#monarchy apartment for rent

[hoppityhopster23]

Facts about Frederick VI that live rent free in my head (that I simply must share) ft. a super sleepy Hopster

One of my current interests is a Danish King by the name of Frederick VI. I'm currently really tired, but really wanting to post about him. so this wont be as organized as i normally do. i'll try to avoid making it a wall of words, but this is probably going to be a word vomit.

Family/Romantic Life

this guy was a pretty caring dad, and I love that for him. This man fathered. generally a great dad. dare I say the epitome of a good dad from the time. especially given his less-than-good start in life.

his romantic life was one hell of a ride. like- he had a long-time mistress (of like- 30 years) with whom he would have an affair. but, during the Congress of Vienna, he cheated on both his wife and his long-time mistress with another woman. his mistress, Rikke, then cheated on him. That led to ever more soap opera-like stuff happening.

Man not only had legitimate (2) and illegitimate (5?) kids but took on another nine kids. Well, some of them were adults at the time, but still. basically, when his brother-in-law (a duke) died, he and a friend of said duke became the legal guardians of said kiddos. and from the sounds of it, it wasn't just throwing money at them. he actually interacted with them to a certain extent.

to piggyback on no. 3, he had agreed with his sister-in-law that one of the boys, Christian, would go to Copenhagen and attend the land cadet academy. Christian would go to Copenhagen one year after the decision. he didn't live with the monarch but did spend a fair amount of time with them. it is said the king was fond of him. unbeknownst to all of them, Christian would turn out to be Christian IX, the father-in-law of Europe.

he was a parsimonious guy, at least when it came to himself. he would wear his clothing until they were worn out. only then did he get a new one? two of his desks, both his personal one and the one for his aide are simplistic, and so are his things in general. even his rolling chair- which is in Fredericksborg castle, is worn out looking. hell- what I'm pretty sure was his own bed was nothing but an Iron camp bed! granted, he only spent a few days a week in it, as he was staying with his mistress. or his wife.

regarding his mistresses, he took really good care of them. I'm only uncertain about one- which is the French one he had at some point, which did produce a daughter. For the other two, however, it's pretty clear. the one woman he met in Vienna, Caroline Seufert, was granted a large pension from him. his long-time mistress, Rikke Dannemand, was given an apartment near him, and enough money to live a bourgeoise life. That was a far cry from Rikke's former life in Nyboder. My only problem with this was the sheer age gap between them. with Rikke, there was a 22-year age gap. with Seufert, it was 29 years. both women were under twenty when all of this started.

Political

he tended to not threaten people's lives. there was a case where one of the members of the chancellery, Anders Sandø Ørsted, who was a prominent critic of Frederick, and would often write about such criticisms. instead of exiling, punishing, or hell- even executing the guy, he just gave him the choice of his job or his pen. Ørsted chose his job.

was a gruff man (likely due to his upbringing) but quite generous with his people. notably, some of the most realistic small gifts I've seen in assorted Danish museums were given by him. For example, there is a little golden snuff box sitting in the National Museum of Denmark that he had given to somebody as a reward. It is small, intricate, and made of gold. but most of all, it was usable.

His reaction to the July Revolution was good. the November after it, constitutions were made for Schleswig and the Kingdom of Denmark- but the absolute monarchy was still in place. on top of that, 4 Advisory assemblies were created. One for each major region of Denmark. this was a very primitive version of what was desired (and what would come not long after) as the king still appointed a number of the members, and only 3% of the population got the right to vote.

He tended to overwork himself. sometimes until he got sick (like during the Vienna congress). he died still working. he also had the belief that no matter was too small for the king. this meant that he stuck his nose into a lot of paperwork he didn't necessarily need to worry about. this tended to elongate the completion of paperwork, but it did make him more aware of what was going on in the country, so there was some benefit.

Other

he built one of the finest gardens I have ever strolled in in Copenhagen. If you are on any servers with me, there's a 99% chance you've seen the pictures.

It's obvious that his strongest gene was his hair. In every portrait I've seen of his children, they're blonde. like- super blonde.

The man was stubborn as hell, not wanting to change too much. this tended to rear its ugly head from time to time, but he wasn't too stubborn to not kind of acknowledge his mistakes.

that was a word vomit... I do apologize. but thats all my sleepy brain can think of. I'll likely have more when i wake up tomorrow. and if i actually find the time, I can go into more detail. I just need to check the copyrights on a few of the books i have.

[the-empress-7]

Honestly, if Charles is so bent out of shape about having to pay for his freeloading relatives via Duchy of Lancaster funds, here’s a thought. Swing the hammer and cut them all loose!

Most of them can support themselves! Charge them an appropriate rent to live in royal properties but cut off the gravy train of allowances and stipends. It’ll free up a few hundred thousand pounds that Charles can spend on Camilla’s vacations.

And frankly, the only ones who’d be affected are the Kents, Gloucesters, and Yorks. Kents and Gloucesters will resolve soon enough with natural attrition. So it’s just Andrew and maybe Eugenie who’s the problem.

(Sussexes are irrelevant because they’re not working royals and don’t have royal lodging. Beatrice and Edo have an apartment in St. James’s Palace and I assume they’re paying rent of some kind. Eugenie might still have Ivy Cottage, but she really shouldn’t if the Brooksbankses are living in Portugal part-time as has been announced…and if they’re not living in Portugal anymore, that needs to be announced too and she can go sponge off Andrew in his giant lodge.)

The best part is that Charles knew how this all works, and has for decades. He knows better than anyone else how the Duchy of Lancaster works and who he'd be responsible for when the time came. No wonder he spent years talking about a slimmed down monarchy. The man is a cheap skate just like his second born son.

[dumpster-of-the-lost-souls]

More winx stuff!

I have been up all night last night with zero sleep and nearly fell asleep in math class earlier so apologies if this is not coherent in the slightest.

Again token shoutouts to @emsartwork @drops-of-moonlights @dragonflyxparodies for being the people that got me thinking about winx again. go look at their works!

I am dead serious about this, if I'm too annoying or you want me to stop pinging you just tell me to shut up.

This post is mostly about Diaspro

From her perspective she assumed Bloom was a witch and a gold digger assuming that she had spelled/charmed/hexed Sky into loving her. Sky didnt really do anything to support or refute those ideas. With the pitchman episode ending up making her double down on her bitterness and assumptions, since the pixies told her to focus on her kingdom and with the way that Eraklyeon is structured being a monarchy that is implied to be patriarchal and how Diaspro has been groomed to be Sky's fiancee, diasporas only real way she knows of that point of protecting and governing her kingdom is through marriage it makes sense in a roundabout way why she teamed up with Valtor.

Her plot was based on the assumption of Sky still being spelled/hexed and Diaspro was hoping to have Valtor's mark destabilize the hex while being destabilized by said hex enough that she could break both hexes without fairy dust which back fired on her and got her exiled.

Diaspro drifts through the Magix dimension for a while before the constant news articles about Bloom and the Winx gets to her so she decides to go to earth for some peace and quiet. She ends up on the east coast and is homeless for a while since she doesn't have an id and isn't able to purchase/rent a house or apartment. but she does have the ability to conjure gems to pawn off for money which allows her to pay for things in cash, this is what allows her to get her hands on a Van which she lives out of.

She travels around the west coast and the US for a while before making her way to Gardenia after doing some soul searching and introspection. She talks with Bloom's earth family and gets what they know from Bloom's perspective which makes her have some more introspection. At this point earth is aware of Magic and the Magix dimension allowing Diaspro to get an ID/passport/visa and she takes a job at the Love and Pet shop.

I'm probably going to talk more about this later but my brain is not cooperating with me right now.

[zeldakat]

totk theory?:

(with other timeline stuff mixed in, for flavor)

everyone prepare your tits i went on a whole ramble in two diff discord servers and i need to share my thoughts

[VAGUE TOTK SPOILERS AHEAD]

SO. This all was started by me watching a theory video. In it someone said something about TotK being a closed loop (in reference to the time travel)—which I didn't agree with.

My reasoning, copied straight from my original ramble (with edits for grammar to make it easier to read):

The glyphs were supposedly made by ancient ppl after watching the dragons tears. But, they only appeared after Zelda time traveled

And, iirc, before the sword is sent back the light dragon is there. BUT she doesnt have the glowy light trails on her head yet.

Then I realized all that kinda falls apart bc tanondorf recognizes Zelda prior to her time traveling. BUT I can fix this.

Tangent time. I know this sounds really off-topic but I promise it eventually loops back to the original topic.

So, earlier today I was playing Hyrule Warriors (Definitive Edition) with my sibling, and we were talking about Ravio's weapons being called "rental hammers" and how it would be funny if, afterwards when he went back to his own time, he put those hammers up for rent for stupid amounts of money because, quote, "they have blood from the enemies from the era of the fallen hero in their grains" because he couldn't get it out when he cleaned them and decided, fuck it. I can make bank from this. THAT turned into a conversation about Hyrule Warriors' non canon status, and I said something along the lines of, "if Hyrule Warriors was canon it could solve the timeline convergence problem."

My reasoning for that:

It literally has all three timelines. its the whole fucking plot

^ though they dont stay together, it easily explains references in BotW. and the rock salt thing*

(*The "rock salt thing" is the fact that BotW's item description for rock salt references Wind Waker and basically says salt deposits like this exist bc of the Great Sea, despite this Hyrule. not being underwater. which raises some questions!)

And speaking of the rock salt thing–

I also posed the idea that, if you still dont want to consider HW canon for fun, you could just explain it by the Passage of Time. And just time in general.

THIS theory's explanation:

After Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass (both the same Link) is Spirit Tracks. Spirit Tracks takes place 100 years after WW and PH, and both of those games are like. pretty important to it

Spirit Tracks does not take place in the ocean. (For the most part at least. I don't know much about spirit tracks.) Instead, it's in "New Hyrule", which was founded by the previous hero and Tetra.

^ Basically they found a big ass fucking island (aka. a continent) and were like Yeah this looks like a good place to reinstate the monarchy.

So, even though Hyrule gets flooded in the adult timeline, we still end up with a Hyrule on land in that same timeline.

Slight topic change. BotW (and by extension TotK) is at the end of the timeline. At least 10,100* years after whichever game was most recent, and then some more to account for the first appearance of the Calamity. (Now. I personally am a fan of the theory that the events of 10k years ago actually took place before Skyward Sword (and these events are the Imprisoning War talked about in that game) but for the purposes of this theory we're ignoring that possibility.) (*More on this later.)

That's a lotta fuckin time. A lot can change in that amount of time.

Who's to say all three timelines didn't eventually end up in the same place? Kinda like the evening out of chaos states or whatever, I dunno I'm not a physicist.

And then. this is the part that circles back ok. Hylia, who is the Goddess of Time, just smushed them all back together into one because fuck it man, they're close enough.

I explained this by saying basically, that-

"Time doesnt work like that" as an argument for anything Zelda related is nullified by the simple fact that Hylia is the Goddess of Time and Nayru has significant power over time as well, and since they're both deities they can do whatever the hell they want with it. If Zelda, who is only channeling the powers of the Goddess Hylia via her blood, which—I don't know how goddess-turned-mortal blood works but this is probably a reasonable assumption—is diluted over tens of thousands of years, can go back 10k years, easy peasy lemon squeezy, then Hylia her-fucking-self can do as she pleases.

So the end conclusion to this one is that time can in fact work like that if an ultra powerful goddess of time wants it to.

And thus we circle back. (omg just like time travel,)

Now. All of this is to explain this idea: TotK is a closed loop, but only kind of. "What the hell do you mean by this, Cat," you might be asking. Well. It's simple.

Zelda's presence (in the past) and effects (on the future of that past) are guaranteed; her actions are not.

And what do I mean by that?

I mean that Zelda is guaranteed to time travel, and she is guaranteed to lead to the sealing of Ganondorf via Rauru's hand. This is to ensure the survival of Hyrule as it is in order for this Zelda to get to the point of this time travel in the first place—likely influenced by Hylia or other goddess to be this way so things stay stable. If this Ganondorf were to succeed, then. well. Hyrule would be screwed, because he"s kinda fucking overpowered with the secret stone.

(Now is "later".) (By the way—I don't know the full lore of TotK, but I'm pretty sure this all has to happen before the first Calamity. I would assume that the Calamity only existed as it did because this Ganondorf was under the castle; that's why the Calamity comes from/starts at the castle every time. so. Zelda actually would've gone back a good bit more than 10k years. Cool!)

Now. Whatever Zelda does to make that happen and whatever she does after doesn’t super affect the survival and state of Hyrule, for whatever reason. So, those actions are not guaranteed. Hence the whole dragon and Master Sword thing—the first set of bullet points in this post.

Oh yeah, and the light dragon also doesn't exist until Zelda time travels. That, or she's up above the clouds with all the sky islands, (which is probably the case, given the carvings behind the rocks in the intro section,) but I like the idea that, while that explanation is true for her, to everyone else she just appeared in the sky—similarly to how the glyphs have history but weren't present or documented till the Upheaval.

So, yeah. TotK is a sort of closed loop and that big sentence up there is what I mean by that. I bow dramatically, the crowd goes wild, etc etc.

[lucyfishwife]

SO the bookshop has a landlady, technically (she runs the tech company who own the building we're in) and over the few years I've worked here she's gone from "slightly reactionary monarchist with Views She Feels You Need To Hear" to "all-out ANTI WOKERY how dare They etc etc etc". Strolling round the shop (admittedly buying stuff) casting ragey barbs as she goes. I mean FUCK ME this woman hates EVERYTHING post-about-1979. And oh god it is exhausting. She went on about Meghan Markle (about whom I have no real opinion apart from "shut up about Meghan Markle, you sound crazed and racist") for SO LONG that I accidentally blurted "yes! Life would be so much easier if we abolished the monarchy!!" with a cheery smile.

TL;DR : she'll probably hike our rent

Thank you for hearing me out here is my favourite picture of "David Castañeda being the main boy of my WIP"

[saintmeghanmarkle]

offering to pay rent at a royal household & the Long War of Markle & Harry by u/ElectricalAd9212

offering to pay rent at a royal household & the Long War of Markle & Harry ​things have been coming out about how the couple would love to rent a royal property so they can live there. “He and Meghan are offering to rent an apartment at Kensington Palace and furnish it themselves. He hopes that will please William and show that they’re serious about coming back," the source said. ( link )The ghoul of Uvalde is a very shameless and sociopathic woman, and so is her husband, so of course we should say that this is par for the course for them.They wish to return to Britain and the monarchy because they are cornered and failing and on the road to bankruptcy in America.I have no doubt that this is them trying to PR their way back into contention.They will style themselves as innocents who are reaching out with an 'olive branch' that can make William appear cruel if he denies it, so they can play the victim.I want to speak about the Long War of Markle and Harry though.We don't need to repeat the list of evil things they have done, how they lied, abused and incited, for money. How they spat on the Queen and Prince Philip in their final years. Their psychopathic hatred of Catherine and William.My view is Markle will never divorce Harry because she knows she has nothing else. She's on the fast track to fifty years of age and any billionaire she may have dreamed of seducing will have younger, more beautiful and more intelligent options.The Long War they want is eternal PR games and self mythologising. The war is the identity and existence. Markle will be thinking of how to return to Britain and the monarchy. She wants an apartment in Kensington Palace. And what is the long war?The Long War is to destroy William and Catherine and earn money and power for themselves. To incite abuse, to leak, to conspire, to raise America and 'woke' Britain in her favour.But I believe what she has her eyes on is the children.When she visited Uvalde, I became unnerved. To see murdered children and view them as an opportunity for self promotion, Markle showed herself to be a psychopath without any moral basis or boundary. This is a woman who is capable of anything. That was a glimpse of scheming evil and most vile and base nature.So what is the long game?The Long Game for Markle and Harry is to destroy, hurt, harm, leak against, and incite against George, Charlotte and Louis.Returning to the fold of Kensington Palace will allow them proximity and status to leak against the royal family, to lay low, gather their plans, and seek to influence the children when they become adults through the same techniques they used against William and Catherine. Anonymous incitement online, inventing lies and rumours, decrying 'double standards', claiming her mixed race children are discriminated against, and doing everything, by snake like hissing, through her American media networks and social media mobs, to undermine, psychologically abuse George, Charlotte and Louis.That is their Long Game. Harry has already talked about William's children. In the Telegraph interview he said he 'worries' about them and William already told him his children are not his concern.Harry will in particular seek to influence Louis, and divide him from his brother and sister, to plant in his mind that he is the renegade 'spare', treated wrongly by family and media.But to Markle, the children are very much are her concern. She hates them and will see them as key to revenge.This is what I believe. The dark heart of the woman who fed on the blood of the children of Uvalde has no limits. ​ post link: https://ift.tt/Y6Bzw83 author: ElectricalAd9212 submitted: August 07, 2023 at 01:11PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[emmashouldbewriting]

Honestly the circumstances don’t matter. If you don’t represent the crown then you should pay commercial rate rent. If you have 2 royals residences (even if one is just to sleep over and an office) then you should pay rent. Edward and Sophie should give one residence up or start paying rent on one house. Bea and Eug shouldn’t even have a royal residence, idgaf what the circumstances are but they never have and never will represent the monarchy and they should therefore not have a government owned house.

If there's an apartment kept for general usage, like a guest room kind of thing where it's only used for like a night or two every now and then at SJP, then it's fair for no cost. I agree that a residence kept for the sole use of one person/couple needs to have market rent paid on it regardless of your status.

Bea may be called as a counsellor of state, to be honest, so she may represent the Monarchy one day. But they should 100% be paying market rate. Like I keep saying, if they aren't, they're about to be. Lol.

[hiyori-apartment-for-rent]

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Ms. Nancy

Phone/Zalo: 0796265522

[decadentias]

"IT'S REASONABLE." EDWINA LOOKED UP at Dax tenaciously. She didn't want to spur another argument, but she was determined. She couldn't care less if it hurt his ego. Anything that had to do with their son's wellbeing was more important than their pride or anything else. She didn't notice how taut her shoulder was until she finally relaxed when he conceded. "Well, I'm going to screw over the monarchy. It's a tall task, so wish me luck," she said sarcastically. The acerbity was directed at the situation and not him. "Not really. Everything didn't fall apart. It didn't ruin our life. We're not doomed or anything." She sighed. "It's not squat. It's renting. Why don't you and I pick the place? I'll let you have a say on it. "

❝ this is ridiculous... ❞ words muttered under his breath, he didn't want to play into this whole princess fairytale any longer and it was an insult to his pride that she would even need guards around quietly to keep the peace. but whatever, he thinks, conceding with a shrug and deep sigh. ❝ just — fine. i don't care. do whatever you need. ❞ at least he finally found some common ground with her, understanding her need to prove people wrong. to prove themselves wrong. ❝ no point in dwelling on it. you're the mom, it's your choice. all i did was stick my dick in and... then everything fell apart. so what's the plan? i have to leave my place to squat at some apartment you choose for me and him? ❞ god, just repeating it felt so weak of him.

[newstfionline]

Friday, April 28, 2023

Food prices fall on world markets but not on kitchen tables (AP) A restaurant on the outskirts of Nairobi skimps on the size of its chapatis—a flaky, chewy Kenyan flatbread—to save on cooking oil. Cash-strapped Pakistanis reluctantly go vegetarian, dropping beef and chicken from their diets because they can no longer afford meat. In Hungary, a café pulls burgers and fries off the menu, trying to dodge the high cost of oil and beef. Around the world, food prices are persistently, painfully high. Puzzlingly, too. On global markets, the prices of grains, vegetable oil, dairy and other agricultural commodities have fallen steadily from record highs. But the relief hasn’t made it to the real world of shopkeepers, street vendors and families trying to make ends meet. “We cannot afford to eat lunch and dinner on most days because we still have rent and school fees to pay,” said Linnah Meuni, a Kenyan mother of four. Somehow exorbitant food prices that people have little choice but to pay are still climbing, contributing disproportionately to painfully high inflation from the United States and Europe to the struggling countries of the developing world.

Mexican president says he blacked out due to COVID-19, now OK (Reuters) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a video message posted on Wednesday that he briefly blacked out in a meeting in Yucatan state this past Sunday due to complications with a COVID-19 infection and was flown to Mexico City for treatment. He said his heart and brain were not affected, contrary to widely circulated rumors about his health, by his third known bout with the illness. Local media and people on social media had said Lopez Obrador may have had a heart attack or a stroke. The 69-year-old leader had a serious heart attack in 2013. Lopez Obrador said he was doing well and keeping busy writing speeches ahead of upcoming events. He did not say when he planned on resuming official activities.

Argentina: A desperate search for a door as currency tumbles (AP) Antonela Massarelli desperately needed a front door for the new house she and her family will move into this weekend in a Buenos Aires suburb. The 29-year-old mother of two said she found one prospect Tuesday morning at about 20,000 pesos, but noted with exasperation that the price went up by afternoon to more than 30,000. And store owners—faced with potentially higher costs to replace doors the next day—mostly wanted to hold onto their merchandise. Her eventual purchase, at 31,900 Argentinian pesos, amounted to US$65 at black-market rates, US$144 at the official rate. Massarelli’s struggle with the door reflected the uncertainty in Argentina as its currency has sharply depreciated over the past week in the informal market. Since early last week, the peso in the informal market—known as the “blue” dollar rate—has depreciated around 20%, reaching a high of 495 pesos to the U.S. dollar Tuesday, increasing the spread with the official rate to around 120%.

King’s coronation part of long evolution for Queen Camilla (AP) When Camilla, Britain’s queen consort, is crowned alongside her husband next week, the moment will mark the culmination of a remarkable—and painstakingly slow—transformation over five decades of a figure once reviled as the other woman and considered a huge liability to the British monarchy. With the coronation of King Charles III days away and his first seven months on the throne under his belt, many in Britain have grown to accept Camilla, though some experts and observers say she will always walk in the shadow of her past. Camilla, 75, was mercilessly torn apart by the tabloids for years. She’s won over much of the British public with her down-to-earth personality and her charitable work, notably against domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse—causes she says she’ll continue to support as queen.

Germany Deems Youth Wing of Far-Right Party an Extremist Group (NYT) Germany’s domestic intelligence agency on Wednesday classified the youth wing of a prominent far right nationalist party as an extremist group that threatens the constitution, dealing another blow to an organization that has come under increasing scrutiny over concerns of radicalization. The spy agency reclassified the “Young Alternative” unit of the party after monitoring it for four years. The decision comes just a year after intelligence officials decided to put the entire party, called Alternative for Germany, under surveillance—the first time the agency had taken such a step against a main political opposition party in Germany’s postwar history. The government also labeled two other far-right institutions as right wing extremists on Wednesday—the Institute for State Policy and the One Percent group. Both organizations are part of what is called the New Right in Germany, a conservative ideological movement that the agency said promotes violent, anti-democratic, and racist ideas. Once a group is classified as extremist, its members could lose employment opportunities in the public sector and the ability to obtain or maintain weapons licenses. Domestic intelligence services, who already had the groups under surveillance, will also more quickly receive authority to tap or surveil group members.

Russia needs more troops but is wary of public anger, leaked documents say (Washington Post) Russian officials are scrambling to enlist hundreds of thousands more troops for the war in Ukraine without angering the general public, but recruitment plans being pushed by military leaders are raising alarm among other government officials worried about an increasingly critical labor shortage in the civilian workforce, according to classified U.S. intelligence documents obtained by The Washington Post. In mid-February, President Vladimir Putin “reportedly backed” his military’s proposal to “quietly recruit” 400,000 additional troops throughout 2023 for the war in Ukraine, according to one intelligence document, part of a trove of classified information allegedly leaked on the Discord gaming platform by Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the National Guard. According to Western intelligence estimates, Russia started its invasion in February 2022 with a force of around 150,000. A “partial mobilization” last fall conscripted more than 300,000, and another 50,000 were believed to be fighting in Ukraine as part of the Wagner mercenary group, including convicts recruited from prison. There is also an unknown number of men forcibly conscripted in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics to fight alongside pro-Russian separatists, and smaller volunteer units. According to the leaked documents, the United States estimates that Russia has suffered 189,500 to 223,000 casualties, with up to 43,000 killed.

The Ukraine-China relationship (Washington Post) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping via phone on Wednesday. It was the first time that the two leaders had acknowledged speaking to each other since Russia invaded Ukraine 14 months ago, and both sides announced it with a note of diplomatic triumph: A Chinese readout mentioned the “current rise of reasonable thinking and voices from all sides,” while Zelensky wrote on Twitter that it was a “long and meaningful conversation.” Behind the niceties, however, is an unmistakable tension. The call was a geopolitical tightrope walk, as the Ukraine-China relationship becomes a balancing act for both parties. China, which announced in its readout that it would send a special representative to Ukraine and other countries to hold talks with all parties on resolving the “crisis,” hopes to buoy its growing reputation as a peacemaker and diplomatic heavyweight, offering an alternative to the West in that area. Ukraine has shown itself wary of China’s role. But Zelensky and other top officials have refused to rule out Beijing’s role as a mediator and, perhaps eyeing Ukraine’s need for trade partners in a post-invasion world, emphasized the future of Ukraine-China relations.

Turkey’s Erdogan Faces Biggest Election Challenge Over Economy (WSJ) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing the most serious challenge to his 20-year rule in an election next month amid voter anger over his handling of the economy. The rising cost of food, energy, medicine and other essentials has unraveled the standard of living for the majority of Turkey’s 85 million people in recent years. Many Turks are cutting back on meat, fish, alcohol and even vegetables. Others are taking on second and third jobs or seeking ways to leave the country. Turkey now suffers from one of the highest rates of inflation in the world. The catastrophic earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria in February deepened economic challenges facing the Turkish state.

Panic spreads in Iran after new suspected poison attacks on girls schools (Washington Post) It was 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday when the teacher began receiving frantic calls. There had been a gas attack on the girl’s elementary school where she taught, in the Kurdish region of western Iran. She had not been in class that April morning but rushed to the school and found a chaotic scene: Students and a few of her fellow teachers were having difficulty breathing and said their eyes were burning. Some of the teachers had been beaten by furious parents and were crying, she said. Agents from the Ministry of Intelligence had arrived to investigate. In recent months across Iran, about 300 suspected gas attacks have hit more than 100 girls schools, according to Amnesty International. Deputy Health Minister Saeed Karimi said last month that 13,000 students had been treated for symptoms of suspected poisoning, according to the Shargh daily newspaper. No deaths were reported. “The parents are really scared, and a lot of them won’t send their kids to school anymore,” the teacher said in a telephone interview. “Some parents have said they are willing to have their child held back a year at school just to keep them out of danger.” “These have been very organized and coordinated attacks. It can’t be random people doing that,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Norway-based organization Iran Human Rights. “It’s either groups with the blessing of the authorities or forces within the authorities.”

Biden, Yoon warn N. Korea on nukes (AP) President Joe Biden and South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol unveiled a new plan Wednesday to counter North Korea’s nuclear threat, with the U.S. leader issuing a blunt warning that such an attack would “result in the end of whatever regime” took such action. The new nuclear deterrence effort calls for periodically docking U.S. nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea for the first time in decades, bolstering training between the two countries, and more. The declaration was unveiled as Biden hosted Yoon for a state visit at a moment of heightened anxiety over an increased pace of ballistic missile tests by North Korea.

Netanyahu’s corruption trial (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial has resumed after a month-long break, refocusing the spotlight on the long-serving leader’s legal woes after a wave of protests over his government’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate scandals involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing. Critics say that Netanyahu is driven to weaken the courts and change the judicial system as a way to open an escape route from his trial, claims he dismisses as untrue. The corruption charges also have been at the center of a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years—each vote essentially a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to rule.

Americans and other foreigners struggle to flee Sudan amid fierce fighting (Washington Post) Exhausted and terrified, Americans and other foreign nationals have been struggling to escape the fighting in Sudan, cramming into crowded port terminals, squeezing onto filthy buses and begging strangers for a ride to an airport in a desperate bid to reach safety. The United States, like other governments, has already evacuated its diplomats and their families, but tens of thousands of other foreign citizens remain behind amid fierce battles between the Sudanese military and a rival paramilitary group that erupted nearly two weeks ago. So far, there has been no announced plan to evacuate the estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, many of them dual nationals. By contrast, Britain, France and Germany have sent airplanes to Sudan to help evacuate their citizens, and other countries, such as India, have organized convoys to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. An American engineer said he had been searching fruitlessly for four days for a ride, after the tires of his car were shot out, in an effort to leave the country with his four U.S. citizen siblings, including two adolescent sisters, and his elderly British mother. Artillery and missile fire have been exploding around them, and the girls were scared, he said. “No one wants to come to my area. … The shooting is heavy and next to us there is looting,” said the engineer. “They could at least give us guidelines or instructions on the safe routes to take and a pickup point.”

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[sugdenlovesdingle]

Random question, how come you're so obsessed with the British monarchy? The Netherlands has its own monarchy, right? Are they just not as interesting?

i'm not obsessed with the British monarchy - i just like the chaos and scandal Harry and Meghan create every time they do or say something.

as for the Dutch royals... there's different kinds of scandal there.

It's not so much in-family fighting (that the public knows of) but more "we're above the law and don't think about anyone but ourselves until we get called out on it." Like the whole country was in a hard lockdown (everything closed apart from supermarkets and pharmacies, holidays cancelled) and they flew to Greece for a holiday - only to come back a few days later because of the outrage in the country (but without the two eldest princesses because there was 'no room' on the ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES flight) and posted an apology video. Or them socialising (hugging/shaking hands) with someone outside their household while on holiday on their private yacht. Or the daughter's birthday party with over 200 guests while you were only allowed a max of 30 people for parties and events - and only 4 people at your house at one time.

and you know - the whole the queen's dad was part of Jorge Videla's regime in Argentina thing, the king's cousin owning half of Amsterdam in the middle of a housing crisis thing (buying up houses to make money - you don't pay income tax over money your tenants pay in rent) and part of the Zandvoort race track (that he wanted to buy in full so it would be private property and they wouldn't have to deal with environmental issues/protestors or animal rights activists), or the king closing one of their estates to the public so he can hunt there - and not filing for government support to finance the maintenance so he can keep hunting there without the public scrutiny.

Or the eldest daughter going to university in Amsterdam... and getting a flat of her own just like that *snaps fingers* while some universities have even had to discourage international students from coming here because there just aren't any rooms (and tell Dutch students to keep living with their parents if at all possible). Though I don't think she's been able to enjoy any of that because there have been threats made against her and I think she still lives at home now with her parents and sisters.

so really the Dutch royals are more like the UK politicians. Ignore the rules and just say sorry when you get caught. Only since they're royals nothing ever comes of it since they're above the law. they ARE the law (someone even got arrested and charged for shouting fuck the king at an anti racism protest a few years ago).

But the press usually only talks about the king growing a beard or the outfits the royals are wearing at official events.

[katriniac]

😶

ANGST Warning (Death CW)

This is not Leonardo from the cannon game setting, the depressed polymath who has sought refuge from pureblood family pressure.

This is Leonardo from an alternate dimension, a different timeline.

THIS Leonardo did not run away from the demand upon his lineage. THIS Leonardo resisted the urge to hide away and scribble and sculpt and build. The man you see on the throne is not the Renaissance Man our history honors.

No, this Leonardo channeled that epic genius into the architecture of his lengthy reign. Artistry and perfection in every decision, every proclaimation, every corner of his influence. But peace came at a price.

How did such a future come to be?

Ah, the Leonardo we glimpse at the beginning of this tale resembles the easy-going shell of a man we encounter in the game.

Instead of escaping into his mechanical prototyoes and creative expression, he buckled under the pressure of his family to accept the marriage proposal to a pureblood royal. She was a witty spry thing, and he found himself surprised by wedded joy. He had not believed such a harmonious match could exist in the world. She was far enough from the line of succession they need not worry about being rulers one day.

Years passed in bliss, despite failed attempts to produce an heir. However, that was more of an emotional burden on his parents than Leonardo, as they were the ones who had placed grave importance on continuing the bloodline. That mattered naught to him; he shouldered none of his parents' disappointment. He was content to have a lifelong partner with whom he could spend all his days with in comfort and happiness, lazing about without a care in the world.

If only he had paid attention to the murmurs and warnings surrounding the royal family. This man was too good at burying his head in the sand. If he hadn't taken his charming and brilliant bride away to a secluded corner of the globe, he might have been on alert sooner. He might have been able to keep her safe.

You see, assassins had systematically wiped out each heir to the crown. At first it wasn't noticeable: the hits were random, never performed in the same way or with any proof of murder. There was no pattern, nothing to tie one death to another. And there were so many years between each one, that it was hard to see the connection. But when one is an immortal, the passage of time doesn't matter when a throne is at stake. The mastermind was playing a very very long game.

Lately, however, had there been whisperings of bad luck following the monarchy's heirs. Leonardo's wife was now just two names away from being next in line, but he had no idea until they received a summons to attend court.

"The trip will do us good, you'll see. We ought to get out once in a while, Leo." She had said it with that adorable wink. They were to be her last words.

No sooner had they boarded the stately ship, than she had fallen over the railing and was rent apart by the powerful propellers.

You thought the game version of Leonardo DaVinci was empty on the inside?

This version of him could barely find enough chipped shards of himself to even maintain a shell.

There are no records of how Leonardo passed his days in those first few years after his beloved's death. Feral, in the fetal position, fearful, and ferocious in equal measure. He was more monster than man.

Yet even in his heartbroken haze, the whispers found his ears.

Assassination? Plot? Treason?

What had originally appeared as accidental deaths now were viewed with suspicion. His fevered mind was able to grasp the tendrils of the conspiracy, and soon his genius intellect was powering up to connect the dots.

He hunted down the greedy ones behind the machinations, dealing with them quickly. His heart screamed in outrage: Make them suffer; swift killings are too good for them!

Only after they were all dispatched, did he realize those had been the last of the royals. In a unanimous decision without any precedent, Leonardo was bestowed the crown.

"For having been married to a future queen and for ridding the pureblood community of the treasonous circle," had been their reasoning.

He held the golden circlet away from him as if it were a curse, its points as jagged as the broken splinters of his soul.

And yet ... he donned it after a moment of consideration. Leonardo had nothing left to risk by taking on the mantle. Everything that had mattered to him had been destroyed. Even the source of his ability to hope had dried up. He had nothing left to live for, and he could find nothing worth dying for. Being ruler would put only him in danger, and even the loss of his own life seemed nominal, barely a trifle. If someone put him out of his misery in the next minute, he might even thank them for it.

Thus, he lived his life without caring if he would see the next sunrise. Every day he used his considerable brain to solve the kingdom's problems. Every night he surrounded himself with as many lovers as his bed could hold.

It was a hedonistic mix of mental gymnastics, orgies, and anything else that could occupy his mind and body. He craved any stimulation that could drown out the fading wails made by the crushed fragments of his heart.

There was no going into hiding for this man, no safe place to sketch or create. Quiet and solitude were his enemies now.

The vampire who sits on the throne is nothing like the stray cat seeking refuge in le Comte's mansion.

THIS Leonardo is a feral chimera whose insides had been ripped apart and sewn back together with barbed wire, being fed a constant diet of stimulants.

*STARING RESPECTFULLY*

Okay, okay, as soon as I'm done drooling over this new card (CG??) from the JP server, I will post my thoughts of what this image brings to mind.

Heh, it won't be as sexy as you think... 😅

[ineffable-endearments]

I don't have time to write a whole thought-out essay, but thoughts about some people being genuinely upset about the "Aziraphale the Landlord" thing:

Aziraphale and Crowley have always taken on the roles of wealthier people, probably because that's how you subtly influence humans but also definitely because it's more fun being wealthy. If I were an immortal who had to "blend in" with humans then I would "blend in" with the ones who are having a good time.

Aziraphale and Crowley have always played along with human systems. Aziraphale worked for King Arthur, are we gonna be mad about that because we now believe monarchy is an unjust system? Are you mad at him for running a rare bookshop because he's participating in luxury capitalism? How about rubbing elbows with wealthy people at the Hundred Guineas Club?

Neil made it really obvious that Aziraphale is probably the most benign landlord you could have. Keep in mind, if he were to relinquish the spaces he owns, other people would just buy them up and be worse landlords. He'd have to either overthrow capitalism to prevent that from happening or choose not to participate in human society at all. And like, human society where he lives has largely embraced capitalism, much to our very own chagrin in some cases, so he's not gonna do that.

I know that landlording in the sense of hoarding property to rent at a high profit margin is unethical and we generally don’t like landlords (I am a tenant of a corporate-owned apartment building, I am qualified to talk about this) but like. This is a fantasy story about an immortal LARPing as a landlord.

I am going to delete this if it starts arguments but I'm just reading some of this stuff on Twitter like. People. Friends. I feel you. But also. Please think it through.

(There is also the fact that no, actually, this isn't in any canon that we have, it's Word of God, which is not the same thing, but that's not really my point.)

[askundeadbluelesbians]

The Break Up

By WD2021

Miranda sighed heavily.

She was sitting in the living room of the apartment she and Liam had been renting for a few months. At first, she’d insisted on staying in the royal palace, but Liam had managed to convince her an apartment would be better, at least at first. He wanted to move slowly and thought that living together in a monarchial capital might be… a bit much. Fortunately, with a bit of money on both their ends, they’d caught a very nice loft.

At first, things had been great. Miranda and Liam had been very much in love and were constantly spending time together. They were seeing movies, playing games, having great conversations. Liam seemed to let down his air of smugness around her and enjoyed simply… being. They’d even invited some of their friends from high school over to the apartment from time to time, since they kept in touch with most of them.

But after the first few months, things seemed to… die down, almost. It seemed to have started when Miranda started attending Monstropolis University; Liam enrolled as well, but he had to take night classes, due to scheduling conflicts. Because their classes were at completely different time frames, they barely saw each other between sleeping and being in class. At first, they’d relegated their couple activities to the weekends, but within a few weeks, they’d withdrawn into themselves. Even on weekends, they mostly just ended up avoiding each other.

Now, they only really interacted with each other when they passed each other in the hall. They didn’t fight, didn’t resent each other, they just… didn’t interact at all. They didn’t even eat together anymore, thanks to their complete opposite schedules.

Secretly, Miranda was worried Liam had become bored with her. He was prone to gaining and losing interest in people like his “tastes.” Is that what happened? Did Liam merely think she was a fad that he had no reason to continue indulging in?

Right now, it was a little past 11 o’clock at night, so Liam was in class. She’d decided to stay up and wait for him so they could talk about it. Admittedly, maybe trying to confront Liam about their relationship problems when he was tired from a day of schooling wasn’t the best idea, but she knew there was going to be no better time.

The real challenge was just trying to kill time and keep her anxiety at bay. She’d flipped through the TV channels about a million times, but nothing good seemed to be on. Even when she found something she liked, she could still feel the stress gnawing away at her brain, every possible bad outcome running over and over again in her head until she did anything else just to temporarily distract her.

Finally, just as the clock read a little past one in the morning, she heard the door lock turning.

“Okay… here we go.” She took a deep breath, trying to keep her nerves in check. The last thing she wanted to do was panic and scare Liam off from a potential discussion.

Liam stepped into the foyer and looked surprised to see Miranda sitting on the couch. “Oh… hey, Miri, I didn’t think you’d be up. Why aren’t you asleep?”

A perfect opening. “Well… I wanted to talk about some things, and I thought it would be better to do it now rather than later.”

Liam grimaced. “Oh… uh, I don’t know, Miri, it’s late—well, early, technically, but—well, you know what I mean, and I’m really—”

“Liam.” She looked at him with dead seriousness. Her eyes weren’t wide or begging, but they held a seriousness to them she wasn’t typically known for. “Please. We need to talk. If we don’t now, I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve and we never will.”

He tried prying his eyes away, tried to tell her, “No.” He knew exactly what this conversation would entail, and where it would lead. But no matter how hard he tried…

“Okay, Miranda. We’ll talk.”

It was impossible to tell her no.

As Liam sat down next to her on the couch, she tried to figure out how to start. Truth be told, she’d never actually thought ahead of just getting him to agree to talk. Now that he was sitting here, her heart was pounding hard, afraid of messing up and scaring him off.

“Okay. Um… I’ve been feeling… sad, lately, I guess? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but, I just haven’t been feeling well, and things have been odd at home, and I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t—” Miranda was stumbling over her words, trying to find the right ones, and her breathing began to quicken. Liam’s face betrayed sympathy, and he laid a hand over hers.

“Miri… it’s okay. Just breathe, and… tell me what you think.”

Looking at him for a moment before smiling sadly, she took his advice. She breathed in… held it for a moment… exhaled… and started over.

“Liam, lately I’ve felt we’ve drifted. We never do anything anymore. I know I’m new to this whole thing… but that’s not good, is it?” Liam ran a hand through his hair.

“Well… it’s not terribly uncommon, but… no. It’s not great,” he answered.

The pit in Miranda’s stomach started growing larger and more dread-inducing as she approached the question she was afraid to ask. “Liam… I’m going to ask you something… and I want you to promise me you’ll answer honestly.”

“What? What are you—?”

“Please.” She looked straight into his eyes again. “Promise me.” Liam blinked and nodded.

“Yeah, okay. I promise.”

She felt the question catch in her throat as her eyes threatened to flood her cheeks with tears. Choking down her emotion, she forced her mouth to speak the words. “Are you… bored of me? Is… is that what’s wrong? Was I just… a new fad that’s become popular? Is it not… is it not cool to like me anymore?”

Liam was clearly caught off-guard. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was open slightly agape. “I…” He looked down and a light violet tinted his cheeks. “Miranda, I… have I been making you feel that way?”

Looking down, she stayed silent as tears ran down her cheeks. She refused to look up.

She felt his hands on her face, and he slowly lifted her eyes up to him. She could see his own eyes were moist, and his face was twisted with regret.

“Miri, I am so sorry… I had no idea you were blaming yourself, I just thought… well, I didn’t know what I thought.” He looked at her a little more intensely now. “But you listen to me when I say this, this is not your fault. Okay? You have done nothing wrong. We’re drifting apart, and… it hurts. But it is not your fault. And I’m telling the truth.”

Tears began anew as she hugged him tight. For once, he didn’t pretend to be above it or jokingly give her a half-hug. He hugged her back, tightly and comfortingly. As she sobbed into his shoulder, he just held her, and whispered, “It’s alright. It’s alright…”

After a few minutes, she was able to pull away and saw streaks down Liam’s own cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I didn’t mean—”

“Miri, don’t apologize. Please.” Liam held her hands. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry I made you feel that way. And I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.”

Miranda looked down a little. “Then… if that’s not what the problem is… what is? Why are we so… weird around each other now? I don’t understand.”

Liam leaned back in his seat. “To be honest, Miri… I don’t fully understand myself. There’s nothing we’re fighting about, it’s not like we’re resentful of each other, we’re just… drifting apart.”

For a minute, the two of them sat there, in an uncomfortable silence, not sure what was to come next. “Then… what do we do? If there’s no problem to fix… how can we?”

Liam sighed. “I don’t know if we… can, Miri.”

“Then… is it over? Are we… finished?” Thinking for a minute, Liam reached over and grabbed her hand.

“Miri, I want to be clear about something. You are a very important person to me, and you always will be. I still want you in my life. But I think maybe we’re just going in different directions. It’s not just our schedules are lining up; you want to help people; you’re working to become a therapist. And that’s amazing, I’m so proud of you for it. But my life… just isn’t that.”

Miranda nodded. “I… understand. So, in the interest of maintaining a friendship, I think perhaps it’s best if we… broke up.” Her voice cracked at the dreaded words. Liam’s eyes filled up again, but he looked down and forced himself to blink them away.

“Yeah. I think… I think maybe that would be best.”

Silence again. Then Miranda asked, “What do we do now?” Liam closed his eyes.

“This weekend, I’ll get some movers to come over. You can have the apartment, and I’ll find a place somewhere else in the city. You still have my phone number, so you can call me anytime you want. For tonight, I think I’ll find a hotel and—”

“No.” She grabbed his hands and looked at him, pleadingly. “Please, Liam. This is our last night as a couple. Please, just… just stay with me. Tonight. For our last night.”

Once again… he tried to convince himself to say no. That it was a bad idea, that they might change their minds and prolong this charade that everything was okay. But…

“Okay, Miri. Let’s go to bed.”

It was impossible to tell her no.

[vivelareine]

Madame Adélaïde Auguié was a sister of Madame Campan and a femme du chambre of Marie Antoinette. She was given the nickname “lioness” by Marie Antoinette, perhaps due to her stature. She returned to the queen’s service after the fall of the Bastille, and was among the women who alerted the queen to danger when her apartments were being breached by the mob during the October Days. After the fall of the monarchy in August 1792, before the family was shut up in the Temple, she gave the queen some money, as the queen’s purse had been stolen.

In 1794, Adélaïde was denounced by someone who knew about the money she had given to the queen. Her husband was already imprisoned and she believed, likely to die. With her impending arrest due to happen at any moment, Adélaïde made the decision to disguise herself and flee Paris. She rented a room at a hotel under an assumed name and committed suicide.

In the note she left behind, she explained her reasoning: she believed her husband was going to be executed and if she was guillotined as well, then both their property would be confiscated by the state, leaving her daughters without a home, belongings or any income. She hoped that by committing suicide, then at least her own property would go to her daughters.

Two days after Adélaïde’s death, the events of Thermidor occurred; four days after her death, her husband was released from prison.