Armitage Weekly Round-up 2016/25

/ June 25, 2016

[Warning. Extremely rare political rant preceding the round-up. I am not even apologising. It has to be said.]

I knew that today was going to be sad. Today is the second anniversary of my father’s death, a loss that I still feel acutely every single day. And another kind of pain now stands alongside that sorrow. Because today is day 1 of the new reality. Ok, Britain has not exited the EU yet. But this is a day after the decision to leave the Union has been officially confirmed. I spent all of yesterday in a mixture of dazed and hyperalert. For starters, I could not believe what had happened. The idea that a country with all the benefits of education, prosperity and a colonial, imperialist history should seriously take such a step, had never occurred to me. I am seriously split with my leftie friends – as a national from the (geographical) heart of Europe, European unity to me has always stood for peace and stability. Even though I was born long after the last war, war was always very present in my youth (you only have to look around in any big German city, and you can see the consequences of war; I had grandparents who lived through the war) – and every step taken closer to European integration to me meant that peace in Europe was guaranteed. Sure, my opinion on Europe was always idealist. And there is no doubt that there is much wrong with the bureaucracy and aloofness of the European institutions. But I literally cried yesterday when I heard that one of the cornerstones of the EU had crumbled to dust. My heart is breaking for the UK. I am sorry for a country that is so deeply divided, and for the young people of Britain who did not vote for this outcome. – I am very afraid of the future, particularly for my children, even though they are neither British, nor do they live in Britain. I may have 40 years left – but they have 70+ years to live as Europeans, with the consequences forced upon them mainly by elderly voters who have reaped the rewards of European integration but will not share the burden of the referendum for as long… If there is any way to apply the emergency brake, now is the time to yank it!

Right – off the soapbox, Guylty. This is a place of fun and distraction. If you feel the need for the latter, here are a few links. I apologise for the short list – I found it hard to concentrate on anything other than the impending Brexit yesterday.

roundup header v3

  1. Let’s get this out of the way first: For a man in trade, the political developments of yesterday are worrying. By redroselady
  2. Just because it is handy to have: The latest 3 Armitage images in one post, by kimanne723
  3. Queenoferebor1204’s Saucy Saturday instalment… *yum* not sure why I am thinking of raspberries and cream right now
  4. Guys-texts-from-last-night rings pretty true
  5. Aw. Bilbo always to Thorin’s defense. A piece of fan-art by shockabsorbers
  6. And here are Bilbo and Thorin with their dogs. By bianjula
  7. Interesting interpretation re. Richard’s professed preference for sonnet 144 by Shakespeare. By rekallthirteen
  8. I loved this little glance in the short interview for ‘Wild’. Thanks to anne-ofgreengables
  9. Francis and the Great Dragon say thank you – says sinnaminie
  10. This manip by queenoferebor1204 had me laugh out loud. Jeez, I like rockstars but eh… no… not like that
  11. Is that so??? What do you think about this richardarmitage-confidential?
  12. I may have had a little role in the making of this particular plushie by sinnaminie… And I am still laughing about it

May the future turn out better than it looks today!

Guylty ❤

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35 thoughts on “Armitage Weekly Round-up 2016/25”

    • Thanks Violet.
      As regards #11 – I always think that the definitive Standring fanfic has already been written, the fabulous “In the Bleak Midwinter”. But yeah, in comparison to other characters, there is not Standring around.

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  5. Aww. Hugs for you S. It’s been almost 4 years for me and the pain hasn’t gotten any better. I suspect it won’t for a very long time.
    I can’t stop laughing at “My teeth are so white” Richie Plushie. He’s my new pin cushion ;D

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  6. Loss of a loved one waxes and wanes, but never goes away. Every time I go home to visit my parents and I watch how much slower they move than they did the time I visited before, it’s brought home to me. Hugs.

    I was watching an argument play out on my dash over Brexit and someone’s spellcheck ‘autocorrected ‘ (or maybe it was simply a case of too fast fingers) an insult spewed by one of the combatants. ‘Ducking Twit.’ I do believe I know what Genevieve is going to call Guy the next time she’s mad at him. *nodnod*

    And no, I haven’t really weighed on on Brexit. I have friends on both sides of it and I’m not that well-versed on the subject of the EU. That said, I didn’t say I DON”T have an opinion. I do. Just right now, I’m waiting for the dust to settle, I don’t think Great Britain will step back in time or revert to 3rd World Status.

    Now, that all said, Thank you for the weekly roundup. I see I need to add a little to my plushie collection.

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    • Cherish the time you have with your parents, Zee. That’s all I can say!
      Hehe, yeah, ducking twit is almost too cute an expression.
      The Brexit opinion was split in my house, too. And yet, the hubster (who was in favour of Leave) is not really overjoyed, either, because the Leave campaign is toxic in its anti-immigrant, nationalist tone. The great thing is that we have had lots of interesting discussions since yesterday. And yes, the whole thing needs to settle a bit. After the despair and devastation of yesterday, I feel a little calmer about the situation now. But I do think it is a regression to nation-state, insular thinking, and the signal it sends out to other sceptics is just bad.

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      • Remember, I live in a nation of Nation-States. Sorta. At least it seems that way. We don’t agree most of the time (I’m still talking about the States) but when the hammer falls, we’ve got each others backs and that’s basically the entire set up of the entire thing. I’m wondering what Suitor thinks. Next time he and I get together (week after next) we might discuss it.

        Then again, we might (I hope) be too busy celebrating something else so we might not be doing a whole lot of talking, >;-)

        I do cherish that time. I have to do it in small increments because my mom can get a bit… she’s very passive-aggressive and it can grate.

        I DID do a lot of writing when I was home last. Hoping to get Dwalin’s little adventure done in due time. I need to find out when the due date is. Sometime next month. HOpefully NOT the 1st.

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        • Not quite sure whether the United States can really be compared to the EU. The EU strikes me as far more heterogenous than the US; plus has not as many years of experience behind it as the US does.
          Great to hear that the Dwalin story is nearing completion. Very much looking forward to it. What is the “due date” – NaNoWriMo or something like that?

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  7. Danke für die schöne, aufmunternde Zusammenstellung in diesen aufwühlenden Zeiten… (Wenn du denkst, dass wir uns gut genug kennen, dann fühl dich herzlich umarmt… *höflichfragendundaufmunterndguck*)
    Was ist das für eine Petition, die RA da erwähnt? Darf man hoffen oder kommt jetzt alles zu spät?

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    • Bitte gerne – ein bisschen Ablenkung muss sein. Und natürlich nehme ich gerne eine Umarmung entgegen 🤗
      Die Petition soll das Referendumsrecht ändern. Kommt allerdings etwas zu spät. Obwohl wiederum immer wieder erwähnt werden muss, dass das Referendum nicht bindend ist. Die Regierung *muss* das Ergebnis nicht als Weisung annehmen. Theoretisch kann es auch ignoriert werden. Ist allerdings politisch schwierig, da damit irgendwie die Wirksamkeit von zukünftigen Referenda auch ausgehebelt wird.

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      • Na ja, ob das nun wieder klug wäre es einfach zu ignorieren?
        Manchmal ist die Demokratie äußerst unbequem und man muss aushalten, dass die Mehrheitsmeinung nicht der eigenen entspricht. Andererseits frage ich mich schon, ob ein Thema wie dieses wirklich für ein Referendum geeignet ist, besonders dann, wenn im Vorfeld so ein ungeeigneter Wahlkampf geführt wird. Die anderen europäischen Regierungen sollten sich das gut ansehen.

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        • Absolut richtig. Bei jeder anderen Volksabstimmung würde ich das auch hinnehmen. Hier, bei der Verquickung mit Nationalismus und Rassismus, fällt mir das eindeutig schwerer.
          Ich denke auch, dass das ganze Debakel ein interessantes Lehrstück für ganz Europa ist, nicht nur für GB und die EU.

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  9. ((((Guylty))))). There’s nothing I can say that you don’t know. Grief just seems to me sometimes like this journey that goes on and on. I hope you can take time to cuddle yourself a little.

    re: Thornton, I’m not sure what he would have said. The mill owners on the whole were free traders, i.e., very anti-tariff (cf. 1832 repeal of the Corn Laws, which was heavily pushed precisely by Thornton’s social segment) but they were also very anti-government regulation (which is sort of the label the EU gets, fairly or unfairly).

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    • Thank you, S – it is an endless journey, but also one that you kind of get used to. I am looking after myself, and am coming to terms with it.
      I suspect Thornton would’ve been on the Remain side, despite a resistance to government regulation.

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  10. Ohh didn’t realise. Big big hug about your dad! Hope you had some nica memories of times together that you could indulge in and think of him by. And thanks for still taking the time for some really nice RA goodies. You know what with Thornton not being my favourites i wish he were handy to talk things through with somehow i think he would talk sense and put things in perspective I’d feel safe if here were around to take things in hand… .

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    • Thanks Hari 🙂 I have a photo of my dad close by to my work space, so whenever I look up, he is there. I miss talking to him, and when I remember that I will never ever receive a hug from him again, I feel immensely sad. But I have wonderful memories of him, and they do console me when I tell myself that I am lucky to have such.
      What a good point. Yes, Thornton would be the man to put some sense into the debate. I’d absolutely listen to his arguments, although he doesn’t get carte blanche from me despite his smouldering good looks particularly with loosened cravat…

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  11. EIn Tag zu spät, aber fühl Dich trotzdem mal ganz dolle umarmt!!!!
    Re Brexit: Ich hatte es befürchtet und bin gerade froh, daß es in Deutschland keine Volksabstimmungen gibt, bei uns würde das nämlich vermutlich ähnlich ablaufen 😦

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  12. My heart goes out to you Guylty, if it is not inappropriate to say, my hubs always tells me, when I’m inconsolable, is this; ‘you loved him and he knew it.’ He says all the while he is grief stricken at the same time.

    As I type this, another RA tweets lands re: Bexit

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  13. Oh and while thinking back to the Mr. Thornton insight, it might all be well and good to have his insight, but I would never benefit from that wisdom. Why? Because I would see him and my inability to hear anything he said would go in one ear and out my mother.

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  14. Mensch, schon 2 Jahre rum. Unfassbar! Aber stimmt, damals war WM. Und ein in jeder Hinsicht bemerkenswertes Jahr mit emotionalen Ausschlägen in Richtung Hoch UND Tief.
    Es ist alles schon gesagt. Sei mir (mit leichter Vetzögerung) gedrückt ❤

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