#fourstore

[ruvviks]

📻 nathan !! :]

daydream - the tech thieves, besomorph

nathan has very bad coping mechanisms for everything that's happened to him at MOBIUS and in the STEM environment of tew2, one of them being going to clubs and getting entirely lost in the music and the alcohol (all by himself i should add. he will dance but he's always in the crowd by himself he is NOT letting anyone touch him) because it's one of the few things that he can get lost in without bad thoughts taking over

this song specifically would work well as song that plays in a scene where he's doing just that; losing himself in vices to try and drown out the bad memories and the nightmares and the noise, and the lyrics- "i don't want you to wake me / i'm fine in my daydream"- really fit with this as well. he knows this isn't the healthiest way to cope but also he doesn't really see any other solution so he doesn't want any help. he's fine doing this forever if he has to

playlist asks!

[subjectsix]

OUH HAPPY BIRTHDAY

THANK YOUUUUU ;O; ;U; <3

[al-norton]

Commission for @fourstores 🪑

[ordinarymaine]

fourstores -> ordinarymaine

person who loves control (2019): i love control (2019)

[thekickkinside]

if nobody got me during my hitman posting phases i know lillith fourstores got me

[kirnet]

2023 character wrapped (but I cheated)

Kirnet / Atton / Epiphany and Wyll / Dorotea Langford / Kim Kitsuragi / Stoja / Vash the Stampede / Murderbot / the entire crew and ship of the Actium from the hit webcomic Actium Alpha

tagged by @nsewell mwah mwah kiss kiss <3333

tagging uuhhh @maxthetruman @lavampira @rosebarsoap @asexualastarion @fourstores @coldshrugs @bryoria @valeroyeaux @mrs-theirin and anyone else who wants to follow this!!

[claudiawolf]

i was tagged by @rosenfey to make myself in this picrew and post the last song i listened to!! thank you ambieee ^_^

tagging: @fourstores @lexcanium @sarahlyons @chloefrazer @nadineross and YOU!!!!!

[ythrial]

tagged by the very lovely @gingerbreton to make a guy or two in this picrew ! tyyy sm ^_^ 💗

jubilee of course and then carina if she took a day off from killing hollows or something 😇✌️

tagging ummm @dantesparda @dannyburke @ythryn @hatefulserpent @fourstores @filandris @brujah

[eternalchant]

hiiii tagged by @habit for a little oc parings tarot uquiz ^^

gale & letherii knight of pentacles + the magician

if there's something you want, you will GET IT. nothing escapes your fingertips. after all, you're the power couple. your pairing sparks pure cosmic energy. you're fiercely driven to your goals - whether that be status, fortune, or power. you're also fiercely protective of one another. with the knight's earthy energy, you both prefer to purposefully make your way towards your ambitions, rather than playing cards too early or acting too loosely. meanwhile, the magician's half makes gives you a little fire. if they get too close, onlookers and threats to your relationship may get burned.

astarion & ahshala the tower + the lovers

meeting this person shook your whole world. crumbling down is everything you thought you knew about life and love. their warmth, their generosity, their naivete, their knowing…! you don't know how anything made sense before them. all you know is that nothing will make sense afterwards.

gortash & stigma the devil + the emperor

there's only one religion for the two of you, and that religion is the other. you two are very nearly unhealthily obsessed with one another, and that's just how you like it. when they touch you, they can feel the blood pumping under the surface of your skin. your hearts beat for one another. when the day comes that one stops, the other will soon after. until then, you both will live out your lives in perfect, gothy paradise.

i feel like most of my bg3 mutuals have already been tagged, so umm calling all besties @vanus, @hatefulserpent, @fourstores, @nosramus :)

[dantesparda]

hiiii i was tagged by my lovely friend aeris, @latenna to do this ‘what horror trope are you?’ uquiz for my ocs! thank you for tagging me aeris i love you bunches 🩷✨

tagging: @fourstores, @brujah, @lexcanium, @cultistbase, @serenedy, @kirnet, @aragorngf, and you 🫵 ^__^

🌀 ANSLEY, the haunted house.

decrepit and falling apart at the seams; time has not been kind to you, has it? termites have nestled in your bones, and stray cats find comfort in your sinews. you may be victim to time and erosion, but your abandoned corpse remains a refuge for unwanted things. vermin and ghosts thank you. what greater kindness can there be than offering shelter?

🦎 RENO, the ancient horror.

they have wronged you. perhaps, once, you were something powerful– something to be looked at with adoration and worship and fear. but time does not yield to you, and when you lay to sleep, you awake to find yourself forgotten. your rage is insatiable. no matter what, you will make sure they do not forget this time.

🕯️ ROXANNA, the monster.

it was not your fault– at first, at least. you can not help being the way you are. and even if you could, would you choose to change? they met you with torches raised and screaming mouths, the only choice you had was to flee. but you will not stay away forever. they whisper your name in fear, and you will make sure you hurt them just as much as they hurt you.

⚡️ ELECTRA, the killer.

was there ever a choice? maybe, but that fork in the road is far, far behind you. you surround yourself now with sharp things, tools to harm, and they have become your only family. you are the thing that goes bump in the night, and you hunt for scurrying mice like a hungry cat. maybe, just maybe, though, one can finally put an end to your hunt, and allow you to finally rest.

[allaboutfoodgwu]

Anywhey You Want It

Protein is something humans reap naturally from food. From hunter-gatherer times, until the 1950’s, people seemed to survive, grow and function just fine without additives and supplements, so what happened? In the early 1900’s, a man named Bob Hoffman was one of the first people to suggest nutrition influenced the health and strength of a “man” (24, Hall and Fair).

Bob Hoffman greatly protested the early protein powders. He believed everything humans needed for an ideal physique could be provided by a balanced diet. His focus on nutrition’s bodily effect prompted people to pursue a perfected form—a way to maximize protein consumption, for a better physical outcome.

Thus, protein powder was born. One of the first was “by Patton’s dietetic of Los Angeles and Schenectady and contained such ingredients as soy beans, deep sea kelp, and whole wheat germ” (24, Hall and Fair). This sparked the beginning of body building that Americans, today, may be more familiar with. Protein became a revolutionary way to bulk muscle, without eating massive amounts of food.

So if protein powder was born among the body building community in Los Angeles, how did it end up in the hands of the average consumer? Re-appropriation of protein supplements to target specific demographics like professional athletes, body builders, or people looking to lose weight, has driven the market in multiple directions. Protein powder was born from a culture obsessed with physical appearance. Now that protein products are becoming more ubiquitous in grocery stores, questions of who has access to such an excessive product and why are they buying it come to mind. Could protein powder be an indicator of larger cultural beauty standards?

Ulterior to the relationship between protein powder, working out and beauty standards, the expansive availability of vegan protein powders may be in response to increased popularity of veganism and vegetarianism. Agriculture and animal production are two of the largest contributors of green-house gases and climate change. In response, research has suggested Americans should reduce meat consumption to discourage animal production (Joyce, et al, 2012).

Being the meat centered culture that America is, concerns of protein deficiency are large. Protein powder then becomes a viable option to help make up any nutritional gaps created by the omission of animal products. This study cannot speak for all American’s, however, so from her on I will be talking about protein powder consumers.

Funny enough, modern vegan powders are not totally unlike the original made back in 1950, soy is still a fairly common additive. The major difference between then and now though, is that people want more than just protein, they want a full serving of vegetables, antioxidant fruits, super food blends, biotin, collagen, vitamins, probiotics—things that would not be in your average hamburger.

My point is, protein powder has become a lot more than just protein, it’s become more of a cultural product in America, and for this study D.C. It is still used by athletes and body builders, but now D.C. residents outside these categories are hoppin’ on the Whey Train, hoping these magical protein powders will transform them as well. A self-awareness of environmental impact, in hand with influences from cultural beauty and fitness paradigms, creates an imaginary necessity for protein powder.

Understanding protein powder is not vital for survival, I would like to reconfigure it as a dietary accessory. Using ethnographic data collected from GNC, Safeway, Whole Foods and CVS, I use the position of protein powder in the store, as well as the availability of natural/conventional powders to generate an idea of the kind of customer these stores are targeting.

So what is my protein powder consumer profile? It seems the person stores are marketing to is affluent, health oriented and body conscious. Quick disclaimer: I only witnessed protein powder being purchased once during my time in the field, so all of my conclusions as to who protein consumers really are, are drawn from observations of the greater environment of each store.

Out in the real world D.C. residents do purchase protein powder. The fact that specialty stores, like GNC, exist shows there is demand in D.C.; however, I think demand for vegan or ‘natural’ protein powder is growing. 

GNC has a limited selection of “healthy” powders, as the majority of their brands contain long lists of unknown (and unpronounceable) substances. The lack of business when I visited the store seems to suggest a decline in the popularity of their products, though I would also posit online markets may reflect a very different reality. These observations from GNC, combined with high prices ranging from $19.99 to $64.99, tells me protein buyers must be of higher economic status. Being located in a business area of D.C., I also suggest GNC’s protein customer is educated and health conscious (because they are buying protein powder).

Whole Foods has a growing supply of natural protein powders. The average Whole Foods customer fits the archetype of my consumer—affluent and health conscious with the added bonus of environmental awareness. Whole Foods itself has a reputation for being fairly elite, as suggested by its nickname, “Whole Paycheck.” The high prices, starting at $25.99, of natural protein powder works to limit those who have access to the additive, repositioning protein as a status symbol (and supporting my hypothesized affluency of a protein powder consumer).

Safeway tries to recreate the Whole Foods upper class ambiance by placing protein powder in the ‘natural’ aisle, which stands apart from the rest of the store because of its ‘natural’ wood flooring and organic labels. The aesthetic shift accentuates the segregation of ‘natural’ foods from the rest of the store. Protein powders can only be found in this aisle, and their selection is limited to natural and vegan brands.

Prices did start a little lower, at $16.99, however the large aisles, carts and adjacency to neighborhoods, suggested it is more of family grocery store. Therefore, these prices may still be considered high if two or more people are using the protein product.

The aesthetic separation of the natural aisle works to further emphasize protein powder as a status symbol by mimicking “whole paycheck.” Consumers of natural protein powder are physically and economically separate from the average Safeway shopper.

CVS bridges the gap between Whole Foods and Safeway as it has both natural and conventional protein powders, despite its limited selection. Once more, I would like to bring attention to the placement of the conventional powder behind a support beam. This suggests CVS prioritizes the visibility of the natural protein powders. Maybe this means they expect customers who are looking for protein powder to be looking for natural brands. The natural products are consistently more expensive, starting at $23.99, than those that are not, which start at $20.79. The customer who purchases the natural product is likely someone with the resources to do so. Yes, there are the conventional options, but it seems clear that protein powders have taken a turn for the natural and expensive.

Discussion Looking across the four stores, protein powder is clearly a dietary accessory. Where powders once served a specific purpose for body builders, protein markets have expanded their appeal by incorporating other nutritional additives. High prices limit the accessibility of protein powder, something even greater affected by the even higher prices of natural products. The concept of ‘natural’ seems to be a marketing tool used by stores (with the exception of GNC because they have a more specific weight lifting demographic). “Natural” and “organic” tend to have upper class connotations or affiliations due to price trends (and whole paycheck). Protein powder’s affiliation with body builders may appeal to consumers’ desire to improve their musculature, but I argue this association is too limited now.

The socioeconomic affiliation with “natural” pricing and superadditives advertised on protein powder labels began to appeal to a broader audience. The cosmetic origins of protein continue on today as they aid in achieving cultural ‘fit’ beauty standards. This leads me to believe my Whey Train people are of a middle to upper socioeconomic class who seem to favor plant-based proteins in the interest of improving their health and physique.  

Adele Queener

Hall, Daniel and Fair, John. (2004). The Pioneers of Protein. Iron Game History. 8(3), 23-34.

Joyce, A., Dixon, A., Comfort, J. & Hallett, J. (2012). Reducing the Environmental Impact of Dietary Choice: Perspectives from a Behavioral and Social Change Approach. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Doi:10.1155/2012/978672.  

[ruvviks]

For Nathan: fountain pen + love letter!! :)

oc asks!

🖋️ FOUNTAIN PEN: What’s their handwriting like?

nathan has surprisingly neat handwriting! but it is also super super super small as if someone just hit it with a shrink ray which is really funny because it takes away a lot of the readability of the actual handwriting itself which would be perfectly fine if it was just a tad bit bigger. letters are all roughly the same size every word is spaced out almost evenly and he also writes very fast so it doesn't even take all that long to get it that neat but. it's just small. it's gnome handwriting

💌 LOVE LETTER: How do they like expressing their love? Do they like to be straightforward or are they more romantic?

nathan isn't all that romantic mainly because he's had a very very rough childhood and has never really been shown much love before in his life, so he doesn't have much to go on :( he IS very thoughtful though and generally treats people the way he wants to be treated, and makes sure to pay extra attention to the things they may need help with or need more reassurance for etc etc. it comes naturally to him because he knows he can be a handful himself so he wants to try and make up for it in a way?? by making others' lives a little more bearable in any way he can help. he will never ask for the same in return because he doesn't think he's worth it but he is also hoping juuust a tiny little bit that maybe one day someone will notice he's struggling and reach out a helping hand too [it happens] [don't worry he's fine] [it takes a while but i like putting my ocs through the meat grinder before they're allowed to heal]

[lambda-complex]

hoxton 1 and 10 !

Headcanon Asks

1. Sad headcanon

While he's accepted back as an integral part of the crew, Hox still feels a sizable disconnect with the others. Two years brought about new members and huge shifts in the way the team functions- The main crew have all changed so drastically in the time he was away. He sometimes finds himself drifting apart from the gang and masking his concerns with dry humor, but he'll never really admit to anyone how he's feeling.

10. Sleep headcanon

Pre-PD2 Hox would absolutely be first to bed last to rise. After living with brothers he relishes in being able to sleep in as long as he wants- that is if one of the others doesn't wake him up at a reasonable hour to get shit done.

In prison and for a long while after getting out it's a whole different story- he has no way of knowing when he's safe and every minute spent asleep is a minute someone could be moving against him.

However, after all the business with Hector is over he's right back to being out cold earlier than most of the crew. He's better about being up earlier, but still won't be happy about it.

[subjectsix]

ALAN WAKE 2 AT THE GAME AWARDS

LITERALLY GOES INSANE STARTS A FIRE MOVES TO THE WOODS

[bjorkvespertine]

4, 9, 20, 22 >:)

4. what was your favourite tv show as a kid?

grey's anatomy and golden girls. i was a fruit!

9. what are your favourite shoes like?

i wear high top navy blue converse <3 they aren't my favorite but i wear them every single day. id die for a pair of cowboy boots or jill valentine boots tho.

20: weapon of choice in a medieval battle

spell of remove bones. or like a comically long spear. like at least 40+ feet.

22: what spices do you always use when cooking?

im hoping this includes herbs bc i only ever use like. paprika and chili powder sometimes. garlic-onion powder and oregano are the flavorings i use the most i guess. typical italian american using his mama mia herbs.

[brujah-remade]

1, 11, 12, 14, 15 :-)

1. pleasantview vs strangetown? this is a close one but i have to go with pleasantview bc it’s the neighborhood i pretty much exclusively played as a child and i will alwayssss love the premades :]

11. favourite female premade sim? dina caliente hehe .. OR brandi broke. OR ophelia nigmos .god there’s a bunch

12. favourite male premade sim? nervous subject 🥺🥺 i care him

14. do you play with premades or your own created sims? i used to only play with my own sims but recently i’ve started playing all of the premades SO i will play one season with one family, then move on to the next etc etc so everyone is aging up and progressing together :Dc

15. the weirdest glitch you’ve encountered? i was meant to post this to twitter actually but i forgot BUT i had a toddler age up to a child but the adult sim helping him age wasn’t putting him down so he was just holding the child like a toddler and then when he put him down he was still crawling about .. ok bestie <3