#the process of the christening of the north

[shararan]

If i wasn't so bad at watching any series I'd try picking up vinland saga again cause i swear its the only good viking fiction out there

#certified viking hating nordic #slightly hyperbolic i just really hate the valorizarion #both in terms of WS but also ''leftist reclamation'' and cutting out the uncomfortable bits #either way its always taking a part of history with a lot of things that cannot be confirmed #and slapping on a lot of fictional rebranding concepts and proclaim its history #frankly i was so surprised when vinland saga was like #an actual good story that felt really authentic??? #and like up to where i got just acknowledging the inconcrete borders #the process of the christening of the north #the pillaging!!!! like hello!!!!! #not to mention the CLOTHES #and the houses!!! the furniture!! food!!!!! #like its actually mindboggling how often viking fantasy is marketed as historical fact #and that actually accurately sourced depictions feel so shocking in their unusualness #im rambling and this doesnt pertain to this blog really #i just have a strong interest in nordic history folklore and culture #and so it bothers me how much vikings are used as a political sledgehanmer from multiple sides #and are used to make false claims about nordic history even past the viking age #i have too may thoughts about this to fit them in the tags #sharan talks #sharan yells at cloud #i need to use that last tag more honestly #dont mind me im just being a little bitchy rn

[fatehbaz]

The link between warfare and technological innovation has been well documented [...]. World War II was a particularly intense crucible of technological change, and the repurposing of military technologies and industries in the forging of a new post-war consumer [economy] is crucial [...]. Processes of technological bricolage turned the machines of war onto the natural world as global powers competed to cement their economic and imperial hegemony. In Great Britain’s post-war “groundnut scheme” in its East African territories (1946–51), this collision of nature, military hardware, and technical expertise was part of efforts to both produce more fats for the British diet and to demonstrate to the world (most importantly the United States) that, through a newly energized science-led developmentalism, British colonialism still had a “progressive” role to play in the postwar world.

The aim was to produce millions of tons of peanuts across Tanganyika using the latest methods of advanced scientific agriculture. The environmental conditions in the north, where the scheme was to begin, were known to be especially trying, not least the dry climate [...]. But faith in the power of mechanized agriculture was such that any natural limits were thought to be readily surmountable.

The groundnut scheme was to be, as its Director put it in an interview with the Tanganyika Standard, a “war” with nature, and an “economic Battle of Alamein” waged over some three million acres by an army of colonial technicians -- many recruited from military ranks -- and local laborers, for many of whom the scheme represented their first entry into the wage labor market.

---

But it wasn’t just the rhetoric of war that was repurposed.

Lancaster bombers were kitted out to survey and discover “new country” in East Africa for agricultural development. [...] [T]ractors and bulldozers from military surplus stores in Egypt proved unable to tackle the hard ground and tough vegetation, so the planners turned to a novel solution: repurposing surplus Sherman M4A2 tanks. The Vickers-Armstrong factory in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne set about rearranging key elements of the tanks’ construction [...]. The tractors, christened “Shervicks” for their hybrid origins, were [...] thought to be particularly suited to large-scale earth-moving and to the kind of heavy duty “bush clearing” that was required in Tanganyika.

Officials sought to dismiss concerns that large-scale bush clearing would have wider environmental consequences, using the well-worn colonial trope that any observed changes in local climate or erosion patterns were due to the “primitive” agricultural practices of the locals, not to the earth-moving practices of the colonists. 

Albert Walter, who had directed meteorology in East Africa since the 1920s, had been appointed as an advisor to the scheme and warned the other technical advisers of the low rainfall levels. [...] As the plants continued to wilt in the sun, Walter’s dense network of rain gauges made for an ideal field laboratory [...].

The stakes were high. As John Rosa of the Colonial Development Corporation put it in a letter: “Our standing as an Imperial power in Africa is to a substantial extent bound up with the future of this scheme. To abandon it would be a humiliating blow to our prestige everywhere.”

The only option left was to try and bend the weather itself to the scheme’s will, by seeding the clouds for rain. The scheme was nonetheless abandoned by the British government before charcoal burners could be lined up to seed clouds upwind of the growing area. But the experiments carried on under the aegis of the local colonial government and its meteorologists.

“Balloon bombs” (photographic film canisters tethered to weather balloons) and a repurposed Royal Navy flare gun were used to target individual clouds when the burners proved imprecise. [...] The rainmaking experiments lived on too, as a reference point for those who, to this day, seek to engineer the skies.

The scheme itself has survived as a cautionary tale of governmental hubris, but it is instructive too as a case study of how technologies of war have been turned against other foes.

---

All images, captions, and text by: Martin Mahony. “The Enemy is Nature: Military Machines and Technological Bricolage in Britain’s ‘Great Agricultural Experiment.’“ Environment and Society Portal, Arcadia no. 11. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. Spring 2021. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics]

heorte til heorte: ch. 1 — hopian (to hope)

notes: this is self-indulgent. this is also angsty, like, really angsty. it’s not even funny at this point. does it get better? maybe. but this is athelstan related, so it’s going to hurt. inspired by the fact that i love to put my oc into situations oh and also jack <33333. can be read as a standalone, but it might be a little confusing at the start :]

warnings: violence, age gaps, miscarriage, death, a lot of hurt and grief. no one starts out happy. ngl, i aged down athelstan bc i thought he was like 20 when he got kidnapped. he’s around 26 in this opposed to his regular 32 (??!!).

summary: alethia wanted to go home, to return to her family. instead, she finds herself in ninth-century england. not speaking the language, and still processing the grief of her other life, she searches for an anchor - athelstan.

tagged: @levithestripper @demon-of-the-ancient-world @leithdragon @grantairescurls (hesitantly tagging u for our shared love of athelstan)

series masterlist | general masterlist

Alethia

Alethia watched as Brayden disappeared through the portal, his small figure swallowed by flickering-static air. Her eyes flickered over to Kinvara, who mumbled in High Valyrian under her breath, holding the portal open.

She wanted to go home. God, Alethia wanted to go home so badly. Jon was dead. Sansa had blackmailed her. The war was done, and she did not want to raise a child in Westeros. There was no need for her here. 

“Can I go too?” Alethia asked quietly, looking to Kinvara. Suddenly, she was not the Dowager Queen of the North who was carrying the future King in the North inside of her. Suddenly, Alethia was fourteen again, alone and afraid at the edge of the world. 

She wanted to go home. Her heart ached as she thought of Earth, where she’d firmly believed she hadn’t had a home. Alethia wanted to sneak out of school for lunch and buy something to eat from the deli two streets away. She wanted to go on holiday with her brother, spend the days lounging in the sun and swimming. She wanted to be anything but a governor for the North, a widow at just eighteen years old.

Barely visible, Kinvara nodded. The portal flickered again, and Alethia swallowed her fear. She was going home. 

It took three big steps to cross the room, and another to walk through the portal.

Alethia closed her eyes and waited. The first thing she noticed was that it was cold. If she’d kept track correctly over the years, this would be around New Years Eve in New York. She was wearing Mereenese clothes. Still, she was afraid to open her eyes.

Instead, Alethia took a breath. The second thing she noticed was that the air did not smell like it would in a city, and certainly not in New York. It was then that she had to open her eyes and her heart dropped a little.

At first glance, this forest looked just like those in the Riverlands. Marshy, muddy grounds made her feet sink into the earth a little and fog danced on the horizon. And yet, instinctually, Alethia knew this was not Westeros.

She took a few more steps, a few more breaths, and then, it clicked. Alethia had lived in England, spent almost two years in London and her holidays South of it. A laugh ripped from her throat as she stretched her hands towards the sky. Thunder rolled in the distance, and almost as if it was divine destiny, rain began to fall onto her face. Alethia let it christen her.

Yes, this was England. She was home, on Earth.

Alethia spun in the forest, and now, she was truly fourteen again. She laughed almost maniacally, closing her eyes again as the rain ran down her face. God, she was home. She was home! She was going to see her little brother! She was going to go home, to New York, find Eric, and hug him so tightly that she would never let him go again.

She would apologize to her mother, for never understanding her sacrifice. She would hold her, thank her. And when she was done, she was going to figure out how to catch up on three and a half years of her life. Morgan was here too. She would help her.

The sun was gone, but one look at the moss on the trees was enough for Alethia to know where South was. All she needed to do was keep on walking in one direction, and she’d find humans. She remembered the skills Qhorin Halfhand had taught her, applying them in a way she never imagined she would.

The mud tugged on her boots, and the rain made her shiver, but in that moment, Alethia could not care. She was home, home, home. A hand brushed over her stomach. Her child was safe.

Alethia continued walking, right until the forest began to clear. And with it, the rain lessened. Half, Alethia tried to listen for the sounds of a road or even a highway, while the other half of her told her to fall into a jog to stay warm. 

The sun rose over the sky as Alethia continued southbound, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach as no sign of civilization appeared on the horizon, not even transmission towers or fields.

By the time Alethia guessed it was midday, she finally saw something that almost made her cry with relief. In the distance, small cobblestone and straw-timbered houses dotted a coastline. And there, on a higher point of the coast, stood a taller building with one tall tower. As Alethia came closer, she saw that it was a church.

For three years, Alethia had seen nothing from her home. And now, the first thing she saw was a cross atop the high tower of the church. How ironic that she was not sure if God existed. 

Alethia sat in the tall grass, knees drawn against her chest and arms resting atop of them as she looked at the church, the small houses on the coast. The landscape looked like it could be in Hampshire. Before she knew it, hot tears ran down her face, and Alethia swiped them away angrily.

The sudden ring of church bells pulled her from her inertia, and Alethia began walking, always walking, straight for the church. Fear was lodged in her throat as she approached the church. The doors were closed, but she could hear voices from inside, singing.

She waited, not sure how long, until the song had faded away and the doors to the church slowly opened. Her hands wrung together in front of her stomach, her traveling clothes suddenly feeling incredibly inadequate.

Good god, she didn’t even remotely know what the fashion was like now. She doubted it was still anything like it had been in 2020.

Her heart dropped as she saw the people that stood behind those church doors, dressed in long woolen dresses and tunics.

This was not the 21st century, that was for sure. Kinvara had royally, majestically fucked up, and Alethia was stuck in… historical England.

Almost, she screamed, before she caught herself. The people across from her only stared at Alethia with wide eyes, and she could not blame them. The sight of her had to be terrifying. A strange girl with a scarred face, rain-soaked hair and weird clothes - not exactly the sort of creature that seemed safe .

She raised her hands in surrender, a sign that Alethia knew was universally recognized - both in Westeros and on Earth. The people began to whisper amongst themselves until an older, heavy-set man pushed through the crowd.

Alethia recognized his garb. He was a priest, a catholic one if she was right.

Quickly, Alethia pushed a smile on her face.

“I’m Christian too.” she said. She didn’t even know if that was true.

The man’s brows creased together as he drew a cross over her body from where he stood. Alethia nodded, pointing to herself and mimicking his movements.

“Yeah, me too buddy.” she tried. “Come on, you speak English, right?”

No answer. 

“Deutsch? Irgendwas muss doch gehen. Francais? S’il vous-plait, je suis fatiguée.” Alethia continued. Still, no reply. Then the man began speaking in what Alethia knew to be Latin. Well, at least she was definitely back on Earth.

She sighed, dropping her hands back to her side and waiting until the man was done. Internally, Alethia was ready to break down again. She tried to remember any sayings she knew in Latin, anything at all she could use to communicate with the man in front of her.

Instead, a few nuns stepped forward, cautiously approaching Alethia. She raised her hands again, trying to show them that she was no danger. She wasn’t doing a repeat of last time, where Eddard Stark had been the only thing between her and being burnt at the stake.

“Salve.” Alethia said very slowly. The nuns paused in their approach, looking to the priest.

He only stared, and Alethia took that as her sign to continue. “Alethia. England?” she asked slowly, pointing to herself and then the land. There was no reply, and she resorted back to her next-to-nothing knowledge of Latin.

“Rex?” she only asked, hoping that the priest would realise she was asking for the ruler of their kingdom.

“Ecbert Eahlmunding orgilde Wessex.” the priest replied.

Alethia pointed instinctually. She had no idea who this Ecbert was, and this was possibly the worst idea she’d ever had. “Ecbert! Take me to Ecbert!”

She’d survive this. She’d survived a torture session with Ramsay fucking Bolton.

Athelstan

He had given up on understanding anyone at the court of King Ecbert. With the monks, he had been able to pursue whatever he desired. With the Vikings, everyone always said exactly what they meant. But here…

Aethelwulf, Judith, Ecbert - they all looked at him differently, and he understood none of them. It was as if he did not speak their language, when he knew that languages was all he understood. That, and history.

Still, he walked alongside Ecbert as the King of Wessex spoke about a scroll Athelstan had just recently transcribed. And when a guard approached the king to whisper something in his ear, Ecbert’s predatory smile let him know that something was wrong.

“What is it?” Athelstan asked, cocking his head to the side.

“There is a fisher village near Southhampton, and it appears that they captured a Christian shieldmaiden.” Ecbert replied.

Athelstan snorted. “There are no Christian shieldmaidens.”

“We shall see about that.” Ecbert said, entering the courtyard of the villa. Aethelwulf was already there, with a garrison of guards surrounding the priest that entered the villa. Behind the priest was a group of ragged soldiers that were probably more fisher than fighter, closely grouped around a shadowed figure.

The Christian shieldmaiden, Athelstan assumed.

He watched as Ecbert stepped forward, quietly conversing witht eh priest and trying to get a look at the woman. Athelstan also watched as Ecbert failed in that, the king forced to step back with masked displeasure as he did not manage to catch even the slightest glimpse of the shieldmaiden. 

He returned to Athelstan’s side, leaning over.

“She apparently appeared in front of the church’s doors right after service. How ominous.” Ecbert replied.

“If she was a shieldmaiden, she never would have let them capture her.” Athelstan replied stubbornly.

“What else can a woman wearing weapons be?” Ecbert asked, and for that, Athelstan had no answer.

Finally, the guards stepped aside, and as Athelstan saw the shieldmaiden, Ecbert had been right in his doubts. His first thought when he saw her was so this was what Lagertha looked like when she was young.

The woman looked around the yard, taking everything in with narrowed eyes. She kept her head high, staring at both Aethelwulf and Ecbert with an almost dangerous defiance only those of noble birth had.

“She’s certainly not a farmer.” Ecbert mumbled, voicing Athelstan’s thoughts out loud. The woman’s eyes snapped towards the sound of the king’s voice, meeting Athelstan’s eyes. He felt himself freeze under her gaze.

A scar tugged on her face, not unlike those of Rollo. She stared at him for a moment, and it felt as if she was mapping out his face. Then, she gave him a careful smile. Athelstan felt himself grow warm under her stare.

She was pretty, in the same way Lagertha was - in the same way all shieldmaidens were heedlessly, dangerously beautiful. 

The woman addressed Athelstan in a foreign language, but her tone was enough to let him know that she was asking him for something. Help, he thought. The woman was afraid, though she did her very best to hide it.

“Do you know her language?” Ecbert said. Athelstan shook his head. Still, his eyes widened as he listened and realized the woman was switching between three languages he did not realize.

“She is well-educated.” he told Ecbert.

The king’s eyes narrowed. “How so?” 

“That is not one, but three languages she is using to try and speak to us. And…” Athelstan trailed off. The languages sounded as if he was supposed to understand him. “They are like ours, but not exactly.”

“What do you mean?” Ecbert asked.

“They have the same sound as our languages. One of them sounds like Frankian. I think… some of the words are almost the same as in our languages. She keeps saying a word that sounds like the Norse word for ‘king’. I think she is looking for you.” Athelstan replied. Ecbert nodded, before he raised a hand to his chest.

“I am Ecbert.” he said to the woman. She paused, her brows scrunching together. Athelstan almost laughed as he realized the expression was like those Bjorn wore when he was angry.

“Alethia.” the woman replied. The name sounded almost Saxon. And then, she said it again. “Alethia Stahl.”

The words slipped from his tongue before he could stop them. “I am Athelstan.” he blurted out. Alethia smiled that same careful smile again and repeated her plea from before.

“I think she can help us.” Athelstan said, though he was not sure why.

“How so?” Ecbert asked.

“A Christian shieldmaiden? Imagine Earl Ragnar’s face.” Athelstan said simply. Ecbert smirked, before he nodded.

“She is your charge. Teach her our tongue.”

***

When a servant led her to the room Athelstan was waiting in, Alethia had changed into more Saxon clothes. He watched as she wrung her hands together and made a note in his mind.

“Athelstan.” he repeated, pointing to himself again. She nodded, stepping closer. Alethia was taller than him, if only by a little bit.

She said a few words in quick succession, and Athelstan could only stare at her confused. Her sigh was universal, though. Then, her eyes flickered down. Athelstan heard the sharp gasp she let out the moment she saw the scars on his hands.

What he did not expect was for her to grab his hands and turn the palms upwards, thumbs gently brushing over the scars.

“Jesus.” she said. So she was a Christian after all. Athelstan pulled his hands from hers as if she had burned them.

“Are you Christian?” he asked her, and she seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, Alethia shrugged, adding a few quiet words. Athelstan was not sure how to begin teaching someone like her his language, so he began slowly.

She repeated the words after him, and Athelstan felt proud to discover that his pupil was fast at learning languages. After a few minutes, Alethia already understood the pronunciation. And when Athelstan grabbed a book from his table, telling her the word for it, her face lit up as if he was God and had just promised her salvation.

Excitedly, she pointed to the book and then herself. Athelstan found himself dumbfounded by her yet again, and he’d only known her for a few hours. Then, Alethia made a writing motion, and Athelstan snorted.

“You can write?” he asked, though it was rather pointless.

Alethia only shrugged, repeating the motion. She walked around the small room they were in, searching for something. Then, she made for the windowsill, where a bird had left its feather. She picked it up, repeating the motion and then pointing to herself.

“You can write?” Athelstan asked, and she nodded.

“You can write.” Alethia repeated clumsily. 

“I can write.” Athelstan corrected, pointing to himself to show that this was a way to speak about your own person. Alethia nodded again.

“I can write.” she said slowly. And then, she waved the feather in his face.

“Feather.” Athelstan told her.

“Feather.” Alethia parroted. “Feather. I can write.”

Athelstan was not sure if he had been right about his initial thoughts of her. Maybe she was just a village idiot. Still, he gave her a proper quill, a scrap of parchment and ink.

His jaw almost dropped to the floor as the shieldmaiden dipped the quill into the ink with practiced ease, and wrote her name onto the piece of parchment. Then, beneath it, she wrote his name.

Though she had misspelled it, Athelstan could recognize it as his own. Behind it, she wrote ‘Ecbert’ and ‘Rex’ and ‘Deus’ and finally, she wrote a very clumsily spelled version of the word ‘feather’, following his pronunciation with latin letters.

Athelstan took the scrap from her, careful not to smudge the still-drying ink. He looked from it to Alethia and back at the words again, still unbelieving. 

Alethia opened her mouth to say something, but then she quieted down again. Instead, she took Athelstan’s hands into her own again. His first instinct was to pull away. He found he could not, instead letting her fingers squeeze his. They were calloused, like those of Ragnar, of Lagertha. Like those of a warrior.

Athelstan wanted to shake his head at her. A shieldmaiden that believed in God and could read and write. And then, her eyes turned watery, and Athelstan panicked. Had he done something wrong?

Alethia pulled his hands forward, until they rested on her stomach. It was flat, so it took him a few moments to understand. Lagertha had done the same gesture to Ragnar when she’d been with child.

“Child?” Athelstan asked, nodding to her stomach, and Alethia repeated the word with a shaky voice. She raised a finger to her mouth, gently shushing. Athelstan nodded quickly, grabbing the cross around his neck.

“I promise.”

Alethia smiled again, quickly wiping her tears. “Promise.” she repeated. A few seconds later, the door to the small room opened, and Athelstan knew she’d heard the footsteps. 

It was King Ecbert who stood in the doorway, a servant behind him. The servant walked towards Alethia, beckoning her forward. Alethia looked to Athelstan, unsure, and he nodded.

“Go with her.” he said calmly.

“Athelstan. Promise.” Alethia replied, and he nodded. When the door closed behind the two women, Saxon and stranger, Ecbert turned to Athelstan.

“Promise? When did that word come up?” he asked.

“She’s a fast learner.” Athelstan said instead. “And… there’s something wrong with her.”

“What do you mean? Is she insane?” Ecbert asked. Athelstan shook his head, handing Ecbert the scrap of parchment. The king had about the same reaction as Athelstan, laughing as his hand rubbed his beard.

“She can read and write. My late wife could not do that. My own son could barely learn the skills.” Ecbert observed.

“It will make the lessons go faster. She is a fast learner, and in such an environment - she may be able to communicate the very basics in a week.” Athelstan replied.

“She was smart enough to be brought to my villa.” Ecbert snorted. “The girl’s smarter than half my court if she could convince a village of idiots that she was not a witch.”

“Alethia told them she was a Christian, I think.” Athelstan replied.

“That naturally changes things.” Ecbert said sarcastically. “I am quite surprised they did not kill her.”

“Neither did you.” Athelstan pointed out.

“I don’t kill curiosities.” Ecbert shrugged. The words made Athelstan shudder. He did not like his king’s tone.

Alethia

Athelstan reminded her of Jon. She tried not to think about that as she flipped through the scrolls in front of her. She’d managed to slip away from the servant that had been assigned to her, and wander off into an abandoned library of sorts.

“Fuck.” she cursed as she unrolled yet another piece of parchment, and was met with the sight of latin words flowing together. Frustrated, she rolled it together, carefully putting the writing back in its place.

Alethia slipped into the next row of shelves, pulling out a massive tome. She paused as she saw the mosaic on the wall across from her, putting the book back in its place. A laugh escaped her as she carefully traced the Roman imagery. If this place had a mosaic like this that meant…

As a throat was cleared around her, Alethia whirled around. King Ecbert leaned against the shelves she’d just been sorting through, a grin on his face that said thought I’d find you here . Alethia did not like it.

Even though she could appreciate how dilfy he was.

“Romans, huh?” she said nervously, pointing to the mosaic behind her. The king’s eyebrows shot up. He said something she could not understand, waving the piece of parchment she’d written in front of her face.

“Yeah, I was kind of trying to find out what this place is about.” Alethia said, nodding to the books. “But the mosaic helped way more.” 

“Mosaic.” Ecbert said, pointing to the wall, and Alethia nodded. She pointed to a figure that looked like an Athena-Minerva-esque woman, and said the name of the goddess.

“Minerva?” Ecbert asked.

“I’m guessing.” Alehtia shrugged, pointing to the next few figures and saying the names of the Gods she guessed belonged to them, sending a mental thank you to Rick Riordan. Something flashed behind Ecbert’s eyes as she listed them off, and Alethia suddenly realized that her knowledge was something this king would want.

She reminded herself of why she’d been so excited to see the mosaic.

“If Romans built this place, that means that it has a bath, right? I reek.” Alethia sighed. “Bath? Aqua? Laver? Je veux me laver.”

Ecbert took a few moments, before he nodded. His arm hooked into Alethia’s as he pulled her to his side. She ground her teeth against it, steeling herself so that she would not hit another king.

“Where’s Athelstan?” she asked.

“Bath.” Ecbert replied, mispronouncing her words. And indeed, when she stepped into the room, she saw that Athelstan was speaking with the servant, trying to calm her in a soothing voice.

“Sorry.” Alethia said apologetically as the servant turned to her, giving a careful shrug. The servant only shook her head, looking to Ecbert for approval before she stormed off. Alethia did not mind, hands dipping into the bath as she leaned over the edge. The water was warm and Alethia laughed again.

Quickly, she pulled her dress up to her kness, pulling off her boots before she dipped her feet into the water and sighed.

“What a nice bath you have, King Ecbert.” she snorted, looking over her shoulder. The king was eyeing her with that same predatory look as before, and Alethia quickly looked to Athelstan. When he said the word she assumed meant bath, she repeated it dutifully. Athelstan did not smile back at her, his eyes only flickering to her stomach, gaze full of worry.

He really was like Jon.

#alestan #alethia stahl #athelstan #vikings #history vikings fic #athelstan headcanons #alethia

[whitesalmanrushdie]

The Liberation campaign which finally drove the Italians out of Ethiopia conditioned the nature of the country’s international relations in the 1940s. The prominent role that the British played in the process, for their own global strategic reasons, gave them a position of ascendancy in Ethiopia. The tripartite competition among Britain, France and Italy for control of Ethiopia in the pre-1935 period was replaced by unilateral British domination. This fact was given legal embodiment in the agreements that Ethiopia was forced to sign with Britain in 1942 and 1944. On the basis of these agreements, and under the convenient excuse that the continuation of World War Two required making adequate provisions for Allied defence, the British came to assume extensive control over Ethiopia’s finance, administration and territorial integrity. In the first Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1942, although the British nominally recognized the ‘free and independent’ status of Ethiopia, almost every article underlined its dependency and the preponderant role of Britain... In short, the status they reserved for the country was aptly expressed by the term they chose for it, despite protests: Occupied Enemy Territory Administration.

All this was clearly not to the liking of the emperor. While grateful to the British for helping him to return from exile to the throne that he had lost five years earlier, he was not prepared to stomach for long the curtailment of his prerogatives. What he aspired to was the reconstitution of his autocratic powers on an even more solid base, in partnership with the British, but not through subservience to them. What the British sought was apparently to drag the country back to its pre-1935 level, depriving it of even the few benefits of Italian colonial rule. The second Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement, signed in 1944, went some way to restore Ethiopia’s sovereign rights. The precedence enjoyed by the British minister over all other foreign representatives was lifted. The Ethiopian government regained its freedom to appoint foreigners of any nationality as advisers or officers.

...

While the Agreement of 1944 thus gave the Ethiopian state a relatively greater margin of independence, the British none the less still retained substantial control over the country’s destiny. This was particularly evident with regard to Ethiopia’s territorial integrity. Taking advantage of their strong military presence in the country, the British took control of both Eritrea and the Ogaden. Soon, they started to devise plans for the future: in both cases, these plans envisaged the severance of the territories from Ethiopia. The Ogaden was to be added to British Somaliland and the former Italian Somaliland, to form what was rather ominously christened Greater Somalia – the seed for Somali irredentism in subsequent decades. For Eritrea, the British had a slightly more complex arrangement. The Eritrean lowlands were to be united to Sudan, with which they shared geographical, ethnic and religious affinities. The predominantly Christian highlands, integrated with their Tegrean kin in Ethiopia, were to form a separate state. In effect, the plan envisaged a further amputation of Ethiopia in the north. It is worthy of note that the British plans for both Eritrea and the Ogaden, with the exception of the special fate reserved for the Eritrean lowlands, amounted to a perpetuation of the administrative divisions set up during the Italian Occupation.

-A History of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1991, Bahru Zewde

A more serious quote from the book now; shows once again the continuity between fascist Italy and the liberal UK, and how even in Ethiopia, which managed to avoid outright colonial subjugation, many of the political conflicts which would plague it later had their seeds in imperialist meddling, whether Italian or British.

#historyquote #Bahru Zewde #A History of Modern Ethiopia

[writer59january13]

Upon approaching advent of an early spring 2024

(alternately titled GENESIS RESPLENDENT) No matter the calendrical/official onset of vernal equinox takes places Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024 and transpires until Thursday, Jun 20, 2024, an intimation sensed (predicated on above average temperatures for February 21st, 2024) that season of blooming plants will override any assertion of Old Man Winter.

The ideal, general, ethereal ability of corporeal (once arboreal) beings to adduce, contemplate and exhaust gray inner knobby matter oft times finds this clothed apish chap entertaining gamesome insight. How did this, that or another thought spring forth per mine consciousness? This conjecture might be a shrunken modus operandi how life began, which query mankind scrunched brow throughout Homo Sapiens history did contemplate. Origin of life ascribed to the big bang, but then the question begged what preceded that cosmic event, which question came crashing into inquisitive mind of yours truly (me) after reading a book titled Angels and Demons by Dan Brown; He also wrote the Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol among other book titles.

This veritable stranger sends

what he hopes you consider to be

a most pleasant unexpected note to thee unknown reader

allowing further discourse

(communication) a boot...

footwear ourselves, and

maybe fledgling acquaintanceship

will positively resonate akin to a magic flute,

whereby digital life jackets

donned in virtual trumped up petsmart boat

perhaps if weather inclement,

an additional slick trojan raincoat

doned to help stay dry

until destination reached

perhaps landing upon a north Carolina island

resembling this hill Billy goat

(christened Beverly),

whence springs germ of sum re: idea

takes root exhibiting

potential valance lives strong

when juiced sta stp away

from ma cheaply tricked

supertramp violating

tender tinder and tumblr

ova vulnerable shoot.

To search for source that gives rise

enabling homo sapiens to think

this ace of spades heart felt,

(albeit diamond in the rough poet)

digs shallow sometimes

force fool lee with light club

to emulate spelunker easing

into bosom of Gaia, or shine laser focus into chasm

teetering on the brink

hunting down gamesome

elusive dodging idea sunkist,

dogged catlike whimsy

doth elusively, and we silly out pace

yet hi yam ready with

whorled wide net to capture alive

agile rat scorpion fink unseen

quiet as mouse notion

gives this hardy laurel

a divine run for his money

quite a chase - bank king analogously

viz monkey and weasel

scurrying thru microcosmic burrow

of cerebral size manhattan

skyscrapers at a blink quarry

arising whim of mine

vanishes without a trace quick

as mental cogs & wheels

generated riveting link,

perch ants connected

to previous pondering

within cranial place, or appear

as some random

non-sequitur conscious kink

distracting ability to latch onto

awesome fleeting mind space

inducing minor frustration at lack of ability

dag nabbit (albeit painlessly) steely zinc

shimmering insight cognizant

ability likened to ode Grecian urn vase frieze

depicting close captcha

thought process cold playing life

spans shorter than a wink

via third eye of providence

of this comfortably numb,

yellow brick walled

beatle browed face,

whereat he espies verdant

pastoral themes that billow and flow

across terra firma hallowed ground

sanctimonious from immaculate

mother Earth conception

synchronized in a symphony with terrestrial

fauna and flora which life forms abound

via natural laboratory qua nature,

especially at seasonal dawn of spring tide

where multitudinous existence can be found

carving out a figurative zoological niche

in a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds galore

idyllic melodic musical sounds

artist palette of rainbow blended sights,

which twin manifestations

of restorative and natural calm

assuage auditory and visual

sense and sensibility pleasures respectively

serve as psychic balm against global threat

of life, liberty and happiness triage psalm

rampant in the form

of diabolical deliberate deeds

bred in the soil of deep rooted hatred

kudzu resistance asphyxiates human camaraderie

democratic state attacked with no qualm

malicious and terroristic plot methodical map

blueprint leaves catastrophic trail of red

dire dystopian prognostications

constitute doomsday scenario

no rocket surgeon

nor brain scientist mentality requisite

grave misfortune writ large for all life!

[bllsbailey]

Siaka Massaquoi, RedState Columnist and LA County GOP Official, Arrested at Airport on J6 Misdemeanors

Los Angeles-based actor Siaka Massaquoi was arrested Thursday night at a Los Angeles airport on four misdemeanor charges related to his peaceful participation in protests in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Massaquoi and his pregnant wife were returning from Nashville, where they attended the premiere of the Daily Wire's new film "Ladyballers." 

Massaquoi, who ran for the California State Assembly in 2022, currently serves as the first vice-chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. He is also a RedState columnist.

Although the charges (trespassing, parading, and disorderly conduct) are misdemeanors, FBI agents took Siaka to jail, where he was kept overnight until being released on a $1,000 OR bond at the end of the day Friday. 

On January 6 Massaquoi went to the Capitol after attending a rally. Video shows the extent of his involvement:

Witness why I was raided 2 years ago and recently arrested and charged Nov 30th 2023 almost 3 years later https://t.co/0YH97WqftF— Siaka Massaquoi (@_SiakaMassaquoi) December 2, 2023

Siaka's North Hollywood home was raided in June 2021 by "about 20 agents armed and outfitted in tactical gear shortly before 6 a.m." one Friday morning. His roommate's two sons, ages 3 and 7, were at the home when it was raided. Siaka was not charged at the time and eventually filed a Bivens suit against the FBI. That suit was dismissed in August 2023.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yesterday that if an actor whose home was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation based on his attendance at the Jan. 6, 2021 pro-Trump rally in the District of Columbia is to receive redress, it must come from the Executive Branch, not the courts. A three-judge panel—comprised of Ninth Circuit Judges Morgan Christen and Jennifer Sung and Senior Judge A. Wallace Tashima—affirmed the dismissal of a Fourth Amendment claim by Siaka Massaquoi, the first vice-chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Central Committee who ran unsuccessfully last year for the state Assembly. Dismissal of his claims under the First and Fifth Amendments was previously summarily affirmed by a Ninth Circuit motions panel.

After the raid, Siaka found that he'd been placed on a secret government list similar to a terrorist watch list. Back in 2022 Siaka told our Bob Hoge about the process he and his wife had to go through each time they fly, even before he was charged with any crime.

"Every single time I fly I have to check in at the front, I can’t do check-in online. It takes about 45 minutes for them to do their phone calls and talk to whoever and they give me a ticket that has four S’s on it — that means you have go through security—they put that on my bag, meaning the bag i check, and I go to security. As soon as I get up there, 'bing!' "They pull me to the side, and when they eventually get to me, however long that takes, they tell they’re going to pat me down. They pat me down front and back, they check my bag and all that stuff, my carry-on, then I go to the gate… and when I’m waiting at the gate, now TSA shows up to do the exact same thing they just did when they checked earlier." The TSA agent indicates that she won’t subject them to another search “if we escort you directly onto the plane. So now we could walk with them, but we have to go straight to the plane, can’t stop to the bathroom, can’t get food can’t even sit down and just relax.”

After Babylon Bee's Seth Dillon posted about Siaka's arrest Elon Musk weighed in, saying, "This has gone too far."

Reached at home Sunday, Siaka said:

I'm so grateful to Jesus for being with me and my family throughout this unbelievable event. He took care of my wife Charlotte and me while we were separated, and I know His hands were all over getting me back to her. It is heartbreaking and unfortunate for all that we are living in an America like this. We are at a fork in the road for our nation and its future. I pray moments like mine and many others, that have gone unseen, will sober us back to the foundations of what made the promise of this country great. Charlotte and I are so grateful for all the love and support we have received so far and know we will get through this with God's grace. Thank you for your prayers and support.

One of Siaka's last tweets before being dragged away from his wife by federal agents is chilling, in retrospect. Sharing a story about the DOJ ordering a sweep of Twitter data for people who liked Donald Trump's tweets, Siaka sarcastically wrote, "No, the Biden regime isn't weaponizing the government against Americans."

No the Biden regime isn't weaponizing the government against Americans https://t.co/2LdduLxfOL— Siaka Massaquoi (@_SiakaMassaquoi) November 29, 2023

Siaka's next court hearing is Thursday, December 7, in Los Angeles. Contributions to his legal fund can be made here.

[itcars]

MSO Pays Homage to McLaren Speedtail Prototype

McLaren Special Operations (MSO) today unveils the ‘Albert’ Speedtail, a bespoke commission by North American McLaren retailer, McLaren Beverly Hills.

‘Albert’ is one of the final vehicles in the 106-car Speedtail production run and an homage to the first Speedtail attribute testing vehicle from 2018. Echoing the name of the 1992 McLaren F1 test mules, which were named after the Albert Drive premises in which the F1 was designed and built in Woking, England, the original MVY02 Speedtail prototype vehicle was christened ‘Albert’ as a respectful tribute to its three-seat predecessor.

The ‘Albert’ prototype vehicle was developed to validate the concept of the Speedtail’s central seat driving position, testing driver ergonomics and visibility and rear-view camera positions. Originally built with the front panels from a 720S, the ‘Albert’ prototype was the first Speedtail to be driven on public roads.

The exterior design ‘camouflage’ was achieved by a simple two-meter vinyl body wrap with design lines printed to represent the optimized airflow over the car. The ‘Albert’ Speedtail carries on this legacy, sporting one of the most complex paint themes ever completed by MSO.

The colors selected for the ‘Albert’ homage are Magnesium Silver – the color that the F1 road car was first shown in at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix -and Ueno Grey, the color of the F1 GTR that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995. The full design treatment is closely based on the 2018 vinyl ‘camouflage’ wrap.

The new ‘Albert’ was built in the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) with a 1K gloss visual carbon fiber body. Due to the incredibly complex and detailed nature of the paintwork design, the MSO team completed test panels first to understand process feasibility and worked alongside the visualizer team to refine renders. In total, ‘Albert’ would require a 12-week post-build modification at MSO’s facility to reach completion; this included two week’s masking, six week’s painting and the remaining time to dry and reassemble the vehicle after spraying.

Referring to large scale print-outs of the renders, the livery masking was completed by two specialist paint technicians. This had to be completed on the built car, with wheels fitted, to ensure accurate cross-panel alignment of the design as it flows around the vehicle. In total, the masking of the livery required almost two kilometers of fine line-out tape to complete the initial design layout.

The six-week painting process required the car to be disassembled to ensure complete accuracy and flawless finish. The paint blend effect was located on the door applique’s outer body panels with the front painted in Ueno Grey and rear in Magnesium Silver. After the first paint application, all body panels were treated and refitted to ensure perfect alignment and only after this the final clearcoat was applied.

The ‘Albert’ Speedtail will make its public debut at Sunset GT, a luxury cars and coffee event hosted by O’Gara Beverly Hills, which takes place on Sunday 8th August 2021 in Sunset Plaza, Los Angeles, USA.

Based on the form of a teardrop, the most aerodynamically efficient shape found in nature, the Speedtail is the apotheosis of the streamlined hypercar, a three-seat Hyper-GT that became the third car in McLaren's Ultimate Series line-up. With its 1,070-horsepower hybrid powertrain, the Speedtail covers 112 meters per second when travelling at its top speed of 250mph/402kph, making it the fastest McLaren road car to date.

#McLaren Special Operations #Mclaren Albert Speedtail #mclaren speedtail #mclaren #cars #hypercars #speedtail #mso #news #britain #british #200 #250

[13uswntimagines]

Shy but Fierce (Alpha!Christen x Omega!Reader)

Request: alpha christen one where the reader is new on the team and they find out they’re mates? maybe christen is shy but also v fierce when it comes to her new found omega

Pt. 2

Special thanks to @literaryhedgehog​ for helping me make this thing not as heavy as it originally way and livening it up with her BBQ discussion. Hit me up with Questions or if ya just wanna say hi!

It was a warm wave rolling through your body. The feelings of all your nerves tingling on end and your souls reaching out to intertwine with another’s. You smiled at the warmth spreading through your chest as you made eye contact with the green-eyed veteran. 

Of all the things you expected from your first camp, meeting your mate in the first 20 minutes was not one of them. Your best friend had told you that the team was welcoming, but this was definitely more than you bargained for. 

Nonetheless, you smiled charmingly up at the frozen alpha, lifting her hand to your lips. 

“Well it's most definitely a pleasure to meet you,” You purred, smirking at the blush that crawled up the alpha’s (your alpha’s?) cheeks. 

Rose rolled her eyes at your antics. The alpha had known you since you were in diapers, and in that time she had learned you were not your stereotypical omega. You weren’t meek or shy and loved to flirt. Christen was gonna have fun trying to reel you in. 

Christen opened and closed her mouth several times, wide eyes taking you in. Tobin snickered behind her. 

“What Chris, cat got your tongue?” 

“Not yet, but I’m sure it will soon,” You smirked, lips ticking up at Christen’s dropped jaw. If your alpha was this easy to fluster when you weren’t even trying, this was going to be a blast. 

“Hey hot stuff, middy meeting starts soon, we better go,” Rose smiled, throwing an arm over your shoulder, amused by your effect on the normally put together alpha. 

“Later cutie pie, see you on the field,” You winked at Christen, kissing her hand again before allowing Rose to guide you to where the rest of the midfielders were getting ready to meet. 

Christen watched you go with wide eyes, still trying to process what had just happened. 

“Holy shit, is she always like that?” Christen asked, looking at Mal. If her alpha knew you so well, then she was bound to have insights. 

Mal suppressed her snicker “This is her going easy on you,” 

The omega had heard the stories about you and found them difficult to believe at first. But seeing you in action was pretty inspiring. 

“It’s nice to see after everything that happened with the Courage,” Megan added, watching you carefully. 

She didn’t think she would ever be able to get the sight of you pale and sickly out of her head. You had been so hesitant when you joined the Regin, and Rose had been overly protective (Megan would learn that there was a very good reason why as she got to know you). 

“What happened with the Courage?” Christen snapped, her elation dwindling as she tried to find some sense of unease in your stance. Her eyes squeezed when she couldn’t find anything. Soon enough she would be able to read you like the back of her hand. 

“That’s her story to tell,” Mal said firmly, shaking her head. Christen frowned, she might be shy and “adorable” as you put it, but she would cut a bitch if they hurt her mate. 

*****

“Hey cutie, is this seat taken?” You asked, gesturing towards the seat beside your mate. 

“N-no not at all,” Christen stuttered out, blushing when she accidentally released a small puff of her pheromones. God, she felt like a teenager going through their first rut. 

“Fantastic,” You smirked, sitting down, and moving the chair so it was very close to the alpha, so close your thighs were basically touching. “Hmm, you smell good,” you hummed, leaning in so your nose was nearly touching her neck and breathing in deep. If this was a snapshot into what the rest of your life was going to be, you were completely ok with that. 

“Th-thanks,” She shivered as your cold nose touched her skin, closing her eyes and biting her lip, trying with every ounce of her being to control her instincts. 

****

“You better save her before she melts,” Mal said, leaning into her alpha. Rose carded her fingers through the omega’s hair, scratching her scalp the way she knew her mate liked. 

“Nah, let Y/n have her fun. She hasn’t been this relaxed in forever,” Sonnett snorted, shaking her head as Christen’s face got progressively redder. 

“Seems like Y/n is handling herself fine to me,” Rose shrugged. 

You hadn’t been this open with anyone since she had rescued you from the courage. She wasn’t going to step in between you and the thing (person) who was making you happy. Chris was a big girl and she could handle herself. 

****

“Alright lovebirds, it’s only the first night of camp and you’re already disgustingly sweet,” Ashlyn said feigning seriousness as she took the seat on your other side. You missed the look Ali shot her in your haste to scoot away from your alpha, knocking over your plate in the process. 

Your eyes stayed glued to your lap and your head tilted just slightly to the side. Christen’s eyebrows furrowed as you seemed to sink in on yourself. 

Rose was on her feet immediately, rushing over to put herself in between you and Ashlyn. Christen took that as her cue and was also on her feet seconds later. 

“If it bothers you, Ashlyn, you can sit somewhere else,” Christen growled, stepping around you to act as a barrier between you and the very confused alphas “It doesn’t bother me I was just saying--” Ashlyn sputtered. 

“Well don’t!” Rose snapped, turning her back on Ashlyn to look at you. “You okay KitKat?” 

“Yeah I’m fine,” you murmured, avoiding her eyes, your head still tilting to expose your neck. She sighed. 

“You don’t have to do that. This team is different,” she mumbled, and you nodded noncommittally. 

“You spilled your barbecue.” She laughed, trying to lighten the mood. 

“It’s Memphis style barbecue anyway, hardly worth eating,” you said, giving her a tight-lipped smile.

“Yeah, don’t know why they bother, everyone knows Kansas style is the best” Becky scoffed, smiling from across the table and winking at Rose. 

“I mean, I would say that good barbecue is one of the only good things to come out of North Carolina,” you said, grinning into your napkin, “but then y’all haven’t tried Cookout milkshakes.”

“What happened in North Carolina?” Christen interjected, and you froze, biting your lip so hard she was afraid you would draw blood. 

Your smile faded, and your eyes took on a faraway look. 

*****

You were not the typical omega. You were outgoing and a bouncing ray of sun that loved to meet new people. On your first day with the courage you had bounded up to everyone, your hand stuck out and a bright grin on your face (an act that had gotten you into serious trouble). 

You looked one too many alphas in the eye before one took a particular offense and forced you to submit. Most of the team and coaching staff had simply watched while she humiliated you. 

As the season progressed, things had only gotten worse and you had become more and more unbalanced. You jumped at the opportunity to get out of there the second you could, thanking God that there was a spot for a striker on the Reign with Rose. 

*****

“Hinkle thought it would be fun to assert her alpha ness,” You shrugged, picking at your fingers, flinching at the weight of Christen’s eyes on you, and the pheromones she was beginning to emit. 

“She forced you to submit?” The alpha asked breathlessly, her heart dropping when you gave her a singular stiff nod, wincing as though it pained you. She was sure it did. It was the greatest form of disrespect. “How many times,” she tried to keep her voice level, she didn’t want to scare you off. 

“Too many,” You said slowly. 

“I would never make you do that. None of us would,” Christen said horrified, kneeling down in front of you, and letting out her soothing scent. Though you weren’t mates yet, it still wrapped around you like a warm blanket, settling your nerves. 

You nodded quickly, grabbing her hand for support. “I know. I could tell. Plus you blush too much to be an asshole alpha,” you smirked towards the end, she smiled in return. 

“You might turn me to mush, but that’s not going to stop me from ripping her head off the next time I see her,” 

She wasn’t the only one who held that sentiment. It was fair to say that a certain North Carolina defender was going to hit the turf a lot next season. No one got to mess with one of their teammates.

#uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #uswnt x reader #christen press x reader

[theflyingfeeling]

may i suggest a teekkari-au with the blind channel boys? i myself have no idea how to explain teekkari in english but i'd love to see an au like that? kind of like your college au but there'd be so much more dumbassery

So I'm expected to know how to explain teekkari in English?? 😆

Well, ummmm... 😅 Teekkari is a short form/nickname for a student of an institute of technology (teknillinen yliopisto in Finnish), and there's a whole teekkari culture related, which can on some levels be compared to the fraternities in North American colleges. Basically they love to party a lot, especially on these seated meal type of events called sitsit (sittning in Swedish where this is also a tradition, sitsfest in English), where singing all kinds of ridiculous songs is a major part of the festivities (alongside eating and drinking). From what I've understood, there are rules that you must follow during sitsit, and if you fail to follow them, the toastmaster will punish you somehow.

Vappu (Walpurgis Night / May Day) is an important day for teekkaris (and for other high school graduates); there are lots of city-specific traditions related to vappu, but mostly it's just an occasion to wear your graduation hat (a regular graduation hat is without the pompom) and your student overalls (+possibly collect badges for them), and to get drunk. The next day (May 1st), there's a picnic that everyone attends, terribly hangover.

If any of your non-Finnish peeps are still none the wiser about what the heck this is, keep on reading these brief ideas for teekkari AU standalones, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it 😁

What if Aleksi was a first year student and got cold during his freshman "christening" in the local river, so one of the older students Joel invites him for a sauna night at the teekkari guild's sauna to compensate for his struggles 😏 (the other teekkaris are not happy when they hear about this, because it's according to their teekkari guild's rules for older students to get intimate with freshmen or something like that, so Joel is punished by having to swim in in the chilly river himself, and soon it's Aleksi's turn to keep Joel warm 💓) (I just made up that rule lol I'm sure there's no such thing) (edit. I've been informed that a rule like this DOES indeed exists! 🤭)

What if Joonas and Olli were selling their university's vappu magazine together. They haven't really talked to each other a lot before, but standing in the muddy park during a sleet storm (it can be cold as FUCK around vappu) provides a great opportunity to bond and, well, maybe they'll see each other at the festivities later that night.. 😌

What if Niko kept breaking the rules at the sitsit he's attending, just because he thinks the toastmaster Tommi is smoking hot and Niko's maybe a little turned on by his punishments 🥴

What if Joonas lost his graduation hat during Walpurgis Night and finds out from Yodel that someone (Niko) has found it. When Joonas goes to the Yodel guy's apartment to fetch his hat a few days later, he realises it's the same guy he hooked up with after the last sitsit he went to 😳

What if Aleksi pretended to be completely clueless about the whole teekkari culture, just so that he could listen to Joel rambling about all the different events they'll organise during the semester 😇 Joel can't believe someone can be so innocent (pffffffft), so it's great Aleksi asked him and not the other guys, who would have been so much more ruthless 🤝

What if during the Independence Day torch procession, Olli accidentally sets his hat on fire 😂 (and Tommi has to give him a snow bath to put it out 🤭)

What if Joel is really not in the mood for sitsit right now and would much rather stay at this flat sulking, but his friends drag him to a one anyway because they think it'd be good for him. There, Joel sees Niko, who sings along to the sitsfest song so beautifully Joel forgets all the rules and completely embarrasses himself in front of Niko 🙈 Later, Niko asks Joel to write more new sitsfest songs with him 💕

What if after the sauna night of their teekkari guild, Joonas wakes up wearing someone else's teekkari overalls 🤨 They're waaaaaay too big for him, and the only other clue he has of who they might belong to are the different badges stitched on them 🤔

What if... oh, what if Olli and Aleksi made out on the livingroom sofa at the guild house, wearing their overalls.. only their overalls 🥵

#blind channel #blind channel rpf #this might be a tiny bit niche but i'm sure that me and the other finns in the fandom are happy to elaborate if anything's unclear! #btw i tried SO HARD to come up with a fun teekkarijäynä (student prank) but i got nothing 😩 #so anyone with a more prankstery mind: pls help 😅 #also. keep in mind you're requesting this from someone who went to exactly one (1) student party during her time at uni 😂 #neki oli omat fuksiaiset #en koskaan hankkinu ees haalareita lol #so i'm sorry for the lack of dumbassery. i understand there's a lot of potential e.g. in terms of sitsit but I'VE NEVER BEEN TO ONE OKAY 🙈 #any teekkaris out there? pls fill me in?? 😆

[joontier]

mercedes midnight runs | drabble 

synopsis: ur thirsting over jk driving you around in a mercedes

pairings: jungkook x reader

rating: R

genre: smut, angst | warnings: pwp basically (the thirst is real and unquenchable) with lidol angst ; swearing ; degradation ; car sex (pls dont do this while driving fjlaksas)

word count: 2.1k

g/n: this is the first installment for my ‘between the lines’ collection! ackkk ive been wanting to do this for so long because ive always thirsted over the boys driving and imagining jk driving his mercedes around seoul is just,,,,, eye ---- btw, this is heavily unedited nhnghgnhgn i just had to share the thirst with yall real quick 

between the lines navi. |  navi. | m.list

You’ve already planned out a quiet night to yourself tonight to rest and get your mind off of things, but all of a sudden, just as you were about to settle in bed, Jungkook sends you a text, telling you to get ready in half an hour because he’s going to pick you up and take you out somewhere. 

It isn't new news anymore that he’s texting you at this hour because he’s only permitted to go out after his schedules, which usually also end late at night. Superstar problems, can’t relate. 

Well, that and because your relationship with him warrants these types of late night meet-ups. It’s that type of arrangement you’d never thought you’d agree to, but eventually, learned to cope with. Your phone pings - a new message.

[🕺] 12:45AM

im out front

When you exit your apartment, you see an unfamiliar silver car parked in front of the building, you back up the stairs, wary of who might be inside the mysterious vehicle. The window rolls down halfway, and you see Jungkook takes a peek through the small space. 

Going back down the steps, you quickly climb inside the vehicle. “New car?” 

“Yeah, you like it?” 

You hum in agreement, tracing a hand along the sleek design of the dashboard. “It’s very...you,” you remark, in awe at how this new Benz fits Jungkook so well. “C’mere,” Jungkook tugs at your elbow, closing the distance between the two of you. “Fuck, you don’t know how much I missed you.” He presses his lightly chapped lips against yours, nipping gently at your bottom lip. Abruptly, you pull away, worried. 

“Kook...what if someone sees?” 

“I got the windows tinted. I got this car for us.” His words resonate throughout the car, and you're afraid he might hear your heart thudding strongly in your chest. You choose to ignore the implications of his words, focusing on his presence and not your treacherous thoughts. 

You give him a chaste kiss on his cheek in reply, sending a smile in his direction. You hope he doesn't see your real emotions swimming in your eyes. “Where are we escaping off to tonight?”  Internally cringing at your careless choice of words, you take off your hoodie and place it at the backseat, along with your purse, all the while giving him a generous display of your cleavage as a distraction.

Jungkook’s tongue darts out to moisten his lips. “I’m having second thoughts now, if we should really leave or not,” he says, unabashedly staring at your chest, eyeing your nipples, pert against the fabric of your low-cut top. “No bra?” 

“You told me you’d be here in twenty minutes, so I had to hurry….” 

“Wearing a bra takes you twenty minutes now?” Jungkook snorts, shaking his head at your lame excuse. 

“Yup, especially when all I could think about is having you take them off. So be grateful, because I’m doing you a favor.” You give him a wink, giggling when he huffs and starts the car. You’ve outwitted him once more. Silently, deep within the recesses of your brain, you wish you had the same amount of control you had over your words with your heart, especially when you’re around Jungkook. 

Connecting your phone to the car’s music player via bluetooth, you scroll through your recents and pick on your favorite playlist when you’re with Jungkook. ‘Sexy Can I’ by Ray J and Yung Berg comes first on shuffle. 

“That sounds like a very promising playlist.” 

Your conversation slowly lulls into silence, the two of you seated there quietly as you feel the enhanced bass reverberate throughout the new car. Leaning against the headrest, you glimpse at the man beside you, studying his features. 

Sometimes you find it funny how never in a million years did you even dream of being this close to the Euphoria crooner. If it wasn’t for your cousin Eunkyung - an idol who debuted the same year as Jungkook did, who’s likewise a very good friend of the latter, then you don't think you would even come close to breathing the same air as the global sensation beside you. 

Judging by the movement of Jungkook’s lips, you reckon he’s been speaking to you for the last five minutes, but you definitely have not processed a single word from him, for all you care. You couldn't blame yourself though, and Jungkook is certainly the one who is to take responsibility for your momentary preoccupation.

“You okay babe?” 

“Mhmmhm” 

If you were going to be completely honest, you were far from okay. Besides the many thoughts swirling inside your head, your trusty menstrual cycle tracker app is telling you that you’re bound to welcome your monthly visitor in a week - which means you’re PMSing - which further means you’re only in one certain state of mind - you’re insatiably horny. 

Unfortunately for you, Jungkook is absolutely no help at all. Not when he constantly looks like sex personified - muscular thighs, veiny arms, the whole package. Plus, there’s something about Jungkook behind the wheel that’s ultimately driving you crazy. 

A major part of it is your hormones for sure, but then again, even your hormones are thirsting over Jungkook driving, veiny forearms on display as he grips the wheel, or the way he backs up with only one hand on the steering wheel, or the way he sometimes keep a hand on your thigh as he drives. The formula is clear: Jeon Jungkook will be the cause of your insanity.

Jungkook pulls up the sleeves of his Carhartt sweater, revealing his nearing full-sleeve-tattooed right arm. The sight instantly makes you water, or wetter. Whichever the case may be. 

You hadn’t seen him in a week, busy working on his mixtape, amongst other stuff. And you miss him terribly, sex with him included. As desperate and slutty that sounds, Jungkook is that type of person that leaves you wanting, yearning for more. 

“What’s going on then?” 

“If this is about Eunkyung…you know we already talked about that…”

“I don’t wanna talk about that, Jungkook.” 

“What’s wrong then?” 

You don’t answer, just silently watching the muscles on his forearm ripple as he pulls on the hand brake when you get to an intersection. You gulp, looking away as you push your thighs together, hoping that somehow the friction will help the desire pooling between your legs. The action doesn't go unnoticed by Jungkook, whose eyes instantly  darken, now all too aware of your state. 

“Tell me what’s wrong baby girl.” 

Your resolve nearly breaks at the pet name, looking out the window to avoid his gaze. The light turns green again, and as he continues to drive, he rests a hand on your exposed thigh, strategically placing it just in the middle, the action gentle, yet enough to add fuel to your frustration. 

His tattooed fingers gingerly trace patterns on your bare thigh. Fuck Jungkook and his thing for skirts. You weren't one to complain about his sexual fantasies though, not when wearing the skirts he buys for you gets you a good fucking afterwards. 

You stay quiet in your seat, not giving the satisfaction that Jungkook gets knowing that he’s getting you all riled up. Two can play at this game. 

Gingerly, you place a hand on top of his, gently guiding his hand north towards your core. The man driving beside you lets out a cough, sitting up straighter. Keeping his hand sliding up until he’s fully cupping your core, Jungkook chokes on thin air as he realizes you’re not wearing panties either. 

“Let me guess, wearing underwear is too mainstream?” 

Shrugging, you spread your legs wider, guiding his fingers to slide against your already glistening folds. A shot of electricity runs through your spine. “Fuck, baby girl, you’ll be the death of me,” Jungkook growls, taking a sharp intake of breath as he teases you, shallowly dipping a digit through your wet cunt. 

“You’re fucking soaked. You seem to enjoy the thought, princess. Christening my car seats like the slut that you are?” He drawls, this time fully pushing a finger in as you get to another stoplight. 

“Jungkook, don’t tease me like that baby.” Biting your lip to stop the moan that’s threatening to spill, your own hand reaches out to grab at Jungkook crotch. He hisses at the sensation. You smirk to yourself. Seems like you’re not the only one who’s greatly affected. 

Encouraged by Jungkook’s reaction, you slip a hand through the waistband of his sweats, taking hold of his already hard cock. “And you’re surprised I don’t wear underwear? Bit rich coming from you now isn’t it?” 

“Better watch your mouth and stop teasing me, baby girl. You might just get punished for that.” 

“And what if I want to get punished?”

Jungkook huffs, pulling out his finger as the light turns orange. He brings his slick-covered finger to your lips, “Suck,” he orders. You oblige, sucking on his slender digit and swirling a tongue around it. 

“You’re in for a fucking treat, naughty girl.” 

It’s green again. With a sigh, Jungkook gets back to driving, this time religiously looking for a discreet place to stop over so he can fuck you properly. He finally finds a filling station, now driving with newly found urgency. 

He parks in one secluded corner of the station, with just a singular parking space separating you from a parked truck, the driver snoring away happily. 

The tension is thick in the air, inevitably making you feel hot even with the air conditioning on full blast. With no words needed to get the message across, you both unbuckle your seatbelts hastily, finding each other in a heated kiss shortly after. 

Making another grab at Jungkook’s dick - outlining against the confines of his Puma sweats, you urge him to pull them down to his thighs so you can have a taste of your alleged ‘treat’. Likewise, he orders you to lift your skirt up, giving him easier access to have you writing on his fingers alone. 

Scooting closer, you bend over the center console, taking Jungkook’s length in your hands. You place a tentative kiss on the tip before diving in, taking his cock inside your mouth. Jungkook lets out a guttural groan at the sensation, taking your hair into his hands, forming a makeshift ponytail on your head. 

“You’re so fucking hot, you know that right?” His head throws back as you take him to the hilt, the tip hitting the back of your throat. At his compliment, you swallow and as you watch Jungkook visibly shudder, you give yourself a mental pat on the back. 

As you continue to bob up and down Jungkook’s length, your hand travels between your legs, fingers easily finding your nether bud. With Jungkook starting to buck his hips upwards, helping you with your task, you quicken the pace of the fingers toying with your clit. You’re so close, but you’re doubtful you’ll even get to orgasm, considering your perched precariously over the console - definitely an uncomfortable position for you to orgasm in. 

Jungkook senses your discomfort and tells you to sit down, and you’ll both do this together. As soon as you get seated, you scoot closer to the middle, when Jungkook’s hand extends to return its attention to your dripping cunt. You give Jungkook’s erection stands tall, likewise calling for attention. Heeding to its silent call, you wrap your fingers around his shaft, stroking his length languidly. 

For a full minute, you both stay like that, trying to get each other to orgasm. Jungkook’s breathing gets labored by the second - the tell-tale signs he’s getting close. As your hand momentarily leaves his dick to massage his balls, his phone blares, startling you both out of your wits. 

Letting out an annoyed huff, he grabs the phone and switches mute button down then thrusting the device somewhere on the dashboard. Pretending as if nothing happened, you continue your handjob until Jungkook can’t take it any longer, pulling you up from your seat and telling you to come and sit on his lap. 

As soon as Jungkook pushes his seat back, you crawl over to his side, unceremoniously sitting on his lap, gyrating your hips as you slide your wet folds against the muscular expanse  of his thigh. You’re almost there, Jungkook taking your breasts in his hands for more stimulation - that is until his phone vibrates loudly against the surface of the dashboard. 

“You should probably get that,” you pull away, retreating to your seat: cockblocked for the second time. You check the dashboard for his phone, and get a glimpse of the caller’s ID on his screen. Eunkyung. 

You place the device into Jungkook’s hands yourself. 

“It’s your girlfriend calling.”

© hhyungz 2020. All rights reserved.

#bts smut #bangtanhq #btsguild #ficswithluv #btswritingcafe #btsgoldnet #btsghostie #ksmutclub #jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #bts drabbles

[fatehbaz]

The link between warfare and technological innovation has been well documented [...]. World War II was a particularly intense crucible of technological change, and the repurposing of military technologies and industries in the forging of a new post-war consumer capitalism is crucial for understanding the “Great Acceleration” phase of the Anthropocene. Processes of technological bricolage turned the machines of war onto the natural world, as global powers competed to cement their economic and imperial hegemony.

In Great Britain’s post-war “groundnut scheme” in its East African territories (1946–51), this collision of nature, military hardware, and technical expertise was part of efforts to both produce more fats for the British diet and to demonstrate to the world (most importantly the United States) that, through a newly energized science-led developmentalism, British colonialism still had a “progressive” role to play in the postwar world.

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The aim was to produce millions of tons of peanuts across Tanganyika using the latest methods of advanced scientific agriculture. The environmental conditions in the north, where the scheme was to begin, were known to be especially trying, not least the dry climate, while the ever-present tse-tse fly contributed to the British sense of this being an essentially hostile environment. But faith in the power of mechanized agriculture was such that any natural limits were thought to be readily surmountable.

The groundnut scheme was to be, as its Director put it in an interview with the Tanganyika Standard, a “war” with nature, and an “economic Battle of Alamein” waged over some three million acres by an army of colonial technicians -- many recruited from military ranks -- and local laborers, for many of whom the scheme represented their first entry into the wage labor market.

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But it wasn’t just the rhetoric of war that was repurposed.

Lancaster bombers were kitted out to survey and discover “new country” in East Africa for agricultural development. At the sites chosen for the groundnut scheme, tractors and bulldozers from military surplus stores in Egypt proved unable to tackle the hard ground and tough vegetation, so the planners turned to a novel solution: repurposing surplus Sherman M4A2 tanks. The Vickers-Armstrong factory in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne set about rearranging key elements of the tanks’ construction into a new configuration, with an open cockpit and a shortened caterpillar track. The tractors, christened “Shervicks” for their hybrid origins, were designed to be multi-purpose machines, but were thought to be particularly suited to large-scale earth-moving and to the kind of heavy duty “bush clearing” that was required in Tanganyika.

Officials sought to dismiss concerns that large-scale bush clearing would have wider environmental consequences, using the well-worn colonial trope that any observed changes in local climate or erosion patterns were due to the “primitive” agricultural practices of the locals, not to the earth-moving practices of the colonists. 

Albert Walter, who had directed meteorology in East Africa since the 1920s, had been appointed as an advisor to the scheme and warned the other technical advisers of the low rainfall levels. [...] As the plants continued to wilt in the sun, Walter’s dense network of rain gauges made for an ideal field laboratory [...].. The stakes were high. As John Rosa of the Colonial Development Corporation put it in a letter: “Our standing as an Imperial power in Africa is to a substantial extent bound up with the future of this scheme. To abandon it would be a humiliating blow to our prestige everywhere.” The only option left was to try and bend the weather itself to the scheme’s will, by seeding the clouds for rain.

The scheme was nonetheless abandoned by the British government before charcoal burners could be lined up to seed clouds upwind of the growing area. But the experiments carried on under the aegis of the local colonial government and its meteorologists. “Balloon bombs” (photographic film canisters tethered to weather balloons) and a repurposed Royal Navy flare gun were used to target individual clouds when the burners proved imprecise. [...] The rainmaking experiments lived on too, as a reference point for those who, to this day, seek to engineer the skies.

The scheme itself has survived as a cautionary tale of governmental hubris, but it is instructive too as a case study of how technologies of war have been turned against other foes.

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Images, captions, and text published by: Martin Mahony. “The Enemy is Nature: Military Machines and Technological Bricolage in Britain’s ‘Great Agricultural Experiment.’“ Environment and Society Portal, Arcadia no. 11. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. Spring 2021. [Bold emphasis added by me.]

[lilacshade22]

Mumbai Shore Excursions, Day Excursions & Journeys For Cruise Ship Passengers

Both ceremonies have fascinating rituals and are must see events for guests touring the Ghats by boat. Udaipur is linked to the the rest of India by a home airport called the Dabok Airport / Maharana Pratap Singh Airport. Delhi encapsulates two very totally different worlds, the ‘old’ and the ‘new’, each providing distinctive experiences. The old metropolis hosts the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and medieval-flavored bazaars, whereas the new metropolis provides modern cafes, skyscrapers and purchasing malls. The farmers pray for sufficient snow-melt so they can water their crops, the shopkeepers promote handcrafted treasures like many generations before them. Other ancient monuments and ruins in addition to a couple of charming mountain villages can be seen within a number of kilometers from Leh. In current years, a conventional dance pageant is organized in February / March of every year on the Western Group of Temples on the Khajuraho Group of Monuments. During the course of the competition, the magnificent temples at Khajuraho are floodlit and the stage is ready for a few of the most interesting dancers and classical musicians in India to enthrall guests with their performances. Other attractions in the instant periphery of the Khajuraho Group of Monuments include the Khajuraho Archaeological Museum. Being a backpacker from India, Ido agree with all of the vacation spot that you've mentioned. I’m a hardcore follower of your blog being new entrant to travel blogging. That’s an excellent list you have compiled right here, but I’d also counsel you to take a take a look at North East, specifically if you're excited about hills and snow capped mountains. Victor's Way Indian Sculpture Park Located in the Fort business district, the luxurious fountain was built in 1864. It was constructed by the Agri-Horticultural society of Western India and was carefully designed by R. Crafted out of imported Portland stone, Flora Fountain was erected at a complete sum of Rs. forty seven,000. Later, deco iron pipes design, a piece of contemporary art replaced the fountain. After country’s independence in 1947, the world was christened Horniman Circle Gardens after Benjamin Horniman, who was a pro-freedom editor of the ‘Bombay Chronicle’. Intended to be a big town square, with spectacular constructions, in the heart of the walled metropolis, Bombay Greens was renamed Elphinstone Circle after Lord Elphinstone, the Governor in these times. As per the chronological accounts, the area became a landfill of coconut shells and garbage by the yr 1842. A walkthrough of this picturesque backyard offers an opportunity to immerse your self into the pure beauty of nature. You should buy saplings from the Garden center located within the park. A big glass conservatory and a 3000 million-year-old giant granite rock are main points of interest of the park. The granite rock, also recognized as Lalbagh rock, is a geological monument. Thousands of sculptures constructed from waste materials and scrap are a major draw for guests. A Variety Of The Most Wonderful Animal Temples In India Located at an impressive altitude of 3888m, 141km from capital city of Srinagar, this cave temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The cave enshrines a lingam which is naturally formed of an ice stalagmite. The cave is roofed with snow for main a part of the yr except for a short interval in summer season when it turns into accessible to pilgrims. Hindus additionally like to have their ashes scattered within the Ganges after cremation. The temple of Badrinath stays closed for six months, and the date lies around October 29 or the time of Bhai Dooj, which occurs after Diwali. The temples talked about below have been constructed by a variety of the distinguished rulers of different dynasties that ruled in India. In the next list, you'll get to know in regards to the particulars of these temples and how you can attain them without any problem. Stretched across a hundred acres the Golden Temple at Sripuram in Vellore is a non secular park that was inaugurated in 2007. The temple owes its name to the vimana and ardhamandapa of the Lakshmi Narayani Temple which is coated in gold each within the inside and the outside. Located at the highest altitude among the many Char Dhams, Kedarnath is the seat of Lord Shiva, the protector and the destroyer. You may be a dog lover however you'll most likely by no means get to the extent of love that the people from the remote Agrahara Valagerehalli village south of Channapatna in Karnataka state have for the canines. Although quite small and very hard to seek out, this shrine might be one of many few locations on the earth where dogs are literally worshipped. The temple is very large and welcomes round 50,000 pilgrims every day which is an enormous number. But the whole process of coping with a crowd is planned and successfully laid so that individuals can expertise the darshan. Finest Scorching Springs If you’d rather not hike very far, you probably can visit the primitive Penny or South Canyon sizzling springs. Both are only a short jaunt from your roadside parking spot. Since most springs reside in a serious resort location, you possibly can bet that there are many health golf equipment and out of doors activities to choose from. But the resort providing Hakone’s pièce de résistance — the postcard-worthy vistas of Mount Fuji — is the Hotel Green Plaza Hakone. Onsen, or scorching spring baths, are a staple of Japanese tradition. While Japan sits at a precarious place on the Pacific Ring of Fire , its tectonic luck has resulted in the formation of thousands of pure scorching springs, many with time-honored therapeutic qualities. Leukerbad Therme is the most important thermal spa resort positioned within the Alps. The web site is at an altitude of 1,400 meters above sea stage, and it's open all yr spherical. There are ten thermal baths that vary from ° Fahrenheit, 28-43° Celsius, and cycle through three.9 million liters of effervescent water every day. There are skilled water masseuses on hand to provide superb aquatic remedies. One of Napa Valley’s oldest sizzling spring establishments, Indian Springs has been open since 1861 with an Olympic-sized mineral water pool and a volcanic ash mud bath the place you submerge your self the neck down. There are therapeutic massage rooms, hammams, jacuzzis, a hydrotherapy circuit and heaps of swimming pools are totally different temperatures, perfect after a day within the snow. You can go to Landmannalaugar as a day trip from Reykjavik or spend an evening in the area. From the Blue Lagoon to these in its stark interior, here are ten of one of the best hot springs in Iceland. Rich in historical past and minerals, a visit to certainly one of Colorado’s many scorching springs is a chance for recreation, rest, and rejuvenation. The scorching spring is open besides Mondays and Tuesdays and each other day there are different choices for lodging, eating, purchasing, and quick climbing. Lightfeather Hot Springs is each accessible by automobile and foot. Six Of One Of The Best Museums In India Greaves India Mubarak Mahal is also part of this museum which has a set of old shawls, and royal costumes. Here, you possibly can see luxury coaches of trains used by the kings in the course of the old occasions. It additionally has a bit for Buddhist artifacts, where you'll find a way to see the head of Buddha statue and remnants of Gautam Buddha that was constructed in the 3rd century. http://www.e-nabytek.org is maintained by the Ministry of Culture, Department of India. I considered greatest museums of India however This site helped me lots to determine my next visit to top-of-the-line museums of India. Since I am dwelling in Kolkata and capable of view Indian museum ,kolkata lots of occasions however to see remainder of it . But today a selection of creative residents are out to redefine the Indian museum expertise, investing in better research and design, in addition to more interactive reveals, to get guests through the door. The museum started with the donation of Mr. Bhanu Shah’s kites to the gallery. You can find signature kites of various varieties and sizes lined in glass mirrors. If you love kites, this is in a position to be an attention-grabbing museum to cowl. There are additionally exhibits associated to origin of the kites, the development in making kites, techniques of flying kites, and others. The museum has a wide array of objects which hold great historic significance like old cash, bronze sculptures, woodcarvings and tribal objects. There are many oil paintings, pencil sketches, engravings, cash, medals, costumes, furnishings, arms and ammunitions. Sir Robert Ker Porter’s oil painting ‘The storming of Seringapatam’ is also on show. For instance, the historic textile gallery displays Mughal carpets, weapons, palm leaves with holographs, Kalpasutra material, courtroom textiles utilized by Mughals, etc. Government Museum Chennai comprises six impartial buildings that have forty six galleries altogether underneath various sections similar to geology, zoology, botany, anthropology, archaeology, artwork, and more. The museum additionally homes a public library which can additionally be called Connemara Public Library. The Indian Railways is the fourth-largest railway network on the planet and transports roughly 23 million passengers daily. The National Rail Museum in Delhi celebrates the historical past of the Indian Railways, which has been the first mode of transport for billions of Indians for over a hundred and sixty years. The Top 10 India Outside Actions W Make a cease at Agra Fort, and study about the 16th-century Mughal monument out of your guide. Upgrade your tour to include entrance charges and/or a buffet lunch at a 5-star lodge. This full-day non-public journey to Agra by fast prepare makes the excursion simple and comfy. Settle into the Gatimaan Express on your journey to Agra, and on arrival, take pleasure in guided tours of the UNESCO-listed Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Baby Taj earlier than returning to Delhi. Includes Delhi hotel pickup and drop-off, return rail fares, guides, and buffet lunch in Agra. Relax in the comfort of a non-public air-conditioned car and make your way between Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Your driver shares particulars, insight, and the historical past of historic landmarks along the way. See the sunrise over the Taj Mahal—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—head as much as Amber Fort, and explore the Maharaja’s City Palace, with guides provided at every sight. One of the jyortiling temple among 12 jyortilings .loceted in heart of india mp.most well-known bhasma arti happen day by day in early morning. Bodhgaya, thought of the world's holiest Buddhist site, attracts thousands of visitors annually, all drawn to take part with the resident monks in meditation and prayer. Now that’s what they name walking with the dead – a one of its personal amongst all other adventure trips in India. With so many treks, Uttarakhand boasts as top-of-the-line adventure sports activities destinations in India. India's mountain ranges present loads of trekking and mountaineering choices for all fitness levels, whether or not you'd prefer a leisurely day hike or a difficult walk alongside the frozen Zanskar River . Festivals And Gala's In India During September This in style festival of India, Bhai Dooj falls on the month of November, on the 6th November. On this present day sisters tie Rakhi, a protective band on their brother’s hand that ensures the security of the brother. Rath Yatra is probably considered one of the popular Indian festivals dates on twelfth July, Monday in 2021. Many festivals in India involve large raucous crowds celebrating in the streets. This is very true of Holi, the final day of the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja, and the Pushkar Camel Fair. Festivals in India are in style times for tourism and draw travelers from all around the world. This means it is extremely important to guide resorts and travel tickets nicely upfront. The streets of Puri turn into the scene of a spiritual carnival in the course of the Rath Yatra. Devotional songs are played, drums are overwhelmed, and people of all ages crowd the streets to catch a glimpse of the procession. Perahera Festival The Escala Perahera Festival in Kandy, which occurs every August, is the most famous of Sri Lanka's colourful celebrations. The competition lasts ten days and is a spectacle of elephants, drummers, dancers, chieftains, acrobats, whip-crackers, torch bearers and thousands of pilgrims in procession. Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Day, is a holiday celebrated throughout the Americas, however is most strongly related to Mexico, where the custom originated. Maharashtra additionally has a festival that includes conventional dancing, musical performances, poetry recitations and theatrical performances. Here, the pageant lasts 10 days, and the procession is a joyous and widely attended event. This competition pays respect to the beloved Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of all good beginnings and success. A large number of idols, made from clay or metallic in various sizes and shapes, are worshipped for 10 days inside homes and companies. On the tenth day, the idol is ceremoniously removed and carried in a procession by way of the streets. An amazing place to witness the Ganesh Chaturthi is Mumbai -- where people flock to the sea on the tenth day to submerge their idols. Best Souvenirs Store In Mumbai, you'll find brass artifacts, pottery, and woodcraft in Avante Cottage. Crafts, elegant rugs, conventional clothes, flavored teas, and delicate brass sculptures may be discovered within the Bombay Store. The major jewellery would be neck-pieces, earrings, and ornaments worn on the wrists and other components of the arms. Brass, bell-metal, silver, and gold are chiefly used to make jewelry by the tribes. You also can buy dupattas and stoles as Indian souvenirs. They are easy to make use of and relatively cheaper than attire and sarees. At Asia Highlights, we create your sort of journey — your dates, your destinations, at your tempo. Some of this pottery is semi-transparent and mostly adorned with bird and other animal motifs. The vary of items is primarily ornamental, corresponding to ashtrays, vases, coasters, small bowls, and boxes for trinkets. The name 'Blue Pottery' comes from the eye-catching cobalt blue dye used to paint the pottery. The must-buy spices are Black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, cloves and star anise. Other than this if you are a international traveler and like Indian meals then you have to buy garam masala and different curry powders obtainable in India. For people who miss shopping for these whereas traveling can purchase these from Janpath Market in Connaught Place, Dilli Haat or from State emporiums at Baba Kharak Singh Marg. The emporiums generally have discounts in the course of the festive or offseason. I personally advise that purchase a pack of tea as an alternative of tea luggage. Naan Cafe Jalebis, round orange tubes made of deep-fried treacle and dripping with syrup, are as sickly as they appear. Gulab jamuns, deep-fried spongy dough balls soaked in syrup, are simply as unhealthy. Another well-liked candy is the spherical ladoo, essentially created from sugar, ghee and flour, although the components might vary from area to area. Among Bengali sweets, extensively thought of to be one of the best are rasgullas, rosewater-flavoured cream-cheese balls floating in syrup. Ras malai, found throughout north India, is similar, however soaked in cream as an alternative of syrup. What fruit is out there varies with region and season, however there’s all the time a fantastic alternative. Ideally, you should peel all fruit, together with apples, or soak them in strong iodine or potassium permanganate resolution for half an hour. Roadside vendors sell fruit which they typically cut up and serve sprinkled with salt and even masala – don’t purchase something that looks like it’s been hanging around for some time. In addition to these places, international fast-food chains similar to Pizza Hut, Domino’s, KFC and McDonald’s serve the identical normal fare as elsewhere in the world at less expensive costs. Its notable origins go all the way in which back to the time of the final Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Karim's ancestors labored in the royal kitchen within the Red Fort however fled after the Emperor was dethroned. Haji Karimuddin returned to Delhi to promote food to these going to the 1911 Delhi Durbar, which was attended by King George V and held to commemorate his coronation. Karim's is now into its fourth generation of management and is ranked as top-of-the-line restaurant for North Indian cuisine in Delhi. There's no fancy decor or inviting ambiance however the meals more than makes up for it! We take pride in our properly experienced group which has become part of our household and enterprise through the years of working collectively. Dishoom pays homage to the Irani cafés and the food of all Bombay. Ayurveda is the science of life, a 5,000-year-old traditional holistic system of well-being from India. Ayurveda is the data of longevity which presents therapeutic, rejuvenation and self-realization by way of balanced food, herbs, yoga, massage, aroma, and meditation. Paan consists of chopped or shredded nut , wrapped in a leaf that is first ready with elements similar to katha , chuna , mitha masala and zarda . The triangular package deal thus shaped is wedged inside your cheek and chewed slowly. 12 Popular Conventional Markets In India Worth Visiting This was accomplished to make sure smooth functioning of the financial institution as it was struggling for couple of years to cope up with heavy stress as a result of cleaning of dangerous loans. The BSE Sensex fell by 600 points in two days, and the Nifty 50 fell by about four hundred points to 10,676 on fifth. Earlier, the BSE Sensex had fallen by 570 factors to 35,328 on 2 February and the NSE Nifty by 190 points to a low of 10,826. Latin America can be on a gentle decline, shedding competitiveness to the opposite areas of the world. Mexico is the only shiny spot, just because it has maintained its first rate ranking around the 50thlevel. Chile, Peru and Colombia have all seen constant and worrisome declines in recent times. Argentina and Brazil are safe in their abysmal rankings, close to the underside for economies of this relative significance. [newline]With a wave of business-friendly governments now rising to power in Latin America, it will be attention-grabbing to see if these unfavorable trends may be reverted in upcoming surveys. The information is collected from every country’s most essential enterprise heart. In the case of enormous countries ,corresponding to Brazil, the World Bank seems at two cities; Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are used as the reference cities for Brazil with a weighting of 61% and 39%, respectively. It is fascinating to notice that by 2030, China’s GDP per capita growth might be only barely greater that that of the United States while total GDP progress may actually be lower in China because of worse demographics. In truth, as shown within the next two charts, China’s share of global output, will peak over the subsequent ten years. While the OECD’s share of global output will decline from 55% to 47%, China’s share of world output will rise from the current 23% to round 27% by 2030 after which stabilize round that stage. In Latin America we see the opposite of this, with brusque adjustments of policies with each incoming authorities and economies prone to repetitive boom-to-bust cycles. One difference from ten years ago is that rising markets aren't expensive. Unlike in 1999, the market leaders don’t seem to be at unsustainable valuations. On the other hand, there a number of markets that sport very low valuations. These are primarily either commodity producers or markets which have been through tough economic/political cycles . Am I In A Position To Maintain My Husband From Visiting India Amid Its Covid Surge? Assuming you’re traveling to a mix of huge cities and smaller towns , there are a couple of things you should positively pack, or purchase shortly after arrival. This article in Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics lists the vaccinations beneficial by the World Health Organization for travel to India. We’ve give you a pair extra suggestions and advice for traveling to India with kids that we predict are helpful, and will hopefully answer different any questions you have. Biryani comes in over 40 other ways, but children will completely love any sort that sits on the table. The hypnotizing aromas and flavors of pepper, cardamom, onions, garlic, bay leaves, cilantro, and tons of more spectacular elements are so good they’re nearly addictive! Preparing children for journey in India is a good suggestion, but extra so with India, for them to make sense of the nation because it unfolds before them. To journey in India with youngsters you’ll most likely wish to skip 3rd class. That first trip was an amazing experience for the boys and it was a joy for us to share it with them however I have to be honest, I wouldn't take much younger children to India. People do, and Indian youngsters stay there and survive simply fantastic, but I wouldn’t be comfortable with it. Certainly not earlier than the children are old enough to cease putting objects and fingers in their mouths. Due to a secondment by way of my husband’s work, we spent a year dwelling in Bangalore and took each out there alternative to journey and discover India. There had been occasions when the paperwork, noise and congestion can be an extreme quantity of, however my over-riding feeling was that of wonderment. Heres What Effects The Pop Culture In India The Most The Qutb complex, a group of monuments constructed by successive sultanas of the Delhi Sultanate is among the earliest examples. Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal, Gol Gumbaz, Red Fort of Delhi and Charminar are creations of this era, and are often used as the stereotypical symbols of India. The traditional system of Vaastu Shastra serves as India's version of Feng Shui, influencing city planning, architecture, and ergonomics. It is unclear which system is older, however they comprise sure similarities. With the coming of New Age spirituality and trade, individuals in the West developed a fascination with the spiritual facet of India and ideas corresponding to yoga and ethnic stylish clothes. But the yoga practiced in the West is not the centuries-old tradition that is practiced in India. There is a new show on NBC this fall known as "Outsourced,," which will be concerning the culture clash that occurs when an American company transfers its name middle and its supervisor to India. "The Simpsons" had an episode referred to as "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bangalore" first broadcast in April 2006 by which Mr. Burns, Homer's boss at the power plant, despatched him to India to train some employees. India was portrayed as a very exotic place stuffed with hard-working workers who revered Homer as a god. In return, Homer taught them the way to rise up for his or her rights by forming a union, as if he have been imparting culture to the natives in the method of the colonizers 200 years ago. The power of this guide is that it rejects grand narratives in favor of the micro-politics of day by day living. The Indian culture, usually labeled as an amalgamation of several various cultures, spans throughout the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced and formed by a history that is a number of thousand years old. Throughout the historical past of India, Indian tradition has been closely influenced by Dharmic religions. They have been credited with shaping a lot of Indian philosophy, literature, architecture, artwork and music. Greater India was the historical extent of Indian culture past the Indian subcontinent. This particularly concerns the spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, structure, administration and writing system from India to other components of Asia via the Silk Road by the travelers and maritime traders during the early centuries of the Common Era. To the west, Greater India overlaps with Greater Persia within the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains. India The cities of Jaipur and Udaipur have interesting cultural programs, and Jodhpur, additionally in Rajasthan, plays host to a variety of world music festivals. Check out Rajasthan International Folk Festival—a not-for-profit roots music festival—in late October and early November, and February's World Sacred Spirit Festival that displays the religious meaning of music. Kolkata has turn into considered one of India's cultural capitals with a lot to supply these thinking about live dance, drama, and music. At London nightclubs, younger men would often put on make-up and young girls would put on males's fits. Leigh Bowery's Taboo bridged the New Romantic and acid home scenes. Our meals is representative of the various and diversified regional cuisines of India, in addition to the many ethnic groups of the subcontinent. Our dishes vary from Bombay and Delhi street fare to homestyle Tandoori cooking and probably the most sophisticated meals of the royal families. Today, with more younger professionals on the lookout for locations to unwind in a city of almost 17 million, the nightlife options have not solely multiplied, they've turn into extra informal. "Manchester nightclub becomes a 'nightpub' - with a sit-down disco". And in case you are up for a complete long night time get together then there ain’t a better place in Goa then Baga Beach. Adding appeal to the Goa’s stunning nightlife are the casinos which are quite the hip locations to visit at night time. So, when you have a heavy pocket then do attempt your luck in casinos it would undoubtedly be a price cherishing expertise. Khubchandani's immersive studying of Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi's iconic dance performances in Chapter 5 confirms the dominance of mainstream Indian well-liked culture within South Asian diaspora.

#PBN-Home

[eskalations]

'Im pregnant'

No one could have imagined the amount of pandemonium that those two words would cause in the office of Brigadier General Mustang.

(Day 1 "Letter" - Royai Week 2020)

A/N: Happy Royai Week! The first prompt was "letter" and let me tell you, I HATE the dreaded letter prompt. So, I decided to have a bit of fun with it. Enjoy some Team Mustang + Royai shenanigans! Let me know what you think if you have the time! (FFN link)

~

I'm pregnant

The words were written plain as day on the parchment in front of them. Certainly, this is not what they had expected to find in the un-postmarked envelope that had been lying between the boss's office door and Havoc's desk – but alas, here it was. The letter said it all, the Chief was going to be a dad.

Their shocked silence soon diffused into absolute pandemonium.

"Holy shi –"

"No way!" Fuery had his face sandwiched between his hands, panic evident in the shaky tone of his voice. "No way! No way!"

"This sure is gonna put a damper on things!" Breda commented, finding his seat once more. He propped his feet on the desk before leaning back with hands behind his head, a pensive look on his face as he stared up at the ceiling. "I never thought I'd see the day. The boss has sewn his oats and now he's gonna reap the consequences!"

Havoc still stood in disbelief at the middle of the office. "Holy Shi – "

"Is that all you can say?!" Breda cut him off.

"I'm processing!" This finally broke him from his daze, his shaking hands pulling the paper closer to his face, his eyes examining every letter. Breda scoffed at his actions.

"Well the words aren't going to change!"

"I know that! I'm just – I don't know, double checking!"

"Guys," Fuery tried desperately to calm them, wishing now more than ever that Falman hadn't chosen to stay in the North. It would have been nice to have another level head amongst the men in the office. "We really should leave it alone. This is none of our business."

The young communications specialist looked nervously over at the door where the Brigadier General and Captain had taken their leave just an hour before. Their meeting was slated to be over any minute and Fuery preferred not to face the wrath of a newly christened father on this bright Monday morning.

That being said, the young soldier couldn't find it himself to be unhappy with the news they had just received in regards to their superior officer. Ever since 'The Promised Day' two years prior, Brigadier General Mustang had grown stupendously as both a military officer and a man. Fuery imagined he would make an excellent father.

This just left one question – who was the mother?

It seemed like both Breda and Havoc had the same thought as they both stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Man!"

"Oh MAN!"

"Who do you – ?!"

"It could be anyone!"

"I bet its Leslie." The auburn-haired man remarked, pushing back even further in his chair, the legs squeaking in protest. "She's the brunette from Archives that's been finding some reason to come up here at least twice a week."

"She can't be more than twenty! Do you really think the Chief would – ?"

"Well I don't know! It may not even be her!"

"Well, maybe it's Sarah," Breda suggested, now not as sold on the whole Leslie idea as he was before. "She's that petite girl he took to dinner last week. They did look pretty cozy."

Havoc stroked his chin in thought. "Hmmm now that you mention it, they did look close."

"Well you do know what they say about a lady's hormones during pregnancy…"

"Ohohoho," The blonde slapped the other man on the shoulder, a mischievous smirk evident on his features. "That sly dog! Mustang's going to be handing out promotion after promotion these next few months if what I've heard is true!"

Fuery, who had remained silent as they bantered back and forth, suddenly jumped from his chair. Both of the first lieutenants stared at him in shock as he gripped the edge of his desk with sweat building over his brow. There was a moment of heavy silence before the Warrant Officer let his thoughts be known.

"What if it's Hawkeye?"

The only sound that could be heard coming from the room was a soft thud as Breda fell backwards out of his chair. Then – all hell broke loose.

"IT IS! I JUST KNOW IT IS! She's been acting weird all week!" Havoc said, dropping the letter to the ground and gripping his face in an anxious fashion. "What are we going to do?!"

Breda, who was rubbing his head while sat on all fours, answered from beneath the desk. "We're going to be transferred out of East City again and end up somewhere like Briggs."

"I won't survive!" Havoc fell dramatically into his desk chair, throwing his head back in mock agony. "I can't leave my dear Rebecca at a time like this. Her best friend is going to be dishonorably discharged and I have to help pick up the pieces!"

"Guys – " Fuery attempted to interject – but was cut off by Breda, who had finally gotten a grip on the edge of his desk and was lifting himself up off the floor.

"Forget about your precious Catalina!" Breda spit out at his comrade, rubbing his backside for good measure. "We've got other problems! The boss is never going to make Fuhrer if he's kicked out of the military!"

"All that work in Ishval – for nothing!"

"Well, I wouldn't really say it was for nothing. It – "

"The country is doomed without it's fearless leader!"

"Okay, now you're just being dramat – "

"I need a cigarette!"

"I knew it!" Breda stomped over to his friend's desk, swiping the container from between his sweaty palms. There was a look of warning in his dark eyes. "Don't use the General's problems as a reason to pick up smoking again. It's not like YOU'RE the one having the baby, so I think you can manage!"

"Manage what?"

Several things happened at once at the sound of their Commanding Officer's voice breaking through the chaos. Fuery, who out of sheer panic, had sat back down once his revelation was brought forth – sprung up like a spring and lifted his shaking hand to his forehead in a poor salute. Breda, on the other hand, dropped the cigarettes like they were on fire and backed several feet away from his friend's desk, giving his boss a salute only marginally better than Fuery's.

Havoc took longer to respond. He stared at the door of the office where the man stood for several seconds, stunned silent. Then, he allowed his eyes to drift down to the letter that had been dropped in the middle of the room.

Oh shi –

"Havoc?" General Mustang asked curiously, stepping fully into the office. There was a set of meeting briefs tucked under his arm, signaling that his work for the morning had concluded. "What's going on?"

The man couldn't even begin to think of an answer for his dark-haired superior. All he knew was that his eyes kept darting to that damn paper that lay still in the dead center of the room. Oh, why did he have to be so obvious?

Noticing his subordinate's strange behavior, as well as the nervous energy that seemed to be sitting heavy over the office, the General made to step forward and address the men once more when something caught his eye.

It was a letter.

On the floor, there was a piece of parchment sticking out of a crudely ripped envelope. From the nervous glances First Lieutenant Havoc was making towards it, the General assumed that had to be the reason for the strange behavior that seemed to be plaguing his subordinates. Before he could reach down and pick it up though, Breda's hand snatched it out from under him.

"Wha – ?"

"Sorry, Chief," Breda apologized, hiding the letter behind his back. "I don't think you're ready to see what's on it."

The way his tone wavered with a hint of fear had the General's blood running cold. There was very little that could discompose Heymans Breda. This must be serious.

"What's going on?" The man placed the meeting briefs on his Captain's desk before turning back to his men. With arms crossed, he stared them down with a deadly set of black eyes. "As your Commanding Officer, I demand you tell me."

There was a silent moment where the three soldiers exchanged glances, urging the other to talk first. After a series of wide-eyed communications, both Fuery and Breda raised their brows at Havoc who was still seated at his desk. The man gulped, a sweat breaking out under his military blues. Oh, why did it have to be him.

"Well," Havoc cleared his throat, willing the words forward. "You see, we found this letter – and well, uhhhh – it has some interesting intel on it."

It was Mustang's turn to raise his brows – though his expression was a touch more doubtful than the others. "Oh really? It's just intel?"

"Well I wouldn't say it's JUST intel," Havoc scratched his blonde mane, searching for the right words. "It's relatively important intel."

"If it's so important," Mustang reasoned, taking a step towards his very nervous comrade. "Then I think I should be told, post-haste."

"See you say that, but I don't thi – "

"Havoc! Just come out with it!"

"You're going to be a father, sir!"

Breda and Havoc turned in disbelief towards the shaky Warrant Office who still stood with his hand to his head. Though his words came out as little more than a squeak, they still had been heard by all – including the Brigadier General.

Roy Mustang stood in shock, starring at the young man who stood quivering in his boots at his desk. Surely, he had heard him wrong?

"Come again, Fuery?" He asked for clarification, the tone of his voice giving no indication as to what he was feeling. "I don't think I heard you right."

"The letter, sir." Fuery dropped his hand from his head, pointing towards Breda. "It's in the letter."

Still shocked at the fact that the meek officer had been the one to speak up, Breda wordlessly held out the piece of paper for his Commanding Officer to read. He barely reacted as the letter was swiped quite harshly from his fingers.

They all watched anxiously as the man read over the note – his face becoming paler and paler the longer he stared at it. After a few minutes of examination, his dark eyes came up to meet his comrades' in utter confusion.

"Where did – Just where did you get this?"

"It was on the floor between your door and my desk, sir," Havoc finally spoke up. The blonde stood and walked over to the General, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I guess congratulations are in order."

"Now, wait a sec – "

"And you don't have anything to worry about," Havoc continued, squeezing the man's shoulder in what was supposed to be a show of support. "We will support you and Hawkeye no matter what happens from here on out!"

"Yeah! The Fraternization Laws be damned, we're here for you!"

"Even if I have to freeze my ass off at Briggs," Havoc gave his shoulder one last squeeze for good measure. "It'll be worth it to see the two of you together and happy."

"That's not what you were saying earlier…"

"Can it, Breda!"

Mustang remained silent at the attempts of congratulations, feeling as though his lungs had been robbed of air. He didn't even notice a timid Fuery walk up and stick out his hand for a shake.

"I hope you and the Captain will be very happy, sir." The Warrant Officer said softly, the genuine respect he felt for the two superior officers evident in the tone of his words. "I can't think of two people who deserve this kind of happiness more. You'll make excellent parents."

It took a moment, but finally Mustang was able to break his silence.

"Now wait just a damn minute!"

All the men froze once more as the General took a step back to regard them with a sharp look. If he had been wearing his ignition gloves in that moment, he would have cut quite an intimidating figure. Even as it was, the dark look on his features had the men swallowing hard and standing straight underneath his steadfast gaze.

"I don't know where you got the idea that Hawkeye and I had suddenly decided to procreate." He gestured wildly to the air, incredulity written all over his features. "But I can assure you that this letter was not meant for me!"

"Sir, you don't have to hide it." Havoc reasoned gently, his hands coming forward in a show of acceptance. "We know that this will change a lot of things – but maybe it's not as bad as it seems –"

"I don't know – being dishonorably discharged DOES sound pretty bad…"

"Breda" Havoc seethed, the name slipping from between his teeth in a hiss. "Not the time."

"Both of you – stop," The sharp quality of Mustang's voice had them both pausing, readjusting their posture once more. "I'm not hiding anything. This letter cannot belong to me."

"Boss, we under – "

"Breda," The General warned, cutting the man off. He held a hand up, leaving no room for argument. "Don't finish that sentence. The more we speak of this, the more likely it is that rumors will come from it. I don't want the Captain returning from her lunch break to find that her fellow officers have been slandering her name."

"But she's been acting weird, Chief," Havoc remarked, trying to get Mustang to accept that this was a genuine possibility. "We know that the two of you have always been close. We've known for a long time that something more was there."

"Havoc!" The General bellowed. His reaction was so violent that Havoc found himself taking a few steps back in fear. "What part of 'stop' do you not understand?!"

The men were silent as Mustang read the note again. His dark eyes took in the words once more before he looked up at his men in disbelief.

"You are a poor set of soldiers if you haven't realized by now that this is not the Captain's handwriting."

Those words had the men crowding around their commanding officer. Mustang tried his best not to look indignant as they bumped shoulders with him in an attempt to get a better look at the paper he still held in his hands.

"Hm I guess it's not." Fuery conceded, having seen the Captain's handwriting on many documents during his time as being a part of the unit.

"That little loopy right there kind of looks familiar," Havoc countered, squinting his eyes. "I don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibility."

"That is definitely not the Captain's handwriting, Jean," Breda shook his head, disappointed in himself for not noticing it sooner. "Talk about jumping to conclusions."

"But if this wasn't meant for the boss then who – ?"

"What's going on?"

As if they had been electrocuted, each of the men jumped away from the other. While three of them automatically fell into nervous salutes, their commanding officer stood with a smirk in the middle of them.

"Ah, Captain," The General drawled in his usual fashion, gesturing towards their subordinates. "Maybe you can reestablish some sense of order back into this group."

Riza Hawkeye furrowed her brow at the comment, looking at all their faces with rising suspicion. The blonde wasn't alone though – while Hayate sat obediently at her heels, a second figure popped out from behind her. Rebecca Catalina considered the room with more than just a little curiosity.

"Jean?" The brunette asked, stepping around her friend. Blatantly ignoring the tension in the room, she made her way to the man in question. "Why do you look so pale?"

Havoc let out a short laugh at his girlfriend's question. "Well, Becky – it's been a long morning!"

Distracted as he was by the girl's presence, he didn't notice the smirk on Hawkeye's face as she drew nearer, placing a set of folders down on her desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she shared a look with General Mustang before sitting down in her chair and grabbing a pen.

At Havoc's words, Rebecca's eyes lit up. "So you got my letter?"

Havoc shook his head, feeling as though he had misheard. "Uh, no? What letter?"

Rebecca's eyes cut to the paper that now resided in Mustang's hand, looking between it and her boyfriend. There was confusion in the crease that appeared between her brows. "The one that your General is holding…I had Riza leave it on your desk this morning. You read it, right?"

If Jean Havoc didn't know any better, he would have thought that his legs were paralyzed once more. Behind his glasses, Fuery's eyes widened with shock while Breda looked an awful lot like a goldfish.

"Huh?" The word was the only one Havoc felt capable of saying. Not noticing his clammy skin and the slight tinge of green on his features, Rebecca gave him a bright smile.

"I got the idea from an article in The Amestrian Woman Magazine!" She brought her fisted hands to her chest in an excited fashion. "I thought it would be fun to tell you in a non-traditional fashion since we'll be bringing a baby into this world in a pretty non-traditional fashion ourselves!"

Jean felt like his world was spinning. Mustang clapped a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to reality. The grin on the man's face was proof enough that he had been privy to the secret from the beginning. The bastard.

"I guess congratulations are in order! You're going to be a father, Havoc!"

~

Later that day, Roy Mustang could be found lounging on the single couch of his living room. Despite having had his townhome for two years now, the amount of furniture in his house was still minimal due to the large amount of time spent away in Ishval. Regardless, it still felt more home-y than any residence of his had felt in years.

Roy looked up as Riza rounded the corner, coming directly from the kitchen with two steaming mugs of tea in her hands. The blonde hair that she had cut short upon their return to Ishval was just now beginning to reach below her shoulders again and the General could find himself smiling fondly at the sight. With a modest sweater and long skirt, she looked the absolute picture of domestic bliss.

He took the mug gratefully as she perched on the couch beside him, drawing her legs up beside her. Without any hesitation, the man wrapped a familiar arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. The woman obliged him, snuggling comfortably into his side.

They sat in silence for a few moments – simply enjoying the fire before them and soaking up the other's presence. However, Mustang's chuckle soon broke whatever mood appeared to be in the air.

"What?" Riza asked as she glanced up at him, noting the hint of mirth that danced behind his eyes. The smile had not yet left his features. "Feel like sharing?"

"I was just thinking about Havoc," The man answered honestly, squeezing her shoulders gently. "Of all the ways, I thought he was going to react – fainting was not one of them."

"His legs have been weak ever since his injury, so I'm not surprised."

"Sure…that's what it was," Mustang's mouth grew into an even larger grin. "To think, the bastard was trying so hard to get me to confess to some kind of illicit affair. When he handed me the note and then accused me of impregnating you, I almost felt my heart drop into my stomach. That whole surprise couldn't have gone any worse."

"It's not my fault that the envelope slipped off his desk." Riza took a sip of her tea, the steam dispersing as she breathed a tired sigh through her nose. "I told Rebecca it wasn't a good idea, but that's how she wanted to do it."

"I couldn't help but think," The General spoke, a smirk curling on his features. He waited for her to set her cup down before moving in for the kill. "How would you tell me if we were in the same kind of situation."

"Sir – "

"I know, Riza." He looked at her with eyes that still held all the mirth from before, but that were now tinged with sadness. It made the sniper's heart ache. "I know that it can't be like that for us, at least not now anyways – but, if it could be, what would you do?"

The woman thought about it for a moment, staring down at the mug on the table in front of her. The question brought forth a lot of emotions that she didn't feel like sorting through on a night like this, but the earnest look in her General's eyes made it impossible not to answer his question.

"I would probably tell you before I even found out for sure," She answered honestly, turning her amber gaze back to his own. "I don't think I could keep something like that to myself. I couldn't even keep Rebecca's pregnancy a secret from you. I would be so anxious; I'd probably make you go to the doctor with me."

Roy gave her a gentle smile, satisfied with the answer.

"I don't think I could ever willingly bring a child into this world though knowing what I have done," Riza continued quietly, effectively wiping the grin off his face. She regarded him with a dark look. "After taking the lives of children, how could I ever think I deserve to have one?"

The General didn't know what to say to that. Up until now, it wasn't even a question that he had taken the time to ponder. Until the romantic nature of their companionship had come forward, he had been content to remain a bachelor for the rest of his existence. But things had changed and now he didn't really know what to think.

Their relationship had blossomed steadily since 'The Promised Day.' Though there had always been a romantic undertone in the way they interacted with the other, it was much too strong to ignore after they almost lost each other. The Fraternization Laws were still in order, and though, Mustang had it on good authority that Grumman was going to try and abolish them, it didn't change the fact that – what they had right now – was still illegal.

They had been so careful. They only met once a week in one or the other's home and even then, they covered their tracks dutifully. They still had way too much to accomplish to allow an illicit relationship to rip it from their grasp.

Though they both understood the parameters of their relationship, it was not as easy as they had thought it would be to watch their friends openly declare their love for each other and start a family. Despite knowing that she didn't deserve it, Riza couldn't stamp down the ache that resided in her heart at the thought of a small child – half her, half Roy.

By the pained look on his face, she could tell her General felt much the same way.

"Once I'm Fuhrer," Roy cleared his throat, his voice wrought with conviction. At this point, it was a given that he would reach the top. Grumman had told them in no uncertain terms that Mustang was his first choice as a predecessor. Instead of speaking the words with hope, he spoke them now with confidence. "You'll be able to stand by my side, rather than behind me. When that day comes, we will leave it up to fate whether we deserve the simple pleasures of life or not."

The words were much the same as the ones he had said after Grumman's pardoning of them. Though they had been adamant that they wished to be tried for war crimes, both Grumman and the Ishvalan elders had agreed that their rebuilding efforts were enough to clear their names from the death sentence that surely would have hung over their heads otherwise. The only thing that was being asked of them was that they continue to dedicate themselves to Ishval for the rest of their days – a penance that they could very easily accept.

'We've lost too many in the ranks from the fall of Bradley,' Grumman had said, recognizing their looks of disbelief at such a light sentence. 'You two would do more good out leading the efforts to rebuild, than rotting away in some cell below ground. That is one thing the elders and I are in agreeance of.'

Although on paper they had both been forgiven of their sins, it was going to take a little longer for them to fully forgive themselves.

Riza hummed in agreeance – though he could still sense the doubt in her posture.

They sat in silence – satisfied to simply enjoy the presence of the other. These moments were still rare, so they always tried to enjoy them as much as they could.

"It would be nice." Riza said quietly, her eyes never leaving the fire before them.

Roy smiled.

"Yeah, it would be."

#royaiweek20 #royai #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #fullmetal alchemist #fma #fmab #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #havolina #rebecca catalina #jean havoc #heymans breda #kain fuery #team mustang #fma fanfic #royai fanfiction #royai fanfic #royai fic #fma fic #fma fanfiction #my fanfiction

[nwbeerguide]

Going on sale this Thursday, March 4th, Fremont Brewing & Floodland Brewing's Woodland Park Avenue North is a marriage of ideas.

Unbeknownst to the average imbiber, what’s in your glass takes weeks, months, and sometimes year’s to produce. Oh sure, breweries could grind up some grain, add a dash of hops, some water, and a splash of yeast and call it beer, but you wouldn’t want to drink it. Thankfully for the brewers at Fremont Brewing and nearby Floodland Brewing, didn’t just toss a bunch of ingredients into a stainless-steel tank and call it beer. Instead, they took their time both in coming up with a thoughtful recipe and in releasing a love letter called Woodland Park Avenue North.

But like so many collaborations, the genesis of this beer didn’t happen overnight. In fact, the brewers, well, here are their words on the matter.

“It all started with a busted, leaky mess of an oak foedre from France.  Adam Paysse, owner/brewer of Floodland, had purchased the foedre and upon receipt realized it would take a great deal more time and effort to bring it back to life than he had for the project and graciously gifted it to Fremont,” said Matt Lincecum, Co-Founder and Brewer of Fremont Brewing.

Much like breaking a bottle over the bow of a newly christened ship, Woodland Park Avenue North celebrates the re-christening of Fremont Brewing’s refurbished foedre, made with Adam’s help.

image courtesy Fremont Brewing Company

Made with a blend from Fremont’s Black Heron Project, Woodland Park Avenue North is made with malted and raw Washington triticale (a hybrid of both wheat and rye) and barley grown and malted at Mecca Grade in Oregon. Following this process, Woodland Park is mashed-hopped with aged, whole leaf hops from Washington, before being aged in a refurbished oak wine foedre, chaperoned by mixed yeast cultures from Fremont and Floodland. 

Post-fermentation, Woodland Park is re-fermented on Viognier grapes from Washington’s 2019 harvest, and then conditioned in the bottle producing natural carbonation. The result is a beer that is a reflection of The Black Heron Project goal of creating small-batch, mixed fermentation beers, made with local grain, hops, and fruit. 

A 7.2% ABV (alcohol by volume) isn’t just a collaboration, it’s also a celebration of the street where Fremont Brewing Company’s Urban Beer Garden, original brewery, and Floodland’s fermentation and aging facility call home.

Oh, be you a fan of collaborations, mixed-culture beers, Fremont Brewing Company, or Floodland’s, you’ll want to purchase a bottle (or 2 but only2), this Thursday, March 4th. Going on sale at 12 pm, Fremont Brewing Company will host the sale online with a few 750ml bottles and “Magnums” available. Afterward, the brewery will provide pickups from March 6th at their Urban Beer Garden starting at 12 pm. ###

About Fremont Brewing: 

We are an independent, family-owned, award-winning craft brewery founded in 2009 to brew small-batch artisan beers made with the best local ingredients we can find … Because Beer Matters!  Fremont Brewing is known for its’ barrel-aged beers including B-Bomb Imperial Winter Ale, The Rusty Nail, an Imperial Stout with Licorice and Cinnamon Bark and Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Stout.  Fremont’s year-round offerings include Lush IPA®, Golden Pilsner, Interurban IPA, Sky Kraken Hazy Pale Ale, Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Stout and creative one-off beers, such as its’ Head Full of Dynomite Hazy IPA Series and the Field to Ferment fresh hop series. Fremont Brewing…Because Beer Matters!  www.fremontbrewing.com/our-story 

About Floodland Brewing: 

A Brewery in Seattle, founded in 2017, focused on barrel-aged and mixed-culture beers.

from Northwest Beer Guide - News - The Northwest Beer Guide https://bit.ly/382j0HS

#Beer #News #Brewery

[mobius-prime]

271. Sonic Universe #4

The Shadow Saga (Part 4 of 4): The Ultimate Lifeform

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

Before we get started, it's important to note that this issue likely takes place a short time after the upcoming two issues, but for the sake of continuity as well as plot pacing, I've decided to cover this one first, especially since it doesn't overlap with the events of the next two issues at all. Shadow and Rouge are suited up and ready to go into the Special Zone in search of another Chaos Emerald, and Shadow is unconcerned, as he thinks the mission should be fairly routine. They're teleported into the zone by Hope's device, and sure enough, the giant freaky panda god Feist is there, ready to test some mortals for funsies in return for a Chaos Emerald.

Feist cackles and says that since he creates the rules of this zone, Shadow's own powers won't work, as even if he's the "ultimate lifeform" Feist is a god and therefore holds power over him. Shadow and Rouge quickly start trying to navigate Feist's little maze, using their respective strengths to dodge obstacles, but Feist has deliberately set them up for failure, and laughs at them as they run out of time just a moment before Rouge can grab the green Chaos Emer- wait, what? The green emerald? That one was already retrieved from the Sol Dimension! For whatever reason, Jason apparently completely forgot that not all the emeralds are green anymore, and miscolored this one, which was intended to be the red one. Ian handwaved it away later by saying Feist made it look that way to confuse them or whatever, but the color was also quietly corrected to red in future reprints, so it clearly wasn't intended. Anyway, Shadow and Rouge are booted out of the zone without their prize, much to Hope and Commander Tower's shock.

Okay, first of all, Tower, there's literally no need to be an asshole about this. There were already problems just getting into the Special Zone in the first place, it's downright idiotic to think it would just be a total piece of cake to retrieve one of the emeralds within after all that. And second of all, for goodness' sake, Shadow, stop blaming yourself for goddamn everything! Oh no, you didn't immediately succeed at everything you've tried! Ultimate lifeform or not, you're still an ordinary sentient being with ordinary sentient thought processes. Shadow, moping and upset, heads to the facility's gym and begins beating the crap out of Omega, who is surprised and makes a weird comment about how it's he who "usually" comes to Shadow for sparring practice. I'm… a little baffled at this comment, honestly, because it makes it sound like Omega's been around for a while now and he and Shadow regularly beat each other up, even though the very last issue implied that this issue's story is taking place like, the day after recruiting him. But anyway, Shadow dodges all of Omega's questions and attacks, while Omega rather tactlessly points out that now that he's received his clearance for duty, he can come with them on their next mission and blast Feist for them. This pisses Shadow off, and he stalks away to find a quiet spot near the top of the base.

Oh, speaking of which, has anyone been wondering where GUN is actually based? We know they're part of Station Square's security force, but multiple past issues have made vague allusions to the United Federation having more than one territory around the world, and generally being a lot bigger than it was previously portrayed as being (remember when the Mobians and entire outside world didn't even know Station Square existed? Ah, the weird old days). Well, here we get a clue as to where this GUN base is located. Shadow is moping at the top of the mountain that houses the base, and Hope appears there too, surprised to see Shadow as she'd thought this was her own personal hidden thinking spot. She tries to make conversation, enthusing about the view and how "On a clear day, you can see all the way to Soleanna!" I've already noted that Sonic '06 technically took place, if you can call it that, in the comics universe, so obviously Soleanna would have to exist as well. My point here is more about the location of Soleanna. The aesthetic of the kingdom's capital city is vaguely Venetian, indicating it's probably located somewhere analogous to modern-day Italy, so for it to be visible from the top of this mountain, this GUN base would have to be somewhere in Europe. Because I'm extra, I took a look at the position of these two relative to the sun in the background, and if we assume this scene takes place in the afternoon, then the base would be somewhere north of Soleanna - so if Soleanna is indeed located on the coast where Italy currently, then that all checks out nicely. Just a fun fact for y'all!

Anyway, I'm getting way too into the small details here. Hope, noticing that Shadow refuses to make conversation despite her efforts, tries to comfort him, but Shadow just insists that since he's the ultimate lifeform he's not supposed to fail. This is, of course, ridiculous, and Hope points this out, adding that in her opinion he hasn't failed as badly as she has. She tells him the story of how Snively encouraged her to leave Knothole and how she feels too guilty to go back after its destruction, which rouses Shadow somewhat, becoming concerned when she starts to cry. He tells her that leaving was hardly a failure, that she had no way of knowing what would happen and that it wasn't a bad thing to want to push her own boundaries by exploring her role in the world. She smiles and fires back that he can't blame himself for his own failures then, and points out that in the end his "failed" mission was actually excellent reconnaissance and that now that he understands better what he'll be facing, he's just set himself up for future success. This makes Shadow pause, as he's obviously not thought of it like this before.

Now that is how you write a Shadow. It's weird when people try to characterize him as this edgy, brooding, angry violent character who would never allow himself to be soft or emotional. Sure, he has an ego that he has to protect, and he likes to show off how tough he is on occasion, but Hope's analysis here is accurate - he's literally an eternal teenager who's just trying to figure out where he belongs in the grand scheme of things. Furthermore, Shadow the Hedgehog is great with children and no one will ever ever change my mind on this. So there.

Soon after their talk, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega have gathered at the teleporter for their next foray into the Special Zone. They've christened themselves "Team Dark," something which Rouge and Hope both seem a bit baffled at but which Tower seems to think is apt. They make it back into the Special Zone, and when Feist gloats at them for coming back for another round, both Omega and Shadow become riled, wanting to go on the offensive, though Rouge holds them back. Feist conjures up another challenge for them, this time in the form of a weird 3D-cube-maze-thing, and mocks them as they do their best to find the center. They eventually end up in a chamber with spikes at the bottom and the Chaos Emerald at the center, but Feist covers the emerald with a bunch of multicolored, useless gems, giving Omega the chance to use his beloved guns to blast a hole in them, giving Shadow an opening.

Feist, you're a real asshole, you know that? He brings them back to his sphere… platform… thing to mock them some more, and Omega begins begging for the chance to pursue "Plan B" like an excited child on Christmas. He's delighted when Rouge gives her permission, and immediately launches half his weight in ammunition into Feist's face, having to be literally dragged away from the screaming panda by Rouge to prevent him from standing there and firing at him for the rest of the day.

Woo! Go Team Dark! Hope hugs Shadow and congratulates him, and Tower is similarly pleased, accepting the emerald from his agents and eager to make GUN a "force to be reckoned with" with the power of their two emeralds. Normally, that statement might set off a few red flags, especially concerning these guys' history of, y'know, murdering innocent terminally ill children who get in the way of their bullets, but luckily fifty years has been enough for them to change for the better (I sincerely doubt Shadow would ever agree to work for them otherwise). This issue ends with a single page teasing the next arc of SU, featuring an adult Knuckles and Julie-Su getting ready to leave on some kind of trip and trusting their daughter Lara-Su to take over things while… they're… oh for the love of Chaos, this again?! We're really going back to the future? Only this time, it's thirty years into the future instead of twenty-five. Ugh, I wanted to be done with this AU, but I guess we're careening right back into it… But first, of course, the two-part finale to the sixth era of the preboot, the shortest era so far!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #su 4 #writer: ian flynn #pencils: tracy yardley #colors: jason jensen

[gstqaobc]

CBC NEWS The Royal Fascinator Feb. 7, 2020 Hello, royal watchers and all those intrigued by what’s going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox. Janet Davison Janet Davison Royal Expert

Who will step up for Meghan and Harry?

(Lefteris Pitarakis/The Associated Press)

It was a striking image that day in June of 2012 — just six people on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, sending a signal widely interpreted to foreshadow a slimmed-down future for the House of Windsor.

It was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee marking her 60 years as monarch, and joining her on the balcony were her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles; his wife, Camilla; Charles’s two sons, Princes William and Harry; and William’s wife, Kate. (The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was in hospital at the time and it would be four years before Harry met his wife, Meghan.)

Charles has long been thought to favour a core group of senior family members to carry the House of Windsor forward in the next reign.

But Harry and Meghan’s departure from the upper echelons of the family leaves a big hole in that plan.

"I think [Charles] envisaged having Harry as part of that,” Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said via email.

Seward said that along with William and Kate, Charles saw his sister, Princess Anne, and his brother, Prince Edward, as part of the plan.

Harry’s departure “really blows a hole into Charles’s well-thought-out plan for a slimmed-down monarchy based on the core family,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith

told Vanity Fair

.

Even though Harry is now down to sixth in the line of succession, he would still have been expected to carry out more senior duties for several years because numbers three, four and five in the succession (William and Kate’s young children, George, Charlotte and Louis) are up to two decades away from being active royals.

“So Charles and William have been counting on Harry to be, in effect, third in line to the throne and that’s all out the window, too,” said Bedell Smith.

Harry and Meghan have been staying out of sight for the past couple of weeks and are thought to be on Vancouver Island, where they were over Christmas before making their seismic departure announcement.

In the meantime in the U.K., it’s been royal business as usual for everyone from the Queen on down. Elizabeth was out and about twice this week —

and reminisced about her father and his corgis

— as her regular winter stay at her Sandringham estate, north of London, draws to a close.

Charles and Camilla were at a reception for the British Asian Trust and other engagements. William, who has a new role as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and Kate were at the British version of the Oscars and did a day trip to Wales.

Observers have been trying to figure out whether there’s any evidence of Harry and Meghan’s departure affecting what other senior members of the family are doing.

But in many ways, that seems to be a stretch — at least for now.

“As official engagements are usually fixed some months in advance and Harry and Meghan’s official departure is not until the spring, I don’t think we have yet seen much direct evidence,” Seward said.

“The crux will come on family occasions and none are scheduled in the immediate future. The future of Harry’s military appointments is obviously under consideration and will be announced as soon as it is decided.”

Still, it all leaves many open questions about how other members of the family may step up their roles. One person seen by many as likely to gain more prominence is Edward’s wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

“I think Sophie will take on a lot more royal duties and patronages,” said Seward.

And then there are Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, daughters of Prince Andrew, who has stepped down from public duties in the wake of fallout from his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a disastrous BBC interview related to that.

“I am not sure about Beatrice and Eugenie,” Seward said. “Before all this happened, I know Andrew was keen for them both to have royal roles, but Charles was not.”

Another spring wedding

One thing that is sure for Beatrice — she has a confirmed wedding date and venue. Buckingham Palace said this morning she and fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi will marry May 29 at the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace in central London. The Queen will host a reception just up the road, in the gardens behind Buckingham Palace. After a flurry of royal weddings in Windsor over the past couple of years, this promises to be a lower-profile, smaller and more intimate affair — perhaps not surprising given the controversy surrounding Beatrice’s father, Andrew. St. James’s Palace does, however, have a rich royal history. Other weddings that have taken place there include that of Queen Victoria in 1840. It’s also been the scene of several christenings, including Beatrice herself in December 1988, and more recently Prince George in 2013 and Prince Louis in 2018. Andrew and the FBI — what's going on? Prince Andrew was the focus of more attention recently after the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York told a news conference held outside Epstein’s former mansion that Andrew had given “zero co-operation” to the inquiry into the convicted sex offender.Immediately after that, sources close to Andrew were reported as saying he was angry and “bewildered” by the claims he had been unco-operative, and that he hadn’t received any request to speak to the FBI.A lawyer for a victim of Epstein also urged Andrew to co-operate with the FBI.Seward said until an approach is made by the FBI through official channels, “nothing will happen.”“This doesn’t lessen the potential wrong, but he can’t answer anything until his lawyers are contacted, and then they don’t have to answer straight away,” Seward said. “I think he will help the investigation, but has probably been advised to wait until such time as all the necessary evidence as to where he was and what he was doing has been gathered.”Andrew has said he did not see or suspect any sex crimes during the time he spent with Epstein. He has also denied any inappropriate relations with a woman who has said she was forced to have sex with him three times between 1999 and 2002. Andrew has said he has no recollection of meeting her..

Royal angst — beyond the House of WindsorOther royal families have also seen their share of controversy and high-profile headlines in the last little while.The public prosecutor in Luxembourg has launched a probe after reports of physical violence toward staff who work for the tiny European country’s royal family.It was only the latest headline there, coming about a week after Grand Duke Henri issued a statement to defend his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, against allegations of a “hostile working environment” at the palace.“Why attack a woman? A woman who speaks up for other women? A woman who is not even being given the right to defend herself?” Henri said in his statement.Next door, in Belgium, former King Albert II admitted he fathered a child during an extramarital affair half a century ago.The acknowledgement came after a court-ordered DNA test found that the 85-year-old, who abdicated in 2013, is Delphine Boël’s biological father.Boël had been engaged in a longstanding court fight to prove that she is his biological daughter.

Royally quotable

"Yet in 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process – [a lack of diversity] simply cannot be right in this day and age."

—  Prince William

speaks during the British Academy Film Awards

.

Fans of the Netflix drama The Crown will have to content themselves with just five seasons, rather than the six everyone had been expecting. Creator Peter Morgan had said he’d planned on six seasons of the show focusing on Queen Elizabeth’s reign, but the other day he nixed that idea and said five seems like the “perfect time and place to stop.” The way the series is going, that should take viewers up to around the year 2000. Given some of the higher-profile royal controversies of late, perhaps it’s understandable why Morgan is content to stop at that point. “I think there’s concerns the closer you get to the present day, in terms of how much dramatic licence can you ethically take about events that are unfolding,” said Toronto-based royal historian and author Carolyn Harris. “And also, the show would become more controversial if it was speaking about events that are in many ways still unfolding at this time, and imagining conversations behind palace doors.” Season 5 will see another actor take on the role of Elizabeth. Imelda Staunton, who’d long been rumoured for the part, will follow Claire Foy (seasons 1 and 2) and Olivia Colman (seasons 3 and 4).

Royal reads

1. A century before Harry and Meghan, an Italian noble family

sought refuge in B.C. — and stayed

. [CBC]

2. The RCMP and U.K. security officials are

discussing how best to protect Harry and Meghan

while they are in Canada, and who will ultimately pay for their security. [CBC]

3. Harry

lost a press complaint

he filed against a newspaper over a story it published about photos of African wildlife he has posted on Instagram. [BBC]

4. To mark the 200th anniversary of King George III’s death, his

massive collection of military maps

has been made available online, offering insight into global conflicts from the 16th to 18th centuries. Also going back in time,

a vest worn by Charles I at his execution

is going on display.  [The Guardian, BBC]  

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GOOD MORNING ALL, I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THE MOST RECENT NEWSLETTER. I HAVENT HAD A CHANCE TO READ IT YET BECAUSE I WANTED TO GETBIT OUT TO THOSE WHO DONT HAVE IT OR KNOW ABOUT IT. GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿  💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻PG🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜