Had I as many souls as there be stars

Nigel Farage is the leader of Reform UK, a far right party who are currently in the process of a serious bid to become the UK government. they are just straight up evil.

Count Binface is an intergalactic space warrior with a bin on his head. he likes to run as a novelty candidate in general and mayoral elections. a big thing he likes to do is run as a candidate against the incumbent prime minister:

(Also pictured: Boris Johnson, Elmo)

Anyway, in brief:

Nigel Farage is currently in the midst of a big scandal about his finances

He has decided to deal with this by 1) making a show of nobly resigning from parliament and then 2) immediately running in the resulting by-election

He has stated that he is letting 'the people' judge his actions and implied that if he wins that will prove that he has been exonerated in the court of public opinion

His goal was presumably to get a big resounding win over the other parties, proving that The People still love him.

the other parties have thus far decided that this is a 'vanity election' and, well, there is one very easy way to ensure that he will not beat any of them, and that is simply not to play.

and as a result the only person who has so far confirmed they are running against him is Count Binface. no matter the outcome this makes Nigel Farage look like, u know, a fucking clown.

Armitage Hux

If Kylo and Hux met closer to Kylos fall (since we know Snoke was in contact with Brendol before Kylo destroyed the Jedi temple), do you think it would change their relationship to be more or less antagonistic?

Howdy, @ominoose! Much to chew on, here.

Certain aspects of the Kylo Ren/Armitage Hux dynamic were always going to generate conflict—their differing perspectives on the Force, for one—but the timing of their introduction (circa 29 ABY) almost certainly adds to the animosity, and I’m convinced Snoke engineers it this way. Consider, if you will, the following:

Kylo and Hux don't meet until Kylo has taken command of, and subsequently abandoned, the Knights of Ren. Throughout The Rise of Kylo Ren, Ben Solo is only playing at Darkness: in one notable incident during his time with the KOR, Ben urges the original Ren to release a group of captives and is horrified when they're slaughtered instead; in another, he seriously considers running away from both the KOR and Snoke because a friend and fellow (former) Padawan, Tai, earnestly asks it of him. Ben only sheds his former self after displacing the original Ren, which he does in large part because he believes all other paths have been closed to him as a result of Tai’s murder. By the time the Knights answer Tava Ren’s questions about their former leader in Legacy of Vader, Kylo has established himself in their memory as an unstable, remorseless killer devoted to the Shadow. Kylo Ren spends his year-ish as Master of the Ren creating his new self, and Snoke comes to retrieve him at the end of that period because he believes his apprentice has steeped long enough in Darkness to no longer be tempted by compassion to follow any will but Snoke’s own. (Or so he thinks.) Kylo joins the First Order as a man assured of his purpose and fresh off the high of command; by assigning Kylo to the Finalizer, Snoke traps Kylo with the officer whose self-assurance and Force-skepticism will trigger his insecurities most.

Kylo and Armitage meet right around the time of Brendol’s Hux’s murder. It’s unclear whether they meet before or after the deed is done—at least, I can’t recall canon making pronouncements in either direction—but the proximity is the most important thing. After suffering for years under his father, Armitage eliminates Brendol and takes his “rightful” place at Snoke’s right hand, only to be blindsided by the knowledge that the Supreme Leader has an apprentice with whom he’s expected to share command. Armitage knows exactly what kind of man Snoke is, because he’s survived tyrants before, but this newcomer is both fiercely, fearfully devoted to and frustratingly indulged by their shared master, and he has to tread carefully, again. Armitage claws his way to the top, or as close to it as he can get without being named Supreme Leader, by killing his father; by assigning his apprentice to the Finalizer, Snoke thrusts Armitage back into a situation where he’s competing for an authority figure’s approval.

If they had met earlier, when Kylo was still unsure of himself and Hux was still under his father’s thumb, who’s to say what might have happened? Hux might have looked at Kylo and seen a potential ally in his scheme to be rid of his abuser—or a wide-eyed dupe whose loneliness and longing for connection could be exploited for selfish ends. Kylo might have looked at Hux and seen a man so unshakable in his convictions as to be worthy of admiration—or a ruthless pragmatist whose willingness to let the ends justify the means would drive him back to the Light. Both of them might have recognized in each other the knowledge of how it feels to be a tool in the hands (and at the mercy) of powerful men, and found strength in that shared experience. In any case, Snoke is wary enough of a genuine partnership between them that he makes a point of feeding their animosity.

Whether or not Kylo and Hux see Snoke’s manipulation for what it is comes down to the viewer. I personally think Kylo can’t see it, because he’s been so thoroughly groomed to believe his grand Force-destiny renders everyone “lesser” irrelevant that the thought of Snoke considering Hux a threat in any scenario is laughable to him, whereas Hux can see it, because Snoke’s strategy of pitting him against Kylo to keep him “in his place” mirrors Brendol’s history of pitting him against Cardinal. (This is, in my view, a main source of Kylo and Hux’s conflict in Legacy of Vader. Armitage is trying to build a working relationship with Kylo based on something other than one-upmanship and mutual disdain, meanwhile Kylo is so rattled by the events of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi that he’s having a spiritual and mental health crisis, complete with a Dark side Force-pilgrimage to Fortress Vader.)

"People back then always married young it's natural!!!" Every single 1800s guide I've ever met casually mentions that, of course, you really shouldn't get married before you're at least 20, and waiting until 25 is usually better.

Or, like. Okay here's a long segment:

Just firmly going "it is crazy sexist to blame The Wife for overspending when thirty seconds of asking questions will immediately establish that her husband was outright lying to her about how much money they had. Talk to your wife like a normal person."

Or--okay, here. A section on being honest and not writing love letters in secret, because that's usually a good sign that there's something untoward going on....

....except that he then immediately acknowledges that sometimes, the reason you're hiding this from your parents is that your parents suck. That there are parents who frankly have not earned the right to approve or disapprove of your partner.

"Men and women being friends with each other is literally normal. Don't be a controlling freak."

"If you have to abuse a child to keep order in your classroom then you're a bad teacher."