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Knowing Rutte - he ran my country for 12 years - I think he's smart enough to know that Trump is committed to nothing but his own ego. But Europe paying more for its own defence is actually something the Americans have blocked for decades. However, with Europe no longer trusting the States to be an ally (if anything they're a loose cannon!) it ultimately gives it more power to act in its own interest, which is very visible in its response to the genocide in Gaza. Dutch press from '22 to '24 was hyping Israel and equating any criticism of Netanyahu with antisemitism, grotesquely over reporting antisemitic incidents while never condemning the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestians. As soon as Trump has proven himself unreliable in the extreme, though, here they are reporting the crimes against humanity in Gaza. A NATO Army would come with huge tax hikes for the European people, but at least we won't be forced to do whatever the States want at any given time. We're going to fight Russia ourselves, but maybe we don't continuously have to fight American wars, too.

I would wonder why Trump doesn't see that he's diminishing America's power but it's Trump.

Until we have the taxes raised, we're going to have to tell Trump that he is the strongest little princess in the world, yes he is!

Nato’s Rutte says Donald Trump is committed to alliance if Europe pays more

[News] Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Donald Trump’s commitment to Nato should not worry allies as long as they drastically increase their defence spending, according to the alliance’s secretary-general at the outset of a summit designed to placate the US president. While many European allies,…

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Dutch tv is now explaining to the country that the only way to keep Trump from lashing out is to flatter him in any way you can and that's why he's sleeping in the Royal Residence (there's two places: the residence and the "work palace"; the Prime Minister doesn't meet the King at home. State Banquets are at the residence, though).

They are basically giving him a Disney Princess Dream Experience. Almost anybody alive would be too embarrassed to need that to feel important. Obama certainly wouldn't dare impose on family time like that, Zelenskyy didn't ask, but Trump throws a tantrum when he can't be the biggest monkey in the zoo.

I bet they've made him a goody bag with a crown on it.

And if anything will make him decide to give the Dutch their own trade deal, it's that.

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why didnt daniel just tell terry he wasnt ready to have kids yet or maybe they could be engaged for a few years and then get married?? at least talk it out with terry :( same anon for the other old wounds ask

Because Daniel, same as when they met in canon, was emotionally very overwhelmed. The whole ganging up on him the cobras did was pretty much like canon, they just wanted to get to him because they were horny as fuck, Johnny most of all. And Ma brought Danirlel out here because she didn't want him to become a sugar baby to a Jersey mobster. So to come straight out of Newark and the cobras to then run into Terry (who might have come over to see why John's students had collectively lost their minds, only to fall himself), you lose perspective. You can't see what is right in front of you anymore. And the only thing Terry cannot do is ease up a little. Especially when younger. Daniel was tapped out emotionally while Terry's internal soundtrack was "All You Need Is Love" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles (he was born in the 1950's, after all). Very heartfelt and sweet but not very open to complicated feelings. He loves that omega, he wants to give him anything he wants, they have fun together, what's there to discuss? Terry will take care of it. He thought that Daniel was simply not the type to flirt (ha!), which he felt showed his loyalty. Terry had been hoping to meet someone for a while. Daniel couldn't get him to slow down - and I would bet anyone would have a hard time doing that - so he emotionally short circuited. And maybe if Terry hadn't been who he was but for a nobody from Newark to reject Terry Silver, heir to all that Core Family fortune, that cannot stand. That demands retaliation, and after that, when Terry'd lost the fight with Miyagi, trying to talk it out was close to impossible.

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begggggggginnnnnggg you to let terry make love to daniel even once in old wounds. he just breaks my heart here he’s so lonely and sad and in love for decades arghhhh

I did mention that Daniel could not refuse all kinds of intimacy under his contract: "the option isn't given". But is that making love? Depends on what happens between them.

And I can't lie, Terry is very happy to have Daniel near...

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Hi! Do you have that mobfill where Daniel has his first marries Heat with Terry on their honeymoon?

Hi, I am glad you want to re-read it, thank you 🥰.

I don't have time to look for it now, I'll include it in my next archiving sweep. It will be tagged "silverusso" "knights and pawns" and "omegaverse", so maybe it pops up if you search my blog for any of those tags. Might have also been tagged "tw heat" or "heat".

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Which could mean nothing

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Let's talk about the drug that is even more normalised than alcohol for a hot second. I am talking of course about coffee.

So as someone who has spent decades not drinking the stuff, I finally learnt what it is actually for. I had to get pretty jetlagged to get past how coffee normally makes me feel - too jumpy to think. But after ten days of pretty broken sleep, well, yes, coffee does get you past that feeling of: "I have to be awake, but I cannot bear to be, and I am going to crash into something with how tired I am."

And so, the next time you wake up feeling like death because you've been artificially sleep deprived, you feel less miserable: I'll take my potion and I'll be right as rain. And advertising makes you think it is a great drink, you're enjoying so much! The hell you are, you like the milk in it, but: the effects cannot be overstated. How to be overtired but feel kind of ok, am I right? Good stuff!

Except that this stuff is insanely addictive. Very soon you're like: "I don't know if this wakes me up anymore, but if I don't drink it, I'll be punished with a headache."

And then capitalism says: no no, you don't need this, this is a luxury, and charges you $10 for a cup which easily amounts to $200 - $250 a month, provided you brew a cheap cup at home on the weekends. Because you will to stave off the headache.

Now even if your job has done a cost-benefit analysis and has decided that the pick up effect from the coffee in productivity gain is worth the price of providing it for free...this is crazy. We're paying hundreds a month, up to a $2000 a year, to stop feeling sleep deprived or to stave off the addiction headache.

In my life, I am going to treat a cup of coffee the same I would a sleeping pill. It is good they exist, they have their time, and coffee has the added benefit of not endangering others by its effect. But I need to use it with extreme caution, and definitely not make a habit out of consuming it.

And however sophisticated it may feel, neither should anyone else.

If you want the frothy sweet warm comfort, there's hot chocolate or chai, after all. If you cannot function without an espresso, you need to try to sleep more. You wouldn't want to need Diazepam just to be able to go to bed either. I get this is capitalism and we need to get through it somehow but 19th century factory workers had the same thoughts about hard liquor and that doesn't make that a good thing either.

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Terry Silver is many things but he is not a playboy. He’s too loyal and intimate to have flings, and seems like a romantic who would want a genuine relationship that is strictly monogamous. He comes off as a deeply lonely person who has very few, if any, friends or any true relationships.

That's what I still find fascinating about him. What. Happened. 35 years is... Very long not to really have anyone. Because he's high profile enough that if he got married, people would know. I have seen this explained with him being insanely secretive of his wife, which, absolutely 100% possible. He's ride or die enough to do it. But to me that doesn't explain the loneliness. Look, the Doylist reason for that is very much that the writers didn't care about these characters unless they could be referenced or tied to The Karate Kid. Fine, if you must but goodness that is odd when it starts happening to every OG character. And even my own headcanon, It Was Always Danny Boy... Why did he wait? You can need 5 years, Hell, 10 years to get over someone if it is extreme. And yeah, he's married, but this is a man who burned down a furniture store over a conversation. What was so sacred about Daniel that he refrained? It wasn't Kreese. And of course if they both moved on, but let's leave that theory where it belongs because they didn't. What keeps Terry at arm's length with everyone? My theory is that there was a relationship, a very meaningful one. A hidden one (which is why I am leaning towards gay). And they died. And Terry foreswore love because if you love that deeply, the hurt from loss is almost enough to destroy. You see how he reacts to Kreese.

Doesn't completely explain the lack of friends until you remember he had friends. And they died or left too. It's self preservation at this point. Everything about his life is self regulation. He is obsessively disciplined about relaxation. Staying on an even keel and the reason that works is that it is hard, it's not who he is, it takes every ounch of obsession to pull off.

But it is lonely. So desperately lonely.

And then Kreese waltzes straight through it and yes, he could have overcome him.

But Kreese and Danny Boy...

He's only human.

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A Marxist Pope? He'd have to step down for ideological reasons...!

People can't even bother to understand what they're opposing...

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WWE

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In the best known Dutch song about friendship, this is the litmus test:

"When war breaks out, and I need to hide, can I come to you?

If there's a movement I don't want to be a part of, can I come to you?

If they make a rule it is impossible for me to obey, can I come to you?

And if I have to be something I've never been, can I come to you?

Can I hide out with you when I have nowhere else to turn?

And if I have to cry, will you dry my tears?

Because when I can come to you, you can always come to me

Come whenever you want, there's a room here for you."

True friends hide their friends from the secret police, everyone knows that.

forget "would you love me if i was a bug." would you hide me from the US government if things start getting worse.

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Did you watch Sinners?

It came very highly recommended and looks very cool, but I have said here before - no paying for American films, or American anything really I can avoid, and if I cannot avoid it, at least to reduce my dependency on it. Now again I am using Tumblr, so it's not foolproof, though I am not using the app as to block ads. Was very dismayed to find out that my favourite brand of chocolate sprinkles has been bought up by the Americans. As has my favourite toilet paper but that was bought in bulk pre-Trump. Soda is store brand cola, Pellegrino or Fritz, very, very pissed off that Ahold Delhaize is active in America and Aldi owns Trader Joes, still most of that money stays in Europe and I know for a fact that Aldi chocolate is owned by Storck and it is pretty good. I'll have to switch a few more brands when my stock runs low.

But where was I: I'm sure I'll catch it somewhere this year. Everyone says it's brilliant and I'm very happy it was so successful. But I'll have to sneak over to relatives who pay for streaming.

Sorry. I simply want as little money as possible going to the current regime.

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Now I know Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso live in the good timeline where there was no Covid 19 and a Chinese student can immigrate to NYC no problem without getting their visa revoked. But it did start out pretty grounded in reality, and I want to know how Johnny Lawrence would deal with the current political climate and the situation in LA.

Because listen. That man did not vote for Kamala Harris. Whether or not he voted for Trump or simply didn't vote is functionally irrelevant, but Harris reprents nothing he has any affinity with. Besides, the first time wasn't bad at all, LaRusso, stop worrying.

(Daniel did vote for Kamala Harris. Amanda is in charge of his life so he has no problem with women in leadership positions, also, he sells foreign cars and he knows about Trump's obsession with tariffs, among many, many other things about Trump he disagrees with. New detention camps would break his heart knowing how those destroyed Mr. Miyagi.)

But now Johnny has to drive his wife to and from work everyday so she doesn't get abducted by ICE. Miguel has a nonzero chance of ending up in El Salvador. How does he deal with that? Does he get in random fights with ICE agents? Does he protest? Man must be so confused!

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When I was in elementary school, you simply couldn't go to the Balkans. It was a bit sad, but war zones are war zones so you started looking on the map to places you could go.

Right now, Croatia is lovely. I hope there will come a time when we can visit the US again, but until then, Montenegro is up and coming too.

Welcome to the US

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The American processed food industry is forcing so much sugar on people. I don't say this in a health nut way. I love convenience foods as a concept, but they're altering America's baseline of how sweet something needs to be to count as a sweet treat.

I say this as someone who was once described as "the biggest sweet tooth I have ever met." My parents were rightly concerned about diabetes in our family, so they were a little too strict on the "no treats" in our house. I went mad once I moved out. I love treats, they taste like freedom.

But my God America, the high fructose corn syrup lobby is out of control.

I know there is an American meme about Europeans complaining about there being sugar in American bread. But that is not about sounding superior. We don't drink small coffees because of moral purity. We drink them because a coffee with a little milk and sugar has the same effect on us as a frappuchino has on you. You need mountains of milk and cream and syrup to neutralise the taste of something bitter. And you don't get to that point unless everything you eat is artificially over sweetened.

You could get the same "Yummy!" kick with half the sugar if they just took it out of every product you consume.

Look I am lucky and I can simply choose not to make American recipes. But I need you to know this. Your collective taste is being manipulated to a ridiculous extent. I love ice cream, I'll happily eat two bowls of a Dutch brand I love but even though Ben & Jerry's is presented as the ultimate luxury here I do not want it: tf is in there? And even on homemade pie recipes I'll pass - that pie will be oversugared to American tastes.

Sweet stuff is yummy, and I don't begrudge you anything. But you deserve to not need so much of it to get to that sweet spot.

If every American person drank so much alcohol on the daily, because they couldn't not if they tried, that you couldn't even get more than slightly buzzed on anything but hard liquor you'd also be concerned.

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Did Daniel know of Terry before the Don invited him inside the room? How did Daniel get coerced into that anyway? Did the Don tell him this Alpha was a threat and to come inside the room when he was there on business? Or did Daniel have no idea that Terry was there that day and the Don tricked him (them both really!). Or was this just something Daniel did—take refreshments to Alphas his father was meeting with?

If Daniel really had no idea of Terry, he could still smell that a strange Alpha was in his home right? And I suppose Terry could smell him too and know an omega lived there.

"You've been in business since the first time Pop had you bring in drinks," Michael pointed out early in the story.

"That's different -"

"How? You had a job, you did it. Same as now."

The Don has had Daniele offer drinks to other Alphas quite routinely because it is a hell of a distraction to them. Try having a young, unmated, beautiful omega offer you a drink and keep your head as an Alpha. In their deepest lizard brain, that omega is a possible catch, and unless they are happily mated themselves, that's going to be something a part of them will want to act on. Now of course, we're more than our urges, but it does make people more agreeable to whatever the Don wants so they can focus on more enticing things sooner. Daniel would not have put it that way, maybe, but he understands that's what it is. It's jarring, and a little risqué - Daniele has served Pop's friends on other occassions but that was always with business talk decidedly over and with his mother there. Still, Pop's a Mob boss, and all is fair in love and war. Whether or not it is a proper thing to do according to his preppy classmates is besides the point. They live by different rules in his house and refusing wouldn't even cross Daniele's mind. Part of him even likes being in cahoots with his Pop.

But to then suddenly be formally introduced to this stranger, whom Daniel knows is a criminal - who isn't, really, even the senators that sometimes visit know they should not be seen conducting business with the Don, not at his home - that is something quite different. Because Pop is suddenly giving this stranger express permission to interact with him - something Terry otherwise would never have had. With absolutely no warning, and going against an explicit earlier promise. Like what? Who even is this man? And Daniel tries to signal "no", "I am not on board with this" "I am my own person", and, as Terry then is so bold as to take his hands from behind his back (both touching him and ignoring his refusal to engage), he calls him "Sir", because though he can't refuse to engage - Terry is probably a dangerous person to anger - he's still trying to say: "I do not want any intimacy with you." That's why he bows "to no one in particular", he's refusing to interact with either of them any more than politeness forces him to right now, because he wants nothing to do with this man and also what the hell, Pop?! What are you playing at??

Which would have been enough pushback for a lot of Alphas to take the hint and not press the issue. It's only that Terry finds it hilarious. That boy has fire, and is not easily subdued - useful, in his line of work. Brave, and interesting - it takes a lot for an omega to signal to two Alphas, one of whom is their Dad, that they're unwilling to obey them. There was no one in this boy's corner and he was ridiculously outmatched, and yet, he still put up a fight. Again, that attitude might buy Terry valuable time if they ever get targeted (and Mob omegas are always targets to some extent). And besides that, he's still smart enough not to outright insult either of them.

Of course Terry wants that cookie.