#haven't forgotten about the poll!! just trying to get back in it

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

All In 11

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, age gap, power imbalance, low self esteem, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: you meet a mysterious man on a night out with your sister. (petite!reader)

based on the winning option for this poll

Characters: casino owner!Bucky Barnes

Note: it's a new week

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

Your phone buzzes against your leg, ripping you back to reality. Your eyes widen and drift away from the stream of font. You sit up and mark the page with your finger as you reach for the jittering cell. 

You scramble to grab onto it and hesitate to hit the big green button. The screen doesn't look like usual, not that you get many calls. You tap the button and the image changes at once, Bucky startling you as he appears. 

"Hey, doll," he grins and winks at you, moving the camera to lean against something. "How's it going?" 

"Uhhhh," you drone, surprised. He can see you too. You know by the little reflection of yourself in the corner. "Hi. Fine." You put the book down with no mind to losing the page, "um, you?" 

"You busy, doll?" 

"Reading but... no." 

"Mm," he hums, "glad to see you enjoying your treats but... no pajamas?" 

He steps back and you get a view of him from waist up, the edge of a counter in the lower edge. You pout then give a sheepish smile, "sorry, I haven't... had a chance." 

"That's okay, doll, I just wanted a peek before I went to work," he undoes his shirt button by button and pulls it off, revealing his muscular torso. You gulp at the lines of his muscle along his stomach, "why don't you put them on now and give me a look." 

"Oh, uh..." you glance at the wall. It's late. You're pretty sure Roxie already left for work and your mom will probably be settling down. "Right, uh..." 

"Just want something to think of when I walk the floor," he purrs. 

"Sure, er," you nearly choke, "I'll just-- one sec." 

"I can wait, doll. I've been waiting, haven't I?" He purrs. 

You feel a pang of guilt. You place the phone down so the lens faces the ceiling and climb off the bed. He's given you a lot, too much honestly, and now you feel like you owe him. It isn't fair to take his kindness without anything in return. And he isn't asking much, is he? 

You dig in the bag, the crinkle loud as the only other noise is the subtle movement from his end. You fish out the soft pajamas and peer over, making certain the phone is still flat. You change far away from it, paranoid. 

You look down at yourself in the tank and shorts. Oh gosh. It's a lot less than you usually wear. Your legs are showing, your shoulders, and a bit of your tummy. 

"Doll?" He says and you flinch. 

"I don't know... I don't think it fits." 

"I'm sure it fits just nice," he insists, "show me." 

"Oh, uh..." 

"I'm just looking, doll, I'll only think of what I really wanna do," he snickers. 

You cross back to the bed and pick up the phone, careful to stay out of view. You turn back and prop it up on the dresser, overly aware of the unflattering angle as you do. You give a wide-eyed look and back up so you're all in frame.  

You hug yourself shyly and sway. 

"Let me see ya," he orders. 

You put your arms straight and notice how he leans in to look at the screen, smoothing his hair back. He keeps his hands over his dark strands and growls. A flutter starts in your stomach. 

"What do you mean too small? That fits your perfect," he says. 

"I... really?" 

"Sure, doll," he turns and you realise he's getting ready.  

He combs his hair stands straight. He grabs a new shirt and buttons it as he peeks again. You near the camera and move it so he can only see your face.  

"Damn, doll, I'm gonna be all over the place," he says, "you're so sweet and sexy." 

"Bucky," you squeak.  

"I don't lie. That's the one thing you should know about me. I will always let you know exactly what I want." 

You blush hotly and a tap on the door nearly makes you drop the phone. You hide it behind you and shuffle closer. You clear your throat. 

"Uh, yeah?" You call through. 

"Hey, honey, everything okay in there?" She asks. Shoot, she must have heard you. 

"I'm watching something," your heart hammers, "sorry, I'll turn it down."

"It's alright, honey. Just thought I heard you..."

"No, just a show," you wisp out.

You quickly back away and go as far from the door as you can. You look down at the phone as Bucky tucks in his shirt. Ugh, that was embarrassing. He heard all that; surely he must realise how lame you are. 

"Mom sounds real sweet," he says, "must be where you get it." 

"She's working tomorrow. Don't wanna keep her up," you explain quietly. 

"That's too bad, doll. I'll just have to keep waiting... wanting," he shrugs and pulls on a dark jacket, "what do ya think? Look good?" 

He poses for the camera. He looks great, as always. You feel smaller than ever. 

"Yes," you answer softly. 

"Yes? That's it?" He sounds disappointed. 

"Very handsome," you eke out. 

"Handsome?" He squints as he picks up the phone. 

"Er," you search your repertoire and borrow from his, "sexy?" 

"Are you asking or telling me?" He chuckles. 

You giggle. You don't think you've ever told anyone they are sexy. You've never been that bold. 

"Yes." 

"Yes?" He laughs. 

"You're, er, oh, sexy," you touch your hot cheek and look away. 

"You are adorable, doll," he growls, "that's exactly what I need to hear." He grazes his fingertips over his beard, "unfortunately I gotta get on it so... tomorrow." 

"Tomorrow," you confirm. 

"Don't worry about a thing, doll, just bring your gorgeous self." 

🃏

The next day is restless. It's worse having hours to wait around for... what? You don't know. 

You spend your time reading, or trying to. Breakfast is small, what your roiling stomach can handle, and you put on an outfit that you think is acceptable, not that you have much to choose from. It might be strange if your mom or Roxie notice the lack of uniform. You could say you change at work? 

Ugh, lie after lie. It's all so much.  

You don't get very far in the book and your phone buzzes, a reminder from Bucky that your fate is coming. You grab your purse and sit out on the stoop, the sunlight beaming down. It would be a nice say if you were so damn uptight. 

Merv pulls up in the sleek luxury car and you get up, checking over your shoulder to see if there's any curious tug on the curtain. Your mom's already at work but Roxie is puttering around somewhere. She could be sleeping or not. 

Merv gets out to greet you. He opens the door and you thank him. He sits in the driver's seat and Springsteen drones from the radio. You smile as he shifts into gear. 

"I know this one," you say. 

"Of course, a classic," he praises. "And how are you today, miss?" 

"Good, you, sir?" 

He laughs as he steers, "very good, miss. And how could I not be." He peeks at you in the rear view, "with sunshine in my backseat." 

You smile bashfully and cross your legs. You can't help the shake in your foot. You're more and more nervous with each second and turn of the wheel. 

As if noticing your unease, he turns up the music, "I like this one too." 

You sigh and ease into the drumbeat. The tempo keeps your heartbeat in check. You're thankful for his subtle comfort. 

You turn to watch through the tinted windows. You never noticed how scenic this city is. You never went many places to have the chance. 

He keeps the volume up and you let it carry you through the long journey across the city. He pulls up to the casino and steers around to the hotel entrance. You peer through then back at him in confusion. He turns the knob down. 

"Mr. Barnes says to give your name at the desk," Merv instructs, "have a good day." 

"Thanks, you too," you unbuckle the seat belt and sidle across to the door. 

You get out with reticence. Staring up at the grand facade, you're more unsure than you've ever been. You've come this far, you have to keep going. You really have no choice as Merv slowly rolls away.  

You step forward. It doesn't get easier the further you get. Your pulse hammers behind your ear as you enter the lobby and a flash of deja vu overcomes you. That night with Roxie, the morning after, and everything since. How does it all feel as if it happened so fast and yet so long ago? 

You go to the desk, feeling entirely out of place. What if Merv is wrong and you shouldn't be there? What if they just look at you and laugh? No choice, keep going. 

You stop on the other side of the desk and give a stiff smile. 

"Hello, welcome, checking in?" The modelesque concierge asks. She's stunning and you're all the more self-aware. 

"Uh, I think? My name is..." 

She keeps her pristine smile in place and her eyes lights up. She doesn't even bother typing into her computer. She flits away and returns with one of little folders with the room keys inside. Oh, this is really happening. 

You thank her and slowly back away. You make a slow advance towards the elevator and wait beside a couple with their suitcases. You step on with them, avoiding a glimpse through the transparent walls.  

You unfold the folio and read the number, pushing the floor number, then stand back on your heels. You keep your eyes on the door, the motion alone making you dizzy. 

The couple gets off before you. When it's your floor, you thankfully scramble off and take a deep breath. You once more check the number and follow the hallways to your assigned suite. 

You swipe the card several times, you still don't have the hang of it. The door opens and you enter meekly. You focus on every move. Shut the door, slip the card back in the folder, put it down on the corner table. 

You look up at last and let yourself marvel at the suite as you delve further in. The smell of pollen greets you with a large bouquet of roses. The suite is huge, even bigger than last time. Two rooms just the same and a full kitchenette and spacious bathroom. You don't go onto the balcony, not wanting to test your stomach. 

You go back inside and glance over the table draped in a red tablecloth beneath the crystal vase of flowers. There's also a tray of chocolate-dipped strawberries and various colours of macarons. You've never had the delicate cookies before but you'd watch countless recipe videos, wishing on day to try them yourself. 

There's an envelope too. You take it and run your nail along the sealed flap. You open it carefully and slip out the card within. 

'Enjoy yourself, doll. I'll join you shortly. B.' 

As if on cue, there's a knock on the door. Oh gosh, you're not ready. What does he mean? Join you? You hoped for a little long before... before... 

You stand frozen but when the door doesn't open itself, you go to answer it. You slowly twist the long handle and open it just a crack. You peer around the edge and blink in confusion. 

"Hello, dahling," the woman's affectation drags out her syllables, "well look at you, how precious." 

She presses on the door and you let her force her way in. You're dumbfounded. Who the heck is she? Another long-legged beauty you can't compare too. 

"Lovely hair," she remarks as she closes the door without a care, "oh, and your skin, yes, perfect canvas..." 

"Sorry, er, I think you have the wrong room--" 

"Mr. Barnes sent me, dahling," she trills in her way, "and I see you are very much in need of my visit so let's begin. Mm, yes, I have a vision," she struts forward, a rose gold chest in her hand, "not very much, you have a natural lustre I adore." 

You retreat as she advances on you. She lifts her chest onto the chaise and flips back the lid, revealing an assortment of precisely organized palettes and tubes. You're horrified and humiliated as you realise why she's there. Maybe you aren't as pretty as Bucky keeps telling you. 

[amemesiella]

color experimentation

[devourable]

⚠︎ the stalker

sfw, mdni, beta read by @fluffula | tags ;; masc yandere x gn reader — stalking (duh), themes of self deprecation/lack of self worth, erotomania

hii im back from my unannounced hiatus bc i have more time on my hands :] ik vega didnt win the poll but fsr theyre the only one i could get myself to write sooo 🫶 i know im super rusty since I haven't written in ages so sorry if this is a lackluster return fic. it just be like that

vega just wasn’t the type of person that people liked. it was a fact, and he was well aware of it.

they were lanky and awkward, unkempt, and often didn’t know what to say or do in any given social situation. no one went out of their way to interact with them and vice versa. the few times he ended up around others anyway, he always found himself sidelined by the few people he could refer to as friends — they’d never be the focus, if they weren’t forgotten about entirely.

they weren’t anyone’s first choice. hell, they weren’t a second or third choice, either. it was a sad existence that he had accepted long ago — why bother trying to fit in if he wasn’t wanted? he was so boring, he wouldn’t wanna hang out with himself either, anyway. so every day and every night, they were alone.

then, he met you.

it started so simply. you started working at the same office as them, and they knew off the bat that it was your first time in a place like this. they expected nothing of you — maybe a lukewarm greeting as you passed each other during the workday, but not much more than that. so it surprised them when after your introduction, you rounded their desk and gently asked if they could show you around. maybe it was something about your tone, maybe it was that friendly look in your eye, maybe it was just you as a whole. but something about you just got them. they were out of their chair before they realized it.

they weren't the talkative type, but it didn't matter — you kept asking questions during the entire tour. what was that room for? how long had they been working there? did they like working there? you wanted their attention and they for the life of them couldn’t get why. even less so, they didn’t understand why they were so ready to give it to you. they couldn't help the way they stuttered out their answers to your questions, nor the way their face flushed after you laughed at the way they responded. but you did have to work, so you withdrew from them eventually to do just that.

well after you departed to your cubicle, you remained on their mind. your voice, the way you laughed, how you looked, it all swirled around in their mind as they sat in their desk. it remained that way the entire day, the following night, and the day after — they couldn't get you off their mind!

you chose him. you chose him, out of everyone else in the office. you were the only person that did that, and it made them feel so seen. so real, so… loved? was this what love was? the pounding in their chest and their flushed face would make him believe so. they couldn’t wait to see you again. just the thought of you returning the next day and every day after that bloomed butterflies in their tummy.

vega’s longing for you only grew more and more intense after every passing day. every day you came to work, they’d be the first to greet you and the last to bid you goodbye. they even changed their days off to match yours — going to work hardly seemed worth it if you weren’t there to make the day more bearable. every day they sat at their desk, daydreaming about spending time with you, going home with you, doing all the things they never imagined that they’d ever do before. and even though they were too awkward to seek you out during the work day, it didn’t stop them from staring at you every chance they got.

but after that first day, you paid less and less attention to them. you had work to do, after all, and no matter how hard they yearned for you, it grew harder to get you to notice them and harder for them to watch you. it was excruciating. for the first time in his life, vega wanted to be wanted — by you, specifically. he wanted your attention, your voice, your eyes on them again. but if they couldn’t have that, they needed to see you more to make up for it.

the stalking started small at first. occasionally following you when you got up from your desk to give a file to your supervisor or use the restroom, pretending to be distracted should you ever notice them (which you hardly did — they didn’t know if that bothered them or not). sometimes he ended his day at the same time yours ended so he could walk out with you, watching you leave from their car before they left themself. and eventually they started to follow you home directly. it was always from a distance. they wouldn’t want to frighten you, after all! it was okay as long as you weren’t bothered by it, he told himself.

he memorized your routine so he could base his own around it. you went to the store? he was going too. spending the day at the library? he was stalking after you from a different aisle. sometimes they’d leave little gifts on your doorstep just to see your bewildered reaction. watching you became his favorite pastime — they almost liked it more than talking to you directly. you somehow never noticed them lurking, staring at you from some shady hiding spot, panting and trembling just from the sheer excitement that your existence caused them. were you aware of just how cute you were when you thought no one was watching you? knowing all your bad habits, your mannerisms and all the things you did in private was exhilarating. it was like a secret for just the two of you. and whenever you came into work and talked to him like you usually did, it made him so fucking excited. did you know? maybe you did and you were fine with it. that had to be why you were so nice to them. they loved the idea of you liking their bad behavior.

vega had no plans of confessing to you anytime soon. he had so much fun stalking you, he saw no need to ruin it with his feelings. besides, you liked them back anyway — you had to have, why else would you let him get away with it for so long? he knew you wanted him, and he wanted you in return. all he had to do was wait for you.

[winterrrnight]

I'll be there for you

PAIRING: zach maclaren x gn!reader

SUMMARY: on your way to be broken up with (unknowing to you), you bump into a blue eyed boy who becomes your saviour after the break up.

WARNINGS: break up, heartbreak

EDITH SPEAKS: zach maclaren is what I have always imagined soft!rafe to be like. You don't know how big of a win it is for me (and for all the people who are obsessed w soft!rafe). zach is a sweetie and i NEED to write fics for him, so here you go!! it's my first fic for him as per the poll 🫶🏻🫶🏻

if you enjoyed reading this, please reblog!! feedback is always appreciated so please don't be afraid to comment and leave your thoughts 💕💕 + give me some cute cute zach requests y'all 😭

navigation || join my taglist || requests

You speed up your jogging, and try to simultaneously avoid all sorts of puddles. It's been raining heavily and you almost had an accident with your car as you accidentally drove into a huge pothole. It's at the repair shop, and you're stuck with walking as your medium of transportation.

Your partner asked you to meet up with them at a local coffee shop, and it's been almost 20 minutes since the time you were actually supposed to be there. You forgot to charge your phone so you're just carrying a dead device with you, and you have no way of informing them about you being late.

As you're jogging (which has now become sprinting, accompanied with your heavy breathes) you find yourself getting mesmerised by a new shop as you pass it. You watch through the window of the shop whilst running, and the decore inside intrigues you deeply as you make a mental note to visit the shop on your way back.

Just as you direct your attention to the road, you find yourself almost running into a huge puddle of water. Your reflexes act up as you suddenly swerve to the left, and with such a late response, you end up crashing into someone.

"Ow!" You say, as you and the unknown person both groan. In the heat of the moment, the other person has their arms wrapped around you to prevent you from falling (or from keeping themselves from falling) and you clasp onto their arms as you both steady yourself.

As you regain focus and look up at the person, you see the most beautiful pair of blue eyes looking at you back, and a mop of hair which looks as soft as bunny ears.

You forget what happened just a second before as you find yourself so mesmerised by this person in front of you. The world around you has seemed to stop spinning, and it feels like you and this person are the only people on this planet.

"Are you okay?"

The most musical voice enters your ears, and you think you haven't seen a person this perfect before.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay, are you okay? I'm so sorry I just full on slammed into you," you laugh, as the person takes their hands off your arms and you do too. You had forgotten you both were holding each other.

"Yes, I'm fine. You look worried and distracted, is everything alright?"

"Uh yes, it's all good," you smile at the stranger. His kindness has warmed your heart.

You suddenly remember you are on your way to meet your partner. You look at your wrist watch to see you're now over 30 minutes late.

"Oh shit I gotta go," you say, starting to run again.

"Be careful!" You hear him call out behind you. You lightly laugh at his words as you run, and pick up speed but this time keeping yourself focused.

You quickly reach the coffee shop and enter inside, the bells jingling just like they always do. You look at the corner to see them sitting there with their eyes buried in their phone. You rush up to them and give them a quick kiss on their cheek before sitting opposite to them.

"I'm so so sorry I'm late, my car is at the shop and I had to run and on the way I almost-"

"It's okay," they say, taking a sip of the coffee they ordered for themselves. There's nothing on the table for you, when you know they are fully aware what you love to drink from here.

Ignoring that, you just nod and look outside the window.

"Listen, I want to talk about something really important," they say, regaining your focus.

"Yeah?"

"This," they say, gesturing to the both of you, "this isn't working out anymore. I'm pretty sure you've noticed how we've grown apart and have been basically living two separate lives since a few months now. I, I want to break up with you."

You watch them with your eyes widened and your heart loud in your chest.

No doubt you have felt the lack of love between you two, but you've made some beautiful memories with them and to think it all ends here now, does make you sad.

"Oh," you whisper, not knowing what else to really say.

"I'm also moving away next week, and I might as well start to live there permanently," they add, and you just look at them with disbelief. They're moving away and this is the moment they thought is the perfect one to break this news to you?

"I have absolutely loved being with you all this time, but I think it's now time we separate and do our own thing." They take the last sip of their coffee and get up from their chair. "I wish you the best for your life." They smile at you and leave the coffee shop, you left all alone at the table.

It takes you a few minutes to process what has happened, and how you've been broken up with in such a horrific way. You stay seated with your eyes focused on your hands in your lap, as you turn their words in your mind over and over.

You take in a deep breathe and get up from your chair, and leave the coffee shop. You walk slowly back to your home, you hands stuffed in the pockets of your jacket as you try to distract yourself by kicking the stones on your path.

You are nearing the shop you wanted to visit, and just before that, you spot a familiar face sitting on a bench. He sees you and gives you a smile as he gets up from the bench.

"You look so sad," the blue eyed boy says.

"Well, I did just get broken up with," you say with a laugh, but nothing was funny about this situation.

"Oh my," he gasps, "I'm so sorry," he wraps his arms around you and pulls you in a hug.

Should you be hugging someone who's name you don't even know?

Probably not, but you are in a desparate need for closure.

And this person really knows how to hug.

"You'll be fine," he says. "It wasn't meant to be, because if it was, you wouldn't be broken up with right now. It may take some time for you to realise it, but I promise you, it happened for the best."

Your lips upturn into a small smile. "We fell out of love a long time ago, I don't know why I'm clinging onto something which practically ended so long ago."

"I think it's because they did make you feel things, and you're just missing all the good times. And that's totally normal. But there's someone out there who'll keep you so much more happy."

You suddenly pull him into a another hug, and you hear him giggle as he hugs you back. This is the best thing that has happened to you all day.

"Thank you for that," you whisper. He simply smiles at you and nods.

You look around and your eyes land at the shop which attracted you deeply.

You only live once, right?

"If you aren't busy right now, would you like to check out that shop with me?" You ask, pointing to it. He turns around to look at where you're pointing.

"I would love to," he smiles, and it's like you've already forgotten about the heartbreak you were experiencing a few minutes ago.

He was right; it was never meant to be and there's someone who's going to keep you so much more happy.

And that someone is him.

Zach Maclaren, the boy who you fell in love with because he provided you support when you thought you would crumble apart.

The boy who showed you happiness in forms you didn't know you could feel.

The boy who loved you with his last breathe.

↶ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊˎ-

TAGLIST: @runningfrom2am @saccharinesammie @maybankslover @totalswag @madelynie @chenslucy @ietss @elle-mp3 @viawritesstuff @wallsdreams @tahliac11 @sadfury @newsies-pape-girl @jamesbuckybarneswify

(If you want to be added, check out the 'join my taglist' post on top! + send in requests if you have any, but please read the 'requests' post first!)

[jbbartram-illu]

I DID IT! I managed to get photos taken & edited & uploaded to the shop today so I can get the descriptions/measurements/etc done in the next couple of days for the launch on Friday (short notice, I know, sorry!!).

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who answered the poll! I need to pick a time now, so have deleted it from the post :)

(shop link on blog if you want a pre-preview!)

(also, I haven't forgotten about the remaining asks! I just got super busy with work...I'll try to get back to answering them soon!!)

[wolfjackle-creates]

1000 Follower Celebration!

I'm blown away, honestly. The last time I had any notoriety in a fandom was back in, like 2007 or 2008 when I was on the Dibbuns Against Bedtime fan forums for Redwall. I was made the head of my dorm as the site started dying because I was the most active member in said dorm.

But you all? You're here because you like something I'm making? It's so wild to me. I appreciate every single one of you. Every like, every reblog, every comment. They warm me up.

I've been thinking over the last few days what I want to do. The obvious answers—prompt fills, polls to determine what I write, story snippets—I do all that with too much regularity. And I'm trying to avoid taking on more fics as I focus on the ones I've already got going.

So we're gonna do something a bit different this week.

Over the next week (From Wed 2/21 to Wed 2/28) send me the title of one of my WIPs (listed below) and I will respond with a few paragraphs. Not my usual 1.2-1.6k that I like to do for WIP Wednesday, but a few paragraphs. At the end of the week, I'll compile them all and post everything in a single post.

I won't be adding all the links like I usually do with each addition to a story until I post that final draft, but I'll tag everything with "[story name] 1000" so you can click that and follow along with the fic in some sort of order.

There are six WIPs eligible for the game! Please limit yourself to one fic per ask, but you may send in multiple asks. I will request that, for now, you limit yourself to one request per fic (aka a max of 6 requests per person). If I find that I'm able to keep up, I may waive that request in the upcoming days. But it will depend on how busy my inbox (and life) get.

Bring Me Home

Ghost!Robin

Answer My Call

I'll Carry Your Heart (Until I Find You Again)

Want to Hold On and Feel I Belong/Bad Reveal AU

Empathy!Verse

I totally forgot about the Empathy!Verse when I did my last ask game. Mostly because that has been entirely written on Tumblr and I...kinda forgot to transfer it to a Scrivener document. Ooops. 😅

Something to Feel isn't on this list because I want to dedicate my time to it today. I'm close to the end, I think, and already have one ask in my inbox about it that I totally meant to get to before now (if it's your ask, I promise I haven't forgotten you!).

Brief Story Summaries

Bring Me Home: Tim and Danny are online friends and know each other's secrets. Currently in the arc where the Young Justice and Team Phantom help Danny escape after a reveal gone wrong.

Ghost!Robin: Jason is haunted by the ghost of the Robin he used to be. Danny finds out when Jazz introduces him to Jason over a meet-the-in-laws dinner. Currently, Jason and Robin are meeting with Frostbite to learn what may have happened.

Answer My Call: Jazz is sending texts to Danny after he escaped a GIW facility and they can't talk. But it turns out Jason is the one who's actually been getting them.

Carry Your Heart: Jason and Danny meet in the Ghost Zone while Jason is dead. They become friends. But Jason runs to Desiree to wish for his life back. A wish she fulfills. Danny goes to visit him, only to find his core left behind in a lair that's in ruin.

Bad Reveal AU: Danny is living with the Waynes when he finds out they're also the Bats. He freaks out because he believes the bats are working with the government (aka the GIW). So he shoots Bruce and runs away. The bats are now trying to convince him it's safe to come home.

Empathy!Verse: Liminal!Jazz is studying in Gotham and feeling the lack of other liminals to interact with. After getting used to the undercurrent of emotion that follows all interactions with ghosts/liminals, humans just feel...flat. Then one day, she literally runs into another liminal as she's going to the library. Jason Todd. Only... he doesn't know what it means to be liminal. So Jazz is there to show him.

[demonslayedher]

Links, why started, and why abandoned:

Rengoku+Akaza Sitcom: It was very silly and rereading it still makes me laugh. I've had passing ideas here and there and have made two separate attempts to continue it, but I haven't captured the same flow. Kyojuro's efforts to get me fired as the lead writer and keep this sitcom canceled have so far panned out.

Low-Key Married AU: When I look at the notes sometimes I am like, "wow, this must be my most popular AU, but it is such a mess and I feel so bad for people trying to follow it." I got as far as The Nezuko Incident, but it was already super long, and rather than being engaging it felt more like it was just trying to give chronology to this AU. ZenNezu Angst (no link): I was in such an indulgent, angsty mood when I wrote it, and I wrote myself into an angsty hole. It was whump with an intended happy ending but by the time I went back to it I was not in as whumpy of a mood and I had forgotten how I was going to build up to the intended happy ending and found it meh. Also, I am embarrassed by how whumpy it is and even considered publishing under a different name.

Raw Sword Production: I want so badly for the fandom to appreciate the intricacies of Japanese sword production, which is why I put it into fiction format in the first place with Teppi being the vehicle through which readers can learn a complicated but fascinating process. I wound up learning a lot more since publishing that, and wanted to fix some details, as well as make it clearer with more illustrations, and add on the full process of smithing (instead of glossing over it in the conclusion and focusing most of the smelting). Got to about the point of polishing (one of the last steps), felt overwhelmed by the amount of illustration it would benefit from to be clear, and lost confidence feeling that even with all that effort, there probably would not be many people who read all the way to the end. Filler Arc w/ Character Beats: I still really like the ideas, have had ideas for how to expand it to a proper flow and make a solid story out of it, it had a very cute start, but I lost steam. I want Ufotable to make it instead and just let me direct. EDIT: So far it doesn't seem this one is going to win the poll, so I reread what 5577 words I had, and gosh dang it, it was cute. So I have posted it.

Again, zero promises of any of these projects getting more attention, even if they win the poll. But knowing what people would enjoy reading might provide more inspiration. EDIT: Guys, if you want "other," ya gotta tell me which one! Also, if you want more than one, feel free to say so too. Again, the point is to see if I can work up the inspiration to finish. If.

[luveternals]

paring: Konig x rebel reader. rating: mature, MDNI cw: dystopia AU, enemies to lovers, angst, (not a story, just a sneak peak of the 1st version, sorry. link to thd completed story!) a/n: I haven't forgotten to post nor did I just decided to drop writing or whatever. This story just turned out to be more complicated than originally planned. Lie, I haven't planned bananas. I literally had no idea what to write until 3h ago and I was already 5h past the time I wanted to post the third story lol hate to do this but I'll have to push it back to my next scheduled day. ~ sneak peek of the 1st version ~ full story in 2 days ~

It’s difficult to stay true when the goal you’re trying to reach is not your own. Well, you do support the idea, somewhat, you wouldn’t be here otherwise. Wouldn't be taking cover behind a broken wall, breath forcefully kept slow and stead, and hoping the shadows would be enough to cover your tracks. Wouldn’t be risking your life for a mission that is destined to fail.

It’s an trap and, somehow, you feel your leaders knew it and still sent you out.

One of your brothers lays dead at your feet, his blood stains your feet and will lead the enemy to you the moment they find the footprints.

There’s a soft sniffle and you spin around to slap your hand against one of your sisters’ mouth. She stares at you and you stare back, your hand leaves a red imprint on her face and you see her twitch with the desperate need to wipe it off.

It was a set up. You’re all going to die. But your mission isn’t over yet.

She’s crying.

Go. You tell he with a motion of your free hand. She shakes her head eyes wide with panic, but you're already pushing her back. Go and live.

You don’t check if she does, body turning and slipping around the corner before you could even register any further protests.

The sound of fighting seems to be coming from all directions. Your family is fighting with all it has while you give your last attempt to make this total failure some kind of meaning.

You’re almost at the end of the alley when you stumble to a stop. A man stands there, body covered in gear and rifle steady in his hands as he points it in your direction.

He doesn’t say a thing but doesn’t move either. Don’t move or i’ll shoot, his posture says.

Your own gun is raised, solid and loaded and aimed at his head. “Get out of my way,” you says, throat dry and voice a breathless demand.

But he’s a solid obstacle. One taller than most and built to fight until his heart is forced to stop beating. He simply blinks and your grip tightens around the weapon.

“I will shoot you,” you say, but there is no real threat behind the words.

And he knows.

He lowers his gun at the words and, with movements smooth and so damn steady, pulls his head gear off.

His face is still hidden away whatever cloth he’s using doesn’t give much away about what one would find underneath it.

But the design has come so familiar to you during this fucked up war that your grip falters.

“I’m not letting you do it,” he says, and his voice and accent at the last hit your heart can take.

You arms go slack, and your head drops forward. Rain had started trickling at some point, the grim and filt of your boots and clothes polling at your feet. “Do you know how much i’ve lost for this?”

He doesn’t say anything but the silent words he must be thinking make your fists bench into fists.

“Your killing my brothers!”

“And you're killing mine,” his words take you by surprised, you didn’t expect him to say anything at all. Not about this.

What you did expect was him to hide away behind his social anxiety. Behind the excuse he doesn’t know how to act around others, that he doesn't know how to express his feelings properly.

Instead, he braves on — the only time finally does — and associates to the enemy.

~ ~ ~ a/n: I'm a bit of a perfectionist and this is actually killing me. But it's the middle of the night and I'm kinda sick. Whatever mistake I made is my own and will be gone soon. have a good night. enjoy your day. please forgive the delay ;^; it's only the third day damn

[talas-first-lady]

Legends of Tomorrow: the Musical Episode

Brought to you by my obsession with tumblr polls

Note about suspension of disbelief: this is way too many songs to fit into an hour and we are pretending that all cast members are great singers and dancers (but Amy and Tala are still better than the rest of them, obviously).

Last week on Legends of Tomorrow:

The Darhks kidnapped Ray, who made some annoyingly good points about how maybe turning Nora into a vessel for a demon was not the best idea ever. He also sang the entire Singin in the Rain soundtrack. Several times.

The last lost totem of Zambesi was located on Elvis' guitar: the Music Totem. Damien Darhk seized it and realized that this was his chance to fix things with Nora and get the Legends off his back and maybe torture them just a tiny bit but, like, gently.

Episode 3x1???

Ray Palmer wakes up and begins enthusiastically singing about his morning. Seems in character so we aren't really that surprised. Until he heads out of his room and we discover that all the rest of the Legends are also singing and dancing enthusiastically. They sing about how happy they are now that Captain Darhk and Nora are running the ship. Gideon manifests herself in human form so that she can also dance. Both Sara and Zari say "Look, it's hot Gideon!" at different points.

Rip and Ava portal in from the Time Bureau (Rip is also happy to see hot Gideon) with important time business that promptly gets forgotten about because musical numbers!

Things are super awkward between Sara and Ava since they've recently broken up like 3 times about how neither of them believes she deserves to be happy. Everybody's sick of it.

The other Legends invent some nonsense task for them to do to force them to be alone together and talk about things. They sing about things instead. It is an upbeat and ridiculously cute number that involves a lot of dancing. Everyone is happy.

Well, except Amaya, who has forgotten all about Mallus and the totems but is still thinking about what she's learned about her own future. She sings through the big choice she has to make in the library.

Over in the lab, Zari is chatting with Gideon about how they haven't been able to find any loopholes to let her save her family. Gideon leaves, and Zari picks up with the second verse of the song. Both Zari and Amaya duet the last part of the song from their separate parts of the ship.

Mick dozes off in his room. A lifesize Beebo comes to him in his dreams and they perform an elaborate ballet. It's beautiful. He wakes up, grunts, and goes to get another beer.

We check in with Damien and Nora. Damien is clearly very pleased with himself about how everything is going. Nora is feeling a general state of annoyance but isn't sure why.

Rip and Gideon cross paths on the bridge. Rip starts talking to her like no time has passed, and while Gideon is briefly tempted to go along with it, she can't help thinking about how much better things have been under Captain Darhk. He's never flown her into the sun or into an atomic bomb. He's never turned her into a training simulator. She sings, basically verbatim, "Get Out and Stay Out" from 9 to 5 because Amy Pemberton deserves nothing less.

Rip slinks off to the galley, heartbroken. The guys are all hanging out there already. They manage to get the truth out of him and instantly rally around him: Wally talks about his girlfriend going back to a different earth, Nate talks about Amaya leaving on his birthday, Ray brings out his laundry list of failed engagements. Mick is just there to get a beer. Wally reminds Rip of how healing karaoke was for him just a few days ago. They all join forces for a 90s boy band-inspired number about things getting better in the future and trying again. At one point, Rip pulls a saxophone out of the food fabricator and performs the solo from "Careless Whisper."

Ray leaves, feeling pumped about the idea of finding love again, and immediately crashes into Nora.

Zari is starting to get the nagging feeling that something is wrong. She keeps seeing weird flashes of the timeline where Damien and Nora are evil but she doesn't really know what to make of them.

Ray starts singing about how he's been feeling different about Nora ever since their adventure together. Nora is also kind of feeling something but not really ready to admit it. They sing a funny duet with Nora very annoyed with Ray at first but gradually wearing down a bit.

Zari goes to Nate since he was helpful the last time she got stuck in a weird TV trope, but he just thinks she's trying to prank him because what she's saying is completely ridiculous. She goes to Sara next. Ava is also in Sara's room and they have clearly been in there ever since their song finished earlier. Zari explains and Ava is first to believe her since something has also felt off to her. Between the two of them, they manage to pull Sara out of the delusion as well. They split up to talk to everyone else with varying degrees of success.

Damien notices that there are whispered conversations going on around the ship and intervenes, calling everyone for a team meeting. Sara calls him out in front of everyone. He admits the truth in a jazzy villain song. At the end, Nora confronts him and demands that he hand over the Music Totem and stop standing in her way. He reluctantly gives it back and with that, the spell is broken.

The only thing nobody can explain is how Mick ended up with a Beebo in his room.

[tdp-fandom]

Shipping Poll Update

Click here if you haven't voted yet

Hello friends! As of the writing of this post, I've received 103 responses which is amazing! Thank you all so much! A special thank you goes to those who shared the poll - it is thanks to you guys that I got this many responses and I really appreciate it <3

I would like to share some general statistical data so far (the one that doesn't have an impact on the overall results) and address some feedback that I've received. Some graphs

I'm very happy to see that tumblr users have been the most active! You guys rock! Reddit has also been really active and I'm happy to see discord and twitter catching up!

I don't expect a lot of activity from dreamwidth as it's a different kind of website and I barely have any followers there but I'm curious to see how it goes. I ended up not posting anything on instagram because I would need to make images and I currently don't have the spoons for that :c

The age graph is also really cool! I'm very happy to see so many active 31+ people! Almost a quarter! And I'm very grateful to the young adults, who are the main bulk of the participants! I'm also happy to see teen participants express their votes as well c:

That's its for graphs for now - I can't share the rest just yet without the risk of getting the data skewed.

What I'd like to talk about next is your amazing feedback and how a few early participants saved this poll! Read under cut.

Feedback

People Who Have Saved the Poll

I posted the poll at 2 am my time (I had been working late nights on it the entire week because of real life responsibilities taking most of my free time) but decided to stick around for a bit to check if everything was going smoothly and to finish my conversations with friends on discord.

About 7 votes in, I decided to check on the poll and I saw this message in the feedback field:

"I didn`t see Rayla/Callum anywhere. Am I just blind or?"

This person was a life saver! Because although I know I added Rayllum originally, I must've accidentally deleted it and never noticed T-T it really is super easy to accidentally click on an X and delete a row from a multiple choice grid on google forms. Thanks to that person the crisis was averted. And it really would've been a crisis, because Rayllum is the flagship of TDP and getting lots of answers with no opinion on Rayllum would've really hurt the accuracy of the data.

I had also forgotten to add opinion options for some categories in the controversial ships section, which a friend as well as two poll takers notified me about!

Thank you all for the valuable feedback! I don't know what I would do without you.

Other Feedback

A few people mentioned that they weren't sure if it were ok not to tick every ship and I realized I hadn't been clear on that in my instructions. It is absolutely fine to skip whatever you feel like skipping. If there are ships you don't care about so much you don't even want to choose any option for - that is 100% valid and it tells me important information about the ship - you're not just neutral about it, you really do not care about a ship. And if I want to accurately evaluate our fandom's relationship with various ships, this information is also important.

People also commented that there have been too many ships to go through and that's definitely true. I tried to be as thorough as I could by including every possible ship people would have opinions on but the lists ended up being huge. I am planning to change a few things for the season 5 poll. I will probably exclude certain ships that won't do very well on this poll (unless the events in S5 warrant keeping them) and try to rearrange them in a way that can help people go through them faster.

There was a related comment where a person noted that it's not very convenient to scroll back and forth through the four opinion choices on mobile and suggested using just the numbers 1 to 4. That is a very good idea - I will implement this in the next poll.

One person was asking about Breakfast Guards being included in the canon ships. While I didn't get any official confirmations, they were shown almost kissing in the episode where Zubeia visits Katolis so I think that counts as them having some sort of onscreen not strictly platonic relationship.

While I explained the kinds of ships the poll was dealing with as well as the difference between active and passive shipping, I didn't actually explain what I mean by shipping, as one person rightfully pointed out! It's not an easy thing to define but I will try to come up with something for the season 5 poll! So far we can stick to romantic, queerplatonic or nonromantic sexual dynamics.

I used the wrong ship name for Rex Igneous x Avizandum. It should be Zanrex instead of Rexandum and the wonderful @cometchasr explained to why that particular shipname was chosen! He said that Zan was a nickname for Avizandum used a in few fics featuring the former dragon king and it fit very well with how the nickname Zym works. When I don't know a shipname I often just make one up on the spot as a placeholder but I am always happy to hear feedback from actual shippers and I switch to their preferred shipname.

I got so many nice compliments and words of encouragement too! Thank you guys! It means a lot ;__;

I will try to address feedback roughly once a week and keep you all updated on how things are going!

[iersei]

just checking, did i remember to send you an ask about the taako v glenn poll + my request? (also if you did get it and it's too hard or something feel free to tell me haha i totally might have forgotten to put a back up option in that case)

hi! i'm responding a little late, but yes you did send an ask and i'm very excited to get to it when i have the time!! i've really only gotten fun requests so far, so don't worry!!

full disclosure: i'm trying to give some slight priority to people i haven't drawn any requests for yet just to try to keep it sort of fair in my book. you might have to wait a little bit again, but i will get to it as soon as possible!

(in the meantime: thank you so much for continuing to vote bestie because i know you're going against a current interest of yours and so i'm very happy and grateful that you're supporting my cause <3)

[christmasintheloonybin]

how common do you think it *really* is for normal men to pay for sex?

i keep seeing people say that it's far more than you think and seemingly normal men that you know have probably at some point. thoughts? i'm trying not to get completely blackpilled about men.

I've certainly never payed for sex but I'm really not the best person to ask about normal men. i am an extremely abnormal man, especially in regards to these kinds of issues, and I have no friends male or otherwise. this is not to mention the fact that I live in the forest bro there are no hookers out here lol. but I can give some theories which are not backed up by evidence at all.

I think despite the best efforts of modern society to remove all meaning and significance and purity and beauty from every aspect of life and reduce everything to transactions and material circumstances there are some things which are so inherent to human beings, even twisted untermensch types, that they cannot be scrubbed away or forgotten.

of course there is the issue of love and all of this, which has been discussed enough by other people. but I would think that a sense of shame would always be present and at the very least would deter MOST men from hiring a prostitute. I mean it is a sure sign that you have failed completely at the one thing you were put on earth to do, prove to a woman that you are fit for reproduction and reproduce. and because the woman in the case of prostitution has little or no say in who she is getting fucked by I would assume that the experience would be less rewarding or interesting than actual sex, I wouldn't even consider this to be sex, somewhere in between sex and rape. the psychologically rewarding thing about sex is that someone thinks you're really great, fit for reproduction even if she doesn't see it these terms this is what is really happening. and the fact that women have the right to be selective is what gives it any meaning at all. and so not even just prostitutes but sex with promiscuous women would have significantly less value only because she is not very selective, you haven't won out in competition with other males as you should and as almost all other animals do. it's completely meaningless. but in the case of those sick pathetic people who have truly convinced themselves that there is nothing but physical pleasure and sex is nothing but an exercise in this, they should all be rounded up, sterilized and enslaved.

but I would think that it is true that most men have been infected with this sickness to varying degrees, it's hard to tell you can't really conduct polls or something. but I would think shame would interfere, as most people have at least some shame. and also I would think that most normal men, middle of the road, moderately attractive, well-adjusted guys, are for the most part getting laid in the normal, old fashioned way, and so they don't need to hire a prostitute.

the people I would think WOULD hire a prostitute would be the following.

1. those who are completely unable to attract women normally, even untermensch women, due to being extremely ugly, maybe mentally disabled, physically disabled, just having an unpleasant personality, obese, these kinds of things. one would think that this is who the market exists for, guys who are maybe not even sexual deviants or bad people, they just want to get laid and can't. I don't think they should reproduce but as long as the prostitute does not become impregnated I don't really see the harm. I mean, if it has to exist then this is the least bad form. these are guys who are completely unable to have the real thing, they will never be able to have it, and so they pay for this ersatz of sex. but this would be maximum 10% of the population, a minority of men, certainly not what would be considered normal men.

2. sexual deviants who like the idea of having control over women. I would assume that this is, after group one, the main group who are paying for sex. as I've said, prostitution is somewhere between sex and rape, sure she can say no but if she turns away every customer she'll be broke I mean this is her livelihood. and so I think some people just enjoy having control over women, which is of course unnatural and if the world was right and normal these people would be sent to the camps as well.

3. sex addicts, people who maybe have a girlfriend or wife, or can otherwise get laid normally but it's just not enough. but again I would assume that this would be less interesting even than picking up some promiscuous woman at a bar. maybe for these people it is just the act, but I would assume that having some kind of game is part of it. which of course would not be present in hiring a prostitute. either way these people should be sent to camps.

I think that this would cover the basic archetypes of people who pay for sex, and all of this would be considered abnormal behavior. however, due to the internet and these stupid ideas like tolerance, many people are able to overcome things like shame and regret and engage in things which would be unthinkable pre internet. this is also probably due to general degradation of the gene pool, it is only quite recently that almost all children born (in the west) survive to reproduction age. but anyways, I would think that if a man does not fall into one of these three groups he probably would not hire a prostitute, and I would think still that even these three groups combined would be a minority of the population, but could become a majority if things continue in the direction they are headed.

all of this gets back to the problem of equality. no two people are completely equal in ability or worth and when you try to create a situation where all people are treated the same it can only infringe upon the rights of other people. this is a great example, an inferior man thinks he is entitled to sex by virtue of being a human with feelings, and it hurts his feelings so bad that he cannot get laid. well if we live in an equal society of course he is entitled to just as much sex as anyone else, which can only violate the natural right of women to be selective and weed out inferiority. or perhaps because some people cannot get laid no one is allowed to have sex at all, which of course would violate the rights of those who can get laid normally. this is what I like about women, they're born social darwinists, they're born eugenicists. women hate equality naturally.

thank you for the ask this was quite fun to think about and write out.

[key201303]

I'm sorry post = sneakpeek👀

Heyy!! I guess you guys have noticed (or maybe not) that I have been pretty inactive lately. I just kinda feel down and not really inspired for sitting on a chair for 5h and write a story. It feels like no ideas come to my brain and all the ones I actually get I end up deleting them because I feel they're not as good as they must be so yeah, that's pretty much the reason why I've been more inactive than ever. My computer also kind of died which made everything a lot harder since I'm used to write on them and feel really uncomfortable writing on my phone/tablet so yeah. It's like universe got against me and made all this things happen so I couldn't be as active as I was in the very beginning of this blog.

But now that I have made my apologies and have given you guys a reason on what has been happening, I feel really bad for not updating in so long and taking so damn long to write your fav stories from my blog so here it is a small sneak peek at the works I'm trying to sort out👀

Mystic Messenger: this fic is about to finish. I guess about 3 or 4 more chapters for each member and it will be over. All I can say is that drama is about to explode as you might tell but don't worry!! I promise I'm not that bad and it won't end too bad 🤞🏻 or yes🤔🤪

Turn Back Time: We're in a crutial moment of the story so it is kind of hard to sort it out, specially because of the time travels and all the details that need to be well planned so it makes sense, but I hope to have the new chapter by the end of this week so stay tuned!!

Break: I haven't forgotten about my fellow aroha followers!! I promise I'll keep working on this story and update soon. I have almost finished the next part so yeah, I hope I can post it at the end of this week as well or the beginning of next week

Bad Idea: Once again, I haven't forgotten about this but it will take a bit long to post this story since I have better sorted out the Love Shot fic than this one so yeah. But don't worry, I promise I'll bring it soon 🙏🏻

Love Shot: Actually, ngl this is the fic I'm most excited about. I already have all the plot and the first two chapters written so it might come out on August as I said on the Masterlist (you guys have gone insane with this fic and it hasn't even started, I really hope it fulfill your expectations). The only thing I can say is that all the Rowoon stans get ready (but please don't hate me😣)

Hero: I have been kind of forgetting about this oneshot since not much people is waiting for it but lately I've been going back to being a simp over Yechan so I might bring it soon as well. All I can say is all the walwals that follow me to get ready for a super fluff oneshot full of love and amazing OST👀

Once Upon A Crime: If you're an old follower you might remember a poll I made about this fic with Yuto from Pentagon. Well, it is kind of sorted out but still have some details I need to correct before posting the Masterlist so it might take me some time to post it.

Requests: First of all I want to say sorry to all of you who have requested since February and haven't gotten your request yet. Know that I have received it and that I haven't forgotten about you, it's just that I didn't get any good idea for writing them and I want them to be as good as you expect it to be so that's why it took me so long to write them. But still, I'll try posting them as soon as I can, promise 🤞🏻

Now is time for the fics you guys might have no idea I'm planning and I kind of need your help on this so I would be really thankful if you guys dropped by to let me know your thoughts on this.

A fic about a bodyguard, a hitman and a scammer (reader). That's all I have for now. I still haven't decided the idols that will be taking the place of the bodyguard and the hitman but I've been thinking about writing it with Sf9🤔 if you guys can recommend me who would you like to see taking those places from the group I would really appreciate it 🙏🏻❤️

A royal!AU where the reader travels in time back on the days of Korean Kingdom's. Got this idea after watching Karma and Excalibur from Kingdom and immediately thought about making it a fic (plus I've been wanting to do a Royal!AU for some time now). Here is when the problem comes: should I write it with Kingdom? Or should I write it with The Boyz? If I write it with Tbz I already have the main ideas so I could start plotting it already but if I write it with Kingdom I only have the stories of Arthur and Chiwoo so I would have to wait for the rest of the comebacks to come out so I can have all the stories 😕 If you guys know anything about what the story of the rest of the "Kings" are, please let me know, I really want to write this story with them since they're the ones giving me the main idea😭

Fortunately that's it for now😅 I know this post is pretty long but I would appreciate if you read it and if you help me out with my questions 🙏🏻🙏🏻 I hope this long ass post can slightly compensate the delay on all the updates🙏🏻❤️ I'm going to sleep now, gotta wake up at 5am tomorrow for going to visit my family finally!! I hope you have a great day/night ahead ❤️❤️ Ily!! 💙

[2ells2tees]

A year after the uprising, we have a responsibility to look at where things stand today, in terms of revolutionary counter-power on a national and local scale. In the immediate wake of the Uprising, there seemed to be endless possibilities- the steady march of capital, white supremacy, and the state seemed ruptured, and in the opening, we began to try to construct some alternative visions of life. The last year has seen an incredible counter-offensive by forces of repression and recuperation. Where have they succeeded in foreclosing on the horizon of possibilities that opened in the wake of the uprising? Where have they been pushed back?

In the wake of the Uprising, the City Council promised abolition of the MPD and its replacement with a department of public safety. It now seems evident that there is no serious impulse towards this, and that the debate is going to be between a community accountability board (which the MPD already has, but this one is modeled more like the one the CPD operates under), an amendment that would allow for the future defunding of the police, and a resurgent call for more policing in the wake of highly publicized violent crimes. The media has certainly done a blitz around violent crime in the Twin Cities, and a narrative has been - falsely- spun that it's because the MPD has been somehow defanged or defunded. In reality, the MPD is still lavishly funded, and very active and brutal. They just never had the ability or the interest in stopping violence in the poorest neighborhoods. Revolutionary movements have to find answers to this interpersonal violence and the roots causes behind it- not so much as a quest to take political legitimacy from the state, but because it is a pressing human need in our communities. This is part of a program of abolition from below- and these answers can only come from the communities most impacted by the violence.

The most important consideration after an uprising, is to ask- to what degree did oppressed and working class people come together and form new organization, new relationships and practices, and maintain these through the "trough" that follows the wave? Here we have a wealth of examples- new young Black revolutionary and progressive organizations, new community defense organizations like the Rock Steady Alliance or the resurgent Workers Defense Alliance, copwatch programs such as the one here in Whittier, and so on. Many of these hold a revolutionary or abolitionist perspective. There are also other groups which have been successfully recuperated, often because they were not built on a revolutionary perspective at all- such as "defense" or "de-escalation" organizations which have accepted government money to police protests. The usual way that governing systems try to digest social movements, is to recuperate whatever they can, and then leave the rest of the new formations isolated and feeling powerless until they either accept their own recuperation, get repressed, or disband from despair. It's crucial that we build mutually supporting ecologies of revolutionary organizations, and resist encirclement and isolation. One of these tasks of support is solidarity with the prisoners of the uprising- many of whom have been forgotten or been misrepresented in the media as "outside agitators" in a crackerjacketing counterinsurgency scheme.

What of the reactionary counter-offensive? The police and the state more broadly are feeling largely re-legitimized now that Trump is gone and Biden is in charge, bringing back that veneer of "normalcy". The city was forced to actually launch a competent prosecution of Chauvin as a concession to the people. His conviction assures liberals that justice within the system can be done, while firing up conservatives to view him as a martyr, "cancelled" (the greatest of Red atrocities) for life for practicing his God-given American freedom to murder. The conservatives themselves appear to be re-living some of their Obama year experiences- once again in the opposition, fearful that the Democrats are going to finally cancel America and install a regime of queer critical-race-studies Marxist-globalist Sharia. As they lick their wounds, the fascist fringe tries to reach out to them to re-grow, to bind to them more tightly, and to re-emerge in the next crisis having radicalized more of the Right. At the base and at the top, fascist inroads into the American right remain strong. Antifascist vigilance is still essential, but it's hard to keep them away from the mainstream with a levee built of shame and stigma when they've already burst that levee, left a lake in the conservative polder, and the Right has forgotten how to feel shame.

Meanwhile, the question of shop floor organizing and tenant organizing remains a weak point for revolutionaries here. Let's not claim an easy victory and pretend that a market dynamic driving up wages is a "de facto general strike". Let's not delve so deep into a fetish of spontaneity that we see worker collective action in the invisible hand of the market. The conditions are ripe for shop floor organizing, but so far our most militant offensives tend to be localized, and directed at smaller shops, or are rank and file driven actions within the larger workplaces and unions. The defeat in Bessemer is just one example among many of the failure of the union officialdom to be able to fight and win up and down the supply chains and industries of today's globalized firms. A similar story can be told in housing struggles- many small offensives, no coordinated breakthrough. We're a class struggling through an imposed amnesia, learning to walk before we can remember how to run.

One thing that we absolutely need to understand, is the difference between mobilizing and organizing. This last year started with an immense mobilization of people who wouldn't take it any more, and as the months wore on, the people mobilizing dwindled down to resemble more and more the "usual suspects"- including a new generation of usual suspects, but not generally reflecting the broader community even of those who had mobilized in the uprising. Many of the mobilizations in recent months were large marches or other demonstrations of outrage making demands on the state. These demands typically haven't been met, and won't be met through marches, because the people in power understand marches to be a spectacle, not an actual threat. If we want to build counter-power and hold it against offensives by the state, we need to build deep rooted relationships in our communities through day to day acts of resistance, building relationships and joint work around which we craft organization, and coordinating that work to escalate from small acts of resistance over our grievances to greater ones which challenge the causes of those grievances and strike at the foundations of power.

https://www.facebook.com/259251571496690/posts/969539153801258/?d=n

—-

It’s worth noticing that, while for white folks in the US it can feel like we’ve progressed, if you look at statistics, support (in all possible ways — from positive responses on opinion polls out to money and legislative action) from white Americans for Black lives and racial justice broadly is about HALF what it was last April.

Yes, really. It’s measurable. Many things have changed for the WORSE, and only a tiny fraction of the motion for change that has been announced in the past twelve months has materialized.

We need to learn to keep seeing it. It’s our white people homework: the minimum effort required to try not to be complicit in ongoing genocide.