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ozzgin · 3 months

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Ozzgibz my lord may we have just one more crumb of pickle content pls pls pls🙏🙏🙏

Like I have an idea, reader as pickles mother🧐 like like like U wake up together after many many years

Not just a crumb, but an entire loaf! :D I will use this chance to finally finish all of the Pickle related requests I currently have. (At least I hope I haven’t omitted anything). So you may consider this a Pickle megathread, containing multiple requests put together.

Pickle Headcanons: A collection

Featuring Pickle and Reader: Pickle’s Mother! Reader, Pickle trying modern treats, Pickle and his newborn, Pickle x Student! Reader and Pickle x OP! Reader.

Pickle’s Mother! Reader

You wake up surrounded by heavy, intricate machinery and at a certain point it occurs to you just how long your slumber has been. Ah, that explains the peaceful, uninterrupted rest. You can’t recall the last time you slept this well. And, like clockwork, you hear the humans scream mere seconds after you stretch your rusted bones. A familiar growl jolts you back into action. Being frozen for millennia sadly doesn’t strip you of your motherly role.

With a groan, you rip the medical cords away from your body, indifferent to the frightened stares of the scientists currently unsure of your intentions. They needn’t be afraid for long. With the calculated movements of someone that has been doing this one too many times, you walk towards the source of ruckus and return with Pickle under your arm. It’s almost as if you’re wearing an invisible hero cape: the research team can finally relax knowing Pickle’s fearsome mother is here to keep him under control.

This arrangement now poses an interesting dilemma: how will the fights unfold under the watchful gaze of a protective, Jurassic mom? Should the fighters be worried about a vengeful counterattack if they’re too hasty with your son? The first one to test the waters is Retsu, and before he enters the arena you place a heavy hand on his shoulder, briefly guiding him aside. He nervously watches your gestures as you pretend to beat up an invisible opponent. Are you showing him potential punishments? Then you give him a friendly nudge and point to Pickle. Realization sinks in and he stares at you, wide eyed. You’re giving him advice on how to give Pickle a proper beating. Well, obviously. If they’re going to challenge your menace of a son, they should at least make it worthwhile. Rough him up a little. At the end of the day, it’s less work for you.

Pickle tries modern treats

Pickle would probably lose his mind with any carbonated drink or sweet flavor. He never had access to this amount of sugar, so I’m wondering if he’d think it’s poisonous once he becomes agitated from the abrupt intake. Nice, exquisite smell and a vibrant color that tempts him enough to give it a try. Next thing you know, the liquid sizzles in his mouth and he panics, but eventually settles down. Then his heartbeat increases and he’s squirming under the confused stares of the fighters (who initially offered him the drink), until Professor Payne points out his body might not be accustomed to our levels of sugar. The real trouble starts once he can handle the unhealthy snacks, because someone will have to stop him from overeating. (To be fair I’ve also never had a Baja Blast, seems less popular/available in Europe but it looks nice.)

Pickle unable to care for his baby

They say your life flashes before your eyes as you die and you certainly gazed upon a delectable bunch of recollections when the prehistoric man swung his massive body towards you, growling threateningly. They were hoping the fighters could keep him entertained long enough for you to feed the baby, but it seems his fatherly instincts (that he’s otherwise lacking) trumped his need for battle. Thankfully, he stops right before his clawed hand touches your frightened face. For the first time he sees his newborn eating, the puffy cheeks expanding with each gulp of the mysterious bottled liquid you’re providing.

Well, if all you’re doing is feeding his child, he might as well keep you around. You certainly don’t look like a threat, even less so than the men he just faced in the Arena. To the relief of everyone witnessing the spectacle, you get to live and handle the baby. Not like you have significantly more experience when it comes to taking care of infants, but with the help of the scientists you manage to ease Pickle into his parenting role.

All this time spent together has reminded Pickle just how much he misses the presence of a second parent. The baby likes you, you seem to be rather knowledgeable about these matters, and you’re extremely cute if he is to be fully honest with himself. The Jurassic man can’t help the faint smile gracing his features whenever he pictures it: you make a nice family, wouldn’t you agree?

Pickle x Student! Female Reader

You’ve learned to ignore the bewildered stares. Thankfully, this time, the only unusual sight consists of Pickle’s gargantuan size and nothing else. He’s dressed in modern attire and has since learned to behave better in public. You recall the first encounters, where an almost naked Jurassic creature kept following you around and wouldn’t take no for an answer. It took you several weeks to figure out he’s interested in you, and you eventually relented. Naturally you couldn’t have gone outside with a wild jungle beast donning a fundoshi and nothing else. So you did your best to instill modern customs into your new boyfriend.

And, for the most part, it worked. He’s sitting with you on a campus bench, politely waiting for you to finish your rough sketch. He enjoys watching your drawing process, especially if he’s the subject of the piece. A giddy feeling overwhelms him, almost as if he’s being physically touched with each stroke of the pencil. The fact that you observe him so carefully, and then somehow reproduce the image so accurately on paper…It entertains him greatly. Sadly he can’t return the favor. You’ve offered him drawing tools before in case he wanted to join your creative hobby, but there was no dormant Botticelli in his soul waiting to be awakened.

While he may not share your artistic inclination, you can at least be assured that no threat will ever reach your proximity again. His hands were built for battle and he makes sure you witness this truth on every occasion. No fight begins without your presence in the Underground Arena. As much as you feel for his battered opponents, the whole ordeal results in very neat action frames. You leave the matches with brand new batches of doodles. Who would’ve thought you’d find your muse in a prehistoric man? Additionally, if you ever need some extra cash, there’s always the option of delving into erotic art. After all, you have access to any reference you could ever need and Pickle would be most eager to help you.

Pickle x OP! Reader

@mariahvilla569

So this was a little difficult because I wasn’t sure whether Reader is overpowered in relation to someone in particular or just the whole Bakiverse. I went for a Reader who’s stronger than everyone else.

Pickle was very confused when he met you for the first time, standing in the audience of the Underground Arena to observe his match with Retsu. He was instantly smitten and was about to discard any intention of a fight to immediately pursue you instead, but he was stopped by multiple men forming a barrier before you and an angered Retsu demanding his undivided attention. He assumed you must be someone’s partner and therefore he’ll have to win his way to you. He couldn’t have guessed in a million years that you were politely allowing everyone else to have their fun before you swiftly cashed in your victory.

You did have enough grace to take your time with the prehistoric man. He doesn’t doubt that if you so desired, you could’ve ended the battle within mere moments; but just like the rest of the men, you wanted your fair share of entertainment. This way Pickle was also offered a sample of your exquisite skills, which made all the fighters before you fade into nothingness. Truly astonishing that a human half his size would tower above him in terms of raw power. He was left beyond impressed and his initial crush has avalanched into a full blown obsession.

Just because you’re stronger doesn’t mean he can’t fulfill the duties of a protective partner. Consider it a way to efficiently save time, as whoever isn’t strong enough to get past him isn’t worth your precious time. Not to mention that Pickle has come to view your sparring sessions as a special form of intimacy reserved for him and you only. If you need to train, he should suffice as an opponent. There’s no one else as sturdy as him, and you’re always in a great mood after a proper fight, so he’d be an utter fool not to take advantage of it.

#baki #baki the grappler #baki hanma #baki headcanons #pickle baki #pickle x reader #baki x reader

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avariantflaire · 5 months

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Why Levi and Petra?

Of course, upon general viewing of SNK and its characters, it's clear that they have established Erwin, Levi, and Hange as the leading trio of the Survey Corps. They represent this faction of the military and in interesting ways, mirror the main protagonists of the series.

While there is a lot to be said and appreciated about Levi's relationships with Erwin and Hange, I have come to find that the character who humanizes him is the lovely (albeit forgettable) Petra Ral.

Early in the series, we are introduced to Levi as Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Erwin makes use of his abilities in this sense, and Hange often relies on his strength in combat as well. That is not to say this is the extent of their relationships: we have Levi's iconic "Give up on your dreams and die" scene with Erwin (S3 E16) and the infamous "Maybe we should just live here [away from my responsibilities] together" request from Hange (S4.2 E8). However, something to note with both scenes is that while they give depth to Levi's relationship with both characters, he essentially serves to highlight others. In the former, Levi's response directly challenges Erwin's dream, and allows this commander a defining moment of growth. Similarly in the latter, Levi is used as a means for Hange to express and eventually overcome their fears and insecurities about the deal they've been dealt as the new Commander of the Survey Corps (which at the time was rapidly disbanding under the Jaegerist movement).

In other words, Levi is the "subplot character" to Erwin's and Hange's individual arcs. (According to John Truby, 'The subplot character… provides another opportunity to define the hero through comparison and advance the plot.')

Which begs the question… at what point in the series, if any, is Levi defined as a character in and of himself?

Two prominent scenes from season 1 come to mind, which are namely: 1) The dying soldier scene (S1 E9), and 2) Petra's conversation with Eren in headquarters (S1 E15).

In the first, Levi comforts a dying soldier and vows to carry on their will and exterminate all Titans. When the soldier passes before he can reply to Levi's words, Levi turns to his fellow soldier Petra and asks her if he was heard. Petra provides confirmation, emphasizing the peaceful expression on the soldier's face.

In the second, Petra confronts a gloomy-looking Eren, who has been tasked to clean headquarters along with the rest of the Special Operations Squad (aka the Levi Squad). She specifically points out how Levi is 'not the hero he's expected to be' in the sense that he has a terrible personality, though she does so while smiling almost fondly, as though it doesn't matter what his personality is because they can always put faith in him as their Captain. It seems she wants Eren to understand this - or a notion similar.

It is in both moments that we are able to clearly see Levi beyond being a powerful soldier. Always, he is a threat. When he enters the scene we expect the shift in the dynamic of the battle - we expect him to win. He's a trump card. Erwin's last words to him are an order (S3 E16), and Hange's last words about him is "he's [Armin's] underling now, so really put him to work" (S4.3.1). Levi acknowledges Erwin's and Hange's humanity, bolsters it even, with the conviction of "dedicating your heart". In SNK he is the symbolism, the embodiment, of a soldier. That's all he really ever gets to be. Even his softest moments with - heck, anyone in the series - are meant to deeply reflect on the guilt, the burden, the purpose of getting the job done. ("So… you're telling me… I've spent all this time and energy running around killing people?" (S2 E12) / "Just think, if your hands were still clean... Jean wouldn't be here right now." (S3 E2) / "If we just run away and keep on hiding, what will we have left?" (S4.2 E8))

But for those singular moments in season one, he's more than just the threat. We see him as a human not only with (personality) flaws, but also with dreams and convictions, tied so seamlessly with his comrades' cause that we are reminded painfully, at the end of the series, that it was Levi who carried them all to the end. Throughout the story we see Levi lament fallen soldiers; we are exposed to how much he empathizes with his comrades and their deaths, to the point where it can be said that no one keeps us more aware of the lives that have been lost throughout the show more than Levi himself.

In this manner, Petra was the subplot character to Levi's hero. She gave the audience a (subconscious) glimpse of the Humanity within "Humanity's Strongest" and built the bridge that would lead us to compelling and important revelations about Levi's thoughts and actions as the show progressed. It's Petra whom he finds tending to a dying soldier; Petra whom he asks for confirmation that the soldier heard; Petra who, against all expectation, asks Eren to see past the station, the status, the soldier, to the person himself.

"He's not quite the great, perfect hero society makes him out to be, huh? The real Captain Levi is shorter than you'd expect, temperamental, crude, and unsociable. (…) You thought that because he's skilled, he doesn’t have to follow the rules like everyone else?" (S1 E15)

It's even Petra who, despite her rank, asks Levi to step aside when Eren becomes a half-baked Titan. Here, Levi's robust intuition and split-second decision making skills are shown even away from the battlefield. It's Petra who leads the Special Operations Squad in their apology to Eren (S1E19 "Bite"), who first instills in us (narratively) the notion of trusting your fellow comrades. More specifically, she is who convinces Eren to place his life in their hands. It's this notion that Levi carries with him even until the final arc - "I've saved Eren countless times over - each time, more comrades dying. All because I believed he was the hope of humanity." (S4.1 E13) In the manga (Ch112), it's Petra we see at the forefront of this belief.

"Do you, Eren? Do you find it that hard to trust us?" It's Petra who dies, her words the final say in convincing Eren: "I believe my squad will be victorious." (S1 E21)

"It's like some awful joke," Levi reflects later on, as his comrades' dying hopes and dreams flash by in the canopy of the forest. "What the hell was the hope that we saw? Such bullshit. It's not even funny." (S4.1 E13) "We" here could definitely mean the soldiers who've given their hearts, but the metaphorical representative of this heart is Petra herself... "Eren! Trust us." (S1 E19)

And in the end, it's Petra in the forefront alongside Erwin and Hange, representative of her fellow soldiers, the one (experienced/veteran) Scout we've seen and interacted with in the entire series to have professed the values of hope, of trust, of belief, which is henceforth carried on by Levi himself, his own convictions, his own dreams. They are, in the entire series, the glimpse we get into the Scout Regiment beyond the series' titular character and his comrades in the 104th, and a thorough dive into what makes Levi Humanity's, not simply its strongest.

Her character song, "The Light of Dual Wings", can literally be taken as an allegory of the dreams the Scouts have entrusted to Levi. That's how prominent she is as a Scout; how coded her devotion to Levi is, whether interpreted platonically, romantically, or narratively, as the dedication of hearts.

So, yes, I love them together. I love their scenes, the implications of them narratively, the values Petra professes so effortlessly in the air, washed away by the higher tides of the Female Titan arc. I love that it's still Petra at the forefront, in all of Levi's reflections moving forward, because she is our first glimpse into Levi's character, the real him.

In the end this is just a ship post struggling to keep from delving too much into the symbolism of Levi and the Scouts (how Levi is the face of the Scouts more so than Erwin himself, really), the truest depiction of humanity's collective fight for freedom in this entire series. In his early days, Eren wanted to be a Scout, after all. It is Levi and Petra who push him forward into 'that hell' - for better and worse, respectively.

#levi ackerman #petra ral #rivetra #levi x petra #levipet #aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levi character analysis #levi petra relationship analysis #aot analysis #snk analysis #i even cited episode numbers!#i was too lazy to get the overall episode number though xd #so you get dumb citations like S4.3.1 lol #analysis.vtf

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fangirltothefullest · 1 year

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Little reminder for anyone thats of voting age in the USA- election propaganda is already starting and the fear tactics will start flying.

So let's remind everyone what's been happening from Republicans recently because they try to insist they are saints and victims every election.

Republicans took away abortion laws and the human bodily right to choose whether or not you keep your baby. Whatever you believe for yourself, whether you, yourself, thinks its wrong, taking that right away from other people is cruel because it forces rape victims to have their babies, forces children to suffer, forces women to have no choice in the say of their own bodies and that just isn't right.

Republicans insisted that student debt could not be forgiven at 50k or 20k so Biden caved and settled on 10k which Republicans said would be acceptable. Republicans then decided everywhere to challenge the ruling and people are still struggling in various places to get their promised forgiveness in a lot of places.

Republicans are pushing to get rid of, and have gotten rid of, many child labour laws because instead of making businesses pay decent wages which would bring more workers they decided to bring in children which is cruel and they can easily exploit. Note! These laws were put in place to stop the exploitation of children! If a child cannot sign a legally binding contract without their parent as a witness, why the hell should they work a job like an adult?!

Republicans are choosing to ignore school shootings over and over and over again CONSISTANTLY in favour of allowing MORE guns and trying to force teachers to be armed as if that insane concept is normal. Democrats are pushing for gun reform, and Washington state has passed a ton of laws recently to regulate guns. Republicans refuse to do that and would rather our children die over and over and over again and send "thoughts and prayers" instead of doing anything about it. This has been a consistent thing since Columbine.

Republicans say Democrats are doing bad things and want to take away your rights but consistently the Republicans have been hindering progress at every turn, fighting against progressive legislation and blocking it whenever Biden and the other democrats suggest anything. This also happened during Obama's time in office.

This is not a recent thing- deregulation happened because Republicans wanted businesses to be able to do whatever they wanted. Tricklw down evonomy is fucking bullahit ans hasnt trickled down to anyone.

That republican-backed deregulation is why employers don't have to pay you right and why they treat you like a replaceable cog in the machine and why they hate unions so much.

Democratic states do have a record of preserving your rights and fighting to grow them. Take a look around right now and tell meqhich states are safer for lgbtqia+, which states are safer for people who aren't white rich white men. Take a look at which news programs are consistently using fear-filled language and fearmongering tactics and promoting fear of the other and tell mwwhich companies, which people, which white wealthy men are in control of them.

Do not let yourself be fooled. Yes democrats are also not saints. They do a lot of bullshit too. They promise to do a lot and then sort of piddle and poke and half assembly do things. But a little half-assed progress is better than regression. Small progress ia better than no progress is better than reversing progress.

They've already tested the waters and we saw how much terrible bullshit they could do, how much progress they could reverse, under Trump. You do NOT want that again. You do NOT want someone just as unhinged but only able to disguise it better.

Please stay informed, do your research and do not vote for the party that has time and time again consistently shown they want everyone to suffer but themselves.

And remember- If they were not afraid of your vote, they would not be working SO hard to suppress it.

#i dont usually post political posts this early #but my gods people #you cant deny any more that republicans are constantly trying to take our rights away #and actively doing it #and actively trying to pass legislation that hurts millions of US citizens #and they HAVE passed legislation that is currently hurting millions of US citizens #we HAVE to change #we HAVE to stop voting for them #also these are only SOME of the things theyve been doing #theres ao many more things that are so bad that making a fucking list would take me goddamnned days

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bright-side20 · 7 months

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Elriel Theory🌸 🗡️

Whenever I read 'That love would trump even a mating bond,' it reminds me of the myth, Eros, the god of love, and Psyche, which symbolizes the power of love to overcome the most challenging circumstances set by fate. The sleeping Beauty is one of the stories that I believe could happen.

After Psyche's last trial in the underground, she opened the box given by Persephone and fell under a curse. Eros, deeply connected to her, knew that something had happened to her, and he was like "I'm getting her back" . He pleaded with the gods to grant her another chance at life. His love for her was so strong that it moved the gods to bring her back from death. This led to the magical kiss that revived her, followed by their divine wedding.

The parallels you guys!

Azriel was able to discover that she's a seer after Madja said that her mate would know what's happening to her. He was the one who noticed her absence and declared, "I'm getting her back, even if I'll die." There is a deep connection between them, even though she has a mate.That connection will be LOVE.

Elain is always associated with love, beauty, and roses, which are symbols of Aphrodite and Eros. She will likely possess the power of love. On the other hand, we have Koshei, an old death god imprisoned in a lake with the ability to curse people. Therefore, Azriel might get cursed by him, and we'll get "l'm getting him back".

In ACOSF we learned that Elain prays to the fae gods, plus she's pure hearted and loved by the Cauldron itself. So perhaps the gods will bring Azriel back to her and break the bond between her and Lucien. This would be a triumph of love over fate, and what could be a better ending for a forbidden love story than a wedding. 😁

#elain archeron #elriel #pro elain #sarahjmaas #pro elriel #acotar thoughts #azriel acotar #art #elriel supremacy #sjm

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meggannn · 3 months

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i've shared a lot of thoughts about dragon age vs baldur's gate 3 writing in private and why i think da banter is still the peak, but i think i can summarize/put a more positive spin on my opinions by saying if bioware writers wrote the bg3 characters, we'd see:

wyll being offended over astarion not because he's a "monster" but because he is a "monster" who has no interest in overcoming his base urges, enjoys killing, would kill again, etc; astarion would simultaneously take out his anger on wyll because a hero never came to save him and he may think wyll (even under contract) is a hypocrite for only saving people he deems are "perfect" victims

shadowheart calling lae'zel a slave to vlaakith or orpheus's will, never her own, pre-nightsong lae'zel snapping it takes one to know one

lae'zel regularly challenging halsin, wyll, and karlach to sparring matches, swordfights, fist fights, etc. first out of pride then friendly competition. by act 3 there is an actual bracket going with bets and wyll is very proud to trump them all when they fight with rapiers, lae'zel declaring "you have impressed me, i will visit you later tonight" to whoever wins

halsin actually remarking on this or that natural landscape and sharing interesting facts about the world instead of just talking about nature being in or out of balance. him saying "hm the rats in the city talk differently than the rats in the grove, nature is stifled but also finds different way of expressing itself here through the cracks" instead of just going "wow the city sucks"

several jokes or accusations about scratch eating boo, the owlcub eating boo, astarion eating boo

speaking of, several arguments about who scratch and the owlcub like more, while everyone fights over it gale smugly knowing scratch absolutely likes him most because he feeds scratch leftovers while he cooks and he's magicked up a full dogbed and inside his tent-that-is-actually-a-minimansion-inside. the owlbear cub is not allowed in though after it ripped apart a very expensive book

shadowheart complaining about patching up everyone more often as time passes because they all come to rely on her to be there: "what would you all do if i wasn't here," "die probably"—everyone

several ongoing conversations about who withers is, what he wants, if he's a god, if he killed a god, does he even sleep or just stand there watching over us all night, astarion wondering what would happen if they killed him and karlach daring him to do it

gale and wyll both being big nonfiction readers, wyll on history and gale on spell theory, wyll tentatively wondering if gale ever came across any magic that could remove devil horns and gale for once not finding the words to reply

karlach trying to bond with astarion over their mutual trauma of being recently enslaved, astarion not giving her an inch because honestly how dare she be happy or want to TALK about feelings out in the open, karlach finding someone stitched up clive for her one night and asking the team if anyone knows who did it and astarion is the only one who doesn't reply

jaheira regularly saying wow y'all are a bunch of children and everyone stops snipping at each other to start dogpiling on her for being an old woman

tldr let them be nastier. let them have real fights and friendships

#bg3 #da stuff #i could go into specific critique but i'd just sound like a hater. yes i like bg3 character writing but it could totally be better #i havent played with minthara so sorry idk about her #unfortunately it sounds like larian is editing the companions to make them nicer after people complained they're too mean???#be real they are already so sanitized i didn't even see fur flying once

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mariacallous · 5 months

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What Geert Wilders Wants in Europe

On Nov. 22, Geert Wilders’s far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) won the most seats in the House of Representatives following national elections in the Netherlands. On the same day, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave a keynote speech in Zürich at the invitation of the conservative magazine Die Weltwoche. The latter event offers a key to understanding the former. Orban offered a preview of what Wilders wants to do with Europe.

Wilders, who has earned the right to try to form a governing coalition with several center-right parties that have already rolled out the red carpet for him, has repeatedly said in the past that he wants to take his country out of the European Union. The PVV program calls for a referendum on “Nexit.” But like other far-right politicians in Europe, Wilders has understood the lessons of Brexit: Countries standing alone in this turbulent world marginalize and weaken themselves, so instead of leaving the EU, it would be better to stay and change it from the inside. This is exactly the scenario Orban sketched out in Zürich.

For starters, Orban apologized to the audience because it had to put up with him, the leader of a small country, while in these challenging times it had deserved a speech by a real leader like Konrad Adenauer or Helmut Kohl—politicians who had ruled postwar Germany for years with a steady moral and political compass, shaping Christian democracy in Europe. But alas, Orban continued, Europe is in decline. It does not have politicians of that caliber anymore. It has lost its grip on the world because it is ruled by bureaucrats infected with the liberal-progressive bug, not by true politicians. If we want to stop this decline, he said, “we must return to classical European political and leadership culture.” This would mean national leaders taking the helm in Brussels, from now on treating European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as “our employee, our paid employee, whose job it is to carry out what we decide.”

Wilders, whose wife is Hungarian, is close to Orban. He has visited him many times. He knows a large majority of the Dutch do not support a Nexit. Eighty percent think membership is beneficial for the country, which is higher than the European average of 72 percent. None of his possible center-right coalition partners advocate an exit from the EU. Moreover, like Orban, Wilders considers it unwise that the United Kingdom did not just leave the EU but also the single market. Orban told his Swiss audience that decisions taken in Brussels directly affect Switzerland as a participant in the single market, without Bern having any say in those decisions. All the more reason to stay and shape those decisions from the inside. For him, national sovereignty is key, and this would be better served by staying in the EU.

When it comes to Europe, sovereignty is also a key word in the PVV program. “Intensive cooperation between countries does not need a political union like the EU,” the program states. It calls for a smaller EU budget and the usage of opt-outs; for example, in the fields of asylum and migration. On election night, on television, Wilders mentioned the Dublin agreement (on asylum and migration) as a positive piece of EU regulation he wants to stick to. If European regulation is not good, he added, “we can always change it to make it better.” This did not sound at all like someone who wants to leave the EU. On the contrary, it sounded like someone who stays in to grab the steering wheel.

In fact, Orban is showing him the way. Orban currently is playing out several trump cards in Brussels. The European Commission is refusing to pay him around 30 billion euros in European subsidies, because those funds are tied to requirements connected to the rule of law and anti-corruption. Some cosmetic reforms notwithstanding, Orban is doing nothing to meet those requirements. Now, Orban is taking revenge. He keeps blocking Sweden’s accession to NATO. At a European summit in December, European government leaders are supposed to decide whether or not to start formal accession talks with Ukraine. In a letter last week, Orban announced that he does not want a decision yet. He is also threatening to block European financial and military assistance to Ukraine—50 billion euros over the next few years, plus joint arms purchases through the European Peace Facility. Finally, Orban has signaled that if he does not get his billions, he will try to prevent the reappointment of Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission in 2024.

Meanwhile, he ordered posters to be put up all over Hungary depicting von der Leyen and Alex Soros—the son of George Soros and new leader of the Open Society Foundations he founded—with the text, “Let’s not dance to their tunes.” He has also organized a (nonbinding) national consultation on Europe, with 11 rather suggestive questions. One segment about EU financial assistance to Ukraine reads as follows: “They are asking Hungary for additional support [for Ukraine] even as our country has not received the EU funds due to it.” One of the possible answers says: “We should not pay more to support Ukraine until we have received the money we are owed [by the EU].”

Like Orban, many far-right politicians in Europe have concluded that now is not the time to leave the EU. Even a large country like the United Kingdom has lost influence since Brexit. The economy took a beating, immigration has doubled, hedge funds are buying up the country. Moreover, potential trade agreements with third countries have been revealed to be worse than the ones the U.K. had through the EU, with powerful countries like India or Australia taking the opportunity to squeeze concessions out of London they never managed to get from the EU. As former Prime Minister John Major noted in a lecture in 2020, the U.K. is a second-class power that has chosen to become more poor and more powerless—with the slogan “taking back control” more applicable to Europe than to the U.K.

It is no coincidence that both the U.K. and Switzerland are seeking rapprochement with the EU at the moment. The EU’s waiting room is full of candidate countries. Many countries in the EU’s orbit have discovered that with regional powers like Russia and Turkey bullying everyone at will, being part of a larger group can protect them from being eaten raw before breakfast.

The mantra of Europe’s nationalists used to be, “We lose sovereignty in the European Union, so let’s leave the European Union.” Now, many realize they actually gain sovereignty by being part of it. Figures like Orban suddenly emphasize the advantages of the European single market and other benefits such as cheap, common vaccines or the power to collectively discipline multinational companies such as Google or Microsoft.

If anybody embodies this U-turn on Europe, it’s Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni. The minute she took power last year, she started investing in Europe in a way no one had thought possible. She suddenly became supportive of the euro and European defense, and got herself constructively involved in the search for a better EU asylum and migration system. Only on environmental policy and cultural issues has she remained arch-conservative.

France’s Marine Le Pen, Italy’s Matteo Salvini, and Austria’s Herbert Kickl, like Wilders, all seem to realize that—contrary to what Orban says—EU member states already have almost all of the power in Brussels. And that if they manage to get themselves elected nationally, like Orban, they can actually play with that power to their advantage. Like him, they can inflate their position by threatening to use a veto now and then and take everybody hostage. They can open their doors, like Hungary, to those seeking a foothold in Europe in order to undermine it from within. Moreover, they can force the Bundeskanzleramt and the Elysée to finally pay attention. In short, EU membership provides leverage. It is a tool that makes national leaders larger than they would otherwise be.

This is the cynical Europe that politicians like Orban, Le Pen, Salvini, and Wilders are working on. Next weekend, at a conference of Salvini’s far-right European parliamentary group in Florence, they will be tuning their violins again.

Far-right parties used to rant on the national podium against the EU and “unelected Eurocrats” in Brussels, pushing narrow national interests—and, as a result, often clashing among themselves. Those differences are now increasingly overshadowed by the new prominence of some of their favorite themes: security, defense, migration, and border control. The far right no longer just speaks on behalf of the nation against Europe, Hans Kundnani of Chatham House recently wrote; it is now starting to speak on behalf of Europe. This “ethnoregionalism,” as he calls it, is characterized by a rhetoric that focuses on the idea of an endangered “European civilization.”

Indeed, the “decline of Europe” is becoming a common theme for far-right parties. In Zürich, Orban mentioned Europe’s inability to exercise “autonomous and sovereign action” several times. Europe, he said, is losing its way in the world. Then, he posed as its savior—in the footsteps of political giants like Adenauer and Kohl.

The fact that Orban now positions himself in a center-right tradition, not on the far right, is not accidental. It implies that the dam between the center right and the far right, which has been in place for decades, has broken. In many countries, the center right is copying the far-right discourse, making it mainstream. In the Netherlands, it was the center-right VVD—Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s party—that made the PVV electable by opening the door to cooperation. The same is happening in Austria, where the far-right FPÖ has overtaken the center-right ÖVP as the more popular party, with elections scheduled for next fall. In Belgium, which holds elections in June, a similar dynamic could play out. In France, the center-right Republicans are now more radical than the far-right National Rally—and a lot smaller, too. Meanwhile, in the European Parliament, the conservative family that has been a powerful bulwark against political extremism since World War II is equally shifting to the right. It votes down some of the Green Deal climate laws it previously supported; it wants to close borders; and it is getting increasingly vocal in opposing social-justice issues.

With all this happening, far-right politicians like Wilders have fewer reasons than ever to leave the EU. As Orban said in Zürich, “Hungary is not the black sheep but the first swallow, and … we look forward to the others.”

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socialjusticeinamerica · 11 months

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RepubliKKKans have hated the left for so long and hated people of color for so much longer that it’s hard for us to just give up our resentment of them. Often we feel sorry for them because they are ignorant pawns impoverished by the oligarchs/RepubliKKKans they have been fooled into supporting. It’s like the French Revolution in reverse where the masses support the oppressive monarchy.

We’ve been trying for over a hundred years to make peace with these southern and rural purveyors of hatred. But how can we when they are so radicalized they have evolved past the Klan into neo-Nazis. The things we advocate for would benefit most of them even more. Old hatreds die hard especially when 21st century media keeps the MAGA crowd in a perpetual state of rage. Rage born of poverty that comes from oligarch oppression and the deliberate removal of quality education in the red states.

Offering olive branches to people adorned with Nazi symbols and brandishing an AR-15 is only seen as a sign of weakness. There is no high road with Nazis.

The challenge we face is to defeat the GOP and the oligarchs once and for all and then begin the daunting task of de-programming the MAGA cult. In the internet age this may not even be possible. I fear we will see political violence much worse and on a much larger scale than January 6th in the near future.

Trump, his minions, and the oligarchs will not go quietly as they see this as their last best chance to halt progress and turn the clocks back to a simpler but much darker time.

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drbtinglecannon · 2 years

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You're telling me the gun convention (that's happening in the same state the same week as a mass shooting of an elementary school) banned guns and all these evil braindead conservatives are totes fine with that, but they think it's a crime when literally anywhere else on the planet bans guns?

The place where gun worship is REQUIRED. Chose to BAN GUNS. But that's? Not an infringement on the second amendment all of a sudden?

"I don't care that kids keep getting murdered at school, you can't make gun laws! Oh but yeah I understand that Trump will be at the NRA convention and is scared for his safety, so for the messiah I'll leave my 47 rifles at home."

#politics #american politics #us politics #fuck the nra #trump die challenge #all conservatives die challenge #you KNOW if a mega church ever got shot up suddenly gun control would be a convo worth happening. but kids or anyone else? fuck em

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probablygayattorneys · 1 year

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I’ve been sitting with Spirit of Justice for awhile now, and I think I’ve finally come up with a concrete reason that it felt like it fell short, and that was because the messaging isn’t in line with the rest of the games.

Let me explain. Ace Attorney is, primarily, about family. The second case in the entire series is called Turnabout Sisters! And the game asks us, again and again, what does that mean? Who is your family? Is it your blood? Franziska and Miles are of no blood relation but she calls him Little Brother. Meanwhile, Dahlia is blood to Iris and Pearl and she completely rejects them outside of what they can do for her. The entire trilogy constantly asks, and answers, that your family is who you choose - even when they’re blood related, you still need to reaffirm and say yes, these are my people.

This idea is not unique to the original trilogy. Apollo Justice again asks us the same question. Does family mean blood? And it answers it right out of the gate, no. It doesn’t. Zak is not Trucy’s dad, Phoenix is. I know a lot of people don’t like the way it ends, but I would argue that it’s an important reiteration of the moral of the story: Apollo and Trucy sharing a mother doesn’t matter because they choose each other and build a relationship regardless.

Even Dual Destines somewhat visits this idea with Simon and Aura. There is a clear disconnect between them. Aura will openly say she does not care for Simon, and Simon makes his choices because he loves, cares, and wants to protect someone, but it’s not her. The fact that they share blood does not make their relationship important or strong.

And Spirit of Justice takes us… part of the way there. Dhurke and Apollo’s relationship is what you would expect. Apollo does not appear to feel anything towards his biological father, but Dhurke affirms himself as his father through his actions and his choices. And that’s where it ends.

Nahyuta is willing to literally die for Rayfa, because they are blood. That relationship is not expanded on at all. We do not otherwise see anything that would indicate an actual relationship between the two. We are expected to understand that they share parents, and therefore it is his duty to protect, preserve, and defend her. On the flip side, Apollo, the boy he grew up with and they call the same man father… Nothing. He never acknowledges Apollo as a brother. He rarely even acknowledges he has an actual name, rather than just whatever insult pops into his head.

As well, the idea in the people of Khura’in that the sins of the father stain the hands of the son. This is a very powerful idea - that has had several games denouncing. Franziska and Pearl are testaments to it. In fact, they didn’t seem to think that they really emphasized it enough and even in the Great Ace Attorney, they ask it again and they again affirm that no, a person can choose their own path and should be praised and punished for their own actions, and not those who came before. And yet in Spirit of Justice, it is not challenged in any meaningful way. Again, Nahyuta is willing to literally die before allowing Rayfa’s parentage to become public knowledge, because he knows what would happen to her.

In fact, Rayfa’s entire family is handled sloppily. Inga’s safe combination is her birthday, but you cannot look me in the eye and say the rest of his characterization makes sense as a man who would raise his enemy’s daughter. In fact, Dhurke doesn’t even seem to be aware of the fact that he has a daughter, he certainly never mentions her, even in his dying moments when he’s being killed by the man raising her. Contrast that to Turnabout Trump, when the biological and the adopted father face off and Phoenix literally attacks him in order to get the locket.

It just doesn’t make sense or add up in contrast to the rest of the games.

#phoenix wright: ace attorney #Ace attorney: spirit of justice #soj spoilers #Apollo Justice #nahyuta sahdmadhi #rayfa padma khura'in #dhurke sahdmadhi #I don’t know how well this makes sense #I have already taken my sleeping pills #I mean it feels like it makes about as much sense as the game #but another thing is #it doesn’t have to be super coherent #because it’s not the fucking game #it’s a rant on a blog #if I let you down that’s too bad but you didn’t pay actual money for my takes #they’re completely free of charge #but like #does anyone get what I’m saying #ace attorney is a meditation on family and 6 just #it doesn’t drop the ball so much as throws the ball as hard as possible as far away as it can #queue takumi defense squad #anyway this is why I’m moving into professor Layton with my whole heart #because he sees a baby without a family #and he says ‘my daughter’#and everyone says ‘yes’#and then she grows up and learns he’s not her biological father #and she says ‘don’t care that’s my dad’#and everyone says ‘sounds good’#she looks at man she is not biologically related to #and she says ‘my brother’

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tomorrowusa · 2 months

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Lech Wałęsa is the founder of the Solidarność trade union which contributed to the collapse of communism in Poland in the 1980s. He served one term as president of Poland and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Like most people in Poland, Wałęsa has no illusions about the intentions of Vladimir Putin. In a recent visit to Washington, he called for strong and united leadership in the West regarding Russia – especially in the ongoing information war.

“The whole world has joined together against Russia. It has never been like this. It’s our great opportunity to finally put some order into this world,” Walesa said in an address on February 8 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington think tank. Walesa said fate has given the United States the role of leader in meeting these challenges and it cannot retreat now. “Our grandchildren will never forgive us” if it does, he said. The co-founder of Poland's Solidarity movement, who served from 1990 to 1995 as Poland’s first postcommunist president, said he fought his struggle against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact more than 40 years ago mainly with information and he encouraged the United States to do a better job “fighting with propaganda” against the current regime of Russian President Vladimir Puin. This includes tactics such as publishing data about the number of Russian soldiers killed and maimed in the war and the stories behind those losses. Ordinary Russians must be reminded that their neighbors or their neighbors’ sons may no longer be alive because they were sent to “die for Putin.” Westerns should help Russians “internalize what needs to be done.” In the decades since he left politics Walesa has been a champion of democracy and the rule of law, encouraging Eastern Europe’s formerly communist countries to pursue progress through democratic means. Walesa was celebrated in Washington in 1989 as the man who did more than any other single individual to bring down communism in Eastern Europe and addressed a joint session of Congress.

His trip to the US comes at a time aid to Ukraine is stalled in Congress as a result of Donald Trump's open advocacy of the Putin dictatorship.

Poland's current Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been far more direct about pointing the finger of blame.

Reagan ‘must be turning in his grave’: Poland’s Tusk slams Republicans over Ukraine aid

Ultimately it's up to American voters to get Republicans to quit acting like mindless stooges for the Evil Empire.

Progress has been made in the Senate on aid to Ukraine. But the House, led by religious fanatic Speaker "MAGA Mike" Johnson remains a problem.

Here is a list of Republican House members from districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020. These GOP representatives are particularly vulnerable. Presumably the 2020 presidential figures have been adjusted to 2022 district boundaries.

If you live in one of those districts, you have a disproportionate amount of influence on aid to Ukraine. Contact your representative and politely demand that the House quits starving Ukraine of needed assistance. Remind these Republicans that Ronald Reagan would be disgusted by the GOP acting as lap dogs for Putin's Evil Empire. Interestingly, 11 of those 18 districts are in either New York or California.

And yes, that table was made before the ouster of George Santos – otherwise it's up to date.

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