#made regent at 19 but she’s normal about it.

[necromycologist]

ellimere im sorry the oldest daughter syndrome goes crazy

[laurianos]

Prince’s Gambit - Chapter 19 *waggles eyebrows* Summary

@failes-xtra-bits

Quotes in bold. My comments, thoughts and dumb jokes in italics.

As we all know, this is the chapter where they do the sex. It was very hard not to include everything, but I have summarised and picked out some bits that I’d like to talk more about. Sorry lads, this is a long one, but I have many thoughts!

Before I start, I’d like to mention how interesting it is that the events of chapter 18 lead straight into this chapter.

Things might have turned out very differently if Jord had never interrupted the Lamen kiss on the battlements. In chapter 17, Laurent is calm and in a good mood after their victory. He accepts that he wants Damen and is willing to let himself have him, even just for one night. In chapter 17, every time Damen and Laurent speak, it’s as if they are in their own intimate bubble, everything around them is just a hazy blur, like time is on pause. The next morning they would have to face reality but just for one night they can forget it all and have each other.

Instead things take a big turn in chapter 18 and we now have Laurent in a foul mood. Old wounds have been reopened. While he is left alone, he has time to think. He is reminded of the abuse from his uncle and his brother’s death. The person he has come to trust and love is his brother’s killer. With all of that comes a mix of feelings. In his current situation, any wrong move could cost Laurent everything. The Regent plots against him, always seeming one step ahead. The pressure is on. He is no longer distracted by their earlier victory. Things feel very real again. When Damen and Laurent finally do sleep together, it’s not with the mood of chapter 17, it’s after a harsh reminder of pain and everything else that is at stake.

So with that in mind, here is the chapter 18 summary:

Damen is angry. He orders the section clear (again).

‘Are there orders for what should be done with the prisoners?

Throw Aimeric off the battlements. (XD) ‘Keep him confined in his rooms.’

‘Yes Captain.’

‘I want this whole section kept clear. And Guymar?’

‘Yes, Captain?’

‘This time, I want it actually kept clear. (I Love Damen’s Sass! XD) I don’t care who is about to get molested. No one is to come here. Is that understood?’...

He wanted to make a barrier that protected Laurent from anyone who would intrude on him. He’d keep that perimeter clear, if it meant stalking these battlements and patrolling it himself.

He knew this about Laurent. That once he gave himself time alone to think, the control returned, reason won out.

On Damen’s way out, he asks one of the guards to ‘Watch over the Prince,’ saying ‘Anything he needs, make certain he has it. Take care of him.’ and ‘He deserves your loyalty.’

Damen finally goes to ‘his’ room. He drains a cup of wine, unpins his Captain's badge, looks out the window and thinks.

...

Laurent enters the room. Damen realises who’s room he is standing in. Laurent steps forward.

...

Laurent said, ‘I know you’re planning to leave tomorrow. You’re going to cross the border, and you’re not going to come back. Say it.’

‘I-’

‘Say it.’

‘I’m going to leave tomorrow,’ said Damen, as steadily as he could. ‘I’m not going to come back.’ He drew in a breath that hurt his chest. ‘Laurent-’

‘No, I don’t care. Tomorrow you leave. But you’re mine now. You’re still my slave tonight.’ (Laurent probably thinks, if he can just have this for one night and have it over with, hopefully the feelings will go away and he can return to ‘normal’ afterwards.)

Laurent pushes Damen onto the bed.

‘I-don’t-’

‘I think you do,’ said Laurent

Laurent starts to undress Damen.

‘What are you doing?’ Damen’s breath was shaky.

‘What am I doing? You are not very observant.’

‘You’re not yourself,’ said Damen. ‘And even if you were, you don’t do anything without a dozen motives.’

Laurent went very still, the soft words half bitter. ‘Don’t I? I must want something.’ (I wonder if Laurent gets sick of people making assumptions about his character. Probably. He was clearly irritated by something Damen said. Perhaps because this is the one time he has no motivation. He is with Damen purely because he wants to be. In fact I’m sure he’d rather he didn't want Damen at all but he couldn’t help himself.)

‘Laurent, he said.

‘You take liberties,’ said Laurent. ‘I never gave you permission to call me by my name.’

‘Your Highness,’ said Damen, and the words twisted, wrong in his mouth. (I’d just like to mention that Pacat once said she likes the idea of Damen calling Laurent ,‘Your Highness’, in bed XD) He needed to say, Don’t do this. But he couldn’t think past Laurent, improbably close. (I think Damen is in disbelief but also torn. He wants this so badly but wonders if this is what Laurent really wants, and if he’s in the right mood to be making this decision) ... 

‘I don’t think you want me. I think you just want me to feel this.’

‘Then, feel it,’ said Laurent.

Laurent continues to undress Damen, unlacing his trousers.

‘I see you are everywhere in proportion.’ XD

Laurent proceeds to give Damen a hand job.

The grip felt more like ownership than a caress...

The rise and fall of Laurent’s hand was like the slide of Laurent’s words, like every frustrating argument that they’d ever had, stymied, tangled up in Laurent’s voice. He could feel the tension in Laurent, sharp like the feel of his own heartbeats. Laurent held his former mood within him, constrained, and converted into something else.

...

Laurent said, ‘Adequate.’ XD 

One of my favourite things about this chapter, is how it didn't quite go the way I thought it would. We all knew Damen and Laurent would eventually sleep together, but I didn’t think it would be like this. The start isn’t so much of a surprise. Laurent’s mood from chapter 18 carries on into this one. I expected angst, and we got some. 

But this is when it changes. It’s slow and tender and full of emotion. We see Laurent’s vulnerabilities and hesitation. This is why I love it so much. It’s not just sex for the sake of sex. Fine, yes, we get all the juicy details (and I’m certainly not complaining about that 😏) you would expect to find in a smut chapter, BUT, it’s so much more than than that. There is actual character and relationship development. It is the most open and honest the two have been with each other so far. It was the moment we were all waiting for and it did not disappoint.

Damen said, ‘Kiss me.’...

He had pushed himself up, so that his body made a curve, the planes of his abdomen shifting. Laurent’s gaze splayed out instinctively over him (Laurent be checking him out like 👀), then lifted to his own...

He could feel the desperate urge for retreat. He could feel something else too, Laurent keeping himself apart, as though, this act being finished, he had no template for what to do.

With Laurent finished (or rather, Damen finished XD), it releases some of the tension from earlier and Laurent’s bad mood seems to have disappeared. He is no longer acting on impulse driven by mixed emotions. He can’t hide behind anger any longer. He is forced to experience it all and confront his own feelings with his guard lowered.

‘Kiss me,’ he said again.

They kiss. Then Damen draws back and kisses Laurent on the neck.

It was not what Laurent had expected. He felt the slight shock of Laurent’s surprise, and the way Laurent held himself, as though confused as to why Damen wished to do this (poor boy is affection starved 😭)

They kiss again deeply.

Damen starts to undress Laurent. 

He thought of the servant he had seen attending Laurent earlier, how much he had disliked it. (Jealous boi 😛)

Damen removes Laurent’s jacket and shirt. He sees that Laurent is aroused.

Laurent said, ‘Did you think I was made of stone?’

He couldn’t stop the rush of pleasure he felt at that, said, ‘Nothing you don’t want.’

‘You think I don’t want it?’

...

Laurent pushes Damen back with his boot, and Damen removes it. 

They kiss again and Damen starts unlacing Laurent’s trousers, removing them.

Damen gives Laurent head.

For all his seeming experience, Laurent reacted like an innocent to this pleasure. He let out a soft shocked sound...

.... Laurent’s slight, helpless shifts and pushes, the quality of his surprise, and the hard act of repression that followed, as Laurent tried to even out his breathing...

Damen could feel Laurent’s cycle of reaction and repression beneath him, as impetus gathered, building in the lines of Laurent’s body.

And felt it stymied. As rhythm built, Laurent’s body locked down, his responses repressed... Laurent, out on the shattered edge of pleasure, was holding himself back from climax by sheer force of his impossible will...

After a long moment Laurent said, with painful honesty, ‘I... find it difficult to let go of control.’

‘No kidding,’ said Damen XD

...

The words fell into a stillness between them. Laurent’s breathing was shallow, and his cheeks were flushed as he closed his eyes, as though he wanted to block out the world. (He desperately wants to forget all his conflicting thoughts so he can just feel and experience this moment.)

‘I want,’ said Laurent, ‘I want it to be simple.’

‘Turn over,’ said Damen...

Laurent closed his eyes again, as if in decision. Then he acted.

Laurent turns over onto his front. (Damen is not prepared and dies slightly from shock.)

He felt nervous suddenly, green, as he hadn’t felt since he was thirteen - uncertain of what lay on the other side of this moment, and wanting to be worthy of it.

Damen mentions how tense Laurent seems. He turns Laurent over again to face him.

‘... a desperate irritation that overlay something else... For all his bizarre nervy tension, Laurent was indisputably eager, physically...

‘Contrary, aren’t you,’ said Damen softly, thumbing over Laurent’s cheek.

‘Fuck me,’ said Laurent.

‘I want to,’ said Damen. ‘Can you let me?’...

The idea of being fucked very clearly had Laurent out of his mind, as desire competed with some sort of convoluted mental objection that really needed, Damen thought, to be dispensed with...

DAMEN!!! How do you not know?!!! How have you not picked up on what could be wrong?! gaaahhh! ... *sigh* BUT I will put my frustrations for oblivious Damen aside. Pacat does mention she felt it had to be that way, that Damen shouldn’t know.

‘I am letting you,’ said Laurent, the terse words pushing out. ‘Will you get on with it?’...

In Laurent’s eyes, impatience and tension overlay something unexpectedly young and vulnerable. Damen’s heart felt exposed, outside of his chest.

...

A wild vial appears.

He could look nowhere but at Laurent, both of them here with nothing between them, and Laurent allowing it...

It was intensely private...

The reality of it was different; Laurent was different. Damen had never thought it could be like this, soft and quiet and acutely personal.

...

Let the sex commence!

...

You’re mine, he wanted to say, and couldn’t. Laurent didn’t belong to him; this was something he could have only once. (*sniff* cri! 😢) ...

To get what you want, you have to know exactly how much you are willing to give up. (*sobbing* 😭)

Never had he wanted something this badly, and held it in his hands knowing that tomorrow it would be gone, traded for the high cliffs of Ios, and the uncertain future across the border, the chance to stand before his brother, to ask him for all the answers that no longer seemed so important. A kingdom, or this. (*ugly crying* 😩 *balling eyes out* 😭😭)

...

Climax. End.

[bangtanlighters]

Fate! Chapter 20

Genre: (um, lots of things) Joseon dynasty, past/present-ish, a sprinkle of hybrids

Pairing: BTS x Reader (yup - all seven)

Summary: Princess Yemma was the youngest regent of Joseon, also the most feared. With her seven advisors who would give their life for her, she was untouchable…..When the princess died a new regent took control, however, the previous ruler died much too young for it to be natural.

Part 20 / ?

A/N: I will be seeing BTS in DC if you all wanna have a meetup or say hi!!! Also, my ask is open for any Q&A you wanna send!

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

Once one topic was finished Jin continued with the next.

"Yoongi, you're covered in bruises. I take it the mission didn't go well?"

He shook his head and crossed his arms. "Someone started chasing me. I don't want to say this but I think it was another hybrid."

"Another hybrid?" Taehyung sat up.

To all of their knowledge, Taehyung and Yoongi were the only hybrids in existence. Of course, they suspected that there were more like them but they had yet to encounter them.

"Yeah, I was in my wolf form when it happened."

"And something was fast enough to keep up with you and attack you?" Jimin asked.

"Ok well, when you put it like that you make it sound like I was only one that was beaten up." Yoongi pointed. "I did some damage to him too."

"Yoongi, you haven't been going to work right? You're close to Yemma, so whether she'd admit it or not, I know it'd worry her." Jin asked ignoring his earlier comment.

"Yeah, I called out for two weeks." Yoongi scratched his head. "My co-workers would be curious as well. I'm just about better so I'll head back in next week."

"Alright, well let's keep an eye on the Queen Mother but let's proceed as planned." Namjoon sighed getting up. "Keep staying low profile, we haven't gotten any closer to our answers so we need to be as careful as possible until we get them."

The rest of the boys nodded and thus ended their meeting.

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

A week later Yemma ran to her father's room after the butler had called her from an event she had been attending.

Now that it was spring break and Yemma's father still hadn't gotten better she had to run what he couldn't. While she had yet to be completely in charge of her father's companies she was going about to meetings and offices in her father's place. So when she got the call that her father's condition was worsening she anxiously waited for a meeting to end before rushing out the building and canceling her schedule for the rest of the day.

Inside the housemaids and butlers were rushing about yet again. After opening his large door doctors stood by his bed and an IV drip was connected to his arm and he was violently coughing. Yemma had been gone for so long she could barely recognize his gaunt face.

"Papa." Her voice cracked as she held back tears. She moved past her stepmother and the doctors to hold his hand, it was cold and frail.

"How are you feeling?"

He smiled and sighed. "Honestly better than I have been. The doctors and your mother have been taking good care of me."

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you, I didn't realize how much work you do." She laughed.

"Well it can't be helped, I'll be back as soon as I'm on my feet again. Just think of this as a practice round for when you really take over."

"I will papa."

The doctor stepped up to finish his checkup and Yemma stepped back next to her stepmother.

"I should make him some tea." Her stepmother informed the doctor. "It should soothe him a little."

With that, she smiled once more before leaving their room and disappearing down the hall. When she left Yemma noticed the maids in the corner start whispering to each other.

Although oddly it piqued Yemma's interest, she decided to let it go as something normal. It wasn't abnormal for the staff to entertain themselves while working. Many of them were friends and Yemma's father encouraged that sort of behavior with his staff. He said 'it makes us all feel like a family, and family takes care of family. While we treat them like humans they look out for us'. With the comfortable behavior of the staff to each other, it made a fun environment for staff to help raise a young Yemma.

"My lady." The head butler said softly. "Mr. Kim is here to drop off your homework. Would you like me to take it for you and send him off? As now might not be a good time?"

Yemma shook her head and offered to get it herself. After telling her father that she'll be right back and squeezing his hand she followed Mr. Lee out the room, down the hall and the grand staircase.

At the bottom of the stairs on the left side was where Namjoon was supposed to be waiting for her. To the right, down yet another hall, was the way to the kitchen where her stepmother was making tea for her father. She followed Mr. Lee down the left hallway to Namjoon who had been patiently waiting.

Ever since she had taken over her father's position Namjoon usually came over to tutor her and bringing her homework over so she could finish off the year on track. This time however Namjoon didn't come alone.

"Thank you, Mr. Lee, please return to my father. Send someone immediately if something happens." Yemma smiled.

He asked but nodded. "Alright, my lady."

"Did we come at a bad time?" Namjoon asked once Mr. Lee left.

Yemma shook her head and sat down across from the two men. "No, actually you came at a good time for me. I just didn't expect you to bring another guest. Not that you're not welcome Jin."

"We just came to drop off your homework, we're going out after if you wanna join." Jin smiled.

"No, I better stay here." She took the packet Namjoon was holding out to her. "Things are a little-"

"My lady!" One of the maids hastily came in, surprising them all. "Your- your father-"

Yemma's eyes widened as she noticed a butler open the front door and more doctors enter and run up the stairs.

Momentarily forgetting about her two guests she ran up the stairs and down the hall to her father's room. It was overcrowded with staff and doctors. Pushing past them a doctor engaging CPR entered her view.

She was pushed back by a nurse encouraging her to give the doctors some room. She was so stunned by the shock that when she let the nurse usher her out of the room she didn't notice that her stepmother was standing by her father's bedside holding an empty teacup.

19<- ->21

[lukeskywaker4ever]

24th King of Portugal (4th of the Bragança Dynasty): King João V of Portugal, “The Magnanimous”

Reign: 9 December 1706 – 31 July 1750 Acclamation: 1 January 1707, Lisbon Predecessor: Pedro II

João V (22 October 1689 in Lisbon – 31 July 1750 in Lisbon), known as the Magnanimous (o Magnânimo) and the Portuguese Sun King (o Rei-Sol Português), was a monarch of the House of Bragança who ruled as King of Portugal during the first half of the 18th century. João V's reign saw the rise of Portugal and its monarchy to new levels of prosperity, wealth, and prestige among European courts.

João V's reign saw an enormous influx of gold into the coffers of the royal treasury, supplied largely by the royal fifth (a tax on precious metals) that was received from the Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Maranhão. João spent lavishly on ambitious architectural works, most notably Mafra Palace, and on commissions and additions for his sizable art and literary collections. Owing to his craving for international diplomatic recognition, João also spent large sums on the embassies he sent to the courts of Europe, the most famous being those he sent to Paris in 1715 and Rome in 1716.

Disregarding traditional Portuguese institutions of governance, João V ruled as an absolute monarch. As a continuation of a Bragança dynasty policy that stressed the importance of relations with Europe, João's reign was marked by numerous interventions into the affairs of other European states, most notably as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. On the imperial front, João V pursued an expansionist policy, with significant territorial gains in Portuguese India and Portuguese America.

João V was a very pious man who devoted large parts of his day to prayer and religious study. He rewarded his long-awaited recognition as a lawful monarch by Pope Benedict XIV with a fervent devotion to the Catholic Church and some very large donations to the Holy See. The Pope granted João V the style "Most Faithful Majesty," which appealed to him greatly. However, João's relationship with the papacy varied at different periods in his reign; there were both close relations and conflicts at different times during the reigns of five different popes.

João was born on 22 October 1689 at Ribeira Palace 

in Lisbon to King Pedro II and Queen Maria Sophia of Neuburg. He was baptized on November 19 at the Royal Palace Chapel and given the full name João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo. João was not his father's first son; he had an older brother, João, who died a year before João's birth, thus the court was overjoyed to have a new male heir to the kingdom.

Upon his baptism, João was not given the traditional titles of the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne, Prince of Brazil and Duke of Bragança, but merely the default title Infante of Portugal. This was intended as a sign of respect for his elder brother's death, which had happened only months before.

João had a stimulating upbringing surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds of Europe at the time. It was agreed by the court that João's care as a child was to be strictly run by women only, a custom of the Portuguese court, and the Portuguese nobility as a whole. João's governess (who was later the governess for all of the sons of Pedro II) was Maria de Lencastre, the Marquise of Unhão, who was given that position more for her beauty and status than for her suitability as a child care giver.

The policies that João's father had pursued made the Portuguese court wealthy, the national economy stable, and the imperial military strong. This made a richly varied and interesting childhood possible for John. As a child, he was under the tutelage and heavy influence of the Jesuit Fathers Francisco da Cruz, João Seco, and Luís Gonzaga. Father Luís Gonzaga was in charge of the education of all of King Pedro's children; he taught them military education, politics, astronomy, nautical studies, mathematics, and history.  As the prince grew up, he was mentored in political affairs by Luís da Cunha, 

a prominent Portuguese diplomat.

When João reached age seven, his father determined that his eldest sons were sufficiently educated in basic subjects and decided to take over supervision of their instruction himself, though his interest in mentoring them quickly faded. This was formalized when he and his brother Francisco, Duke of Beja,

were admitted into the Order of Christ on 7 April 1696. Later that year, the king finally decided to confer on João the titles of the heir apparent, namely Prince of Brazil and Duke of Bragança. On 1 December 1696, on the anniversary of the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640, a grand ceremony was held in which João was invested with his titles. The ceremony involved the placing of a large ermine and red velvet mantle on his shoulders, as well as the adornment of his person with various jewels and royal regalia.

Just over a month before João's tenth birthday in 1699, his mother Queen Maria Sofia died at the age of 33. This caused João to retreat from court and become depressed for many months. Catarina of Bragança, his aunt and the former Queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland, then took control of his education. She resided in the palace she had built, Bemposta Palace, 

and remained João's main tutor and female role model until her death in 1705.

In April 1700, João fell terribly ill; it was assumed that he was on his death bed. Fearing his imminent demise, he asked for his last rites and confessed his sins. To everyone's surprise, he rallied and soon returned to his normal activities, his complete recovery being considered a miracle by the court.

The death of João's sister Teresa Maria in February 1704, greatly saddened him. It caused him to avoid appearing at court for some months and to estrange himself from his father, who favoured João's younger brother, Manuel, Count of Ourém. 

During this time, much gossip was spread and worries arose about whether João would ever recover from his depression. In May of that year, he eventually returned to the court and reconciled with the king, saying that his saudades for his sister would not get in the way of his performing his duty to the king.

In early December 1706, Pedro II moved himself to the Royal Quinta in Alcântara, as he was growing ill and needed space from the court. On the fifth of that month, the king caught a high fever, and the court doctors met to examine him fully. They determined his health was greatly deteriorating. The next day, Pedro II called all of his children to his bedside and told them of his coming demise. He appointed João as prince regent of the kingdom and asked that all of his children follow João's wishes. Although he appointed João the prince regent, Pedro II still favoured his youngest son Manuel, and the king gave Manuel a special gift that no other child received.

King Pedro II died in his sleep on 9 December 1706. Following his death, Ribeira Palace was redecorated as a reflection of the mourning. On the façade towards the Terreiro do Paço, 

large black banners were hung from the windows for this purpose. A month later, the time was declared to be appropriate for João to be acclaimed king. Preparations for João's acclamation had already been started and once allowed, the royal palace was redecorated; the black banners were replaced with red ones, and fruit wreaths were hung throughout all of the palace.

On the day of João's acclamation, 1 January 1707, 

his new throne was placed on the balcony of the Torre do Rei (Tower of the King) of Ribeira Palace. Specially-made tapestries illustrating the allegories of Justice and Prudence were hung high above the Terreiro do Paço to remind the public that these were the traits their king would have. Once João sat down on his throne, wreaths made of gold were laid around the throne and balcony. Wearing his Cross of the Order of Christ, 

and with the Portuguese Crown Jewels 

beside him, and not on him, as was the Portuguese royal custom, João was acclaimed "His Majesty, by the Grace of God, King of Portugal and the Algarves, before and beyond the sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, our Lord, John, the fifth of that name in the table of the Kings of Portugal."

João was now king of an empire that stretched four continents. He was also the head of state of a kingdom that was at war with Spain and France. His first regnal act was to renew Portugal's membership in the League of Augsburg and continue in the war alongside the England and the Habsburgs. Portugal quickly supplied more troops to aid her allies in the war. This new level of Portuguese involvement allowed João's general, António Luís de Sousa, Marquis of Minas, to capture Madrid on 28 June 1706. While Portugal put vast resources into the war, contrary to João's predecessors, who avoided conflicts in Europe, activity in the war soon lost the interest of the king, who had more pressing affairs to attend to.

During his life, Pedro II had worked a long time to secure João a marriage with an Austrian archduchess in order to guarantee Portugal's alliance with the Habsburgs. João continued these negotiations and finally succeeded in negotiating a deal. On 27 June 1707, Fernão Teles da Silva, Count of Vilar Maior, signed a marriage contract with Holy Emperor Joseph I 

that made official a match between João and the emperor's sister, the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. The contract also set the archduchess's dowry at 100,000 crowns, a vast sum for the day.

The armada that Portugal sent to escort Maria Anna from the Lower Countries to Lisbon arrived in the Tagus river estuary on 26 October 1708. 

The flagship, in which Maria Anna traveled, berthed at the docks of the private garden of Ribeira Palace, where João and a party of the kingdom's richest and most powerful nobles met the new queen for the first time. The marriage celebrations lasted until 27 December; they were sumptuous and very costly.

By late 1710, João and Maria Anna had not produced an heir to the throne. It had been two years since the couple had been married, and the court was starting to question the future of the House of Bragança. In early 1711, the king met with Franciscan Cardinal Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde, High Inquisitor of the Portuguese Inquisition, who told him that if he promised God to build a Franciscan convent in Mafra, God would deliver his long desired heir. Accordingly, João promised that if Maria Anna became pregnant before the end of 1711, he would build a Franciscan convent in Mafra. João's wish would come true later that year, when Maria Anna fulfilled her duty as queen and gave birth to the Infanta Maria Barbara of Bragança on 4 December 1711.

João and Maria Anna had a successful marriage, but lived largely separate lives. Maria Anna devoted herself to preserving the decorum of the royal court and her own religious interests, while João concerned himself with whatever pleased him at the moment. João kept many mistresses throughout his royal career, including Filipa de Noronha, Paula de Odivelas, 

Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro, Madalena Máxima de Miranda, Inácia Rosa de Távora, and Luísa Clara de Portugal.

Maria Barbara's birth was followed by the birth of Pedro, Prince of Brazil, on 19 October 1712, which temporarily gave João a male heir. 

Prince Pedro's death on 29 October 1714 greatly saddened him, but he took solace in the fact that his son, the Infante José (now Prince José), had been born on June 6 earlier that same year. Following the birth of Prince José, João and Maria Anna would have three more children: Infante Carlos, born 2 May 1716, Infante Pedro, born 5 July 1717, and Infante Alexandre, born 24 September 1723. Of the last three infantes, only two would survive to adulthood, Infante Carlos and Infante Pedro; only one would continue the Bragança line: Infante Pedro.

João's children were trained rigorously growing up. His plan was to have an intelligent son who could take his place as king, a strategically married daughter, and well-prepared statesmen sons; but he would achieve only part of his goal. From her birth, Infanta Maria Barbara's marriage had been closely arranged and monitored by João. When the engagement of Mariana Victoria of Spain 

to Louis XV of France 

was nullified, João proposed Infanta Maria Barbara as a possible bride for Louis XV, but in the end she was refused. João still managed to gain something from the dissolution of the engagement between Louis XV and Mariana Victoria, i.e., a wife for his son Prince José and a husband for Infanta Maria Barbara, Mariana Victoria's older brother Fernando, Prince of Asturias. 

Negotiations between Portugal and Spain began in 1725, and four years later João's eldest children would be matched with their spouses-to-be. The princesses Maria Barbara and Mariana Victoria were exchanged at a ceremony, called the Exchange of the Princesses (Troca das Princesas), held on the Caia River on 19 January 1729. Prince José married Mariana Victoria on 19 January 1729 in Elvas, and Infanta Maria Barbara married Prince Fernando on 20 January 1729 in Badajoz.

None of João's three other sons would marry in his lifetime. Infante Alexandre died at the age of five, and Infante Carlos died at the age of twenty without any marriage proposals or children. Only Infante Pedro would live long enough to marry, but João did not live long enough to see it. Infante Pedro married the daughter of his older brother King José I, Princess Maria Francisca, Princess of Brazil, on 6 June 1760. When Princess Maria became Queen Maria I of Portugal upon the death of her father, King José I (João's son), Prince Pedro became King Pedro III, following Portuguese royal law that if the consort of a queen regnant produced children with the queen regnant, he would become king of Portugal jure uxoris.

João fathered at least four children from various extramarital affairs: António of Braganza, by Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro, Gaspar of Braganza, Archbishop of Braga, by Madalena Máxima de Miranda, José of Braganza, High Inquisitor of Portugal, by Paula de Odivelas, and Maria Rita of Braganza, by Luísa Clara de Portugal. Out of his four illegitimate children, the three males were all recognized as João's sons and were collectively known as the Children of Palhavã, after the Palace of Palhavã that belonged to Luís Carlos Inácio Xavier de Meneses, 1st Marquis of Louriçal, 

where they lived at João's expense. The Children of Palhavã received educations worthy of nobility and went on to become noteworthy members of the clergy. Maria Rita was never officially recognized as his daughter, but he informally arranged for her life at the Convent of Santos and managed her expenses. The husband of Maria Rita's mother, Jorge de Meneses, attempted to stop João's actions for Maria Rita, but the king had him exiled to Spain and then to England.

Regnal politics

When João became king, he chose to reign as an absolute monarch. Notably, he never convened the Portuguese Cortes, the ancient parliament of the three estates in Portugal, and actively ignored meetings of the Council of State. However, João did not act by himself when making decisions; rather, he frequently consulted a close circle of well-informed advisers and held weekly intimate audiences with members of all three estates, which he preferred to larger institutions, such as the Cortes and the Council of State, which he viewed as incompetent and bloated. The Count of Povolide remarked on John's governance style, stating that "he established a predominance of personal consultation over institutional consultation."

The highest position in the king's government was that of Secretary of State of Portugal, the equivalent of a modern-day prime minister. This position was always filled by a favourite of João, the most notable one Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, 

whom the king consulted with on every matter, to such a degree that it often appeared that he was the king's only minister. When João became king, he inherited a powerful and large Council of State made up of numerous bishops, nobles, and bureaucrats, which was charged with being the utmost consultory body to the king, as it was during the reign of João's father. However, João's dislike of institutions and consultative bodies led him to cease convening the council formally, leading the prominent politician and diplomat Luís da Cunha to refer to the king as a despot and his government as absolutist.

Although the Council of State was never convened, several of its members were nonetheless close advisers to the king. Alongside Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Cardinal João da Mota e Silva and High-Inquisitor Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde were close advisers to the king, the former eventually substituting Mendonça Corte-Real as Secretary of State when he died in 1736. Though he disbanded most institutions, João notably maintained the Junta of the Three Estates, a governing junta created by João's grandfather, King João IV, which managed the finances and maintenance of military installations, troop raising, and taxation related to defense. Having engaged in multiple conflicts throughout his reign, both in Europe and his empire, João understood the necessity of the junta and carefully picked its members, only selecting those deemed the most knowledgeable and competent. Similarly, João maintained the Council of the Treasury, which managed the finances of Portugal and its empire, including tax collection and budget accounting for the majority of Portugal's organizations (except the military), and exerted authority over the Casa da Índia, the Royal Mint, and the custom houses across Portuguese territory.

When João ascended the throne, he found himself entangled in the War of the Spanish Succession, as King Pedro II had signed the Methuen Treaty in 1703, which aligned Portugal to the Grand Alliance against the House of Bourbon and allowed Grand Alliance forces to launch their invasion of Spain from Portugal. Only months after assuming the throne, John saw his forces overwhelmingly defeated in at the Battle of Almansa, a defeat that jeopardized Portuguese forces in Spain and the outcome of the war. Portuguese forces continued to fight alongside the Grand Alliance until agreeing to an armistice with Spain and France on 8 November 1712. The war finally came to an end in 1713 with the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, whereby Portugal regained possession of territories conquered by the Bourbon coalition and acquired new territories in South America.

With the War of the Spanish Succession ended, João could re-establish relations with the courts of Europe. His first grand act of diplomacy was the dispatch of Luís Manuel da Câmara, 3rd Count of Ribeira Grande, as his ambassador to the court of Louis XIV of France, in early August 1715. The grandson of François, Prince of Soubise, and cousin of Hercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné, Câmara was personally chosen by João to foster amicable relations with the French court. No expense was spared on the count's triumphal entry into Paris, which cost 100 Louis d'or and received such great applause from the people of Paris that Alexandre de Gusmão, the count's secretary, stated that "the Count of Ribeira Grande has eternalized the grandness of our generous king." Although King Louis would die only weeks after the Portuguese embassy's arrival to France, the richness and extravagance of its entry to Paris was noted at the French court and across Europe and gained a new level of prestige for João and his kingdom.

As João concerned himself with the presentation of Portugal at the court of Europe from home through the planning and organization of important embassies, the king's brother, Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém, was similarly raising the name of Portugal throughout Europe. Having left the country in 1715 without the king's permission (as was required for royalty and high nobility), the Count of Ourém traveled throughout Europe, staying with Portuguese ambassadors and nobles across the continent, causing quite a fanfare. Although the king was displeased that Manuel left without permission, the king forgave the infante, writing to Manuel "your age absolves your mistake". Now having the king's permission, Infante Manuel entered the service of Prince Eugene of Savoy, 

serving alongside him at the successful Battle of Petrovaradin. Over the next 17 years, the Count of Ourém moved from court to court as a celebrity and military hero and was even considered as a candidate as King of Poland by provision of the 1732 Treaty of the Three Black Eagles. Manuel's adventures throughout the continent inspired several literary works and gained him celebrity, raising Portugal's prestige in the eyes of Europe.

João's reign was characterized by a stressed importance of relations with Rome and the Papacy, though the state of relations with the Holy See largely depended on the Pope at the time. João sought acknowledgement by the pope as a lawful and righteous monarch as a means of international recognition of his capabilities and authority. Relations with João's first pope, Clement XI, 

were largely successful, resulting from mutual beneficial agreements. In 1716, in response to a request by Pope Clement XI to João for aid in the fight against the Turks, the king sent an armada of Portuguese ships to assist Venice and Austria in their conflicts with the Turks that was led by his brother, Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja, and Lopo Furtado de Mendonça, Count of Rio Grande. In the same year, João ordered a formal, triumphal entry for his ambassador in Rome, Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, Marquis of Fontes. Seeking to mimic the response received at the French court, 5,000 cruzados were spent on a luxurious entry for the Portuguese envoy. The ceremonial procession included a convoy of 300 carriages surrounding the pièce de résistance of the procession, the Oceans Coach, 

an ornate carriage made in Lisbon to demonstrate the wealth of the Portuguese empire to Rome. Having impressed the papal court, Pope Clement XI raised the dignity of the Archdiocese of Lisbon to the Patriarchate of Lisbon, making the Portuguese capital only one of two dioceses with this title in Europe, alongside Venice. João's good fortune with the papacy and Italy would continue to raise the next year, in 1717, when the aid of a Portuguese squadron of ships helped win the Battle of Matapan, in the ongoing Ottoman-Venetian War.

Pope Clement XI's successor, Pope Innocent XIII, 

had served as Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal from 1697 to 1710, at the court of João and his father King Pedro II. However, Innocent XIII's time in Portugal is cited to have been the source of his dislike of the Society of Jesus, owing to the immense power that the Jesuits held at the Portuguese court and the concessions they held across the Portuguese Empire at the time. An ongoing issue of importance to the Portugal was the long-standing Chinese Rites controversy, which largely concerned the methods used in Asia by the Jesuits, which were largely under patronage of the Portuguese. Innocent XIII's decision to prohibit the Jesuits from continuing their missions in China caused great upset at the Portuguese court. Though Innocent XIII's successor, Pope Benedict XIII, 

was the only Pope to descend from Portuguese royalty (descending from King Dinis I of Portugal),

relations were no warmer with Portugal than under his predecessor. Discontent with the Vatican's dismissal of his requests, João retaliated against Benedict XIII in 1728, closing the Papal Nunciature in Lisbon, recalling all Portuguese cardinals from Rome, and prohibiting official relations between Portuguese subjects and the Holy See. Though Benedict XIII sought to resolve the issues through an amicable intermediary, King Philip V of Spain, 

though João refused.

An issue of significance to João concerned the rank and appointment of the Apostolic Nuncio in Portugal, which the king wished to be raised to the dignity of a crown-cardinal and demanded input in the selection process. Both Clement XI and Innocent XIII had denied João's requests and Benedict XIII had failed to mediate a resolution. Only during the fourth papacy of João's reign was the issue resolved, when Pope Clement XII 

acquiesced to the king's demands, in 1730, elevating the Portuguese nunciature to the dignity shared only with France, Austria, and Spain. João's last pope and Clement XII's successor, Pope Benedict XIV, 

had a markedly better relation with the king, granting the king his desired recognition as a lawful Christian monarch. In 1748, the pope awarded the title of Most Faithful Majesty to João and his successors.

João's reign saw the rise of the Americas as the bastion of Portuguese imperial power, as fortunes became less lucrative in Asia and Africa. Under João, the Portuguese Empire saw territorial gains in modern-day Brazil, India, Kenya, Uruguay, East Timor, Angola, and Mozambique, among others.

Portuguese America occupied the highest priority in João's administration of the Portuguese Empire. The American colonies of Brazil and Maranhão had become vital sources of wealth to the royal treasury, making the protection, expansion, and good governance of Portuguese America crucial to imperial policy in the Joanine era. Expansion of Portuguese territory in the Americas was also a concern, which was primarily achieved through military incursions into the interior of the continent by Bandeirantes. Portugal also regained control of Uruguay following the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1714, and successfully defended it against an attempted Spanish reconquest in the Spanish–Portuguese War of 1735–37.

In the 1690′s, during the final years of King Pedro II's reign, precious resources were discovered in Brazil, namely vast gold and diamond deposits. However, exploitation of the resources primarily began in João's reign, with the establishment of mining companies, taxation systems, and a mercantilist supply chain, which ushered in a period known as the Brazilian Gold Rush. The Royal fifth was instituted as a form of taxation on mining activities, requiring a fifth of all gold to go directly to the king's treasury. In an effort to consolidate royal authority while promoting efficient governance, João took control of the Captaincy of São Vicente (in 1709) and the Captaincy of Pernambuco (in 1716), establishing direct royal governance in the two most valuable provinces of Brazil. In 1721, João ordered the separation of the region of intense mining from the rest of the Captaincy of São Vicente, into the autonomous captaincy of Minas Gerais (General Mines), allowing for the colonial administration to collect taxation more effectively.

Asia had been the traditional base of the Portuguese Empire's wealth and power, but its declining returns became especially noticeable during João's reign as gold and diamonds from the Americas flowed to Lisbon. Portuguese India, historically the "crown jewel" of the empire, was economically constrained, especially under the restrictive rule of the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa, which prohibited commerce with non-Christian merchants. Concurrently, Portugal's most important ally in the Indian subcontinent was the Mughal Empire, entered into a drastic decline following 1707, coinciding with the rise of the Maratha Empire, long-time enemies of the Portuguese. Portugal suffered territorial losses after the Battle of Vasai and the Maratha conquest of Baçaim, although the size of Portuguese India would triple from 1713 to 1788, in an era known as the Novas Conquistas (New Conquests). The declining importance of Portuguese India resulted in numerous administrative reorganizations during João's reign, including the independence of Portuguese Mozambique from rule by the Viceroy of Portuguese India, as well as the creation of a direct commercial route from Portugal to Portuguese Macau (present day China) which eliminated the stop at the Indian port of Goa.

The Portuguese colonization of Africa was less important to João's colonial priorities compared to the Americas and Asia. Minor contentions with Dutch corsairs blocking shipments to and from the Portuguese Gold Coast in the 1720′s resulted in successful Portuguese victory over the Dutch in minor naval battles. Notable, tensions were also raised with Britain in 1722 when British forces established a fortification in Cabinda (in modern-day Angola), which had been claimed and evangelized by the Portuguese since the 15th century. A notable rare exception to the long-standing Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, João ordered galleons from the Armada do Brasil to dispatch to Cabinda to either take possession of the fort or destroy it and its men, resulting in a Portuguese victory in 1723. Portugal briefly reconquered Mombasa (modern-day Kenya) in 1728, only to lose control over it again in 1729, ending the last period of Portuguese rule in Mombasa.

Joanine culture

João is often remembered as one of the greatest patrons of the arts in Portuguese history, having commissioned numerous construction projects and artistic studies. The king's most famous and important work was the Royal Palace-Convent of Mafra. 

In early 1711, married to Maria Anna of Austria for three years and without an heir, João grew worried for the future of the House of Bragança. He met with D. Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde, High-Inquisitor of Portugal, who assured the king that if he promised to build a convent for Franciscans in Mafra, in the Lisbon countryside, Maria Anna would bear him a child by the end of 1711. João agreed to do so. Construction started in 1717, with plans for a modest church convent for one hundred friars. However, in the following years, with a gratuitous flow of gold from the American colonies of Brazil and Maranhão, the plans were altered to become a magnum opus of João's reign, accommodating three hundred friars and adjusted to become a hybrid convent-palace, including a royal library, a basilica, and a vast set of apartments for the royal family. Noting the vast size and scope of the project, Charles de Merveilleux, a Swiss nobleman living in Portugal in 1726, remarked that "King João has decided to build a second Escorial."

With the new plans for a palatial complex, the project at Mafra, entrusted to royal architect João Frederico Ludovice, 

became much more than a fulfillment of a religious promise, but rather a demonstration of monarchical power and wealth. By 1729, 15,470 workers from throughout Portugal and its colonies were contributing to the construction of the palace, alongside a total of 6,124 infantrymen and cavalrymen, making a total of 21,594 persons involved in the building process and site that year. While the majority of the palace was completed by 1730, João was so consumed in completing the project that he decreed it mandatory for all inhabitants of the villages of Mafra and Ericeira to work at the palace, requiring an excused permission not to participate, and only under extraordinary circumstances. In regard to the exuberant cost of the palatial complex, Merveilleux remarked that "three quarters of the royal treasury and nearly all of the gold brought on the fleets from Brazil were here, at Mafra, turned into stone."

Mafra stood as a monument to regal power, even though it would become only a pleasure palace and never a seat of authority. João commissioned numerous operas, comedies, and serenades to be celebrated at the palace with great pomp, and its enormous property became the favoured hunting grounds of the royal family for centuries to come. The king also began to celebrate his birthday annually at Mafra, starting in 1732. João housed one of the largest and most sumptuous libraries in Europe within the palace, 

with over 36,000 volumes dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries.  A curiosity about this library is that it used bats to preserve the books from the moths. This library and the Coimbra Univeristy Library are the only libraries in the World to use this method of preservation of the its books. Works at Mafra would continue until 1755, when the devastation wreaked by the Great Lisbon earthquake required as many workers as possible to rebuild the city.

João was afflicted with dropsy which caused his death in 1750 at age 60. He rest in the Bragança Pantheon.

King João has the following children:

By Maria Ana of Austria (7 September 1683 – 14 August 1754; married by proxy on 27 June 1708)

Maria Barbara, Queen of Spain (4 December 1711 – 27 August 1758) Married Fernando VI, King of Spain. She had no children from this marriage.

Pedro, Prince of Brazil (19 October 1712 – 29 October 1714) Prince of Brazil from birth to his death.

José I of Portugal (6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777) King of Portugal from 1750 until 1777. He was married to Mariana Victoria of Spain, daughter of King Philip V of Spain. He had four children from this marriage.

Infante Carlos of Portugal (2 May 1716 – 1 April 1736) He died at the age of 19, of a fever.

Pedro III of Portugal (5 July 1717 – 25 May 1786) King of Portugal, jure uxoris, from 1777 until 1786. He was married to Queen Maria I of Portugal. He had seven children from this marriage.

Infante Alexandre of Portugal (24 September 1723 – 2 August 1728) He died at the age of 4, of smallpox.

By Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro

António of Bragança (1 October 1714 – 14 August 1800) One of the three Children of Palhavã. João V recognized him and gave him share of his estate.

By Madalena Máxima de Miranda (c. 1690 – )

Gaspar of Bragança (8 October 1716 – 18 January 1789) Archbishop-Primate of Braga from 1758 until 1789. One of the three Children of Palhavã. João V recognized him and gave him share of his estate.

By Paula de Odivelas (1701 – 1768) 

José of Bragança (8 September 1720 – 31 July 1801) High Inquisitor of the Portuguese Inquisition from 1758 until 1777. One of the three Children of Palhavã. João V recognized him and gave him share of his estate.

By Luísa Clara de Portugal (21 August 1702 – 31 August 1779) 

Maria Rita of Bragança (28 May 1731–27 November 1808) Nun at the Convent of Santos, in Lisbon. João V did not officially recognize her, but he paid for her expenses.

[drist-n-dither]

Novel Prep

WIP: The Ave’s Egg

Thanks to @urbanteeth, this is extremely long so I will put a keep reading! 

(let me know if anyone made it to the bottom of the post!)

First Look

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

Lania, a young princess, and her family must mediate a treaty to end a war, but it seems not every side wants peace to settle over the waring countries. Lost and confused Lania finds herself right in the middle of the conflict and must fight to get her way home under life threatening conditions.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

I plan on making this story as one part to a four part story. Lania is not the main protagonist in each of the books but she is there and plays a very pivotal point to the greater plot. So If all goes well this series will be a quartet! The Ave’s Egg itself should be in the range of 50,000 to 70,000 words as it is a young adult book. Although, since it’s still barley starting in the rough draft stage we will have to see. 

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

Long travel, earned sweat, constellations, russet reds, brilliant blues, wide dunes, sea stained clothes, coastal views, warm lights, jungle, empty cups, bells, blood, muddied feet.  (mood boards to come dearies!) 

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

All of Tamora Peirce’s books because she is my favorite authors, also she writes  about many themes that i highly value and wish to address as well. The Golden Compass, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Each have very diverse stories about young women in their childhood and really inspired me as I grew. 

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

Main Character

6. Who is your protagonist?

Lania is my main Protagonist. She is a princess in the realm of Trenear. She is well trained in culture, language, trade, and for formal duels in the name of her family. She is 14 years old and the daughter of the Empress regent. Her great grandmother marked the beginning of the Age of the Dragon, Lania and her siblings age has yet to be named or spoken for. 

7. Who is their closest ally?

Lania’s closest Ally is her older brother Napaul. He is 17 years old and the biggest heart in the family under his father. He listens to her as an equal and expects the best from her. She respects and loves him immensely. Where Lania is very rough and loud with her frustrations her is very raw and emotional. There is trust in their emotional vulnerability and in their weakness. Also, they both find each other incredibly hilarious. Aside from Napaul, her family is really her strongest and most plentiful support. 

8. Who is their enemy?

Lania’s enemy is the unknown. It’s all that rests outside of her palace walls. Her enemy is the distance between her families hearts and her own. It’s the plans of those who wish to harm her family made in whispers. 

9. What do they want more than anything?

She more than anything wants to get back to her home, to her family, to the familiar, and safety.

From my eyes,  if she forgot home for a second she would realize she just wants to feel less scared about everything. About having to live. Having to move forward. 

10. Why can’t they have it?

A war and a divine conflict. Her Blood and an Oath. 

and for that second part, she is just a child and she must grow and experience first. 

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

That she doesn’t have a responsibility to the world outside of her own family and their name and title.

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

Drawn by my closest friend @sweatersgalore !!

She is around 5′6, lean and muscular. She has a strong jaw and long face with a hooked nose. Thick waves and loosely curled black hair, very dense and long. Her bangs sit on top of her eyebrows and make a crescent shape hugging her high cheekbones. Braids riddle her hair to keep it from all crowding her face and hands. Her eyes are silver and her eyes are almond shaped. 

Plot Points

13. What is the internal conflict?

Lania feels completely safe at home and wants her family to all stay together. With everyone leaving she doesn't want to be left behind and she doesn't want to leave the palace either. Later she deals with guilt and feeling inept, forgetting her own skills and memory of her worth. 

14. What is the external conflict?

There is a feuding war, the natural elements as she is lost on another continent, she is fleeing and continually trying to overcome obstacles in her path to get back home. 

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Well that is the story, probably too many spoilers if I told you that. Lets just say that the worse things that could happen to her do. Although there isn’t any sexual violence or family abuse in the story, I don’t feel like it belongs in her story. 

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

Who caused all of the families and the realms troubles. Identities will be revealed as well maybe for the benefit of our hero. 

17. Do you know how it ends?

Yes! I’ve already begun plotting for the next book very lightly while I'm writing the rough draft of this story.

Bits and Bobs

18. What is the theme?

One of the themes is creating a name for ones self. 

19. What is a reoccurring symbol?

Rebirth

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

The story is set in three distinct locations! (it’s not quite in order or all of the locations but these make up a great deal of the story) 

The first is Trenear. Which is Lania’s homeland and is along the mediterranean coast. It’s a country thats at it’s best right now. It’s fairly rich due to it’s accessibility along the water and its unending source of natural elements at their feet. It’s heavy in trade and artistry and many cultures and people pass through.

The second is Amurid. Who's environment is jungle. Their buildings and architecture is wide and laid out but beautifully orchestrated in color and structure. The air is thick there and heavy, wildlife is mischievous and roams freely through out the kingdom. 

The third is the Valundrin Desert on the outsides of Coyi, between Amurid. It is blisteringly hot and deep dunes paint its landscape. The sand in this land is deep purple. Pockets of Helium escape from the ground below and create something quite more worrisome than quick-sand, literal rivers made of sand. From the surface they can barely be distinguished from normal resting sand though!  

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Yes! Quite a few that I get desperately excited about, and some that I sit on the bus to school and nearly cry over. I’m very visual so it I can play the events smoothly in my head I should eventually be able to write them. 

22. What excited you about this story?

I was very excited about the world building elements and the fantasy setting that i’ve slowly been weaving together. I love stories that revolve around young children where they have so much to see and so far to go. I’m also excited for the over arching story because Lania’s story is just the pillar where she stands on when the larger story gets introduced. I’m excited to really just let my mind explore and have fun. To really be free of the contracts I’ve put on myself before. 

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

Oh man, I’m trying to pull that together right now. For now I’m doing a lot of prepping and organizing. I’m really trying to decide what is necessary for the story and what elements I can raise up and amplify and which can get erased or morphed to be more beneficial to the story. I want to create a goal soon to sit down everyday and work on my WIP it doesn’t have to be purely the word count but even just writing and pondering things that could happen or how scenes might play out. Or maybe even just world building since I enjoy it so much. 

Tagging those who have shared interest in The Ave’s Egg or those who might want to do the tag feel no pressure! : @lonely-pages-of-ink @incandescent-creativity @lillayalightfoot @esoteric-eclectic-eccentric @bexminx @dionian-gayce @raevenlywrites @marniewrite @a-place-of-babble @littlesilverlightning @idreamonpaper @morriganwrites-0124 @cosmosbv @kometa-makes-art @ad-drew @writerofwriting @writings-of-a-narwhal @ghostwriteblr @bergamotstreet @all-bridges-will-burn @writer-on-time @the-forgotten-traveller @whatsanwritepocalae @dreameronthewind @siriuslyprocrastinating @idreamtofreality @floralandrogyny @jessica-shouldbewriting @monstrouswrites @inexorableblob @fragrant-stars

let me know as always if you want to be off my tag list!

[stones-muses]

When Mick first met Chrissie, He was then 19 and a student at the London School of Economics, while Chrissie, 17, was a secretary in Covent Garden — in those days still the scene of a raucous fruit and veg market.

‘Mick would come and meet me for lunch,’ Chrissie recalls. ‘One day, as we walked through the market, a stall-holder threw a cabbage at his head and shouted “You ugly f*****”.’

Given all this, it’s perhaps not surprising that Mick hugely enjoyed showing off his beautiful ‘bird’ to his fellow LSE students, and she would later become the envy of his legions of fans. But life as his trophy girlfriend was far from the paradise they might have imagine

It was a fate which the young Chrissie can scarcely have envisaged when she first locked eyes with Mick Jagger at the Ricky-Tick, a blues club opposite Windsor Castle, in early 1963.

She occasionally collected glasses at the Ricky-Tick — one of the many small clubs the newly-formed Rolling Stones played as they began making their name in early 1963.

The night they met, Mick asked her out on a date. They had been seeing each other for about two weeks when the Stones’ fortunes suddenly began to improve with the appointment of their first manager, Andrew Loog Oldham.

‘As far as I was concerned, it was total love and I’d be with him for the rest of my life. I hated all the fan hysteria stuff, and I wasn’t that interested in running around the clubs and everything rock chicks are supposed to do. All I wanted was to have babies and be normal.’

At first, it seemed that her newly-famous lover shared her values.‘When I was first with Mick, I wasn’t allowed to look at anyone else or even be friends with girls he considered tarts,’ she says.Yet increasingly he seemed to regard any attractive young female who crossed his own path as fair game.

For her own peace of mind, Chrissie did not inquire too deeply into what went on out on the road. ‘I think I only knew he was unfaithful to me about three times, though there must have been many more times when I didn’t find out. And when I did, he would be so regretful.‘I remember him playing I’ve Been Loving You Too Long — the first time I’d heard that beautiful song, which I still find hard to listen to — after I’d found out about something. And I can remember him lying on the floor and crying all over my feet because I’d threatened to leave him.’

Despite such upsets, she and Mick were eventually engaged. No date was set for the wedding, but, in preparation, Mick’s mother, Eva, taught Chrissie to make pastry — for Eva, one of the first essentials of good-wifeliness — while Chrissie’s father, Ted, began looking for houses suitable for them once they were married.In June 1966, Mick made his own efforts in that direction, renting a fifth-floor flat in Harley House, an Edwardian mansion block near Regent’s Park. It was supposed to be their first home as newlyweds, but soon after finding the flat, he informed Chrissie that he no longer wanted to get married, just to live with her there.She paid a heavy price for agreeing to this new arrangement. Until then she’d managed to conceal from her parents the fact that she was spending most nights with Mick — keeping on, as a cover, a small bedsit in West London with a friend.The news that she would be openly ‘living in sin’ was so shaming a prospect for her father that he warned she would no longer be welcome at their family home if she went through with it.

That was at a party in London. While the other girls were wearing the new daringly short skirts of the day, Marianne arrived in blue jeans and a baggy shirt.

She caused a stir nonetheless. ‘It was like seeing the Virgin Mary with an amazing pair of t**s,’ says record promoter Tony Calder, who was there with Mick and Stones’ manager Andrew Oldham.

Around that time, Mick made various clumsy attempts at seduction — on one occasion trying to persuade her to sit on his lap in a taxi. But she dismissed him as a ‘cheeky little yob’ and went on to marry John Dunbar, with whom she had a son, Nicholas.

She had clearly changed her mind about Mick by the time of that Bristol concert. Her marriage was already over by then, and, after she and Mick slept together at his hotel after the show that night, he began visiting her secretly at her flat in London.

On December 15, Chrissie and Mick were supposed to be going on holiday, but there was no sign of him, and when she phoned his office she discovered that the flights had been cancelled. Even then, she still had no idea that he was seeing Marianne.

‘I remember thinking “He doesn’t want me, and I can’t live without him”.’Alone at the Harley House flat with her dog, six cats and three songbirds chirruping in the Victorian cage which Mick had bought for her 21st, Chrissie took an overdose of sleeping pills.

Only after Chrissie was released from the hospital, and recuperating at her parents’ home, did she learn from the newspapers about Mick and Marianne. And when at last she nerved herself to return to Harley House to collect her possessions, she found the flat’s front-door lock had been changed and she had to telephone the Stones’ office and make an appointment to be allowed in.

[infantacarlota]

hi guys! here’s carlota’s bio + a list of wanted connections. if you’d like to plot please drop me a message and i’ll find you!!  i’m seldom on the discord server bc i get overwhelmed easily/large group chats stress me out, but i love to chat and plot, in fact i’m a sucker for extensive plotting and i do want a bit of everything for carlota so pls throw any and all ideas you have my way. 

- ̗̀✰ •【 LILY JAMES / FEMALE / 27 】announcing the arrival of her royal highness, ( CARLOTA LUÍSA ISABEL ), the ( INFANTA ) of ( PORTUGAL ). I’ve heard that she is ( IMPULSIVE ) & ( PARANOID ) but can also be ( INTUITIVE ) & ( PASSIONATE ). ( CARLOTA ) is arranged to marry ( MICHIEL HUISMAN, BOB MORLEY, ALFONSO HERRERA ). Rumor has it ( SHE'S THE REASON HER BROTHER THE CROWN PRINCE IS IN A COMA ). We hope you enjoy your stay at London!

STATS

name: carlota luísa isabel, house of coimbra, infanta of portugal age: 26 family:

henrique (father, deceased) terezia (mother, deceased) luís (uncle, 52, regent, childless younger brother of henrique)  pedro (brother, 33, in a coma) ____ (brother, 29-31) ____ (brother, 27-29) ____ (brother, 23-24) silvia (sister, 22-23) ____ (brother, 19-20)

relationship status: betrothed to espen jarle lillegarde, crown prince of norway.  language(s) spoken: portuguese (fluent), english (fluent), french (well), spanish (fluent), italian (decently), deutsch(okay-ish), danish (okay-ish) eyes: brown hair: brown physical ailments: not an ailment per se, but she broke her right arm in her youth and it didn't heal properly so it's slightly crooked at the elbow. she's a little self-conscious about it and it aches at times, especially if she has to carry something heavy, but for the moment that's about it. neurological ailments: low key depressed but isn't even close to being aware of it because depression is such a foreign thing to her. this quote explains it nicely:

"Being an extrovert with depression and constantly maintaining a lively personality can sometimes feel like you are lying to the world. It makes depression something only you can deal with, when you can finally take off “the mask” [...] suffering from depression as an extrovert comes down to not being taken seriously. It’s hearing how you must be over-exaggerating your condition because there is no way you can be laughing with friends on the same night you go home and cry yourself to sleep. [...] is knowing that people will make you happy because sometimes being happy by yourself seems like an impossible task. It is having a constant need to be there for everyone but yourself. It is – as crazy as this sounds – feeling as if you aren’t allowed to be depressed [...] You have to be the person people gravitate towards to when they want to have a good time."

smoking: mostly in the past drugs: in the past and here's to hoping it stays there alcohol: in the past: drank a lot and often during her teenage/boarding school years. started drinking way less after that and was primarily a social drinker, but enjoyed a glass of wine every other meal. currently: keeps telling herself she'll have just one or two glasses but ends up drinking the whole bottle. when she's feeling down, it helps her stay bubbly, like people are used to see her. tattoos: pretty much always covered. 1 dainty lavender tattoo under her left breast, 1 small conch shell on the inside of her left arm style: enjoys looking stylish but values comfort above all else. doesn't follow fashion trends but enjoys playing with styles. has worn pant suits, bowties, and ties to several events. she often opts for comfortable flats (even trainers when she was younger) when wearing long dresses that cover her feet.  secret: she’s the reason her brother, the king, is in a coma

personality

sociable, bubbly, energetic, romantic, intuitive, impulsive, kind, compassionate, audacious, youthful, low-key very sad and depressed, curious, passionate, slightly air-headed, well meaning, romantic, at times speaks without thinking, used to be very gullible growing up, insecure, authentic, bad liar, self-deprecating (esp in the past couple years)

BIO (tw: death, drugs):

[ for carlota’s full / proper bio + more in-depth explanations, please click here & check the ‘biography’ tab.]

for nearly half a decade before carlota’s father was born, instability was the norm in portugal. carlota’s father was born just as the conflict was drawing to an end and he   spent his whole life honoring his father’s hard work, heavily focusing on diplomacy, and being slightly ( but understandably ) paranoid about the safety of his family.

like his parents, carlota’s father was fortunate to marry out of love. carlota’s mother isn’t portuguese ( she's a hungarian princess ) nor was she supposed to have become henrique’s wife, but the two had been in love almost since they first met when they were teenagers. at court, some never fully accepted terezia, still, the pair was very happy together. 

carlota’s family was always very close-knit and kinda nosy about each other’s business. she has always enjoyed this greatly as she’s a family and people-person, but at times it felt suffocating, even when she was only a child. 

carlota’s innate almost child-like passion and curiosity for life as well as her good-humored casual demeanor have always been both a blessing and a curse and often landed into trouble. she’s well-meaning, always, but sometimes speaks without thinking or acts impulsively. she’s a little bit air-headed and selfish in this manner, and her emotions and feelings often control her more than she controls them. 

still, she has three older brothers with very strong personalities so from a very early age she’s been trying to keep up with them and showing them that girls can do everything boys can. she’s never been rebellious or assertive by nature, although she likes to make bold choices and statements at times, but having a lot of brothers just forced those sides of her to develop. 

when she was 8, shortly after her youngest brother was born her mother passed away - this was carlota’s first heartbreak  

carlota’s relationship with her father was always...... not complicated, but perhaps filled with misunderstandings and good intentions gone wrong. he kept her at bay a lot because carlota has her mother’s demeanor, and he worried immensely about her future. her father always felt like out of all his children carlota was going to be the one who was going to struggle the most with an arranged marriage so he was always pressuring her to focus on her romantic life in a serious manner which carlota often found bothersome. 

in her teens carlota felt very isolated and out of place. surrounded by people but all alone. that's how she felt.

annnnnnd then her father sent her to boarding school which was never supposed to have happened but he changed his mind thinking it was the best for carlota (spoiler alert - it wasn’t)

carlota was extremely upset and sad over this. being apart from her family and friends she had known all her life brought her great pain and frustration.  she also couldn’t understand her father’s change of heart, and a part of her felt like she had done something deeply wrong. honestly she felt kind of abandoned. 

these years were somewhat tumultuous, especially because she wasn’t making the right kind of friends - the ones that are good for you. this lead her to have made several questionable life choices. she also got in the habit of drinking too much and doing drugs (she never officially went to rehab but she was very close to and she honestly probably should have gone even if only to really file this chapter of her life away).

all of this is, mostly, behind her thought. it took years but she realised she was fostering unhealthy friendships and habits and that the longer it took her to walk away the harder it would become to do so at all. eventually she cut them all out of her life. 

( “what is it with you and your uncontrollable need to be liked?” one of her acquaintances from boarding school asked her once, and she was already a little drunk, so the words didn’t hit her as hard as they normally would have. her shoulders simply rose and fell in a lazy shrug. “i don’t know.” it had been an honest answer, she kept talking anyway, no filter between her thoughts and her mouth. “i guess i - well, i've never been the pretty one, or the smart one, or the brooding one, or the bold one, or the funny one... but i’ve always been good at meeting people so i guess... i guess very early on i just thought ‘maybe i can be the likable one’.” )

her father died of heart decease when she was 21. she always got along with her eldest brother and the two became even closer after their father’s death, however, a couple months before the summit carlota thought she wouldn’t be participating as she had been seeing someone, but the boy ended up deciding that they were better off parting ways. it was all very last minute and out of the blue and he did it via text and she didn’t take the news well in the least so she ended up resorting to finding comfort in bad old habits and companies.

her brother grew increasingly worried and one day the two had a quarrel in the palace’s foyer after carlota showed up to dinner so merrily out of it she could barely stand. at one point he tried to reach for her but she pushed him away - once, twice, trice, and on the forth time he lost his balance and fell down the long imposing staircase.

she was so inebriated that it took her brain moment to register what had happened but once it dawned on her she was immediately struck by a wave of frantic panic and promptly made her way down the staircase ( nearly tripping on her own feet and tumbling down multiple times ). her brother was still conscious when she reached him, falling on her knees by his side, already crying and apologizing. the last thing he told her was to leave so no one would blame her for what had happened. 

carlota is not an agitator. she’s not pro nor against the summit. she dislikes the idea of spending her life with a stranger or someone who won’t love her, but above that at the moment she simply feels a great weight of responsibility towards her brother and is just trying to do what he wanted her to. she’s going with the flow in a dutiful manner, trying to always be on her best behaviour, while at the same time trying to stay as true to herself as possible. 

at the moment, she almost likes that things are being figured out for her. it goes against her usual demeanor, but she has so much on her mind and feels so much guilt that anything that figures out her responsibilities for her is welcome. frankly, she’s walking towards a big depression, but depression isn’t something she has ever experienced before and personally doesn’t think it’s something she herself could experience.   

i want SO MANY THINGS for carlota. good and bad. i want positive character development, i want negative character development. i want to break her and put her together again. i want her to grow, learn, and face past mistakes... and maybe make new ones. 

i’m all about extensive plotting, and i’m in things for the long run, so throw all the ideas at me.

WANTED CONNECTIONS 

FAMILY

siblings  - ill be posting her family request here.

cousins: carlota’s mother wasn’t portuguese, she was likely german, hungarian, belgian, austrian, english, or french. so if your character is from one of those countries and you’d be up for them being related to carlota let me know!!!

ON GOOD TERMS

(open) best friend: someone carlota is very close to at the moment  

(open) childhood friend(s): someone carlota has known pretty much all of her life  

(open) accidental friendship: carlota and this person weren’t supposed to get along because of their personalities but instead of clashing, to everyone’s surprise, they compliment each other nicely  

(open) “a boy tried to make us compete for his attention so we ditched him and became close friends”: self-explanatory lmao i’d love for them to be super close. or maybe he was dating the girl and tried to fool around with carlota so she told the other girl and she dumped and him and her and carlota became close friends. many options.  

(open) exes on good terms: i love this trope - two people who dated but who are still friendly (and possibly super close) 

(open) one time date (positive): carlota and this person went on a date/found themselves on a date but quickly figured out they’d be better off as friends, and they are 

ON BAD TERMS OR IFFY

(open) the guy who ditched her: carlota didn't think she would be participating in the summit as she was beginning to develop a relationship with someone. whether they were officially seeing each other/dating or not is open, but around four months ago he ended what they had, momentarily leaving carlota in a really bad place. i left this super open and vague on purpose, i would love to plot it with whoever takes him.

(open) the boy from the “a boy tried to make us compete for his attention so we ditched him and became close friends” connection: self-explanatory lmao  

(open) betrothal’s romantic interest: i’d obviously love for carlota and her betrothal to be end game (like, romantically, not just being married for appearances) but i’m also big on stuff taking its time and i’d love for her betrothal’s to have a romantic interest (even if it’s onesided and he’s not interested in her - altho he can be obviously). above all, i just want a scene like this one lmao

(open) clashed from the start: clarlota and this person never got along (open)

(open) former teenage-hood friends: carlota and these people used to be close when they were teenagers but aren’t anymore. 

(open) former best friend: carlota and this person used to be very close but something happened that drove them apart. maybe they were part of the same group of friends and when carlota suddenly started bailing on and not wanting to be associated with them the former best friend felt used and betrayed, like they were had only been a “party” friend to carlota 

(open) exes on bad terms: self explanatory  

(open) one time date (negative): carlota and this person went on a date/found themselves on a date and it went awful 

(open) toxic romance: 

NEUTRAL OR UNCLEAR

betrothal: i’d obviously love for carlota and her betrothal to be end game (like, romantically, not just being married for appearances) but obvs that’s not mandatory. his personality is completely open, honestly do with him whatever you wish i just ask that he’s not a very artsy person. as a suggestion, i’d love for his secret to be something like he has toddler from a past fling/relationship, or even if that’s not his secret i honestly just like the idea of him having a secret or not so secret kid. fc suggestions for him are: michiel huisman, bob morley, oliver jackson cohen, and santiago cabrera.

(open) star-crossed: carlota and this character have, or had, feelings for each other but for whatever reason their relationship just can’t work out.  

(open) met in a bar: : this could have happened when they were kids/teens or recently. carlota and this royal met in a bar without knowing of each other’s backgrounds.  

(open) push and pull: : there’s flirtation and mutual interest… and there’s also a lot of annoyance.  

(open) bonded over doing smth they shouldn’t: this could have happened when they were kids/teens or recently. carlota and this person were caught (or nearly caught) doing something they shouldn’t be doing (such as sneaking out or sneaking back in)… individually. it was a chance encounter and their first meeting & can go many ways.  

(open) flirtation: (open)

(open) accidental bonding: this person accidentally confided something in carlota, whether because they were drunk/tipsy, or simply completely saturated and needed to vent. 

(open) betrothal’s ex: id honestly love for carlota to meet an ex of her betrothal and they get along super well. i have several ideas for this tbh but yeah!!

[taz-writes]

11, 13, 19 for the oc ask thing?

11. They’ve won the lottery. Spend, or save?

Spenders--Aelia, Kyrina, Fianora, probably Lavender

Savers--Hope, Dusk, Violet, and Sayara despite the other three’s assumptions. Dusk has an investment plan, Violet doesn’t tell anyone she won and hoards the cash for some mysterious future “emergency.” No real emergency she finds herself in will ever be worthy of spending the cash. It’ll probably become inheritance for someone. 

Kyrina canonically made her Regents blow half the country’s budget on her new ugly castle on Eth Zantaara, so it’s established that she should never be given full access to money, ever. They’re literally fighting a war about it. Granted she was about five years old at the time, but I promise you, she has not gotten any better.

13. Name one thing their parents taught them.

Ooh! Ooh! Fun one!

For Sayara... Power exists to serve those without it, and fame and wealth exist as rewards for doing so. This is the big thing Doriel’s worked his butt off to drill into her, because otherwise she’d have some rather sociopathic tendencies. She’s not a legit sociopath per se, she does have high capacity for empathy and she almost feels too many emotions, but she has a lot of difficulty understanding how other people think and putting others’ needs before her own did not come naturally. By the time the story starts, she’s mostly learned this, but the first part of the phrase becomes one of her driving mantras. 

She learns to help people first because that’s how you make them like you, and she wanted power so that she could help people so that she could make people like her. This is still very much the subtext to her personality, but she’s growing towards the more straightforward “I want to be the leader so I can help people,” without so much of the “...and then they’ll love me and give me everything I want and make me rich and popular” bit. This is 100% Doriel’s work showing itself, and if she was raised by anyone less attentive she’d be a supervillain. 

Hope’s lesson from her parents is more a lesson from her grandmother, taught through Doriel: Hard work will earn you what kindness alone will not, but selfish work will earn you nothing. She actually picked this up from the same “power exists for the good of those without it” line that Sayara got “be famous so they love me” from, the two of them read VERY different lessons out of that speech. Sayara’s takeaway was “if I do good things it’s good for me because then people will like me,” Hope’s takeaway was “if I do things for myself instead of for other people, then I’ll never get anywhere.” If she works her butt off, then she can be like her grandmother and earn the title she’s inheriting, but she has to put that work towards the interests of her country and not herself. If she works hard but only for her own sake then she’ll never get what she really wants, which is for her tribe to be successful and proud of her. 

Kyrina (and Fianora) never really knew their parents, since the late Queen and Prince Consort died in a fire when they were very little. Fi remembers Sharing Is Caring, and Ky remembers zilch. Ky remembers playing toy boats with Fianora and falling down the stairs a lot because Fi was the Leader and she liked to explore. She doesn’t actually have any memories of her parents. It’s kinda fucked up when you think about it. 

Violet’s mother taught her not to take anybody’s shit. If they don’t like that, tough luck, because you’re not going anywhere. Lilac also taught Violet how to do mind control and brainpain people. This was a very valuable life skill. 

Lilac taught Lavender to stand up for herself. The lesson didn’t quite stick, but Iani still remembers it. Lilac tried really hard to press into Lavender that she’s not just a copy of somebody else, she’s her own person with her own wants and needs and thoughts. Violet wanted to be exactly like Lavender for a very long time, Lavender doesn’t have to want to be exactly like Violet. 

Aelia learned how to be sneaky from Lilac, after being caught bumping around the kitchen at night one too many times. She’s still not very good at it, but her mom tried her best. Aelia’s very much a black sheep in the Ravenhart family, in case you couldn’t tell from her (GASP) NON-THEMATIC NAME!! 

Amalie’s father taught her how to go for the jugular first. Her mother taught her how to seduce people, not that she would EVER want to know... yeah, most of her good life lessons were not taught by blood family. 

19. Do they study before tests? Practice before job interviews?

Sayara is a firm believer in “entrepreneurial studying” (read: stealing the test questions ahead of time and strategizing). It’s mostly because she lacks the attention span to study for real. 

Hope obsessively studies for everything, and can be heard in her room by passersby chanting responses to standard questions to herself in rhythm. It’s creepy. Sayara’s caught her memorizing speeches this way and she finds it very unsettling. 

Violet’s average, she studies pretty normally, doesn’t practice much for interviews... if she’s actually worried about something, though, she can get a little manic-obsessive. 

Lavender is a diligent student, and practices interviews by a mirror because she’s got such awful social anxiety that otherwise she won’t be able to speak. 

Aelia doesn’t study or practice for almost anything except her martial arts. She doesn’t care enough, tho she’s juuuuuust smart enough to skate by anyways. 

Amalie studies for tests but doesn’t practice interviews, she’d rather wing it and insert stock puns if she can’t come up with something. 

Kyrina’s never actually gone to school, and her tutors pass her because otherwise she’ll fire them and kick them off the mountain. 

Thanks for asking!!

[nochuobsessed]

Reign || Pt 21

Reign Masterlist

Word Count: 3k

Groups: BTS, EXO, Blackpink, Twice

Au: Royal

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader, Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Angst | Fluff | Smut | Au

Warnings: smut, fluff, threats

Previously:

“My accusations aren’t true then,” You say, biting down on your lip.

“I have not been the best husband for you, that is true,” He says, your bodies inching closer at every passing second, “But I would never lie with another women. No one could make me feel the way you do.”

“The girl, where is she now?” You ask, circling around him, “If she is still here, I will kill her myself.”

“She’s on her way to Min,” Jungkook said, as you both step towards each other, chest against chest, “She repulses me.”

“And do I, repulse you?” You ask, your eyes filling with lust.

“You ignite a fire in me that could never be put out.”

“J-Jungkook!”

After a long night of making up through gestures of pleasure, you had still both woken up fairly early. You had a leg wrapped around him, easily feeling his morning wood. You began teasing him, small touches, grinding into him. Next thing you knew, you were being pounded into once again.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cum so much in so little time,” Jungkook says, his hips hitting yours in a perfect rhythm, “You drive me crazy.”

You were worried that you would fall pregnant, seeing that as Jungkook had his way with you, you both forgot about the consequences of cumming inside. You had fucked before taking a bath, and then once you were in the bath, then one last time before falling asleep.

But that didn’t stop you from going again the following morning, no matter how sore and bruised you were. It only enhanced your sensitivity, already having had two orgasms that morning.

You let out a strangled moan, panting as the extreme pleasure took over you, “I’m not going to be able to walk for days.”

“That is always the goal, sweetheart,” Jungkook said, thrusting harshly a few times, making you choke out Jungkook’s name, “Cum again for me, I know you’re close.”

Jungkook squeezed your clit between his thumb and fore finger, as your nails raked down his back, “I-I’m going to-“

Jungkook pounded into you one last time, driving you over the edge as he emptied himself into you.

He pulled out of you, going to the edge of the bed. He examined his work, watching his cum leak out of you. He used two fingers to push it back in, lightly flicking your clit, you squealing form the oversensitivity.

His hands lightly stroked your stomach, moving up and down as you breathed heavily.

“I love you,” You pant out, as he took your head in his hands, cupping your cheeks and kissing you passionately. His knee moved in between your thighs, wrapping a hand around your waist. You loved this intimacy, that after-sex haze in which your body is still in awe of the pleasure you just received,  You quickly escape his grasp, standing up and looking for your robe.

You make your way over to the mirror, smiling fondly at the reflection, seeing all the marks Jungkook made. He walked up behind you, his hands lightly roaming your body.

“Was I too rough?” He asked, lightly rubbing the bruises on your hips.

You nuzzle your head into his, pecking his neck, “It was perfect.”

He spun you around in his arms, his soft lips moving against yours, “I love you so fucking much, never forget that.”

You hum in acknowledgement, “Jihan will wake up soon. I want to be there when he does.”

Jungkook nodded, picking you up and carrying you to the bed again.

“We’re not doing another round-“

“I’m dressing you, relax,” He said, a slight chuckle in his voice. He walked over to the wardrobe, bringing out a blue set for the both of you.

He brought your undergarments over for you, slowly slipping them on you. He spent extra time tying up your corset, enjoying the feeling of your skin under his fingers.

“Jihan could wake up any second now-“

“Shh,” He said, pressing kisses to your shoulder. He finished dressing you, and quickly got dressed himself as you did your hair.

“He should be waking up soon,” Jungkook said, holding his hand out for you.

You stood up, placing his crown on his head, sapphires that matched your own, “And now we rule.”

He led you to your son’s room, who was asleep, but stirring. You lifted him into your arms, sitting down on the lounge, with Jungkook sitting behind you, holding onto you.

“Jihan-ie,” You coo, “Eomma and Appa are here to wake you up.”

Jihan half opened his eyes, letting out a cute yawn.

“Eomma,” He whined, his small chubby hands reaching for your ring. You happily gave it to him, leaning into your husbands embrace.

Jungkook kissed your cheek, “I’m glad everything is back to normal with us,” He said, stroking Jihan’s cheek as he slowly woke up.

“He’s just like you,” You say, “Impossible to wake up in the morning.”

“You’re just the same,” Jungkook laughed, “Didn’t we once miss an event because no one could wake us up?”

You licked your lips, “We missed last night because you needed to fuck me.”

Jungkook let out and overdramatic gasp, “Not in front of the baby!”

“Baby needs feeding,” You say, “And you do too mister.”

Jungkook smirked, “Are you going to breastfeed me too?”

“Moment ruined.”

The Castle had gone back to normal, everyone relieved to know that their King and Queen were happy once again.

It wasn’t hard to spot, seeing the both of you walk around, proudly showing off the bruises and love bites you had painted on each other.

“Are you still sore?” Jungkook asked, a smug grin on his face.

“Obviously,” You retort, “Although, my biggest concern is the cum stain that’ll be on my throne from our… earlier endeavors.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time sweetheart,” Jungkook said, “We once fucked on my throne, remember?”

“I remember well,” You say, “You got me pregnant from that.”

Jungkook slipped his hand down from your waist, giving your bum a squeeze, “Imagine if Jihan asks when and how he was conceived. Oh, funny story actually son. Your mother was teasing me whilst we had guests, so I sent the guests away and fucked her right there and then.”

You laugh, bringing Jihan closer to your chest, “Don’t traumatize the child, darling, he’ll never want to sit on that throne.”

Jungkook stopped walking, and leaned into you, whispering in your ear, “We should do it again, soon.”

“Let’s just get to the throne room first, for our official duties, and then discuss our after dark activities later,” You say pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, before he grabbed your chin, firmly planting his lips on yours.

You would have stayed like that for hours if you could, but Jihan’s crying broke you up.

“Jihan-ie,” Jungkook whined, “Why must you always separate us.”

“He lives off attention, just like you,” You say, finally entering the throne room.

You sat down on your throne, your hand subconsciously finding Jungkook’s.

“Prince Luhan and Princess Xiaotong.”

“Your Majesties.”

“Luhan, Xiaotong, we are so sorry we had to leave the Ball last night,” You say, glancing at Jungkook.

“We had a… private matter,” Jungkook said, briefly quirking his eyebrows up at you.

“Yes,” Luhan said, “We were going to mention this last night, but we never got around to it.”

“Around to what?” You ask, your free hand moving to stroke Jihan’s cheek.

“We’d like to propose a marriage, between our daughter, the Princess Lien, and your son, Prince Jihan.”

You look to Jungkook, and he gestures for you to speak.

You sit Jihan up, to face the royals in front of him, “We have to decline.”

“Pardon?”

“Our son Prince Jihan is equal to you in power, maybe a bit more since Park has more money,” Jungkook says, “He can choose his own wife, whether it is your daughter or not is his choice. He is barely nine months old, marriage is not something we will discuss with him for at least 15 years.”

Luhan looked to his wife, “Our apologies.”

“Yes,” You say, “Of course, we can arrange for the two to meet when they are, let’s say 14?”

“That will be great,” Luhan said, “We are leaving in a few hours, so we must prepare. Thank you for your time.”

The two left, and you turned to Jungkook, “Maybe he can marry no one. If you die first, I can be regent, and if I die first, you can convince him he can rule alone.”

“No grandchildren?” Jungkook asks, “I would have thought you wanted our line to continue.”

You ponder that thought, “That is true. But keep in mind, I am 19. I did not think I had to think that far into the future. I want to focus on raising Jihan, and having another child in the next year or so.”

“So you do want to have another?” Jungkook asked, “But we should still wait, once you turn 20.”

“The only way to stop conception is abstinence,” You say, “But I don’t think that either of us would be willing to do that.”

Jungkook growled lowly, “I think our week apart is abstinence enough.”

“Except last night and this morning you fucked me more times than you used to in a week,” You say, bringing your face closer to his. He connected your lips, not caring who saw, only caring about you.

“Orgasms are better when you haven’t had one in a while,” Jungkook says, “But I don’t believe you will get pregnant soon. It took us a long time to make Jihan.”

“We shall continue to fuck, not caring about the consequences,” You say, pecking his lips once more, “Next!”

The coronation was days away. Jeon coronations were always held at the Jeon Abbey, a church covered in gold and centuries old relics. You had insisted on a rehearsal, not exactly knowing how Jeon Coronations worked.

“We walk up the aisle together, just you and I,” Jungkook said, “Dahyun can hold Jihan behind us. I walk forward, be anointed, take the oath, get the crown, long live the king etcetera. Then you’ll do the same.”

“And Jihan?” You look down to your sleeping child in your arms, warmly rugged up in coats and blankets.

“He won’t take a vow, considering he can only say two words,” Jungkook says, pulling you closer to him, “You and I will take him from Dahyun, and he’ll be anointed and receive his crown. Long live Crown Prince Jihan.”

“He’s so young, and already a crown prince,” You say, “My parents didn’t become King and Queen until I was older.”

“It’s not ideal,” Jungkook said, placing his hand on our cheek, “But we can make it work. You and Jihan come first, then the Kingdom.”

You lightly placed your lips on his, “I love you, thank you.”

He smiled, before bolting to the throne at the end of the room, “I used to do this when I was little. I would try to beat my father to the throne, claiming that he was too slow to be King.”

You laugh as you slowly follow him, sitting on your throne, “Let’s say you die tomorrow, I would have to sit here, pretending to talk to Jihan for advice while ruling the kingdom in his name.”

“Let us hope we live a long, happy life,” Jungkook said, pulling you out of your seat to sit on his lap, “Maybe we should only have one throne, and we can just sit like this.”

“Even when I’m old and grey?” You laugh, pecking his lips.

“Even then,” Jungkook replies, before noticing Jihan had his eyes wide open, “How long has he been awake?”

“He’s awake?” You ask, looking down and seeing that it was true, “Jihan-ie, you’re going to be a crown prince soon. First in line to the throne!”

Jihan’s eyes wondered around the room, not understanding what you and your husband were talking about.

“It’s not the life I want for him,” Jungkook said, “I wish we could’ve moved to our other castle, but mother and father kept leaving so we were made regent.”

“We have a lot of castles now, by the way,” You say, “Being the monarch means we get more properties, and I still have a manor in Park.”

“Two,” Jungkook corrected, “You have two manors.”

“One is under Jihan’s name,” You say, making a funny face at your son, “Jimin’s present for him when he was born. To make sure he remembers his roots.”

“He’s a Jeon Prince with Park blood, a perfect combination,” Jungkook adds, “Come on, Jihan will want feeding soon. We should go home.”

You took one last look at the abbey, “We’ll be back soon anyway, for the ceremony.”

Jungkook grinned, helping you stand up, and exiting the abbey.

“Yixing and Chanyeol have both said yes to joining the privy council.”

“Tell them to recruit other members, I will not deal with my fathers old men.”

You raised your eyebrows, amused at the interaction going on in front of you. Jihan was asleep in his room, being watched over by Dahyun, whilst you and Jungkook dealt with the daily noblemen.

“Your Majesties!” Minseok ran into the room, clutching a letter. He looked panicked, and Jungkook stood up, taking the letter from him.

“What is it?” You ask, concern spreading across your face as you stood up to join your husband.

He wrapped a protective arm around you, “It’s- a threat against me, nothing to worry about.”

“Let me see-“

“No,” He said, handing it back to Minseok, “It’s just another nobody thinking they can take the throne from us. Like I said, nothing to worry about.”

“But why can’t I-“

“I want more guards outside our room and the Prince’s room,” Jungkook says, “Minseok, you and Jongin can be Y/N’s private guards again. Anywhere she goes, you go too.”

“Of course,” Minseok said, “Lovely to work with you again.”

“Send some guards to bring Dahyun to us, with Jihan,” Jungkook said, “A cot will be placed in our room, and Dahyun will be removed as Y/N’s lady, and now Jihan’s caregiver.”

“Isn’t that what I do?” You ask your husband. He sighs, sitting down on his throne, making you sit on his lap.

“Yes, but when we are not there, I want someone you and I trust, rather than a random maid.”

“Right,” You say, snuggling into Jungkook’s warmth. Whenever he was scared or stressed, being close to you always helped calm him down. Your presence had an effect on him, and you knew it well. You started playing with his hair, pressing light kisses to his temples.

“Thank you,” He whispers, kissing you properly. His hands linked around your waist, keeping you firmly in place. You had never seen a King and Queen be so intimate in public until you and Jungkook.

“Y/N, what’s going on?” Dahyun asked, looking at you in concern, holding Jihan who was awake by now.

“It’s just a threat, but we need to be careful,” Jungkook said, “Jihan-ie, come to appa.”

Dahyun brought Jihan towards you, carefully handing him to you, “He woke up on the way here, but he’s been okay.”

“Appa,” Jihan blabbed, grabbing onto his fathers ring. He kept talking, if that’s what you could call it, happily giggling in between words, pausing every few seconds to take in a deep breath.

You study Jihan’s face. His eyes were big, just like Jungkook’s. He had his nose, and facial structure. You knew your boy would grow up to be just as handsome. You and Jungkook had decided early on that if any of your children hadn’t married by choice at age 18, you would bring potential suitors in to meet them. But you had no doubts that Jihan would be a popular choice for suitor among the Princesses of other kingdoms, seeing as he had just received his first proposal.

“Come,” Jungkook said, helping you stand up, “I want to rest, and spend time with you and Jihan.”

You bring your lips to his in a quick kiss, chaste but filled with love that you bore for you family, “What do you actually want to do?”

Jungkook sighed, pulling you into his chest, “I want to hold you, and Jihan, and never let go.”

You had fallen asleep in Jungkook’s arms, Jihan lying on Jungkook’s chest. Jungkook woke up after a while, realizing it was around midnight. He shifted slowly, moving closer to you, keeping Jihan still on his chest.

He brushed a piece of your hair behind your ear, kissing your cheek. Moments like these really made his day.

Seeing you so peacefully sleeping, not worried about the worlds problems. You were always under so much stress, organizing the coronation, Jihan’s first birthday. All that while becoming Queen, being a mother, and dealing with yours and Jungkook’s first major fight.

“I love you,” He whispered, “You have given me the greatest gift a King could ever wish for. An heir, our son. Everlasting love that I never thought I would get to experience. I always thought I would get put in an arranged marriage, but then I met you and feel for you. And by the grace of god you fell for me. You gave up your kingdom to come to mine, your family to join mine. You left Baekhyun, for me, even when you were carrying his child. I am yours eternally, my love.”

He sighed, smiling happily. He would never say those things to your face, one reason being that you had asked never to speak of Baekhyun again, and another being that he didn’t always need words to express his love.

His mind drifted to the letter. He was scared. He had received letters and threats like that before, but this one was different. It was personal. Jungkook would rather die a thousand deaths before he let anyone hurt one hair on yours or Jihan’s head.

He wanted to kill the person that sent the letter. No one gets to threaten his family and get away with it.

No one.

[perfectirishgifts]

The World’s Most Generous Countries In 2020

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/the-worlds-most-generous-countries-in-2020-2/

The World’s Most Generous Countries In 2020

Picking up supplies from a food bank at the Navajo Nation town of Casamero Lake .

America’s Food Fund ran the most successful fundraising campaign of 2020. It’s GoFundMe page raised over $44 million to feed America’s most vulnerable during the worst of Covid-19. However, the U.S. was only the second most generous country in the world this year.

Measured by donations per capita, the most generous country in 2020 was Ireland, according to figures released by GoFundMe, a crowd funding platform.

In fact, one of their top five fundraisers of 2020 saw Irish donors giving to U.S. citizens in need. The Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund went viral in Ireland, where donors were eager to repay a donation by Native Americans to Irish suffering from the Great Famine or Hunger in 1872.

Making up the top five most generous countries in the world in 2020 were, in order, the U.K., Canada, and Australia. The rest of the top 10 were filled by European countries.

The most generous cities were often outliers though. In the U.S. it was not New York but Silver Spring, a suburb of Washington DC, that gave the most. In the U.K. it was Londonderry (in Northern Island), not London. Bundaberg was Australia’s most generous.

But during a year upended by a pandemic, not all donations were related to Covid-19. Justice and equality charities saw a flood of support this year. The most successful, by far, was the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund, which raised $14.7 million from 500,000 donors, “the most donations ever received by an individual fundraiser,” says GoFundMe.

An Elie Saab designed dress worn by Emma Stone is being auctioned to raise funds for Lebanese … [] charities.

Some campaigns bagged high-profile donors, like Russell Crowe who made an unexpected $5,000 donation to a Beirut restaurant almost destroyed by August’s explosion.

For a Sotheby’s online auction raising funds for the devastated city, Emma Stone, Geri Halliwell, Mick Jagger and others have parted with an assortment of memorabilia. To Beirut With Love is expected to raise between £347,600 ($459,748) and £501,200 ($662,905) by the time the auction closes next week (15 December).

In another campaign helping the blasted city, a former TV chef is raising money to build ovens in the Beirut’s poorest neighborhoods whose residents lack food or cooking facilities.

A Record Breaking Year For Philanthropy

This year’s new records include the largest ever fundraising event, albeit an online one. In April, One World: Together At Home, raised $127 million for Covid-19 causes thanks to a star-studded line-up that included Sir Elton John and the Rolling Stones.

But perhaps the most famous fundraising initiative of 2020 was Captain Sir Tom Moore walking 100 lengths of his garden to raise £500,000 ($666,040) for the U.K.’s NHS Charities Together.

He raised over £32 million ($44 million) and was recognised for his efforts with a Knighthood from the Queen.

Captain Sir Tom Moore receives his Knighthood from the Queen at Windsor Castle.

It may have been an extraordinary year for fundraising but charities say they are struggling now more than ever.

On Tuesday (8 December), Cancer Research, the world’s largest cancer research charity, announced it was cutting its budget by £45 million ($60 million), which means 328 fewer researchers working on cancer projects. Covid-19 has slowed down the charity’s efforts to beat cancer, says its chief executive, Michelle Mitchell.

“Your big charities that rely on big fundraising events, your British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research, those big ones are used to having events,” says Jo Barnett, executive director of Virgin Money Giving, the U.K.’s largest non-profit fundraising platform.

Only this year, with canceled marathons, concerts, and other events, they are down to about 20% to 25% of their normal donation levels, says Barnett. It’s not that donors are giving less, but they have completely changed the causes they support.

“As money rushes into frontline services like food banks, hospitals and hospices, non-Covid causes are being forgotten,” says Clare Wilkins, the effective philanthropy principal at NPC (New Philanthropy Capital), a think tank. She says Covid-19 has been “a mammoth disrupter in philanthropy.”

Other non-Covid causes have suffered. Animal charities are down 20% according to figures from JustGiving, an online fundraising platform. “This year has been like no other for the fundraising sector,” says Pascale Harvie, it’s general manager.

None of this bodes well for Christmas, the busiest time of year for charity fundraising. In normal years Christmas is a time of giving. But this year is not normal.

Christmas lights are turned on in an empty Regent and Oxford Street in London.

Some of the biggest Christmas fundraising events have been canceled. The famous Great Ormond Street Hospital carol service has gone online, Oxford Street turned on its annual charity Christmas lights to an empty audience, and, in many parts of the world, carol singers are banned from going door-to-door.

However, in the absence of large-scale organized events, people have taken fundraising into their own hands, says Barnett: “We’ve seen a lot of really creative fundraising.

“I’ve been running Virgin Money Giving for over 10 years now and we’ve never had a pattern like this before. It has always been quite predictable and this year has just turned everything on its head.”

More from Arts in Perfectirishgifts

[minnesotaprelawland]

Trump Administration Rescinds Order Deporting International Students Taking Online Classes

By Brendan Connolly, St. Olaf College Class of 2021

July 24, 2020

On July 6th, Donald Trump’s administration issued an order that modified the temporary exemptions enacted during the Spring 2020 semester that allowed international students studying in the US to remain in the country–despite not taking in-person classes–in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new order would have forced international students in the US to leave the country if their Fall 2020 course load moved entirely online. The higher-education community vehemently rejected the decision by acting swiftly tooppose Trump’s order formally.Harvard and MIT were the first to file a lawsuit against ICE’s order, joined by over 200 colleges and universities filing briefs supporting the lawsuit.[1]In addition, 21 states, Washington D.C., Johns Hopkins University, the Regents of the University of California, University of Oregon, and a group of seven graduate students from various University of California schools filed lawsuits challenging the order.[2]On Tuesday, July 14th, there was an emergency hearing scheduled for the Harvard/MIT lawsuit. According to US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, the two parties reached an agreement less than five minutes into the hearing, concluding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)would rescind the order preventing international students from taking an online course load during the fall semester of 2020.[3]

The policy reversal was surprising.The Trump administration’s history of stubbornly sticking to policies in the face of widespread criticism and questions about legality caused many to predict that the lawsuits against DHS would be adjudicated. Judge Burroughs said before the hearing, “We’ll go as late as we need to go,” insinuating that an arduous legal battle was not out of the realm of possibility.[4]

However, there is speculation that the war might not be over. A senior DHS official has stated that the administration intends to issue a new regulation in the coming weeks regarding international students taking online classes.[5]Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Harvard University, similarly alluded to future legal battles in a statement following the order’s rescission. “While the government may attempt to issue a new directive, our legal arguments remain strong and the Court has retained jurisdiction, which would allow us to seek judicial relief immediately to protect our international students should the government again act unlawfully,” Bacow wrote.[6]

Bacow referenced how the Court retained jurisdiction in the case. When the order was rescinded, it mooted the conflict; however, US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs noted that she would keep the case on her docket pending further motions from the parties.[7] If the Trump administration goes back to the drawing board and issues new regulations, this allows the Court to revisit the issue without restarting the legal process.

This means that the two parties’ arguments are still relevant and will potentially re-emerge in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the decision to rescind the order provided immediate relief as the order left schools and students in precarious positions given how much is still up in the air for the coming academic year.

History of International Student Regulations

The United States has over forty nonimmigrant visa categories. Three of these are for students: F, M, J. F-visas are the most common student visas because they cover a broad range of programs. Students apply for an F-1 visa if they want to come to the US to attend a university/college, high school, private elementary school, seminary, conservatory, or another academic institution or language training program.[8] M-visas are intended for students attending a vocational or other recognized nonacademic institution that is not a language training program.[9] Finally, J-visas are for “exchange visitors.” Individuals with a J-1 visa could be in the country for various reasons ranging from student or working exchange programs, temporary jobs or internships, or studying at a university/college.

The critical difference between F-1 and J-1 students at a university/college is that J-1 students have a cultural component to their program in addition to their academic work.[10]Another difference is that J-1 visa holders need to fund a substantial amount of their studies through outside sources such as government scholarships, international organizations, or a Special Education Exchange Program.[11] In comparison, F-1 visa holders simply need to prove that they have the resources to pay for the first year of education.[12]

Students with F-1, M-1, and J-1 visas are expected to maintain a full course of study to retain their student visa status. The standards vary for the different visa categories, but students are expected to take the full course load as certified by their institution.[13] F-1 students can take one online or distance learning class as part of their full course of study during each term/semester.[14] M-1 and J-1 students generally cannot take online courses as part of their full-time course load.[15]

The numbers that accompany the visa classifications distinguish between different purposes of being in the United States. For example, an F-1 visa is for the person attending school in the US An F-2 visa is given to that student’s spouse or child.

F, M, and J visa categories are part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) run by the DHS. The SEVP administers the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS serves as an online database that collects and maintains information on international nonimmigrant students for national security and recordkeeping purposes.[16]

Modifications to International Student Regulations During COVID-19

On March 13th, as colleges and universities around the country were moving classes entirely online for the rest of the spring 2020 semester, ICE issued temporary exemptions to international students’ standard regulations. These exemptions provided flexibility for students and schools as the pandemic emerged as a global threat. F-visa students were allowed to return to their home country to complete the semester without sacrificing their visas’ active status.[17]F and M students were allowed to count their online classes towards their full course of study requirement.[18]Additionally, international students who were not allowed to stay in on-campus housing were allowed to find off-campus housing and stay in the United States for the spring and summer terms.[19] ICE made it clear that these temporary exemptions would last for the “duration of the emergency.”[20]

It was an unexpected move when ICE revoked the temporary exemptions as the pandemic is far from over. As of this writing, the US has nearly 4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, over 140,000 deaths, and continues to set daily records of new cases.[21]

The July 6th order revoked the temporary exemptions enacted in March. The new order would have forced F-1 and M-1 students to transfer or leave the country if they were attending a school that have moved entirely online.[22] F-1 students attending a school that operating normally in-person would return to the traditional regulations for F-1 students outlined above.[23] Finally, F-1 students attending a school with a hybrid model of in-person and online classes would be required to have at least one in-person component to their course load.[24]

Why was the July 6th order so controversial?

In 2018, the US had over 1.5 million F-1 and M-1 international students for 8,936 SEVP-certified schools.[25]According to an ongoing study conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education, only 52% of colleges/universities in the country plan to have entirely in-person classes in the fall.[26] 33% are planning on a hybrid model, and 11% will be entirely online. The remaining schools are waiting to decide. The July 6th order would have immediately impacted any student attending a school with a hybrid or online model. There is certainly a possibility that the pandemic forces in-person classes to shut down as it did in the spring.

The order came amid political turmoil for President Trump, who is trailing in the polls.[27]Trump has been clear that he wants schools to open in the fall, regardless of the public health concerns. He has been critical of Harvard’s decision to move classes online for the fall, describing it as the “easy way out.”[28] It is evident that the July 6th order was a political move to pressure universities to open up with complete disregard for public health and the law. The Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli even admitted as much by saying order’s purpose was to “encourage schools to re-open.”[29]

The Economic Consequences of a Similar Order would be Profound

Using the higher-education industry as a pawn in his political games is wrong, and many experts believe it will be a “self-inflicting wound.”[30]For a President who hangs his hat on the economy he has “built,” as he likes to say, it is curious that he would want to risk losing a portion of a market share that supports more than 450,000 US jobs and contributes over 40 billion dollars every year to the US economy.[31]

International students also provide tremendous benefits to the schools they attend. Aside from the immense value they bring to the classroom, many international students pay full tuition at their schools, which provides a significant source of revenue to the institutions.[32]According to the Brookings Institution, international students account for over 2.5 billion dollars in tuition and other revenue to American colleges and universities.[33]Like most businesses, colleges and universities have suffered tremendously from the consequences of COVID-19.

It should be noted that even before the controversial July 6th order, the Trump administration issued a ban on J-1 and H-1B (specialized workers) visas on June 22nd to expedite economic recovery for American citizens as the country re-opens.[34] However, many have criticized that decision as many industries rely on J-1 and H-1B individuals. For example, the skiing industry expects to suffer from the visa restrictions as they rely on temporary foreign workers during the winter months to operate the ski resorts.[35] Additionally, experts are expecting universities and colleges around the country, but especially in Texas, will suffer from the J-1 and H-1B restrictions.[36]

Trump’s pattern of ostracizing immigrants and foreign nationals threatens the long-term strength of the American economy. Sara Wallace Goodman–a political science professor at UC Irvine–says, “[International students] make our research better. Businesses rely on this talent to be competitive. It is a net gain for everyone.”[37]The US’s prestigious colleges and universities have always drawn the globe’s top talent. However, many international students have opted to further their education in other countries since Trump has taken office. Since 2009, China has been the largest source of international students in the United States.[38] Four years ago, Chinese students dramatically preferred the US to continue their schooling; however, Britain has now surpassed the US as Chinese students’ preferred destination.[39] If the US stops attracting the best and the brightest to our schools, our country will suffer.

The Legal Implications of International Student Restrictions

Most legal experts believed Trump’s action was illegal, perhaps explaining why the administration was quick to rescind the order. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement after filing a lawsuit against ICE, “What Donald Trump has tried to do in this regard will fail, because it is against the law.”[40]

Harvard and MIT argued that the order violated the Administrative Procedure Act 5 USC. § 706 (APA)because that it was “arbitrary and capricious” without considering the effects of the policy.[41] The schools also argued that ICE violated the APA because it did not provide any “reasoned basis that could justify the policy.” In Motor Vehicle Manufacturer’s Association of the United States v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. (1983), the Court held that an agency issuing a directive must “cogently explain why it has exercised its discretion in a given manner.”[42] Finally, the schools contended that the order violated the notice-and-comment rulemaking procedure of Section 553 of the APA, which requires the public to have an opportunity to comment on a rule before it takes effect.[43]

Natalie M. Gomez-Velez, a law school professor at the City University of New York, believed that DHS and ICE acted illegally in issuing the July 6th order.[44]APA cases have become increasingly common during the Trump era. The Supreme Court ruled last month in DHS v. Regents of the University of California (2020) against Trump’s attempt to end DACA because the administration failed to provide adequate reasoning to end the program.[45] Similarly, the Court ruled against a citizenship question on the 2020 Census in Department of Commerce v. New York (2019).[46]

Gomez-Velez described how Trump’s affinity for acting carelessly prevents his policies from standing up in court.[47]However, APA cases do not provide long-term consistency. This means that even when an agency is found to have acted illegally, they can go back and correct their mistake.[48]

Trump is already rumored to be working on a new attempt to end DACA in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling.[49] Given how quickly they rescinded the July 6th order, it is likely that Trump’s administration will craft new international student regulations that will make it harder for colleges and universities to challenge.

________________________________________________________________

Brendan Connolly is a rising senior at St. Olaf College pursuing a double major in Political Science & Economics with an emphasis in finance. At St. Olaf, Brendan is the Co-Captain of the basketball team, a Contributing Editor at Rebuttal, and a member of the Director’s Council for the Institute for Freedom and Community. After graduating, Brendan hopes attend law school and pursue a career in public policy.

________________________________________________________________

[1]Binkley, Collin. “More Than 200 Schools Back Harvard/MIT Lawsuit Over Foreign Student Rule.” More Than 200 Schools Back Harvard/MIT Lawsuit Over Foreign Student Rule | Edify, WBUR, 13 July 2020, wbur.org.

[2]Hawkinson, John. “ICE Says Harvard, MIT Not Harmed by New Rule as Eight More Lawsuits Filed over Student Visas.” Cambridge Day, 14 July 2020, cambridgeday.com.

[3]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “DHS and ICE Rescind Policy Barring International Students Taking Online Courses: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 14 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[4]Andersen, Travis, and Jeremy C. Fox. High-Stakes Hearing Set for Tuesday in Harvard, MIT Lawsuit Challenging ICE Rules on International Students - The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe, 10 July 2020, bostonglobe.com.

[5]Rosenberg, Mica. In Surprise Move, Trump Administration Reverses Course on barring Many Foreign Students. Thomson Reuters, 15 July 2020, reuters.com.

[6]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle G Kurilla. “DHS and ICE Rescind Policy Barring International Students Taking Online Courses: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 14 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[7]Carney, Todd, and Patrick McDonnell. “A Summary of ICE's Reversal and Re-Reversal on Online Class Policy for International Students.” Lawfare, 17 July 2020, lawfareblog.com.

[8]“Student Visa.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, travel.state.gov.

[9]“Student Visa.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, travel.state.gov.

[10]“Studying at U.S. Universities and Colleges: F-1 Versus J-1 Visas.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, j1visa.state.gov.

[11]Pedraza, Jessica. “Understanding the F-1, J-1 and M-1 Visas.” Leading U.S. Education Guide for All International Students, Study In The USA, 15 July 2016, studyusa.com.

[12]Pedraza, Jessica. “Understanding the F-1, J-1 and M-1 Visas.” Leading U.S. Education Guide for All International Students, Study In The USA, 15 July 2016, studyusa.com.

[13]“Full Course of Study.” Study in the States, studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

[14]“Full Course of Study.” Study in the States, studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

[15]“Full Course of Study.” Study in the States, studyinthestates.dhs.gov.

[16]“Student and Exchange Visitor Program.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ice.gov.

[17]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[18]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[19]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[20]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. COVID-19: Guidance for SEVP Stakeholders, 13 Mar. 2020. ice.gov.

[21]“COVID-19 United States Cases by County.” Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Johns Hopkins University, 21 July 2020, coronavirus.jhu.edu.

[22]“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , 6 July 2020, ice.gov.

[23]“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , 6 July 2020, ice.gov.

[24]“SEVP Modifies Temporary Exemptions for Nonimmigrant Students Taking Online Courses during Fall 2020 Semester.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , 6 July 2020, ice.gov.

[25]United States, Congress, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. SEVIS By The Numbers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2018. ice.gov.

[26]Staff, Chronicle. Here's a List of Colleges' Plans for Reopening in the Fall. Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 July 2020, chronicle.com.

[27]“Latest Polls.” FiveThirtyEight, 22 July 2020, projects.fivethirtyeight.com.

[28]Andersen, Travis, and Jeremy C. Fox. High-Stakes Hearing Set for Tuesday in Harvard, MIT Lawsuit Challenging ICE Rules on International Students - The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe, 10 July 2020, bostonglobe.com.

[29]Davis, Kailey. “AG Ferguson Lawsuit: ICE's International Student Rule Violates the Law.” NBC Right Now, 10 July 2020, nbcrightnow.com.

[30]Mackinnon, Amy, and Augusta Saraiva. “ICE Restrictions on International Students a 'Self-Inflicted Wound'.” Foreign Policy, 10 July 2020, foreignpolicy.com.

[31]Mitchell, Ted. “Statement by ACE President Ted Mitchell on ICE Guidance on International Students.” ACE, American Council on Education, 6 July 2020, acenet.edu.

[32]Hartocollis, Anemona, and Miriam Jordan. “Harvard and M.I.T. Sue to Stop Trump Visa Rules for Foreign Students.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 July 2020, nytimes.com.

[33]Startz, Dick. “Coronavirus Will Harm America's International Students-and the Universities They Attend.” Brookings, Brookings Institute, 17 Mar. 2020, brookings.edu.

[34]United States, Congress, President of the United States, and Donald J Trump. Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present a Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak, 22 June 2020. whitehouse.gov.

[35]Higgins, Sean. “Trump's J-1 Visa Restrictions Could Be A Big Problem For The Ski Industry.” KPCW, NPR, 7 June 2020, kpcw.org.

[36]Oxner, Reese. “Trump's Ban on New Visas Will Hurt Texas Universities, Experts Say.” The Texas Tribune, The Texas Tribune, 12 July 2020, texastribune.org.

[37]Lev-Ram, Michal. “Professors and Universities Find Creative Solutions to Keep International Students from Getting Deported.” Fortune, Fortune, 9 July 2020, fortune.com.

[38]Chinese Students Turn Away from US Universities. Bangkok Post, 19 July 2020, bangkokpost.com.

[39]Chinese Students Turn Away from US Universities. Bangkok Post, 19 July 2020, bangkokpost.com.

[40]Kroichick, Ron. California Sues to Stop Trump Effort to Bar International Students amid Pandemic. San Francisco Chronicle, 10 July 2020, sfchronicle.com.

[41]United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. President and Fellows of Harvard College; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology v. Department of Homeland Security. 8 July 2020, harvard.edu.

[42]The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia Circuit. Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Assoc. of the United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co. 24 June 1983, casetext.com.

[43]Carney, Todd, and Patrick McDonnell. “A Summary of ICE's Reversal and Re-Reversal on Online Class Policy for International Students.” Lawfare, 17 July 2020, lawfareblog.com.

[44]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle  G Kurilla. “Experts Link Harvard ICE Lawsuit to Recent SCOTUS Precedents on Procedural Issues: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[45]Supreme Court of the United States. Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California. no. 18-587, 18 June 2020, supremecourt.gov.

[46]Supreme Court of the United States. Department of Commerce v. New York. no. 18-966, 27 June 2019, supremecourt.gov.

[47]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle  G Kurilla. “Experts Link Harvard ICE Lawsuit to Recent SCOTUS Precedents on Procedural Issues: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[48]Caldera, Camille G, and Michelle  G Kurilla. “Experts Link Harvard ICE Lawsuit to Recent SCOTUS Precedents on Procedural Issues: News: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 9 July 2020, thecrimson.com.

[49]Porter, Tom. “Trump Is Considering a Loophole, Which He Found in a Conservative Magazine Article, to Bypass Congress to Impose New Immigration Policies.” Business Insider, 20 July 2020, businessinsider.com.

 Photo Credit: Vrenibean

[nerdyskeleton]

If you're still doing these,,, 11 or 19 for blackmadhi??? 💕

19.things you said when we were the happiest we ever wereI did 19 because I got a request for 11 as well, which I am slowly working on!!

“Why are you all the way over there?” Simon asks.

“You know damn wellwhy.”

Simon stares at him, a cruel smirk forming on his lips as heoutstretches his arm and jolts it once. Taka propels off of him, circling thesky and nearly dive-bombing Nahyuta in the process. He puts his hands up to hisface to protect from her talons. She settles back onto Simon’s arm a momentlater, practically laughing as he does.

Nahyuta’s face sours.“Dammit, Simon!” He prays to take away some of the anger.

“What do you think she’s going to do to you?” his depraved prosecutorsays. “Taka can only be so malicious.”

“She will peck myeyes out, and you will no doubt laugh when she does it.”

Hilariously enough, Taka and Nahyuta have never gottenalong. No matter what the poor monk does, she hates it, and she will bite himextremely hard to show him just how muchshe hates him. Simon finds their poor relationship hysterical to the point ofpractically falling over with laughter.

Simon coos for her to find some food, and while Nahyuta hasmade it explicitly clear how much he hates that she prowls around the palace groundssearching for rodents, at least the rodents are dead. Nahyuta will deal with a lot but he will not deal with mice.

So when Taka finally returns and lands next to him and dropsa dead, gooey mouse right by his knees, Nahyuta is understandably furious anddisgusted. They were having a very nice time beneath a peach tree,after all.

“She brought it for you!” Simon points to the dead thing,half-chewed up and mangled. “Taka thinks you cannot feed yourself. How kind ofher.”

“Yes, how kind.” Nahyuta tries to scoot away, which puts himpretty much in Simon’s lap. Normally, this is cause for another bite from Taka,but she makes no move to be mean. Instead, she follows Nahyuta and actuallycrawls up onto his thigh.

“Um, Simon?” he says, growing tense and anxious. “S-She’s-”

“Calm yourself – she’s not angry.” He reaches around thecoward of a regent, and he scratches at her head. She nuzzles him and takes astep up further on Nahyuta. Surprisingly gentle, Simon grasps Nahyuta’s balledup fist and unclenches his fingers to reach out to the bird. Taka has never letNahyuta get this close before without reaching up and biting him. This is amonumental occasion.

Nahyuta inhales and pets at her soft feathers, and heliterally gasps in amazement. “Simon!” he whispers, turning around and grinningso wide and unashamedly joyful up at him that it makes the man’s heartconstrict with some disgusting feeling of love. He’s never seen him this happy,and he’s so damn adorable.

“She must like you now,” he says, bending and pressing akiss to his cheek.

“She likes me!” he echoes, still scratching. “She’s sopretty and kind.” He falls into a sort of trance, and he gasps and literallygiggles when she shakes out her wings and lands to perch on his shoulder. Nahyutabites his lip, unable to keep the smile from his face. Simon reaches to kissit, because it is sweet, and he desperately wants to.

“I love you,” Simon tells him softly.

“I love you, too, but I am more excited about Taka loving mecurrently. Apologies.” He adds another kiss to that apology.

Slowly, Nahyuta adjusts himself so that his head is restingon Simon’s shoulder, and they are content and comfortable, and nothing has feltmore natural.

Until Taka has had enough, and she bites at Nahyuta’s golden earring, dislodging it and flying off with it.

[phgq]

PNU-Mindanao supports TF-ELCAC peace efforts

#PHinfo: PNU-Mindanao supports TF-ELCAC peace efforts

TALACOGON, Agusan del Sur, Mar. 13 - The Philippine Normal University (PNU)-Mindanao, one of the schools in Agusan del Sur, has expressed its support to the peace efforts of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) during an Information Drive Towards Sustainable Peace Symposium held on March 10, 2021.   Anchored on the theme: "Protect the Youth. Protect the Future," the said forum was aimed to spread awareness to the youth sector about the recruitment schemes and deceptive lies of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA), officially designated by the Philippine Government, United States and European Union as a Communist Terrorist Group (CTG).   The symposium was made possible through the joint efforts of the 26th Infantry (Ever Onward) Battalion, 42nd CMO Company and 402nd Infantry (Stingers) Brigade, all of Philippine Army in collaboration with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and POINTY, Inc.-Agusan del Norte. In observance of the COVID-19 health protocols, the forum was conducted via Zoom platform.   A total of 93 students participated in the symposium which composed of 72 student leaders from the PNU-Mindanao Student Government headed by Mr. Alexis Q. Sebote, Student Regent, and 21 campus writers from The Torch Publication, the official publication of PNU-Mindanao headed by its Editor-in-Chief, Herminigildo Genon.   NICA 10 and 13 Regional Director Manuel M. Orduña lectured about the CTG's recruitment to the youth and student sector. "The terrorist group has already infiltrated schools conducting recruitment of students and involving them to all forms of violence and terrorism-related activities. Hence, the different concerned agencies that composed the Regional Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict are intensifying its efforts to protect the youth and promote their rights and welfare,” he cited.   Also, Glynmer A. Jamito, POINTY Board of Trustee, encouraged the youth to become family-oriented individuals, responsible social-media users, disciplined and law-abiding citizens during his lecture on Youth Empowerment.   An open forum after the lectures paved way to the questions of the participants. "This symposium opened our eyes and minds about the activities of the leftist organizations, as a student leader, I realized that involving yourself in the armed revolution is a worst decision that might end your life. To my fellow leaders and to the youth sector, let's focus on our studies and make our parents proud by using our talents and skills in a right way," Sebote said.   Professor Jeanette T. Gongora, Director from the Office of Students Services (OSS) of PNU-Mindanao, highlighted the vital role of the educators in inculcating right and accurate information to the learners. She also emphasized that they support the implementation of the government’s Executive Order No. 70 or the whole-of-nation approach to end the insurgency.   "As mandated by the Executive Order No. 70, we in the State, Colleges and Universities (SUCs) are directed to render the necessary support to the Regional/Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. As the second parents of the students, it is necessary for us to protect them from the CPP-NPA terrorists," she said.   Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Reynald Romel A. Goce, Commanding Officer of 26IB expressed his appreciation to all the participants and active partners for rendering invaluable support and cooperation with the unit that made the symposium significant and successful. "Thank you for your cooperation and we are looking forward for a more enhanced partnership with you in our peace campaign. The youth is our future and they play a significant role in nation and peace building. Let's protect and empower them to be advocates of peace. Let's be part of this campaign and help the government in achieving sustainable peace," he said. (2Lt. Cecille Tappa, acting CMO officer, 26IB/PIA-Agusan del Sur)

      ***

References:

* Philippine Information Agency. "PNU-Mindanao supports TF-ELCAC peace efforts." Philippine Information Agency. https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1069395 (accessed March 13, 2021 at 12:13AM UTC+08).

* Philippine Infornation Agency. "PNU-Mindanao supports TF-ELCAC peace efforts." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1069395 (archived).

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Nintendo America, Comic-Con 2019, Microrobots

Yes, it is that time at last; the latest episode from the Nerds is here, so everyone can relax, the wait is over. Once again, we bring you an awesome show that is jam packed full of the topics that are crossing our desks. First up we bring you news that many of us will find refreshing, Buck does. Now hold tight to your pencils as we tell you about how the all-powerful Nintendo are being sued in a class action because of faulty equipment involved in the Switch. Want to know more to see if this can help you with that dodgy gadget playing up? Well it is the first topic and there is some truly interesting developments arising from this.

Next we have a brief news update from San Diego Comic Con, with the talk from Marvel and also some from DC. No, we still aren’t getting paid by them, contrary to the way it appears. But there are some really cool things coming up to look forward to from both groups. We hear about the Marvel Phase 4 universe and the various upcoming movies. DJ is excited about these and is quite eager to see these unfold. There is the news about the various DC series with some shows seeing a possible end and others announcing the latest seasons.

Next up we need to go grab our magnifying glasses as we look at micro bots. That’s right micro bots, tiny little robots that are going to help change the world. One operates in response to specific frequencies and is called a Bristle bot, totally cool. The other is even smaller and is operated by optoelectronic tweezers (OET), which use light patterns to directly interact with the bots. That’s right – LIGHT FEAKING TWEEZERS!!! Sorry about that, but that is so cool, these bots are so small normal tweezers are too big. Would you like to know more? Well then, you are going to love this, listen to the episode and you will hear a lot more.

As normal we have the Shout outs, Remembrances, Birthdays and Special Events for the week. What do you me and a poltergeist have in common, probably more than you would realise, to find out more head over to our friends at the great new podcast from TNC by that very name (You, me and a poltergeist). Now that is a Segway, now it is time for me to go, time for this to end, but before I vanish let me just say this last little thing. Look after yourselves and take care of each other, stay hydrated and keep Nerdy. Catch you all next time.

EPISODE NOTES:

Nintendo America being Sued

-http://chimicles.com/cskd-files-class-action-lawsuit-against-nintendo-of-america-inc-relating-to-joy-con-drifting-issues/

-http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/07/class_action_lawsuit_officially_filed_against_nintendo_for_switch_joy-con_drifting_issues

-https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/07/nintendo-responds-to-sufferers-of-joy-con-drift/

Comic-con Announcements - https://comicbook.com/marvel/2019/07/21/marvel-phase-4-schedule-complete-kevin-feige-comic-con/

Microrobots in cells

- https://www.scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com/these-u-of-t-researchers-use-tiny-microrobots-to-scoop-up-transport-and-deliver-cell-material/

- https://www.scienceandtechnologyresearchnews.com/tiny-vibration-powered-robots-are-the-size-of-the-worlds-smallest-ant/

Games currently playing

Professor

– They Are Billions - https://store.steampowered.com/app/644930/They_Are_Billions/

Buck

– Company of Heroes - https://store.steampowered.com/app/228200/Company_of_Heroes/

DJ

– Dawn of War 40,000 : Dawn of War - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4570/Warhammer_40000_Dawn_of_War__Game_of_the_Year_Edition/

Other topics discussed

Graphite (a crystalline form of the element carbon)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite

Nintendo: Quality over quantity

- https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/336293/Quality_over_quantity_is_Nintendos_firstparty_focus_as_the_Switch_nears_year_3.php

Xbox Red ring of death

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems

PS4 Blue screen of death

- https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/7byh2i/blue_screen_of_death_on_ps4/

Nintendo 64 joystick injuries

- https://www.cnet.com/news/nintendo-offers-glove-to-prevent-joystick-injuries/

Nintendo 3DS problems and solutions

- https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/common-nintendo-3ds-problems-and-how-to-fix-them/

Simu Liu (Chinese-Canadian actor playing Shang Chi)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simu_Liu

Green Book (2018 film)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Book_(film)

Young Justice (DC animated TV series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Justice_(TV_series)

DC Universe Animated Original Movies

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Universe_Animated_Original_Movies

Batman: Hush (DC animated movie)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_Hush_(film)

How to make a bristle bot

- https://www.robotgear.com.au/Share.aspx/Post/5

K’nex

- https://www.knex.com/

The optoelectronic microrobot: A versatile toolbox for micromanipulation

- https://www-pnas-org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/content/pnas/116/30/14823.full.pdf

Mu or µ (SI prefix for micro)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(letter)#Measurement

Prey (2002 Michael Crichton novel)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_(novel)

Help KyoAni Heal

- GoFundMe link - https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kyoani-heal

Kyoto Animation has opened an account to receive donations

- http://www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/information/?id=3075

Kyoto animation studio and their works

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Animation

Rutger Hauer (Dutch actor 1944 – 2019)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer

"Tears in rain" is a monologue delivered by character Roy Batty (portrayed by Rutger Hauer) in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue

Shoutouts

18 Jul 2019 - Kyoto animation studio fire - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kyoto-animation-anime-studio-arson-attack-1225232

23 Jul 1967 - First successful liver transplant, on 19-month-old Julie Rodriguez by Dr Starzl at the University of Colorado - https://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/777849/lives-remembered-dr-thomas-starzl-liver-surgeon-pioneer

23 Jul 2015 - NASA's Kepler mission announces discovery of the most Earth-like planet yet - Kepler-452b, 1,400 light years from Earth - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-452b

Remembrances

23 Jul 1916 - William Ramsay, Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air" (along with his collaborator, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics that same year for their discovery of argon). After the two men identified argon, Ramsay investigated other atmospheric gases. His work in isolating argon, helium,neon, krypton and xenon led to the development of a new section of the periodic table. He died from nasal cancer at the age of 63 in High Wycombe,Bucks. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay

23 Jul 1942 - Valdemar Poulsen, Danishengineer who made significant contributions to early radio technology. He developed a magnetic wire recorder called the telegraphone in 1898 and the first continuous wave radio transmitter, the Poulsen arc transmitter, in 1903, which was used in some of the first broadcasting stations until the early 1920s. He died from natural causes at the age of 72 in Gentofte. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdemar_Poulsen

23 Jul 2012 - Sally Ride, Americanastronaut and physicist. She joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonautsValentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya. Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. She worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physics, primarily researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, the only person to participate in both. She died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 61 in La Jolla, California. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride

Famous Birthdays

21 Jul 1951 - Robin Williams, American actor and comedian. Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s, and is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. After rising to fame playing the alien Mork in the sitcom Mork & Mindy (spun off from Happy Days), Williams established a career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. He was known for his improvisation skills and the wide variety of memorable character voices he created. Williams has been voted the funniest person of all time. Williams was nominated four times for the Academy Awards, winning for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as psychologist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Grammy Awards. He was born in Chicago,Illinois - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams

23 Jul 1892 - Haile Selassie, was an Ethiopian regent from 1916 to 1930 and emperor from 1930 to 1974. He is a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history. During his rule the Harari people were persecuted and many left the Harari Region. His regime was also criticized by human rights groups as autocratic and illiberal, such as Human Rights Watch. Among the Rastafari movement, whose followers are estimated to number between 700,000 and one million, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate. Beginning in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity. He was born in Ejersa Goro - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie

23 Jul 1967 - Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer. Best known for his distinctive supporting and character roles – typically lowlifes, eccentrics, bullies, and misfits – Hoffman acted in many films from the early 1990s until his death in 2014. He began his screen career in a 1991 episode of Law & Order and started to appear in films in 1992. He gained recognition for his supporting work, notably in Scent of a Woman, Boogie Nights,Happiness, Patch Adams, The Talented Mr. Ripley among other movies. He began to occasionally play leading roles, and for his portrayal of the author Truman Capote in Capote, won multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. Hoffman's profile continued to grow and he received three more Oscar nominations for his supporting work in Charlie Wilson's War, Doubt & The Master. Remembered for his fearlessness in playing reprehensible characters, and for bringing depth and humanity to such roles, Hoffman was described in his New York Times obituary as "perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation". He was born in Fairport, New York - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman

23 Jul 1989 - Daniel Radcliffe, English actor and producer. He is known for playing the titular protagonist in the Harry Potter film series, based on the novels by J. K. Rowling. Radcliffe made his acting debut at 10 years of age in BBC One's 1999 television film David Copperfield, followed by his cinematic debut in 2001's The Tailor of Panama. At age 11, he was cast as Potter in the series' first film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and starred in the series for 10 years, starring in the lead role in all eight films culminating with the final film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, released in 2011. Radcliffe became one of the highest paid actors in the world during the filming of the Potter films, earned worldwide fame, popularity, and critical acclaim for his role, and received many accolades for his performance in the series. Following the success of Harry Potter, he acted in other movies such as the Edwardian horror filmThe Woman in Black, Kill Your Darlings, Victor Frankenstein, Swiss Army Man among others. Radcliffe began to branch out to stage acting in 2007, starring in the London and New York productions of Equus for which he received immense praise from critics and audiences alike, and in the 2011 Broadway revival of the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He was born in London - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Radcliffe

Events of Interest

23 Jul 1983 – Gimli Glider:Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba. The subsequent investigation revealed that a combination of company failures, human errors and confusion over unit measures had led to the aircraft being refuelled with insufficient fuel for the planned flight. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

23 Jul 1995 – Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered Comet Hale-Bopp separately before it became visible to the naked eye. It is difficult to predict the maximum brightness of new comets with any degree of certainty, but Hale–Bopp met or exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811, the previous record holder. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the Great Comet of 1997. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp

23 Jul 1999 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-93

- https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/sts-93-at-twenty-years-planning-to-launch-chandra/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094

RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 7/8/2019

Good MORNING  #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Monday 8thJuly 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

SK, KING BUBBA SHARE BASHMENT CROWN – Debutant SK and King Bubba FM were jointly crowned winner of the 2019 Yello International Bashment Soca Competition. The judges could not separate the two after Saturday night’s competition at Pirate’s Cove, The City, both finishing with 308 points. The crowd was not happy the top prize of $60 000 would be shared, but SK, whose performance of Reverse was the crowd favourite, was happy with the result. King Bubba had already left to perform in Grenada when the results were announced and his trophy was collected by his mother Marian Elias. Earlier, he had sent the crowd wild with his performance of She Always Bend Over. Last year’s champion Lil Rick scored 279 and his son Underdawg got 274 to complete the top finishers with Balance Batty and Ben Over, respectively.Also in the finals were Guyana’s Blaze Anthonio with De Forenah, Sita The Lyrical Diva from St Vincent  had sound issues with Twirl and Subance & Mighty from St Lucia performed Two Clap. The other Barbadians in the line-up were Jagwa The Champ (Bounce), Mara Rose (Handle It), Marzville (Oh My Gosh), Mole (Deh Wid Um),  SugarRhe (Press My Buttons ) and Walkes, dressed as a butcher for I Waan Meet Meat.(DN)

MEDREGIS WINS BARBADOS LEG OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORLD CUP – Founder and CEO of digital system, MedRegis, Dale Trotman has emerged winner of the first ever Entrepreneurship World Cup to be held in Barbados. He won a prize pack valued at US$500,000 and became one of 10 fully sponsored global finalist to participate in the global competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this year. Trotman won from a field of seven start-up founders who made the national finals of the global competition, with his pitch for the digital system which aims to improve ambulatory care by streamlining the check-in to check-out process by replacing paper.(BT)

TOUGH FOR TENTS – With costs of around $25 000 a night, it is becoming harder every year to pitch a tent for Crop Over, but those remaining are pledging not to pull up stakes just yet. Stray Cats, Super Gladiators, De First Citizens/Digicel Big Show, House of Soca and Cave Shepherd All Stars have been joined this year by newcomer Shining Stars, managed by Julie Sealy, which will be the last tent to be judged on July 19. The first tent judging is Thursday with Cave Shepherd All Stars, followed by Kingdom of Super Gladiators on Friday. Though there were also six tents last year, this was a far cry from the days when there were 13.(DN)

FUEL PRICES DROP –The retail prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene will decrease, effective midnight Sunday, July 7. Gasoline will drop from $3.93 per litre to $3.86 per litre; diesel from $3.14 per litre to $3.02 per litre; and kerosene from $1.43 per litre to $1.34 per litre. This represents a decrease of $0.07 per litre for gasoline, while kerosene and diesel decrease by $0.09 per litre and $0.12 per litre, respectively. These price adjustments are in keeping with Government’s policy of allowing retail prices to be reflective of those on the international market.(BT)

BENJAMIN CHARGED FOR FACEBOOK POST ABOUT POLICE – Thirty-year-old Nicholas Anthone Benjamin of Rock Hall, St Philip has been charged with malicious communication in relation to a Facebook post about the police. The Mmoney agent is alleged to have posted via cellphone on July 6 that “the only people in this island I wished to see killed is EVERY SINGLE POLICE OFFICER !!! EVERY ***ing ONE”. In that post, the charge states, the message was menacing and Benjamin intended to cause, or was reckless as to whether he caused annoyance, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to members of The Royal Barbados Police Force. He is expected in court this morning.(DN)

SHOOTING IN ST. JOHN LEAVES MAN INJURED – Police have identified the victim of today’s shooting at Cheshire, St John, as 22-year-old Shaquille Jabarry Callender of Odessa McClean Drive, My Lords Hill, St Michael. Police say they responded to a report of a shooting incident about just before noon. Two men travelling in a truck had stopped at a residence in the area, where the driver disembarked to speak to another man. Reports are that a man who was walking towards the truck pulled a firearm and shot at Callender who was the passenger. Callender was shot twice – in his lower back and his right knee. He was taken to QEH for medical attention. Police say his injuries are not-life-threatening and he remains in serious but stable condition. Police are asking anyone who witnessed this incident or have any knowledge to contact police emergency at 211; District C Police Station at 416-8200 / 8201 or Crime Stoppers 1 800 8477 (TIPS).(BT)

WELL REPAIR PROJECT IN WORKS – A programme is being fast-tracked to deal with the state of National Housing Corporation (NHC) units and their environs, including poorly secured and dilapidated wells. Member of Parliament for St James South Sandra Husbands said this was being done by the Ministry of Housing as no one wanted another tragedy similar to that involving 18-year-old Kyriq Boyce, who died after falling in a 100-foot well in Martin Road, The Pine, St Michael, last Thursday. Kyriq had moved from Holders Hill, St James, to be with his mother in Regent Hill, The Pine, only a couple of weeks earlier. Husbands, who said she knew his family, stressed she had been behind getting some members of the Haynesville community, which she represents, to cordon off some of the more dangerous wells and fill in the cracks a year ago, but it was imperative a sustained programme be put in place.(DN)

RUSTY NAILS ON BEACH A HAZARD –Days after the Barbados Sea Turtle Project sent out a warning about the dangers of fire pits, 25 pounds of rusty nails were collected from a few square feet of one of the island’s most popular beaches yesterday. And deputy director of the Sea Turtle Project, Carla Daniel, is warning that the practice of lighting bonfires poses a danger not only to turtles who come up to nest, but to people and children using the beach. Yesterday, seven volunteers and Daniel combed the popular Drill Hall beach in the wake of a call, from Daniel, to join her in a clean-up of fire pits there. Before their arrival, she had marked at least eight fire pits which showed obvious signs of nails. “One of the problems is that people have been using pallets to burn (in the bonfires) and these pallets are full of nails and screws,” she told the DAILY NATION. (DN)

CABINET APPROVES SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES – Cabinet has approved the revised Policy Framework and Standard Operating Procedures for the Systematic Shutdown and Reactivation of Barbados. These procedures will be activated in the event of a severe weather, tropical storm or hurricane warning being issued by the Barbados Meteorological Service, in collaboration with the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) and the Emergency Management Advisory Council. Under the revised policy, government, through the Minister of Home Affairs, will issue a National Shutdown Administrative Instruction to shut down the country, following consultation with the relevant agencies in relation to the threat. However, the document dated June 2019, indicates that the National Shutdown would be done on a staggered basis to ensure that key elements of national operations are followed to maintain an effective level of operation for as long as possible, while facilitating the systematic closure of non-essential operations. According to the schedule for the national shutdown, visitors will be given an opportunity to leave the island 36 to 48 hours ahead of the expected impact, depending on flight availability. All educational institutions, including schools, pre-schools, day care centres (both for children and the elderly) and the Barbados Community College, will close 24 hours ahead of impact, while visitors will also be given a final opportunity to leave the island. All non-essential services of the public and private sectors must shut down 18 hours ahead of impact, while public shelters will be activated 12 to 18 hours ahead. Except for the emergency services, such as the Royal Barbados Police Force, the Barbados Fire Service, the Emergency Ambulance Service, hospitals and the Department of Emergency Management, the entire country will be on shut down six hours ahead of impact. Essential services in the private sector have been identified as utility companies, supermarkets, mini-marts, shops, pharmacies, general stores, including hardware stores and lumberyards, companies that provide public transportation and telecommunication providers. Persons are asked to note that no response will be available by responder agencies during impact. Meanwhile, an all-clear will be issued to the general public after the Director of the Meteorological Services has determined that the weather system no longer poses a threat to Barbados, and after collaboration with the Director of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC). Public officers are expected to return to work during normal working hours following an all clear notification issued by the NEOC, after consultation with the Head of the Public Service and Cabinet Secretary. A ll statements on the situation will be made by government officials, with support from the Chief Information Officer of the Barbados Government Information Service, and if necessary, through the National Emergency Broadcast System.(BT)

CARIBBEAN ECONOMIST URGES GOVERNMENTS TO REDUCE AIR FARES – Director of Economics at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Justin Ram has slammed regional governments for the high cost of air travel and he has called on them to slash the taxes and rake in more value-added and income taxes. “What I’m saying to governments—and I go all over the Caribbean—I say to governments: ‘stop being so myopic, reduce taxes on travel and aviation and let’s get more regional travel. You will recoup the revenues because when those people come into your country they will be buying more stuff and they will be paying more VAT (value-added tax),’” he told a Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) dinner held on Friday. Ram, who was the featured speaker at the launch of the 10th edition of Business Guyana titled ‘Guyana: Potential Unleashed’, said the Caribbean faced a “real issue” when it comes to regional air travel. Noting that over the last 10 years, most Caribbean people were travelling extra-regionally while intra-regional travel declined because of the high taxes and fees, he highlighted that 60 percent of the airfare for Barbados to St Lucia are made up of taxes. Ram reasoned that if the taxes and fees on airfares are reduced, Caribbean governments would earn more from VAT and income taxes because Caribbean people will travel to other countries and spend more on goods and services, and more persons would be employed resulting in more income tax revenue. The CDB official was also concerned about the many security checks that travellers have to undergo while transiting airports, and he called on Caribbean governments to reintroduce the Cricket World Cup 2007 security system that had provided for persons to be checked once. “This is ridiculous and we really have to ask our policymakers to reform this,” he said.(BT)

HOLNESS DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR CORPORATE AREA – Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Sunday announced that a state of emergency has been declared in the Corporate Area police division of St Andrew South. Holness told journalists during a media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, that he advised the Governor General Patrick Allen on the recommendation given to him by the heads of the security forces. “In St Andrew South the main cause of death is caused by gangs. Violence is at epidemic proportions in Jamaica … the main cause of death is gangs, dons and guns,” the Prime Minister said. From January 1 to June 29, this year, there were 94 murders in St Andrew South, up from 79 for the corresponding period last year. Currently, there is a state of emergency in effect in the western parishes of Westmoreland, Hanover and St James. In January, a year-long state of public emergency expired in St James. In describing the overall crime situation nationally, especially relative to murders, Holness declared that, “This is an epidemic and no one should tell that the country should be satisfied with it”. “The truth is that the level of crime is above the capacity of law enforcement to (effectively) respond. There have been 11 000 murders in the last eight years, and we do not have enough investigators,” said Holness. “The Government is employing not just one strategy, but a raft of strategies that must complement each other,” he added.(DN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 176 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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The World’s Most Generous Countries In 2020

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The World’s Most Generous Countries In 2020

Picking up supplies from a food bank at the Navajo Nation town of Casamero Lake .

America’s Food Fund ran the most successful fundraising campaign of 2020. It’s GoFundMe page raised over $44 million to feed America’s most vulnerable during the worst of Covid-19. However, the U.S. was only the second most generous country in the world this year.

Measured by donations per capita, the most generous country in 2020 was Ireland, according to figures released by GoFundMe, a crowd funding platform.

In fact, one of their top five fundraisers of 2020 saw Irish donors giving to U.S. citizens in need. The Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund went viral in Ireland, where donors were eager to repay a donation by Native Americans to Irish suffering from the Great Famine or Hunger in 1872.

Making up the top five most generous countries in the world in 2020 were, in order, the U.K., Canada, and Australia. The rest of the top 10 were filled by European countries.

The most generous cities were often outliers though. In the U.S. it was not New York but Silver Spring, a suburb of Washington DC, that gave the most. In the U.K. it was Londonderry (in Northern Island), not London. Bundaberg was Australia’s most generous.

But during a year upended by a pandemic, not all donations were related to Covid-19. Justice and equality charities saw a flood of support this year. The most successful, by far, was the Official George Floyd Memorial Fund, which raised $14.7 million from 500,000 donors, “the most donations ever received by an individual fundraiser,” says GoFundMe.

An Elie Saab designed dress worn by Emma Stone is being auctioned to raise funds for Lebanese … [] charities.

Some campaigns bagged high-profile donors, like Russell Crowe who made an unexpected $5,000 donation to a Beirut restaurant almost destroyed by August’s explosion.

For a Sotheby’s online auction raising funds for the devastated city, Emma Stone, Geri Halliwell, Mick Jagger and others have parted with an assortment of memorabilia. To Beirut With Love is expected to raise between £347,600 ($459,748) and £501,200 ($662,905) by the time the auction closes next week (15 December).

In another campaign helping the blasted city, a former TV chef is raising money to build ovens in the Beirut’s poorest neighborhoods whose residents lack food or cooking facilities.

A Record Breaking Year For Philanthropy

This year’s new records include the largest ever fundraising event, albeit an online one. In April, One World: Together At Home, raised $127 million for Covid-19 causes thanks to a star-studded line-up that included Sir Elton John and the Rolling Stones.

But perhaps the most famous fundraising initiative of 2020 was Captain Sir Tom Moore walking 100 lengths of his garden to raise £500,000 ($666,040) for the U.K.’s NHS Charities Together.

He raised over £32 million ($44 million) and was recognised for his efforts with a Knighthood from the Queen.

Captain Sir Tom Moore receives his Knighthood from the Queen at Windsor Castle.

It may have been an extraordinary year for fundraising but charities say they are struggling now more than ever.

On Tuesday (8 December), Cancer Research, the world’s largest cancer research charity, announced it was cutting its budget by £45 million ($60 million), which means 328 fewer researchers working on cancer projects. Covid-19 has slowed down the charity’s efforts to beat cancer, says its chief executive, Michelle Mitchell.

“Your big charities that rely on big fundraising events, your British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research, those big ones are used to having events,” says Jo Barnett, executive director of Virgin Money Giving, the U.K.’s largest non-profit fundraising platform.

Only this year, with canceled marathons, concerts, and other events, they are down to about 20% to 25% of their normal donation levels, says Barnett. It’s not that donors are giving less, but they have completely changed the causes they support.

“As money rushes into frontline services like food banks, hospitals and hospices, non-Covid causes are being forgotten,” says Clare Wilkins, the effective philanthropy principal at NPC (New Philanthropy Capital), a think tank. She says Covid-19 has been “a mammoth disrupter in philanthropy.”

Other non-Covid causes have suffered. Animal charities are down 20% according to figures from JustGiving, an online fundraising platform. “This year has been like no other for the fundraising sector,” says Pascale Harvie, it’s general manager.

None of this bodes well for Christmas, the busiest time of year for charity fundraising. In normal years Christmas is a time of giving. But this year is not normal.

Christmas lights are turned on in an empty Regent and Oxford Street in London.

Some of the biggest Christmas fundraising events have been canceled. The famous Great Ormond Street Hospital carol service has gone online, Oxford Street turned on its annual charity Christmas lights to an empty audience, and, in many parts of the world, carol singers are banned from going door-to-door.

However, in the absence of large-scale organized events, people have taken fundraising into their own hands, says Barnett: “We’ve seen a lot of really creative fundraising.

“I’ve been running Virgin Money Giving for over 10 years now and we’ve never had a pattern like this before. It has always been quite predictable and this year has just turned everything on its head.”

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