#before this

trump: I've heard that today Blinken made a statement that he should have done it. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Blinken is Biden’s guy I guess. Who the hell knows who he is. But he came out with the statement that they should have done it, they made a mistake

Anthony Blinken:

(1/10) @realDonaldTrump cited me as supporting his attack on Iran and expressing regret we didn’t do it during the Biden Administration. Except I didn’t.

(3/10) In short: President Trump made a terrible decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal (“JCPOA”) in 2017 and replace it with nothing. The Obama Administration put Iran’s nuclear program in a box, President Trump let it out.

(4/10) What would have happened if President Trump had just left the JCPOA in place? When the JCPOA expired, it could be extended or renegotiated, as with most arms control agreements. If Iran refused, the U.S. would still retain the military option, with a lot more information about Iran’s program, because of the most intrusive inspections ever

(7/10) Iran apparently retains at least 5-10 bombs worth of uranium enriched to 60% and probably some hundreds of centrifuges to further enrich it to weapons grade. It can rebuild missiles over time and drones more quickly.

(8/10) The failure to anticipate and prepare for Iran weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz puts us literally at the bottom of the barrel. Markets (oil, LNG, stocks, bonds, fertilizer, helium) and munitions (offensive and defensive) will dictate when President Trump feels compelledShow more

(9/10) Meanwhile, 13 American servicemembers have lost their lives and hundreds more have been wounded. The Iranian people are still under the fist of a highly repressive regime. Iran and Russia are getting an oil bonanza. America is more isolated than ever from our closest allies and partners. And billions more U.S. taxpayer dollars are being spent on another war in the Middle East (with an additional $200 billion requested from the Pentagon to fund this war). Not to mention the failure to make the case to the American people for why this was necessary, in their interest, or worth risking American lives for.

10/10) So no, I would not have done it. For the record

Y'know that feeling you get when a really shy animal you live with finally feels comfortable enough to fall asleep near you?

When Bruce was four years of age, he was playing with crayons while Martha and his father were busy dressing up for a night to celebrate a promotion someone he didn’t exactly know got.

And suddenly on his arms was blue pen, it appeared and he didn’t even notice small stars and rockets when he did notice he tried to lick at his thumb and scrub it away before he got in trouble but it wouldn’t disappear so he rushed to Alfred, seeing the unfortunate look of despair on his face he picked him up and checked his arm.

And suddenly his expression of worry turned into something much, much softer before the drawings suddenly disappeared like they had been scrubbed off but instead of explaining it to him, he simply put Bruce down and went to go to Thomas and Martha.

It was the first appearance in his life of these ‘strange markings’ and he felt frustrated and confused and by hell wondering what it was.

When Bruce was six he understood what the markings were or had a vague idea, soulmates a thing he’d read in a few books, bound by strings of fate or a cruel joke of the universe was actually real and he had one.

Some were destined never to meet theirs or some never loved theirs only intention to be friends and yet he had a soulmate the discovery of this somehow had been when Bruce had broken a bone also an unfortunate event.

And leslie came to inspect him, Alfred nowhere nearby had somehow ruined his fountain pen, exploding it with ink, he peered in to come and collect a cloth and suddenly in the moment, Leslies hands were stained with the same bright black colour too.

And they knew.

But the look of shame in Alfred’s eyes made him turn his back on his soulmate and walk away and Leslie seemed to accept that with a disheartened sigh.

Soulmates.

He tried to test if his parents were soulmates by purposefully fiddling with the mechanics in a pen and placing it down for his father to use but by the time he could rush to his mother he never saw any marks, take that theory as you will, they were or they weren’t.

He found it was more common then not to get with someone who wasn’t your soulmate because waiting around for your ‘one true love’ was a chance nobody really wanted to take so they didn’t and even if they found their soulmate while loving someone else.

It was more often they rejected that soulmate.

So why call them soulmates? Destined to be together but never being? he didn’t exactly understand it as a child, moving on from someone just to meet them and not love them? He didn’t really, really didn’t.

He was eight when his parents passed away, blood stained on each others body and hands, not only ink but blood too, all the times he’d gotten a nosebleed that wouldn’t wipe away or so he thought, a random papercut, no blood stains your soulmate too.

And he learnt his parents were indeed soulmates just in the horrible awful way.

It splattered along his shoes and over his nails, Hal jordan at the time was ten when his nails were covered in blood while he was trying to learn how to ride a bike, falling over and scraping his knees, he knew the blood wasn’t his.

That day the two little details made them worry about a soulmate they had never met, Bruce went home numb to find slight blood on his knees and that day Hal had blood covering his nails almost all day, disappearing until sundown.

When Bruce got older he got in more danger, more blood and in return so did hal when he became Green lantern, alien blood covered Bruce and Human blood covered Green lantern.

One time Hal had attempted to talk to him, sat down in the large corps cafeteria snagging a pen away from kilowag.

“Hey i was using that-“ Kilowag went to complain but was shut down by a simple wave by hal who bit onto the pen lid and took it off, his suit dissipating around his arm as he stretched it out.

“You bleed a lot, it all yours?” Hal wrote on his arm eyebrows pinching together before he wiped it off as best as possible.

“Why do you care.” came the response appearing on his arm.

“Huh, rude.” Hal huffed and it disappeared with a splat of blood and he wrote on his arm again smiling at himself. “You ain’t a villain are you?” He wiped it off as quickly as he could.

“No i’m a billionaire.” came the response disappearing just as quickly as it appeared.

“Liar.” Hal responded having no time to write more before Kilowag snatched his pen away looking at himself in confusion.

“What is it you’re doing?” Kilowag asked. “Weird human traditions.” He shook his head disapprovingly at the lantern.

“It’s a soulmate thing.” Hal declared wiping across the ‘Liar’ on his arm. “Humans, we uh, can draw on our arms and our soulmate can see it, you know? It appears on them.”

“Again humans? Weird.” again this time it was Tomar-re’s response.

Bruce was late twenties at best when he met Selina, she was cunning, charming and everything he thought he desired, she was a criminal yes but well he’s sure he could move past that.

Spolier alert: he couldn’t. Sometimes his hands would be holding hers too tight, he would look at her too longingly and something in him shattered when he discovered when she wasn’t the one who called him a ‘liar’.

When she wasn’t the one who had written to him with handwriting rushed that said. ‘So great billionaire, you up to buying me a date?’ with a squashed ‘sometime.’ at the end.

And she was crushed too and their relationship from their was fleeting, he knew what he had to do as batman and in the end it was just burning but he knew he respected and loved his former fiance, missing kisses, longing looks. He kissed her.

As for Selina, well, he knew it was a fling, a fleeting romance that resulted in damian, he knew they weren’t soulmates when she jokingly drew a circle on his arm and nothing happened on hers however she didn’t seem too distraught.

Bruce was thirty six when he was in a justice league meeting and Hal was thirty eight, the marker broke and splattered all over his hands (I know he wears gloves but the claws and markers at the watchtower didn’t work well, wearing some of his older gloves.)

He was doing one of his boring lectures and Hal was dozing away and Bruce was covered in ink and he realised too late because it blended into the gloves so when he moved up and rubbed at his chin it stained, no current tissues available so he told them to stay put while he walked off to go clean up.

Frustrated, angry and when Hal looked at what Barry was gesturing at, he took the time to look at his reflection the same stain on his chin and he shot up and pushed off his chair and rushed towards where Bruce was going, they’d known each other for years, had never even suspected the grumpy brooding bat to be his soulmate.

And made his way into the bathroom, Bruce glanced up, his gloves were off and into the sink, the water staining with ink while he rubbed his chin with a tissue and Hal moved over, stepping a bit too close and he stammered.

And-

“Can i kiss you?” Hal finally got out.

“..Yeah.” Bruce was, maybe a tad dumbfounded himself and dealing with a lot of complex emotions. “Wait hold on i’ve still got ink-“ Hal got his yes and was moving forward pushing, slamming Bruce into the wall, slipping his cowl off to kiss him.

Kiss him until his hair was messy and and his hands were probably touching far too many intimate places, the stuttered breaths, the gasps, he was glad he waited.

“So,” Hal licked his lips. “You weren’t lying about being a billionaire Bruce.”

“You called me a liar.” Bruce narrowed his eyes remembering.

“Hey, hey, you got me covered in an unfair amount of human blood.” Hal’s hands wandering down to touch and feel around his chest, his hand lowering to his stomach.

Bruce arched and Hal grinned a bit too viciously.

“You got me covered in alien blood, fair is fair.” Bruce breathlessly found his words, Hal looking his suit up and down his hands stopping on his naval with a quiet question. “Words, hal.”

“Can i?” Hal almost sounded pleading, begging.

“We have a meeting-“ Bruce reminded and Hal gave him that look again like ‘i’ve been waiting thirty years Bruce.’ “…Okay, okay.”

-

“Did they forget we can hear them?” Someone says.

Martian manhunter simply smiles like he’s long since started thinking of other things and Superman turns his head away his face a beetroot red.

“I wasn’t even- aware they liked each other, like that.” Arthur stated letting out a huff. “Well, a new congratulations is in order when they return no?”

“No, buddy, no.” Oliver placed a hand on Arthur’s table and shook his head. “They’re… not returning, if knowing Bruce, they’ll be heading for the batcave.”

“I didn’t need to know that.” Barry looks up to the ceiling.

“None of us did.” Diana retorts back.