#corbyn prince
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“Meghan is a very interesting, very clear thinking woman. I’ve got a lot of time for her…I don’t know why [the media] just wanted to build her up into a negative figure which she’s not. She’s an intelligent, thoughtful woman…I absolutely think there’s a racial component to it.”
Jeremy Corbyn
#meghan markle#jeremy corbyn#duchess meghan#duchess of sussex#meghanmarkle#meghan duchess of sussex#harry and meghan#the duke of sussex#meghan and harry#british royals#the duke and duchess of sussex#uk royal family#prince harry#royal family uk#the duchess of sussex#brf#british royal family#royals#the british royal family#meghan the duchess of sussex#royalty#princess meghan#duke of sussex
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NEW ROMANTICS | MBAPPÉ [12]
» summary: in which an arrogant and talented football player (the best of his time as some say) and a focused and harsh critic of a journalist are gonna have to find a way to co-exist.
» chapter 12: La Petit Mort
» Writer's note: i do hope y'all are not skipping to only the scenes that the main two are together 😭😭 also this chapter will be going back and forth so read carefully.
» Taglist: @moonchildohh @formulahoe @princetongirlll818 @mavieesttriste16 @kiwisa @godessstela @hummusxx @kodzuvk @pink-manz @corbyns-smile @ippid @jayruiewo265738 @blueanfield @mrs-bellingham @sorceresski @sooblovebot @okayymochi @army7g @j-rbps @heli991113 @markhyucksmells @chaotic-taco-collector-blog @i0veless @photmath @http-isabela @rainytelevisionfilmwagon @formula101x @neymarloverxxx
@cepolar @freespirit-51 @marialikescherries @superswaggycooch @lunasmindinwriting @shadysandwichghoul @contrastedfandom @alexxcorona113 @951am @jinsoulorbitzen12 @mati09 @books-loverss @l0verl4ne @kypostsblog @bluberrycheezk @hottieluvr @calcaneous @444jodie @dudde-44 @neysgf @wallflowerjournal @p4rkyonce @toclic @kyliannnkkk @mad-die45 @tlk-duskwood @mentalbaddie @karotland
PLAYLIST ▶️
Chaos. Voices. Flashlights. Cameras. An endless of maze of people she had to pass through, that seemed to get thinner with every step she’d take. Even when she was away from the journalists, the noise remained. Teammates following behind her, calling her name but she couldn’t stop for anyone. All she could hear clearly was the loud beating of her anxious heart that anytime now would probably fall of her chest. And then silence. A loud bang of the bathroom door closing and everything was shut out of the door. She cuddled herself on the floor, hugging her knees up to her chest and counting down the numbers she had learned from kindergarten.
MAGAZINE “MATCH” LONDON OFFICES – 1 MONTH LATER
Silence. Low sound of keyboards and chatter on the background. Taylor is sitting in one of the cubicle desks in main foyer. She has her head leaned on her hand, her face giving away her boredom as she read through one of the articles that were sent to her. She printed it and got up, she went to her Boss’s office, leaving the files on his desk.
“Already done?” he asked
“I’m a quick reader.”
“or a lazy one.”
“I don’t appreciate my work ethic being questioned like that.” She warned, cutting off his jokes before he could go any farther.
“right��� thank you, you can go then.”
“Did you consider my request? About champions league?”
“I told you I have more experienced writer’s on that.”
“Did you even read my points?”
Her boss rolled his eyes “Ms. Wilock, why don’t you go back and finish your work instead of telling me how to do mine?”
She wanted to punch him. Knock his head on the desk and walk away with her head held high but instead she just left his office, cursing every curse word on the dictionary. As she sat back on her desk and opened her computer, she saw a post about the PSG game against Montpellier and Kylian’s injury that apparently was gonna keep him out of the game with Bayern. Her mind going back to the last time she saw all of them together.
1 MONTH EARLIER – PARC DE PRINCES
Kylian rushed to find her, he was stopped by Neymar before he could reach the bathroom door, pushed back by him. “Told you not to fuck with her!” he warned. Kylian slapped Neymar’s hand away and tried to move passed him. Ney stood in front of him, unbothered “Leave her alone!”
They’d continue fighting if it wasn’t for Taylor’s father walking by them to get to his daughter. Kylian slipped away from Neymar and followed Charlie. Marquinhos joining them shortly after.
“Taylor, it’s me! Open the door!” Said her dad knocking for her. There was no response.
“What the ‘ell happened?” Verratti came in, raising his hands. The second Kylian saw him, he felt like he lost any patience he was left with. He tried to attack him, jumping forward.
“Toi et ta ami!” he shouted, Marquinhos held him back. Standing between Verratti and Mbappe. The team was falling apart and all because of a vicious woman that wanted to make a name for herself in the cost of others.
“You’re blaming this on Verratti?” yelled Neymar, ready to grab Kylian by the arm but getting dragged away last minute by Messi. “He’s not the one that said those things about her on a microphone!”
“I didn’t know I was being recorded!” he defended himself.
Taylor’s father kept knocking, still no response, while the boys behind him were fighting like animals but he didn’t care about them, he didn’t care about whose fault it was, he just wanted to make sure that his daughter would be ok. The door opened just a tiny bit and he got inside, shutting it again. Kylian was gonna walk in as well if it wasn’t for Neymar standing in front of it. “Don’t you fucking dare!” The door flew open again, her father coming out worried.
“Get one of the medics here, Now!” he shouted and Leo with Marquinhos were the first to ran down the hallway and search for help. Mbappe snuck in the bathroom and saw her on the floor, her back on the wall, half conscious, rapid breathing, her hand on her chest. She had been showing signs of getting worse for a while now, he never thought it’d be this bad. Neymar held her up with the help of her father and Kylian felt so helpless, so useless in that moment. He was pushed by the medics who came in and took control with moving her while they gave her an oxygen mask to help her breathing. That gave her some sort of peace. He trailed behind the medics while they moved her to calmer room, to let her lay in there. He watched them moving calmly around her, one of them injecting her with something while her dad gave them her full medical history from the back of his head. He made a few steps, he wanted to find the one that caused this. He went to exit the room and Messi blocked him.
“I know what you are thinking and it’s not happening.”
“I just wanna talk to her.”
“She’s with Galtier. He’s handling it.”
“He doesn’t care about taylor.” Said Kylian, waving his head “He’ll just fire her when Ann tells him everything.”
“What’s everything?”
Kylian didn’t answer but his eyes betrayed him. Everything about his posture was betraying him. Messi held back any judgement, there was just pity in his eyes while he looked at Kylian with his hands on his hips. “go home.” He told him. “She’ll be ok and the journalist will be handled— Kylian! You do anything else and this will only get worse for her. Go home.”
“I’ll take him.” Said Neymar. The two other men looked at him kinda worried “I’m not gonna drive the car on a wall, don’t worry.”
Kylian looked behind Neymar, Charlie was coming out of the small room with one of the medics, looking calm. Neymar turned around and walked over to Charlie “Is she good?”
“Yes. She’s fine, it was just an episode.” Charlie met Kylian’s eyes, it was easy for him to point out the guilt in them. Kylian gathered up his courage and walked up to him.
“I’m sorry for the part I might have had in this—”
Charlie raised his hand “Don’t, son. This wasn’t you. Her disease is something we both had to live with, like you, I blamed myself a lot. But it’s no ones fault.” He paused “Walk with me.” He motioned his head and Kylian followed. For the first few steps they said nothing, then— “It’s a tricky thing, our condition. It makes everything a little harder. Things that come easy to most of the people, like breathing, it’s something we struggle with most times.” They stopped in front of a window, the moon watching over them. “She had to sacrifice way more than I did, I think sacrificing became a way of living for her.” He looked up and down at Kylian “I’m not dumb. I know more than she thinks about you two.” Kylian looked down. “I can also see in your eyes that you didn’t mean to hurt her today.” Kylian rubbed his face.
“I don’t even remember talking to that woman.”
“My worst fear is that when I am gone, Taylor will sacrifice everything again. Cause sacrificing it’s all she’s ever known. And I need to be sure before I do, that she’ll have something that will stop her from doing so. Anything that she can count on, the same way she is counting on me.” Kylian could already feel the weight of what her father was asking him “if you wanna make it better, make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Kylian let his words linger in his head. He thought about it while Neymar was driving him home. The silence was loud between the two.
“I should have spoken to Galtier.” He suddenly said “see what he knows. Prevent him from making any rush decisions.” Neymar gripped on the steering wheel. “What happened is on me. If he doesn’t know about me and her there’s no reason to fire her—”
“He knows Kylian!” Kylian looked up at Neymar. Neymar puffed his cheekbones “I spoke with Marquinhos. Ann told him everything. All her theories at least. She’s running with it…” he shook his head “Taylor shouldn’t have to go through this. They’ll eat her alive.”
Kylian wanted to knock his head in the window, instead he settled for hitting his knee repeatedly. While he was trying to recall anytime that they might have been seen together, anytime they held on each other for too long when they were cameras around, every time he teased her, brought her to her limit.
“HEY!KY! STOP!”
“MERDE!” He yelled and punched the door with his fist.
“Galtier is trying to control it”
“he’s going to control it by firing her—I promised her this wouldn’t happen!”
Neymar stopped the car outside of Kylian’s garage. A moment ago he would be yelling at him but he could see how much he was regretting his actions and how guilty he felt for Taylor. Perhaps, he thought, he really cared about his friend. “Go to sleep. We can fix this in the morning.”
Kylian nodded and left his car. He went up to his house, sitting on his bed, the bed she used to spent her nights in for a week before he blew everything up. He closed his eyes, covering them with his hands and let his mind wonder to the few memories he had with her. During half time, just a few hours ago the team was in the locker rooms, messed up because of how the game was going. She walked to the middle. Her eyes meeting his, because they had this secret understanding with each other.
“we’re a team” she said, her voice low but confident “from the ball boys, to you, to all the assistants, me, Galtier, we are a team. We lose and mourn together, win and celebrate together and defeats are softened and victories sweetened because we did them together.” She was looking at him when she said the last few words, he smiled. “so go out there and be a team and whatever happens we will deal with it together.”
Together. He wanted to hug her when she said that, it’s like his body and soul needed the contact and it killed him that he couldn’t do it. He settled for a short squeeze of hands and went back out there to play, clueless of the chaos that would follow just a while after. She doesn’t deserve it, he thought.
He got up quickly and went at his desk on the living room, throwing his documents left and right searching for something. He looked under the desk too but couldn’t find it. One thing was for sure, he wouldn’t stop until he did.
TAYLOR’S HOUSE – NIGHT
“come on, lay down.” Charlie helped her sit on the bed and ran on the kitchen to get an extra glass of water for her. She drank it all, mostly because she knew her father wouldn’t really give her a choice about it. Then she laid down, closing her eyes. “you need rest.”
“I need to know what the public knowns.”
“Nothing about you and Kylian yet, other than that you hate each other. What are you doing—put the phone down.” He took the phone from her and left it back on the nightstand.
“I want to talk to Galtier!”
“Tomorrow! You need to sleep!
“Did Marquinhos call?”
“Taylor!”
She kept her mouth shut, biting her lip, her eyes reflecting all of the sorrow she was feeling “did he call?”
Her father took the glass from her hand and laid her on the bed, dragging the blankets from under her and covering with them so she would warm. He tucked her in, lifting the blanket up to her chin so no part of her would be exposed. Taylor kept looking at him, waiting for him to give answer. “sleep, you’ll talk to everyone in the morning.”
But the night would only grow longer and the morning didn’t seem to be coming any time soon for either of the two and the grew more impatient, waiting for the sun to come up. Kylian was the first to leave his apartment. It was barely morning, the sky was still purple, the Paris streets were empty and as he drove, he kept thinking if he was doing the right thing. Then all of a sudden he was outside of Galtier’s mansion. He knocked on the door, a repeated loud knock until one of the maids opened up and he rushed inside, searching for his coach. Galtier came out of his kitchen confused.
“What are you doing here?”
“You shouldn’t fire her!”
Galtier sighed, his face proving just how tired he was already from this situation.
“Listen to me! I didn’t mean what I said—I was angry!” he searched in his pocket.
“Kylian! It’s not about what you said—” Galtier stopped talking when Kylian slapped a napkin on his hand. He looked at it, examined it, trying to understand what it was. He could make up some of the names on it, a shape that looked like a football pitch. The handwriting was Taylor’s.
“She did an entire game strategy on napkin. Just two days after she got here. A freaking napkin. And we won! You really going to waste this talent because I was an asshole?” Galtier looked up at him. Pity in his eyes. He motioned for Kylian to come inside the kitchen, he told him to seat while he poured a cup of coffee for each of them. He left the napkin on the table, along with the cup and sat down next to him. Kylian’s confidence was gone, he was back to being a guilty boy, his eyes turned away from anyone that could read them to find out just how broken he was.
“How much of it is true?” asked Galtier. Kylian focused on the smoke from the warm coffee in front of him. He didn’t want to admit to anything that might have been too much, what if it was a trick question. That was a good enough answer for Galtier. “She doesn’t have any pictures. If she did the story would be out already. You’re lucky. But you’re not safe. She’s not safe from the press or the internet.” All Kylian wanted to do was drop his face on the burning coffee. “Ann has in her hands what could be a career changing story, you think she’s going to let it go out of the good of her heart?” Galtier drank a little from his coffee, left the cup back down.
“So what’s the plan?”
“The plan is to let me handle it, so both the team and Taylor come out of it unharmed.”
“What about her job?”
Galtier paused, looked in Kylian’s eyes “that’s not my decision. And before you go rushing to the president’s house… it’s not his decision either. If you know what I mean…”
KYLIAN’S HOUSE – 1 MONTH LATER
“Fuck!” he groaned as he sat up from his couch. It had been a while since the injury but it still hurt when he moved abruptly. He walked over to his door and opened it, to find Neymar and Messi on the other side. Neymar was holding a bag with food and Messi had a box with beers. They walked in before Kylian invited them too, they were already in some deep conversation, speaking in Spanish. Kylian watched them walking to the couch, a bit confused as to why they were here in the first place. The two of them sat on the couch, making themselves comfortable. Neymar even took of his shoes so he could lay his legs on the table and Leo sat cross-legged on the pillows. Kylian approached them slowly, narrowing his eyes, he crossed his arms, standing over them, waiting for them to notice him and pause their conversation. Suddenly Neymar turned to him, looking a little annoyed to Kylian’s surprise.
“You can stand there the whole night? Sit down man, eat!” Neymar opened the bag and took out a couple of wrapped tacos. He placed them on Kylian’s table, who, again, watched while his two teammates started eating over his couch.
“Gosh, these are good! Kylian you should try them—”
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, waving his hands in the air.
Neymar looked at him with a full bite in his mouth, his expression resembling one of a kid’s that was being reprehended by his mum while eating. Leo stuffed his mouth with the rest of the taco and wiped the sausage from his lips. Then he opened one of the beers “Beer?” he asked and held it for him. Kylian was still confused by accepted the beer anyway. He sat on one of the chairs and Leo gave a beer to Neymar as well.
“How’s your leg?” asked Leo.
Kylian was still drinking so he shrugged his shoulders as a response.
“What did the doctor say about Bayern?” questioned Neymar.
“They don’t know yet!” he admitted and stared at the floor.
“Are you flying to the Event tomorrow?”
“Yes, why?”
Leo and Neymar gave each other a knowing look, Ney leaned forward and took a paper magazine out of the bag, throwing it on the table. The sound made Kylian look up, his eyes falling on the magazine and reading the headline. Something about Champions League. He gazed at Neymar “what’s that?”
“Read it!” prompted Leo. Kylian stretched out his body to get the magazine and opened it to start reading, multiple columns about multiple teams.
“What am I supposed to be reading?”
“Page 12.”
Kylian flipped the pages, stopping on page 12 and started reading. It was an interview of a footballer’s wife that he had never even heard of.” He was wondering why he was wasting his time reading it until he reached the end and saw her name on the bottom. He raised his head at his teammates, half confused and half angry.
“There is no way she wrote this.”
“Bet she’s not proud of it, but she did.” Answered Leo.
“She hated these stuff!”
“She still does, she just doesn’t have a choice.”
Neymar cleared his throat as if he was making a shot at Kylian, but the latter ignored it “They have someone like her, writing this shit?”
“We had someone like her and didn’t use her pretty well either so I’m not sure we should be judging.” Mumbled Neymar. Kylian threw the magazine at him.
“Still don’t understand why you are here. I tried to convince her to stay. She’s barely answering my texts now. What am I supposed to do?”
“Tell us the whole truth finally! Why did she leave if the story about you two never broke out?”
Kylian thought about it, his mind going back to the last time he saw her. The shot that he lost.
PSG CAMPUS – GALTIER’S OFFICE – 1 MONTH EARLIER
Taylor felt weird walking down these hallways. She felt like she was going to be ambushed by journalist or worst Kylian before she had the chance to reach Galtier’s office but thankfully she made it there without a scar. Knocking on the door and entering slowly. Sitting in her spot, looking as awkward as she had on the first day she got here.
Galtier examined her like he was expecting her to go first but she didn’t even know where to start.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Good.”
“What did the doctor’s say?”
“To take it more easy.”
“doesn’t sound like you.”
She snorted “yeah, it’s not.”
He smiled, leaned forward on his desk “I don’t know if you’ve spoken with Kylian—” she shook her head negatively immediately, Galtier nodded “in any case, there are rumors and please don’t try to refuse them, that’s not why you are here.” She lowered her head. She was a grown up, an adult, pretending this wasn’t her fault would be childish. “As you understand, stay or leave, there need to be some differences around here. And you need to prepare yourself for the worst”
“I already have.” She whispered, her eyes finally meeting Galtier’s, then in one breath she said the brutal truth before he could “I can’t stay.” Galtier was taken aback by her decision, he was scared by how easily and quickly she made it. She must have noticed the terror in his eyes because she was quick to continue “it’s a conscious decision. I pride myself for being fair, I have to be fair with myself as much as I am with the others. What happened…” her voice trailed off, breaking because she could see him in her mind, smiling, holding her, caring for her “it was wrong.” But why did it feel so right? Why did apologizing for it felt like lying? She cleared her throat and continued “I’d love to say that I can pretend it never happened, but I won’t be able to…”
“Ms. Wilock—”
“I don’t think I belong in this world anymore. I don’t think I can keep my mouth shut when I see the things that are happening and writing…” she smiled “I miss it.”
“Looks to me like you are running away.”
“maybe.” She mumbled, staring at her fingers, scratching her nails. “But we both know the backlash, if Ann runs with the story, is going to be insufferable. I’m never going to be respected, always under the shadow of a man, Kylian and…” she paused “you. All me success will go to you, meanwhile I’ll have to deal with every sexist comment on the dictionary. And normally I wouldn’t mind, I’m tough but… half of it will be true and it’s killing me. It’s killing me that I gave them exactly what they wanted.”
Galtier listened to everything she was saying, carefully, he almost understood her. It’s only that if he had an opportunity like hers, to make the amount of money that she was making here but perhaps that was the difference between the two. So he let her go as quickly as she came. She exited his office, head held high but eyes burning with the need to cry and her body asking to fall apart. There was something about making rush decisions like that, like pulling off a band aid to open wound, doctors always said that was the right way, right? In any case she was used to do doing it like that, losing a career from one day to another, losing people she loved because she was unable to love them, because she was scared.
“I wouldn’t know…I don’t think I’ve ever been in love. Don’t think I’d even recognize the feeling if I did.” Her fingers slipped into his, he held them, stroking them gently and looking down at her as they sat cross-legged on his floor, then he smiled.
“Not even Mason?”
She snorted, slapping his hand “even that was a teenage crush. Nothing more. I’m telling you, it has never happened to me, I’m not built that way.” She shrugged her shoulders “maybe it’s because I know first hand everything has an expiration date. It’s hard to be as romantic when you’ve felt that.”
He interlocked his fingers with her as they sat cross-legged on his floor, candles keeping the atmosphere calm for both of them “it’s a messy feeling” he said in a low tone “one day it drives you mad. The other it’s peace.” He smiled, gazing over her hands, so tiny and yet able to keep him still for as long as they wanted “It gets you angry, impatient, miserable and at the same time calm, proud, loved.” He brought her fingers up to his lips, leaving light kisses on them “La petite mort” he whispered in her hands. She enjoyed the feeling of his warm breath washing over her skin. It’s the first time she didn’t mind him speaking French, like language barrier between the two was broken.
“What does that mean?” she asked, waiting for him to look her in the eyes.
He continued massaging her hands, a smile coming up to his lips, a teasing smile. “Small death. Its an expression. The French use it to describe the brief loss or weakening of consciousness” he looked in her eyes, with that dirty look combined with care “otherwise known as the feeling of post orgasm as likened to death, for us French people.” Even his words had an affect on her, the way that he said them, how easily he spoke about it. She slid closer to him, blushing and smiling.
“Is that what love is to you?”
“I think it’s fair to say it weakens your consciousness. Has you dying and awakening repeatedly.”
“How did you say it?” she bit on her bottom lip.
He pushed her hair behind her ear, his finger enjoying the contact with her skin, the energy that vibrated between them and he leaned in, his lips barely touching hers “la petite mort” he said, his bottom lip hooking on her upper and dragging her closer to him until all her strengths crumbled and she dropped herself in him to chase her small death for the night.
And she wished she could chase it again but all she was chasing now was the exit, leaving the campus before he could see her, before she could lay her eyes on him because she worried that if she did all she’d chase would be him and a life made of sugar.
Kylian was training when Neymar ran to tell him that Taylor was upstairs, meeting with Galtier. Considering that all his texts went answered from the night before he ran upstairs. There was feeling of Déjà vu. Just one month ago he was running up to her and Galtier to yell, to tell her how much he hated her boss and now he was running to stop her because he couldn’t stand to the thought that he’d be the reason of her losing something she loved so much for the second time. When he got to Galtier’s office it was empty. His assistant was the bearer of bad news, Taylor had already left and she wouldn’t be coming back.
“Where are you going? We have three hours left!” Yelled Neymar but Kylian didn’t respond. Suddenly he heard a tougher voice, cold and brutal.
“Seven!” He stopped on his tracks, Galtier was standing in front of him. “I don’t suppose you are going anywhere else but training” he said, but it was more of an order “this fiasco ends here. If you wanna be anywhere else, you get there when you are done with your schedule. This is not high school football.”
Kylian gulped but he knew if she was here, she’d tell him the same thing. So, he obeyed and he continued with his training until the sun was down. While on the locker room, Verratti approached him hesitantly, sitting next to him while he was tying his shoes. He gave him a card, he took it, examining it. The name of Annette Monet, along with her details.
“You can give it to taylor if she wants to talk to her. Tell her I’m sorry if you see her.”
Kylian threw the card on his bag. “Why would I see her?”
“You were much closer than I was with her.”
“What did Annette tell you?”
“She hasn’t told me anything. It was me that did most of the talking but I didn’t think…”
“I told you not to get a journalist involved Marco!”
“She was a friend.”
“Obviously not.” He tied the knot on his shoe tighter and got up.
How did he find himself in her apartment? Knocking on her door to be let in? He’s been asking himself the same question ever since that night. One minute he was driving and the other he was standing in front of Charlie, same look in his eyes as the day before. Charlie was smoking a cigarette, he made note of it because he thought it was weird for him to be smoking in his condition. Then he heard Taylor walking closer to the door “I told you to lit that thing off! For crying out loud dad—” she stopped in her steps when she saw Kylian. She was holding cash in her hand, probably expecting the delivery man instead. They looked at each other, silent, until her father took the initiative to invite Kylian in and excused himself seconds later, leaving them alone.
Kylian looked around the room, her suitcases on the floor, a pile of clothes on the desk. Her room looked as messy as ever but it was a different kind of messy, it didn’t feel as warm as he remembered it to.
“What are you doing?” he asked almost disappointed.
She didn’t reply, instead she gazed away from him. Looking at some sort of comfort in her walls, considering digging a hole so she could sneak out of this situation quicker. He made a step forward, confident. “Why?” he asked and it made have been one word but it mirrored a thousand questions that she didn’t have a clear answer to.
“There’s no use talking about it Kylian, what’s done is done.”
“We can stop her from putting out the article—”
”no we can’t and what’s worse is that we can’t stop ourselves! We can delay her, we can put a pause to this, we can pretend we are not driving towards a cliff but eventually we’ll pay the price.”
“Even if it breaks, I can protect you. I’ll take the heat--”
“no you won’t!” she mumbled, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.
“Merde—you think I’d let you alone in this--?”
“I have no doubt that you’ll do your best not to Kylian but you’re a man. No one’s gonna care about you fucking the new assistant. If anything, you’ll be praised for it! Me? I’ll always be the slut, my abilities will always be compared to this, poisoned by this. They don’t even know about this so far and your interview already has them hating on me—”
“That interview was illegal!”
“Does it really matter what it was?” She topped his voice. Kylian held back from answering. Maybe because he knew it didn’t make any difference. He really had said those things about her, what’s worse is that he really believed them when he said them. “Honestly between you and me, I don’t know if you ever trusted me as a coach at all! Don’t—” she raised her hand to stop him “you don’t have to say anything. It doesn’t matter, just please understand, that this is for the best.”
“You’re letting go of your dream for a stupid rumor—”
“where’s the fucking dream Kylian? Because this shit feels like a nightmare since day one. Me, trying to be someone I’m not. Chasing a vision, I had when I was a kid and realizing it comes with things I could never stand behind. I value respecting myself and choices more than the zeros on the paycheck.”
“What about me, then?” he asked, his voice firmer. “What about Ney? The rest of them? Is that what all of this was to you? Zeros on a paycheck?”
“Obviously not—”
“Then why are you acting like you’re just leaving a job?”
“So, I won’t break apart!” she yelled, her voice breaking, trembling. She hid her face immediately after she said it. Covering her eyes. “You think this easy? Cause it’s not.” She whispered in her palms and waited to hear the door opening and closing but instead she felt him coming closer, she felt his hands on her shoulders. His head leaning closer.
“This is my fault—”
“Its not about that!” she said, looking up. Having him this close was making her stomach ache. “We are both adults. All of this has been a series of choices that I made for myself. My choice when I gave in to you knowing there’d be consequences, my choice to keep it a secret, not putting an end to it and this… this is my choice too. I’m not letting anyone else make it for me, not Ann, not Galtier, not the world and not you. It’s just me facing the music--” she held his face in her hands, her thumb stroking his eyebrow “and I don’t blame you for it either. I knew what I was doing.” She leaned closer, her eyes began to stink “I wanted it. In a way, this is me protecting it.”
“It’s the wrong choice.”
“Maybe.” It came out so soft “But at least it’s mine.” She smiled and a second later she dived in his hold while he held her against his chest, his face hidden in her hair. Her face was molded on his shoulders, sinking in his perfume, his skin, his everything. He squeezed her in his arms, making a memory of what it felt like to have her there. “Do me a favor.” Her voice came out muffled from his shoulders.
“What?”
“Take a look at your leg before it’s too late.”
He laughed, his body vibrating. She tilted her head and kissed his cheek, her lips lingering on his cheekbone, he moved slowly, his head turning so he’d be kissing her lips instead. A slow kiss, their lips hooking on each other’s and dragging each other out until he molded his completely in hers.
“I’ll stop the article.” He whispered
“How?”
“I’ll find a way.” He said and he was confident. She kissed his cheek again and pulled away because any longer and they wouldn’t be able to control themselves.
TAYLORS’S HOUSE / LONDON – 1 MONTH LATER
Taylor threw her bags on the couch and walked over to the kitchen, getting a beer from the fridge. She started drinking when she heard tiny steps coming down the stairway, she walked back in the living room to meet her sister, who rushed to her arms.
“Hey little one!” she laughed, accepting the hug. “Ready for bed?”
“Can you convince mama to watch a little TV?” she pouted
“Hmm, I don’t think so. I think it’s time to sleep.”
“That’s right, thank you Taylor!” said Beth as she came down the stairs. Taylor smiled when she saw her and knelt down in front of Lily, stroking her long black curls.
“How about you run upstairs and I read you a bedtime story?”
“Will it be about football?”
She laughed “I was thinking the little mermaid.”
Lily nodded with a smile and ran up the stairs. Taylor turned to Beth, the smile fading from her face. “How’s dad?”
“Same as yesterday but he still got that fucking cigarette in his hand.”
Taylor went to find her father. He was in his office, a cigarette in one hand and a pen in the other, he was writing, always writing she thought as she approached him. He lit it off when he saw her by pressing it on the ashtray and he smiled at her, opening his mouth to speak but it was interrupted by coughing.
“She’s right for being mad at you, you know?”
“I know.” He sighed “but it’s only the second one, I promise.”
She noticed he had his inhaler laid on the table, next to the papers. He got up “Is lily in bed?”
“Yes.” She said but she was still looking at the inhaler. Terrifying how much a person could be depended on material things after all. “Did you speak with the doctor?” she crossed her arms to her chest, biting her cheek.
“Same old. Same old.” He stroked his daughter’s face. “Let’s not talk about it.” He kissed her temple and walked away. That’s when her phone began to buzz in her pocket, she took it out, looking at the caller id, comfort washing over her as she the name and picked it up.
“How’s my terrifyingly tall best friend doing?”
His laugh echoed on her ear. “I’m good. Missed ya. Are you coming tomorrow?” She puffed her cheeks, having completely forgotten about the invitation. “I’ll take that as a yes because you don’t really have a choice.”
“Jude, it’s not the best of time and I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t make me call Trish and have her dragging you at the party—”
“You wouldn’t, you’re terrified of her.”
“That’s not true.” He said but his tone was betraying him. Taylor laughed. “Doesn’t matter, as long as you come. Maze will be here, Saka, Rashford—I heard beckham might make an appearance!”
“Now you’re just straight up lying!”
“Maybe but it’s what I’ll tell Trish and you know she’ll do anything in her power for you to come if she hears Beckham will be there.”
“You play dirty!”
“I play smart, love.”
She snorted. Looking behind her at Beth and her father leading Lily to her bedroom. “Will any other teams be there?” she heard him chuckling from the other side of the phone “Don’t be a smug!”
“it’s a party TJ! I don’t have the full list. Just come, have a drink. I wanna introduce you to a few people. Please for me. Do it for breaking my heart as a kid. It’s your last chance to see me before I head back to Germany”
“Fine. Ok. But I’m leaving early.”
“Sounds good to me darling.”
Some days he’d catch himself thinking about her, he’d hear a whistle and turn around expecting her to be there, moving her finger at him. He’d have a bad game and expect her to turn up in the locker room, yelling and making her sarcastic comments. Her exit was noticed by everyone, for most on the field but for Kylian, he’d feel it at home too. His lonely, big and cold home with the million-dollar view and the lifeless interior. He tried to replace her by flirting, going out, focusing on getting better and for a short time he thought he made it. During games he wouldn’t think about her so much, he’d play like he used to, her perfume fading from her memory until he felt the pain in his thigh midgame. It was brutal. He had to sit down, cursing himself while the medics gathered around him. He could hear her so clearly on his mind, the “I told you so” slipping from her lips.
And now while he was laying on his bed, reading her name on a magazine, thinking about the talent that was being wasted, he wished she was there, so he could tell her to run. Instead, she was stuck back in her own life, in her family home, tucking in her sister, working in an office in the morning and seeing her dad slowly fading. Different hallways, different lives. She laid on her couch, tv on, lights dim and she was writing on her computer, an article about Champions League and the teams that would be playing against each other next week. One of them of course was PSG and then she had to write his name and suddenly her fingers froze on the keyboard and she looked at it. Names, she thought, they have so much power over people.
NATIONAL EURO TEAMS EVENT – NIGHT
“This dress is too fucking tight” said taylor, dragging it so it wouldn’t lift too high.
“No…” mumbled Trish “that’s just you.”
Taylor smacked her as the two of them walked in the after party and Trish would have reacted if she wasn’t scanning the place for all the hot footballers she could get laid with. So many familiar faces and yet there was one missing “do you see beckham anywhere?”
“Jesus Trish, he is not coming. Bellingham lied to you—”
“No, he didn’t. I know when he lies, he knows I know, I can smell it on him and he’s too intimidated to lie.”
Taylor looked at her friend with worry, wondered how she always got her way with men so easily. Suddenly she felt someone coming and throwing his arm around her, and she would have jump if she didn’t recognize the cologne. She turned her head up, a smile Jude Bellingham pulling her closer to him.
“Jude, I can’t breathe—”
“Ah! I’m so happy you came!”
“Where is he Jude?” Asked Trish, interrupting their sweet moment. Jude looked up at her, smirking.
“Brought your bulldog with you, I see!” he smiled. “He’s not here yet.”
Trish walked closer to him, perhaps too close and Taylor watched them. She could feel the energy between the two, something between hate, fear and love, it was such a familiar sensation. “If he doesn’t show up, I’m gonna blame you and you are going to find that unpleasant.” She poked his chest and backed away, turning around--
“I’ve got to tell you something, you’re kinda hot when you’re like this.”
She flipped her hair, gave him a smirk “I’m always like this.”
Taylor couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Jude checking Trish out as she walked away, specifically focused on her curves, biting his tongue. “EW!” She exclaimed before she could stop herself. Jude returned his attention to her smiling and interlocked his arms with hers, “Come on, I need you to meet people.”
“What people?”
She wished she hadn’t asked because she heard so many names that night, her mind overloading with information. Until she reached the main target for the night. Sarina Wiegman, head coach of the national team of England. Jude took the initiative to introduce them while taylor was struggling to keep her cool. It was midway that she realized Jude was basically promoting her like she was a multitasking phone. She barely got the chance to speak while Jude was making a list of her entire career, sometimes exaggerating. Sarina seemed to be enjoying it, eager to know about her time in France, working with Coach Galtier.
“We are recruiting new people to follow us in Australia for the world cup. I’ll certainly keep you in mind young lady.” She said with a smile, before excusing herself. Taylor looked at Bellingham, with her mouth wide open. Jude was laughing at her reaction, feeling proud of his childhood friend.
“Did she really just say that?”
“Yeah, I think she did—”
Taylor had thrown herself on him before he could finish the sentence and he picked her up, spinning her around while they both laughed. When he let her down, she continued jumping out of excitement, only stopping when her eyes caught a sight of very familiar eyes, eyes that she hadn’t seen in years.
“Well, if it isn’t the first girl that left me on read!” He joked, a glass of champagne in one hand while the other was held out for her to shake.
“Mace…” she said in a sweet whisper, full of adoration and as soon as she gave him her hand, he pulled her in a hug. It was like she was on a time machine, surrounded by her childhood friends, before it all went to shit, a future full of possibilities. She pulled back to look at his face, smiling.
“Thank god you got rid of the bangs.”
He let out a belly laugh while Jude came round him and settled his arm around his neck “that’s what I keep telling him.”
“God this is so weird.” She mumbled “watching you two together when you both belong in different parts of my life.”
“Judy has told me all about you breaking his heart for Carbonara.”
“Carbonara is always worth it—wait a minute, did you just say Judy?”
Bellingham rolled his eyes “swear to god man—” Mason winked and squeezed Jude’s side as a joke. Jude jumped, stepping away from him immediately. “Stop doing that.” He whined. Taylor laughed at his reaction.
“You two fighting again?” Rushford stood behind Taylor, giving her a quick look before smiling “And in front of the lady?”
Taylor smiled when she saw him, putting her hand out immediately “I’m Taylor. It’s very nice to meet you, Marcus.”
“Oh? I think I just met your friend.” He shook her hand.
“Oh gosh is she drunk already?”
“I think she was looking for David beckham so possibly yes.” Taylor hid her face in her hands, groaning. “She’s with Saka now, though.”
“What’s she doing with him?” Jude asked, stepping forward and walking in between the crowd to get to Saka, Rushford followed behind them. Mason put his arm around Taylor and they started following behind the other two.
“So, is this like a European gathering for teams?”
“It’s supposed to be an unofficial celebration for the beginning of EURO 2024” He explained, talking in her ear so she’d hear better.
“Don’t tell me Ronaldo is coming.” She laughed
“Yeah, he’ll be here, right after Beckham.”
Taylor let out a loud laughter, elbowing her ex boyfriend. She looked forward, trying to find the rest of the group that had left them behind when she saw his silhouette in between all the others.
Expensive Dior suit. Golden watch on his wrist, same hand that he was holding his drink. She didn’t mean to but she held Mason’s hand, maybe because she needed to hold something in order not to run to him.
“Kylian.” She whispered and their eyes met in the darkness, the invisible string between the two, pulling them closer again.
Did he think about going to find her the minute he landed in London? Of course, he did and he probably would if it wasn’t for his management rushing him to get changed and got to event. He didn’t wanna be there, he wasn’t in the mood. His leg still hurt and most of these people, he didn’t even like but he had to pretend to be all happy and giggling. He tried to stay with his teammates from France for most of the night but people kept interrupting. He had his hand on his pocket for most of the night, ready to call her, see how she was doing. While he was in deep conversation with Giroud when he caught a glimpse of Mason Mount. He followed him with his eyes until he saw him stopping behind someone that looked like Bellingham. He tried seeing who was behind Jude but whoever it was, was short. Then his heart dropped, a woman’s figure that took him only 5 seconds to process was Taylor, being pulled into Mason’s arms. His froze right where he was, he watched, his eyes examining her every movement while she spoke with the two men she knew from childhood. Men that knew her better than he ever would probably.
“Kylian, are you ok?” Asked Giroud. Kylian looked at him quickly, nodding.
“Yes, I’ll be back right away.”
He excused himself, pushing the crowd so he’d get closer to her. Stopped when he was a few steps away from her and he saw her gripping on Mason’s arm, while her eyes locked with his.
Mason broke the ice by greeting Kylian like they were long lost friends, he even tried to make conversation with him but if you asked either Taylor or Kylian what he was saying, neither of them would be able to answer. They were to occupied listening to each other’s thoughts.
“Hey Mase. Why don’t you find Jude, I’ll come find you in five.”
Mason nodded and walked past Kylian, putting him in the shoulder as he left. Taylor then stepped closer to Kylian, motioned with her head and signaled him to follow her outside. He swallowed his entire drink in one ago and he followed.
Maybe if it wasn’t for Kylian she would have noticed her phone was out of battery again. Maybe if it wasn’t for Kylian she would have left earlier or Trish would find her quicker. Maybe she’d know that Beth was calling her repeatedly.
What do you mean in 3 chapters I'm gonna have to say goodbye to all of them????? What do you mean that this story is ending???? HOW THE FUCK DID A POSSIBLE ONE SHOT TURN TO 180 PAGES AND 90.000+ WORDS???? WHAT IN THE HELL???? WHY AM I CRYING??????? I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Adore you to the moon and back and thank you for always commenting please please never stop interacting it's the only thing that keeps this story going and i do not take it for granted. I can see that the hype is over and most of the readers are gone but the few that are still here please as always leave a comment to keep the fire going. Feedback is the best gift in the world. Now.... What do you think beth needs Taylor for? How did Kylian stop Ann??? Is Taylor gonna find her place in the national team and move to Australia???? SO MANY QUESTIONS!!! LEAVE YOUR ANSWERS 👀👀👀
#newromanticsfic#mbappe x reader#football writing#neymar x reader#mbappe imagines#imagines#kylian mbappe one shot#kylian mbappe imagines
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You can't tell me they're not doing this on purpose. And before anyone asks, it's not about whether or not this is true (I doubt Kate has spoken to Meghan in a long time) BUT it's about how this makes Kate look.
This is a story from royal "correspondent" Tom Bower. To call this man a charlatan is an understatement. He has written grossly inaccurate biographies on Meghan, Jeremy Corbyn, and others. He's also the man behind Rebel Prince, which was a less-than-flattering account of Prince Charles's life following Diana's death.
You might remember him as the guy who declared "It's Meghan I'm after!" on Good Morning Britain. So, again Kate is being singled out as the one pushing Meghan away, the one who wanted her shunned and out of the picture. Why is this? No, doubt in Bower's mind he believes Kate is justified in these fillings, but in reality, she comes off looking awful.
Why isn't Meghan at the coronation? Tom Bower says it's 100% Kate's fault.
“We must all be grateful that Kate, in the end I think, prevented Meghan from coming and said she ‘wouldn’t have her there under any circumstances,’”
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💬!!!
“The youngest Vykosovich made a body double for Regent McMullen, the mastermind behind all of this,” said Panhard. “These are his notes, recovered by the Regent, where he makes explicit mention of her by name as having done so. He quite admires her work.”
“I don’t see any evidence of her being an accomplice to Vykos here,” said Elias as he leafed through the folder, “only evidence that she did the job the Camarilla gave her.”
“What?” said Qadir.
“It seems obvious to me,” said Elias, giving Qadir a sideways look, “that if anyone as high ranking within the local Camarilla such as McMullen approached Nastasya, she would presume the work was sanctioned by the Prince.”
“The notes make mention of Anastasia Vykosovich, not Angela Corbyn,” said Panhard coldly.
“Of course,” said Elias, in a tone that suggested it was obvious. “You can hardly expect me to be the only one who’s figured out who Angela Corbyn really is."
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Harry and Meghan are now among the most unpopular public figures in Britain.
That is what my polling reveals this week, after they released their Netflix documentary.
Amid their scathing attack on the royal family, which comes barely three months after the death of the Queen, the British give the young couple a ‘net rating’ of minus 26.
If you want a reference point, this is where Jeremy Corbyn was before the last election.
Harry’s ratings, in other polling, have crashed from -13 before the documentary to -26 while Meghan’s have slumped from -32 to -39.
Of all the royals, only Prince Andrew, the disgraced prince, is more unpopular.
What explains their unpopularity and, more importantly, what is all this telling us about modern Britain?
Well, listen to a certain section of the cultural left and you will be told this backlash reflects the dark underbelly of a racist nation.
Britain simply never came to terms with a royal marrying somebody who is mixed-race.
This narrative is assiduously cultivated by Harry and Meghan themselves, with the Netflix documentary, amid dark violins, presenting the virtuous couple against the backdrop of what we are asked to believe is a deeply imperialist, racist, Brexit-voting, even violent nation that has still not come to terms with its past.
Only, I’m not convinced.
Aside from sitting uncomfortably alongside a large pile of evidence, which shows that levels of racial prejudice have now fallen to their lowest level in Britain’s recorded history —and have fallen even further since the vote for Brexit— much of this also glosses events in the recent past.
There was a time, not so long ago, when Harry and Meghan were among the most popular royal couples, more popular than Charles and Camilla and only disliked by around one in ten people --the same share who disliked the late Queen.
Nor were the British bothered by Meghan’s race. When they were asked how they felt about a royal marrying somebody who is mixed-race, most shrugged their shoulders.
Like having a non-white prime minister, or rejecting the idea that somebody who is not white is not truly British, the vast majority said it was ‘entirely acceptable’ for a royal to marry somebody of a different ethnicity.
Meghan’s race was never the issue.
What is the issue, what has driven a wedge between the couple and the country is something else entirely.
It is the belief system they have embraced, which is not only on full display in the documentary, but now clearly shapes how they see the world.
In their rush to join the new elite, among whom loyalty to a particular set of beliefs has become as much an indicator of somebody’s social status as their material wealth, Harry and Meghan have clearly decided to go all in on ‘radical progressivism.’
This is a belief system:
• which views the past and present of Western nations as structurally racist;
• which views their history not as a source of pride but shame and embarrassment;
• which defines people not as individuals but as members of fixed identity groups, who either belong to a victimised minority or the oppressive white majority which must seek forgiveness for its ‘white privilege,’ and
• which, because of these things, demands we radically revise, if not repudiate, the established institutions, myths and memories of the majority, such as monarchy and our sense of history.
Whether reflected in Harry and Meghan’s regular references to dubious concepts such as ‘unconscious bias,’ ‘systemic racism’ and ‘white privilege’, or their recruitment of radical progressive thinkers such as Afua Hirsch and Kehinde Andrews who crudely view Britishness through this racial identity politics, Harry and Meghan have now positioned themselves as leading spokespeople for this ideology.
For the morally righteous and narcissistic elite, this ideology it not simply political.
It is, as professor John McWhorter notes:
"a ‘new religion’ for a new elite, a belief system which links anything and everything to racism, which shows remarkably little interest in any evidence to the contrary, seeks to ‘cancel’ detractors, and is used by elites to both acquire more social status for themselves from other elites while simultaneously disassociating themselves from the supposedly racist, imperialist masses below."
But here’s the thing. This belief system, this ideology, which is only held by around 13-15 per cent of Britain, is really not very popular at all.
This helps to explain why Harry, Meghan and radical progressives who tend to dominate much of the media, the creative industries, the cultural institutions, the universities, and no doubt the Netflix editorial meetings, are rapidly losing friends and alienating the wider majority.
Take history, for example.
Whereas radical progressives are obsessed with addressing what they see as historical injustices, with 84 per cent of them believing that Britain cannot move forward as a country if it does not acknowledge mistakes made during the days of empire, only 41 per cent of all British people think this way.
Conversely, whereas nearly 60 per cent of all British people think there is no point continually going over the rights and wrongs of our history, that we should instead move forward as a country and focus on the future, only 16 per cent of radical progressives agree.
Most people do not want to spend their time being lectured to by a small elite, being told to focus obsessively on what went wrong rather than what went right in their national history, and to take responsibility for things that happened centuries ago and are routinely taken out of historical context, judged by the standards of today.
It is the same story when it comes to how people think about the legacy of empire, Britain’s role in the slave trade, or historical figures such as Winston Churchill.
Harry, Meghan and the radical progressives who dominate the institutions want us to focus overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, on the negative, chastising the country for things which happened decades, if not centuries ago, and rewriting history around the new sacred goals of equality and diversity.
But a much larger number of people, as my polling shows, want to focus on both the good and the bad in the story of who we are.
They want to acknowledge that while Britain’s Empire got some things wrong, it also got some things right;
That while Britain contributed to the slave trade, it also played a major role in abolishing it, and
While Churchill certainly said some unpleasant things, this reflected the reality of the time and is massively outweighed by how he helped save Western civilisation.
Nor are most people convinced by the standard progressive trope, wheeled out by the likes of Harry and Meghan, with little evidence beyond vague appeals to their ‘lived experience,’ that Western nations such as Britain are ‘institutionally racist.’
Today, just 6 per cent of British people agree with the idea, fashionable in progressive circles, that Britain is ‘very racist’ while a majority, 60 per cent, reject this claim altogether.
Most people loathe racism and do not want to live in a racist society.
But nor do they want the entire national conversation in the country —from what their children learn in school and the universities to what they are told by the media and museums- to be completely wrapped around this radical progressive story.
The key point is that when it comes to our history, our identity and our culture, most people do not share this worldview.
A worldview that now permeates the newspaper columns, the BBC, the adverts, the television programmes, the films, the books, and the Netflix documentaries they are bombarded with on a daily basis and which have reduced our culture to an extended lecture by a morally righteous small elite to the rest of the country, which is now looking on, like they look at Harry and Meghan, with a growing sense of despondency and disillusionment.
This not only helps to explain why support for Harry and Meghan has fallen off a cliff but why arguments about the culture wars are misleading.
Ever since Megxit followed Brexit, it has been fashionable to argue that the fallout in the House of Windsor is symbolic of this deeper rift in the country.
The typically insightful Trevor Phillips captured this a couple of years ago when, like Brexit, he talked about Megxit as “a sign of deeper divisions between two emerging factions” in Britain.
“One Britain wants to join the 'progressive,' globalist, woke world epitomised by Meghan and Harry's circle —George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, the Obamas et al.
Another yearns for the comfortable, domestic, common-sense future in which the Queen, William, Kate and Mary Berry represent the nation’s beating heart.”
Yet while there is some truth to this, we should push back against accounts that present these two sides.
These two very different visions of Britain, as though they are evenly balanced, as if the radical progressivism epitomised by Harry and Meghan is somehow comparable to the more traditionalist worldview epitomised by Will and Kate. Because it is not.
Brexit was a 52-48 divide, but Megxit is more like 80-20, with Harry, Meghan and radical progressivism adrift from the values of the majority.
There is a reason why Will and Kate, who are far more in tune with the majority, enjoy net ratings of +62 and +57, respectively, while Harry and Meghan languish on -26 and -39.
And why more than half the country tell me Will and Kate represent British values while not even one in ten say the same about Harry and Meghan.
The battle over who we are, playing out through this battle in the House of Windsor, is actually not that close at all. And we should say so more often than we do.
The radical progressivism, which unites Harry, Meghan and the elite class who now disproportionately dominate the institutions, is simply nowhere near to representing the worldview of the majority.
This also helps to explain why the populist revolt against this elite and the institutions is continuing across the West.
Neither Harry and Meghan, nor Will and Kate, will be running for election anytime soon.
But their very different levels of popularity and the reaction to the documentary are telling us something about how the forgotten majority see their nation, their history, their identity and, ultimately, themselves.
And given how wide this gulf now is, it is high time that Britain’s institutions begin to reflect this reality, too.
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I sent you an ask about how i disappointed joe was friends with a Prince charles and queen apologist. He was hanging out with an outspoken white man who openly supports the monarchy but you never even posted it.
I didn’t get it, sorry! Otherwise I would’ve posted it because I hate the monarchy hahahah. Anyway I checked and apparently Josh supports the Labour Party and campaigned for Jeremy Corbyn a few years back, so his political views are fine (imo, at least hahah). He did say that the queen is an extraordinary woman, which makes me roll my eyes, but he also clearly stated he’s a Republican, so… maybe he appreciates the queen for what she did rather than for what she represents, which still sucks but I get it. If you have any more info feel free to chime in!
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another ASOIAF AU doodle dump; recent sfw stuff from twitter & instagram, this time mainly focused on the kids 🥺 BUT also featuring uncle corbyn 👀
prince corbyn and his half-sister daenerea don’t get along in this AU at all--the sad consequence of unfortunate circumstances that they couldn’t mend between the two of them. because of this, he’s bitter towards her kids, something that just widens the rift between the two of them.
but here’s daenerea with new little baby jacaerys, she and her husband dorren in bed at winterfell, protective mama daenerea with little gaemon and baby taella in the back facing off with prince corbyn, corbyn & dorren facing off with gaemon & taella and then little jace, dorren telling his sons to take care of their mother before he goes further north, daenerea and jace on dragonstone with new baby laena, and then the grown up kiddos 🥺🥺
from l - r: aerion is the baby of the lot, taella and gaemon are the eldest, laena is the second youngest, and jacaerys is the middle child 💛
#ASOIAF AU#erii astrius#my ocs#geralt astrius#geralt kenobi#oh heck din & erii's kids don't have tags yet#hhhh the other kenobi kids don't either oh dear#din djarin#din djarin x oc#god i don't wanna tag cobb yall are just gonna be mad at me#i still can't believe cobb and erii are enemies in this like how the heck did that happen#narratively it works but STILL#anyways i love the kids#they'd be geralt kenobi luma kenobi and altair kenobi and then tiamat djarin and jacimir djarin in canon#i love them and erii loves them and their dads love them A Lot#giving erii white hair in this au is still throwin me for a loop l m f a o#the kids are also not white haired but that's ok#it's an au we're all just vibing#man what's the din/erii tag though#mandoshipping LMAO
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JEWS COME OUT AGAINST HARRY INTERVIEW WITH GABOR MATE
Prince Harry was today urged to reconsider holding an online event to promote his memoir, Spare, with a 'toxic trauma' doctor who has compared Hamas to the Jewish heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis and once branded Israel's government terrorists.
Gabor Maté, 79 - who has also defended Palestinian rocket fire at Israeli civilians - will join the Duke of Sussex on Saturday for an 'intimate' £17-a-head virtual conference to discuss 'living with loss and the importance of personal healing', followed by a live Q&A.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in New York, told the Jewish Chronicle: 'Whoever made the arrangements to have this individual appear with Prince Harry, did him no favours. If Prince Harry knew this man's record and still chose him for the interview, our center would criticise the prince for such an inappropriate choice.'
Harry's memoirs are dominated by the death of his mother Princess Diana in 1997. Buckingham Palace will be watching what he says at 5pm GMT tomorrow, especially after it emerged this week that King Charles decided to evict the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage in Windsor just 24 hours after the release of Spare.
Dr Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian physician, has his own harrowing story. Born in Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1944, when he was five months old his maternal grandparents were among the Jews murdered in Auschwitz. He was taken from his mother and hidden with an aunt until the war ended.
But it is not clear if Harry is aware of some of the controversies - and hurt - Dr Maté has caused with some of his words, especially on Israel and Palestine.
He has also recently defended Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from claims of anti-Semitism.
He has also appeared on a left-wing YouTube channel: The Grayzone, which has been branded pro-Kremlin.
MailOnline has contacted a representative of Prince Harry for comment and asked if the event is still going ahead and whether Harry was aware of the controversies surrounding Gabor Maté before the event was organised.
It is not yet clear who put Harry and Dr Maté together, and if they have spent time together in the past.
It could be the publishers of Spare or one of the Sussexes' team who put them in touch.
Archewell's executive director is Briton, James Holt one of Prince Harry's longest-serving team members, having led communications for the Royal Foundation from October 2017, when it was run by Harry along with Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Mr Holt, who has previously worked for the Liberal Democrats, also acted as Harry and Meghan Markle's UK spokesman and took on the role of executive director of the Archewell Foundation in March 2020. He is now based in LA.
There is also Mandana Dayani, who Harry and Meghan hired as a tech and media executive in June 2021.
There is also Ashley Momtaheni, one of the Sussexes' most recent hires. She joined last May as executive vice president for global communications.
In 2021 Gabor Maté said in an online event that Hamas was 'nothing compared to the terrorism of the Israeli government', accusing Israel of wanting to seize all of 'biblical Palestine' beyond the Jordan.
He also appeared on a podcast with left-wing comic Russell Brand, saying of Israel: 'It's the longest ethnic-cleansing operation in the 20th and 21st centuries. It's still going on.'
He then described Gaza as 'the world's largest outdoor prison'.
In another controversy, writing in the Toronto Star, he compared Hamas terrorists to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - the 1943 Jewish rebellion in German-occupied Poland
Dr Mate said in in 2014: 'The Palestinians use tunnels? So did my heroes, the poorly armed fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto.'
Defending the firing of rockets from Palestine into Israel, he said: 'Out of impotent defiance, they fire inept rockets, causing terror for innocent Israelis but rarely physical harm'.
He has spoken in friendly terms of Pink Floyd star Roger Waters, recently described as 'antisemitic to [his] rotten core'.
Gabor Maté also taken in part in discussions hosted by a far-left, pro-Kremlin blog and defended Jeremy Corbyn against charges of antisemitism, according to The JC.
Harry will speak publicly tomorrow as the rift with his family appeared to deepen this week.
His father appears to have retaliated to Spare by evicting the Sussexes from their grace-and-favour UK home.
The couple no longer have a base in Britain - in an act their allies say they consider to be 'cruel'.
And a wrangle over money could also follow.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could be owed a 'refund' after they were kicked out of Frogmore Cottage having spent £2.4million on refurbishments and apparently paying for rent up front.
King Charles issued notice to the Sussexes that they would need to vacate the five-bedroom mansion on Tuesday in a dramatic move reportedly prompted by the repeated broadsides at Queen Consort Camilla in the Duke's memoir, Spare.
The decision was backed both by his wife and the Prince and Princess of Wales, it is understood.
However, it has now prompted questions as to whether the Crown Estate, which leases out Frogmore to the Sussexes, might actually end up owing the couple money.
The Sussexes were given use of Frogmore Cottage in 2018 by Queen Elizabeth amid their explosive fall-out with William and Katherine.
It was originally five, run-down, staff residences but was knocked back into one large home with a private garden initially using £2.4million in taxpayers' money.
The couple themselves paid for anything over and above basic fixtures and fittings.
At the time, the couple were said to be 'relieved and pleased' to refund taxpayers for the renovations.
'They are 'very relieved and very pleased' to have been able to pay off the debt so quickly,' a source close to them told Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl.
'This has been a pro-active step and something they wanted to do from the outset.
'There was no requirement [from the Queen] for them to pay the money back but it was important to them that they did, and after the Netflix deal they were in a position to do so. I think this is quite a significant moment for them.'
The source added: 'They're now in their forever home, it's the start of their new life and they're very much looking forward to everything that's about to come.'
Gabor Maté has 20 years' experience working with people suffering from addiction and mental illness, with other specialisms such as stress and child development. But it has since emerged he once caused concern with the authorities for using a 'spiritual' psychedelic drug to treat patients.
He was born in Budapest in 1944, his maternal grandparents were killed in Auschwitz when he was five months old.
Tragically he was separated from his mother as a baby to save his life, while his father was subjected to forced labour by the Nazis.
The academic has described how he was unable to look at his mother when they were finally reunited when he was a toddler due to feelings of 'abandonment, rage and despair'.
He says the trauma he suffered continues to affect his adult life, leading to an intense emotional reaction when he perceives a threat of abandonment, especially from his wife.
He also believes it may have shaped his 'addiction' to shopping for classical music.
'As I was writing about my hardcore, drug-addicted clients I was certainly able to recognize similar areas in myself and in their behaviors,' he told Classical Voice in 2013.
'Working through the emotional dynamics and being with the emptiness that addictions attempt to fill, it just helped me understand myself better.'
The author is an outspoken supporter of decriminalising drugs, and has used the Amazonian plant ayahuasca to treat patients suffering from mental illness.
The psychedelic plant, which is taken as a brewed drink, causes people to experience hallucinations and other side effects, including vomiting.
Ayahuasca has traditionally been used by shamans and traditional healers but is now popular among Western tourists.
It remains illegal in the US, UK and Canada, and in 2011 Canadian officials threatened to arrest Dr Maté if he didn't stop using the drug to treat his patients.
Dr Maté regularly airs his opinions on a range of topics, and in 2021 appeared on a podcast series by the comedian Russell Brand where he discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict.
'There's no way you could have ever created a Jewish state without oppressing and expelling the local population,' he said.
Dr Maté called Gaza the 'world's largest outdoor prison,' and said that 'given those conditions, of course people will go for extremist leadership' - a reference to the 2006 election victory of Hamas.
'The disproportion of power and responsibility and oppression is so markedly on one side, that you take the worst thing you can say about Hamas, multiply it by a thousand times - and it still will not meet the Israeli repression, and killing, and dispossession of Palestinians,' he said.
He has published a series of books including In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Close Encounters With Addiction, When the Body Says No, The Cost of Hidden Stress and Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder.
He has received the Civic Merit Award of the City of Vancouver and the Order of Canada for his work on addiction and other mental health-related contributions.
Prince Harry's decision to select Dr Maté to help promote his memoir is another sign of his interest in therapeutic healing, having previously discussed his experience of going through therapy.
The event, organised in collaboration with Harry's publishers Penguin Random House, will take place at 5pm UK time on Saturday March 4.
It comes at a fragile time for the Sussexes, who have seen their popularity ratings in the US drop significantly since the release of Spare last month - and now face a decision over whether to attend Charles' coronation.
Since December last year, Harry's popularity has sunk by 48 points and Meghan's by 40, giving them net approval ratings of -10 and -17 respectively, according to a survey by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek.
Sources suggest neither William nor King Charles are prepared to offer any apology prior to the coronation, meaning the Sussexes may stay away.
'There is still a huge amount of ill-will boiling over in the family,' one said.
Save the date cards are set to be sent in two weeks to the 2,000 guests who have been chosen to attend the pared-down spring ceremony.
Numbers have been reduced from the 8,251 who attended Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 to make the event more streamlined amid the cost of living crisis.
Formal invitations to those who have indicated they will accept will not be posted until three weeks before the event itself.
One well-placed source says Harry has made it clear that he wants a private apology of some sort from both Charles and William if he is to attend.
It is unclear whether Meghan will attend the ceremony if Harry chooses to do so, but as the date chosen for the coronation also falls on their son Archie's fourth birthday, there are doubts she will be present regardless of the ongoing family feud.
Anti-semitism has been rising the US at an alarming rate. I can't imagine Harry's choice to sit down with Gabor is going to go down too well with Americans, especially my fellow liberals.
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Schofield? Schmofield. 😏 (& the same to everyone obsessed by his sex life. 😏)
Yes. well, as I've said on quite a number of occasions to various people, all this celebrity stuff, in particular, is for the birds. I know I've said "for the birds" quite a few times recently, I think. But pretty much all celebrity stuff, is for me now, in particular celebrity sex scandals, or pseudo scandals, whether homosexual or heterosexual, whether they would involve Philip Schofield, or I don't know Prince Harry and Meghan Markle! Are a complete waste of time as news, particularly from the viewpoint, of any sincere and informed socialist. Well ... I know that quite a few people use or tend to use celebrity issues, as a way of relating themselves to more general issues: or even simply so that they have something to talk about, and everybody else will know what it is they're talking about.
But: this is simply a very shallow way to relate to the world. And you do have to remember, that the more time people spend on line or anywhere else, talking about celebrities, and gossiping about them, the less time they and the actual media will have to concentrate on ordinary people and talk about them and about issues that matter.
So it's a question of where the focus should be! 🙂
And don't give me that stuff all about how immoral Phillip Schofield or someone like him is. He actually fits into an a number of very normal in inverted commas cliches: that of the boss who has an affair with his secretary, which this is the equivalent of; then there's the established gay trope of the much older and more experienced man with a lot younger man, and so on and so forth. To suggest that this is anything extraordinary or criminal is simply naive. It's both naive and hypocritical: which unfortunately both are very prevalent features of contemporary British society. 😏
As I told to that Wolf person or whatever his name was on a fairly recent Twitter thread, I know exactly why - the web of reasons why - this Phillip Schofield thing is being made the most tremendous fuss of on social media right now. As I told him, it is partially mass hysteria which is fueled by the mainstream media; Britain goes through a paedophile panic every so often, which was once very neatly satirised by the satirical program Brass Eye! 🙂
And secondly, to go along with the mass hysteria, we also have a sort of mass collective guilt, which was really sparked off by, and has been hanging around for years, due to the failure by the police, the media and I suppose ultimately the public, to catch and expose Jimmy Savile as the kind of predator he was. As I also said on Twitter, worrying about Savile really is shutting the stable door after the horse has indeed bolted. 😏
But the comparisons being made, particularly on YouTube right now, between Schofield and Savile, are quite simply ridiculous and obviously completely unwarranted. Often they are done by insinuation: like with the juxtaposition of a picture of one with a picture of the other, both Photoshopped so as to look extremely unpleasant, particularly on the thumbnail where everyone can see it. This is both clickbait and libel of the worst variety and it should not be allowed by YouTube, and it should be removed. But we all know they're much more interested in censoring political channels.
Yes. This smearing by
association: that is something the modern mainstream media are well known to do. **Usually when they are producing some type of propaganda or another.** Mr Corbyn got plenty of that: but that's another matter.
And we also notice - at least I do - that most of the fuss about Schofield, at least that which has revealed itself in my YouTube feed, and nearly all the smears about Schofield, are produced by right wing sites, the likes of GB News, and further right. The kind of poisonous sneery tone, of a lot of these obviously non-socialist sites towards Schofield; denote to me two things. And often I think it's a mixture of the two! Namely, a kind of poisonous - when is it never poisonous - schadenfreude brought on by jealousy of a very successful career (some of these tubers are obviously people on the peripheries of showbiz). Second would be the still commonly felt among right wingers hostility towards homosexuals. Which they are cunningly attempting to disguise as something completely else: but I believe I can read the real emotional and ideological message particularly behind some of the more sneery type of channels. If you didn't hate gays, and you weren't jealous pricks, you wouldn't be sneering! is my conclusion. 🤷♀️
I don't really care whether a person is "moral", by the way. But I do care about fairness. The current treatment of Schofield, and the juxtaposition with Savile, is most certainly unfair. 😏
Anyway: the modern left, well most of it, doesn't appear to care about fairness: and once again quite stupidly they appear to have fallen for another scam. Or a mass hysteria; or a witch hunt; whatever one wants to call it. Similar to with the #itwasascam antisemitism thing really. 😏 Well at least, I can see them cheering it along on Twitter. I don't know if any left YouTuber has made any pieces positive or negative about Schofield: I haven't seen any of the ones I follow cover it, I haven't really looked. 🤷♀️
And similar of course to #metoo; which died a death really, with the flop of Amber Heard. And a bloody good thing it did!
What I'm saying - the conclusion I have come to - is the all these kind of celebrity things, when even not total smears, are a complete waste of time: and should not be touched with a barge pole by the left.
In fact, I would ban all this type of idea of social justice! That they think is social justice anyway; when really it's based on media bullying and Twitter dog piling; and doesn't achieve anything anyway. Much like that other pompous person on a Twitter thread I was on a couple of days ago was saying something like I was stopping successors of Savile from being hunted down! 😄 Like a) Schofield was anything at all like Savile; and like b) this fellow or a bunch of his fellow nerds on Twitter were going to do anything of the sort! Rotfl. 🤣 More people with a stupid keyboard warrior superhero complex! 😏👎
That's what I think. 😏😄
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Is the Raven Prince averse to touch and afraid of pain because of what Davix and Olphix did to him when he was a child?
Hi anon!
The Raven Prince is touch averse in every universe. He has definitely gone through some things that made that worse, but those things aren't the same in every universe, and he'd be touch averse regardless of those things. The degree of severity might shift, he's just never been very drawn to this kind of intimacy.
I see it as more inherent to him as a person, in the same way that he rejects his human flesh simply because he prefers to be a bird, and prefers to be in the sky. Therefore at least in when he is a bird shifter, a big part of his touch aversion is specifically being touched while he's in the form that he likes least and has the most dysphoria over. He's the shifter that says most often - out of all of our shifters - that he is an animal first 'I am only a raven' 'I'm just a raven' than any of our other shifters (Julvia, Gulvi, Fenwrel, etc.)
Imho, the Raven Prince's issues with touch come down to issues with his body, and in fae stories, this is specifically because he identifies as a bird first and foremost and is kind of always craving to be back in that form, and I think sees living in human form as a detraction and not a bonus. It's also why he shifts so much more often than any of the other animal shifters in any of his stories. He's always very quick to return to raven form.
As a human, I'm still noodling on his touch aversion, but I think it will be something he's always had. Some of it will likely be exacerbated due to trauma, but he's the kid who never wanted to hug extended family. I think honestly even in scenarios where the Raven Prince picks up a partner, he never sees that partnership as something with a lot of physical affection of any kind, and doesn't really identify with that kind of intimacy as being like...wanted often.
I'd say a fair bit of that is also neurodivergence + sensory overload issues.
#asks and answers#the raven prince#corbyn prince#underline the silver#the nascent diplomat#fae tales#fae tales au#the raven prince is a tough one but i really think his issues with his body in human form#would be related to sensory processing issues around anything tactile#he's always been a very neurodivergent character#even in his best incarnations he's particular and he has special subjects (see: tRP introducing magic to Gwyn in TND and how excited he is)#his dislike of things like war and physical battle#all root back into his issues around touch tbh#which kind of makes me a little amused when i think about it him and the fact that he's so good at avoiding war#because he hates the thought of all those fae being gross and touching and hurting each other's bodies dsalkfsa#administrator gwyn wants this in the queue
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how does prince gregory meets lucy in the royals au?
ljasdlkfj;alsdjfklajs;dlkfj oh anon
I would answer that but that would be a HUGE spoiler for the in-universe OTWTTW oneshot I'm planning on writing.
Instead, I'll leave you with this--the prologue of said oneshot;
Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the abbey, casting a gorgeous glow on the flower arrangements. The seats at St. Paul were filled to bursting with people dressed in their finest attire and most ridiculous hats.
But Gregory barely paid any attention to it.
His only focus was on the woman in white at the end of the aisle.
“Stop!” He screamed and heads swiveling shock, watching as he raced down the aisle. A bead of sweat trickled down his neck, his hands were shaking, and he was out of breath but the words came anyway.
“Don’t do it, Lucy, don’t do it, don’t marry him--”
Greg was surrounded by a sea of gasps as he came to stand in front of Lucy, who looked close to tears, and Larry, who seemed mildly amused. Behind him, the crowd was aflutter.
“Prince Greg? Here?--”
“Bloody hell--is that Prince Colin?!--”
“Oh my god--”
“Adele’s gonna be so mad she skipped this--”
“I’m texting DeuxMoi right now--”
“Fuckin royals--”
That last one was, unmistakably, their PM, Jeremy Corbyn, and Greg knew vaguely that he’d likely be hearing about this from Anthony at some point soon; Corbyn already thought that they were a rather large waste of taxpayer money. In all honesty, he’d likely be hearing about all of this from Anthony soon; interrupting a wedding at St. Paul’s--not to mention the wedding of the year--was hardly what Anthony had meant when he’d last lectured Greg about making something of himself, of finding a purpose.
But he knew better now. He had a purpose. And he was looking at her, resplendent in white, about to marry another man.
“Don’t do it,” he said again, his voice breaking. “I love you. Marry me.”
“Greg, I--” Lucy bit back a cry. She looked at Larry, who shrugged. She looked at Hermione, whose jaw had been firmly on the ground since Greg’s entrance. She looked at the crowd. Then, she looked at Greg again.
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
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Reading List, After All the Other edition.
"I need to walk down a sidewalk somewhere on a shady afternoon, find a table outside a cafe, sit down, order a drink, and I want to sit there with that drink and I want a fly to land on that table. Then, in the background, I want to hear somebody laugh. Then I want to see a woman walk by in a green dress. I want to see a dog walk by, a fat dog with short brown hair and with grinning eyes. I want to die sitting there. I want to die upright, my eyes still open. I want an airplane to fly overhead. I want a woman to walk by in a blue dress. Then I want that same fat dog with short brown hair and grinning eyes to come walking by again. That will be enough, after all the other, after everything else." [Charles Bukowski]
[Image: Ellsworth Kelly's slippers]
*
Unquotable in the best way, this is quite the ride [Sophie Heawood]
Welcome to the chaos era of social media [Annalee Nevitz, The Atlantic]
"They presented an irreverent version of adulthood that I had never seen on TV or in life: a playful yet sophisticated world where grown-ups joked and laughed together and didn’t take themselves too seriously, even when everyone around them was being very serious indeed." On Seinfeld's relevancy, 25 years later [Maya Salam, The New York Times]
"Why on Earth would it be odd to eat alone, or go for a walk alone, or live alone, or do virtually anything alone? Everyone’s their own person, we live in a free country, what possible reason could you have not to do whatever it is you want to do, accompanied or not? Equally, must we really pretend that it is always fun and great and liberating to do all those things by yourself?" [Marie Le Conte, The New Statesman]
"In 1990, my parents decided to raise me in the United States, and we all had a chance to choose a new identity. They asked for my 3-year-old’s opinion: What would I like to be called in this new place? I answered, the story goes, with Connie, after that pretty “ayi,” or auntie, we watched on TV. That ayi was Constance Yu-Hwa Chung, or, as the world knows her, Connie Chung." All the little Chinese girls named Connie [Connie Wang, The New York Times]
Why so many autistic people still identify with the term "Asperger’s" [Zoe Corbyn, The Guardian]
"Let me grapple! Let me exist!" Less TikTok, More Screaming [Persinette}
My Taste Is Basic. So What? [Samantha Irby, Harper's Bazaar]
“Amazon doesn’t care about books … a book is just another thing in a warehouse,” [B&N CEO] Daunt says. “Whereas bookstores are places of discovery. They’re just really nice spaces.” How Barnes & Noble bounced back #BoycottAmazon [Lauren Aratani, The Guardian]
Why don’t we realise how screwed up the UK really is? [Jonn Elledge, The New Statesman]
Notes from Prince Harry’s Ghostwriter [JR Moehringer, The New Yorker]
"That we’re not the most beautiful is a frequent accusation, as if the only currency exchange for male power is perfect female beauty when, as Eve Babitz worked out and wrote down, an equal conversion for a woman is self-possession." [Emma Forrest, The Guardian]
Spiraling in San Francisco’s Doom Loop - Downtown San Francisco will survive this, but it will be a sad few years [Elizabeth Weil, Curbed]
No, Cities Aren’t Doomed Because of Remote Work - it's complicated [Alissa Walker, Curbed]
The Best Beer Gardens In London, mapped [Londonist]
13 truly great ads [George Mack on Twitter]
The colour of the city: The argument for red [Peter Ackroyd, Londonist]
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Just to clarify, I am a REPUBLICAN. However, I can see the ways in which sometimes monarchy is better, and republics worse. Sometimes I believe the ideal is a democratically elected monarch (and yes they're a thing).
I'm not an anti Harry nor an anti Meghan, nor pro Will and Kate (like I said, I don't like royal families, period) simply study both sides of stories, have always lived in one monarchy or the other, and try to provide objective criticism.
And right now I see people like the Princess Royal and King Charles III who are doing remarkable things for the environment and for charities in Britain, or King Felipe of Spain, who just was in a big event to promote friendship amongst Spanish-speaking countries, and I think well, bloody well done. Certainly better than politicians who are all (except Jeremy Corbyn) shameful and corrupt to their eyeballs.
And then I look at Prince Harry and think, disloyal waste of space. Not because I'm comparing him with anyone, not because I unreasonably have it against him, but because through my life I've never known him to do one thing (ONE!) That I could even respect.
Difference with other very opinionated people here is that I am not predisposed to be in favour of anybody, and I make very thoroughly informed opinions and choices, because I'm always reading the news.
#republican#monarchy#british monarchy#spanish monarchy#british royal family#king charles iii#prince william#prince harry#meghan markle#king felipe#princess catherine#the princess royal
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Every Premier League club’s most famous fan
Who does the Queen support? Here's your team's A-list supporter…
Georgi Kinkladzi is still friends with the Gallagher brothers to this day. The ex-Manchester City playmaker got chatting to the Oasis lads back in the 90s and he told FFT this issue that he was impressed by the pair's fanatical devotion to the club.
“Oasis always had my respect, as they were die-hard City supporters and wouldn’t miss a match unless they were on tour,” Kinkladze said. And these Rock N Roll Stars aren't alone - incredibly famous people follow the Premier League, just like the rest of us.
So who’s your club’s biggest fan? And we mean fan – someone who actually attends games and screams at the telly, not just an A-list actor who was presented with a shirt once.
Arsenal
Take your pick. Arsenal are followed by politicians (Keir Starmer, John Bercow, Jeremy Corbyn), comedians (Dara O’Briain, Matt Lucas, Alan Davies) and actors (Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Daisy Ridley) alike. They’ve even got infamous supporters who disgrace the rest of the bunch – see Osama Bin Laden and Piers Morgan.
While Jay-Z and Chris Martin have visited the Emirates in recent years, there isn’t much proof that the pair are diehards. Likewise, Prince Harry reportedly supports Arsenal but hasn’t spoken as much about football as his brother, William. Rihanna was friends with Mesut Ozil, but we’d wager that she hasn’t been through the hardships of the Nicklas Bendtner days to truly call herself a Gooner.
In terms of proper Arsenal fans who are genuinely excited about Gabriel Martinelli, the most famous is probably Idris Elba. Luther himself helped run the 'No More Red' campaign of this season and appeared in a kit launch video for the club's 2019/20 kit, claiming “I could’ve played for Arsenal you know,” before telling his mates that he was top scorer at Under-9 level for Canning Town. Perhaps Mikel Arteta’s found a long-term replacement for Alex Lacazette…
Aston Villa
As the biggest club in a major UK city, it’s understandable that Aston Villa have plenty of notable followers. Three-quarters of Black Sabbath, actor David Bradley and even former PM David Cameron all follow the claret and blue – though Cameron did once forget which team he supported and claim to be a Hammer instead.
But in terms of who takes the title of the most famous, it’s hard to argue with Prince William. He seems to genuinely loves the club, looked mightily upset when handing runners-up medals to his team in the 2015 FA Cup final and has gone on record about how much he loves Aston Villa. He’s president of the FA too, which is more of a credential than most of us have to prove we love the beautiful game.
Is he the most famous fan though? Tom Hanks is apparently a big Villa fan – since 2001, no less. And only one of them played Forrest Gump...
Bournemouth
Bournemouth isn't exactly a big town – and its club aren't particularly big, either. Many residents actually support Southampton, so picking a most famous fan is a tough ask.
Seth Rogan is apparently a Cherry, but is he actually?
Probably not. Former Celebrity Masterchef champion is reportedly a fan, too – it's doubtful just how big, though, considering she's not from the area. Alex James from Blur said he was a fan on Soccer AM once, so we'll give it him – partly because the only other big shout is for Matt Tong, the drummer from Bloc Party, who used to be on the AFCB fan forum. It's slim pickings, unfortunately.
Brentford
Cameron Diaz is apparently a Brentford fan. That's pretty impressive - though it's reported that the Hollywood A-lister is a Bee thanks to restauranteur Dan Tana, so it's unlikely she'd be able to pick Thomas Frank out of a line-up.
Greg Dyke is a fan of Brentford (though it's claimed he also follows Man United), Dean Gaffney from Eastenders supports the club too, while Phil Collins used to watch the Bees before getting a season ticket at QPR. Ex-Sky Sports presenter Natalie Sawyer and Yes keyboard Rick Wakeman are both fans, too: we like to imagine them sat together.
Though they're not the most famous people individually, however, we're going to give the title to Hard Fi's Richard Archer and The Bluetones' Adam Devlin as a joint bid, since their devotion is perhaps stronger than anyone else's. Their bands are quite famous, too – more when combined – and together they recorded a song dedicated to ex-winger Jota.
Brighton & Hove Albion
One name comes to mind when you think of Brighton fans. Well, two, depending on whether you call him Norman Cook or Fatboy Slim. He’s the town’s most famous export and has played gigs at the Amex.
Cook is in good company though. Des Lynam, Jon Snow (from the news, not Game of Thrones) and Simon Cowell are all Seagulls, though Cowell has admitted his is more of a passing interest than a full-blown fanatical devotion. Jamie Theakston and Michael Fish complete a who’s who of yesteryear faces who also follow the Albion.
Chelsea
Situated in one of the poshest areas of London, it’s perhaps no surprise that Chelsea can count Natalie Dormer, Jeremy Clarkson, Mark Ronson, Ellie Goulding, Gordon Ramsey and Cara Delevigne as Blues fanatics. Damon Albarn from Gorillaz has had a season ticket most of his adult life too, and even led a chant at a gig in Belgium, in tribute to Eden Hazard.
In terms of the most famous fan, Will Ferrell is up there: he’s appeared at Soccer Aid and now owns Los Angeles FC, so it’s genuine support, rather than wanting to look cool and fit in with other celebrities. But even Ron Burgundy probably can’t argue with Alfie.
Michael Caine has followed the west Londoners through the thin as well as the thick, famously telling a reporter once that he was off to watch the Blues on his “big high def” telly. Not a lot of people know that.
Crystal Palace
Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan was apparently once shocked when star of Schindler’s List, Star Wars and Taken, Liam Neeson, phoned him asking for tickets to Selhurst Park. There are conflicting reports regarding Neeson’s penchant for Liverpool too, but there are other stars who are confirmed Eagles fans.
Comedian Eddie Izzard once claimed, “All I really want is for Crystal Palace to win every game from now until the end of time - that's all”; two of The Inbetweeners follow Palace too (Simon Bird and James Buckley) and Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid sang Wilfried Zaha’s “He's just too good for you” chant on air after he had been called up to the England squad. Apparently, even Nigel Farage is a Palace fan.
Bill Nighy has to be the most famous, though. The Love Actually star is patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace FC Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children’s Club and one Christmas, he addressed the Palace faithful, speaking of his pride to be an Eagle.
Everton
Beatle Paul McCartney grew up an Everton fan but later admitted he supports local rivals Liverpool as well, given his connection to the city and some of the Reds’ biggest stars. Macca says that he has “special dispensation from the Pope”, but it does weaken his shout for the most famous Toffees fan around, even if he was in the most famous band of all time.
Rocky star Sylvester Stallone is reportedly a big enough fan of Everton to regret not buying them in 2007. His boxer pal Tony Bellew is a diehard toffee himself, but perhaps not the most well-known of celebrities to follow them. Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud, Amanda Holden, Shane MacGowan and John McEnroe could all be considered pretty famous Blues.
But perhaps the best bid belongs to Judi Dench. Not only is M herself a big fan along with her husband and son, she’s a patron of Everton's official charity, Everton in the Community.
Fulham
Fulham have a surprisingly famous fanbase. Rather like Chelsea, they're situated in west London – but still, boasting the likes of Hugh Grant, Barry from Eastenders, Richard Osman, Keith Chegwin and Eminem (apparently) is impressive.
The most famous, though? It's not even close: Margot Robbie has said she's a Fulham fan and been pictured with a Whites' scarf. Given that she's actually been spotted at the Cottage a few times too, it seems fair to give her the title.
Leeds United
Leeds is a one-club city, making Leeds United massively supported. The Kaiser Chiefs are named after Leeds legend Lucas Radebe's former club, while Nasser Hussain, Nick Faldo and Ken Hom all follow the Whites.
There are certainly big shouts for the most famous. Chris Moyles was the biggest radio DJ in Britain at one point, Ed Miliband almost became PM – and actually didn't share his liking of football much as he feared it would count against him at the polls – while Gareth Gates, Jeremy Paxman and Jon Bon Jovi have all been counted in the Elland Road faithful in the past.
But the winner? Russell Crowe. The Kiwi-born actor narrated Leeds documentary Take Us Home but he's actually a massive supporter, having followed them for years. "I used to come home from sport in the afternoon, me and my brother, and watch Match of the Day," Maximus Decimus Meridius himself once claimed. He will see them win the Premier League one day – in this life or the next.
Leicester City
Mention the words “Leicester City” and one man comes to mind. Gary Lineker doesn’t just take the crown of Leicester’s most famous fan and player, but their most famous son while he’s at it. His dad owned a market stall in the town centre and on uni open days at Leicester University, students are shown where Linekers’ parents live en route to the accommodation. The man basically runs the city.
Lineker isn’t the only talented footballer with allegiances to Leicester. Kasabian guitarist Sergio Pizzorno is not just a decent player – as proven on Soccer Aid and Soccer AM – he’s so crazy about his club that he wore their socks when having trials with another club. Serge’s close friend and Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding is supposedly a Colchester fan, though.
Leicester can also count Manish Bhasin from BBC Sport in their fanbase, crooner Engelbert Humperdink and Lib Dem politician Lembit Opik. The 2003 rugby hero Martin Johnson is also Leicester born and bred, meaning Lineker isn’t the only famous England World Cup star from the area.
Liverpool
When you’ve been the kings of Europe six times, you’re bound to pick up some big admirers: still, boasting Nelson Mandela, Angelina Jolie, Samuel L Jackson, and LeBron James is taking the biscuit.
That’s not all. Dr Dre has been a fan since 1988 – perhaps he’s heard John Barnes rap – but given that he said he “read about” their 2001 UEFA Cup win, he’s perhaps not the biggest Red. Gary Barlow counts himself a Liverpool fan but given Take That pal Robbie Williams’s links to Soccer Aid, if he was as big a fan as Robbie, we’d probably all know about it.
US songstress Lana Del Rey has claimed that she loved watching Luis Suarez play and got into Liverpool a few years ago. While that’s pretty cool, we’re going to give the most famous Red to Daniel Craig. When meeting the likes of Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, he looked genuinely starstruck, which is impressive considering he has a license to kill.
Manchester City
There's only one team in Manchester, so the old joke goes. Pick almost any famous face from the city and you'll fine they might be blue rather than red: Ian Curtis, Johnny Marr, Rick Wakeman, Alan Carr, Timothy Dalton and Alan Rickman are or were all reported followers. Pre-money, too.
As much as it would annoy them to pick David Hasselhoff over them as Manchester City’s biggest fan, though – yes, apparently that’s true – there’s no denying that Noel and Liam Gallagher are the two biggest Citizens going. Noel has been on Super Sunday, interviewed Mario Balotelli and even celebrated titles with the squad.
He’s not just a City fan though, but a good luck charm for Italy. After Alessandro Del Piero spotted him at a match in 2006, he asked the Oasis star to come to the World Cup final, in the same clothes, as he believed him to be a good luck charm. “It goes without saying,” Gallagher recalled. “Who won the World Cup? Noelly G.”
Manchester United
Manchester United have the most supporters in the world. It’s unsurprising then that the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Megan Fox, Justin Timberlake, Steve Coogan and Thom Yorke are all Red Devils. But who’s the biggest?
Eamon Holmes got into United because of George Best and even read a eulogy at his funeral. Drake has claimed to support United but famously flip-flops between clubs, cursing them as he goes. Karl Pilkington, Rory McIlroy, Danny Boyle, John Simm and even Kim Jong Un are all apparently fans too. A special mention must go to rapper Dave, who openly references the club in his music and was even been pictured trying to tap up Jadon Sancho for a move while the winger was at Dortmund.
The fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, is a huge Red and has been pictured at United games and their training ground a few times now - but we’re going to pick Stormzy as the most famous, given that he’s on the up and Bolt’s star has peaked (sorry, Usain). Big Mike even helped unveil Paul Pogba.
Newcastle United
Newcastle is a massive city with massive fans. See Sting, Cheryl Cole, Brian Blessed, Gabby Logan, James Bay, Sam Fender and even Tony Blair, whose prized possession is a No.9 shirt signed by Alan Shearer.
Really though, there’s only ever going to be one winner. Well, two. Ant and Dec are the Toon’s most famous export/s, appear on the odds list to manage the club every time the manager's job is vacant. Howay, the lads.
Nottingham Forest
Forest were massive in the 70s so it's no surprise that they've had their fair share of famous fans over the years. James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers, cricketer Stuart Broad and politician Ken Clarke are all apparently supporters.
But we're going for Carl Froch. He's certainly famous enough and displayed his fanatical devotion to the Tricky Trees by wearing their colours in interviews and appearing on Soccer AM. Plus, we don't dare argue with him that he's not the most famous.
Southampton
It’s not a great start when you mention a member of Coldplay that isn’t Chris Martin. Drummer Will Champion, however, has a season ticket at Southampton.
Lucy Pinder, Chris Packham and David Frost all make the cut of famous Saints fans (some more famous than others), but probably the most famous must go to Craig David. The RnB singer has been a fan of the club all his life, but he often misses midweek games, given that he’s usually making love on Wednesday.
Tottenham Hotspur
Louis van Gaal is a legend at Barcelona, Ajax and Bayern Munich. But he grew up a Tottenham Hotspur fan, citing Jimmy Greaves and the “fantastic white shirts” for his fandom.
He’s not the only surprising Spurs fan. Avelino, Annie Mac, JK Rowling, AJ Tracey and Dave Bautista all claim to follow the Lilywhites, while legendary broadcasters Trevor McDonald and Barry Davies are also apparently huge Tottenham fans. A special mention should also go to Lord Sugar, who was chairman of the club at one point, but remains a loyal fan to this day (even if he did admire Arsene Wenger).
The most famous Spurs fan though has to go to Adele. She's headlined Glastonbury, won Grammy and Brit awards… but hasn't received quite the same accolades for her rendition of "Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur", unfortunately.
West Ham United
A debate rages over the biggest celebrity West Ham United follower. You see, if Queen Elizabeth II really does follow the Irons, she’s undoubtedly the top corgi. But did she call Dimitri Payet a judas when he left? Would she declare “one thinks Mark Noble is the East End Xavi”? According to rumours, she took a shine to Cesc Fabregas when Arsenal visited the palace years ago: if she is a Hammer, she’d have been livid with him joining Chelsea.
Since no one’s likely to confirm Her Majesty’s support for West Ham any time soon, we have to fall back on the famous faces we know support them. Ray Winstone, Kriss Akabusi, Keira Knightly, John Cleese, Len Goodman and Triple H is quite a line-up. Russell Brand even interrupted Sam Allardyce’s post-match interview to kiss him.
Love him or loathe him, it’s probably James Corden for the most famous. The TV host and Tony Award-winner has made no secret of his love for West Ham, and his character Smithy Gavin and Stacey from is naturally also a Hammer. So it’s Corden. Unless it’s the Queen.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Luke Skywalker supports Wolverhampton Wanderers. OK, Mark Hammill was asked to support them by a fan group and later admitted, “I only became an accidental ‘fan’ when someone asked if I liked the wolves and I said yes because I thought they meant the animal.”
Of Wolves’ fans who actually know they’re fans, Beverly Knight, Eric Idle, Edward Elgar and apparently Mike Tyson have all been reported to follow the club. Andy Murray has worn their shirt to training, though that was more because his manager supported them. Potentially the most famous must go to Robert Plant though, lead singer of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin and vice-president of the club. Plant has been a fan of the club since he was 5.
“It's been a bloody murderous journey. This is paradise,” he said of his time following the club and their promotion under Nuno.
Mark White by FourFourTwo
#Premier League club’s#Famous fans#Arsenal#Colin Firth#Aston Villa#Prince William#bournemouth#Matt Tong#brentford#Phil Collins#Brighton & Hove Albion#Norman Cook#fatboy slim#Chelsea#Damon Albarn#crystal palace#Eddie Izzard#Everton#sylvester stallone#Fulham#Margot Robbie#leeds united#jon bon jovi#Leicester City#Sergio Pizzorno#liverpool fc#Daniel Craig#Manchester City#Noel and Liam Gallagher#manchester united
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PRINCE PAOLO's 2022 CHRISTMAS SPEECH “The Sexy Sheikh’s Sportwashed Balls ⚽️⚽️” ** ⚠️ Warning: Prince Paolo is an Absolute Monarch. Any argument will result in a Boxing Day Bath in the Sheriff of Nottingham’s iron forgeries ⚠️ ** My Dear Subjects, Your Royal Family would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and an Unhappy New Year🎄 After the sad loss of our beloved Aunt Lizzie 😢 (oh well 🤷♂️), I’m delighted to pronounce myself Emperor of Everything 💯 I do love to phase out the ptarmigan on my vast Highland moors, especially as that’s where I phased out another old bird in September 👑 (Ed: Noooo! Cut! Cut!💥) So, the year in review! We LOVE Putin’s world-leading warmongering & depravity, Zelenskyy’s kill count, Albanese’s great win and our Mugabe-style inflation. What a year 🤩 In between guillotining my former friends, there was still time to practice brain 🧠 surgery on my enemies’ heads, work on my Canoe Armada 🛶 toy set, golf ⛳️ the links, chill on my Highland ⛰ estates, enjoy Twitter 🖥 tirades, ramble on my grouse 🦆 moors, plot dastardly deeds with banana 🍌 republics, all while exercising my right hand daily 🍆💦 Burp! 🍷🥂🍾 12 DAYS OF SHIT 💩 MAS On the only day of Christmas my true love sent to me… * Twelve Donald Trump crime scenes 🦸♀️ * Eleven Lionesses a-winning 🦁 * Ten per cent % inflation daily 📈 * Nine sportwashing Qatari emirs ⚽️ * Eight Boris to Zelenskyy zips 🚊 * Seven pockets of taxpayers cash 💰 * Six sheikhs making sweet love 🍑 * Five Messi penalties 🥅 * Glory to Ukraine! 🇺🇦 * Oh! Gareth! Southgate! 🤩 * Where’s Jeremy Corbyn? 🎅 * £400k Rishi Swimming Pool-nak 🏊♂️ * Four-ty five days of Truss 😂 * Three fools voting a-Tory 🗳 * Two Truss-outliving lettuces 🥬 * Soggy sprout Starmer 🥦 * One Trussonomic collapse 📉 * A large Labour lead 🌹 * And no more Putin…oh wait... (Ed: Cut!) 😡 How time flies! Time to hunt those captured spies! My hounds 🐕 are foaming at the mouth dreaming of tasty traitor meat! 🥩 Tally ho, it’s back to the princely port I go, woo hoo 🍷🎄 Burrrrp! Hic! 🍺 Now go drink and bugger your stablehands merrily all! 💙💚💛💜❤️ #christmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas (at Balmoral) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmmtjXSokDN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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King Charles III Proclamation at Buckingham Palace — PART3
Daily Express UK | By David Maddox | 9/10/2022
Top photo: David White - known as Garter King of Arms - read Proclamation - © PA
Continued from the previous post » » » Charles made his personal declaration about the death of his "beloved mother", who passed away peacefully aged 96 at Balmoral on Thursday. He paid tribute to the late Queen, spoke of the grief his family is experiencing and pledged himself to the task now before him and the "heavy responsibilities of Sovereignty".
Charles's address was made in the second part of the poignant and sombre ceremony - when proceedings moved to the palace's throne room - and was effectively the King hosting his first Privy Council meeting. A number of procedural matters were completed including the King approving the day of the late Queen's state funeral, expected to take place at Westminster Abbey in central London on September 19, to be a bank holiday.
New PM Liz Truss and Archbishop of Canterbury at the council - image © PA
To the sound of heralds following the Accession Council, the Principal Proclamation was read at 11am from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St James's Palace. The Proclamation was read by Garter King of Arms, accompanied by the Earl Marshal, other Officers of Arms and the Serjeants at Arms, followed by a gun salute, singing of God Save the King and a traditional three cheers for His Majesty.
PM Liz Truss sign up to the council agreement to the proclamation - image © PA
Then, at 12pm, a second Proclamation was read in the City of London, on the steps of the Royal Exchange. Members of the Privy Council also include London Mayor Sadiq Khan, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond.
The Privy Council also includes senior Royals including the heir to the throne Prince William who yesterday was appointed Prince of Wales by his father yesterday. The Accession Council today saw the current cabinet invited and Sir Keir Starmer with a ballot for the other 200 spots because currently there are 700 Privy Counsellors.
A view from the Friary Court balcony of St James's Palace - image © PA
Upon accession, a new sovereign is also required to make what is known as the Accession Declaration. This is not usually made at a meeting of the Accession Council but in the presence of Parliament on the first State Opening following the monarch's accession to the throne or at their coronation, whichever occurs first. King George VI made the declaration at his coronation.
The King's Guard remove their Bearskin hats during the the ceremony - image © PA
The House of Commons will then sit today where the Prime Minister Ms Truss and other senior members of Parliament will retake their oath of allegiance to mark the accession of the new Monarch. In previous times monarchs needed to be crowned before accepted as Sovereign but the law dating from 1707 meant that the dead monarch's heir autmatically became Sovereign.
King Charles' coronation date will be set for a future date as a national celebration of his accession to the throne.
▶️ Watch the latest UK News on EXPRESS.co.uk
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