something something nina’s cover of the times they are a’changin’ as the final song of ofmd s2 is the only song that could end this season because come mothers and fathers throughout the land don’t criticize what you can’t understand, your sons and your daughters are beyond your command: the old road is rapidly aging, please get out of the window if you can’t lend your hand, for the times they are a’changing something something
284 notes
·
View notes
So what on earth is happening with the Czech election right now? Who is this general? Do people actually want Babiš? How does this vote work?
it's complicated! essentially, what is happening in czech rep right now is the third ever direct presidential election. meaning, every citizen over the age of 18 gets a vote. the last two elections ended with miloš zeman as the winner. miloš zeman is a bitter old man who is a rude drunk but people felt represented by him, and so elected him twice.
the second time around there was a big wave of dislike for zeman but the voters did not manage to pool in to one other candidate but instead spread to at least three fractions, making it impossible to beat zeman. this is not the case this year, with this election.
the first round of the election ended with two favourites. generál petr pavel and andrej babiš. they both had around 30something% of votes and ended within less than a percent to each other.
andrej babiš, the poplusist oligarch, is the head of the biggest political party in the country, ANO. andrej babiš is also a businessman who first went into politics in cca 2011 and his main positive was that "as a rich businessman he would not need to steal from the people as a politician." and "as a successful businessman he can run the country like he runs his company". they essentially built their popularity on populist policies that range the whole political spectrum without much of a system or reliability. they would form alliance with anyone who allowed them to be in the position of power.
the prominence of ANO has indirectly caused a crisis in democracy. the two sides of the political spectrum are out of balance. ANO's populist policies have replaced the political left almost entirely. if you'd watched the last government election last year, you'd see that the fight was no longer between the left and the right but between populism and democracy. the democratic right has won at the cost of forming a giant coalition made out of five different parties. they really needed that many in order to beat the ever so popular ANO, and babiš himself.
and this appears to be happening again. the choice of the second round of the presidential election is between babiš and generál pavel. babiš being a populist who will say just about anything to win (including pointing at the general's millitary past and claiming that he will drag our country into the war, take your kids away and whatever else). generál pavel being a guy with diplomatic experience in NATO, who mostly bases his campaign on his unshakeable calm and order. which, to be fair, following the many years with miloš zeman does seem like a very alluring concept.
both babiš and pavel also have a communist past, much like most people their age in this country. while pavel was a regular party member (and gained part of his millitary training under the old regime), andrej babiš has been proven to cooperate with the secret police at the time, being their secret agent of sorts. the cynics would tell you that there its not a real choice, that its between a communist and an agent, that they both suck. but.
it's not just the choice between two people. it's once again between a real diplomat and a liar. they are many poignant arguments concerning these two, but let me just focus on this one, as it is the most important one to me. babiš as a person does not stand for anything. he will say anything to get what he wants. he contradicts himself on the regular and does not cope well with being called out. he makes himself out to be an underdog but he was the prime minister until last year, and as a prime minister proved himself to be both completely spineless and worthless. and yet, his loyal fans seem to forget. they seem to have a weird sort of parasocial relationship with the kind grandpa in a turtleneck that he presents himself as on the social networks. they don't care what he did or didn't do. they like him as a person. they don't care what he would do to the image or political orientation of our country. they don't care. they care that he baked a delicious vánočka the other day, just like they do, every christmas!!!!
generál pavel has his own minuses, one of the ones that get thrown around a lot-- having millitary past, it's not all clear what he's done while in the millitary. having had diplomatic affiliations before, they say we can't know for sure where all his allegiances lay. and he was a communist after all. but. the thing is. he's the only other option we've got. and he's not all bad. he speaks well, he's consistent in his opinions, and he's willing to listen to marginalised groups for reasons other than to make himself look good.
and he's decent. and unaffiliated with a particular political party. insistent on democratic values. it's a low bar, i know. but it's the best hope we've got...
55 notes
·
View notes
nicob is well known in the danganronpa for being one of the larger channels that first covered danganronpa back when there was only a fan translation, and is the creator of the nagito hope bagel meme along with other big memes in the fandom
OH FRR??? I don't really know much about danganronpa back then other then a few running jokes and like... the game itself. Never knew the origin of them, though 🤷♂️
Only ytbers I know who played danganronpa are like, game grumps and kubzscouts.. and MAYBE bijumike
5 notes
·
View notes
52. Sol/Dys >///<
52. things you said with my lips on your neck
"Will you miss me?"
He doesn't mean for it to slip out but he can't catch it in time; with their mouth on his neck Sol pauses. "Of course I will," they murmur, breath ghosting against his skin. "But I want you to be happy more than I want you to stay."
His fingers spasm against their skin, pulling them in tighter. He can't say anything to that. "...I mean..." they hesitate, face tilting further into his neck. "It's what you want, right? To leave, and join the Gardeners...?"
"...Yeah," he says, because he does. He does. He's wanted to join them since he was sixteen and Sym let slip it was a possibility; he's wanted it since he was ten and an inhuman stranger crawled out of the forest. He's wanted it since he was five years old and he knew his mother wasn't coming back ever again. To stop living like this. To stop being human. And yet --
"Okay," says Sol, before pressing a kiss once more to his skin. "Then you'll go, and I'll miss you, but you'll be happy and that means I'll be happy too. Got it?"
"Yeah," says Dys again, and even as their hands flutter at the edge of his shirt, he's thinking of that night in Wet, looking up at them from where he'd crouched in the gutter, and how if they'd only asked he would've put the bomb down instead.
26 notes
·
View notes