#my mom got a huge haul of those spray bottle ones and i got like 4 whole bottles of winter candy apple scented ones

[atlasllm]

i thought i mightve needed to purchase nail polish remover when i started painting my nails black but apparently the hand sanitizers i've been gifted over quarantine is good enough

did yall know i havent even finished my bath and body works haul from BEFORE the panini? because i /havent/ and i got like 10+ more over the course of quarantine and counting

[syncopein3d]

Broken World

3. I Trust You

Part 1

Part 2

CW: badly injured whumpee, implied past violence, loss of consciousness, bathing, offensive/ignorant cis questions, blood, bruises, broken ribs, difficulty breathing, stranger caretaker, emesis mention.

Robert passed out again while Ripper was hosing him off. It was busy trying to scrub a fat clot off his shoulder, some kind of deep gouge, when it realized he was sliding sideways, mouth slightly open.

“Dammit, Robert!”

It woke him up again by running cold water into his hair. He sputtered, but on the third time he didn’t come up swinging.

“Talk,” Ripper said, pushing him back straighter against the end of the huge tub. “It’ll help you stay conscious.” It groped around with a wet hand and found the water bottle to give him another sip.

“Fuck, that’s good. What you wan’ talk about?” he asked.

Ripper shrugged. This was the longest conversation it had tried to have in years now. “How’d you end up there?”

“They grabbed me from behind a soup kitchen. Big van.” Robert shrugged one shoulder on the side away from the blackened ribcage. “I use’t be strong, but never like that guy.”

“Were you homeless?”

“Yep. Long time now,” he said. Either he’d never cared, or he was too out of it to feel ashamed. “Wan’ guess what jobs there are for slightly strong regen guy?”

“Uh.” Ripper thought about it as they sprayed down Robert’s toes. Clotty black clumps washed away down the drain, revealing the raw nail beds. Robert barely reacted. “Pharma research, C tier meta team, or assassination? Maybe bodyguarding?”

“Grew up in lab,” Robert said. “So I’ve done, huh, three ou’ four of those.”

“You were never an assassin?”

“Never on a meta team,” Robert said.

“So how’d you end up homeless? Killing people pays pretty well if you don’t get caught.”

“Pharma lab found me. Had to lay low,” he said. “Your turn. You a lab rat too, or you a comet kid?”

“My Mom saw the comet while she was pregnant,” Ripper said. “I knew I wasn’t normal, but the world didn’t break until I was about thirteen. The younger kids weren’t like me yet, so I left. Safer for them.”

“Wha’ gonna do with carnite?”

“Sell some. Barter some for services. Barnhardt wants it bad enough they’ll give me anything and not ask questions. If I give you the sprayer, can you do your - ?”

“Yeah. Gimme the soap.”

The Ripper handed over the fancy gel soap (“sandalwood and musk”) and turned far enough away not to look at him directly, but not so far they wouldn’t see sudden movement. They could hear Robert swearing quietly as he worked on washing himself.

“Hit man part din’ bother you,” he said after a second.

“I’ve done things for money I’m not proud of. Now I’m just a thief. Did you kill anyone I’d have heard of?”

“You a cop?” Robert asked, and then laughed until it doubled him over in pain.

“Careful. If you abuse the broken ribs you can get a punctured lung,” Ripper said. “Then I have to dump your ass at Providence Everett.”

“No,” Robert wheezed. “They’ll find me. PharmaCon or 99B, don’ matter. Fucked.” The water ran for a moment, soft and persistent. Eventually he said, “mostly cartel an’ mafia. One billionaire, but he wan’ famous. Edgar Warrington. I’m done.”

“Okay. Probably easier if you let me do the hair.”

“Got any scissors?”

“I’m not a barber. It’ll look bad.”

“Don’ care. Looks bad now.”

“Okay, but you were warned.” The Ripper went to rummage in the sink counter drawers for scissors and haul the trash can back. “Are you gonna freak out if I touch your head?”

“No. I trust you.”

Ripper stared down at him. After a second, Robert opened his eyes again, squinting half-blindly up at them.

“Wha?”

“Nothing. Have another drink. Hold still.” For a while there were only snipping noises. Robert didn’t speak for a couple of minutes, but an occasional noise or movement indicated he was still conscious. Ripper was peripherally aware of his wiry shoulders gradually dropping. Eventually he said, more quietly,

“Wha’ you call yourself? A not man, not woman?”

“Some people say agender, I guess. I don’t really feel non-binary.”

“You got a dick?”

“None of your business.”

“Tha’s not fair. You seen mine.”

The Ripper snorted. “Not because I wanted to.”

Robert laughed, but more carefully. As the Ripper cut away filthy locks, more of a bony jaw emerged. His nose was too swollen and crooked to tell much about, but it might have had a hooked tip.

“How’s it looking?”

“How many times have you been hit in the head? It’s lumpy.”

“Lots, but mostly before the 99B’s. I been shot in the head twice.” He seemed a little clearer. Maybe hydration was helping.

“I don’t think I believe you,” the Ripper said.

“Small cal. I was lucky bo’ times that they dumped me inna trash ‘n not river. Couldn’t ‘member my name for a week once.”

“Uh huh,” the Ripper said.

“Who’d you kill?”

“Are YOU a cop? Don’t laugh again. You’ll hurt yourself.” It tossed the last disgusting hair strand and then the scissors after, reaching for the shampoo. The water was still running, but it was clearer now. It was a weird feeling, washing someone else’s hair. They remembered hair wash day from when they were small. Mom used to give them little scratches, and sometimes they would almost fall asleep, sitting there hypnotized.

“No billionaires,” the Ripper said. “No big names. I got offered Impervious and said no. They sent somebody else, one of the hand-beam types. I think she’s still in jail.”

“I bet,” Robert said. “More water?”

“Here. Did you ever hear of Blackknife?”

“Uh… only visible unner UV lamp?” Robert mumbled. His breathing seemed a little easier. Maybe it was the steam.

“That’s Blacklight, from 25B, the Dark Squad. Blackknife was an enforcer for this crime family in Boston. The McAllisters.”

“Oh, the guy with the spikes,” Robert said “That was news. Big mess.”

“It always is,” the Ripper said. “All right, let’s rinse and then we’ll look at you.”

It was looking at a middle-sized naked man, probably muscular once, now wasted and bony. With his hair newly clean and short and slicked back, his face seemed bigger and the swelling worse, but at least all but the most stubborn and necessary clots were gone. His fingernails were gone, too, something that hadn’t been clear when both his hands were covered in a layered black crust. There wasn’t much of him that wasn’t mottled with layers of old and new bruises. He held his breath when Ripper felt around his sore ribs, but he didn’t fight it.

“One’s broken, definitely. One maybe just cracked.”

“Yeah, I know. It hurt less last time.”

“They just kept working you over when your meta quit?” Ripper asked.

“It just slowed down at first. They hadda keep checking,” Robert said. “See if their – wassus – hydrocarnic sulfate was working.”

“Well, this cut on your face could use stitches, but I don’t know how to do that,” the Ripper said. “Everything else is just time and taking it easy, probably. Unless you’re bleeding internally.”

“I just gotta not die ‘til I can heal, that’s all. Easy.”

“Easy,” Ripper repeated. “Okay. Here, drink the rest while I go find you some pants. If I make cup noodles, can you drink some broth?”

“Yeah.”

They taped gauze over the places that were oozing. Then they helped Robert dry off and get into a pair of their sweats. They half-helped and half-carried him next door to the guest room, where their duffel and water case and box of ramen cups were. This single room was bigger than their mother’s apartment had been, and that was without counting the huge bathroom. The queen-sized bed had a black plush comforter with matching pillow shams. The hardwood floor was covered in blue and black rugs. There was a table and chairs and a matching tv console and dressing set that had probably come from Crate and Barrel. They had that heavy, expensive look.

Ripper piled up pillows behind Robert and pulled the covers up to his chest. Then they went to start the hot water in the fancy copper-colored electric kettle on the console. It had taken the kettle from a tiny upstairs kitchen that was definitely intended for the help.

“Aren’ we leaving DNA around?” Robert asked.

“I’m already going away for life if they catch me. Who cares about breaking and entering? You think you could keep down some acetaminophen?”

“I’m ready to try,” Robert said. He moved uneasily against the pillows. “It usually hurts a lot less than this.”

The Ripper took a couple of the pills itself on the way back and dry-swallowed them out of Robert’s sight. It felt like eating gravel, but they stayed down. They grabbed another two water bottles as they went to check the kettle. There was no bubbling sound yet, so they went to sit on the edge of the bed and feed Robert the four capsules. He cupped their hand with his, but he was too shaky now to try and hold something small. Ripper helped him drink again.

“You’re hot,” they said. “Hold still.” It laid the back of its hand against his forehead.

“Then why’s it so cold?” Robert mumbled.

“You’ve never had a fever?”

“I don’t get sick.” He sounded slightly offended by the idea.

“Well, you’re sick now,” Ripper said, giving him another drink. “Probably pneumonia. You sound like it. How long ago did he break your ribs?”

Robert had to stop and breathe for a second after he had swallowed, wheezing softly, before he could answer. “No clock. No idea. Couple of days?”

“Hm. Well, you’re going to have to stay propped up.” The electric kettle whistled softly. Ripper went to pour the hot water into the ramen cup. It stared at it blankly for a moment after, mind empty, painfully swallowing water. Then they went to get a fork and a mug from the little kitchen. It swirled the noodles around impatiently until they were soft enough to eat and hooked them out with the fork to put in the mug. Sometimes they’d add hot sauce, but that didn’t sound good right now.

“Okay, go real slow with this. I don’t know what your stomach can take, and maybe you’ve never thrown up –“

“No.”

“It makes a mess. And it’ll make you weaker. So do what I tell you.” The Ripper set the mug on the nightstand and helped him get his hands around the styrofoam noodle cup, supporting the bottom until they were sure he wouldn’t drop it.

“I think,” Robert gasped afterward.

“Shut up and breathe, Robert.”

“I think you like telling me what to do.” He ignored the Ripper’s glare from under hood and over mask as he sipped again. “Eat your noodles.”

“I was going to anyway,” it said.

“But now you’re also doin’ what I tell you. Ha.”

Part 4

[anjodalua]

How To Pass Time Easily While Lockdown Occurs

Specialists’ tips on surviving – even taking part in – life underneath lockdown

lacking the pub? Invite friends to on-line cocktails. That’s just one tip from our panel of professionals on the way to make the maximum of enforced downtime

henry porter, novelist and conceitedness honest editor one of the nastier elements of the pandemic is that it turns your buddies and all which you do to show them affection – hug and kiss; proportion meals and drinks – right into a lethal threat. And but, on this appalling second, we need our buddies more than ever, and it is probably real that our immune structures do, too. Isolation is terrible for a species addicted to social intercourse. My solution has been to start a cocktail hour on a video conferencing web site, sending one or two friends each day an invitation to drinks in the front of their pc (or cellphone) at a time when we might typically meet in a pub or at every different’s houses. It’s unexpected what a difference it can make to an afternoon of isolation, and in your spirits in fashionable, to look your pals’ faces in the evening and listen them communicate and laugh. Henry porter playing cocktail hour with glass of wine, a pc and some pals. Henry porter enjoying cocktail hour with a few friends. Image: liz elliot the scale of covid-19 and what it’s doing to us is very stressful, but an hour with specific buddies each evening certainly helps lessen anxiety, and of route you could make much more attempt than i do – get dressed up, mild candles, offer nibbles (crisps make an excessive amount of noise). Anything pleasure is launched when you see your pals inside the flesh is likewise found in those video cocktails, and the lovely component is that for a small price the host receives unlimited conference calls (i pay £one hundred ten yearly for bluejeans) and guests pay not anything. Honestly, this will be expanded to speaking to neighbours you could not recognise very well, or humans you accept as true with are actually stricken by enforced isolation and loneliness. It can also be an amazing way of meeting people. Each participant may invite a person nobody else is aware of. It’s truely terrific for brand spanking new moms, e book clubs, soccer supporters – all and sundry who's lacking out on regular touch. Despite the remoteness of the interplay and the occasional annoyances of the generation, i find that humans honestly talk inside the video cocktail hour. Maybe that has some thing to do with the anomaly of the interplay – you are neither by myself nor certainly in organisation. You're half-manner between the two and possibly that makes you extra candid. Sites i have used include zoom, bluejeans and whypay? And my daughter has simply brought me to the houseparty app. Grow herbs alice vincent on her south london balcony. Alice vincent on her south london balcony. Advertisement

alice vincent, city gardening columnist and writer i in reality suppose gardening is what will hold us sane via this. It connects us with the outside and the gentle delight of looking matters develop brings a unique positivity. If you’ve no garden, there are masses of methods to grow indoors. You’ll want a sunny windowsill, inner or out. I always advocate beginners to develop herbs. They’re smooth and delicious – and whilst grocery store components are low they turn out to be more and more worthwhile. The plastic trays that tomatoes and mushrooms come in will do – just make some holes within the bottom for drainage. Fill with, ideally, peat-unfastened multipurpose compost (most nurseries supply and will be thankful for the custom). Parsley and basil rub alongside thankfully subsequent to each other, but mint’s a piece of a thug and better in its personal pot. You could also chuck in some salad leaf seeds: pea shoots, rocket and nasturtiums germinate speedy and are tasty at any point of their growing cycle. Sow in keeping with packet instructions: you’ll need a fragment of what’s in the packet. Preserve the soil moist – an vintage spray bottle is perfect for this – earlier than and after shoots seem. If youharvest no extra than a 3rd of the plant at a time, all should get better.

Exercising

justin jacobs, manager, equinox fitness golf equipment we're creatures of habit in what we consume, whilst we paintings, what tv indicates we watch. Right now, all the ones habits had been shoved out of the window. There’s quite a few confusion, but that is an possibility to create new conduct. So what to try? What’s your new routine? It is able to be fluid and might change, but what do you want to attempt? There’s lots of first-rate on line content available. Equinox’s moreover platform gives an expansion of workouts, however seek the web to discover a trainer or trainer you want and accept as true with. John berardi, a nutritionist i paintings with, is often requested, “what’s the fine vegetable to devour?” his solution is that it’s the vegetable you like and could eat regularly. Workout is the equal. There may be a run on domestic health club device proper now, but dumbbells, ropes and other useful merchandise are nevertheless available online. Choose what’s proper to your area. I’ve just ordered a few opposition kettlebells due to the fact they’re some thing i in reality experience. There’s copious anecdotal and scientific proof displaying how vital fitness is for mental health: so for the duration of this very stressful time, it’s even more crucial. It also boosts the immune device. However workout isn’t just about fitness – it’s frequently a social activity, too. I’m the use of facetime more than ever earlier than due to the fact i’m no longer having normal social touch. Exercise session with a chum on facetime or have a web dance party along with your family. Remaining night i watched a band i like known as sofi tukker dj live on instagram. That become a brand new enjoy. Find some thing like that and dance for 1/2 an hour and your aerobic may be executed. Pickling jack monroe with pie in kitchen. Jack monroe in her kitchen. Image: shutterstock commercial

jack monroe, meals creator and activist in times of meals scarcity and uncertainty, we have to make do with what we've got. I haven’t been so much panic-buying – not having a vehicle limits that – however i've been guiltily hoovering up scraps from the decreased cupboard past due inside the day, to save them being discarded. This week’s haul protected 3 packing containers of chestnut mushrooms, a withered bunch of wild garlic and a pile of french purple garlic, a little battered round the edges. I'm able to dry the mushrooms, peel and pickle the garlic cloves, and knock the wild garlic with a few nuts right into a sauce aillade. This will maintain for a month beyond the sell-by way of date that consigned it to the bargain bin in the first place. Retaining meals isn't going get us too far in an endemic, admittedly, however pickling what we've now's an investment in destiny dinners. I am also pickling a sluggish cooker’s really worth of dried white beans in oil and vinegar, to apply till tinned ones come returned into inventory. Candy-sour cannellini beans makes a huge jar

examine extra

400g dried cannellini beans

½ a small onion

100g frozen peppers

80ml vinegar – purple, white or cider

1 tbsp white sugar

100ml oil (any)

drain and rinse your beans, then pop them in a pan of cold water. Convey to the boil, then lessen to a simmer. Simmer for 15 mins then drain very well then return to the pan. Add the onions and peppers, along with the vinegar, sugar and oil. Thoroughly clean and sterilise a big jar and its lid. Bring the pan to the boil very carefully. Do not take your eyes off it for a second as you are handling hot oil, which poses a fire danger if unattended. As soon as bubbles start to form, do away with it from the heat straight away. Permit to cool for a minute, stirring well, then pour into the sterilised jar, filling it as complete as viable. Flip the jar upside down and permit to chill completely before placing in the refrigerator. Withstand sampling them for at the least seven days, as the flavour will increase in this time. In a easy and sterile jar, these can hold for a few months unopened. Once opened, use inside a week. Jack monroe’s modern-day e-book is tin can cook (bluebird, £6. Ninety nine)

adorning

couple attempting out paint shades

trying out paint colorings. Image: alamy

commercial

laura de barra, ‘she’-i-y expert and author if you need to apply this time it to zhuzh up your property, start with paint. Take into account the distance and consider what mood you want works best. In case you need your kitchen to provide you a touch lift every morning, go for light, bright tones. Keep away from mistakes: that colour that appears terrifi on the tin (or on instagram), can look much less attractive on walls with much less herbal mild or in a different-sized room, so swatching is key. Check a couple of swatches on each wall. Paint dries to a different shade, so don’t be freaked out. Stroll away and are available lower back while it’s fully dry before thinking about how it seems. If you’ll want two coats, do  coats while you swatch. Take note of how the colour is affected by mild on the times you operate the room most. With regards to portray a wall, use a broom to “reduce in” first. This indicates portray the corners and edges before something else – it gives a better finish. Rollers are perfect for huge regions and less difficult at the hands. Make sure you have an appropriate curler for the floor – test along with your paint supplier. I favour water-primarily based paint – it doesn’t trap moisture, it’s kinder to the surroundings and the smooth-up is simpler. Also, even as contemporary satin and sheen paint finishes are extremely good, don't forget a matt paint in an older home: it received’t soar light from any dents and imperfections. C’est bon! Laura de barra is creator of gaff goddess

john-paul flintoff, creator and crafter ten years ago, to be kinder to the planet, i took up mending garments. I knee-patched jeans, darned jumpers and, before you can say “treadle-powered singer sewing system”, i had sold one and started out making matters from scratch. I shirted and trousered myself, and with knitting needles i socked and jumpered. I discovered crochet so i ought to make y-fronts the use of nettle fibre. (we’ll all be carrying nettle whilst the cotton stops, so plant it now. And relax: the fibre doesn’t sting.)

did human beings chuckle? Nicely, it became intended to be funny. But now not simplest humorous. Like all activity that involves making use of your thoughts to the bodily universe, sewing is meditative. It puts you in the here and now. Gradually i set apart the angst that had were given me started out and began sewing for delight. Hoping others might observe, i permit my maintenance show themselves off, using thread of contrasting colours to facet holes in a jumper, and to stitch the slogan “sparkling air system” at the back. I published a e-book about all this, first of all as a restrained collection of hand-bound books i sewed collectively, with bits of cereal box and old shirts for the cover. (higher than it sounds.) this, too, was meditative work. In case you need to have a pass, attempt darning something. (observe youtube.) reduce some thing up and use it to patch some thing else. Study specific stitches (for exclusive results), and test by way of combining materials. Using embroidery, write your call in your shirt or provide it a luxury logo logo: it will make you smile, and might provide pleasure to others. John-paul flintoff’s e book is stitch your very own (profile books, available on kindle, £6. 40)

fun with kids younger women with facemasks and cucumber on eyes permit the children play splendor salons - and attempt no longer to get too concerned. Image: rachel warne

after 3 youngsters and eight years of “screen-unfastened own family sundays”, i've masses of ideas for wonderful youngsters at domestic. First, get secure with mess. Children having amusing do no longer preserve matters neat. Manipulate the chaos with a “tidy-up half-hour” for all people earlier than they visit bed. Additionally supply the children some manage – they’re always more inclined to throw themselves into things in the event that they feel it become as a minimum partly their idea. Let them lead: help them collect cloth for junk modelling, a style display or residence construction, however resist getting too concerned. Their imaginations are better than yours. On day one among any lengthy stretch with the youngsters, we make a “boredom buster”. Take a big jar and lots of squares of paper. On each, one, write an interest absolutely everyone can do – play a board sport, make a milkshake. Whenever every body says “i’m bored”, you pick out an pastime from the jar. The only rule is you all must do it earlier than you select every other. To add an element of trepidation, slip a few chores into the jar: easy your room, empty the dishwasher. That manner, the jar won’t be empty with the aid of the cease of day two, and the residence might not appearance as if a bomb has hit it. Anything out of the ordinary is constantly more fun. If it’s mealtime, why no longer have a picnic at the carpet rather than sitting at the table? In the event that they need to run a cafe and serve the family lunch, or installation a library, let them have a pass. Just don’t count on perfection – they’re nonetheless apprentices.

[lovely-simply-ashley]

Every year Christmas just gets better and better! I’m not just talking about the gifts I received but also the gifts that were given. I can honestly say that I much more enjoy giving presents than receiving presents because I love to see the reactions that people make when they open their gifts. For my boyfriend Christmas is a breeze. He loves to play video games on his Xbox One so their is always a new game that he wants so I bought him Mafia 3 and Skyrim Special Edition which he loved and instantly started to download it. My mom is the most difficult to shop for because she has a very specific taste which I know very well but I always try to get her the most perfect gift so I bought her this vintage print of old fashioned books that look as though they are sitting on a shelf that she had been wanting. Nikki, my little puppy, is hard to shop for because their is so much that I want to buy her but I need to know when to stop. I got her the most adorable jacket that looks like fake leather with a fur collar and a gold zipper down the back. Along with a few other toys that she most certainly does not need but I always enjoy buying her things because my mom and I always wrap her presents and let her unwrap them because it is one of the funniest things ever. For my best friend I gave her the gift of stress relief. She has had quite a stressful year so I filled a bag full of stress relief soap, pillow spray, and lotion from Bath & Body Works along with 3 small bottles of her favorite wines, a twenty-seventeen planner, and some metallic pens to match.

I had actually had a pretty easy shopping list this year which made the month of December much more enjoyable instead of stressful about the upcoming festivities.

I have definitely gotten to that age though where getting underwear and bras for Christmas is amazing because I don’t want to spend my own money on stuff like that haha So when it gets to that time when my mom and boyfriend ask me what I want I never know what to say because I never feel like I need anything, but those two really know me well because they both got me such wonderful presents that I love so much.

A few months back I was looking at a new camera lens that I wanted that would be great for taken up close photos but I never wanted to spend the money. Lee surprised me with it on Christmas morning and I was so excited! On top of that he also bought us a brand new television for our living room that is huge!

My mom of course knows me the best out of anyone and she topped off my Christmas with surprising me with one of the best coffee makers you can buy and let me tell you, it is amazing! It can make up to twelve cups of coffee and if you just want one cup then you can even stick your cup under the drip so it brews directly into your mug and you can pick how strong you want the coffee to be and how fine the grounds should be grinded. On top of the coffee maker she knows how much I love copper so bought me the special edition Starbucks French Press and if you have never tried using a French Press I highly recommend it because they do make a great cup of coffee. Can you tell I’m a coffee junkie? haha

I also received a few new additions to my closet that I am absolutely in love with. My most favorite item is this beautiful black jacket from Zara with a fox red fur hood that is removable in case I don’t feel like having the fur. Along with the coat I got some new jumpers that are super cozy and some new ankle boots to match. The ultimate cozy item that I unwrapped was a faux fur, super soft, robe with a hood which I have already fallen asleep on the couch in several times.

Ever since I was a little girl there has always been this tradition that my mom gets me a new wallet every Christmas and this year is definitely a favorite. I have never had one of those wallets with a little wristlet so you can just carry your wallet and that is exactly what she got me. It is this beautiful leather wallet that is just the perfect size to stick some cards and cash in and my phone.

Now for the final item that I am going to talk about is something that I bought myself. I rarely buy myself things outside of the ordinary and this year I just really wanted to treat myself to a new gadget. Over the course of Zoella’s Vlogmas she talked about some of her favorite items and one of them was an HP Sprocket Printer and it is awesome! I it literally the size of my phone and it is a wireless Bluetooth printer so I can print images anywhere at any time. The images are only wallet size but it’s perfect for hanging on a bulletin board or using clothes pins to hang them from a string for decoration.

I absolutely love Christmas and I am sad that it is already over but this has been such a great December! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I would love to know what all of you received for Christmas and what your favorite present was. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ♥

xoxo

    Contact: Simplyashleys.blog@gmail.com

  Christmas Haul Every year Christmas just gets better and better! I'm not just talking about the gifts I received but also the gifts that were given.