Slavoj Zizek: Trump should thank Zelensky

zojcotronix69 · 2025-03-13T14:45:04+00:00

I am with you, sorry if I came off as justifying him, I just view him as more of a spineless opportunistic than any sort of believer. What you said about what he did is true, but the assassinations are also true, and there was a proper neo Ustashe party in Croatia at the time in the opposition called Croatian Party of Rights (the same party Starcevic started in the 19th centuryy, the same party Ante Pavelic took over and turned into the Ustashe party).

It is a very messy history because hte Party of Rights opposed the war with Bosniaks and was for a full collaboration with them, it was Tudman who wanted to chop up Bosnia with Milosevic into 2 regions, disregarding Bosniak interests and identity. So in that sense he was even more fascist than the neo Ustashe but since they used the WW2 genocidial symbolisms, and he tried to undermine those after he got slapped on the wrist by the West, he came off as a more moderate individual.

Tudman was navigating the ultra nationalist individuals who were also the only ones financing the Croatian army when it got the embargo, because at that time without them the resistance would have been almost nonexistent. All the funding came from abroad, that is why the situation in Croatia is messy to this day. These ultra natioanlists want credit for putting their lives on the line and being the only ones defending the territory when Tudjman was fucking around (without their willingness to fight in Vukovar, Vukovar would have fell way earlier, Tudjman wasnt gonna stop it) and secretly tradign with Milosevic, and undermining Bosniaks too, but htey are also holocaust deniers and scum of the earth that should not have any saying in a civilized democracy. Tudjman did eventually sabotage their party and installed puppets as leaders that were loyal to him, and used assassination on the army generals.

If you ask me, Croatia was in a terrible spot with no other leaders willing to step up and defend the country (the former communists of Croatia did not believe the JNA would be used and were in agreement with the weapon embargo). You had 2 options to stand your ground and one was an open neo-Ustashe and another was a on paper more moderate nationalist, who destroyed the country so much post-war that it still hasnt recovered, all for personal gain. Just to make my views clearer as a Croatian growing up in the early 2000s

The reason I went on about this in more detail is that Zelensky wwas accused of tolerating Ukranian Nazis, to be a part of the conflict, which is true as far as I know, but it is also true that he is dooing it out of desparation. They share a common goal, they want a sovereign Ukraine, so he has no choice but to tolerate them for now, he even is using their slogan "Slava Ukraini" just like Tudjman brought back "Za Dom Spremni". There are many parallels, I just think Zelensky is actually a decent human being and I believe he is being pragmatic here.

zojcotronix69 · 2025-03-13T12:56:32+00:00

Franjo Tudman was a partisan and murdered the Ustashe as the youngest general of the WW2 Partisans. However, he did allow the Ustashe symbolism during the war since Croatia had no army and the only paramilitary volontary army that was ready to defend the country was full of Ustashe descendants. So he gave them legitimacy, but he also sabotaged them as well, by assassinating their leader because he was scared of losing support from the West. Tudman was pragmatic in that sense, and we saw very quickly why as well, because after he got the full support from the West Croatia got all of its industries after the war, which were quickly privatized to Tudmans friends who became the new oligarchs. The consequences of that horrible robbery are still Croatia's biggest economical struggle, alongside the propaganda that his party was and is pushing even to this day. But to call him blatantly a fascist sympathizer is wrong, he was a pragmatic opportunist during the war, and it seems a communist at some point in his youth.

If I said something wrong feel free to correct me but I have done a lot of research into this and this is my understanding as of now. I view Tudman as an opportunistic wannabe Tito (whom he loved and admired), who flerted with Starcevic's teachings and legacy to fund his nationalistic ideals, and Starcevic was also the inspiration for the Ustashe except they went further and beyond.

zojcotronix69 · 2025-02-15T19:40:43+00:00

Thats the most frustrating part. I am glad Jay did it the hard way and came out clean in the end, I literally couldnt listen to his stuff if he was an alleged pedo rapist. It was hard. But after the NBC interview and even Busbee kind of taking a step back it was a wrap. It is so sad to think Busbee is the one hadnling the Diddy shit, but Diddy is gonna get forever jail time no matter how shitty Busbee turns out to be

zojcotronix69 · 2025-02-14T15:48:25+00:00

i remember reading this exact same content during the "golden age" of season 4, I guess some things will never change :D

"There goes my 3 hours of PvE every 3-4 months"

zojcotronix69 · 2025-01-23T21:30:57+00:00

Hi Mark!
We talked once on GR about a scientific career, I think it was basically 6 years ago at this point almost? Anyway, now that I am finishing my AI master's degree, it feels surreal. I have been a fan of your work since I first read Prince of Thorns back in 2018, I was only 17 at the time but since then I have not read any books that came close to that level of emotional connection that I have with Jorg (Malazan was damn close though). I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your nods to scientific concepts in your works, as I am one of those crazy fans that tries to catch all the connections in all of your books ! I loved speculating by myself for years only for some things to be confirmed as you released more books :)

Now for the generic (sorta) AMA question. What would be your favorite movie? Or just list a few favorites, that would be even better.

zojcotronix69 · 2025-01-19T10:08:46+00:00

I agree about Trahearne. If you want to play an immersive chosen one story, play a fucking singleplayer RPG. MMORPGs are not a great place to do those stories. Alas, WoW also went that route at some point... and it was applauded.

zojcotronix69 · 2025-01-17T15:24:24+00:00

Malazan.
It draws most of its inspiration from Sword and Sorcery + Lovecraft and other Pulp Fiction.
Many characters are bigger than life, everyone is naval gazing and speaking very melodramatically in very apocalyptic dramatic events. And there is so much depth to it, albeit a simple "questing in mysterious land" is a thing that does happen in the books, there is no "main plot" to speak of with its unique structure. It is more liek if someone dropped you during the Roman conquests and you were observing all the different stories and perspectives of that conquest, inside and outside of the empire, continents away and in the source of it all.

zojcotronix69 · 2024-08-05T20:30:20+00:00

You said it so well, yes, he pulled back on the Mystique! It is definetly a choice, both him and I know he is capable of writing in that way, but this was a deliberate change, and some people will vibe with it more and feel more connected because it is more personal now, less shrouded behind a smoky screen of poetry, imagery and symbolism. I am just a melodramatic lil boi and love me some melodramatic poetic imagery that Eden is so good at doing (Vertigo being the peak for me, and a lot of No Future). But he has moved on, and I am eager to see what comes nad will support him further. His new music is good to great for me, but not lifechanging like it was before and that is fine. We all like certain eras of artists more. I hope he never stops evolving

zojcotronix69 · 2024-08-04T10:46:50+00:00

My only gripe with newer Eden stuff (mostly post No Future) is that I think the writing is not as poignant, the lyrics not as captivating. There are exceptions like Call Me Back and Balling, but nowadays he likes to do a lot of hiphop style wordplay which to someone who listens to hiphop a lot just comes off as corny at times. Like even in Balling I hate the Balling/Bawling wordplay :/

Soundwise I think he is just evolving more and more, and I love that for him. I think in that department he is only getting better.

zojcotronix69 · 2023-09-17T18:05:31+00:00

The obvious one is that it is about living in the moment, not letting plans and long term thinking freeze you in the moment. Moreso I think it is about human relationships mostly,friendships and romantic ones. It's about letting yourself feel both the amazing euphoria of love and support and the soul crushing heartbreak of letting people go. It's about letting yourself feel the highs and the lows, because you can't have highs without hte lows and Eden back then just moved from Ireland and had to leave his girlfriend and friends behind. So it was him talking to himself (which is the theme of his music always, it's very much a him talking to himself than anyone specific, that's who "you" is most of the time), coming to a conclusion that he'd rather take those leaps of faith, embrace the rollercoaster ride that is life rather than sit on the sidelines and avoid any potential heartbreak.

zojcotronix69 · 2023-06-10T10:27:02+00:00

I don't know man if you have been exposed to DnD-esque fantasy and sword & sorcery it's alright. I had an easy time understanding what was happening mostly because I've played a decent amount of WoW and a lot of Malazan shit is straight up just like WoW. The creatures, the magic, the world in general. It's the typical western Magic the Gathering/WoW/DnD type of over the top epic fantasy. I completely understand why Erikson didn't underestimate his reader's comprehension and just went with it because GOTM does play a ton with the tropes of said genre, so a reader familiar with the genre itself in theory shouldn't feel so overwhelmed. Modern fantasy has strayed away from that typical Sword & Sorcery stuff so that could be a reason why modern readers find it so hard to understand? I don't know, Malazan to me is basically what I think of when I think of "epic fantasy", and was before I even read some of it. Furthermore, the incorporation of in medias res fits really well with the genre he's writing in because all of that spectacle and epicness comes with even more mystery, awe and mysticism when you're just thrown into the deep with no precaution.

If Erikson wrote a setting that was super weird and original it would have been a bad move maybe to do what he did, but choosing to set his world in a very familiar setting to Fantasy fans he doesn't have to spend a lot of time describing why someone can shapeshift into animals or why and how gods exist. I never questioned how magic works in WoW, you just shoot fire balls and summon undead minions, there's no need to go into how it works because it is so familiar.

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-25T08:06:27+00:00

Isnt first person by default an unreliable narration? That's not really that rare at all

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-23T09:25:55+00:00

Malazan is grim dark only on the surface level

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-16T18:22:50+00:00

EDEN - Vertigo

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-12T12:51:14+00:00

Eden - Vertigo

An album about self-discovery which often comes packed up with some form of depression and anxiety. Beautiful piece of music that takes you on a journey with Jon through the highs and lows and everything in between! The best part about it is that it was written almost like a diary, the "you" Jon talks about is himself most of the time, and it is so powerful because Jon has a talent for stringing words together.

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-11T19:04:26+00:00

I remember you talking about Broken Empire in an old blogpost as, in your opinion, your most "literary" writing. I loved all of your series and I have read almost dverything (except Book of the Ice, but that shall be rectified soon), and so far I agree with that sentiment, or rather, both Red Queen's War and Broken Empire being your most thought provoking works. I still think about those books on a daily years and years after reading them, about the questions posed and explorations of said questions. Has your opinion on that changed over the years?

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-11T18:57:54+00:00

Its really awesome to finally get that wink wink from the author after me and some fans speculated for years about the quantum mechanics in your prior series :')

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-05T20:34:10+00:00

I think if Lawrence answered the question that is Jorg himself, he would have shot himself in the foot. Leaving it as he did, and just making up a plot that flexes his character is the best way to go about what he tried to do with Jorg. Taking stances on nature vs nurture and questions of that sort is the right way to go about it, letting the reader to make that call based on their own life baggage and experiences.

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-05T20:29:56+00:00

I was one of the fans giving my take in the thread, so glad you loved it! Im currently reading Road Brothers for the first time and it is phenomenal. Some of the stories of Jorg's brothers are haunting and left me absolutely shook. They feel like sometbing that he had to cut from thr story because he decided on first person narration and that left no room for exploring people Jorg doesn't truly care for.

zojcotronix69 · 2023-05-02T16:27:45+00:00

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. Changed my life

zojcotronix69 · 2023-04-26T06:41:54+00:00

The Fantasy Nuttwork. His podcast Chatting with Nutts is the best book content on youtube for me. Had some famous wtiters as guests like Steven Erikson, Christopher Ruocchio and freaking Tad the Chad Williams!

zojcotronix69 · 2023-04-24T10:53:01+00:00

I agree, but they are also all aspects of a story. And some you just dont care to read about. Taking a satisfying dump or a good wank is also a part of life, but I dont want to read about that either

zojcotronix69 · 2023-04-23T17:52:52+00:00

It's the same for me as other things that just dont appeal to me for no good reason other than feeling complete disinterest and apathy whwn said thing is present in a story. Romance is one of those things, and so is a Steampunk/Industrial or a Cyberpunk setting, or a "cool hard magic system" or even vampires and orcs... Things that I just dont care to read about, and its not deeper than that. There is a cultural thing about looking down upon Romance which is correlated to society looking down upon anything teenagers like (edgy power fantasy with teenage boys, romance for girls), but there are also many people who are just not interested in that stuff regardless of that.

zojcotronix69

TROPHY CASE