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leggerefiore · 11 months

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Hcs for ceo ingo and emmet reacting to other ceo/businessmen trying to get into assistant s/o's pants? 👀 Would they cut important deals with them? Black mail? Send a really formal email telling them to fuck off??? I love this au so muchhhh

cw: jealousy, CEO au, unwanted flirting,

▲Ingo▼

● The older twin was unsure how to handle the older man ogling up his assistant during a meeting. Ingo had sat down at the table with the man and had quickly fallen into doing most of the talking, as he usually did. The deal he was hoping to make with his company was going along well until he had moved into paperwork. It was too his heavy shock and terror that he raised that he had left an important document behind. It was certainly not anywhere in the room, either.

● He felt concern consume his mind why his stoic expression remained strong on the outside. Before he could even begin to state that he needed to step out of the room to retrieve something, the door opened to reveal you. In your hands was a folder, and he felt relieved. “Sir, your brother said that you had left something behind when you headed off here,” you handed the folder to him. Ingo's eyes reflected his gratitude, but this is when the ogling started.

● “My, my,” his voice had a bit of vocal fry, “What a pretty thing. Why don't you come to work for my office? I could certainly entertain you more than my companion here.” Ingo clenched his first in annoyance. His brain screamed about workplace harassment like he was not already involved with his assistant. Of course, he tried to keep his workplace behaviour as that of a boss. Not that he always managed it, but he tried.

● “Haha, I quite like it here,” you told him, “Mister Ingo and Emmet are fun to watch, so I'm thoroughly entertained.” An obvious way to pretend not to understand, Ingo felt happy with your reply. With that, you said a polite goodbye and left the room. Ingo felt something bubble in his chest. How dare he speak to you like that!

● That evening was spent writing the most formal, yet passive-aggressive email to the fellow CEO telling him to fuck off and not speak to his assistant like that ever again. You laughed at his reaction and teased him about being jealous, but he simply huffed. He was doing his duty as your lover and boss.

▽Emmet△

○ Grimsley got under Emmet's skin, in general, but especially during business meetings. For whatever reason, the trust fund himself had popped in the place of his father. He rarely involved himself in his family's business any more, much preferring to feed his gambling addiction or do professional battling, yet here he was. The younger twin cleared his throat and loosened his tie as he down at the table. The gambler gave a light snicker at him.

○ Everything was going according to plan (or well as it could with Grimsley), until he realised that he lost a document somewhere. The piercing blue eyes of his counterpart searched around, too, but there was nothing to be found in the meeting room. Before he could even open the door, you entered, holding a few sheets of paper.

○ “Er, sir, you left these at your desk and your brother asked me to deliver them,” you held them out to him. Emmet held back a chuckle at your formality. Of course, he knew it was something that was just required, but it still sounded funny to him. Sir, especially, because the only other context he ever heard it in from you. He took the sheets to the table but caught Grimsley staring at you. A smug smile played at his lips.

○ “Oh, man, is this Emmet's cute assistant?” his tone was teasing, “... Are you looking for a fun night? I'll bet that I could give you one.” You gave a laugh at his words. Emmet bit his tongue so hard he was beginning to taste blood. Giving Grimsley his usual threatening stare down did not seem to work as well as it did on others.

○ “Sorry, sir, I'll have to pass,” you told him, “I'm quite busy this evening.” With that, you bowed your way out the door and left them behind to face each other. Emmet turned to his business partner with a threatening smile, and Grimsley sighed at him.

“... Grimsley. Verrrry bad move.”

“Ah. Well, since you're about to absolutely ruin this deal for my side in your jealousy, at least don't make it too obvious.”

○ You later laughed at his retelling and told him that he needed to stop letting his jealousy dictate his business decisions. He huffed like a child at your words. Emmet was just trying to be a good boyfriend.

#ingo x reader #ingo/reader #emmet x reader #emmet/reader #pokemon x reader #pokemon ingo x reader #pokemon emmet x reader

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mamamittens · 1 month

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Gonna fuck around and call this 'crack taken seriously sometimes' au 'Lets get crackin!'

Anyway, more bullshit nonsense under the cut for Edna and the first emotional scene I'm plotting out to farm serotonin.

The great thing about this is that I know damn well most don't care so when I eventually write the damn thing, it's going to cut people down at the knees, even if they DO follow me cause all my current followers are OP fans, not strictly big Pokemon OC fans lmfao

Context: second delivery to Subway Bosses Ingo AND Emmet, wherein it's not an innocent but inconvenient mistake that forces Edna to go through the battle subway to deliver a package but Emmet actively trying to cope with his brother's disappearance.

He is not doing it well.

Wanted to imply that he's actively colorless and seeping grayscale because his black/white life has been shredded and he can't cope with colors.

Edna invites him to sit and grieve at his own pace while sitting next to him as a relative stranger. Sympathetic but no real pressure to experience his grief in a way that won't hurt other people who also love and miss his brother.

"I am Emmet! A-And I do not wish to derail this battle for any reason! E-Even if... It's just me... I want it to be and Ingo. But it's... It's not. Not even or..."

"Oh, Hun. You're the conductor, not me. You can derail this... Train for as long or as hard as you want. I know this track doesn't feel right for you without him... Ya wanna sit, hun? Let's sit for a little. We can battle later... Delivery can wait. It's okay to not be okay. I wouldn't expect you to be anything else in this situation."

They have a heart to heart and she tries to figure out this delivery or if there's anything she can do to help.

... Would you believe me if I said this scene is followed shortly by the dumbest fucking "(god) is my copilot" joke?

#mittens rambles #pokemon oc #pokemon legends arceus #justice for ingo and emmet #rude af choice tbh #i realize belatedly that i instantly gravitate towards mix matchy twinish characters with scrimblo vibes #it just keep happening please send help #double if they could use naps and cuddles #someone swaddle these said beans canon is super mean to them its unfair #subway boss emmet

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imfluentinfangirlandgay · 2 years

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Never Far Behind

Fic Collab with @pixelchaos00 this time! They wrote the italicized first scene, I added on everything else! Make sure to check out their stuff they're cool Word Count: ~2500

CWs: blood, mild body horror, graphic violence, knives

[After their shifts ended, they punched out and left work to walk home. They had their umbrellas and the kids close by when Emmet stopped in his tracks. "I forgot my wallet at the Subway. I will walk back. I need to grab them before tomorrow's shift." There was some quiet discussion but Ingo nodded, allowing Emmet to run back while he walked the kids back home. Emmet whistled while he strolled through the subway in search of his belongings. Once he came across it he pocketed it, spun on his heel and went back out. It was still heavily raining so he opened the umbrella again and pulled his coat closer against him. Emmet passed beneath streetlamps illuminating his path ahead and alleyways. Most of them were dark because a light broke or none were installed. He hummed quietly to himself, wondering what Ingo would make for dinner. Unlike in the subway there was no warning, no preparation, no nothing. He was grabbed from behind, underneath his arms and pulled into one of the dark alleys he passed. Emmet squeaks at the contact and sudden change. His umbrella fell as his eyes darted around as he kicked his heels out. The first punch landed right against his cheek. He didn't hear a crack but tasted blood.

Another punch was already aimed at him. He dodged, pulling himself down and with him, the attacker holding him. With a quick movement of his knees, which groaned in protest, he pushed himself upright again, his head hitting the attacker's chin, followed by a groan. Good. His arms move back and he snaps his arm under that person's arm, hoisting them up into the air and over his shoulder on the ground. They really were trying to attack him! A Subway Boss! Once rid of one pest he rolled his sleeves up to attack the second one in front of him. The one that punched his cheek.. His smile could split his face as his gleaming eyes focused on the disguised person. He handled himself fairly well, kicking them into the side with a well timed kick to send them down on the ground. That should put them out of commission until he could call the police. He turned around, seeing the other person compose themself on the floor. Wanting more? Sure, he could deliver.. but let him call the police and an ambulance first. That is until a clicking noise grabs his attention. The one that had held him had a blade in their hand. The silver gleamed in the rain, drops reflecting in the poor street light.

They started swiping at him. The blade missed Emmet numerous times. He dodged, going through the fight like a double battle. Duck, attack. It wasn't the same as there were no clear Poke-attacks involved and stats to check but he knew his own strength and while fighting could calculate his opponent's. He got a few cuts up his arms, blocking a near call and some unexpected fast thrusts. Another fruitless attack and he grabbed them. He flicked the attacker's wrist, twisting the switchblade out of their hand. It clattered to the ground. Emmet punched them square in the face. He could hear a satisfying crack followed up by whimpering. He spun on his heel to check up on the second one when a cold wind nipped past his hair. He has a split second in which he registers gray above him. A loud, ear shattering "crack" noise followed right after, shaking his being through his core. He feels the ground beneath him, hands pressed against wet concrete. He tries to push himself up but his body protests. He grunts at the ringing in his ears. Black spots form in Emmet's vision, obscuring the attacked. He hadn't seen them, regret courses through his veins, angry that he didn't pay enough attention. His sluggish thoughts are sent flying as a kick hit him square in the gut. His hands fly to the pained area, clutching it. Another kick is delivered right to the doorsteps of his face. His nose crunches under the pressure. He doesn't shout and instead bites down a yelp, blood already tricking down over his lips. The rest is a hazy blur of pain. His shoulder. His middle. Arms. Hands? He can't tell after a while, growing numb. He doesn't feel the rain pelting on his beaten body, doesn't hear the retreating footsteps. His mind swims and words aren't words anymore. He is greeted by a black void, welcoming him to a place of dull aches and warmth.]

—-------------------

Ingo stood, his phone in his hand, held uselessly against the side of his face. Echoed ringing bounced off the walls, amplifying and taking over the empty space. His umbrella stood above him, barely keeping the torrent off of his body as he stared down at the sight wide glassy eyes.

Red on white. Signs of a scuffle. A body left here alone, in the cold.

Ring, ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring. Nobody picked up the phone.

Hello, I am Emmet! Please leave a voicemail- Ingo shut off the call. He wanted to throw the device, but pocketed it. It had done him no wrong. He dropped his umbrella, no longer caring about being wet. He knelt down, gently prodding at the body before him. The coat was muddy and soaked through, sticking to the figure’s thin frame. He was cradling his side. Ingo flipped him gently, worried he might cause more damage. His face was pale, too pale. He seemed unconscious. Ingo placed two fingers to his neck, hoping, desperately, that something would come to him, anything to alert him that there was still a soul left.

Something fluttered. It was faint, but it was there. Ingo did not have time to call someone.

He placed his arms under Emmet’s legs and back, lifting him and cradling him to his chest, making sure not to jostle him too much. “Chandelure,” he called. A Pokeball popped open. “Scan the area. Search for traces of who did this. I need to get him to a hospital.”

He heard the sizzling of the rain on her warm fire, but they did not snuff out. If anything, the flames burned brighter as the ghost took in the scene before her, her ghostly energy thrumming inside her glass body with anger. He understood. “I will be back as soon as I can ensure he is alright. If I do not return, meet me at home.” And with that he took off, tightly clutching his brother to his body, hoping, praying to the Dragons themselves that Emmet would be okay.

—--------

Ingo strode back into the dark alley, sans a passenger. He was shaking now, barely able to control himself.

He had been stabbed, they had told him. Punched and kicked. Likely at least two attackers, one had said. His nose was shattered, he might need surgery. He might not be able to breathe properly. He might have lasting damage.

Ingo squared his shoulders. A discarded plastic cup danced in the breeze. He blew two notes, low whistles. A figure materialized out of thin air. “Lure.”

“Find anything?”

Instead of answering, the ghost led him away. Ingo followed. Chandelure is extremely good at tracking. He would let her do what she did best. Find dirty souls.

—---------

Ingo approached the building. Chandelure dimmed her flames, leading him inside. It was a sleazy motel just outside of Nimbasa. Ingo set his jaw and flexed his hands. He had removed his gloves already. She approached a certain door, stopping there and watching Ingo. He looked at her and tilted his head. She bobbed her body at him in a facsimile of a nod.

He knocked three times. At first, there was no movement within. Then, a door opened, revealing a man. He was not particularly tall. He had a large bruise blossoming from his jaw. Ingo would have smirked if he had been able to, for he had a hunch at who had caused it. The guy scrambled back, yelping. Two other heads popped up behind him. Ingo noticed a familiar leather wallet on the table. His blood boiled.

He grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and let himself in, slamming him into a wall and shutting the door behind him with his foot. Chandelure floated in, holding back the other two with Psychic. They strained against her, but to no avail.

The other two tried to scream, but it did not work. Ingo released the man, allowing him half a second of air, before he wound up and punched, right where his twin had done so not two hours before. He could feel the man’s jaw structure give way under his fist, watched as a tooth flew clean out of his face and across the room. He crumpled with a strangled yell. Ingo kicked him, hard, directly in the ribs. The man curled up, whimpering as Ingo decided to put him out of his misery. He curled into another fist and punched him directly in the temple. The guy’s eyes rolled back in his head as they closed and his body went limp.

Ingo turned, facing the other two. He could feel the hot snake of rage still coiling, thrumming under his skin, making him warm. He clenched and unclenched his fingers, his face darkening further as he approached them. Chandelure released them from her clutches. She knew what was about to happen.

He approached quickly. The other two did not even have time to scramble away from them before he approached them. He grabbed the one and dealt a punch to the head, knocking him down quickly. The other brought out a metal implement. He was going to play dirty.

The guy held it at crotch height, his hands shaking. Ingo could see the fear rolling off him in waves. The man ran forward, trying desperately to get the upper hand with brute strength. Unfortunately for him, the Battle Subway required more than just brute strength, but strategy. Ingo rolled over the bed, using his momentum to kick him square in the jaw. As he was distracted, Ingo reached over and wrenched the knife from his grasp, grabbing the man by the front of his shirt and slamming him against a wall. He tried to make a grab for the blade. Ingo swiped it into the man’s hand, burying it clean through his appendage and pinning it to the wall with a thin crunch. The man screamed.

“Just take it, man! Seriously! How are you this healed up already-”

“My brother,” Ingo ground out, his body thrumming with angry energy. “That was my brother.” He kicked the guy in the shins, with all his might. He screamed. Ingo heard something pop and his knee bent at an awkward angle. He did it again, to the other leg. Another agonizing, bloodcurdling scream. Then Ingo removed the knife from the wall, and therefore out of his hand. He let the man crumple to the ground. He was shaking. Ingo closed the blade and pocketed it. This man did not need it.

He kicked a phone in the conscious man’s direction and got in his face one more time, meeting the attacker’s terrified, wide blue eyes with his own glinting silver ones. “Call an ambulance. Consider yourself lucky. Do not ride the Subway again.” His sentences quiet, barely a whisper, and were filled with a cold malice, the kind that only appears in those with murderous intent. The guy nodded, not speaking. Probably for the best.

And with that, Ingo stood, his heels clicking together. Chandelure followed at his shoulder as he opened the door and left the motel, returning to the torrential downpour outside and shutting the door behind him. He needed to check on Emmet.

—------------------

“Ingo?”

Ingo looked up from the book he had been reading. Emmet’s tired gaze met his, watching him. Ingo quickly shut the book and set it aside, pulling his chair closer to his brother. “Emmet, how are you feeling?” Ingo took Emmet’s hand in his own.

“Stuffy. Whu’ happened?” Ingo stood, grabbing a cup of water for Emmet before answering.

“You were attacked. The damage was not too severe, thankfully. You need some rest in the meantime. Here, drink. You seem rather parched.” Ingo aided Emmet in drinking the liquid, who gulped it down. He must have been incredibly thirsty.

“Where’d they go?” Emmet slurred out, his tongue seemingly too dry still for his mouth to compute. Or perhaps it was the last of the anesthesia wearing off. Or the fact that his facial structure had been aggressively realigned and he was still not used to it.

“They have been dealt with. Do not worry about it. Instead, focus on resting and getting better. The doctor says that your nose may not go back to the way it was perfectly, but they have done the best they could. Otherwise, there are a couple of broken ribs on you, but they did not harm anything too vital. You were cut up the arms several times, as well, but they were mainly surface wounds. They had no intent to kill.”

Thank their lucky stars for that, or they would have never gotten to see the light of day again.

“‘Ngo? You okay?” Emmet was watching him peculiarly.

Ingo blinked slowly and squeezed Emmet’s hand. He was being too obvious. The surge of rage had dulled, but there still rested a quieter, more primal urge in his soul, to protect. “I assure you, I am quite alright. Just a little shaken. I have informed the station I will not be in today, instead here to keep you company. Elesa sends her regards. She wishes to visit when you are feeling up to it. I suppose I should call one of the doctors down to inform them of your wakefulness.” Emmet smiled at him, as much as he could around the bandage on his nose.

“You look tire’,” Emmet yawned.

“I was up much of the night ensuring you were in safe hands. I will rest soon. I promise.”

“I ‘ove you, I’go.” He was incredibly nasally and Ingo could tell he was still a little out of it. His pupils were incredibly dilated.

“I love you too, Emmet. I will return shortly, alright?” Ingo stood and went to get the doctor and he could feel the small smile playing on his lips. He would ensure nothing like this happened to his brother again. He almost hoped those robbers told others about what had happened when you messed with one of the Subway Bosses.

The other was never far behind.

#subway boss emmet #submas #subway boss ingo #subway bosses #pokemon ingo #pokemon emmet #my writing #fic collab #thank you pixel for the idea i love it

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pokecreature · 2 years

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(EDIT JULY 2022- THIS POST HAS SOME OUTDATED AU INFO!! I will likely make a diff post in the future w updated art and concepts!)

Here’s some art for my AU that my bf named the Lost AU! (Versions without masks are under the cut- I don’t want this post to be too long)

The basic concept is that Cilan and Cress both got sent to Hisui at the same time as Ingo- and somebody else also already made and posted abt an au where Cilan and Cress get sent to Hisui so please check it out here.

More information/art under the cut. Be warned, this post ended up being verrry long lmao

(also, Ingo and Emmet are wearing colored contacts to match their Pokémon)

Basic gist of how they got to Hisui is that Cilan, Chili, and Cress were celebrating their birthday in form of a sort of half-masquerade, where everybody wore themed outfits/masks but you still new who was who (Because of evil teams n stuff, it would just be too much of a risk to have everyone be anonymous)

Ingo is going around, delivering custom birthday cards to each of the triplets, along with a little trinket that he also made. It’s their 20th birthday, and they’ve had the gym since they were 15, so 5 years of being gym leaders is a pretty big milestone, especially for people who opened at such a young age. (At least he’s delivering cards and not releasing massive Pokémon into the place, like a certain smiling man in white that one year.) It’s my headcannon that Ingo makes small gifts and Emmet tries to be as extravagant as possible, because go big or go home right?

He gets to deliver the cards to Chili and Cress before he locates Cilan, and they get jumped by their respective siblings, and joke around for a moment before their Pokémon frantically run up to them.

Beneath them, a portal opens, and there’s only enough time for Ingo to shove Emmet, Chandelure, and Galvantula out and for Cilan and Cress to toss Chili and Simisear out, before they’re swallowed into the Distortion World.

None of them remember the time there (not yet) but they land in Hisui a few hours later (from their perspective). About Cilan;

He ends up landing in the Obsidian Fieldlands behind the Grantree Arena, along with Simisage, with no memories and the only thing telling him his name and how old he is being the birthday card in his pocket.

He immediately gets attacked, and Simisage saves him, but with no memories, he doesn’t know why. He ends up backing away when Simisage tries to approach and realizes that, oh shit, that’s his partner. He also has Simisage’s pokeball, which further reinforces the fact that they’re bonded.

He ends up finding a nice group of trees to live in (preferably away from what attacked him thank-you-very-much) and sets up a tree house of sort in one with a lot of branches

He stores his hat and mask in a part of a tree he hollows out, because for some unknown reason, he seems to have a survival knife

Lord Kleavor befriends him, and people only really find out about his existence until 2 years later, when an 8 year old Lian (pre Warden status) is visiting and ends up going too far past the Arena, and gets attacked by an Alpha Scyther; the very same one that attacked Cilan.

Kleavor’s Warden died trying to get Lian away because he lacked a Pokémon partner, and in a last ditch effort, Lord Kleavor runs off to fetch Cilan, who he knows is very good at fighting off wild Pokémon.

Cilan saves Lian with his battle prowess and it’s from that moment onward that the Clans know he exists. He ends up meeting some Diamond Clan members, along with Adaman, since he already knows Irida from the incident with the Scyther. After he successfully resolves an argument without making the fighting worse (he used to do it all the time with Chili and Cress) the Clans decide that he should be a mediator of sorts- and that’s what he ends up doing.

About Ingo;

He lands in the Alabaster Icelands, and tries to go ask about civilization, but his mask and eye contacts (along with his glowy eyes) make him look like a Zoroark, which causes anybody out in the storm to retreat.

This causes him to be unable to approach anybody, and the panicked words from Pearl Clan members about a Zoroark trying to approach humans causes Lady Sneasler, who had been visiting as Irida begged her to choose a warden, to go and investigate.

She finds Ingo, who at that point, had found Avalugg’s Legacy and was currently being attacked by the alpha Mamoswine, and saves him.

She rushes to get him medical help, and Gaeric, who had taken off after her, ends up rushing to keep up with her as she speeds as fast as possible to find out where Calaba is staying as the Pearl Wardens stay in the settlement for the night

Ingo gets help, and the people in the Pearl Clan notice the correlation between the cut in the sky above Coronet and his appearance. Many want to cast him out, but Irida refuses, and they have no choice but to listen to her despite her being 14 years old (18 by the time Akari arrives, she’s been leader since age 13)

Gaeric trains him in the art of survival and he and Irida develop a sort of sibling rivalry, with Gaeric as the eldest brother keeping them from actually committing murder

There’s something familiar to Ingo about the concept of teasing a younger sibling, and it’s kind of painful to think about for too long

Lady Sneasler chooses him as Warden about a year after he arrives, so by the time the Pearl and Diamond Clans find Cilan, he’s out in the Highlands, doing his own thing and caring for Sneasler’s kits, so he only vaguely hears abt a Mediator whose name he can never recall if told

About Cress;

He winds up landing on Prelude Beach with Simipour, and since this is two years before the Galaxy Team arrives, he ends up getting kidnapped by pirates

Some shit happens, and he, along with Simipour, overthrow the Captain, who had actually been holding his entire crew hostage and forcing them to work with him

Cress ends up having to kill him in order to win, and it’s a guilt he never lets go of, even if the guy’s own daughter thanked him for landing the finishing blow

He turns the purpose of the crew around. They end up becoming Bounty Hunters who only go after despicable people, and actually work to defend the innocent

The old Captain’s daughter, Lydia, who is Lenora’s ancestor, ends up becoming next in line to be the Captain, and as such, helps Cress with a lot of stuff, and actually kinda gets adopted as a sibling of sorts, and infodumps abt the history of different regions a lot

They have a special protocol for if somebody severely needs special protection, like if say, the equivalent of Cynthia were to be assassinated, then they’d come over and protect her until the danger passes

One day, Lydia comes into his office in a panic, waving a paper that holds the image of a man with blue hair, brown eyes, and a eeveelution partner.

And now for the maskless art! (also i literally have no idea why but when i view this post in my drafts the maskless art isn't grouped the way i want it to?? hopefully it posts itself normally, otherwise it's just going to be an uncompressed line of people) (also i am aware that Cilan's eyes are too far apart but i noticed it too late and now I can't change it, rip)

#subway boss ingo #subway boss emmet #ingo #emmet #gym leader cilan #gym leader chili #gym leader cress #cilan #chili #cress #warden ingo #nobori #kudari #Lost AU #pokemon #pokemon black and white #pokemon legends arceus #blankshippers DNI

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browniefox · 2 years

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do you have any submas fic recs?

You know, you'd think I would, right? I just don't have a lot of time to read these days between work, school, and writing (and also playing white but shhh). But I do have some! Uh, I'm taking submas to mean 'any fic that has ingo and/or emmet', so some of these don't have emmet. I hope that's okay.

Also uh I'm going to be honest with my recs, so I might say a few things that might seem a little mean, but I swear they're good fics! I'm just picky!

Reverie by Firelight

On the night of the festival, Ingo takes his leave. Instead of the loud streets of Jubilife, he finds himself in the Coronet Highlands.

A really good oneshot! It's just sort of a moment out of Ingo's life, and also I think the first Ingo fic I read lol.

(grabs the funny subway man) YOURE GOING BACK HOME FUCKER

In which Nimbasa City's most prominent figures find themselves in grief, a man and a child emerge from the mountains, and Ingo grapples with a world he would swear he knows, but cannot recognize.

This fic was probably the first one I read about Ingo coming back! It does a lot of things I like, like showing how much Ingo's disappearance has affected people. It goes the 'emmet becoming a mess of a workaholic' route for Emmet, and this one actually does it pretty good because somebody notices and tries to help! Uh, I don't really like how (spoilers!!!) the reunion is put off so that the author can show us how Ingo got home, and I'd much rather have it left to the imagination.

Misery Loves Company

Dawn was convinced she was alone in Hisui, going under a false name and pretending to have lost her memories in order to squeak by and survive. But she's not alone in her misfortunes. And she's not going to leave him behind.

A pretty good one! Dawn and Ingo bonding, and we know I'm a fan of that! It's a little more 'episodic' that I'd like, but it's still really fun and some really nice chracterization and relationships :D

Not Meant For This World

They found him on a mountain.

Unconscious and tattered, lips blue from lying face down in powder snow, the man was delivered to the Pearl Clan in the arms of a beast with no warden.

- - -

Ingo adapts. He has no choice but to adapt to this life he's been handed, even if he knows there's a great deal missing from himself.

I really like this one. The ending especially is a gut punch, like oof yessss hell yessss. It's mostly just Ingo and his time in Hisui, learning how he fits into it all.

We Will Always Have Each Other

Subway Boss Ingo has been missing for over three years. Not that the local Gym Leader or the Pokemon Rangers accompanying her have any idea who that is. All they care about is whether anyone was hurt in the avalanche caused by that sudden, odd swirling storm, and why all the wild Sneasel are acting so strangely now.

The journey may be long, but Ingo and Emmet will be reunited at last.

I really really liked the beginning of this one! I thought it had a lot of fun things going on! I wasn't as happy with how the rest of it has been going with the characters it cuts between and some of what they had happen with Ingo. I'm also picky about how the reunion actually goes - I mean, I'm sure when I have it happen somebody will say of mine 'i dont' like that' so karma and stuff - so I have mixed feelings.

Lucifer, Your Horns Are Showing

Volo and Ingo exchange myths, and Ingo regains a memory.

A neato fic about Volo and Ingo, uh, 'bonding'? Volo's mostly a little shit, but what do you expect. I like the characterization of both of them, though, and it feels like something that could've happened in the game.

#browniefox speaks #ask #asks #anon #submas #namjin fic #emmet #ingo #pla #pokemon legends arceus

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southeastasianists · 3 years

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When Youk Chhang started writing letters to Zaha Hadid, it seemed like a quixotic mission. Chhang was beseeching the world’s most celebrated architect to help him build a genocide museum and research center in a small, wounded country. Eleven years later, books full of Dame Hadid’s designs for the center rest in his Phnom Pehn office, like precious secrets. Chhang has made significant strides in his quest, though the most important step remains.

The fact that Chhang made it to this point—that he even is alive—is a triumph. Like many other Cambodians from his generation, he suffered through horrors during the Khmer Rouge regime: He was tortured for picking mushrooms, and watched as his pregnant sister was cut open and killed under the suspicion that she had stolen rice. The teenager escaped to the Thai border in 1982, as fighting continued, then to the Philippines, and eventually the United States. He finally returned to Cambodia in 1992, where he worked as a UN election observer as the nation began to recover from over 20 years of genocide, brutality, and war.

A world away, Hadid was having a career breakthrough. Years after gaining attention in the architectural world for her creative designs, none of which were ever built, the architect finally found clients to realize them. Her first landmark building, an angular concrete fire station later used as an exhibit space, was completed in Germany in 1993, beginning a long run of success.

In 1995, Chhang became the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, or DC-Cam. In his time there, the nonprofit group dedicated to remembrance and reconciliation has GPS-mapped 20,000 mass graves, interviewed 10,000 victims and perpetrators, and collected more than a million documents about the genocide. DC-Cam’s work provided evidence for Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunals and helped Cambodia acknowledge the trauma it suffered through.

DC-Cam also created plans for a genocide center, dubbed the Sleuk Rith Institute, that would combine a museum, policy center, and school. The effort is as much about the future as the past. “It should be a place to heal, a place to commemorate. A beautiful place to look forward. We will turn a horrible past into a better future,” Chhang says. He wanted to break from the usual pattern of big genocide memorials around the world: depressing, heavy, and overwhelmingly male, both in terms of their sensibilities and who conceived them.

Chhang long dreamed of approaching Hadid to design Sleuk Rith, which means “the power of leaves,” referring to religious texts written on palm leaves, many of which were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Hadid had a record of making celebrated modern buildings with inventive, dramatic curves, and Chhang saw that as a way to break away from the sharp, masculine angles and doleful sensibility of many museums related to acts of genocide around the world. (When told that someone liked the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., its designer, James Ingo Freed, was quoted in The New York Times saying, “You’re not supposed to like things like that. So I say: ‘Oh, yes, you did see it? Too bad for you, it was such an awful experience.’”) Hadid was born and raised in Iraq, and Chhang thought might help her understand Cambodia's situation, he says.

She also happened, by then, to be one of the most famous architects alive.

So Chhang, like a starry-eyed fan, began writing letters to the London office of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), asking if she would consider designing the institute. The firm saw requests from people around the world and could only accept a tiny number of them, so Chhang turned up the charm. “I made her a birthday card with a picture of Angkor Wat. I sent her folktales from Cambodia and a story I heard from a woman in a small village,” he says. He implored her secretary to make sure his letters found their way to Hadid personally.

Eventually the architect invited Chhang to the firm’s London studio. He flew there by himself, stayed with a friend to save money, and met with Hadid and about 15 other architects. Impressed at the pitch, the firm accepted the project and sent a team to Cambodia to learn about the country to inform their work.

In 2014, after two years of work, the firm unveiled a design based on five intersecting “volumes,” or sections, each dedicated to one main function: a library holding DC-Cam’s documents, a graduate school on genocide and human rights, a research center to influence policy and discourse, a media center, and an auditorium. The primary building material is wood, which helps distinguish it from similar sites, usually made from stone, metal, and glass. “There was a deliberate intention not to follow a typical path of memorial architecture as it’s normally or historically expressed—the heavy austere monumentality that’s in some ways depressing,” says Craig Kiner, a senior associate at ZHA who helped lead the design process. “It’s much more light and uplifting and delicate, which is something we talked about at great length with Youk and the team. It represents tranquility and hope and healing—for everyone in Cambodia but also for everyone who visits the building,” he says.

Unfortunately, Hadid herself will never get to see the building realized. She died of a heart attack in 2016, leaving a grand legacy and a number of designs that, like the Sleuk Rith Institute, are yet to be completed.

DC-Cam is now trying to turn the striking plans into a real place. Raising money for construction is a central need, but it is one that Chhang reframes. “It’s not a question of cost. It’s a question of the principle of engagement. We want it to be for victims and survivors. They [developers] want it to be a business.” Chhang says that the developers he’s negotiating with want to put Sleuk Rith on a small property, but Chhang insists that it needs about 15 acres, so it has a peaceful environment. “I think it needs a landscape. For them a landscape is a waste of villas.”

It would be easy enough to find space for the institute in the countryside, but Chhang insists on it being in Phnom Penh, close to the country’s political center, accessible to everyone from Khmer Rouge victims to Cambodian officials to international leaders and tourists. Finding a big-enough plot within the city limits is an as-yet-unmet challenge. As for whether the institute will look suitably dignified in a bustling city going through an often chaotic development boom, Chhang is unworried. “When you are beautiful, it doesn’t matter what you wear,” he says. “I like competition. I’d like to see a nearby casino compete with Zaha’s design. Let’s see who’s the winner. I have complete trust over Zaha’s design.”

Chhang says he’s confident DC-Cam will reach an agreement with developers and funders and get the center built, possibly one “volume” at a time. “People have talked about Sleuk Rith costing $55 million or $65 million. But there were two million lives lost. The cost is almost nothing,” he says. Projects like this often take a decade or so, he says, and DC-Cam has put six years into realizing Sleuk Rith, though he declines to adopt a specific timeline. “We work on this every day. I work on the costs every day,” he says.

Kiner says ZHA is working with DC-Cam to smooth the building process. “It’s something that we’re very committed to delivering,” he says.

Though Hadid’s name and reputation attract a lot of interest from developers and the public, not everyone appreciates the center’s approach. “Like almost every project in Phnom Penh, these images simulate that the building rises majestically from the lower structures around, embedded in a lot of greenery,” says Moritz Henning, a Berlin-based architect who studies Cambodian postcolonial architecture and published a guide to Phnom Penh architecture last year. “Why does every project have to be unique, stand out from its surroundings, or better: rise above its surroundings?” he wrote in an email.

“For me, the architecture refers much more to religious buildings, to Gothic cathedrals (and in this respect it fits, people there also wanted to make people small) than to Cambodian architecture,” he says. “Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not against the Sleuk Rith Institute. I think it would be great to have a place like this in Phnom Penh. But I’m very skeptical if this is the right way to go.”

Chhang sees the design-forward but still monumental approach as a way to draw the world’s attention to Cambodia and, likewise, connect the country with humanity as a whole. “The genocide center isn’t just about Cambodia. It’s about Armenia, Bosnia, Burma. That’s why I chose contemporary design, why I chose Zaha—to bring Cambodia out into the globe,” he says. “In Cambodia, there were lots of young girls like Anne Frank. There’s a lot of ways you can see the similarity. Why? Because we are all human beings.”

#Southeast Asia #Cambodia #Architecture

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allaroundmelbourne · 5 years

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Premier compares Victoria's ballooning debt to the household mortgage

Updated May 28, 2019 16:30:27 Premier Daniel Andrews has defended his plan to double the state's debt to fund major rail and road projects, comparing criticisms of the Government's borrowing with the suggestion that a person should not buy a house until they have saved enough to pay for it in cash. Key points:Net debt is projected to reach $54.9 billion by 2022-23Premier Daniel Andrews would not rule out the abolition of some government programs as part of a $1.8 billion efficiency driveOpposition Leader Michael O'Brien says Labor broke an election promise not to increase taxes The State Budget delivered yesterday by Treasurer Tim Pallas shows net debt, which is projected to reach $22.8 billion in the current financial year, is forecast to balloon to $54.9 billion by 2022-23. Over the same period, debt as a proportion of the state's economy is expected to grow from its current level of about 5 per cent to 10 per cent, and is expected to continue to rise beyond this period to peak at 12 per cent of gross state product. The centrepiece of the budget is a $27.4 billion "suburban transport blitz", including: $15.8 billion for the North East Link, which will link the Eastern Freeway with the M80 Ring Road$6.6 billion to remove a further 25 level crossings a $2 billion upgrade to the Sunbury line to prepare it for higher-capacity trains Interviewed on ABC Radio Melbourne this morning, Mr Andrews defended the borrowing, saying the money would be used to build infrastructure that would create jobs and "[set] us up for the future". "We are delivering on our commitment to borrow to build the big infrastructure that we need," he said.

Photo: The North East Link was one of the big ticket items in this year's Budget. (Supplied: Victorian Government) "The alternative would be to not build these things a bit like saying to your listeners, 'Look, don't buy your house until you can pay cash'. "Borrowing money when borrowing costs are very low, but borrowing at a responsible level, is exactly the right thing to do." What's in the Budget?Victoria's state debt will more than double to fund $27.4 billion in suburban transport upgradesTaxes for foreign property investors and absentee landowners will increase to match those in NSWBuyers of cars worth more than $100,000 face increased duties, with exemptions for low-emission cars and farming vehiclesThe public sector has been told to find $1.8 billion in efficiency savings, but the Treasurer said redundancies would be a last resortDental vans will provide free care to Victorian state school students at a cost of $322 millionThe Government's solar panel rebate scheme will be expanded, including to renters, at a cost of $1.3 billion Mr Andrews also defended demanding the public service find $1.8 billion in savings, which amounts to 4 per cent of its resources. It will be up to departments to decide how to save the money and the process will be overseen by the secretaries of the departments of Premier and Cabinet, and Treasury and Finance. Opposition attacks TAC 'raid' Mr Andrews said while the $1.8 billion was more than the Government had targeted in previous efficiency drives, he was confident it was achievable. He would not rule out the scrapping of some programs, but said job cuts would be a last resort. "Whether every single program that currently operates will continue to operate, no, I can't guarantee that," he said. "Some projects, some programs, just because they've occurred forever doesn't mean that they should continue to. "Just because things have been run for 20 years a certain way, doesn't mean that they should continue." The secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Karen Batt, said she was pleased the Budget did not outline any job cuts, and that departments would have a choice on how they saved the money. Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien described the $1 billion surplus projected for 2019-20 as a "phantom" surplus, because it was underpinned by the Government extracting higher dividends from public financial corporations including the Transport Accident Commission (TAC). In question time today, Mr O'Brien accused the Treasurer of "raiding the TAC for a Budget surplus". The Budget also forecasts higher-than-usual dividends from the three metropolitan water retailers, prompting Nationals Deputy Leader Steph Ryan to accuse the Government of using water customers as a "cash cow". Earlier, Mr O'Brien said Mr Andrews had broken an election promise not to add or increase taxes. "He and his treasurer made very clear before the election no new taxes," Mr O'Brien told ABC Radio Melbourne. "This Budget breaks that promise six times there are six new or increased taxes in the budget."

Photo: Michael O'Brien said Daniel Andrews had broken a promise by introducing new taxes and increasing others. (ABC News: Stephanie Anderson) Goldminers fear tax will send them 'backwards' Among the changes, the taxes paid by foreign property investors and absentee landowners will be raised, bringing Victoria's rates in line with those in New South Wales. A land tax exemption will be abolished for land that is next door to a person's home but on a separate title and without a separate residence, in a move the Government says is designed to deter land banking. Buyers of luxury cars will also pay more, with the rates of duty being increased for vehicles worth more than $100,000.

Photo: People buying cars worth more than $100,000 are set to pay higher rates of duty. (ABC News: Ingo Helbig) While Mr Pallas referred to $200,000 Maseratis when defending the tax increase yesterday, Mr O'Brien said the tax would be more commonly paid on Toyota LandCruisers. A 2.75 per cent royalty on gold will be introduced from January next year, bringing Victoria into line with other states, and generating an expected $56 million in revenue. Mr O'Brien said this decision had placed jobs at risk, including those of more than 200 workers at Castlemaine Goldfields' Ballarat mine.

Photo: Commercial gold miners will have to pay royalties from January next year. (ABC: Robert Koenig-Luck) General manager Stephen Jeffers said the Ballarat mine, which mines about $70 million worth of gold a year, could not afford the $2 million in royalties it would have to pay under the change. "We will start going backwards," he said. Asked by ABC Radio Melbourne's Jon Faine whether the taxes constituted a broken promise, Mr Andrews said he had promised not to increase taxes to fund his election commitments. But he said the tax increases would fund measures that exceeded those commitments, including payroll tax and stamp duty cuts in regional areas. Topics:government-and-politics,budget,federal---state-issues,parliament,state-parliament,states-and-territories,melbourne-3000,parliament-house-3002,vic First posted May 28, 2019 12:52:42 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-28/victorian-budget-2019-daniel-andrews-michael-obrien-debt-taxes/11156034

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omginstantpaperbouquetblr · 7 years

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By Ingo Schmidt / Socialist Project.

Conservatives: Overestimating their Popularity

“For a Germany in which we live well and happily.” Maybe it was just this less than catchy campaign slogan that cost Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU so dearly at the polls; leaving the party at a record low of 26.8 per cent of the total vote. What is more likely, though, is that the slogan was better at revealing chancellor Merkel’s state of mind – something like: A Germany that should be happy that I govern it so well – than capturing the mood of many of her erstwhile supporters. The conservatives had little sense that terrorism and refugee hysteria were much more than media spectacles. The hysteria indicates how much the so-glad-it’s-not-as-bad-as-elsewhere mood that helped to elect Merkel in the aftermath of the Great Recession and after the Euro-crisis had given way to a much more pessimistic zeitgeist. Locked into the corridors of power, Merkel and her party underestimated the shift from positive to negative outlooks amongst significant parts of the electorate.

Social Democrats: Stumbling over the equity-employment trade off

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) failed doing the splits. One foot, notably at the beginning of Martin Schulze’s campaign, moved toward genuine social democratic policies. The reward: A massive surge in the polls and party membership. Yet, while the campaign went on, the other foot moved toward the embrace of the social counter-reforms that, in the early 2000s, former chancellor Gerhard Schröder forced through party and parliament at the cost of losing the left wing of the SPD, which merged with the then existing Party of Democratic Socialism into Die Linke. For years, corporate media and Merkel praised the Schröder-cuts as trigger of an employment boom. In fact, Merkel won the last two elections resolutely by propagating the view that Germany had found the magic formula to prosperity while the rest of the world went bust. Crediting Schröder rather than herself as originator of this formula gave her an aura of modesty in a political world mostly inhabited by bullies and big mouths. And, of course, it was a constant reminder to social democratic supporters, who are usually more concerned with social justice than conservatives, that it was ‘their’ chancellor who cut the German welfare state to size.

Vote share in % Change in % from 2013 election CDU 26.8 -7.4 CSU 6.2 -1,2 SPD 20.5 -5.2 Die Linke 9.2 0.6 Greens 8.9 0.5 FDP 10.7 6.0 AfD 12.6 7.9 The Bavarian CSU (Christian Social Union) and the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) in the rest of the country form a joint conservative caucus in the federal parliament. SPD – Social Democratic Party of Germany, FDP – Free Democratic Party (liberal), AfD – Alternative for Germany (far right). [German federal election, 2017]

The SPD tried twice to cash in on their alleged role in boosting employment. They failed twice and decided to have it both ways this time: Advocating social justice and taking credit for advancing employment at the price of escalating inequality. Voters, proving that they are much smarter than politicians usually think they are, figured that this was a contradicto in adjecto. Some among them may also have had doubts whether a trade off between equality and employment exists in the first place. Whatever issues voters had with the SPD, their electoral results went from bad to worse, reaching, like the CDU, an all-time low of 20.5 per cent.

Die Linke: Unable to capitalize on widespread tastes for welfare state policies

Die Linke is puzzling. Founded as a merger of left-wing social democrats who defected from Schröder’s Third Way SPD and the PDS, which came out of East Germany’s former ruling Socialist Unity Party, Die Linke had social justice written on its birth certificate. It furthers constant debate around the question how social justice could be realized in a world of class struggle from above and economic stagnation. These debates deliver a plethora of facts and arguments to hammer out election campaigns. One of its frontrunners, Sarah Wagenknecht, routinely deconstructed neoliberal mythologies about the welfare state and union triggered crises and developed alternative policies out of the rubble of these mythologies. This ability made her something like a media darling. But neither Wagenknecht’s media presence nor the endless hours party activists spent on the campaign trail helped to translate the widespread taste for social justice, time and again revealed in opinion polls, into rising support for Die Linke.

When the SPD candidate Schulz hinted at a social democratic turn early in his campaign, SPD ratings shot up. When these hints turned out as fake news, SPD ratings collapsed but it still wasn’t Die Linke that benefited from the widespread taste for social democratic policies that the SPD couldn’t satisfy. Compared to the last elections, Die Linke’s share of the total vote improved by a meagre 0.9% to 9.2 per cent.

The Greens: From greening the old left to elitist lifestyle policies

The Greens share Die Linke’s inability to capitalize on widespread discontent. However, the difference between the two is that Die Linke aims at turning discontent with economic and social conditions into a social force that could change these conditions. The Greens, once a vanguard of greening old left agendas, would be content to attract voters from governing parties to increase their electoral market share within largely unchanged conditions. As a social force, they mostly represent a saturated middle class engaging in greened conspicuous consumption to distinguish itself from the cheap-deal chasing classes. Locked into self-chosen exclusivity, they have a hard time gaining shares in mass democratic voter markets. But this doesn’t mean that they are locked out from the corridors of power. At the time of writing, it seems that 8.9% of the total vote suffice as entry ticket to a coalition government with the conservatives and the liberal FDP.

The Greens emerged at the tail end of the rebellious 1970s as an attempt to transform the still existing zeal of the new social movements into an institutional presence against the rising tide of neoliberalism. The new social movements, to be sure, were triggered by insufficiencies of the old left. Tragically, efforts to green the old red agenda failed inside the movements and the Green party also. This opened the door for their transformation into a rather elitist middle-class party. A position it shares with the liberal FDP.

Liberals: Organize opportunism embraces economic nationalism

After WWII, this party of organized opportunism gave democratic cover to some old Nazis, though most of them joined the conservatives, and free traders. This strange mix was only possible under Cold War conditions. When policies of détente softened these conditions and the 68 rebellion signalled the coming of a new world, the FDP shed its Nazis and reinvented itself as a party of social liberalism and became a coalition partner of the SPD in the late 1960s. In the 1950s and into the early 1960s, the still Nazi-enriched liberals had been loyal to the equally Nazi-staffed conservatives. The late 1960s social liberal incarnation of the FDP didn’t last long; it had barely begun when a combination of economic crises and various social movements represented a double threat to profit rates. Under those conditions, the social democratic left failed to forge a bloc with unions and other social movements that would have pushed the entire party from the post-WWII class compromise to a socialist reformism consciously deepening the crisis of profitability to further socialist transformation. Yet, efforts to do so were enough for the liberals to renew their alliance with the conservatives. Being a catchall party with support from farmers, the petty bourgeoisie and even layers of the working class, the conservatives were slow and hesitant to embrace the neoliberal creed capitalists adopted in response to the crisis of profitability.

The liberals with a smaller support base less reliant on the social layers supporting the conservatives became the vanguard of neoliberalism in Germany. They were so true to their principles that eventually many of its long-time supporters realized that they had long denied stakes in the welfare state and that future doses of neoliberal policies might kill these stakes. As a result, the FDP failed to pass the 5% mark necessary to gain seats in parliament in the 2013 elections but, scoring 10.7% of the vote, had quite a comeback this time around. The liberals had refined their neoliberal commitments, inextricably linked to free trade in the past, by calling upon the state to secure the gains from international economic activity for German citizens. In a time of economic instability and stagnation where even many middle-class people fear they might fall behind, this economic nationalism has more voter appeal than the unrepentant free trade commitments of the pre-Great Recession and pre-Euro-crisis years.

Far right AfD: Neoliberalism wrapped in Deutschland über alles

Even more successful than liberals at rebranding as economic nationalists was the far right AfD by wrapping its programmatic commitment to neoliberal counter-reforms into thick layers of racism, Islamophobia and, more recently, anti-Semitism supplemented with praise for Germany’s Nazi-past. This brew allowed the AfD to increase its vote share by 7.9%, a little more than the losses suffered by the conservatives, to 12.6 per cent. All other parties campaigned in an ideological field demarcated by neoliberal economics, by conjuring up its past glory, like the conservatives, amending it with touches of social justice, green or assertive foreign policies, like the social democrats, Greens and liberals respectively, or by advocating for the transformation of the neoliberal order into a new kind of welfare state or even a socialist order, like Die Linke. The AfD abandoned the economic field entirely and moved on to politically greener, or maybe browner, fields of race and nation. In a softer version these are presented as culturally inherited identities, in a hard-core version they are biologically determined. Deutschland über alles is the key message in both versions.

Fear Takes Centre Stage

All other parties consider the AfD as a threat to democracy and social cohesion in Germany. To be sure, most parts of the Bavarian CSU and parts of the CDU understand this threat as some other party, the AfD, occupying an ideological field they had reserved for themselves in the past even though they made less noise about it than the AfD. Apart from this qualification, the shock about the AfD’s rise is genuine but pretty helpless, too. Expressions of this shock adopt the far right agenda so that the AfD’s preferred scapegoats – refugees – have taken centre stage in political discourse while they are marginalized economically and socially. Other parties don’t share the AfD’s message, at least not as blatantly as the AfD puts it forward. They may even oppose it. But by focusing so much on refugees they contribute to the shift in discourse from economics to race and nation. Sure enough, many people who feel the pinch of economic insecurity see refugees as unwanted competitors for jobs or welfare provisions. This economic rationale would actually be open to debates seeking policies to reconcile domestic concerns about job and income security with refugee concerns about – exactly the same issues. This is what Die Linke tried. Occasionally, Wagenknecht added a dose of anti-refugee sentiment to her economic messaging while other parts of the party came to a moral defense of refugees that put the left classic argument that capitalism is based on a scarcity of jobs on hold as far as refugees were concerned. For most parts of the election campaign, though, Die Linke managed to present refugees as a particularly vulnerable part of a working class undergoing massive transformations.

The recomposition of the working class in Germany, as elsewhere, certainly has something to do with the influx of refugees and immigrants. But it also has to do, in quantitative terms probably more so, with outsourcing, privatizations, relocation of operations and automation. Combined with pressures on wages, the lowering of social standards and public service cuts this recomposition leads to massive insecurities. They are particularly hard felt, though to different degree by different layers of the working class, because long established forms of representation, through unions, parties, civil society organization and the media were thrown into crises by waves of economic restructuring. A decline of membership in unions and civil society organizations, increasing volatility in the electoral system, most recently illustrated by the fall and rebound of the FDP and the rise of the AfD, and the social media spectacle testify to this crisis of representation. This crisis renders frames through which workers and layers of the middle class could make sense of their respective economic and social conditions obsolete. As a result, objectively existing and increasing insecurities are perceived as unintelligible threats. Fear reigns supreme and eclipses reason. The new German angst is projected onto refugees and immigrants. Arriving at a time of present-day insecurities and dismal outlooks onto the future, foreigners who run for their lives or look for a brighter future unleash the ghosts of history amongst wide swaths of the German population. The conservatives were still living in the recent past when Germany looked like an island of stability in a sea of economic turmoil. Pointing at high levels of employment and balanced budgets, they were quiet about increasing inequalities and insecurities. Yet, these are important concerns for growing numbers of people.

Tragically, thinking about economic and social issues is still dominated by the neoliberal imperatives of competitiveness, deregulation and balanced budgets. Alternative ways of economic thinking that can explain growing inequality and insecurity as outcomes of neoliberal policies, thereby articulate growing discontents and rally for policy alternatives, remain in the shadow of the neoliberal populism that dominates public debates for decades. Die Linke tried hard to strike a different economic chord but it either wasn’t heard or didn’t resonate. Economic reasoning and neoliberalism, even if, or maybe because, it is more of a religion than reasoning, are widely seen as one and the same. This is not only true for 99% of economic professors, 90% of politicians but also the vast majority of the population. Consequently, people finding themselves at the losing end of neoliberalism often express their discontent in non-economic terms. That’s why the AfD’s wrapping their own brand of neoliberalism in a diversity of chauvinistic identity covers was so successful. Finding a different economic language that the discontented can understand and clearly distinguish from the neoliberal creed is possibly the key challenge for Die Linke and the left outside the party to counter the pull to the right that currently dominates politics in Germany. •

Ingo Schmidt teaches Labour Studies at Athabasca University and is one of the organizers of the annual World Peace Forum teach-ins in Vancouver. His latest books are The Three Worlds of Social Democracy, Reading ‘Capital’ Today (with Carlo Fanelli) and Capital@150, Russian Revolution@100 (in German).

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anasaw · 7 years

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Forgotten refugees

I mean by the forgotten refugees, the one who live as present in Yemen. As all know Yemen is one of the countries which host refugees since a long years ago. Although Yemen is a poor country but still the country keeps receiving refugees and migrants. All refugees who live in Yemen are classified as urban refugees who have to work so as cover their basic needs. But nodays ,its difficult to them to find a job due to current war.To understand the plight of those refugees,let me present what international organizations wrote about the humanitarian situation in Yemen:

(Yemen currently has the greatest level of humanitarian needs in the world. After an armed conflict erupted in March, over 20 million people--80 percent of the population—is in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

The conflict has resulted in over 2000 deaths and one million people displaced. Yemenis are struggling to survive as fuel, food and medical supplies are critically low due to the closure of land, sea and air routes. Just 14% of national fuel requirements have arrived in country since the end of March putting 10 million people at risk of losing access to water. Over 12 million people are going hungry as wheat and other staples are in increasingly short supply. More than 15 million are without access to health care as hospitals shut down due to lack of medical supplies and power cuts. (care))

(OCHA)

(The humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate almost one and a half years after the escalation of conflict in March 2015.The escalation amplified an already existing protracted crisis, which was characterised by widespread poverty, conflict, poor governance and weak rule of law, including widely reported human rights violations.

At the begging of 2016, an estimated 14.4 million Yemenis were unable to meet their food needs (of whom 7.6 million were severely food insecure), 19.4 million lacked clean water and sanitation (of whom 9.8 million lost access to water due to conflict), 14.1 million did not have adequate healthcare, and at least two million had fled their homes within Yemen or to neighbouring countries. Many of the displaced continue to live with host families, placing additional strain on scarce resources, or renting shelter, which becomes challenging as rental prices increase, displacement becomes protracted, and savings depleted.

The conduct of the conflict has been brutal on civilians with all parties failing to take adequate steps to protect civilians or fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law. Air strikes hit marketplaces and residential areas and indiscriminate shelling was reported in several densely populated areas. By June2016, health facilities reported nearly 6,500 people killed and more than 31,400 injured since mid-March 2015 – an average of 113 casualties per day. Over the same period, more than 848 children were forcibly recruited as child soldiers. More than 600 health facilities and 1,600 schools remained closed due to conflict-related damages.

The ongoing conflict has significantly affected Yemen’s economy. According to the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the GDP contracted nearly 35 per cent in 2015. The Government was only able to pay some salaries, with no resources available for supplies or maintenance of infrastructure. This has severely jeopardised the ability of public institutions to deliver basic services. Restrictions on imports of key commodities such as food, medicines, and fuel have worsenedhumanitarian needs as Yemen is dependent on imports, including for more than 90 per cent of staple foods, 90 per cent of medicines and pharmaceutical products, and nearly all its fuel. Fuel imports are essential to power water pumps, run generators in hospitals and water stations, and for other critical civilian infrastructure.

Humanitarian partners are targeting some 13.6 million people for life-saving humanitarian assistance across Yemen in 2016, with the most critical needs being health, food and nutrition, and protection of civilians. Despite access and security challenges, nearly 100 international humanitarian partners are present and, alongside national partners, attending to needs in all 22 governorates. From January to April 2016, 3.5 million people were reached with health assistance, 250,000 people with nutrition support; over 270,000 with shelter and non-food items; more than 360,000 with education support, over 100,000 migrants and refugees were assisted, and an average of 4.5 million people received regular emergency food assistance per month.

In 2016, humanitarian partners have appealed for US$1.8 billion, but by end of June, only 25 per cent of funding had been received.)

Relifeweb.int,

on Population Movement (TFPM),1 3,154,572 individuals have been displaced since March 2015, of which 949,470 have returned and their humanitarian needs remain high. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) released a new report on the Situation of human rights in Yemen highlighting a number of serious allegations of violations committed by all sides to the conflict, and their impact on civilian lives, health and infrastructure.

Humanitarian access and operations were highly affected during August. Due to closure of the airspace, the Sana’a International Airport was closed on 8 August causing delays for the delivery of humanitarian supply and deployment of staff. Humanitarian flights resumed on 16 August but the airport remained closed for commercial flights, affecting an estimate of 7,600 passengers. Bridges and roads, particularly those leading into the capital, have been cut-off causing temporary disruptions in transportation. Following the attack that hit an MSF-supported hospital, and due to lack of safety assurances, the INGO announced its decision to evacuate its staff from hospitals in Sa’ada and Hajjah governorates.)

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Yemen is not getting enough international attention and the required financial support. With only 26 per cent of Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) requirements funded as of mid-August, the Yemen Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) agreed to review its 2016 HRP by reducing its funding requirements to US$1.6 billion to reach 12.6 million people with life-saving and protection services, focusing on the most urgent programmes)..So this is the theatre in which refugees live.The host country is a war state ,yet no one bring this fact into media.The country is forgotten and the hosted refugees are forgotten too.International community, UN Securty council, the Five permanent states have to act not to deplore,not to express worries but they have to take action.

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allaroundmelbourne · 5 years

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Premier compares Victoria's ballooning debt to the household mortgage

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