#which gives her room for something other than said Jedi Baggage

[pinkfey]

imagining ilya cradling kinasi’s dying body and sobbing. delicious.

[queen-scribbles]

Curiosity Killed the Reek-Cat

...but satisfaction brought it back. 

Have roughly 3k of Brykar ft. Bry backstory. :)

---

It would come as a surprise to most people, but it was actually possible to get bored on Carrick Station. If you gave it enough time, or had no use for some--most--of the services on offer.

Both of which were currently true for Jonas Balkar. An unconventional extraction had left him stuck there until Trant could arrange acceptable transportation back to Coruscant. Jonas almost asked why he couldn’t just figure something out for himself, but there had already been a few clue this assignment was a bigger deal than it looked on the surface. So he nodded, and agreed to wait for whatever his boss considered “acceptable” transportation.

It was taking long enough he was most definitely starting to get bored. It might’ve helped if he was free to move between the ships--particularly the Gav Daragon; there was a whole museum there(granted, Jonas would likely be more interested in the people visiting the museum than the museum itself)--but Trant had told him to stay on the main station. None of the levels had anything particularly exciting aside from the cantina, and some were even closed off to non-essential personnel. 

Nine hours into waiting, Jonas got bored enough to take that restriction as a challenge. Slicing may not be one of his strengths, but charm was. Between that and his ability to appear unassuming and nondescript(”Not with those cheekbones,” Bry would tease if she were here. Of course, if she were here, he probably wouldn’t be bored in the first place), he found himself on the mission departure deck fairly easily.

Truth be told, he hadn’t really planned what he’d do when (if) he succeeded, so it was almost a relief when he caught a glimpse of a familiar red jacket in one of the ops coordination rooms; it gave him something to investigate. Even if it made him do a double-take. Thought Shan was on Corellia...

Clearly, he’d thought wrong. As he edged closer to the room it was very obvious one of the figures--the pacing one, of course--was Theron. The other, a soldier, from his armor, was bent over the holotable in the center of the room, studying the pale blue clusters of shuttles it projected. Both looked very intent and eager. Whatever they were overseeing, it must’ve been a big deal.

Curious as boredom had made him, Jonas knew better than to be caught snooping on something that had SIS and the military both salivating like a hungry nexu. He’d started to slowly make his way back toward the elevator when the soldier’s voice growled out and he froze in his tracks.

“Alright, Nerai, your turn for insertion, he said gruffly. “Be ready for a fight.”

Jonas’ brow furrowed. Bry’s already on an assignment, how’d they get her-

“Understood, Colonel.” That was not Bry’s voice over the comm in response. It was softer, mellifluous and gentle. “I am ready to defend myself, but hope to avoid undue violence.”

“Nerai, you are in their heart,” the colonel growled back. “All violence is due violence. You do what it takes to achieve the objective.”

Her image flickered on the holo and Jonas barely bit back an audible grunt of surprise as he eavesdropped. Definitely not Bry. Longer hair, different tattoos, but there was something familiar about her eyes and the curve of her jaw.

“I will not shirk from defending myself, Colonel,” she replied, poised in the face of his bristling. “Nor fail to complete what I promised. But neither will I go out of my way to inflict harm. That is not how I do things.”

“This is no time for Jedi morality-” the colonel started to snarl, but Theron held up a hand.

“Darok, she needs to concentrate if we want this to be a success,” he cut the other man off. His gaze drifted toward the doorway before he looked up at the holo. “Good luck, Master Jedi.”

She smiled--”Thank you, Agent Shan”--and her image flickered and faded.

Remembering his intention, Jonas turned and made for the elevator.at what he hoped was an inconspicuous pace. The hand that settled on his shoulder before he was halfway to his goal said it wasn’t. 

“What are you doing here?” Theron hissed even as he tugged Jonas off to the side so they wouldn’t be visible from the ops room.

“Just passing through,” Jonas replied with an innocent shrug. “Waiting for a ride.”

Theron arched a brow skeptically. “What, the shuttles running every hour on the hour not good enough for you?”

“For me, yeah.” Jonas shrugged again. “Not for our boss.”

He saw the three or four potential next sentences come to mind and be discarded in Theron’s eyes before he sighed and reiterated, “But what are you doing here? On this level?”

“Nothing. Wandering to stave off boredom. Even I can only stomach so long in the cantina before I need something else to do. Got curious what was on the other levels of this place.”

“Haven’t you ever heard that saying, goes something like ‘curiosity killed the reek-cat...?”

“But satisfaction brought it back,” Jonas countered, lips twitching in a smirk at the attached memory. He kept talking before Theron had a chance to growl at him again. “What’re you doing here? Aside from meeting pretty Jedi, I mean.” Who bear a startling resemblance to my fiancee.... “What’s the story there?”

If it was anyone else from their entire office, Jonas would’ve sworn Theron’s ears went just a little red at the insinuation. “Nothing you need to worry about,” he shot back, glancing toward the ops room. “She’s helping with our mission, which is classified, so you’re damn lucky I’m the one who spotted you, not Darok. Man’s jumpier than a Kowakian monkey lizard about this op. Might wanna make yourself scarce before he has you arrested for espionage or something.”

“My job, you mean?” Jonas deadpanned, but Theron didn’t so much as roll his eyes. This op must be a really big deal.

“I’m serious, Balkar.” Theron let go of his arm with a small shove toward the elevator. “Get lost before you get caught. And-”

“Keep my mouth shut, I know,” Jonas cut him off.��“I know how discretion works, Shan.” A really big deal.

Theron just nodded curtly, no smart remark in return, and headed back to the ops room.  Jonas did as he’d suggested and made his way back up to the main level of the station, now with much more to keep him busy until his ride got here.

                                                          ---

When the shuttle finally showed up, it was an uneventful ride back to Coruscant. Gave him a chance to start figuring out how to begin the conversation he was now very interested in having for Bry. Questions about hidden family members were tricky to broach, even if they were fueled by curiosity rather than hurt. He assumed. He’d never had to do this before.

He wound up with a couple more days to mull it over before Bry got back from her assignment, and no closer to an appropriately delicate opener to that conversation.

You could just leave it alone. If it was important, she’d have brought it up by now, his thoughts pointed out. Or snoop her records, find out without bothering her.

Neither of those sound like me, Jonas retorted. He was pretty close to just leaving it alone through sheer lack of a good way to start, though.

All the internal debate was rendered moot when Bry got back, flopped on his couch with her legs--as always--across his lap, and asked. “So, do anything fun while I was gone?”

Jonas laughed and ran one hand through his hair. “Funny you should ask...” He rubbed her shin as he gave her the sanitized version of how he’d wound up on Carrick Station and what lengths boredom and curiosity had driven him to, then hesitated, hand going still against her leg as he gambled. “Bry...any particular reason you’ve never mentioned having a sister?”

She stiffened ever so slightly. “B’cause there’s about half a frangin’ ton of baggage involved I didn’t wanna drop on you,” she said glibly after a long pause.

“Bry.” So that had been her sister. Not a cousin or some more distant relation.

She looked at him, let out a long sigh, and swung her legs down to sit up and sidle closer to him on the couch. “Alright. First off, it’s not any reason about you that kept me from sayin’ something. It’s not a trust issue or dirty secret or anything. I just... never mention her to anyone.”

It was clear from her expression and the way her gaze stayed fixed on their knees that this was a serious, difficult subject for her. Still he couldn’t help himself. “Why wouldn’t you mention a sister?”

Bry looked him dead in the eye. “Because it never felt like I had one.” His confusion must have shown, because she sighed again and briefly buried her face in her hands. “Okay, starting at the beginning.... You know I don’t really talk to my parents.”

It wasn’t a question, but Jonas still nodded. “Yeah.”He reached for her hand, relieved when she didn’t pull away. 

In fact, she seemed to appreciate the gesture. “Vica’s why. She’s four years older than me, was found to be Force-sensitive and taken in by the Jedi Order when she was three. My- our parents decided that given we never met, it made perfect sense to never tell me about her. Easier to pretend I was an only child than inevitably wind up explaining to a four year old why her big sister didn’t live at home and we couldn’t visit her.”

Jonas winced at the hurt and sarcasm under the words. For once he held his tongue and simply squeezed her hand in support.

“So they didn’t,” Bry continued, shooting him a faintly grateful smile. “Never breathed a word. Told me I was it, and they were happy that way. I was seventeen when I found the one memento they couldn’t bring themselves to give up--isn’t that how it always goes?--the first family holo from when Vica was born.” She gave a sharp laugh. “That’s what tipped me off; I came almost two weeks early. Dad was off-planet for work and missed my arrival. They’d told me the story a dozen times, so I knew that baby couldn’t be me. When I confronted them about it, they told me the truth easily enough. Said they did it to protect me. To keep me from feeling hurt I lost out on the sister I’d always pestered them for because the Jedi took her before I was born.” Bry pulled her hand free, ran both through her hair, and tipped her head back against the couch. “Stars, I need a drink.”

“Coming right up.” Jonas squeezed her knee as he pushed off the couch. It only took a minute to pour two whiskeys and return to sit next to her.

“Thanks. Bry slugged back half of the one he handed her in a single swallow, winced, and wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist.”This is a good one, sure you wanna waste it-”

“If you need a drink, it’s not a waste,” Jonas cut her off. “Especially since you need it ‘cause of me in the first place.”

She snorted, swirled the remaining liquor. “Always knew you’d drive me to drink,” she teased, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “Just didn’t figure it would be like this.” She sighed, ran her hand through her hair again, then leaned forward to brace her elbows against her knees.”Let’s get this over with..... So. Seventeen, just found out my parents had been hiding a Jedi big sister from me my whole damn life. I was pissed. Didn’t talk to them for weeks. Only reason I didn’t just leave is Sayna pleadin’ their case. That was part of why I joined the military soon as I graduated,” she admitted. “The recruiter had already been sweet-talking me an’ a couple other kids pretty hard. I might’ve done it anyway, but getting away from people who’d lied to me for near on two decades was the final nudge that made it too good a deal to pass up.”

“You ever talk to her?” Jonas asked, mimicking her posture.

Bry shook her head and snorted a bitter laugh. “Jedi aren’t allowed attachments like that, remember?”

I feel like I’ve had this conversation before... Jonas thought wryly. Theron was markedly less bitter about it than her--unless he was really drunk--but the general tone was familiar. “Right.”

She raised a brow at the no-frills reply. “You’re being awfully... taciturn. For you,” she commented, draining her glass. 

He shrugged and swapped her empty tumbler with the full one he held. “I don’t know enough to really comment, beyond saying that while I see where they were coming from, I absolutely disagree with how your parents handled things.”

Bry bumped her shoulder against his as thanks for round two and scoffed. “Oh, I see where they were coming from, too. I get it. I may wonder time to time if it was more for themselves--not having to explain or deal with the questions I would have asked, but I get it. Getting it doesn’t make it hurt any less that they lied to me for seventeen years, Jonas. Every time I asked why I didn’t have any siblings, every time I grumbled about being an only child.... They could have told me, and they didn’t, and that stings like hell.”

“I’ll bet,” he nodded.

Bry flashed an apologetic grimace as she sipped the second whiskey. “Sorry for ranting. I warned you it was a lot of baggage.”

“Eh, you’re entitled, I think.” Jonas rubbed her back.

She relaxed slightly and her grimace turned to a relieved, genuine smile. “And you’re sweet.” She raised one hand to curl around the side of his neck, just below his ear, back towards the nape, and pulled him in for a whiskey-flavored kiss.

“I signed up for the whole ride,” he murmured against her lips, “not just the smooth sailing. It not being official yet doesn’t make me mean it any less-”

Bry kissed him again and he chuckled as he obliged, leaning into it.

“You’re sweet,” she reiterated when they parted. She sat back and handed over the whiskey. “We can share.”

“Or I could get another, if I wasn’t being lazy,” he pointed out as he accepted the tumbler and took a sip. Bry chuckled softly, and they sat in comfortable silence for a handful of seconds, shoulders pressed together, before Jonas spoke again. “Not to keep digging at the wound, Bry, but did you ever try...?”

“Getting in touch despite knowing it;s a long shot?” Bry finished with an almost derisive snort. “Yeah. Once. Just before I went to Ord Mantell.” She slouched enough to put her feet up on the low table in front of the couch. “Got some clearly rehearsed apology that the individual I sought was off-planet and unavailable, but they could pass along a message. Didn’t bother; felt wrong for that to be how she learned I exist. After that... I dunno, I was busy. Lost my nerve, I guess. Or convinced myself it wasn’t that important we get to talk. At least enough to kill my curiosity.”

“Speaking of curiosity...” Jonas turned sideways on the couch, one foot still braced against the floor. “I’d like to apologize for mine making you dig up memories that hurt.”

Bry chuckled dryly and reached up to grab a handful of the front of his shirt. “Eh, you’re cute so I’ll forgive you.”

Jonas laughed and didn’t resist when she pulled him down for another kiss.  “One of my favorite sentences,” he teased.

“Dare I ask what the others are?” She arched a brow and maintained a loose grip on his shirt when he straightened.

“Drinks are on me for one. Hey there, handsome...” he grinned at the look on her face. “You asked.”

“Teach me to be curious...”

“There is one more recent addition,” he said with faux-innocence. “I love you.” He wrapped his hand around hers grasping his shirt, rubbed his thumb over the diamond and chevron tattoo on the back of one finger. “But only when exchanged with one very specific gorgeous blue-eyed badass who currently has her feet on my table.”

“What, that’s not why it’s there?” Bry said playfully, tugging on his shirt. “I love you, too. Even if you are a nosy bastard sometimes.”

“Can’t help it,” Jonas smirked, leaning down to kiss her again. “You’re just so fascinating I want to learn everything about you.”

“Charmer,” she laughed just before their lips met.

“Yep,” he replied, stealing another kiss before shifting to sit in a similar position to hers, though he didn’t put his feet on the table. “Thanks for satisfying my curiosity, gorgeous.”

Bry nodded. “Welcome, handsome. I prob’ly would have told you eventually, might as well be now.” She wriggled closer and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Now that that’s done”--she raised an inquiring brow and he nodded--”what should we do to relax?”

“Did you get to do anything fun while you were gone?” Jonas joked, balancing the whiskey on the arm of the couch.

“Freeze my ass off,” she said glibly. “Deal with stuff that got way more complicated than it should’ve.” 

“Doesn’t it always?”

“Heh, point. It’s behind me now, and I’d rather leave it there. Do something else.”

“Fair.” Jonas had a suspicion this most recent mission was not all she meant. “In that case...” He trailed his fingers lightly up the inside of her forearm and grinned when she bit her lip. “I might have a few suggestions...”

“By all means,” Bry matched his grin as her hand drifted toward the inside of his knee. “Satisfy my curiosity.”

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

It’s been my headcanon for a while that in the Nerai Sisters canon Vica’s The Outlander(TM), so she does all the Shadow of Revan etc stuff since she, y’know, romanced Theron and needs to interact with him. BUT since even the Barsen’thor of the Jedi Order can’t do EVERYTHING, while Vica was running the Assault on Korriban/reclaiming the Jedi Temple Bry was doing Ilum. 

Also: since Bry A) is not a jewelry person and B) can’t really wear it with her job, she gets a tattoo on the back of her left ring finger when she and Jonas get engaged, and then adds to i(a LOT; my girl is not subtle at all) when they actually get married. :D

[nofearofwaves]

Some Rise of Skywalker Thoughts

Everything is a spoiler, so click through at your own risk.

I left The Last Jedi with tears in my eyes. I cried in the bathroom at the theater. But they were good tears. Luke Skywalker’s death hit me hard, but his arc felt complete. It felt right. It felt like his death, like Vader’s, was a true redemption. It felt like it mattered.

Rise of Skywalker is not worthy of Luke’s death. Rise of Skywalker is a soulless bait-and-switch that gives us nothing Star Wars hasn’t given us before, when it was in the perfect position to give us redemption by life and living.

I will start with some positives. This is not going to be a complete review; I don’t know if I’ll ever care enough about RoS to actually review it.

Lando was fun, as, unlike some of the original cast, he wasn’t overbearing and he actually looked like he was having fun.

Leia’s stuff was more extensive than I thought it would be. It’s awkward because it’s franken-footage, but it does give her much-needed closure; more on that later.

Rey gets her own saber, at last. Of course, only right at the end and we don’t see her building it and it’s not a saberstaff, but it’s something.

Rey, Finn, and Poe share a lot of screen time, which is fun. Of course, it only drives home how little of that we’ve had in the trilogy thus far. TLJ’s major misstep for me was that it didn’t include enough of this found-family dynamic.

Some of Kylo Ren’s early dialogue is precisely the romantic, purply-prose stuff that I go for. Dark proposals and all. Good stuff.

Some of the alien worlds, designs, and prosthetics were cool. Unfortunately, there was also a heavier percentage of CGI stuff that was distracting, especially when juxtaposed with the overwhelming use of practical effects from earlier films.

Several of the fight scenes are good, though nothing can compare with the snowy woods fight and the throne room fight of previous movies. I have seen critics praising the visuals of this movie, but they were altogether too fast, enormous, and choppy for me.

Some of the comedic beats, especially including C-3PO, are legit funny.

And now, the shitshow.

Rey Palpatine. Dear God, why? I understand some people were disappointed by TLJ’s reveal of Rey Nobody, but I thought that was genius. Why does legacy matter? The Force belongs to everybody, as it should. Rey being powerful doesn’t matter; unlike Kylo, who is crushed by his legacy, she is freed by the lack of it.

I can’t even explain how cheesy this becomes. There’s a long, long, long sequence with Palpatine tempting her into killing him while shadows of all the other Sith ghosts stand in stadium seating and chanting, and it’s so damn cheesy and bombastic. I could watch the temptation scenes from Return of the Jedi over and over again because Palpatine is so oily and the whole scene is so intimate and quiet and you are watching Luke see and imagine his friends’ deaths from a distance and ugh, this movie doesn’t have the slightest shadow of that and it thinks it does. 

Also, Rey is literally never tempted to join him. She hates him in a vague kind of way because, it’s revealed, he killed her parents, but she relinquishes that very early and only agrees to kill him(?) to buy time for Kylo to reach her.

Palpatine’s motivation also changes about three times. 

He wants Kylo to kill Rey, because, as Kylo says, he’s afraid of her supplanting him.

But no! Palpatine wants her to kill him because then she’ll inherit the legacy of the Sith, even if her heart isn’t in it and she doesn’t hate while she does it. Very confusing.

And last! When he cannot turn her, he settles instead for draining the life from her and Ben, a “dyad in the Force”, which revives him.

On that point, uh, couldn’t he just have done that from the start anyway? He’s clearly not opposed to coming back to full power. Why not just drain Rey and be done with it?

Ben Solo, who is truly Ben Solo by the end, dies. He gives Rey a kiss of life, after fighting through his Knights to get to her, and dies. The last Skywalker is dead, and though Rey “rises” in their place, the Skywalkers are over and Palpatine killed them. As he always wanted to.

So much for the big stuff. Let me end with some small, nitpicky things that bugged me:

All the deaths, save Ben’s, are undone. There’s a truly shocking moment where Rey thinks her unhinged power has killed Chewie, but no! He’s on another transport. C-3PO agrees to a memory wipe to get some vital information out of his head? Undone when he sees R2, who has been backing up his memory this whole time. If you’re gonna walk back a death, at least give it some time. How else are we supposed to feel anything otherwise?

Where was ROSE?! They tease her coming along on the trio’s mission and she says she has to stay back for Leia’s sake, but then they don’t do anything with that. She’s just not on the mission because reasons, and the most interesting character from TLJ is now out of the story. Because reasons.

Poe’s sudden backstory that gets no payoff and only exists to give him all the skills he needs at any given point. Now with more romantic baggage from a woman’s face we never see!

The Knights of Ren, given huge visual weight in the first third of the movie, just disappear until Kylo fights them right at the end, in a scene that could have been a callback to the TLJ throne room fight except everything is bad and boring. None of them speak, even to tell them why they’re suddenly cool with betraying Kylo, their master. None of them seems even vaguely troubled by killing him, even though literally no one has asked them to.

Finn wants to tell Rey something. We all know what it is. He never says it. It is brought up several times, with increasingly frustrating effects.

There are more, but I’m tired. I’m tired, tired, tired of putting my love and thought and energy into a story that betrays me. I’m over death as redemption. I’m over hearing that people can never come back from the evil they’ve done. I’m sick of it, y’all. 

I can deal with tragedy. But it has to make sense, it has to. This isn’t real life, where bad things happen and we don’t know why and we can’t stop it. This is fiction. I want sacrifices to matter, I want closure.

They said this ending was about hope, that it was hopeful. But God, I just can’t see it.

And now, I will erase the memory of this movie from my databanks forever, and try to resist the urge to rewrite the entire sequel trilogy because, good God, a monkey with a typewriter could do better than this.

[dracosollicitus]

Ah! Thank you for the last one! Here’s another ;) Damerey #55!

#55: “Just shut up and kiss me already!” 

@thiscompletemess-blog

Poe had found himself locked in a utility closet…

With the last Jedi. Who was currently steaming mad at him.

“C’mon, Dameron, you could at least act like the very idea doesn’t repulse you.” In the dim emergency lighting, he could see her perched on a crate that used to house koyo melons. He tried to focus on that little detail, and not the way her foot was swinging back and forth like the tail of an angry Loth-cat, or the way her hair was out of its usual three-bun style, cascading in chestnut waves around her slender shoulders. Distract yourself, Dameron, don’t think about - that thing you don’t think about.

“I didn’t say the idea was repulsive,” Poe protested. Rey snorted and kicked her foot against the crate with a resounding, irritated thwack. Her arms crossed in front of her chest, and Poe heaved a sigh, tapping his chronometer to check the time.

“There’s four and a half minutes left,” Rey snapped. “In case you were considering chewing your leg off to get away from me.” Gods, she was right. They did have four and a half minutes left - four minutes, 36 seconds, to be exact. He could do this. 

He didn’t know whose bright idea it was to play Seven Minutes in A’philiar, but he was going to make them pay (It was probably Jess. Jess always suggested Seven Minutes in A’philiar). And he’d be checking those dice, too. Poe was eight-five percent certain they were loaded. 

“Some party,” Rey muttered, resting her head against the durasteel hull behind her. “Are they all this disappointing?”

“This was your first party?” Poe asked before wincing. Gods, he was ruining her first party. No one wanted to be trapped in a closet with a man twelve years older than them, while their friends chanted kiss kiss kiss KISS KISS outside the door, at their first party.

“Not really a room for a lot of revelry on Jakku,” Rey commented dryly, pretending to examine her nails. “Shocking, I know.” 

“Ah.” Four minutes left. He could do this. 

Rey sniffed. He turned away from the door which he’d been staring at impatiently and looked at Rey through the low light. Was she allergic to something?

She sniffed again.

Oh Kriff. She was crying. All his disaster-aversion training, and he had absolutely nothing for “beautiful and unattainable woman starts crying after being locked in closet with you during bizarre and honestly problematic party game.”

“Rey,” Poe fought back sweetheart. “Are you okay?”

She wiped her eyes and turned away from him slightly. “No.”

“No?” Poe started forward before catching himself. They had limited personal space in here - honestly, probably conducive to Seven Minutes in A’philiar - and he didn’t want to infringe on hers. “Do you want me to get them to open the door? Because even if we’re off hours, they technically have to obey any formal order I give them as their commander.”

“No.” Rey shook her head and continued to stare at the back of the closet like it was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. “That’s not what I want.”

“What do you want, then?” Poe asked, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I want you to tell me why the idea of kissing me makes you so aggravated.”

Uh. “I’m not aggravated.”

Rey snorted. “Yeah right, your entire Force signature is aggravated. It’s all - spiky.” Good to know. Poe mentally made a reminder to never lie to Rey; built in detector. “So, why? Don’t trust the desert rat? Embarrassed that anyone might think you kissed her?”

What? That’s - “Rey, I don’t think about you like that,” Poe said, aghast. “You aren’t a desert rat, please don’t think that way about yourself. And - and of course I wouldn’t be embarrassed, I’d be–” Elated. Over the moons. Ecstatic. Thrilled.

“You’d be what?” Rey hopped down from her crate and walked over to him, stopping about a foot away. “Horrified? Disgusted?”

“No.” Poe dragged his fingers through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the universe to wake him up from this nightmare. He opened his eyes. Still in the closet. With Rey. Who, upon closer inspection, looked hurt. Gods, he kriffed this up. “No, Rey, that’s not why I’m upset.”

“Why are you upset then?” 

Two and a half minutes left.

“Because.” Poe dragged his hands through his hair again, curls beyond salvageable now. Rey watched his movement; her eyes took a moment to resettle on his face. Her pretty, hazel eyes. He wished it were lighter in here, so he could see them better. Sighing, he let it out. “For months, Rey, all I’ve wanted to do is kiss you.” 

She stiffened in surprise, and he saw her mouth pop open. Gods, that was cute. Distracting, not helpful, but cute. 

“I’ve wanted to pull you aside and kiss you every kriffing day - in the hangar, in the mess, in the rec. It’s getting worse. Do you know how hard it was not to drag you out of your X-Wing last week after you barely got out of that dogfight? I wanted to kiss you right then and there, in front of the entire Resistance, just grab you and press you up against your ship and kiss you until you couldn’t think straight, kiss you until you agreed to never pull a stupid stunt like that again.”

Rey was uncharacteristically speechless, so he plowed forward. “And of course my crew knows. They know I’m wild about you - but unlike me, they won’t admit how inappropriate it is - and they probably arranged this, loaded the dice, so you’d be stuck in here with me, so I’m sorry. I’m so kriffing sorry that you got roped into their nonsense. Because this is your first party, and you should be spending it out there, with people your own age, people who aren’t 32 year old pilots with a bad temper and a lot of baggage and no chance in the nine hells to ever deserve you. So yeah, please don’t think that I don’t want to kiss you. Because I do. I really kriffing do, but I also know how not-okay it is to kiss you in a closet, where you’d feel forced or obligated to because of some stupid party game and-”

“Poe,” Rey cut in finally. “Gods, Poe. Finn loaded the dice.”

“What?” Poe blinked in surprise. 

“Finn knows that I’ve had a crush on you since,” She blew air out of her pert mouth, nose wrinkled in consideration. “Crait? That sounds about right. So he said he would ‘take care of it,’ and I begged him not to, but here we are. Of course I want you to kiss me. Nothing you’ve said or have apparently worried about changes that.”

His chronometer beeped.

“We have a minute left,” Poe said, checking the time. He lifted his eyes to Rey’s face, and startled when he noticed how much closer she was. 

“Then you better just shut up and kiss me already, flyboy,” Rey said, her hand pulling at the front of his jacket. He grinned at her and wrapped his arms around her small waist, tugging her close up to his body. Their lips found each other in the dark, and Poe’s eyes drifted shut in pleasure as he felt her mouth, warm and soft against his own, so much better than his dreams of this. One of her hands tangled in the back of his hair, the other remained in his shirt, holding him close (not that he needed any help).

They took a second to breathe before diving back in, their noses bumping against each other - “Sorry, sorry,” Poe laughed, “Big nose, I know,” to which Rey murmured, “That’s my favorite nose you’re talking trash about,” and okay, yeah, Poe was utterly karked - before he tilted his head to the side for the perfect angle to gently nip at Rey’s bottom lip. She opened her mouth with a sigh, and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue in, just enough to run along the sensitive inside of her lip. She shivered, he smirked - but then, she did the exact same thing to him, which caused him to moan obscenely, his hips jerking forward of their own accord. He mumbled another apology, which she swatted away.

He stumbled backward until his back hit the door, more than a little guided by Rey’s insistent hands, and she broke the kiss to dot kisses along his jaw. Her clever, hot mouth had just found the spot under his ear that would officially make him lose his mind when -

Bang bang bang.

“You decent?” Finn hollered through the door. “Time’s up.”

“Go away!” Poe shouted, leaning in to capture Rey’s smiling lips one more time, quickly. “Seven more minutes, Finn.”

“Not my fault you wasted five of them talking!” He said gleefully. Poe grumbled but refused to lift his hands from Rey’s waist, holding her tighter, possessively. He just got her, he wasn’t about to let go, not -

“Poe,” Rey whispered. “Poe, we can just - leave the party and go to your room. We don’t have to stay here. We’re…adults.”

“Oh, shit!” Poe blinked at her and then kissed her cheek quickly. “Thank the gods you’re smarter than me.” Clasping her hand in his, he pushed off from the wall and threw the door open. 

Cheers from Black Squadron, Finn, and Rose, filled the room, and Poe flicked each and every one of them off as he tugged Rey towards the door.

“Leaving so soon, Commander?” Snap teased, his arm slung around his wife’s shoulders, a cup of hull stripper in his hand.

“Yep,” Poe wrapped his arm around Rey’s waist while keying open the door. She was giggling, her cheeks pink with pleasure and/or embarrassment, and she buried her face half-heartedly in Poe’s shoulder; he couldn’t resist, kissed the top of her head, and nuzzled his nose into her hair, which caused a collective “awww” from their audience. The doors hissed open, and Poe led Rey out. 

“Morning drill is cancelled!” He thought to shout behind him before the doors closed, the coos of their friends becoming a cheer.

“Generous,” Rey said, as they walked quickly down the hall to his room. “Do you intend to have a late night?”

“I’m not going to stop kissing you until the suns come up,” Poe admitted. He looked over at Rey, pleased to see that her blush matched the one he felt on his face. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

“More than,” Rey said cheerfully before breaking into a jog. “Race you there, Commander.” He shouted with laughter and chased Rey down the corridor to his room.

She won.

[a-splash-of-stucky]

Operation Soulmate | Three

Pairings: Steve x Reader || Bucky x Steve

Summary: In which you and Steve try to woo Bucky over, without being too obvious about it.

Warnings: Mild language. Stucky fluffiness. A nude scene.

A/N: For @marvelous-fvcks writing challenge. My prompt was ‘Heart’. Appreciate the fluff in this one — things are only going to get more angsty from here.

Operation Soulmate Masterlist

Over the rest of the week, you and Steve move out of the mini-apartment you’d been living in for the last year and a half, back into the main sleeping quarters of the compound. It’s weird being back in your old room after so long, but you’re glad to have your own space again. The layout of your new — technically old — room is essentially a smaller version of the place you shared with Steve, with its own kitchenette and living room partitioned from the bedroom and ensuite by a wall.

Of course, the move has raised several eyebrows within the team, and nearly everyone is confused as to why exactly you and Steve decided to separate. Without going into too much detail, the two of you assured everyone that your split happened on friendly terms, and that your emotional baggage would not hinder your performance on missions.

Your evenings are spent brainstorming ideas for Operation Soulmate with Steve. He is insistent that anything he does with, or for Bucky has to be as non-invasive as possible, because Steve is unwilling to make Bucky feel forced or uncomfortable. In turn, this means that you need to come up with ideas that strike the perfect balance between ‘friendly’ and ‘intimate’; you don’t want Steve to come off as overbearing, but at the same time, you don’t want Bucky to mistake his actions as simple gestures of kindness.

It’s a job easier said than done.

What you wish would happen is for Steve to just talk all this out with Bucky. But, the man adamantly refuses to do anything of the sort. Steve will not have a conversation of that nature with his best-friend-turned-crush until he’s certain that Bucky is romantically interested in him. You disapprove of his tactic, but Steve will not be talked out of it, and once the Cap’s got his mind and heart set on something, there’s no dissuading him. The only thing you can do is support him to the best of your abilities.

Today is the first ‘date’ he’s going on with Bucky. Of course, to Bucky, this is just a relaxed outing between two friends. Steve is currently freaking out over this fact, pacing anxiously back and forth across your room. You’re watching him from the bed, an amused smile on your features.

“What if he hates it, Y/N?” Steve asks tensely.

“Then we know not to take him to a zoo again,” you reply. Steve is taking Bucky to the Bronx zoo. You’d suggested the place because you had a feeling that Bucky might enjoy looking at all the animals, since the man is actually a real softie at heart.

“Can you come with us, babe?” Steve begs, coming to sit beside you on the bed and taking your hand in his. “I’d feel so much better if you were there,”.

“Steve,” you say gently, “It’s not really a date if I come along, is it now?”

“Guess not,” he mutters resignedly.

“Besides, I don’t really wanna third-wheel around you guys,”, you add, giving him a smile of encouragement. “You’re gonna be fine Stevie, just be yourself and it’ll all go well. It’s just Bucky, after all,”.

“Right. It’s just Bucky,” Steve echoes, nodding resolutely. “Okay, well, I should probably go get him. See ya later, Y/N,”.

You lean forward and give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Good luck!”

——————————————

The two are gone for most of the day.

To stop yourself from worrying over Steve, you spend your time training with Wanda and Natasha. The three of you have developed a close-knit friendship in the time that you’ve known each other. Natasha was the person to rescue you from that god-forsaken lair you were imprisoned in, retrieving you as part of a SHIELD mission. During your rehabilitation period, she’d given you basic training in hand-to-hand combat, and slowly—once she realised that your histories held many parallels — began to let you past her walls.

When Wanda came along, it took no effort for you and Nat to extend your friendship to her, and the three of you have been near inseparable ever since. You and Wanda have lately been working on dual-pronged attacks, trying to complement each other’s powers by using them in tandem for double the force. This is your focus for the day, with Nat overseeing the session.

After several long, gruelling hours in the compound gardens, you head into your room for a well-deserved soak in the bathtub. You lean your head against the lip of the tub and let your eyes slide shut, savouring the warmth of the water, allowing it to soothe your aching muscles. Your bedroom door creaks open, snapping you out of your peaceful state.

“Y/N? You in here?” Steve calls.

“In the bathtub!” you reply.

“Can I come in?” Steve asks, poking his head around the door shyly.

“It’s nothing you haven’t seen anyway, Stevie,”, you scoff.

He smiles brightly and sidles into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Steve leans against the sink and stares at the floor, brows furrowed in thought. From the expression on his face, it’s unclear whether he is in a good mood or a bad one, so you are immediately on edge.

“So…how did phase one of Operation Soulmate go?” you ask tentatively.

Steve hums noncommittally. “Well…it was…a mixed success,” he says haltingly.

“Uh-oh,” you murmur, sitting up straighter because this sounds serious. “What happened?”

“Well, he loved the animals. Like, really loved them. We didn’t get to see many things like that when we were kids, so I think he really enjoyed himself,”, Steve explains, eyes growing distant as he recalls the memory with fondness.

“But?” you prompt.

“Crowds. Guess goin’ on a Saturday wasn’t the best of ideas,” Steve sighs, hanging his head forlornly.

“Aw, Stevie, it’s okay, c’mere,” you say, motioning with your hand for him to come closer. He perches precariously on the edge of the tub and you take his big hand in both of yours, rubbing your thumb in gentle circles on the back of it. “No one said this was gonna easy, Stevie,” you tell him. “Sure, this didn’t go out as perfectly as you’d hoped, but it’s only step one. This is no marathon. You just gotta keep trying. It’ll get better,” you assure him.

Steve’s lips curve into a smile, expression softening and tension seeping out of his body at your words. “Thanks, Y/N. I don’t know what I’d do without you,”.

“Neither do I,” you remark sarcastically. You flap your hand at him to shoo him out. “Now. Leave me in peace. I want to embrace my inner hippo and soak here for at least the next thirty minutes,”.

——————————————

“Terminator?” you suggest, making a note of the movie on your ever-growing list. You and Steve feel that, after the small disaster that was phase one, phase two of Operation Soulmate should be a relatively safe movie night. The only difficult thing about the whole ordeal is choosing a film to watch that Bucky and Steve can talk about after. The two of you have been at it for almost twenty minutes now, sat across from each other at his dining table.

Steve snorts at your suggestion. “Isn’t that about a guy who’s part robot? No thanks, too risky,”.

“Fine,” you grumble, scratching it off the list. “What about a Disney film?”

“What are we, eight? Something…intellectual, Y/N, please,”.

“Nothin’ wrong with Disney,” you mutter darkly. You close your eyes and press your fingers to your temples, working through the list of movies you know in your head.

Inspiration strikes.

“Ooh! I’ve got it! Star Wars, Steve, Star Wars!” you cry, leaping out of your chair in excitement. “You said he used to be a science geek, right? Star Wars is perfect for him, I promise. He’ll absolutely love it, Steve, and plus, there’s quite a few of them to sit through, it’s perfect,”.

Steve considers your suggestion, nodding slowly as he thinks. “It is on my ‘need to watch’ list,” he muses. “And Bucky does like sci-fi. Or did, at least,”, he amends.

“So it’s a yes?” you squeal.

“It’s a yes,” Steve says firmly, flashing you a winning smile.

——————————————

Star Wars turns out to be a resounding success.

You’re helping Steve bake cookies for him to take to his movie ‘date’ with Bucky tonight. Your kitchenette is a mess, flour and various other substances coating nearly every surface, because the two of you had a mini food-fight halfway through. Steve’s got milk stains on the front of his t-shirt, and you’re pretty sure that there’s flour in your hair.

“Mix these in, please,” you say, handing him a bowl of chocolate chips. Steve — the cheekily little shit — steals a couple before dumping the rest into your gigantic mixing bowl and stirring the batter around with a wooden spoon.

“So, what next?” you ask, inspecting the mixture from over his shoulder as you grab the greased baking tray from on top of the burner. “After Star Wars, what’re you gonna do?”

“Well, isn’t that new Star Wars movie coming out next week? The Last Jedi?”

“Oh yeah, forgot about that,” you murmur, coming to his side and setting the tray down on the counter. With a playful smile on your face, you elbow him in the ribs, “Takin’ him to the movies, eh? Look who’s coming up with the date ideas now?”

“Oh hush you,” Steve mumbles, a bit of pink starting to bloom over his cheekbones in embarrassment.

“Okay, okay,” you giggle, handing him a spoon so that both of you can start spooning mounds of batter onto the tray. “But seriously, Steve, what’s phase three?”.

“I dunno,” Steve admits, shrugging his right shoulder. “Kinda hoping you could help me out with that,”.

You make a little thinking noise, brows knitting together as you turn over a few ideas in your mind. “I think you don’t need to do something big with Bucky. Quite the opposite, actually,”.

“Do small things with Bucky?” Steve asks, a note of confusion in his tone.

“Yeah, like spending more time with him doing everyday things,”, you explain, scooping out a spoonful of cookie batter and plopping it onto the tray. “Maybe you could invite him on your morning run?”

“Buck’s not a morning person,” is his immediate response. You watch as Steve drops the last dollop of cookie mixture onto the tray, then proceeds to lick the batter off his spoon like a little kid.

“Okay…then what about sparring with him?” you suggest, taking the filled tray and carrying it over to the oven. Steve dashes over to hold the oven door open, enabling you to slide the tray in. “I mean, you and Bucky are of equal strengths, right? I’m sure he’d like to…no?”. Your voice trails off when you see Steve grimacing at the idea.

“Bucky doesn’t…he’s still not real comfortable training with people. Thinks he could hurt them,”, he mumbles.

You give yourself a mental slap to the forehead for not thinking about that. “Oh. Right. Well, how ��bout some other sport? There’s lots of non-contact ones. I’m sure Tony’s dying to build a tennis court for the compound,”.

Steve chuckles, cocking his head to the side as he considers your suggestion. “Yeah. Maybe that could work,”.

“Well, whatever you choose to do,” you say as you lean back against the counter, being careful not to get too much flour on your clothes, “I just think that you need to find something special for the two of you,”.

“Special?” he echoes, confusion written all over his features.

“Y’know, find a thing that’s yours. A Steve and Bucky tradition,” you explain. “You know how me and Wanda and Nat have our spa day routine? Well, something like that, but for the two of you,”.

“Something that’s just ours,” Steve says slowly, face deep in thought as he wracks his brain for ideas.

“Precisely,” you say, pushing off from the counter and picking up a couple of rags. “You don’t have to think ‘bout it now, big guy,” you assure him, patting him on the shoulder, “In fact, I suggest you don’t, ‘cause we’ve got this whole mess to clean up,”.

“Yes, okay, ma,” Steve huffs, a smirk tugging on his lips.

——————————————

You’re curled up on your bed, deeply engrossed in the book you’re reading when Steve comes bursting into your room, startling you. He practically runs to the bed and flops dramatically onto it. You laugh softly at his antics, setting your book aside and turning to look at him. “Good night?” you ask, absentmindedly running your fingers through his hair.

“I think we could really be getting somewhere, Y/N,” Steve says dreamily, twisting his face towards you to flash you a dopey smile.

Watching Steve pine after Bucky like a lost puppy is honestly one of the most heart-warning things you’ve ever laid your eyes on. You give him a reassuring smile in return. “That’s great, Steve,” you reply, “I’m really happy for you,”.

Steve catches your hand and presses a kiss to the inside of your wrist. “I really appreciate what you’re doing for me,” he murmurs, “Operation Soulmate wouldn’t be as successful as it is without you,”.

——————— Tagging: @hollycornish @rda1989​ @awinterloveuniverse​ @aquabrie @onceuponahiddleston @bi-diana-prince @after-avenging-hours @patzammit @braelyn250 @theoutlinez @toc1985 @girlyfandomfighter13

Permanent tags: @feelmyroarrrr

Send me an ask or message if you want to be added/removed from the list :)

[theamazingsallyhogan]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I don’t enjoy going on about things I dislike – it’s more fun talking about things you enjoy.

But I keep seeing articles implying that the only people that dislike The Last Jedi are diversity-phobic members of the Alt Right and some dusty old nitpicky nerds that hate anything new. So as a someone that doesn’t fit into either of those boxes: I disliked the movie. A lot.

Let’s look at Rey first. Now, The Last Jedi isn’t The Empire Strikes Back, and shouldn’t be judged as a remake of that movie, but for the sake of comparing a trilogy to a similar trilogy it’s worth taking a moment to compare where Luke was at this part of the original Star Wars: when he abandoned his training with Yoda, we were shown that nothing was more important to Luke than Leia and the others. In contrast, Rey cares about “The Resistance,” but barely spares a thought for individual members.  She doesn’t even meet Poe until near the end.  I’m not saying that they needed to slavishly copy the original, but damn, the emotional connection between the members of the “new trinity” is frankly bordering on nonexistent.  Rey doesn’t rush off to rescue any actual friends; she ditches Luke to save Kylo, i.e. the guy that literally tortured her.  

At the end of Empire, we saw that Luke would be going against apparently impossible odds in the third movie, because when he fought Vader he lost so resoundingly it cost him a hand. Comparing that setup to Rey and Kylo Ren… Ren is a joke.  Rey defeated him at the end of The Force Awakens, and trounced him so badly in The Last Jedi that the scene of her knocking him unconscious wasn’t even considered important enough to show.  We’re shown Rey debating whether or not to fight him, then Hux walking in to find Kylo unconscious.  The only reason he’s still alive is Rey inexplicably took pity on a guy that thinks it’s awesome to destroy entire populated solar systems.  

Which brings us to the next comparison. The big revelation at the end of Empire Strikes Back raised the emotional stakes even further – Luke not only had to defeat “Darth Vader,” he had to wrestle with a lifetime of emotional baggage since Vader turned out to be his own long-lost father.  Their conflict was given an emotional charge.  Meanwhile Rey and Kylo are given some sort of connection, but… why? Why does she give a damn about the guy that tortured her, slaughtered countless innocents, and murdered a man she was starting to see as a father figure? There’s no justifiable explanation for it.  Rey feels an emotional connection and deep-seated need to redeem a genocidal maniac, for no good reason.

The big revelation about Rey’s past turned out to be that there’s no big revelation in Rey’s past. Now, I can see where people are coming from when they say that it’s an interesting subversion, but in conjunction with everything else that’s going on it just cements how isolated Rey is from the rest of the cast.  There is nothing of significance linking her to any character beyond her interactions with Finn in the first movie – interactions so neglected in the second movie that I would characterize their friendship as being abandoned to rot by the director. The two characters barely said anything to one another.  Throw in that that we’ve established Kylo doesn’t represent a physical threat to her and the stakes could hardly be lower for her going in to the third movie.  Maybe the revelation could’ve worked in the final movie, but here it just pours sand in the narrative’s gastank.

But Rey still fared better than poor Finn.  Poor poor Finn, who would’ve been of way more use to the Rebels if he’d just stayed in a coma.  I hate typing that, but it’s true.  The entire subplot with Finn and Rose was a bad joke: they failed their mission to sabotage the First Order’s tracker, their mission turned out to be unnecessary to the Resistance because Vice Admiral Holdo had her own plan to avoid the tracker, but in a twist Finn and Rose managed to fail so spectacularly that not only were they unable to implement their own plan but they also tipped off the First Order about Holdo’s plan.  Finn’s contribution to the plot was getting the Resistance nearly wiped out. Poe shoulders some blame there too of course, meaning that two of the three main heroes would’ve been more helpful to their side if they’d just died in the opening scenes.  

Of course there’s so much failure in this movie that there’s plenty to go around – special mention has to go to Vice Admiral Holdo, who set the problem in motion by deciding not to share the information about her plan, instead thinking it was a good idea to let her soldiers think that her plan was to have them meekly try to fly away from the bad guys and get slaughtered without even putting up a fight.  Star Wars has had a lot of incompetent military leaders, but that blunder has to take the cake.  Holdo of course redeemed herself a bit by ramming her ship into the Star Destroyer at lightspeed, a moment that should leave folks scratching their heads and wondering “if you can take out the biggest ship in the First Order’s fleet by having a ship with only one person on it go to lightspeed, why isn’t that something the Resistance is doing all the time? And why was that a last-minute addendum to her plan, and not a key component all along?”

I’m sure people characterize this as finicking fun-hating nerd nitpicking, but honestly, they’re shown us that one person can pilot a ship in a way that instantly turns it into a Death Star-level superweapon.  The major threat in the movie is the Star Destroyer that was very slowly giving chase, and Rian Johnson resolved that threat by saying that actually the good guys had literally been sitting on a solution the whole time and just never used it. It’s not a minor detail, it’s the resolution to the threat that loomed over the course of the whole movie.  And why did the slightly-smaller Rebel battleships that got blown up earlier never ramming? Why has nobody in any Star Wars movie ever tried to ram another ship at lightspeed if it’s effectively a one-shot-kill? Resolving the major threat in the movie by saying that there’s been a war-ending weapon at everyone’s fingertips the whole time, over the course of several movies, that nobody ever used, with no reason for not using it, is bad writing. To put it mildly.

I’ve heard people saying that the Poe-and-Holdo tension was meant to tell us something, but what? Young people should meekly listen to their elders, even when their elders are giving terrible orders and not bothering to pass on the real plan? Presumably there was an intent to say something about there being no room for “space cowboys” any more, but whatever the intention was it’s undermined by the atrociously bad writing. Generals may not be required to spell out every detail, but there was absolutely no good reason for Holdo to stand there quietly when Poe accused her of planning to just fly away without putting up a fight, hope real hard that the First Empire doesn’t massacre them.  Rian Johnson had her react like that to create a surprise when we learned that she had a plan, but in-story it just makes Poe completely in the right.  If your commanding officer tells you to quietly march with your back to the enemy and hope you don’t get shot, you don’t go “yes sir!”  A leader has a responsibility to instill at least some confidence.

And it’s worth repeating that Finn, Poe, and Rey barely interact.  Finn and Poe get a little more time together than Rey gets with, well, anyone other than Luke and Kylo, but still not a whole lot.  Going in to the third movie we’ve got three main protagonists that met for a brief time in the first movie (never all together though), and didn’t build on those interactions in the second movie.

Lastly, I’ll say that as a Star Wars fan that’s been following the series for decades, I was sad to see Admiral Ackbar killed off like a nobody, and Luke turned into a bitter old man that mutters “humbug!” at the thought of rebellion.  I’ve seen a few people claiming that it was important because in 2017 the narrative needs to be that old people screwed everything up and the younger generation has to clean up the mess. I’ve even seen it called realistic.  How bitter and cynical does one have to be to confuse realism with pessimism?  But the excuse for why the older characters are shown as failures in this movie doesn’t even hold up – a quick glance at what Finn and Poe accomplished is sufficient to see that the young people in this movie were no better at getting things right.

As escapism, this movie was dire.  As a continuing narrative using characters established in previous movies, this movie was disastrous.  In terms of telling a story that even makes sense within the established setting, this film completely failed.

The thing is, when I walked out of Episode I and Episode II, I knew I had watched something bad, but I was able to focus on the few good scenes and tell myself “maybe the next movie will be better.”  I can’t do that here, because Rian Johnson so utterly kneecapped things, leaving so little to resolve and so utterly failing to establish relationships in his main characters.  In that sense then, I would call this the worst of the Star Wars movies.

[republicstandard]

Trump OWNS G7: Liberals Screech Into The Abyss of Failure

He shows up when he wants. He shows up when he wants. Donald Trump! He shows up when he wants. Poor Justin Trudeau, imagine trying to look the Donald in the eye and seriously trying to claim that the Western world is not constructed in a way that elevates pink-haired lunatics to positions of power. Imagine being a leader of one of the seven biggest economies on the planet and simultaneously being the kind of guy who rates The Last Jedi higher than The Empire Strikes Back. Sit down, Justin.

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WATCH: Trump shows up late to gender equality breakfast at G7 summit https://t.co/5MciY9L2Ve pic.twitter.com/l6ee3ztXdX

— The Hill (@thehill) June 9, 2018

That said, it's not just the alleged son of Fidel Castro who goes weak at the knees in the presences of the God-Emperor. Everybody buckles. Merkel looks like a ticked off hausfrau complaining about the price of bockwurst. Sorry, mutti, you wrecked a continent by inviting millions of economic migrants to prop up your failing neoliberal ideology. No dice.

Trump looks like he's got the upper hand on all the world leaders in this G7 pic. Trudeau's face...LOL. pic.twitter.com/QgaVTeXQIh

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 9, 2018

Meanwhile, the fake news purveyors complain about being called out for making fake news while non-Americans can hear it, as if the internet doesn't exist. We know already! You are fake news!

Donald Trump decided to use the G7 summit to attack reporters while on foreign soil. Absolutely disgusting.

— James Kosur (@JamesKosur) June 9, 2018

It wouldn't be a day ending in 'Y' without some screeching harpy claiming that if only we had overlooked all the terrible anti-American baggage of the most corrupt candidate in history, all would be well. Are we really still in a world where Hillary Rodham Clinton is not in jail? Tsch. Well, nothing is perfect. At least knitting needles and pink wool are a solid investment for the next 6 and a half years, right?

Popular vote winner Hillary Clinton warned everyone that Russia was interfering in the election and that, if elected, Trump would serve as Putin’s Puppet. Trump just ruined the G7 summit and pissed off our allies... She was right about everything.pic.twitter.com/cyfaXHWK6L

— Janice (@Janice_Resist) June 9, 2018

Russia? Again? Okay, whatever you want, liberals. Lets keep pretending that Trump dealing from a position of strength in economic and military fields is somehow a bad thing. Russia has indeed attended the G7 in the past; the reason for this reticence from liberals now is nothing to do with economics, and everything to do with politics. Putin, for all his flaws, has at least served the interests of his own country above the interests of global bankster cartels. No wonder the weak leaders at G7 are afraid of being in the same room as him.

Dem senator after Trump calls to include Russia in G7: What does Putin have on him? https://t.co/C0FyrXt78I pic.twitter.com/HSlasRaz54

— The Hill (@thehill) June 9, 2018

As the ever-demented Daily Beast squealed the new orthodox position, Trump sits and laughs:

It’s as if seven people went to a club to play poker, and one of them, the richest, threw the deck in the air and announced they would play 52 pick-up instead. Everybody else in the room knows that this is nuts. They also know that for better or worse, they have to live with it. But maybe they won’t invite him back.

Trumps trip to G7 meeting was so unsuccessful that 6 other countries are threatening to sign a deal without Americas input. France has said that Trump doesn't share the same economic agenda the rest of the world shares. Get ready for America to be removed and it becoming G6.

— Johnathan Ford (@SignRealLiberal) June 9, 2018

As the USA would simply cut superior deals with everyone who is not in the G7 if this were to happen. Do you want a world where the USA chooses Russia as a preferred trading partner, Liberals? Any leader with a seat at this table would risk crashing his or her economy by pulling out, as the G7 represent more than 62% of the global net wealth ($280 trillion). Nobody with a desire for re-election or with the interests of their own economy is going to exclude the most wealthy and prosperous nation on Earth. We can be glad that Donald Trump does not share the same economic agenda as Emmanuel Macron- that agenda is dependent on mass immigration, debt, and war. Macron sees the future of France as African in heritage- and he himself gives the lie to this weak bombast. “I don’t have red lines,” he said at the Sorbonne in September last year, “I only have horizons.”

Meanwhile, alleged male Justin Trudeau runs to the press to once again attempt to look like something other than a hybrid between human and chinless invertebrate.

JUST IN: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will impose retaliatory measures to answer President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum: "Canadians: we're polite, we're reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around." https://t.co/kOFlnuMaEH pic.twitter.com/32vYsYdtwP

— CNN (@CNN) June 9, 2018

Such weak political leaders cannot even manage to gang up on the USA effectively- so all-encompassing is the weight of the Donald that the Prime Minister of Britain might as well not have shown up. Nobody knew Theresa May was there, for all the strength she exerted; just like in her Brexit negotiations which have been so bad she is in imminent danger of losing her job.

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The time of limp leaders serving at the Debt to GDP cult instead of their people is coming to a close. The way of national interest is rising again- and all Mr. Trump has had to do to make this a tangible reality is to look Merkel, May, Macron and Schoolboy Trudeau in the eye and say;

Nevermore.

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