#time to call work and income and organise an appointment

[ms-hells-bells]

got fired today

[websoptimization]

Telecalling Jobs: Essential Skills and Future Trends You Should Know

Telecalling has become integral to modern business operations, particularly in sales and customer service. 

As companies strive to maintain a direct line of communication with their customers, the role of telecallers has grown in importance. Whether generating leads, providing customer support, or conducting market research, telecalling offers a dynamic and rewarding career path for those with the proper skill set. 

In this blog, we'll explore what a telecalling job entails, the essential skills required, the prospects of this profession, and why it's a viable career option.

What is a Telecalling Job?

A telecalling job primarily involves making phone calls to potential or existing customers on behalf of a company. 

The objective can vary—from selling products or services, gathering customer feedback, and setting up appointments to offering support and assistance. 

Telecallers serve as the company's voice, often being customers' first point of contact. This role is crucial as it can influence customer perceptions and determine the success of sales campaigns.

Telecaller jobs can be categorised into two main types:

Inbound Telecalling: In this role, telecallers handle incoming calls from customers. These calls might be inquiries, support requests, or complaints. The telecaller provides accurate information, resolves issues, and ensures a positive customer experience.

Outbound Telecalling: Here, telecallers actively reach out to customers or prospects. This could involve cold calling, following up on leads, conducting surveys, or promoting products and services. The success of outbound telecalling often hinges on the telecaller's ability to engage the customer and drive action.

Skills You Need to Become a Telecaller

Success in telecalling requires a blend of technical know-how and soft skills. 

Here are the key skills needed:

Communication Skills: The ability to communicate persuasively and effectively is fundamental. Telecallers must articulate their message well and adjust their tone and language based on the customer’s response.

Active Listening: Listening is just as essential as speaking on a telecall. Understanding customer needs, addressing concerns, and picking up on cues are all vital for a productive conversation.

Product Knowledge: It is crucial to have a deep understanding of the products or services being offered. This enables the telecaller to answer questions confidently and provide accurate information.

Patience and Resilience: Telecalling can be challenging, with potential rejections and difficult conversations. Patience and the ability to stay calm under pressure are essential traits.

Sales Skills: Outbound telecallers must have a knack for sales. This includes understanding sales techniques, handling objections, and closing deals effectively.

Time Management: Managing time efficiently allows telecallers to handle a high volume of calls and meet targets. This involves organising calls, following up, and staying on top of administrative tasks.

Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with telecalling systems, CRM systems, and call tracking tools is increasingly essential. Telecallers need to navigate these systems swiftly to manage customer information and monitor their performance.

Future of Telecalling Jobs

The future of telecalling is evolving alongside technological advancements and changing consumer behaviours; despite the rise of digital communication channels like chatbots and social media, the human touch that telecalling offers remains irreplaceable.

Automation and AI Integration: By integrating AI and automation, routine tasks in telecalling can be streamlined, allowing telecallers to focus on more complex interactions. AI can provide real-time information, analyse customer data, and even offer predictive insights, making telecalling more efficient.

Remote Telecalling: The shift towards remote work has opened up new opportunities for telecallers. With cloud-based solutions, telecalling jobs can be done virtually anywhere, increasing flexibility and job availability.

Skill Development: As the role of telecallers expands, there will be a growing demand for professionals who can handle multi-channel communication, including phone, email, and live chat. Continuous skill development will be key to staying relevant in the industry.

Increased Demand in Certain Sectors: Industries such as healthcare, finance, and e-commerce will likely see an increased demand for telecallers. These sectors require constant customer interaction and support, which telecalling can provide effectively.

Conclusion

Telecalling is a dynamic and rewarding career that offers a variety of growth opportunities. While it requires a unique set of skills and the ability to adapt to changing technologies and customer expectations, it also provides a solid foundation for a career in sales, customer service, or marketing.

As businesses continue to value direct communication with their customers, the role of telecallers will remain crucial. Whether you're just starting your career or looking to develop new skills, telecalling offers a path worth considering.

By understanding the demands and future of telecaller jobs, you can better prepare yourself for success in this field and leverage the opportunities it presents.

[officespaces12]

How Can A Virtual Office Benefit Top Businesses?

It is 2018, and trends are changing. There is a rise in virtual offices in the market, making things easier for small businesses and start-ups. With a virtual office, the employees can work from anywhere and anytime. It is the perfect way to carry out a task with no rental cost, low technology cost, and increased rate of productivity. However, it is good to have your own business line, a live assistant to handle your calls, a personalised voicemail, a fax line, a business mailing list and more. These factors make your company a credible firm. With low operational costs, our virtual office Sydney Australia helps you get these services at a very less price. They have their own benefits, which are perfect for any start-up or any businesses!

Get a corporate mailing address

A corporate mailing address is the basic element of any business. When you have a business mailing address, it shows the credibility of your firm and makes you look like a genuine company, who take their work very seriously. One must have a mailing address which is totally dedicated to their business. It makes work hassle-free and organised. Also, it becomes easier for clients to track your business location and it increases your visibility. With our virtual business address Sydney, you let clients identify yourself.

Get a local area code telephone call number

When you have your own local telephone number, you get yourself a local area code too. You become identifiable, denoting an address and customers can thereafter easily reach out to you. With our virtual business address, Sydney become visible in the crowd. Also, it makes you look professional, you become personalised, and you also gain trust from local consumers who know about the local area code.

Get a live receptionist

Would it not be amazing to have your all calls handled by an assistant, before they come to you? Just imagine a professional live receptionist who answers all your incoming calls related to your business. This will create an unquestionable and lasting impression on your clients. With a virtual address Sydney, your receptionist can clear all your queries and manage appointments for you in a classy and professional way, which alone will speak volumes about your company.

Get a dedicated company fax number

When you have your own company fax number, it creates an impression on your customers that you have been into your business since a very long time now, and you have the knowledge of how things work in your specified industry. This makes your virtual address Sydney more credible and trustworthy.  Therefore when you select a local telephone number for your fax number, it helps the local customers in your vicinity to reach you, in terms of faxing.

Get a personal and customised voicemail box

How do you wish not to lose some potential customers, just because they tried to call you after your company hours? You can get yourself a personal and customised voicemail box to have better interactions with your customers. It is a benefit in our virtual office Sydney Australia. With individual pre-recordings, you can get back to the customers that tried to reach you, even after your company hours had ended. This improves your customer relations as well.

[iskedo]

How SMS reminders in Appointment Applications contributed in reduced no show cases?

Gone are the days when taking an appointment was a cumbersome task as it required appointment seeker to call and book the appointment, if in-case the phone line is busy then trying again and then reminding oneself about the appointment booked. Huh! Yes it was a task. The struggle continued even after that, in the name of waiting for the turn sitting in the queues. If by mistake you forgot the time or the day you have missed the show. Thanks to the recent applications and software that are designed taking the needs, demands of the present time inconsideration now the chances of missing appointment has reduced to a great extent. Nearly all the industries, let it be medical, beauty, education etc are effectively using the appointment scheduling applications and reducing the chances of no show cases  owing to the SMS appointment Reminders. Let us see how SMS reminder feature is used by different industries to boost their income.

No matter which industry you are serving or working with you must have had an experience of scheduling appointment for someone and then that person does not appear on the given day and time slot, well! It is really annoying. That slot that the client requested to book could have been used by some other needy customer or patient. On the contrary, looking from the client’s perspective there could be number of reasons for missed appointment like the client totally forgot the booked appointment slot or may have confronted problem because of weather or transportation issue etc. But with the use of Appointment scheduling applications that facilitate the clients and customers with timely SMS or Email reminders the cases of no show or missed appointment has shown drastic fall.

SMS reminders and Reduced no show cases:

The SMS reminders are contributing to some extent to solve the problem of the money and time wastage because of  forgetting. These SMS reminders not only remind the client or patient but also give them an option to postpone or cancel the appointment, if in case some emergency has erupted. If you cancel the appointment one day advance it helps to admin staff to arrange that slot for emergency cases.

Reminder for preparation:  In some appointments like medical appointment, interview appointment an individual need to prepare some documents. Timely SMS reminders help the appointment seeker to prepare for their appointment like collecting documents, deciding mode of transportation to be taken etc.

Location sharing: if a patient or a client is appearing for the first time, location map or link to Google map can help to solve the problem of finding location and wasting time in locating the venue. Which could be the one reason of no show.

Industries using SMS reminders

Nearly all industries are using the SMS reminders to reduce the chances of no show these industries include:

Healthcare Sector:

Appointment Confirmations:

To decrease the number of unscheduled patient visits, medical offices send SMS reminders to their patients.

Follow-up Appointments:

To organise and remind patients of upcoming follow-up appointments or check-ups, healthcare providers utilise SMS.

Industry of Beauty and Wellbeing:

Salon & Spa Appointments: In order to reduce the number of missed appointments, beauty salons and spas notify their patrons via SMS of impending haircuts, facials, or massages.

Health and Wellness sessions: To encourage participation and attendance, yoga studios and fitness centres employ text messaging to remind customers about their planned sessions.

Service Sectors:

Repair and Maintenance Services:

To cut down on no-shows and boost punctuality, businesses who provide repair or maintenance services SMS clients with reminders the day before their appointments.

Consultation Services: To remind clients of upcoming appointments or consultations, professionals like solicitors or consultants send out SMS messages.

Education:

Parent-Teacher Meetings: To increase parent participation, schools and other educational institutions use text message reminders (SMS).

Exam Notifications: To lower exam absenteeism, educational institutions remind students by SMS when exams are scheduled.

Restaurants and Hospitality:

SMS is used by restaurants to confirm bookings, lower the incidence of no-shows, and maintain effective table management.

Event Reminders:

Prior to scheduled events, conferences, or special occasions, hotels and event venues will notify their guests via SMS.

Automobile Sector:

Service Appointments: To lower the possibility of services being overlooked, auto repair companies text clients to remind them of their planned maintenance appointments.

Test Drive Confirmations: To make sure prospective buyers show up for scheduled test drives, auto dealerships employ SMS.

Finance services

Appointment Confirmations:

Clients who have planned meetings or financial consultations receive SMS reminders from banks and financial advisors.

Payment Due Alerts:

To cut down on late payments, financial institutions employ SMS to notify clients of impending payment deadlines.

Public Services and Government:

Licence Renewals:

To encourage better compliance, government organisations inform citizens via SMS when it's time to renew their licences or permits.

Notifications of Appointments:

Public services using SMS to inform people of their planned appointments for government offices or health facilities, for example.

E-commerce and retail:

Order Confirmations and Deliveries:

To make sure someone is accessible to receive parcels, e-commerce companies remind consumers via SMS when deliveries are scheduled.

Events Held Within:

Retail establishments utilise text messages (SMS) to notify patrons about events, deals, or scheduled in-store appointments.

To sum up, it can be argued that SMS reminders have been shown to be a successful tactic for decreasing appointment cancellations, raising client satisfaction, and increasing operational effectiveness in a variety of business sectors. If you are into any of the professions that require scheduling appointments and you are also baffled by the annoying cases of no shows because of different reasons you can also try SMS reminders and save your precious time and resources. Certainly, this small initiative has proven to be miraculous.

[0daytrick0]

Week one update for work

It's been a week so far. The days are definitely going quicker. And it's been alot to take on.

As of Monday I have taken up a reliever role within the hospital within administration, surgical and theatre. I spent Monday and Tuesday getting a feel for the place. Understanding how the programs work and fullfilling my mandatory modules. Today I spent the whole day in administration completing patient paper work and organising apointments. Let me just say this... I know we all hate how much paperwork we have to fill out when we go into the hospital, but it's NOTHING compared to the amount of paperwork I have to fill out for each individual wanting to book an appointment. Don't get me started on the program we use! It's probably older than your grandma and is in a desperate need of updating and revamping. The program used to fill out for patients is literally straight out of a fallout game. The program is so ancient and tedious. So much time AND money could be saved if someone just paid someone to upgrade it. Cause GODDAMN MAN. I can't just click a box to fill it in, I gotta go through a whole procedure just to get there. And if I need to go back on a mistake. I CANT. Not untill I've filled the rest of the document out and reached the bottom. Then it will allow me to go back to what I missed. It's just so dumb and it's literally the only thing that's holding me back from learning.

Anywho! I could probably go on forever about it, but I will continue on. My life at the moment has been busy. My younger sibling graduated highschool and my family dog passed away i last week. An emotional week to say the least.

But in good news I have finally learnt how to use make-up. I used to HATE foundation, but with the help of a friend to colour match and watching an ASMR artist so her makeup, I have taught myself how to apply foundation, bronzer, blush and highlights. Now when I work at the hospital I can look the part.

I am currently obsessed with buying new stuff for work. I have this bag I really want to purchase but currently do not have the funds for it. It's called Julie Vintage Vegan Briefcase bag. It looks perfect and would suit my job so much!! At the moment the bag I have is just a cheap shein tote bag and it is terrible at holding all of my things. It was perfect for retail but terrible for the hospital. I also desire to purchase a phone case, pencil case, some notebooks and of course a cool lenyard for my hospital ID. NattyKat currently have some really cool lenyards. Redbubble currently has these really witchy phone covers, notebooks and pencil cases. I don't get paid for at least 2 and a bit weeks from now, so it will have to wait until then...

In other news I am officially a CQU student. I was accepted into central Queensland University as of last week and I couldn't be happier. I still have to enroll and pick my subjects but I should get an email next week helping me with all of that. I will once again be back on track to do a bachelor of psychological science and HOPEFULLY (with my job in the hospital) I will be able to get a position within mental health once my contracts ends next March. That's the goal at least!

Today I went grocery shopping after work and went way over budget. It's frustrating but I needed food for work. I can't just eat what's in the fridge or eat nothing at all with all the brain power I'm using. I will hopefully be getting a massive paycheck when I do get paid, so fingers crossed it's okay I splurged a little.

My 21sr birthday is coming up next weekend and I am planning on going camping and taking my 4wd out for the first time. It's been getting worked on since I bought it but fingers crossed it will be fixed enough by next weekend so I can actually take it out. I currently do not have a car and it's been frustrating to say the least. But soon, everything will hopefully fall into place since I now have an income on-top of my partner. As let me tell yah, living on one income whilst living in your own is just not doable for a long period of time. Trying to buy car parts in between all of that just barely making it to get food on the table. I can't believe we did it as long as we did. But you gotta do what you gotta do I guess.

As of right now it is 9.10pm and I am planning to get up at 5am tomorow morning to get ready for work at 7.00am. I got my period tonight so I will have no choice but to take a quick shower tomorow morning before getting dressed and doing my makeup and hair. My hair ATM is in DESPERATE need of a healing transformation. It's is so dead and untamed that doing it in the morning is a suicide mission for my arms and back. It's super curly and notty and messy. The humidity from the summer rain is not helping at the moment either. I might plan to straighten it on the weekend so I can make my life a little easier next week. A high ponytail with straight hair would do everyone a favour.

Anywho. I definitely need to go to bed now. Wish me luck on actually falling asleep when my mind is racing as fast as it is

[smathospital]

What Is Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management? Why it is Important?

What Is Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management?

The administrative and clinical tasks connected to claim processing, payment, and revenue generation are managed by institutions using the financial process known as healthcare revenue cycle management. Identification, management, and collection of patient service income make up the process.

In order for healthcare organisations to continue operating and providing patient care, the financial process is essential. Healthcare revenue cycle management is used by facilities to collect revenue and subsequently keep up with expenses.

Why is Revenue Cycle Management Important?

Running a successful medical practise involves a variety of elements. Revenue cycle management is among the most significant. What are the benefits of revenue cycle management in healthcare? Healthcare businesses may make sure they are quickly and correctly reimbursed for their services by using revenue cycle management, or RCM. While the clinician will undoubtedly benefit from this, the patient will also benefit.

Let’s first define RCM and then discuss why securing reimbursement makes RCM so crucial.

What is Revenue Cycle Management? A approach that healthcare providers can employ to manage the administrative and clinical aspects of their revenue cycle, revenue cycle management is exactly what it sounds like. When a patient passes the payment threshold, the revenue cycle calling the medical professional to make an appointment. Once the last payment has been received for the consultation and treatment, the cycle is over.

Finding and fixing any sources of friction in the provider’s revenue cycle is the aim of revenue cycle management. Care providers can maximise claim reimbursements and raise the revenue from patient services by using effective revenue cycle management.

How the Healthcare Revenue Cycle Works There are numerous steps in the revenue cycle for healthcare. This indicates that there are several potential for mistakes to happen. Any faults in the revenue cycle have the potential to stall or delay the provider’s ability to get paid by patients and insurers.

Let’s take a closer look at where errors can occur and how RCM can stop them during the stages of the healthcare revenue cycle.

Verifying eligibility and pre-authorization The healthcare provider gathers data to create a patient account when a patient makes an appointment. This involves gathering the patient’s insurance details and confirming their eligibility for coverage.

Even if a patient already has an account with the provider, revenue cycle management places a strong emphasis on precisely completing this patient intake stage. A claim denial later in the revenue cycle will only be the result of inaccurate information or ineligible insurance. This indicates a delay in the reimbursement payment to the provider. Also, it adds to the provider’s workload because they must go over the patient’s records again to fix the mistakes.

Capture and coding of charges The method by which medical services are charged is called charge capture Using internationally recognised medical codes, medical services are converted into billable charges through the charge capture procedure. Health insurance companies compute reimbursement amounts using these procedure codes.

The insurance provider could reject the patient’s claim if the medical records are not properly coded. As a result, provider reimbursement is delayed. Additionally, it costs the provider time and money to investigate and appeal disallowed claims. Correct medical codes must be entered in order to completely avoid denials, according to effective revenue cycle management.

Submission of Claims The claim is forwarded to the insurance provider for approval after the patient’s medical services have been accurately coded. RCM manages and tracks the claim from the outset of the process to guarantee that it is submitted quickly.

Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management’s Advantages To help providers avoid delayed or lost money, effective revenue cycle management makes sure that these stages are carried out completely and precisely. RCM has numerous advantages in addition to its primary objective of raising provider revenue. These advantages benefit both patients and providers, enhancing the usefulness of revenue cycle management procedures.

Examining a few of these advantages of revenue cycle management

Contact Us: Website: https://smart-hospitals.net/ Call/Whatsapp: +91–7823908908

[easyloansuk1]

You Can Get a Loan Even If You Are Unemployed…Here’s How

Unemployment can fall heavy on you. Losing a job or having no income at the present moment can make you feel stuck and worried. You may have bills to pay; investments to take care of or probably emergencies to manage. Driven by these situations, a person looks for financial solutions. The good news is that the person can get it from unemployed loans. Direct lenders offer these sorts of loans. They are personal loans. So, they are already unsecured. You can keep the concern of collateral out of your head. But, at the same time, you can borrow money at a lower interest rate. With direct lenders, you might also get packages that will suit your income. You can diversify your loan instalments. Now all these words do sound perky to any reader, particularly if he or she is unemployed at the moment. It is natural to think about whether or not these advantages are easily available. The short answer to that is 'yes'. We can find out why with this blog. Why Unemployed Loans Are Easily Achievable

You need to use the unemployed loans more realistically. For that, you need to speak with direct lending practices. Most loans from direct lenders at the time of a person's unemployment are offered fast. Due to a paperless application form and minimal verification requirements, one may get money within a short time. This is why you can call them same day loans for unemployed people as well. Is it the reason these loans are so easily available? Well, we can find out with the following points:

You Can Use an Alternative Income to Get the Loan

Yes, personal loans are offered when you have an income. it is because you repay the loan using that income source. Your lenders will justify the loan amount you requested and set a loan repayment plan for you (you may choose it too) as per your income status and present financial behaviour. What if you don’t have an income? Well, income does not mean you have got to work a 9 to 5 day-job or night shift for earning money. You don't have to show your income proof of a high-paying full-time work for gaining loan assistance from direct lenders. You can repay using income from any source. This is when the factor of alternative income comes into play. You may not have a day job. But you may be working part-time. You may freelance with 3 different projects. You can even get a contractual job at local non-profit organisations. Sharing the income details from these jobs with your direct lender can get you the loan pretty soon.

2.Using Benefit Programs

Although this is an optional matter, this is a reality you can take advantage of when you are looking for a loan when unemployed. If you want one of the quick loans for the unemployed, then you can use your benefits program as a mode of repayment. You can share all the details with your direct lender. They will make a perfect repayment plan for you as per the loan amount you have chosen.

3.Take out an Unemployed Loan Knowing Your Job Resumes

Taking a break from work is something very common these days. You may take a break from work for personal reasons such as a vacation or something. On the other hand, taking a temporary leave from work sometimes comes as an unavoidable necessity…such as pregnancy. What if you have towering costs to manage at this time? What if you need funds for your vacation? What if you have to get some cash for managing your pregnancy? The solution exists with direct lenders. You can speak to them and tell them your problem. They will surely help you with the perfect solution. You have an existing job statement. Share those details with your direct lender and get assistance as quickly as you want.

4.Use the Finalisation of Your Next Job to Get a Loan

Unemployment is a genuine problem. But you may not have to stay unemployed for long. You may have gotten another job. You may also have received the offer letter or appointment details from your next employer via mobile or message. Whatever details you have, don't hesitate to share them with your direct lender officially to get money. Sometimes, the next job you have gotten needs some investments from your side. You can be asked to learn a skill. You might face the requirement of buying new equipment at home for a work-from-home scenario. In these cases, a loan becomes vital because you have got urgent or emergency needs. Share your income details faster with your chosen direct lender to get a fast same day loan. The ‘Unemployed’ tag won’t define you anymore because you have already got a job.

5.Take out Money If You Are Into a Business or a Startup Have you gotten unemployed and are searching for new employment from yourself as an entrepreneur? Well, that is a good idea. You may have a low business income if you are already running a business. You may also think of a startup in case you want to move ahead from a 9 to 5 shift to a full-fledged business. Be it a small/ medium enterprise or a large company, you can make it happen if you are determined about it. Showing your business income such as revenue statements and sales information can easily get you a quick loan. An unemployed person may be so when he or she lost a job. But starting up a new business will open new doors. Share your company details for the startup and declare how you wish to repay the money. The direct lenders will surely offer you the loan.

To Conclude

You can take out an unemployed loan anytime you want. Just be sure to tell your lenders how you want to repay. This clears the most important barrier to gain one of these loans. If you can show or declare the way of repayment to your lender, chances are other matters such as a bad credit score or the need for a guarantor will not find you. So, stop worrying and gather your documents. You need to take out an unemployed loan.

get more details visit us :-

[catt-nuevenor]

Can you explain a bit what exactly is the professions/titles of alderperson and cunningperson are? (don't know if these are correct gender neutral versions to call them, sorry if this isn't correct)

I mean, as far as I understand/remember, Alderperson seems a bit like a village elder/mayor?? And cunningperson is a doctor and a bit more (mentions of grimoire, knowledge of what cynn and uncup (don't have the exact letter on my keyboard)), are there more specific descriptions?

And in general, how does the world work? Who are people "in charge" and are the any (like monarchy or elected leaders)? Will we learn more about all this later?

Okay, so this'll be a long one, and purely focused on the world of Myrk Mire, not historical reality. If anyone would like a historical explanation, let me know, and I'll make a separate post.

Shouldn't be any real spoilers below, but if you want to read 100% fresh, perhaps avoid.

In the World of Myrk Mire

Aldermen (I'm treating the men suffix as the gender neutral pluralisation in the story)

They are domestic caretakers, they manage community funds and coffers, organise community building projects, oversee the collection of certain localised taxes, fines and dues. They are responsible for appointing peoples to positions of importance in times of crisis, such as new members of the Watch, or a temporary quartermaster for the communities stores.

To become an Aldermen, an individual must be nominated by three members of their community to whom they are not related by either blood or union (marriage). They must then receive a majority approval vote from the community as a whole.

There can never be an even number of Aldermen per settlement, and there must always be a minimum of three to avoid an even split in debates between them. They are paid from the community coffers, and there is no maximum term of service. However, an Aldermen seen to be incapable or unwilling to carry out their duties to the community can be ousted by either a majority vote from the other Aldermen, or by a majority vote from their community. The collective group of Aldermen are sometimes referred to as the Council.

A community member cannot be a part of an Aldermen's nomination more than once every seven years.

An Aldermen must be over the age of eighteen, and they must have held a steady job or be a part of a profession within their community for more than five years for them to receive a valid nomination.

Cunningfolk

Practitioners of cræft, what we today might call a form of magic. They are trained professionals, and yet they belong to no guild, they are literate, but those of the upper classes look down on their learning, they are cynn, and yet not everyone can become one.

Cunningfolk come with many specialisations. Some, like Erda Lynn specialise in healing, using plants, tokens and limited charms to tend to their patients. Some focus on finding things, searching for what is lost, and protecting what one day might become lost. Some tell fortunes, some catch thieves, some channel their talents into protection, while others turn towards harm.

Every Cunningfolk worth their title is in possession of a grimoire, a book handed down from teacher to apprentice that contains the knowledge of those that came before, and fresh pages so that more knowledge might be added by future hands.

They are part paid by the community coffers, supplementing their expenses so that the poorest might be afforded care in times of need. The rest of their wage comes from a charge measured against a person's personal income and ability to work. A child is charged nothing, no matter where they dwell or who their parents are. Any disputes over charges are passed to the Aldermen.

Because their services are supplemented for the poor, they are often seen as lower value practitioners than those of similar roles, who guarantee exclusivity by charging higher prices. Whether this is bourne out in the results or not. As such, they are not so frequently found in the richer wards of the cities, but you would be hard-pressed to find a lower ward or rural community without at least one.

The Wider World...

I'm going to keep this under my hat for a little bit. More will be revealed in the story, and I'll reveal more that is not directly mentioned in the story as time goes on.

But I will give you this much, as it was in our reality, in the reality of the story the country is under a monarchical system, and the current head of state is a queen.

[calm-and-wine]

(I’ll give you) the best years

part I (moodboard)

Hello lovely people! Here is the start of a little drabble series about Nulu’s future (you can catch up on Down the line here). The biggest thank you to Anna @silverrank​ for editing and giving the best tips. Please come talk to me about those two anytime of day or night!

April 2022

“My mum’s been busting my ass with questions about the wedding. She’d love to help us plan things,” Niall said between bites of his breakfast.

They were in his house in LA, Niall had been putting finishing touches on his new album, while Lucy had a week off before going to Europe for clay season.

“Umm sure, I mean I’d love to have her help, but it’s not like we have a date set or anything. We haven’t even really talked about what we want it to be like.”

They had been engaged for a few months, but had yet to breach the topic of their wedding at all. Lucy quite enjoyed this phase of their relationship. Of course she wanted to take the relationship to the next level - hence the engagement - but after Australian Open, they hadn't spent more than two weeks together. The worst part of it was that those two weeks hadn't even been consecutive, thanks to Niall being busy recording his album and Lucy with playing.

“I know. But I think she’s just excited. And she assured me she doesn’t want to make decisions for us, just help with the organisation, since we’re both busy.”

“She’s honestly the sweetest soul. I love your mum.” Lucy sighed longingly, because she really did; Maura was an angel who had welcomed Lucy into the family with open arms, even when they hadn’t been dating that long. Because of that, she made a mental note to call her, as it’d been too long since their last chat. “Well, how about September next year? I could probably take a bit of a time off after US Open, skip a couple tournaments. I mean, it’s the end of the season anyway…”

“I’m gonna be done with touring by the end of July, so yeah, that’d work. Did you have a location in mind?”

“London,” Lucy said without a second of hesitation

“Really?” Niall looked at her surprised. “No destination wedding? Like a beach or something?”

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “London’s home and I’d love to do it somewhere there. Would you prefer somewhere abroad?”

“No, London’s good. I would be okay with a destination wedding, but it would be a pain in the ass with all the guests flying in and stuff. And some people wouldn’t come, so that would be a shame. Look at us, we already have a venue and a date!” Niall said with a big smile on his face. Apparently planning a wedding wasn’t that hard, all you had to do is have a chat with your partner and voila, everything was set!

Lucy laughed. “We do not have a date and a venue, we have a month and a whole city area.”

“Okay, party pooper.” Niall stuck his tongue out at her. “What about people? How many are you thinking?”

“I don’t know, about a hundred?”

A concentrated frown made Niall’s eyebrows scrunch together. “A hundred people for each of us? I guess I could make it work…”

Lucy made a face. “I meant a hundred altogether, actually.”

Niall looked at her with surprise. “Wait, what? A hundred people total?”

“Well, yeah. How many were you thinking?” Now Lucy was the one confused.

“I don’t know, around three hundred or something,” Niall mumbled, picking at his food like he was embarrassed.

“Are you serious? I wouldn’t know even half of them!” Lucy raised her brows and waited for Niall to raise his head, but when he did, he just shrugged. Lucy sighed. “And you wouldn’t even have enough time to talk to three hundred people.”

“So you want a small wedding, then?” he said after a minute.

“Yeah,” she admitted. “I mean, I’d rather have fun with the people that are closest to us than spend half the night wondering if I talked to everyone and if no one feels left out or annoyed I’m not giving them attention.”

Niall hummed, but stayed silent for a moment, thinking it over. “Maybe you’re right. I think we should start making a list, see how many people we come up with.” He had his phone in his hand in a second, ready to type. “What?” he asked, when he looked up at Lucy only to see a wide smile and bright eyes.

She shook her head slightly, but the smile wouldn't leave her face. “It just kinda hit me that we’re really doing this. We’re actually getting married.”

“Are you regretting it already?” he asked with raised brows, but with a smile that matched hers.

“No, but I might, if you actually want to invite three hundred people.”

Niall’s laughter filled the place and she joined him, thinking that she might even endure a night in the company of three hundred people or more, if it meant hearing that laugh and making a man she loved happy.

February 2023

Lucy went dress shopping with her mum, Niall’s mum, Laura, Mia and Natalia. The latter was Mia’s girlfriend of almost a year. Lucy always had limited time in London, so instead of going to a variety of different stores, she looked through an online catalogue of the one they were in, now presenting the five dresses she’d chosen. The first one had gotten mixed reactions from her company, so it was a no. The second was beautiful, but Lucy found the narrow, mermaid style bottom of the dress a little too constricting.

The minute she put on the third dress, Lucy knew her mum wouldn’t like it. And she was proved right as soon as the dressing room’s door opened.

“Oh no, this one brings too much attention to your arms and shoulders and you don’t want that, honey,” said Megan right away.

Lucy didn’t even bother making her way to the mirror in the room, nor did she grace her mum with a response. They’d been through similar situations so many times she’d lost count. The rest of her help committee was rendered silent and she didn’t want to make the atmosphere even more awkward, so she just went and changed into dress number four, losing hope of actually finding one everyone would like, herself especially.

Two out of the pre-picked dresses were nice, the first and fourth one, but none was amazing. Not one made Lucy go, ‘Wow’. Maybe she just expected too much, she always thought that she would just know, she would try it on and just feel that it’s the right one. She wanted to fall in love with her wedding dress; was that too much to ask?

“Let’s maybe look around for a bit? Maybe something will catch your eye, it’s always a bit different than browsing online.” Mia stood up as soon as she saw her cousin’s disheartened expression after looking at her reflection in the last dress.

Lucy smiled with gratitude before stepping down and heading towards the racks full of all types of wedding dresses. The other women joined them, spreading around the room to look through the garments. The group worked quietly, the main sound in the room being the scraping of hangers and background music. Lucy’s attention was brought to whoever called her name to show her one of the dresses, but she mostly replied with a shake of her head. Diana, the shop assistant, was observing the scene, ready to bring whatever was needed or take a dress to wait for Lucy in the changing room.

“What about this one?” Natalia spoke up for the first time since they started looking. Lucy looked up, and she felt her eyes instantly starting to sparkle when she looked at the dress in Natalia’s hands. It was so beautiful and delicate, breathtaking, yet not too much, all at once. She was scared to like it too much right away, before even trying it on, but the thought that this dress might be the one made her heart do a little jump.

“Yeah, I kinda love it.” She gave Nat a wide smile before turning to Diana. “Do you have my size?”

~~~~

After the visit in the bridal shop, Lucy, her mum, Maura and Mia went to lunch. Laura had a meeting about one of her new work projects, while Natalia had a photoshoot location to look at. It was nice to actually spend time with her family and friends and Lucy was relieved that most of their conversation topics weren’t about her wedding. Obviously she was excited about the whole thing, but she had been the centre of attention all morning and it was nice to get away from the spotlight a bit.

After lunch she had a session with her psychologist. They’d been working together for a few years now to make sure she had the right mentality on court, as well as helping with general mental health. As soon as the appointment was over, she had a proper training session with her coach scheduled.

It had been a good day, but when evening came, she was more than happy to be back home, enjoying a quiet evening with a steaming mug of tea and catching up on some tv shows. And when her phone finally rang with an incoming facetime call, she didn’t even try to contain her growing smile. She loved being back in London, but it was always a bit bittersweet if Niall wasn’t around. It didn’t feel completely like home.

“Hi, love.” Niall’s smiling face filled her screen and her heart instantly warmed.

“Hey. Are you leaving for the venue soon?” She could see he was still in his hotel room, shirtless as always and it looked like his hair was wet. He had a show tonight, though - in Chicago if she remembered correctly - so he should be heading out soon.

“Yeah, but I wanted to chat with you for a bit before. Did you have a good day?” He was lounging on his bed, his attention focused solely on Lucy. It was one of the things she loved most about him, especially because sometimes he found it quite hard to focus on one thing, but never when he talked to her.

“Really nice day. It was so good to see everyone and spend time together. I do miss you, though.” She pouted, an action Niall mirrored.

“I miss you, too, Lulu. I’m counting down the days for that week and a half together before clay.” He smiled sadly. They had a few small visits planned, but it was usually for two or three days; they had to wait until the beginning of April for a longer visit.

“48 days,” she said with a smile; she had an app counting the days.

As if to change the subject before the mood became too sad, Niall asked, “How was the dress-hunt?”

“Terrible, at first,” Lucy laughed. “But it got better.”

“I heard your mum made some comments…” Niall said, a bit tentatively.

“Did Maura tell you that?” Lucy asked, at which he nodded. “Yeah, she hates my arms and shoulders, but what else is new. Well, those arms and shoulders got me a spot in the top 10 best female servers for a few years now, so I really don’t care if my mum thinks they’re not feminine enough.”

“I love you, Lulu,” Niall said with a fond look in his eyes. She was appreciative that those were the words that left his mouth, not that she was beautiful; somehow it made her feel better and it was like he knew she didn’t really need that boost of confidence.

“I love you too, baby.” They stared at each other through the screen for a while, giving each other gentle smiles and supporting looks. “I hope Maura didn’t have a terrible time today.” She had to ask... well, indirectly, because she always had this creeping fear that maybe people didn’t enjoy her company as much as she enjoyed theirs. And with her mum making it awkward for a bit and the dress search taking longer than expected, she’d hate to think that maybe Niall’s mum became irritated at some point or would rather spend her time differently.

“Don’t be silly,” Niall said instantly. “She called me today as soon as I’d woken up and wouldn’t shut up about how great you are and how lucky I am to be marrying you, like I didn’t know already. You know she adores you and she felt very honored that you wanted her there. I’m pretty sure she actually texted me the minute you invited her.”

Lucy laughed. “That woman is so cute. Did she tell you about the dress?”

“Oh, you found the dress?” Something in Niall's tone made Lucy raise her eyebrows. A beat of silence followed, before Niall broke it with a sigh. “Well, she didn’t say much, refused to give me even the smallest description, but she did say you look absolutely stunning in it. She also said I’m gonna be completely speechless when I see you in it. I might not be able to say ‘I do’ if that’s the case. Do you think a nod will do?”

Lucy looked at him very unamused, while he cackled to himself. “Why, oh why, have I agreed to marry an idiot?” she asked.

“Oh please, you love my jokes. You think I’m hilarious.”

“I don’t think there’s a person on this planet who’d ever use that word to describe you,” she retorted, though without heat or malice.

They just leveled each other with a daring look until Lucy broke and started laughing, with Niall following suit.

“I really can’t wait to marry you, Lulu,” he said when they calmed down, with smiles still painted on both their faces. “Why haven’t we decided to elope?”

She snickered at that. “May I remind you that not so long ago, you actually wanted a wedding for three hundred people?” She raised her brow daringly, at which he laughed and shook his head.

“Well, good thing I’m marrying such a smart woman; at least she’ll always get my head on straight.”

Lucy let out a soft chuckle and silence engulfed them for a split moment before another thought hit her. “Oh, I told Mia we’re gonna come do the tasting in the week after Wimbledon, she said Monday would be best, cause they’re closed then, so they’d just come in for a few hours for us. You’ll be back then, right?”

Mia was a sous chef at one of the best restaurants in London, so of course they wanted to hire that team for their wedding. Obviously Mia herself wouldn’t be working as she was the maid of honour, but her colleagues would be just fine without her watchful eye.

“Yup, I’m flying back Sunday afternoon, shouldn’t be home too late, so Monday works for me.” Lucy nodded while Niall took a minute to consider something before speaking again. “I’m going to sound like a dick, I know, but is it extremely awful that I kinda hope you won’t become a Wimbledon champion this year?” he asked sheepishly.

She wasn’t offended at all, just looked at him softly, with a little tilt of her head. It just so happened that he was playing this tour’s last concert the day of the women's final at Wimbledon.

“Well, a part of me is kinda hoping I’ll lose early on, so I can come see you at least for the last show,” she said. “Maybe even a couple, if I lose in the first week.”

They shared a look with which they tried to transpire an unspoken message of ‘I miss you’ and ‘I love you’. This was their normal, not being able to experience all of the big moments together, having to make tough choices, knowing when you could be selfish and when to put the relationship first. Some may think that was too much trouble, but through their years together they learned to navigate it somehow. Sure, they still made mistakes and were torn between decisions, but as cliche as it sounded, communication was the key. And neither of them would ever exchange their relationship for something easier. After all, Lucy was a firm believer of working hard on things to truly earn them. And working on her partnership with Niall might actually be the most pleasurable work ever.

September 2023

“Man, you’re actually getting married, that’s so wild!” said Mully clasping a hand on Niall’s shoulder with a big smile on his face. “I mean, it feels like you two has been together forever, so no one really had a doubt that you’d be endgame, but just… You’re actually settling down, that’s crazy.”

“You’re one to talk… Should I remind you that you proposed to Jordan three months ago?”

“Touché,” Sean laughed.

“Can you go see how everything's going out there? And get me some water, please,” Niall said to his childhood friend, mostly because he wanted a minute to talk to his father.

“I’m on it.” Mully gave a salute and left the room with a laugh.

The rest of his groomsmen were out there as well, making sure their partners and plus ones didn’t feel abandoned and giving Niall a moment to breathe.

“Why are you so nervous, son? I thought you were a million percent sure she’s the one,” said Bobby, noticing Niall’s bouncing knee and unfocused gaze.

“I am, I mean I’ve never even been in love like that. I want to spend my life with Lulu, of course I do, but, like, what if things don’t work out? What if we actually won’t last? How can I know that?” he asked.

He loved Lucy with his whole heart and soul, he’d never been more sure about anything, and he knew she felt the same way about him. But some part of him was worried, because sometimes things just didn’t work out, right? Things happened and feelings could change. He was sure his parents were in love when they got married, yet their marriage didn’t last. And so did so many others. Maybe love wasn’t everything and marriage wasn’t the road they should take? Just thinking about losing Lulu was making his insides churn and if he focused on it for too long, he might just throw up his breakfast. 

“Niall.” Bobby came closer and looked at him with a soft, but sure look. “There are simply no guarantees. That’s just life. But let me tell you that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a relationship as strong as yours, or two people so determined to make it work, just because of the love they have for each other. Sure, life will throw all kinds of troubles at you, but I think you’ve worked through a lot of the hurdles already. As long as you’ll stay like this, honest and open and wanting to make it work, you’ll be fine. I’m pretty sure of this.”

Niall looked at him with glazed eyes. His father wasn’t one for inspirational speeches like that, which made it even more meaningful.

“And I hope you know how proud we are of you, me and your mum. For everything you’ve done and what a beautiful life you’ve built.”

“Thanks, dad,” he said, enveloping Bobby in a tight hug.

He didn’t doubt Lucy and their love, he doubted life and happy endings. He doubted just how much goodness and happiness one could get from the universe. His life had thrown so many good things his way already, there was so much luck involved in all of his successes, and he just felt that someday it’d have to turn around and some gloom would take over. And maybe not seeing Lucy since yesterday and spending the night without her brought a bit of self-consciousness and worry. After all, she was usually his voice of reason. They lifted each other up. And deep down he knew it’d always be like that. They wouldn’t let each other fall, and together they wouldn’t hit the ground, because there would always be one to hold the other up.

~~

“I need to see Niall,” Lucy said, when her hair was finally perfectly arranged and she was left in a room with her and Niall’s mums, Mia, Natalia and Laura, who were her bridal party.

“What?” asked Megan, brows drawn together in confusion. 

It was less than an hour until the start of the ceremony. Lucy hadn’t seen her soon to be husband since late afternoon yesterday, as they’d decided to follow that bit of tradition and spend the night apart, with him staying at home, while she was at the hotel with her parents and Mia. She was very much regretting that decision now. They’d texted and talked on the phone before falling asleep, but she still missed him, it was different knowing he was so close, yet they weren’t together. It didn’t feel right. And now, when she was so stressed, not about the whole marrying him thing, but just about the whole ceremony and having all eyes on her throughout the day. At least she was glad that they’ve managed to wrap up the guest list just under hundred and fifty people.

Her and Niall were not supposed to see each other before the big walk down the aisle, but she needed his presence to calm her nerves.

“Can you please ask him to come meet me?” she asked Maura.

She looked at her a bit surprised, but nodded and brought a small smile to her face, even though her eyes looked a little worried. “Of course, sweetheart.”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad, I just need to see him,” Lucy assured before Maura left the room.

“We’ll give you a moment,” said Mia, squeezing Lucy’s shoulder as she passed, ushering everyone out of the room. Megan gave her an unnerved look, but left the room.

While waiting, she looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing her perfect dress, her hair was done just the way she wanted, part of it pinned up and part left down in soft curls, her face adorned by quite delicate makeup. Everything was just the way she imagined, even better.

There was a quick knock on her door followed by a nervous, “Lulu?”.

She took a deep breath before saying “come in”.

Hearing that Lucy wanted to see him and then standing outside her door, Niall thought his heart might just beat out of his chest. But when he walked in and saw her, standing there, a mirror behind her, a soft glow coming from the window and lighting up all of her best features, he felt like his heart just left his chest. He felt nervous and suddenly calm at the same time. His mum had been right - he was very much speechless, because Lucy looked like a vision.

“Is, um, is everything alright?” he asked, searching for any signs of distress in her eyes.

“Yes, of course. I’m about to marry the most wonderful man in the whole world. I’m a bit nervous, though, and just needed to see you,” she said a little sheepishly. She hadn’t really thought about how it might look to Niall when his mum showed up and said his fiancée wanted to see him, hadn’t considered how panicked he might get.

He took a step closer, not being able to stand the distance between them any longer, especially since he was sure she wasn’t about to call the wedding off or anything like that. When he was close enough, he noticed her hands were shaking and instantly engulfed them in both of his.

“Nothing to be nervous about. It’s just people we know out there. And I’m gonna be there, waiting for you at the altar and then be by your side the whole time. Plus, I have to say, just… wow. You look so incredibly beautiful, Lulu. I knew you would, you always do, but this... this is just a different level. And knowing you’re gonna become my wife today, somehow it just makes you even more stunning.”

When she finally looked at him, her eyes were already starting to water. “You look incredibly handsome as well.” His face finally lit up with a big smile and she almost launched herself into his arms. “Can we share our vows now?” she asked quietly into his ear.

Out there, in front of everyone, they’d decided to go with the traditional vows, to try and not make each other cry. But they both wanted to do their own, special ones. It was agreed to exchange them sometime later, probably late at night, when the wedding festivities were over, but she didn’t want to wait. As they were standing in this small room, both ready, wrapped up in each other, she wanted to be his already. Even if it wouldn’t be officiated, she wanted to have that promise between them already. She wanted to walk down the aisle with his vows playing in her head. She needed the confidence that his words would give her, the reminder of his love and devotion.

“Of course, whatever you want, love,” he whispered. “Do you want me to start?” Even though he didn’t see her because of their embrace, he could feel her nod. He planted a soft kiss on her cheek, right by her ear, before slowly pulling away, but keeping his hands around her waist.

Lucy felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest. It was fluttering around her ribcage, when she looked at the man in front of her, ready to soak up his every word. Even though her heartbeat might say differently, she wasn’t nervous.

“My Lulu,” Niall started, looking straight into her eyes. He’d use her full name out there for their proper vows, so now, as it was just the two of them, he really wanted to call her by his favourite nickname. “I promise to love and to cherish you every second of every day, no matter what’s going on or where we are, together or apart. I promise to not let you lose yourself, especially not in my own life and dreams. I promise to always be your number one fan and supporter, to always believe in you, always let you shine and remind you how bright you are. But most of all, I promise to be your partner, through thick and thin, no matter what life throws at us, to stand by your side, hold you tight and lift you up. I love you, Lulu and I promise to try to be the best husband possible.”

About halfway through his speech, Lucy’s eyes not only sparkled, but full on watered, tears eventually spilling down her cheeks. Niall quickly wiped them away with a soft smile and a look that said he’ll always be there to do just that. He didn’t even need to say it out loud, she already knew.

Before she started speaking, Lucy reached up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss right on his lips. “Niall, baby, I knew I should have gone first, cause you’re better at words than I am,” she started, at which he chuckled and squeezed her waist encouragingly. “I promise to always make sure you know how much I love you, through words and gestures, to always make you feel secure and confident, just like you do for me. I promise to always have your back, cause we are a team and together we can do anything. I promise to always try to understand you and consider your feelings. I promise to be open and honest, just like you want me to. I promise to never lose sight of how amazing you are and not let you to, either. I promise not to let you sacrifice yourself too much for me, even if you want to. I promise to make you laugh, just like you do with your stupid jokes, and to play with your hair and rub your back when you’re tired or can’t sleep. And I promise to always strive to be exactly what you need. Even though I can’t promise to be the perfect wife, I promise to try my hardest and always be the best for you.”

Just as she was saying the last sentence, a tear rolled down Niall’s left cheek, which she wiped with the tip of her finger, just like he’d done to her a few minutes earlier. She’d barely finished, when he pulled her closer and enveloped her in a tight hug while planting kisses all over her face and neck. This moment was just so blissful, they both wanted to stay in it forever.

Neither of them could even say how long they’d spent alone, after their vows they just stayed in each others’ embrace, sharing kisses every other second, inhaling one another, swaying back and forth on their feet, even though there was no music playing. They were wrapped up in their little bubble of love and excitement. Until there was a knock on the door.

“Please stop mingling in there, you’re supposed to get married in twenty minutes. I can’t believe you couldn’t even keep your hands off each other for one day.” Mia’s voice was slightly muffled through the doors, but her words were still clear. Niall and Lucy shared a shocked look, not even thinking of what anyone might think they were doing (they truly didn’t care), before erupting in laughter.

~~~~

When Lucy was coming back from the toilet, someone pulled her hand before she reached the main room. She turned her head to see it was her husband. He had a wicked smile on his face and put a finger to his lips as a signal to keep quiet, even though she was pretty sure no one would hear them over the loud music coming from the dancefloor anyway. He laced their fingers and led them into a corner of the hallway passed the kitchen.

Niall propped her against the wall, but put a hand around her waist to soften the hit.

“I’ve missed you,” he said, quietly bringing his body closer and leaning in to kiss her cheek before moving on to her neck.

Lucy let out a lovely laugh. It was a sound that he wanted to hear for the rest of his life. “We got married today, baby, we’ve been around each other for hours.” Despite her words, he kinda had a point. Sure, they were always together, holding hands or wrapping an arm around the waist to keep the other by their sides, but they were constantly around other people, listening to congratulations, well wishes and just making conversations with their guests. It was lovely, it was a part of the whole wedding ordeal, and it was their family and friends, who they were so happy to share this moment with, but she did want a minute alone with her husband as well.

“Yes, but I want you just for myself for a moment. You’ve been my wife for hours now and I’ve barely even kissed you. It’s a bit outrageous, don’t you think?” He whispered it all straight into her ear, nibbling on a skin once he was done.

She hummed. “Very much so” she agreed. She grabbed the back of his hair to pull him away from her neck and finally bring him in for a proper kiss. Both of them were hungry for it, their mouths working hurriedly, like anyone could interrupt them at any given moment, which was kind of true in this situation. Niall’s hands were rummaging around her dress, sneaking from around her ribcage to her waist and then travelling down and in this moment Lucy was both glad and mad at herself that her wedding gown was floor length, because she missed the warmth of his skin on her, even though this definitely wasn't the time and place to be doing that. She wanted to do nothing more but rake her fingers through his soft hair, but it was still perfectly styled and she didn’t want to ruin it, especially since it would probably create quite a buzz between the guests.

“Man, I can’t wait until the party’s over” he sighed, throwing his head back, when Lucy pulled away with a groan to force them both to catch their breath. “Is it really awful that I’m saying that about my own wedding?”

“Nah, I kinda feel the same right now,” she admitted with a giggle. At this moment, when they were sneaking around the party for a bit of a make out session, she felt like a teenager with butterflies in her stomach, not an adult with a husband. But there was a certain beauty in that, how Niall could make her feel giddy and excited with the simplest things, no matter how long they’d been together.

“Should we sneak off to the bathroom or something?” he asked with a glint in his eyes.

Lucy chuckled, knowing, well, hoping at least, that he wasn’t actually being serious. There was no way she was having sex with her husband for the first time in some filthy bathroom at their own wedding. Well, maybe not filthy, cause the whole place was very nice, but the sentiment was very much the same. It was not the place (nor time) to engage in marital sex. She and Niall had slept together too many times to count, but both of them wondered if this next time would be different, because of the official commitment marriage brought, if anything would change in their connection. Lucy had a gut feeling it’d be better than any time before and that they’d feel close and connected like never before, although that’d never been an issue for them. Their intimacy always brought not only their bodies, but also their minds and souls as close together as possible.

“Absolutely not,” she said, planting a kiss on his lips to soften the blow. “But we should get back. Theo looked pretty sleepy and I promised him another dance. Also, Harry made me swear to save one for him as well.” She smiled at the memory of sharing a dance with Niall’s ten year old godson not even an hour ago, and at the conversation they’d had with his former bandmates, which involved a lot of teasing of her husband.

“No,” Niall whined languidly. “Why do I have to share you? I’m fine with Theo, he’s a good kid, but Harry can suck it, he has his own girl.” He pouted to emphasize his words, at which Lucy laughed and reached her hand to smooth his features.

“Well, you could dance with Meave or another of the boys’ girls and then we can swap to get back together. I’m the bride, baby, a hot commodity, nothing we can do about it.” She shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

He sighed and pulled her closer to hide in the space between her neck and shoulder, which might just be his favourite spot on her body. “Okay, let’s go, I want to get it over with,” he said after a minute, standing straighter up. The smile on his face and the kiss he gave her before pulling away and lacing their fingers to head back to their party told her what she already knew, that he wasn’t actually grumpy and he did enjoy the night, even if it meant sharing her the whole night. Because in the end, she was his and he was hers and they had a whole lifetime together ahead of them.

Right before they entered the room where most of the guests were gathered, he pulled her to her chest once more and whispered a simple sentence right into her ear, but that few words sent a thrilled chill across her whole body: “Can’t wait for our honeymoon.”

[duchessofostergotlands]

Breakdown of my views on The Statement: My thoughts in bold

We are pleased to now be able to share with you an update on many of the details agreed at a meeting of The Royal Family in January 2020, which outlines The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new roles, taking effect Spring 2020. We had hoped to be allowed to share these details with you sooner (to mitigate any confusion and subsequent misreporting), but the facts below should help provide some clarification around this transition and the steps for the future. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t 

AS AGREED AND SET OUT IN JANUARY 2020:

It is agreed that the commencement of the revised role of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take effect Spring 2020 and undergo a 12 month review. No problem here, all makes sense

The Royal Family respect and understand the wish of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to live a more independent life as a family, by removing the supposed ‘public interest’ justification for media intrusion into their lives. They remain a valued part of Her Majesty’s family. THIS IS SO FUCKING DISRESPECTFUL. “The supposed ‘public interest’ justification for media intrusion.” It’s not supposed. The fact they think that shows such lack of understanding of what their role is. We give them millions, they have a completely unearned influence over government and society at large. To prevent corruption they have to understand that public interest is an incredibly powerful argument. I get that there have been things that have happened that are intrusive and unnecessary, I’ve said that myself. But this is not the way to tackle them because the public interest should be central to everything they do and there were things that were in the public interest that they didn’t consider to be (like Harry’s recent lost case about his cropping of the elephant photo). 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will become privately funded members of The Royal Family with permission to earn their own income and the ability to pursue their own private charitable interests. Privately funded means no Duchy support which hasn’t yet been confirmed. This is ultimately misleading because they always had permission to earn their own income as working royals - as Harry knows, he was a soldier earning a wage - but had restrictions because they had to remain accountable. They don’t want the restrictions 

The preference of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex was to continue to represent and support Her Majesty The Queen albeit in a more limited capacity, while not drawing on the Sovereign Grant. HOW DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND YOU COULD NEVER DO THIS??? Again, the total lack of understanding of public sentiment and the important relationship between the public and the monarchy astounds me. What they’re saying is that they wanted to continue to be working royals and represent the UK officially with all of the power and privilege that comes with it but not have any of the ties that make them accountable. That’s not how it works. 

While there is precedent for other titled members of the Royal Family to seek employment outside of the institution, for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a 12-month review period has been put in place. There is no precedent for this situation and the fact that they keep saying that is feeding the stan nonsense about them being treated more harshly. Other royals are allowed to make income outside of the monarchy - as Meghan and Harry were at all times - but have to have approval from the Queen and the Lord Chamberlain. They didn’t want that which is their right - but is also their choice! 

Per the agreement The Duke and Duchess of Sussex understand that they are required to step back from Royal duties and not undertake representative duties on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen. Yep, all good

As agreed and set out in January, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will retain their “HRH” prefix, thereby formally remaining known as His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer actively use their HRH titles as they will no longer be working members of the family as of Spring 2020. Yep, all good. I don’t really think it was ever necessary for them to drop the HRH but that’s just my view 

As the grandson of Her Majesty and second son of The Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex remains sixth in line to the throne of The British Monarchy and the Order of Precedence is unchanged. Yep, totally cool. Now tell us whether he’ll remain a Counsellor of State which is a major constitutional issue 

It was agreed that The Duke and Duchess will no longer be able to formally carry out ‘official duties’ for The Queen or represent The Commonwealth, but they will, however, be allowed to maintain their patronages (including those that are classified as ‘royal’ patronages). Yep, no problem with this. This is about the individual relationship between the couple and their patronages, not about the BRF

It is agreed that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will continue to require effective security to protect them and their son.  This is based on The Duke’s public profile by virtue of being born into The Royal Family, his military service, the Duchess’ own independent profile, and the shared threat and risk level documented specifically over the last few years. No further details can be shared as this is classified information for safety reasons. The monarchy has not confirmed this and as their first statement is now almost complete rubbish, I’m waiting to see if this turns out to be true long term. We have a right to know which countries are paying for their security, however. Canada has a right to know, we have a right to know if our taxpayer funds are going towards people who don’t live here or work here 

In relation to the military, The Duke of Sussex will retain the rank of Major, and honorary ranks of Lieutenant Commander, and Squadron Leader. During this 12-month period of review, The Duke’s official military appointments will not be used as they are in the gift of the Sovereign. No new appointments will be made to fill these roles before the 12-month review of the new arrangements is completed. This isn’t what we’d been led to believe so I’m not sure what the truth is here. I expect the BRF will have to clear it up  

While per the agreement, The Duke will not perform any official duties associated with these roles, given his dedication to the military community and ten years of service he will of course continue his unwavering support to the military community in a non-official capacity. As founder of the Invictus Games, The Duke will proudly continue supporting the military community around the world through the Invictus Games Foundation and The Endeavour Fund. It’ll be interesting to see how this works because the Endeavour Fund is a project of the Royal Foundation so will he be privately funding it? Which contradicts with their point below? Or will he be doing work for the Royal Foundation? 

Based on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s desire to have a reduced role as members of The Royal Family, it was decided in January that their Institutional Office would have to be closed, given the primary funding mechanism for this official office at Buckingham Palace is from HRH The Prince of Wales. The Duke and Duchess shared this news with their team personally in January once they knew of the decision, and have worked closely with their staff to ensure a smooth transition for each of them. I get why they might be trying to frame this as out of their control but they decided to step back and they bear all the responsibility for these people losing their jobs. Take ownership of what you do. If they’d just included the below point it would have been fine. 

Over the last month and a half, The Duke and Duchess have remained actively involved in this process, which has understandably been saddening for The Duke and Duchess and their loyal staff, given the closeness of Their Royal Highnesses and their dedicated team.

As The Duke and Duchess will no longer be considered full-time working Members of The Royal Family, it was agreed that use of the word ‘Royal’ would need to be reviewed as it pertains to organisations associated with them in this new regard. More details on this below. No problem. I didn’t necessarily think this needed to happen but it’s probably cleaner. 

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

As shared in early January on this website, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not plan to start a ‘foundation’, but rather intend to develop a new way to effect change and complement the efforts made by so many excellent foundations globally. This point and the sentences below are utter gibberish. Stop with the buzz words (literally every charity is cause driven jfc...) You also did call it a Foundation when you legally registered it so I can’t imagine why people would possibly be confused you’re saying it’s not a Foundation

The creation of this non-profit entity will be in addition to their cause driven work that they remain deeply committed to. While The Duke and Duchess are focused on plans to establish a new non-profit organisation, given the specific UK government rules surrounding use of the word ‘Royal’, it has been therefore agreed that their non-profit organisation will not utilise the name ‘Sussex Royal’ or any other iteration of ‘Royal.’ Fine

For the above reason, the trademark applications that had been filed as protective measures and that reflected the same standard trademarking requests as done for The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have been removed. I do think it was fair enough to point this out because the press have been suggesting the trademark was about selling stuff with their name on it when everyone trademarks stuff as a protective measure

While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ or any iteration of the word ‘Royal’ in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020. This was definitely Harry. Anyway this is something that again seems to ignore public sentiment. The primary view was that they could do what they want but not claim to be Royal. This isn’t just the Queen being a meanie, it’s the Queen and the Government respecting public opinion. But ultimately, they chose to agree to this. They could use Royal if they wanted to, they acknowledge there’s no jurisdiction. So either do what you want or stop whingeing about it 

As The Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to develop their non-profit organisation and plan for their future, we hope that you use this site as the source for factual information. In Spring 2020, their digital channels will be refreshed as they introduce the next exciting phase to you. “Source for factual information.” Given that your entire first statement was bollocks and you’ve misled people in this one I don’t really trust that you’re the source for factual information. You’re the source for your version of events. Which you’re entitled to be, but don’t paint it as the objective truth. No one should present themselves as infallible and above questioning 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex eagerly await the opportunity to share more with you and greatly appreciate your support!

[angelic-butnotinnocent]

♥-Mercury Retrograde-♥

Mercury retrograde through the houses ;

Mercury is a quick moving personal planet. When he reverses he triggers in each of us a period of reflection and re-organisation – in fact pretty much any word with the prefix ‘re’ can be applied during this period. How the retrograde will affect you may manifest in a myriad of ways.

you can check where mercury goes retrograde in your transit chart

♥1st house♥;How you approach the world may need to be re-thought. Consider a change of image – do the research but perhaps wait until the retrograde is over before booking a drastic haircut! Take a long look in the mirror. The most important thing is whether you are happy with what you see.You may find yourself tripping over words or unable to express yourself in a way you would like. You worry about how you are coming across to others. There’s a growing sense that you would like to express a part of yourself that perhaps you haven’t allowed to come out before. You may feel like the way others perceive you doesn’t reflect who you are on the inside. Mercury retrograde in this house can help bring the inside and outside together, restoring confidence.Take a personality test, read up on your natal chart – for others to know you, you have to know you.

Keywords – Reframe, reaffirm, re-vamp

♥2nd house♥;Take a look at what you hold dear. You may find yourself asking the question ‘Is it really worth it?‘. Money due may be delayed so it’s wise to keep some aside just in case. Sometimes unexpected money falls into your lap.It’s time to think about what you really value in life. Are you happy with how you make money? Are you financially comfortable? What do you really want? Do you believe you are worth it? Are you on the way to getting it or do you feel like you moving further away? Review your bank account; keep any sale’s receipts; pay overdue bills; avoid major new purchases; update or start a record listing your outgoings and income; open a savings account.

Keywords – Re-evaluate, replenish, re-stock

♥3rd house♥;All forms of communication, transport and thinking are brought into focus. You may feel like your mind is very busy. Sometimes Mercury transiting here can increase worry and nervous symptoms. Ensure you create some quiet time to gain clarity. On a deep level, you are working through what you know. Confusion may mean you need further information.Repair your car; check the tires; take the car for an MOT/service; check your oil and water before a long drive. Research, replace the battery in your phone; charge up your battery regularly; replace your phone (but avoid a new contract until after Mercury retrograde). Watch your speed limit.Ask questions to ensure you understand; check someone received your message if you haven’t heard from them; send important items early – by insured post if possible; check appointment times; spell-check before sending! Back up your computer, run your virus and malware checker regularly; double check emails are from who they say they are from.In personal communications, make sure you have understood the other person’s point of view before going off the deep-end. Diffuse arguments. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep; don’t say yes when you mean no and vice versa.Reconnect with your siblings – especially if things were left on a difficult note.

Keywords – Re-think, rewrite, review

♥4th house♥;Your home is your sanctuary. Does it reflect who you are? If you feel stuck in a rut in life, maybe energy in your home is also ‘stuck’. Change the furniture around to give yourself a new perspective. Revisit each room and try to see it with the eyes of a stranger. What does it say about you? Release objects that no longer have any meaning.The 4th house is also your foundation, your childhood, your roots. What were you told as a child that you still believe is true? You may become aware of negative thought patterns that have a significant impact upon your life. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself fundamental questions.Old family/childhood issues may resurface or there may be a need to walk down memory lane. Reconnect with your family. Make peace with your past.

Keywords – Re-route/re-root! Redecorate, re-establish, retrace, refurnish

♥5th house♥;There may be a withdrawal of creative energy. Let the process happen, your project may need time to ferment. Loss of confidence may be an underlying reason for creative stalling. Check in with what you are telling yourself about your ability to express yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others. You are who you are.Seek out new inspiration. Visit a gallery, the theatre, the beach, a local park. Try out a new craft. Take yourself on an artist’s date.This can be a wonderful time to reconnect to your inner child. Aim to re-capture your spontaneity. Play a game. Spend time with your children, see through their eyes. Be curious.An old flame may reappear. Past partners may remind you of how far you have come or how happy/unhappy you feel. Alternatively this is an excellent time to inject some romance back into a jaded relationship. Put your thinking caps on and devise new ways to ‘play’ together 🙂Traditionally this isn’t the best time to start a new love affair. Whilst life must go on during Mercury retrograde, it’s wise not to fall head over heels just yet.

Keywords – Re-ignite, reanimate, rehearse, rekindle, recapture

♥6th house♥;Re-organise your workspace, office or desk. Sort out your diary, create a calendar or to-do list. re-work your routines. Re-connect with your colleagues and/or reflect upon your relationship with them. Sometimes this transit may manifest as mix-ups in communication and team work can suffer. Check everyone else has the right information to hand. Sometimes this transit can feel like your schedule has been thrown out of the window. Mercury may be asking that you become more flexible. Routines and habits can be an excellent structure to work from however they can also make life a little dull, safe and predictable.In matters of health, this is the time to do a personal inventory. How do you feel? Are you full of energy or weighed down by aches and pains and undefined maladies? This is the perfect opportunity to do some research into your own health issues. Unless there are serious consequences for postponement, a second opinion (when Mercury is direct) is advised before embarking on a course of treatment for an illness or problem. Test results now may be inconclusive. Avoid starting a new diet. Time is better spent researching the foods you will eat, gathering recipes and nutritional information.

Keywords – Reorganisation, rejuvenation, relapse, repair, recover, refresh

♥7th house♥;Whether marriage or business partner, Mercury’s transit here may call for re-negotiation of terms. In personal relationships, we often have unspoken contracts and agreements that have developed over time from who takes the trash out to who sleeps on what side of the bed. There are also others such as ‘don’t ever disagree with my Mother’. These ‘rules’ can be taught to us through certain behaviours and body language. What remains ‘unspoken’ is likely to be given voice during this transit and perhaps this is necessary in order for you to clear the path ahead.Alternatively, old issues that you thought forgotten may rear up and you may find yourself having to bite your tongue. Mercury retrograde in the 7th house can serve to bring you closer together by airing differences of opinion. By the time this transit is over, you may both feel like you understand each other a lot better.Traditionally it isn’t recommended to get married or set a wedding date under Mercury retrograde. If you have to sign a contract, read the small print! If possible, defer until after Mercury has gone direct.

Keywords – Re-negotiate, refine, reunite

♥8th house♥;In the house of shared resources, Mercury here offers you the chance to find out if you are getting and/or giving your fair share in a relationship. It may be time to redistribute the wealth. Renew your insurance, check when your insurance runs out, avoid taking out a loan, pay off your debts and taxes. There may be issues or delays with jointly held resources during this time. It is not the best time to take out a mortgage or loan or invest in a new business.Sexual issues may need to be discussed. Divine intimacy can be achieved through sharing your thoughts. It may be important to recall previous intimate relationships in order to understand better your preferences and needs.The 8th house favours eliminating the old. Cleanse your mind. Secrets and hidden things may come to light during this time. Psycho-analysis and other forms of healing are beneficial.

Keywords – relinquish, repay, re-allocate, relent

♥9th house♥;Re-examine what you believe about the world as Mercury backs up in the 9th house. Your beliefs create what you experience. It’s time to consider the future. What you do now effects the outcome. What’s your overall philosophy to life? Are you really living it? This house is also connected to morals and ethics. During this transit you may be called upon to re-assess what the truth really means.This is a good time to re-sit exams previously failed or to go back into education. Use this time to revise, to edit writing, to re-write and proof read your work. Explore books that make you think differently about the world.You may have a sense that you have lost the big picture somewhere along the line. Take some time to re-visualise where you want to be.You may find yourself needing to revisit a place. Generally however, travel plans at this time need to be triple checked. Be prepared for delays, cancelled flights and roadblocks. Mercury would like you to see where you are so you can be clearer about where you want to go. Sometimes we just have to stand still.The 9th house is also associated with the concept of faith. Your faith in yourself or in a higher being may be called into question. Faith adhered to without question can bind you. Keep asking the big questions!

Keywords – revisit, re-examine, retrain

♥10th house♥;Take care of old business, finish the job you started. A change in status can sometimes be indicated by this transit from promotion to job loss. There may be communication problems with a manager or team leader. Misunderstandings can lead to frustration. Patience and a cautious approach are necessary. This is not the time for a career change or to apply for a new job. Reapplying for a job you didn’t get before however is favourable. Use this period to consider whether you are happy with your career to date and what you would like to achieve. Researching a new career and connecting with people who work in that sector is a beneficial use of the retrograde period..If you are self-employed, take care with new contracts and clients. This may be the time to re-consider how you market yourself and the clients you want to work with. Re-vamp your public image.Alternatively, a great way to make use of Mercury in the 10th is to take a holiday from work, spend some time at home and recharge your batteries.

Keywords – redefine, re-assemble, reappoint, resign, retire, re-orientate.

♥11th house♥;Time for a catch up with old friends. You may bump into each other unexpectedly. On the other hand, this transit can indicate a withdrawal from the social scene for a while which may happen by choice or circumstance. If this occurs, it may be that you need to take some time to discover who you are away from others. Most often this can happen when too much time has been spent socialising and not enough time alone.There can be misunderstandings with friends at this time. Be sure you have the right end of the stick before you cross them off your Christmas card list. Gossip and rumour may play havoc with otherwise good relationships. It’s wise to follow the ‘hear no evil, speak no evil‘ motto right now. It could however be time to weed out connections that no longer serve you. Mercury retrograde in the 11th can help you to discover who your real friends are and why you move in the circles you do. It also serves as a reminder that people make their own decisions in the end. You can’t control what others decide to do.The 11th house is also connected to your goals and dreams. Re-capture a dream that you once had to get inspired about the future. Research networks that may help you towards your goal.

Keywords – Reconnect, regroup, reconvene, reform

♥12th house♥;As I start to write this piece, I hear Simon and Garfunkal singing ‘The Sound of Silence’ in my mind. When Mercury transits retrograde in the 12th house, the need for retreat and quiet may be very strong. For some this can manifest as a strong pull towards their own inner psychology. Mercury may bring you messages from your deep unconscious mind through dreams. Keep a record of dreams during the retrograde period as they may well provide information you need to be aware of. Images from past lives may surface.Sometimes it may feel like you have been left alone with no one to rely on. It may be because only you can decide what comes next. Regrets may characterise this time, with sorrow bubbling up about what could have been and should have been. Be kind to yourself and let it go. If you are telling yourself dark and twisted stories, give the tale a happy ending. Trust that you can make the right decision by yourself and move forward.Your spiritual life gets a boost when Mercury retrogrades the 12th. As the outside world loses its pull over you, you may find yourself more psychically aware and sensitive to subtle vibrations. Synchronicity speaks to you vividly. Spiritual renewal is a possibility. Meditate, remove your mental chains, set up an altar, commune with the world soul, pray.

Keywords – redeem, release, recharge, re-consecrate, repent

source ; leahwhitehorse.com

[cathkaesque]

Origins

The origins of the present crisis can be traced back to the disintegration of the USSR and independence in 1991. Uniquely among the states of the former USSR and Eastern Bloc, Belarus has so far avoided the shock market therapy which destroyed the bureaucratically planned economies and plunged tens of millions into dire poverty.

Instead, the caste of ex-Soviet bureaucrats — Lukashenko himself is a former manager of a collective farm — transformed themselves into national administrators of state capitalist enterprises and successfully consolidated power at the head of a still largely state-owned economy. The ruling elite’s strategy for maintaining power and social stability has been to conduct a careful balancing act between the expansionist ambitions of Western and Russian imperialism, leveraging the benefits of foreign loans and subsidies while denying its people basic democratic freedoms to suppress internal opposition.

Existing as it does within the confines of an international capitalist market, Belarus’s state-owned and bureaucratically managed economy was unable to attract sufficient foreign investment or develop the productivity of its heavy industry, and became heavily dependent on Russian oil subsidies and export markets. Even today, state industry is responsible for more than 50 percent of GDP. Belarus is very different from the oligarchic capitalism of Ukraine or Russia, but far away from a planned economy: its state industries are organised in holdings operating on the global markets at the centre of which are the three big state banks. With credit growth far outpacing real growth and lacking domestic sources of capital, foreign debt has inevitably risen and was at 80 percent of GDP even before the coronavirus crisis. For more than a decade, Belarus has been in the vicious cycle of debt refinancing, stagnation, currency crisis and price stability problems, increasing its dependence on Russia as a result.

To keep the oil flowing, Lukashenko has indulged successive Russian attempts at greater integration between the two states, but delayed or resisted any decisive moves towards privatisation, which would threaten the dispossession of domestic elites in favour of Russian oligarchs. Likewise, if he followed through on his flirtations with the EU, loans and private investment would no doubt be conditional on “reform”, that is, wholesale opening to market forces.

Despite creeping economic stagnation, for decades Lukashenko was able to redistribute the profits from sales of Russian oil to provide an at least reasonable standard of living for the country’s population, including universal healthcare, free education, subsidised rents, high state pensions, and other state welfare programmes. As a result, his government has been able to maintain a certain degree of legitimacy amongst the rural and urban workers, notwithstanding its iron grip on Belarusian civil society. Periodic expressions of pro-democracy sentiment have failed to win wider support and been easily repressed.

Stagnation

Yet Lukashenko’s stubborn refusal to accept his designated role as Putin’s stooge has led to growing tensions between the two countries, resulting in cuts to Russian oil subsidies and contract disputes frequently interrupting oil supply flows. The increasingly pressing need for economic diversification, alongside a desire to avoid aligning itself with Russia in the Ukraine crisis, have led Lukashenko to make overtures to the European Union, engaging in “dialogue” about economic liberalisation in exchange for increased European aid. But the process has been slow — a fully-fledged partnership and cooperation agreement has been blocked by opposition from Lithuania — and is ultimately limited by the regime’s need to hedge its bets between East and West to maintain its own position.

In recent years, that balancing act has reached its limits. During the deep recession of 2015 to 2017, the highly indebted state was unable to act countercyclically and real income fell by 13 percent as a result of currency devaluation and price increases. Faced with falling growth and increasingly unable, or unwilling, to draw on Moscow’s patronage, Lukashenko has turned to an assault on his own working class to claw back losses and stave off economic disaster. In 2015, the so-called “parasite law” was brought in, forcing anyone not in state-recognised employment to pay a special tax or be sentenced to community service. The decree was withdrawn in 2018, but the unemployed are instead being forced to pay for all state services. A series of amendments to the labour code in 2017 unilaterally shifted 90 percent of workers from permanent to temporary contracts.

Widespread cuts have been implemented across health and education and the retirement age has been raised. All this combined with the steadily falling value of the Belarusian Rouble, has meant a serious decline in the standard of living for Belarusian workers. With the coronavirus crisis, the economic problems of its main trading partner (Russia) and the amount of accumulated debt, Belarus is now on the brink of economic collapse. Given the “crisis management” of Lukashenko during the coronavirus crisis so far, the working class and parts of the ruling class have lost confidence in the ability of the existing regime to prevent the approaching disaster. At the same time, the prolonged shutdown of the global economy is causing both Russia and the EU to re-evaluate their budget priorities.

Protest

Thus, growing discontent with the regime has, for the first time since independence, exploded into a mass popular movement drawing in huge swathes of the working class and backed by industrial action across all sectors and across every part of the country. The scale and breadth of the actions reveals the depths of the country’s political and economic crisis and the authentic character of the uprising; a US-orchestrated “colour revolution” this is not.

In the first few days of protests, the movement’s official demands were limited to calls for new elections monitored by international observers and the release of detained activists but, by Sunday, mass protests were demanding Lukashenko’s immediate resignation. The movement has developed a momentum of its own which is quickly eroding the regime’s legitimacy.

If the protests continue and, crucially, if the strike movement grows to paralyse greater parts of the economy, Lukashenko will face a choice between a bloody crackdown and surrendering power. For now, the regime still controls the police and the military, though there have been reports of some police and army personnel joining demonstrations, and protesters have been filmed appealing to soldiers to join the uprising.

The democracy movement is determined and enjoys mass support; its suppression would be likely to involve prolonged violence, risking defections in the military. Putin has promised Lukashenko military assistance in accordance with the two countries’ military pact, but stopped short of endorsing Lukashenko, who he regards as an altogether unreliable ally. In any case, Russian support would come at a high price; Lukashenko would surely be forced to abandon his policy of constructive ambiguity towards Russia and accept a future as a custodian of a Russian protectorate.

A “managed transition” of some sort may become a preferable alternative for parts of the bureaucracy which will hope to placate the democracy movement but preserve parts of the governing apparatus and reap the profits from any forthcoming privatisations of state-owned enterprises. The democracy movement thus far has little organised political leadership, taking the form of a spontaneous upsurge of popular discontent. Many leaders of the liberal opposition, who support economic liberalisation and full integration into world markets, are in prison or abroad. The movement stands on a critical threshold, what comes next will be determined by what kind of political leadership emerges to channel the discontent.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition candidate in last week’s elections, has declared that she is ready to take up the presidency and announced the creation of a national ‘coordination council’ from her self-imposed exile in Lithuania. She stated:

“I ask you to unite in the coordination council. We desperately need your help and experience. We need your connections, contacts, expert advice and support. This coordination council should be joined by everyone interested in dialogue and peaceful transfer of power – working groups, parties, trade unions and other organizations of the civic society.”

Many are now calling for international recognition of Tikhanovskaya’s claim to the presidency and for the EU to mediate negotiations between civil society leaders in exile and the incumbent government. But it would be a catastrophic mistake for the movement to place its faith in the thoroughly capitalist self-appointed leaders of the opposition or their ‘friends’ in the EU. Nor should it recognise a ‘coordination council’ even with bureaucratic union representatives. It is the mass forces of the working class that has brought the movement this far and they should not allow the representatives of the liberal middle classes to reap the fruits of their actions.

Nor will “free elections” on their own alleviate the suffering caused by the contradictions of Belarus’ economy. In fact, unless the mass movement can organise itself around an alternative political programme and prepare to administer the transition itself, Lukashenko’s departure is highly likely to herald a neoliberal programme of privatisations which will further destabilise the economy and turn Belarus into a semi-colony dependent on the EU and Germany.

The experience of Poland and the Baltic states in the 90s shows that this will lead to even greater attacks on workers, unemployment, austerity and inflation which will rapidly erode the remaining protections of workers’ living conditions. Every worker should know: a new “shock therapy” under conditions of accumulated debt and in the circumstances of the global coronavirus crisis would be a social disaster in Belarus. To avoid this kind of “experiment” by the liberal opposition and its “economic experts”, the working class has to have its own organisation and programme to survive this crisis.

[masked-buffoon]

Chapter 2: Twisted (Part 4)

Warnings: none...? (enjoy it for now XD)

Author notes: a kind of transition... More action in the next part, I promise!

Dazai-san's office was quiet when I entered, without bothering to knock on the door. It was not yet the middle of the afternoon, and the warm sun rays shone through the imposing bays, bathing the room with bright light. I sat down on the couch and contemplated how peaceful it was without my superior, before demanding my mind to come up with a plan to erase the slave trading company from the world. The orders given by the higher ups of the organisation had been clear; I could not let these people run free, for they had betrayed their contract with us and deserved to pay for our losses. In a way, the whole Port Mafia worked like an enterprise, a business, except it was led by a ruthless man who commanded countless armed men ready to kill on a single word from him. I sighed and closed my eyes. Ambushing them would be quite a difficult task. The location of the warehouse made it impossible to surround with the men and there was a single entrance, heavily guarded. Inside were stored the slaves, from different origins, whom I ideally wanted to spare from the fire, so launching a massive and blind attack was also not an option. Going all out for them in the open was not a wise plan, and I thought eliminating them from the inside was a much better strategy. As such, I had ordered the investigation team to gather information about Samejima Seiji that we could use against him.

For the moment, I could simply rest in the serene atmosphere of the empty office, without worrying about being beaten up by my whimsical executive. Erasing an entire organisation... I was not sure I could do this within a single night, just like Dazai-san and his partner, Nakahara-san, had done some time ago. This achievement had given them the title of sōkoku, double black, the strongest and most feared duo of the underground. I did not possess my superior's extraordinary foresight and intelligence, nor was I half as strong as Nakahara-san. His gravity manipulation ability was made for combat, it was undeniable, whereas mine... I did not even know how it could prove useful, considering I could not even control it. I was worthless, and deserving of the executive looking down at me. At least, if I could succeed this mission on my own, I would perhaps make sure he would not slap me upon returning by the end of the week.

A knock interrupted my train of thoughts and I groaned an annoyed "come in", much like Dazai-san each time someone would bring in a new pile of paperwork. It was Taneda-kun, the subordinate I had scolded in the torture room.

"Ogawa-san... I am there to bring you the intel we gathered about Samejima Seiji." He timidly said, putting the documents on the table in front of me.

"That's a thin file..." I grimaced before sighing.

"The man isn't very interesting..." He conceded "Shall I leave you alone?"

"Please." I nodded.

Once the door closed, I took a look at the information I had requested. There was not much, indeed, nothing exploitable at the very least. He did not even have a family I could have used to lure him into a trap, and despite being able to hack into his offshore accounts, stealing his money would not erase his organisation. As I was thinking about a strategy, at least a dozen of ships all around the world was transporting his slaves, which would bring in another tremendous amount of money. The fact he liked tennis was useless for the Port Mafia as well. The only thing I could use was his lewd tastes for women, but being the head of a slave trading company, he could surely have all the women he wanted for his personal pleasure. Finally, I came to believe it would be easier to drop a bomb on the warehouse and make them disappear all at once.

Once again, a knock disturbed me and, frankly annoyed, I stood up to open the door myself.

"I asked to be left alone —" I started grumbling before cutting myself "Oh. Yamada-san."

"I'm equally pleased to see you, Ogawa-kun. There is someone on the line who requests to talk to you." He gave me his most contemptuous look.

"I have a phone. Why didn't that person call me directly?" I crossed my arms.

"It is rather urgent, so I would appreciate that you do not ask any questions. For my and your sake." He replied curtly.

I was forced to follow him in the corridor, toward his office. It was fancier than Dazai-san's, heavily decorated with luxuries he would not be able to afford, did he not occupy such an important position in the Port Mafia. Without waiting for him to suggest it, I took a seat in front of the desk. He handed me the phone.

"Ogawa Yōko." I introduced myself "I was told you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, indeed."

My blood froze in my vessels and my hand started shaking uncontrollably as I struggled to keep holding the phone. It could not be... I breathed out and tried to calm myself down. I could not let him hear how frightened I was.

"Dazai-san." I clenched my jaw "What would you want from me?"

"Tell Yamada to leave us alone." He ordered.

I did as told and, as the door closed, brought the phone back to my ear.

"I heard you interrogated a prisoner earlier. Is that right?"

"It is." I nervously tapped my finger against the desk "I gave my written report to Yamada-san and ordered an investigation on Samejima Seiji, the leader of the slave trading company we are after. I also obtained the location of their headquarters."

"I know the details, the report was sent to my mailbox." He stated, making me frown "Which is why I know the man was released. What I want to know is why. You are perfectly aware that we don't let them go."

"I judged he did not need to die and simply made sure he disappeared from Japan." I answered concisely.

"You are a fool for thinking he could be harmless." He scolded me, rather harshly despite his poised tone "Now that he is gone, we can't even know if he isn't going to inform his boss, and any plan we can make won't change the fact we lost the upper hand of surprise effect...!"

I sighed, slightly.

"The man chose China to start his new life with his wife and future child. I made sure they were escorted by our men from Tokyo to Beijing, and also personally called our contact within the Chinese embassy to provide them with a new identity, which means we can find them anytime. Besides, I do not think he would even try to go against us... Not after how I threatened him in the torture room." I explained.

"Oh? And how did you threaten them, Ogawa-kun?" He sounded more curious than angry.

"Oxytocin." I said, staring at a painting on the wall "With his pregnant wife at my mercy, obviously. Then, I crippled him by shooting a bullet in his hip. I made sure to send them a souvenir from their stay among us as well, to remind them we are watching."

"Excellent." He somewhat chuckled at the other side of the line "It seems I was wrong for worrying. Yamada only mentioned you had released our prisoner in the wild, after all, I could not help wanting to question you about your clumsy mistake."

"I understand..." I relaxed a bit "But my report contained everything I told you, including the methods of torture and details about their release... You said you had received it in your mailbox... But it was a handwritten version I had submitted to Yamada-san."

"Is that so? Perhaps I should have a talk with him, then... Anyway, I entrust you with taking care of that company, so no matter what that second in command says, you have free reins." He declared "Try not to disappoint, this time."

"Of course, Dazai-san." I accepted his orders.

Having been officially appointed to the task, I left the office of Yamada-san, not without a slight smirk as I gave him the phone back. Our superior wanted to have a few words with him about the reporting incident, and if he had expected that his false report would have doomed me, his lie would actually get him quite a lecture. However, I knew that he would not be demoted, because Dazai-san needed a stupid pawn he could move as he wished. The greedy man was the perfect tool for that motive, easily controlled and manipulated, quick to kiss up the higher ups and too nearsighted to see he was being played with. Quickly, I made my way back toward the executive's office, the only place where I could focus properly without being disturbed. There was no point in launching an attack on the organisation, we would have to kill them from the inside. I could still exploit his weakness for women and attempt to seduce him — I had been taught by Ane-san herself — but seeing as I lacked many feminine attributes, I would not even be able to get a glance from him. Disguising myself as a slave disgusted me, for I had been in their stead only a few months ago and entering the company undercover sounded like a waste of time. They were not that powerful, it was only the location of the warehouse which made it complicated. Then, I had an idea. Slaves were captured to be sold. As much as I despised this business, it was one of the Port Mafia's most important income, a market a powerful organisation like us could not neglect. Slaves were sent overseas, of course, but there were auctions in Yokohama as well. I had been the product of one of them, so I knew for sure such events occurred. I had seen different kinds of brands on many girls' skin, marking them for life as properties, and I recalled that particular company had been present as well. I only needed to know if they were to participate in another auction soon, or if there was a way to invite them to a scheduled one. Once everything would be settled, it would be my turn to infiltrate the event.

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[ddagent]

ASSISTANT JAIME ASSISTANT JAIME ASSISTANT JAIME!!

Hey, how about a second prompt today?! I hope you enjoy, Anon, and a huge thank you to @resthefuture​ for making this incredible moodboard after I talked about assistant!Jaime during the flu. 

Brienne Tarth, the new head curator of the Aerys Targaryen Museum of Ancient History, was rather wishing she was back running the tiny Evenfall museum on Tarth. She had no need for an assistant back home; she could make her own appointments, handle her own paperwork. But King’s Landing’s biggest museum required more of her, and as such, Brienne had to delegate the little things. 

If only she could find an assistant she actually liked. 

The first, Jeyne, immediately began making comments about Brienne’s appearance and what she could do to improve, as if Brienne was hiring a stylist rather than an assistant. The second, Podrick, was a sweet lad who had just finished his degree. She was almost tempted to hire him until she saw his phone manner, and knew he wouldn’t be able to cope with the biting members of the board. The third, Petyr, was cocky, liked to talk in abstract concepts, and answered a call from a ‘bud’ during his interview. 

By the time Brienne had seen a further ten candidates, she had started looking for airfare home. 

As the evening drew in, and her last interviewee left, Brienne began packing up her things and wondering whether she could coach poor Podrick on his telephone skills. But just as she slipped her laptop into her satchel, a hand appeared and knocked on her door. “Excuse me, Professor Tarth?”

“Yes?”

A man appeared in her doorway, framed by the last dregs of daylight. Brienne would be forgiven for mistaking him for a statue of the Warrior come to life: he was tall, firm, with golden hair and wildfire green eyes. He was the most beautiful man Brienne had ever seen. She had no idea what he was doing in the office of a museum curator, however, but she considered looking upon him a reward from the Seven after a truly hellish day. 

He smiled at her, and Brienne’s stomach somersault. “Sorry to intrude like this, but I was hoping to have a moment of your time. I believe you’re interviewing for assistants?” 

“I–I am,” Brienne said, unsure where this was going. “I’m sorry, Mister—”

“—Lannister. Jaime Lannister.”

Brienne’s eyes widened. “Lannister as in—”

“—Lannister Holdings, yes.” He smiled sheepishly, as if ashamed by his family connections. “Professor Tarth, I was hoping I could interview for the position of your assistant.”

Brienne spluttered, not expecting those words to fall from his lips. She had grown up somewhat sheltered on Tarth, but the Lannister name travelled. They were pioneers of business; old money when coins were new. Lannisters were so rich they didn’t have to work, but if they did, they worked in the family business. They did not show up in a curator’s office and ask to be their assistant. 

“Mister Lannister—”

“—Jaime, please. Look, I know this is a little unorthodox, but could you at least look at my CV?”

Brienne nodded, unsure what else to do. Jaime handed her his CV, two pages neatly typed, and eagerly took one of the chairs in front of her desk. As she circled to sit back down, Brienne took stock of Jaime Lannister. Beautiful, certainly. His suit, with the crimson and gold tie, cost more than a month’s rent. But there were dark circles under his eyes. And while his left hand tapped out a rhythm on his knee, his right remained still upon her desk. Looking closer, Brienne realised it was a prosthetic. 

“Car accident,” he offered, pulling his right hand atop her lap. “But I can still drive, Professor; do errands, pick up coffee. It won’t be a problem.”

“I never said it would be.” She settled behind her desk. “Okay, let’s take a look at your CV. You graduated from Lannisport University with a degree in business. You’ve had...one job since graduation.” Brienne wrinkled her nose. “You weren’t vice-president at twenty-two, surely?”

Jaime shrugged. “Father doesn’t believe in working up the ranks. But I’m a hard worker, Professor Tarth; I led numerous deals and made Lannister Holdings a significant sum of money. Probably more than you’ll ever see in your lifetime.”

“I see.” She put Jaime Lannister’s CV to one side. “I’m afraid, Mister Lannister, you’re not what I’m after.” 

His face fell; his left-hand stilling atop his knee. “Oh.” 

“You’re clearly a very experienced businessman, but I don’t need one of those. I need an assistant. Someone who can organise my diary and appointments, handle phone calls, take dictation during meetings, produce background information.” Brienne sighed. “You’ve had assistants before, I’m sure, Mister Lannister. You know what I need.”

“I have, and I can do it. I can do it all!” Jaime rose to his feet. “Organise your diary? I’ve been keeping track of my brother’s excuses for years. I’m a charming man; I’ll have anyone who calls your office eating out of your hand. I’ve been taking notes in boring boardroom meetings for years; just enough that I know what’s going on. And I can conduct research on your behalf, Professor Tarth. I’ve had to do it for business deals; I can do it for museum exhibits, incoming pieces: anything you need.” He threw up his hands. “I’ll get your coffee, I’ll get your lunch; fuck, I’ll even pick up your dry cleaning. I want this job!”

Brienne stared, open-mouthed, across the table. Not one of her interviewees had been so passionate. Not one of her interviewees had been so desperate. “You must forgive me, Mister Lannister, but I can’t understand why a man like you would be interested in a job like this.”

“There are no men like me. Only me.”

She raised a single eyebrow. “That’s not an answer.”

“You didn’t ask a question.” Jaime retook his seat. “Professor Tarth, I know I’m not entirely qualified for this position. But I want this job. I need this job. I may not have all the experience, but I’ve got more historical knowledge than anyone you’ve interviewed today.”

Brienne resisted the urge to snort. She had seen candidates with multiple history degrees; one who had even forged a link at the Citadel. But if Jaime Lannister thought himself so astute, Brienne would be happy to continue their interview – and hopefully bring it to a swift end. “Who was the last King of Westeros?” 

“Tommen of House Lannister.” He grinned. “Bran the Unyielding doesn’t count; he’s just a legend. No one could live for one hundred and fifty years.”

“All right. We have a Valyrian steel sword currently on display. What happened to her sister sword?”

Jaime barked out a laugh. “You mean Widow’s Wail, forged from the Stark sword Ice, and lost after the Fall of King’s Landing? Well, it currently hangs in my living room. Nice inheritance from my grandfather.”

“It does not.”

He grinned, leaning across the desk. “Does too. Hire me, and maybe I’ll let you touch it.”

Brienne stared at Jaime across the desk; her body leaning forward to match his energy. “I’m still not convinced. Why did Goldenhand the Just murder King Aerys II?”

“Wildfire under the city; he killed the King to save the people of King’s Landing. A controversial opinion for some historians, but there’s enough evidence to prove the theory correct.”

She beamed. “You know your history.”

“I read your book. Goldenhand: Kingslayer or Oathbreaker. Hire me, Professor Tarth, you won’t regret it.”

With the glint of gold in his eyes and the charming smile of a siren from the straits of Tarth, Brienne believed she would come to regret it. And yet: “Can you start tomorrow?”

[causeiwanttoandican]

The Telegraph

How Harry’s very LA relaunch has only just begun

From Prince to campaigner and Silicon valley ‘tech bro’ what wider impact could the Duke of Sussex's new jobs have?

By Camilla Tominey, Associate Editor28 March 2021 • 6:00am

Jobs appear to be like buses for Prince Harry. Wait a lifetime for an opening and two come along at the same time.

The former Royal’s first foray into the corporate world has seen him take up the role of chief impact officer at Silicon Valley coaching firm BetterUp, while also sitting alongside Rupert Murdoch’s daughter-in-law on a commission aiming to fight “misinformation”.

Neither role appears to have required the 36-year-old former Army captain to submit a CV or go through the usual vetting processes as he adds mental health coach and anti-fake news campaigner to his résumé.

Yet in keeping with a new breed of “celebrity responsibility”, which has increasingly seen the rich and famous flex their corporate muscles for the greater good, the highly prominent positions look set to propel the cash-strapped Prince to ever more lucrative heights, as LA’s most sought-after recruit.

Just as when Jennifer Aniston became the ‘chief creative officer’ of a natural supplement range or when David Beckham backed a cannabinoid skincare company, these mutually beneficial ‘ethical’ tie-ups can be worth their weight in publicity gold. And not just for the company that gets their endorsement.

As showbiz agent Jonathan Shalit puts it: “Like corporate responsibility – this is celebrity responsibility. There’s been a shift in people’s mindsets. Two, three years ago the mindset was: ‘What’s in it for me, how can I get paid a shedload of dosh, how can I maximise my income?’ Now people desire to give back and give back support to the community.”

While pointing out that Harry is “above celebrity,” he adds: “Many celebrities are very responsible in trying to use the strength of their platform to help others.”

The announcement of both roles last week certainly played into the idea that this was more than just a money spinner for the Montecito-based ex pat – although there is no doubt all sides are set to benefit financially.

While BetterUp may be carrying out noble work in its offer of “personalised coaching, content and care designed to transform lives and careers” – it all comes at a price.

Having spoken about his struggles with grief following the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, Harry said of his appointment to the “unicorn” tech firm: “(I) want us to move away from the idea that you have to feel broken before reaching out for help,” insisting he intends to use the job to “create impact in people’s lives”.

The Duke added: “Being attuned with your mind, and having a support structure around you, are critical to finding your own version of peak performance. What I’ve learned in my own life is the power of transforming pain into purpose.”

He said his goal was to “lift up critical dialogues around mental health, build supportive and compassionate communities, and foster an environment for honest and vulnerable conversations” and he hoped to “help people develop their inner strength, resilience and confidence”.

It might strike the cynical as Californian word salad akin to Aniston’s declaration, upon joining Vital Proteins, that: “Collagen is the glue that holds everything together. I’ve always been an advocate for nourishing your wellness from within.”

Yet as Alexi Robichaux, who co-founded BetterUp in 2013, points out, Harry does bring a unique perspective. “He comes from a very different background,” to other executives, he says, adding: “He’s synonymous with this approach of mental fitness and really investing in yourself. It was not a hard internal sale. He will obviously have the whole organisation sprinting to help him.”

Robichaux confirmed Harry was joining the company’s leadership team as an “officer of the corporation”, which suggests it is a paid role, although public relations expert Mark Borkowski thinks it “highly likely” he has been offered equity in the firm, which values itself at $1.73 billion.

“This previously unknown start-up has now got instant recognition,” he says. “I always said that if Harry and Meghan wanted to generate income, they should look to Silicon Valley. Getting eyeballs onto the company like this, with all the competition, is the hardest job in PR – but now the whole world is talking about it. That’s the effect signing up someone like Harry can have.

“If he’s got points in this firm and it goes gangbusters, he could make some serious money.” Borkowski cites the example of shares in Cellular Goods, the synthetic cannabis firm backed by Beckham, shooting up by 310 per cent after it launched on the London Stock Exchange in February following news of the star footballer’s investment.

“This is all about the ongoing narrative, now,” adds Borkowski, referencing the Oprah Winfrey interview in which the Sussexes raised serious concerns about the Royal family’s handling of racism and mental health issues.

“The impact of generating more connections to his brand is an ongoing struggle for him. But by taking that narrative, which is embedded with that interview along with mental health issues, then he can certainly have a credible corporate platform.”

Yet considering some of the discrepancies that have surfaced since the interview aired in the US on March 7, can Harry really be considered a reliable voice when it comes to combating what he has described as the “avalanche of misinformation”?

Critics have been at pains to point out that his appointment to the Aspen Institute’s new Commission on Information Disorder, a six-month project that will examine the “modern-day crisis of faith in key institutions” appears somewhat at odds with the Sussexes’ repeated insistence that they do not look at newspapers, magazines or social media.

Equally awkward is the fact that the Prince will be sitting alongside Kathryn Murdoch, who is married to James Murdoch, the former chairman of News of the World publisher News International, who resigned from his father Rupert Murdoch’s media empire last year.

As with Harry’s decision to appear on CBS, despite the US network once sparking outrage in 2004 for showing a “distasteful” photo of his mother after her fatal Parisian car crash, the move suggests the exiled Murdochs are now considered reformed characters thanks to their new found work on democracy reform and climate change.

As Harry himself put it, information disorder is an issue that demands “a multi-stakeholder response from advocacy voices” including, apparently, the wife of a man who was found by a Parliamentary report in 2012 to have shown “wilful ignorance of the extent of phone hacking” and being “guilty of an astonishing lack of curiosity” over the illegal practice that Harry, William and Kate were all subjected to along with Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and a string of palace aides.

It is not thought Harry is being paid for his work with the think tank, founded in 1949, which will look at everything from last year’s US election to vaccine safety and marginalised communities.

It is his listing on the Aspen Institute’s website, however, which perhaps provides the biggest clue to the sixth-in-line to the throne’s direction of travel as he settles into life in the US.

Referenced by his full title, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the soon to be father-of-two is described as a “humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate and environmentalist.”

Despite his blood-born Royal status, Shalit believes this repositioning is actually intended to put him on a par with his high-achieving wife. For unlike her husband, who left school with two A-levels before training at Sandhurst Military Academy, it is Meghan – a Northwestern University graduate with a successful acting career under her belt – who is arguably the more employable of the two, on paper at least. As an American, the pregnant mother-of-one also doesn’t carry the burden of Harry’s complicated visa and tax arrangements, amid confusion over whether he is living and working in the US as a “diplomat” or as a person with so-called “special talents”.

“I’ve met Meghan on a number of occasions and she is a hugely astute woman, very bright, incredibly impressive,” says Shalit

“So for Harry to keep up with his wife, he’s got to find his own name and identity and this is the start. He doesn’t need celebrity. When you’re Royal, you’re the biggest celebrity in the world. But what this does is allow Harry to have relevance.”

When it comes to making an impact, Royal relevance is clearly going to be the jewel in the crown of Harry’s very LA relaunch.