#I need Mac to have a breakdown

[lailuhhh]

Thinking about 5x15 and how very distraught Mac was about shooting and killing someone

And then 1x20 deleted scene of Jack asking Mac the last time he shot a gun and if he even remembered how

Something something deep thoughts

[artekai]

The Sobeck siblings at prom circa 2061, colorized (ft. @meep-m33p's OC Lindsey)

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[tinybabyhalfghouldidnothingwrong]

I had a dab and now I don't wanna fucking die the wonders of modern medicine

[itsabouttimex2]

Y/N’s not the Beloved?

(At least, not at first)

Thinking so hard about Y/N just… not being the “beloved” in the yandere dynamics, and instead being the “neglected” party.

Just, like-

It’s not that Sun Wukong and Macaque don’t love you for being their precious adopted kiddo, but… you’re “just” a person, and you don’t have a tail or fur to groom like them. You can’t climb as well as they can, and you don’t have fangs. And you just aren’t strong enough to keep up.

So there’s this inherent disparity, and you feel sometimes more like a guest than a member of the family.

But then MK’s rock comes along! And then it hatches and there’s a new little monkey in the family for them dote on! They have a new baby, one that’s just like them!

In a way that you just… aren’t.

You just can’t compare. Sure, they still love you- you’re never hungry or cold, your clothes are plentiful, and they still support your interests, but…

They just don’t love you like they love him.

Because MK gets the nicest things, in all the ways you didn’t. He gets brand new clothes just right for a growing boy with a true form that fractures in and out of existence. But many of your “new” clothes have to be hastily sewn up because they’re hand-me-downs from Papa, and they had ear and tail slits- they were made for Mystic Monkeys, after all!

(And you aren’t one of them, no matter how hard you try to be.)

And MK gets his favorite foods and snacks whenever he asks, no matter how far Baba has to travel or how many stores his clones have to trawl to find those illusive treats. And when he digs in, you think of the times Papa taught you to “appreciate” his hard work in the kitchen by making you eat every bite of a meal he made, even if you gagged and coughed through it… but MK gets full impunity to have sides replaced whenever he decides a food is “yucky” without even trying it.

You got gifts for being well-behaved or accomplishing goals, but MK gets them for simply asking. You got money by doing extra chores or babysitting the mountain monkeys. MK is given it because your dads are in a good mood.

Not to mention how many of your hobbies and free days are undermined because you “need” to babysit the favorite child.

So on, and so forth.

And then one day it all grinds to a peak and you can’t take the favoritism anymore, so you eventually have the quietest messy breakdown known to man in the ungodly hours of the morning. When you finally manage to pull yourself together, the decision is promptly made- with a tightly-packed bag in tow, you sneak out through a window, clamber down the house walls, and disappear beyond the horizon.

And Macaque and Wukong are devastated, obviously. Sure, you aren’t the “beloved”, which is clearly MK, but you’re still their baby!

BUT! It gets even worse, because for all the worry in their hearts, MK is even worse!

He throws tantrums and rejects food and has uncontrollable fits where he bites bloody marks into his arms through hysteric tears. And even when the kiddo isn’t screaming his bloodied little mouth off, it’s only to scream for you to come back.

So, while they would’ve always made an honest effort to bring you back home (this is your home, even if it doesn’t always feel like it), having their “beloved” child start to genuinely harm himself over your absence only ramps up the efforts to get their first kid back.

“Open the door,” comes your papa’s tempered voice, barely second after you’ve registered the knock. “C’mon, kiddo. We need to talk.”

His foot meets the wooden door, tapping and testing the strength- not that there was really any question he could clear the flimsy barrier.

Tap. Tap.

At the pause, you drop everything and scramble into the closet, right as Macaque kicks through the door with a huff. The leather of his boot catches the light with a dark gleam, but he retracts it and readies for another blow.

“You in, Mac?”

“Not yet- I missed.”

His next strike lands true, shredding the cheap doorknob out of place so forcefully that it tears through the glass window behind it and disappears into the bushes behind the hotel, entirely flattened into a copper disk.

“Not bad,” cheers Wukong, peering into the wrecked room. “Not bad at all, bud!”

With a hand clasped over your mouth to muffle the sound of shallow breathing, you hunker down and wait- with a bitter thought at how casual they are about all this.

Didn’t they realize how badly hurt you were by the unabashed favoritism, the constant coming in second, the unending isolation?

How could they treat this like a casual outing?

“Alright, bud- pack your bags and put on something warm! We’re heading home!

Just barely you manage to bite back a cry of frustration over this miserable circumstance, expected to return to a home that had essentially shunted you aside.

“C’mon, brat. Did you really think we’d let you spend any more time in this hellhole? The mountain is a lot safer, anyways.”

You don’t even realize that Macaque is reaching into the closet until he has your upper arm in his hold, pulling until you’ve cleared the wooden threshold molding between your sanctuary and the living space.

Barely even on your feet, Wukong is upon you with a scarf, wrapping it tight and finishing with a neat bow.

“You know, MK really missed you,” he sighs, thinking of tantrums that spanned hours and the smell of mold in the kitchen when food the child flung had spilled under the counter and gone unnoticed for far too long.

Why should you care that their baby was suffering?

But whether you care or not (and they’re certainly not waiting for your opinion), they’re going to take you “home”.

With Wukong’s hand to wrap around your shoulders and Macaque’s to grip your wrist, they slowly march the way back to the precious little Mystic Monkey that you’ve come to hate.

And though your heart turns over at the sight of MK wailing on the floor, there’s this strange discomfort that arises when they call it that:

“Y/N is back!”

and it prompts an immediate end of his formerly hysterical waterworks?

Because he runs to you and throws both of his chubby little arms around your legs, demanding that you “never ever leave again!” and both of your dads are right behind him, because their son gets whatever he wants, when he wants it-

And what MK wants is you.

[saturniolos]

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ in a world of boys (chris sturniolo)

…he’s a gentleman :) pls like n reblog to let me know if you like these !! comments n asks are appreciated :-) love u guys, thank youuu endlessly for the love on my first post earlier this week :-)))! tl;dr chris has a crush on another youtuber/influencer y/n and their fans freak tf out (r)

yourusername

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yourusername me n millie (@milliesworld) are on our way to la !!!!!! the video is up on my channel !!! ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡🐑🤎🥨🥐 can’t wait to have access to a wide range of mac n cheese and and and …. RAHHHHHH 🦅🤟🏽🩶 love u guys :-)

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christophersturniolo

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christophersturniolo Took a walk 💫

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chrisrarees the walk took u ur amazing honey

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nicolas_sturniolo_photography

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nicolas_sturniolo_photography Some film from New York

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sturniolodaily

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sturniolodaily Chris deleted story 👀

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mattloveschris DUDE WHAT

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yourusername

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yourusername just happy to be here :)) 🫶🏽❤️‍🔥🍎🍉🌤️🫧

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nicolassturniolo ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

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[levilaughlove]

☁️► Heads up : M x m romance, cheating/disloyalty, mentions of emotional abuse, manipulation & gaslighting. Reader is taller than Levi by 3 in. Mentions of mental breakdowns & indecent language & ofc, smut.🗞 > Chapter 1 .

""Is this really how low you think of me?", Is what she asked me, Levi, am I the issue?" Your broken voice explains the situation to your longtime best friend, Levi Ackerman.

"I know I shouldn't have came to her like that..I should've been softer." You continued, only lower this time. "You did what you felt was right." Levi finally says. "How much kinder can you be to that self-absorbed bitch? She's drained all of your energy." He adds, hyperfocusing on your sleep-deprived eyes.

"If I showed you photos of what you looked like before you met her, you'd be astonished." He snarls.

"I know you're upset with her but, she is my wife." You defend. "Your wife or your disease?" You chuckle at his snappy remark.

The two of you sit in comfortable silence until your phone begins to vibrate. The device lights up revealing an incoming call. Levi sighs at the name on screen.

"How fucking convenient..." Levi murmurs. You gaze at him pleadingly & he whisps his hand through the air as a sign to answer it. You pick up the phone & accept the call.

"Hello?" You ask.

A muffled female voice could be heard from the other line. She doesn't sound too happy.

Levi's gray eyes glare at the phone ,then, rolls his eyes and falls back onto the bed. "A-alright, (f/n), I'll be home soon. Bye-bye." You quickly end the call.

"What did it say?" Levi asks unenthusiastically. "It? Levi, I know you don't like her but, please..." "I don't care, that's how she treats you, what makes her any better?" He quickly adds. You couldn't argue that.

Levi stares at you with an unexplainable expression in his eyes. "Before you think about going off anywhere, at least eat. She can wait 30 minutes." He says, arising from the bed & leaving the room. You follow quickly behind.

"I've got lots of options, mozzy sticks, mac & cheese, I can make you an egg & bacon sandwich.." He continues. "Egg & bacon sounds nice..." You accept shyly. Levi hums & begins to get the items.

While you waited, you began to think. You were so grateful that Levi still takes care of you, even after all these years. You reminisce on your favorite memory of him. It was bittersweet ,but the love & care you had for one another was evident. You were 4, Levi was 7 & he was moving far from your shared hometown. You were his closest friend & he was yours. On the bridge could be seen young you clinging onto Levi tightly with tears in your innocent eyes. Levi tried to keep a stone face even then but couldn't help how his heart felt.

" I'll be back, this isn't forever...pea. Stop crying.." Levi's voice shakes and he hold yours small body, hesitant to let go. "Why...please stay, I need you here.." Your tears kept flowing down your full cheeks, eyes loosely closed. A woman's voice called for Levi to hurry up. "I gotta go now, kay'?" Levi quickly wipes his tears, giving another attempt at a stone face. "Bye." "Goodbye, pea."

Just the thought of it makes you choked up but it doesn't just have a sad tinge anymore, but an innocent, admirable one. You wonder if Levi remembers that.

"Earth to M/n." Levi says loudly. "Hm? Yeah..." You look down to see Levi had finished making the food. Levi looks concerned for a second before returning back to his ordinary expression. You ended up staying much longer than anticipated. You knew your wife would raise hell once you were home.

"Fuck, it's been 2 hours..." You exclaimed worriedly. "If anything goes down, you could always come to me." Levi says trying to relax you.

You give him a thankful gaze before heading to the front door. Looking back once, you wave to Levi, which he nods to.

.

.

You cautiously open the front door to your house.

Your wife is sat on the couch, already meeting eyes with you. She looks furious. "I called you at 2:00 & you're only just getting home at 4!?" She screams then bolts over to you, trying to force intimidation. "Who are you fucking, huh?" She screams again.

"I was at a friend's...(f/n)." You slightly dismiss her and wander off to your shared bedroom, undressing yourself as she follows closely behind.

"So why the fuck couldn't you say so? You need to respect me more! Do you know that at any moment I could fuck you over!? WHO DO YOU THINK THEY'LL BELIEVE?! Me!" She lashes out snatching your phone from your hand, shattering it onto the wooden floor below.

You went into a state of shock, your eyes hyperfocused on her enraged person, everything that wasn't here seemed to look like static. You began to get dizzy. You held your head as you almost lost your footing. Levi, you need Levi. You can't breathe.

You shove past her, she falls to the ground forcefully. You just want to go. You need comfort, why is she like this? This wasn't who she was when you first met her! The rain is heavy outside as you push past the front door and onto the sidewalk, cars rush past you, adding to your anxiety. Your breathing gets heavier and heavier. It's hard to see due to the rain, you're uncomfortable & soaked. The rain wasn't the only thing dampening your face, but your heavy, warm tears.

Finally, the familiar door number 255 came into sight. You banged as hard as you could on the door. Crashes of lightning roar through the sky.

Levi opens the door & your soaked body immediately crashes onto his. He understood without words. You hyperventalate & try to explain but he hushes you, he already knows. Your eyes red & teary holding onto Levi tight, & likewise him to you.

Everything began to fade to nothing.

[trash-raccoon-boy]

Guys I still can't get over this one scene in lmk

(Season 5 spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't seen it)

(I took this screen shot when someone posted the English duh with subtitles)

He says my many many dads

He's becoming self aware of his other dads, (tang, Mac and wukong)

Not to mention he openly said it in front of Monkey King, he did also just compare Monkey King and the otheres to snakes but shhh we don't talk about that.

This season was a emotional rollercoaster, I mean like... we finally got wukong to cry

Now all we need is Mk to have a mental breakdown and go kaiju

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

can we get a fic where r is a nurse or med student and she just had a terrible terrible day at work and steve just comforts her? ly <3

i know nothing about the medical world so forgive me. kinda basing this from a breakdown i had after orientation for my job then texting a friend for some help.

masterlist

silence. peace and quiet after a twenty-four hour on call shift. no beeping monitors, no patients getting angry with you, no messes to clean up; just you sitting in your car letting your brain melt. and then the tears started to sting, face pinching to withhold yourself but letting the floodgates free. your breathing was labored and your head was getting fuzzy, you hoped no one was a witness to your breakdown.

fingers death gripping onto your leather steering wheel, head falling forward and almost hitting your horn. you squeezed your eyes shut, trying to take deep slow breaths, needing to steady yourself before making the thirty minute drive back to your apartment where steve was waiting for you.

steve. with his name popping into your head you reached into your bag, pulling your phone and flipping it open then pressing one to speed dial the landline. the dial tone rang twice and then you heard his voice.

���harrington residence.” just those two words from your husband lifted your sorrows for a moment, allowing you to calmly speak into the receiver. “hi honey.” a sigh of relief before a wet hiccup followed.

you could hear the concern when steve asked, “hey, you off? need me to pick you up?” already knowing you had your car with you, but also knowing you would be exhausted to drive.

you shook your head even though it wasn’t seen, “no, no. just… just wanted to see if you needed anything?” closing your eyes as the welling tears continued. “want something for lunch? was gonna stop by-“

“it’s fine, honey. i already cooked something for you. just get home safe. i love you.” and he didn’t hang up right away, waiting for you to respond back. a croaked “i love you,” then quick to press the end call button. you took deep calming breaths, five in five out, before starting the engine and cutting the radio off.

you kept to the speed limit, sometimes going three over or even five under causing people to honk and speed past you. you didn’t have the energy to care about their pissed stares, just counting the stop lights until you hit your block, rolling into the complex then pulling into your parking spot.

your bones felt like liquid as you gathered your bags and drinks, locking your car then heading up the one flight of stairs. a quick left then past three doors and you stood outside yours, number 736, a lovely floral reef circled the peep hole.

with a heavy hand you slid your key into the lock, turned the knob and was greeted to the warm lighting and laugh track blaring from the tv. the lingering smell of mac and cheese with some baked chicken and steamed veggies caused your stomach to gargle.

“hey pretty.” steve’s smooth voice slid into the hallway with you, his hands reaching out to take your load off your shoulders.

he made sure to keep your belonging organized and hang your coat on the rack. he knelt to the floor and helped tug your sneakers off your aching feet before ushering your further into the apartment to the couch.

reruns of your favorite sitcom light the room as steve leaned in to press a tender kiss on your left temple, eyes closing in contentment. “i’ll be back with our food.”

steve was gone less than five minutes and you could feel your eyes growing heavy as each second passed, head lulling to rest on the back of your couch. you smiled and chuckled low at a joke you already knew, but it still tickled you pink.

“kept it in the oven to stay warm. hope it taste good, i followed the recipe for the mac and chicken, but you know me.” steve set the two plates on the small table covering your feet. “how’s my girl doing?”

he rested a palm to your left thigh and rubbed over your scrubs comfortably. you took a deep inhale before sighing out, “draining.” the one word sufficient in summarizing everything.

steve hummed, “sorry. but luckily you’re taking the next two days off. how about we just rot in bed for one day and then be slightly adults the next day. how’s that sound?” his browns eyes darkened and shaded with the flickering light.

leaning your head onto his right shoulder and fighting sleep you yawned out, “sounds perfect.” the laugh track and commercials becoming your white noise.

[c-rowlesdraws]

✨🥀💻I Need A New Computer!💻🥀✨

it's happened: my laptop is finally so old (she really does remember the Obama Administration!) that it can't handle any new OS updates, which is leading to inconvenient consequences. Like, discord crashes after attempting to download its latest update now, so I've been using the web version, in a browser that also yells at me regularly because it cannot be updated. Entropy is slowly swallowing it all, as entropy is slowly swallowing us all.

But before I, too, succumb to entropy, I do still need a computer for work, and also for my heavily computer-based existence, so I'm in the process of buying a desktop PC! After using macs at home since 2002, I'm excited to be making the switch to technology that will let me do incredible things like 1) play most video games and 2) stream sound over OBS without downloading third-party software and watching a youtube tutorial by a guy named SuperMacHaxxTurbo. But in order to welcome home my next computer, I need your help!

I have various stickers, art prints, and other items, fandom-based and original designs, for sale on my Redbubble store, if you'd like to manifest some of my art in the physical plane. Over on my patreon, you'll find years' worth of archived work, exclusive art, and step-by-step process breakdowns for $1/month-- and I've been posting a ton of art on patreon lately, so there's never been a better time to subscribe! I also have a ko-fi, if you just feel like sliding me some cash. All of these are linked in my pinned post!

If you've been enjoying my art for a while, or just since recently, I hope you'll consider also supporting me monetarily, if you're able to! No matter what, I'm grateful to everyone who follows me, and all of you rock.

Thank you!

[bomberqueen17]

sketchy grocery store shit: a very middle-aged rant

Man so. I went to college in Rochester and so I did my first I'm An Adult Shopping For My Own Groceries shopping in a Wegmans. I got used to the way the store works, how things were laid out. And of course, i got a Shopper's Club card.

I still have it somewhere, use it occasionally, but I had to get another one when I misplaced it because they asked what phone number it was tied to and like, man, it was a Rochester number with a 716 area code, that's how long ago it was. (It's 585 there now.)

I got conditioned to try the Wegmans brand generic for whatever brand name thing I was buying, because it was often the same, and was cheaper. (Though, RIP to the old Wegmans box mac n cheese, they enshittified that in 1999 once we were all good and hooked and we all mourned and switched to Annie's and never looked back. Maybe it's better now but I don't rely on that stuff the way I used to.) I got conditioned to always swipe the card because sure they were collecting data on you but in a $70 trip I'd save five bucks easy, it wasn't nothing! And I also learned to look for their Family Packs, which were larger containers of the same item for less per unit-- if it was something not that perishable, or something you could get through, it was worth spending a little more now to stretch it later!

Anyway. I went to Wegmans yesterday, I live in Buffalo now and we have them here too, and we have a rotation of grocery stores we patronize but when I do the shopping, I'm still the most used to Wegmans, I know where stuff is, and I knew some of the stuff I wanted, they'd be the ones to have. (The organic co-op doesn't carry Doritos and sometimes in the doldrums of winter a bitch needs some of that poison, y'know?)

I'd noticed before that the Shoppers Club isn't a savings thing anymore. I didn't have my own card for one visit and the cashier went to great lengths to get me a swipe from a manager, and at the end I'd spent $200 and saved.... fifty cents.

This time around I'd taken advantage of a buy one get one deal to get a second box of something I didn't really need a second box of, only to discover it was buy one get a dollar off the second, so I saved a whole dollar and actually spent three I hadn't needed to. Well, whatever. It's not perishable and I'll eventually go through it.

But the other thing I noticed was the wild price swings by different packaging of the same item. I should've taken pictures. But like-- ok, raw baby spinach. I fucking love spinach. They had a smaller bag and then next to it they had a Family Pack. I hesitated-- it is hard to use up leafy greens but I fucking love spinach and I could make the effort-- and then I looked. I can't do math but fortunately they are required by law to have the price per unit breakdown on every price sticker. Because the small bag of spinach was $1.99, and was $3.99/lb. (A pound of spinach is a lot.) The Family Pack next to it? It was $3.99, which seemed like a good price jump. But on the per-item breakdown, it came out to $7.99/lb. It didn't actually have any more spinach in it. It was just a different-shaped bag and cost more. For no reason. And there was a whole shelf of the larger bags, and only a small display of the smaller ones. They're just expecting people, conditioned like I am, to say "ah i can use more spinach i'll take the savings" and buy the more expensive bag. But I did just do the math (which is difficult for me so you know I'm mad about this) and that is literally the exact same amount of spinach for twice the price.

Similar for stew beef but they went too far with it, it wasn't even plausible. There was a large pack for forty-nine dollars and I didn't even look to see how much was in it because i do not have forty-nine dollars for stew beef, I found a one-pound bag for $8.99. But I had this same issue before, and was more persistent last time I went: you can buy a three-pound chuck roast for $7.99/lb, which is a chunk of change but it's a lot of meat, and cut it into stew beef yourself and save some money that way, but I just knew I did not have it in me this week to cut up yet another chuck roast when I got home. (Full disclosure: i wasn't even looking at the grass-fed organic shit this was just regular USDA whatever Meets Regulations And Is Legal To Sell shit.)

Stew beef is supposed to be the trimmings and it is supposed to be cheap. But they have realized people prefer it, more recipes call for it because it was historically cheaper, and so they have marked it up and it is more expensive than the whole roast. Because most cooks reading a recipe are not going to necessarily know why it calls for stew beef and that they could substitute a superior cut if the price wasn't good.

I am aware that buying the pre-marinated individual convenience cuts is historically where they make their profit and I don't begrudge them that; if that's what I was shopping for I would not be that mad about paying $7 for three cents worth of marinade ingredients, because it is much easier to cook something like that with the attached recipe and because a lot of the markup is the labor costs in putting all that shit together. I don't begrudge them that at all and when I'm paying for it I'm well aware that I am.

But I really do resent how much of the price-gouging is happening by abusing the patterns of behavior they conditioned us into. I learned, twenty years ago, to look for the deals and look for the bulk packs, and now I am being punished for having learned that. I don't mind paying a premium for something I know is a convenience fee, but being charged extra for my formerly-thrifty shopping habits really stings. I shouldn't have to exercise constant vigilance in the fucking grocery store, it's stressful enough to be the only masked person in there and now you have to compete with the huge carts they use for the online ordering peeps that take up a lot of the aisle.

Maybe it's easier to do the price comparisons on the website?

Oh and there are a number of products they now only carry the Wegmans generic for. (You can't get Snyder pretzel bites anymore, and the Wegmans version doesn't come in quite the same flavors, so I have to go to Dash's to get those now.) And still others where the Wegmans version is pricier. And, alas, some where the more expensive Wegmans version is better. (Polly-O string cheese, why are you so bland?? You're a snack baby. The Wegmans generic has salt in it and is a ton more pleasant to eat.)

IDK I don't have a thesis here it's just that being alive in the 2020s is way harder than being alive in the 2000s even though I was poorer then and didn't know shit. I don't miss my youth and I super don't miss George W Bush but I miss when I was figuring stuff out and it seemed to make sense. And I sorta miss when the Wegmans cashiers used to wear t-shirts bragging about how highly-ranked Wegmans was by whatever organization that was that ranked how good places are to work for.

Also, they try to steer you to use the self checkouts, but baby if you have more than two shopping bags' worth of stuff in your cart you had better wait in however long that line is to let a real human put it into bags for you because the self-checkout does not have any mechanism for you to remove and replace a full shopping bag from the bagging area. I told the cashier how much I appreciated him because he wasn't screaming at me, and he was like yah those self-checkouts yell at you a lot.

(Every Wegmans cashier for twenty years has been super nice. I doubt they're in a union, I wish they were.)

Yeah yeah this is the most middle-aged thing I've written yet but I'm in physical therapy and just bought a recliner for the ergonomics so I'm clearly grappling with my own mortality here, and I'm writing this partly out of concern for the kids who are where I was in 2000. What the hell are they being conditioned to do, by all this????? Shit, man.

[ashxketchum]

They uploaded the video where Agumon, Gabumon, Veemon and Wormon will call out names of fans and look! We get a glimpse at Taichi, Yamato, Daisuke and Ken's rooms!

You know what this means? It's time for a certified Ayushi breakdown 🫡

There is so much blue in Taichi's room hahaha (taiyama win!), the soccer magazines + jump manga reference is so on point. And he has so many bags! Taichi why do you need so many backpacks, one for every outfit? 😆 THE DUMBBELLS THO my boy is working out to maintain that body we got a glimpse of in Tri 😌 The whistle hanging on the wall is also a nice touch, is it Hikari's whistle from when they were kids? 🥹 Or even if it's not, I'd like to imagine a scenario where Taichi helps Hikari with her kindergarten schoolwork occasionally by coaching football to the little kids in his free time! Can you imagine him running around with little kids who are about as tall as the football itself 🤣 I tried to zoom in to figure out what the magazine on his desk is for, and I could make out the word Nakano, so maybe it's just something he picked up on his way home (maybe he lives around Nakano?) since it looks slightly crumpled too, like it was shoved in his bag in a rush. His phone (and is that a wallet?) feel pretty standard. He is the only one who doesn't have a lamp on his desk + has some kind of reminder post-its stuck to his desktop, maybe he's not so good with passwords? Koushiro probably always lectures him about this every time he visits.

Now let's talk about Yamato, FIRST OF ALL I WILL SCREAM ABOUT THE KOD TSHIRT! HE STILL WEARS IT! I'M CRYING RIGHT NOW!!! And then his guitars because I swear I did a one hour deep dive trying to figure out the brand and model and I think they're both Fender (an expensive brand I would say) which once again makes me wonder how much money does the TakaIshi family has for their sons to have expensive, bikes, cars and guitars. TO TOP IT OFF Yamato is definitely an Apple bitch too like look at that monitor and keyboard, that's Mac and his phone is very clearly Iphone. Now his room follows a very warm, muted tones of black and brown. We can spot some music related magazines on his shelf and a big, plain tote bag on the ground (see Taichi one big bag should be enough 🤣) which looks like something he uses for grocery shopping. Yamato is the only one who doesn't have a wheelie computer chair, but rather a wooden one. Now whether he did this to follow the aesthetic of the room (highly likely) or because he doesn't actually spend a lot of time in this space is something we can all think about. He has a framed portrait or photo(?) up on the wall and I did consider him more of a framed art guy over a poster guy always so this is good to see too. Also nice to note that on his desk, he has THE HARMONICA 😭 And the same Jump issue that Taichi has on his shelf! His room is honestly a lot like how I imagined it to be in terms of the furniture and colours so I'm very happy with this sneak peek!

I am not qualified to comment on Daisuke and Ken's rooms, so will leave that to 02 fans!

[deja-mew]

Ridiculous Headcanons Pt. 1

Sorry in advance y’all. Okay so I was so bored at work my brain was rotting thinking of TFP characters for so long that I have this. Here’s what I think each character’s favorite cheese would be, if either they were human at some point and tried it, or could taste a big enough chunk as cybertronians; whatever excuse needs to be for them to have any opinion about cheese. (also could just be them as cheeses… idk, I work in Wisconsin, I’m always surrounded by cheese, this is what happens.)

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Autobots

Optimus Prime: Optimus liked Colby Jack. Good, classic Colby Jack. He likes the two distinctive colors and just generally enjoys the flavor.

Arcee: Pepper Jack; well loved, timeless, and packs a punch too. She likes that it’s soft but not sweet. Also, Jack being in the name is a bonus.

Bumblebee: Velveeta. The color is great and it’s a universal, famous cheese; everyone knows it (at least in the USA), just like him. He had it in a mac & cheese and stuck with it as his favorite. (he strikes me as a mac & cheese sort of guy)

Bulkhead: He’d chose brick cheese because it has a good, versatile, underrated taste. Also, just like him, this cheese is softer than its name implies <3

Wheeljack: Cheetos. He didn’t care that they “technically wont count as a cheese”, they’re cheese flavored enough and they’re what he likes. Especially the flamin’ hot ones.

Smokescreen: Cheese curds. Warm, squeaky, proper cheese curds. Specifically the ranch flavored ones are his top pick.

Ultra Magnus: This was how Ultra Magnus found out he was lactose intolerant. He didn’t like any of them, and he won’t be asked to try again.

Ratchet: Ratchet chose blue cheese, purely because the flavor was so distinctive. It’s also a very mature choice of cheese, which just made sense for him. 

Decepticons

Megatron: Monterey Jack. The warlord refused to consume any cheeses but picked Monterey Jack just because to him, it sounded like an evil version of Colby Jack.

Starscream: Cheese whiz..?? When presented with the samples he didn’t bother to try anything, but automatically went for the can of cheese whiz, as if he already knew it..??? (He did what he had to do when he was rogue. Ik it doesnt make sense but its hilarious.)

Soundwave: Mozzarella. Soundwave had already heard of cheese on the internet indirectly throughout his few years of needing to interact with human information in order to serve Megatron. Because he understood mozzarella cheese to be a monumentally important cheese to human society, he internally likened himself to it, being himself monumentally important to the Decepticon cause. No one knew that this was why he chose mozzarella, they were just glad that he responded at all. 

Shockwave: When Shockwave received the cheese samples he did not taste anything and instead just.. Left to his lab and ran some tests.. After a while he decided on feta cheese, saying that it is among the healthiest of cheeses and therefore, for nutritional purposes, is the most logical choice.

Knockout: Camembert. It’s soft and fancy and french and… He hardly tasted much it, but liked pronouncing it, and appreciated that he could spread it on a cracker instead of getting a giant chunk stuck all up in his teeth.

Breakdown: Breakdown chose Parmesan cheese because he had once seen in a movie the grater that is used at restaurants where they just keep cranking it. He said it tasted as good as it looked in the movie.

Dreadwing: Dreadwing thought that Provolone was the ideal cheese. It seemed the most sensible.

St3v3: String cheese was St3v3’s pick, even though it is technically mozzarella. For him, it was a texture thing.

Airachnid: Cazu Marzu. It’s that maggot cheese that can kill you if you eat it. It wasn’t even on the sample plate, she just brought it herself.

Predacons

Predaking: Predaking chose smoked Gouda. He did admit that the smoke added a touch of familiarity to the cheese (seeing as, of course, breathing fire exposes you to plenty of smoky smells). Overall, he thought they were all pretty good, but somehow this was the only smoked one on the plate, so he chose it.

Skylynx: Skylynx thought the aged Swiss wasn’t that bad. The bitterness was enjoyable to him, and he found it best melted.

Darksteel: Limburger. It was the most controversial cheese on the plate, and that just made him think it was the most exciting one. The smell didn’t even bother him much, and he genuinely enjoyed the flavor.

[crybabycinna]

Just a minute

Lin Beifong x fem reader

Summary: your daughter Melody is exhausting you and you need just a minute.

You and Lin have a lovely daughter Melody. She is your whole world. Sadly Lin has been busy with work so it’s just been you and Melody. You were her prime caretaker and you were tired. Beyond exhausted. You didn’t think you could be so tired. Today you had been dealing with Melody. She had been screaming and crying damn near most of the day and you couldn’t get her to stop crying. She had a bit of a fever. You had given her some baby medicine to calm her fever but it had taken forever for it to kick in and you were exhausted. You couldn’t do anything. No dishes, no laundry, no cooking, no pumping, no anything because you couldn’t put Melody down.

While you were rocking her and bouncing her you felt so drained. You did everything to keep from crying yourself. You needed to care for Melody first. When Melody finally calmed down you laid her down and she went straight to sleep. You went into the kitchen and tried to do the dishes but you just couldn’t. You fell to your knees and sobbed like a baby. You were having a mini breakdown. You did your best to not be so loud not wanting to wake Melody up. You were so tired. You just needed a minute to yourself. You needed a break but you’re a mother and there are no breaks and Lin has been working so much recently. You need help but you don’t know where to turn.

After you finished crying you wiped your face then started doing the dishes. You were moving very sluggish as you did the dishes. After a while you heard the front door open. It was Lin. You didn’t bother to turn your head, you just kept washing dishes. “Hey, honey.” Lin said as she walked over to you. “Hello.” You said softly. She wrapped her arms around you and kissed your cheek. “Is Melody sleeping?” Lin asked. You nodded your head. Lin walked around the house and looked around then at you. “You’re doing the dishes late.” Lin said. “I know.” You said. “You also didn’t do the laundry?” Lin asked. “I know.” You said. Lin looked at your chest. “And you haven’t pumped.” She pointed out. “I know.” You said.

“You didn’t eat today either.” Lin said. You drop the dish in the sink then glare at her. “I know!” You snapped. Lin’s eyes widen at your sudden outburst. “I know! I know I got nothing done! Just give me a fucking minute!” You shout. “I apologize. I wasn’t trying to come at you. You just usually do those things and I was confused. What’s going on?” Lin asked. “Just shut up and leave me alone.” You hiss at her and then go back to washing the dishes. Lin walked over to you. “What’s going on?” Lin asked softly. “I just need a minute. I’ll get it done.” You tell her. “Let me handle it and go lay down.” Lin told you. “No, I can do it.” You said. Lin kissed your head. “Please just lay down.” Lin said. You let go of the dishes then dry your hands.

You walked to the bedroom and crashed on the bed. You needed to pump but you needed to lay down. After a while you sat up and got your stuff to pump. You sat up and pumped your milk. Your breasts were in much pain from not pumping; it was killing you. After pumping you felt much relief and you relaxed a bit. Once you finish you put your milk into the fridge. “Would you like me to cook you something?” Lin asked. “Please.” You say softly. “You want mac and cheese?” Lin asked. “With honey garlic tenders please.” You said. “Anything for you. Do you want me to run you a bath?” Lin asked. “No, I just wanna take a shower.” You tell her. Lin nodded and watched you go into the bathroom.

You take a nice hot shower. You wash your face and body and just enjoy the moment. The hot water brings comfort to you. Once you finish you get out and go to your bedroom. You dry your body then take time to moisturize yourself and do skin care. You heard Melody cry and you quickly got up. As you make your way to her room, Lin stops you. “I got it.” Lin told you. “I can handle it.” You tell her. “Lay down. Let me take care of this. Let me take care of you, Melody and the house.” Lin said. You sigh. “I got it. Please rest.” Lin said. You nod then go to your room. You finish your skin care then you brush your hair. As you brush your hair you hear Lin comforting Melody.

You sigh as you remember to tell her Melody is a bit sick. You get up and go to her. “Lin.” You say. “Yes.” Lin said and turned to you while holding Melody. “She’s a little sick.” You told her. “Poor girl, your mommy took such good care of you while I was gone and you wore her out. We’re gonna let mommy rest and you are gonna let me take care of you. I know where the baby medicine is if she needs more. Let me lay her down and I’ll finish cooking for you.” Lin says gently to you. “Thank you.” You say. “No need to thank me. I’m sorry I haven’t been home.” Lin says. “It’s ok you’ve been working.” You said. “No, I need to be home more. You both need me here. I need to be here to help you take care of Melody more and I’m sorry.” Lin said.

“We knew this was how it was going to go. Your job comes first, Lin and,""No, you two come first. Nothing comes before you two. I’ll figure something out. I promise.” Lin said. You look at Lin and you can see the determination in her eyes. “I love you both and I will do whatever I can to take care of you both.” Lin said. “We love you too.” You say softly. One thing you loved about Lin was how she cared for you. You loved her more than anything. Lin put Melody back down for bed then walked over to you and kissed the top of your head. You smiled. She led you out of the baby room and into the kitchen. She cooked you dinner and gave you water. Once that was done she plated up your food and fed you. You enjoyed this it filled your heart with joy.

[calciumdeficientt]

i realized i haven’t done a canon request in a while but

norton headcanons plz he’s an underrated king

I never see stuff for this big guy.. i love him

NORTON WILLIAMS HCS

Most in tune with his emotions and most well-regulated of all the greasers. He’s a big sap and he’s not afraid to show it, he cries openly and frequently too its good for him, and no one can say shit because he’s like 6’2 and 200 pounds of pure muscle. He cries a lot at movies, even if they’re not that sad. He’s just got a big heart, okay? Is that a crime? He’s also the most empathetic, he’s like an emotion sponge, he soaks up everyone else’s shit and helps them work through it, even if it ends up in a breakdown on his end.

Norton has a pretty tense relationship with his dad, of course he loves him, he raised him up to be the man he is, but he puts so much emphasis on the importance of masculinity, and finding a good wife, and following the law to the letter. It’s hard to be on good terms with your dad when he’s a cop with a stiff upper lip and a mean streak when he really puts his mind to it, and you’re a teenaged delinquent that enjoys painting and poetry and sobbing silently to Landslide by Fleetwood Mac

He honestly can’t wait until they make stuffed animals for boys, he’s been sleeping with his sledgehammer in his bed for literal years now. He just likes having something to cuddle, even if what he is choosing to cuddle is cold, hard and puts dents in the floor when he inevitably pushes it off his bed while he sleeps.

Struggles a lot with his self image, he doesn’t think he’s that cool, or attractive, or interesting. He sees himself as sorta… average. He doesn’t like being average, he wants to be excellent. He’s a midddle of the range greaser and he acknowledges that, but in the girls department, he feels like he’s falling short. He wishes that girls would get to know him a little better, he’s not all that scary, he’s actually a very sweet, thoughtful and intelligent young man.

Needs and uses reading glasses, even if he gets the piss taken out of him. If he needs to see, he’s not going to not use the devices that help him, he’s not some asshole who’ll sit, squint and struggle. He’d take some mean names over strained eyes any day of the week. He reads an awful lot too, so they are in constant use. Grandpa Norton frequents the library often, and is particularly fond of Westerns.

Struggled very hard getting a jacket that was the right size for him, he’s a big dude with very VERY broad shoulders, so he ended up having to size up a good deal to accommodate for this. Even then, his shoulders are just barely contained by the jacket. He’s reluctant to get a new one despite fears that its getting old and kinda smelly, because he had to go through the 12 labours of Hercules to get his current one. He’s not strong enough to go through all that again.

Has an apprenticeship lined up and ready to go after Bullworth. A big guy like him is the perfect asset to any construction company, but despite his outward excitement for the opportunity to demolish houses, he has his doubts about the whole ordeal. Norton’’s a smart cookie, he’s pretty well rounded academically and enjoys studying. Especially art class. He’s not the best at it but, if he can gather up enough money in construction, he hopes one day to go to art school and paint like Ponyboy.

[boysareouttonight]

i'm late to the party but it's only hitting me now about the whole macs bf thing and i never won so hard bc the worst thing that could happen is dennis not caring at all about this and the best thing that could happen is dennis being annoyed about it and this is actually what we're getting like not even a middle ground, dennis is actually gonna have a problem with macs bf and this is the arc i always dreamed of. i need him to be the only one in the gang who doesn't like him and coming up with small excuses when the guy is actually okay but dennis is gonna find a way to look for things to hate about him that literally only he sees. and then the gang are gonna look at him like dude what are you talking about he's cool. then dennis might wanna take control of the situation and set mac up with someone else but then he doesn't like the other guy neither for no apparent reason and i don't care if they don't go any further bc we will know the real reason behind it. dennis has a full breakdown by the end of the season and tries to make this about smth else like he usually does (gang tends bar) but this time he's probably not revealing the real reason and it's okay. this might just confirm macdennis from dennis' side, this is all i need and nothing more (that's a lie i need to see them have raw sex in my screen but that's for another day)