#Ironing service in london

[primelaundrylondonsblog]

Ironing Service Excellence: Effortless Elegance for Your Wardrobe

In today’s fast-paced world, individuals hardly get time to wash their clothes, and iron them before office meetings. People always remain busy maintaining hectic office work, performing family responsibilities, attending social gatherings, and doing self-care. They don’t get enough time to carry on simple tasks like ironing. So, those who always need a polished appearance and crisp clothes need professional ironing services. Well, before you opt to hire a professional laundry service, you need to understand the importance of having a professional dry cleaning service. 

Enjoy the Polished Look

You must know that first impressions matter a lot. Whether you are attending a vital professional meeting or an important interview, if you wear wrinkled clothes, it will bear a sense of carelessness. A crisp, ironed, and polished outfit will reflect your professionalism and self-confidence. It will enhance your impression of others. So, availing of a professional ironing and dry cleaning service will ensure your clothes look impeccable.

More Aesthetic Appearance

You will surely love to get an aesthetic appearance before you attend any meeting or social gathering. You can hire professionals offering top-ranked Laundry services, like Prime Laundry, to get fresh and hygienic clothes. The professionals will iron, keeping your clothes free from foul orders. Again, experts will do perfect ironing to your clothes and maintain the shape of your outfits. The experts also understand that you should take special care of all types of fabrics so that your dress doesn’t get damaged by iron. 

Time Management 

Ironing can be a monotonous and time-consuming routine. Here you need to set up an iron table, sort clothes, etc. and have a good time. Sometimes you forget to iron your clothes well before your office meeting. Here, by opting for Ironing Laundry services Addinton can eliminate this load. Their professional service will keep you free, and you can focus on your important tasks. Moreover, this professional service will keep you free from unnecessary stress and anxiety. 

A Smart Investment

Availing professional ironing service is not just about getting a smart, and professional appearance. It is also related to save your money. Individuals don’t have the proper knowledge to apply the right heat according to the fabrics. The wrong heat application can damage your dress, and you might need to buy a new one. So, it is better to hire professionals to iron your outfits and keep them safe. 

Follow the Tips to Find washing and ironing service near me

Whenever you are trying to search for reliable and professional dry cleaning and washing service providers, you need to follow some crucial tips below. 

Turnaround Time

Are you going to hire a professional dry cleaning service? It is necessary to check the pick-up and delivery services they offer for washing and ironing your clothes. You need to check their schedule, and, if it suits you, you can hire a professional. 

Feedback 

You can talk to friends, family, and neighbours who have already used the laundry service with ironing. Personal approvals can be a great way to find reliable providers. Moreover, you can check the websites of the professional laundry service near me to get reliable feedback from previous customers. 

Pricing

You need to compare the pricing of dry cleaning and washing service providers before you hire them for you.  Here, you need to ensure the factors like ironing costs, any additional fees like pick-up and delivery, and potential discounts for first-time customers, etc. 

Service Details

Reliable and professional laundry and washing service providers keep updated details of their service on their websites. So, it is always a great option to check the websites to get detailed service options. You can call the company professionals directly to get their service details. 

Pick-up and Delivery

Pick-up and delivery service are other critical criteria that you need to ask before you avail yourself of professional ironing services. Many professional dry cleaners offer convenient pick-up and delivery options. It can save you time and hassle, particularly if you have a large load of laundry. So, always ask the professionals whether they provide pick-up and delivery service. 

Mode of Payment

Today, in this era of advanced technology, almost all accept payment via online mode. Still, it is always a good option to ask before you hire a professional laundry service provider. It is always an excellent option to opt for those laundry service providers who offer both online and offline payment options. 

Damage/Loss Policy

A reliable and popular dry cleaning service provider typically maintains a damage and loss policy so that customers don’t face any problems in case of sudden damage or loss from the company’s end. So, it is always a good option to hire a professional who offers a convincing damage and loss policy. 

Detergent and Other Washing Material

If you are allergic to a specific detergent, you can mention it to the professionals in Laundry Services Addington. So, while hiring a professional, you need to check whether they will wash your clothes as per your preferences and provide you with the best service. 

This content is originally published on Prime Laundry’s Website: Ironing Service Excellence: Effortless Elegance for Your Wardrobe

[hellolaundry]

How does dry cleaning work anyway and is it reall superior?

Without water, a dry cleaning service removes stains and grime from textile materials using a solvent, usually perchloroethylene. The first step in the procedure is the pretreatment of the stains, followed by immersion in the solvent to dissolve grease and oils efficiently. After that, the clothes are dried and ironed to regain their original appearance and shape. Dry cleaning is frequently recommended for delicate items that shrink or lose colour when exposed to water. Although it could work better on some fabrics and stains—like oil-based stains—it's not necessarily required for every article of clothing.

However, using a dry cleaning service guarantees complete cleaning and upkeep without compromising fabric integrity for individuals looking for professional care and preservation of their apparel.

Original Source:- https://www.quora.com/How-does-dry-cleaning-work-anyway-and-is-it-reall-superior/answer/Hello-Laundry/log

[hamlet-laundry]

Finding the Best Ironing Service in Kensington

Finding the Best Ironing Service in Kensington: Hamlet Laundry Takes the Lead

If you are looking for the best ironing service in Kensington, then look no further than Hamlet Laundry. This highly reputable laundry and dry cleaning service provider has been offering top-notch ironing services to residents and businesses in the area for many years, and they have built a reputation for delivering excellent results.

One of the key factors that sets Hamlet Laundry apart from their competitors is their commitment to quality. They use only the best and most advanced ironing equipment and techniques to ensure that their customers' items are pressed to perfection. They also have a team of experienced and knowledgeable professionals who are dedicated to delivering the best results possible.

Another factor that sets Hamlet Laundry apart is their convenience. They understand the importance of making life as easy as possible for their customers, and they do this by offering free pickup and delivery services. This means that customers can simply schedule a pickup, and their items will be picked up and returned to them once they are cleaned and pressed.

In terms of their ironing services, Hamlet Laundry offers a wide range of options to meet the needs of their customers. They can handle everything from simple ironing jobs to more complex tasks, such as pressed suits and shirts, and they always strive to deliver the best results possible.

In conclusion, if you are looking for the best ironing service in Kensington, then Hamlet Laundry is the right choice for you. They offer a wide range of services, along with convenient pickup and delivery options, and they are dedicated to providing their customers with the best possible experience. Whether you are a busy professional, a student, or a busy parent, Hamlet Laundry has the skills and expertise to help you look your best.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The new globalism is global labor

For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!

Depending on how you look at it, I either grew up in the periphery of the labor movement, or atop it, or surrounded by it. For a kid, labor issues don't really hold a lot of urgency – in places with mature labor movements, kids don't really have jobs, and the part-time jobs I had as a kid (paper route, cleaning a dance studio) were pretty benign.

Ironically, one of the reasons that labor issues barely registered for me as a kid was that my parents were in great, strong unions: Ontario teachers' unions, which protected teachers from exploitative working conditions and from retaliation when they advocated for their students, striking for better schools as well as better working conditions.

Ontario teachers' unions were strong enough that they could take the lead on workplace organization, to the benefit of teachers at every part of their careers, as well as students and the system as a whole. Back in the early 1980s, Ontario schools faced a demographic crisis. After years of declining enrollment, the number of students entering the system was rapidly increasing.

That meant that each level of the system – primary, junior, secondary – was about to go through a whipsaw, in which low numbers of students would be followed by large numbers. For a unionized education workforce, this presented a crisis: normally, a severe contraction in student numbers would trigger layoffs, on a last-in, first-out basis. That meant that layoffs loomed for junior teachers, who would almost certainly end up retraining for another career. When student numbers picked up again, those teachers wouldn't be in the workforce anymore, and worse, a lot of the senior teachers who got priority during layoffs would be retiring, magnifying the crisis.

The teachers' unions were strong, and they cared about students and teachers, both those at the start of their careers and those who'd given many years of service. They came up with an amazing solution: "self-funded sabbaticals." Teachers with a set number of years of seniority could choose to take four years at 80% salary, and get a fifth year off at 80% salary (actually, they could take their year off any time from the third year on).

This allowed Ontario to increase its workforce by about 20%, for free. Senior teachers got a year off to spend with their families, or on continuing education, or for travel. Junior teachers' jobs were protected. Students coming into the system had adequate classroom staff, in a mix of both senior and junior teachers.

This worked great for everyone, including my family. My parents both took their four-over-five year in 1983/84. They rented out our house for six months, charging enough to cover the mortgage. We flew to London, took a ferry to France, and leased a little sedan. For the next six months, we drove around Europe, visiting fourteen countries while my parents homeschooled us on the long highway stretches and in laundromats. We stayed in youth hostels and took a train to Leningrad to visit my family there. We saw Christmas Midnight Mass at the Vatican and walked around the Parthenon. We saw Guernica at the Prado. We visited a computer lab in Paris and I learned to program Logo in French. We hung out with my parents' teacher pals who were civilian educators at a Canadian Forces Base in Baden-Baden. I bought an amazing hand-carved chess set in Seville with medieval motifs that sung to my D&D playing heart. It was amazing.

No, really, it was amazing. Unions and the social contract they bargained for transformed my family's life chances. My dad came to Canada as a refugee, the son of a teen mother who'd been deeply traumatized by her civil defense service as a child during the Siege of Leningrad. My mother was the eldest child of a man who, at thirteen, had dropped out of school to support his nine brothers and sisters after the death of his father. My parents grew up to not only own a home, but to be able to take their sons on a latter-day version of the Grand Tour that was once the exclusive province of weak-chinned toffs from the uppermost of crusts:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour

My parents were active in labor causes and in their unions, of course, but that was just part of their activist lives. My mother was a leader in the fight for legal abortion rights in Canada:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/8882641733

My dad was active in party politics with the New Democratic Party, and both he and my mother were deeply involved with the fight against nuclear arms proliferation, a major issue in Canada, given our role in supplying radioisotopes to the US, building key components for ICBMs, testing cruise missiles over Labrador, and our participation in NORAD.

Abortion rights and nuclear arms proliferation were my own entry into political activism. When I was 13, I organized a large contingent from my school to march on Queen's Park, the seat of the Provincial Parliament, to demand an end to Ontario's active and critical participation in the hastening of global nuclear conflagration:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/53616011737/

When I got a little older, I started helping with clinic defense and counterprotests at the Morgentaler Clinic and other sites in Toronto that provided safe access to women's health, including abortions:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/morgentaler-honoured-by-order-of-canada-federal-government-not-involved-1.716775

My teens were a period of deepening involvement in politics. It was hard work, but rewarding and fundamentally hopeful. There, in the shadow of imminent nuclear armageddon, there was a role for me to play, a way to be more than a passive passenger on a runaway train, to participate in the effort to pull the brake lever before we ran over the cliff.

In hindsight, though, I can see that even as my activism intensified, it also got harder. We struggled more to find places to meet, to find phones and computers to use, to find people who could explain how to get a permit for a demonstration or to get legal assistance for comrades in jail after a civil disobedience action.

What I couldn't see at the time was that all of this was provided by organized labor. The labor movement had the halls, the photocopiers, the lawyers, the experience – the infrastructure. Even for campaigns that were directly about labor rights – campaigns for abortion rights, or against nuclear annihilation – the labor movement was the material, tangible base for our activities.

Look, riding a bicycle around all night wheatpasting posters to telephone poles to turn out people for an upcoming demonstration is hard work, but it's much harder if you have to pay for xeroxing at Kinko's rather than getting it for free at the union hall. Worse, the demonstration turnout suffers more because the union phone-trees and newsletters stop bringing out the numbers they once brought out.

This was why the neoliberal project took such savage aim at labor: they understood that a strong labor movement was foundation of antiimperialist, antiracist, antisexist struggles for justice. By dismantling labor, the ruling class kicked the legs out from under all the other fights that mattered.

Every year, it got harder to fight for any kind of better world. We activist kids grew to our twenties and foundered, spending precious hours searching for a room to hold a meeting, leaving us with fewer hours to spend organizing the thing we were meeting for. But gradually, we rebuilt. We started to stand up our own fragile, brittle, nascent structures that stood in for the mature and solid labor foundation that we'd grown up with.

The first time I got an inkling of what was going on came in 1999, with the Battle of Seattle: the mass protests over the WTO. Yes, labor turned out in force for those mass demonstrations, but they weren't its leaders. The militancy, the leadership, and the organization came out of groups that could loosely be called "post-labor" – not in the sense that they no longer believed in labor causes, but in the sense that they were being organized outside of traditional labor.

Labor was in retreat. Five years earlier, organized labor had responded to NAFTA by organizing against Mexican workers, rather than the bosses who wanted to ship jobs to Mexico. It wasn't unusual to see cars in Ontario with CAW bumper stickers alongside xenophobic stickers taking aim at Mexicans, not bosses. Those were the only workers that organized labor saw as competitors for labor rights: this was also the heyday of "two-tier" contracts, which protected benefits for senior workers while leaving their junior comrades exposed to bosses' most sadistic practices, while still expecting junior workers to pay dues to a union that wouldn't protect them:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/25/strikesgiving/#shed-a-tier

Two-tier contracts were the opposite of the solidarity that my parents' teachers' union exhibited in the early 1980s; blaming Mexican workers for automakers' offshoring was the opposite of the solidarity that built transracial and international labor power in the early days of the union movement:

https://unionhall.aflcio.org/bloomington-normal-trades-and-labor-assembly/labor-culture/edge-anarchy-first-class-pullman-strike

As labor withered under a sustained, multi-decades-long assault on workers' rights, other movements started to recapitulate the evolution of early labor, shoring up fragile movements that lacked legal protections, weathering setbacks, and building a "progressive" coalition that encompassed numerous issues. And then that movement started to support a new wave of labor organizing, situating labor issues on a continuum of justice questions, from race to gender to predatory college lending.

Young workers from every sector joined ossified unions with corrupt, sellout leaders and helped engineer their ouster, turning these dying old unions into engines of successful labor militancy:

https://theintercept.com/2023/04/07/deconstructed-union-dhl-teamsters-uaw/

In other words, we're in the midst of a reversal of the historic role of labor and other social justice movements. Whereas once labor anchored a large collection of smaller, less unified social movements; today those social movements are helping bring back a weakened and fragmented labor movement.

One of the key organizing questions for today is whether these two movements can continue to co-evolve and, eventually, merge. For example: there can be no successful climate action without climate justice. The least paid workers in America are also the most racially disfavored. The gender pay-gap exists in all labor markets. For labor, integrating social justice questions isn't just morally sound, it's also tactically necessary.

One thing such a fusion can produce is a truly international labor movement. Today, social justice movements are transnational: the successful Irish campaign for abortion rights was closely linked to key abortion rights struggles in Argentina and Poland, and today, abortion rights organizers from all over the world are involved in mailing medication abortion pills to America.

A global labor movement is necessary, and not just to defeat the divide-and-rule tactics of the NAFTA fight. The WTO's legacy is a firmly global capitalism: workers all over the world are fighting the same corporations. The strong unions of one country are threatened by weak labor in other countries where their key corporations seek to shift manufacturing or service delivery. But those same strong unions are able to use their power to help their comrades abroad protect their labor rights, depriving their common adversary of an easily exploited workforce.

A key recent example is Mercedes, part of the Daimler global octopus. Mercedes' home turf is Germany, which boasts some of the strongest autoworker unions in the world. In the USA, Mercedes – like other German auto giants – preferentially manufactures its cars in the South, America's "onshore-offshore" crime havens, where labor laws are both virtually nonexistent and largely unenforced. This allows Mercedes to exploit and endanger a largely Black workforce in a "right to work" territory where unions are nearly impossible to form and sustain.

Mercedes just defeated a hard-fought union drive in Vance, Alabama. In part, this was due to admitted tactical blunders from the UAW, who have recently racked up unprecedented victories in Tennessee and North Carolina:

https://paydayreport.com/uaw-admits-digital-heavy-organizing-committee-light-approach-failed-them-in-alabama-at-mercedes/

But mostly, this was because Mercedes cheated. They flagrantly violated labor law to sabotage the union vote. That's where it gets interesting. German workers have successfully lobbied the German parliament for the Supply Chain Act, an anticorruption law that punishes German companies that violate labor law abroad. That means that even though the UAW just lost their election, they might inflict some serious pain on Mercedes, who face a fine of 2% of their global annual revenue, and a ban on selling cars to the German government:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/10/an-injury-to-one/#is-an-injury-to-all

This is another way reversal of the post-neoliberal era. Whereas once the US exported its most rapacious corporate practices all over the world, today, global labor stands a chance of exporting workers' rights from weak territories to strong ones.

Here's an American analogy: the US's two most populous states are California and Texas. The policies of these states ripple out over the whole country, and even beyond. When Texas requires textbooks that ban evolution, every pupil in the country is at risk of getting a textbook that embraces Young Earth Creationism. When California enacts strict emission standards, every car in the country gets cleaner tailpipes. The WTO was a Texas-style export: a race to the bottom, all around the world. The moment we're living through now, as global social movements fuse with global labor, are a California-style export, a race to the top.

This is a weird upside to global monopoly capitalism. It's how antitrust regulators all over the world are taking on corporations whose power rivals global superpowers like the USA and China: because they're all fighting the same corporations, they can share tactics and even recycle evidence from one-another's antitrust cases:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/big-tech-eu-drop-dead

Look, the UAW messed up in Alabama. A successful union vote is won before the first ballot is cast. If your ground game isn't strong enough to know the outcome of the vote before the ballot box opens, you need more organizing, not a vote:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/23/a-collective-bargain/

But thanks to global labor – and its enemy, global capitalism – the UAW gets another chance. Global capitalism is rich and powerful, but it has key weaknesses. Its drive to "efficiency" makes it terribly vulnerable, and a disruption anywhere in its supply chain can bring the whole global empire to its knees:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/21/eight-and-skate/#strike-to-rule

American workers – especially swing-state workers who swung for Trump and are leaning his way again – overwhelmingly support a pro-labor agenda. They are furious over "price gouging and outrageous corporate profits…wealthy corporate CEOs and billionaires [not] paying what they should in taxes and the top 1% gaming the system":

https://www.americanfamilyvoices.org/_files/ugd/d4d64f_6c3dff0c3da74098b07ed3f086705af2.pdf

They support universal healthcare, and value Medicare and Social Security, and trust the Democrats to manage both better than Republicans will. They support "abortion rights, affordable child care, and even forgiving student loans":

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-05-20-bidens-working-class-slump/

The problem is that these blue-collar voters are atomized. They no longer meet in union halls – they belong to gun clubs affiliated with the NRA. There are enough people who are a) undecided and b) union members in these swing states to defeat Trump. This is why labor power matters, and why a fusion of American labor and social justice movements matters – and why an international fusion of a labor-social justice coalition is our best hope for a habitable planet and a decent lives for our families.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/20/a-common-foe/#the-multinational-playbook

[cultofsappho]

In honor of AGCD 🤠, a list of my berserk findings in roughly chronological order RE: A RWRB Sequel:

1. When the movie come out, Casey did an AMA on Threads for both Alex, then Henry. In Henry's AMA, they posted this:

Meaning at the very least they'd be open to writing/sharing/creating more for Alex and Henry, if not a direct sequel [more from the AMA: X]

2. Casey also had an interview with Out Magazine in Nov '23 where they were asked if the want to write a sequel and they said "Of course I'd love to! 😉 I don't think i'm allowed to say anything more than that.😊" They're so fucking precious. We all know what 'not allowed to say' means. [twitter video: X]

3. Taylor has had a bunch of interviews recently, mostly as an ambassador to the SAG awards. He's been asked a dozen times about a RWRB sequel and everytime he says something along the lines of "Anything could happen! But I don't know, they don't tell me these things aha! 🤪 Give me a call!" And he's so unbelieveably obvious that his interview clips have already been compared to Andrew Garfield denying having any role in Spider-Man: No Way Home: [tiktok: X]

4. PrimeVideoUK has been bringing up RWRB & Firstprince more on social media recently. It could be for any number of reasons, it's their movie they can market however they feel like. Especially since Nick has a bunch of projects releasing rn (one of which, The Idea Of You is also releasing on Prime this summer), they may want to capitalize on the attention on him. Or, it could be to test RWRB's engagement #s... [tweet: X] [tweet: X] [twitter poll w/a rwrb sweep: X] [tiktok: X] And all the comments on these posts (and more) are begging for a sequel. So, if their social media manager is passing on the message... 👀

5. This is def a reach, so if you don't mind, i'm pulling out the red string for this conspiracy corkboard. But Casey was recently in London, it could have been a trip for literally anything. But, the first movie was filmed (and maybe produced idfk) in London. [insta post: X] they sold the movie rights for RWRB before the book was released, if I'm remembering that right, but maybe they retain rights to sign off on a sequel.

so anyway i was thinking about all those little things adding up in my head and thinking i was on to some kind of conspiracy then Nick goes and does press for Mary & George (which i just started, and is amazing btw) and says this shit:

6. Nick confirms in an interview with HitsRadio that they're talking about a RWRB sequel. Just flat out: "Yeah obv conversations are happening, duh! 😇" energy. God bless him. He says there have been conversations about a sequel. And, they're all on the same page that the script needs to be right and "all the components" need to be right. [X minute 15:50 they bring up the rwrb sequel, but the whole interview is great and you should watch it!]

ANYWAY i'm in a land of delusion, gnawing on the iron bars of my enclosure, etc, but also maybe not bc they're talking about a sequel and now we just need to wait for the greenlight

And (pseudo point #7), it would be a dumb business decision for Prime to not make a sequel. RWRB did way too well for an LGBT product, releasing during a dual actors and writer's strike, with little to no promo and zero press tour. From the RWRB Wikipedia page: "For the first three weeks after its release, it was the top watched film worldwide on the platform and provoked what Prime Video described as "a huge surge" of new subscribers." [X] And subscribers are all these streaming services care about.

I can't wait to reblog this with a screenshot when they inevitably post an offical confirmation for a sequel movie...

[greatwesternrailway]

I made Eras Tour bracelets of all the times Taylor Swift references trains in her songs. The colours are inspired by different trains and railway liveries. Excessive details under the cut:

"You know that my train could take you home" from Willow. Inspired by Great Western Railway's Intercity Express Trains. It's the train I catch most often, it's my train!

"I knew you, stepping on the last train" from Cardigan. Inspired by the subway cars in New York City, which I think of as having blue seats but it seems yellow/orange is just as (or more?) common. Idk I've never been to New York, my whole knowledge of the subway comes from Broad City and pictures of dogs in Ikea bags.

"I jump from the train, I ride off alone" from The Archer. Inspired by ye olde American locomotives like the Union Pacific No. 119. This lyric evokes Wild West imagery for me and this type of engine is what my British brain thinks of as a "cowboy train".

"Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train" from The Last Great American Dynasty. Inspired by the steam locomotives used in the 1940s by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, which is what Rebekah Harkness would have rode up on. Sadly I couldn't find a good colour image of one, so I leaned into it and chose a greyscale colour palette. As it happens the engines were almost certainly black anyway so it's fine.

"Silence, the train runs off its tracks" from Sad Beautiful Tragic. Inspired by my boy Thomas the Tank Engine. There are a lot of derailments on the Island of Sodor, the Fat Controller should probably have been sacked.

"Northbound I got carried away, as you boarded your train south" from I Look in People's Windows. Inspired by the London Underground map. I didn't have any brown beads so the Bakerloo line has been reassigned orange.

"We wait for trains that just aren't coming" from New Romantics. Inspired by the British Rail Class 195 trains created for Arriva Rail North, the network so incompetent that even the Tories had to re-nationalise it. Those trains just weren't coming.

"You took the night train for a reason" from Champagne Problems. Inspired by the British Rail Mark 5 coaches used on the Caledonian Sleeper Service.

"Some trains you can't catch again, you've gotta leave it as it was" from Tim McGraw - Acoustic Demo. This is a deep cut that I expect even a lot of Swifties wouldn't necessarily know, but I've always loved this lyric. It totally recontextualises the song and ironically is a much more adult sentiment than the lyrics of the final recording. Inspired by the livery of Anglia Railways, which are the trains of my childhood. Anglia Railways has been sold and rebranded several times since then, so they are quite literally the trains I can't catch again.

I imagine that Taylor Swift has not been on a train in many years, for obvious reasons. However I appreciate her continued use of train imagery in her songs and I hope she never ever stops :)

[toomuchracket]

have you ever done a blurb where they visit Paris again when they’re finally together and go on little dates and do all the cute touristy shit? that could be so adorable

Maybe a cute little Parisien date, he could surprise her with a weekend away - corner shop cafes, flea markets and french kisses

i think this is your first birthday present from matty after you start dating, actually - he doesn't whisk you away on your birthday itself, because you made plans with your family before you and him got together and he really wants to spend time with them, but a few weeks later you guys are SAT on that eurostar from london (yes, you could've just flown, but he liked getting to look at you on the train on the og paris trip so he thought it would be cute to do again lol). he books the most exquisite little boutique hotel, with a suite that looks like a whole apartment and has a balcony and the nicest bathroom you have ever ever seen, and even though you were only on the train for a little while and the time difference is literally an hour it's decided that you'll simply stay in the first night "to cure the jet lag"; a poorly-veiled excuse to order room service and make out for ages and have sex until neither of you can stay awake any longer, aka the perfect night lol. the next day, though, you're out exploring paris, brunching in a café before getting the métro (holding hands the entire time) and going to the louvre - matty thinks the mona lisa is "a bit shit", but it's fun to wander around looking at art with you, snuggling and snapping candids of each other and just enjoying getting to be anonymous together in the crowds. the running bit of the entire weekend is matty being like "ooh, babe, we're in france" and pulling you in for a french kiss because "we have to do as the french do", which actually you grossly exploit so he'll let you have a couple of cigs a day lmfao, and also him just totally spoiling you. like, you wanna pay for dinner, or coffee? absolutely not. see a cute poster at the flea market, or a new book in shakespeare and co? his treat. even the SLIGHTEST interest shown in a dior bag? he's flagging down a sales assistant and whacking out the credit card already. but he caves on your final day, when at breakfast you say "i know it's cheesy, but i want us to put a padlock on that bridge. you and me, together as long as iron holds out. and given that it's what makes up the very centre of the earth... l'éternité, baby", and matty's so sweetly emotional that he agrees to let you buy the padlock lol. a very lovely, very loving weekend <3

[vi-trying-to-survive]

We Can Share

Anthony Lockwood x f!Reader

Warnings: None this pretty much fluff only :) 💖💖💖

Summary: Lockwood and Y/N have to stay overnight in a hotel for a case, which is not the biggest problem until the room only has one bed

A/N: I hope you guys like it :) 💖💖💖 I wasn't sure how to feel about it and it is a little cliche but I couldn't get it out of my mind also :') 💖💖💖 Also sorry if updates are slow :') 💖💖💖 Hope you have a great day :) 💖💖💖

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"So you're telling me they didn't have a cheaper room", she frowned, chasing after him.

He didn't look back, crumpling the receipt into his pocket, "Yes".

The straps of her bag weighed down on her shoulders, pulling her down close to the ground, as they walked up yet another flight of stairs. Her feet ached. If this hotel was so brilliant why were all the elevators broken ? It was probably because the location of their next job was far out of London, next to the middle of nowhere. She probably should have seen it coming when the train station was just a misshapen shack that was barely standing. George and Lucy had rather conveniently decided to sit this one out, something about providing assistance remotely. She rolled her eyes.

"Remind me again why we took this case", she groaned, finally catching up to him.

He chuckled, shaking his head, "They are paying us highly for our services".

"Mmhm", she closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. Money. It was the denominator of every fraction in their lives. She longed for a time when they wouldn’t be so dependent on it, to the point where they put their lives on the line just for it. It was a harsh reality, one they were used to, but if anything she could at least thank it for the people that had come into her life, for him.

"Oh come on it's not that bad", he grinned widely, readjusting the bag on his shoulder before handing her a dull looking iron key.

She gave him a pointed look, “That's what you always say"

"But is it ever a lie", he raised a brow. She couldn’t help but smile. It was never awful, not even subpar, not if she was with him. He just knew all the right buttons to press with her, granted he also knew the wrong ones but it didn’t happen often enough to be a concern. He was reckless and overconfident, but he was also sweet and funny. It was hard for her to not have a good time when they were together.

"No, but I am allowed to miss the comfort of home", she grinned. She twisted the key through the lock, swinging the door open.

"Well, you'll be there soon enough", he laughed.

"Oh", her smile faltered. The room itself was relatively normal, no expensive sheets or fantastic views. It was clean and tidy, the covers folded in neatly under the mattress. The only problem was that there was only one bed. She thought this only happened in books, but the universe decided to prove her wrong this one time and of course it had to be with him. She chewed her thumbnail. It was already too late for them to request another room. She wondered what to say. Who would even know what to say ? No one, because no one ever ends up in these kinds of situations, except her apparently.

"Right, this is fine, you take the bed, I'll take the floor", he dumped the bags haphazardly at the foot of the bed. He was already gathering some pillows off the bed.

She felt a twinge of sympathy and maybe something more. Call it a careless decision. In the moment she felt brave, or maybe she was just desperate, she wasn’t sure. Yet she was aware of the consequences, even as the words spilled out, “Don't be ridiculous, we can share".

"I- Only if you're alright with it", he was surprised. She couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad one. If she was being honest she was surprised too. It would have been easier to let him stay on the floor, kept a solid barrier between them. What had she gotten herself into ?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark when all the lights were turned out. Fortunately, she was quite accustomed to the dark. It didn't scare her. What scared her was the fact that she was lying in a bed with a boy next to her, a boy that she hasn't been able to stop thinking about for the past 6 months. It was not the most ideal situation, but she figured they'd been stuck in more compromising positions. Yet, her heart was still pounding like she'd run a marathon and she was working a little too hard to keep her breathing quiet. They had always been close, even from when she had first joined the agency. She had always summed it up to them being a good team. That was until it developed into something more elaborate. When had things changed ? When had they become complicated ?

"Are you comfortable ?", he turned towards her, whispering.

"Very", she hoped she sounded confident. Her hands were clasped together tightly over her chest as she stared at the ceiling. She refused to look at him. She just might explode from anticipation alone.

"You're practically falling off the mattress", he scoffed. So maybe she had forced herself to be at as close to the edge as she could without falling off. It was only to put a respectable amount of distance between them, so she could manage the night with some semblance of relaxation. She had been hoping that he would be ignorant enough for her plan to work, but he seemed to be the exact opposite. She sighed. This was going to be one of those long nights.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, "Come on".

"No I-", she pressed her lips together. Her body went rigid as he tugged her closer to the middle of the bed, closer to him. She felt overtly self-conscious, choosing to concentrate on breathing in and out, instead of the fact that her back was pressed tightly against his chest. It was a more difficult task than what she had anticipated, especially when the warmth from his body spread to her. Her confidence faltered, and she felt herself relax into him, “This is nice, actually".

"Surprising isn't it ?", his tone was sarcastic, but his hand still rested comfortably over hers.

She was confused to say the least. They were always close, but sharing near-death experiences could do that to a person. Still, the last few months had been different. His touch would linger a little longer before he pulled away hurriedly. She would feel his stare in a crowded room, but he never met her eyes. Maybe it would have been simpler if she had been more forward with him, but she hadn't, and it put her in a vulnerable position. She could have gone to sleep, but she didn't, "Lockwood ?".

"Yes ?", his hot breath left the hairs on the back her neck standing.

She pushed herself to sit up, "I can't keep doing this".

"Doing what ?", he mimicked her position. His brows were furrowed and he sounded unconvinced.

"This", she groaned, throwing her head onto her knees. Why was this so hard for him to understand ? Why was it so hard for her to tell him ? Why wouldn't her heart stop pounding ?

She took a breath in, "We always act like a couple but somehow we're just friends, I just- I need- I-". He watched her closely, eyes dropping to her lips, before pressing his against them. He tasted faintly of honey and tea. She was quick to respond, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and tugging him closer to her. Her racing heart finally seemed to slow. She felt relieved and desperate all at once. She hoped he felt the same too, and to some extent he must be, seeing as he was kissing her like she might disappear if he didn't.

"Was that a good enough answer for you ?", he chuckled, pulling away.

She was breathless, but stood by a nonchalant facade, "Well you didn't really say anything".

"What? I was trying to make a romantic gesture?", he pressed his lips together, falling back onto the bed. The springs creaked under the sudden weight.

She giggled, smoothing his hair and patting down the stray strands that were sticking out, “Just kidding".

She lay down on the bed, settling into his side. She wondered if this was just a dream, and that she would eventually wake to a version of him that was unaware. The thought alone made her eyes grow wide. Well, it wouldn't hurt to check she thought. She poked him harshly in the side, "Just so you know, I really like you".

He only grinned, "Thanks, I really like me too".

She hit him across the chest, "I hate you". Only Anthony Lockwood could be that big-headed. At least she could be sure that this was reality. Where he had gotten his ego, she would never know, but at least she could go to sleep in peace.

"Don't worry I really like you too", he laughed, softly pressing a kiss against her temple. Though, she thought, when he wanted to, he could also be sweet.

[gumnut-logic]

Ice

An idea I had in mind for FishTank Week but didn't manage to do anything with. Also, an attempt to write anything, just anything.

Rambly brothers out on the ice.

-o-o-o-

Ice.

Ice is water.

Rather ironic that the substance he loved so much was so capable of becoming that which he hated with an equal passion.

Ice had taken his mother. Stolen his chance to ever get to know her, yet leaving him with just enough to know the terror and pain of the days that followed.

He remembered the tears, his family’s pure anguish, the loss that echoed down silent halls in a home that had nothing but sunshine all the times before.

The scars that built up and festered over the years.

All because of ice.

But it was simply water. It didn’t think, only existed and was as innocent as any other rock on this watery planet.

Yet a nemesis it remained as he watched his older brother tackle his own demons.

“Virg, you okay?”

His heavy lifting brother turned towards him, his specialised boots crunching on the snowy surface of Lake Baikal. His raised eyebrow was far too predictable.

“Yeah, why?”

Gordon turned back to packing the pod.

Thunderbird Two was a mere green dot far off in the distance on the lake shore.

“You took your helmet off.”

“My nose was itchy.”

Gordon snorted. “Now that is worse than the last excuse Scott gave you.” He deepened his voice enough to give an uncanny resemblance to Virgil’s. “Would you do that in space? No? Then don’t do it here!”

That earned him a glare enough to melt the metres thick ice they were standing on.

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

The fact Virgil only grumbled and shoved his helmet back on rather than lighting Gordon’s pants on fire with a safety lecture was just proof that his big brother was feeling the mood.

Because it was a mood.

The landscape was eerily silent.

Not an absence of sound. More the monotone of the sharp breeze cutting across the flat wildness of the deepest lake in the world.

It was winter, cue the ice, but winter in Siberia on a lake many kilometres wide and long, and with the surface water frozen solid, it was a desert of white and blue-greys.

Such the opposite of the bright tropical island they called home.

Gordon returned to loading equipment back into the pod. The fishermen had been saved, Gordon hauling them out, not even needing Four this time, his girl still curled up snug inside her sister on the far shore.

It had been ever so fortunate that they had been close when the accident happened, flying home from London. It had only taken them a minute or two to drop the pod onto the ice with the ice cutter, and Gordon was in the water, so far down, pulling the men to safety.

Virgil had airlifted them all out and then returned, dropping himself onto the ice to help pack up.

Gordon was ever grateful for Thunderbird Five’s valet service where Two was too heavy to land right on the spot.

And really? Just grateful for his brothers as well.

“So, you wanna do pizza tonight?”

“Sure.” His brother didn’t look up.

Virgil was rolling up rope in such a fast and perfect coil Gordon was both admiring and annoyed. He shoved the hatch closed over the tangle of coils of his own making. Goddamned genius brothers, it was enough to give a guy a complex.

“We could do a movie.”

“It’s Alan’s turn.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Gordon bit his lip. Okay, challenge accepted. At least Alan was easier to persuade than Scott. Or Johnny. Johnny picked the weirdest movies and was unpredictable as hell.

As for Virgil, his tank brother was little more than putty in his hands. Gordon knew his Virgil and knew exactly which buttons to press to get the results he needed.

“Try for a few less zombies this time. I want to be able to eat my dinner without regurgitating it.”

“You’re just a wimp.”

A fistful of snow clipped his helmet.

“Be careful what you start, Tankman, because I’m going to finish it.”

“You wish.”

Gordon bent down and gathered some snow into his hands. “Virg-“

He was interrupted by a sharp crack.

He froze.

The sound vibrated in the cold air and bounced across the ice.

The silence that followed was punctuated by his heart beat. “What was-“

But Virgil was looking directly at him, his arms suddenly out, eyes wide with disbelief.

And fear.

Another snap, another crack, splintering blurring them together.

His brother stumbled.

“Virgil?!”

But the ice groaned, rumbled…and moved. A visible crack split up the snow between the two of them.

“Virgil!”

He held up a hand. “Gordon, no!” Virgil’s eyes were on the ice beneath him, his perfectly aligned coils of rope unfurling to one side as the surface they were sitting on tilted.

Virgil moved, leaping towards Gordon.

But water spouted up between them and before Gordon could react, the ice tipped up on end before flipping entirely.

And his brother was gone.

-o-o-o-

[insanityclause]

Tom Hiddleston was given a royal assignment on Thursday evening. An ambassador for the Prince's Trust, the Loki actor, 43, attended the charity's Invest in Futures event, where he relayed a poignant message written by King Charles. 

"I really am so pleased that The Trust's work continues to go from strength to strength, having, in recent years, expanded from its mission in the United Kingdom to now supporting young people in twenty-three countries," read Tom. 

"Celebrating the global impact of this work is an achievement which, I must confess, I could not have dreamed of back in 1976 when I started The Trust, using, at that time, my Royal Navy severance pay when I left the Service to help disadvantaged young people achieve their full potential.

"I am thrilled to say that it has now worked with over one million young people, helping them to start careers, launch businesses and re-engage with education. I am enormously inspired by the determination and commitment of young people, one of whom you will hear from later. They are changemakers; they will shape the world's future and we must support them to realise their dreams."

A momentous occasion for the Prince's Trust, the annual Invest in Futures gala is the charity's principal fundraising event, and this year it was held at The Peninsula London in Belgravia. While King Charles has historically attended the annual event, this year, his letter proved extremely powerful, conveying the importance of the charity's work.  

A star-studded affair, Tom was accompanied by his fiancée Zawe Ashton for the festivities. Posing for photos together, the loved-up couple held hands and stared into each other's eyes. HELLO! even spotted lady in red Zawe telling Tom how "gorgeous" he looked in his tux. 

Rounding out the guest list, Prince's Trust ambassadors Joseph Fiennes, Jeremy Irons, Naomie Harris, Major Tim Peake, Luke Evans and Myleene Klass were also in attendance. 

Meanwhile, musical duo Rod Stewart and Jools Holland provided the entertainment, performing songs from their newly launched album Swing Fever, before handing the baton to DJ Cuppy.

It's been a royally busy week for A-lister Tom. Just 24 hours before the letter reading, the actor had been photographed meeting with Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace. Attending a reception for the BBC's 500 Words Finalists on Wednesday, Tom appeared engrossed in conversation, enjoying a laugh or two with Camilla, and music star Olivia Dean.

[primelaundrylondonsblog]

Make Your Home Absolute Festive-Ready With Professional Ironing Services

We all know the upcoming festival season when preparations are in full swing to set the stage for some unforgettable memories. But one thing that demands your undivided attention here is your appearance and presentation as a host.

Of course, you might have chosen the best crockery and festive furniture, but what about ironing linens, curtains, table cloths and clothing for guests? Are they genuinely reflecting your style and elegance? Looking out for last-minute ironing clothes near me services is permanent and hectic. But is it worth it?

This guide is all you need to read to know the importance of pre-ironed clothes, the advantages of shortlisting ironing services in London and more.

Impress your guests with neat and ironed duvets and linens.

Your well-polished and ironed curtains, linens, duvets and other home textiles create an unsaid impression, creating an ultimate first and long-lasting impression. A well-presented ambience exudes a sense of effortlessness, and a well-done house displays a beautiful aura the guests will remember.

Quick Tip: If you are searching for a professional ironing service near me, go for experienced teams that do pick-and-drop services and deliver impeccable results. 

Reduce stress with laundry services pre and post-gatherings

When you are into celebrations, impromptu gatherings and unexpected guests are expected. Therefore, having a pre-ironed tablecloth, sofa cover, and cushions ensures you enjoy the time with your guests, thus reducing the stress of getting them done at the last minute.

A professional duvet ironing service near me is what you need to keep your house fresh and ready for guests. 

Be present in pictures rather than in the ironing clothes 

Festive gatherings mean regular photo sessions, warm conversations and random captures of memorable moments. Pre-ironed clothes and tapestry ensure that the house looks the best and that you are free not to worry about ironing now and then and lose out on the joyous moments. This way, you can certainly create lasting memories of the celebrations.

Check for any alterations you need to make

Your home shall always be guest-ready with crisp and wrinkle-free tapestry and linens, but sometimes, with children running all around and guests coming and going; there can be a time when your favourite sofa cover or cushion needs a quick stitch. Even though the detail is too small to notice, the impact is significant. Choose clothes alteration services that can help you. 

Professional ironing and laundry services go a long way

No matter how hard you try, you cannot beat the professional precision; above all, you cannot replicate it at home. There is a nuance attached to different fabrics and clothing; trained professionals understand that. This way, they promise the deserving attention and care for each garment.

Regarding cost-effectiveness, professional ironing services may take time and effort, but they are worth investing in both convenience and garment care. You can choose from subscription or regular service options. This certainly means you can enjoy all the benefits of freshly pressed clothes.

Summing Up

There are many things to take care of in the house- bed sheets, covers, towels, pillows, blankets, etc. They require your time and energy and become your constant worry. Well, neat, tidy, freshly washed, and ironed textiles depict your most considerable reflection – a well-put-together life. Hence, if you are looking to elevate your hosting game ultimately, here is why you should search for a professional laundry service near me now.

We at Prime Laundry tackle everything from stubborn creases to household textiles with our professional laundry and ironing services. Furthermore, we offer a free same-day collection with a next-day delivery service. So, contact us now for impeccable garment care, and subscribe to a hassle-free festive experience. 

Hurry and book today!

[hellolaundry]

How can I remove old coffee stains from clothes?

Follow these instructions to successfully remove coffee stains from clothing.

Do Fast: Your chances of success increase the sooner you treat the stain. To remove extra coffee stains, blot the area with a fresh cloth; do not rub as this may cause the stain to seep more into the fabric.

Rinse with Cold Water: To remove coffee stains from clothes, push it out from the back using cold water; do not rinse through the front, as this could cause the stain to set.

Apply Liquid Laundry Detergent: Apply a tiny bit of liquid laundry detergent to the stain by gently massaging it in. Give it a few minutes to sit.

Soak in Cold Water: Leave the stained area in a bowl of cold water for fifteen to thirty minutes, stirring the water once or twice during that time.

Check the stain: After soaking, make sure the stain has disappeared. If not, carry out the steps again until it is eliminated.

Avoid Heat: Heat can set the stain, so wait to use a dryer or hot water until the stain is totally gone.

For more details, You can book Hello Laundry for removing stains from your clothes.

Original Source:- https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-remove-old-coffee-stains-from-clothes/answer/Hello-Laundry/log

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Propaganda for Michel Ney:

This man. THIS MAN HAD SO MUCH CHARACTER. HE’S LITERALLY THE KIND OF MAN THAT INSPIRES GOOD FICTIONAL CHARACTERS NGL!! Since he’s up against a british person, here is a description of him by the Times of London:

“... his name rendered illustrious by 25 years of eminent services and brilliant exploits, was dear to the country, and even the enemies of France admired in him the character of the Great Captain. All allowed him to possess as much generosity of sentiment as bravery and skill at the head of armies. No trait of weakness, adulation or rapacity, had ever cast shade over his loyalty and military virtues. His sole defect seemed to be a certain vehemence of character and expression, which rendered him little suited to public affairs.”

And his death was so tragic. In Waterloo, he had made a fatal mistake with the cavalry, and he decides here that he will die. We don’t know exactly what happened here. Did he have so much PTSD from russia and years of war that he made such a stupid mistake (AA ALSO AFTER the disaster of russia campaign he isolated himself so much. Poor man🥺)? But one thing’s for sure, this man wasn’t a coward. The Bravest of the Brave was not a man who’d mess up in the war and just run away. On those grassy fields, Ney tried everything to get his men’s attention and when all hope seemed lost he shouted in the faces of the enemies “See how a marshal of France meets his death!” It seems in that moment his greatest want was to be killed by english bullets. But Victor Hugo recounts this and adds the ironic line of “Unhappy man, thou wert reserved for French bullets!”

…😭😭😭😭ISN’T THAT JUST…. SO POETIC AND TRAGIC?????

AND DON’T EVEN. DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HOW HE DIED!!!!

This man sobs afterwords he gets tried for treason against france basically for siding with Napoleon. But with how unfairly they zero-in on ney’s wrong doings, this was a blood sacrifice. To help him, his lawyer reasoned that the place Ney was born from technically was no longer french, since it has been annexed by Prussia from the 1815 treaty of paris…

But this guy. OH nOnoNonononononoNO, this red-haired, lion-looking, emotional honor-filled patriot has the audacity to interrupt his defender and say loudly without the slightest doubt or hesitation "I am French and I will remain French!"

….

Come on. COME ON!!!! How stupid is he???!! How idiotic!! He just closed another door to survival because of what??

because of honor….. Wow, can you imagine that? He has given everything all his years of service, all his years of being a husband, a father, a son, all his years of rest and peace of mind to France. He has done so much, and even when…EVEN WHEN FRANCE SLAPS HIM ACROSS THE FACE AND SAYS “you traitor” He shouts back “I am French and I will remain French!” aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OMG….. what the hek…who is this man????

So he is executed as a traitor. There are different versions of his death but here are a few:

By Rochechouart:

“He [Ney], of course, refused to kneel down and be blind-folded; he merely asked the Commandant Saint-Bias to show him where he should stand. He stood facing the platoon, who held their guns ready to fire. Then, in an attitude I shall never forget, it was so noble, calm and dignified, without bravado, he took off his hat, and availing himself of the moment when the Adjutant stepped aside and gave the signal to fire, he said these words, which I distinctly heard: Frenchmen, I protest against my sentence; my honour..." As he said these words he placed his hand on his heart; the volley was fired, and he fell. A rolling of drums, and the shout of "Vive le Roi" from the surrounding troops closed the mournful ceremony.”

Such a death made a deep impression on me, and turning to Auguste de la Rochejaquelein, Colonel of the Grenadiers, who was beside me, and who, like me, deplored the death of the bravest of the brave, I said: ‘There, my dear friend, is a lesson how to die.’”

By M. Laisne:

“He [Ney] took some steps, removed his hat, and in a loud and clear voice: ‘I protest,’ he said ‘before heaven and mankind, that the judgment that condemns me is iniquitous; I appeal from it to Europe and to posterity’ …. Before these words there was presented to him a handkerchief to bandage his eyes. He answered with exaltation, ‘do you not know that a soldier does not fear death.’ He advanced again four paces, laying his hand on his heart and said to the soldiers: ‘Do your duty. It is there that you must hit, do not miss me.’ Instantly he fell dead.”

And finally a very close person to him, Ida Saint-Elme:

“Ney got out of the carriage. He was wearing civilian clothes: a long dark coat, a white necktie, black breeches and stockings, a tall beaver hat with curved brim. He uncovered. His slightly raised head showed that his face wore a tranquil expression. He looked first to the right and then to the left. He caught sight of me. Then, as though fearing to compromise his faithful friends by the least sign of recognition, he bent his brow downward a trifle.”

“He walked on with firm step. At that instant I discerned through the mist, in the centre of the square of troops, and standing out from the dark background of the wall, the firing squad. I tried to rush forward. Belloc pulled me back, and forced me into the cab.”

“Then I dropped weakly upon the seat. A few minutes elapsed, each a whole century long. Then I heard a sharp report. I went into a dead faint."

His death is so tragic and amazing. It really shows out his character and was the initial thing that got me interested in him as a person. Anyways, basically, this dude is such a tragic glory-lover but also very heroic and inspiring.

So therefore HE ISS SEXY GO VOTE FOR NEY!!!

.

[thedeafprophet]

The Housestaff at the Townhouse Of The Boisterous Author

Some new Fallen London background character designs of mine!

As many who are familiar with basic facts of the victorian era know, a signficiant portion of the population in the 19th century worked in domestic service. Within households servants had their own titles and roles, especially in wealthier families who had great many working within a house -

And, going along with that, many people, even those just lower-middle class, had servants doing the housework, which was an incredibly time consuming task in the victorian era. This was before stainless steal, when basic household items had to be made by hands, with ironing to be done, and so, so much soot around - it was a lot of work.

I'll spare you all a further ramble of all i know about servants in the victorian era - but suffice to say, and as many already know, I have been thinking about giving more detail into those who work within my Fallen London PCs households!

Further detail on these characters under the cut

Viola

Age: Seventeen!

Role: Housemaid

Personality:

Anxious and shy, but very sweet and well meaning, poor Viola is not exactly the best at her job.She's extremely determined to figure it out, even if she has a habit of dropping things! Just give her the chance!

Previous Employment:

Viola previously, but briefly, worked at The Palace. Her elder sister who had worked their much longer had recently developed an illness, and the role had to be filled.

Things did not go well for Viola.

An inccident one day while Mst. Awnings was at the Palace led to a sort of confrontation, which ended in them offering her a job at their own home in the end instead.

Mary-Anne

Age: My, don't you know its terribly rude to inquire about a woman's age?

Role: Housekeeper

Personality:

It is Mary-Anne's job to run the house, and she is going to do it properly. Even if everything seems so set against her doing so....

Mary-Anne oversees all of the other staff at the house, and does not let them forget it. She is caring, but strict, and has certain expectations on the way things are meant to be done. She will never stand by and let things just happen - no matter who the one is comitting the offence.

Previous Employment:

Mary-Anne has been working for service for many, many years. It was her job on the surface, though her role and age was very different back then, and it is her role now. She had been the head of the staff at a large residence in London for many years now.

However after witnessing certan records and an incident by the former homeowner, Mary-Anne had refused to stay silent - which kept her morals clear, but left her without a job and without a recommendation.

She initially worked for Mst. Awnings alone, minimal job oppurtunities presented to her, and while she certainly complains about the... less typical attitudes of this household, she is not inclined to leave.

Edith

Age: Forty something or other. What's it to ya?

Role: Cook

Personality:

Edith has been round the block, and has been in and out of many kitchens in her life time. Her experience in resturants has built her, and though there's been a few flames here or there, she's not much inclined for worries.

Edith is rather gruff and improper, and isn't inclined to follow so called social norms. She'll do her job how she wants, and smokes wherever she damn well pleases. Ain't like she's hurting anyone, anyways.

You aint gonna find someone else who can work as well as she can.

Previous Employment:

Edith had been working at a particular resturant near Spite for a couple years now, and hadnt been much planning to move. However, during the GCO, Edith got caught among the chaos, and ended up sustaining a significant leg injury.

Her previous employer was not inclined to provide supports such as sitting in a busy kitchen job, and Edith found herself looking elsewhere. Which is how she found herself working in a house kitchen rather then a resturant one - with certainly an interesting state of requests.

[stephensmithuk]

The Hound of the Baskervilles: Death on the Moor

CW discussion on child abuse.

Most revolvers and indeed pistols. of this period lacked modern "safeties", so could be easily discharged unintentionally, especially when cocked. Dropping a loaded weapon was particularly prone to doing this. A common safety measure would be having the hammer on an empty chamber.

"Rude" here means roughly made. The lintel hasn't flipped off Watson.

Remember at this time, shirt collars were detachable and so it would be easier to change the collar than the shirt in a case like this

It would have taken around a day for Watson's reports to reach London by mail - they'd have been sent overnight and indeed sorted via the Travelling Post Office services operated by the Royal Mail:

These services also had special mechanisms to allow mail bags to be collected and dropped off at line speed:

With the spellings of "to-day" and "to-morrow" you can see how English has changed over time.

"Make love" at this time meant flirting and stuff like that rather than physical intercourse. I imagine it became a euphemism for the latter that ceased being one over time.

I do not believe there was an official register of teachers at the time; you would have been reliant on private companies. There is today no register of private tutors or qualifications required, something that has led to problems.

"Hark" is an archaic term used to mean "listen up!" - it wouldn't be used today unless ironically.

The Stasi in East Germany would obtain scent samples from people they were monitoring in case they needed to track them:

Supper would be done pretty late in the evening, like 9pm onwards.

[mesetacadre]

The whole of Korea is thus what is called “iron-curtained” country. But who, one wonders put the curtain up? After I applied for a visa to North Korea and got it, I learned that the big American agencies did not want the news. They told me flatly that they preferred to get the tales of the Soviet zone from the refugees who ran away from it, which is about like getting one’s facts about London from Berlin during the war. They assured me that I myself would get no real facts in the Soviet zone, but would be watched and handicapped at every turn. It is therefore necessary to state first how I got my facts in North Korea. When I reached the airport in Pyongyang, the capital, a courteous Russian major of the army’s press department offered me his services in getting about. He arranged a room for me in a hotel with western style beds and food and was useful for first routine contacts. Then I told him that too much guidance would invalidate my observations, and that I wanted to go around alone among Koreans. He got the point; thereafter I made my own plans. I travelled from coast to coast across the country, visiting villages, industrial plants, rest homes of the social insurance system. I picked up interpreters where I found them; some had learned English in American missionary schools. I talked freely to farmers, workers, factory managers, women, writers, officials. I got my facts entirely from Koreans, all of whom seemed glad to talk and unconstrained. If and when I met Russians they usually declined to comment on Korean affairs, saying: “It is the Koreans’ country; ask them.” I had freer and closer contact with Korean people in the Russian zone than any correspondent has reported, from the American zone. My strongest impression was that the Koreans seemed to think that they were running things. They were even naive about it. Again and again I was told that the “democratic government,” the universal suffrage, the land reform, the expanding agriculture, industry and education was the work, as one farmer put it, “of our own hands.” The Russians, they insisted, were just there because of a treaty with the Americans, and only to give advice. “The Russians liberated us from the Japanese,” said one, “but we Koreans did all the rest.”

In North Korea: First Eye-Witness Reports, Anna Louise Strong, 1949