#good FOOD!

[dovewingkinnie]

me when i have to narrate some assholes life and the only time i get to really think is when hes asleep

[whumpypepsigal]

Fire Country s02e04: “I need the rescue team here now!”

[ava-core]

I HAVE FOOD TO BRING!

let’s talk about Craig Boone, and my Courier Six: literal sixth child of a sixth child, ex-Empire of Shi golden child, grizzled, haunted-at-23 May Bells (not her real name, of course.)

(i want money to commission them together PLEASE..also you like angst? you like new beginnings? a couple who don’t realize they love each other? YOU LIKE WONG KAR WAI’S IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE?! you’re in the right place!)

firstly, May Bell’s already got a fleshed-out backstory—but I want to make another post for that, so that’ll have to wait!

all you need to know is that May is difficult. it’s what a difficult life does to you, after all; in broad strokes:

she was born in the Empire of Shi, with parents both influential in the spheres of its government and upper-class society.

her father wanted her to be the heir of his scientific legacy when he realized his two sons were incompetent (not even bad people—he just had extremely high and stifling standards: calm, intelligent, obedient. May only hit the Intelligent mark with that 9 INT stat and was naturally a genius, her tag skills being medicine, melee, and science.)

when she didn’t meet the mold of her father’s expectations, it coincided with the fact that her eldest sister got pregnant by a poor merchant’s son.

her father went berserk, killed everyone in the house except for May and her oldest brother because they were out. this incident happened when she was 17.

May and her brother were tried (mother deemed insane to stand trial) and her brother ran away. May was found guilty because of public clamor, but she managed to escape out Shi and never looked back, working as a mercenary in the California area—using Shady Sands as a base of operations for a few years—before eventually getting that damn courier job.

yes, these are broad strokes. who wouldn’t be haunted?

now, take all of that baggage and give it to a half of an extremely combat-capable duo, the other half of which is convinced he’s only destined for bad things because of all the misfortune that’s happened in his life. both have seen the horrors of death and the loss of life, as well as having a hand—direct or not—in the loss of their loved ones and family, having no power to stop it from happening.

what happens when they realize they realize they’re falling for each other?

it makes for a tragedy in origin, of course.

i originally wrote May independently, as opposed to my usual process of making a character in consideration of someone i want them to end up with, and encountering Boone in Novac as May just made it all click.

they would work so well together: Boone filling in the gaps of May’s small frame and 5 STR stat (she’d like for it to be 8, but alas) and May serving as his new partner as two snipers.

that’s the thing, too: May, for all her inability to be sociable (always had a grumpy expression on her face, quick to dismissive sarcasm and is generally unlikeable upon first impression because she masks her loneliness with being an asshat), finds it easy to care for Boone. She levels up her Survival skill to cook him food. She uses that high Medicine to patch him up after he runs into a pack of Cazadores guns blazing. She always gives him extra smokes, ammo, and the occasional bottle of Nuka-Cola.

in his own way, Boone cares for her, too. she always has a First Recon sniper watching her back behind her. He always takes care of enemies before she can even see them. He takes longer watches when they rest so she can sleep (after a lot of protest). Hell, by Honest Hearts, he watches her sleep just to see her breathing and alive.

And the fact she helps him process Bitter Springs, supportive but not overbearing? The fact that she knows his secrets, and cares for him anyway? it hits him where it matters.

this journey May’s embarking on and the dynamic they’re building reminded me of something as i was looking for inspiration for her story (Asian media): Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood For Love.

if you’ll remember, Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow only fall in love because they knew their spouses were cheating on them with one another. it all clicked so much, i’m telling you: what started as an agreement to find who sold Carla eventually led to the both Boone and May trudging against the harsh winds of the Mojave, realizing they had one person they cared about more than themselves—and to the both of them, it was nothing if not dangerous, given how self-depreciating and burdened they are with their past.

but who’s to say they won’t heal?

it’s the possibilities of their relationship that keeps me going, honestly: they’re so perfectly made for one another, and deeply care for one another, but they can’t see that, and it infuriates the people around them: Veronica, Arcade and Raul especially (who becomes May’s close friends) who sees this tension so palpable it wouldn’t have made a difference if Boone bent May over on a roulette table in the Tops and went to town with her knowing she’d let him anyway. that’s how well their chemistry works.

i’ll keep on exploring this, but god, the way the stars align for them even in my writing!!! i will be back for this it’s a PROMISE

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

License to Kitty.

[destielmemenews]

"School districts currently work with processing companies to offer cashless payment systems for families. But the companies can charge “processing fees” for each transaction. By law, students who are eligible for reduced price meals cannot be charged more than 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch. With processing fees, however, families can end up paying 10 times that amount. Processing companies charge as much as $3.25 or 4% to 5% per transaction, according to a recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."

source 1

source 2

source 3

[millidew]

his change in career has captivated me

bonus:

[beanghostprincess]

Laios saying he's stronger and better organized than Shuro because he eats 3 meals every day and sleeps properly is probably one of the most encouraging things a fictional character has ever said to me

[hellenhighwater]

Fellow ADHD multicrafters, do you guys also get the urge to host elaborately themed parties just so you can do food and/or decor for them? Because I definitely do. Like, I don't really want people in my house but I DO want to make a halloween-themed grazing board with matching cocktails, you know? I think I'm just going to have a couple friends over and warn them that I'm going to go catastrophically overboard for no reason, just to vent the creative fury.

[xshinina]

*Married life playing in the background

This idea was probably funnier in my head

[kingofdoma]

best description of morgan spurlock's legacy ever

[sanguine-squid]

look at my biology headcanons boy

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[cartoonsinthemorning]

The Most StanTwins Coded Meme ever to exist, and no one went for it yet? Absolutely untolerable, I had to do it myself.

[restingsusvibes]

Hi! I was on Instagram recently and stumbled upon Nisreen Shehada's account. Before October 7, Nisreen posted very aesthetic, well crafted baking TikToks/videos (which looked delicious!) Since October 7, she has been sharing her daily life in Gaza.

This is the first reel of hers I saw. It's so important that she is not only documenting her daily life right now (for public record, for memory, for history) but that she is doing it in a format that is so familiar to anyone online right now.

I think that even well intentioned people can sometimes unintentionally dehumanize groups fighting for justice amidst tragedy. It is vital that we view Palestinians not just as victims or impoverished or assume life has always been this non-stop nightmare. Literally, Nisreen is like so many people I know. Like so many people you know! Just a regular lady who loves baking! Just your friendly neighborhood dentist! Aperson who loves their families. A devoted cat mom. A very stylish dresser.

I love that her page shows how people are living day-to-day now. And I love that it shows her finding moments of joy even in the darkest of times. ❤️

Please give her account a follow.

Edit to add: I've made a separate account for archiving videos and posts from regular people in Palestine documenting daily life. You can follow it @watermelllonarchive