like they just cut her off mid-sentence i love lifetime

oh this was still when they were wearing normal stuff to class/rehearsal like black leotards bc they werent getting sent a trillion crazy 2-piece dancewear outfits for free yet bc they werent famous, man those were the days

Act 2:

[obligatory b-roll footage of downtown pittsburgh] 

the maddie chloe paige trio !!!! this is making me feel so nostalgic

“knees together, paige. you’re bow-legged, you need to fix that”

“you’re tall, you’re skinny, you’re a beautiful girl, you can do better than this. FOCUS” shes like 10 abby what the hell

“people think im tough and i guess i am but i would rather be the one to make your kid cry in the privacy of my studio than at an open-call audition in front of hundreds of people”

okay unpopular opinion alert: i agree with a lot of what abby says about stuff like this but her delivery is flawed, to but it euphemistically, that being said i think the production team of the show and the fame inflating her ego changed all of this somewhere over the course of the second season and its really sad to see :/ i can expand on that thought later tho

aw paige crying bc abby correcting her (but not saying anything personal or out of line, just technique corrections (at based on what we were shown, we dont know everything she said oop)) shes a sensitive kid she never should have been put on this show :( 

paige looks exactly like her mom i didnt realize that before

nia and holly were done so dirty throughout the whole series in terms of the narrative the producers set up about nia being the weakest link :/ 

Act 3:

cathy’s entire involvement in the show from the very beginning was so painfully obviously scripted (or at least heavily staged) 

vivi was also done dirty by the show’s narrative and she was only 6 and they presented her as like the butt of the joke bc her mom’s “character” was crazy and also she wasnt good at dance. i wonder how she feels about the show now that shes a teenager hmm. she really seemed not to give a fuck about dance for better or for worse when she was a kid tho so maybe she doesnt care ?

in what universe would an owner of another competitive dance studio bring her own kid to another studio more than an hour’s drive away, AND be under the impression that she could compete with them in a week, especially when they showed the kids’ and moms’ shocked reaction at the start of the episode to having to learn a dance in a week and compete it? like really what is the point of cathy and vivi being a part of this show im so ????

Act 4: 

THE MINISTER DAWN OUTBURST HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THIS

this fight is about 50% of what got them a full season 1 and then things took off from there tbh. the other 50% was the electricity dance but thats a point for next episode..... :)

“you’re a minister act like one” “YOU’RE RIGHT I AM A MINISTER! LET’S PLAY THE BIBLE GAME ABBY, WHEN JESUS SAW THINGS THAT WERE WRONG HE WENT AFTER THEM, AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DO THIS TO MY KID” ma’am i think the wrongs jesus addressed were of slightly more importance than a preteen being told she cant take a dance class if shes violating the studio’s dress code

this is so good bc it wasnt staged afaik and there are regular students all throughout the building just STARING at them like lmao what even is going on, so im pretty sure this is real???

regardless, yeah dont wear socks and a tshirt to an acrobatics class, thats common fucking sense

another cameraman-in-mirror sighting, but its hard to think about angles when filming spontaneous drama like this, so i wont count it against them

“you called me fat” (i remember that being in the episode but thats not on the episode available through lifetime on demand that im watching from my moms tv hmmmmmm) “i told you to close and tuck in your two-piece costume, theres a big difference. HOW CAN YOU REMEMBER THAT BUT YOU CAN’T REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR FEET OUT” uh scream

she really called the police on this woman i cannot handle this. can you imagine being a police officer responding to this call? 

“we have a parent thats out of control. pardon? no shes doesnt have weapons, just her mouth” iconic

im sorry im still not over the hair and makeup. the flat hair with the side bangs. the black pencil eyeliner applied all the way around the eye. why did any of us think this was a look :( why did we do this :(

Act 5:

they went all the way to phoenix to compete 3 numbers, only 2 of which are shown in the episode.

i think this is the only time they ever went to west coast dance explosion because its an actual competition and they wouldnt allow filming after this lol i think they did go to wcde one weekend in addition to a competition where they were filming but it wasnt shown or mentioned at all

abby not wanting brooke and paige to have a french manicure on stage if theyre the only ones in the group with the french tips is perfectly valid idk why it was framed as some crazy micromanaging shit

i also am really not a fan of the whole “high functioning alcoholic wine mom/crazy stage mom” schtick they were pushing for the first few episodes of this show

in retrospect i feel like so many of the quips in this episode were intentionally fucking crazy just to get the audience engaged enough to want to watch more episodes...

“see those girls down there, those girls with the legs? thats who you’re up against, so step it up”

abby warning them that its dangerous for their little party hats to slip when they’re doing aerials and pirouettes and stuff: “what if you were at radio city music hall and they had the ice rink out and you were doing a side aerial and fell 13 stories down and died, huh?” fantastic point abby thank you for saying that to 5 girls ages 8-12 less than 5 minutes before they went on stage. perfect time for a teaching moment like that :)

i forgot how bad the camera work was in the first few episodes for footage of their performances. like they really didnt think the show’s audience would actually want to watch the kids dance, the producers and editors thought we just wanted to see stage mothers yelling at each other lol

also the mic feed over the music of abby talking to herself giving them corrections while watching them dance on stage.... im so glad they quit doing that. i dont remember them doing it like that for any other episode, i hope im right

this choreo is very basic and its a cute dance i guess but its very cringe in some places and for the first episode this is such a forgettable group routine

their scandalized reaction to placing third and the sad piano music is so funny honestly

and maddies reaction in the interview which was almost definitely fed to her by the producers where shes like “i win all the time i dont really know what its like to LOSE i always win or get runner up” so many of maddies lines from season 1 interviews sound so fake and she was probably too naive to know they were getting her to say that stuff so they could paint her as a conceited brat (she was EIGHT)

the trio costume was so ugly im sorry (is it supposed to be like a 50s pinup bathing suit?) (and the headband thing looks so bad) and also the music is bad but they had no real authority over that bc of copyright stuff

chloe’s headpiece coming forward and the ensuing drama was another moment in the episode that really solidified public interest in the show imho.... 

“YOU’RE IN THE BAR HAVING A DRINK AND YOUR KID’S HEADPIECE IS FALLING OFF” “it did not FALL OFF it CAME FORWARD it was FINE!!!”

“mistakes happen, we’re human.” “YOU are. mistakes like that dont happen to me”

and then the “next time on dance moms” with the WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE electricity dance, of course. genuinely that was really smart of the producers in terms of structuring things to generate intrigue lol. and obviously it ended up working....

[prof-peach]

You know, you didn't talk much about your spouse. Maybe you can talk more about him? Like, what are his pokemon, role in the lab if any, how you and he gotten together, etc. I'm sure your followers would love to know who the pillar of your support really is.

You’re right, i suppose i’m the less romantic of us haha! I have always been a bit private about it all, just a habit. Professor Grey has been with me for 6 years now, he’s a water and fighting type specialist, and is expanding his research to Dragon types currently. His actual title is “Items Specialist” as he forges, builds, and creates things that help pokemon to live, such as prosthetic limbs, items to boost attack stats, or actual weapons to wield. he knows a lot about held items, including stones, and often can be found creating in his workshop. Its a good sized space, a cross between an office and a blacksmiths workshop. We have a 3D printer but i hardly know how to use it. He’s very good with computers and various machines. I tend to be more reliant on Rotom and Porygon to help me muddle through it, suppose i’m a little old fashioned, prefer pen and paper.  We both grew up in Johto, did our training here, and traveled to Kanto afterwards, though we never knew each other at this point. We almost traced our steps, i’m a year older than him, and began my official journey a year before he did. He’s an avid kite surfer, always ready to help, and despite his 6′3ft stature, he’s just one big gentle giant. He’s the calm to my storm, we have always just balanced each other out. Its funny how you can cross paths with someone so often and never even realise there going to be the person you want to spend your life with. We must have been in the same street at least a dozen times as kids before we even knew one and other, we have talked about our adventure years and the dates matched up, we just seemed to always miss each other by a day or two at the most. Oh boy, how we met haha, thats a story I haven’t told many people. We actually both went to the same college and the same university, we even interacted between classes, and some of them crossed over. We had basic medical classes together, though I ignored him for a long while. I was never much for socialising, never really talked to others, was very happy alone, and he just drew people to him. He would speak and everyone would listen, and he would make a joke and everyone would laugh. he lit up the room, so i just let the whole class get on and stayed out of it. It wasn’t until we were in our second year at uni that I caught him handling a baby spinarak, something i’ve seen MANY trainers and even professors reel from. Back when we studied, it was a little bit taboo to be a bug trainer, another reason i kept to myself, i really liked them. SO Grey is sitting there, with this thing on his head, and everyones screaming to get it out of the class, and he’s just.....really calm? loves the thing, lets it play, then simply takes it to the window and puts it on a bush just outside. I think it was that point where i realised he wasn't just another class clown, there was something gentle in there.  After that I vaguely payed attention to him, seemed to be smart, and had a fair judgement, plus I found his ‘dad jokes’ terrible, and loved it. Cheese just kind of is my thing, not that I let him know that.  The months went by and we said little to nothing to each other, though he did try to chat with me, I tended to cut it short and move along to get work done or to avoid any anxiety that people would bring. And then one day, between classes while I went off to get some coffee, he was there, and we just sort of got talking. We talked for so long, we missed our next classes. He was smart, and funny, and surprisingly kind. At the time our pokemon were happy to hang together, all apart from Booker (My Teddiursa), who was still in recovery. He had a Houndour, Poliwhirl, Gloom and Riolu back then, but they've since evolved. We eventually became friends, did some good work together and began hanging out outside of classes. He seemed to be so social and so energetic, and i was a real quiet grouch, but he never made me go anywhere too crowded, or pushed me to do stuff i was uncomfortable with. We went on forest walks, and spent time at the seaside, checked out quiet coffee shops while out, went to comic book shops together. It was very calm to have a friend, felt good. eventually we graduated, he went on to do more study and I went to work with Rangers, took some time for myself to chase after Rocket Goons and poachers. Between work we would meet up, we celebrated the day he passed his extra classes, and again held a party when I got the grant to open the lab on the island, and class it as a reserve. We had about half a year apart, where I was busy building a small home on the island, a temporary cabin so I could work in peace and help pokemon. When he finished his work, he came to find me on the island, and from there we just kind of slowly fell for each other. He’s everything I am not, and for that i’m grateful. It was a natural progression to have him move to the island. we built our home together, we saw the lab become a hub of life, brick by brick, and went on lots of adventures side by side.  I suppose i did spend a long time trying to ignore any developing feelings. Figured he’s a colleague and that would be unprofessional, but i suppose whats meant for you doesn't miss you. I dont think i’d have admitted it back then but i certainly was lonely, i had no humans around me at all for a long time, just my pokemon team. He came along and showed me that its ok to rely on people, and be a little vulnerable sometimes.  Out of the two of us, he is the gentlest, and kindest individual, with more patience and a lot of tolerance for things. I am the hot head idiot with a short fuse. His team is now a Houndoom, Poliwrath, Lucario, Caracosta, Cubone, and Tyrogue. His Gloom evolved and is part of our care system, so he’s not officially on his carried team anymore, but is otherwise happy and healthy.  In the lab he’s the tech guy, and certainly deals with any water types who I personally cant handle. His knowledge of items means we have a wide selection of things to help trainers and pokemon, and he’s constantly experimenting with new items. Together we chase off Grunts and hunt down Poachers, though he does have to vanish before the police turn up, as i’m the only one with a Ranger Licence. Without him i’d be lost, he makes the worst days bearable, and the best days incredible. We support each others dreams and ambitions, he’s accepted my sexuality, and is very understanding when I go off on one ranting about whatever it is thats got me all riled up. I never thought I could be so happy, and hopefully he feels the same. Our teams have become one big family, we interchange pokemon very well now, and know them like the backs of our hands. Even his three Gyarados are gentle with me, they know i’m a little nervous with water types and just stay nice and low to the ground to let me pet them and say hello.  Grey is my best friend, and I think thats why we work so well. Maybe we are polar opposites, maybe we do have different opinions, but together theres a real strength, something we couldn't do alone. 

[swayinghummingbirds]

i feel like i need to blog more stuff out of me to research my own thoughts ignore me or help me either is welcomed. 

so like i was diagnosed with mdd , panic/anxiety disorder so i know how it goes and how it feels and all that jazz. used to be on medication and not for almost two years. i can usually cope well since while i was on medication ifound many ways to do so. but now ive come across season affective disorder and i gotta say i am not a fucking fan. i cant bring myself to do the coping mechanisms because im fucking cold and there is no sun ever.  

this time last year i felt the exact same way and almost moved back to fl but didnt want to give up on tn yet. but im wondering is it maybe time to give up on it? i have no family here. and my family is expanding and growing without me. which makes it worse. 

ive been where i am for almost a year now and its been good. but there are no sidewalks like anywhere? im so tired of sharing walls. sure, its a townhouse and its pretty big and two floors and fire place but my neighbors are so annoying and for some reason in tennessee so many people think its absolutely okay to let their dogs out with leashes? 

knoxville is a really cool city and ive loved living here but idk if i can stand the winter. and its just a mild winter, idk how yall in the north handle it. i see now why when i moved abck to pa for 8 months my mom had it by the time march came around and we moved back to fl. 

a part of me feels like i might even just get bored with where i am after a certain amount of time considering how i was brought up. i have moved 17 times, which is wild for a child. probably why i have a hard time making friends too. 

tried leaving work yesterday after i got my list done (usually isnt a problem for my manager but the ass. manager always fights me with it). i told him three times i already had 2 1/2 hours of overtime and ill be leaving when im finished but bitch never listens to me and acts like he didnt hear me say it to his damn face.Usually i ask just to be polite and make sure but this time im telling him. kind of snapped on him because the day before i just cried all fucking day and had that feeling in my stomach and felt the same way when i woke up. old me would have called out, one because the position i was in was easily fillable but now im actually needed so i go to do my job and if i get done early that means im working my ass off and sweating like a pig to get done three hours early. (and the girl who does the work on the two days im off never gets the shit down or sets the room or anything up in order to have a good morning because the whole thing is very time sensitive and its very frustrating. also she called out like three times this week and made my week shittier than it needed to be.) like bitch no that doesnt mean i want to stay and help with other things after exerting so much energy that i dont even have in myself to begin with. so anyways i cried and then the manager came and talked to me and was understanding because he is aware of my mental health issues and i forgot steve- the ass manager (assistant manager , but also ass because he can be an ass) was not aware. so all in all i talked to my manager and told him and he was very supportive and then i went to apologize to steve and he reassured me i was valued and adored here which was nice. and i had to basically tell him if im trying to leave early it usually means because im feeling like a crazy bitch whos on the break of a mental breakdown so. quit fighting me. 

so anyways. 

even if i did move back fl ive finally gotten myself where i wanted to be in my job but i guess if it was meant to be the universe will take care of it just like it did when we moved here. 

a week before almost moving back to fl my grandparents came to visit and we were in crossville, which is the half way point from here to where we were living at the time and i was like hey lets try knoxville and the next day we went to look at apartments and as we were looking this place went up for rent almost as if the universe here, ask and you shall receive. because i was only looking at places that was in between the three stores that we could have possibly transferred to because i had no idea which one it was going to be i just new it was going to happen. and then when trying to transfer we my fiancees assistant manager knew the manager at this store here and said that he would take both of us and needed help in the area i wanted to be in and i was like wow amazing its all working out. and it did and it was great and then it got cold. and then holidays came. and birthdays came. and i ive learned so much about myself and i feel like yes i needed this part of my life. and now im not sure if istill need it. 

we have a vision of owning a little home a nice big plot of land near the mountains with a spring and creek on site with woods around. if we kept it up and really searched when the time came yeah im feel like we could find it. but what if i still feel this way when were there? then weve bought a home and it would be harder to get rid of. i have a vision of my own business with yoga. i find myself in capable of moving between the months of decemeber and march. then what. even when i get on to the mat i cant get into the flow. 

and what if we move back to fl. would he resent me for giving up on our dreams? will i be tired of people demanding my time and energy? will i bitch about the heat all the time and the fact that neighbros are every where? probably, yes, yes, and yes. 

but will i resent him for not moving back to spend our lives with our families? will i resent myself for not listening to the feeling in my stomach? or would i resent myself if i did listen to that feeling and gave up on the mountainous dreams. 

i know we would welcomed back with opened arms and i know not many would miss us here. 

the mountains are beautiful and so mystical when there. i wonder how it would be to live there. i always end up feeling so creeped out at some point of hikes because i feel like something is watching us, and i know there is, there is always is whether its and animal or a spirit. but sometimes those spirits, or beings, are just so strong of a force. what if we bought a property with one of those that wouldnt be able to make peace with us? i always imagined if we ended up with a property with strong entities then we would make peace and ring singing bowls and plant luscious plants for them. but what if they hate it all. and what if our neighbors down the street end up being cannabilistic cult people? what if some animal tried to maul my dog (which already happens frequently, shes a chihuahua everything is out to get her). what if something happens at oak ridge? i had no idea i was living next to a giant nuclear power plant thing. 

but then its like okay what if theres a giant hurricane that tears my house down (i had a tree fall on my house during matthew which is one reason why we left) or the storm sturge sweeps my house away. trey is scared of tsunamis, not that one has happened there probably ever, idk but it is a weird fear of his. surprisingly tornados do happen in tn too. 

and a day like today, where trey is working all day and i have the day off. there isnt much to do. its cold out so i cant sit on my patio for a few hours like i would in the summer. i dont like to go shopping. i dont have a friend to hang out with, which is my own fault people im really not a big people person. i have hung out with a couple a few tiems, and idk ij ust would rather not. but if i were in fl i could go hang out with my brother, or treys sister, or the few friends i have there. or go to the beach and sit on my own, because its not fucking weird to sit alone there and usually you dont have to worry about getting mugged. i cant go to the parks here on my own. i cant take my dog for walks around here because there are no side walks and people just look shady af everywhere. 

when i went to visit for my brothers wedding in october i realized how i did not appriciate the plant life naturally around all year round when i lived there for 11 years. i guess mostly because it wasnt until two years ago that i really got in to plants but omg i cant stop imagining what our yard would look like if we were in aplace where things could just be outside all year round. i would take cuttings of my plants andjust put them every where have my own little tropical paradise in my front and back yard. 

i know this all is really sounding one sided atm but this time last year i was having the exact same visions and the exact same thoughts. and i thought about how what if my brother has kids and im up here well hello here we are now and thats happening. i feel like i need to be there. theres even a house for sale on the same street as him and all i could was fantasize what i would do to the house and how i would baby sit for them and be able to see my dog that i left with him because ultimately she was is but we co owned her together and just to be there. and be with my mom. shes living in orland with her boyfriend and i feel like the fact shes goingt o be a grandmother might sway him into moving closer, she hates the city and i imagine shes just as depressed as i am to be away and to be in a city where you dont feel safe to go outside alone. we are creatures of nature and both pisces and very sensitive to everything. 

and what if trey and i have a baby at some point? we have no one here to help us. i was thinkg about how our wedding date is a year and like two months away and i have no one here to help me plan. and for a long itme i always imagined myself getting married at this place called sugar mill gardens, a botanical garden that i had always loved in my home town there. when trey and i got together we would pokemon go there and take clippings, and i still have those plants today. but then this new vision came where we would get married on our future property. i feel like we are still a long way away from buying a house here though. idk if we would be there in time. and since we went back in october all i can think about is getting married in sugar mill. he reproposed to me when we were there and that was so sweet and just made me want to be there instead for it. 

this is very long but these are my constant thoughts that all happen at once and it feels nice to get them out to piece them together and not feel so overwhelmed with all them at one time in layers upon layers of thoughts. sometimes my vision even goes out and i dissociate and just work blurred vision cross eyed for ten minutes, who knows maybe its an hour. im back there by myself for eight hours a day idk. 

[artcanary]

1-50

oh my god dude 

im gonna put this under a cut bc this is a lot. this is a ride, have fun i guess

1. Your first OC ever?god. its got to be Super Kitty. when i was like … an incredibly small child I used to draw comic strips about this feline caped crusader, who was friends with everyone in the city, and the comics always involved him stopping an evil banana man from stealing money from the local bank. He was paid with donuts for his service to the city. i still remember how to draw him. 

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?i’d get arrested if I didn’t answer this with Bronze, probably… but really, they’re very important to me

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?man, i cant remember! i really dont think i have… P:

4. A character you rarely talk about?there’s loads of characters ive never even posted a single picture of on tumblr, i wouldnt even know where to start asdf

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be? bronze is the easy answer, but… i guess that could also go to Servant or Westrin. Servant has a comic project in the works that basically stars him, sort of a series of one-shots about the things he’s experienced, i feel like that would be a good thing to take off and run with. Westrin’s just fun as hell, i love the guy.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?real talk now… there’s at least five different characters that i refer to as a whole as “bronze-tangential”, who started out as, “what would bronze be like if they were in this world?” and then becoming their own thing within said world because i just get stupid attached 

its an epidemic

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?nearly all of them, actually. that’s the main reason i make characters, after all! too many to really go into specifics here, again P: 

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!not often, but i think Bronze and Westrin are the most common ones. unless playing a character in dnd, or running an npc in dnd counts… then a whole lot more hahaha

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?it depends on the circumstances. i don’t really like the idea, though. 

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design? Westrin’s old getup is a pain to draw, and there was one other design i did that I cant find anywhere… whichever way, i dont often tend to draw super complicated things often 

a couple fakemon ive designed though… heheh those can get pretty finicky

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”? hmmmmmmmm my immediate thought was Eric Silverdale from a comic i was working on a few years ago. hes a darling, i want him to be my friend irl

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lothow could you do this to me i love each and every one of all my friends ocs GOD the first one who comes to mind is @d20-official‘s Smith, whos Bronze’s friend… everyone in that DND party actually

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs? Rated on a scale from “harmless” to “honestly somewhat frightening”: -Baromet (charming and quite friendly but definitely a kleptomaniac),-Westrin (demigod of bards and travelers), -XEN09 (a nonsense hacker), -Conny (needlessly contrarian and dumb as HELL), -Enza Colie (long fucking story but hes a good-for-nothing), -Hemlocke (mad scientist, chaotic evil), -Iris (AI and hacker, VERY bad), -The Terminus (glitch-in-the-matrix demon, chaotic evil), -and Sydd (the Queen of the Faeries, hopefully the danger there needs no explaining :’D)

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory Mmm… there’s a few of them, most obviously Lent (whose background I did a short comic about). Basically his entire town got eaten by ghosts and turned into zombies, he only barely survived with a sliver of his soul left. 

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?yes, i often discuss storylines and such with friends

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)? Probably Bronze’s dad! I don’t talk about him much, but his name’s Devon Reed, and he was a biotech developer specialising in android design. 

I often describe him as being something of a reverse Arthur Weasley - a very fatherly scientist fascinated to the moon and back with the concept of magic. 

17. Any OC OTPs? having trouble thinking of a lot of them right now, but there’s Eric + Lent & Naiadine + Tailias from Emerald Sigil, Avken + Baromet from my space campaign world, Sydd + Wyvv from my unnamed campaign world, and I’ve been considering Westrin + Servant as an interesting dynamic in Servant’s story

18. Any OC crackships? My character Bismuth and @autistictimeknight​‘s oc Eros. Theyre so fucking in love, I love it. Its been awhile but I do still think about them sometimes.

As I recall, Eros is an empath, she can read other people’s emotions. But Bismuth is a robot, and Eros can’t read her. Because of this Eros can let go of her fear of unintentionally manipulating the emotions of her date, which would hold her back from most other relationships. 

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)Hey, meet Bronze! I definitely do not talk about them every five minutes, why would you say that. 

Bronze was with me through two of the hardest years of my life so far, and being a DND character they grew with me, both as a fighter and as a person. They were non-binary before I started using those pronouns, they were the first character or person or anything who I fought someone about using the right pronouns for, they make a great icebreaker for if I want to see how someone reacts to non-binary pronouns … 

One funny anecdote about Bronze is that when I first made them, their “gimmick” was that they would sometimes glitch out and mess up their speech, mostly because I wanted an excuse not to engage in the roleplaying (which I was very bad at). The interesting thing is that as I got better at interacting with the group, we both grew out of needing it very quickly. 

I’m very proud of Bronze. 

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?Westrin is a bard! His singing voice sounds like Bill Wurtz and these are his theme songs.

21. Your most artistic OCProbably Westrin again, he writes a lot of songs… and Hallux is a game designer?

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how? I honestly dont know… no-one talks to me about them, haha! 

people use all manner of pronouns for bronze, though. 

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?I’m gonna go with Enza for this one. Enza Colie was originally written entirely because I wanted an antagonist for a short starring his sister, Jane Colie. But the more I fleshed out his reasonings for acting how he did and explored his character, the more I realised he’d make an even more interesting character if allowed to have a redemption arc, too. 

I just want to state for the record that I was very reluctant to the idea, and he basically dragged his way out of the villain pit entirely of his own accord. I am dubiously proud of him, and also a bit scared. 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?Probably either Eric (Big Man, Best Friend), Crocus (Mother figure), Reed (Father Figure), Westrin (hed just make a good friend u kno??), or Bismuth (she makes good conversation!)

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)probably the homestuck fan-troll Hallux, but that’s mostly because they were based on a troll-sona I made awhile ago. They’re a hope/prospit game designer who is small and full of rage and love

oh, and there’s dave! dave’s a superhero speedster, existing in a modern-day superhero version of seattle. theyre idiot, just like me,

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will? this is an interesting one… i don’t think ive ever had something Bad in a design ive done called to my attention by someone, but I did create my character Servant at around the same time I was first really expanding the diversity of my casts. (since i don’t talk about him often, a little context: he’s a magic spirit creature bound to human form to serve the royal family of the land and follow their orders.) 

somehow, younger-and-more-stupid me managed to have the revelation that making this “eternal slave” character literally anything other than a white man, especially as a white author, would be Pretty Not Good. im … thats really, really not something i should pat myself on the back for, but i do consider it one of the biggest bullets dodged in my artistic career so far that i realised that not all representation is good representation so quickly, before i could make that incredibly, incurably stupid mistake. 

after that, trying to make sure my characters and their presentations don’t harm anyone pretty much has become a paranoia. i don’t seem to have stepped on any toes yet, but when it inevitably happens, please let me know - i didnt know, and i want to fix it! 

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? None that I can think of, actually! I don’t really do that often. 

28. Your most dangerous OC? god damn it i have no idea!!! is it the terminus? glitch in the matrix god of chaos motherfucker?is it sarle? terrifying calculating scientist with the power of the soul at her fingertips ??? is it ares??? is it athena????? is it petra?????? the gatekeeper???? 

… actually, the gatekeeper might be it, if “dangerous” just refers to “the amount of raw power it can wield”. the Gatekeeper is a titanic entity that exists in interdimensional multiverse space, and its implied to have the ability to create and destroy entire universe bubbles at will. for what cosmic purpose, no-one knows. 

at a more personal scale, though, literally all of the aforementioned characters are pretty bad to run into too. 

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?god. Mina or Tawn. Tawn is the Indiana Jonesy type and probably dumb enough, but also competent enough not to get into too much trouble there. Mina would probably drag her friends along. 

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? XEN09. No-one knows, because no-one knows xir personal identity. Xe absolutely does, though. It’s less of a secret if you know xir in person, but good luck finding out about it otherwise. 

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)dave just reblogs memes all the time tbh. they like to keep tabs on the ridiculous superhero news going on, and they show human jokes and cat videos to their alien gf. they dont really post or add to posts, but they talk in tags a lot. 

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why? i want to say tawn because i literally just realised ive been imagining their voice as sounding like luigi this entire fucking time and i never realised until this exact instant

33. Your shyest OC?probably baromet. they prefer to keep to themself in their hideout, with their collection of shiny things. they don’t really enjoy trying to communicate much, mostly because they expect to get yelled at. 

34. Do you have any twin characters?Yes! At least two sets; 

- Crocus and Sarle. (x) (x) They don’t exactly have a very well-developed relationship, but they are both quite important to the plot of my campaign world, and they are both very interesting. Crocus is a motherly figure who just exudes friendliness, while Sarle is .. very much not that, a researcher studying very gruesome things and pushing the boundaries of reality. 

- Jane and Enza Colie. I haven’t talked a whole lot about either of them here, but I’d rather leave their story to do the talking whenever I get around to it. Essentially, the both of them were intended to do the dirty work for their crime boss family, but Jane ditched to study medicine. Most of the conflict between the two of them comes out of Enza not understanding why she made the choice she did, and coming to understand how he’s been manipulated. 

35. Any sibling characters? I can’t really think of any off the top of my head, I should … I should really work on that. 

I can talk about Westrin, though. Westrin (a demigod of many things, but namely bards, travel, travelers, and people who are lost) often becomes close friends with mortals, sometimes practically adopting them. These people who consider him family, and people who have received his blessing, are able to use his surname, Brilanta, as their own if they choose. So I guess all of the Brilantas are siblings, at least in spirit. 

Oh, and XEN09 has like, seven siblings. Xe is the second-oldest, and least remarkable. 

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)? I already talked about Eros and Bismuth up there a ways in question 18, but I’ll talk about another relationship here. @autistictimeknight​‘s character, Nova the Alchemist, is mentor and adopted parental figure to my character Munna. Munna … Munna isn’t a very good apprentice. She tries very hard. 

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human That’s most of them, I’m not quite sure what to say here. Bronze is an android? Bronze again? Westrin? All the aliens ?? 

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer? man. uh. westrin or jean. or perhaps valencia. 

39. Introduce any character you want ??? uhhhHHHhhHHH Lord Brillium is the reigning deity of the Cloud Kingdoms in the other campaign setting I’m working on. They represent light and the quest for knowledge, and spend most of their days in the Cathedral Observatory watching the stars. 

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!one time bronze flew a hover-bike through the stained glass window in a cathedral blaring all star by smash mouth on their iguana

also one time bronze rickrolled a rakshasa demon and then pulled updog on it like, two minutes later

another time bronze scared off an entire army by pretending to be an automated security system 

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)ive got a whole little folder on here from all you blessed people !!!! right now ive got a drawing quinn did of one o fmy characters as my lockscreen

but i think the one i’ll really never ever get over is this piece of Jane, by @rabendraws​ / @owoltron​: 

(i bet you thought i forgot about this, dude. dude. think again.) 

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods? this is kind of a weird question, m, I feel like Bismuth would find learning about the mythos utterly fascinating, as would Tawn. 

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confesshaha. uh. i might. 

aside from the entire “bronze-tangential characters” thing i mentioned awhile back, I tend to really like designing characters with hair color lighter than their skin color. it just looks so cool man. i love drawing freckles but dont put them on enough characters. i like really curly hair, but also really long and flowy hair. i like drawing triangular body types, and pointy/prominent noses. 

44. Something you like about your OCs in generaluhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a really vague question. m. m. 

45. A character you no longer use?there’s old versions of characters, but a lot of my older ones have been somehow repurposed. I guess there’s Turien, my first-ever DND character, who’s just kind of sitting dead now. Haven’t really done anything with him other than a pretty recent tangential character. 

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?Not that I can think of.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child? Im certain it’s happened, but I can’t remember any specific instances. 

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pureSpring. spring knows nothing of th dangers of the world who is letting them into fights someon eneeds to stop this

(spring roll, hehe.) 

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memesim not sure what this question is asking since many of my ocs actively enjoy memes including but not limited to westrin, dave, bronze, xen09, iris, and doctor archersen

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you wanti think. i think im going to pass on this one. i gave you the good old oc talk. your damn turn, yall: 

if you have any questions about any of these guys feel free to shoot one at me!

thats all from me im tired and its one am. techskylander you absolute madman 

[patriotsnet]

Is The Economy Better With Democrats Or Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/is-the-economy-better-with-democrats-or-republicans/

Is The Economy Better With Democrats Or Republicans

Demographic Differences In Views Of Economy

Does the economy do better under Democrats or Republicans?

Overall, 57% of Americans say current economic conditions are excellent or good, but these views vary across demographic groups: older people, those with higher incomes, men and whites are particularly likely to say the economy is in good shape, while these views are less widely shared among younger people, those with lower incomes, women, blacks and Hispanics.

These demographic gaps are little changed over the course of the last few years. Americans ages 65 and over are the most positive in their evaluations of the economy, with 70% saying it is in excellent or good shape. By comparison, about half of 18-29 year olds say the same. And while more than six-in-ten white people offer positive evaluations of the economy, that compares with roughly half of Hispanic people and just a third of black Americans .

There is a 12 percentage-point gender gap in these views: 64% of men say the economy is doing well, compared with 52% of women. And while 64% of college graduates say economic conditions are excellent or good, 54% of those without a college degree say the same.

Views of the economy also differ starkly by income. Among those with annual family incomes of $100,000 or more, 72% have positive views of the economy, with one-quarter rating it as excellent. Roughly two-thirds of those who make $75,000-$99,999 and $50,000-$74,999 rate the economy as excellent or good.

Do Republican Presidents Have Better Economic Records

Republicans often get the nod for being better with the economy. For example, a recent Pew Research Poll of registered voters found that 49 percent of voters trusted Republicans to handle the economy better, while 40 percent trusted Democrats. This post seeks to answer a simple question is this perception true when it comes to the presidency? Do Republican presidents have better economies?

To answer the question, I looked at a variety of measures. These included measures of economic performance, like Gross Domestic Product or the change in the unemployment rate. I also looked at some areas of criticism for Democrats that their policies lead to debt and inflation. Then, I looked at President Trumps favorite measure of performance the stock market. Finally, because this blog is about inequality, I examined how a measure of inequality did under Republican presidents and Democrats.

The results are presented in all their glory below, but let me summarize it for you. If you are going to vote for a Republican presidential candidate based on their economic performance, think again. The perception that Republican presidents get better economic performance is wrong. Across most of the measures I will present, if anything, Republicans do worse. And you dont have to believe me. Every measure I looked at came from here or here. Go have a look for yourself. Or, just trust me and read on.

Republican Presidents vs. Democrats: GDP & Unemployment

NoteData Series: NoteNote

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.

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Everyone Does Better When The Presidents A Democrat

The numbers dont lie. The question is why every Democrat isnt talking about this all the time.

Our two political parties have certain identities that are seared into our collective public brain. Democrats: the party of workers, of civil rights, of compassion and fairness, and of higher taxes and more regulation. Republicans: party of the rich, big business , the free market, and lower taxes and less regulation.

And because the GOP is the party of big business, it is universally assumed that Republicans are better at handling the economy. Polls typically find that people trust Democrats more on all the things that government does, which stands to reason, but trust Republicans more on handling the economy. Just last week I saw a poll in which respondents rated Biden as better equipped than Trump to handle race relations, the virus response, and two or three other things; but on the economy, Trump bested Biden 51-46.

Its hard wired, and its wrong. Dead wrong.

Simon Rosenberg heads NDN, a liberal think tank and advocacy organization. He has spent years advising Democrats, presidents included, on how to talk about economic matters. Not long ago, he put together a little PowerPoint deck. It is fascinating. You need to know about it. The entire country needs to know about it.;

The deck consists of about 15 slides, but Ill walk you through just six so you get the idea. Lets start with job creation under each president:

Democrats, you have a great story to tell. Go tell it.;;;

A President Doesnt Really Matter For Investment Returns

The main lesson of this article is that a Democrat or Republican president doesnt really affect your investment returns. As there are so many variables that influence the S&P 500s index performance, who is president is not a significant factor.

The same thing goes for the CEO of a large publicly-traded company. If Tim Cook at Apple retired tomorrow, do you think the event would make a difference in Apples share price? There might be a knee-jerk move for one or two days, but after that, it would be back to business as usual. As a result, if you want to get rich, your goal is to try and become an overpaid CEO.

Instead of voting for a president who you think will be best for your investments, vote for a president who you think will do the most good for the most number of people. A country begins to rot if only some people get way ahead while others are left behind.

Since 2009, Ive been driven to try and help people improve their financial lives no matter who they are or who they vote for. Ive found that people who are more financially secure are nicer and happier people. More good comes out of the world as a result.

I dont believe only the rich, powerful, and connected and their children should get ahead. Theyve already got all the resources in the world that money can buy. Therefore, Financial Samurai will continue to be free for as long as Im alive.

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Good Morning Why Has The Us Economy Fared So Much Better Under Democratic Presidents Than Republicans

Has the economy fared better under Democratic presidents or Republican presidents over the past century? The sensible answer might seem to be: Its probably been similar.

Presidents, after all, have only limited control over the economy. They dont have much influence over the millions of decisions every day, made by consumers and business executives, that shape economic growth, jobs, incomes and stock prices. Over the course of a century, it seems logical that the economy would have performed similarly under Democrats and Republicans.

But it hasnt.

The economy has fared far better under Democrats. The gap, as one academic paper puts it, is startlingly large. Here are the headline numbers:

And here is a ranking of presidents by average annual G.D.P. growth:

The gap exists not only for G.D.P. and jobs but also for incomes, productivity and stock prices. The gap also exists if you assume that a presidents policies affect the economy with a lag and dont start his economic clock until months after he takes office. Virtually any reasonable look at the data shows a big Democratic advantage.

My colleague Yaryna Serkez and I have just documenting the pattern and the potential reasons. A few possibilities are easy to reject. Its not about congressional control, nor is it about Democrats running up larger budget deficits.

Republican presidents have been slow to respond to recessions and other crises Donald Trump and both George Bushes being examples.

The Economy Does Better Under Democrats

Republicans have managed to create and maintain the myth that their party is best for the American economy. The facts say something different.

But the facts are not on the Republicans side. Historically, the American economy has performed measurably better when Democrats are in charge.

Here are some quick stats you can use when to support your assertions about the economy:

1) Since 1947, when official GDP calculations were introduced, GDP growth under Democratic administrations has consistently outpaced that of Republican administrations. This is true even when major crises like the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic are factored out.

A similar study by Princeton economists found that from Truman to Obama, growth was 1.8 percent higher under Democratic administrations than their Republican counterparts.

2) On average, stock market growth is stronger under Democrats. Again comparing the period since 1947, data shows that markets grew an average of 10.8 percent under Democratic presidents, compared to 5.6 percent for under Republican presidents.

3) Democratic administrations create more jobs.

Since the 1960s, when the party holding the presidency began to fluctuate regularly, Democrats have, on average, outperformed Republicans in terms of job growth. Republican President Regan is an outlier, as he did post impressive job numbers. Here is a comparison:

Johnson 10 MillionH.W. Bush 3 MillionClinton 23 MillionW. Bush 1 MillionObama 12 Million

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Which Political Party Is Really Better For The Us Economy

WASHINGTON ;It seems every four years in the United States it boils down to one question for voters: hows the economy doing? Even during COVID-19, the pandemics impact on jobs and finances remains a major issue, according to a recent poll. So when it comes to Democrats and Republicans, which political party handles the economy better? A new study finds it may actually be better for Americans when both parties hold power.

Analysts at WalletHub have released their review of how the U.S. economy has fared since 1950 under both parties. Looking at times where one side controls the White House and Congress and times where the government was split, analysts find the best scenario for economy emerges when a Democrat is President, but Republicans control Congress.

The study looks at several key factors including the state of the stock market, unemployment, the national debt, home and gas prices, and even the level of income equality across America. Researchers also examined how each administration since Dwight D. Eisenhower has affected the nations fortunes.

Want A Better Economy Elect A Democratic President

Who are better for the economy, Democrats or Republicans?

I enjoyed David Leonhardts opinion piece in the New YorkTimes today including graphic evidence that the econmomy performed better under Democratic presidents for the last century.

A president has only limited control over the economy. And yet there has been a stark pattern in the United States for nearly a century. The economy has grown significantly faster under Democratic presidents than Republican ones.

Its true about almost any major indicator: gross domestic product, employment, incomes, productivity, even stock prices. Its true if you examine only the precise period when a president is in office, or instead assume that a presidents policies affect the economy only after a lag and dont start his economic clock until months after he takes office. The gap holds almost regardless of how you define success, two economics professors at Princeton, Alan Blinder and Mark Watson,;write. They describe it as startlingly large.

Accompanying graphics tell the story, with a couple shown here.

My dad, a yellow-dog Democrat stockbroker in southern Louisiana, preached this to me until his dying day. His evidence was only anecdotal, of course, but very tangible.

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Annual Growth Rate Of Nonfarm Jobs

Starting president’s economic clock…

The six presidents who have presided over the fastest job growth have all been Democrats, as you can see above. The four presidents who have presided over the slowest growth have all been Republicans.

The big question, of course, is why. And there are not easy answers.

I have shown the data to multiple economists in recent weeks, and most say they are not sure how to explain it, at least not fully. We dont quite get why its the case, Katherine Eriksson, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who specializes in economic history, told me. , an economist at the University of Tennessee, described the pattern to the graduate students in a class she teaches and asked for their thoughts. They were sort of stumped, she said.

Ezra Klein writes that midterms typically raze the governing party and explores just how tough a road the Democrats have ahead.

Michelle Cottle surveys the Republican opposition thats shaping up for 2022 and finds many candidates embracing the fiction that the election was stolen.

Maureen Dowd writes that Biden has a very narrow window to do great things and shouldnt squander it appeasing Republican opponents.

Thomas B. Edsall explores new research on whether the Democratic Party could find more success focusing on race or on class when trying to build support.

What, then, are the most plausible theories?

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on , and .

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.

Don’t Miss: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

The Philosophy Behind Republican Economic Policy

Republicans advocate supply-side economics that primarily benefits businesses and investors. This theory states that tax cuts on businesses allow them to hire more workers, in turn increasing demand and growth. In theory, the increased revenue from a stronger economy offsets the initial revenue loss over time.

Republicans advocate the right to pursue prosperity without government interference. They argue this is achieved by self-discipline, enterprise, saving, and investing.

Republicans business-friendly approach leads most people to believe that they are better for the economy. A closer look reveals that Democrats are, in many respects, actually better.

In 2016 The Media Extensively Covered Trump Supporters Economic Anxiety Will This Misperception Continue In The Lead

Since Joe Biden became president, several surveys have found a sharp rise in Republican pessimism about the economy.

This might seem surprising considering the national economy which experienced one of its worst downturns thanks to the coronavirus pandemic is now objectively improving. The United States added 916,000 jobs in March, smashing Dow Jones expectations and the unemployment rate is now at its lowest level in over a year. And economic forecasters now predict annual GDP growth in 2021 will soar to levels the country hasnt witnessed in nearly 40 years.

Yet, despite these optimistic economic indicators, most Republicans say the economy is getting worse. On the one hand, this is to be expected, as political scientists have found that how we think about the economy is increasingly rooted in how we identify politically rather than in actual economic conditions.

Take this data from Civiqs daily tracking polls, which has asked Americans about the economy each day since June 2016. Americans perceptions of the national economy have changed wildly depending on whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House.

Read Also: Senate Seats Republican

Trump Is Right About One Thing: The Economy Does Better Under The Democrats

Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in the Sun Country Airlines Hangar at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport November 6, 2016.

Since Im an old Democrat supporting Hillary Clinton, it might surprise you to hear that I agree with Donald Trumps top line view of the economy.

No, I dont agree with much that hes said since he started his 2016 presidential campaign, and recent revelations have rightly drawn opprobrium. But since Im also an agreeable old southerner, Ill give credit where credit is due. Donald was absolutely right when he told Wolf Blitzer in 2004: Ive been around for a long time and it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans.

Thats right. Trump said out loud the same thing that Hillary Clinton has assertedand top academics and journalists have confirmed. The same thing Ive been;compiling cold, hard government data on since 1980: By crucial metrics like GDP, job creation, business investment and avoiding recessions, the economy does a lot better with Democrats in the White House than with Republicans. Just one eye-opening example: Nine of the last 10 recessions have been under Republicans.

Watch on Forbes.;Hillary Clinton Vs. Donald Trump: Where The Candidates Stand On Employment And Jobs

Pundits dont agree on exactly why. Some say the common thread may be external factors ranging from oil shocks and warm, fuzzy consumer expectations to economic cycles falling differently from political cycles.

[punkscowardschampions]

Indie & Rio

Indie: can we chat? Rio: 'Course we can Indie: you still mad tho? Rio: No Rio: Serious Indie: me either Indie: my heart b heavy but not w that Rio: What's wrong, babe? Indie: all things Indie: its bad here Rio: How bad? Indie: dred like i dont wanna drag you back in but i cant cope w it Rio: Don't worry about me Rio: I'll have to sort some stuff here but how soon do you need me back Rio: and what can I do 'til then, like Indie: let me be w you i wont 2s mckenna or no thing Indie: but i gotta be out Indie: theres too many fucking situations Rio: alright Rio: of course Rio: i'll sort the uber now, where am I sending it Rio: is it the things i know or has something else, or multiple something else's happened? Indie: [sends random ass location because honestly where the fuck she wanna be rn] Indie: theres more and worse Indie: how you want it? Rio: First tell me you're safe Rio: then tell me however's easiest for you Indie: I'm proper high rn are they gonna let me come to london? Rio: Yeah, obviously don't bring anything but if it's gone it's gone Rio: You'll be fine Indie: safe Indie: i got none left to bring Indie: it been like that Rio: Damn Rio: Say no more, but do Indie: i get why my ma werent trying to do nothing but this Indie: cept its there still when you come thru Rio: That's the problem Indie: cant keep it goin innit cant keep no thing goin Indie: cant keep drew from wildin acting like a younger bringin feds to my door and my boy on my back cos hes fave target Indie: neither chatting to me like i done this Indie: did i? idk Rio: Nah, you didn't Rio: I can't even expand on it because just no, how could it be you Indie: thats how the boy treating me like i livin for the drama Indie: but the feds want drew in the pen & thats how he want it cos theres nothing left for him to fuck up in these ends Indie: i cant stop it none Rio: That ain't you though Rio: and who would be about this shit, it's the worst Rio: As for Drew Rio: I'm sorry Rio: We've been here before, there's no talking to him when he's in that space Rio: and that isn't on you Indie: every day we on this he be spitting angry at me throwing shit around but acting like im the one creating Indie: its too hard Indie: and yeah then theres drew back on his bullshit Indie: w the only apology yours to hold cos he aint offering Indie: i want him gone & i put that out into the universe so mayb i did it Indie: this is proper gone tho & that baby gonna be born soon Rio: Oh babe Rio: He don't know you like that, he shouldn't be treating you like that, standard Rio: even if you were the biggest drama queen in the world but you ain't and he got you so fucked up on that Rio: Nah, he's doing it all himself, even if you thought you wanted it or still do if not this way Rio: you can't make him do the dirt he do, or make him not Rio: The baby will be good, it'll have it's Ma and Bea is staying with her still and everyone else, you know it'll be okay Rio: what about you though baby Indie: how i let him chat to me that way? who am i rn? wtf Indie: i just want our yard back and you back and things to be what they were Indie: but its not Indie: cos even if we there what kinda ma she trying to be for real? im spinning out but like where in the universe is she @ Indie: & none of this is gonna hurt you most Indie: thats the last thing i aint chatted Rio: We've all put up with shit we shouldn't have Rio: 'cos we thought it'd pay off Rio: You ain't alone in that, nor does it make you less you even if it makes you feel less altogether Rio: I can try to talk to Drew, about the flat, idk if I can make that happen but if he goes jail he loses his lease, he only kept it in the past 'cos his boss' would pay it if he dealt inside, like but he ain't got the clout he used to have Rio: accept it or nah, no doubt we could chat about me taking it on if it comes to that but i ain't making promises Rio: I know but, you gotta trust we will all be there for damage control Rio: we're all alright ish, yeah? Rio: Go ahead, babe, I can handle it Indie: i got caught up cos i wanted someone to be for me & about me one time & everyone else has somewhere to lean Indie: you and mckenna being goals in my face Indie: everything else was a mess but i just added Indie: and now she has Indie: cos what i gotta tell you is bills told me edie be gone Indie: hardcore packed up and run out Rio: i know there's nothing i can say to make you feel less shit about it but i swear to you babe, we've all been there Rio: you know i have Rio: it doesn't make it better for you but it ain't your fuckup, it's one we all go through to grow through, yeah? no bullshit Rio: she did talk to buster but Rio: i didn't think it'd be anything more than normal Rio: i'll tell ma Indie: i reckoned bills was gonna cry she was carrying that much worry Indie: i aint no what to tell her Rio: I'll talk to her too Rio: I don't know what I'll say but Rio: it'll be alright, we can sort this Indie: i been swerving dem all hard as you Indie: more than she got detention for how hard she was trying to hit me up she said Indie: doing everyone the dirtiest ever why i gotta leave Rio: I can't blame you Rio: This shit is hard Rio: and painful Rio: I'm sorry I left you alone Indie: he aint try and fuck me i got no excuses Indie: [sends selfie] am I 😢 I can't feel it so what you seeing? Indie: not trying to be out here in the wild 💔😭 Rio: Baby calm down okay, you're good Rio: Your flight is booked and the uber is en-route Rio: I sent all your deets to you, all you gotta do is get here Rio: we're gonna sort all this okay and the shit we can't we gonna make bearable at least Indie: i dont have anything tho cant b living in mckennas garms after the last Indie: he gon b mad enough im rolling up likely Rio: No he won't Rio: I got plenty of shit you can borrow don't stress on that Rio: Nance has got a mental wardrobe here too Indie: o yeah other mckenna Indie: always sleeping on her living there too Indie: she aint but she do Rio: Exactly, I've had to borrow her bed loads of times before and you know they living that en-suite life Rio: you can stay for as long as you need Indie: innit what school gon do put drew in prison? 😂 Rio: Tbh Rio: In the grand scheme of things, that doesn't matter rn, soz teachers Indie: ill screenshot them words like my ma says Rio: I missed you Indie: safe cos imma be in your face soon Rio: wish it was under better circumstances, like Rio: but we'll get there Indie: @ the age to have a breakdown once a wk soz bout it 😂 Rio: that i can handle Rio: nothing that a pint of ben & jerry's and some chill time can't Indie: warn mckenna to lock up his squad & we all good Rio: 😏 Will do Rio: he's not really rolling with them rn so temptation should be outta the way Indie: 😍💍 be like Indie: i feel it Rio: Erm I ain't that hoe 😣😂 Indie: theres how you say & how you do bitch 😏💘😂 Indie: 👀 you from the front row in a few Rio: 🙄😔 am I really that bad Indie: nah nah Indie: mckenna be amp as Indie: its a good link Rio: Yeah but I mean Rio: do you feel like I've been ignoring you Rio: pre you know, that bullshit Indie: allow it babe Indie: you never done nobody that way Rio: Promise Rio: 'cos that ever what I was trying to be Indie: you always on the clock & your game Indie: trust Rio: Alright, 'nuff about me Rio: is there anything else you need, either now or for when you get here? Indie: gon need to grab my shit while 👻ing this boy Indie: standard juggle Indie: if hes been holding that long & not dashed it out ill break in Rio: You're gonna take some mates with you, yeah? Indie: bitch please i dont need the lads knoing my business that hard Rio: is it a good idea tho, even if he got his own van u kno they all got each other's backs, like Rio: be careful, all i'm saying Indie: they aint gonna call the feds on me man Indie: ill leave it til im back need a clearer head than this for a lock pick Rio: Yeah, don't worry 'bout it now Rio: anything replaceable we can sort now Indie: im not tryin to lose my head over things rn Indie: if imma be in london i got what i need Rio: That's the main thing Rio: and I ain't gonna come at you with 20 questions either, like Rio: space can include from me, just lemme know what you're feeling Indie: i been had enough space from you girl Indie: i miss you Rio: was hoping you'd say that Indie: i love you more than Indie: thats the mood Rio: i love you too Rio: no outs Indie: dont lets lose each other again Indie: 💖💖 Rio: never 🧡 Indie: how long this uber tryna be im 😫😫😫 Indie: imma b sleepin on this wall like i kicking it nursery rhyme vibes Rio: it's saying it's nearly there on the app Rio: if you gonna crash at the airport make sure you near the gate tho Indie: safe Indie: o sick idea Indie: the plane not trying to be up long enough for that shit tho innit Rio: legit its as quick as the bus into town like Rio: be here in no time Indie: its a madness Rio: yeah, see, it's not that far really Indie: feels like Indie: but mayb thats just how i want it so i can 👻 this town harder than afore Rio: it's far enough for that Rio: ain't letting drew out the country are they Indie: 😂😂😂 Indie: not less they start deporting crooks old school like when 🐨 country just one big pen Rio: He wishes Rio: always got his top off like we living that life here Indie: fr like he needs a tan to appear more peng nah nah Rio: if we wanna get a new wifey Rio: least if she out there we unlikely to be related to her so go off Indie: true true Indie: unless he tryna head to spain for my nan we all good Rio: 😬 Rio: yikes, not a mental image we need Indie: idk i hear she keeps things tight & fresh Indie: hes done worse Rio: Stop 😩 Rio: 'less you gonna bring me one of them sick bags Indie: get you a straw donkey when he drag me out there for the 💒 Indie: i got you Rio: when u don't wanna be nan but u down to be ma Indie: least she too old to put a 👶 in Indie: & it aint like being down to be ma is top of his list for how he want his wifeys Indie: that ones just for you like Indie: ro not trying to mother me no mind the one she growing rn Rio: Fair Rio: Willing to put up with his shit and mother him is clearly more vital Rio: 'low it with the mommy issues like he's the only one going without Rio: twat Indie: o snap Indie: just cos yours aint want you boy dont mean you gotta kill mine tho Rio: o snapped too soon Rio: but he ain't get snapped on enough for that Indie: when he offering you dem same goodies ☠ Indie: thanks dad Indie: you a real one Rio: waste Rio: he's so fucked Indie: i was 👍 Indie: down & out Indie: what that make me? Rio: you a kid Rio: not chatting down to you, but you allowed to be is what I mean Rio: he's grown and he caused your shit, he should know and do better so you could Rio: literally his job Indie: idc now if he show up for astrid thatd do man Indie: grown past him still Rio: Yeah Rio: we'll have to wait n see if he can be arsed to prove himself Rio: idk if he's been allowed near since you know Indie: not from what ive 👂 Indie: coulda changed since he stopped chatting at me tho Indie: or he coulda just been chattin it so it dont look his fault he swervin Rio: wouldn't blame them from keeping him away rn, your hormones are fucked and she's never had much sense when it came to him Rio: but i don't know if it's a forever deal or what Indie: i can see her lawin it cos he burned her so hard w this Indie: proper owned Indie: she aint tryin to let you come thru & you fam so Rio: well you know Indie: cant call her out that hard when it aint that different from how my ma tryin to be when Indie: they all 🤡 for him Rio: yeah Rio: i don't get it Rio: whatever, he's good looking Indie: so your da he aint a wasteman w it Rio: it's easier to be treated like shit sometimes though than accept the love init Indie: call out 🔫 at me bitch Rio: not what i was going for Rio: just saying he ain't special with it, we all do it Indie: 👀 you Rio: 😏 shh Indie: 😂 Rio: neway Rio: he's out, yeah? Indie: innit Rio: 👍 Indie: how you livin Indie: gimme dat 411 Rio: yeah good tbh, the place where i work is cool Rio: i'm just doing promo stuff 'cos i don't wanna get too into anything obvs but it's fun, not dry like the angel was getting Indie: sick! they gonna let me in or ⛔ Rio: see what i can do Rio: sure we get u made up no one gonna be too amp Indie: dont 🤡 me Indie: keep it 💋 Rio: oi don't be doubting my skillz Rio: you ever seen me out like that 😂 rude Indie: doubtin my ability to carry all that Indie: you ever seen me in 👠 bitch Rio: you don't need 'em when you out with me Rio: only just be touching your height in mine so Indie: 😂😂😂 Rio: 😣 be looking stupid short 'round here Indie: you will stand w mckenna Rio: what i'm sayin Indie: 😍 gotta travel far 💖💖 baby Indie: good thing he extra too Rio: 😂 Indie: hows the love Rio: I don't wanna be extra about it at you Rio: but it is good Rio: and no one totally flipped shit on it so Indie: im not that 💔💔💔 you cant speak on it Indie: boy dont get to do me dirty and keep me pining long Rio: That's my girl Rio: 💪 Indie: throw shit @ me again he gon catch these hands Rio: serious, what a cunt Rio: he ain't gonna have the chance Indie: do me a solid & dont tell the fam yeah? your ma only just calmin after wanting to merk drew Rio: 'course Rio: you got it handled Rio: they don't need to know every little thing Indie: i did nearly run there the other thinkin i was gonna be baby'd up same time as my step ma near Indie: but nah 🍀 Rio: remind me to take you drs yeah Rio: 😰 Indie: its chill i not letting any lads near me in the 24 or out of Rio: still, with your memory, i don't think the pill is the one we'll get you the implant maybe Rio: or the coil, they last time Indie: sexy Indie: he was wrapped but it got fucked up idk was wild Indie: get them posho london drs to sort me 😂😂😂 Rio: nah you wanna be the one in control of that shit babe trust Indie: 👑👑👑 Indie: i feel that Rio: boys be mad dumb that shit could be old or ripped there's no telling Indie: fr 😒😒🙄🙄 Indie: he only got a year on me too idc how many girls he tryna chat he been w he dont kno that much Rio: You can defs take off at least 20% of whatever he chatting Rio: Trust Indie: serious? Rio: Probably Rio: or think about how many of them were like Rio: 5 minute fumbles at parties and shit Rio: doesn't really do much for your game even if its a numbers booster Indie: tell me mckennas i wont say shit to him swear down Rio: 😂 i would but idk Rio: i ain't asked Indie: girl WHAT Indie: bitch imma do it for you Indie: we taking off like 90% for him 'cause how he like to chat or nah? Indie: 😂😂😂😂 Rio: I can imagine like, I don't need confirmation Rio: Poor baby 😂 Indie: do he kno your numbers? Rio: Nope Rio: 'less he tryna keep track like that which I doubt lmao Indie: its jam we can keep em on 🔒 Rio: Idc I'd tell you Rio: but he ain't wanna know trust Indie: boy too jel Indie: how they all be Rio: you know Indie: drew be tellin me how to do w my body like he something to me so we can let mckenna stand Rio: yeah that's a whole nother thing Rio: that ain't cute or wanted Indie: he aint 😂😂😂 Rio: truth hurts 😂 Indie: innit tho Rio: ur uber says its there so pull up Indie: i be waving to someone Indie: gotta b Rio: kinda excited even though it's cos everything is shit Indie: it me you gotta be hype 💖💖💖 Rio: That's alright then 😘 Indie: what mckenna say bout it? Rio: He's cool, gonna talk to his Dad so we don't have to Rio: getting food too to show he can, like Indie: trying to flex o boy Rio: ever since you dissed him Rio: gotta get good Indie: he need be told 👌 Indie: bring 🍔 🍕🍟 any of Indie: it aint hard if you smart Rio: idk if he taking orders but i'll let him know 😏 Indie: hit him w a screenshot and add 🥊 or 💪 Indie: 💍💍💍 life be like Rio: You have no idea babe Rio: getting it from both of yous again now 😜 Indie: is it? he wearin the 👖 thats how you 😍😍 Indie: i been knew Indie: 💘💘💘 Rio: Shut up 😩 Rio: That just how it be in the bedroom don't get it twisted Indie: 😏😏 when he such a daddy you let him wear the 👑 out 😏😏😏 Rio: yeah you lucky you still a flight away Rio: 🥊 'fore 💋 forreal Indie: 😂😂😂😂

[hurricanetortilla5ever-blog]

so we had a lil fight again , and it seems very repetitive because again its about the same thing , how i expect tsoething and m hurt and hes like im doing my best . idk man  which i think like , this should be the last straw like we need to get out shit straight if not theres no point beig together in  toxic relationship

i dont even wnna talk about the first time cause its all windy nd so much shit so  ok

  1. our first fight i was like expecting him to be sweet and not numb and i wanted more dates , which technically wasnt hard at all, his reasons were like he does to his capabilities etc what not , broke etc . and i kinda took that so im like ok maybe like hes a one nice trip or something in a long time , then  100 days was nice , no complains but we didnt really drink much , i guesss cause he felt pressured cause he was paying so much , but i means hes told me stories of him being i bars cocktails over cocktails , but its a small thing so i didnt really bug much . anyways we talked about it and hes like yeah im not a super sweet guy , but then he said he expressed love more with his ex , so its a bit unfair ? idk i wish he loved me as much to do so , but its not under my control 

so i feel like yeah , i accept , i accompany this love , even though i want compassionate , obsessive love , not childish , but respectful but agressive , but he is sweet to me and i know , to his extent , that he loves me , and the fact that i love him , makes all these needs diminish . i thought then maybe i had too high expectations for him , like for my birthday , 100 days , the compliments , the expression of love , some guys are good with that , i think austin hyped me so much in the past , i only now know my worth  , andnot settle for shitty men .

but like at the back of my head , theres the little things , then after this fight 

2. i felt hurt that he didnt tell me about them smoking up , and he says its cause it didnt cross his mind , but honestly , i think thats a big lie , cause i was acting up because of my depression yesterday and he was all , you feeling sad ? and didnt bother to be honest with me . and i saw his schoked look when jaydon said weed . like he got caught or something . it was kinda embarassing that i didnt know and jaydon felt like he probably failed a bro , but im not one to humiliate  so i acted like nothing happened , even tho i was pissed , also like becausse of this i felt as tho that he only did it with them cause he prefers these things with them , like we dont just randomly drin or smoke together like syaz and d , or llay all , like everytime iasked he said no and made me feel like a gross druggie thats like forcing him to do it , and honestly  , when youre smoking up you dont wanna get high with a whiny bitch thats complaining , how to enjoy  ? thats why i didnt wanna smoke with him anyways , i thought he hated it , cause everytime i asked he said no  , i wish we could just sit home and get drunk and fuck all night and talk about the universe but it seems like he only initiates to do these things with his friends , well minus the fucking thing , and like he went to tze kens house for his bday and i thought he was gonna come here , cause he told me that story and i was stupid to expect as such thats why i got drunk and sad and burnt myself with my hair curler . but idk he had another “reason” for that too i guess . then a nunch of things came up like , he goes out of his way , stays up gets drunk , gets high with his friends , while im here being his mum studying with him and making sure hes home early so he doesnt die . i just wished there was that much spontaneous shit with us , instead we get spontaneous fights , without the makeup sex too . so theres all these small thngs that just add up to him covincidentally treating his firiends with more regards than me , and his argument is that i dont appriciate the good things , like damn i do , but is it bad i want more ? is it bad i want the same thngs ur friends is having ? hurts mf , really hurts , anyways i feel like im just hurting myself , expecting him to get me the same shit as his friends ,  we ended it but like i dont know where i stand , we left the conversation ending that  hes not gonna change , he loves me but he wont go out of his way to show it , hell show it to his capability , idek what that means . like , our first bad fight , he was capable of coming early to talk , but instead he had sukiya with sohan and tze ken while i basically starved for 2 days , waiting like a dumbass . i think its time i just , expanded and made more friends , maybe hang out with monica more , cause like im so clingy and im like begging for his attention , i hate it . then when im pissed and numb , thats the only time he responds , thats the only time he reahes for my hand in the car when i dont do it first , thats the time he actually says i  love you first , cause its always me doing these things , and im so tired man , i feel like i an only adapt until im sick of him , til i hate him ,i dont want that to happen , 

i think maybe i gotta see  how things goes , its sad cause , i thought , this was the onerelationship to last , the one where people call us mum and dad for fun , we’re cute and a perfect match , or are we ? i dont wanna expect but having said that  i shouldnt settle for less than the love i need , cause thats also settling for less , i just wished hed do more ,  a lil more effort , a lil more i love yous , and i need to back off , i swear , i need to chill and stop being clingy , but at least im not (not caring) about him and cheating on him , i hope that the fact that  i didnt cheat on him is not the only better attribute i have than tracy , i stoped stalking but you know .. he said it himself , its the best love hes ever felt , hes so caught up with being matured . maybe im too childish for him . its sad , im hurting myself again, honestly  these overthinking things has been messing with my head and i think i have a bit of my depression again , and because of the lack of love , it fucked with my self confidence more . i am fucked up in the head . my heart hurts , i love him but if i know that he doesnt feel the way i do , its always gonna be one sided 

[centeroftheworld-blog1]

“Why am I posting this. I’m just venting. I’m being a big baby. I’m just being dramatic.”

I am a helpless fantasizer, I’m always going through emotional endeavors. I try to persuade myself that I have self worth, that I have purpose, and that I’m needed by someone. I always try to impress others, by making it out better than it actually is. I lie. I sugar coat. I know it is wrong and it’ll bite me in the butt later when the truth comes out but it’s something I’ve always done because I never thought I was good enough; and that they would see that I’m a nobody. Always looking for verification that I was on the right track. But in reality I am ashamed that I haven’t done anything with my life. I haven’t taken the risk to do what I really want to do because I am afraid. I am really afraid that when I go on my adventure or whatever thing I set out to do I won’t get the achievement I seek. I’m afraid that I as a person won’t be up to task to get to my end goal. Not that their won’t be people or results at the end of it, but that my personality, my being won’t spark the attention of others to notice me, or even worse when I finally get the courage to talk to others that when I do they’d shun me or simply ignore me. I am fragile, and it does sound like I’m just feeling sorry for myself and that I don’t deserve what has happened to me. But in reality I have done stuff that are horrible. I’m afraid that it has and will catch up and take over me. Take over me in the sense that I am consumed and unable to live anymore. I do think I had to potential to be more than I am. However I always knew potential is just wasted energy. Potential doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have the drive. And I don’t have the drive. I have the dream. But I never make it come to fruition.

I’ve come back to reality just now in the pause of writing this. I had a drive just now to write what I felt. And while writing I felt that something amazing was going to happen and I was looking at a future that I would like to have. To finish writing this send it to someone anyone and they’d encourage me to do so. I wanted to just pack up and leave to anywhere and find myself in losing myself? I chuckled just now thinking does that last sentence make any sense. I am not the best writer or the best at anything for that matter. I think its held me back a lot. Just the other day I was thinking I have the potential of being a photographer. Until I saw someones else’s pictures and instead of feeling inspired, I felt discouraged. My heart has come to a slow beat, my breath faint, light, as if its ceases to exist. I want to stop writing because in a corner of my mind im telling myself, “IM USELESS, THIS ISNT GOING TO AMOUNT TO ANYTHING. YOU GIVE UP SO EASILY! YOU THINK YOU’RE SPECIAL? LIKE SOME ANIME CHARACTER? YOURE A NOBODY. YOURE NOT A MAIN CHARACTER. YOURE NOT EVEN A THOUGHT IN AN AUTHORS STORY. YOURE JUST TRYING TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. YOURE SO SELFISH, YOU DONT DESRVE HAPPINESS. IF YOU LITERALLY WERE GONE FROM THIS WORLD NO ONE WOULD EVEN BLINK. YOU SIMPLY DON’T MATTER.”

Thats in my mind a lot. And honestly seeing it typed out right in front of my makes me dizzy light headed. As I focus on my breath I tell myself to keep writing cause if I stop I won’t get the message across. I think just now what is this for anyways? I’ve always thought becoming an author would be cool. That maybe I could be a story writer. Or maybe someone would just be interested in hearing what I have to say. I’m sure this is structured really dumb and confusing. And maybe no one will even click or I don’t know see where I post this( even if I post this) Hell no will I post this on anything people I know will see. But maybe this is the best way for a cry of help from a stranger. Honestly I feel like I’m more comfortable around strangers now than people I know. A comfort now I’m realizing that no one knows me for my past a clean slate.

I started writing this just to get my thoughts out, and I wanted to write this quote cause I thought it was good and people in the world should hear it when they are down. Its not really finalized but I want it to come out like this, “Everyone or at least I want to be the center of the world. I want all eyes on me to appreciate who I am and the things I have and will do. I want to have a lasting impression that I am a caring person. I want to GO(emphasis on the go) to the center of the world(not like in the earth but the center of the world wherever it may be. Like one of the 2 axis the earth spins on?) but I realize now that I am at the center of the world. My world. As I move im still in the center of the world. As like everyone else is. where ever you move youre still in the center of the world cause its round.” Haha it sounded much better in my head but I think thats the best way I can describe this quote I wanted to say. It was actually inspired from this anime I just finished watching. Its Called “A Place Further Than the Universe” I feel I can relate a lot to the main character. She has the dream to do something big, to amount to more than she can imagine. But she’s afraid like I am, that it won’t go well, that it’ll be a disaster, that when that adventure is over. I’ll just be back to square one. In the same place doing the same life that I hate so much.

How do people do it, I’m thinking to myself how do successful people break out of that circle and expand? I go to places that amaze me and I feel great, life changing. But it ends. And I go back to the life I hate. I don’t know what to write anymore. Idk if I will ever come back to this so I’m gonna post it somewhere. Maybe someone will read it and reach out to me. Just talk to me? My laziness is kicking in. My “meh” I’m probably gonna go back to my circle. The circle I hate but that im comfortable in.

I’m back after 10 mins, cause I decided to post this on Tumblr. And so I had to make a tumlbr account and while picking “what I’m into” I saw travel, clicked on it, and the sub click was vacation. I saw that and then realized I hate vacation. When I leave to go somewhere. It isn’t to take a break or have a vacation, but to find something worthwhile. And to give me meaning . LOL that is all. Pretentious? Probably.

[samanthasroberts]

Kimbal Musk takes the tech entrepreneur ethos and applies it to food

The younger brother of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, shares his same entrepreneurial spirit, but with a family of restaurants and a nonprofit to bring learning gardens to schools around the country

It can be tricky for anyone being the younger sibling, but imagine what it must be like to be the younger brother of Elon Musk, a businessman habitually referred to as a real life Tony Stark.

His reputation seems to get more outsized with each fresh headline. Just this week, the elder Musks company SpaceX filed paperwork asking for permission to use satellites to beam down Internet service from space. Meanwhile, his other high-profile company, Tesla, continues to make advances toward its ambition to make electric cars more ubiquitous. Then there is the fascination with colonizing Mars.

Kimbal Musk, 42, is a year younger than Elon and a very successful businessman and entrepreneur in his own right. But he admits the pair, who grew up in Pretoria, South Africa before moving to Canada to study and then the US, have a slightly different take on the world of business: We have similar views [though] his are stratospheric, while mine are more in the ground.

Food is a dominant theme in Kimbal Musks personal and business interests. He is a health-conscious chef, restaurant owner with his own sense of mission about subjects close to his heart: linking peoples food to their communities and tackling childhood obesity.

In an interview with the Guardian he speaks about his hopes for his food projects – and the inspiration he gets from his brother. The younger Musk, in addition to his work as a philanthropist, investor and entrepreneur, is a board member at Tesla, SpaceX, the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Ive always loved food, said Kimbal Musk, a co-founder of The Kitchen family of restaurants in Colorado and elsewhere, which make a point of sourcing from local farmers. Growing up, I cooked in the house, and when I cooked everyone would sit down and eat, and it was just kind of the way I connected with my family. I used to throw cooking parties in university. Everyone would come over sometimes youd just do a mac and cheese, but if you do that better than everyone else you can get people to come to you.

Kimbal Musk is gregarious and charming; his brother is intense and technical. Kimbal made millions working at a startup with Elon, and invested in his brothers biggest dreams along the way – and he is no less dogged about chasing a few of his own.

The differences between the things that give the brothers purpose are striking one Musk works to change the world through high-tech inventions, the other is most passionate about food, about teaching people to grow things and preparing meals that help people find a sense of community. Still, the younger Musk turns to a sports metaphor to explain how, different as they are, hes still learned plenty from his brother, whose business interests at times read like the pursuit of turning science fiction into reality.

When you think about basketball, and you watch someone like Michael Jordan play basketball even if youre a baseball player, theres still a lot to learn from there, Musk said. I really think about him more as my brother, to be quite honest. Its kind of a tough question to answer, because hes been so core to my life that its hard to describe specific things.

Elon clearly trusts his instincts, though, in light of the fact that, should he ever become incapacitated in some way, Kimbal is the SpaceX and Tesla trustee whod lead the task of figuring out what should happen with both companies.

Meanwhile, Kimbal has plenty of his own interests to keep him busy. He co-founded The Kitchen family of restaurants in Boulder in 2004, along with Jen Lewin and Hugo Matheson. It has eight restaurant locations today in Colorado as well as an out-of-town location, in Chicago. In addition to plans to expand in Chicago and Colorado, three new locations are on the drawing board for Memphis over the next couple of years.

The Kitchen actually refers to three related restaurant concepts. Theres The Kitchen, the organizations flagship community bistro, and The Kitchen Upstairs, a cocktail lounge with food prepared in a wood oven and artisan cocktails. Rounding out the list is The Kitchen Next Door, a community pub that serves things like burgers, salads, sandwiches, margaritas and beer.

For its Colorado-area restaurants, The Kitchen claims to source $1 million worth of product from local providers. In the Greater Denver area, The Kitchen serves 17,000 guests per week on average.

In 2011, Musk co-founded The Kitchen Community, a nonprofit that works to bring outdoor gardens Learning Gardens, as theyre called to schools around the country. Three years after its founding, the nonprofit had already built 200 such gardens in Chicago, Los Angeles and Colorado schools, reaching more than 120,000 children.

Its a different world entirely from the more fast-paced tech scene in which he once worked with Elon.

Their early partnership followed the younger Musks graduation from high school in Pretoria and decamping to Toronto to reconnect with his brother. Kimbal graduated from Queens College in 1995, the same year the brothers started the Web-based city guide platform Zip2, a venture which Compaq bought in 1999 for $307m. From there, the younger Musk began investing in tech companies, including Elons X.com, a payments venture eventually renamed as PayPal that eBay would snatch up for $1.5bn.

The brothers worlds diverged when Elon decided after some of his early successes to stay in the Golden State, while Kimbal moved to New York City and enrolled at the French Culinary Institute. He was there in 2001 during the terrorist attacks of September 11 and spent six weeks cooking for firefighters at Ground Zero, a formative moment for him.

My intent had been to go back to tech at some point, Musk said. Cooking for the firefighters, it was this just overwhelming sense of community that was created. Its impossible to describe how intense and awesome it was to see everyone doing that. It was simultaneously the best and worst thing that had ever happened to me to see 9/11 and be part of helping bring people together.

Doing that every day for 10-12 hours a day, six days a week, my brain couldnt go back to tech. I determined right there and then to open a restaurant.

He decided that it wouldnt be in New York, turned off somewhat by the intensity of the city. He instead traveled the country with his wife at the time and settled on Boulder, Colorado.

After Musk co-founded The Kitchen, the organization hummed along steadily for a few years. Then came a ski accident in 2010 that Musk calls a near death experience, one that left him hospitalized for months and helped crystallize his thinking about what would come next for him.

A restaurant, hed decided, could indeed be a positive force in its small corner of the world in things like the customers it touches, in the quality of ingredients it uses and in the care of preparation. But it couldnt really scale the ambition that drives so many entrepreneurs like the Musks, who crave big challenges, big wins.

After the accident, Musk said, I sort of got a new lease on life. I said I now have every excuse in the world to do what I want. And you know what? Im going to work on food culture and help food become fun and part of peoples lives again. The traditional restaurant is more commercial-oriented. But I want community through food.

That gave birth to his garden-focused nonprofit, which, when it comes to a new community, looks to plant 100 gardens at a time. The gardens are a combination play space and outdoor classroom that connect children to the process of growing food and give teachers an outlet for hands-on instruction. And The Kitchen Community raises $35,000 for each garden, a cost that includes everything from landscape design to site prep, while the finished garden can include things like internal irrigation, bench seating and curvilinear plant beds.

A mix of foundations and individual donors funds The Kitchen Communitys efforts across the states where its placed gardens. Today The Kitchen Community has more than 225 Learning Gardens in schools across Colorado, Chicago, Los Angeles and Memphis.

Tackling childhood obesity is a big motivation behind the gardens in schools.

When I look at the problem of obesity, its a depressing problem. So how do you create a solution that delights people? We came up with this design – my ex-wife, who Im still friends with, she knows how to create something where you go, Im so glad this is here. I really want to have this in my school. I want to learn here. The gardens, this is a product that really delights people.

In deciding where to take his garden concept next, geographically, Musk says the organization looks for cities that have foundations that can support a concept like this one. His team also looks at schools with districts amenable to the concept.

Not surprisingly, the level of support from one city to the next varies. If youre in a town like Boulder, he points out, theres not much foundation support from a problem like childhood obesity because its not a place where the problem of obesity is especially acute.

Meanwhile, gardens where children grow food while also learning about science, supporting local farmers and vendors, building operations that transform communities through food these are the among the things that occupy Musks mind, the things he wants to spend his money and time on. Innovation and purpose, to entrepreneurs like him, dont always have to involve gadgets and leaps in science sometimes it starts with a thing as mundane as the food we eat.

For me, I like to think in terms of three months out and 50 years out, Musk said. Three months out is what to do now, 50 years out is what Id like to do before Im dead.

If I look back and see specific communities where I made a difference using food, I will pass very peacefully.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/23/kimbal-musk-takes-the-tech-entrepreneur-ethos-and-applies-it-to-food/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/kimbal-musk-takes-the-tech-entrepreneur-ethos-and-applies-it-to-food/