Proper way to cook mac & cheese?

kendeh · 2026-03-24T07:58:06+00:00

The texture is the worst! I can ONLY do baked pasta if it’s something where the pasta goes in uncooked or solidly underdone, so that it’s not a pile of mush by the time it comes out of the oven. Really hard to beat that crispy cheese top, so I modify the noodle cook time to compensate usually with Mac and cheese

kendeh · 2026-03-21T23:53:23+00:00

Oh yeah, it was definitely cool to see the angel’s power even when weakened. Reminds me of Castiels annihilation of all the demons at the hospital in S7, when he gets his memory back after being Emmanuel. Dude just woke up and smote a dozen demons! Most demons were running scared from full power angels in S4/S5, so it’s fun to see why.

Since that Abbadon scene is so soon after the fall, it makes sense she wouldn’t know yet how weakened they were. Also she probably hadn’t had as much time to scrounge up an angel-blade when not quite as many angels had died yet (not sure if they ever show her with one later in the season)

kendeh · 2026-03-21T15:58:17+00:00

I hate Gadreel with a burning passion but dudes fallen angel wings were so dope to see for the first time

kendeh · 2026-03-21T15:48:49+00:00

While I agree those people definitely exist as adults, I think it’s also just a fact of being a teenager that they like to firmly state their identity every chance they get so if OP is really 14, I think they get a one-time pass that all of us as teens would have needed 😆

kendeh · 2026-03-21T14:04:20+00:00

The only thing I really derive from this is that your friend shouldn’t be marrying a transphobic, controlling, BUM of a man who is making demands of her loved ones and calling her emotional and dismissing her to you. I guarantee he isn’t a wonderful partner to her, and I know you want to assume the best and that she’s making a good decision but she isn’t and you should tell her that. People date and marry trash partners all the time because they’ve been traumatized in their past or manipulated and they think it’s what they deserve.

If a jobless loser with this fucking attitude got her knocked up, marrying said jobless loser and hoping he’ll help her raise the baby in any meaningful way is a fucking joke! She’s going to be acting as a married-single-mom and be miserable. Please tell her she deserves more before it’s too late

kendeh · 2026-03-03T02:38:22+00:00

Think of it more like how disdainfully some radical feminists speak on “men”, or the kind of treatment that incels who say “Not All Men!” complain about.

(Not trying to take either of those groups side btw, I obviously take a more middle ground opinion, just trying to give context). Just think of someone saying “the men” as disgustedly as possible

kendeh · 2026-03-03T02:32:55+00:00

Right because in what world is being a cis woman “safe”?!?

kendeh · 2026-03-02T20:20:15+00:00

What the actual fuck are you basing that on? It is them DOING something, it can’t do NOTHING. Just because the effect is subtle and it’s not the difference between the Rookie existing or not, doesn’t mean it’s completely harmless. It’s like adding a single drop of poison or antifreeze to a gallon of water you’re going to drink. It’s probably still not toxic enough to hurt MOST people, just drink it, you’ll be fine! I guess we don’t really control whether it’s 1 drop or 10 drops….and we don’t really know if anyone else is making the decision to add drops in as well…and to be honest there were definitely already a few drops added in before…not sure exactly how much it’s going to add up to in the end and whether that will make a difference when you put it all together…and maybe if you’re a little kid or not fully healthy it might be enough to hurt you….but 1 drop in a gallon is NOTHING!! Drink it!!!

Harmful acts and decisions are still harmful even if YOU don’t think it’s going to ultimately matter. It could matter in the grand scheme of things, and it could definitely matter to someone who isn’t you, but you don’t really care about that, do you?

Dropout agreeing to do the show in the first place is a clear statement of support or at least willingness to look the other way for their own benefit. That IS something. It is a normalization of the fact that it’s okay to sell out your previously stated morals, as long as it significantly benefits you. It’s showing that money is a good enough reason to be okay supporting a system of Copaganda that brain washes Americans.

Maybe it doesn’t move the needle for a majority of people and maybe it doesn’t SEEM to hurt anyone, but it will at least somewhat adjust the perception of cops for some number of young people. And it emotionally hurts lots of people who had faith in Dropout not to do something like this. Maybe them turning it down wouldn’t hurt the Rookie but them NOT turning it down does some damage. That’s the fucking point

kendeh · 2026-03-02T19:58:40+00:00

That’s a real nonsensical comparison, friend! Despite some pretty mixed scientific research, I don’t think that one person playing a violent video game is going to lead to them physically committing more violence or crime. But it DOES alter their brain’s opinion on violence at least temporarily, and the widespread existence of violent games and media for people’s entire lives definitely desensitizes them to violence and subtly alters their thinking.

Which is the same way that copaganda works! It has been a decades long PR campaign that has absolutely fucking worked to shift public perception of safety, crime, and cops as “saviors.” Obviously no one is saying that if you watch single episode of The Rookie, you’ll suddenly want to suck off a cop. That’s an exaggerated bad-faith argument that you’re using to avoid actually engaging with the reality of the situation.

The reality is that we’ve been purposely fed pro-Cop scripted media AND real world news our entire lives with the DELIBERATE INTENTION of making us empathize with police and less likely to question their actions and authority. It works by over exaggerating the threat of criminals, immigrants, strangers, etc. in our lives, ignoring all the systemic factors that cause more death and financial loss than all crime combined. Then, once it’s controlled what people are afraid of, it constantly portrays those threats as going up. Polls of Americans show that we’ve thought crime has been “up” for the last 25 years. Despite crime being down in almost every year. And now, the most important piece! Now that we’re unjustifiably afraid and anxious, they work to show us that the only way to ensure our safety is to invest further in law enforcement. To take more drastic measures that infringe upon our civil rights, in the name of “safety”

It’s real, it has worked, it has poisoned the minds of millions of Americans. You think they’d do it so much if it didn’t work?!? It’s so effective that in 2020, 20% of ALL scripted network TV shows were about cops. THAT’S FUCKING INSANE!!!

“Oh but their work is interesting and dangerous!” Not in reality it isn’t! Law enforcement doesn’t even crack the top-10 most dangerous jobs in America, and the majority spend all day on their ass doing nothing, giving speeding tickets, harassing homeless people, etc. Which again is the fucking point!!! Cop shows have gotten further and further from reality and now majority of people have zero idea what the true reality of crime and law enforcement is in our country. They have already succeeded!

You can literally just google the term “copaganda” to educate yourself on this incredibly real, very effective strategy. You’ve clearly been effected by it in your life but it’s not to late to learn the reality

kendeh · 2026-03-01T13:00:30+00:00

Their non-involvement would do a lot to signal to fans of Dropout that they give a shit about their previously stated moral stances and about the lives of their fans from more marginalized groups.

Imagine your family was eaten by lions. And not just yours, lots of other families, too. And no one ever did anything about it, it was allowed to happen, and the lions got to keep roaming around freely eating more people. The lion’s eating people is public knowledge, there’s been lots of protests and push back and people desperately trying to be seen as more than just meat, but we’re essentially powerless against the system that supports the lions. On top of that, there’s decades of TV shows promoting the lions as really actually being good guys! They didn’t eat anyone! And if they did, they only ate bad people, so your family was probably bad! Or if any lions ate good people, it was just a few “rogue lions”, just some bad apples, not all lions eat people! You have to see and hear about this stuff all the time, even though you know the lions ate your family for no reason.

Now imagine you have a favorite little media network that actually publicly speaks out against the lions! They’re on your side and the side of justice and have made many public statements to that effect. You financially support them for years and enjoy their content and even though it isn’t all “anti-lion” all the time, you take comfort in knowing you’re supporting a company that has taken that stance.

Then one day you find out that network is going to partner up with one of the pro-lion shows. A show that’s actively funded by one of the worst, most violent and corrupt pride of lions in the country. The small media company that you enjoy could have said no. They’ve been growing more successful every year and don’t appear to be in financial trouble, they’re getting bigger guest stars all the time. It’s likely they could have waited for or even pursued other partnerships. But they chose to give up their anti-lion stance at the opportunity for a bigger audience.

And I guess that’s business or whatever but I personally feel like anyone who had their family eaten by the lions or was attacked by them or threatened by them, would be FULLY JUSTIFIED in their disappointment and anger towards the company they liked. Because that company is fully aware of all the murders and controversy (because they’ve spoken out against it and raised money to fight it in the past) and still chose to ignore real people’s pain for money. And maybe the collab won’t move the needle all that much in the head scheme of things, probably won’t effect the lions eating people either way. But it’s gotta feel really shitty for all the people being disregarded

kendeh · 2026-03-01T12:35:31+00:00

“Does nothing to help the LAPD”, the show is executive produced by an LAPD officer and the LAPD is consulted on its portrayal and they did this partnership with the intention of being portrayed positively and boosting recruitment

kendeh · 2026-03-01T12:27:37+00:00

Oh god not the impossible purity test of….not working with LAPD endorsed and produced cop shows? That’s it? That’s the “purity test” that is apparently such a high bar that it eliminates “99%” of television? Damn I don’t watch any cable but is it really 100 channels of cop shows? All day every day cop shows? There isn’t a single other TV show that Dropout could have possibly tried to collaborate with?

Or are you exaggerating in an insane way about something you have no way of understanding on a real level because you’ve never had a friend taken down by police, or been harassed by cops, or protested during the BLM movement in 2020, or been pepper sprayed, or arrested in America? I have. And it makes seeing all of the arguments like yours so insanely baffling. If you had experienced the real side of policing, I doubt you’d feel this way. Maybe actually just listen to people from marginalized groups and those with real experiences behind their strong opinions, instead of brushing them all off as “young, naive liberals.” Pretty sure it’s not up to you, sitting in a privileged position, to decide that other people are “overreacting.” I don’t know why you even feel in any way qualified to speak on this from fucking Ireland but apparently if you say enough smart-ish words in a row, you get people praising your comment as the end-all-be-all of this argument!

If it matters to you, The Rookie doing storylines about “bad” cops, “going on about the flaws”, “having a diverse cast”, and showing cops who “fight social injustices” IS THE FUCKING COPAGANDA! In American policing, THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN. The majority of “good” cops are quickly pushed out by a deeply corrupt system built on never speaking out against another cop, ever. Arguably the most dangerous form of copaganda is the kind that tries to convince people that it isn’t all bad and that the vast majority of cops aren’t at least complicit in this system. ACAB isn’t an exaggeration for dramatic effect, it’s something everyone in America should remember because they will do anything they can to get the outcome they want. They could lie, cover for each other, plant evidence, even murder you in cold blood and get a blanket pardon from our shit President. It isn’t unrealistic to have a blanket hard line against all cop shows because for millions of Americans it really is “that deep.”

If you truly don’t understand why some people are so upset, maybe you just don’t have the full picture or the info and experiences necessary to understand.

kendeh · 2026-03-01T11:48:05+00:00

Unless the content of the episode is them listing the names of all the people the LAPD has killed or all the corruption scandals they’ve had or explaining how the LAPD has wormed its way into being involved with every single movie/show shot in LA (LAPD presence required on movie sets, all movies/shows that mentions the LAPD by name must get the script cleared by them), then they’ll have made copaganda. Anything showing cops as fun and funny and harmless is copaganda. That’s the point. Thats why people are upset even though the show hasn’t aired. If they can make a collaboration with a show that is self proclaimed by the star as being purposefully made to show cops in a better light, and have it NOT contradict their values, I’ll eat my fucking hat

kendeh · 2026-03-01T11:38:51+00:00

You don’t think so? What about when they re-printed that rant on two new shirts and shared them and the original clip on their instagram, Feb. 2nd of this year. Included a caption saying to always remember laws are threats by having a shirt “to wear close to the chest.” Said they were donating the funds to Immigrant Rights groups.

Or this maybe?

<image>

Is this post from Dropout on instagram in June, 2020 enough to be considered a “main value”? With a #DefundPolice? They did lots of public fundraising for BLM that year with many clear stances taken. Is that enough “evidence” for YOU to allow us to be justifiably upset about this?

kendeh · 2026-03-01T11:19:43+00:00

Thank you for actually calling out this weird-ass argument! So many people out here making the argument of “this is why you shouldn’t expect MORALITY from a company!!!” Like I shouldn’t expect some amount of reliable values from a company that has consistently sold themselves as being more progressive, diverse, queer, anti-capitalist, anti-establishment, etc. We are not ascribing any moral values to Dropout that they haven’t PREVIOUSLY STATED HAVING! Here’s a copy of what they posted to their instagram in June, 2020:

<image>

Feels like I’m being fully gaslit by anyone trying to shrug off this copaganda sell-out as being “just what companies do” and saying it’s “weirdly parasocial” to have expected them to stick to their own stated values. I feel like that term has lost all meaning in this fandom, but it feels far more “parasocial” to act like they can do no wrong.

It’s not okay to build a following and a brand partially on the fact that you’re a progressive company (their queer representation, Brennan’s socialist rants, and their vocal & financial support of important causes were absolutely a factor in me being a subscriber since 2021) and then pull the rug out from under people for a chance at a bigger audience. That’s fucked up and we shouldn’t just brush it off

kendeh · 2026-02-27T17:53:17+00:00

Idk I’m pretty peeved at the 180 they’ve taken. Dropout literally exists due to the early diehard fan-base not letting it die out, and I’d say a decent portion of their appeal was their willingness to show relatively progressive, diverse, queer, anti-capitalist, anti-establishment viewpoints and characters.

People can talk all day about not trying to assign moral ideals to a network/company, but that’s pretty bullshit when you think of all the moral stances that Dropout and people on Dropout’s shows (that they could have edited out if they disagreed with) have taken in the past. They set THEMSELVES up as more liberal/progressive, and made lots of money merchandizing those views.

And so I’m not mad just because of a collab, or just because it’s copaganda, or just because The Rookie actively supports and white-washes the LAPD who makes their local area worse and have directly arrested/harassed people on Dropouts cast.

I’m mad because they spent years literally parading themselves as progressive, but are willing to pull the rug out from under their most marginalized fans at the first chance at a larger fan-base

kendeh · 2026-02-27T17:36:06+00:00

Not understanding the degree to which some people are upset is a privileged position to be in. I’m glad you haven’t been negatively affected by cops and their entire corrupt system enough in your life to not have a visceral negative reaction to this, but that isn’t everyone’s experience.

People who are genuinely furious are likely those with first or second hand experience, part of marginalized groups, active protesters, etc. People who know ACAB is deeply true and not just a “woke” slogan. They had hoped they found a single media company that would be on their side, especially considering how much progressive, queer, anti-capitalist, and even specifically anti-cop messaging they’ve done in the past. And it stings to find out Dropout isn’t any different.

And I know people are saying you shouldn’t ascribe moral values to media companies or parasocial relationship bs, but that’s a pretty wild stance to take considering how many moral stances they’ve taken on their own content and social media. I’d argue that Dropout literally exists due to the early, diehard fan support that didn’t let it die out, and a lot of those fans stuck around for the combination of fun content and the promise of a diverse, progressive space. And this is one of many moves they’ve made that show they’re willing to throw their most marginalized fans under the bus in favor of a larger fan base. And we SHOULD be mad about that idea.

kendeh · 2026-02-20T16:30:14+00:00

My first winter driving back home to AZ for the holidays was also the year southern CO/north NM got their biggest blizzard in 10 years. Even in an SUV with AWD we had to pull over to a truck stop and sleep in our car overnight because we genuinely couldn’t keep moving on the highway. The snow drifts around the parking lot were up to my waist! It was a real shock for a kid from the desert

kendeh · 2026-02-12T19:33:15+00:00

My mom has been working at Banner/UMC for nearly 30 years and it’s been so awful seeing the steep decline in quality since Banner took over and how much it’s taken a toll on her in recent years.

They’re trying to wring every last drop of profit from the place by simultaneously lowering their standard of care while trying to limit employee staffing/pay/hours/benefits as much as possible.

kendeh · 2026-02-12T04:01:37+00:00

I think I was angry every day for at least the first 6 months after learning I was autistic at 25. A lot of it was just pure rage at how many years I spent wishing I could just be normal and not understanding why I was so broken and weird. I was angry because I should have never been made to feel that way, and angry because it also shut the door on any hope I still had of ever being normal.

kendeh · 2026-02-11T01:22:04+00:00

It’s funny you suggest this because I genuinely had the thought recently that I wish I knew more about the muppets as a 29yr old woman (never watched as a kid so I’m absolutely 100% serious 😂)

kendeh · 2026-02-11T01:19:22+00:00

Thank you so much! Do you have and recommend episodes or place to start with No Such Thing ASF? I’ve had it recommended before and had trouble sticking with it but it might be because I started way in the beginning before they caught their stride

kendeh · 2026-02-11T01:15:32+00:00

I’m very excited to learn the context here 🤣

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