#i dont know the shape of its ending yet and things are bound to change (which is why its on this acc instead of critterbitter!

[proxycrit]

Part 1 / Part 2

Emmet remembers when he and Ingo first brought Elesa to explore Celestial Tower, back when they were fourteen and thought they were immortal.

“Allegedly, the bell chime will bring ghosts home”, ingo had told emmet with the pompous knowing energy of a child who read way too much brochures. “It’s culturally significant! We must ring it.”

“Hmmm,” emmet had responded suspiciously. “Brother. The bell is at the top of the tower.” The implication stands: Ingo, there are thirty flights of stairs between here and the top, and no elevator to speak of.

Don’t be a coward, Litwick had told Emmet with the blaise tone of somebody who’s going to be piggy backing off of somebody else. Go ring the bell. Tynamo, sensing a litten fight, floated towards a loitering blitzle.

Ingo turns his lilipup eyes on Elesa, who’s squinting at the carved stone faces of the front door.

“Elesa? What do you think?”

Elesa thinks. She shrugs. “We already made our way here,” she said in accented galarian. “Might as well make it the rest of the way. Ganbatte!”

Emmet sighs. “This is a mistake,” he tells the two in exhaustive patience, but lets himself be dragged into the building.

Last time the twins were here, Ingo caught litwick— but not before she managed to nab a good chunk of Emmet’s soul. It’s not terrible; he felt fatigued for a week and bounced back pretty quickly, but it was the principle of the whole situation— celestial tower’s a pain in the ass and Emmet will stand by that until the day he dies.

Like right now.

The map isn’t working. Emmet checked it once. He’s checked it twice. He’s taken out his pen and written on it, which he would usually never do but desperate times call for desperate measures. The compass he brought spins useless circles. It’s like chargestone cave up here, but worse because instead if electric pokemon it’s all ghosts.

“We’re lost, yyup yup!” He announced to the crew. “I vote we eat Ingo first.”

“I love you too,” Ingo told Emmet placidly. “But we all know between the two of us, you’re the tastier one.” Litwick gives Emmet a thumbs up. Emmet gasps in mock affront.

“Elesa, help!”

Elesa gives the two of them a wary look. It took two floors for her to realize this is not just a weird temple with strange rocks, but a full out graveyard. She’s not very happy about that development.

“Don’t drag me into this,” she tells them. “Teme wa urusaii.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Ingo reports back.

Emmet, who’s cheerfully struggles with Galarian on a good day, simply gives her a thumbs up.

The three painstakingly crawl their way up. And up. If all else fails, Emmet told himself, at least they can orient themselves towards high ground.

“We’re like pidoves,” Ingo gasps. He has fallen behind them on the stairs, with Emmet taking the lead through sheer spite despite his legs going numb on floor twenty two. “We, hah, we are attracted by the magnet of the bell, like, like probopass-“

“I am emmet! You are not making, sense!” Emmet called back. Elesa, who’s stuck between them and looking two steps from perpetual collapse, giggles.

“No, no hear me out, Ingo wheezes. “What if the bell’s a magnetic pole? And that’s why your compass doesn’t wo, woo, hahh, work.”

Emmet stops to rest, just because Ingo is using precious breathing air to infodump. Elesa gratefully slumps against the railing. Tynamo and litwick, lazy in their still small size, have settled on a weary blitzle and look very smug doing so. (Emmet is not jealous, he tells himself. Emmet is also lying.)

“The bell’s important,” Ingo had repeated.

“Okay,” Elesa responds. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to us.”

And Emmet finds that he agrees with Elesa. Partially because they crawled up twenty fucking three flights of stairs, but also because Ingo thinks this is important, so it is.

And here’s the thing—

— emmet doesn’t remember much after that.

The rest of that trip was a blur of exhausted groaning and burning legs, and by the time the trio managed to breach floor thirty, people’s brains have all but dribbled out their ears. Emmet remembers being disgustingly sweaty. He remembers blitzle almost tripping to death and litwick’s swearing. He remembers tynamo sticking to his neck like a damp towel. He remembers Ingo’s excited sneasel smile, and the way the sunset bounced off of Elesa’s hair.

He remembers the brassy ring of the Celestial bell. It sounded like victory.

But it was Elesa’s cackle turned scream as Ingo swiped cold hands down her neck that sounded like home.

—-

So when the conductor at thirty one, lost and disoriented in the Impossible Place, heard the sound of a familiar bell, ringing over and over and over-

-the sound of laughter-

-EMMET! Elesa cried-

-like a homing pidove, the conductor, thinks nonsensically as something in him perks up.

(Emmet had always liked winning, more than anything else, and the sound of victory calls him home.)

—

Elesa catches lightning in a bottle. Elesa, arms outstretched, finds purchase in her brother, and does not let go.

Emmet is so, so cold, Elesa thinks as the wind steals air from her lungs. (That’s okay. She’s already breathless from a terrible business called hope.)

Emmet stares back. His hands flap against Elesa’s jacket. Elesa desperately drinks in his wan face and too wide eyes and his frost bitten lips. In a tiny, meek voice, almost lost to the wind, he asks:

“Are you real?”

Elesa lets out an ugly sob. Her tears whip away in the wind as they fall. Emmet’s frightened countenance turns immediately to alarm. His shaky grasp becomes a solid grip as they spin through the air, cushioned by chandelure’s psychic.

“I think so??” Elesa warbles. She sees Emmet’s eyes dart to her mouth. He’s reading mirroring her, she realizes with giddy delight— it’s such an Emmet thing to do, to read lips, and-

“I am Emmet,” Emmet breathes. His eyes have started to water. “Yyou are Elesa- Oh dragons, Elesa!?“

Elesa reaches. Hesitates.

Emmet grabs elesa by the lapels and crushes her tight against him. Elesa holds on, and the grief and relief in her accumulates into a wet sopping mess. She’s ruining his jacket, she mourns, but its okay because he’s dripping all over hers.

She can’t hear what he’s saying into her shoulder, can’t read what he says, but everything’s okay because every part of her is chiming

You came back

You’re here

I’m not alone anymore.

Around them, the air distorts as Chandelure’s psychic wavers, flutters, and solidifies. Gravity reverses its call as they settle gently on the ground, dust billowing in all directions.

The ghost pokemon drops next to them, shaking so hard the musical clang of glass makes Elesa flinch.

You fucks, Chandelure gasps. DON’T GO LEAPING OFF BUILDINGS, I AM NOT YOUR EMERGENCY PARACHUTE.

“I’m sorry,” Elesa gasps, still giddy from the adrenaline.

AND YOU! Chandelure howls, whirling on Emmet, who’s still staring at the ghost with huge eyes. He’s gripping on to solid ground with the energy of a man who realized he could have been a splat on the ground.

YOU LEFT!

Emmet winces.

You- You left us, you left me-

Ah, ah no, Elesa thinks as golden globules of light shed from Chandelure. This is what a ghost looks like crying.

Emmet holds out his arms. Chandelure drifts into his embrace, and shakes, and shakes, and shakes.

You left me, the ghost pokemon whispers. How dare you. How could you.

“I didn’t mean to,” Emmet whispers. “I’m sorry.”

Stop doing this to me, Chandelure demands. Golden brine joins human tears, like drops of sun trapped in wet glass. Stop going where I can not follow.

And Emmet holds his tongue, because he knows he can not promise staying. Not while Ingo and Eelektross are still in Hisui.

(In the back of Emmet’s hurt and shattered mind is a spark. Synapses connect. The cold breach of the Distortion does nothing to drown out the sudden flare of hope in Emmet’s chest, so great he can not breathe, so strong he can not feel, because there’s a path. A difficult, painful path through the Space that Can Not Be, but a path all the same.)

“Elesa, Chandelure-“ Emmet’s voice breaks. He wants to tell them about Eelektross. He wants to tell them about the terrible past that is Hisui. He wants to explain how the last five months were filled with horror and wonder and fear and hope.

Hope, he thinks. So he says this:

“I know how to get Ingo home.”

NOTES:

AAAAAND THAT’S ALL FOR THIS DRABBLE. ITS OUT NOW. I CAN FINALLY GO BACK TO POSTING HAPPY SHENANIGANS! (Now you know the shape of their story.)

Thanks for reading this monster of a post!

[deadontheinsidebut]

Can I request a Tsukishima x reader where tsuki falls head over heels for the reader while watching her play volleyball? Sorry that its vague 😅 I just wanted to give you a lot of room for your own freedom since it would be your story! You dont have to do it and I'll understand if you dont! Thank you either way!!!

a/n: tysm for requesting girl!! How are you? It wasn’t a hassle at all. I like when people give me some room to write my own ideas. Anyway, I hope you like it. I’m sorry it took so long to do. I just wanted it to turn out right🥺🥺✨💖✨💖

Summary: Tsukishima isn’t the most enthusiastic when it comes to volleyball, but that changes when he meets the libero of Karasuno’s girls team.

Word Count: 927

“It was the feeling of seeing you soar across the court. You embodied the flight of the Karasuno crows while maintaining the stability of the libero. Watching you play makes me believe I can do anything. But more than that, I started to want to give it my all regardless of the outcome. I started to like you... a little more than just as friends.”

Tsukishima liked to play until the practice was over and leave immediately. There was no use in staying when there were other things to do outside of volleyball. He didn’t understand how players like Hinata or Kageyama could slave away at the sport and commit a lifetime’s worth to it. 

After an ordinary practice with the team, Tsukishima had managed to work up a sweat and was packing up to leave with Yamaguchi close by. As he made his way down the Karasuno hallway, he heard a loud thump echo from the girls’ gym. Tsukishima peered curiously through the door to see the libero make a dive to save the ball. She had an effortless grace that made her fall seem more like she was flying. 

His eyes followed her every move before a quick tug from Yamaguchi snapped him out of it. His eyes flutter from Yamaguchi to the libero in the gym before making his way towards the front entrance. 

‘Tch’ he thought to himself with a quick shake of his head. 

It’s not like she was any better than Nishinoya or anything... so why was he so intrigued? 

Another tedious practice went by and he nodded goodbye to his team before heading out. Yamaguchi had decided to stay in hopes of improving his float serve, which was completely reasonable of him considering the upcoming matches would be pretty difficult if their team wasn’t in top shape. 

With his hands in his pockets he began to wonder what he would’ve thought of volleyball if he never had to experience his brother’s betrayal. The memories played through his head like a broken song. His aloof thoughts caused him to bump into a small form and knocked them both back a little.

“Oof,” a small voice cried out before landing on the floor. 

“Watch where you’re go-” Tsukishima grumbles out before recognizing the girl to be the libero he had watched the other day. 

“That hurt, you know,” you mutter as you pick herself off the ground. 

“It’s you...” 

“Huh? Do I know you?” you ask while tilting your head in confusion. 

“Nah. Watch where you’re going next time alright?”

You had your hair tied up in a messy ponytail and was drenched in sweat from practice. Your knees were all bruised up and you had friction burns on your elbows from sliding against the floor. 

“Wait, you’re the boys’ team’s middle blocker right? That super tall one! I saw you play against Johzenji,” you realize, your grin growing, “you made a really good block when the team was struggling to adapt to their unorthodox methods!”

“Uh, ya that’s me,” he responds bashfully. No one has ever noticed him like that before. 

“Wow! If I were as tall as you, I’d definitely try out as a middle blocker. My parents hate the constant bruising I get from being a libero,” you ramble on. 

“At least you’re good at it,” he remarks nonchalantly.

‘Crap why did I say that. Now she’ll know I’ve been watching her.’

“Aha, I suppose. I’m y/n. Nice to meet you.”

“Tsukishima Kei. Likewise.”

~1 Year Skip~

That introduction was the start to a long and unlikely friendship between the two of you. Not only have you managed to befriend the stoic and cold salt-shaker, you’re also on a first name basis.

Something about your enthusiasm for the world around you piqued his interest but he claims it is because you are so easy to aggravate and that is why he sticks around. 

“So if I stop reacting to your teasing, you’ll leave?” you ponder aloud.

He raises an eyebrow at your proposition. 

“Try it then, you brat,” 

“Hmph, you’re a meanie, Kei,” you pout as you cross your arms in annoyance. 

“You just proved my point. I guess I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” he remarks slyly. 

The constant banter between the two of you was a constant in both yours and the teams’ lives. They were constantly pulling the two of you off of each other, but at the end of the day, it was all in good fun. 

You see, Tsukishima had never felt anything for anyone the way he did for you so his interactions with you were uncharted territory. And it seems the more he talked with you, the more lost he became. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya were constantly trying to set the both of you up, but Tsukishima’s logical mind deduced from their behaviour what they were up to. 

This went on for a little longer before he realized that this icky feeling was ‘love.’ Nonetheless, you were still oblivious to all the feelings and schemes of the Karasuno teams and often wondered why Tsukki lectured Tanaka and Noya almost every week. 

Perhaps you two were two young to fall in love, or maybe, the little pieces of your heart that fell for him have yet to put themselves together. Regardless of that, the love between the two of you is genuine and bound to blossom. And maybe one day Author-chan will write a lovely confession between you two using the excerpt she wrote at the beginning of this fanfiction. Only time will tell...

a/n: BAHAHAHA idk why i’m so troll I’m so sorry!! Literally let me know if you want a confession scene but these two lovebirds are so blind to their feelings and I already know Tsukki is in love with Reader-chan but isn’t it sm more mysterious when I leave the ending ambiguous? 0.o

[tessacxstello]

hello im (F, 24) an idiot and forgot to post tessa’s (F, 22, fictional) intro!

pls bare in mind most of this was written 5+ years ago n i haven’t written tessa since 2015...... but lets get this show (LOCKWOODRP) on the road (DASHBOARD). 

tw school shooting, tw bipolar disorder

art hoe. always covered in paint. why?? she bad at painting

the mark rothko jackson pollock kind of bad tho wher people are like.... omg.... revolutionary..... its a badly drawn vagina

fuckin loves astrology, but cant take it that seriously bcos one of her bfs was a gemini so there’s some lenience there. but she WILL blame her hormones and mood swings on the positon of mars

embodies pure sunshine. 

one of those really annoying people that can go through the most traumatic shit and still find a positive spin. 

cares so much for others but does not really care for herself n it’s meant she just bottles up all this shit n when someone asks her how her day has gone she just falls on the ground like tht bit in midsommar when florence does that loud wheezy noise and sits down 

has never really had much money at all. learns to make-do with what she has. loves upcycling!! her bookshelf is made from cardboard which she’s reinforced by pappering it over with pages ripped out of thrifted books. her sofa is an old car boot which she’s repainted, put on wheels and stuffed w cushions so that it’s actually bearable to sit on.

her knitted cardigan? its made out of wife material.

knits all the time. will crochet you a christmas scarf. if ur lucky you might get a knitted jumper with a penis in a santa hat

still sleeps with cuddly toys n then wonders why ppl dont think she’s mature enough for a serious relationship

very passionate about Sister Doing It For THemselves!! raised by a single mom who worked her ass off so that tessa could do fun activities after school, have lelli kelly shoes, and go to college (not necessarily in tht order of importance)

tessa was born out of wedlock as the result of an affair between her mom (a journalism intern in her early 20s) and a new york times editor. 

the editor offered to pay tessa’s mom off to have an abortion, but she was like fuck u and told the papers he’d done that and used the money to cover the cost of her internship which they refused to pay her for

and because of the scandal, he ended up going through a pretty messy divorce with his wife, and losing custody of his kids. so as a child  tessa was seen as the cause of a divorce and received mutliple letters from the editors wife (to tessa personally!) and his kids saying how she had ruined everything, but her mom moved them to another town so tessa didn’t have to deal with that crap. 

her mom worked 3 jobs to put her through school, so in return tessa pushes herself incredibly hard to succeed. needs a break and a hug and to get laid to be honest. 

an old soul. likes old films, old music, old people. only recently got an iphone 5s so not really with this century yet

very sweet and soft and kind but also a fucking mess and won’t listen to anyone else’s opinion. she’ll take comfort, but not advice. 

feminist buddhist bisexual vegetarian for human rights and animal welfare. standing on a soapbox shouting about the climate in the quad, shoving flyers into your hands. flyers everwhere. she turns up at your grandmas funeral and shoves one into her mouth. she’s stolen the mic from the vicar to talk about pandas.

says “mother of pearl” and “heavens to betsy”.

had an affair with her married piano teacher and he’s now facing a custody battle and his wife is leaving him and tessa has completely internalised that guilt despite her being the victim in the scenario

aesthetics: paint splattered jeans, loose curls spilling from a scrunchie, thrifted blouses in bright yellow, guzzling coffee in the library at three am when a term paper’s due, shoddily illustrated campaign posters to save endangered species, polaroids plastered to your bedroom walls with scribbled dates on the frames, jumping into a stack of autumn leaves, jumping off piers in the summer months and stripping off your wet clothes on the beach, digging your thumbs into peaches to leave a bruise, smoking with the extractor fan on to hide the smell, bath bombs, letting the girls at lush rub samples all over your skin, cacti with knitted bobble hats, decorative pillows and sun and moon blanket throws, basic bitch fairy lights hanging from every single window, painting the name of the boys you’ve loved inside your wardrobe door.

studies fine art and philosophy, and wants to become either a lecturer or the first woman president. vibe wise, very similar to leslie knope, missy from big mouth, and basically the naive everygirl with a high opinion of themselves trope

gets drunk off like one double vodka lemonade because she’s small and she’s a pretty messy wild drunk. it’s when slutty tessa comes out, and the next day she’ll thoroughly regret every choice made and decide she’s never drinking again and cutting out all men and starting daily sudoko

on the cheerleading team and is a flyer, which she sees as a HUGE responsibility and she works really hard to make sure she’s on it for her team. one of those get up at 7am and go to the gym before school types its sickening

she had a really traumatic time at high school because there was a shooting in her school. she was in the next classroom when it happened, and she lost one of her friends in the shooting. she had to take two months off school, was diagnosed with depression and put on anti-depressants because of it. in her 2nd year of uni she was rediagnosed with bipolar disorder and anxiety, which she’s now on medication for. she can be really good for several months at a time and feel super creative and determined (she actually finds manic periods helpful for her creativity n art, n sadly sometimes doesn’t take her meds in these periods to push herself more which is obvs super bad.....). but when the bad periods come they can also last months n she had to take a semester out of school last year because of her mood, so she should be a senior by now but she’s retaking junior year

she attends weekly stress-management sessions prescribed by her doctor which she finds pointless.

very childish in the sense that she can only see her own point of view and kind of views herself as the “protagonist” and thinks her ideas are super important and life changing and she IS Destined for Greatness! despite being pretty much average af

pinterest board.

STATS

age: 22

height: 5'2"

positive traits: kind-hearted, gregarious, selfless, philosophical, open minded, idealistic, courageous, feisty, charismatic, loyal, adventurous.

negative traits: stubborn, hot-headed, reticent, escapist, self-destructive, easily led, naive, troubled, complicated, stepford smiler, envious, overdramatic, explosive.

distinguishing Marks: heart-shaped birthmark on the right of her chest, splattering of freckles across the cheeks during summer months, full lips, large eyes, porcelain features, long wavy hair, tattoo of a bird and a cage on her ankles and a basic bitch arrow tat on her wrist (srry to anyone with an arrow tat).

skills: jack-of-all-trades, talented pianist, perceptive, knows the correct way to throw a punch, good survival instinct, is able to remain calm in stressful situations, endures, artistic, excels in academic studies, hard-working and self-motivated, expert liar and talented actress.

likes: wolves, vintage thrift store fashion, old leather-bound books, left-wing democratic politics, cigarettes, poetry, John Hughes movies, cold coffee, hot tea, the sound of laughter, staying up til 4am having deep conversations, Tchaikovsky, having deep conversations about life, stationary, DC Comics, horoscopes, winged eyeliner, cats, knee-high socks, house music, abandoned buildings, studio ghibli, the smell of the earth after rain, Wes Anderson films, herbal tea, old people, solitude, esoteric things, the smell of freshly baked bread, Charles Bukowski, the moon.

fears: death, oblivion, global warming, losing those she loves, isolation, clowns, guns, enclosed spaces.

nicknames: Tess, T-Dog, Tessie, Socrates, Princess, Sunshine Girl, Florence Nightingale.

alignment: Neutral Good

MBTI type: INFP

BIOGRAPHY

tw school shooting

Her story begins with Cordelia Costello, a twenty-three year old college drop-out, turned beautician, turned columnist, turned intern at a local publishing company. She was a youthful, beautiful, siren of a women, always surrounded by an aura of enigma and an entourage of men. It was no surprise to the gossips in the office that within six months working at the company, Cordelia had added to her list another title – mistress to Franklin Hozier, the Editor of the New York Times. After two blissful months and three hundred and twenty seven orgasms, Cordelia decided she wanted a baby. Franklin laughed in her face. Feeling isolated and used, Cordelia continued her affair with her boss’ boss for another month, before deciding to take matters into her own hands.

It started with a turkey baster.

Soon the infant cries of a baby girl graced the world, her wrinkled skin puckered and pink as her mother held her in her arms, glancing upon the most beautiful thing in her life. Once Tessa, named after Cordelia’s favourite literary heroine, entered the world, Franklin left her life and things took a turn for the better. Despite living in a rented one-bedroom apartment in Staten Island, on what little money Cordelia had saved, Tessa’s childhood years were filled with nothing but the happiest of memories. Times were tough, but what they lacked in money, the Costello’s made up in love. While Tessa was at school, Cordelia did odd jobs cleaning, child-minding, working in local nurseries, in order to save up enough money to give her daughter the best start in life.

Despite what she had been led to believe by television shows and teen movies, the first few years of High School were some of the best years of her life. Tessa threw herself into a multitude of activities that High School offered her, including the drama club, the orchestra, choir, badminton and the school newspaper. While she certainly wasn’t considered ‘popular�� at school, Tess had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. In fact, High School was a place where she made some of the greatest memories of her life, but come her final year, it was also a place where she was haunted by some of her worst.

On the January 17th of Tessa’s senior year of high school, a shooting took place in Westville High School. For two hours Tessa locked herself in a supply cupboard, her head between her knees as she tried to stay silent despite the screams of horror from the corridor. Eighteen students were caught in the crossfire, two of which were Tessa’s best friends. Bouquets of flowers, laminated photographs, Teddy Bears in cling-film bags attached to balloons littered the streets as families and friends came to pay tribute to the eighteen students withered before they had a chance to bloom.

It took two months of therapy before Tessa could return to school. Some of the survivors could never return due to the horrors that their eyes had laid witness to. Sometimes Tessa felt like a part of her had died with the friends that were stolen from her too soon, but one thought kept her going through: she had survived, she was alive and breathing, and she could not afford to loose a second of the precious time she had been granted on this earth. Despite the nightmares that continued to haunt her each night, Tessa found in the aftermath of the disaster a new sense of motivation. She began applying for scholarships for colleges without her mother’s knowledge, in the hope that her academic success would be enough to carry her through further education. Thankfully, it was, and after three torturous months of waiting Tess was offered an arts scholarship to her dream school, Lockwood University, where she hoped she could finally start to rebuild her life.

THE PRESENT:

Life at university was like a separate world. Students came and went like moths among the whisperings and the tequila and the stars. In this new world, Tessa was exposed for the first time in her life to alcohol, drugs, and the sexual appetites of other students her age – though she politely declined all three. Instead, Tessa threw herself into the vast array of activities in the hope that by distracting herself she could escape the terrible flashbacks that continued to haunt her. Tessa joined the lacrosse team, despite never having played before, and took up cheerleading discovering a new talent; she joined the musical theatre group, and the film club, and even set up her own acapella singing society. But despite how much she tried to throw herself into student life, her past hung around her like a bad smell, and with the added pressure of the Sinking Ships zine, Tess began to feel the weight of her secret tying her down like a pair of shackles around her wrists.

PERSONALITY:

If someone was to describe Tessa in a single word, it would most likely be ‘bubbly’, ‘open-minded’ or ‘sweet’. But they would be wrong – Tessa is not bubbly, or sweet, or stubborn, or hotheaded, or fiesty, or infectious, or any of the things the world see her as, but merely a numb and lonely echo of the gregarious, halcyon girl she once was. Tessa Costello was one of life’s enigmas. No one knew who she was, for to each person she met she wore a different mask – she dripped confidence, or was painfully shy; she was an exhibitionist, or a brooding wallflower; she took things too seriously, or not seriously at all. She was an actress and the world was her stage, each person she met a different member of the audience in the performance of her life. In truth, Tessa no longer even recognised herself. Insecure, and self-destructive, she tried to hang on to the extroverted, mischievous pieces of herself that everyone had once loved, but day by day it got harder to know what lay in the vacant holes blown through her mind. While she was stubborn and hot-headed, Tessa always saw the best in people, which meant that she was easily led astray. While she had grown up learning to be street smart and astute, she was idealistic and allowed silly fantasies to cloud her mind. By nature, she was passionate, which lead her to misimagine and romanticise those she met. Despite the hell she had witnessed, and the anxiety that feasted upon her, she believed that people were innately good and that to have courage and be kind could cure anyone of their sadness – yet she was unable to cure herself.

TWITTER:

@500daysoftessa: i blame disney films and musicals for my high expectations of men

@500daysoftessa: i am in love with the boy who works at starbucks. today i asked for a double latte and he gave me a tripple, which i think is proof that my love is requited. our children will be smart and talented and beautiful.

@500daysoftessa: little known historical fact: pharaohs were burried with their hands crossed over their chests because it was a popular belief there would be countless water slides in the after life.

[miomediator]

Dave as a Rogue of Space

Analysis and thoughts on Dave’s inverted classpect, the Rogue of Space. Along with an introspection surrounding multiple aspects.

Sprite assembled on FarragoFiction’s doll maker, then photoshopped by myself :] Yes, I saved it as a jpeg for authenticity.

Author’s note: I am a beginner at classpecting and putting my thoughts on paper, so to speak. So the following will be messy, self indulging, open to changes and additions.

When we think about classpecting, we mustn’t neglect someone’s relation between their True Calling and inverted classpect, as they are two sides of the same co1n.

Re-contextualization: Vulcan posted on Twitter an interesting message, which I replied to and it followed-up by a conversation:

« dave would have been a better space player and jade would have been a better time player »

I’ve found that this thought needed more attention and a deeper analysis, so I fuss in my head and look on the internet all the elements that would support it, along with how would dave work as a Space-bound person. Then this is when I remember that dave’s inverted classpect was a Rogue of Space.

I will focus especially on Dave in this theory, as several people already posted about Jade’s inverted classpect, a Seer of Time.

Let’s do quickly the classic way, taking a look at what Rogue and Space entail.

Rogue: The one that steals their aspect or through their aspect for the benefit of others. 

Space: creation, beginnings, visual arts, the setting, physical objects, matter, locations.

Dave’s always inclined to act in a passive and service-minded way. 

If the Knight echoes to the warrior/butler archetype, then the Rogue is linked to the outlaw/stealer archetype, both class sharing a sentiment to help others. 

The Rogue in a mischievous and illegal way, the Knight in a more lawful and noble way. Though if we are honest, that doesn’t make Dave a saint or Roxy a scoundrel. They both remain on the Chaotic Good alignment :)

Now, we have to look at what a Rogue of Space, in general, could do. I have listed a few abilities I found coherent.

Including:

Dave stealing apple juice bottles, more juice for him. Even though it’s not very passive of him, players are allowed to be active and passive, it’s natural and part of their dynamic.

Creating portals, allowing people to get from a point A, to a point B. He would literally steal space for the benefit of others.

Handing objects to their friends like if it was Christmas in here. It could be things linked to creation or creativity, like a drawing.

Taking matter from an object to give it to another one, making the latter bigger.

Stealing matter from the ground to create walls, shielding the team from an attack.

Switching places between two things or persons, could be very useful during battle, confusing the enemies and allowing the team members to gain ground.

Vulcan original idea came from the Extended Zodiac site. While he meant the actual signs that both Jade and Dave would have, I took a look at those who would fit them if they were originally Time-bound and Space-bound, Jade and Dave respectively.

Jade’s and Dave’s inverted signs

Now Dave came out as the Sign of the Builder, which is interesting to ponder on!

During the Sburb session, he was the server player of two of his friends, Rose and Jade. Using the flow of time at his advantage, he helped them during different sections of time. Which also means that he was building both of their houses, allowing another step closer to victory.

Additionally, according to a great analysis (I need to find the link, I can’t find it anymore) expending a player’s house in Sburb symbolizes expanding one’s mind.

It could implies that Dave along with the Beta teens, helped his friends being less homestuck, or « headstuck ». Which wasn’t the case at first for the Alpha teens, since they didn’t have the required amount of Grist to do so.

Vulcan:

« Dave spent the entirety of his session helping his team out, so I would also interpret "builder" as him building up his team for the session? »

Dave doesn’t see himself as « the strategist », relaying this role to Rose. In my opinion, he didn’t view it with the right angle. While I won’t see him as a leading player, I would say that he is more a « supportive strategist » if that make sense.

TT: But now I know for sure Dave isn't behind this plan. 

TT: It's too complicated. 

GA: I Dont Understand 

GA: Who Better To Coordinate Such Events Than The Knight Of Time

Quote from this page

If time is about progression, and more specifically the session’s progression in Sburb, then Space is about the setting and environment!

Yes, Dave is good at making things happening time-wise, but he greatly helped Space-wise!

He managed to make Rose enter in the Medium, to be physically there. While he was jumping throughout the timeline, he had to be in different places. At a certain point, while he was gathering money for Terezi, he was also with Jade collecting frogs. There is this notion of Space, by the simple fact of being in several places to help his friends, along with the concept of loneliness.

Dave, like the others, was isolated. His room is his sanctuary, no cameras, no Bro allowed. And while he used music to occupied himself and "kill time", he is tied to visual art as well. His comics and photography.  Photography:

Dave hanged his ironic photos near his window. His closet was used as a Dark Room. We can see his bonds with his other family members, Rose with the light (photo, window), and Roxy with the concept of secrecy and darkness. Which can also be interpreted by Rose's own inversion (photo revealed in the dark, then exposed to the light where everyone can see it) but that’s a story for another time. A selphie is also a physical representation and conservation of the Self. It’s one of the elements that was born from Dave’s narcissism. It’s interesting to note that taking an analog photo captures a moment in time, to end up stuck as a physical flat object ;)

Comics, shittiness and reality:

Back to his art, it can be seen as attached to two aspects: Space for the creation and creativity, and Heart for the sense of representation of Self (Bro and their tensed relationship subconsciously externalized). 

We'll focus on the former. Dave's has an interesting way to narrate his stories. It's random, unpredictable, messy, crude and very genuine. We saw Jade and Calliope drawing. Jade draw well, without been too invested in her art skills. Calliope is very talented and has a nak for storytelling. It's about the setting. If we were to create a pyramid made of characters invested in art setting, dave would easily appear at the bottom. He said himself that "art skills are overrated" and strive to draw as shittidly as possible. It's his brand! Quite literally in the Alpha universe.

Both Space and time are the most important aspects, because they shape reality itself. 

Through the mean of the Alchemiter, Dave picked two objects (Space), catchalogued them, which turned into datas (Light), become ideas (Hope) then make them into another brand new physical object (Space). It’s a circle of creation, that go through other aspects! With the SORD….. it’s curious to see that, by it’s very own nature of shittiness, Dave has a hard time holding it. The weapon is present in the realm, yet not quite tangible. A paradoxal realness brought to existence. A little bit later, he created the SBAHJIFIER. Not only it finally combined two of his beloved hobbies, photography and shitty comics, it allows him to shape and create things with his own personal self and vision of the world as well.

He modifies the object, changes its realness to fit his own desires. Does he work as a Witch of Space at this moment? Or maybe robbing the first appearance and realness of the object, recycling into something else. Wouldn’t that fit the role of a Rogue of Space in some way?

A young Space-bound lady look with disgust at the real shittiness of a SBAHjified Statue of Liberty, created long ago by director!dave in the Alpha universe.

If Dave, as a Rogue of Space, could reach his potential in a Sburb session, he would have a great power over shifting reality. The sord….. as a handy healing item, turning enemies weapons into a shitty near non-tangible objects, taking photos of cumbersome and/or heavy objects, to be able to alchemize them later. Let’s not forget all the juice he could get ^^ rogue!dave is a fearsome opponent, you better not cross his path if you want to stay alive and in high-resolution. This is it for my analysis! What did you think? Leave your thoughts in the notes of this post! A huge thanks to Vulcan, who without him this post wouldn’t be existing :) Until then, appreciate the shittiness, it’s as valid as any other art quality.

[mayardsale]

The clouds were suspended over the church as we found our car in the light spring rain. The cooler temperature matched Tara’s mood. Her exit from the parking lot matched her anger. “Please slow down,” I calmly begged, knowing full well that Tara wouldn’t. I’d given up hope after she ran the second red light in as many intersections. “Killing us both won’t bring her back,” I said as I watched her tighten her grip on the black leather steering wheel. Tara and Stephanie had been best friends since college. Last week’s bicycle accident was as unexpected a tragedy as any of us could have imagined. They’d ridden through those woods for 15 years with the occasional bumps and bruises, but the fall that took Stephanie’s life was a shock to Tara’s core. As Tara pulled over to the side of the winding highway, I unbuckled my seat built. She was in no condition to drive after the funeral. For a week she was a rock for everyone because she was the closest person to Stephanie in the world. She executed everything from funeral arrangements to financial specifics. Tara was everybody’s rock, but I wasn’t sure if she had sustained her own head trauma during her wipeout. “Can you pull over more?” I asked as I looked over the back window at the traffic hurdling through the mist. “Why the fuck didn’t she listen?” Tara whispered, hands still fixed to the wheel. “She could have stopped. Why didn’t she fucking stop?” She gripped the steering with all her might. I just closed my eyes. Tara’s pain was exploding while my guilt was eating away at me. Stephanie may have been Tara’s college roommate and best friend, but three years ago Stephanie and I developed a closer relationship. *********** Tara was in Montreal for a conference when Stephanie built up enough courage to make her move. For years it was obvious that Stephanie had a crush on me. She’d always deny it, but Tara and I knew that she was infatuated with me. It was a joke for five years. And then it wasn’t a joke. From practically the beginning of our relationship Tara and I weren’t on the same page sexually. We were more than in love, but Tara grew less and less interested in sex as her career took off. My dick was a minor distraction in her world and she had no trouble telling me. “Please take care of that elsewhere,” she’d tell me, but I didn’t think that was what she really wanted. Every other week or month she’d apologize and we’d fumble through an intimate act that only frustrated both of us. We were making it work, somehow. The rest of our relationship was actually amazing, but the tension around our sex life made for some terrible fights. Truth be told, I found her career and personality both too intimidating and important to bother with my petty needs. One particular week she practically laughed at my needs. ��If your dick was in that much need,” she sneered, “you’d have bent me over and simply fucked me.” That was her special kiss goodbye as she got into the limousine on her way to yet another speaking engagement in Paris. Humiliated and emasculated, I spent the better part of the week buried in work. I hit the gym at 6AM, at the office by 8AM and didn’t get home until 10PM. Tara’s apology texts went unanswered as I feared her return Saturday morning. When I pulled into the garage Friday evening, I found Stephanie’s car in the third section of the three car garage. I could hear the vacuum cleaner in the family room, but I chose to keep to the kitchen. As I made myself a sandwich I heard the vacuum turn off and the worst version of Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator’ take it’s place. Stephanie obviously had her headphones on and hadn’t realized anyone else was in the house. As she danced into the family room, I was greeted by a Raiders t-shirt and an orange thong that was not quite the typical maid’s uniform. Tara and Stephanie were best friends in the same way that Tara and I were married. Tara made the rules and Stephanie willingly followed. From job choices to boyfriend breakups, Stephanie was dependent on Tara’s advice. Their relationship was so close that I wondered if Tara’s lack of sexual interest in me was related to her connection with Stephanie. Of course I didn’t have the courage to ask Tara so I brought it up to Stephanie. “Not our thing,” Stephanie simply denied. I was kind of hoping it was, but that was the last of that conversation. “Oh, Jesus!” Stephanie screamed as she finally realized I was behind the island watching her one woman show. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were home, asshole?” she shouted as she caught her breath and fell to the couch. “Didn’t think I had to announce myself in my own house,” I replied. I tried to focus on my turkey on whole wheat, but my dick was captivated by what that orange thong was trying unsuccessfully to contain. “Tara asked me to straighten up the house before you she got home because she said you were MIA,” Stephanie explained as she tried to wiggle her thighs into her t-shirt. “Where have you been?” she questioned accusingly. “Working,” I answered flatly. “Working so hard you can’t text your wife?” Stephanie barked back. “At least I can wear pants,” I snickered in return. “Shut up!” Stephanie laughed. “They’re in your wash,” she said as she bounced up from the couch and scuttled up to the island so I couldn’t see below her waist. “Barbecue stain,” she sighed. “I bet,” I continued to snicker. Stephanie was an amazingly beautiful woman, but she never felt comfortable about her shapely curves. She hit the gym constantly to keep fit but no amount CrossFit could contain what God bestowed upon her. In contrast, Tara could eat anything and stay supermodel thin. “Fuck you,” Stephanie laughed. My not-so-subtle jab at her weight was clearly a reminder of what Tara had been punching since they were freshmen in college. “At least you’ll have something new to think about when you’re jacking off tomorrow night!” “Why don’t you give me a little show to remember?” I pushed back. “I don’t get that much eye candy around here.” Stephanie stepped back from the granite island with a stubborn defiance. Her muscular frame held up her round dimensions and my eyes recorded every inch. “Is this what you’d like to see?” Stephanie softly spoke, her typically high pitched voice turning sultry. In that moment the joke was over. We were no longer mimicking Tara’s cruel treatment of our faults. We were two adults alone with a clear need for a connection. A connection that involved positive vibes. “You know that your body is what Tara wishes she had,” I said I stared with an appreciation and sincerity typically reserved for exquisite works of beautiful art. “I don’t think I care what Tara wants right now,” Stephanie responded as she shyly pulled her black & silver t-shirt over her head. Her near naked body was something I’d imagined for years as a simple curiosity. As she walked toward the kitchen I forgot about all of the mean jokes we’d told each other over the years. Those jokes that amplified Tara’s dominance of us were what kept us from noticing each other. Those jokes kept my dick from throbbing in Stephanie’s majestic presence. But Stephanie traded those shallow swipes at my dignity for a validation of her womanly beauty. There were no more mean words in Stephanie’s mouth that evening. Just my dick. ********* “You’re driving isn’t that much better,” Tara sneered as I turned our SUV into our serene neighborhood. I slowed the truck as I navigated the puddles before turning into our driveway. While I waited for the garage door to open, Tara unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the truck in the pouring rain. She couldn’t spend another second in my presence and she needed to cool off. A week ago she watched her best friend fall 1000 feet and she hadn’t said a word about it. I didn’t know what to do. So I sat in the truck. In the rain. In the driveway. With the garage door up. ********* For two years Stephanie and I took quiet advantage of Tara’s frequent business trips. Our foreplay consisted of mean-spirited daggers at our personal insecurities in Tara’s presence and then radio silence until the last day of Tara’s trip. The tension of openly sparring in front of Tara and potentially getting busted made for an amazing two years of happiness. Even Tara seemed content knowing her two closest people were twistedly enjoying each other’s company and I was a lot less horny when she got home. Of course I faked it a little, but I was less cranky when her answer to my requests was 'handle it yourself, pervert’. Then, as expected, everything changed. For two years Stephanie and I had kept our encounters playful. Oral and handjob were the menu’s only choices. We were naughty but the thrill was easy and freeing. My face between her thighs or her hands in my boxers were therapeutic releases. No condoms or lube or preparation. What was clearly planned had the feeling of spontaneity. We had a secret instead of an affair. We were like teenagers full of nervous energy and bound hormones. Unfortunately that playfulness ended when Stephanie showed up at our house one day into Tara’s weeklong trip to Sydney. I was working on my laptop on the back porch when I heard the garage door open. I was in my boxers because it was a warm evening and our backyard faced the dense woods. As I kept working an hour passed and I assumed that Stephanie was just in the neighborhood and needed a place to crash. She was the only other person with a key to our house. Maybe she was watching TV and enjoying a free meal. As the sun dropped into the crowd of trees behind our house, I heard the patio door slide open. Before I saw Stephanie’s naked body I smelled the wine. I was thoroughly confused. Without a word or eye contact she took me by the hand and led me to the couch placed in the middle of the deck. There was no witty banter or laughter on her lips - just a tinge of red wine. This was heavy because I realized my face had never been this close to hers. While her hands were clearly wrapped around my growing dick, her mouth was someplace new - my neck. Soft kisses were piling onto my clavicle as I questioned where to put my hands. They’d only ever been in her afro, in her pussy or on her breasts. But they remained to my side because the only obvious choice was wrapped around her waist as she began to straddle me. This was no longer playful. This was intimacy. She never kissed my lips but I knew what was next. The taste of the red wine couldn’t mask the sense of passion that accompanied her wet kiss. I could feel her easing my growing dick into her warm pussy, but I was too engulfed in her quiet kiss to really notice. I sat like a statue trying not to place my hands on her waist as her teeth gently bit my upper lip. As Stephanie rested her hands on my shoulders I realized that she no longer saw me as a fun release but rather a partner in joy. Her hips barely moved but I could feel her pussy squeezing my dick with gentle hugs. And with each passing minute, the hugs got tighter and the pressure of her biting intensified. For two years we laughed at the guttural moans we shared under each other’s stimulation, but this was thunderously silent. As her thighs tightened around my waist I fought the urge to wrap my hands around her waist the way the dark sky clinched our scene. A slow tremble melted over my nervous dick as her legs shivered and her nipples pierced my chest. The exaggerated writhing of her hips and boisterous swearing of her mouth that accompanied my tongue between her legs had been replaced by a blissful silence that brought focus to the rhythmic contraction of her pussy that slowly drew the life out of me. And lastly I could feel her nails gracefully trace into my back shoulders with the precision of a caligrapher’s pen. The sting I felt from those intense scratches as the humid air rested within the shallow wound woke me from my trance. We had shared more than 100 moments of cum soaked laughter over the previous 700 days, but our math was inverted that warm evening. And before I could make rhyme or reason of our situation, she had exited as quietly as she entered. I could have held her there to stay. But in truth I never held her. ************ I finally entered our house with the sole intent of taking care of my wife in her time of need. My steps were calculated and my breath was deliberate. I knew she was cold and wet in the living room, but I stopped in the kitchen to make her favorite tea. The house could feel the unbalance as Tara was losing control and I was looking to steady the ship. “She wasn’t supposed to…” Tara tearfully started as I placed her Brazilian tea on the table in front of her crossed legs. I patiently waited for her to finish her thought because in the last week she only spoke in cold facts about how she’d lost her best friend. She was being her usual strong and controlling self around friends and family, but from the time we left the cemetery I could feel her beginning to unravel. Then Tara broke down in sobbing tears. I was as frozen as I was when Stephanie decided to join me on the back patio a year prior. I clearly sucked at these situations, but I had to be better this go round. After that evening on the back patio, Stephanie and I never connected again. We only saw each other in the presence of Tara. Our time alone during Tara’s trips were never discussed. Even our ongoing jabs that acted as foreplay in front Tara ceased. We had nothing. “She couldn’t stay on the fucking path!” Tara grunted as she reached for her tea. “I told her ass to stay focused, but she didn’t listen. Stupid girl!” I’d heard her explain the accident 20 times over that last week. To the police. To Stephanie’s parents. To everyone. I could retell every moment as if I’d been there. In vivid detail I could describe beautiful morning air that sung with spring lyrics. I knew the dewy green grass that lined the path below the three evergreen trees. I could see the spokes cave as Stephanie’s tire hit a patch of rocks scattered on the right edge of the path. I could hear Stephanie’s nervous laughter shift to frightened swearing as she lost control of her front wheel near the sharp turn at the bottom of the path along the hill. I felt the momentum that carried Stephanie over the edge of the rocky terrain. I could identify every thorny shrub that scarred Tara’s legs as she climbed down the hill to find the remains of her closest friend. I could hear Tara dialing 911 while she held Stephanie in her arms as the sun glowed bright. Tara needed a 911 call now. For herself. I could see the hurt in her eyes, so I kissed her on her forehead and ran upstairs to run her a warm bath. Warm tea and warm bath were the best answers I could think of to drown her tears. As I ran the water and took off my tie I could feel her presence enter our bathroom. She’d heard the water and disrobed. Inside I might have been confused as to what to do, but on the outside I was becoming her rock. “I don’t deserve you,” Tara spoke softly as she walked up to me. I gently placed my hands upon her waists. With a slow focus she helped me removed my clothes until we both stood naked under the sunlight that began to break through the clouds outside of our window. Her thin brown frame then began to lean into my chest as she steadied herself with my arms. Only one part of my body was prepared for her eventual position as my eyes fixated on her ass moving further from me as her mouth wrapped itself onto my dick. She sucked me with an intensity that was as pointed as her neglect had been awash in our marriage. I found myself frozen again, but this time I held on to my instigator with a love that felt rewarded for enduring the unrequited passion that coated my every inch. And in an instant I released every ounce of love that I had on reserve into Tara’s welcoming mouth. As I slowly regained my composure, she led me to the tub. We carefully climbed in and I sat behind her while she sank into my chest. The hot water cooled to the perfect temperature. For ten minutes we sat in silence until I asked if she was “going to be okay?” Tara arched her head backward toward me and grabbed my hand, gently resting my palm against her neck. I could still feel the tears falling onto my wrists when I felt her tense up. Then with a subtle nod I could feel her swallow. Swallow me. As my brain processed her actions I couldn’t control my smile. And I could feel her smile as well. Relaxed. Then with a ballerina’s deft Tara stood up and turned toward me. The warm water trickled down from her hardened nipples onto my bald head. She then threw her legs over my shoulders and leaned back. Her hands gripped the sides of the tub while her pussy began to grind the smile off of my face. With my tongue I wrote 'I love you’ over and over. Her hips thrashed as her ass splashed heaps of water onto our bathroom floor. I gripped Tara’s waists like I planned to hold her there until the end of time. I wasn’t going to ever let go. Her wet pussy was engorged and she began to convulse as though she was about to cum. Tara released her death grip from the tub and leaned on my knees while her pelvis worked her pussy onto my face. Worried that she might fall I reached behind me and gripped her ankles to anchor the intense whipping her pussy was dishing out. “Oh fuck!” Tara shouted as I tightened my grip on her ankles. I could feel the scars from the shrubs. Most of the scabs had fallen away, but I could feel the patterns. “Fuck!!” Tara shouted as her thighs nearly squeezed the life out of me. She was fucking my face with too much enthusiasm to realize my mind was now focused on the scratches on her legs. The deep scratches on her legs that felt as though they were written by a skilled caligrapher. As though the signature included the pain of an unrequited love. “Fuck!!” Tara gasped as she held one last squeeze against my face. As her ass sank into the water and she collapsed onto my legs, she saw the look of understanding in my eyes. “Stupid girl,” Tara snarled at me as she closed her eyes to hold back the tears or to enjoy the afterglow. “I told her to stay on the path.”

[sizzlingcrusadebouquetfan-blog]

How much will buying a 2005 Mistubishi Lancer Evolution 8 raise my insurance premium?

"How much will buying a 2005 Mistubishi Lancer Evolution 8 raise my insurance premium?

I'm looking into buying a new car and I'm a bit of a motor head and like to race. The Evo 8 is my next choice, but I can't find out how much it will raise my premium. Anyone know? If it helps, my insurance provider is Allstate.

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I moved to another state, need to change insurance companies, and have a 2000 pontiac sunfire.. its still in good shape and would like full coverage. What the BEST, and cheapest insurance to get full coverage on??""

""Maximums for lawsuits in California have been capped at $250,000 for many years, and insurance costs haven't?

...gone down one bit. Lawsuits are only 5% of insurance companies costs - it's been proven many times including during the 2004 Presidential debates. Why is this the only suggestion they ever have?

How much will buying a 2005 Mistubishi Lancer Evolution 8 raise my insurance premium?

I'm looking into buying a new car and I'm a bit of a motor head and like to race. The Evo 8 is my next choice, but I can't find out how much it will raise my premium. Anyone know? If it helps, my insurance provider is Allstate.

Does anyone know any really cheap car insurance companies for old cars?

I have an R Reg Corsa 1 Litre, and 6 years no claims, but it seems to be the age of the car that's bumping up my insurance policy? HELP!""

How much is it going to cost to add a new 18 year old driver to car insurance?

my mom said its going to cost about 200 bucks a month. thats too much. >_< i live in california.

What is total extra premium car insurance?

Hi guys, I'm currently learning to drive (uk) hopefully pass my test in next couple of months, just looking up on insurance quotes, will mainly be driving my fathers car 1.8 petrol vauxhall, I'm 25. So was doing a quote with his insurance company (swift cover) and as I was going through it and this is what it says at the end total extra premium 248.48 Now what the hell does this mean? After this stage it was to confirm payment and obviously I never clicked that because I'm just looking for quotes. Is total extra premium what I'm going to pay for a year or is that just a one off payment?""

Whe will liberals admit the affordable health care act has made health care and health insurance?

More expensive already?

Older cars and Insurance..?

Im young..I don't know too much about cars yet. I was wondering, do older cars typically cost less to insure??? I know it sounds dumb but I really dont know. I had a 99 explorer, 91 sentra, 86 accord, and now I am probably getting a 74 Dart. I know insurance changes depending on your age and violations on your record..but it seems like older cars cost less than 'newer' cars. Will my Dart cost more since it is a classic? It is not restored yet, or sportin classic plates either. Does that change anything??? Is there a difference because of color, or model (ss, suv, convertible, truck, etc?) Let me know..""

What car modifications dont affect insurance price?

... if anyone knows any car modifications that dont affect insurance...

""Republicants, you do know that the larger the insurance pool the lower the cost?

Everybody pays into a pool it makes it cheaper overall.

The best insurance for juniors?

i just turned 18 and i need to get new insurance any ideas????

I am looking for a company that will help me sign up for dentical and healthy family insurance as a provider?

Can anyone help me sign up for dentical. I would like to provide service to dentical and healthy family patients in my area. I am a dentist in northern california. I am looking for a reputed company that will help me with this process. I really want to help the children in my community.

What Insurance Companies Will Insure Me?

I Got A Citroen Saxo VTR 1.6i Just passed my test today and was wondering who would insure me i got 1 quote but i had to be 18 UK insurance companies please Im 17 and 9months

Maternity insurance in ohio?

can someone share some information, i live in Marblehead, Ohio, i am looking for insurance with maternity raider. Or if there any other information about any other way to save some money here in ohio other then buying the insurance. (we are not eligible for medicare and she is not pregnant yet).""

Child only health insurance?

Is there any company in Utah where I can purchase health insurance for my child only?

""How much is a speeding ,no insurance,and without id ticket can cost in Augusta Georgia?""

my daughter was caught speeding,no license,no insurance,how much does the tickets total?""

Can you get insurance on a vehicle if your license is suspend?

Can you get insurance on a vehicle if your license is suspend?

How much more would insurance cost if I bought a used 2005 VW beetle with a convertible top versus a hardtop?

Thanks!

Question about pregnancy insurance?

My husband and I plan on trying for our 3rd child sometime around August/September. For our first child, we were eligible for Medicaid and for our second we were on Tricare since my husband was deployed. However, right now I'm the only one who is uninsured. My husband can go to the VA Hospital anytime he needs to and my kids are on State insurance. We really don't want to get some type of family insurance since everyone besides me is all taken care of. So my question is: Is there some type of insurance that covers pregnancy that I could just sign up for? I decided to come here before really starting my research on the off-chance someone here is on one/knows of one. Since a lot of insurances would say a pregnancy was a pre-existing condition and not cover me, I want to be on it before we even start trying. Anyway, thanks!""

How much on average is insurance for a citroen c2 for a 18 year old?

I saved the money for my first car finally and i love the look of c2's. i was just wondering the average price of insurance if its my 1st car, i am 18 and was thinking about ...show more""

1.4 engine and 1.6 engine whats the difference in insurance?

My husband has passed his test and is looking for a car is the insurance more on the different size engines he wants a 1.6

Im considering getting a bmw m3 e36 as my first car how much does it cost and where can i find one in Canada?

also how does insurance cost and is it a good idea to get it as a first car or should i get a integra gsr or civic si

Do you legally have to declare having a medical cannabis card to your insurance company?

Does this prescription count just like every other medication? Do you legally have to declare having a medical cannabis card (or say that you use cannabis) to your insurance company? I live in California. My insurance is Blue Cross.

Auto Insurance?

I am 18 years old and I am trying to buy insurance for my car. I noticed that the prices for insurance are really high for teen drivers. I was just wondering if my parents could buy the insurance under their name so the payments can be cheaper or does the policy have to be under my name.

Car Insurance?

If i put a body kit on my car, does my insurance go up? Im a male aged 17.""

Is there a age limit to qualify to get car insurance in California?

I am 17 1/2 years old, and I just saved up enough money to buy my own car. Can I insure the car by myself??""

Want free auto insurance?

Do what the libs do. Dont have insurance. Those that do pay will have to pay higher premiums to make up for uninsured accidents. When the premiums get too high, tax the people already paying for their own insurance to cover those that never paid.""

Where is the cheapest van insurance available?

I'm 21 and looking for cheap van insurance....Any recommendations?

How much will buying a 2005 Mistubishi Lancer Evolution 8 raise my insurance premium?

I'm looking into buying a new car and I'm a bit of a motor head and like to race. The Evo 8 is my next choice, but I can't find out how much it will raise my premium. Anyone know? If it helps, my insurance provider is Allstate.

Whats the best car to get to make your insurance cheap as possible?

I turn 17 next month and start my job this month, so i'll have money spare, so i'm thinking of getting a car, but i know insurance can be really expensive, so i was wondering what car is best to keep the cost of insurance down? Thanks for answers :)""

Best Car Insurance for 17 year old.?

I'm a 17 year old male. My GPA is just below 3.0 last time I checked it. I think its somewhere around 2.5. I've had my license for almost 10 months now. I've been driving for a year and a half, no accidents. Nothing like that I'm a good driver than most crazed kids my age. With my job I currently make about 150 every two weeks I hope that goes up once summer comes around. My grandmother wants to put me on her car insurance and she told me that the car I plan on buying would have to be in her name, and I'm ok with that. When I buy it do I get both our names on the title. She has metlife and my mom has gieco which is the better of the two. And how can I work it out so they dont have to worry about it if i was on there insurance i would pay my part but i want the cheapest possible and im wondering what to expect for a down payment and monthly rates. Thank you If it helps I plan on buying a 2001 Chevy Cavalier and yes its a 2 door so my rates will probably be higher.""

I need affordable and reliable health insurance. 23 yrs old.?

hi I am a 23 year old foreign student currently studying in the US in a student visa..I am thinking about getting an affordable health insurance that covers emergencies and any sudden diseases that might occur in future.. also may be a yearly doctor visit etc.. i do not need dental.. i just want to make sure i am covered in case of emergency.. i am just a student and do not have a stable job so i cant afford a lot.. i have heard about medicare and medicaid but they are not for foreign nationals.. i have also heard about blue cross blue shield i was thinking about going with them but what do you guys think?? and what should be the monthly price?? thank you in advance .. no advertisements or spam please!!

Where can I find cheaper motorcycle insurance?

I need to get insurance today as I'm picking up my motorcycle later, it's a 1977 Honda CG125. The cheapest quote I have found is 377 TPFT, and that's with two years' NCB! Granted I'm still on a provisional licence but still ridiculous. Also, can anyone explain if there is any point at all forking out 150 more a year for Theft and Fire cover when it demands 500 excess? I'd have to pay that if it were stolen, right? Even though I paid less than that for the bike...""

Should i get 20 year term or a 30 year term life insurance?

My husband and I currently have a 20 year term life insurance policy. We are switching companies because we were paying too much at State Farm. I'm 30 and he is 33 and we are both in very good health. We have a 9 month old baby boy and our policies are for $500,000 each. The rate I'm getting is $45 for both of us for the 20 year term and $70 for both of us for the 30 year term. Which one should I go with?""

Can I insure another persons car?

Can I get insurance on a car thats not registered to me?

Car Insurance Question?

A couple of months ago, I checked out Insurance on Money Supermarket and got a cheap quote of 1,115.44 for a 5 door 1.1 Citroen Saxo, but I've been recently checking again and now all the quotes from the same company are over 4K??? Are they allowed to do this anyhow? And if I phone up the company and tell them about the cheap quote, will they give it to me?""

Is car insurance higher if your car has high exhaust emissions?

I know road tax is higher but does car insurance cost more if your car has a high emission level? Thanks

How can I get heath insurance?

Im 21 college student and just got layed off I havent had health insurance for like 3 years and I need to go to a doctor like a gyno anywayz im going to the social services office to see if I can get like a low cost health insurance from the state or something I live in ct... but if they don't help me how much health insurance is a month? I can't afford more then 50 dollars a month I just got layeoff and I don't like getting help from the state but I really need to see a doctor

Where i can get tips of cheap auto insurance?

Where i can get tips of cheap auto insurance?

How much would i pay for car Insurance?

How much would i pay for car Insurance for cheap car that cost me honda accord 2000,I am 18 Years old, never been in any accident.""

Car Insurance for youth?

What car insurance company is usually cheapest for a new driver with a car in the early 90's (1991 Grand Prix) for liablity only. I would go on with my parents but the company they have forces me to pay on every car they own and its just waaaay to much for me since im just starting out in the workforce

Car insurance trouble?

i had posted this question earlier just not in the right way.so i have a car and its not under my name because im so young to have a new car with insurance under my name so its all under my aunts name. the insurance and everything else is in her name but its my car.so i have to go on a business trip to Vegas and my aunts flipping out!!! because she says i cant take the car because the insurance its not in my name and the car isnt either so im just really frustrated trying to figure out what to do besides flying?can she buy insurance for a couple days so i can go?

What does a saliva test took for when getting life insurance?

What does a saliva test took for when getting life insurance?

Do i have to remove a car i sold from my insurance?

i had 2 cars an old car and a new car, they were both insured under one policy with me and my son as the only drivers. now i sold the old car, and when i get a quote for removing my old car from my insurance policy it says that the insurance will increase about $70 every 6 months and that's because i loose the multiple car discount and also because i had my young son as driver only on the old car and removing it will force me to put him as a driver on the new car. i sold the car and i have a paper from the person that i sold it to indicating that they bought it. my question now is, would there be any risks by keeping the car on the policy, is it illegal? or if anything happens to the car, will they go after my insurance although i sold the car? *i already sent the release of liability to the DMV *i live in California any help would be appreciated 10 pts for best answer""

""Free health insurance near Brandon, FL?""

Is there any way to apply or receive FREE health insurance in or near Brandon, Florida. I am a college student here and don't want to pay for health insurance b/c its expensive. I used to live in New York and know that there there are many companies that give free health insurance for low income people. Any help?""

Insurance question ? My husband pays $approximately $6.00 an hour for insurance that we dont use...?

but when we use the insurance BC/BS charges no less then 400.00 for simple examinations....WHY? it takes nothing for a Doc to look in my ears an see i have an ear infection. Why do they charge my insurance hundreds of dollars and i should be grateful to have insurance ?

Do you need to buy the car before getting insurance for it?

I am looking for my first (used) car from a private seller, and I would like to be able to drive it home, so will I have to buy insurance for it before I buy it? And will I have to own the deed before I get the insurance?""

Do any insurance companies do SEASONAL motorcycle insurance?

I am deploying at the end of the summer and was curious if any insurance companies do seasonal or monthly insurance. I live in NJ so if you know of any place that does this please let me know. I tried riders insurance and progressive already. Thank you

Car insurance for married couple!?

Hey there! My wife and I both used to have our own car insurances until a few months ago when we decided to drop hers and add her to my policy to save some money. She got into an accident the other day; everyone's okay and it hasn't been determined who was at fault yet. I was wondering if this is going to affect MY driving record as well considering that we are sharing a car insurance policy? I realize that our premium might go up but I guess I want to know if the premium would go up even if we decided to get her off of this policy and find her a separate one with another insurance company. Do insurance companies look at which driver and which vehicle (we each have our own car) was involved in the accident or does it all just go by the policy number?

Why are my health insurance rates so high?

what causes health insurance rate increases?

Pregnancy insurance???????

im pregnant and i dont have insurance that will cover me or the baby. I am trying for medicaid and will probably qualify but barely. And i want to get married before the baby is born but again we might just barely qualify. Is there any suggestions on insurance plans or help with medicaid?

Any Florida (Tampa) insurance agents out there (auto)????

Well its pretty simple i have a car now and i know how much insurance i am paying now but i have a few questions since i am going to change cars in a few months i am looking at getting an Suv something like a jeep srt-8, trailblazer ss, maybe acura RDX but im not sure what kinda things make insurance cheaper like AWD vs FWD or RWD, auto vs manual etc so if you are an insurance agent and could help me please email me or im me. Thanks BTW some background info: 17 years old Male no accidents, no tickets""

High Risk Auto Insurance - Where can I find the lowest quote online?

Is there any online auto insurance website that specializes in getting the lowest rates on car insurance for high risk drivers? If so can anyone guide me to one? thanks

Car Insurance?

Im Thinkin Of Buyin My First Car, but my Insurance Is costing 4000, my mates is getin it for 1300, when i tried the same insurance company as him, i got 2500, How could i lower this?""

How much will buying a 2005 Mistubishi Lancer Evolution 8 raise my insurance premium?

I'm looking into buying a new car and I'm a bit of a motor head and like to race. The Evo 8 is my next choice, but I can't find out how much it will raise my premium. Anyone know? If it helps, my insurance provider is Allstate.

Im 18-think insurance?

I want a car soo bad it has been 6 months since i passed my test.! what is the cheapest car which is likely 2 not break the bank i.e::: insurance, running costs, reliability. and another thing what is good 4 pullin birds (picking up the girls (slags))))?????""

When doing an online insurance quote what is considered full coverage?

When you get to the end of an insurance quote where it asks about coverage what is considered full coverage? I'm not sure what to mark and how much. (like when it says comp/collision. . . .500/500) What does that mean?

What is average cost of insurance for 1st time bike owners in the UK?

I wanted to ask what is the average cost of insurance (per month or per year) for a person who've just passed CBT and plans to own a 125cc motorbike? Thank you :)

Any suggestions on how to lower my car insurance?

I'm an 18 year old female driver, and about a month ago I got into a bad car accident due to a malfunction. When this occurred, the insurance and everything else was under my dad's name. Now that I bought a new car, my dad wants everything to be under my name because he doesn't want to get screwed over with high insurance and such, but the quote I got from Travelers (which was the insurance my dad was under)was around $800 a month, to insure my 2007 Honda civic, and my job doesn't pay enough to afford that. And I have other monthly bills to pay as well. Any suggestions on what I could do? Or what insurance company to switch too? Any helpful information is appreciated!""

CAR Insurance in US?

I met an minor accident last days and some ho cop thought fault is mine. The estimate of other car is $ 687 and I have yet to receie one. If i ask my insurance to pay this (I hae full coverage) will my pemium increase next time even if I changes the insurance company. As it was reported by police, does it definately reflect on my CAR history - CAR FAX Report?""

How much would insurance cost on a 49cc scooter?

I'm 30 year old and live in Leeds / UK , iv never had a car or motobike before so all this is new to me , I know roughly price of tax ,mot, cbt, but id like to no roughly price of insurance for me on a 49cc scooter so I no how much I can spend on the bike , the bike when id get it would b chained up and stored in a locked garage over night , I'm not able to reply to answers or add info after iv sent this question so more info the better please""

Pulled over with no insurance in my friends car?

last night i got pulled over in my friends car and i got citation for having expired insurance since he hadnt payed it how do i pay this off?

What is the best way a low income student can get health insurance?

Again, low income and can't rely on parents and how could I get retro coverage for an emergency bill a month ago. Currently uninsured, only insurrance is car insurrance.""

Help on auto insurance decision.?

What company would you go with when getting insurance on your first car? I am 25 and this will be my first car. However, I have been driving since i received my permit at the age of 17 but i received my license at 24. I consider myself a good responsible driver but i know that no matter how good of a driver one is, there is always an idiot on the road who drives wildly. Anyway, Since i lived in Brooklyn, NY all my life i have never needed a car because of the City's Transit but now i moved from Brooklyn and need a car. Geico has been recommended from some people i know but lets put it this way... a quote for the car i want (05 Merc E320) is $2,310 for 6 months. I thought it was just because of the car but then i played around a bit and got a quote for a Chrysler 300 and they wanted $1950 for 6 months. Any better recommendations for insurance in NY? Thanks.""

Would you let me collect on your life insurance?

What would I have to do to collect on your life insurance? If I bought you life insurance and paid the premium on it and paid your funeral costs and paid your family 20% on the insurance policy would you let me collect on your insurance?? This is considering that you cannot afford life insurance yourself.

Where can a marijuana smoker get affordable life assurance?

it depends on if your a heavy smoker or just smoke a few times. if they ask for health records then you will be in a higher quote, but also when they ask you question on health and you answer honestly it will help you in the long run because then you will be covered for the need of that disability since your health assurance new you can since you are a smoker. but it depends on if your a heavy smoker or just smoke a few times.""

Whats a cheap car insurance In nj?

For a person with a new lisence thats 18 years old

California mat do away with mandatory auto insurance. How much will rates go up?

The insurance industry has already said they will raise rates. A few years ago when insurance became mandatory, they raised the rates too. As much as 100%. What's your guess as to how badly the will gouge their customers this time?""

Is a Land Drover FreeLander 2 cheap to insure?

Both of my parent's drive 2011 Range Rovers so they have experience with the Land Rover brand- and they said that as I'm living at home.. my dad could be the policy holder and I could be a named driver. I may be buying a 2010 model when I'm 18, I'm 16 currently as people have told me that it's not really worth buying a brand new one. Just so the car is old and isn't new. I'm not in to small cars..""

How much is the normal rate for the instant car insurance quote for drivers between 18 and 25 ?

Hello i am interested to know how much the average car insurance cost would be for young drivers between 18 and 25 years. can anyone help me please?

Car insurance??????????

im 18 my boyfriend is 21. of he gets my car insured in his name it'll be cheaper. but if i get pulled over while driving, does my name have to be on thebinsurance card?""

Ford focus insurance?

any one know which type of ford focus has a low insurance group, i am looking to buy one soon but want one that has a cheap insurance policy, i am thinking of a focus ghia 1600 or 1800cc around 03 reg, any help please

Ways to make car insurance cheaper?

I know this question or something similar has been asked a lot but i'm 18 and i've just passed my driving test and i'm looking for insurance. I have 2000 saved up and all the quotes i've been given are around this, I know i'm not going to get it much cheaper than this. Does ringing up the insurer and saying you've been given a cheaper like for like quote etc. work in getting the price down? And what companies are recommended for younger drivers? Thanks :)""

Most affordable Health Insurance provider for my employees?

I am looking for an affordable Health Insurance Company for my employees. I have 7 employees w/families and no coverage to offer because the prices are outrageous. My compnay is Incorporated, if that factors in. I have already used the sales companies that do this research for me, but I am not satisfied with the results...plus they call every 2 seconds with high quotes.""

What is the normal procedure for a car accident without insurance?

On Febuary 2012, I had a car accident and I hit the FWD Nissan, The car that I hit is still drivable condition, the only damage that I caused was a dense on the door. But My car was damaged badly, but it was fixed for $4000. Six months later, I receieved a bill from other car insurer asked me to pay $12k for the repair of the damage. HOwever, I did not recieve any phone call from the victims or the victim's insurance company at all. So is that a proper procedure for the insurer to call me and ask me about the accident? Because I did not know what I did to pay $12k, as in you could buy a new car for that....""

Would insurance on a 1992 lexus sc 300 be expensive? im 18 year old in riverside california?

yes i recently just got my license and im only 18 in riverside california

Whats the car insurance trick?

you know the ads that say you could pay $36 a month for car insurance in ga? whats the trick?

How does life insurance for a baby work?

I am a teen mom. I am keeping my baby (please no rude comments, just answer the question.) I don't know how life insurance works though. And I don't know if I qualify for Medicare because my mother has a high income, but I on the other hand am not working, or making any kind of income. Please inform me on how I would get life insurance for my baby!""

What to do about insurance?

Is there any way to find insurance that covers a pregnancy? (after you have been pregnant) Even if it is a pre-existing condition, is there an extra amount of money we can pay? I have been using my college's insurance plan for the past 2 years. It is now summer and I no longer have insurance. Unfortunatey my due date is before the fall semester starts so I can't renew it until after the baby is delivered. We thought I would be able to just get onto my husbands plan but they wont cover the insurance AT ALL because he signed some waver years ago (before we were married) saying if he were to get married the insurance doesn't have to cover his wife. (It didn't bother him at the time since he didn't know he would be getting married... he has had the same insurance for nearly 5 years now and he forgot all about it) What should we do? I don't mind finding an insurnace that makes me pay a high premium so they would cover my pregnancy. I just don't know how insurance works!""

Can one ask a car insurance company to not file a claim?

If one had an accident and it is their fault, can they ask their insurance company to not file a claim and you take care of the collision damage to the other car? If the other person calls their insurance company, who in turn contacts your, is your insurance company obligated to file the claim because they now know?""

How much will buying a 2005 Mistubishi Lancer Evolution 8 raise my insurance premium?

I'm looking into buying a new car and I'm a bit of a motor head and like to race. The Evo 8 is my next choice, but I can't find out how much it will raise my premium. Anyone know? If it helps, my insurance provider is Allstate.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/where-can-i-find-cheap-car-insurance-carlene-ostara"

[samanthasroberts]

Dear Britain: Elena Ferrante, Slavoj Žižek and other European writers on Brexit

Ahead of the European referendum, we asked leading authors and thinkers from EU countries to write letters to Britain. Do they want us to stay, or are they ready to say goodbye?

Elena Ferrante Italy

Dear Britain, I dont have much sympathy for the current European Union. Its upper floors are elegantly furnished, with spacious halls for parties and banquets; there are abundant stores and provisions, rooms with panoramic views where building bylaws pertaining to those residing on the lower floors are discussed and drawn up, security services that design alarm systems and sturdy doors to keep out those who want to set up camp in the entrance hall or at least in the basement. Its an ugly Europe, this one. Behind its facade, it safeguards the interests of those countries that are strongest, both economically and militarily. And yet, despite the rules and regulations, it has never stopped thinking that when there is nothing further to be gained it is best to throw off the union and make do with the old cocksure ways of the proud old nations.

This belief is the most wrongheaded of all. The single pieces of Europe have long lost their autonomy and centrality. Major financial crises cannot be faced by stewing in ones own juice. Migrations cannot be controlled with traffic lights or barbed wire. Global terrorism is not a video game you play at home in your living room. The worlds climate cannot be fixed by opening an umbrella. The happy few are no longer enough, not even for themselves, but must confront the unhappy many.

And so, while it may be a union that has united little or nothing, it is necessary, in my opinion, to stay together at all costs. What we need now is not many small countries but a continent. Amid conflicts and confrontations, in defiance of the facts, we must try to move towards a community that instead of drawing up lists of objectives becomes actively political and puts an end to countless intolerable inequalities. Contained in the treasure chests of its sovereign states, Europe has many kinds of poison but also wonderful jewels. It is time to throw away the former and pull out the latter in preparation for our impassioned feast of common thought and action. We dont need roots now: they make plants of us, splendid, yes, but bound to the ground, and nowadays everything is more mobile than ever, shifting quickly from one shape to the next. A broad, true identity must open itself up to all identities and absorb the best in them. Time is short. Many kinds of malaise and poverty are spreading, the streets are increasingly stained with blood, the worst intentions feed the worst kinds of politics. Staying together is no longer an option but an obligation and an urgent necessity. Women and men of Britain, please, let us stay together, and change Europe together.

Translated by Daniela Petracco. Frantumaglia: An Authors Journey Told Through Letters, Interviews, and Occasional Writings will be published in November by Europa Editions.

Javier Maras Spain

Dear Britain, As Spaniards born under the Franco dictatorship (especially those of us who belonged to families on the losing side of the civil war) we were always aware that we might one day have to leave our country and go into exile. Whenever I imagined this possibility, my chosen destination was never France or Italy or some Latin American country, but Britain. This was perhaps because, early on, I acquired a reasonably good knowledge of English, but it was doubtless also because I had read so much British literature and seen so many British films that Britain seemed to me a familiar place and as undeniably European as my home town of Madrid. Indeed, I partly owe my vocation as a writer to Richmal Crompton and her Just William (or Guillermo as we knew him) books. I was brought up reading Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling and GK Chesterton, J Meade Faulkner and Anthony Hope, Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. My childhood heroes were portrayed by actors such as John Mills, Stewart Granger, Jack Hawkins, David Niven and Trevor Howard. My first platonic love was Hayley Mills. Britain was not only a constant presence in my fantasies, it also seemed to me a country that would be sure to take me in if things took a turn for the worse in Spain; a place where I would not feel entirely foreign. For me, it is as much a part of Europe as Italy, Germany, France or Austria, possibly even more so.

I knew, too, that it was an invariably democratic country, respectful of individual freedoms and generous to those who took refuge there: from Joseph Baretti to Nikolaus Pevsner and from Elias Canetti to my friend Guillermo Cabrera Infante, who was exiled from Cuba in 1965, not to mention such Spanish writers as Blanco White, Luis Cernuda, Arturo Barea and Manuel Chaves Nogales. It seemed only natural that Britain should form part of the EU. True, the EU does not tend to arouse great passion it more often provokes feelings of discontent however, it is largely responsible for the fact that, since 1945, the various countries of this continent have not resorted to killing each other. That this fails to spark enthusiasm and, above all, gratitude, only demonstrates how ignorant and forgetful our present-day societies are.

Were Britain to leave the union, its unlikely that anyone would immediately start a war, but you never know. One thing I do know is that the rest of the continent would feel orphaned, amputated, empty and even defenceless. Let me explain that last word: those of us who do still remember ought to give thanks every day for the existence of that island separated from us only by a narrow strip of sea. Without it, it is probable that the entire continent would have suffered the consequences of a crushing victory by Hitler. Simply knowing that this small island spent years resisting tyranny and invasion is enough to make us all want to be able to count on its continuing presence, and always to be on the same side, whether in wartime or during long years of peace. We want to keep it as close to us as possible, even if only for purely selfish reasons and in order to save us from ourselves.

Translated by Margaret Jull Costa. Thus Bad Begins is published by Penguin.

Timur Vermes Germany

Dear Britain, Lets keep it short: what is the EU? Its the consequence of the second world war. Its the attempt to make things better.

Even if you dont always get the best result for yourself.

Many, throughout the whole of Europe, dont share this ambition any more.

Thats understandable, for 60 million people had to die before most found it a worthwhile ambition.

And that was a long time ago.

Everyone has the right to wait until this view comes naturally to them.

But they should know this: next time they wont get it so cheaply.

Look Whos Back is available in paperback from MacLehose.

Anne Enright Ireland

Dear Britain, I have two of your children at least, they might choose to be yours. Their father is British, born and reared. He likes cricket. His name is Murphy. His family moved from Ireland to London after the potato famine of the 1840s and five generations later, they are still called Spud. In 1980 he swapped the friendly racism of Surrey for the friendly racism that English people are subjected to in Dublin, which he finds a bit tiresome. The huge migration that unsettled his family and left them forever subject to cheerful insult involved more than a million refugees who left Ireland for the urban centres of Britain and America. When a population tips like that it is hard to rebalance. Ireland has been weakened by migration ever since, and Britain has been strengthened by it.

I dont think there will be a Brexit because people rarely vote against their clear economic interests (Apart from working class Tories, mutters Mr Murphy). But I would like Britain to stay in Europe for more positive reasons. I could talk about idealism. I could talk about the second world war, or other wars less glorious ask why you dont vote to leave Nato, for example, or the community of nations that went to Iraq but the arguments for Brexit seem based on a fear of being contaminated by foreigners, and fear is never truly idealistic. It is tribal. It is the kind of atavistic thinking that makes me step back from my own nationalism, now and then. So it is easy for me to set aside my Irishness in order to say: I like Britain very much. I mean, I like whatever Britain is a shifting thing, a landscape, a language, a library full of astonishing books, a mosaic of peoples stalled in one migration or another, from the raw Saxon faces you see in East Anglia, to the sari shops of Bradford, to the eyes of my two children, who came from God knows where.

They like the trees, by the way. Also, and in this order: curry, cousins, yorkshire pudding, the way that everything is better funded, the BBC, Bristol, sarcasm, the pub, AFC Wimbledon, Edgar Wright, Topshop and how the politicians seem very polite but are really furious. So now you know.

Of course as an Irishwoman I also have to be cheerfully insulting and say that I am really sorry that Britain lost her empire with all the money and the power that came with it, I know that must be hard for you all. But as you would say to any grand old lady, in her nostalgia and wounded pride, Dont isolate yourself. It must be so tempting to shut the doors and pull the curtains, keep the money under the mattress until the value fades out of the old notes, and think about the past. Which was great, if a little bit unfair. But the world has changed, since Britain was last alone. Dont go. You will not thrive, and we want you to thrive. You are still family to us all.

The Green Road is published by Vintage.

Yanis Varoufakis Greece

Dear Britain, Last year I tried, and failed, to convince the EU top brass to behave humanely toward my long-suffering country. Now, I am writing to you with an odd plea: that you stay in this same EU yes, the one that crushed our Athens spring and has been behaving abominably ever since.

Some will deploy tabloid logic to explain my plea (Varoufakis wants the UK to stay in to pay for Greeces bailouts). Others will accuse me of abandoning the fight for restoring democracy. Yet I trust that your Pythonesque appreciation of paradox will pierce through the seeming contradiction.

The reason I want you to stay in is that voting to leave will not get you out. Rather than escaping the EU, Brexit will keep you tied to a Europe that is nastier, sadder and increasingly dangerous to itself, to you, indeed to the rest of the planet.

The masters of the City will never allow a new Boris Johnson government to even think of leaving the EUs single market, despite Michael Goves musings. Which means that all the gadgets sold in your shops will have to abide by standards made in Brussels, your environmental protection rules will be drawn up in Brussels, and market regulation will be (yes you guessed it) determined in Brussels.

So, even after Brexit, the majority of your laws will be written in the same dreary Brussels corridors as now, except you will have no say in their shaping. With your democracy as truncated as it is now, you will remain stuck, albeit less powerful, in a Europe whose fragmentation Brexit will accelerate.

The EU is undoubtedly bureaucratic, opaque and contemptuous of the parliamentarianism that you and I cherish. You may, therefore, conclude that speeding up the EUs fragmentation is not such a bad idea. Think again! Will its disintegration cause progressive democrats to rise up across Europe, empower their parliaments, usher in the forces of light and hope, and foster harmonious cooperation on the continent? Not likely.

The EUs fragmentation will divide the continent in at least two parts, the major fault line running down the Rhine and across the Alps. In the north east, deflation will rule, with millions of working poor Germans, Poles and so on becoming unemployed. In the Latin part, the order of the day will be inflation with unemployment. Only political monsters will crawl out of this fault line, spreading xenophobic misanthropy everywhere and ensuring, through competitive devaluations, that you will also be drawn into the ensuing vortex.

This is why I am pleading with you to stay in our terrible EU. Europes democrats need you. And you need us. Together we have a chance of reviving democratic sovereignty across Europe. It wont be easy. But it is worth a try.

When I was student, a close friend who hated parties nevertheless never missed one just so that he would have something to bitch about the day after. Please do not be like him. Please stay in the EU with enthusiasm for our common cause: to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them.

And the Weak Suffer What They Must? is published by Vintage.

Riad Sattouf France

Riad Sattouf

The graphic novel The Arab of the Future, Vol 1 by Riad Sattouf is published by Two Roads.

Jonas Jonasson Sweden

Dear Britain, You have many talents. Playing football springs to mind. Brewing decent beer. Speaking a language that people understand. On the other hand, you seem to be having trouble driving. It is the wrong side, you know. But it seems to work, as long as you all make the same mistake.

And you were more than brave during the war. Churchill said all he had to offer was blood, toil, tears and sweat. But he left out self-esteem. You taught the world and yourselves that a Brit is a Brit is a Brit. Meanwhile, Swedes let the Nazis pass through our country, cap in hand.

War is bad. And still Europe engaged in war for a long time in the first half of the 20th century. More than 50 million Europeans died. And we came to sensible conclusions: we decided to work together, across the borders, in such a way that attacking your neighbour would be like attacking yourself. We called it the European Coal and Steal Community, a rather ingenious construction presented by a French politician of German descent. As more countries joined, this community eventually turned into the European Union, and it was quite something. Fifty million died during the first half of the last century. Fifty thousand in the second half. Were it not for the downfall of Yugoslavia, there would be no official number at all.

But then there is this thing called memory. We tend to forget a lot. Like England not being able to beat Sweden in football for 24 straight years (you were just as surprised every time we won). Or like the EU, and what it is really for. In Sweden, people tend to write about how the UK would be worse off leaving the union. The fact that it would be a disaster for the rest of us is given less attention. I think Brexit would be the beginning of the end of an unprecedented period of peace at the heart of Europe. Without you, the EU will crack at its very seams. I wish you would stay, and that all of us together in toil, tears and sweat but not blood will steer the peace project that is the European Union in the right direction. If you accept, you may drive on whichever side of the road you prefer. We will even let you win Euro 2016 this summer. After all, the manager of the England team is practically half Swedish.

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All by Jonas Jonasson is published by 4th Estate.

Kapka Kassabova Bulgaria

Dear Britain, The country I come from is where Europe technically ends today, or begins, depending on your journey. But only technically: recently, in European Turkey, I met people who feel proudly European, just minus the passports. To them, Europeanness, like the secular republic, is a hard-won value, worlds away from Brussels, where beautiful Europa has been nibbled to a drab word. The Turks on the west side of the Bosphorus are perhaps the last European idealists.

It was the Ottomans who gave Europe via the Balkans the word komshulak, neighbourliness, the spirit of living next door convivially, sharing joys and sorrows as the tides of history turn. Komshulak is the highest, if humblest, form of civility. When it breaks down, everything breaks down. Komshulak is at the heart of the battered European project. Battered but not beaten. Let us not be fooled, on these most westerly isles, that there is some better place, once we drift away. There isnt. There is only the cold Atlantic Ocean.

I settled in Edinburgh a decade ago, after a decade in New Zealand: I had returned to Europe, and one of its great cities too. When I moved to the Highlands, I lost none of this essential Scottish Europeanness, with its unfussy love of eccentricity, diversity, and live-and-let-live attitude, this sense of continuity with the continent even in remote glens. And though I love Scotland with an almost unseemly passion, I feel like an adopted Brit. Is that a paradox? Then so is the fact that I feel Balkan and European, in the sense that the Balkans are (whisper it) only partly European. And heres the wonderful rub: Europe is not a monoculture. It is a place where people ride reindeer, grow vines, eat Turkish delight, and call themselves Shetlanders. Ill keep my subscription to that.

Border will be published by Granta in 2017.

Slavoj iek Slovenia

Dear Britain, When Stalin was asked in the late 1920s which is worse, the right or the left, he snapped back: They are both worse! And this is my first reaction to the question of whether or not to leave the EU.

I am not interested in sending love letters to the British public with the sentimental message: Please stay in Europe! What interests me is ultimately only one question. Europe is now caught in a vicious cycle, oscillating between the false opposites of surrender to global capitalism and surrender to anti-immigrant populism which politics has a chance of enabling us to step out of this mad dance?

The symbols of global capitalism are secretly negotiated trade agreements such as the Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa) or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The social impact of TTIP is clear enough: it stands for nothing less than a brutal assault on democracy. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), which allow companies to sue governments if their policies cause a loss of profits. Simply put, this means that unelected transnational corporations can dictate the policies of democratically elected governments.

So how would Brexit fare in this context? From a leftwing standpoint, there are some good reasons to support Brexit: a strong nation state exempted from the control of Brussels technocrats can protect the welfare state and counteract austerity politics. However, I am worried about the ideological and political background of this option. From Greece to France, a new trend is arising in what remains of the radical left: the rediscovery of nationalism. All of a sudden, universalism is out, dismissed as a lifeless political and cultural counterpart of rootless global capital.

The reason for this is obvious: the rise of rightwing nationalist populism in western Europe, which is now the strongest political force advocating the protection of working class interests, and simultaneously the strongest political force able to give rise to proper political passions. So the reasoning goes: why should the left leave this field of nationalist passions to the radical right, why should it not reclaim la patrie from the Front National?

In this leftwing populism, the logic of Us against Them remains, however here they are not poor refugees or immigrants, but financial capital and technocratic state bureaucracy. This populism moves beyond the old working class anticapitalism; it tries to bring together a multiplicity of struggles from ecology to feminism, from the right to employment to free education and healthcare.

The recurrent story of the contemporary left is that of a leader or party elected with universal enthusiasm, promising a new world (Mandela, Lula) but sooner or later, usually after a couple of years, they stumble upon the key dilemma: does one dare to touch the capitalist mechanisms, or does one decide to play the game? If one disturbs the mechanisms, one is very swiftly punished by market perturbations, economic chaos and the rest. So how can we push things further after the first enthusiastic stage is over?

I remain convinced that our only hope is to act trans-nationally only in this way do we have a chance to constrain global capitalism. The nation-state is not the right instrument to confront the refugee crisis, global warming, and other truly pressing issues. So instead of opposing Eurocrats on behalf of national interests, lets try to form an all-European left. And it is because of this margin of hope that I am tempted to say: vote against Brexit, but do it as a devout Christian who supports a sinner while secretly cursing him. Dont compete with the rightwing populists, dont allow them to define the terms of the struggle. Socialist nationalism is not the right way to fight the threat of national socialism.

Against the Double Blackmail is published by Allen Lane.

Cees Nooteboom The Netherlands

Dear Britain, Imagine for one moment a peculiar kind of parlour game. Take the famous picture by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, The Congress of Vienna, from 1815. Look at the gentlemen involved, Alexander I, tsar of Russia, the Duke of Wellington, the devious and eternal Talleyrand, accompanied by a poet and a writer, De Lamartine and Chateaubriand. Then of course Metternich, the Bavarians, the Saxons and the Prussians, Karl August Frst von Hardenberg, Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt. There is even a Dutchman with a German name, Hans Christoph Ernst von Gagern.

The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016

Now take out Viscount Castlereagh, the Duke of Wellington, the Earl of Aberdeen and the rest of the British delegation. Remember it is only a game. Make them leave their seats, that means five empty chairs. Look at the intense amazement on the faces of Metternich and Talleyrand. Where are the British? Have they really left the table?

These last few months we have been reading and hearing daily about Brexit. Economists, politicians, commentators have inundated us with arguments for and against. We have lost our innocence. There is no escape. We must have an opinion. Even me. I am not an economist. I am a poet, like Lamartine. And I have written a book on Germany. Does that make me an expert? I was a child during the second world war. My father died in the British aerial bombardment of the Hague in February 1945. But the British did not start the war. Germany did. And the Germans have understood better than most they were on the wrong side of history. Therefore they are now convinced that they do not want a German Europe but a European Germany.

But what if a British absence will force them to fill the European vacuum? Simply, by their specific weight in the middle, by their industrial strength, and by their history, which will determine the history of Europe, because they are there? And how does that affect the other countries of Europe?

I am a European, convinced, against all odds, and amid the sad turbulence of separatists and populists. The Europeans outside Britain cannot decide their fate this time. Now I read that the bosses of hedge funds are supporting the campaign to leave the EU. These are the people who were called not so long ago the dandies of the apocalypse in a French publication but who reads the French newspapers in the UK? David Cameron has spoken about the possibility of a world war. That seems far-fetched rhetoric, and has been ridiculed.

And yet, who dares to bet that if Britain opts out, later historians might not see this as a Versailles moment? Castlereagh and Wellington never left the congress in Vienna, and as far as I am concerned Cameron or Johnson, or Corbyn should stay seated at the tables of Europe. Our problems are manifold, but 50 years of peace is too precious to gamble with.

Letters to Poseidon is published by MacLehose.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/11/dear-britain-elena-ferrante-slavoj-zizek-and-other-european-writers-on-brexit/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/06/11/dear-britain-elena-ferrante-slavoj-zizek-and-other-european-writers-on-brexit/

[allofbeercom]

Dear Britain: Elena Ferrante, Slavoj Žižek and other European writers on Brexit

Ahead of the European referendum, we asked leading authors and thinkers from EU countries to write letters to Britain. Do they want us to stay, or are they ready to say goodbye?

Elena Ferrante Italy

Dear Britain, I dont have much sympathy for the current European Union. Its upper floors are elegantly furnished, with spacious halls for parties and banquets; there are abundant stores and provisions, rooms with panoramic views where building bylaws pertaining to those residing on the lower floors are discussed and drawn up, security services that design alarm systems and sturdy doors to keep out those who want to set up camp in the entrance hall or at least in the basement. Its an ugly Europe, this one. Behind its facade, it safeguards the interests of those countries that are strongest, both economically and militarily. And yet, despite the rules and regulations, it has never stopped thinking that when there is nothing further to be gained it is best to throw off the union and make do with the old cocksure ways of the proud old nations.

This belief is the most wrongheaded of all. The single pieces of Europe have long lost their autonomy and centrality. Major financial crises cannot be faced by stewing in ones own juice. Migrations cannot be controlled with traffic lights or barbed wire. Global terrorism is not a video game you play at home in your living room. The worlds climate cannot be fixed by opening an umbrella. The happy few are no longer enough, not even for themselves, but must confront the unhappy many.

And so, while it may be a union that has united little or nothing, it is necessary, in my opinion, to stay together at all costs. What we need now is not many small countries but a continent. Amid conflicts and confrontations, in defiance of the facts, we must try to move towards a community that instead of drawing up lists of objectives becomes actively political and puts an end to countless intolerable inequalities. Contained in the treasure chests of its sovereign states, Europe has many kinds of poison but also wonderful jewels. It is time to throw away the former and pull out the latter in preparation for our impassioned feast of common thought and action. We dont need roots now: they make plants of us, splendid, yes, but bound to the ground, and nowadays everything is more mobile than ever, shifting quickly from one shape to the next. A broad, true identity must open itself up to all identities and absorb the best in them. Time is short. Many kinds of malaise and poverty are spreading, the streets are increasingly stained with blood, the worst intentions feed the worst kinds of politics. Staying together is no longer an option but an obligation and an urgent necessity. Women and men of Britain, please, let us stay together, and change Europe together.

Translated by Daniela Petracco. Frantumaglia: An Authors Journey Told Through Letters, Interviews, and Occasional Writings will be published in November by Europa Editions.

Javier Maras Spain

Dear Britain, As Spaniards born under the Franco dictatorship (especially those of us who belonged to families on the losing side of the civil war) we were always aware that we might one day have to leave our country and go into exile. Whenever I imagined this possibility, my chosen destination was never France or Italy or some Latin American country, but Britain. This was perhaps because, early on, I acquired a reasonably good knowledge of English, but it was doubtless also because I had read so much British literature and seen so many British films that Britain seemed to me a familiar place and as undeniably European as my home town of Madrid. Indeed, I partly owe my vocation as a writer to Richmal Crompton and her Just William (or Guillermo as we knew him) books. I was brought up reading Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling and GK Chesterton, J Meade Faulkner and Anthony Hope, Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. My childhood heroes were portrayed by actors such as John Mills, Stewart Granger, Jack Hawkins, David Niven and Trevor Howard. My first platonic love was Hayley Mills. Britain was not only a constant presence in my fantasies, it also seemed to me a country that would be sure to take me in if things took a turn for the worse in Spain; a place where I would not feel entirely foreign. For me, it is as much a part of Europe as Italy, Germany, France or Austria, possibly even more so.

I knew, too, that it was an invariably democratic country, respectful of individual freedoms and generous to those who took refuge there: from Joseph Baretti to Nikolaus Pevsner and from Elias Canetti to my friend Guillermo Cabrera Infante, who was exiled from Cuba in 1965, not to mention such Spanish writers as Blanco White, Luis Cernuda, Arturo Barea and Manuel Chaves Nogales. It seemed only natural that Britain should form part of the EU. True, the EU does not tend to arouse great passion it more often provokes feelings of discontent however, it is largely responsible for the fact that, since 1945, the various countries of this continent have not resorted to killing each other. That this fails to spark enthusiasm and, above all, gratitude, only demonstrates how ignorant and forgetful our present-day societies are.

Were Britain to leave the union, its unlikely that anyone would immediately start a war, but you never know. One thing I do know is that the rest of the continent would feel orphaned, amputated, empty and even defenceless. Let me explain that last word: those of us who do still remember ought to give thanks every day for the existence of that island separated from us only by a narrow strip of sea. Without it, it is probable that the entire continent would have suffered the consequences of a crushing victory by Hitler. Simply knowing that this small island spent years resisting tyranny and invasion is enough to make us all want to be able to count on its continuing presence, and always to be on the same side, whether in wartime or during long years of peace. We want to keep it as close to us as possible, even if only for purely selfish reasons and in order to save us from ourselves.

Translated by Margaret Jull Costa. Thus Bad Begins is published by Penguin.

Timur Vermes Germany

Dear Britain, Lets keep it short: what is the EU? Its the consequence of the second world war. Its the attempt to make things better.

Even if you dont always get the best result for yourself.

Many, throughout the whole of Europe, dont share this ambition any more.

Thats understandable, for 60 million people had to die before most found it a worthwhile ambition.

And that was a long time ago.

Everyone has the right to wait until this view comes naturally to them.

But they should know this: next time they wont get it so cheaply.

Look Whos Back is available in paperback from MacLehose.

Anne Enright Ireland

Dear Britain, I have two of your children at least, they might choose to be yours. Their father is British, born and reared. He likes cricket. His name is Murphy. His family moved from Ireland to London after the potato famine of the 1840s and five generations later, they are still called Spud. In 1980 he swapped the friendly racism of Surrey for the friendly racism that English people are subjected to in Dublin, which he finds a bit tiresome. The huge migration that unsettled his family and left them forever subject to cheerful insult involved more than a million refugees who left Ireland for the urban centres of Britain and America. When a population tips like that it is hard to rebalance. Ireland has been weakened by migration ever since, and Britain has been strengthened by it.

I dont think there will be a Brexit because people rarely vote against their clear economic interests (Apart from working class Tories, mutters Mr Murphy). But I would like Britain to stay in Europe for more positive reasons. I could talk about idealism. I could talk about the second world war, or other wars less glorious ask why you dont vote to leave Nato, for example, or the community of nations that went to Iraq but the arguments for Brexit seem based on a fear of being contaminated by foreigners, and fear is never truly idealistic. It is tribal. It is the kind of atavistic thinking that makes me step back from my own nationalism, now and then. So it is easy for me to set aside my Irishness in order to say: I like Britain very much. I mean, I like whatever Britain is a shifting thing, a landscape, a language, a library full of astonishing books, a mosaic of peoples stalled in one migration or another, from the raw Saxon faces you see in East Anglia, to the sari shops of Bradford, to the eyes of my two children, who came from God knows where.

They like the trees, by the way. Also, and in this order: curry, cousins, yorkshire pudding, the way that everything is better funded, the BBC, Bristol, sarcasm, the pub, AFC Wimbledon, Edgar Wright, Topshop and how the politicians seem very polite but are really furious. So now you know.

Of course as an Irishwoman I also have to be cheerfully insulting and say that I am really sorry that Britain lost her empire with all the money and the power that came with it, I know that must be hard for you all. But as you would say to any grand old lady, in her nostalgia and wounded pride, Dont isolate yourself. It must be so tempting to shut the doors and pull the curtains, keep the money under the mattress until the value fades out of the old notes, and think about the past. Which was great, if a little bit unfair. But the world has changed, since Britain was last alone. Dont go. You will not thrive, and we want you to thrive. You are still family to us all.

The Green Road is published by Vintage.

Yanis Varoufakis Greece

Dear Britain, Last year I tried, and failed, to convince the EU top brass to behave humanely toward my long-suffering country. Now, I am writing to you with an odd plea: that you stay in this same EU yes, the one that crushed our Athens spring and has been behaving abominably ever since.

Some will deploy tabloid logic to explain my plea (Varoufakis wants the UK to stay in to pay for Greeces bailouts). Others will accuse me of abandoning the fight for restoring democracy. Yet I trust that your Pythonesque appreciation of paradox will pierce through the seeming contradiction.

The reason I want you to stay in is that voting to leave will not get you out. Rather than escaping the EU, Brexit will keep you tied to a Europe that is nastier, sadder and increasingly dangerous to itself, to you, indeed to the rest of the planet.

The masters of the City will never allow a new Boris Johnson government to even think of leaving the EUs single market, despite Michael Goves musings. Which means that all the gadgets sold in your shops will have to abide by standards made in Brussels, your environmental protection rules will be drawn up in Brussels, and market regulation will be (yes you guessed it) determined in Brussels.

So, even after Brexit, the majority of your laws will be written in the same dreary Brussels corridors as now, except you will have no say in their shaping. With your democracy as truncated as it is now, you will remain stuck, albeit less powerful, in a Europe whose fragmentation Brexit will accelerate.

The EU is undoubtedly bureaucratic, opaque and contemptuous of the parliamentarianism that you and I cherish. You may, therefore, conclude that speeding up the EUs fragmentation is not such a bad idea. Think again! Will its disintegration cause progressive democrats to rise up across Europe, empower their parliaments, usher in the forces of light and hope, and foster harmonious cooperation on the continent? Not likely.

The EUs fragmentation will divide the continent in at least two parts, the major fault line running down the Rhine and across the Alps. In the north east, deflation will rule, with millions of working poor Germans, Poles and so on becoming unemployed. In the Latin part, the order of the day will be inflation with unemployment. Only political monsters will crawl out of this fault line, spreading xenophobic misanthropy everywhere and ensuring, through competitive devaluations, that you will also be drawn into the ensuing vortex.

This is why I am pleading with you to stay in our terrible EU. Europes democrats need you. And you need us. Together we have a chance of reviving democratic sovereignty across Europe. It wont be easy. But it is worth a try.

When I was student, a close friend who hated parties nevertheless never missed one just so that he would have something to bitch about the day after. Please do not be like him. Please stay in the EU with enthusiasm for our common cause: to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them.

And the Weak Suffer What They Must? is published by Vintage.

Riad Sattouf France

Riad Sattouf

The graphic novel The Arab of the Future, Vol 1 by Riad Sattouf is published by Two Roads.

Jonas Jonasson Sweden

Dear Britain, You have many talents. Playing football springs to mind. Brewing decent beer. Speaking a language that people understand. On the other hand, you seem to be having trouble driving. It is the wrong side, you know. But it seems to work, as long as you all make the same mistake.

And you were more than brave during the war. Churchill said all he had to offer was blood, toil, tears and sweat. But he left out self-esteem. You taught the world and yourselves that a Brit is a Brit is a Brit. Meanwhile, Swedes let the Nazis pass through our country, cap in hand.

War is bad. And still Europe engaged in war for a long time in the first half of the 20th century. More than 50 million Europeans died. And we came to sensible conclusions: we decided to work together, across the borders, in such a way that attacking your neighbour would be like attacking yourself. We called it the European Coal and Steal Community, a rather ingenious construction presented by a French politician of German descent. As more countries joined, this community eventually turned into the European Union, and it was quite something. Fifty million died during the first half of the last century. Fifty thousand in the second half. Were it not for the downfall of Yugoslavia, there would be no official number at all.

But then there is this thing called memory. We tend to forget a lot. Like England not being able to beat Sweden in football for 24 straight years (you were just as surprised every time we won). Or like the EU, and what it is really for. In Sweden, people tend to write about how the UK would be worse off leaving the union. The fact that it would be a disaster for the rest of us is given less attention. I think Brexit would be the beginning of the end of an unprecedented period of peace at the heart of Europe. Without you, the EU will crack at its very seams. I wish you would stay, and that all of us together in toil, tears and sweat but not blood will steer the peace project that is the European Union in the right direction. If you accept, you may drive on whichever side of the road you prefer. We will even let you win Euro 2016 this summer. After all, the manager of the England team is practically half Swedish.

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All by Jonas Jonasson is published by 4th Estate.

Kapka Kassabova Bulgaria

Dear Britain, The country I come from is where Europe technically ends today, or begins, depending on your journey. But only technically: recently, in European Turkey, I met people who feel proudly European, just minus the passports. To them, Europeanness, like the secular republic, is a hard-won value, worlds away from Brussels, where beautiful Europa has been nibbled to a drab word. The Turks on the west side of the Bosphorus are perhaps the last European idealists.

It was the Ottomans who gave Europe via the Balkans the word komshulak, neighbourliness, the spirit of living next door convivially, sharing joys and sorrows as the tides of history turn. Komshulak is the highest, if humblest, form of civility. When it breaks down, everything breaks down. Komshulak is at the heart of the battered European project. Battered but not beaten. Let us not be fooled, on these most westerly isles, that there is some better place, once we drift away. There isnt. There is only the cold Atlantic Ocean.

I settled in Edinburgh a decade ago, after a decade in New Zealand: I had returned to Europe, and one of its great cities too. When I moved to the Highlands, I lost none of this essential Scottish Europeanness, with its unfussy love of eccentricity, diversity, and live-and-let-live attitude, this sense of continuity with the continent even in remote glens. And though I love Scotland with an almost unseemly passion, I feel like an adopted Brit. Is that a paradox? Then so is the fact that I feel Balkan and European, in the sense that the Balkans are (whisper it) only partly European. And heres the wonderful rub: Europe is not a monoculture. It is a place where people ride reindeer, grow vines, eat Turkish delight, and call themselves Shetlanders. Ill keep my subscription to that.

Border will be published by Granta in 2017.

Slavoj iek Slovenia

Dear Britain, When Stalin was asked in the late 1920s which is worse, the right or the left, he snapped back: They are both worse! And this is my first reaction to the question of whether or not to leave the EU.

I am not interested in sending love letters to the British public with the sentimental message: Please stay in Europe! What interests me is ultimately only one question. Europe is now caught in a vicious cycle, oscillating between the false opposites of surrender to global capitalism and surrender to anti-immigrant populism which politics has a chance of enabling us to step out of this mad dance?

The symbols of global capitalism are secretly negotiated trade agreements such as the Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa) or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The social impact of TTIP is clear enough: it stands for nothing less than a brutal assault on democracy. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), which allow companies to sue governments if their policies cause a loss of profits. Simply put, this means that unelected transnational corporations can dictate the policies of democratically elected governments.

So how would Brexit fare in this context? From a leftwing standpoint, there are some good reasons to support Brexit: a strong nation state exempted from the control of Brussels technocrats can protect the welfare state and counteract austerity politics. However, I am worried about the ideological and political background of this option. From Greece to France, a new trend is arising in what remains of the radical left: the rediscovery of nationalism. All of a sudden, universalism is out, dismissed as a lifeless political and cultural counterpart of rootless global capital.

The reason for this is obvious: the rise of rightwing nationalist populism in western Europe, which is now the strongest political force advocating the protection of working class interests, and simultaneously the strongest political force able to give rise to proper political passions. So the reasoning goes: why should the left leave this field of nationalist passions to the radical right, why should it not reclaim la patrie from the Front National?

In this leftwing populism, the logic of Us against Them remains, however here they are not poor refugees or immigrants, but financial capital and technocratic state bureaucracy. This populism moves beyond the old working class anticapitalism; it tries to bring together a multiplicity of struggles from ecology to feminism, from the right to employment to free education and healthcare.

The recurrent story of the contemporary left is that of a leader or party elected with universal enthusiasm, promising a new world (Mandela, Lula) but sooner or later, usually after a couple of years, they stumble upon the key dilemma: does one dare to touch the capitalist mechanisms, or does one decide to play the game? If one disturbs the mechanisms, one is very swiftly punished by market perturbations, economic chaos and the rest. So how can we push things further after the first enthusiastic stage is over?

I remain convinced that our only hope is to act trans-nationally only in this way do we have a chance to constrain global capitalism. The nation-state is not the right instrument to confront the refugee crisis, global warming, and other truly pressing issues. So instead of opposing Eurocrats on behalf of national interests, lets try to form an all-European left. And it is because of this margin of hope that I am tempted to say: vote against Brexit, but do it as a devout Christian who supports a sinner while secretly cursing him. Dont compete with the rightwing populists, dont allow them to define the terms of the struggle. Socialist nationalism is not the right way to fight the threat of national socialism.

Against the Double Blackmail is published by Allen Lane.

Cees Nooteboom The Netherlands

Dear Britain, Imagine for one moment a peculiar kind of parlour game. Take the famous picture by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, The Congress of Vienna, from 1815. Look at the gentlemen involved, Alexander I, tsar of Russia, the Duke of Wellington, the devious and eternal Talleyrand, accompanied by a poet and a writer, De Lamartine and Chateaubriand. Then of course Metternich, the Bavarians, the Saxons and the Prussians, Karl August Frst von Hardenberg, Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt. There is even a Dutchman with a German name, Hans Christoph Ernst von Gagern.

The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016

Now take out Viscount Castlereagh, the Duke of Wellington, the Earl of Aberdeen and the rest of the British delegation. Remember it is only a game. Make them leave their seats, that means five empty chairs. Look at the intense amazement on the faces of Metternich and Talleyrand. Where are the British? Have they really left the table?

These last few months we have been reading and hearing daily about Brexit. Economists, politicians, commentators have inundated us with arguments for and against. We have lost our innocence. There is no escape. We must have an opinion. Even me. I am not an economist. I am a poet, like Lamartine. And I have written a book on Germany. Does that make me an expert? I was a child during the second world war. My father died in the British aerial bombardment of the Hague in February 1945. But the British did not start the war. Germany did. And the Germans have understood better than most they were on the wrong side of history. Therefore they are now convinced that they do not want a German Europe but a European Germany.

But what if a British absence will force them to fill the European vacuum? Simply, by their specific weight in the middle, by their industrial strength, and by their history, which will determine the history of Europe, because they are there? And how does that affect the other countries of Europe?

I am a European, convinced, against all odds, and amid the sad turbulence of separatists and populists. The Europeans outside Britain cannot decide their fate this time. Now I read that the bosses of hedge funds are supporting the campaign to leave the EU. These are the people who were called not so long ago the dandies of the apocalypse in a French publication but who reads the French newspapers in the UK? David Cameron has spoken about the possibility of a world war. That seems far-fetched rhetoric, and has been ridiculed.

And yet, who dares to bet that if Britain opts out, later historians might not see this as a Versailles moment? Castlereagh and Wellington never left the congress in Vienna, and as far as I am concerned Cameron or Johnson, or Corbyn should stay seated at the tables of Europe. Our problems are manifold, but 50 years of peace is too precious to gamble with.

Letters to Poseidon is published by MacLehose.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/06/11/dear-britain-elena-ferrante-slavoj-zizek-and-other-european-writers-on-brexit/

[coloniatransito-blog]

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A morning with ‘adorable deplorables’: why Trump supporters are optimistic

On a bus bound for the inauguration in Washington, backers of the new president explain their views: He isnt putting people down

On the bus, in the morning darkness, Steph and Brandi put on their makeup, using a phone as a mirror.

Stephanie Friess and Brandi Tillman have been friends since high school, and now they were on their way from Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington to celebrate the man who had given them a brand new country.

On election night, Steph stayed up past 3am to see Trumps victory being announced. The next morning, remembering the night before while driving her car, the 24-year-old felt jubilant to be living in Trumps America.

The two women made matching Trump caps blue and black decorated with sequins and the slogan Adorable Deplorable in honor of the inauguration. Hillary Clinton had tried to attack Trump for lifting up the most deplorable among his followers: the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic you name it. Trumps followers had proudly reclaimed the term, and now Brandi and Steph bedazzled it.

Two friends on an early bus to Trumps inauguration apply their makeup. Photograph: Lois Beckett for the Guardian

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of women will be marching in Washington in protest of Trumps presidency in a demonstration called the Womens March.

While large majorities of black and Latina women voted against Trump and for Hillary Clinton, white women didnt. Brandi and Steph are part of the majority: early exit polls showed that 53% of white women voted for Trump, including 45% of women with college degrees.

The two women, both college students, were not entirely convinced by Donald Trump at first. But, Steph said, he definitely grows on you. Both friends say they appreciate Trumps bluntness, his toughness, his lack of greed, and what seems like a genuine love for America.

He wants everyone to be successful, Stephanie said. He isnt putting people down.

Brandi liked Mitt Romney, but he wasnt strong enough, the 25-year-old said. He wasnt empowering us enough. He plays that innocent politician role that all politicians play. Trump doesnt do that.

A cake cant be racist

On the bus to Washington, many of the womens fellow white Trump supporters expressed frustration at constantly being labeled racist. It was a term, some argued, that liberals just threw around whenever they were losing an argument.

A local bakery in Pennsylvania had just produced tiny hat-shaped Make America Great Again cakes in honor of the inauguration, and a short post about the themed cakes on Facebook had sparked a long debate, with some commenters labelling the bakery racist, or saying they would not longer patronize it. Why not a grab em by the p*ssy cake? one commenter asked. Or a deport all immigrants cake?

Laura Ann bought two Make America Great Again cakes. Photograph: Lois Beckett for the Guardian

The bus supporters were indignant. They had won. It was supposed to be a day to celebrate. And yet the news was full of protests and threatened disruption, and even a bakery making an inauguration dessert had somehow become divisive.

A cake cant be racist, Dave DeFries, a longtime Trump supporter from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, said in exasperation.

In the seat behind Brandi and Steph, Laura Ann, 34, who asked that her last name not be used, had bought two of them. She sliced them and handed them out. The cake was moist, the frosting tasting faintly of marshmallow.

Laura Ann had voted for Obama twice. She worked in healthcare, and had wanted the president to fix the health insurance system. He had failed. She was still kicking herself for voting for him. As a gun owner with several AR-15 rifles she found them light and easy to handle as a female shooter she had also been frustrated by the constant attacks on the so-called assault rifle.

Id really like to see [Trump] help the inner cities more, she said. She thought Ben Carson, who grew up in Detroit and went on to become a surgeon, would be a great force in helping urban America.

Eileen, at 46, had cast her first ballot ever for Trump. I want the jobs to come back to America, she said. Her brother, a systems analyst, had lost his job to workers in India and had been forced to personally train the Indian worker who was taking his place, under threat of losing his pension.

Eileen also felt Obama had failed to bring insurance companies in line to bring healthcare costs down. Worried that her high school friends who voted for Clinton would attack her, she asked not to publish her last name.

Many of the supporters said they had never been politically involved before Trump ran for president. Several had voted for Obama at least once. Some of the new activists said they were amazed by the energy of Trumps movement. It doesnt seem like a political environment, Dave Ennis said. It seems like were going to a football game.

Some said that their friends or family were worried that something might happen on inauguration day, that the protests might make DC dangerous. One man mentioned that he had seen a video produced by the conservative provocateur James OKeefe about activists discussing a plan to throw acid on Trump supporters.

Its like, I get it, I get it, slavery was bad. I didnt do it

At the back of the bus, Dave sat opposite his wife and 16 year-old son, Brian, who he called a liberal snowflake. The two of them argued constantly, the father said, especially about Black Lives Matter.

Brian said he believed that the Black Lives Matter protesters and the Boston Tea Party rebels were identical except for their race. Protesters had to be loud to make themselves noticed. His father was more skeptical that black Americans were being unfairly victimized. His own interactions with the police when he was younger had taught him that when people chose a certain lifestyle, the police would target them and there was nothing wrong with that.

Inauguration buttons on sale in Washington DC on Friday. Photograph: Lois Beckett for the Guardian

Brandi and Steph said that felt that racism toward black Americans had been given a disproportionate platform compared with other kinds of racism. They disapproved of Obama supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which they saw as racist.

Why is it Black Lives Matter, not all lives? Stephanie asked.

I just dont think most cops are out to get black people, Brandi replied.

The media blows a lot of this out of proportion, Stephanie said.

I didnt think its bad that we had a first black president. Thats not bad. Thats great, Brandi opined. But Obama should not have been elected to a second term. I think his color had a lot to do with that.

In school, Brandi said, some black girls had bullied her, and when she complained, my teacher told me to grow a thicker skin.

Asked about the systemic inequality black Americans face in the criminal justice system, or in education Brandi said that, because shes been living in Delaware, a relatively liberal state, maybe I havent seen that as much.

I, like, see the opposite. Black people get free college, she said. My moms a single mom. Im not white privileged, and Im sick of being told I am.

Both said that felt they had grown up and gone to school while constantly being told things trying to make us feel bad for being white. Slavery was a topic of discussion again and again, the schools focused on black authors, its always black history month.

Its like, I get it, I get it, slavery was bad. I didnt do it, Brandi said.

Brandi said she felt bad for her other minority friends Hispanic, Asian, Indian who also faced racism, but seemed to get less attention. Her Indian American friends faced job discrimination, she believed, by people who might not think they fit the look they wanted, or who bought into the stereotype that they might be terrorists.

Im a little bit worried about the tweeting

Both friends also had some concerns about Trump. Stephanie didnt believe for a long time that Trump could really pull off a presidential demeanor. Thats why she thought Clinton would win. Brandi said she did not believe new environmental protections should be rolled back, and her stepmother had serious concerns about Trumps pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a billionaire philanthropist and school choice advocate whose understanding of basic educational concepts and laws came under question during her confirmation hearing. I know teachers arent very happy about that, she said.

Brandi Tillman, 25, and Stephanie Friess, 24, display their homemade Adorable Deplorable hats on the way to Trumps inauguration. Photograph: Lois Beckett for the Guardian

Im a little bit worried about the tweeting, Brandi added. She was concerned, she said, that he might say something

That he cant take back, Steph broke in.

But for the most part, the two friends were optimistic that Trump would tackle the economy, create jobs, address cyber-attacks, and make America stronger. Brandi, who was waitressing as she went through college, said: Id like to see more money. Id like to see more tips.

Neither of the friends had been concerned about his comments about grabbing women by the pussy. That was 10 years ago, and people change, Brandi said.

Brandi said if a famous billionaire had tried to grope her, she would have sued immediately, not stayed silent for years until the man ran for president. Damn straight, if someone gropes me, I would want to sue, she said. Steph disagreed. She probably would have stayed quiet, she said.

A Belgian journalist who was also on the bus then took his turn and interviewed the two women about their support for Trump, and asked them to comment on the fears many Americans have about the coming months.

Brandi said her faith as a Christian kept her from being too anxious, and that Americans should calm down. Trump, after all, was just the president.

Hes not God. Hes not Hitler. Its not the end of the world, she said.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2jILIpw

from A morning with ‘adorable deplorables’: why Trump supporters are optimistic