#Strategic Positioning

[ashestoashes7]

I just love the Trojan’s passive aggressive positivity. ‘Have a winning day!’ is a phrase that has started more fights than it has ended and you know what, good for them

[justacynicalromantic]

In early 2014, Ukraine was a neutral country, with a pro-Russian president, and with 70% of Ukraine's population against NATO membership. Yet Russia bluntly violated Ukraine's neutrality and annexed Crimea, then launched a covert invasion of Ukraine in the east.

Petro Poroshenko won the presidential election later in 2014 having promised a settlement with Russia, keeping a special status of the Russian language in Ukraine. He was initially sceptical regarding NATO accession, underlined Ukraine must rely on its own strength to provide security.

Did Putin meet Poroshenko halfway? Not at all. The regular Russian army entered the Ukrainian territory in mid-2014 to fight the Ukrainian troops, which led to the Minsk-1 agreement signed in September 2014.

Further text - down under the cut, or you can follow the Twitter link to the original post:

Few weeks later, Ukraine's parliament adopted a law that would guarantee the then Russia-controlled part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions additional economic, financial and cultural powers.

How did Putin react? Russia staged sham local elections in the occupied Donbas, and then sent the regular army again to Ukraine in early 2015, which led to the Minsk-2 agreement signed in February 2015.

Zelensky was even more sceptical regarding NATO accession. Asked about NATO, he once famously said he never pays anyone a visit if he has not been invited. He won the presidential election promising to compromise with Russia - to stop shooting, sit down with Putin and talk.

Did Putin meet Zelensky halfway? Not at all. He actually raised the stakes by issuing the Russian passports on the occupied territories of Ukraine even before Zelensky assumed the office, putting him in a difficult political position since the start.

Zelensky was ready to drop Ukraine's NATO bid in an exchange for the Russian troops withdrawing from Ukraine. The talks were held already before 2022. What did Putin do? He launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In the first weeks of the invasion, Zelensky was yet again ready to drop Ukraine's NATO bid. But he wanted to obtain international security guarantees. What did Putin do? He demanded that Russia must be consulted before any aid would be given to Ukraine in the event of aggression.

To sum up, Ukraine has consistently tried to reach a deal with Russia over the last decade, and was open to giving up on its NATO bid in exchange for the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine. Russia never reciprocated, never showed a good will, kept raising the stakes.

Both Poroshenko and Zelensky were initially sceptical regarding Ukraine's accession to NATO. Both wanted to get a deal with Putin. And Putin himself pushed both of them to seek NATO membership out of no other viable alternatives.

Up till now, Putin has shown absolutely no willingness to compromise with Ukraine. His war aims remain maximalist - subjugating Ukraine and changing its regime. He seeks Ukraine's partition, and will turn what is left of Ukraine into Russian protectorate.

Russia's imperial self-conception is that of Russian elites at large, and not just Vladimir Putin. The Russian leadership simply cannot reconcile with the existence of a sovereign Ukrainian statehood.

Therefore any sustainable Ukrainian-Russian compromise is currently not possible unless the Russian cost-benefit calculus changes. Only credible risk to the stability of the Russian regime would impact this calculus. The easiest way goes through defeating Russia in Ukraine.

[mxxnlightwriting]

reminder that more often than not, it's important to take breaks from writing instead of forcing yourself through it. listen to your body and intuition.

i say this as someone who writes almost every day. sometimes, that isn't sustainable. sometimes, you need to take breaks from your projects because you're tired from working on them. i have to admit that understanding when to stop and take a break is a skill in itself, but with time, you will master it. you've got this. if not today, then tomorrow.

today, you rest. tomorrow, if you feel like writing, great! if not, rest a bit more. you know yourself better than anyone else. so trust yourself to know when to get back into writing. and don't punish yourself for not doing it.

[fluffyartbl0g]

Ah. He’s kind

[hand-painted-5tars]

Joker Persona 5

[dapper-lil-arts]

Average stream for marina and cathy; the game is just so intense it sometimes mean you'll sweat, no other reason -3-

based of this meme lol 👇

[azaracyy]

"...that's all from me. does any of you have any questions?" "nope! crystal clear." "kew!" "that's good! um... thank you for this discussion." "you're the one who came up with this awesome plan, lopmon. have more confidence in yourself." "kew, kew kew kew!" digimon survive week 2024 day 2: cooperation

[cococaffeinated]

I have a headcanon that Jax doesn't like being alone- for himself or anyone else- and that's why he suggested Caine create an adventure for Pomni, and later, that they go find something to eat, since those activities would likely keep people together. It could also be why he made sure Gangle and Kinger would stick together, and hid with them after Kaufmo abstracted.

I have a few more reasons for this hc, but I'm not good with words and this already feels clunky to me, so I'm leaving it off here.

(ps I keep reading your name to the tune of 'go go power rangers'. It's not relevant at all but I thought you should know.)

Oh, I enjoy this! I can totally see Jax trying really hard to pull strings as subtly as possible to make sure people aren't alone.

I bet Zooble is always the hardest to convince to be amongst the others, it's probably why Jax was in no hurry to "save them" from the gloinks to cos those humanoid hashbrowns are from Caine's homebrew adventures, so they should be relatively harmless and a cause for mild inconvenience (which would mean Zooble'll be too busy to be in existential dread even if they were alone).

---

Also, I think it's neat that Pomni got sandwiched between Ragatha and Jax's two opposing attitudes during their breif walk to Kaufmo's room.

Ragatha likes to see the bright side of things or say positive remarks just to avoid the darker side of a conversation. While Jax, on the other hand, just teases Pomni for thinking her situation is still just a dream. It's like a healthy dose of "Technically, this might be shit for you if you're this shocked, kinda funny tho." and "You'll be okay... Probably, Certainly." (I didn't even realize my name had the same syllables as 'go go power rangers, I can't unhear it thank you for this blessed infernal knowlegde)

[alackofghosts]

ʕ ˵·ᴥ·ʔ♡ʕ·ᴥ·˵ ʔ

[not-so-terrible]

So Kisame's often considered the fourth most powerful Akatsuki member, but the top three are pretty unanimously Obito, Pain and Itachi. And with Kisame's motto being survival of the fittest and MO being taking out the weakest links, it’s fascinating to see him end up as one of the most well connected members of the Akatsuki. And since the top three never openly get to clash, technically speaking, he stays loyal to all of them. He's; 

- Working broadly for Pain, Akatsuki's open leader, who wants to create peace through traumatising the world through a cycle of war

- Working secretly for Obito, Akatsuki's real leader (and by proxy, Madara and Zetsu, Akatsuki's real-real leaders), who wants to create peace through trapping the world in a dream realm

- Working day-to-day for/with Itachi, the Akatsuki's biggest name, most powerful field member, and a secret double agent, who wants to create peace through becoming the most powerful shinobi that's ever lived,  and through using that power 'as much as he wants', 'lead the world to subjugation'

So either Kisame is the ninja equivalent of the minions, or the dojutsu wielding top three of the Akatsuki all looked to him and went 'yup, he's Henchman Shaped'

[hysnukun]

sneak peek into the charthur brainrot drawing i couldn't get done for pass the yaoi friday BUT perhaps for tits out tuesday?

[13eyond13]

I think the moment Light's crush on L first smacked him in the manga (like when it finally rooted and started blooming in his guts) was when L was like "you're my first ever friend" whilst smirking into his teacup. And not because Light fully believed he was being sincere about being friends, but because he KNEW L was slyly teasing him and speaking to him on more than one level at once. Nothing more unexpected funny flattering and intriguing than that for him right then

[anotherpapercut]

the girlbossification of ruth bader ginsburg has to be one of the most just plain annoying aspects of white liberal feminism. like it's not as actively harmful as a lot of other shit obviously. but it is soooooo annoying. if I never see another notorious rbg tote bag as long as I live it will be too soon

[cookiesuga55]

Roommate Routine <3

Chubby Jungkook does a self care routine on Sunday afternoons and slathers body butter over his belly, hips, and thighs. He rubs it into his stretched, sensitive skin and admires his silky soft shape. All of his curves have become much more supple once he started using skin oils and lotions to ease the uncomfortable tightness that accompanied his delicious growth.

Jungkook pads out of the steaming bathroom thirty minutes later all buttered up and smelling like a cupcake, with a sheet mask on his round face and a towel wrapped around his tubby waist, belly plump and on display.

It makes Jimin's mouth water every damn time.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Erdogan is a tyrant and a murderer of his opposition. He is the killer of Turkish democracy. How fucking dare you post quotes from him?

"how fucking dare you post quotes from him"

[blujaynoodles]

Sketch for a lil Hilda inspired pinup! :3