#like i enjoyed BO as a show but i can't look at it terms of the source material or i will go insane

[limerental]

actually it is kinda funny that BO's plot is essentially "gang of misfits come together on a quest and save the day" given that that's also the plot of the saga except they a) don't save the day and b) well

[zahri-melitor]

I've been thinking about War of the Robins, aka 'Damian challenges the other Robins to prove he's the Best Robin' storyline from Batman and Robin 2011, and what I think worked about it in terms of characterisation. (look I'm reading New 52, you get to hear lots of my ten plus years out of date thoughts about New 52, enjoy)

Because look, I think it was successful in presenting how desperate for approval and validation Damian is, but it also feeds into the narrative you can see percolating during this time that Damian can't cope with just being one of the family, he has to be the best, have the most love and approval, have physical demonstrations of his superiority, because he's grown up understanding being one of the group to be a death sentence. (Dick has to be his Batman, and Damian Dick's Robin, he needs the writers giving him reassurance that they were 'the best' right before he dies, the new timeline cuts off any other occasions Dick was Batman, Damian gets given extra pets right before he dies as a sop for his death, etc etc)

Which is believable characterisation for Damian! It is understandable given the background they're building for him! But also sharply aggravating because nobody has ever accused fans of being reasonable and this just digs people into being more deeply opposed to the character their favourite is in conflict with.

So he 'challenges' Tim and Jason 'at something you feel unbeatable at' in a way that sharply exploits emotions they're sensitive about.

Damian...shows Tim a video of Tim considering killing and pulling back, and implies that that makes Tim a killer just like Damian and "they're the same". Now I think this one is actually pretty weak - while yes it's exploiting a point Tim's sensitive over (and in our world has dealt with twice in the calendar year prior to this story), it's also something Tim's pretty solid on; Tim knows he's not a killer and will pull back, while he's seen Damian kill. I also think that a Damian who's working to be a better person would not refer to the Spook situation as "a bit rambunctious", rather than it being something he regrets and tries to grow from. It does amuse me that Tim gets to smash Damian into Jason's trophy case however this time for the parallel, though being the one who breaks the case generally is framed to make you the one 'in the wrong' in the confrontation. Also as far as I can tell Damian never takes a physical trophy from this fight, which sort of ruins your whole premise, Damian. NB: I see Damian has Tim's bo in his room later, but Tim clearly ended the fight holding it and then left. There's definitely an art issue here.

Jason's fight is even more exploitation of a known weakness. Jason's got every right to be touchy about someone threatening him with a crowbar. Also I really really dislike that Damian's just freely admitting to the time he locked himself in with the Joker to beat him up at GCPD, because honestly that bit of story and its timing has always seemed to contradict the 'he's getting better' narrative that Dick maintains during Reborn. And again the whole conversation is "we're so alike but nobody loves you". At least this time Damian clearly takes his trophy (which is a helmet, which is still displayed in Damian's room during scenes there in the B&R Requiem issue).

Dick showing up at the end to explain to Damian that he doesn't need to try so hard prove his worth and just handing over an escrima stick - look it's sweet and it does impart the moral that Damian needed to learn over this whole situation. But also it does not really help, as it's just deepened the family fault-lines between Dick & Damian as a pair and *sigh* Jason & Tim.

The other thing I get out of it is whether it's just bravado or not, Damian's a lot more comfortable with his childhood violence continuing to come out rather than working to fit the rules of what makes a Robin and a superhero than people want to say he is. Yes, he needs unconditional love and support to grow and learn, and Dick's being used to provide that. But it's also occasion 3000 when I'm sitting here going "is anyone ever going to give Damian actual boundaries and enforce them when he tests them?" because he's once again well outside what is expected. Bruce tries at the start to defuse the argument, and Dick tries at the end to explain why Damian didn't need to do this, he's already won, but I do wonder how much of it sunk in.

[wilcze-kudly]

1, 3, 4, 7 weilin :)

Wheee someone's asking me about the rock boyfriends! 😊

1. Who is the better cook?

Bolin. Hands down Bolin. He's canonically a decent if not outright good cook. I can see him really enjoying cooking and food. Probably very excited to have so many ingredients at his disposal. But I imagine he can be a bit of a hoarder with food. He doesn't like throwing food out, even when it goes bad, because it feels like such a waste.. so Wei usually does this for him.

Wei has rich kid disease and grew up with a private chef. Can't cook for shit. Doesn't mean he won't try and make something for Bolin. Bo is touched by the gesture but wishes his boyfriend would stop tripping the fire alarm. He still eats the horrible, burnt foods Wei makes. Even though Wei keeps telling him to stop and he won't be upset if Bolin doesn't.

Eventually I feel like Wei and Bolin start cooking together. Which basically equates to Bolin doing most of the work while Wei stirs and chops stuff.

3. Are they into PDA? Who initiates most?

Oh absolutely! They're probably a very physically affectionate couple. Especially when in company of friend and people they trust because it's like the 1920s and folks weren't exactly nice to them queers at the time.

Bolin probably initiates most of the PDA. He's very affectionate regularly and probably even more so with a partner. He adores his boyfriend and wants everyone in a 5 mile radius to know.

Wei is probably more reserved with his affection. Probably doesn't initiate very outwardly romantic gestures but will often search out physical contact. He will, for example, just lean on Bolin or plop himself into his lap. Bo will linstinctively pet or cuddle or kiss him and that is what Wei is banking on.

4. Their favorite show to watch together?

Honestly, it pains me to say... Nuktuk. Definetly Nuktuk. Not only because it's like the only known tv show in universe.

I feel like it definetly started off with Bo being a goof filled wuth hot air over his show and really, really wanting to show Wei.

Wei ends up enjoying the silliness of it. And they absolutely cuddle and watch it to destress. Yes Wei also likes Bolin being half naked through it.

[And yes, before you ask, they have definetly brought, Nuktuk, hero of the South into the bedroom]

7. Who's clumsier?

It's hard to imagine either of them as clumsy in the conventional sense, due to their hobbies and skills. However, I think Bolin would better fit the term.

While he's very athletic and coordinated I can absolutely see him becoming overly animated and in his own world when excited. He gestures a lot while rambling and waves his hands in the air and forgets to look where he's going. He's definetly spilt many a tea while... spilling tea.

[gege-wondering-around]

Thought of a question!

What kind of story is your favourite love story?

Hi wonderful @dontcallpanic, so glad to see you around here💕🫂! (Tyler is me looking at your beautiful ask🩵)

I had to think a bit about this one cause 1 I wasn't sure if you meant a romance book or a trope 2 I had to think about what kind of love story I love with all my heart.

So, since I'm still not entirely sure if it’s about a book or a trope, I'll drop both!

The book

This, well, I actually don't know cause they always miss something, but I can still drops one or two titles I really enjoyed.

"Come Anima, Mai" by Rossana Soldano (It's an italian book so I don’t think there’s a english translation, but you basically got this two guys that basically go from enemies to lovers then war arrives and they are separated and they go through hell to get back together)

"the Green Creek saga" by TJ Klune (4 books + 3/4 novellas) (werewolves, soulmates, some kind of politics you can actually understand without understanding real politics, wonderful and heartbreaking bonds, amazing shows of loyalty, bravery and love, what can I say? if you want, go and read it, but check the tags/warning first)

but in general, to me, any book that touches topics like death, trauma (all of them), or anything that can touch your soul, to me that book can be considered about love. Let me give you an example (which I put in a fic I'm writing)

White Fang. (I haven't read this yet, but I read many quotes and stuff about it, so this is simply my personal opinion)

here's the summary from google: "It is about a wolf cub named White Fang and the obstacles he faces from being owned by vicious, abusive people like Beauty Smith, and then rescued and shown kindness by his new owner Weedon Scott, who White Fang comes to love."

Here's two quotes from the book, and based on them I tell you the story is about love. When you find the person that gets you and you can rely on them. When from abuse you find love in someone new and it softens you somehow. When you can be You only with them and they are the only one you consider worthy of seeing you without any filters.

The trope

Surely, it's a bit of a mix of things that I love reading all together (I can't have one without the other😅)

the soulmates trope (or the invisible string theory, or the red thread of destiny or however you know it, to me they are all similiar and beautiful, also each goes with a different culture or a more spefic genre/fandom - I'm counting both books and fanfics)

and a mixture of other stuff I don’t know how they are called in fanfics/books terms of plots and tropes

'to be loved is to be changed' trope (which again, could have many names but I call it like this, yet i can say, more generically speaking, that one trope where only A can help B and viceversa)

following names taken from trends, 'they abandoned you and I collected you like treasure'

So, yeah, basically this is my favorite mix for a good love story. I don't have favorite settings or ages (as in centuries).

But let me tell ya darling, something that I love with my whole heart and that I can actually explain (and that is my absolute top of the top favorite story for a love story) is this:

(It's gonna bo oddly specific probably)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, you have these two guys (I usually read gay guys (ships, cause I haven't read a book in a bit too long but let's count it still)) and they have this bond they aren't really aware of, so when one of them is hurt (physically or mentally) the other kinda shows up 'out of nowhere' and sticks around to help them in the most random, 'idk what the fuck im doing' kind of way. Like, maybe A will start read a book or say dumb stuff or fun facts to distract B and viceversa, but the person who's doing the comforting part doesn't really know WHY they feel like they CAN do something that no one else can, like they feel like they are different then others when it comes to the person who's hurt rn.

And as the story goes on and these two idiots takes care of each other in silly ways, they go deeper and deeper into one another, like they start to know their pasts and traumas or childhood dreams and stuff (cause of course, they never really talked before but now that they found comfort and safety in one another, they kinda stick around together just for the pleasure of it). Then something big happens, can be anything, but it happens to one of them (cause the story is about them of course) and the person who's not injured or generally safe freaks the fuck out cause the other person is like on the edge of dying or it's been kidnapped or whatever. So you get this whole man hunt/running against time to save that person and only their 'other half' can manage, somehow (maybe for sheer luck, like they remembered something about the other only he knew), to get to them and bring thme back home.

And so you have the whole 'taking care of badly injured idiot' arc where it's all silly jokes, forced rest and dark times (cause, let's say B, lives something traumatic and has PTSD or nightmares or anything of the kind), all the while, B doesn't want to see anyone in particular apart from A, whom they love but don't know how to tell them cause B is afraid A doesn't love him back (big fat lie). So, in this arc, you get the 'to be loved is to be changed' cause A managed to get B to enjoy people's company or whatever despite what happened.

But I'm not done.

After a while after whatever happened, A and B gets super close but they don't even notice it, it's like dictated by something or someone else, but their emotions also starts to show and so they end up confessing their love in an unexpected way. Maybe, they are eating pasta and out of no where A goes 'yeah you know I love you' or smt similiar, or they go on a trip and somehow one of them planned it all to be a love confession but gets kind of screwed but still manages to make the most out of it (of course after he kinda shows the other what the trip was really about and the other helps them realize it's not about the trip but the company.) and this is your kinda soulmates trope (cant go oddly specific or it wouldn't fit well)

Yet, this is the part where I fucking melt like an ice cream.

Their love isn't physical, I mean, it can be but it's not the top thing in their relationship. There's loyalty, being proud of (pass me the term) 'belonging' to the other, complicity, understanding each other without any words spoken. there's PLATONIC love between them and maybe it leads them to the physical part, but that's not how they define their love. because after all, they've been alone for ages and no one really payed them any mind, leaving them be on their own with worring too much, but then they started showing up in each other’s lives and they saw one another as something spectacular and extraordinary which deserves to be loved and treasured, and they know they'll be the only person to ever do justice to the task.

Like, they go through all sorts of hell together when no one else is there for either of them, so they found out about their damn feelings when death (or smt) is around the corner and finally understand they are meant to be!

+ when platonic love is shown (and how they realize they dont have to be alone anymore cause somebody founds them worthy of love), leaving physical intimacy on the 'second level' of their relationship.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

damn, that was long, hope it was good enough cause i might've missed something but I think it's gonna be good somehow anyway.

So, I hope I made justice to the ask and you liked my long ass post.

(I'm gonna drop the ask you made me plus another of my own in your ask box as soon as I find a good question for you, beautiful @dontcallpanic)

@dontcallpanic, wish you an amazing day tomorrow and wonderful night (it's around 10 pm here), you're a spectacular and shiny soul I love seeing pop up in my notifications. I always wish you the best of the best, may you always find a place where you feel lived and someone who loves you🫂💕

(if there are any typos or errors, I apologize, I haven't re-read this and thanks for coming this long)

[lordsanguiney]

Thoughts on the Fallout show.

There are spoilers, so beware.

.

.

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I want to talk about stuff I liked and stuff I didn't agree with. If you think it is 100% perfect, good for you. I enjoyed it, but there were some areas that could have been done better (my opinion).

Likes:

Cooper Howard - I enjoyed his character completely. Every scene with him was amazing. I could say he was my favorite part. His pre-war scenes were some of the best of the entire show.

Lucy - She was also fun. I loved her attitude, and she was written well. I really cared for her and felt bad for her.

Dogmeat - She's a dog. That's it.

Settings and design - The set design was amazing. The nods to game foods, drinks, and much more were all well done.

Music - Classic Fallout music. Stuff from the game. Great stuff and used appropriately.

Humor - The humor shown fit pretty well in Fallout terms. I laughed at most of the jokes told. Lucy's humor was so fun mixed with the wasteland.

Now, dislikes:

Brotherhood of Steel - Almost everything about them was not done well, in my opinion. Maximus was clearly not written all too well. He had tons of potential in the beginning and at some points, but it felt like the writers focused on Lucy and Cooper more. Dane was neat, and the armor looked decent. Anytime BoS showed up, I got bored. This also could be due to me never having a big interest in this fraction in the first place.

Plot and pacing - I can tell in some areas that the plot seemed rushed. Especially near the end. It was overall good but needed fixing in some areas.

NCR treatment - OK, someone on the writing team must've hated the NCR cause, wow. I know, I know, they aren't completely wiped out, but we kept seeing just a foul mistreatment of the faction. Shady Sands didn't need to destroy, in my opinion. It's almost completely unnecessary.

New Vegas - There's a lot of references to New Vegas, which was pretty neat. But the ending scene just made me confused. I guess it would make sense for New Vegas to be almost wiped out after the events of the game, but I don't know how they are going to handle it. I hope they don't fuck completely. This isn't much of a dislike, more like a concern.

There might be more, but for now,this is it.

Overall, I actually really liked it. About 7/10 in my book. I think it's completely ok to critique the things you like or enjoy. Not everything is perfect. Also, I am a random person on the internet. I'm no show expert. Just a fan. I can't wait to see what they're. going to do for the next season.

[starfire-s]

here's a list of the best, mediocre and worst kdramas i watched in 2021

back by popular demand (shoutout to the one person who asked me to do this) it's my 2021 best, mediocre and worst kdrama list! just letting you all know i did not watch many kdramas this year so this list is going to look a little sad and empty (in other words many dramas will be missing because i did not watch them) lmao but i had fun making this list so that's what actually matters! anyways as always all opinions are my own so just sit back and enjoy... or don't up to you really!

THE BEST KDRAMAS -

run on - they dropped this show early on in the year and i don't think any kdrama came close to how good this one actually was! run on set the bar too high too early and it was all kinda downhill from there in terms of good kdramas! the main leads and second leads in this show were such good characters and so unique! like honestly shoutout to ki seon gyeom (my beloved) for being the best male lead to ever grace my tv screen in my kdrama journey! just a fun and chaotic kdrama (with no love triangles!!!) like i am so glad this aired at the same time as true beauty because the serotonin true beauty took away from me run on would give back and for that i am grateful! 10/10

doom at your service - before i watched this kdrama i never understood the hype about seo in guk and then i watched this kdrama and i was a changed person forever! his acting as myul mang (kim saram) in this kdrama was sooo good i cannot praise him enough! also the chemistry between seo in guk and park bo young still makes me insane! i think we can all agree the "love me to the point you want to destroy the world for me" line ended us all on sight we were not ready but it's all about the romance, the line delivery, the chemistry, the chaoticness of that scene! also i still find it funny that the writers gave the love triangle to the second leads in this show and just let them do their own thing on the side which was fine i guess because the leads were just saying and doing romance and being chaotic 24/7 while the second leads were caught in the love triangle (which i ignored tbh even though the love triangle had some of my fave actors in it) lmao anyways myul mang x dong kyung 4ever and ever!! 9/10 (i know you all won't agree but this is my kdrama list and i had fun watching this so... lol)

navillera - song kang's range like wow can't believe he gave me this kdrama and nevertheless in the same year! i loved this little show about a grandpa and young ballet dancer just finding each other and growing together in their own way! the way chae rok gained a family through the grandpa and the grandpa was able to fulfil his lifelong dream of doing ballet it was so sweet! no show on this list made me cry like this one like truly every week i would be in tears! on another note song kang in ballet clothes wow what a look lmao 8/10

squid game - the urge to say "i watched kdramas before squid game" is always so strong also "i knew wi ha joon before squid game and when he played a baseball uncle in 18 again" lmao i think this show was very interesting i think it highlighted many of the things which are prevalent in today's world e.g. capitalism and rich people being vile and all... you know the fun stuff! overall a good show i am just very happy to see kdramas getting the hype but then i also want to be all THIS IS MY NICHE INTEREST!!!!! lol 7.5/10

so i married an anti fan - this show was actually a 2017 show which was released in 2021 but i had so much fun watching it!! it had the essence of why i started watching kdramas in the first place like i always love me a good stupid rom com and this show was exactly that! the villain or second lead(?) idk what to call him was so annoying i hated him the second female lead was also very annoying and i did not care about them at all! i also found it funny that the male lead was playing the character of a very famous kpop idol and we only really saw him singing one song over and over again which still makes me laugh like yes king give us nothing 😭 overall a 7/10 and yes i gave squid game a 7.5 and this show a 7... cry about it lol

THE MEDIOCRE KDRAMAS -

the king's affection - confession time i dropped this kdrama after episode 11! there was no particular reason why i dropped the show it's just i missed one episode while it was airing and then just never got the urge to catch up?? however, let me say this show was good i enjoyed seeing rowoon being a himbo! also loved that his character accepted his feelings towards "the king" and wasn't weird about it the way most kdramas do it like he truly was a bicon in this drama!!! park eun bin also played the role of "the prince/king" so well and i really loved seeing her on my screen on a weekly basis! and we all love a good height difference between the leads so 6/10

my roommate is a gumiho - this show started off very good and it was so funny especially with the whole "you have my marble!" and then half way through it kinda lost it's way... lol idk what happened maybe it was the red thread of fate storyline that pissed me off because then the second lead kept getting dragged into the mess with the leads against his own will which i did not enjoy watching at all?? also it annoyed me when woo yeo became a professor at the university lee dam was at... because why add the student-professor romance aspect when it wasn't needed?? so by this point i guess i was only watching for hye sun and jae jin because they were also very very cute! overall a cute show but could have been better if they executed the second half of the storyline better 5/10

THE WORST KDRAMAS -

sunbae don't put on that lipstick - so firstly everyone was baited with a noona romance and the show wasn't any of that! secondly what was the plot does anyone actually know because up until this day i do not understand what this show was about? maybe it was about the sunbae not putting on the lipstick... maybe it was about something else so i feel like this is something WE will never know (did y'all see what i did there lmao) rowoon looked very good every single episode like his office clothes made him look even taller ahsjsj but other than that i cannot say one good thing about this kdrama because i actually don't know what i watched during those 16 episodes i did watch a solid 3.5/10 because rowoon looked hot so congrats to rowoon!

true beauty - lets all take a moment and give a shoutout to hwang in yeop (thank you for your service and for giving me sls this year as well king 🤡) okay now that we're all done appreciating hwang in yeop lets get to the reviewing part! i mean i didn't go into this show thinking it was going to be groundbreaking or anything like that but it was actually so stupid?? suho (eunwoo deserved better) stans close your eyes... but he was such a one dimensional male lead like he was rude to ju kyung for no reason and literally bullied her when he found out her "secret" and then after they started dating he left to america which understandable his father was sick but then he broke up with ju kyung via a phone call then showed up 3 years later acting like nothing had happened and then went ahead and stalked ju kyung??? and the writers actually want me to believe that seo jun just hung around ju kyung for 3 years and didn't confess and only confessed when suho came back... stupid!!! if i could use one word to describe this show it would be stupid because that's what it was!!! (this show also said no ❤️ to female friendships) however there were some parts i liked about this show and that was when suho and seo jun became friends again after clearing their misunderstandings (after that dramatic car accident scene which still makes me laugh) but other than that i have nothing good to say so i will stop 3/10 because one point each for hwang in yeop, moon ga young and cha eunwoo!!

nevertheless - so before i watched the kdrama i read the webtoon (which i paid $10 to read rip to that money i will never get back you are truly missed) but somehow the kdrama was worse than the webtoon which is so funny to me like how do you make something terrible even more terrible??? i just think everything about this show was not good... as i said before i know han so hee and song kang can act but throughout this show it's like they forgot everything about acting? also yes we all knew park "do you want to see my butterflies" jae eon was a red flag and we all could clearly see it but nabi really said "red is my favourite colour hehe" and chose jae eon over potato boy (i was only really watching for him in the end) like she is so dumb? can't believe i sat down and watched this show until the end however, i did not watch the last episode because i saw spoilers before that so i just went on netflix gave the show a thumbs down and removed it from my currently watching list! 0/10 for wasting my precious time which i did not have time to waste during my busy year (i mean its kinda on me for wanting to see f*ckboy song kang but ashdjd i am a simple woman really i will learn from my mistakes for next time)

SOME HONOURABLE MENTIONS BECAUSE MY MUTUALS SAID THESE WERE GOOD KDRAMAS BUT I DID NOT WATCH THEM (my mutuals are mostly never wrong so y'all can trust them) -

vincenzo, beyond evil, the devil judge, happiness, law school, my name, sell your haunted house, and the witch's diner (maybe one day i will watch these shows too!)

anyways thank you for reading! i got clowned a lot this year because every show i decided to watch mostly led to disappointing me! so here's to hoping i watch more kdramas next year and get clowned a lot less! but it's alright we're always in this together… i'm looking forward to 2022 and all the kdramas we will be watching again next year! take care! 🥰

[bopinion]

2020 / 53

Aperçu of the Week:

I can resist everything except Temptation (Oscar Wilde).

Bad News of the Week:

A Brexit deal has been reached in the final meters. While British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is celebrating the agreement as the "rebirth of a nation," it is being seen in Brussels and in the capitals of the EU countries for what it is: damage limitation. I can't recall such dishonesty in a democratic country to convince the electorate of an absurd plan. But why, really?

The only reason I can think of is a symbolic one: the islanders' elite feel closer to the fading memory of their former empire when they can wallow in supposed sovereignty -"Take back control!". Yet in an ever-shrinking world, any interdependence, especially economic, is simply the de facto status quo. And it is completely irrelevant whether the British crown or the European stars are depicted on British passports.

The United Kingdom got a small foretaste of an increasingly likely no-deal Brexit in the last days before Christmas, when France closed its borders because of a supposedly even more dangerous mutation of the coronavirus. And the British public registered in amazement that within days there could be empty shelves in supermarkets and pharmacies. As a reminder, the EU is and will remain the UK's most important trading partner; the opposite is not true. For comparison: about 50% of all UK imports come from the EU, the reverse is just over 6%. That's less than trade with Switzerland - which has one-eighth the population.

So expensive watches, gold, chocolate and cheese count more for the EU of 27 nations than ... humm ... well, than what, actually? Scotch whisky for sure, souvenirs of the Royal Family maybe.... I had to do some research. Gas turbines are number 5 on the British export hit list. Pharmaceutical products on 4, crude oil on 3, refined oil on 2. And on 1 cars and car parts. A closer look is worthwhile: Mini and Rolls-Royce belong to the German BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover to the Indian Tata holding. Bentley belongs to the German Volkswagen Group, leaving only Aston Martin in British hands. The large volume however is made up of Japanese manufacturers who have settled in the UK as a stepping stone to the EU - 80% of production is exported. That will change.

Likewise, the status of London City as a financial center will change, currently number one in the world ahead of New York City. On the one hand, it is hard to imagine that the EU financial industry will remain loyal to a "foreign" location. On the other hand, the portal function to the EU market also scored points here worldwide and that will be over on 01.01.2021.

Deal or no deal: nothing will ever be the same again. Completely unnecessarily, additional costs and bureaucracy will be created on both sides of the English Channel. Since the devil is always in the details, after the negotiations is before the negotiations - many details on the more than 1,200 pages of the agreement still need to be clarified, and disputes are bound to arise. But the point of no return has been reached. With the UK, the EU is losing an important player in the team. However, with Europe, the UK loses its coach, goalkeeper and top scorer at the same time. Good luck with that. Without sarcasm. Everyone will lose. Only to different degrees.

Good News of the Week:

After seven years of negotiations, China and the EU have signaled agreement in principle on the so-called "investment protection program". This regulates mutual access to each other's markets. China and the EU, especially Germany, have never needed an agreement to trade with each other. China has always been Europe's "extended workbench" with an endless, low-cost workforce. And Europe has always been the supplier of high-quality machines and tools for China's production facilities.

Direct market access, on the other hand, has long been problematic. For example, European companies had to enter into a joint venture with a Chinese company if they wanted to produce in China themselves - whether for the Chinese market or for export. This constellation often resulted in an unintentional transfer of knowledge in order to avoid the term "theft of intellectual property". This constraint is now to be eliminated. Another important aspect is the stipulation of fair competitive conditions so that, for example, no competitor gains an advantage through subsidies.

Even more importantly, the agreement provides that China must adhere to international sustainability standards. These include environmental protection and the use of resources on the one hand, and the social sphere, i.e. the working conditions of Chinese employees, on the other. China has a lot of catching up to do in both areas. Poisoned rivers and polluted air are still the norm today, but they should now become a thing of the past. And forced labor, child labor, excessive working hours without vacation entitlement and precarious working conditions in the factories are to disappear.

In contrast to the Brexit deal described above, this one shows the right way forward: a sensible economic agreement should ensure that both partners benefit without workers or the environment falling behind. That the EU is serious about this was shown this year by the suspension of negotiations with the South American Mercosur states. If these demands are upheld, one can really speak of a win-win-win-win situation.

Personal happy Moment of the Week:

On Wednesday I got an email from Tumblr informing me of the 1 year birthday of "Bopinion". In this one year I have published 132 posts of "Bo's opinion on what matters to me". All with effort and ulterior motive, so handmade and thoughtful. And I've enjoyed sorting and formulating my thoughts in this way. And more than once, my first follower, my 17-year-old daughter, sought discussion with me. Or pointed out a mistake to me. Linguistically - her English is generation-typically better than mine -, not content-wise - because I check all facts carefully and personal opinion is subjective and difficult to evaluate anyway.

For that I would like to thank her and everyone else who took the time to read my blog. Stay faithful to me in 2021, I will certainly have something to share again - even if I wish us all that this new year will be calmer and more relaxed than the old one, which will undoubtedly fill a special chapter in the history books. All the best & Stay safe!