I Actually Do Kinda Like Delivering Groceries On The Side Because It Gives Me Such A Unique Cross-section

i actually do kinda like delivering groceries on the side because it gives me such a unique cross-section of the community. i never know whose groceries im shopping for until i finish the delivery and see them/their home and it's like it adds more detail to the picture of who they are. the baby supplies going to the apartment that i know for a fact is one bedroom (they'll be moving soon - i bet they're apartment hunting, i hope they find a place). the new cat litter box, bowl, and kitten food going to the house covered in "i <3 my dog" paraphernalia (a kitten definitely showed up on the porch recently and made itself at home). the fairly healthy boring grocery order that includes an incongruous tub of candy-filled ice cream going to the home of an elderly woman with toddler toys in the yard (it's clearly for her grandkids, whom she sees often).

shopping for someone else's groceries is a fairly intimate thing. i've bought condoms and pregnancy tests, allergy medicine and nyquil, baby benadryl and teething gel, a huge pile of veggies paired with an equally huge pile of junk food, tampons and shampoo and closet organizers and ant traps and deodorizing shoe inserts and a million other little things that tell a million different stories in their endless combinations. one time someone had me buy one single green bean. i messaged them to confirm that's actually what they wanted, and they said yes - neither of them liked green beans very much, but they had a baby they were introducing to solid foods, and they wanted to let him try one to see if he liked them. another time i had someone request 50 fresh roma tomatoes - not for a restaurant, but for a person in an apartment. the kitchen behind them smelled like basil and garlic when they opened the door. another time i brought groceries to three elderly blind women who share a house. that was one of the few times i have ever broken my rule and gone inside a place i've delivered to, because they asked if i could place the grocery bags in a specific location in the kitchen for them to work on unloading and there was no way i was going to refuse helping.

i gripe about the poor tippers, but people can also be incredibly kind. one time i took shelter from a sudden vicious hailstorm inside an older lady's home in a trailer park, while i was in the middle of delivering her groceries. we both huddled just inside the door, watching in shock as golf-ball-sized hail swept through for about five minutes and then disappeared. she handed me an extra $10 bill on my way out the door.

when covid was at its deadliest, people would leave extra (often lysol-scented) cash tips and thank-you notes for me taped to the door or partially under the mat. i especially loved the clearly kid-drawn thank you notes with marker renderings of blobby people in masks, or trees, or rainbows. in summer of 2020 i delivered to a nice older couple who lived outside of town in the hills, and they insisted i take a huge double handful of extra disposable gloves and masks to wear while shopping - those were hard to find in stores at the time, but they wanted me to have some of their supply and wouldn't take no for an answer.

anyway. all this to say people are mostly good, or at least trying to be, despite my complaints.

Nicol Bolas Endgame

Ever since the Mending, Nicol Bolas has had some kind of master scheme going to try and restore him to his former glory (and then some) but the steps he’s been taking have often seemed disconnected and random.

After Rivals of Ixalan concludes however, I think I have enough information to put together a theory that ties these things together.

Let’s start by taking a look at what he’s been involved in (that we know of in canon) since the Mending…

Keep reading

things i forgot about the last olympian

inspired by this post

also a lot of these are things that i remembered that either make me extremely happy or extremely Sad and i just wanted everyone to share in my suffering

the summer has already passed! percy also says this summer was the hardest of his life

percy and rachel have spent a whole year and together at goode and they’ve hung out a lot this summer

rachel had JUST made a move on percy when beckendorf showed up

RACHEL KISSED HIM THIS ONE I ACTUALLY FORGOT

“i’m guessing you don’t want me to mention that little scene to annabeth” god i miss beckendorf

beckendorf carries a picture of silena

“you mean all these years, i’ve been asking about this stupid prophecy, and it’s been right there around her neck?”

“she’d always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful” percabeth my HEART

paul’s reaction to mrs o leary in the living room is so enthusiastic

“thanks for not freaking out”

“oh, i’m freaking out,” he promised, his eyes wide. “i just think it’s awesome!”

hades tells nico that bianca would’ve done a better job of getting percy to the underworld

HADES SAYS MULTIPLE TIMES HE WISHES BIANCA WAS THE ONE TO SURVIVE

“it was a lot more dignified than, like, my armpit or something”

can we talk about the parallel between percy in the styx hearing annabeth say he “isn’t getting away from [her] that easily” and percy saying “you’re never getting away from me” to her before they fall into Tartarus bc it makes me So Emo

percy killed 200 of hades’ soldiers like it was nothing

hermes tells annabeth she was the only one who could’ve saved luke

silena knows a lot about magic

annabeth offers to stay with percy to activate plan twenty three and gets met with “no detours, you two”

plan twenty three

the minotaur keeps chb necklaces of the demigods he’s killed

percy laughs as he obliterates the minotaur’s army

NO ONE TOUCHES HER MHMMMM GOOD SHIT

the balcony scene is so fucking cute oh my g o d

grover is scared of rabbits

percy fought a titan alone and held his ground

PARTY PONIES

annabeth landed a helicopter by guessing on the controls

annabeth was also crying after rachel showed up

clarisse killed the drakon with just her spear. no armor. no shield. all badass.

clarisse with the blessing of ares, dragging the drakon corpse behind her

chiron v kronos

SALLY AND PAUL FUCKING SHIT UP

I REPEAT

SALLY JACKSON WITH A SHOTGUN

the hera statue that falls nearly kills annabeth

thalia’s legs get stuck as she pushes annabeth away

may castellan is making cookies for a son who will never come home

athena is the one who speaks up in defense of percy’s request to claim all kids

just take a second to imagine annabeth and tyson baking that mf cupcake okay

things i forgot about the lightning thief

things i forgot about the sea of monsters

things i forgot about the titan’s curse

things i forgot about the battle of the labyrinth

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hello-apes-of-the-world

8 months ago

Daughter of fantasy villains decides to rebel against her parents by actually going through with her arranged marriage to a local golden retriever of a prince instead of running off with some local villain-to-be or conquering said golden retriever’s kingdom and ruling it solo like her parents expect her to. Plus, sue her, she’s into the clean-cut earnest look.

At the same time, local prince charming discovers that he’s actually very into the gothic fiance his parents have landed him with in order to try and establish peace with the local evil lair down the lane, he would never have guessed a spiderweb pattern could look so fetching on a ball gown…?

Meanwhile, two pairs of parents in a tizzy because they both expected their offspring to whole-heartedly reject this union and give them an excuse to conquer their goody-two-shoes/evil neighbours, they’re not supposed to actually like each other-!

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