#palermo is so important to me

[antbitez]

i hate berlermo.

okay, HEAR ME OUT FIRST!! do i hate the ship? yes. absolutely. does that stop me thinking about them every second of the day? no. i am in so much pain help me.

want to start with talking about berlin. he is a straight man. martín was NOT his bisexual awakening or something. he. is. a. straight. man. they could not work and berlin made that very clear on multiple occassions. he is also an egomaniac. he has so many disorders, and while i dont want to portray him as some heartless monster (because he isn't!! he cares about himself but that doesn't mean he doesnt care about others too!), i find it hard to believe he didn't keep palermo around to mess with him.

the kiss scene between andrés and martín is the root of a large majority of martíns issues. we see throughout the series that palermo is withdraw from his emotions and love, he has attatchment issues, and he has not moved on from berlin even two years later. he hasnt let himself recover from his death, and his loss of a hopeless, unobtainable love. when berlin kissed him, they both knew that would be the last they saw of eachother. they both knew berlin was willing to let himself die (both because of his illness and his love for his brother) during the heist. it left palermo with false hope, that maybe something could have come from it. but there never could have! that is their last interaction, and that is the last thought he leaves with martín. i wholly believe berlin was fully aware what that would do to him, and left with that as a little "you won't be forgetting me :)" because everything with berlin is Him Him Him. without the kiss, martín would have been able to heal so much quicker and easier.

palermo doesn't start to heal until two years later, when he gets involved in the bank heist. up until that point he blames sergio for the "love of his life"s death, but slowly comes to realise that this group of people that berlin died for are the most caring people. he begins to understand it. they are hurt, they have losed loved ones too, they are risking everything for a loved one. they are so much like him. does he make mistakes? YES! so does everyone in the group, but it is in his nature to stir trouble when he doesn't get his way. did his actions have awful consequences because of that? unfortunately, yes! but he regrets them. he is forgiven, even by those he probably shouldn't be forgiven by!

by the end martín is so much more in touch with his emotions, he realises that he doesnt have to settle for unobtainable love, and he can be loved unconditionally. he went into the bank heist for berlin, but came out of it with so much more. palermo would not have been in the place he was in by the end of it if andrés was still around.

money heist was so refreshing to watch as a queer person. queer relationships were not perfect. i understand the appeal of berlermo, i really do, but they are so unhealthy. i understand the need to cling onto any sort of gay rep because its so scarse in mainstream media, but there is so many queer stories in this show, and none of them are appreciated as much as berlermo, which i find kinda weird!! why is a relationship with a gay man and a straight man more adored than helsinki and palermo? two gay men who helped eachother through SO MUCH! what about the beautiful platonic soulmate relationship between helsinki and nairobi? what about the amazing transwoman, who was such a genuine representation of some trans struggles? please stop prioritising the cishet in queer stories. berlin is so important to so many characters, especially martín, but him as a love interest to martín shouldn't be the main focus in his story, because his whole arc was getting over him and moving on. in reality, he made martín the most unhappiest he had ever been.

[rolandkaros]

FUCK MAN. FUCK.

[threadsoflacee]

Hi, I'm new to the fandom and unsure who to ask my questions. I recently joined Tumblr and came across your posts while browsing the Hannibal meta tag. I have a few questions: What are Hannibal's feelings towards Bedelia and Alana? I remember Mads once said that Hannibal is in love with everyone on the show to some extent, so what exactly does love mean to him? Also, I'm having trouble understanding the line by Will: "You will only do that if I rejected you" (sorry, I paraphrased). I apologize if these are too many questions. Thanks in advance!

Haiiii welcome to the fandom !!! This will be my own perception of things so if I’m wrong in any way it’s on me !!! Ok so. Hannibal has a very hierarchical scale on his friends and lovers. Don’t know if U finished the show but in s3, Hannibal sees Alana in his Memory Palace as having a deserved place in his psychiatric office in Baltimore, which shows that he has respect for her and she’s a big enough part of his life to occupy the more intelligent part of his attention. We can compare that to how he sees Will as having the first place in the chapel in Palermo, the Uffizi gallery, and the front door of his childhood home, that he described as "it’s the door at the center of my mind, and here you are feeling for the latch", and in a deleted dialogue in the script "you stumbled into the hall of my beginnings". Will is the one who has the most importance in his mind ! Alana is below that. So to Hannibal she’s only a past lover, past work colleague, and an asset to get closer to Will (like when he promised her he would save Will). In s2 he had sex with her ONLY for the alibi when he killed Abel Gideon. So he could tell Jack he was up all night sexing it up when he was actually cutting it up in Gideons guts. OK NOW BEDELIA !!!!! He doesn’t gaf abt her. They only got married under false pretenses so Hannibal wouldn’t get caught in Italy after the whole Mizumono thing. He cuts off her leg at the very end of the show (past the credits after the cliff fall). 1 scene that shows how annoyed he actually is with her is when he kills Anthony Dimmond in front of her, Bedelia is obviously in shock, and he raises her voice at her when she doesn’t answer his questions in time. She couldn’t even be a proper asset because of how sensitive she was to murder (as she should !!!!!). So to Hannibal she was only a piece in the puzzle in his grand scheme of Need To Kiss Will.

Ok now for the second question ! Will saying "you turned yourself in so I would always know where you were. you’d only do that if i rejected you" could mean two things. 1. Will knows that Hannibal is in love with him, or at least desperately devoted, and him saying this is like poking at where it hurts saying "you’re so in love with me you’d ruin your entire life if i rejected you" Which in this case ruining his life is Hannibal turning himself in to the police. 2. Will WANTED Hannibal to be put in jail so it could be done once and for all. He told him "I don’t want to know where you are or what you do" which is clearly saying Get the fuck out of my life we are Done breakup style not entirely out of hatred, but also because he KNEW Hannibal would manipulate his words. And since Will knows Hannibal’s mind so well, he knew Hannibal would find a way to turn this sudden dynamic / domination dynamic around and find a way to put Will in the lesser spot ; which is what he accomplished by turning himself in. He even told him "I want you to know exactly where I am and where you can always find me". In this way Will would always think about him and know against his will where he is and what he’s doing since Hannibal is in prison.

To Hannibal Love is violence. Maybe u read my post abt Will’s question "is Hannibal in love with me?" !!! Hannibal’s love is violence in the way that love and ache gets mixed together. It’s distance and intimacy. It’s sharing meals and music together and isolating Will from all of his friends so they can only be together (Hannibal referenced their relationship to Achilles and Patroclus with the phrase "Achilles wished all Greeks would die so he and Patroclus could conquer Troy alone"). It’s the stabbing wound that Will sees in his nightmare bleeding out his stomach into a bite then a kiss !!! The bite shape is symbolism of possessiveness and the kiss is love. He never fell in love with Alana or Bedelia. He appreciated them as friends, people to fill his days with, and assets to manipulate and eventually guide himself into Will’s way by scaring and erasing everyone that would try to stop him. Will is the only one who Hannibal truly loves on all aspects of the spectrum. Emotionally, physically, psychologically, and selflessly.

Ok now im done lol. I hope this helped !!!

[thunderberryart]

I am a little sad Silent Hope didn't get as much attention from Rune Factory fans as I was expecting it to.

It's definitely a flawed game due to how repetitive the gameplay is and that the later floors of the Abyss do very little to change the overall formula outside being larger and having different area-specific traps, but the graphics are lovely, it has a very likable and interesting cast of characters, and the story, while simple, conveys such an important message about the very nature of human language itself; the same words people use to harass and hurt each other are the same words we use to help others and tell them that we love them, and saying nothing can be just as hurtful as saying the wrong thing. Hell, the lead singer of Kami Wa Saikoro Wo Furanai, the band who performed the game's opening theme, described the game's plot and themes as feeling like an antithesis to social media.

Honestly, the thing that excites me the most with Silent Hope is the potential lore implications for the Rune Factory series, as the game was originally conceived as a title to expand the universe. I mean we now know regular animals in the Rune Factory universe look like those from Story of Seasons games that use the bubble cow design, and the whole "monsters are the reincarnated souls of the dead" thing I highlighted in a previous post potentially provides insight into just how monsters are created within the Forest of Beginnings.

If Silent Hope gets a sequel in some form, I'm excited to see where it goes in terms of plot and setting; Rune Factory has so much potential due to its fantasy setting, but has always been somewhat limited in terms of greater world building due to how the games are structured. The protagonists are almost always confined to the region where the town they wake up in is located and while certain recurring elements ensure that the games are connected, they never get expanded on beyond what necessary for the current plot; for instance, the capital of Norad, Palermo, has been brought up multiple times throughout the series, but there's never been a game where you actually get to go to it. A sister series would be an excellent opportunity to expand on such elements, how ever indirect.

[darthgloris]

SNAP (Alicia Sierra x fem!reader)

A/N: I got this really cute idea for an Alicia Sierra fic and I just can't get it out of my head so I have to start writing it or I won't be at peace-

Song: SNAP - Rosa Linn (the three dots will be in red when you should start the song)

Warnings: childbirth, violence, heartbreak, fluff, SPOILERS

Summary: During the Bank of Spain heist, Y/N a.k.a. Varsòvia sees her ex-girlfriend Alicia Sierra again and the heartbreak comes back to her.

Pairing(s): Alicia Sierra x reader, Palermo x reader (platonic)

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I got into the heist game for the second time with the idea that it was going to be clean: get in, get the gold, get out, saving Rio in the process. No casualties, no personal feelings, no strings attached.

Boy, was I wrong.

I was good friends with Palermo, he was fun and easy to talk to. We didn't have much in common until one subject came up: gay woes. It was quick to figure out each other's sexualities, I could see the way he'd look at Berlín and he noticed how I'd make eyes at Rio or Nairobi every once in a while. The real emotional connection came when we shared our most painful moments.

...

"Palermo", I called his name and sat next to him, my legs dangling over the brick wall he was sitting on. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Varsòvia, I'm fine." He replied, hoping that I would drop it, but I could see the hurt behind his eyes.

"No, you're not fine, cariño. I can hear you at night, screaming and crying and drinking yourself numb. That's not 'fine'." I argued, although trying not to force him.

"Okay, señora Holmes, I'm not fine." He replied mockingly.

"Tell me what's going on." I rested my hand on his and gave him a comforting smile.

He let out a sad sigh and waited a few moments before speaking. "Before Berlín left for the first heist, he confronted me about my feelings for him. He said that he loved me too, that we were 99% soulmates, but he refused to get together. I asked him what was 1% against 99, and he still told me no. I pushed him a bit to try it and we kissed. Then he pushed me against the wall and kissed me again, but when he pulled away he broke my heart, put his hat on and left. I was leaning on the wall, crying, and I just couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take the pain. I cried all my tears out, screamed, drank, and fell asleep. It was a vicious cycle that continued for months, that still goes on."

I gave him a side hug and he rested his head on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, honey. I really am."

"Thanks. You know, you're a really good listener," he pointed out.

"Well, I don’t talk much, so," I replied.

"And what about you? What was your worst heartbreak?" He asked.

I bit my lip as I remembered the most painful breakup of my life. How I'd cry myself to sleep, hoping she'd come back to me. I wondered how she was now, what kind of life she was leading; I desperately wanted to know if she was happy, if she got what she was looking for that she didn't find in me, if she got what she deserved.

"Alicia Sierra. She was everything I wasn't: loud, confident, dominating. On the outside, she seemed like a real son of a bitch, but when we were alone she'd turn into the sweetest thing."

"Was she pretty?"

"Oh, she was the eight wonder of the world," I smiled softly. "Long red hair, pale skin, freckles, beautiful smile, green eyes... you'd look in those eyes and fall under her spell. She was the doe that was more cunning than the fox itself."

"What happened?"

"June 22nd, 2015. She broke up with me, she didn't even give an explanation. You have no idea of how much I loved her, Palermo. She was the most important thing in my life, I treated her as if she was made of glass, I gave her my beating heart on a platter and she just... threw it away. I stopped eating and drinking for days, I couldn’t sleep, it was as if time was passing by and I was still blocked in that moment." I swallowed the lump in my throat and I felt Palermo's hand rubbing circles on my back.

...

When I found out that the leading inspector was Alicia, I was so shocked I could barely even speak. After all those years of longing for the doe-eyed beauty, I found myself having to be on her opposite side, shooting her men, deceiving her boss, playing against her. And pregnant, no less.

I had looked through the window that day, where she gazed up at me with her twinkling eyes and tantalising soft smile which never failed to weaken my knees. I had found it in myself to smile back, tearing up slightly. I turned away from the window so that she wouldn't see.

God, how I missed her. And she looked so beautiful, all dolled up. She really was the eighth wonder of the world, the fucking Princess Diana of the 2020's. How stupid I was for letting her go, for letting her leave with no explanation. If only I had known, I would have hugged her and never let her go; I would have kissed her until my lungs were on the brink of giving out.

They say that you never stop loving someone, no matter how bad they hurt you. That the strong feelings you have for a person are destined to fade over time, but never to pass entirely.

I thought I had gotten over Alicia years ago, that she didn't matter to me anymore, that I had moved on. The truth was that my feelings for her had faded, but not disappeared, as our "encounter" had demonstrated. When I closed my eyes I could still picture her arms around my waist as we watched a movie cuddled up on the couch. Alicia had hurt me, she had ripped my heart out with no explanation, and that was unforgivable, but now it didn’t matter: she was right under my nose once again. Overworked, pregnant and widowed.

I didn’t just want her back, I needed her back, and I needed her now.

...

Banco de España - current day

"I told you I'd kill you."

The single shot boomed through the room and Nairobi dropped to the ground with a bullet wound on her forehead.

"NAIROBI!" I yelled and ran over to her. My vision clouded with tears and I clutched her to me while she bled out. I sobbed and sobbed, hurting my throat, but that was the last of my concerns.

Nairobi was gone, and so were the last bits of hope I still had.

"Nairobi..." I whined. "I'm sorry, sweetness... I-I promised... I promised you I'd keep you safe, I'd keep you alive and I failed you..."

Palermo had to pry me off her to take her away. I tried to get out of his strong grip but failed, until I stopped fighting and let him hug me. He squeezed me tightly to his chest and started crying as well.

"I'm going to kill Gandìa... I'm going to find the bastard and fucking gut him... that's a promise I intend to keep..." I said, the tremble in my voice betraying my words. Palermo held me tighter and stroked my head in an attempt to comfort me.

"I know, cariño, I know, shh... I'm here, I'm here..." He shushed soothingly.

"Gandìa, hijo de la gran puta!"

...

The moonlight passed through the hole the sniper bullet created when Nairobi was shot.

I checked my watch: it read 4:00 a.m. As I looked through the window I tried to picture Alicia standing there, smiling up at me just like she used to when we were together; those were a few of the best years of my life. I remembered how I used to comfort her after she had a nightmare, when I wrapped my arms around her waist and combed through her fringe with my fingers to calm her as she nuzzled into my neck.

Months after the breakup, I'd tell my friends and family about it and they'd just reply with "just let her go", or "she wasn't good enough for you", or even "move on, just snap your fingers". I knew that all I needed was time, but they couldn't understand that, they couldn't understand that Alicia was the love of my life, that she was probably the only person that I could say that about.

I tried what they told me: I snapped my fingers once, twice; nothing. She was still in my heart, and there was nothing I could do about it. Three, four times: I thought I didn’t need her anymore, but she wasn't going to stop meaning something to me any sooner.

I bit my lip as I looked at the police tent and thought about the pain I went through. Countless of hours in the rain, as if freezing myself to the bone would have changed anything. I didn’t want that to happen again, but maybe it didn't have to: if I could just figure out why she left me I could work on it.

And right then and there, a single idea occupied my mind.

A crazy one.

I found a rope in the room and used it to slowly and silently drop myself out of the bank. I started taking long, fast steps towards the tent, when the reality switch turned: I was a robber and Alicia was the inspector, there was no point in her being happy to see me again if she was forced to arrest me immediately.

So I turned away from the Bank and walked in the direction that would take me to the stormwater tank.

...

A few days later

My rain boots splashed through the water on the floor of the stormwater tank as I took quick steps towards the door, excited to see the Professor again. I opened the door slowly and stepped inside. Behind the entrance, a gun cocked. "Jaque mate, hijo de puta," I heard and my breathing quickened. Who the hell was that?

My instincts immediately responded: I pulled my gun out of my pocket, cocked it and stormed into the room, pointing it at the woman's head. She immediately spun on her heels, her long red hair fluttering in the process, and pointed her own weapon at me.

When I recognised her face, my hands stopped functioning and my gun fell to the ground; my knees felt like they were about to crumple and my body started trembling.

Alicia. Alicia Sierra.

She was back, she was in front of me right now.

"A-Alicia..?" I breathed out, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Joder, realmente eres tú..."

"Si, realmente soy yo, Y/N," She smiled softly.

It took every ounce of energy in me to not jump into her arms, because of the baby and of the time we've been apart; I wasn't sure how she was going to take a hug from me right now.

"How, um-" I cleared my throat. "How's the baby?"

"It's okay. I just... hope it gets to meet you soon." She said. I felt my heart swell at the words, and for some miracle, my legs still didn't give out. The dominant and confident energy she emitted made me almost trip over my own feet while I tried to walk to the bathroom, my breath shaking.

I knew she was going to be focused on interrogating the Professor so I closed the door and let out long, unsteady breaths, crying silently. I didn't want her to see me cry, not just yet. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I didn’t care. I was tired enough to fall asleep on the floor.

...

I woke up and my ears were met with pained moans and screams.

Alicia.

I immediately perked up and rushed out of the bathroom, the door slamming against the wall, startling everyone in the room. Benjamin, the Professor and Marseille were all tied up, but I was able to brush past that.

The love of my life was about to give birth, and she was about to do it alone.

I couldn’t let that happen.

"Alicia!" I said and ran over to her. "Ali, what the hell are you doing?"

"I-" She screamed in pain. "I have to give birth to this kid..."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay, breathe with me," I knelt down next to her and she looked me in the eyes as she tried to follow my breathing pattern. She was extremely sweaty and her hair was stuck to her forehead, but to me, she still looked divine. I found the courage to dry her face with my sleeve, and her gaze was still fixated on me, only her eyes softened at my gesture.

"Let me help you," I offered gently.

"No, I can do this," she argued.

"What if there are complications? What will you do then?"

"Screw complications, Y/N, I'm fine."

"Damn it, Sierra, why are you so stubborn?! Just let me help you!"

She sighed in defeat. "You're not letting this go, are you?"

"Well, you know me," I slightly tilted my head and smiled at her. She smiled back at me, chuckling softly. That certainly classified as a victory.

I walked her through the process: I hated to see her in pain, so I did my best to make this easy on her. It surprised me how comfortable she was at my touch, I thought she was going to be distrusting, like she was when we first met. That was the second victory.

She started pushing and the screams were getting worse; I felt like crying, wishing that there was anything I could do to ease her pain, to make her feel better. Unfortunately, there wasn't, so I needed to stay strong and comfort her instead.

"Shit, the baby's breech," I cursed.

"I'm guessing that med school pulled through." She said, straining. It astounded me how in the middle of one one of the most painful moments of a woman's life, she'd still act confident and plaster that annoyingly charming smirk on her face.

"You two know each other?" Professor asked.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," I replied sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, but his curiosity didn't back down. "How do you know each other?"

I sighed, "Well, if you must know, she's my ex-girlfriend." I replied, trying to focus on pulling out the baby safely.

"Varsòvia, why didn’t you tell me?"

"It wasn’t important."

"How is it not important? You have a direct emotional connection with the leading inspector of the heist, of course it's important!"

"I'm a little busy here, can I ignore you some other time?"

I pulled the baby out and carefully wrapped her in a towel, her cries mixing with Alicia's heavy breaths. I gently put the baby in her arms and leaned my head on hers, sighing out of relief.

Alicia nuzzled into me and looked up at me, smiling. "Thank you."

I smiled back and ran my fingers through her red hair. "Don't mention it."

...

A lot of messed up shit later

The Professor, Alicia and I managed to escape the police's martial law. For now.

The apartment was empty, except for the delightful company of a ginger cat, who happened to be the friendliest I had ever met. Right now, it was cuddled up on the couch with Alicia, a sight that made me smile softly. The Professor went on the hunt for mobiles, anything with a signal, while I checked on little Victoria once again.

When the little girl caught sight of me, she gurgled. I smiled sweetly at her. "Hey, Victoria. Maybe when you'll be big you won't remember all of this chaos, and amen to that. You wouldn't want to remember if you had any idea of what's going. Trust me, your mommy is crazy enough to tell you all about this once you'll be old enough," I chuckled. "She might be crazy enough to tell you about me. I was your mommy's girlfriend, you know? And I loved her, very much, just like you do. I still love her. I guess this is a shitty timing, isn't it? In the middle of the fucking heist, where she was supposed to turn us in ages ago, I'm in love with her as if on the moment I laid eyes on her. That might just be because I'm not strong enough to let things go, I find good things in my life and desperately cling onto them until I make them sick and they leave me for good. Because that's what happened, honey. Sometimes heartbreak is just too much and you're so bent down under it you become stupid enough to get completely away from society and grieve on your own, you know?" A few tears silently flowed down my cheeks and I sniffled. "Of course you don't know. Look at me, I'm so screwed up that I'm unloading my emotional baggage on a day-old baby," I cried softly, burying my face in my hands. "Oh, thank God you don't understand a single word of what I'm saying because this would be the best thing to blackmail me for."

"You were never good with kids," her voice spoke behind me and I froze in place. I couldn’t find the courage to face her, so I took deep breaths until I spun on my heels slowly.

"Well, I'm shit with people in general," I countered, making her chuckle again. "How much of that did you hear?"

"About all of it."

"Joder," I sighed and hid my face in my hands out of embarrassment, blushing furiously.

Alicia stepped closer to me and gently pulled my hands away from my face, drying my falling tears while smiling softly.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay. You didn't make anybody sick, honey. It wasn’t your problem, it was mine. I was young and stupid and scared of what could happen next and I treated you like trash in the process. Don't blame yourself for the shit I did, okay?"

I nodded in response and shakily breathed out. "I-I'm sorry... you weren't supposed to hear any of that and I'm sorry-"

"Sweetness, do you remember what I used to tell you about the apologising?"

"Sorry..."

She rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her action.

"You're sorry for what? For loving me? There's nothing wrong with that, and it's not in your control."

"It's okay if you have feelings for me. It's normal, and it's beautiful of you. I think you're an attractive woman as well, and I like you, and you like me. There's nothing wrong with that, the heart wants what it wants." That was what she said to me when I first told her I liked her. I remember I had little to no experience with same-sex relationships and until then had been faced with either rejection or lack of empathy or both, all of this affection and understanding had made me feel appreciated.

"I know, I just-" She cut me off with a loving, passionate kiss.

"Honey, shush," she chuckled. "I love you, too."

My eyes filled with tears again and I kissed her once more, caressing her face sweetly.

...

After the end of the heist

The walk from the helicopter to the gang was the most heartfelt moment ever.

For some miracle, we got out alive, thank God the Professor always had a backup plan. Unfortunately, not all of us made it. Oslo, Moskù, Berlín, sweet Nairobi and Tokyo were all left behind in the two heists. I would never forgive myself for what happened to them, for not saving them, none of us ever would. But what was important was that we made it, although not together as we thought, to the end of the heist.

The first person I hugged was Palermo: I leapt into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist while he supported me with his hands. The love I felt for Palermo was completely platonic, given both our sexualities, but he was one of the most important people to me in the gang. He was my best friend, my safe haven, my protector, my genius.

"We did it, Palermo," I sniffled.

He wiped the falling tears from my face. "We did it, sweetheart."

After him, I embraced the happy couple, Sergio and Raquel. I congratulated the two for their engagement, earning a sweet "thank you" from both. "And thank you, Sergio, for this." I said sincerely, smiling and pecking his cheek. He smiled back and I hugged Raquel, who silently cried in my arms, sad to say goodbye.

Then came Rio. I hugged the kid so hard, I was surprised he wasn't out of air. I cried in his shoulder and he squeezed me with the same force. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save Tokyo," I said from the bottom of my heart. "Don't blame yourself, Varsòvia. It wasn’t your fault." I held his face in my hands and kissed his cheek as he cried harder and buried his own face in my shoulder.

I gave a brief hug to everyone else, wiping their tears and rubbing their backs. I was going to miss the gang, the group of people that opened a new chapter in my life, the best friends I'd ever had.

A car pulled up outside; the door opened and a flash of red came out. My eyes immediately lit up: Alicia was here with us. I rushed towards her and tackled her in a hug, to which she chuckled and hugged back with the same strength. She pressed out foreheads together and I let out a sigh of content, happy to finally be in her arms again.

She said her goodbyes to Sergio and Raquel, giving an embrace to the former and a handshake to the latter. He handed her her new identity with a smile, "There's one for Victoria as well." She thanked him and approached the car. I looked at her like a sad puppy, not knowing what to do. Should I go after her or stay with the gang?

I looked at Palermo for advice: he just nodded his head towards Alicia. "Go on," he encouraged, smiling. I gazed back at Alicia, admiring her green doe eyes and tantalising smile and rushed back to Palermo, giving him one last squeeze.

"Don't hesitate, honey," he advised. "You two are clearly meant to be."

"Thank you," I cried. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Me too, Varsòvia, me too. Now go on, don't keep your lady waiting."

I smiled at him and caught Alicia's wrist before she could open the door to the car. She looked at me in surprise and I slammed my lips on hers, cupping her cheek as I brought her closer to me. The gang whooped and cheered as we kissed and she pulled me to the car. While she talked to the Professor, Palermo caught my gaze and gave me a knowing wink, making me blush slightly and grin at him again.

I waved goodbye to the gang as Alicia started driving off.

"So, where are we off to?" I asked her.

She rested her hand on mine, smiling at me. "Wherever we want, honey."

There was a moment of silence between us, a completely comfortable pause. It was one of the things I loved about being with her: the silence between us was never uncomfortable.

"You look beautiful." I blurted out, regretting it at first.

She chuckled, "Thanks. You used to say that a lot when we were together."

"Because it's true. And I will continue to say it forever."

"Forever? That's how long you're willing to stay with me?" She teased.

"With you and Victoria? I'd spend all my time with you two, no questions asked."

She smiled, moved, and surprised at how I turned her tease around into a sweet moment.

"I love you so much, Y/N."

"I love you, too."

[labuenosairesfrancaise]

Ortiz Basualdo Anchorena Palace

Hi Guys! I leave this residence here. Could not find the floorplan, so I took some building liberties.

As always, you  will need lots of CC for it to work properly, mostly from Felixandre, TheJim, SYB, Aggresivve Kitty, among others.

Thanks to my patreons for all the support! I really appreciate your participation and gives me a boost of confidence!

Please let me know if you like it :)

Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: https://www.patreon.com/posts/81865201

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A little bit of context and history:

The disappeared Ortiz Basualdo Anchorena Palace (better known as the Ortiz Basualdo Palace) was a luxurious residence that existed facing the San Martin Plaza in the neighborhood of Retiro, Buenos Aires.

This grand mansion, which occupied half a block bounded by Basavilbaso, Maipú, and Arenales streets, was designed by Belgian architect Jules Dormal at the request of Mrs. Magdalena Dorrego de Ortiz Basualdo (1826-1905) for her eldest daughter, Inés Ortiz Basualdo (1853-1922), widow of Estanislao Peña y Lezica, and her youngest son, Carlos Ortiz Basualdo (1863-1910) married to Matilde de Anchorena Castellanos, all members of important aristocratic families of late 19th century Argentina.

The mansion was completed in 1904, and that year, the Municipality of Buenos Aires awarded it the First Prize for Best Façade in its annual competition. This palace should not be confused with the one built in 1912 for Daniel Ortiz Basualdo (1860-1935), the second son of Mrs. Dorrego de Ortiz Basualdo, married to Mercedes Zapiola, at the corner of Cerrito and Avenida Alvear, now the Embassy of France.

The Ortiz Basualdo Palace, which appeared as a single unit, actually contained two important adjacent but independent residences. One with an entrance at Arenales 733, with a grand porte cochère, was that of Inés Ortiz Basualdo de Peña, who, already a widow, moved into it with her daughter Elisa Peña de Uribelarrea (1878-1943), newly married to Manuel Adrián de Uribelarrea Anchorena, a marriage that had ten children. In 1943, Elisa Peña de Uribelarrea died, already a widow, and the executor of the estate entered into negotiations to sell her part of the palace to the Russian embassy, which finally bought the house of Celedonio Pereda on Rodriguez Peña street.

The other great residence with an entrance at Maipú 1210 was that of Carlos Ortiz Basualdo, married to Matilde de Anchorena Castellanos in 1896. Carlos Ortiz Basualdo died in 1910, after having five children, four boys and one girl. Matilde de Anchorena Castellanos married François Verstraeten Dunois in 1914, with whom she had a son and a daughter. Her son, Francisco Verstraeten de Anchorena, married Raquel Terán Etchecopar in 1942, and her daughter, Elena Verstraeten de Anchorena, married Enrique Ibarguren in 1941. The Verstraeten Anchorena family lived in the palace until their last days. After the death of Doña Matilde de Anchorena Castellanos de Verstraeten in 1969, the remaining part of the palace was auctioned and demolished.

The Ortiz Basualdo Palace was one of the most important examples of the palaces and mansions that emerged in the early 20th century in the neighborhoods of Retiro, Recoleta, and Palermo. These mansions were clustered around the San Martin Plaza, along Avenida Alvear and adjacent streets. Until the crisis of 1930, family successions and the emergence of rationalism in architecture definitively put an end to them, both in aesthetic exhaustion and economic reality.

Credit:

Argentina de Antaño

[denimbex1986]

'...it was Fanning’s work as a Charles Manson acolyte in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood that convinced writer-director Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) she would be the perfect Marge Sherwood in his eight-part series Ripley, a provocative adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. An aspiring writer whose understated confidence exudes the air of upper-crust society, Marge is a constant companion of Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), the errant playboy who is suddenly orbited by an odd stranger named Tom Ripley, played bewitchingly by Andrew Scott. Where others are taken in by the suave grifter, Marge can sense that the man is not what he seems.

Fanning jumped at the chance to play the character and take on the challenges associated with the role — not least of which was learning Italian prior to the months-long location shoot that visited Rome, Venice, Palermo, Capri, and Atrani on the Amalfi Coast. Perhaps the greatest artistic thrill, she says, was working opposite Scott in the confrontational moments between Tom and Marge: “I knew that it would be really fun to do those scenes with Andrew — and it was.”

Krista Smith: What drew you to Ripley and why did you want to play Marge Sherwood?

Dakota Fanning: Having eight hours to explore these characters that you think you know, whether through the book or through the [1999] film adaptation, I was like, “Oh, that’s going to be amazing.” I was such an admirer of Steve and of Andrew. So when I [was cast as] Marge, I was overcome with excitement. Just hearing Steve’s vision and how devoted he was to the story, you knew that you were going to be supported. He’s so detailed, you were always going to know exactly where you stood. And that’s what I like as an actor.

Watching your back-and-forth with Andrew Scott is mesmerizing. How was that to play some of those scenes and what was happening between takes?

DF: There were some moments where we were so [in character that we just wanted] the other one to drop dead. Steve would cut, and Andrew and I [would say to each other], “You bitch!” Then we’d crack up. We had to bring that play and joy to it. The tension between the two of us [would be so palpable] that when “cut” would happen, my whole body would relax. That energy is harder than running all day. So, I loved it. I was happy to not just be a pawn in Tom’s game as Marge. You see her own opportunistic tendencies come out sometimes and you explore that vanity in her as well. I think that’s deeply human.

Ultimately, in this series you’re exploring people and what people are capable of. You almost feel like you’re reading everyone’s thoughts through their eyes, which is what I like to do as an actor — finding what’s underneath and not focusing on the exterior.

You shot all over Italy, and so much of the aesthetic of that country plays through. How does being immersed in that kind of environment influence your performance?

DF: It’s really comforting. Having the luxury of actually being where it’s written that you’re supposed to be, that’s a rarity these days. So I didn’t take any of that for granted. It was a lot of hard work from a lot of different people.

I once found Steve rearranging the knitting needles in the knitting basket in [Marge’s] house. There’s that closeup of the knitting basket and it’s this perfect mess, [which] says something about Marge. It’s all for a reason. Every shot is important, every moment is important, every costume is important. I’ve been doing this a long time, and a lot of the time, it’s hurry, hurry, hurry and rush, rush, rush. That was not ever said [here]. Watching [the series] was a very moving experience for me because it all came full circle. You see how him rearranging those knitting needles did do something, and you think, Whoa...'

[roccinan]

I know it's only been a day but I'm dying of curiosity, have you watched the spinoff yet? What are your thoughts?

Hi anon! As you can see, I posted an initial ramble in an earlier answer LOL I talked about my feelings for the new characters there so I won't bore you and repeat it.

In a nutshell: new banda was "meh." Cameron was hot and I hope she gets more breakout roles, but the character was written like a Tokyo/Nairobi knockoff without any of their depth or magnetism. And I personally didn't like how her backstory was treated (it wasn't taken seriously for the right reasons imo). Keila was surprisingly likable but I keep making a lemon face when I remember her being horny for Bruce's sweat. Same for Bruce. He would have been enjoyable if not for the pubic hair fetish that he keeps bringing up asdfasdf

I was most interested in Roi, and he didn't disappoint, but I was baffled over why the spinoff ignored the most important question: how did he meet Andres and why did Andres take him in?? Genuinely needed a flashback there.

Main questions that the show needs to, but didn't answer:

How did Damian/Keila/Roi/Cameron/Bruce meet Andres?

Why did Damian/Andres choose Cameron and Bruce to help?

Why weren't any of these people in the mint and bank heists? You can argue that Bruce/Keila/Cameron weren't close to Andres, but nothing indicated Damian and Roi would abandon him. Alicia "exposed" their identities, but they don't know she did that so it's HUH

Why did Andres replace them all with Jakov, Martin, and Santiago? I mean, I would too LOL but in universe, there needs to be some explanation

Why is he calling himself Berlin?

We also still have no idea why Andres and Sergio have different surnames since this show addressed nothing about them having the same or different parents. No idea when or why Andres became a thief, how he came to love heisting, etc. Overall, the spinoff chose to flash romances between the new characters instead of giving us more information about Andres, which was a stupid move imo.

That said, there were things I did like about the spinoff:

Aside from that hilarious tracksuit, Pedro pulled the various turtlenecks off more or less. He was gorgeous more often than not, but for what? smh

The ending was tight, exaggerated, and fun

I actually was hyped when Alicia and Raquel showed up

Lots of jokes/moments landed and made me laugh out loud

Camille topping Andres every chance she got was Quality content

The heist itself didn't have me on pins and needles, but it was entertaining and I never got bored of it

I liked that aside from Roi, Andres wasn't close to any of the young people on the team- that makes more sense with his character and also helps me forget the 27yo comment asdfadf

The shoutout to Sergio :') Hermanito lives rent free in Andres' mind

General elements that I wasn't a fan of, aside from the forced romances:

Not a berlicia shipper, but come on- why would you put Alicia and Andres in the same time space and NOT have them interact!?

The car race confused me, and not just because Cameron's phone breakdown made me cringe. I honestly don't understand why the racers needed a girl to stand on the roof. What purpose? How does that help or hinder the race- what- at first, I thought the girls were going to whack each other with sticks or try to break the other person's car and this was a high stakes death battle. But no, they just did this to be cool.

Speaking of the race, I think too many "cool" moments became boring because they were tailormade for the cool new stars; there should have been more moments like Berlin at the "opera"-- Ex. we should have gotten Damian and Andres at that race instead of Cameron and Roi- that would have been so much funnier, and thus more memorable

Andres' speeches were repetitive and made no sense, even for him. BUT it was hilarious how in the show's effort to ignore Martin, everything Andres says and does makes it look like he's waiting for his one true love in the form of Palermo, a man; even that no homo moment with Roi was so on-the-nose it has to be foreshadowing Martin XD

The ending with Camille was too open for my taste, especially pointless because we KNOW they don't end up together

BUT I do want a season 2, just so we can see Martin entering Andres' life and a glimpse of Sergio + any scrap of an actual backstory for Andres. They already did the romcom route, so maybe they'll experiment with yet another genre in s2, who knows lol.

[nerdynikki94]

There are too many reasons for why Hannibal is such a captivating series: the artistic visuals, sound design, phenomenal acting, dialogue, character development, beautifully executed split season arcs, etc.

I could literally spend like 3 hours just praising the storytelling of the cinematography and sound design in Hannibal S3b (don't even get me started on the painfully purposeful dialogue - word choice is so thorough and deliberate, especially regarding Will). This arc is truly masterful in the way it conveys intention, intimacy, and barriers, not just in relation to Hannibal with Will, but all the characters.

In S3E8, we are instantly introduced to the way Hannibal exists within his memory palace. We first see him interact with Alana, sitting with a glass of wine in his old office. It's important to note that she's first shown there, before we transition to reality, the transparent partition separating the space between them. He brings people into that room in his memory palace to retain that old sense of composure and control.

Also, notice the way we see Hannibal interact with Frederick. There is no place in his memory palace for Chilton. In this entire arc, these two are always shown in cuts of untouched reality. Hannibal doesn't respect or hold any esteem for him. He talks to Chilton without investment, and thus, he is not worthy of the honor of Hannibal's confidence. His control in this instance is cold and completely removed.

That shifts entirely in the last scene of that episode when Will goes to see him. The music changes, a haunting few notes, incredibly reminiscent to some opening notes blended in Love Crime. We see him strut straight into Hannibal's foyer, the Norman Chapel in Palermo; Will knows where to find Hannibal; it's just as much his memory palace, as it is Hannibal's.

Will is the only one to do this throughout S3b. All other characters shown in Hannibal's memory palace, are simply there at the start of the scene, they never walk into it. Hannibal has to be the one to extend the invitation, but not with Will. For him, Hannibal has an open door policy.

In S3E9, we continue their meeting. Hannibal & Will's angles are so specific in this scene, but also, throughout this setting. When they talk between the partition, you are often seeing the other's reflection in each one shot. They are equals, both of them caged and free in their own personal ways. Their presences are fused together, fractured reflections of one another. The distance isn't absolute, because they are still so close, as if no time has passed.

Then, later, we see Alana going through Hannibal's cell. It's intentional that the camera shows her milling about in a way where we can see the holes in the glass between them, at first. We are meant to be aware of the wall ever between them, until Alana steps closer. In threatening him, showing Hannibal the true power of her position, she gets to safely encroach on his space. Suddenly, the glass wall is gone. And then, when she steps away, the angle changes so we can yet again be reminded that the wall is still there, it always was, but the threat was real. It's the closest thing we see to Hannibal being rattled by his captivity.

Then, we see Jack visit Hannibal. Hannibal's reflection is seen in most of Jack's one shots, but his face is always obscured. He's a dark looming shadow, always lingering over Jack's shoulder like a threat. (Hannibal will manifest as a reflection in this way for Alana and Frederick as well throughout this arc; just like her and Will say, as if everybody feels like he walks out with them.)

Jack's reflection is shown only once in Hannibal's shots during this meeting. When Hannibal is telling Jack that Bella once said his face was all scars, if you knew how to look, we can just barely make out a reflection of half of Jack's face beside Hannibal. I find this brief moment to be really interesting in re-watches, once you ruminate on the notion that is introduced later in S3E12.

In this story, Hannibal is the Devil, and Jack is God. So, we see God's gnarled half-reflection beside the smug devil, a reminder that in more than one way, Jack too, is responsible for Hannibal's actions. More than once in this series, we see God's lapse of judgment allow the devil to get away. Hannibal is Jack's greatest regret, proof of just how blind he can be.

Briefly, jumping ahead on that point. (The God, Devil, the Lamb & the Great Red Dragon speech is also so important as well. A scene where we see Jack's reflection in Hannibal's shots, a forced distance, expression removed, saying with certainty that he'll be standing at the end. Then, Hannibal approaches, asking him if his conscience is clear, and his reflection lands on Jack, but doesn't meld. Jack's face is not overtaken, instead it overtakes what we see, as Jack says his conscience is as clear as Hannibal's. God has made his own choices. He may be blinded, but he's never truly influenced.) AAAGGGHH! Visual Poetry!

Even in S3E10, when Dolarhyde calls Hannibal. We see Dolarhyde physically enter his old office. There's a sense of counterfeit there, Dolarhyde's desperation to be seen by Hannibal. Yet, Hannibal allows him into that room of his memory palace, not as an equal, but as a patient.

Later in that episode, we get one of the best shots in the season, which occurs when we see Hannibal & Will talking about TGRD and the question of his sanity, Will takes a step forward and this is where we see his reflection meld into Hannibal. The contrast is there, but so is the connection. Just like Jack says to Chiyoh in S3E7: Hannibal & Will are identically different. They have changed each other.

I could keep going. This show is fucking ridiculous. It's so incredibly well-made, thoughtful and fucking efficient. Yes, there's loads of flowery language and overcomplicated arguments, but that all really falls into Bryan's stylistic choices: Pretentious Art Film. But in the same vein, that is how it's able to convey so much, even when doing so little; it's efficient because, even in silence, there is so much storytelling being done.

[blorbosexterminator]

I'm totally sure Pina wants Palermo in the show, I mean, in the main show he had a very important role not just a side character role, Pina basically made him more important than Raquel (who is of the 3 main characters) and now the people are asking for him in the comments (even though he has never been a fan favourite LOL),at this point it only depends on Rodrigo.

Definitely agree with you. And not only this, we know for a fact now, from both Pedro and Pina, that the spin-off was decided and prepared for at the same time as season 3. So Palermo was created, developed, given this much importance in the plot and Andrés' life as practically the same time Pina was preparing for the spin-off. It would be very weird to me if Pina did that with Palermo while having no intention to give him a place in the spin-off.

And as you said, from the other side, everyone, whether they like Palermo or not, are asking for him or at least wondering why he's absent. As far back as season 4, all interviewers were like "so are we gonna see a spin-off about you two???" So I doubt Pina is at all unaware of this. From a marketing standpoint, adding Palermo would better for the show, and from a purely creative point of view, Pina has already shown that this is a character he favors. So I highly doubt, if Palermo ends up not being a part of it, it'll be because of Pina. It'd 100% be due to Rodrigo one way or the other.

[newstonews]

Italian president Sergio Mattarella

Президентство Италии — это в значительной степени церемониальная роль, но она имеет решающее значение для управления страной во времена политической неопределенности. Так кто же такой президент Италии Серджио Маттарелла?

The role

Mattarella is Italy's 12th president and head of state since the country became a republic after the Second World War.

If that number sounds low, given the 65 governments that have ruled Italy in the same period, that's because this role changes only every seven years. This is to avoid the president being too closely tied to any one parliament; both houses have a five-year term, but in practice they tend to change more frequently.

Ordinarily, the president mostly acts as a figurehead: Mattarella regularly represents Italy on trips abroad or in national speeches on key dates. In between governments, his role becomes more central, including dissolving parliament, calling elections, supervising coalition talks, and encouraging parties to form a workable government. 

Проще говоря, должностная инструкция заключается в том, чтобы следить за управлением страной, следя за соблюдением конституции и сохранением единства Италии. В своей инаугурационной речи Маттарелла описал свою роль как роль «политического судьи».

Career background

Mattarella is a well-respected figure in Italian politics, though he was relatively little known by the public and press before he was sworn in in 2015. The 75-year-old was born in the Sicilian capital of Palermo (he's the first Italian president from the region), and studied law in Rome.

After qualifying, he taught law in his hometown, with a focus on constitutional law and Sicily's regional government. His elder brother Piersanti was elected regional president of Sicily, and it was his brutal murder in 1980 at the hands of a local mafia group that persuaded the younger Mattarella to enter the political arena.

President of Italy Mattarella and President of Finland Niinistö: Europeans must work together

Photo: Juhani Kandell/Office of the President of the Republic of Finland

“It is a particular pleasure for me to make a state visit to Finland this year, when the country is celebrating its 100 years of independence,” President of Italy Sergio Mattarella said in the joint press conference he and President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö held in the Presidential Palace on 27 September 2017.

According to President Mattarella, the theme of Finland’s anniversary year ‘Together’ has always described the way Finns operate, and he pointed out that it would also be a good guiding principle for the European Union and the international community. 

“Italy appreciates Finland’s message and hopes that people will listen to it internationally,” President Mattarella announced.

The Presidents discussed ways of controlling migration

President Niinistö thanked Italy for all the work the country has been doing to control migration on behalf of the rest of Europe and underscored that Europe must work together on this issue. 

“At the moment, Italy is the country under the hardest pressure through the Mediterranean route in particular, and Italy has been receiving massive amounts of refugees for several years,” President Niinistö pointed out. 

“We agree on that we need to make efforts to improve the living conditions in the areas people are leaving from, so that they could stay in their home region. On the other hand, we must figure out together ways by which we could bring the uncontrollable migration under control,” President Niinistö continued. Both Presidents emphasised the importance of compliance with the commonly agreed rules. 

“Migration cannot be eliminated, but Europe must be able to control it together,” President Mattarella said, and highlighted the refugee quotas assigned to the European Commission Member States.

“We thank Finland for having conscientiously complied with the agreement and having received the agreed number of refugees,” President Mattarella commented. 

Security policy and terrorism under discussion

“In our discussions, we strongly highlighted the fact that the EU must secure the safety of its citizens. The fight against terrorism is one area where we must find more solutions specifically by means of increasingly close European and international collaboration,” President Niinistö pointed out. 

President Mattarella also expressed his sympathies on the terrorist attack in Turku. For his part, President Niinistö sympathised with the Italian citizen who got injured in the attack. 

Climate issues are everybody’s concern

The Presidents also discussed, among other things, the Finnish chairmanship of the Arctic Council, and President Niinistö’s proposals for reducing black coal emissions.

President Mattarella cited the address President Niinistö had made at the UN General Assembly, where Niinistö stated that if we lose the Arctic, we will lose the whole world.

“That is the way it is. After the Paris Agreement, we need to take even more steps in the same direction,” President Mattarella pronounced. 

“I have been very pleased with the generous support given to our work in the Arctic Council,” President Niinistö said. 

The day ended with a banquet 

The President of Italy Sergio Mattarella is making a state visit in Finland with his daughter Laura Mattarella on 26–28 September 2017. On 27 September, the day ended with a banquet held by President Niinistö and Mrs. Jenni Haukio at the Presidential Palace. 

President Mattarella’s itinerary also included a wreath-laying ceremony at Hietaniemi Cemetery. Furthermore, he had meetings with the Speaker of the Parliament Maria Lohela and the leadership of the City of Helsinki. On Thursday 28 September, President Mattarella will still have a meeting with Prime Minister Juha Sipilä.

The President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö made a working visit to Italy in November 2014, when he met President Giorgio Napolitano. The previous state visit from Italy to Finland was made in 2008, when President Napolitano met President Tarja Halonen.

The speech by the President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö at the banquet held in honour of the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella at the Presidential Palace

Pictures on Flickr

President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella visits UoN

March 16, 2023

On Monday 13th March 2023, the President of Italy, His Excellency Sergio Mattarella, arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for his four-day official visit to Kenya.

As part of his itinerary, on 13th March 2023, President Mattarella held a public lecture on climate change at the University of Nairobi. This lecture shed light on the importance of addressing climate change and its impacts on society.

During her first two years as First Lady, Dr. Biden traveled to over 40 states and territories, over 100 cities, and ten other countries. She has continued championing the causes that have defined her public life: supporting military families, advocating for increased educational opportunities, and working to end cancer as we know it. She advanced the missions of two key White House initiatives, Joining Forces and the Cancer Moonshot, and also served as a leading messenger for the Administration’s most urgent priorities, including: safely reopening schools after the pandemic’s shutdown, supporting the President’s economic agenda, and urging adults and children to protect themselves and their communities by getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

In the spring of 2021, Dr. Biden announced the next phase and priorities of Joining Forces, her White House initiative to support military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. In her first two years, she visited 24 military installations; worked with Joining Forces partners to support over 30 events with the military-connected community; and launched an interagency working group with the National Security Council, which secured over 80 commitments and proposals across the federal government to support military families. Through her Joining Forces work, she has advocated for: increased economic opportunities for military spouses; additional educational programming and support for military children; more focus on health and wellness in the military community; and improved resources for caregivers and survivors, including military and veteran children in caregiving homes.

The Return of Fascism in Italy

With Giorgia Meloni’s party leading in polls ahead of Sunday’s election, the Italian far right is edging closer to power.By Ruth Ben-Ghiat

he election of the first woman prime minister in a country always represents a break with the past, and that is certainly a good thing,” Hillary Clinton said to an Italian journalist at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month. She was speaking of Giorgia Meloni, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, who could make history if the Brothers of Italy party does as well as expected in Sunday’s elections.

That would be one sort of break with the past. But Meloni would also represent continuity with Italy’s darkest episode: the interwar dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. As Clinton would surely concede, this is not such a good thing.

If Meloni comes to power at the end of this month, it will be as head of a coalition whose other members—Matteo Salvini’s League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia—were each once the main force on Italy’s populist right. Brothers of Italy, which was polling at 23 percent earlier this month, has overtaken these more established parties and would represent the bloc’s largest component.

Brothers of Italy, which Meloni has led since 2014, has an underlying and sinister familiarity. The party formed a decade ago to carry forth the spirit and legacy of the extreme right in Italy, which dates back to the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the party that formed in place of the National Fascist Party, which was banned after World War II. Now, just weeks before the 100th anniversary of the March on Rome—the October 1922 event that put Mussolini in power—Italy may have a former MSI activist for its prime minister and a government rooted in fascism. In the words of Ignazio La Russa, Meloni’s predecessor as the head of the Brothers of Italy: “We are all heirs of Il Duce.”

Meloni in many ways sounds more like other modern national-conservative politicians such as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and America’s MAGA Republicans than Il Duce. “There’s a leftist ideology, so-called globalist,” she told The Washington Post recently, “that aims to consider as an enemy everything that defined you—everything that has shaped your identity and your civilization.”

Meloni’s enemies list is familiar: “LGBT lobbies” that are out to harm women and the family by destroying “gender identity”; George Soros, an “international speculator,” she has said, who finances global “mass immigration” that threatens a Great Replacement of white, native-born Italians. Meloni shows affinity for authoritarian strongmen: Like Marine Le Pen, until recently the leader of the National Rally party in France, Meloni has expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin—although she has muted that enthusiasm since his invasion of Ukraine.

Read: Berlusconi was Trump before Trump

Meloni is comparable to Le Pen in other ways. Both are examples of what political scientists call “genderwashing,” when female politicians adopt a nonthreatening image to blunt the force of their extremism. Meloni’s signature look involves flowing outfits in pastel shades. To uninformed foreigners, her ascent could look like female empowerment; she poses as a defender of women, even as her party has rolled back women’s rights. In localities it governs, Brothers of Italy has made abortion services—the procedure has been legal in Italy since 1978—harder to access. Municipal authorities in Verona, where the party has shared power with Salvini’s League, declared the city “pro-life.”

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Meloni and her French counterpart diverge, however, over their respective movements’ extremist history. Le Pen pushed her father out of the leadership of the National Front (National Rally’s forerunner) because of his overt racism and Holocaust denialism. Meloni, though, has never fully disavowed her connection to Italy’s neofascist tradition even as she claims that her party is merely “conservative” and that fascism is a thing of the past.

The tricolor flame in the Brothers of Italy logo contradicts that claim: It celebrates her party’s connection with its fascist past by reviving the MSI’s emblem. The Brothers of Italy also perpetuates its forebear’s values. In particular, the natalist obsession of Il Duce’s 20-year rule, with its “Battle for Births,” has survived in the Brothers of Italy’s present-day concern about boosting the birth rate, its proposal to link social-welfare assistance to mothers and those engaged in child care, and its attempts to limit reproductive rights.

Italy never underwent a process equivalent to Germany’s de-Nazification after World War II. At the start of the Cold War, the Allies wanted to block Western Europe’s largest Communist party from power. They took a minimalist approach to purges of fascists and other punitive measures that could cause social unrest in Italy. They also looked the other way when Giorgio Almirante and other fascists who had served Il Duce founded the MSI in 1946. By the 1960s, the MSI had become the fourth-largest party, yet it remained largely on the sidelines of Italian politics because of the electoral strength of the left.

The political will of the MSI to return the far right to power never waned. The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe created a new space for the right to flourish. In came the billionaire Berlusconi and his new party, Forza Italia. Berlusconi’s short-lived center-right government of 1994 also included the Northern League (the original name of Salvini’s party) and brought the MSI’s neofascists into a governing coalition for the first time in Europe since 1945.

Yascha Mounk: The more you watch, the more you vote populist

Their party was rebranded as the National Alliance, yet the MSI’s tricolor flame remained. The National Alliance’s leader, Gianfranco Fini, wore business suits and discouraged fascist salutes among the party faithful, but he hailed Il Duce as “the greatest statesman of the 20th century.” Meloni had joined the MSI’s youth wing in 1992, as a teenager. Four years later, as a young activist electioneering for her party, she echoed Fini’s praise for the dictator. “I think Mussolini was a good politician,” she told a TV interviewer. “Everything he did, he did for Italy.”

The current popularity of Meloni’s party in part indicates the weakness of the Italian center-left, which has struggled to package its ideas in ways that connect with voters. Above all, it signifies an acceleration of Italy’s democratic backsliding. In many respects, Meloni’s current coalition is an updated version of the governments Berlusconi went on to form during the 2000s—which, over time, took on more and more of his neofascist partner’s politics. In 2009, the process was formalized in a merger of Forza Italia and the National Alliance to form a new party, People of Freedom. Berlusconi’s coalitions demonized immigrants and detained them, and stoked anti-communist fears (even though the Italian Communist Party had ceased to exist).

Throughout, Berlusconi played on nostalgia for fascism’s promise of law and order even as he whitewashed its violence. “Mussolini never killed anyone,” he told Britain’s Spectator magazine in 2003; “he sent people into confinement to have vacations.” The Fascist prisons on islands such as Ponza, where torture was practiced, were no holiday resorts. His statement also denied the Fascists’ mass killings in Italy and its colonies, including Libya, and ignored their participation in the Holocaust.

Meloni served as minister of youth in Berlusconi’s last government (2008–11), which proved a laboratory for policies she has made her own. In 2008, one of Berlusconi’s ministers claimed that high immigrant birth rates, together with Italy’s aging population and sluggish demographic growth, would cause Italians to disappear “in two or three generations.” Such fear-mongering finds an audience because of Italy’s historically low birth rates, yet it also foments racist attitudes about who should be having babies.

This nationalist preoccupation echoes Mussolini’s warnings. “Cradles are empty and cemeteries are expanding,” Il Duce declared in 1927. “The entire white race, the Western race, could be submerged by other races of color that multiply with a rhythm unknown to our own.” Meloni’s twist on this theme is “ethnic substitution.” Since 2017, she has tweeted repeatedly that Italian identity is being deliberately erased by globalists such as Soros and European Union officials, who have conspired to unleash “uncontrolled mass immigration.” The paranoid style in Italian politics translates into xenophobic proposals to deny citizenship to children born in Italy to foreign parents and to cut foreigners’ access to welfare benefits.

The People of Freedom merger entailed a loss of autonomy for the neofascist tradition. The breakup of Berlusconi’s coalition in 2011, when the euro-zone crisis forced his resignation, created an opportunity for its far-right partner to make a fresh start. The Brothers of Italy formed the following year.

As it has grown, Meloni has walked a double line, trading in far-right conspiracy theories at times, while claiming to be a traditional conservative at others. The approach has proved ominously successful. Ignazio La Russa is now the vice president of the Italian Senate; and last year, Mussolini’s granddaughter Rachele, who has been a Brothers of Italy politician since 2016, was reelected to Rome’s municipal council with more votes than any other candidate.

What can we expect if the first female-led far-right government comes into being after next week’s election? Meloni seems unlikely to tone down her extremism or change her alignment  with illiberal parties in Europe, such as Hungary’s Fidesz. After all, pursuing hard-line anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ policies in the name of defending white Christian civilization has worked well for them. Like Orbán, Meloni has made common cause with U.S. Republicans, attending the Conservative Political Action Conference and the National Prayer Breakfast.

From the December 1945 issue: The last three days of Mussolini

The political résumés of her coalition partners hardly inspire optimism that any government Meloni led would respect the rule of law. Berlusconi is a convicted criminal (on counts of tax fraud and bribery), and in 2018—not long before Salvini became minister of the interior—the League leader called for a “mass cleansing” of immigrants. A scenario in which a Meloni-led government’s rollback of civil rights might put Italy on a path to conflict with the European Union is not far-fetched. That is the situation with Hungary, which a recent European Parliament resolution said can “no longer be considered a full democracy.” Orbán’s government uses such clashes for its populist culture-warring even as it continues to take billions of euros in EU funding.

The Brothers of Italy could also try to revisit a constitutional reform that it first proposed in 2018 but was rejected by Parliament. The measure would make the president elected directly rather than by an electoral college. On its face, a head of state chosen by popular vote appears more democratic, but other things are at play here. Italy’s electoral college was introduced by the 1948 constitution, which enshrined antifascist protections against the future possibility of government takeover by a charismatic demagogue. Ostensibly, Italy’s political system is also parliamentary, which makes the prime minister accountable as the government’s chief executive; the presidency is supposed to be a figurehead role, at a remove from day-to-day partisanship. But the Brothers of Italy’s advocacy of “presidentialism,” as the idea of a more robust head of state with a popular mandate is known in Italy, has naturally put the country’s center-left parties on edge.

In her interview in Venice, Hillary Clinton also remarked on how right-wing parties can sometimes appear better at promoting women. Women like Meloni “are protected by patriarchy,” she said, “because they are often the first to support the fundamental pillars of male power and privilege.” Meloni’s party slogan—“God, Fatherland, Family”—celebrates those very pillars of power. And it came from Mussolini’s dictatorship.

[lafayettenossie]

Previously...

Mid-August 2024. Ballroom. Bourbon Orleans Hotel. New Orleans (LA).

Me and my Childe, Coroner's Assistant Josephine 'Joey Laveau' Archer stood in front of the two people we would have least wanted to meet that night at the Hecata Council meeting place in NOLA.

-"Wow... how long has it been since we've been treated to your kindness and jovial presence, Marie Louise!"- The tone of sarcasm in Robert Milliner's voice was more than evident.

Robert Milliner, banker and mobster. Hecata Clan.

-"You know, work has me absorbed! So many crimes and deaths in the city..."- I didn't mean to be condescending, it was clear that neither of us could stand the other.

-"And you come with your Childe! It must be something important to discuss... Go ahead, you've got me on tenterhooks!"- he said while exaggerating his pose as if he were listening to my next words.

-"I was looking for someone else from the Council... Caleb won't be around, will he?"- I asked him, already knowing his answer.

The man faked a laugh. -"Our beloved leader? Caleb the Cappadocian? No, he's not around..."- And he made an exaggerated gesture with his hands pointing around him. As he did so, I caught a glimpse of the hilt of the weapon he carried in a holster: a Colt Python revolver with a 6" barrel and .357 Magnum caliber. A very powerful weapon, and surely loaded with some kind of ammunition harmful to Cainites...

.357 Magnum, 6" barrel, Colt Python revolver.

Joey snorted under her breath, she couldn't stand people like Milliner. She realized that this wasn't the time for her sarcastic comments by the way I looked at her sideways.

-"But is he still in town or is he traveling with your Sire Miriam?"- I asked the pale red-haired woman with tattoos and scarifications on her arms, legs and torso.

-"The High Priestess of the Bahari cult is in town. So the leader of the Hecata clan in Louisiana must be too..." - the young redhead woman spoke with an emotionless voice, almost as if another being used her lips to communicate through her. It was chilling!

-"Wow, thanks for the information... New bodyguard, Robert? What happened to Esther? She's had enough of your insidious personality and your misogyny?" The red-haired girl wasn't the first Lamia who had been assigned to the protection of the banker from Boston, Massachusetts, since he arrived in the Crescent City at the beginning of 2022. He wasn't loved, but the 'Anziani' considered him important enough to keep his skin intact.

-"Esther has been returned to her previous position in Baton Rouge, as protector of the city's Seneschal, Mrs. Constanza di Palermo..."- That would certainly have bothered Milliner, losing his protector because she returned to protect a Harbinger of Ashur... Caleb would surely not have been happy either, given his past with these former beings.

-"Well, she has certainly won out..."- Joey said with a shrug.

Joey's comment didn't please Robert. Not in the least. That guy was very dangerous, and grudgeful. That ran in his family! -"I think your Childe should speak only if she is being spoken to directly..."-

I waved my hand and Joey gave up on arguing with him. -"Okay... So, can you tell me where I could meet Caleb, please?"- and I looked especially at the red-haired Lamia.

Robert held his tongue and nodded to his bodyguard. -"Caleb is in his haven. He didn't say he was going out anywhere tonight."- She said seriously.

Jessie Malone. Lamia bodyguard.

-"Thank you, Jessie, right? That's your given name..."- I knew her name was Malone, that she was the most recent Childe Embraced by Miriam, the High Priestess of the Bahari cult, Caleb's personal bodyguard, and little else... Although there were rumors about her being as lethal as she was cold and cruel. As if there was someone else inside her, someone old and powerful. I saw the subtle postmortem scars on her cleavage, hidden by tattoos and scarifications. What torment had they subjected that girl to?

-"Indeed. That's my name. Jessie Malone."- And her green-brown eyes suddenly changed. For an instant they were completely black, without a trace of the white of the sclera.

What the hell did that mean?

To be continued...

[officialempressofhell]

I desperately want to go to one specific park. It's closed. Other parks are open, but one is small and the other one is further away. The one further away is absolutely filled with dog shit and smells accordingly.

Chances are, that the park that's closed now will also be smelling like dog shit after just a day or two maybe. But still.

I also don't like going to parks all that much because I am scared of dogs/badly trained dogs are socially acceptable in a way that no other animals ever would be. And I just don't want to be jumped at.

So I don't know, why I think, I'll be going to this park frequently.

But then again the dogs here in Sicily are more well trained than the ones we have in germany, so I might just actually get to ebjoy a park for once in my life.

The only dog that wanted to jump me, was the dog of a narcissistic german guy in siracuse. The street dog at a different park here in Palermo i have no problem with. He runs up and down the street, like he has something important to do. I don't bother him, he doesn't bother me, it works

[thetldrplace]

Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History. Ch. 8- Spanish Domination

The terms of the Caltabellota treaty made it clear that the Angevins had not renounced claims to Sicily. The Spaniards and French went at it again in 1312, but it was always half-hearted. With neither side particularly committed, its inconclusiveness sapped enthusiasm. The Sicilian barons didn't care too much since they thrived on war and were disinterested for Sicilian independence for the sake of indepedence. They're concern was with their pockets and they'd side with whoever bolstered their short-term interests. Some of the baronial families were: the Ventimiglia, mainly around Trapani; the Chiaramonte, around Palermo; the Moncada; and the Peralta. 

Frederick III died in 1337, succeeded by Peter II, who died in 1342. There was a Louis in there too... blah-diddy-blah blah. 

The Black Death arrived in 1347, and although we don't have figures for Sicily in particular, about 1/3rd of the population was lost in Europe, and we can reasonably assume it was somewhere in that neighborhood in Sicily too. 

Frederick IV (the Simple... not a nickname I would have been particularly in love with either) became King and inherited a hopelessly chaotic realm. The barons had split into two main factions: the Latins, led by the Chiaramonte, and the Catalans, represented by the Ventimiglia. In 1371, Fred the Simple went to Naples to see if he could resolve this, which he did, on condition that he pay an annual tribute to Naples. When Frederick died in 1377, he left no heir, so the Island was divided into four 'Vicarates' to be administered by the four principal baronial families: the Alagona fam would govern the east from Catania; Peralta from Sciacca in the south; Ventimiglia for most of the North, minus Palermo; and Chiaramonte in Palermo. 

The only daughter of Frederick, Maria, now become a major pawn among the princes of Europe. Hard to figure out why anyone would have been all that psyched about Sicily by this point, but they were. Lots of European royal families were busy marketing their sons to get married to Maria and grab on to Sicily. I don't know if she was a looker or not, but I'm pretty sure the artist who did this painting of her should have been killed for his efforts. Anyway, while that drama was in mid-season, one of the baronial families, the Moncada, were pissed about being left out of a 'vicarate', and kidnapped Maria. They shipped her to Barcelona where she was promptly taken off the market and married to Martin I, the "Younger", of Aragon. Martin decided then that Sicily was to be subject to him and invaded in 1392. Some baronial families welcomed him, presumably those that thought they could profit from his reign, while others resisted. He eventually grabbed enough control of the important areas, but large swaths of the island remained outside that control.  

Martin revived the parliaments, but they were never, uh, what we would call "democratic". They were basically just assemblies for the parliamentarians to listen to what was being dictated to them from on high. Martin died in 1409 before having children, so his Father succeeded him, but lived only a year longer. Yeah, it's unusual to have a father succeed a son, but hey, it happened this time. 

In 1412, Ferdinand was chosen as King of Spain, and claimed Sicily for himself. The Sicilians didn't object, were probably too tired to care, and figured the new guy would probably never set foot on their island anyway. But Ferdinand died in 1416 and in 1421, Alfonso V was named ruler of Sicily, while living in Naples. Anybody else feel there's just a constant cycle of names here? Yeah, me too. 

The 1400s were a time of constant money problems. Too much of Sicily was enfeoffed (weird word meaning 'given as a fief' or feudal land) to the barons. Alfonso, nicknamed the " Magnanimous", but probably NOT by the Sicilians...) stopped at nothing to squeeze as much out of the Sicilians as possible. In 1458, Alfonso died and his brother John II was given Sicily. Sicily seemed ok with the new guy, and only once, in 1478, when he tried to squeeze them for more money continue his war against the Turks, did the Sicilians stand up to him, because they had a healthy trade with the Turks and the Sicilians needed that healthy trade to not be interrupted. 

His son Ferdinand, who ascended the throne in 1479, was of huge historical importance. He was the same guy who married Isabella, and commissioned a rather insignificant event in world history: the expedition of Columbus to America. But just a touch before that, his pious Catholic sense commissioned another event. In 1487, the Spanish Inquisition arrived, which ordered Muslims and Jews to either convert, or leave the island. Muslims were already mostly gone, but Jews represented a large, and important, minority. Sicily's economy suffered big-time as a consequence of this declaration.  

Meanwhile, through corruption or neglect, many Sicilian lands that were technically Spanish crown territories, had become baronial estates. But Ferdinand wanted them back. A viceroy named Ugo Moncada was appointed to reclaim these lands. When Ferdinand died in 1516, a mob chased Moncada out. But while the Sicilians would occasionally rise and revolt, they lacked cohesion, as well as any positive or constructive ideas for what they wanted to build in place of what they tore down. 

When Charles V of Habsburg arrived in 1517, he was still a Dutchman through and through, which did not make a good first impression. But he was sagacious and shrewd. He did his best, but managing his own countrymen turned out to be difficult. Probably by now, the Sicilians were getting sick and tired of foreigners getting all the good government positions depending, the nationalities of which depended on the revolving door of nationalities making the decisions about their island 

However, it was another event that began to turn the page on the Mediterranean: The discovery of the Americas, and... the route to India around the African horn. The Mediterranean had been THE conduit of trade from East to West. But now, new richer markets had opened up in the new world, and the new route to even the old trade partners in the East, meant the Mediterranean could be bypassed altogether. The Middle sea had become something of a backwater, and Sicily, as always, was the loser. 

[ikram1909]

https://www.tumblr.com/ikram1909/742671130670858240/httpswwwtumblrcomikram1909742612526189166592

In what world did I say anything bad about De Zerbi? Also, before you make anymore assumptions, I do watch Brighton on a fairly regular basis. Which is exactly why I said I think he’s a good coach and could do well at Barcelona, the only problem being that he’s unproven at high-profile clubs like Barcelona, which is correct. His managerial career consists of clubs like Darfo Boario, Faggio, Palermo, Benevento, Sassuolo, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Brighton. Which doesn’t exactly scream “I’m experienced with top-flight clubs and have an understanding of the pressure that comes with coaching one,” now does it? Now I’ll reiterate this seeing as you lack reading comprehension since you seem to believe I said anything negative about De Zerbi, I like De Zerbi and I think he’s a good coach but I also think that he wouldn’t handle the pressure and scrutiny that comes with coaching Barcelona. Xavi couldn’t handle it and Pep doesn’t like the Spanish media because of it, so what makes you think De Zerbi would somehow handle the pressure better when he lacks experience under that kind of pressure. Not to mention, wasn’t there another anon that showed some screenshot of a De Zerbi quote where he basically said “I don’t work to win trophies, I work to enjoy and have fun.” I’m not saying that’s a bad mentality to have, but a mindset like that will get him thoroughly cooked by the media and some fans who believe winning trophies is above all else the most important thing Barcelona should be doing, which is fair as a club of Barcelona’s caliber should be consistently competing for trophies. Anyways, point being that nothing I said about De Zerbi is negative or incorrect for that matter.

I think that was aimed at me, not you anon dw tho I didn't say anything bad about him either but well. I agree with your points tho!

[the-acid-pear]

The two pills I took truly meant I was relaxed enough to remember my whole dream so let me go over it.

It, of course, was about the elections. I'm sure I was doing something else when my mother interrupted me to remind me of them, so I got excited before remembering my lack of ID, but I was like well maybe they'll accept other ones so I picked my pre-16 one, one even BEFORE that one and a paper one where i had my surname listed as my step father's but the city was listed as my current. Though we were still in my former, Palermo.

Out in the streets it was wild it was like a carnival it was filled with people all dressed up in these complex and beautiful costumes of different traditional cultures from all over the world (I especially remember one indian one). Hell we even stumbled upon a fucking wizard that said something to my mother and she didn't listen but I took a second and then giggled, cannot remember what that was though.

Once inside the place it was nothing like a voting room, in fact, it was more like a border control. There also was an indigenous man dressed in traditional clothing standing at the door screaming proudly how he was going to vote Cristina and giving a reason I didn't hear bc i was rushing to the desk.

We somehow got first on the queue and as I was pulling the papers out and trying to explain my situation to the girl behind the glass the woman (old, short, fat, dyed red hair, heavy makeup , we all have met her) standing behind me went "otro que viene con el documento digital..." and I turned around and moving my arms up like animal who wants to appear bigger I went to her face "SI, TENÉS ALGÚN PROBLEMA?!" and to my fortune this evoked a few shy laughs but no complaints, everyone understood my sheer desperation.

I was at the verge of tears trying to explain that I lost my ID (tried to say they stole it but I was too emotional to lie) and how this was very important to me and the woman was understanding but she was like you cannot vote without your ID <:/ so instead she gave us a ticket of sorts we'd have to use a week later which was, some solution? Brought me relief.

And as I was leaving the silliest thing happened as the TV on the place started playing a Mario short w that 80s style but it was kinda bizarre like they were doing some Looney tunes shit to those men. And then even better THIS guy showed up,

This is my terrible recreation of the man I'd later discover is called Vincet and had a number of different shorts they'd play during the elections of different countries, one of which was France, where I got this face in particular from. He was buff so it was like, if Johnny Bravo cared about your civil rights or something. Had to find him thru TOMT too btw.