#and it would cost as much to get a replacement lid as a new bottle

[tonyglowheart]

*scheming rn to try to figure out the best way to pirate a plant/best place to pirate a plant from*

[missvelvetsstuff]

Where you goin, Star?

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Rich girl/poor biker

Chapter 5

Warnings: swearing, angst, vague oral.

Right after Bucky left town and Y/N was dealing with the after effects the D&C she had to have done due to her miscarriage, Helen Cho gave her Vicodin to help with the pain and cramping. Y/N kept taking it even after she was healed because it gave her a nice buzz and fogged everything up so it wasn't quite so painful. After a while it didn't help as much and Helen refused to give her any more so she found a doctor that would. The new doctor bumped her up to Percocet and after a year to oxycontin. She regularly took 3-5 pills a day.

Brock had caught on to her dependency but she was able to buy his silence. The cost was, unpleasant, but worth the peace the pills gave her.

Y/N spent the night of the funeral at her parents house after arguing with John about making it easier to go through her parents things. Even after he gave her a split lip, she refused to back down.

After he left she drowned her stress in half a bottle of her fathers good scotch and passed out in her old bedroom.

When she woke up, Brock drove her to her favorite cafe for coffee and ordered her favorite drink. After they drove away she opened her coffee and poured in some whiskey from the flask that she always carried. She mixed it in, replaced the lid and took a long drink, letting the warmth flow through her.

Back at the house she started going through her mother's things. Most would be given to local charities but she saved some items that had personal meaning to them. Time passed without her notice until Brock came to check up on her and she sent him to pick up some lunch even though she wasn't really hungry.

Going through the house was worse than she expected, especially on the third day, when she started on her fathers office. a

She found the receipt for a 1 million dollar cashiers check and the contract that Bucky had signed when he accepted the money. She already knew about it but seeing the physical proof that he left her for money, the day after seeing him for the first time in 3 years, was overwhelming. She couldn't breathe and felt like she was underwater. When she finally got herself under control she quickly popped an oxy and a Xanax, washing them down with the last drops in her flask. She pulled a bottle out from her father bar, refilled her flask and took a few good drinks straight from the bottle.

After she let those kick in she started getting angry. Angry at Bucky, at her father, at John and anyone else she could think of. She needed to see her horses, it had been almost a month since she was able to stop by. She stood up a little too quickly and had to grab the desk to steady herself.

"Brock!" She yelled and waited for him to appear.

"Yes ma'am?" He asked when he arrived.

"I want to go see my horses."

Brock grinned lecherously "You know you're supposed to get the ok from Mr Walker before you go."

She smiled sweetly "Please Brock, you know I won't tell him."

He looked her up and down "What's my incentive sweetheart."

Y/N rolled her eyes "The usual. When we get there."

Brock smirked and walked away "Rollins! Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky, Steve, Sam and Peggy woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast and then headed to Tony Starks office to finalize their business. Once everything was signed champagne was poured.

Tony smiled "Never thought I'd be doing business with any of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos but I believe this venture will be very profitable for all involved. I have other matters to take care of but I will see you all for the groundbreaking tomorrow. Feel free to stay and finish the champagne or take it with you if you prefer." He shook their hands and left.

Steve drank his glass down "I don't know if I'll ever get used to how that man lives. Hell I'm still getting used to the idea of a house for me and Peg without you dirtbags around all the time." He smirked at his friends.

Bucky nodded "We weren't exactly enjoying your nightly reminders of how in love you were. A little house of my own sounds perfect."

Sam grinned "Not too little, Star is used to the finer things"

Bucky scowled at him "I don't want to get ahead of myself. I have to get her to talk to me first."

Steve nodded "Yeah she definitely didn't seem happy to see you. Who knows what Walker and her father have put her through the last few years. Quill has been watching her stable for a week and she hasn't been by once."

A short while later, Steve's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. "She appears to be on her way to the stable with her bodyguards, Rumlow and Rollins. No sign of Walker."

Bucky nodded "Not ideal but maybe I can get her to listen."

When they pulled up across the street from her place, Quill came up to the car shaking his head. "You don't want to go in there, Barnes."

Bucky glared at him "yeah, I do."

"I'm pretty sure you don't. They're uh, not decent."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Bucky stormed towards the barn, so angry it took him a minute to notice the sounds. He stoped dead.

"Fuck princess, your mouth is heavenly. John is a lucky man. If I had you in my bed I wouldn't be putting my dick in anyone else. Oh god, yes. Just like that princess. Fuck! I'm gonna cum. Take it slut. Swallow it all down." Brock growled then shouted when he was done.

"Jesus Brock, shut the fuck up. You want someone to hear and tell John? He'll kill us both.

And could you maybe eat some pineapple once in awhile? Too much garlic."

"First of all, your husband doesn't have the balls to kill anyone, that's why he has me. And princess, you should be used to the taste by now."

"It's not like I'm doing it for fun. Now that I've paid for my trip to the stable, could I have some time alone with my horses?

Bucky felt like he was gonna be sick hearing all that but realized he needed to hide before Brock saw him. That confrontation was coming but he needed to talk to Star first so he ducked into an empty stall until Brock passed.

Y/N stood at the door of Lulu's stall talking softly to her when she heard someone coming up behind her "Jesus Brock could I have more than 30 seconds? I'm not blowing you again!"

Bucky felt his heart breaking for her and growing guilt for leaving her to this. "It's not Brock, Star."

She turned around and scoffed "I thought I made myself pretty clear, Barnes. I have nothing to say to you. Run off and find your pet, Dot. Leave me alone."

Bucky just looked at her sadly which angered her more "Barnes! I told you get the fuck out. John will kill us both if he catches us together and while your life is meaningless to me, I'm not quite ready to kick it yet."

"Star, please. I-"

She slapped him. Again. "Have you suffered a blow to the head? Don't call me that."

She started pacing "Why can't you just leave me alone? Haven't you done enough?"

"Please Star, I want to help." Bucky grabbed her and pulled her to him and she fought him

"I don't need or want your help. Let me fucking go. God dammit Barnes. Let me go!!"

He released his grip on her. "Just let me say my piece and I'll leave you alone." He sighed "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I don't know what happened while I was gone but I'm sorry you had to go through it. I never meant for any of this to happen"

"Doesn't matter what you meant to happen, you ghosted me and my life went to shit. Told me how much you loved me, then disappeared without a trace, leaving me in my father's clutches."

Bucky looked at her surprised "Without a trace? No, Star I gave-" she slapped him again.

"Don't fucking call me Star and get the Hell off of my property. Now." She pulled a gun out of her purse. Nothing big or fancy but enough to hurt. "I mean it Barnes, leave me alone."

Bucky's eyes grew wide at the sight of her pointing a gun at him but he sighed in resignation and left.

After he was gone Y/N leaned against Lulu and cried into her mane. Lulu rubbed her head against Y/N and made comforting nickers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve was still waiting and saw the look on Bucky's face as he approached the car and sighed. Obviously it didn't go well. Again.

Bucky climbed into the car and grumbled "I don't want to talk about it. It's already beyond fucked and I don't know the whole story."

Sam patted him on the shoulder "It'll help if you get it off your chest. Besides if we're gonna do this we all need to know what we're up against."

Bucky shook his head, the sounds of her with Brock wouldn't go away. He was grateful he hadn't seen anything but he knew it would still haunt him.

"Fine. When I walked in she was blowing Rumlow, I didn't see it but I heard it. She has lost a lot of weight. A lot. I could smell alcohol on her breath. She slapped me twice and when I wouldn't leave she pulled a gun on me." He looked at Sam and spat "Happy?" Then slammed back in the seat with his arms crossed.

Sam shook his head, understanding where Bucky's anger was coming from but knowing that's not what they needed. "Damn, that's pretty bad. You think there's more?"

Bucky nodded "looking in her eyes I could tell. She's taking something. They weren't really red so I don't think it's weed but they were glassy and just a bit off-focus. Coke or maybe pills, I don't know but it ain't sober."

Bucky put his head in his hands and tried to hold the tears back.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. None of this was in the plan. We were supposed to be back 2 years ago."

He looked at Sam "She said I ghosted her, left without a trace but that's not true I gave Rumlow-" he shook his head "Obviously he didn't give it to her. That bastard got himself a pretty sweet life at her expense." He started breathing heavily, anger morphing into rage

"I'm gonna kill him"

Steve spoke up "Buck, you need to calm down. We need to make a new plan."

Bucky shook his head "Maybe I should just leave her alone. What if I come in to help and make things worse? We just need to get our business going and then I can." He just stopped talking when he saw movement across the street. It was Star and she was headed right for them, she stumbled but caught herself before she fell.

"Steve, Sam, Peggy." She nodded curtly at them "Please don't take this personally but y'all need to get the fuck away from me. I don't wanna talk about it or hear whatever excuses you've concocted. My husband is not above having his men inflict pain on those who cross him. That includes me. I'm not interested in taking another beating because of Barnes.

Just go."

She turned around, taking a second to stabilize herself, and walked back onto her property.

Bucky looked at Steve "Another beating? What the hell?"

Steve shrugged "I don't know Buck, seems like there's quite a bit more to the story. She have anyone close to her that we could talk to?"

Bucky shook his head "her mom was the only one before me and she passed not long after we left. She was close to Peggy but."

The rest of that thought was left hanging in the air as they all considered the situation.

Peggy broke them out of their fog "Let's get back to the hotel and we can brainstorm. After the ceremony tomorrow we'll start working on saving Star."

Bucky shook his head "Even if she needs rescuing, I doubt the so called friends that disappeared on her 3 years ago are the people she's going to trust. She hates me most but there wasn't any love for the rest of you either."

Bucky came to a decision "I need to have a talk with Brock. He should be with her at her fathers house."

After spending the afternoon trying to figure out what to do they ate dinner and settled in for the night.

Except Bucky. He was a man on a mission and Brock Rumlow was about to feel some payback. He bid his friends good night and caught a cab to her parents house.

Chapter 6

[swagging-back-to]

just ordered a slightly bigger 15 gallon tank for mochi and sushi. I plan to give them the 30 gallon tank when I upgrade the main colonies tank to an ikea DIY, but for right now I just want something that's big enough to work. the ten gallon works for temporary bonding set ups, but after that? it's way too small.

Even tho 15 gallons are only bigger by a total of four inches it will make a HUGE difference for me and for them. the wheel will fit a lot nicer and I'll be able to use more height room. it's a reptile tank so it came with a mesh lid already factored into it's total cost, which is great bc mesh screens are so expensive. idk what I'm gonna do with the other ten gallon I have now, honestly.

will probably just leave it empty in case I need to quarantine another mouse (jasmine has taken permanent residence in the current quarantine tank). if I was stupid I would go and get more mice but I am holding myself back by the scruff of my neck.

I also got them a new water bottle holder bc I literally cant stand trying to hang it on the side and I refuse to use velcro like other mouse moms.

also got them a few new toys and hides too. so now they can have more variety when I clean out their cages. it's mostly for the main colony though, bc they have a bit of empty space in the right side of the tank that I wanna fill up.

got them a little platform house (like the one the main colony has now. two rooms and a flat top so I can put stuff on it.) and a full house with a second story and a balcony.

another table platform. idk if this is just to replace the one in the main colony (which they chewed the legs all to shit on) or if it's to go with mochi and sushi.

got like five chew balls. a triangular straw tunnel.

a hammock and a new wooden bridge.

i just love them so much and want them to be happy </3 esp bc ginger, clove and dhal are getting close to a year old now. I don't ave much time with them.

[johnsamericano]

hi sunshine!! if you're taking requests right now, could i please request a collage roommates to lovers smut au with mark? 🥺 tysm!!!

Hope you like it bubs 🥰

“Wanna play uno?” You asked your roomate, coming out of your room with the box of cards between your hands. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t know you had people coming over.”

“Y/n, nice to see you!” Chenle greeted you with a big smile. “Come join us, we’re listening to Renjun’s juicy gossip.” There were two bottles of wine in the middle of the coffee table and a couple of glasses scattered around the floor.

“Hi.” You greeted Mark while sitting between him and a flustered Jisung. “Hi Jisungie.”

He just nodded, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

“So you know Johnny from philosophy? Well it turns out he’s dating Ten, from ballet! Everyone in my class wants to be him.” He chuckled.

“I mean, John Hyung is pretty handsome. If he asked me on a date I’d definitely give it a thought.” Jaemin commented casually. “Don’t you agree, y/n?”

The whole room smiled cheekily for some reason you didn’t know.

“Jaemin, don’t tease her.” Mark scolded. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just trying to annoy you.”

“No worries, Mark. It’s fine.” You placed your hand on his shoulder. “And yes, Johnny is capable of making even the straightest man doubt about his sexuality.”

You could feel Mark lowering his head.

“So you’re more into sexy guys?” Donghyuck lifted his eyebrows.

“I guess so.” You shrugged.

“Oh, bad news for someone.” Haechan laughed at your confused expression.

“What do you mean?” Everyone remained silent as you grew even more curious with every passing second.

“Let’s play uno.” Mark suddenly interrupted, taking the card deck from your hands.

The game started off normal, just a usual round of uno where Jeno won. But then the boys decided to spice it up. The winner would assign the player with the most cards a punishment.

“That’s not fair, I always lose!” Mark complained, holding a big stack of cards from the previous round.

“Well then, do your best to not lose.”

But everyone knew that was impossible, Mark had some sort of curse where he’d get all the bad cards.

“Uno!” Chenle screamed while placing his card on top of the other ones. He winked at Mark.

“Why are you shaking?” You asked the boy beside you, holding his arm softly.

“I-It’s nothing, I’m just afraid Chenle will make me drink water from the toilet or something like that.”

“Oh, believe me. That’s not gonna be the punishment.”

Chenle won that round. He cracked his knuckles with a devilish smile in his face.

“Meet me at your room, Mark.”

“Is he gonna beat him up or something?” You asked Jisung as soon as you heard the door closing.

“I don’t think so, noona.” He replied, still refusing to look at your face.

You took one of the wine glasses on the floor and poured some of the red liquid inside it. You took a sip of it, enjoying the sour flavor.

“Wow, this is really good. Where did you buy it?”

“Walmart.” Jaemin asked while pouring a glass for himself.

“The next time we go grocery shopping, I’ll buy one of these.”

The sound of the door opening again announced the arrival of Mark and Chenle, your roomate holding something behind his back while Chenle pushed him slightly.

“Come on, dude. We’ll leave you alone.” He signaled the boys to stand up.

“What’s going on?” You furrowed your eyebrows, standing up as well, the glass of wine still between your hands. The front door closed after all the boys had exited your shared apartment.

“I- I...” He kept stuttering, occasionally taking a look at your face.

“You’re acting suspicious.”

He finally took in a deep breath and extended a heart shaped box in your direction, bending his torso just like the anime girls did when confessing to someone.

“Huh?” You stared at him, trying to figure out the situation before replacing the glass of wine with the box. There was a small note folded on top of the lid.

Mark ran away and locked himself inside his room before you even had the chance to read the note. You let him be, already overwhelmed by the situation. Your heart picked up the face as you unfolded the piece of paper.

~Be my valentine? :)

A smile creeped up your lips as you read his words over and over again. You opened the lid to find a bunch of chocolates. Some of them were melted from being in Mark’s room and not in the fridge.

You placed the lid back on and left the box on the coffee table. You didn’t bother to knock on his door.

“Mark?” There was a bulge on his bed. “Are you still alive?” You walked closer to the mattress, sliding yourself inside the covers with him like you usually did when you had a nightmare.

“Don’t mock me, please.”

“Turn around.” You poked his back repeatedly until he finally faced you, his face as red as a tomato. “Care to explain yourself?”

“I wanted to give them to you on Valentine’s Day, but then you went out with some guy and I figured out it wasn’t such a great idea. But fucking Chenle forced me to give them to you.” The palms of his hands covered his face. “I’m so sorry.”

“You should be.” He felt like crying. “How dare you give me melted chocolates as a Valentine’s Day gift?”

“Huh?” He retrieved his hands, confused at your smiley face.

“And the worst part is that you’re like a week late. You’re gonna have to make it up for me, Mr. Lee.” Your face inched closer to his.

“Does this mean-”

“Just kiss me, Mark.” He hesitated before connecting his lips with your own.

He felt in heaven with your soft lips moving against his, your playful tongue intruding his mouth and fighting for dominance. His hand cupped your butt by accident, he tried moving it but you held it against your soft flesh. His hips started rutting against yours, stealing a gasp or two from you.

“Are you okay with this?”

“Yes.” You mumbled into his neck. “Stop teasing and fuck me already.” Mark was taken aback by your boldness, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say he liked it.

“As you wish.” He got rid of your clothing with urge, separating his body from yours slightly to admire your naked form, the source of all his fantasies. “How can you be so perfect?” He asked while tracing the valley of your breasts, slowly going down to touch your labia.

His dick was impossibly hard and ached for relief. You pulled Mark closer, his arms supporting his weight as you pushed his length inside your hole.

“Fuck.” He cursed at your tightness, your walls strangling his pulsating member. “Can I move?”

You nodded. With his knees caging your legs and his hands on your sides, he started moving his hips against yours. The stretch was amazing, he wasn’t the biggest, but it felt like he was made just for you, reaching for all the right spots.

“I’m not gonna last for much longer.” He admitted shyly.

“Don’t worry, baby. Me too.” He eyes your swollen bud, screaming for attention. His thumb started drawing circles on top of the sensitive skin, pulling in for anothe kiss.

Your legs started trembling as your high took over your senses, accidentally biting his lip and causing him to smile. He shot his seed deep inside you, collapsing on top of your body as soon as you were done.

“Was this enough to make up for the melted chocolates?” He kissed your collarbone tenderly, smiling against the hot skin.

“No, you still owe me a box of chocolates.”

“I’ll buy you the whole store if that’s what you want.” He pulled out, turning to lay on his side with you between his arms. “But only if you agree to go on a date with me.”

“What kind of chocolates are we talking about?” He gasped, pretending to be offended. “I’m just kidding.”

“I like you y/n.” He confesses sincerely, looking at you with big doe eyes. “Do you like me too?”

“I like you too, Mark Lee.”

[purplelurkinghini]

Narcissus by the Pond

0. PROLOGUE 

Under the cut is the prologue to yet another multi-chapter mess I am planning to write. What is different about this one is the narrator: Edward Nygma himself. Another aspect of this piece that sets it apart from the rest of my writing is its epistolary form. That’s right, baby! First-person POV!

If you’ve seen >> this << post floating around, this is indeed me actually putting that second prompt to use. 

Enjoy!

Dear ▚▛▙▙

I found a cat toy while cleaning out my closet today. It was that ashy plush mouse stuffed with dried nepeta cataria which you spent money on instead of saving up for your student loans. If he were still here, he’d be rolling around on the floor in some vivid dream in which he was a lion and it was a gazelle. And, if you were still here, I would’ve asked you to stay.

The day you got that tabby’s claws into me was the day you checked into work late. Frank, our project manager and your internship supervisor, had to drop his showman act and instill in you the fear all WayneTech employees are motivated by. After you offered your excuses and exchanged glances with the floor, you were free to enter the kitchen to heat up the coffees that you went out of your way to fetch for us each morning.  

My daily routine, which you’ve played no small role in forming during your short stay with us, was disrupted by the absence of caffeine in my bloodstream. I remember my Rubik’s cube and how I crammed a corner into my palm, squeezing down on the still unscrambled sides. I would call it an ‘absentminded’ action, but we both know that would be an incorrect assessment. My mind is never not present, even as it wanders. For this reason, when you finally came out of the kitchen, I couldn’t not wonder what happened to your sweatshirt. It must’ve been soaked in rainwater, I concluded, and that was the reason you removed it. Or, rather, that was the excuse you used as you removed it. After all, your sneakers were soggy, but you couldn't exactly walk barefoot all over a corporate. Even so, there you were, in a far too small t-shirt which was too tight around your torso and too short to cover your stomach, walking around the office with your brewed bribes. 

“Here you go, Jim” you placed the foam cup right in front of his face to get him to notice you. I’d argue that that slip of skin that was eye level to him was enough to get that scatterbrain's attention. He must’ve made a joke, or attempted to, because you laughed louder than anyone should around him. 

“Cory,” you sauntered over to him. “I asked the barista for two tablespoons and a half this time.” Sure, he might’ve taken his glasses off before taste-testing it, but his lenses were fogged-up before the lid came off. You felt the most confidence around Cory, the least confident one in our team. While no line of code was too complex for him, women were a mystery he had yet to solve. You see, I haven’t failed to notice you making the most physical contact with him, brushing your hand against his as a means of disarming him. 

After he served you a stuttered smile, you moved on to Paul who was pretending to be preoccupied with his screen. He’d been watching you since you walked out of the kitchen, yet still acted surprised when you showed up next to him. You didn’t mean to disturb him, of course, so you tip-toed around his desk, silently setting the cup on a coaster. He thanked you without taking his eyes off of his work, but took the time to watch you walk away as soon as you turned away from him. 

"I'm sorry, Ed," you pouted as you placed the coffee on top of a stack of papers. "I know like to have your coffee before 8, but the storm hit while I was in the shop and the whole street took cover in there-"

"Slow down," I released the Rubik’s cube, flexing my fingers. "I'm not your supervisor. It’s not my forgiveness you need."

"Well, no, but I actually want your forgiveness," you covered your mouth in a coquettish display. "I mean-"

“Like I said,” I brush off the blush creeping up on my cheeks. "There's no use for that." Fetching the foam cup, I take a sip of the scolding beverage and brave through it. “There's no use to ask the barista to write our full names either. This calligraphy exercise cost you a scolding from Frank.”

“Actually,” you pulled the hem of your shirt down which only uncovered more of your cleavage instead of hiding your stomach. “I wrote your name myself.”

I stroked the surface of the cup right across the script. Again, I can’t call this action ‘absentminded’ either, but my mind had wandered off again. That lovely lettering was yours and so was the green marker, so you must’ve scavenged your backpack for it on a crowded morning train. You also must’ve taken your time steadying your hand for each stroke, each dot. E. Nygma. You also must’ve cleaned up the cup as it inevitably spilled and steadied your tongue for each stroke, each lick. Maybe you ever sampled the coffee yourself, the taste of cherry Chapstick staining the rim.

“Well,” you interrupted my intrusive thoughts. “Jim’s showing me the new user interface, so-”

“Of course,” I dismissed you and my daydreams.

“Talk to you later.”

Yes, that was the day the cat got his claws into me. It was after I’d drained the drink, and found myself restless still, that I made my way into the kitchen for another one. That is when I spotted you in the corner, cradling the sweatshirt you discarded earlier. At the sound of my steps, you straightened your back, but you didn’t turn your torso towards me. 

“Hey, Ed,” you smiled and it was a painful sight because I couldn’t ignore the panic I ignited in your eyes. “Lunchtime already?”

“What are you doing?”

“Umm, trying to dry my shirt?”

The closer I got, the more gregarious you grew. You asked about what I’d like to eat, what the guys would like to eat, if I’d like to order out. You didn’t stop until I asked it of you. 

“What are you hiding from me?”

Before you could bellow out something long enough to cover the sound, I heard it.

“Did your hoodie just meow?”

It was only then that you turned, facing me fully. “Please don’t tell Frank, but this is the reason I was running late.” Two pairs of eyes were pleading with me. One belonged to you and they were begging. The other belonged to an orange ball of fur and they were unblinking. 

You were holding a bottle cap filled with water up to its meowing maw, so you must’ve been attempting to keep the animal hydrated, even after rescuing it from the streets in the middle of a storm. You bought kitten kibbles on your way to WayneTech and that had eaten ten minutes of your time and cost you a scolding from Frank.

“I couldn’t just leave Eddie to drown in a ditch somewhere.”

“Eddie?”

“Yeah,” you let it sink its little teeth into your skin as it held a single finger close with two whole paws. They feel like needles, I should know, but you carried on cooing the pincushion. “He reminds me of another green-eyed ginger. Maybe you know him.”

Yes, you remember now, don’t you? That was the moment Eddie sunk his claws into me, and I do mean it literally. He released your finger only to get his paws trapped into my button-up. I also mean it figuratively, as I swore to keep your secret the very next second. And, once you were by my side, shadowing me as I was coding like you wanted to since your first day of internship, you made me swear to keep him. How could I not? Your dorm had a ‘no pets’ policy and you had named him after me. 

The two of us had time to get acquainted after you left for your evening classes. I fed him the kibbles and was careful not to get caught. And, because I wouldn't be using it that day anyway, I replaced your sweatshirt with my gym towel. While it smelled like a sad, soaked kitten, whatever fruity fragrance you were using had yet to fade from the fabric. That evening I drove straight home as soon as I left WayneTech, skipping my daily workout. My daily routine, as I’ve mentioned, had been modified by you. 

“We don't even need to potty train him,” you giggled when you saw Eddie digging through the brand new litter box I had ordered. It had been waiting for me by the front entrance along with the delivery guy and yourself.

You got into a cab before even texting me, asking for an address only after the driver started the clock. I expected that stupid stunt from the likes of Jim, not you. 

“He's a clever boy,” I smiled when I saw you were still wearing the green button-up shirt I asked you to exchange that shrunken t-shirt of yours with. “Like his namesake.”

You kneeled before the kitten and produced the plush mouse I'd only seen Eddie play with once. “Did the shampoo arrive? He should be high enough to not scratch our eyes out now.”

After rolling around on the rug with a bag full of catnip, he seemed blissed out enough for a bath. And, after only scratching you twice as you held him for me to scrub his ginger fur ever so gently, we got him all dried and drained. Those green eyes were barely opened as he looked up at us from the cat bed he was supposed to grow into and the sweatshirt he had grown fond of. 

“Now we know he hates all water,” you said through gritted teeth as I sanitized your shaking hands. Your fingers were as fidgety as Cory's, yet I doubt his skin was ever that soft. “Not just the rain.”

“I bet he'd hate flees more,” I caressed your knuckles after bandaging the bloody bits.

“I hate the rain, too,” your eyes were downcast, much like earlier that morning, seemingly searching my sheets for something. “I never knew Frank could be so-”

“Terrifying?”

“Mean,” your giggle wasn't as gleeful as I'd grown used to. “I thought he was going to fire me right then and there.”

“He wouldn't,” I squeezed down on the shadows of your hands as they were snatched away from me. Then, I leaned in close and almost brushed your love with my lips as they moved: “He will let the anxiety that comes with that uncertainty eat you alive first.”

“See, now you're being mean,” you laughed, finally looking up at me. 

“Me? Never,” I said, satisfied with myself. You were laughing - actually laughing - because of me. 

When the dryer dinged, I was confident in leaving you in my bedroom with a smile on your face. After all, I was the one who brought you in there and I was the one who brought that out of you. Once I've collected your clothes, I returned to find you had already removed my button-up and was drying up the rest of your skin with one of my towels. You were turned only half the way, so you must've perceived me in your periphery. Paul pulled the same thing earlier today. Still, you sounded surprised as you covered the side of your breasts I bet you wanted me to see. 

"Forgive me,” I turned around, but, unlike you, I did it all the way. “Here you are,” I stretched my arm behind me to hand you the bra and t-shirt. 

“Thank you.” It was only after your bomber jacket was zipped to your chin that I dared to look at you directly. Your sweatshirt was Eddie's now, so you covered up with what you had. “For everything.”

“Let me drive you to your dorm.”

"You've already done enough," you pulled out your phone as I walked you to the door. “I'll just call another cab. Eddie needs you here. You need to wear him out, or he'll wear you out tonight.”

“Cats are crepuscular creatures,” I assure you. “Not nocturnal. I'm sure he'll fall asleep before I even turn in for the night.”

Yes, I was sure he'd fall. However, Eddie was so convinced. And, sure enough, there he was, meowing in my face at midnight. 

My mistake was letting him get his claws into me. You see, I couldn't bear waking that little bastard up. Not when he looked so small in the middle of your sweatshirt, in the middle of his bed. He finally had a dry place to dream in and I couldn't take that away from him, so I let him sink his claws into me that much deeper. 

And yours, as well.

After chasing him with my hand atop of my covers and letting him swat at the finger-spider, he was ready for bed. My bed. Yes, his green eyes were drooping when he surrendered to sleep. It just so happened that he did it on the left side of my bed. And I, not willing to risk another rude awakening, placed him atop of the pillow. Then, ever so silently, I slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. It was on my way back that I stumbled upon it: your sweatshirt. 

I recall calling it off the floor and taking it with me to bed. For Eddie, of course. He loved that sweatshirt, as I'm sure you know. However, as I placed it on his pillow, I caught a whiff of it. It smelled like rainwater, pet shampoo, Eddie, and you. It was your sweat and deodorant, sweet and soapy, just as I had smelled it on my shirt before tossing it in the laundry basket and I couldn't smell it on the left side of my bed. 

As I closed my eyes, I saw you. You were walking around the office, their wandering eyes watching you. You pass my desk and I am drenched in your scent. Sweet. Soapy. Soaking. Your sweatshirt is drenched, so you discard it. Your t-shirt is too tight, so I can see the dip of your belly button and the swell of your breasts. Though I am convinced you had a bra to cover them, my mind wanders. It wanders about the color of your nipples and it paints a picture of them peeking through the flimsy fabric. 

And, as my mind wanders further, that flimsy fabric is pulled down, your hands wriggling at the hem of it. That's when those peeks pop out along with the rest. All of a sudden, you're soaking. Sweet. Soapy. You even try to hide this from me, crossing your arms over your chest. I capture your hands, soft skin, and fidgeting fingers, and wrestle with them. Oh, how easily you surrendered to me, sighing in defeat. I lock your arms behind your back with one hand and squeeze your tit like a stress toy. Sweet. Soapy. Soaking. I had to taste it. 

When my tongue touched the tip, you pushed against it, filling my mouth with your flesh. You wanted this. That nipple is as sharp as a needle, but it melts in the heat of my mouth. You wanted this. After your tit is slick with my saliva and the peak is all puffy, I gather the other one in my grip and repeat. Sweet. Soapy. Soaking.

You wanted this and you told me as much. You said it loud enough for the others to hear. You wanted this. You wanted me. And, as if I haven't done enough, as if I haven't given you enough, I gave you all of me. Clearing the desk, cube, keypad, computer, and all, I slam you atop the surface. I had to pull down your pants for you, but your legs part all on their own. As for your panties, well, they all but dissolved under the duress. You attempt to hide from me again, tightening your thighs together. And, again, you surrender to me all too easily. After all, you want me. Your pussy? As I parted your legs and pushed your knees up to your chest, I saw how much she wanted me. Sweet. Soapy. Soaking.

However, I was not in a hurry. No matter how hot were your insides and how cold the chills were down my spine, I still took my sweet, soapy, soaking time. I set myself loose, my length slapping against your ass once it sprang free. You shivered, your back arching like a bow and your hands treading through your tangled hair. You wanted me. I took my time, sandwiching my shaft between your pussy lips, sliding across the slick and even wearing your labia as a hood atop its head for a maddening moment. It was only when you began begging, mewling to be mated that I gave myself to you. I crammed my cock inside of your cunt and went in so deep, I felt your heartbeat as your inner walls collapsed around me. 

Sweet. Soapy. Soaking. I fucked you into a fever, your skin as slick as your insides and your mouth leaking as much saliva as your pussy was spilling precum. Sweet. Soapy. Soaking. Soon, it would've been spilling cum. Sweet. Soapy. Soaking. When I did come, however, it was in my fist and not between your lips. 

As I opened my eyes, you disappeared. There was nothing there to greet me but the strike of the street lights slashing the darkness across the ceiling. Your sweetness had been replaced with my saltiness. It was indeed soapy and soaking, but it wasn’t you. Then, for the second time that night, I slipped out of bed and snuck into the bathroom.

The day you got cat’s claws into my shirt was the day you sunk your own under my skin. After that day, we shared a secret. I never told Frank about Eddie, but Eddie never told you about what I did in the dark. His glowing green eyes didn’t judge me, but they never let me forget. After you left without a notice, ginning up your internship, changing your phone number and never surrendering your real name, I couldn’t face them anymore. His eyes never let me forget, so I rehomed him.

I found your Gotham U sweatshirt while cleaning out my closet today. The name you gave WayneTech is nowhere to be found in their student records. Your name can’t be found in any police records either. Your real name, however, I am sure will uncover quite the mystery.

Yours,

E. NYGMA 

[fckinsupreme]

listen I know this may be too vague, but I've been a little down on myself lately and could rly use a fluffy and smutty, older! sugar daddy duncan.

I made Duncan 40 in this one!

———

Your eyes are scanning over the gifts that you had received, eyes bright and a wide smile on your face. Duncan always knew how to make you feel better, to take your mind off of your current issues and worries, in a way that no one else ever had. Those ways usually entailed gifts—lavish ones, rare ones, beautiful ones—but you certainly weren’t objecting. It put you in a better mood and Duncan thoroughly enjoyed giving them, so who were you to refuse?

“I’m so happy you like them, princess,” Duncan purrs, kissing your neck as his large hands cascade your arms. “The necklace is made of real sapphires and diamonds. It cost a pretty penny, but I knew it would look gorgeous on you. Turns out, I was correct in that assumption.”

Your fingers reach up to brush over the stones, and you turn to the mirror to see it again. It hangs just above your breasts, the light catching the blue and white of the stones and shining brilliantly. The matching earrings dangle from your ears, and a diamond bracelet adorns your wrist. Altogether, you suspected the jewelery had to cost as much as an entire year’s rent at your old apartment complex—and then some.

“Here, open this one,” Duncan says, handing you another small box. This one is the size of a ring, and you furrow your brows as you take it. “I know what you’re going to say, but I love spoiling my baby girl. Only the best and nothing but for her. Go on, open it.”

You flip up the lid, gasping at the sight within. A large diamond ring—a carat, /at least/—sat inside. You take it out and slide it onto your finger, seeing that it fits perfectly. You throw your arms around him in a hug, pulling back to kiss him passionately as he chuckles against your lips.

“Duncan, it’s beautiful!” you say, admiring it on your finger. “Thank you.”

“Beautiful ring for my beautiful baby,” he says, kissing the top of your head. “I have one more thing for you. Don’t worry, this isn’t jewelry. It’s mostly for both of us.”

He leaves the room and returns a moment later with a wide clothing box. You see that it’s from Agent Provocateur, and you immediately know what’s inside. You laugh a little, removing the ribbon as he sets the box on the bed. You open it, seeing two ensembles inside. The first is an all black & lace bra & panty set, leaving very little the imagination with its floral print and soft black bows in the front. A matching garter belt and thigh highs were also present, and you eye the black Jimmy Choo pumps he’d also gotten for you that were still lying on the bed. They would go perfectly with that particular ensemble, and you wonder if he planned it that way. Knowing Duncan, he probably did.

The second ensemble was a mesh pink babydoll with white bows, complete with a matching thong. This one had white thigh highs but no garter belt, and you realize now that Duncan /had/ coordinated the shoes with the lingerie. The black Jimmy Choo’s were lying next to the newly-gifted pink Versace pumps, and it was a lovely match with the babydoll. You smirk at him, holding the babydoll up to your torso and letting him see.

“I think you should put this on first,” Duncan says, brushing some hair behind your ear. “Put that on with your Versace shoes and the new Chanel perfume I got you. Keep all of the jewelry on, too. Be a good girl for Daddy, baby; don’t keep him waiting.”

You wink at him, gathering the Versace pumps, the babydoll, the thong, the thigh highs, and the bottle of Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle. You head into the bathroom attached to the bedroom, brushing your hair before slipping out of your clothes and into the lingerie. The thigh highs and heels come next, and the perfume last. You adjust your breasts in the top of the lingerie, fixing your hair and making sure your makeup is perfectly intact. When you’re completely satisfied, you crack the door open.

“Close your eyes,” you say. “I want you to be surprised when you see me.”

“Okay, closed,” he says. “Come on out.”

You walk out, seeing that he already cleared the bed. You smile a little, seeing him on the bed with his eyes closed. You straddle him, leaning down to kiss him before whispering, “Open your eyes.”

Duncan’s eyes flutter open to look at you, a growl catching in his throat as you sit up. He takes in the sight of you in the babydoll, his hands caressing your thighs as he turns you onto your back. He licks his lips as he scans your body from head to toe, loosening his tie as he climbs on top of you. He kisses you hungrily, allowing you to finish removing his tie before he dips down to kiss your neck. You tip your head back as he trails his lips downward, moaning softly as he buries his face in your breasts. His stubble, coupled with the feeling of his plump lips exploring your cleavage, is a welcome, delicious sensation that you can never get enough of.

“Daddy,” you mewl, back arching when he pulls down one side of the babydoll to suck your nipple. He swirls his tongue around it, tugging it with his teeth as he squeezes the other. He covers it when he’s done, moving to the opposite side to give it equal treatment. “Fuck...mmm...”

“Daddy’s gonna make you feel really good, sweetheart,” he breathes, nuzzling his face between your tits as he squeezes them together. “He’s going to make all of the stress melt away. Just lie back and enjoy.”

He pulls you to the end of the bed, kissing around the tops of the pumps and up the inside of your calves, gently biting the dip of each knee, his eyes on yours the entire time. You’re a mewling, writhing mess by the time he reaches your inner thighs, and he leaves a few hickeys behind on each one. He places his mouth over your pussy through the thong, grinning in satisfaction when he notices how wet you are.

“You’re already soaking through the fabric,” he teases, the tip of his tongue trailing over the outline of your swollen clit. “Mmm...Did all of these gifts help with that? Did it make you a dripping mess for me?”

“Yes,” you admit, taking a fistful of his gray-streaked hair. “It did.”

“I thought so,” he says, his hot breath fanning over the wet gusset of the thong. “I love how you look in this, princess. You look just as sexy as I imagined.”

“Why don’t you show me just how much you appreciate it?” you ask, propping yourself on your elbows and looking down at him. “Show me how much you love it.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice, he says, pulling your thong aside to expose your soaking pussy. “I’m going to take good care of you, baby girl.”

His tongue travels through your folds, causing your breath to hitch as you lie back on the bed. His fingers dig into your soft, supple skin, messy hair falling in his eyes before you push it back. You hook your legs over his shoulders, the heels of the shoes digging into his skin as he begins eating your pussy vigorously. His full lips work your inner labia, his tongue fucking you for a moment before it’s replaced by two of his fingers. He keeps the material of your thong pushed aside, holding it in place with his thumb as his lips wrap around your clit. You moan hotly, his name leaving your lips in a pleasurable sigh.

“You taste so sweet,” he says, nuzzling his face further against your cunt. “I can never get enough.”

“Mmm,” you hum, biting your knuckle as you tug on his hair with your other hand. “And I can never get enough of how addictive you are, Daddy.”

He smiles against you, pulling your thong off and tossing it aside before diving back in. His arms wrap around your thighs, gripping them in his large hands as he kneads the skin. He moves his tongue through your folds, leaving no area untouched before tracing it around your clit. He makes no direct contact to the small bud again, not yet, instead focusing on teasing you. His eyes don’t leave your face, wanting to see your reaction, the sounds you make flooding his ears and sending more blood flowing to his already-throbbing cock. He keeps up his movements for a little while, bringing you to the brink of orgasm before drawing back.

“No, don’t stop,” you beg, watching as he tugs his massive, flushed cock from his dark grey dress pants. “Mmm...you’re so fucking hard, aren’t you?”

“I���m going to fuck you instead, princess,” Duncan purrs, climbing on top of you and rubbing his cock through your soaking cunt. “Is that what you want? To cum around my cock?”

“Yes,” you say, nodding rapidly. “Please, Daddy...”

He smiles at you, shushing you gently before kissing you. He grabs his cock, pushing inside of you as you both groan. Your nails dig into his shoulders, a filthy moan tearing from your chest as he seats fully inside of you. You whimper, meeting his eyes again as his forehead presses to yours while you adjust to his massive length.

“I told you Daddy was going to take care of you,” he murmurs, kissing you sweetly as he pulls you up. You’re on top of him now, his hands massaging your breasts and rubbing the hard nipples through the pink mesh of your babydoll. “I want you to soak my cock and show how grateful you are for all that I’ve given you today. I don’t want you to stop riding my cock until you’re stress free and show your appreciation for all that I do for you. Do you understand?”

You nod, starting to slowly bounce on his cock. “Mmm hmm...How long do you think it will take me, Daddy? How many times do you think I need to cum before that happens?”

He gives your ass a hard smack, hands gripping your hips tightly as he thrusts upward. “I’d say about three times should do the trick nicely.”

——

Baby tags: @littledemondani @wroteclassicaly @angel-of-dior @leatherduncan @lvngdvns @littlegirlsdontplaynice @dark-mei-rose @wickedlangdon @melodylangdon @apocalxpsetime @frenchlangdon @guiltyfiend

[frostskader]

How Far I'll Go

Peri closes up PIXIE’s for the night and reminisces on her nearly four year in Swynlake.

The bell had rung out half an hour ago, the club was empty and the silence echoed. Everyone was beat from the night. Since the Vampire attack the club had been packed and Peri attributed it to all the students that were finishing up for break.

Just like every disaster, everyone in Swynlake came together. They worked together and they overcame everything together.

It was enough to bring a smile to Peri’s face. She had a day off tomorrow and she was going to sleep in. At least if no one woke her up which was more than possible considering how many people could end up needing her.

It was a good feeling thinking about it.

Waving off her bartenders, Peri offered to close up for the night letting them get some needed sleep before at classes they had the next day. The counts were already done and that was the hardest part of the night.

Bending down Peri locked each of the beer and wine coolers shoving the keep into her back pocket, trying to give herself at least some memory que to remember to put it back in the right place or Peri was going to have to come back and interrupt her day of no rest.

One she was going to need having taken on closing the bar herself. 

Personally though Peri found it soothing. With no one in the bar she could wipe down the counters, the beer taps and lock them without a second thought. Humming along with the songs that had long stopped playing.

Standing behind the bar she could look out to everything and see where she had made a small difference. She could see her boyfriend on stage or O’Malley grinning as they worked the crowd and their music played 24/7 in her head. Simple enough to sing along even when they weren’t playing.

Grabbing the mats Peri had rolled up her sleeves pulling them to the back. How many times she had walked this hallway both good and bad. With her hand in someone’s hair as they kissed until they made their way to her office. Or a quick run because they didn’t want to get caught.

But better memories of interviewing people that had become her family. So many people had walked this hall and the polaroid wall only spoke a snippet of the history that was in her club. 

Dropping the mats in the place Peri walked back up to the front to empty the garage through the same hallway. 

Peri could easily remember when she had done this because it was her job, when she had first started to spiral and just needed a job. When Tink had reached out her hand welcoming Peri into her club even though Peri had come in and completely thrown her for a loop.

Heading back to the front Peri set the ice to melt avoiding touching it as everything melted. It was a strange idea even now to her to have this product essentially go to waste. It’s just ice. But as a frost talent ice was just never ice. Everything had a purpose. Frost was only made when it was needed or when Peri wanted to make art.

Maybe that’s why she didn’t always get along with all the fairies. She didn’t exactly follow all the same ideas. She would just have fun. One for all, all for one but Peri had just wanted to enjoy life. Maybe that’s why it made sense she owned a club and had more than her fair share of fun within it. 

Snapping all the lids shut on the limes and lemons Peri slipped them into the fridge where they belong glancing briefly at the fryers. It had been less than a year ago some of the boys created a grease fire and perhaps she should have been more mad. She could have lost this entire building. More than just a machine and wires that needed to be replaced.

But everyone had gotten out alright even if her date had been interrupted. It wasn’t like Lou and her were together. 

Stepping behind the bar Peri moved to cover all the mixers, juices, sweet and sour looking up to where Lou had sat every time he had come in. They had probably been horrible for one another. But Peri had held on, she wondered if she was the one that held on for too long.

Should she have set him free so long ago?

Had been being with her a trap?

Even now Peri doubted that she was worth love when people continued leaving her. But being behind this bar it was like she had all of her employees standing besides her. She could see where Minnie sat and knew she was worthy of the love that all of them gave her.

Even Ly in the shadows as she lit up the stages, the seat where Lou used to sit blurring into her past. Grabbing the clean glasses Peri stacked them up in their places moving everything back into their perfect space.

Wiping down all the Alcohol bottles Peri looked at her work with a grin. Even with their social media person leaving even Peri could tell that was a picture perfect moment and she took a picture saving it for later.

No one wanted a picture of a fully stocked bar at 2am. 

Or at least the bottle section. Peri still needed to unlock and refill the beer cooler. Grabbing all the napkins Peri shoved them into the correct holder. The name on the box bragging about how safe the for the environment everything was. But Peri couldn’t have it any way.

Peri knew it wasn’t just a fairy thing because you had people like Greg who cared just as much for the environment as Peri did. Climate change was real and threatening so many climates. So many Hollows and other animals. 

As a small business Peri had to make sure she did her part even at the added cost. She wouldn’t ever sacrifice the environment for a quick buck.

Grabbing Beer from the back, Peri started to restock the beer cooler counting each as they went in. A little silly thing to do but Peri did, every time.

FInishing by wiping down the soda guns and sanitizing the bar top and sink, Peri grinned at the shine. Clean enough you could eat on it. Which was truly the point considering Peri had to be able serve drinks off it.

Locking everything one more time Peri stepped back from a clean bar top. A little slice of perfection. 

Grabbing a rag, Peri moved onto her next challenge the rest of the club.

It wasn’t hard though a wet rag to wipe on all the table tops and the seats. Especially not when you could dust a thin coating of frost over it and just wipe it down with a soapy rag.

By the time the girl had travelled through the the whole club she could double back at put up all the chairs on top of the tables. 

Pulling out her phone to double check the time she sent a quick text to Minnie to let her know she would be home late yet it was Minnie’s late shift anyway. If they were lucky they would run into each other and just order in take out a chill.

With Minnie’s new boyfriend and the class she was taking at PrideU, Peri wasn’t sure how she was still standing. But she couldn’t be more proud of her best friend. How she was bettering herself. Even if part of the reason she was doing it was because she worried about Peri ending up in the hospital and no one knowing how to help.

It still felt good to make an impact, to know Minnie loved her enough to protect her as much as possible.

Scrolling down in her messages she clicked into Copper’s seeing another picture of Isabel, the girl was growing so big and Peri was going to have to make another trip out to see her friend.

Even as people moved on and left Peri did her best to remain in contact. You never know when the last time you could see them was. Her Mom was taken so suddenly and while Peri talked to her often then, she wished she had gone back more often. At least a couple times to see her.

Imagine if she had asked her to come, she could have watched Peri grown into a business owner. Watch her become a tattoo artist. She would have been able to read Peri’s father the riot act and shame him even more for abandoning Peri. 

She would have too, unlike Peri who just avoided the Hollow. It was to the point where she didn’t even know if she would be welcomed for a long period of time. Or they were just giving her the time of day because she was a fairy and that was the right thing to do.

Pixie’s was the place she belonged. 

Maybe Enchantra was meant for a different version of Peri. One that still had her Mom. One that hadn’t drunk herself into a stupor. One that hadn’t lost her wings to try and find her mom even though it would have been worth it, if she had been alive.

Maybe Enchantra could have been her home. But these tattoos, weren’t common. Peri’s business in a capitalist society wasn’t common. Peri’s lack of helping the Hollow wasn’t common.

Her home wasn’t there. Not when more winter fairies came in and they didn’t even need her as a frost talent.

Replaceable.

She was replaceable in the Hollow.

But here. Within Pixie’s four walls. She wasn’t. Not truly.

Of course Tink could take back over. But she liked to think she would be missed.

Would they miss the frost designs she made on mugs. The coffee runs. Would they miss her just popping in to say hi and chilling and enjoying the music.

Would they miss her?

Flipping off all the neons signs, Peri could only hope they would. That she was like a neon sign bringing light, at least a little bit, to everyone that worked here. To everyone that stepped in.

That would be nearly impossible though. People came into this bar to party not to see her. She was but a small wheel in consideration of the whole town.

But for everyone here. She was the wheel that helped hold everything together. Emptying the register Peri pulled it to the back tallying up the cash with the totals for the night.

For the girl who never decided to go back to school at least this much was easy. Compared to the first few days where she tried to do all of this and so much more before their actual money person took it back from Peri. Thankfully.

Peri couldn’t be more thankful for her. She could handle all the daily things but everything else that needed than monthly look over it was nice that someone had been here to look at it.

Creating her deposit slips Peri locked the cash up, just below a bottle of alcohol she had for herself. Something maybe she shouldn’t have but she did locked up with anything else she currently cared about. 

Unlike the drawer Peri left her office open in case anyone during the day needed it. It only ended up locked if a customer tried to use it but it was meant to be a space people could escape to if need her, if she was there or not. 

Just like the night Marlin had to rescue that young teen. Even if he had taken her back to the Hollow without permission. This office had momentarily been a safe haven.

Locking the till up, Peri left the keys in their spot in her office taking her copies with her as she locked up the doors stepping out to look up at the sign that read PIXIE.

This was her home. And Peri loved every second of it.

[ep-review]

WEARABLE PUMP COMPARISON

If you're looking for a comparison of these, you are in luck because I have tried all three. I started off with the Willow, went to the Momcozy next, then ended up with the Elvie. Let's get started.

*************

WILLOW

Best point: they are leak proof.

Caveat: only leak proof if you are using bags, which will run you 50 cents each at retail price. Expensive.

Reusable milk containers?

These are sold separately, and will cost $50 for a pair. They are a little finicky and hard to clean and dry. The valve at the top must be completely clear of debris, or you'll get an orange pump light error.

Pros?

Can process milk quickly (great for fast or heavy letdowns), suction is very strong. Some people may find that it is too strong.

Cons?

Bigger, heavier, and louder than the Elvies. You can't change suction power in the app, you must use the buttons on the unit. You also cannot adjust milk volume afterwards if it marked volume incorrectly. All in all the app is very non-functional.

Most encountered errors and problems?

I get the feeling that the most common error is encountered right before you want to start the pump. An orange light will turn on at the top of the pump, and it will refuse to start. You'll have to figure out if there is something blocking the valve, or if your magnets are not lined up correctly, or whatever before you can get the session started. Once you start, it's golden. But it can sometimes take a while to get started as you take the pump apart and put it back together to try to get it to begin. I've also seen some people have issues with the hub cracking, which may or may not affect function. The good news is that Willow will replace your hubs if they are under warranty.

*************

ELVIE

Best point: they are the most discreet.

Smaller, lighter, and quieter than the Willow.

Storage bottles?

The bottles at the bottom of the hubs come with lids, and can be used for storage. Make sure you clean the lids well, there have been instances of mold growing underneath the silicone ring. I take them apart completely at least once a week for a good deep clean (use a toothpick to take the rings out, and put them back in by putting them in place then screwing it onto a bottle).

Pros?

Like I mentioned before they have a smaller profile, are lighter, and quieter than the Willow pump. The suction is quite gentle, and is said to mimic a baby's suckling. You can buy a single or a double pump, which is nice. The app is pretty good. You can change from stimulation to expression and increase suction power all in the app.

Cons?

They cannot process a fast letdown - it might leak or lose suction. Elastic nipples may have issues using the flanges as is, since the flange tunnel is shorter and suction holes are located halfway in.

Most encountered problems?

Leaking. If you have a fast flow or aren't standing/sitting upright, milk might leak between the bottle and the hub. This is the most frustrating problem. Other problems include loss of suction caused by milk backing up behind the green disk or elastic nipples blocking the suction holes. Many users purchase cushions or inserts to mitigate these issues, but find that these items need to be trimmed before they will work with these pumps.

*************

MOMCOZY

Best point: they are inexpensive when compared to the other two!

The Momcozy pumps will run you around $110 for a pair of two (be sure to look for discount codes!). This is significantly cheaper than the Elvie or the Willow which retail at $500.

Pros?

Simple, no-nonsense, they just work. No finicky parts. They basically are handsfree cups attached to their own motor. Easy to use and basically no learning curve - just pop them on and go. You can also just buy one. The freemie and maymom inserts work with the flanges without cutting. The flange is entirely made of silicone. I consider that a pro because it's so comfortable!

Cons?

I think the biggest con is that they are not discreet. The motor is a large block at the top of each unit and sticks up. The shape doesn't look boob like at all. There's also no app, if you care about that at all (I didn't). But if you're strictly interested in using these at home, why would you need to be discreet? You'll probably have to charge these every 2-3 pump sessions or so.

Most encountered problems?

I didn't have any problems with this personally. Not sure what problems it could really have, it's a very basic, functional unit.

*************

SUMMARY

Price: Momcozy

Momcozy is cheapest, running about $110 for a pair (with coupons), or you can buy them separately at around $60. Elvie and Willow will cost you $499 at retail.

Weight: Elvie

The Elvie is the lightest, followed closely by the Momcozy. The Willow is by far the heaviest unit. However, the Momcozy is a bit top heavy due to the location of the motor. Wear a bra with greater coverage if you need more support.

Suction

It's hard to judge a winner in this category because they are different. Willow is known for having extremely strong suction, and the Elvie is known for being quite gentle. The Momcozy doesn't get as gentle as the Elvie, but also doesn't get as strong as the Willow. But not everyone needs the same suction level so this is quite a personal thing.

Flange sizes

The Willow pump comes in 21mm, 24mm, and 27mm standard flanges, with only one size in the box. If you think you may need 21mm and buy from their website, you will also get the 24mm included in your purchase. (Technically the pump kits come only in 24mm and 27mm, so if you tell them you want 21mm they just throw it in for free.) The Elvie comes with 24mm and 28mm standard flanges, and both of these are included in the box. If you need 21mm, these will need to be purchased separately. The Momcozy comes only in 24mm flanges, but you can buy 27mm flanges separately on their website.

Inserts

To resize the flanges for a better fit, there are freemie and maymom inserts which will work with the 24mm flanges. In the case of the Willow and the Momcozy, most users find that they work without issue. With the Elvie pump, the suction hole comes halfway up the flange tunnel so the inserts usually need to be trimmed before they will work correctly with the pump. Some people find that they work as-is, however, so I'd advise that you try them without trimming first to see if you need to.

Volume: Elvie

The Elvie is the quietest, followed by the Willow and then the Momcozy.

Discreet: Elvie

The profile of the Elvie is smaller - the Willow is larger. Obviously the Momcozy, with the huge motor, is not really discreet as all.

Tunnel Length: Willow/Momcozy

If you have elastic nipples, the Willow and Momcozy have longer flange tunnels than the Elvie and will accommodate longer nipple stretching. The flange tunnel of the Elvie is quite short, and some people with elastic nipples find that they lose suction because their nipple blocks the suction holes. Using inserts/cushions can help mitigate this issue.

Parts: Willow

The Willow pump, if you use bags, has the least amount of parts to clean. The Willow container on the other hand, is difficult to clean and I'll tell you why - if you're handwashing most of the time, like me, the nooks and crannies at the top of the container are small and I can barely fit a finger in there to scrub it. I found the Flextubes to be annoying to clean as well because I could not fit a finger in. On the other side, the Elvie and Momcozy pumps do have way more parts, but I found that the parts are much easier to clean. The only part you need to break out a nipple brush for is really the duckbill.

Ability to handle milk flow: Willow/Momcozy

The Elvie is notoriously bad for a quick letdown or fast milk flow. If your milk comes out too fast, the Elvies will either leak or lose suction because excess milk gets sucked behind the disk. The Willow and Momcozy pumps can take much higher speeds.

Cup Volume: Momcozy

The Momcozy cups each holds 180mL/6oz of milk. The Willow and Elvie say that they each hold 4oz in their cups, but from experience - the Willow bags can hold much more (if you pump with the bags outside). I've heard of someone pumping 8oz into a bag once. On the other hand the Elvie probably holds a bit less than 4oz because it tends to think there is more milk than there actually is in the bottle which leads to the pump pausing itself. If you fill any of these cups you'll have to pretty much take off the pump and empty it to keep pumping again. The Willow and Elvie shut off automatically. The Momcozy does not.

App: Elvie

You can go from stimulation to expression as well as adjust suction levels directly in the app. And after the session is over, you can edit the milk volumes if the ones recorded are incorrect. Elvies app also has its own performance metrics which is fun to look at that describes your milk flow and total pumped volumes. On the other hand, the Willow app is very basic and just functions as a record of your pump times and volumes (which is frequently off) and you cannot edit them afterwards. Obviously Momcozy loses in this because there is no app at all.

Battery

It's hard to compare the pumps because the higher your suction, the faster the battery life runs out. From their respective websites, the Willow pump says a full battery lasts "about 5 pump sessions" and the Elvie says it lasts "about 2 and a half hours". Just comparing the two from my own experience subjectively, the Willow pump has a slightly longer battery life than the Elvie, but obviously it totally depends on how strong you set the pumps to work. The Momcozy has the poorest battery life by far. At the lowest suction and 20 minute sessions, I found it only lasted about 3 sessions.

Chargers

The Elvie hubs come with 1 charging cord each, so if you buy the double you'll get two. Same thing with the Momcozy. Both of these are USB chargers so you'll need a block to go with (they don't come with that). Unfortunately the Willow only comes with one charging cord (which plugs into a standard 2 prong outlet) when you buy two hubs which is such a weird decision in my mind. But I found I could just alternate which one I charged and it was fine.

Warranty: Elvie

I feel like this is an important topic that doesn't get compared too often. The Elvie pump hubs have the most generous warranty of 2 years from the date of purchase. On the other hand, the Willow comes with a warranty of 12 months from date of purchase. Because these are intended to be single user products, the warranty doesn't transfer from one person to the next if you purchase second hand. Therefore, this should be something you consider if you are doing so. Both companies - Willow and Elvie - cover the washable pump parts for 90 days. The Momcozy on the other hand - their website says that all items are covered by a 30 day warranty which I assume applies to the pumps as well.

BOTTOM LINE:

There is no perfect pump. Each of these three have their own issues. However, if the pump can't extract your milk, then it is useless to you. You need to know what to prioritize before making the commitment and I suggest prioritizing things that affect milk extraction, like suction power, tunnel length, and the ability for the pump to handle your milk flow speed.

If you have any other questions please let me know! :)

[embroiderydigitizingsvc-blog]

14 Promo Products You Can Gift Your Employees This Year

It’s New Year time and your employees are looking forward to getting some good promo products with custom made patches of your company. Being an employer, it is essential for you to build strong relationships with your employee. Giving away promo products is one way you can serve this purpose.

So here we are going to share some of the best promo products that you can gift your employees this year to cement your relationship with them and promote your brand at the same time:

1.  Leather Laptop Bag

A laptop bag can be the best promo product to gift your employees. Your employees would love a laptop bag with the logo of your company that they can carry. Besides, they will feel appreciated to be awarded by you, and the custom patches of your company on the bag will infuse in them a sense of pride as well. To make it an eco-friendly affair, you should give them a laptop bag made from recycled leather. You need an embroidery digitizing service to make custom patches for your logo.

2.  Clock and Calendar

Since it is New Year time, the clock and calendar can be the best promo items that you can gift to your employees. In this way, you will not only boost their morale, but you will also imbibe in them the value of time. You can even imprint life quotes on these promo products. So whenever your employees look at these items, they will learn precious lessons of life and see your logo as well.

3.  Glass-Made Award

A sleek glass-made award can be a valuable addition to the work portfolio of your employee. It will not only be an acknowledgment of the contribution of your star employees, but it will also create a sense of style to their awards display. You can award this promo product on the occasion of a birthday, work anniversary, or work milestone of an employee.

4.  An Electronic Gadget with a Company Logo

We are living in a digital era, and the millennials make up a significant population of the world and they are the real digital nomads. Therefore, you can gift your star employee some high-end electronic products and make custom patches or logos of your company using the laser engraving technique.

You can even take your best employees on a market trip and let them buy their favorite devices. You can then engrave the logo of your brand on the gadget before you present them to your best employees.

5.  Glass Plaque

Just like a glass-made award, a plaque can also be an investment to celebrate the special days in your company or recognize the achievements of your employees. He can place this plaque on the wall of his home and in the cubicle of his work area. In other words, he will be promoting your business both in the home and workplace.

6.  Padfolio

Just like a fountain pen is necessary for your employees to make notes of important points regarding work, a padfolio is also required to quickly write the agenda of a meeting or create a to-do list. You can even add the name of your employee on a padfolio for personalization.

7.  Device Stand

In this technology-driven era, people are always connected to their devices. Today, the use of tech devices is an integral part in the life of a layman, and the employers promote the use of technology as it helps streamline the exchange of information. A device stand will serve as an excellent promo product to help your employee manage their devices.

Again, you can create your own patch or logo on the device stand using laser engraving technique and let more people know about your business.

8.  Fitness Tracker

No promo product can replace fitness tracker when it comes to the functionality. The popularity of this promo product is due to the health value it brings to the lives of your employees. With this promo product, the employees can keep a check on their fitness and make sure that they are in in the best of health which makes it a useful promo product and a great marketing tool as well.

9.  Travel Mug

A travel mug is another good investment to promote your business. A travel mug comes with a lid on top which protects the drink from spills and makes it a better alternative to regular mug as your employees can move around with this mug and do free advertising of your brand.

10.  Backpack

Just as a fitness tracker, a backpack helps promote your company as a health-conscious organization. With a backpack, the employees can carry their water bottles and food while they go for outdoor fitness activities like trekking and mountain climbing.

11.  Fountain Pen

A pen is one of the most frequently used stationery items the employees can use in an office. Whether they need to attend a scrum, make a note, or jot down agenda of a meeting, an employee needs a pen in their daily work life to write down the crucial points regarding their work.

A fountain pen with a rubber grip is often a classic corporate gift that employers give to their workers. Every time, your employee takes out the fountain pen, it will flash the logo of your company and spread the word of your business to the onlookers.

12. Keychain

A keychain is another good promo product idea that doesn’t cost much budget to your business. Since it is a moveable item, an employee will be carrying it while he is out of the office. So he will be advertising your company and giving free promotion to your brand and sporting the logo of your company to people on the go.

13. Headphone

A headphone is among the most common thing you will find on the desktop of an employee. So it makes sense to gift this item to your employees so that they can listen to their favorite song, conduct audio/video chat, or use their virtual assistant.

A headphone with the custom logo of your company will create the right impression in the eyes of your employees and the onlookers.

14. Travel Tech Kit

This promo product is for the executive-level employees who have to frequently travel to different places to attend business meetings, conferences, and seminars. The nature of these business affairs requires the necessary tech accessories so that your c-level employees don’t run short of battery power or a USB connector and embarrass themselves in the midst of an event or business meeting.

A travel tech kit contains items like a power bank, USB cables, data traveler, device stand, memory card reader, dongle, and a stylus to name a few.

Promo products are useful marketing items. For your employees, they can be a great incentive to give their best performance and stand out as an achiever.

Nancy Bell is a high school English teacher in Sulphur Springs, TX. She also runs a small embroidery digitizing service. She shares her experiences with others by writing articles. She has her master degree in English literature. 

[thebibliosphere]

Hello fam. This is a post brought to you by a Patreon request—I know, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these—from Sarah G, asking my thoughts and opinions on the Zero Waste movement that is sweeping across certain parts of the online strata, particularly on youtube and pinterest. (Links are in bold for  ease of access and viewing, and are non affiliated.)

Sarah writes: Hi  Joy, I know this isn’t exactly in the realm of vampires (can’t wait for  Phangs!) but I feel this is something you might have some good advice  on if you have the spoons to talk about it. I recently started looking  into more eco-friendly ways to live after your posts about allergies and  toxic synthetics made me realize I had several things in my home that  were triggering my asthma and I came across the concept of zero waste,  which sounded really cool at first, and then I looked into it some more  and it just sort of seems fake and I was wondering what your thoughts  were on it.

Zero Waste is indeed something I’m familiar with, and like you, I have mixed feelings on the community around it. The principles of Zero Waste i.e. reducing the amount of waste you produce an the types  of waste you produce, are great. I think it’s a solid, good idea to try  and promote more ethical produce and buying habits, both for the planet and from a personal financial stand point. The more you can reuse and  recycle the better. But I also feel the … fandom (can you call it  that???) can be quite off putting and at times extremely self righteous and judgemental in attitude. Amidst the crunchy hippies, the minimalists and those just straight up trying to live a little better, are those who have managed to make something meant for the betterment of the planet into something about themselves, and they're willing and ready to make sure we know just how evil we are for still having plastic straws with our drinks. Cause, y’know, it’s not big companies doing the most damage to the environment, no sirree it’s you and your plastic water bottle, you monster. (Don’t  worry, we’ll get to why the war on plastic is being handled wrong.)

Yea, those people are very fake and very off putting, and I see a lot  of them on youtube. And a lot of the time, they’re actually giving  contradictory advice toward actually living a zero waste lifestyle.

When talking about this with other people, I have taken to calling this The Mason Jar Aesthetic.

A  while ago, while I was talking about sustainable living with a friend (hi Michael!), and he mentioned that he and his wife were thinking of using  mason jars as an alternative to buying expensive glassware, because if  one breaks, you’ll always be able to replace them easily and you'll always have a matching  set. Which blew my mind as genius because not only is that a super cost effective, but it’s also a really sustainable way of living, both from a zero waste ethic standpoint and financially too.

For example, where I am in the US,  for $15 I can usually get 12 half pint mason jars, if not for less  depending on where I shop. They come with lids and seal top discs, which  are easy to replace if I ever use them for canning and can also be safely frozen, sanitized and reused again and again, meaning they are long lasting and multi-purpose. And, if you are using them as drinkware and this is important to you, they all match.

For me however, the real benefit of the humble mason jar, is that they can be fully recycled, though it is important to note that in some regions, the tops may need to go to a separate facility from the glass jar itself, so you’d  need to check with your local recycling center on that. But regardless, the whole thing is recyclable, sturdy, multi-purpose, easily transportable (seal your drink and off you go!), cost effective, and some may even argue, aesthetically pleasing.

Pinterest certainly seems to think so:

[ID: a screenshot from the website Pinterest depicting many diy crafty projets for home and the kitchen involving mason jars]

Some of the larger pint ones, would also fit nicely into a mobility aid like a cup holder, for those of us who need easy to grip handles. (Also as an aside, if you need more stability and often lament that  there is no such thing as a two handed mug—or even if you find most mug  handles too small to get a good grip—those things are great, they just  clip right on. Life changing.) Because if your argument for sustainability isn’t inclusive, it’s not good enough.

Which  is where the war on plastic comes in. Looking at you “lets ban all  drinking straws regardless of the fact that plastic straws are a vital  necessity for some people with disabilities”, and no, pasta straws are not a safe alternative for everyone (allergies/celiac), metal is expensive and also inflexible, and neither are the bamboo, glass or silicone ones. Banning plastic straws at this moment in time, is not the solution.

Brighter minds than mine have tried to solve this, but as a general proposal, instead of an outright ban, until a sustainable and disabled friendly alternative is found, plastic straws in food establishments could be issued by request, without—and this is important—without shaming disabled people for needing to use something which you can easily opt to avoid if you desire  to do so. Because once more kids and with feeling, if your argument for sustainability isn’t inclusive, it’s not good enough.

(I am fully prepared to get hate over this, the arguments over this shit on twitter were wild. And no, it is not the responsibility of disabled people to come up with a solution to this, while subsisting on restricted income, restricted access to resources, and often times restricted mobility to boot. If you feel this strongly about disabled people using plastic straws, be part of the solution that helps to find a valid alternative. You want this problem fixed, you do it inclusively.)

Now, where was I, oh yeah. Mason jars.

By  contrast, a box of 4 glass tumblers of roughly the same volume, can be  anywhere from $10-$20 or even more depending on where you look. And  while they might look nice, they are single purpose, expensive, and  also—and this is important, cause not a lot of people know this—cannot be recycled.

But Joy, you say, waiting to throw the shards of the broken glass you just swept up off the floor into the recycling, how much damage can it  really do? Glass is just glass? Right?  

Well, here’s the thing about this type of glass. In order to make it thin and aesthetically appealing, it has to be treated with special chemicals (like molten potassium nitrate) to toughen it up and make it shock resistant to temperatures. The problem with this however, is that treated glass, doesn’t melt  at the same temperature as untreated glass, which can cause several  problems at recycling facilities, ranging from damaged equipment at the  plant (not good!) to creating flawed, glass which is too fragile for  use, and will ultimately, you guessed it, end up on the landfill. [Source] The same is true of mirrors and glass from doors and windowpanes. [Source]

So if you do drop your glass and it breaks, please don't put it in the recycling, wrap it up in brown paper and throw it in the trash. Similarly, if you are sick of the sight of your old glassware, don't pitch it. Instead consider giving it to goodwill or your local equivalent. Someone will use it.

And don't feel bad if you didn't know. I never knew this either till a while ago, but it made me  really think twice about how non-eco-friendly and sustainable my home life  is. And I’m not saying this to guilt anymore or make you feel bad that  you don’t do more, heck knows I never used to give a crap about any of  this stuff until I started getting sick and developed multiple chemical  sensitivities (Hi if you’re new here, I’m allergic to the modern world due  to some frankly dystopian levels of auto-immune problems that emerged  in the last few years, send help) and realized just how very not good a  lot of the things I was doing are, for both me and the planet.

I  am not a crunchy hippy by choice, but by necessity of survival. You  have to be when plastics and most mattress fillers and couch stuffing  starts bringing you out in a rash/makes you wheeze and suddenly you find  yourself wandering the aisles of “eco-friendly" stores wondering if the sales rep you’re listening to actually knows what they’re talking about or  if they’re a tinfoil hatter who also puts essential oils in their drinking water. (We've been over this, do not.)

But do you know what I also noticed in those supposedly eco-friendly stores?

Mason jar drinkware being sold at $20 a pop. Surely, I thought to myself, surely it’s $20 for a set of at least four?

Nope.

And  do you know what else? This wasn’t just a regular mason jar glass that  had been tinted blue, no, this was “treated shock resistant glass”. So  what they did was, they took an iconic recyclable object that is  actually very cheap to produce and buy, inflated the cost by a huge  amount, and then, made it non-recyclable, for profit.

Are-you-freaking-kidding-me?

And  that’s a huge problem I find, with trying to find information and  resources online about sustainable living and eco-friendly products, because a lot of them? Are actually hugely wasteful if not in actual material, then certainly in mentality.

I watched one notable youtuber vlog about how she got rid of everything in her  kitchen and replaced it with more eco-friendly (and extremely expensive) options, because she just couldn’t stand the thought of those  "toxic" things being in her kitchen … except … they weren’t doing her any harm, and they weren’t worn out. They weren’t falling apart. They were still very much safe and usable and might even have been donated to somewhere like goodwill for someone else to use … but she threw them out to replace them with shiny bamboo and kitschy ceramics, and now they’re heading toward a landfill, where they will not be used to their fullest extent, and where they will pollute the earth.

Surely by the zero waste ethos, it’s more sustainable to use the product until it has to be replaced, and then buy the eco-made alternative?

To  give you an example, I’m in the process of replacing all my tupperware with glass, metal and ceramics because I’m allergic to plastics, but also because I’d like to invest in more sustainable planet friendly options for the future. But I’m also doing it once piece at a time. Partly because my husband can and does still use those things, but also because, well, I  can’t afford to replace them all. I just plain can’t, it’s too  expensive to go out and replace all my leftover food containers with  stainless steel lunch boxes from Japan. I’d like to, and I wish I could,  but if wishes were horses then I’d need a much bigger yard. (That’s how  that saying goes, right?)

I guess the point of this lengthy  ramble, is a complaint that the aesthetic of sustainability is actually  more popular than actual ethical sustainable practices. Too many people  are concerned with looking like they care, but don’t actually  want to get into the nuance of things. And I get it, I do. It’s nice to  feel like you’re doing something good. Who doesn’t want to feel  like they’re taking responsibility for their time on this earth and  being the best version of themselves?

But it has to require  thought, and method, and looking beyond the narrow scope of your own four walls (metaphorical or otherwise) and what that one person on youtube said, while merely swapping one form of consumerism for another because it looks and feels ethical, but not actually exacting any kind of global change.

And that’s the difference between using a mason jar to drink out of, and the Mason Jar Aesthetic. Being aware of your impact on the earth and doing what you can within your limits and means (and respecting the means of others), vs wanting to be seen as such. And it's an important distinction and one that requires self reflection and a great deal more thought than buying into an aesthetic.

Me switching out all my plastics and turning my backyard into a compost heap might make my home more eco-friendly, but real change cannot be effected without also putting pressure on large corporations (looking at you Nestle) to change their practices, and boycotting those stores in favor of expensive organic and "ethical" brands is not the solution to this. It merely creates a niche market where the rich and privileged are able to live in a very small self-contained bubble of moral "eco purity", while actively punching down at those who cannot. Real change? Comes from getting involved in the community and lobbying against big corporations like Nestle turning round and extracting water from drought stricken states, and then selling it back for profit.  It's boots to the ground, and writing letters and emails, and doing more than just buying organic bamboo washcloths and telling yourself you saved the world one micro-bead of plastic at a time.

So do I think zero waste is a crock? Absolutely not, at the core it has some great points about how we use and consume products, which are things we should be thinking about in our day to day lives. But do I feel it places too much emphasis on the self rather than the global community? Absolutely. And at it's core sustainability isn't about the self. It's about community, and the changes we can affect together in order to make the world a little better than how we found it.

Otherwise it's just survivalism with a rose tinted aesthetic.

What do you guys think? Does anyone have anything to add? Let me know in the comments and see if we can get a discussion going. Also, if you’d like to see more of these types of posts, Patreon subscribers can expect to see them two weeks earlier than tumblr, and get a say in what we discuss, so if you’d like to see me talk about something, let me know :)

[Patreon] * [Twitter] * [Ko-Fi] * [Facebook]

[notyourmotherscopingmechanisms]

Water Bottles, Getting Rid of Stuff, and Social Media Goodbyes.

Hi, all.

This is it! Welcome to the first post on this experimental foray into talking about my brain, intentionally, and with a purpose in mind.

The post that led you here (from facebook, instagram, or twitter, if I got my shit together) mentioned that this post would be about the first few things I’ve done since the New Year to try and wrangle my life back into some sense of order, so I’m just gonna jump right into that. 

1) I bought a planner.

A real, actual physical paper, honest-to-god planner. 

This in and of itself is not much of a shock. I’ve bought a lot of planners in my lifetime, always excited to finally be one of those women—capable, powerful, every moment of their day accounted for in perfect handwriting—and reader, I am absolutely garbage at using them. 

So I bought another one. Makes sense, right?

I’ll tell you why: I think I finally figured out why I’m bad at using them. 

Every planner I’ve bought in the past has been one or both of these things: a month/week/day view, or an electronic planner (for my iPad.) These...did not work. The use cycle would usually go something like this: Overjoyed with my new beautiful book, I would spend an hour or two dutifully filling out the “month” views with absolutely everything I knew about at the time, and then I’d manage to use it for about a week before I realized I’d been forgetting to write in the “week” portion of the planner. This immediately triggers the guilt—I failed, I wasted part of such a nice book, what was the point, why did I even start....you get the idea. Of course, this is all ridiculous. The book never changed...but now it makes me sad to look at, and angry at myself every time I remember it. I can’t stand to use it anymore, because every time I pick it up, it’s a reminder that, according to me, I suck. So I put it away, and vow to never again buy a planner, or to do better next time. (I wouldn't.) 

Then, I read a post a few months ago that my dad sent me (I’ll have to look up the link later and edit this post to add it) that boiled down to something along the lines of “stop trying to do your tasks the way “normal” people do their tasks.” If you have a hard time getting your laundry sorted out because the hamper’s hard to get to, take the lid off the hamper. If making a sandwich is too much work, just eat the parts, no sandwich required. Shit like that. I sat with myself for a few weeks and said to myself, brain, how can I remove obstacles that don’t even seem like obstacles in order to make things less hard?

And then I learned the secret. 

Did you know they make planners that are ONLY a month view?

There’s another secret to this process, by the way—but it applies to a lot more than just planners. Through a bit of soul searching (and by a bit, I mean a lot of grumbling about what a materialistic, vain, optics-centered magpie I am at heart) I figured out that I’m at least 80% more likely to successfully use something if it’s pretty. If I love the way it looks, I am excited to be around it. I am delighted to use it. I am sad when it isn’t nearby. So, the month-view-only planner I bought is also covered in small flowers and made from beautiful low-tooth paper that feels good to write on. I also downloaded many, many, many beautiful habit trackers, goal planning pages, and other freebies from bloomplanners.com (they made my work calendar.) Highly recommend. 

2) I bought a water bottle.

I am probably the most dehydrated person you know personally at basically all times. I’ve literally gone to the ER with medical issues that, while genuine, were all exacerbated by massive dehydration. It’s not just that I hate the taste of water (even though I do) but also that I just...straight up do not remember to drink. Ever. And when I do remember to drink, I never remember how much I’ve had, what’s left to go, any of that crap. 

“But they make apps to remind you!” 

“You can log every time you drink!”

YES, CORRECT, but also may I remind you of the above “remove obstacles from my brain” epiphany from three paragraphs ago: if there’s more than two steps (realistically, more than ONE step) to getting from “I drank water” to “I drank this much water, and now have this much left to go to not die” 

I won’t do it. 

So, I bought myself one of these bad boys. #notanad 

The Hidrate Spark is a “smart” bottle that connects to my iPhone and my AppleWatch. Its connected app will remind me through the watch, as well as via pretty glowing lights on the bottle itself, numerous times a day that I need to drink. When I drink out of the bottle, a sensor will record how much I drank, and immediately log that info into my Health App on my phone. The app automatically uses the humidity and temperature at your location, your weight, your height, and real-time activity data from your watch or phone to update how much your water goal is in realtime. 

Notice how nowhere in that description in there is there anything I have to do to track my intake and hit my goal besides fill out my info in the app once, fill up the bottle, and drink out of it? Yeah, me too.

I’ve avoided buying this bottle for over a year, because it’s a $60 water bottle, and I have twenty water bottles already, and it’s “techie” and “unnecessary” and “silly” and “excessive” and all those other things people say about smart tech, but goddamnit, and ER bill costs more than $60 and I’ve been there four fucking times for this problem. I talked to my fitness director (I work for a YMCA, so, health and fitness woo) a couple friends, and my doctor about it, and everyone agreed it was a good decision, so I did it. I can’t say if it’ll work or not yet because I don’t HAVE it yet, but I promise to keep everyone apprised. 

Also, it’s pretty. 

3) I deleted an ass ton of people off my social media. 

I’ve never cared much about my numbers when it comes to social media, I’m not in it for those, but I have the same problem with my friends lists as I do with my real life: I add without thought and then people I never talk to, never see, never will see, and don’t have an effect on my life...take up space. I’m very happy for all of them, and I hope they have wonderful lives, but I don't need all of them front and center at all times. Plus, after the year I had last year, a lot of people needed to be let go from my life for my sanity and theirs. 

So, on January 2nd, I deleted 160 people from my Facebook friends list, and blocked 7. I thought it would stress me out more—I’m not about the numbers, but I always worry someone will take offense, or be upset. But once I did it, I felt literally, physically, lighter. It hasn’t had any measurable impact yet besides that initial weight-is-lifted feeling, but I know it’s a step in the right direction for my eventual journey towards weaning off a lot of social media platforms. (Did you know facebook is the actual face of evil in the internet age, and we’re all trapped beyond belief?)

4) I cleaned, or cleaned out, everything (and I mean everything) in my house.

This is the biggie! This is it! The goodwill pile is literally taking up every inch of available space in my car! 

(This is also one of those “Ooh, it’s embarrassing, I can’t talk about it” moments I mentioned in the original post. Whelp, here I am, talking about it! Cower in fear! Hide in your homes! Real Talk is coming!)

The Marie Kondo bug that bit all of us last year got me in tandem with a few months of violent living situation upheaval. As a result, I tried to go through my belongings with every moving day I went through, and use those hell experiences as motivation to just. Get. Rid. Of. My. Shit. I’d already started on this task a few years ago, but it’s difficult to describe how much....stuff I’d managed to collect in 18-19 years. It doesn’t take much past the first time you and one friend, or just you, have to move everything you own in a single day to go “oh my god I am never doing that again.” But, I know I’ll have to move again, and even if I didn’t...my stuff was stressing me out. The obvious solution was, and is, “have less stuff.” 

I go through my wardrobe once a month now and try to get rid of at least three things. If you’ve known me since high school or just after, you might remember the absolutely astonishing size of my wardrobe. I mean, truly ridiculous. I achieved my goal early last summer of “all my clothing must fit inside a single closet” and began extending that to the rest of my life with a general rule of replacing the thought “I need more storage” with the thought “I need less stuff.” Obviously, there are some things that really do need better or different storage, and I’m recognizing that, but I can’t actually describe how much better I feel with...literally probably 70% less stuff than I used to own. 

This is an ongoing process in every part of my life, and with the habits I’ve learned and the very particular anxieties that I have (I can’t get rid of this, I might need it one day/that person was so nice to give it to me/someone might get angry if I goodwill it) continuing towards a minimalist outlook will be a path I am on for literally the rest of my life. But it’s a good path—a worthy one—and I’m so absurdly relieved that I’m finally walking on it, regardless of how many stumbles, stops, and starts there might be. 

The bonus part of having less stuff is that it’s suddenly way easier to clean your house; which is what I spent all of Saturday and part of Sunday (today) doing. My combined to-do lists* numbered around 72 items, all-told, and I accomplished almost all of them—everything from sweeping/mopping/vaccuming to moving all the appliances in my kitchen out of their spots and cleaning the sides of them. All the laundry got did. All the shelves got dusted. The tub got scrubbed. The fridge got cleared out. My closet got organized. Even my bed got a facelift in the form of a new duvet cover and some swanky king size pillows. We. Cleaned. Everything. 

And damn does it feel good to have a clean space. It’s so. Much. Easier.  To keep tidied up when I’m annoyed at myself for ruining the room with clutter, or setting something down and not putting it away.* When you have less stuff, everything suddenly has a place...and when it all starts out in that place, it’s way easier to put it back and keep that momentum going.

*/**There is a flip side of this feeling, which is my anxiety this summer beginning to express itself as certain tendencies towards OCD behaviors, but I won’t go into that here. It’ll come up soon enough, but it will need to be another post about that topic specifically and what I did/am doing to work through it. Another post will be about my “listing” and how it works/doesn’t work for me, because these are tandem issues.

I’m sure there’s more than these, but I’m going to stop here.

Mostly because one of my other goals for 2020 is to do better at setting, and sticking to, a routine. (Hey, another post!) That routine involves me being in bed by 11:30PM every day, and awake by 9:30...and it’s 10:44. So for now, goodnight, and I hope this didn’t bore anyone to absolute tears. Even if it did...that’s okay, because this is as much for me as it is for anyone else. 

See ya!

[kichimiangra]

For poor artists...

Okay so weeks ago I came across a post (That I can’t seem to find now...) that roughly went like this: “All you tumblrites with depression need some hobbies to help with depression because hobbies help.”

“Not everyone has the privilege of being able to afford hobbies!  Hobbies cost money!”

“You don’t need expensive stuff to draw!!!  Draw on scrap paper!  Napkins!  Go to the dollar store!”

Now for weeks since seeing that post it keeps coming back to me... almost hauntingly.  It’s not that I can’t comprehend that people can’t afford expensive art supplies, on the contrary I very much remember being like that!  But today you poor artists have access to something wonderful that I didn’t growing up:

Under the cut let me tell you a tale about a wonderful place that could have granted my wish for art supplies growing up!

And that place is called Wish.com!

(Disclaimer #1: Almost everything I’m talking about here are supplies that I myself have personally purchased and tried using AND STILL DO!)

(Disclaimer #2:  I don’t believe that good supplies make a good artist, but good supplies can help make a good artist better/ make their life easier!)

Now growing up I did not come from a wealthy family.  I had 3 siblings, all of us close in age so we were kids/ teens together.  My father worked in a warehouse and my mother was a stay at home mom because it was impossible to find an affordable babysitter considering that My older sister had trouble in school with bullies and a reading disorder, I was an un-diagnosed autistic devil-child, my younger sister had severe asthma and was always sick, and my younger brother was deaf.  We all kinda needed special attention.  As you can imagine we didn’t have a lot of money, and as I got older and more Artish meant I had to make due with what I could get.  That didn’t mean I went without, just often had to save and wait for what I could use, which followed me to adulthood.  Had Wish.com been around in my teens it would have been a godsend and I’m patient enough to wait a few weeks to get my order!

God I love these things!  These ball point pens with 10 colors are what I use for story boarding comics and note taking!  I used something like these when I was in college because notes were much easier to organize and read when color coded!

“But KC!  I like to sketch with blue/red pencil first!” Lookie here!  Colored pencil lead refills in all sorts of colors!  Cyan works great and so does the red!

Now I didn’t know they came this small until recently but I LOVE this 0.3mm Mechanical pencil!!!  The lines are so thin and small!!!  I have literally never seen anything smaller than a 0.5mm in a store!

Now I like mechanical pencils for their consistent lead size as you draw! They’re just a click away from being back to sharpness!  But you may want a 0.5mm and a 0.7mm and this 3pc set is soo sleek looking!  It’s good to have a 0.9mm too! I used to have a spongebob .16mm pencil I stole from my brother but it went missing!  I have never found another one that HUGE again! T_T

Speaking of pencils this nice little set comes with a mechanical pencil+lead+a white plastic eraser.  They work great though the eraser is not my personal fav...

THESE are my favorite erasers to use!!!  Not only are they cute colors but they’re a good consistency!  They’re softer than a plastic eraser but a bit harder than a gum eraser so they feel really good to erase with and do a good job!!!

If you really like working with Pencil you can prolly just get a cheap #2 pencil at a dollar store or a box of them at Walmart, but I Really like the feel of a 2B pencil!  This lead holder comes with some replacement lead too so you don’t have to worry about sharpening it to nothing!!

This set of Graphite sticks are a little messy but it comes with all kinds of lead hardness and you can use an x-acto blade to sharpen them to different size points!!!

This is a pretty basic but nice sketch set and has a lot of size options to pick and buy from!!  I’ve used the small 32 set and it has everything you need if you love pencil art!

FINE LINERS!!!  I have a story about Fine liners! Internet shopping hadn’t quite taken off yet for my family and the only store I knew that sold Microns/Fabercastelle fine liners was a local store.  They didn’t sell them in singles so the cheapest set you could buy was a $15 Faber Castelle set with 5 pens (Sm/Med/Lrg/Brush/Chisel).  Now $15 doesn’t sound too bad until you remember my family was poor.  How poor?  Poor enough where my sister and I would each get one of these sets for Christmas and store one away while sharing the other set in hopes of getting them both to last until June where I could get another for my birthday that will hopefully last BOTH of us until next Christmas.  I noticed when you buy Microns off of Wish.com you have a 50/50 chance of getting a knock off brand but these ones here worked pretty good for their price!

“But KC!  Not only am I a poor artist... I’m a poor HIPSTER artist! I wanna kick it OLD SCHOOL!” WELL This is a nice cheap little set of dip pen nib holders and nibs!  The pink one is cute but I have the black one.  I personally love my Cork nib holder more but for plastic this one is decently comfortable to hold and a good price!  I find Nibs are a bit of “You get what you pay for” but if I was displaced into an apartment somewhere without any of my stuff and I wanted some dip pens this set would do just fine!  Dip pens take some skill to get used to so even if you want to just cheaply try some this is a good set to start with!  And if you want better nibs later on they fit right in these holders!

I also have a very decorative (but functional) glass dip pen!  Unlike the metal nib dip pens above the glass one doesn’t really allow for a lot of variation in line weight, but if you want the line work to stay a consistent size then this one is pretty good for that, though depending on your paper it can bleed a bit... once again takes some practice to get used to it.

Now you’re gonna need some ink for those dip pens!  I haven’t really gotten to try any black ink from Wish.com because I have a few bottles of black ink that I keep getting for birthdays and Christmas and such, so I haven’t run out and gotten to try a new brand.  COLOR ink on the other hand...  These little 5oz bottles have gold sparkles in it!! And they look nice to boot!  They can get a little expensive because on THIS particular order you can only order them one at a time (And pay shipping for each bottle) but you really don’t need all 24 bottles as a lot of the colors look similar to each other.

Here’s a sketch of Keira Hagai from Jak and Daxter along with the supplies used to draw it (Notice the ink, glass and black nib pens and the 0.3mm pencil.  The only thing used not from Wish.com is the feather sweeper I made from sculpey and chicken feathers.)

The ink doesn’t work great as paint though but you know what does?

PAINTS!  I didn’t buy this one but it’s a nice little affordable starter set with pallet and brushes!

Now I’m a bit snooty, I prefer to buy watercolor paints in tubes and an empty paint pallet.  The paint pallet I have isn’t THIS one specifically but this one is a bit nicer than the one I DO have and a bit cheaper as well!  (Mine doesn’t have a lid the folds out into a paint mixing area)(Now I wish I had this one!)(Maybe when my current pallet runs out of paint...)

If you use watercolor paints you’re gonna need some brushes!  This is a pretty good deal!  You get 12 brushes and get to pick either flat or round tip brushes!  They’re also not too shabby!

I use a set like this though!  They has a water reservoir in the handle so you squeeze the water out and onto the paint!  The reason I prefer these is I have a lot of pets and they like to get into mischief, so having a pallet that can be closed if I get up for a bathroom break or water that can’t be knocked over is a must for me!!

“But KC I like more... dry mediums...” Lucky for you colored pencils are all over the place on Wish.com!  You can get all kinds of different sets and sizes and some even have nice carrying cases too!  I haven’t bought any because I own a LOT of colored pencil sets already and don’t use them frequently...  I’ve also tried some chalk pastels from Wish that worked well enough on their own but the way I use them is grinding them into a fine powder and brushing them onto paper and that didn’t grind well...

And What’s art without PAPER!?!?  Wish.com is tripping paper!  Whatever is in your price range look around!  I can promise you you’ll find a sketch book or two within your budget!  Some even name brand sketch pads!

And now some miscellaneous stuff:

I LOVE binder clips!  Great way to keep all my paper together and in some places hang stuff up so I can stare at it a bit before continuing working on it!

I like art markers and not many truly can fill in the shoes left by Copic brand markers.  I have tried a handful of copic alternatives (And watched even MORE comparison videos by other people who own said markers.)  I feel like there is no such thing as a GOOD CHEAP QUALITY art marker.  There are lots of sets on Wish.com that (For their prices) are what I consider “Cheap enough to tinker with”  When I was in highschool back in 2007-9 I really really really wanted Copics and was resentful that I was poor and couldn’t get any.  I would get so angry when I saw 14 year olds on deviantart who drew like ‘14 year olds on devintart’ but had no less that two 72 sets of copics. I know, it was rather petty of me to be resentful of younger more fortunate artists... The trade off with my parents was that I would settle for Prismacolor markers, bought 1 per week with a 40% off coupon provided I did all my chores and kept my grades above failing.  That was the closest I ever had to an allowance.  Throughout the years I’ve settled with ‘Tinker Markers’ (Cheapish alternative markers) and Ohuhu, Prismacolor, and Touch New seem to be the better alternatives.  Just don’t go looking for a brush nib >.<!

MASKING TAPE!  Always good for taping things to other things!!  Unfortunately I feel like Walmart gives you bigger rolls for better deals so if it’s going cheap I’d say you don’t need tape from Wish...

Aaaah!  A light board!  And another long trip down memory lane!  Last October going into Inktober I noticed there were people throwing little fits about Inktober itself and if it’s okay to do it with a digital medium.  One persons comment stuck out (And echo’d in my brain) where they said (And I’m paraphrasing): “How am I supposed to focus on my ‘self improvement’ with traditional art if I just can’t draw from the anxiety of knowing that every pen stroke is permanent and I could completely ruin my drawing at any second without the CTRL+Z and layers!?!?!?!” To which my first knee-jerk reaction was: “Wow kid... I think you have waaaay more problems than inktober if your anxiety levels are THAT high that you can’t just accept an oopsie doodle and try again...” But then I do remember a time when I was like that.  In college I scheduled a really bad semester with too many classes, mostly art classes.  One was a classic Pen and Ink class which I did fear screwing up, not because of anxiety of failure but because I would have to start over on my homework, and that would take time from all my other homework.  Time I didn’t have.  I found a large sum of money on the ground ($100.00) one day, waited a month (Nobody claimed it), donated half to my local animal shelter (As is a karma thing in my family with ‘found money’) and used the other half to buy a light board (With a 40% off coupon.)  It was the size of a shoe box, thick and clunky, and didn’t get very bright, but it did what I needed it to.  If I screwed up on ink homework I’d throw a new paper over it and start again.  You can be cheap and use a window on a sunny day, but light boxes (or light boards now) are so affordable and sleek and thin and wish has a lot of them!  I have a cheapish but large A-Line tracing board that sits on my drawing table and fits well and honestly saves 40% of what anxiety I would have putting pen to paper (If I hadn’t been drawing freehand so long that I just don’t get that kind of anxiety over it)

If Wish.com was around when I was a teenager art supplies would have never been THAT big of a deal and I wouldn’t have had to ‘Carpool’ 3 fine liner sets per year with my sister!

Really, I know there will still be people out there who still can’t afford some of the things listed above, but if you have an inclination to try art whether it’s with pencils, paints, markers, pastels, ink, dip pens, fine liners, whatever you lean towards, Wish.com has a cheap affordable version that may not be the best quality out there on the market, but thinking back 15 years ago little KC would have loved to save up some money, order some new supplies, and wait a month for them to arrive so she could use them.

Once again most of the supplies listed above have been bought and used by myself.  There are some great materials at mostly affordable prices on Wish.com so if you are poor like Little KC was you probably know the patience of putting aside a dollar here and there and having to wait, or if you are well off but don’t want to spend too much on a hobby you haven’t tried yet and don’t know if you’d like Wish.com has you covered!

And if you’d like to, Reblog this for other poor artists so they know they don’t have to share their fine liners!

[prepsealer]

Food Wastes vs. Plastic Wastes

There’s a Reason We Use Plastics to Package Food by

Steve Russell

on March 2, 2018

This week, a grocery store in Amsterdam made headlines for being the first to offer an aisle without plastic packaging. If the thinking behind this offering is “less plastic is better in the grocery store”—then we need to ask: In what way is this really a good thing? And we need to be clear about the problem(s) this move is designed to solve.

Are we trying to reduce food waste?

Every year in the United States, about 30 to 40 percent of the food we grow goes uneaten, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The longer a food item stays fresh, the greater its chance of being eaten. Studies have shown that cucumbers wrapped in plastic last eleven days longer than unwrapped cucumbers 1; bananas wrapped in plastic last 21 days longer than their unwrapped counterparts 2; and beef wrapped in plastic vacuum packaging with an oxygen barrier film lasts 26 days longer 3.

Countries that package a greater share of food items tend to generate far less food waste than we do 4.

Do we also want to reduce the environmental impacts that come with food waste?

Growing food requires investments in water, land, energy, and fuel. Now consider that we throw away 30 to 40 percent of everything we grow. That means we’re not just wasting food, we’re wasting 30 to 40 percent of all the resources we used to grow that food. Think of a little food packaging as a small investment that helps to protect all of the resources that went into producing that item.

The director of the Industry Council for Research on Packaging and the Environment has said, “A telling fact is that ten times more resources—materials, energy, and water—are used to make and distribute food than are used to make the packaging to protect it.” So when we waste a food item, we’re wasting 10 times the resources that were used to make its protective packaging.

Plus the food is the single most prevalent material in our landfills. When food decomposes, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO2. Landfills generate 20 percent of all methane emissions, so using plastic packaging to prevent food waste can really help cut our carbon emissions.

Thinking beyond food waste, what about reducing our overall environmental footprint?

It’s true that we can make packaging out of materials other than plastics, namely paper, glass, aluminum, and steel. But studies have shown that plastics are often more efficient. Being both strong and lightweight means plastics can ship more product with less packaging material than alternatives. And using less material in the first place results in significant reductions in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste.

A 2016 study by Trucost (Plastics and Sustainability 5) found that replacing plastic with alternatives in packaging and consumer products could raise environmental costs at least fourfold. Another study 6 showed that replacing plastics with alternatives in packaging would increase the amount of packaging generated in the United States by 55 million tons annually, and would increase energy use and our carbon footprint by 82 percent and 130 percent, respectively. Not much of an improvement, right?

Don’t we need to keep plastics out of our oceans?

YES. Full stop. Used plastics shouldn’t find their way into our rivers and oceans. Yet it’s highly unlikely that the packaging on items purchased in a grocery store, then transported home—where we have access to the curbside waste collection (and usually also recycling)—will become marine litter. It just doesn’t add up.

The supermarket chain says it’s using biofilms as an alternative to plastics, and claims they’re compostable. But “compostable” products on the market today don’t readily breakdown in our oceans, and recyclers don’t want them for obvious reasons. In the United States and other Western countries, we’re fortunate to have strong systems for collecting and managing materials after use. We need to work on getting more plastics into our recycling systems and making sure our used plastics are directed toward their next productive use. For consumers, that means placing used bottles, containers, caps and lids in our curbside bins and bringing our used polyethylene bags and wraps to grocery stores. We can also shop for new products made with recycled plastics. And of course, we can choose to bring a reusable bag or bottle with us on the go. These, too, are often made from plastics.

The benefits of plastic packaging might not be making headlines these days, but they are making a positive difference in preserving our food and reducing our environmental footprint.

[ecozuk]

All about ECO Swaps

Hello everyone and welcome

Today it’s all about eco-swaps.  What can we swap?  How easy will it be? Will, it cost a lot?

I don’t know about you, but I love finding new and innovative ways to help save our planet. Even if it’s time-consuming and seems quite complicated. I’ll give it a go and keep at it until I know what I’m doing (or at least I think that I know what I’m doing). For example:

1. Try making your own bread. I tried and failed a few times but now that I have the hang of it, I love it. My husband and children love freshly made bread with homemade soup and neither of these things takes too much time, however, think about how many loaves of bread you eat, and the amount of plastic associated with that!

2. Start buying from your local milkman if you don’t already. It’s just great opening the door to find your milk and eggs ready for breakfast. Not only does the milk come in glass bottles (check with your milkman before ordering as some still use plastic bottles), but you’re helping the local economy as well.

3. Buy solid soaps, shampoos and conditioners. They may seem more expensive, but they last so much longer than bottled ones and there is absolutely no waste whatsoever.

4. Make your own jam. Oh, my goodness, I hadn’t realised just how easy this was. My mother-in-law brought over some plumbs that she had been given and I made a lovely plum jam with them. We always have an abundance of rhubarb from friends and so I make a lovely rhubarb and ginger jam. You can make as much or as little as you want as the recipes are so easy to adapt to whatever fruit you have and whatever amount you have. Give it a go, you won’t be going back to the shops to buy any if you do!

5. Get yourself a reusable coffee/tea mug and take it everywhere with you (although at the moment with covid, not everywhere will let you use them). You even get discounts in some coffee shops for using your own mug/cup.  They aren't expensive and last sooooo long!

6. Start composting if you haven’t already started. Your fruit and veg peel can go in there, eggshells, plant clipping and so much more. Then your set for gardening once it’s all composed down. It’s such a waste putting all of this in the bin for landfill when it can do so much good for your garden.

7. Eat less meat. I was reading some information recently which basically said that - we need to make huge reductions in meat-eating in order to avoid dangerous climate change. In western countries, beef consumption needs to fall by at least 90% and should be replaced by beans and pulses - I have to say that I actually prefer beans and pulses and it’s guilt-free eating too – win, win.

8. If hummus is your thing then why not make your own.  Follow this link hummus for a tried and tested recipe that I found.  It's oh so yummy.  Try it with fresh basil leaves too- double the yumminess.

9. Use wax wraps and or reusable lids instead of clingfilm. Once used just wash/rinse and they are ready to be used again. No more cling film to buy so in the end your saving money and helping the planet.

10. Have you tried taking a reusable container with you when you go for a takeaway? Give it a go, you’ll be helping the shop as they won’t be providing their own.  You'll be helping the planet too. My local café does take out food and I always take my own containers which they are happy to fill for me.

I’ve started making my own soaps and soap dishes to match which I’m hoping will be ready before I think that they are amazing and will make a lovely addition to your bathroom or present for someone.

I thought that I would finish with a quote that I’ve just seen as it sums up what everyone should be thinking (at least that’s what I think).

‘“The natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have, and we need to defend it"

Keep up the good work guys. Together we can make a difference, together we can save our planet. I’ll be back in touch shortly with more info.

[caffeinatedreviewer1]

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter for Hiking, Camping, Travel

Update! As a result of this review, Eartheasy, the North American distributor of the Lifestraw, sent me a few products to try out, and I appreciate when a company is willing to stand behind its products like that. I still feel that the Lifestraw itself is less useful than its fans make it out to be, and that the bottled version is the only version hikers and travelers should consider purchasing. I’ve given specific comments on the bottled version down below, which is worth a look as a portable filter for hiking and other outdoor activities.

As many of you may know, clean drinking water is kind of a big deal. The fact that nowadays we can get drinkable water, right at home, practically for free, is a downright revolutionary (and thoroughly recent) development, and one which remains entirely out of reach for billions throughout the world.

Enter the Lifestraw: A small, lightweight, portable, durable, relatively inexpensive filtration device that can hang around your neck like a necklace, providing you with filtered water wherever you go. It has won an endless string of accolades, and has even been called “one of the ten things that will change the way we live,” with legions of adoring fans singing its praises, swearing by its use in situations of all sorts.

Unfortunately, I think it’s bizarrely overrated.

https://amzn.to/3gpvGxC

The Lifestraw is a hollow-membrane filter built into a straw. You place the straw into the water, and drink. Sucking the water up through the straw forces it through the filter, which removes 99.9999% of bacteria, and 99.9% of protozoa, down to 0.2 microns, with a filter that lasts for 1000 liters, for about $20. Not bad, right?

That’s pretty good, but on the downside, it won’t remove microscopic minerals, chemicals, or viruses.

This isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, since most water will be fine, especially if you’re just filtering river water to avoid getting sick…but this thing was designed for the third world, with viruses all over the place, meaning you’d need iodine or other methods to eliminate the potential threat of viral diseases.

It’s certainly better than nothing, and preventing most water-borne diseases is better than preventing none. The Lifestraw was designed to provide excellent filtration at a reasonable cost, which is probably more effective than providing perfect filtration at a high cost, which could very well be too expensive to accomplish its own goals of third world disease reduction. Again, missing the viruses isn’t a deal-breaker, and it can prevent a huge number of water-borne diseases from infecting at-risk populations, but people talk about this thing like it’s the messiah of water filters.

But that’s not even the most annoying part.

The weird problem no Lifestraw review ever seems to mention

I have gone over this problem again and again in my head, looking at the endless cavalcade of glowing Lifestraw reviews, “Invention of the Century” accolades, and legions of ardent fans, and cannot fathom why no one seems to notice or care.

Take a look at the snazzy in-action shot of a guy using the Lifestraw out in the real world:

What happens when you walk away from the water?

No more water.

So if you’re heading into riverless mountains, or the desert, or a 12 hour bus ride in body-temperature heat, or any other situation in which you won’t have access to water, you’ll have to fill up a water bottle ahead of time, and whenever you want a drink of water, you have to:

Open the bottle

Open the Lifestraw’s top cap

Open the Lifestraw’s bottom cap

Stick the Lifestraw inside

Drink

Take it out

Expel the remaining water

Close the top cap

Close the bottom cap

Close the bottle.

And then…you’ve got a wet Lifestraw, so you’ll probably end up with wet clothes. Sexy!

People talk about how “simple” this is, as if handling three caps instead of one is somehow…simple?

On a related note, imagine traveling with this thing, and trying to fill up from a sink. You’d have to plug the sink, fill it up, wait for it to get deep enough to drink, then take a few sips, unplug the sink, and walk away. Imagine being incredibly thirsty and trying to do this in a hurry. Now imagine you’re about to get on a 12 hour bus ride through midday temperature highs, and all you had ahead of time was a quick sip from the sink, and that’s all you’ll have until the next time you get to another sink, when you’d begin the sink plug process anew. Just for one sip.

Seriously, has anyone actually used this thing?

What the Lifestraw should have been

So here we finally are, at a product that’s actually recommendable. The Lifestraw Go. They took the Lifestraw and stuck it inside a water bottle, which eliminates the pointless inconvenience of only being able to drink with water nearby, or having to deal with three different caps and two separate objects for every sip.

But damn…the Lifestraw has been around since about 2005, and this bottled version only started shipping around 2013. This means that for 8 long years, nobody ever bothered asking “Dude, what if you walk away from the river but you’re still thirsty?” Sigh.

This bottled version was designed for the consumer market, which makes a lot of sense, and it’s true that shipping a million regular Lifestraws to disaster zones or poverty-stricken rural areas is logistically easier than shipping a million bottled Lifestraws, as they’d need maybe 5 or 6 times as many shipments due to the size, but damn…how does anyone use the regular one more than a few times without going crazy?

While it’s true that the original Lifestraw was designed for simplicity, portability, durability, and ease of use (and somewhat succeeds), I just can’t see many good reasons not to stick it inside a water bottle in the first place. Particularly from a consumer standpoint, the bottled version is clearly the correct answer here.

Update: I can think of ONE situation in which the straw by itself might be more useful than a bottle: Trail running, near a river. You can strap it to your leg, so it doesn’t bounce around, and you’re always near an outdoor water source, which would only need this type of filtration, and wouldn’t need a bottle.

But, ranting aside, is it a good filter? Is it a cost-effective solution to commonplace water purification needs, third world or otherwise? Could this be the one and only water purification method you employ, whether hiking in the mountains, or adventuring throughout the developing world?

Well…maybe.

Remember, it still can’t filter viruses, which is what you’d want in developing countries.

That’s not to say it’s not useful. A $35 water bottle that provides 0.2 micron filtration which lasts for 1000 liters certainly isn’t bad.

But on the other hand, you can just get the Sawyer Water Bottle, which manages 0.1 micron filtration for a guaranteed 3.7 million liters for a one-time cost of $50.

Um…tell me again, why is the Lifestraw so popular?

It has been claimed that the Lifestraw’s lifespan estimates are intended to be a little on the safe side, using low-quality water for all of its tests, which is good (and Sawyer’s lofty claims were put to the test, and were sadly shown to come up short, so the performance difference is likely to be smaller than what is claimed). And again, it’s not that it’s bad, and the filtration quality will probably work just fine if you’re hiking in North America, and you could supplement it with iodine tablets if you ever take it with you to Mexico, or wherever else you might want anti-viral protection. And if you’re drinking a liter of water per day, a $35 Lifestraw Go will last almost 3 years, which isn’t bad at all, and if you’re only using it for camping trips on weekends, it’ll last much longer. I also think it looks nicer than the Sawyer. So it’s definitely good; it’s just not necessarily the best, neither on filtration quality, nor on cost-effectiveness.

Update: After receiving and using the Lifestraw Go, I can say that it’s a pretty good product for hikers who plan on filling up from a river and just want a simple water bottle filter to do the job. Its filtration performance isn’t as strong as the Sawyer, nor is it as cost-effective, but it’s still effective and affordable, for non-viral filtration. Keep in mind it’s supposed to filter biological contaminants rather than chemical, meaning it’s more suited to filtering clear river water than tap water, which is more likely to have chemicals of some sort.

Two issues: Firstly, the Lifestraw Go does not use the regular Lifestraw as a replacement filter, but instead uses a slightly modified version. This means you cannot replace the filter inside the Lifestraw Go with a regular Lifestraw, and, at the moment anyway, you cannot buy just the replacement filter by itself. When your Lifestraw Go reaches the end of its life, you’ll have to buy an entirely new bottle. I expect that if the product is successful that they will offer those replacement filters by themselves, but it’s worth being aware of this issue.

Secondly, when the bottle is shut and the straw is folded down, it protrudes slightly beyond the edge of the lid, and it’s easy to get your grubby hands all over the straw when you pick up the bottle, potentially getting the straw a little dirty and thus defeating the purpose of drinking filtered water. This could be easily fixed, and I hope they do it. Second update: THEY DID!

If you think it’s for you, check it out here.

But again, neither of these devices will provide chemical or viral filtration. If you want to get rid of viruses, then you’ll need iodine tablets, or a UV light, or upgrade to a water bottle that actually gets rid of viruses, too.

What if I need serious purification?

For most people, high-quality filtration works just fine. If you’re hiking in North America or filtering tap water while traveling through modern countries, you probably don’t need virus removal to be safe. But if you’re traveling in developing countries with incredibly questionable tap water, you might want to take some extra precautions.

And yes, you can fit a whole purifier right inside a water bottle, like these do:

So why does everyone love the Lifestraw?!?!

Well, I don’t really know. It was even called the “Invention of the Century,” from a publication I otherwise enjoy, despite lower performance and higher long-term cost than competing options that have been on the market for years.

Again, it’s not bad, and the bottled version solves quite a bit of the silly ridiculousness of the straw-only version, but everyone adores the straw-only version, as a consumer product, which is absolutely inexplicable to me.

But I have a theory:

At $13, it’s cheaper than many other filters, and, admittedly, its filtration capability is pretty good, and a lot better than most of what I’ve seen for the same initial cost. It has a nice impulse-buy price point that gets people interested, and its unique design sets it apart in a world of filtered pitchers, faucet adapters, and so on. And when it arrives in the mail, people give it a try, drinking from a cloudy glass of water, and impressing some friends. Buyers are left happy.

And then they never use it.

Seriously. If you read the Lifestraw reviews on Amazon, you’ll see lots and lots of people talking about how great it is, who stuffed it into an emergency preparedness kit and never bothered with it again. They’re rating the product on how cool they think it is, not how practical it is in real-world use.

People actually love it so much that they videotape themselves drinking from jars of water full of feces…which is explicitly something the Lifestraw cannot handle, because water contaminated this way can easily have viruses inside, which the Lifestraw is incapable of removing. There’s a level of enthusiasm for this product that is literally dangerous.

So is the Lifestraw useful at all?

I would like to clarify that I am examining the Lifestraw from a consumer standpoint, rather than from a disaster-relief or third world disease alleviation product. It offers plenty of functionality in those situations, especially the Lifestraw Family, which is a larger (though still portable) filter intended for home use that does remove viruses. Most of my annoyance should be directed toward the overrating fanboys, who post videos of people drinking toilet water, and then resort to third-grade name-calling if anyone ever criticizes its performance or design.

So it’s certainly not horrible, particularly the bottled version, which is the only one you should bother looking at. Its filtration capability is actually quite good, and it’s pretty convenient. I just think it has been played up way too much in the media, and people salivate over it like it’s this work of art that no disaster-preparedness kit should ever be without.

Just remember that it is incapable of handling chemical and viral contamination, meaning you should only use it within a narrow band of circumstances; outdoor recreation, in North America (and similar settings), where the water you come across has neither chemicals nor viruses.

So it’s certainly worth a look, but I can’t say it’s the best. Competing products provide better filtration at a more cost-effective price, while other devices handle viruses as well, which is what you’d want in developing countries.

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another guest contribution from R.Ann Parris to The Prepper Journal. As always, if you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and be entered into the Prepper Writing Contest with a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards  with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies, then enter today!

One of the challenges when we get into preparing for disaster is keeping everything neat and organized. In some cases, we’re trying to maintain our own or a spouse’s sanity and keep some of our preparations neat, tidy and organized without being in plain sight while short on space, either square footage or because we rarely allow something to leave our grasp. Beyond the ease in counts and condition checks, and avoiding a hoarder’s larder, organization can help us with both rotating supplies and in some cases even rationing our supplies should we fall on hard times.

Happily, there’s lots of stuff out there that can help us. Repurposing some items that are inexpensive, commonly found curbside and at flea markets or yard sales, or that we might already have laying around can help us maintain that organization without breaking the bank.

Maps & Rolls

Keeping our wrapping paper neat and tidy might not appeal to preppers, but we can steal some of the ideas out there for keeping our maps, charts, and our property plats accessible and tidy. There’s one where you take an old wire shelf and affix it vertically to a wall or door instead of horizontally. The 250ml wine boxes are ideal for keeping both maps and wrapping paper contained and neat, and most alcohol retailers are simply delighted to let you have boxes.

Cutting the bottoms out of hanging shoe organizers lets us customize height. That one has added benefits because you can leave pouches intact to keep map pens, sprays, and dry erase markers and erasers right there with them. It also allows some mobility, so they can be re-hung by a work board, in a radio or control room, or at the desk and table where you do your planning.

Hanging Shoe Organizers

You have to watch the weight in these guys, but otherwise, the sky is the limit. They can hook us up in pretty much all wedges of our preparedness “health” wheels. I’ve got some in use for “daily” life, too.

One’s in the kitchen keeping small packets of instant cereal and snack foods and the last bar of one kind or another from either getting lost in the abyss or from having the boxes continue to eat up space. One’s for winter, and keeps hats, scarves, and gloves neat and organized. The bottom row holds some quick slip-on slippers for household members and the dogs’ various booties. There’s another set up with each person’s preferred garden and yard work sets of gloves and pocket detritus.

For preppers, the value goes up further. With stick-on labels or clothespins, we can use them to track dates for at-a-glance organization. We can also take a space where we would be limited to boxes or shelves and turn it into basically a rack for them. A couple of freebie curbside-pickup filing cabinets, a bar or two to go across the top, and we can string our organizers on dowels or sturdy branch/sapling trimmings.

The filing cabinets here are actually reading nooks, but it gives you an idea of how the addition of a plank (freebie-pickup shipping pallets, walls/shelves from curbside bookshelves) and a curtain (surviving sheet from a wrecked bedding set) can keep it from being “ugly” even if it’s out in a home where somebody cares. If appearance is less of a concern, some suit hangers and any ol’ pole can be hung in sheds, basements or a storage room to accomplish the same – a flip or slide-through storage area for small items.

Those items can be anything. It can be a great way to keep veggie seeds separated by planting/growing season and year. We can use them for sewing supplies or art supplies. Instant drink packets, seasoning packets and shakers, granola bars, little packets of vitamin-rich gummy treats, boxes and packets of pudding or gelatin mixes, and other kitchen items fit easily. We can arrange them to be a general category like snacks or spices, or we can set each up by expiration or best-by date.

Educational goodies, supplies for the radio room or office, entertainment items, hygiene items, and especially first-aid and medical items that do start separating or losing efficiency are all other options for storing someplace we can find and see them easily and check those dates without pawing through boxes.

We can use hanging closet organizers much the same way to buy some extra space, although they’re not as handy for the tiny little items and still have the weight restrictions.

We can also use them to help us ration, just like we can with canning jars. We can pack each with a week, a month, or a quarter’s “goodies”. That can be seasonings or instant helpers like gravy or dressing mix. It can also be things like chocolate chips, tea bags or a brick of coffee, smaller packets of cookie, edible cake decorations, or Slim Jim’s. Some of the shoe organizers are big enough we could even seed them with fresh games like Qwixx or Dog Bites Man, new decks of cards, some specialty feel-good lotion or chap stick, or something seasonal to brighten the mood.

Another option is to use a shoe organizer as a pre-staging area. Rather than those things that jump in buggies getting tossed in a box or drawer for a while, they can get slotted by category. It can also help with those items that seems like a great idea but then hide when we want them. That can be everything from eyeglass repair kits and those mini sewing kits, to things like outlet and light-switch wall plates, overhead pull cords, and those plastic twisty-cap wire connectors that like to multiply in drawers and tool rooms.

Curtain Rods

While we’re hanging things to improve our organization, we can keep an eye out for curtain rods. With some rings and-or big S-hooks, they can help us in all kinds of spaces. We can mount them in our bathrooms – and our outdoor camping/solar showers – to drape bathroom organizers and avoid having stuff sit on ledges and floors. With hooks affixed to light baskets and tubs, what we can hang for easy access increases even further.  Those baskets can easily be the bathroom organizers or oddball dishwasher or silverware baskets that show up here and there or wire or plastic bins form the dollar store, and get used for school and office supplies, kitchen spices, each individual’s hankies and bandanas, or anything else we like.

We can arrange them under cabinets or against walls to keep items like spools of thread, bungee cords, and weed-eater wire accessible. With hooks or loops, we can add our extension cords, gloves, and tools. By our doors, they’re another easy way to keep hats and gloves organized, and the airflow they’ll get will let them dry faster.

While I specified curtain rods, be flexible while we’re upcycling and repurposing. I see swingsets and bed frames on freebie listings and by the curb on a regular basis. Tree trimmings can yield nice, straight pieces. The scrap guys in town will let us have pretty much whatever we want at about a halfway between their cost and sale price. Be flexible.

  Garage & Shed Storage

We can use all kinds of oddball wrecked, found, used, or inexpensive items for storage, although the garage and shed where we don’t have to hear anything from family members really shines. We can use coat hangers and hooks with a piece of looped rope, chain, or bungee cord to keep heavy extension cords, hoses, and heavy rope neatly coiled and off the flat surfaces. A wrecked binder offers three rings that can hold anything, from our bungee cords to cleaned cans with a hole punched that can then hold our paint brushes, garden pruners, gloves, or safety glasses.

You have to pretty much murder somebody to find them now, but a plastic 2L soda bottle is awesome for allowing us to stack and move bottles and for keeping stuff in a pickup or van right where you want it. They can also be screwed flat to a wall to use the holes as shallow storage nodes, but they’re too shallow to have much value for me there. Instead, see if a plumbing outfitter or company has PVC scrap. It’s usually deeper and you can cobble that into a honeycomb with some screws and get a lot more use out of it.

Throw-Aways

All kinds of things that hit our recycling and trash have other uses, particularly in keeping our storage neat and tidy. The cardboard boxes that soda comes in get a lot of play for upcycling into soup and veggie can organizers, but we can also just slit the top off entirely. Swiffer pad tubs are awesome for stacking and labeling the sides, but really only for lightweight stuff. Old-school laundry detergent boxes with the flip-up lid and the little plastic handle are sturdy, stackable, and you can hook that handle around a screwdriver on your belt or a carabiner for hands-free carrying. Plastic coffee cans, jugs, powdered parmesan shakers, and creamer tubs are hugely versatile.

Indoors or out, they can help us organize absolutely anything. Arrange packets of Lipton and Knorr sides, seeds, Heartgard and Frontline, or spice blends. Keep extension cords, tow cables, tie-down straps, or Christmas lights neat and tidy, and ready to deploy again (which buys time and space for other stuff). They can also help us keep kits of commonly replaced items together.

The plastic options can help us keep pests out of dry pantry goods and little packets of drinks or boxes of pudding. Those plastic bottles are also handy for rationing out things like brown and white sugar that last forever in storage, or once we bust into bulk bags or buckets of snack foods and dry goods.

Drink bottles get a lot of play for organizing wire, ribbon, and cord. If you have access to wide-mouth juice or sports drink bottles, those make excellent ways to keep some ammo in a bag nice and dry – but don’t try it with narrow-neck water and soda bottles, not even with .22 LR. There’s nothing wrong with using them for beans or grains, either, since they stack up like cordwood well.

Mostly, though, I think people seriously underestimate how much water they need. I may be the only person affected by Uncle Murphy on a regular basis, but you need water stored even with a well, because you need time to hunt down the problem and repair it if the pump goes down. So, for the most part, I’d rather see soda bottles get used to store water, everywhere, in homes and in vehicles.

Organizing Preparedness Supplies

The time spent in organizing not only makes maintaining our storage a little less daunting and time consuming, but also allows us to better visualize gaps. The sanity boost from neatness and not being overwhelmed by our piles o’ stuff can’t really be overstated, either, and less-involved family is less likely to add to our stresses when they’re not overwhelmed by it all, too. Since there’s so many items out there that we can scrounge for free or little outlay and repurpose, we really don’t have any excuse not to keep our storage organized.

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  The post Upcycling for Preppers – Maintaining Organization appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

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