#and dismiss all the eu out of hand

[neotula]

just constantly internally screaming about the wildest star wars takes from people who clearly. clearly just watched the base movies. it's fine. i'm fine. youre fine.

[k9iriz]

𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭 / • 𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐣𝐫

𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 ; 𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦…𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨…

𝗻𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘆, 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁, 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴) 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 + 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴.

𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠/𝙛𝙚𝙢! 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧.

“𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦…𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦…”

smiling in the mirror as i applied the rest of my lip gloss, before backing up, looking at my dress, just taking in how fine i looked.

i looked so good.

as i fixed my dress, i walked out of the bathroom, until i was met downstairs by someone helping neymar with his suit tie, as i examined his whole outfit…

wet as hell you should say.

“excuse us.” Neymar dismissed his stylist as i stood at the end of the stairs, snatching my eyes off of him, to make it look like i wasn’t staring…

i can’t help but to stare, he’s so fine.

but that’s my best-friend, well. that title flew out the window when we did one night…have drunk sex, and it was intentional…but it was the best night of my life.

the way his ass made me scream, moan and beg, i was surprised nobody filed a noise complaint…and I still think about that day.

us just sneaking around with no strings attached, due to the media, but i could care less.

but i actually did care.

i always caught feelings and it was a burden wearing on me, like how could i tell him…i really love him? after all these years.

“não aja como se eu não tivesse pego você olhando para mim me vestindo, amor.” neymar smirked, before lifting my head up with his finger. [don't act like i didn't catch you looking at me getting dressed, love.]

it’s so sexy when he speaks his own language…let alone english..

“você não viu nada.” i smirked, as i leaned in, before i kissed his lips, but only neymar deepening it… [you didn’t see nothing]

tongue and all.

i could swallow his face in one…because, it’s something about him.

we both been so busy with shit, we barely got to “sneak” with each other…im just missing his touch…his hands all over my body.

“okay! okay! stop it before we get caught…” i smiled, as my face was just lit up with him caressing me and kissing me everywhere, even on my neck…

“mnm...este vestido está me deixando louca...deixe-me tirá-lo de você. um tempo...” neymar whispered, begged in my ear, before kissing amongst it, causing me to get lost in the pleasure. [mnm...this dress is driving me crazy...just let me take it off of you. one time...]

this shit felt so damn good…

“p-papi! íamos ser pegos! pare com isso.” i muttered in his ear, feeling his hands slide up down the entrance, playing with my panties. [“we were going to get caught! stop this." ]

“shhh…just jump for me.” neymar looked at me, wrapping his hands around my ass, helping me to sit on the table.

“no! i can’t…oh fuck.” i threw my head back before i felt my eyes roll back…just disappearing in the back of my skull, this shit was euphoric.

his thumb rubbed my folds up and down in slow, circular movements, before his face was inches apart from yours, just teasing you.

“fala comigo princesa, assim mesmo com esses seus lindos gemidos...” those words rolled off of his tongue like magic, just staring at me throughout the whole encounter. [“talk to me princess, just like that with those pretty moans of yours..."]

eye contact made me fold with so much ease.

“q-quit teasing me papi…” i breathed out, feeling my body jolt at the movements speeding up, before my words got cut off with a loud moan, before we heard a voice in the distance.

neymar taking his fingers from under my dress as his fingers were wet, covered in my juices before slowly smirking, smacking the side of my thigh, catching my attention.

“suck.” neymar demanded, before i grabbed his wrist, swirling my tongue all around his fingers as the tension rose between me and him…it was nothing but pure bliss.

before releasing, he groaned softly, leaving a string of spit, before biting my lip…talk about a interrupted quicky.

“we have to go ney!” his manager loudly reminded as he looked back me, before kissing my lips, helping me down and fixing my dress.

such a gentlemen.

“vamos terminar esta sessão mais tarde, amor.” neymar smirked, before he grabbed my hand, walking out with me to his event. [“let's finish this session later, love.”]

this was gonna be a good night.

a solid two hours at the event, i took pictures and smiled and gave it my all as neymar seemed to be doing the same, just having fun.

but his eyes never left me at all, dropping a item, i bent over to pick it up, slightly seeing my dress slide up, revealing my thin stringed panties, causing me to mentally smirk.

i knew he was watching…so why not make him beg for it? and tease him while we’re at it. to make the night a bit interesting…

neymar was in a trance all night, just plainly looking at me all night…

he just wanted to touch you again…just seeing your dress slide up..turned him on even more.

i was reserved at a sitting table from behind neymar, who was still staring at me as i made small talk with my makeup artist, as everyone greeted and hugged each other.

before you could retaliate, your makeup artist excused herself to the bathroom, feeling wet lips kissing my cheek, catching me off guard like hell-

“ney!-stop it-” i gasped as he kissed both sides of my neck, making me flutter eyes in satisfaction, before his hands sat around my waist again, hearing him groan in every kiss he made…my plan must be working.

“mnm…you smell so good.” neymar spoke against your neck, hitting your sweet spot…let me stop before a tape airs, because he’s not gonna stop…but this felt tooo good.

“papi, we’re in a public placeee…and that’s my sweet s-spot…” i struggled to spit out, but came out a jumbled moans in between.

ouuu he knows what he’s doing to me…

“você esteve me provocando a noite toda princesa... e este vestido está me deixando louca pra caralho e você sabe disso...” neymar whispered, kissing trails against your neck again before kissing onto your ear, his hands feeling all up and down my body… [you’ve been teasing me all night princess...and this dress is driving me fucking crazy and you know that...]

i completely snapped out of it because the event was over, but it was still people here…let me stoppp.

“i know but you kissing on me like this and there’s people around.” i bit down in my lip before i felt him lightly kissing and sucking at certain spots on my neck, causing me to moan, but only for him to hear.

“that’s why im saying…let’s go back to my house, i wanna see this dress around your ankles amor.” as his kisses intensified, causing me to smile at that idea…just persuading me so easily…

thank god no one really was near.

oooo child.

“that sounds good, papi…how about you do the honors? “ i responded, a slick response as it made neymar released his lips away from my neck before neymar grabbed my hand.

“that sounds good baby.” neymar agreed, him watching you walk out after him as he slapped your ass, making you jump.

guess this was another good night…

heyy! y’all know i gotta thank y’all for the support, i seen u wanted more and stuff so my requests are mostly closed until i get situated!

but let me know how i did! and thanks to @bnksisre for the idea y’all 😩!

lmk if i did good! 🥺

[high-mackrels-musings]

I think another message is you either adapt or you die. The Jedi were handed the golden ticket to defeat the Sith and instead of cashing it in they punched their own ticket out of existence.

I’ve come to this conclusion because Lucas says the prophecy is real, Anakin is the chosen one, and he does fulfill the prophecy. If the Jedi had rejected him he would have done it some other way because he’s meant to and the Jedi Order will still be destroyed. I just rewatch the Prequels and Anakin is not needed for anything.

if the Jedi had done more, more special treatment things could have gone better for the Jedi. In conclusion the Jedi Order had reached its evolutionary dead end because it could not adapt.

Do you think that’s a lesson in the Prequel’s? Institutional stagnation means death for the institution.

So, the idea that the Jedi are stagnant, isn’t one I’m going to immediately dismiss, because it’s something a lot of people could reach from an outsiders, perspective, but it’s one that perhaps needs more examination. And upon closer inspection one actually sees the Jedi do change.

Looking back into the EU, one sees changes from the times of the Tales of the Jedi comics, all the way to the Russan Reformation the Jedi adapt and change.

And if we look into the prequels the most notable change is that the Jedi change from their peacekeeping mission to becoming generals in the GAR. Lucas himself talks about this saying on the Jedi’s shift saying the following:

You have to think it through. Are they going to stick with their moral rules and all be killed, which makes it irrelevant, or do they help save the Republic? 

I throughly recommend reading the fourth installment of The Jedi Were right: Discpline and Stagnation by u/Xepeyon over on reddit seen here. It goes a lot more in-depth about the Jedi.

[mariacallous]

When there was no mention of Transnistria — Moldova's Russia-led breakaway republic — in Vladimir Putin's speech on Feb. 29, Moldovans sighed with relief.

A day prior, the leaders of the unrecognized breakaway entity, sandwiched between Ukraine and Moldova, had asked Russia for "protection" — a plea that some saw as an invitation for Moscow's covert attack against Chisinau.

There were fears that the Kremlin would repeat the February 2022 scenario when it recognized the "independence" of the Russian-controlled militant groups in eastern Ukraine to justify its all-out war against the country launched a few days later.

As Moldova is preparing for highly contested elections in October, and the pro-Russian opposition is seeking to increase its standing, experts agree that Russia can use the highly dependent region to increase the threat for Kyiv and Chisinau.

There are several interpretations of what happened at the so-called "all-deputies congress" in Tiraspol, Transnistria's capital, on Feb. 28.

The gathering passed seven resolutions to Moscow, as well as the UN, OSCE, the European Parliament, and the Red Cross, asking them to stop the "pressures" coming from Chisinau.

Since Jan. 1, Transnistrian businesses trading with the EU are compelled to pay duty to Chisinau. With the trade between the EU and Transnistria reaching 70% of the entity's total turnover, the Russian-influenced region saw its customs revenues plummet.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu dismissed the Tiraspol congress' plea as an attempt to "ask for money.

Former minister for reintegration, Alexandru Flenchea, added that the monopoly of Sheriff, the largest enterprise in the breakaway region that controls everything from petrol stations and shops to TV channels and factories, is incompatible with further economic reintegration with Moldova.

But, the Moldovan government saw events in Tiraspol not simply as an economic protest but as a "Russian psyops."

The Transnistrian political elite has at least two known factions — the pro-Russian group led by "foreign minister" Vitaly Ignatiev, who holds a Ukrainian passport and is suspected of treason in Ukraine, and the Sheriff-linked group led by "president" Vadim Krassnoselsky and Sheriff founder Victor Gushan, who have EU passports and properties in Ukraine.

According to Moldovan analyst Victor Ciobanu, the plea for protection could have been a balancing act to put pressure on Chisinau and Kyiv but not to invite military action from Moscow.

Despite the fact that Moscow agreed to withdraw its army from Transnistria in 1999 at the OSCE Istanbul summit, Russian troops are still stationed in Transnistria.

But most of these 1,500 soldiers are locals and could be easily outnumbered by the Ukrainian army.

Yet there was a plan to demand more from Russia, going as far as a request for annexation, Ciobanu said. "Russia is irrational," he added.

On Feb. 20, opposition politician Ghenadie Ciorba, a former "minister of communication" in Tiraspol, leaked the plan to the wider public.

"I noticed an attempt to try and cover up this failure, as the (pro-Russian) Socialists party (in Chisinau) immediately announced energy tariff protests," Ciobanu said, explaining this as an attempt to draw away attention.

Kremlin-linked Moldovan politician Renato Usatii immediately demanded snap elections.

However, the majority of the people living in Transnistria are not supportive of increasing the level of conflict.

According to Chisinau, about 340,000 people in Transnistria, 97% of the region's population, hold Moldovan passports. Meanwhile, about 220,000 people also have Russian documents, according to Tiraspol.

Moldova's mounting problems

After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moldova has been walking a fine line. On one hand, Chisinau supported Ukraine and tailed Kyiv's move toward the EU. On the other hand, Moldova did little to provoke Russia, holding enormous sway over the country.

And with presidential elections and a foreign policy referendum scheduled for October, the country is awaiting Russian-led political turmoil.

"What we've seen in Transnistria was a show put on so that the Kremlin has a reason to disrupt the situation in Moldova, particularly the upcoming referendum on whether Moldova wants to join the EU and the presidential elections," Moldovan lawmaker Oazu Nantoi of the pro-European ruling party PAS told the Kyiv Independent.

"We will see the meaning of this show later on," he said, adding that while Ukraine continues to fend off the Russian onslaught and there is no direct corridor for Russia to reach Transnistria, there is a limited scope of how the Kremlin can use Tiraspol.

Experts agree that the crisis in Transnistria is set to help influence the upcoming elections, where pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu is set to see a runoff with one of the pro-Russian candidates, possibly her predecessor Igor Dodon, head of the Socialists Party, Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban, who now claims he is pro-European, or former governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah.

Pulling Moldova apart

Unlike other Russian-controlled or occupied regions, Transnistria's dependence on Moscow is more economic and political than military.

After helping the breakaway region fight the government in Chisinau, Moscow kept a small illegal military presence in Transnistria, enough to keep pressure on Moldova. Yet, having no border with Tiraspol, Moscow focused on economic and political mechanisms of control.

Moscow kept supplying Transnistria with "free" gas and blackmailing Chisinau to pay for the "debt." Transnistria unilaterally adopted the Russian flag as one of its "national" symbols and kept the Soviet hammer and sickle on its own flag.

When election campaigns in Moldova pick up the pace or Chisinau gets closer to Brussels, Russia increases economic and political pressure on the country through the region, not forgetting to saber-rattle.

Russia uses a similar tactic in another Russian-friendly Moldovan region – Gagauzia, located further west of Transnistria and home to 130,000 people.

According to Ciobanu, Gagauzia would have followed in Transnistria's footsteps had Tiraspol asked to join Russia. Gagauz independent journalist Mihail Sirkeli said there was an attempt to "provoke" Chisinau to interfere in Comrat, the region's capital, to create a precondition for more escalation.

In recent years, the EU has invested more than 100 million euros to build infrastructure and help repair Gagauzia's kindergartens, schools, and state institutions.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Transnistria too has increased its trade with the EU.

More and more people from Transnistria commute to work in Chisinau, which is located 70 kilometers west of the breakaway region.

In the first weeks of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, people living in Transnistria formed queues to renew their Moldovan passports in order to be able to flee to Europe if war also came to Moldova.

"A victory for Ukraine would mean an end to the Transnistrian conflict," Ciobanu added.

[head-post]

Ukraine cuts rights of its citizens, calls on EU to do same

Societies in Europe and the US must temporarily “give up a number of freedoms for the sake of survival,” former Ukrainian Armed Forces chief Valery Zaluzhny said on Monday in his first public appearance as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Zaluzhny said at a conference of the UK’s Royal United Institute for Defence Studies:

Free and democratic countries and their governments need to wake up and think about how to protect your citizens and their countries. We are ready to share all our knowledge.

The Ukrainian ambassador said that it was important to have “honest and transparent communication between the government and the people.” According to him, society needs to agree “to temporarily give up a number of freedoms for the sake of survival.”

He emphasised that “modern wars unfortunately are total” and therefore “society must agree to temporarily give up a number of freedoms for the sake of survival.” Zaluzhny expressed confidence that politicians “must mobilise society.”

Zaluzhny considers the conflict in Ukraine a “war of transition,” pointing to the growing importance of technology in armed conflicts. In Ukraine, he said, technology is being created, but it is not being scaled up. According to Zaluzhny, the West has the necessary resources, but lacks “the applied and practical field to test them.” He believes that only together Ukraine and its partners will be able to “effectively use the resources.”

The former AFU commander-in-chief also suggested that Western countries use Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons and military technologies. He also added:

Today, more than ever, in Ukraine they are finding ways to survive and creating technologies. But for obvious reasons, they cannot scale them up. On the other hand, our partners have resources, but there is no applied and practical field to test them.

Zaluzhny’s words confirm that the West has long been using Ukraine as a testing ground for weapons, with arms deliveries gradually decreasing as NATO countries run out of weapons as well as resources. He calls for more weapons to be sent to Ukraine, without caring at all about what happens to the population, especially the male population. Total mobilisation, military conflict and rash tactics by military commanders are leading to its gradual disappearance. He says that Ukraine needs as many new weapons as possible to confront the Russian Federation. However, neither Zaluzhny nor Kyiv is interested in what will happen to Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian authorities withdrew a number of provisions from their application to the Council of Europe to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights during martial law in the spring, and Poland and Lithuania risk violating both EU and Ukrainian law if they decide to help Ukraine repatriate men between the ages of 18 and 60 for military service.

Earlier, the mass media repeatedly said that the growing confrontation between supporters of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and supporters of the dismissed commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, was escalating amid a gloomy military picture.

Read more HERE

[beardedmrbean]

1. Pfizergate: EU leaders urged to fire Von der Leyen and entire Commission

In the latest development of the Pfizergate affair, the European Council has been called on to dismiss European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and all her Commissioners in a letter by the plaintiff who took the case to court. Read more.

2. Higher wages, home loans and cheaper commutes: What changes in Belgium on 1 June?

While Belgium is getting ready for a big electoral shake-up in June, the start of a new month (which is technically tomorrow, we know) kicks off a series of changes to existing rules, while several new ones will be taking effect. Read more.

3. What to do in Brussels this weekend: 31 May - 2 June

Brussels has had yet another rainy week, but there's no need to let that dampen your spirits as there is an array of exciting cultural and folkloric events happening in the capital in the coming days. Read more.

4. Paying extra for hand luggage? Complaints filed against low-cost airlines in Belgium

Belgium's consumers' rights organisation Test-Achats has filed a complaint with the Economic Inspectorate against Ryanair and several other airlines that charge extra for hand luggage. Read more.

5. Third consecutive night of protests in front of Israeli embassy in Uccle

For the third consecutive day, students initiated a protest outside the Israeli embassy on Thursday evening at around 18:00. Read more.

6. From bilingual to polyglot Brussels: Radical linguistic shifts underway

Every six years since 2000, Brussels is blessed with the publication of a taalbarometer, which documents the region’s linguistic situation. The fifth one has just been published. It lays bare some striking trends and highlights some formidable challenges. Read more.

7. Hidden Belgium: The writer who was mad, bad and dangerous to know

It is almost impossible to read the plaque at Rue Ducale 51 in Brussels. You need to get up close to find out that the English writer Lord Byron spent two weeks in this town house in the spring of 1816. Read more.

[xtruss]

White House's Grey Cardinal of Color Revolts: What is “Evil Witch Victoria Nuland's Legacy?”

She Will Be Remembered For "Taking Ukraine To The Precipice of Disappearing Into An Abyss, Passing Out Cookies," Along With "The Use of The F-Word... The European Union, She Said, Could Go Fuck Themselves. So That's Her Legacy."

Evil Witch Victoria Nuland and Geoffrey R. Pyatt at the Maidan Square in Kiev — Sputnik International, © Sputnik/Petr Zadorozhny

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced that Victoria Nuland will step down in the coming weeks as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. What legacy will the leave?

Victoria Nuland — the architect of the 2014 Euromaidan coup in Kiev — has quit just as her pet project collapses.

Nuland's decision to retire came like a bolt from the blue, given her active role in Ukraine's affairs under presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official Larry Johnson told Sputnik.

"If it's not for health reasons, she's not resigning to take a better job. That's for sure," Johnson said, "Her only reason for being in that job was because of Ukraine. She was not a factor or force at the State Department in all the other areas such as China, Middle East, those are all back burner issues. Her thing was Ukraine."

He said Nuland's departure was a sign that the US policy in Ukraine was "unravelling" and was "not a political winner."

"It's like an albatross hanging around their neck as they go into the election season," Johnson said. "Her leaving is probably going to cause more consternation in Kiev and particularly with Zelensky."

Who Is Nuland?

In his press statement on Tuesday, Blinken said "Toria" had served in various capacities under six American presidents and ten secretaries of state and had been "indispensable to confronting Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine" — just as Washington's proxy front with Moscow was collapsing in Donetsk.

Nuland is the wife of American ardent neoconservative strategist Robert Kagan, a leading voice for US overseas interventions and regime-change operations.

Nuland served as the principal deputy foreign policy adviser (2003 – 2005) to Vice President Dick Cheney, the mastermind of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Between 2005 and 2008, she served as US ambassador to NATO in Brussels, focusing on mobilizing European support for the alliance's military campaign in Afghanistan and sabre-rattling with Russia.

Under the Obama administration, then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton picked Nuland as her spokeswoman. Clinton's successor, John Kerry, appointed her as his assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. Sworn in September 2013, Nuland immediately took charge of what quickly morphed under her watch into a color revolution in Ukraine.

Euromaidan, which started in November 2013 as a protest against then-President Viktor Yanukovich's refusal to sign an EU association agreement, turned violent in December 2013.

Nuland called for "taking Ukraine into the future it deserves," boasting that the US had invested over $5 billion into Ukraine achieving "its European aspirations." She travelled to Kiev and handed out bread and cookies to protesters at Kiev's Independence Square ("Maidan Nezalezhnosti") reassuring rioters of US support.

U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Evil Witch Victoria Nuland and Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, offering cookies and (behind the scenes) political advice to Ukraine's Maidan activists and their leaders. © AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko, Pool

Coup Plotter On Steroids

In early February 2014, a conversation between Victoria Nuland and then-US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt discussing the shape of the provisional Kiev regime was leaked online. Nuland was heard to dismiss European partners with the phrase "F**k the EU."

The plans they came to fruition the same month after Yanukovich was ousted by a violent nationalist mob in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution, forcing him flee the country chased by neo-Nazi militant groups.

Servicemen from the Azov volunteer battalion read a prayer during a ceremony before being sent to eastern Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, August 17, 2015. © AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

In May 2014 Nuland was grilled by congress representatives Dana Rohrabacher and Brad Sherman over her denial of the role armed neo-Nazis played in the Euromaidan coup during her congressional testimony.

"There were pictures of people running around with these that we were told were neo-Nazis. Were there neo-Nazis in those efforts – street violence that led to Mr. Yanukovych’s removal?" asked Rohrabacher.

Nuland insisted that "the vast majority of those who participated on the Maidan were peaceful protesters," but eventually admitted that "almost every color of Ukraine was represented, including some – including some ugly colors."

Minsk Agreements, Ukrainian Biolabs And Kiev's Retreat

Eight years later she was forced to admit that the US had maintained a secretive network of bio-labs in Ukraine. Documents obtained by the Russian Ministry of Defense in the course of the special military operation showed these facilities were conducting biowarfare research.

On March 8, 2022 Nuland testified that "Ukraine has biological research facilities," hastily adding: "We are now in fact quite concerned that Russian troops, Russian forces, may be seeking to gain control of them."

Nuland also tried to undermine the two Minsk accords between Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in 2014 and 2015. She blamed breakdowns in the truce on Russia, one of the three countries that brokered the deals, while turning a blind eye to Ukraine's attacks on the Donbass republics and the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) network of torture chambers.

Then-German chancellor Angela Merkel later admitted that the accords were just a ruse to buy time to arm Ukraine for NATO's proxy conflict with Russia.

The last time Nuland was seen in Kiev was early February 2024, during the rift between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and then-commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhny. Zelensky sacked Zaluzhny on February 8, and on On February 17, the Russian army liberated Avdeyevka in the Donetsk region — where it continues to advance.

Evil Witch Nuland’s Resignation Related to Failure of US’ Anti-Russian Policy — Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova! © AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky! “Victoria Nuland has let me know that she intends to step down in the coming weeks as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement. Nuland’s tenure at the position lasted three and a half decades, when she served under six presidents and ten secretaries of state.

Nuland Resigns As Anti-Russia Plot Fails

Commenting on the news of Nuland's retirement, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated: "They will not tell you the reason. But it is simple — the failure of the anti-Russian policy of [US President Joe] Biden’s administration."

"Russophobia, proposed by Victoria Nuland as the main foreign policy concept of the United States, is dragging the Democrats to the bottom like a stone," she added.

Johnson believes Zakharova is right:

"[Nuland] has certainly been the central figure in the US government going back a decade. This was her thing in 2014, when the Maidan occurred," he said. "She was the one on the phone with the ambassador, trying to figure out who the United States was going to put it in as president of Ukraine."

"So, she's been one of the puppet mistresses behind the scenes, pulling the strings," Johnson added. "The fact that she's now resigning at a time when continued aid for Ukraine is uncertain, as well as growing opposition in Congress, particularly among Republicans, about continuing to pour bad money after good in Ukraine, and with the presidential election looming on the horizon."

The Biden White House has already signalled a shift on several issues, including Ukraine, the CIA veteran said. "I think her resignation may in part reflect some frustration, as a protest against that policy."

Johnson said Nuland's legacy was nothing to boast about.

She will be remembered for "taking Ukraine to the precipice of disappearing into an abyss, passing out cookies," along with "the use of the F-word... The European Union, she said, could go f*** themselves. So that's her legacy."

— Sputnik International | Tuesday March 5, 2024 | Ekaterina Blinova

[therealaves-blog1]

I want the void to hear my takes on Star Trek: Coda

okay finale book. Oblivion’s Gate by David Mack. Lets see how they close this out.

So we open on ‘the second splinter’ which is Picard and Co dying on the Devidians planet moments before they can activate their plan. We then hop back to the Defiant which is hiding out in the badlands. Sisko tells Kira they gave her the Orb for a reason and the prophets might not be dead as fuck yet. They get a message from the mirror universe and a wormhole opens for them. They head through and decloak, to meet Captain Luc Picard of Jauntship Enterprise.

Okay, Mirrorverse catchup. Basically everything happened as it did in the shows (I think the Disco part too). But, Alt Spock set up Memory Omega which was a secret organization dedicated to bringing the federation to life in the mirrorverse. They hid in like hollowed out planets and stuff and have a bunch of advanced tech like wormhole drives and slipstream as default. When it became clear the revolt started on Terok Nor was taking wing, they came to support them and helped establish a galactic commonwealth, with the Romulans taking the place of the Klingons as former enemies now friends. So theres a big ol psuedo federation thats very advanced on this side.

So Bashir knows some people over there (presumably for a thing he did prior) They really should’ve chopped and changed the dot points per book for relevant stuff. They come aboard and meet Luc Picard and his first officer, Alexander’s mom. They have some brief awkward counterpart moments and then Alt Savik (special guest star Kirstie Allie) is like ‘holy shit its spock’ but in vulcan. They’re all like ‘time apocalypse’ and the commonwealth people are like ‘please more info now.’ They deliver and Wesley is like ‘our realities are linked which is why stuff happens in weird mirror ways’ and no one asks for a follow up.

They get permission to go to a Memory Omega site that has like a wild reality viewer thing. Meanwhile Riker is going crazier and Vale, Troi, Doc Lizard, and secretly counselor lil guy attempt to prove that he can be dismissed on medical grounds and realise his brain is cooking with two rikers in it. Confirming everything Troi got from Picard. They very nicely sit down with him and give him the data and he briefly takes the pad and secretly deletes the info before having Vale and Lizard arrested and threatening Deana.

Over there, they hand out the bands they’ve made to keep time multiple personality disorder which is sent throughout the whole fleet. Wesley plugs into the chair and Data does the data analysis, trying to find the original fault that the Devidians are using to do the whole Time War thing. They find it and its very depressing. So here’s how it works.

Way back during the movie First Contact, when the Enterprise was the only remaining ship above Borg Earth and jumped into the timehole to undo what the borg done did. The Borg on Earth realized what they were seeing and kept the portal on their end open. They did a bad science on it in an attempt to prevent the Enterprise from returning to the present and undoing its undoing of their new Borgy history. This busted up reality. So we got the prime timeline (the tv canon feat. new shows) which diverged from Borg Earth (which somehow became stable on its own) and the First Splinter Timeline (which is the novelverse eu). The First Splinter is inherently unstable and so are all of its descendant timelines which is what allowed the time crimes. They relay this and reveal the only option left to them: prevent their own existence by stopping the initial splinter to stop the time ghosts from eating all the stable timelines once they get through the first splinter.

Kira reactivates the orb of time and sisko and wes do a mindmeld to reach into it for prophet advice, they sanction the course they’re taking. Everyone is different shades of bummed about this but they agree to go ahead for the needs of the many, they relay this to the mirror lads who agree to help as their universe is starting to break down as well. In main verse the president of the federation asks why riker is acting so crazy before the weird universe breakdown they’ve been witnessing expands and destroys the entire sol system. Riker takes control of the fleet and orders them to find the Defiant for reasons that arent making a whole lot of sense to anyone but him. over there, Kira goes to the wormhole with the orb to act as a beacon, Sisko, Picard and the Defiant go to the past of borg earth to undo the thing there, and wes and Luc Picard go to the normal verse to find the devidians base by scanning black holes and use the stuff they have there to wipe their history out.

This is kind of a bummer for many reasons (im sure we’ll get a fun time bullshit ‘we saved things! yay!’) but no one gets enough time to process all the shit happening or see this from a personal perspective to give us an understandable look at something on this scale. Like, the goal is to retroactively erase all the things that happened in this canon, which can be done if we get a strong character dialed in look at it, but we arent. Its shifting too much and a bunch of faves have already died. So the sense of everything is out of wack. Like part of what works about Hickman’s FF and Avengers runs is the focus on a few characters we know in the face of insane cosmic chaos. It helps ground it, but this still feels like the Picard show, but not sufficiently deep enough to justify the focus and the jumps to other characters are too shallow. idk, Kira is the only one who feels like she’s understands the weight of all this and she’s not in this much.

[sounmashnews]

[ad_1] Press play to hearken to this text PRAGUE — It was all smiles, small speak and extended handshakes as dozens of worldwide leaders gathered in Prague for the inaugural European Political Community assembly on Thursday — however already, a row was brewing over tips on how to deal with the power disaster enveloping the Continent. The gathering, which introduced collectively over 40 European leaders, is supposed as a present of solidarity within the face of Russia’s struggle in Ukraine.  But it additionally got here a day forward of a gathering of the 27 EU international locations, who're slated to have an energy-focused assembly on Friday after their non-EU counterparts depart. And it was clear that Thursday’s glad-handing might solely final so lengthy, given the tough points going through the leaders.  French President Emmanuel Macron, the de facto host of Thursday's gathering, was direct in dismissing a key power venture a few of his personal neighbors argue will assist the EU’s power issues — an enormous gasoline pipeline connecting Spain with Germany and the remainder of Europe.  Arriving on the summit, Macron forged doubt on the relevance of constructing the so-called MidCat pipeline, which might assist ship gasoline from the Iberian Peninsula by way of France to Germany and past. He informed reporters it could take “five to eight years” to construct and argued that the present pipelines are solely getting used between 50 and 60 % anyway. “I think that our priority is to have electricity interconnections in Europe and I’m more favorable to those projects,” mentioned Macron, an implicit put-down of the gas-focused MidCat venture.  The crack within the grins and paeans for unity displays the continuing problem for each the EU and Europe as Russia’s struggle in Ukraine drags via its eighth month. While international locations doggedly need to protect a united entrance in opposition to Russia, the Continent’s divergent concepts about tips on how to deal with the escalating power disaster are making that more and more tough.  On Thursday, the French president made the case that Europe’s power future must be based mostly on renewable and nuclear energy, certainly one of France’s principal power property.  “Do we want to become big gas importers in the long term?” he requested.  But Germany is strongly pushing the MidCat deal, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz flying to Spain on Wednesday to debate the venture and different power issues with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on the eve of the Prague gathering.  “MidCat could connect the Iberian Peninsula and Central Europe for the future transport of hydrogen. I am expressly advocating that we create this connection,” Scholz informed reporters following the Spanish-German talks. Scholz had sought to strike a cautiously optimistic tone, saying that Berlin and Madrid needed to construct the pipeline “in friendship and cooperation with France, and we don't have the impression that that is out of the question.” The Germans say the pipeline may very well be finalized inside 9 months and lively subsequent yr. Spain, too, sees the pipeline as a possibility to export to promote its personal inexperienced hydrogen to Northern Europe. Speaking alongside Scholz in A Coruña, Sánchez mentioned that “we have a gasification capacity in Spain that we would like to make available to Europe. But the paradox is that we are an energy island because we don’t have these interconnectors.” Tackling Europe’s rising power prices and diversifying away from Russian power sources is a central theme of Thursday’s gathering of the European Political Community — a discussion board that goals to convey international locations with shared pursuits nearer collectively.  The leaders are assembly within the historic environment of Prague Castle, overlooking the central European metropolis capital.  Liz Truss and different

leaders from throughout Europe are attending the assembly in Prague in particular person | Alastair Grant/Pool/Getty Images As the gathering started, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the group by video hyperlink. He known as the format "an extremely powerful opportunity to restore peace in Europe." “Here and now, I urge you to make a primary choice — a choice in regards to the objective for this group of ours, for this format of ours," he said. "We, the leaders of Europe, can turn into the leaders of peace. Our European political group can turn into a European group of peace." Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is attending the discussion board in particular person, as are leaders from throughout the area, together with British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel are additionally in attendance, with von der Leyen attributable to maintain a bilateral assembly with Truss.  Speaking as he arrived on the summit, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte praised Britain’s help for Ukraine for the reason that begin of Russia’s struggle, describing the U.Okay. as an vital associate — a notable praise given the often testy U.Okay.-EU relationship since Brexit. “The U.K is one of the biggest economies in the world,” he mentioned. “The U.K. is providing leadership over the last six months, nine months. Since the Russian aggression against Ukraine, it was the U.K. leading the way.” Ireland’s chief Micheál Martin additionally mentioned he didn't envisage the problem of the Northern Ireland protocol — an unresolved facet of the Brexit settlement — to function throughout Thursday’s assembly, noting that it was vital “to create space” for technical discussions which have began this week between Brussels and London.  “I do think there’s good faith on all sides,” he mentioned, signaling optimism in regards to the prospect of a breakthrough on the preparations for Northern Ireland. This article is a part of POLITICO Pro The one-stop-shop answer for coverage professionals fusing the depth of POLITICO journalism with the ability of know-how Exclusive, breaking scoops and insights Customized coverage intelligence platform A high-level public affairs community pl_facebook_pixel_args = []; pl_facebook_pixel_args.userAgent = navigator.userAgent; pl_facebook_pixel_args.language = navigator.language; if ( document.referrer.indexOf( document.domain ) < 0 ) pl_facebook_pixel_args.referrer = document.referrer; !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq( 'consent', 'revoke' ); fbq( 'init', "394368290733607" ); fbq( 'track', 'PageView', pl_facebook_pixel_args ); if ( typeof window.__tcfapi !== 'undefined' ) window.__tcfapi( 'addEventListener', 2, function( tcData, listenerSuccess ) if ( listenerSuccess ) ); [ad_2] Source link

[miscellaneous-obsession]

Story of any kind of Lady Dimitrescu x Reader but have Miranda in it?

Back to our usual schedule of fics, here is one that took a bit to write! I went with full on angst and fluff so you have been warned... and will be again like twice :)

Unending Nightmare

Warnings: Graphic violence, details of injury, blood and gore, general feeling of anxiety, panic, despair, Miranda being horrible as hell and not suitable for minors.

It seemed almost surreal to regain consciousness in the main hall, her body lounging on one of two settees that sat perfectly aligned to the table in between. Alcina's spine cried in anguish with an unnatural contortion, prompting amber eyes to flutter open, blinking comically in rapid succession to disperse the remnants of sleep that clouded her vision. Rising to a sitting position relieved the strain she experienced, with subsequent stretching of limbs resulting in audible pops.

As her gaze panned briefly across the room, everything appeared untouched, even lipstick-stained cups that sat atop of matching saucers, evidence of her impromptu afternoon tea shared with her wife. A smile saw her slackened jaw tighten with the memory, her mind reliving the moment vividly as she gracefully angled her legs as to touch the ground. However, the sole of one heel didn't make it, landing upon the novel still open to the bookmarked page in which it was discarded as she succumbed to sleep.

However, as the matriarch moved to collect the piece of literature, a piercing scream laced with agony carried through the endless corridors, starling Alcina from her reverie. A sound from such a distance shouldn't have been able to travel, nor should the crying wails and sobs that followed. A note of familiarity within the voice struck a chord in the countess as her mind sought an answer. All the while, fear began to steadily crawl along her spine, wrapping tight like a snake, slithering into her heart in an attempt of manifestation. Shakily she brought her hand to her lips, eyes widening as she recognised the perpetual weeping.

The safety the castle once afforded her dematerialised before her very eyes as fragments of reality appeared to settle into place. The pleading whimpers almost quietened into non-existence, much like the fire that began to dim. In what light remained, Alcina took note of the disorganised chaos that made itself known, how furniture had been shoved aside, vases broken in the wake of a predator, even the blood that marred the marble floor.

Instinctively her claws unsheathed, sensing the danger that posed as a threat to her family. However, as the matriarch took a step closer, intent on examining the trail of crimson destruction, she staggered backwards. The scent of iron in the air was unmistakable; a smell she was well acquainted with and often so enticed by became reclusive as it hit her olfactory receptors. Someone dared to touch... harm what was hers, somewhere in the place they called home, her wife lay injured.

Grappling with the panic and horror that strove to run rampant in her mind, Alcina frantically called aloud for her daughters. But even when beckoned, her solitude persisted; never once upon summoning had her girls elected to disobey or ignore. At last, the illusion of elegance and composure shattered, leaving the countess in what she deemed an unsavoury, feral state, desperate to find and protect what she claimed to be her own.

Alcina all but marched to the cellar growing increasingly fretful with every step she took as she was forced to strain her ears to catch sound of the almost silent, pained murmurs. Ignorant of her own wellbeing, she pursued her wife in heels with an unnaturally fast pace across the uneven, damp terrain, paid by a loss of stance on more than one occasion. Upon rounding the corner in what could be deemed a dishevelled appearance, the matriarch's heart stuttered, skipping a beat involuntarily at the lurid sight before her.

Laid on a mortuary table, gasping for breath, was her beloved, blood pooling beneath her quivering frame from a freshly inflicted incision site as her body seemingly rejected what was both forced and foreign. Once vivid blue irises were almost consumed by blacked pupils, a natural response to the accumulation of adrenaline created as unwavering pain gripped her body. Teeth had long pierced both tongue and lips, allowing more blood to bead in droplets to go unused and wasted, following gravity to the drain so conveniently in place on the stainless steel table.

The growl unleashed from Alcina's throat was unrivalled; her desire to cry out extinguished as she pried her gaze upward. Standing mere inches from her wife's side was Miranda, in a laboratory coat almost befitting of her former self. In hand was an empty jar, fluid swishing with the gentle jostles of the deities movements. A worn label, lacking adhesive, clung to the glass, almost faded to the human eye, but two letters confirmed the unthinkable.

"You've arrived in time, my dear; your pet's future is dependent on this very moment."

Unable to refute the truth in Miranda's words nor bring solace to her wife, she attempted the latter as it appeared the more achievable of the two. With claws retracted, unwilling to cause more harm, Alcina cradled her wilting wife's face as delicately she could muster. She blinked several times over the next minute, refusing to let the tears she felt building fall as she honed in on the ever slowing heartbeat. Hushed apologies and whispered declarations of love were shared, albeit one-sided, in some hope that her beloved heard.

Desperate for her wife to avoid an inevitable future as a mindless moroaicǎ, she continued to track her declining health, choosing to strike as the paled woman took her final breath as a human. Before the transformation could ensue, Alcina made the decision to end what would begin within the coming minutes. Her choice is emboldened upon catching Miranda's dismissive and callous opinion, "Another failure, unsurprising."

Just as her claws were sat poised to cut and render the moroaicǎ useless, her body jolted awake, sweat beading along her brow from the horrifyingly realistic dream her mind had conjured. Swiping a hand to remove what clung to her skin, her eyes blindly searched the room devoid of light. A shaky but relieved sigh slipped past her lips as her hand came to land on and subsequently caress the top of her wife's head.

As calming as one's breathing regulations could be, it didn't replace nor best physical contact with the woman she loved. With arms outstretched, she enveloped her wife, drawing her atop her chest, listening and attempting to match the rhythmic beat of her heart. During such extrication from her place under the covers, bleary eyes opened a fraction in confusion, head tilting to mirror jumbled thoughts.

"Alci?"

"Forgive me, dragă mea, go back to sleep."

Feeling the minute shake of a head, the countess peered down, acknowledging the look of concern that replaced serenity. A hand of supple skin rose to gently gloss over her cheeks, gathering what tears had fallen with the pull of gravity.

"What is troubling you so, beloved?"

Unable to recount most of the tale, Alcina spared her wife from gruesome details, summarising the dream to one line, "It appears my mind attempted to convince me I had lost you."

A contemplative hum resonated directly below her ear, the vibration of which tickled the countess' neck as her wife nestled comfortably in her hold. "Nothing in this world could part me from you; I love you too much to bear separation in this lifetime."

"And if we had no other choice?"

A tutting sound emerged in the dark, an almost dismissal of such a notion. "Then I'd have lived a life knowing I had a woman who loved me and three beautiful daughters to succeed me."

"Poetic... only divulging such a divine talent and way with words now. But I fear you forget that you were the one, with an open heart and mind, who reintroduced my capability to love another outside my darling girls, a trait I thought had been long lost to my mutation."

A keening whine of appreciation caught her ears, further emphasised as featherlight kisses were pressed along the expanse of exposed skin, her wife opting to include areas of her jaw within reach.

"It appears we were both lucky with the hand fate dealt us." After a beat of silence, a tired voice reiterated what had been murmured in the last moments before their slumber, "Te iubesc Cina... te iubesc."

Those wise words and impromptu reaffirmation soothed the ache left by the dream, eradicating the pain like a salve. With practised ease, the matriarch responded in kind, "Și eu te iubesc," before succumbing to the sleep her body so desperately craved.

-----------------------------------------

Both were jolted from sleep only hours later when the covers were unceremoniously pulled back and bodies pressed against them in urgency. Muffled giggles and quiet hushes saw eyes open, only to narrow imperceptibly in faux annoyance, prompting sheepish grins to spread across their daughter's lips. Half-hearted glares quickly faltered, softening into smiles, giving all three the go-ahead to bury their chilled frames in between and around the couple.

Following their lead, Bela too extricated her body, albeit with an audible whine, from beneath the covers. Soon the countess grew amused at the trio's antics as they pleaded with an array of tactics for her wife to join them for their morning routine. Reluctantly Alcina released her wife from her grasp, seeing her subsequently tugged out of bed by the girls. The four ran from the room as a game of tag began, allowing the matriarch to muse as she mapped the softened footfalls of her family throughout the wing in which they resided.

Without warning, her peace was disturbed by the shrill ring of the ornate rotary phone that sat in the adjoining room to her chambers. Donning a robe to retain some modicum of decency, Alcina took her place at her vanity, a tremor running through her hand as she picked up the receiver.

"Mother Miranda."

"Ah Alcina dear, I trust you aren't busy."

Before the matriarch had a chance to respond, Miranda continued on a tangent of her own, "Now, I called to discuss business regarding your wife; her repeated test results have revealed something rather... interesting."

From the moment that phrase was uttered with such an insinuating tone, Alcina could no longer focus. The countess' heart dropped and found herself wishing that the echoing laughter of her girls and beloved could remain forever constant in the castle walls.

[syn0vial]

Thoughts on Jangobi or Bobadin? Kesett? Songs? We all love your info so feed us your knowledge

thank you for the ask!! :D here are my thoughts on those ships:

jangobi: i can get why people ship this one bc the scene jango and obi-wan share in AoTC is so rife will thinly-veiled angry tension that it’s understandable that people went back and watched it like “wait that’s kind of hot 👀” at the same time, i don’t see it as a very compatible ship just bc jango’s vendetta against the jedi is so very personal and caustic that i think it would be difficult for him to have a friendship with a jedi, much less a romantic relationship. i think if someone were to go the “enemies-to-friends-to-lovers” route, it would require something big on obi-wan’s part to shatter jango’s preconceived notions of him as a jedi—and not just obi-wan being nice or friendly or accepting, i’m talking, like, LEAVE THE JEDI ORDER big or at least DEFY THE JEDI ORDER IN A WAY THAT PROTECTS JANGO’S FAMILY RATHER THAN JEOPARDIZE IT big. and even then, it’d probably take time for obi-wan to gain jango’s trust. basically, i don’t mind this ship, but it would take some very specific circumstances and likely a nice, very long slowburn for me to actually get onboard.

bobadin: i like this one! i’m not sure i’d go so far as to say i ship it bc i don’t generally seek it out on my own, but i do nod approvingly when i see it on my dash. from what we see of their interactions in the mandalorian, it seems like boba and din form a pretty quick bond of comradery, so i think there’s potential for a deeper relationship to form there. i like the idea of a jaded, taciturn boba who’s gotten used to evading or downplaying his mandalorian heritage bc he’s so used to being dismissed out of hand by people like bo-katan... who then meets din, this supposed ~old ways~ mando who just. sees boba’s chain code and goes, “yep, that checks out.” i think that’s a good foundation for boba gradually realizing that this is someone he can be a bit more open and genuine with, rather than acting like his usual detached self. din also displays a lot of the traits that boba tended to admire in the EU, namely competency, courage, honor, and heart, so even from my own EU nerd perspective, i feel like this pairing checks out, at least on boba’s side of things :|b

kesett: iiiii did not play jedi: fallen order bc i was under the impression that boba fett was not in it and thus it fell outside the scope of my interests. does boba show up in that game? bc if he does, i will totally play and get back to you on this!

songs: at the risk of sounding totally clueless: is this a ship name? :,D or are you asking for songs about ships? bc if it’s the former, i’m afraid i don’t know that ship and if it’s the latter, i would be happy to oblige!

[trikadekaphile]

Excerpts from one of my favorite Han/Leia fanfics

Dant Solo once wrote a fanfic on the now-defunct TATS website, which was posted in three parts. It was titled "Oblivion" and focused on the missing moments from the period during the NJO (New Jedi Order) where Han and Leia were separated, then when they got back together. Dant Solo did what Kathy Tyers had neither the talent nor the decency to do: gave Han and Leia a proper reunion.

Now, it is no secret that I do not care for the pre-Disney EU, now called Legends. (For the record, I don’t care much for the Disney EU, either.) I flat-out hate much of the NJO, particularly the way it crapped all over Han/Leia's relationship -- not only separating them, but gypping them out of a reunion, and instead giving all the love/personal scenes to the red-gold pestilence and the penis on life support it married Mara and Luke...in the book that was supposed to contain the Han/Leia reunion. Tyers poured salt on the wound by offering a fake mea culpa where she said -- heck, gloated -- that she could have written some Han/Leia scenes, but she wanted to focus on the red-gold pestilence and the penis on life support it married Mara and Luke.

Han/Leia fans, justifiably outraged, began a campaign to get their couple better treatment. It took three years before Del Rey finally delivered something more than a half-assed stopgap measure: "Tatooine Ghost," set after Han and Leia were married, and thankfully retconned some of the most egregious and nauseating parts of the travesty called "The Courtship of Princess Leia."

Anyway, I feel a rant about the red-gold pestilence coming on, and I choose to quash it and refocus on the aforementioned excerpts from Dant Solo's fanfic. The whole fanfic is good, but I have some favorite parts, which are the ones I will post.

Without further ado, here are my favorite excerpts from "Oblivion":

*******

[Han] came to a lift and entered it with half a dozen other beings, traveling downward to an entertainment level.  He found a familiar cantina, one that had been renamed but remained, nevertheless, the same sort of dive it had always been.  He swaggered through the doorway, hand resting casually above his blaster in an old, customary habit.  His senses were immediately assaulted by a musty, hazy smoke that filled the crowded, dimly lit room.  Loud conversation filled his ears, and he suddenly hoped that no one would speak to him.  He wanted a drink and he wanted to be alone.

He ambled to the bar and sat on a lone stool at one end, waving a hand to the bartender, a shiny headed Bith who greeted him enthusiastically.  Grumbling, Han ordered Alderaanian ale, noting the way the bartender slunk away after he provided it.

Gulping the brew greedily, Han's thoughts returned to Leia.  He couldn't remember the last time they had exchanged pleasant words.  He supposed it must have been some time shortly after Sernpidal.  Again, as had been the case for so long, despair flooded him at the thought of his friend and co-pilot.  His eyes closed without him even realizing it, his mind remembering the final moments of the Wookiee's life, recalling the horrible, shattering events against his own will.

Chewie!  No!

Dammit!  His fist clenched around the cold, hard mug of ale, but almost as quickly, it unclenched with a weak, sorrowful acceptance, eyes opening reflexively.

Ahh, Chewie...What am I supposed to do here?  I wish you could tell me.

He knew what the big lug would say...he would tell him to get off his ass and pull himself together.  That there was no use beating himself up over it and that he had wasted enough of his time already.

And he would probably tell Han to go back to his family.  If there was one thing Chewie had always felt very strongly about, it was family.

Maybe if he hadn't been running around with me, he'd be with his family right now.

A futile thought, but Han couldn't help but think it anyway.  He sighed, feeling a shudder pass through him with the release of that breath.  This was why he'd always been a loner.  Granted, Chewie had been in his life for an incredibly long time before he'd lost him, but he remembered vividly the kind of pain that loss of any kind imbued, and he had vowed, as a much younger man, not to risk such loss ever again.

But first there was Chewie and then there was Leia, both taking on a tough edged scoundrel who really wasn't worth it.

Surely, Leia had recently drawn that conclusion in earnest.  He thought of her trip to Hapes, of her time with the dashing, regal Prince Isolder.  If she'd married him instead of Han, she wouldn't be alone right now; she wouldn't have to wonder what would become of her husband, her marriage.  With a distant darkness, Han wondered what had passed between the Prince and his wife.  He was still a handsome bastard; certainly Leia would have noticed that.  Han had left her alone all these months, had in truth mostly left her alone for months before, all the while existing in the same home as her, drinking himself into oblivion.

The idea of Leia with Isolder inflamed Han with a heart clenching, smoldering jealousy that consumed him for a long, violent moment, tempting him to hurl his mug across the room, shattering it against the wall as concretely as the thought shattered his soul.

He pushed the agonizing thought from his mind, forcing it into a quiet corner of his brain, along with all thoughts too painful to bear.

He tried not to think of anything at all, and was barely aware when someone sat on a nearby stool and slid it beside him.  He glanced over to find a tall, curvaceous woman with close-cropped, sun colored hair smiling at him in a flirtatious manner.  He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, smiling inwardly at the realization of who he had turned into since he'd met a young, idealistic would-be Jedi.  Then he returned his gaze to his drink, dismissing the young woman.

"Hi there," she said, turning to face him.

With a tired sigh, he looked at her again, smiling politely.  She was very attractive, he had to admit that.

"Buy a lady a drink?"  She smiled impishly.

Why not?  It couldn't hurt.  "Yeah, sure."  He gestured to the bartender, who hastened over.  "A drink for the lady," Han said with a gesture.

The woman smiled at the Bith.  "Tagorian Tellder wine."  As the bartender reached for the appropriate bottle and began to pour, she turned back to Han and extended a delicate hand.  "I'm Shayna."

Han shook her hand briefly.  "Han.  Nice to meetcha."  He took another long swig of his ale, watching the woman carefully as she received her drink from the bartender and sipped it slowly.

She raised an eyebrow at him before saying, "You look lonely, Han."

Han raised a brow in return.  "Nah, I'm just fine.  I like bein' alone."

"Really?  You don't ever like company?"

Against his will, his thoughts turned to his family.  It had been a long time, up until Chewie's death, since he had genuinely enjoyed being alone.  Now it seemed the only option left to him.  "Maybe sometimes.  Not often."

She smiled coyly.  "I don't like to be alone.  I'm always looking for company." She leaned toward him and the loose front of her blouse slid forward enticingly, capturing Han's gaze for the briefest of moments.

He looked away quickly, guzzling down the last of his ale and signaling the bartender for another.

Without warning, Shayna placed a warm hand on Han's thigh, just as his second ale was placed before him.

"You want to go someplace more private and talk some more?"

Han looked at her for a long moment, holding his mug in suspended animation halfway to his lips.  It could be so easy....to go with this beautiful woman and forget everything for a little while.  His body was certainly willing.  No one ever had to know.  There was no way for anyone to find out.  And in truth, he wasn't sure what was left of his marriage to begin with, so how wrong would it be, really?

Sighing mentally, Han realized that he would always know.  And if he ever had a chance of fixing things with Leia, he wasn't sure he could live with that knowledge.  Without warning, his mind assaulted him with an image of the hurt that would become present in Leia's eyes if he were to betray her.  Trust and fidelity had always been in large commodity between them, something each had always counted on, perhaps even taken for granted.  He could easily imagine how deeply this would cut her; how devastated and disappointed in him she would be.  Hadn't he disappointed her enough already?

It wasn't worth it.  A night with some stranger was not even remotely worth his wife and family, no matter what state those relationships were in.

He reached down and removed the woman's hand from his thigh, squeezed it gently for a second, then replaced it on the bar, noting her confused look of disappointment.  "Sorry, not interested."  He turned back to the bartop.

"You married?"  She asked knowingly.

"Yeah.  You could say that."  He closed up, pulling back inside himself.

"Hmm....you don't look like the faithful type," she said mischievously.

Han glanced at her, eyebrows shooting heavenward.  He supposed she was right, he didn't look the type.  Funny how things changed.  "Yeah, well, you'd be surprised."  He stood up, took one last gulp of his ale, tossed a few credits on the bar, gave the woman a mock salute, and then swaggered away. *******

Han dug into the travel pack he had stashed in a compartment over the sensor console on board the Falcon.  He was still undecided as to whether or not he was going to give Leia what was inside the pack.

He missed her already.  Their time together had been far too short.  After all the nights he had imagined holding her, he was still being denied.

With resigned uncertainty, he pulled out the gift he had purchased for Leia at the Abregadoe-rae spaceport.  It had almost seemed a sign at the time.  He had expected to see her when he arrived at Duro, and when he had seen this, he'd been uncharacteristically compelled to buy it.

The old fashioned book-- the actual flimsiplast sheets bound in a cover of burgundy with gold writing-- contained Alderaanian poetry.  He had stood in the small shop, holding it in his hands almost reverently, trying to decide if he should purchase it.

In a hasty decision, he had done just that.  Now he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to give it to her.  He felt somewhat foolish about the gesture.

He stood and placed the book on the holochess table and removed a bottle of Corellian brandy from a nearby compartment.  He went to the galley and grabbed a glass, filling it halfway with the amber liquid.  This drink was different from the ones he had taken this past year.   He didn't feel he needed it.  He simply wanted it. The rumble of the hatch opening surprised him, and he went to investigate, hand reaching for his blaster.  It was probably Jacen, but in such desperate circumstances, he couldn't take a chance.  As he hurried, he heard the sound of the hatch closing again, and when he rounded a corner, he saw what had to be Leia, removing the helmet of her chem suit.  He holstered his blaster and stared in disbelief as the helmet revealed her lovely face, surprising him yet again.  Around her now shaven head, a white scarf was tied.

She smiled at his dumbfounded expression, enjoying it immensely.  She knew she would have to be processed again in the morning, but she didn't care.  It was worth it.  She had dreamed of being with Han again for too long.  "Surprised to see me, Captain?"  She dropped the helmet to the floor and began removing the chem suit.

He just stared as she pushed the suit down her legs and stepped out of it.  With her hair gone, she looked thinner, the dark circles under her eyes more prominent.  It brought home to him what he had put her through, and guilt gripped his heart.

And here she is, doing everything in her power to be with me, yet again.  What did I ever do to deserve this woman?  He couldn't imagine.

Feeling awkwardly ashamed, he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked to the floor.

Leia picked up the suit and helmet, stashing them in a nearby compartment.  She was absurdly nervous.  Her stomach was fluttering in anticipation of spending time alone with Han.  In an effort to calm herself, she reached out through the Force to touch Han's essence and found him as nervous as she.  It was a comforting realization, and her tension decreased almost instantly.  She turned back to Han and they lapsed into silence.

He returned his gaze to hers.  "You want a drink?"

She nodded.  "Sure."  As she moved to follow him to the galley, she passed the holochess table and spotted, of all things, a book.  "What's this?"

Han stopped and saw her fingering the book on the table. I guess my decision's made for me, he thought dismally.  "Um...well, I got that for you."  He felt his face warming.

She looked up at him in sharp surprise.  He had gotten her a book?  That was certainly unexpected.  She smiled tentatively, sensing the sudden increase in awkwardness that permeated the air around Han.

Han crossed his arms over his chest, looking around the hold, everywhere but at Leia.  "I just...saw it, and...well, it made me think of you.  So I got it for you."  Did he sound as stupid to her as he did to himself?

She picked up the book gingerly, almost lovingly.  She fingered the cover, tracing the title with a fingertip:  The Heart Of Alderaan.  The old, familiar pain surfaced, competing with the pounding of her heart that was caused by Han's presence.

Han watched her, his heart churning. ��She opened the cover carefully and turned to the first page.

Han cleared his throat.  "There was one poem..."  He grimaced at the sound of his own voice in the quiet of the ship, shrugging sheepishly.  "I thought it was pretty good. I marked it.  It really reminded me of you."

Leia glanced up at him for a moment before flipping carefully through the pages until she came to the one Han had marked.  Lead Me Back To You.  Warmth washed over her, and in a voice choked with emotion, Leia read the poem aloud.

"Blind and running, not knowing to where

Burning sorrow, from what isn't there

Eyes could not see, you were there for me."

Leia's voice faltered a moment, the words he had so carefully chosen cutting her deeply.  "Despair held reign, keeping me empty.

"Through the dark haze, your light strong and true

Ever shining, leads me back to you

Starlight so bright, a beacon in black

Filling my soul, completing my lack

"Worlds fall afar, hearts cry out breaking

Desperate need, my arms are aching

Moments are lost, lifetime spent running

Lovers are hurt, even the cunning

"Love and beauty, you brought to my life

Soothing comfort, an end to the strife

Further I fall, deep in your embrace

Hearts breathe in time, tears fall from your face."

Tears gathered, blurring the words.  She looked at him, speechless.  This was the most wonderful gift she had ever received.  Just knowing he had thought of her, as she had thought of him, almost continually, filled her with joy.

He stared back, his own expression grave.  "It's probably not the best poem you've ever seen," he began.  "But--"

"It's beautiful," she whispered.  "Thank you."

They stared at each other for a long, emotionally charged moment.  Han wanted to take her in his arms, but felt oddly unable to move.

She offered him a teary smile of encouragement and it was all he needed.

"C'mere," he whispered roughly, reaching out a hand toward her.

With a small sigh, Leia took his hand in hers and stepped close,  her eyes never leaving his,  feeling the unique way his life force called to her.  She wrapped herself up in it, drank it in with her senses.

With an almost inaudible whimper, Han's arms were suddenly around her, clutching her to him convulsively.  His breath near her ear was harsh as he whispered, "I missed you, Leia.  Gods, I missed you."

A waterfall of tearful emotion washed through her.  She held him more tightly and returned the whisper.  "I missed you, too.  Every moment.  Even when you  were at home."

Her words stabbed at his heart, but he understood her need to say them.  Eyes closed, threatening to overflow, Han breathed reverently, "I'm sorry.  I'm so, so sorry."

She pulled back just enough to look at his closed eyes.  She thought she could almost see a trembling to his chin, but was not quite sure in the dim lighting.  "I understand," she said, meaning it.

And he realized she did.  Because she knew him so well, better than he even knew himself.  He opened his eyes and brought up a hand to remove the white scarf from her head.

Her hand flew up protectively. "Han--"

"Shhh..."  He removed her hand, then followed suit with the scarf, dropping it to the deck.  He ran a  hand along her scalp, humbled by the gesture she had made for a few simple minutes with him.  He could barely  release the heartfelt words that bubbled to his lips.  "I don't deserve you.  I never have,"  he breathed.  

She shook her head slowly, eyes filling with bright tears.  "Just kiss me, you nerfherder,"  she said around the tightness in her throat.

His mouth bent to hers, kissing her with all the loneliness, loss and desperation he had felt for so long.  His arms held her tightly once more and he lifted her to dangle above the floor.

It was like coming home, for both of them.  Almost forgotten passion mingled with the joy of rediscovering each other, to carry them away to a haven where nothing else mattered, at least for a little while.

He swung her more fully into his arms, cradling her lovingly.  As he carried her to their cabin---their cabin,  he thought with a soft squeeze to his heart--- he was almost moved to tears by the gentle touch of her hands surrounding his face.

They reached the cabin and he placed her in the center of the bed, staring into her eyes for long, grateful moments.  Then they kissed again, softly, deeply, burrowing into each others' souls, erasing the pain and sorrow and replacing it with understanding and trust.

Their clothes were lost hurriedly, and when they were bared to each other, physically and emotionally, all else was forgotten.  Their mouths sought comfort, their caresses sought solace.  Forgiveness was understood, love granted unconditionally.

Too moved for words, they comprehended each other perfectly without them, sharing thoughts on a level of intimacy that left them both weak.

Crying out in a release that was as much emotional as it was physical, they clung to each other, trembling together, soaring on waves of passionate eternity.

Breath calming, Han held Leia in a gripping embrace, wanting to never let go.  He was overwhelmed by his feelings for her, in a humbling way he knew not how to express.  It permeated his soul, turning him inside out.  The past year had taken a toll on him, and now those feelings surfaced in the most profound way, filling him up, overflowing from within  him.  He was unable to contain them, and felt the tears choking his throat, unstoppable now.

Leia sensed the deep emotion in her husband and reached out through the Force to touch his soul.  When the first sob wrenched from his throat,  Leia held him close, stroking the damp hair at the back of his neck with excruciatingly comforting fingers, feeling his tears trickle a damp trail down her neck.  She reached out to him spiritually, felt him grip her mental touch almost reflexively, as if he did so without even realizing it.  She stroked his mind, doing her best to comfort him in every way she knew how.

He cried as he hadn't been able to since Chewie's death.  Not just tears now, but huge bursts of grief that emanated from his chest, obscuring everything but the soothing embrace of his wife.  He allowed her, finally, to hold him, to share his sorrow, to see just how much the past year had affected him.  He sobbed until he was too weak to continue, finally, blissfully, falling into a deep,  exhausted slumber, the first of such in a long, long time.

Leia held him still, her aching heart at last peaceful in the knowledge that Han and she had made sense of themselves.  The simple act of sharing his pain was proof that he was healing. It might take a bit more time to make him whole again, but they could do it...

Together, they could do anything.

*******

Leia watched her husband lying on his side, facing her.  She was filled with relief and serenity.  She had dozed on and off for the past two hours, while Han remained  entrenched in sleep.  She snuggled close to him, her thirst for his nearness not easily quenched.  After all was said and done, they had found each other again,  both equally unable to sever the bond they had shared for so long.   Pride and arrogance set aside, there really was no reason for them not to be together.

Leia waded in the warmth of Han's sleeping thoughts, like a gentle current.  His mind hadn't been so calm, so at ease, since before Chewie's death.

She sighed at the thought of the big Wookiee, so prominent a part of their lives.   After all the loss she had suffered in her life, she was surprised at how hard Chewie's death had hit her.  Certainly, not as hard as it had hit Han, but hard nonetheless.

She pushed aside that pain as she felt Han's consciousness stirring.  She pulled herself closer to him,  the skin of his shoulders so blissfully warm under her palms.

Stretching his legs before wrapping them around hers, he let out a low breath as his eyes flickered open and his arms surrounded her.  She brought her face to his stubbly cheek, making a soft sound of contentment from deep within her.

They held each other for a long silence, until Han pulled back, a somber expression etched into his features.  He leaned into her and kissed her lingeringly, then looked into her eyes once more, his expression growing slowly sheepish.  "Sorry to fall asleep on you,"  he admitted, looking up at her with raised eyebrows, face tilted downward.

"That's okay," she whispered.  "It just feels so good to hold you again."

"Yeah."  Han swallowed against the sudden lump that rose to his throat.  "I know what you mean."   He leaned against the pillow, raising a hand to stroke the smooth skin of her shoulder, just above where the blanket fell over her.  Her arms felt so good around him, too good to be true. But it was true, thankfully.  Feeling mildly ashamed at his earlier display of emotion,  he watched his fingers caress her skin and forced himself to speak.  "And, uh...sorry  'bout losing it before, too.  I don't want you to think it was anything bad about you--"

"I know what it was," she said softly, understandingly.

He looked back at her, nodding, resisting the urge to ask her to explain it to him.  He felt better now, more in control, more like his old self.  As if he had purged himself of some parasitic demon that had been eating away at his soul.  He relaxed and pulled her down to rest against his chest, tenderly amused by her lack of hair.  He rubbed her head gently, grinning.  "I bet you can't wait till I shave mine, huh?"

She raised her head to look him in the eye.  Happiness bubbled within her at the familiar sight of his charming, lopsided smile.  "Well, we might as well match," she said with a smirk.

The amusement in his eyes slowly faded to reveal a deeper emotion, as his gaze roamed over well loved features that had only come to endear her more to him with the passage of time.  It didn't matter to him  if her gorgeous hair was gone, she still took his breath away.  "You're still so beautiful,  Princess," he whispered.  He smiled wistfully.  "Too beautiful for an old pirate like me."

She laid her palm across his cheek, an unnerving thought creeping into her mind.  It was something she had thought of over the past few months, but had been afraid to truly acknowledge.  She forced a smile.  "You know you're still gorgeous," she said.  Her eyes fell from his to study the hair on his chest.  "I'm sure plenty of women told you so in your recent travels," she added quietly, unable to do more than imply her concerns.

His fingers lifted her chin, firm but gentle.  "Hey,"  he said fiercely.  "There was no one else."

She gazed into his eyes with hopeful uncertainty.

His lips pressed together before he spoke again.  "I swear it.  No one."

Their eyes held for a long, searching moment, and Leia didn't need to touch him through the Force to know he was sincere.  She kissed him softly on the lips before returning her head to rest on his chest.

They lay quietly for a time, while Han tried to think of a way to tell her all that she meant to him.  He had caused her so much pain,  forced her to put up with far more than she should have had to.  "Leia...,"  he began tentatively.  "I don't want you to think I ever stopped loving you--"

Her head rose quickly, meeting his eyes with her own.  "I never thought that.  I know you too well," she said softly.

He bit the inside of his cheek, eyes at her chin.  "Yeah, well..."  After a brief pause, he continued.  "The things I said to you, when I was drinking...I didn't mean them, not any of them."

"I know."

He sighed in a rush of defeated breath.  He closed his eyes and tried to force the words that did not come naturally to him.  "I just couldn't...I couldn't--"

"Shhh."  Leia placed a finger to his lips, stilling the awkward sentiment.  "Don't," she whispered, voice vehement.  "You don't need to explain anything." His lips moved beneath her finger,  his voice heavily laden with pain.  "I hurt you, Leia, everything I did this past year--"

Her lips replaced her fingertip, kissing him softly.  After a brief hesitation, he kissed her back.  When she broke away from his lips, she gazed at him with large, soulful eyes.  "Your fault, my fault...it doesn't matter.  Not now."

Han's brow furrowed.  "My fault.  It does matter."

She shook her head, smiling gently.  "No.  It doesn't."

He stared at her, eyes softly dubious, lips parting as if to say something else.  Then his mouth firmed into a thin line and he leaned up to enfold her in his arms.  He spun her to her back, holding her to him in a powerful embrace.  "I was selfish," he whispered into her neck.

She stroked his hair, thinking of how she would miss its softness.  "You were hurting, you couldn't help it."

He held her more tightly, felt her heart beating a steady rhythm with his.  "That's no excuse."

Gently, she pulled away from him, looking into his eyes with a grim expression.   She didn't want him beating himself up over this.  There was no point to it.  "Han, sometimes circumstances happen.  And we can't help how we react to them.  We cope the best way we know how."

Alderaan, he thought.  It should have broken her, but it hadn't.  Her inner strength was too tenacious.   He always knew she was stronger than he was.  Where he had crumpled, she had only grown stronger.  In the early years, once they had gotten past the nasty taunts and sarcasm, her strength had probably been what he admired most about her.  He nodded to her finally, unable to argue when she would not allow it.  He would carry this guilt for a long time, regardless of her lack of blame.  He almost wished she would tell him off, give him what he knew he so justly deserved.

Leia watched Han's features settle into resignation, then something resembling tender disbelief.

He shook his head very slowly. "How is it that you still love me so?"

She smiled, equally tender.  "How could I possibly stop?"  She asked softly, eyes wide and sincere.

He grimaced slightly, feeling so undeserving of her love and trust.  "I love you, Leia."   The words were barely a whisper.

Even if Leia hadn't been able to bask in the beauty of Han's emotions flowing freely through the energy of the Force, the look in his eyes would be enough.  She kissed him with a fervent passion that they hadn't known since their younger years, and they surrendered to the growing need to drown themselves in the intimacy each had existed without for far too long.  Their bodies moved  together in a timeless rhythm, strengthening their hearts and fortifying their souls.

All around them, oblivion slowly faded.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

What's your opinion on Qui-Gon Jinn?

Oh boy, do I have a *complex* relationship with Qui-Gon Jinn. 

This isn't going to be a rigorous meta, more like a personal rambling, because @gffa already did a great job analysing his character and I don't want too spend to long on this. 

So upon first watching the prequels - a mere four and a half years ago - I absolutely adored his relationship with Obi-Wan, because father-son dynamics were what spoke to me most. I read about a billion fics with them as main characters, even though I hadn't read the JA books. I also wasn't too knowledgeable on what was canon and what wasn't at the time. I wasn't that into the Jedi as a whole at the time, just into specific individuals. I thought the Order was neat but that Qui-Gon was cool as a maverick. I wanted to excuse every single mistake he made because I just hated to see his bond with Obi-Wan compromised in any way, and I didn't yet have the maturity to understand and accept that flaws don't make a character less worthy of love or that fights are normal even in a healthy, strong family. 

Then I discovered TCW and Ao3, when I used to read only on FF, and both completely changed my way of relating to Star Wars, shifting my focus to the Clone Wars era. Later I dropped from the fandom for a year and a half, and I came back clearer on what content I was willing to engage with and what I didn't like. 

So, what do I think of Qui-Gon now? Well first, I dumped all my knowledge of JA into the trash because I do not vibe with these books at all (except for a few really, really good fics). So I don't think Lucas' Qui-Gon was abusive, that he ruined Obi-Wan's mental stability because of The Trauma, that everything bad in SW indirectly happened because of Xanatos-related shenanigans. That's not the lenses I see TPM through. I'm also not too keen on engaging with the Disney EU, because while it does try way harder to stick to Lucas' worldbuilding and it is overall less contradictory and closer to my understanding of the Prequels, it also has a lot of stuff I really, really don't think are true to the original intent for the characters (cue the re-canonization of Siri Tachi and Obi-Wan feeling Sinful™ for *gasp* wanting to hold a girl's hand *gasp* uuuugh). 

So I tend to try and understand Qui-Gon purely from his TPM and TCW appearances. I think he was stubborn, a bit judgmental, sometimes impatient, I think he rushed into things too much - more than he cared to admit - and I think he was a very good man. 

Stubborn, well - it's kinda obvious. He's kinda bull-headed and Obi-Wan calls him out on that when he asks that please, they do things the Council's way this time. 

Judgmental... Welp. He's very quick to dismiss Jar Jar (who, I'll readily admit, is absolutely INSUFFERABLE in TPM - but he's so sweet in TCW that I can't help liking him) and his interactions with the Council kinda feel like him riding a moral high horse he really has no business being on. Like the "you must see it," bit. 

My dude, you just dumped an admittedly powerful but completely untrained kid onto their laps, told them he had no father - something that you didn't even verify and can't prove, and that isn't even that significant in a world where cloning exists - and told them they HAD to accept he was the mystical incarnation of the entity they've pledged their lives to because of some prophecy half of them don't believe in and the other half don't care that much about. 

The fact that he was right in no way invalidates that the Council questioning the whole Chosen One thing for about three minutes was perfectly rational. 

About the impatience and the rushing, well... That's kinda what he does throughout TPM. He keeps forcing the issue and strong-arming fate - when cheating to free Anakin on Tatooine, with the Council, when he renounces Obi-Wan immediately instead of maybe waiting a bit to try and work something out (like idk, asking another maverick Master to take Anakin?), and finally with his dying wish. 

While taking action is not a bad thing, sometimes you need to slow down to be level-headed, which I think is why the Council dug their heels in so much with him when we see them go along with all sorts of insanity on Obi-Wan's part. 

I think he was wrong to dismiss Anakin's attachment to his mother (a very real problem and the root of many of Anakin's issue according to George Lucas, so the Council were *right* to be wary) as inconsequential in the face of his possible prophetic status. 

I don't think he would have done a "better job" training Anakin than Obi-Wan did.  

I also think he was a genuinely good, caring man. He loved Yoda very much - and the TCW bits between them really get me - and the other Jedi loved him too. (Like when Jocasta tells Obi-Wan how great Dooku was in the AotC deleted scene and she cheerfully talks about how alike he and Qui-Gon were.) They respected and valued his input - as evidenced by the fact that the Council sent him on important missions and didn't immediately pull him out of the field when he came back claiming he had fought a living fossil and found Jesus. He was patient and caring with Anakin at least, and he managed to attain immortality, which requires an immense mental and spiritual fortitude from what we see of Yoda's own trials. He was the kind of man who spent a year on the run with two sassy teenagers in love and managed to stay sane. 

All in all, I like him. He's not my favorite Jedi, he's not my favorite character, but he's a good guy. Seeing how amazing of a person Obi-Wan turned out to be, he was a good Master. 

I don't see him as "everything the Jedi should have been" or "the Greatest Jedi Ever" or an abusive blind asshole who had no business teaching kids ever. He did what he liked, he liked what he did, was a bit of a prick sometimes, super kind and gentle other times, and all in all he's a very interesting, well-rounded character with lots of contradictions.

[leapyearkisses]

Consequences - (m, m/m preslash) Oneshot

Reupload. My brief attempt at writing an action thriller. Imagine if it were possible to buy a pill to make you sick. Then imagine you tried to use that pill to avoid the monumental consequences of your greed-motivated actions.

Probably a bit nsfw, mess, crimes against the environment, bastard men, capitalism, tw alcoholism

---

Murashiki Aritomo lifted the small white pill and examined it with a critical eye.  It looked no different than an aspirin or a breath mint, so innocuous as to be almost unbelievable.  But he was running out of options.  There wasn’t a lot of time to arrange anything different, and he wasn’t sure now whether there was any other course of action that wouldn’t land him in prison.  “This pill will make me sick?”

“It will, I can promise you that.”  The drug’s purveyor, Paul Gascoigne, had been Murashiki’s classmate in undergrad, although while Murashiki had gone into developmental chemistry, Gascoigne had pursued medicine.  Or at least pharmacology.  He looked the part now, dressed in a bespoke black suit and a white lab coat for effect, although his bright ginger hair brought a touch of life to the somber outfit.  “Flu symptoms for a week, starting about six hours after taking it.”  He shook the unlabeled bottle in his hand.  “If you double up, the symptoms get worse and last longer.  I’ll even give you a discount.”

Murashiki eyed the bottle, then shook his head.  “No, I only need to be unavailable for the length of the Summit.”

Gascoigne smiled in a manner befitting a fox.  “Yes, I’d heard on the DL there was some nasty business with the LiveBetter plastics.  Are you seeking new employment opportunities?”

Murashiki produced his wallet.  “I’ll give you an extra €50 to stop asking me questions.”

“Deal.” Gascoigne slipped the bottle back into an inner pocket and got up from where he’d been leaning against the wall.  He held out a hand for the money and didn’t make a secret of counting it before secreting that away as well.  “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said.  “While I have your attention, may I just say that my doors are always open if you’d like to seek out other opportunities as well.”

“I’m married,” snapped Murashiki, automatically running his thumb over the place where his wedding band used to be.

“Ah, young love,” Gascoigne said, mocking.  “You know, she’s a decade gone to Monaco, or Dubai, or wherever it is these days where they pay for high-class whor-”

“Get out.”

Gascoigne spread his hands, conciliatory.  “On my way.”  He turned on his heel and left the office, letting the glass-fronted door swing shut behind him.  Murashiki glared at his retreating back until it was gone, then glared at the door itself.  White frosted writing identified his sins.

Aritomo Murashiki, Ph.D.  Senior Project Lead, LiveBetter Development Group

He’d shredded all of his files already, but he checked the desk once more to be sure.  Everything he wanted to keep he’d put into a slim silver suitcase.  He wouldn’t be coming back here, God willing. The pill sat on top of his desk.  He swallowed it with a mouthful of whiskey from the decanter underneath.  With luck, he could make his excuses the next morning to the relevant people and be on his way out of the country by evening.

---

Murashiki reached his room at the Holiday Inn just past midnight.  He put his suitcase by the door and stripped to his shirtsleeves and boxer-briefs before going into the bathroom to splash some water on his face.  He’d always been one to keep up appearances for the investors, but after all the late night as alcohol he was starting to look wan.  He rubbed his eyes, pushing up his glasses.  He hadn’t expected that, at 37, his life would be self-destructing in such a public manner.  As soon as the environmental compliance reports were brought up in front of the EU, the company would throw him under the bus and that would be that.

Not that he didn’t deserve it.  He drew away from the mirror and back into the darkened bedroom.  He’d been present for almost every step of the process.  His initial warnings had fallen on deaf ears, and then... well, the money had been too good.

“Lead me not into temptation,” he mumbled, laying down on the bed closest to the exit.  Maybe he should have stuck with the whole religion thing after Satine had left, but he hadn’t been too fond of faith in the months after.  He touched his ring finger again.  He knew he was a fool.  Gascoigne was right, if insufferable.  He closed his eyes.  Unbidden, the man’s face came to him.  Always looking sly and fit, he’d cut a dashing figure in college, too.  They’d made out once, twice... Murashiki had already been married then, but a little bit of beer and bisexual guilt had motivated a slip here and there.  He’d never felt like he was “settling” for Satine - in fact, he’d loved her quite dearly - but he’d always been afraid of missing out.

He set an alarm for 5 AM.  That would give him enough time to contact the VP.  Hopefully by then the pill would have kicked in so it didn’t seem like he was shirking.  Of course, everyone would know why he wasn’t there soon enough, but he’d have a head start.  He felt fine at the moment, if stressed.  It had been four hours.

For the price he’d paid, Gascoigne had better not have ripped him off.

------

Five o’clock came too quickly.  Murasaki groped for his phone on the bedside table, slapping at it uncoordinatedly to turn off the alarm.  The room was still pitch black.  He groaned.

The doctor hadn’t been playing him; he felt awful.  His head was heavy and his limbs ached dully - perhaps he was already running a fever?  His mouth was dry, and when he tried to moisten it he realized why: he couldn’t breathe through his nose at all.  Rubbing it produced no relief, just an irritating shift of congestion in his sinus that led to sharp gasp and a rushed sneeze.

“Hahkyusht!”  He caught it against his wrist, and the next two in his palms.  “Hhkyuschtt!  Hgkktschkt!”  Head throbbing, he wiped saliva and snot on the sheets and got out of bed.  He’d seen a tissue box on the toilet tank last night and was in great need of it.

The fluorescent overhead light set him cursing when he flicked it on.  It felt like high beams stabbing him in the face after a particularly intemperate night of drinking.  He shielded his eyes with one arm and grabbed a handful of tissues to crush against his nose.  He was going to sneeze again.  He could feel an itch clawing deep inside his left nostril.  He squinted against it, trying to take shallow breaths, but it didn’t help.  “Hahgktsciutsz!”

The tissues were a mess already, but he tried to blow his nose.  That lead to coughing, too, and he found himself leaning over the sink, trying to get his bearings.  “The fuck did you put in that pill?” he growled to himself.  Surely not a live virus?  The consequences would be staggering.  And not just because he felt himself a little dizzy and unsteady on his feet.  It would be easy to transport pills across borders, easy to disguise them as something harmless - they already looked it.  Influenza was already one of the most deadly of epidemics.  What if Gascoigne could take TB, rabies, ebola and weaponize it marketed as aspirin or loperamide??

In the mirror, his gray eyes were wide and Murasaki could see even without his glasses that he was sweating.  He shivered.  Right.  Things were getting out of hand.  He was just feverish and letting his tension take over.

He took the tissues back into the room with him and returned to the bed.  He just had to make a few calls and then get out.  Everything would be fine.  He could make flight arrangements in the taxi and then be on his way back to Japan faster than you could say “non-extradition country.”  

It was 5:12.  The VP picked up on the third ring.  “Dr. Murasaki?” she asked, sounding like she hadn’t had her coffee yet.  “What is it?”

“Good morning, ma’am.”  He didn’t have to force the coughing that followed.  “I realize it’s terrible timing...”

“You sound awful.”  

He coughed again in agreement.  “I feel awful.  I’m nih- not sure I’ll make it to the convention center.”  He pinched his nose, at least until he could feel the sneeze cresting.  Then he let it out, not too far from his phone’s microphone.   “Hahkgtschgt!”  Mess painted his lips and he struggled to breathe past it for a moment.

“Santé!” She was too polite to sound appalled, but she was quick to dismiss him.  “We’ll miss you at the luncheon and awards ceremony.” 

“Oh, I don’t mind,” he said, through more tissues.  “The team is just as deserving of recognition for this as I am.”

“Yes, of course.  I will pass on news of your absence to the event coordinators.”  In the end, it didn’t really matter to her whether the scientists behind the company’s products were there or not, just that the presentation was made on time and the right people (her) made the right headlines.  Someone would make sure the info made it to the European stage.  And that someone would not be Murasaki.  He didn’t envy whoever was left with the data.  He didn’t even know if anyone else who was going knew exactly what they meant.  But the audience would.

He was free, though, for now.  He thanked her and hung up, then let the phone fall from his hand to the pillows.  “Hah... haah-”  If he could leave off sneezing for twenty minutes, he would be golden.  His nostrils flared, and he fumbled for more tissues as the right started running, worsening the irritation to an unbearable degree.  “Hakgschtgnx!  Nktscgshx!”  His ears rang and he dropped to lay back on the bed.  He hadn’t felt this bad since back in college, junior finals week, when he’d stayed up for four days and then been bedridden for just as long.  His nose felt raw already.  Even his eye sockets hurt.  He lay his arm back over his face, enjoying how cool it felt on his forehead.

He would just close his eyes for a minute.  For one minute, he would try to will away the pain and heat.

------

“HEY!”

Murasaki startled awake to the sound of fists raining down against the door.  He tried to kick out at an assailant, caught the sheet, and struggled until he found himself on the floor.  Threadbare carpeting pressed into his cheek and he tried desperately to remember where he was.  Not the office.  Not his apartment in Montmartre.  He forced himself to sit up and had to lean against the bed to stay upright.

He was in a hotel, he finally remembered. He was staying here before he left the city.  Just a few phone calls to make- no, he’d called the VP.  The room was awash in the orange light of fading afternoon.  His stomach twisted.  That wasn’t right.

The pounding hadn’t stopped, but by the time Murasaki thought he might be able to address it, whoever was outside had forced their way in.  He expected a horde of angry journalists, armed with cameras and microphones like on TV, but it was only one man.  Gascoigne, he thought.  It took him a moment to place the man without his glasses, but that hair...

“What are you doing?!” Gascoigne practically shouted.  He shoved the door closed again and used Murasaki’s suitcase to keep it from swinging.  “You’re still in Paris?  There’s an uproar!  They were showing parts of the Summit live, you know.”  He grabbed Murasaki’s elbow and yanked him to his feet.  “I wasn’t sure whether Le Monde or Greenpeace would get you first, but it’s much worse than that.”  No lab coat today, Murasaki noted distractedly.  Jeans and a bomber jacket.  Did black-market doctors get weekends?

He tried to free his arm and failed.

“I can’t believe you’re still here,” Gascoigne was saying still.  He shook the smaller man.  “Idiot.  Did you hear what I said?  The Russian mafia put out a hit on you!  Hey!”  He grabbed Murasaki by the nape.  “They found out LiveBetter is behind the collapse of their fishing interests in the Black Sea.  This is all over the deep web.  Hey.”  He shook Murasaki again.  “What’s wrong with you??”

Murasaki pressed his hand against Gascoigne’s chest, tried to push away from him.  “You,” he said.  “You poisoned me, or s- somethih- Hahktsch! Haktschngx!”

“Christ.”  Gascoigne let him go.  

Murasaki lifted his hands.  “Hgkttschzx!  You... what is this?  I’m burning up.” He was shivering, too.  He felt sick and dizzy.  “I must have passed out.”

“Yeah, you look like shit,” said Gascoigne.  He shrugged at Murasaki’s glare.  “What?  Sometimes it hits harder for people if they haven’t taken it before.  S’not exactly FDA approved.”

Murasaki collected more tissues and blew his nose.  “How did you find me?”  This was not good.  He’d be stopped at the airport, probably.  The mafia had connections all over Europe.

“Your phone.”  Gascoigne had picked it up off the pillow.  “You have... sixty missed calls and messages.  Wow.”  He dropped the device unceremoniously behind the bed.  “We’re leaving that here.  Get dressed.”

“‘We’?” Murasaki tossed the tissues to the carpet and started trying to button his shirt.  His pants were where he’d left them, and he picked them up, leaning against the wall dizzily as he tried to get them on one leg and then the other.

Gascoigne moved the blinds aside and took stock of the street outside.  “Yes, ‘we.’  I didn’t come after you for my own health.  Get going.  Where are your shoes?”

The two of them, led by Gascoigne, left out the back stairwell.  Gascoigne had parked an unassuming tan Renault at the sidewalk and he pushed Murasaki into the passenger seat before taking the wheel and driving out of the courtyard.  After only minutes, the car blended seamlessly in with the local traffic.  “We’ll head to Germany for now.  I’m sure the mafia has people at Charles de Gaulle.   When we get a chance, maybe Brazil?”  He was driving admirably despite the pressure he’d put himself under.  Not drawing the attention of anyone.

It didn’t occur to Murasaki, with how terrible he was feeling, to ask why Gascoigne had actually come for him until they were close to the border.  “I mean, you didn’t have to get involved,” he said.  “No one would have connected our names.”  He was looking up at Gascoigne’s face from under his bangs.  The car window was nicely cold against his temple.

Gascoigne glanced over to him and rolled his eyes.  “You’re an idiot.”

There was a silence.  Murasaki coughed.  “Is that it??”

Gascoigne didn’t meet his gaze, focusing on the highway ahead.  “You didn’t think I was just hitting on you to piss you off, did you?”

Murasaki frowned, then looked away.  “Oh.”

“You don’t have to answer me,” Gascoigne said, voice carefully neutral.  “I’m doing this because I want to.”  He reached down and turned on the radio.  The point was clear: no discussion was to be had at this time.

Murasaki stared out at the passing countryside and tried to get a handle on the mix of emotions churning inside him.  Fear, gratitude, helplessness, lust... he couldn’t think through the fever and eventually gave in to a numbing haze.  With luck, he would live long enough to figure out what he wanted a day, a week, a month from now.

Gascoigne kept driving.

[absynthe--minded]

People hate Russingon because it’s ubiquitous and overshadows all other content with either of them.

So I sat on this for a while, because I wanted to think about it, and to consider whether or not I agreed with it. I don’t want to dismiss frustration with something’s ubiquity as homophobia or sexism or something it isn’t. And, having sat on it for a while? I’m unconvinced that “popularity” is a valid reason to publicly talk about why you hate something, at least in a way that aligns you with homophobes, unless those discussions are untagged or privately tagged to keep them out of public spaces.

I dabble in other fandoms sometimes, though I’ll never be as passionate about anything else as I will about Tolkien (and I don’t have scholarly inclinations for any other nerd property, either) and I know what it’s like to like something that isn’t popular - I’m a Bail Organa/Breha Organa shipper, and my interest in Star Wars is reserved pretty exclusively for House Organa, and I don’t ship Bail with Obi-Wan even as part of a throuple/triad with Breha. I’m left with like sixty fics on AO3 that are about their relationship, handfuls of dialogue in now-noncanonical EU books, and a smattering of graphics and fanworks. When you add to that the fact that I can’t stand the new canon for Alderaan as introduced in Leia, Princess of Alderaan? I completely understand hating something because it’s ubiquitous. I get it. I’m actively resentful of Disney Wars for what it did, which was kill a lot of my interest in a franchise I really liked.

But I don’t publicly talk about that. I don’t harass Bail/Obi-Wan shippers, or talk about how Bail/Obi-Wan is everywhere so I can’t find content I like. I don’t make sweeping statements about how Bail Organa Is Not Gay (I mean, he’s not, he’s bisexual, but that’s beside the point) or how Obi-Wan and Bail make such good friends and how can people ship them?! I also don’t post on my blog about how I’m dying for good fic recs that don’t include gay content or include Bail/Obi-Wan.

That’s rude, and it’s also putting me in a position where I could really offend somebody, and if I did any of that I stop being justified in my feelings and I become an asshole. If people are frustrated by Russingon’s ubiquity, Tumblr’s native tag filtering and xKit blacklist and the block button are easy solutions, I think? It’s a big reason why I tag all my reblogs and original posts with ‘Russingon’ and I’m up-front in my blog description about what I ship - if people don’t want to see it, I support them filtering that out, you know? (And if you’ll notice, a lot of the “I don’t ship it but - ” arguments are basically indistinguishable from the “I’m a homophobe” arguments, which is also frustrating. I’ve got no real way of knowing how somebody actually feels, and in many cases the public claim is that it’s not about homophobia but the argument itself hits all the same beats.)

Also if I’m being honest I’m not quite sure what’s being overshadowed by Russingon, unless the complaint is that there’s just not gen content for those characters in general, and even then I’m ??? Plenty of art is either ambiguous in whether it’s platonic or romantic, and solo pieces of either Finno or Mai are pretty common too, and there’s lots of Finwëan family art that focuses on other kinds of relationships and ties. There’s decent amounts of genfic about the Silm characters (and I LOVE genfic and I’m really excited that we have projects like @tolkiengenweek that are solely gen-focused), or fic that prioritizes other plots and elements besides their romantic relationship, or fic that presents their romance as part of a larger story with other characters that matter.

And ultimately even genfic is going to have to be on some level about their deep bond, even if it’s not romantic? That’s the defining piece of a lot of their characterization. They’re ridiculously important to one another, even if the reader interprets that as friendship rather than romance, and any genfic that doesn’t include that, or that presents them as something else than The Most Important Person In Each Other’s Lives? It’s just gonna feel inauthentic, at least to me. If there’s good non-romantic out there, I’ll read it, as long as it preserves their relationship on some level.

If there’s evidence of Russingon shippers harassing non-shippers, or shit-talking their content, or telling people to write romance instead, please tell me, because I do want to speak out against that if it’s happening. Ship and let ship is a good mantra to live by no matter what and it’s not cool to start ship wars.